Changemaker Elizabeth Dixon, Author, Speaker, and Consultant

What we build our lives on matters. The right foundation can give us the strength to weather change, pursue meaningful success, and stay grounded in the people and values that matter most.

In this episode of Agency for Change, Lyn sits down with Elizabeth Dixon, author, speaker, and consultant, to talk about the power of purpose in leadership and in life. Drawing from two decades at Chick-fil-A and her work with brands like Zappos and Southwest Airlines, Elizabeth explores how purpose shapes culture and the experiences we create for others. She shares why customer obsession beats competitor obsession, why our purpose is bigger than our professional success, and how aligning our choices with our values can help us create a meaningful impact wherever we lead.

Connect with Elizabeth at:

·       Website – https://www.elizabethdixonspeaks.com
·       LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethdixonspeaks
·       Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/elizabethdixonspeaks

Learn more about Elizabeth’s books, speaking engagements, and consulting services at:

·       The Power of Customer Experience

·       The Strength of Purpose & The Strength of Purpose Handbook

·       Speaking Engagements

·       Consulting Services

Transcript

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Why Purpose Changes Everything

Elizabeth Dixon 0:02

The foundation that we build on determines the strength that we live from.

Announcer 0:11

Welcome to Agency for Change, a podcast from KidGlov that brings you the stories of changemakers who are actively working to improve our communities. In every episode, we'll meet with people who are making a lasting impact in the places we call home.

Lyn Wineman 0:32

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Agency for Change podcast. This is Lyn Wineman, President and Chief Strategist of KidGlov. And today we are talking about one of my favorite, favorite, favorite topics, the power of purpose. I have often believed that purpose and focus on purpose can be a secret weapon in business, whether you're a for-profit or a nonprofit or even a government entity trying to get a mission across. And today's guest, Elizabeth Dixon, is an accomplished business leader. She's an author, she's a keynote speaker. She's worked with some major brands, such as Zappos, Chick-fil-A, Southwest Airlines. She's doing some great things. And she's going to talk with us today about the power of purpose and how to incorporate purpose into her work. We're going to be talking about her books, which are The Power of Customer Experience, The Strength of Purpose, and her latest book, The Advantage of Purpose. So this is going to be fun. Elizabeth, welcome to the podcast.

Elizabeth Dixon 1:43

Thank you for having me. It's an honor to be with you this morning.

Chick-fil-A Culture From The Inside

Lyn Wineman 1:47

I am looking forward to this conversation because you have a really interesting distinction in your bio. You spent 20 years at a little brand called Chick-fil-A during a period of tremendous growth. I, like most Americans, love Chick-fil-A. Looking back, I'd love to start by talking about that experience and what you're most proud of accomplishing during that time.

Elizabeth Dixon 2:16

Well, I will say it was a tremendous blessing. The organization of Chick-fil-A, the people of Chick-fil-A, it was bigger than a dream. When I was back in college, I used to dream if I could work for a company whose product I loved and I could teach them about health and wellness, because that was my major, that would be a dream. And so when I was invited to come to Chick-fil-A, I was floored. I was fresh out of college. I had started a business in college, but here I found myself very young. It grew me. The people at Chick-fil-A grew me. And I think when you ask the great question of what are you most proud for accomplishing, I think what makes Chick-fil-A really special to me is everything that we accomplished, it was very much a team effort. It was very much a group. And so the first 10 years I was in health and wellness, and we got to build into the culture this culture of being fit to lead, being healthy, taking care of yourself so that you could lead others well. And then for the second 10 years, I was leading hospitality. So it was moving from taking care of our personal health and hearts to taking care of our customers' hearts and how we treated people. And so then that was such a gift of building off the shoulders of what had been established over decades of time to keep it relevant of how we were going to serve customers in a way that was going to be meaningful to them and differentiate us in a pretty crowded marketplace. So it was a gift to get to be poured into and to get to be a part of such collaborative work that made a meaningful difference.

Lyn Wineman 3:54

You know, everything you just said rings true to me because I don't, first of all, I don't know if I've ever been inside a Chick-fil-A restaurant. It's always a drive-thru or catering experience, right? But even in the drive-thru, I feel— I feel cared for. I feel like the team enjoys each other's company and they're having fun. And I know that doesn't just happen from marketing words and scripts and things, right? Like it comes from a like a deep cultural initiative that makes all of that happen. When employees demonstrate care, I always believe it's because the company has demonstrated care to them. And that's what I hear you saying there.

Elizabeth Dixon 4:45

Absolutely. We would have so many companies come to us and they'd ask, you know, what's your training? What is that that module that you're doing that is setting you apart? And it's like, whoa, no, that that's the least of the worries. The biggest part is culture and it's mindset and it's how we're treating each other. Everything you just said, then you're experiencing this overflow in the drive-thru of the fun that they're having.

Lyn Wineman 5:12

Yeah. I love it. So then you've also worked for other organizations or you've worked with them that we really know for having great customer experiences like Ritz-Carlton, Zappos, Wegmans, Southwest Airlines.

Customer Obsession And Consistent Excellence

Lyn Wineman 5:31

Tell me a little about that. And then what do these best organizations do differently when it comes to serving people?

Elizabeth Dixon 5:41

All the brands you just listed, they are all constantly thinking about how they're going to do better. Not just how their competition might be doing better, but how they're going to do better. And that obsession, you know, Jeff Bezos talks about it all the time. The customer obsession will always beat the competitor obsession. If we're constantly thinking about how can we serve our customers in a more superior way, in a more efficient way, in a more effective way, that will always be better than looking laterally side to side to go, okay, well, how are our competitors doing and how do we try to one up them? And so all of those brands, we would actually gather once a quarter and we would benchmark with each other. We'd challenge each other, we'd push each other to continually be better. And so what I just mentioned of it's not just a training module. It's a part of the culture. It's a culture that's saying we're gonna continually push for what's better. Herb Kelleher, the founder of Southwest Airlines, used to talk about we're not gonna rest on our laurels. We're constantly gonna push for what's better. Herb and Truett Kathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, they constantly were talking about we're not in the chicken or the airline business, we're in the people business. And we just happen to sell these things. Tony Hsieh, the founder of Zappos, he was brilliant at thinking about how are we going to stand out in an industry. I mean, they were mostly call centers.

Lyn Wineman 7:14

Right.

Elizabeth Dixon 7:15

Let's do something different. So, what they do, they weren't measuring how fast everyone could get off the call. They were measuring how satisfied the customer was on the other end. And that might mean a 20-minute phone call. They actually set the record. I think it's still held at just around 11 hours of the longest call center call that was held with a customer. And you asked the individual that set that record, it's like, what did y'all talk about? What did what did what did we not talk about? You know, we're we're best friends now. And so I think all of these great brands, they lean on that founder mentality and they don't get obsessed with competitors, they get obsessed with their customers, and then they do very practical things repeatedly. And that's what's in the book, The Power of Customer Experience, because I really felt like this was important. These brands that are great at this, it's not rocket science. It just takes discipline and intentionality to create these experiences for customers that most brands just aren't willing to do or they don't know how to do it. And so I can't help with the willingness, but I can help with how to do it so that ultimately, you know, it'd be a wonderful world for every employee to love where they work and every customer to love where they purchase things from.

Lyn Wineman 8:40

Oh, Elizabeth, I love what you said because I believe as as a leader, as a founder, I believe one of the things I can do to make the world a better place is to make sure that when my people, our team, goes home at night, they've had a great day. So they can go home and spread that to the people they love versus going home and self-regulating and decompressing and numbing and right, all the things.

Elizabeth Dixon 9:13

Yes, yes.

Lyn Wineman 9:13

And two things I wrote down, just words of gold here. You know, the first that you said was customer obsession beats competitive obsession. I love that so much. And then doing very practical things repeatedly. I bet those are two things that you talk about in the book. Would you tell us more about? You've got two books, I think. Tell us more about both books, but then really I want to dig into this latest book.

Elizabeth Dixon 9:44

Yes, for sure. So the first book is The Power of Customer Experience. And the thought is you can make experiences by design or default. Most companies make them by default. They don't run through their own experience to the level that their customers are interacting with it every day. And they just kind of leave it up to chance. They're brilliant at their product and their service, but they're not at their experience. And customers are looking to replace those brands every day. So we don't want to be in that place. We want to be in a place of strength where our employees and customers can't imagine life without us. So the book outlines the five elements to an exceptional customer experience. And I wrote it to the frontline employee because I knew when I was at Chick-fil-A, I'm leading this aspect of the company. I have all of the strategy resources that I could imagine. But there were 250,000 team members that were making or breaking the experience. It wasn't me, it was them. They were the heroes of it. And so I thought there needs to be a resource for the frontline employee to recognize the power that they have every day when they come to work, that they can create an impact by how they treat customers. So I wrote it to that frontline employee. So by doing that, it's applicable to every level of the organization. And it creates a healthy dialogue between the strategy, the leadership, all the way down to operations and execution, that we're all singing off the same songbook. The second book was then The Strength of Purpose. And so the Strength of Purpose

Designing Experiences Not Leaving Them To Chance

Elizabeth Dixon 11:22

came through a tough season. We were all in a tough season. And I went through a challenging season that helped me realize I had defined my purpose by my work. Instead of defining my purpose for my life and bringing that purpose into my work, I was extracting my purpose from my work. And it just took one disappointing situation that felt crisis, you know, foundationally rocking for me to go, whoa, whoa, whoa, this shouldn't hurt this bad. This shouldn't be this big of a deal. But when you define your purpose by your work, any little shift in change will be catastrophic because you're identifying your why by it. And suddenly if something shifts and changes, why do I exist? And that's oh scary place to be. So I wrote that second book. And then we do have a new book coming out in October, and it's the advantage of purpose. And so it's helping businesses define and then align their purpose within their organization. Not every business has a compelling why. So it's a resource to help them define, but every organization has to align priorities. And so the second half of the book is really practical. I mean, you could insert any aspect of the business, values, mission, vision, anything that you need to align culturally. it's a very practical guide to help leaders of each level in the organization create that experience for their employees. So then ultimately it overflows to the customer.

Lyn Wineman 13:03

Love it. I love it, Elizabeth. You and I were introduced by a mutual friend, Miren Oca, the founder of Ocaquatics. She created this beautiful business. It's a certified B Corp. It's a real leaders, top social impact company. I think they're in 1% for the planet, buy one, get one, employee, like all of the things. She's the role model, I think, for purpose-driven leaders. But I love talking to people like you about personal purpose and organizational purpose. And I know it's a common thread throughout your career and the things you do. Would you mind talking more about what was that moment when you realized that purpose was not just important, but really essential to creating that meaningful success?

Elizabeth Dixon 13:58

You know, I think of it like this is an original to me. I don't remember where I came across this, but the visual is if you're climbing a ladder and you suddenly realize that it's on the wrong wall.

Lyn Wineman 14:13

Oh, oh, wow, not just, I thought you were gonna say there's a broken rung, it's not tall enough. Oh, it's on the wrong. I just hearing you say that feel a sense of devastation, like, oh my gosh, I worked so hard to get to this point. Now I gotta calm myself down, grab the ladder, and find the new wall. And I mean, I've we're gonna just take this metaphor all the way. How do I know where the new wall is? Because perhaps I've lost a little bit of faith in myself for climbing up the ladder on the wrong wall.

Elizabeth Dixon 14:51

Oh, how easy to just to shame, to criticize, to put down. What happens? It's like that whole boiling a frog thing, which I've never boiled a frog, but apparently, if you want to boil a frog, you just do it really slowly. It's the same kind of thing.

Lyn Wineman 15:11

Right.

Elizabeth Dixon 15:12

We're so many of us, it's not like we sit down and you're like, you know what? Today I want to devastate my life for 10 years from now. Like I want to do everything possible. No, we're in a moment, it's a micro moment, it's small. And we're like, do I take the call at five or do I go to my kids' baseball game? Do I, do I show up in this meeting in this sort of way, or do I instead, you know, show up with a totally different mindset? Do I, I mean, so many times it's like I'm gonna pursue this at all costs, but we don't necessarily weigh out how that's actually gonna play out and feel. And so for me, I had this moment where it's like, I didn't, I didn't win, I didn't get the promotion, I didn't get the exciting news that other people around me were getting. And it hurt so bad. But what hurt wasn't the fact that I didn't get the promotion and everybody else did. What really hurt was the fact that I was halfway up this ladder, realizing I had it on a wall where my job was my purpose. My work was why I existed. And if you stripped that from me, that was the shocking, vulnerable halfway up the ladder feeling of like, whoa, no, because Elizabeth had a purpose before I got into a certain job. And certainly I'm gonna have a purpose when I retire.

Lyn Wineman 16:48

Right.

Elizabeth Dixon 16:49

And my dreams and ambitions in life actually had very little to do with work success and so much to do with relational success. And yet suddenly, when it— moment arises, I'm willing to prioritize my professional success at the direct expense of my relational health and success with the people I cared about most. And then I started thinking about who's gonna be there, like someday when I'm 80 or 90, or I don't know how old.

Lyn Wineman 17:24

Right, right.

Elizabeth Dixon 17:25

Who's it— who's in that room?

Lyn Wineman 17:27

Yeah. Or are the same kids that you miss their game to take the work call, are they gonna be taking a work call when you are at your vulnerable moment looking for them? Right? Yeah.

Elizabeth Dixon 17:43

Why would they not?

Lyn Wineman 17:45

Why would they not? That's what we taught them to do.

Elizabeth Dixon 17:48

Yes, a hundred percent because our actions

When Work Becomes Your Identity

Elizabeth Dixon 17:51

speak louder than our words. And I think that's the moment when I started to realize this disconnect, a lack of alignment between what I truly wanted and yet the choices I was operating out of. And as I got into it, I realized the statistic is that 75% of people don't know their purpose in life. And I thought, what? Like one in four are walking around with this level of alignment and their ladder is on the right wall. But yet three out of four of us are walking around with this feeling. And I thought, oh, so I started going back through the books I had on purpose from start with why to purpose-driven life and all of these incredible books, but I still lacked this guide, someone to kind of take my hand to be like, how do I walk through this incredibly introspective, uncomfortable conversation to find this new wall, to come down the ladder and have the courage to start climbing up the right one. And so that's where the Strength of Purpose came from is that we have that choice. All of us have access to slow down, listen, ask really good questions of ourselves, ask some questions of people who care about us and are closest to us, and discover this language that can transcend every season, that can help us. Oh my goodness, there was one gentleman. Oh, there's so many great stories. That he had said that he felt like he was in a boat in the middle of a storm, and the storm was his organization around him, and he was just being whipped by the wind and the waves. And when he defined his purpose, he said it gave me this solid foundation. It was like stepping off of the boat onto dry ground. He said, suddenly, if they fired me, it'd be okay. And if they promoted me, it'd be okay. Because his foundation changed. And instead of it being determined by something that he couldn't control, he was defining it by something that he could control. And he knew it was bigger than just the season that he was in.

Lyn Wineman 20:16

Yeah, I love it. Alright, I can't wait to get my hands on these books. Tell us how we can find them, where they are, what do we need to know?

Elizabeth Dixon 20:26

Oh, yes. Amazon has all of them. Love it. The Power of Customer Experience, Strength of Purpose. There is a guidebook that goes with the Strength of Purpose that helps you walk through the exercises, gives you space to journal, and then it has a goal setting section that invites you to come back weekly to what is my purpose? What are my top three to five priorities for the week? How am I feeling? How am I thinking? And it gives you that structure to walk into a week. and then the next book, The Advantage of Purpose, same way. All of them have audible, ebook, Kindle, paperback, hardback. You can get all of them on Amazon.

Lyn Wineman 21:03

Amazing. That's cool. So now, Elizabeth, in addition to writing, though, you've kind of taken this corporate experience and the books and the coaching. And actually you have turned that into your new career, right? Or maybe it's not even a new career, maybe that's not the right way to frame it. But so let's say someone's listening, as I'm sure they are, and they're like, How do I connect with Elizabeth? What does that look like?

Elizabeth Dixon 21:37

From like a practical connection or?

Lyn Wineman 21:39

Yeah.

Elizabeth Dixon 21:41

Well, I mean, very easily connecting for resources. I have a website, elizabethdixonspeaks.com.

Lyn Wineman 21:48

Perfect.

Elizabeth Dixon 21:48

And then Possibility Co. is the consulting side of the business. And we work with brands to help them create experiences for customers that they can't live without. And then, Instagram and LinkedIn are the two that I find myself on the most. Instagram has a random smattering of sourdough things too. You know, customer experience, purpose, and a little bit of like, I just made a new loaf of bread. And then LinkedIn has absolutely no sourdough on it. And more tips, thoughts, inspiration, resources for helping brands both with purpose and customer experience.

Lyn Wineman 22:27

That's beautiful. Elizabeth, I'm really curious. So, in that work, what qualities do you find are most common among those leaders who create lasting impact?

Elizabeth Dixon 22:39

I think care, genuine care for the people as much as the work success. And that can be really hard because if you're not successful in the work you're doing, like you will work yourself out of a job. So you have to have results, but also having that genuine care for the people that is at least equivalent, if not exceeds the results. And then also a willingness to continually take risks for improvement's sake, to try new things, to not get stuck. And this is the way it's always been. One of the brands that Possibility Co. works with the leaders were saying one of our greatest challenges is that the mid-level leadership just is stuck.

Lyn Wineman 23:27

Yeah.

Elizabeth Dixon 23:28

This is how we've always done it, and they're resistant to change. And I think that is an incredibly dangerous place because, oh, great quote. It is, was it Ken Blanchard? But when the rate of external change exceeds the rate of internal change, the end is near. And our external change is so rapid that as brands, it forces us to really be intentional about how willing we are for continual improvement and change as leadership broadly, but then also how much resources are we setting aside to continually innovate and improve and at least have a powerful point of view on what we're willing to do or not do in the next one year, three years, or or five years. So I might have attributed that quote wrong, but it's such a powerful one that when the rate of external change exceeds that rate of internal inside the organization willingness to change, the end is near.

Lyn Wineman 24:27

You know, that's a little bit, it's a little bit terrifying, Elizabeth, to be honest with you, because change has never hit us, I think, more quickly than it is right now, right? And it just feels like every day you gotta be up and running. But you're right. You stop and sit on your laurels, or even worse, put your hands out and say, no more. Everything's gonna pass you by now more than ever. So that's fascinating. Alright. So I'd love to hear some stories, Elizabeth, or at least one story. I mean, I'm really curious. Can you share a story of a person or an organization that really experienced a transformation that inspired you?

Elizabeth Dixon 25:15

I think large organizations are constantly going through mini transformations. When you get a company like Chick-fil-A, like Starbucks, like Southwest Airlines, they're massive cruise ships. So to turn them, it's a slow turn.

Lyn Wineman 25:33

I have always had this saying, I mean, and and I don't know who told it to me because I didn't come up with it, but it's the big ship turns slowly, right?

Elizabeth Dixon 25:43

It does. And you know what else happens? If you're on a cruise ship and the engine stops working, the boat doesn't stop moving. Yeah. It will go for a few miles before it stops. And that's why in the larger organizations, it's critical to have a really clear ear to the lead and lag indicators for success for that business in that industry. Because when you're really big, you can look like you're still being very successful for a while before you start to lose it.

Lyn Wineman 26:23

Yeah.

Elizabeth Dixon 26:23

And so I think one right now that's fun and fascinating to watch is Starbucks.

Lyn Wineman 26:29

Yes.

Elizabeth Dixon 26:29

I think it's really cool to watch what Brian Nichols is doing. He's coming back to the roots of what Howard created. He's coming back to the core of what Starbucks is all about, the relationships, the baristas, the second place, the environment third place, I think they called it. and he's really prioritizing culture.

Lyn Wineman 26:51

Yeah.

Elizabeth Dixon 26:51

And so I think the larger brands, it is harder. They're not little jet skis that you zoop, zip and move around. So transformation is going to look different and it's going to extend the timeline. And it requires that the lead indicators are obsessed over because the lag indicators are going to be miles, you know, miles after the the engine has blown. And in smaller organizations, that's the benefit is that you can reinstitute. You can say, you know what? I have been operating off of a purpose that is not authentic to myself as the leader. And I have been driving this team at a pace and a rate that is not healthy. And I've expected out of you that you match my energy. And as a result, I have a feeling I've compromised your priorities because of what I've been requiring.

Courageous Leadership In Fast Change

Elizabeth Dixon 27:45

And so on this day, we are going to take a shift and we're going to do something different. Like the courage for a leader to have that conversation and to say, it's a new day, and here's what we're going to do. It's like being on a jet ski that you suddenly shift out of the, you know, wavy waters and you just get onto that smooth glass and you invite the whole team to come and operate out of a different place. And so there's an organization we work with, and he had some really hard decisions to make. I wasn't diminishing that at all, but he had some people that were toxic to the culture, but they were great performers. And one week, you know, he's processing through all that. The next week we're on a call and I said, So how's the team? And he said, I let them go. I let the toxic ones go.

Lyn Wineman 28:40

Wow.

Elizabeth Dixon 28:40

And he said, Okay. I said, so what happened? He said, five of my great performers who weren't toxic told me that if I didn't do that, they were less than a month away from leaving themselves.

Lyn Wineman 28:55

Wow. Wow.

Elizabeth Dixon 28:57

And so a lot of times when we see that this is not a fit, we're seeing it after everyone else has. Like everyone else on the team has been frustrated. They've been thinking, if this is permitted, I don't want to be a part of this. And those are your best people because they fit the culture and they're high performers. And he almost lost his very best people because he was very nervous about making the decision that was going to be best for the culture, which would ultimately be best for the customer, which would then be best for the company.

Lyn Wineman 29:32

Absolutely.

Elizabeth Dixon 29:33

And so whether it's a jet ski or it's a cruise ship, it can look different. One decision can change the trajectory of the jet ski smaller business. The other, it's going to take months and years to shift it to what it needs to be. But I think in both, we have to have courage. And in both, we have to have persistence to continually put forward what's going to be most important.

Lyn Wineman 29:59

I love it so much. So I— one last thing I want to ask you about, Elizabeth, is I read somewhere in your bio that faith, family, and personal values have influenced the decisions you've made, the opportunities you pursue. I mean, that leans right into purpose, but I'm really curious. Could you talk a little bit more about how you found the courage to maybe follow faith, family, and personal values when it seems like the pressure of the world is saying follow the money, right? Like how many times have we heard that statement, follow the money, right?

Elizabeth Dixon 30:41

Yes, yes. Well, I think that when you go back a lot earlier in my life, faith and family and personal values were so prominent for me. My faith has always been an essential part of my decision making. The peace that I feel for, okay, is this the right step to take or not? Saying yes or no with intention. When I really got wrapped up in things, that's where that misalignment started to happen. The aspects that were most important to me were being sacrificed on the altar of the things that I probably wouldn't care about as much as I went through my life. And there's this visual that I often think about, and that is what does the 80-year-old version of Elizabeth think?

Lyn Wineman 31:30

Yeah.

Elizabeth Dixon 31:31

And I have two incredible grandmothers. one of them, though, is just this spungster. She was a Southern California lady who loved to play bridge and you know, trade on the stock market and had, you know, bright pink fingernails, and she was sassy and fun. And I think I'm gonna be more like her when I get older. I'll suddenly like not wear mauve lip gloss, but I'll actually buy like a color of lip gloss. And I will tell you when I have these imaginary conversations with her, she never asks to how much money did you make? She never asks, you know, so what's the highest title that you got? Like, what's the LinkedIn profile title that was the most impressive one that you got to put on there? Right. Never. I imagine her just sipping her coffee, asking, Did you have fun? Did you make a difference?

Lyn Wineman 32:26

Yeah.

Elizabeth Dixon 32:26

Like, tell me about the people. Tell me about the people. What difference did you make in their life? Did they leave working with you in a better place, or did they leave in a worse place?

Lyn Wineman 32:39

Wow.

Elizabeth Dixon 32:39

And I imagine those kind of conversations and giving that perspective of kind of like, what does the 10-year-old Elizabeth and what is the 80-year-old Elizabeth think? And the 10-year-old is like, no way, girl. Like this is awesome. I had no idea we'd be doing this. The 80-year-old is looking back and she's like, hey, don't miss it. Don't miss it. But sometimes the 40-year-old Elizabeth is like, I'm not there yet. And it's not good enough. And and but it, but it isn't profiting enough. And it isn't as successful as I thought. And sometimes it's about like spreading that timeline out and going, the 10-year-old is way more pumped than you can imagine, and the 80-year-old is way more grounded than you can imagine. And trying to bring both of those more into our life. It's helped me a lot. It's helped me with saying yes and no. And I also think for me, knowing that my value is set, like that is a part of my faith that I believe that when God created me, my value was set.

Values Faith And The 80-Year Lens

Elizabeth Dixon 33:45

And I don't have to go earn it. I don't have to go strive for it. I don't have to impress people in order to be worthy or valuable. And I think that while I don't always believe that to be true, I know that it's true.

Lyn Wineman 34:01

Yeah.

Elizabeth Dixon 34:01

The more that I stay aligned and the more that I stay abiding in that truth, then it just allows me to have more fun, allows me to make a better difference and to see the see the silly stuff for what it is and not get so wrapped around the axle about it.

Lyn Wineman 34:20

I love it. Alright, Elizabeth, I'm gonna let this take us into my next question, which is my favorite question. All the listeners know I love inspirational quotes. And I feel so lucky to talk to people like you on the podcast who have so many inspiring things to say. I would like an Elizabeth Dixon original quote to inspire our listeners.

Elizabeth Dixon 34:46

Well, I'll give you one from the Strength of Purpose, and it goes back to what was that really challenging season of my life. So it's very personal to me. And that is the foundation that we build on determines the strength that we live from. And if we're building on a foundation that's weak, then we're not gonna have the same level of strength to bring into the trials and the challenges and the successes. But if we build on a foundation of purpose that is strong, then it's going to allow us to rise up to those challenges, rise up to those moments of success and hold them for what they are and ultimately be the person that we want to be on the other side. So the foundation that we build on determines the strength that we live from.

Lyn Wineman 35:36

Oh, that's so beautiful. Elizabeth, I had to jot it down in my notebook. I'm gonna stare at that one all day today. Thank you for that. Elizabeth, I have so loved this conversation. I'm gonna have to thank our friend Miren for introducing us. Give her a shout out here on the show. As we wrap up, I'd love to end with what is the most important thing you would like our listeners to remember about the work that you're doing?

Elizabeth Dixon 36:06

The most important thing to remember is that whatever our role is in work, we can make our brands a place that employees couldn't imagine their life without. That customers couldn't imagine their life without. I think it's easy to shirk it off that oh, well, we're not the vice president, oh, we're not the director of, and I don't have that authority. The reality is you're working with, for, and probably have somebody working for you. So there's three directions of people, and we are ridiculously

The Quote To Build On

Elizabeth Dixon 36:46

in charge of the experience that we create with those people that we're working with, for, or have working for us. And so people don't, I've heard it said, people don't leave brands, they leave leaders. Yeah. And so we get to make a difference today. Don't miss it.

Lyn Wineman 37:07

Don't miss it. Alright, Elizabeth, I have so loved this conversation. We are recording it first thing on a Monday morning. I know people won't probably listen to it first thing on a Monday morning, but what a great way to start the week. I just want to say I believe that the world needs more people like you, more books, like these great books that you are writing. And I thank you for taking time with us today.

Elizabeth Dixon 37:33

Well, thank you. It's such an honor, and I'm grateful for you and the impact that you're making on so many. So thank you for letting me be a part.

Lyn Wineman 37:40

Thank you, Elizabeth. What a great conversation.

Announcer 37:45

We hope you enjoyed today's Agency for Change podcast. To hear all our interviews with those who are making a positive change in our communities or to nominate a changemaker you'd love to hear from, visit kidglov.com at K-I-D-G-L-O-V dot com to get in touch. As always, if you like what you've heard today, be sure to rate, review, subscribe, and share. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time.