Episode 74: Pivoting into public speaking with Jenny Blake
I’m back with an interview this week! And it’s an interview with my HERO, Jenny Blake.
I first heard about Jenny Blake in early 2017 when I was waiting for a train to go to my corporate job.
She was a guest on Pat Flynn’s Smart Passive Income podcast. I remember it was a dark overcast day, like Lemony Snicket type weather, it was probably raining and I heard Jenny’s voice and message through my podcast app and it was like a ray of sunshine.
She spoke about career pivots, and how when you get dissatisfied in a job, it’s because you’re successful, you’ve overgrown the role - not because there’s something wrong with you. I bought her book, Pivot, straight away and devoured it 2-3 times - in her book she outlines practical ways you can navigate her quesiton of ‘whats next?’
Since then I’ve devoured all of her Pivot podcasts and courses, I signed up to her private Facebook group, Momentum to access all of her online courses and she has been a MASSIVE source of inspiration for me the last couple of years - I love the way she operates, and she’s also the most generous, kindest, person I know.
And what’s cool is that I can say know now as I got to hang out with her on my recent trip to NYC! We hung out with her momentum community on this awesome rooftop bar overlooking the Empire State Building, and then she invited me over to her amaaazing apartment for lunch on Sunday.
About today's guest: Jenny Blake
Jenny is an author, career and business strategist and international speaker who helps people move beyond burnout to build sustainable, dynamic careers they love. She is the author of Pivot: The Only Move That Matters is Your Next One, which won an award for Axiom Best Business Book in the careers category.
After two years at a technology start-up followed by five years at Google in Training and Career Development, Jenny moved to New York City in 2011 where she has been running her own consulting business in the years since. Jenny combines her love of technology with her superpower of simplifying complexity to help clients pivot their career or business. Her motto: if change is the only constant, let's get better at it.
Dogs, dancing, gadgets, writing, traveling, and long meals with friends all make her pretty happy too.
On the conversation today we explore:
Some interesting advice she was given when she was getting nerves before stepping up to deliver presentations;
Why she believes product training is a good entry point into facilitation
Jenny shares a quote that helped her fight the nerves when she was on stage in front of thousands of people
How being an author brings about ‘serendipity popcorn’ in terms of the variety and timing of speaking engagements
How she engages with global audiences over webinars
And of course, we couldn’t leave the conversation without Jenny sharing her famous Pivot framework
Let us know your thoughts on the conversation with Jenny Blake!
Connect with Leanne Hughes on LinkedIn and send me a message about this episode
Resources mentioned in this episode
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