Episode 337: Start Living Audaciously | Marty McDonald | CEO and Founder of Boss Women Media & Elle Olivia
Marty McDonald embodies what it means to live audaciously. As founder of Boss Women Media, she leads a powerful community that empowers women to step into their brands, claim thought leadership, and go after big goals with confidence. In this episode, Kara and Marty talk about why being audacious is the key to creating extraordinary outcomes, how to inspire others through leadership, and what it takes to turn vision into action. You’ll hear about Marty’s latest ventures, from launching Elle Olivia—a clothing brand for toddlers now in Target—to her upcoming book Audacious releasing in Fall 2025. This episode explores bold leadership, women’s empowerment, and the possibilities that open up when you dare to dream bigger.
“I am a girl who understands that audacity belongs to all of us and it doesn’t discriminate. It’s up to us to decide if we want it or not.”
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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Audacity
00:20 Meet Marni McDonald
01:36 Marni's Journey and Achievements
04:08 Defining Audacity
09:40 Raising Audacious Kids
13:40 Building a Community
21:23 Vision and Impact
25:39 The Unspoken Strategy of Faith
26:03 Unexpected Opportunities and Leaving Space
26:46 Hustle vs. Expectation
27:19 The Power of Surrender
28:22 Alignment and Magnetism
30:06 The Reciprocity of Engagement
34:38 Balancing Business and Family
36:12 The Resilience of Women
39:32 Advocating for Yourself and Others
44:11 The Audacity to Expect
47:19 Manifesting Success and Community Support
50:55 Conclusion and Call to Action
Audacious is such a juicy word. It's a sister word to extraordinary because you need to be audacious to make extraordinary happen. Imagine a world where everyone is actually being audacious. It would be completely different than what we're experiencing today. Today's guest, Marni McDonald is audacious and she's all about leading, showing, and encouraging women.
How to be audacious in their own lives too. She's the founder of Boss Moon Media with a huge community guiding women to step into their brands, to be thought leaders and make those huge goals happen. Additionally, she's launched Ellie, Olivia, a clothing brand, giving toddlers confidence to chase after their big dreams, which is available in Target.
And her new book, aptly titled Audacious, is coming out in fall of 2025. Marty is a passionate, values-driven leader and the type of woman who makes you feel lucky to have a moment with her. I'm excited to hear your takeaways from this episode. It is full of possibilities.
Welcome to the Powerful Ladies Podcast.
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
You know, Angie Wisdom is, is my coach, and when she sends someone my way, I know that they're going to be a important, powerful person. And when she sent me you, I'm like, yes. Why have you been keeping her for so long? Um, so let's tell everyone who you are, where you are, and what you're up to in the world.
Yes, absolutely. So I'm Marty McDonald. I am the CEO and founder of Boss Women Media, which is an offline, online women's empowerment community and influential talent platform. And ultimately we create experiences for women to connect and. We highlight women in our community to brand themselves. I've been running bus, women media full time since 2018. And on top of that, I'm one of those people who gets really curious and I'm like, if I get curious enough, I'm gonna go create it if I really believe in it.
And so I am a two x founder. Running two businesses at the same time, um, with, another company called Elle Olivia. Elle Olivia is a lifestyle brand for toddlers to see themselves in everyday moments through the clothes that they wear, through the books that they read. And through parental education and this fall I will get to ultimately add to my title is Author 'cause I have a new book coming out Audacious this fall that I'm really excited about.
And then on top of that, I'm a mama of three little kids that keep me full and grounded at the same time. That are four. And I have twins that are. Just turned two. Um, and I'm a wife. Me and my husband have been married. We'll be celebrating our 15th year anniversary this year.
Congratulations.
Thank you. But ultimately, I am a girl who understands that audacity belongs to all of us, and it's up to us to decide if we want it or not.
I mean. Just that alone, we, we can close the podcast now. Just sharing that statement and what I love about that word, like my word's extraordinary, like a lot of my courses and programming's wrapped around that and like just the, the boldness, like the moxie behind audacious I think is so important because so many women today.
Want to make a difference, want to make an impact. It's not just about can I provide for myself, it's how can I have the time, the money, the freedom, the impact, the purpose. And you can't even, you can't have all those things if you're not stepping into an audacious space. So when, like, how do you define that audacious kind of magic wand that you bring into your world?
Yeah. You know, for me audacious means having the courage. Right. Having the courage to believe in a future that hasn't been proven yet.
Yeah.
Right. Um, and then taking action towards it every single day.
Mm-hmm.
I think it's one thing to believe, but I think it's another thing to expect. Yeah. And I live in expectation.
It took me a while to get there though. Mm-hmm. Angie, I will have to give her credit for, right? Yeah. But, um, I think I expect it to happen if we all walk in expectancy instead of in hustle. Yeah. Right. Because there's a lot of us that know how to hustle, especially us, us women, us mamas. Right? We figured it out.
Um, but I walk in expectancy when it's uncomfortable and when it's impossible. And that's what being audacious is. And I think that the one thing about Audacious that I really loved is that it doesn't discriminate.
Yes.
That we all have access to it. Mm-hmm. If we decide. Um, and so for me, audacious is a lifestyle that I live and it's really the heartbeat of my story.
Mm-hmm. Were you, like, did you spring out of the womb audacious or is that something that had to kind of find you?
You know, I, I'm, I believe that I've always been, yeah, it's always been inside of me, right? It was, it, it was the thing that I had to find. I think it exists in all of us though.
Yep.
Agree. I think we're all born with it.
Right. I'm not, uh, I'm not alone in it. Right. But when I think about how I was raised and my upbringings and the access that I didn't have. It ultimately led me to being more audacious. Mm-hmm. It didn't hold me back. It didn't allow my it to be my barrier. Right. I grew up in a small town in Tennessee. I remember growing up, I was one of very few families that was biracial, and that was almost unheard of in the eighties and.
Always having to choose an identity. When we lived in a world that kind of made you choose, are you black, are you white, are you right? Mm-hmm. And so I think that was my first inkling of it, of audacity, of like how, like I'm not gonna choose, right? Yeah. And then I think about just like being curious, challenging, I think about people along the way who encouraged me at a young age, right?
I have this vivid story of my second grade teacher who was building and giving me confidence tools, and I didn't even know, by every time he called my name in the classroom, he would sing the most beautiful girl in the world. And I hated it. It was embarrassing. But when I look back on it, I'm like, he was showing me how to walk in my self worth and my identity and, and all of that, which ultimately leads to all the things and character traits that you need to have.
Audacity confidence. Mm-hmm. Courage. Right. I think it's always existed, but I'm not exempt. It exists in all of us.
Yeah. Something that I feel really privileged about is that I have felt a 10 outta 10 day. And once you feel that moment, and it can be a moment, it can be a whole day, but once you step into that space, you go, oh, it can be this.
You can't unfeel it. You can't unsee it. And it gives you like a different aperture than what you're working with. Like everyone I have met has had a space. They're like, oh, well that's for the next level, whatever the next level is. Mm-hmm.
And the thought that we think. That there's a difference between us and anyone else, and these rules we make about like who we can have access to and who we can talk to and what table we can sit at.
The sooner that we realize that's all just a bunch of baloney, it it like, it shifts things like it, it does give you that courage to be like, if I wanna talk to Oprah, I can just email her. Like, and the number of stories of. Just reaching out and asking someone to connect or, you know, any of these things, like the, the people that we are meant to talk to in this world are so much easier accessible than we think they are, and the people who we need on our journey are there.
If we're choosing to ask, acknowledge, be grateful for it. It, there's a different level of seeing our authority in how this plan goes versus. Hoping things work out. Eyes closed, fingers crossed. And I really hear from you that, that you were like, Nope, we're gonna, don't make me choose. I'm gonna just go and get what I have to get because Okay.
Yeah. That's what we do. How do you see that translating to your kids?
Hmm. You know that? Oh, that's such a great question. I think about, I what skills I want my kids to have often, right? Mm-hmm. Whether they're the most courageous or not doesn't bother me, whether they have a loud voice or a soft voice that don't bother me.
The skills that I need my kids to have is decision making.
Mm-hmm.
There are adults who don't know how to make a, make decisions, but then I think about it. You gotta be audacious. So step in your power to know how to make decisions, and I need them to know how to advocate for themselves.
Mm-hmm.
Because once I'm gone, I can't be that for them. And that's what I think about all the time for them. Can they effectively make decisions? Right? And that's us giving them those options at an early age at two. Which one do you want? Do you want this one or that one? You only get one choice, right? I'm teaching them.
How to be a great decision maker in sticking with their decision. We go to the store, which toy do you want? Well, you can only get one. Right? For them to understand that there are options and then you have to stick with the option that you chose. There is a consequence to that. Right? And that's what I work really hard for too.
I like to think some days I'm like. What am I doing all of this for? Like, and it's not for me. It's not for me to receive the fruits of its labor. It's for my kids too. Mm-hmm. It's for their kids too, if I'm advocating in spaces and places that I feel like lacks equity for us. You better believe I'm doing that for my children and then for their children also.
So this journey doesn't have to be the same for them, that it's accessible for them. So, you know, if ultimately I have great decision makers and I have kids who know how to advocate for themselves, I've done my job well as a parent.
There are so many clients who come to me that the core thing we have to start with before we can. Transform their business is just choosing what they actually want. And it's so interesting to me how many adults are not asking themselves like, why? Why am I in this town? Why this job? Why these people? And. One of the questions that I'll be asking you is about like 8-year-old. You, and I'm just, I, I asked this question 'cause I believe that we often have more clarity when we're eight than some adults have. 'Cause we've layered on all this junk that isn't ours to be, to be listening to the world through. And so I love this idea of like, can they make decisions? Do they know themselves enough to make the choice? Um, yeah. Because if you can choose, like again, you like world's your oyster, what do you want? Menu is yours.
Yeah,
that's right.
You have successfully built. A community that people rave about that you're making an impact for. Um, I was, you know, envious of your Martha's Vineyard trip because it looked like all you did was have fun the entire time. And I loved,
I also brought three, my three kids. So you did That was not. Woo.
Instagram verse reality.
No. Um, right.
But it just, I like the energy of everybody and how everybody was showing up. I was like, yes, like this group who's here gets it. So many people are craving to build a community, even one of, of smaller size than you've built around the people that they are passionate about advocating for and lifting up.
How did you, did you always know you wanted to be community driven? Was it like helping them with their brands first? Like how did you fall into holding space for this community you have today?
Yeah. When I was sitting in corporate America, I sat in corporate America for about 11 years in various roles at various companies, but my backgrounds, primarily my time.
There was marketing. And so I was navigating this space under what someone else deemed it to be. Success or the blueprint thereof, right? Yeah. And I remember going to a networking event. Uh, it was like the women food Service Forum conference, and in the room everybody wore black and blue and gray. And everyone shook your hand a certain way, and everyone led with their title and I thought, oh, I hate it here.
Mm-hmm. How do you build genuine, authentic connectivity this way? I hate it here. And that experience showed me that maybe this ain't where I'm supposed to be, but it was a nudge. I didn't do anything with it at the time. And then fast forward, probably two years later, I remember going to, um, a, a conference and it was an all women's group, but it was more like creators and startup founders, and I thought.
Ooh, I love it here. But the biggest challenge there was nobody looked like me. So then I thought, Ooh, I love it here, but what happens when this room becomes diverse? Right? And then it was like I saw it and I couldn't unsee it. So then I was, I was very. Much struck to go create it. And so at Bossman Media, it's the intersection of possibility and representation. Mm-hmm. It's the intersection of what it looks like to be around folks who dream big. But then sparks the dream inside of you. Mm-hmm. To then give you the courage to know that it's possible because you see someone else sharing their story and then the through line at every program that we do. You are never allowed to wear black, blue, gray.
I want you to just show up in your most beautiful form of your self expression. Mm-hmm. Not based off of a blueprint that someone told you was safe. And so, um. That's, I didn't know. I would, I would, I would be a community builder, no.
Mm-hmm.
But I knew that I needed to create community that could ignite me, that I could hear the stories of others who were doing the thing.
I'm one of those people who you, if you tell me your story. And I feel really compelled to it. I am your PR agent. I go and tell 30 other people your story. I'm like, do you know what happened? And then this happened and, and, and like, I just love for women to win. Mm-hmm. Especially the underdog. And so at Boston Media, media, we show people, we show women what's possible for themselves.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and I think my children line. Does the exact same for toddlers. Yeah. The, the, the, the core of the mission is self-expression, representation and possibility.
Mm-hmm.
And that's what we're anchored around.
Possibility is one of my words too. 'cause it's endless. Like I, every business I've started has either been because. Ooh, like, that sounds fun or that's stupid. We need to fix that. Like it's the two things, and I really relate to you saying how when you see the gap, you're like, wait, does no one else see this? Like mm-hmm. Am I wearing special glasses? Because this is so obvious and it's always surprising to me. I have to step into appreciation and gratitude for like the weirdo that I am of. No, because this makes sense to me. Okay. Now, like my lane gets clearer and clearer as we go because of that. Um, but yeah, like it's, it's, I, it's, it's fun to me now to be in a space where like. I, I, when I feel that weirdness, that weirdo coming out, I'm like, okay, this is it. It's coming. It's percolating.
What's gonna come outta this?
Yes.
Yes. Mm-hmm.
And I think that everyone, everybody wants community. Yes. I don't care who you are. Right. Especially when you're around like-mindedness that drives you, that, that takes a spark and ignites something in you. Right. Like, and, and I feel like community is how brands are gonna thrive to the next level of the day that we live in today, right?
Mm-hmm. Like gone are the days when you can have just a pretty brand. People wanna be brought into the community of the brand, right? And that's how the brand is galvanized. And so, um, I don't care who you are, everybody wants to belong and be a part of something.
Powerful ladies is so selfish for me because I, I get to invite people like you that I'm like, I wanna know them, like I wanna talk to them. I wanna learn from them. Maybe we could be friends one day, like mm-hmm. It's such a selfish thing and I remember when I was starting in the community event side of it, and I would invite people to be a leader and they'd go, but I love this, but I'm not powerful. I was like, what? And it's. I have to keep coming back to the sense the, the reality that so many women are still in a place that they don't know to be audacious. They don't know that they can step into this powerful space and take up the room and how. How are you balancing taking this group of women with you up on the rocket ship and remembering that so many people need to hear like the level one Yeah. Story still, right, because it's, it's so easy when we're surrounding ourselves with this interconnected, engaged group, we're like, go, we're like level 20. And you're like, oh wait, we forgot. People are still at level one.
Yeah. Yeah. I believe in this model, you lift as you climb, right? It is, um, it's the delta way. It's the way change happens. And so for me, that's not volume. Mm-hmm. Right. That's impact. And if that's one person, then that's the only thing that, that's all I did it for.
And that's okay. Everyone grabs grabs it at different levels, right? And I can only bring the, what do they say? Bring the fish to water. I can't make the fish drink the water. Right? Um, and so. I'm going to show you that it's possible, but you gotta activate off of the possibility, right? Yeah. Um, my new book that's coming out is really setting this, this framework around how do you cast your own vision.
Mm-hmm.
And for some, someone that might feel very basic.
Yeah.
Before the, how many people are on this planet? 6 billion, someone. Of that, a large percentage. Mm-hmm. Is trying to figure out how do I cast my vision? Right? Yeah. And then I take you along, once you've cast your vision, how do you activate your network based off of your vision, how do you craft the story to work for you and the community around you? And ultimately, how do you then surrender it all Because. You can only control what you can control, and then you have to leave space for miraculous works to happen of my higher power, which is God, to reign over the favor that he has and what he has instilled from my future. Right? And so for me it is, I'll bring you here to this level. I'll expose you and I'll share and I will share. Generously sometimes to a fault. Um, but I also know that there are levels to this, and this is a eight years in the making. Like this is, I'm sometimes still starting the foundation over I feel like 2025. 80% of my plan, I've had to scratch.
Me too.
There's been so much going on. Mm-hmm. Which grounds me into, I gotta go back to what's the vision?
Yeah.
I've gotta cast a vision to a team that I have to excite and ignite and galvanize. Right. So I don't think you ever lose needing the foundational tools. Mm-hmm. You always need them to activate. So whether you're starting at step 30 and you know to go back and get 'em, or you're starting at step one. I think that you always need them, and sometimes it's a refresher. Sometimes it's for the first time. Sometimes it's to know that it's possible. But the tools that we offer and the community that we're creating them for, I believe always needs them.
Yeah. Well, and I'm such a big believer too, that the same methodologies techniques, practices that create a successful business also create a successful life. if your business will work, this will, your life will work. It all works together.
'cause it's the same thought process, it's the same step into your power and choosing and building selfishly around it. Um, I love what you said about like leaving room for the miraculous and there are some people who I know that leave things intentionally blank on their strategies. They're like, well, they're like, you are like, what's this page for? They're like, the Miracles. And it'll just be like, page 16 outta 25 is blank. And other people do it in their, in their schedule. They're like, if I, if I fill my schedule too much, there's no room for the miracles to show up.
Mm-hmm.
And I love these like really practical implementations of it to, to create that space. 'Cause I don't know a single entrepreneur. Who's thriving, whether it's like a for-profit, nonprofit, whatever it is, I don't know, a single one that doesn't rely on a spiritual component. To help like the buoyancy of what happens on a day-to-day business like level. And also leveling up. Like often starting with like the whisper or the tingle that we knew we were supposed to do something and like these golden nuggets that get left to be like, keep going, keep going. And I find it interesting, like women will talk about it a lot in the business space.
But men never talk about it.
No.
Never.
What is that about?
And you know what, and, and to be honest, most women don't talk about it either because it's not, it doesn't feel, it doesn't seem foolproof.
Yeah.
Right. It seems why would someone rely on faith to be their strategy, but why not?
I have had moments when. These things have happened to me. That's how I know that you have to leave space for it. I've had moments when a brand has called me and said, Hey Marty, I have a hundred thousand dollars. We need to give it to someone. We wanna give it to you. I've had that happen to me.
I can count on several times. I've had moments when I've never pitched a deal in an opportunity from someone seeing something that I did on LinkedIn and said, Hey, count me in for the next one. I have X amount of dollars for it. That wasn't part of my strategy going after that brand. They weren't on the docket, right?
Mm-hmm. But I left space. Right. Yeah. And I think that we have to realize that there's this thing around hustle and expectation. I don't, I don't know about you, but I don't wanna hustle for the rest of my life. I don't wanna hustle any day. But I do wanna expect it. Yeah. I do want to walk in expectation of what today is gonna bring and believe that it's po, that what I'm expecting is going to happen for me.
Right. Yeah. And so, um, I don't know why we don't talk about it enough. I talk, my last chapter of my book is, is called Surrender. This is the real secret sauce, and I go through these cha, this last chapter, and I talk about how if you don't leave space, if you don't create something higher than you.
Whatever it is that you wanna build, whether you're sitting in corporate, you're have a startup, or you got the next billion dollar idea, if you don't have something, is your guiding force in it. And sometimes they're guiding force and good, but people have forces. Right. And I'm not, I'm not a proponent of it, but I'm just saying, I believe that you, you have to have something higher than you.
And for me, that is God. God is my higher source and power, and I believe that we have to start talking about what he declares is for us. Is in ignited into our businesses. And that is a part of my strategy.
Well, and I think it's built into like what is, what we're attracted to and what we're drawn to.
And you know, like there's components of, whether it's your human design, your soul, whatever you wanna refer to it as. Like when we stop and actually listen to those things, like it's. It's the core, fundamental part of like how we double businesses in the work I do, like we're, we're doing less work because I agree with you, like the, we don't, hustle is not the answer to more, you know, hard work is, but hustle is different.
But when we can come back and bring it back to what your alignment is, your calling is what you know you're here to do. It's shocking to people like how things go away, doors open, other things happen, and that's just level one. What you're talking about in regards to the surrender and the expecting and being that magnet is it's, it's another level.
And this year I took on my word of the year as being a magnet, and I can tell you that every time I have tried to do something, the hustle way, the old way. Uh, I've gotten left at, and it's just been like you said you wanted to be a magnet. What are you doing? You said that there was gonna be a component of allowing things to come to you.
What are you doing that's so good?
Like it's quite frustrating.
But tell me more like through that practice of you, because I think that like, i'll give a simple example. We want people to like our posts more on social, right? But we don't like nobody else's posts on social. We want people to engage in our content, but we never engage in others. We want our family to show up for us, but we never show up for our family. I, I believe that when you exude what you want, you will get what you are giving back. If you exude meanness and crudeness and rudeness and all of the things, you better believe that's what you're gonna get back.
You know, every time I'm feeling stuck in my business, I. I have to like let it all put it all down on all on the table and be like, okay, who do I need to go and serve right now?
Because it can be checking on friends, it can be truly going out and volunteering. I'm like, I need to get out of this. Me, me, me, like my business, my business space, because it's not how I wanna be aligned in the first place. And there are moments when you get sucked into like the sprint, I'm sure when you were like. Getting the book done.
Yeah.
You're like, nothing else matters. Go.
Yes.
And you get stuck in the, and all of a sudden you hit that wall and you're like, oh, okay. I gotta come back to these other values that matter. And even just like leaving the house, like the number of times that a client will say to me like, why isn't my sales pipeline working? I'm like, have you left your house? Have you met people in real life? Have you gone to a conference yourself? And the simplest question, who have you called on the phone? Because email is never going to be. The solution to getting what you want.
Mm-hmm.
It can be a part of like, keeping things flowing.
Mm-hmm.
But if we think we can email our way into a million multimillion dollar business, we, we've read the wrong book.
Yeah.
Um, but there's, there's something about the movement, like yes. Networking, being with people, being in the room and mm-hmm. Also being in the rooms where. Making sure you're not like you're in rooms where you are.
The small fish, the big fish. Like mixing it up. Yes. Um. 'cause when you're in spaces like you and I are of leading communities and driving things, it can get really, I. Exhausting to hold space for everything.
Mm-hmm. And I know I have to keep coming back to, hold on, who are my peers? Who's inspiring me? Where, like, who, where do I need to go where I am not talking?
Because I talk all day long and too much. Mm-hmm. So like, that's how I have to re-pivot it, because if, if. Possibility and impact and purpose and ma like making the difference matters. Like how much am I actually doing that right now? Outside of like a, a, it it like, not that my coaching sessions or client work doesn't count, but it, that's like in, it's already in the train tracks. I need to bring it in from other places.
Yeah.
If that makes sense.
That's really good. That's really good.
Um, when you think of the words powerful and ladies. Do you define them differently when they're on their own versus next to each other?
Oh, never. Never. I grew up seeing a powerful lady, grandmother, right, who exuded like C and was prim and proper and delicate and soft and strong.
Right. And so I 1000%, uh, believe that they coexist with one another, right? And, um, I love women who are not afraid to take up space, but take up space in a manner that never belittles, always lifts and. Gives reasoning to rooms that she's in. I think that I tell, I was telling my husband this not so long ago, I'm like being a mom and owning a business feels like the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, period. And I go and kind of glean from who are some other moms that have done this? Right? Like, 'cause it almost feels like you have to choose.
Mm-hmm.
Right? Like one exists without the other. Right. And I am, I'm defining what that looks like on my own terms, right. In a manner in which my non-negotiables show up. And so some of my non-negotiables are. I don't have meetings on Fridays.
Mm-hmm.
Right. Um, so that I can be present. And Fridays are when we get cookies and ice cream after school. And like creating these moments where I'm not denying myself of what I was made and who I was made to be, but also still being present with my children in a manner that allows them to see me, right? And so when I think about powerful ladies, I, I think both exude to exist together. But I also think that we have to do a better job of showcasing it to the world in a way that it doesn't look perfect. And that's okay.
Yeah. Like it, it's a driving force for this entire podcast and community because there's.
So many women every day who are changing their, their family line, their, their community, their streets, their like, the, just keep going with the magnitudes. And we as a society are not honoring the small moments that are changing things. And women are doing them every day and usually doing a hundred of them.
And especially with the. Like the tone of the world right now, you see more and more women being like, okay, we're doing it anyway. Okay. Like, sure, now we'll take on 10 more things that we didn't think we'd have to take on. Okay. And women have been doing this for generations.
My god, 1000%. And I, they're, we're just getting the credit.
Yes. We've been breaking glass ceilings. We've been dominating the forces in boardrooms. They just never gave us the titles. Mm-hmm Women didn't just start this 10 years ago. I hate when people talk about the girl boss era and how it's dead and all of that. I'm like, but it was a alive before it had a coin.
It coined itself. Girl boss. Yeah. You, I think about the, the people who paved it before. Mm-hmm. Right. Um, women who changed the course of history. Yeah. The courage that they had to have and the recognition that they never got.
Well, even, you know, when you're talking about your family in Tennessee, like the courage that all the women in your family have had to have just for you to exist.
Yeah, like all of us, and I've been really loving watching Finding Your roots on PBS lately, because it brings me back to the struggles that every generation has gone through and how we've had to step into our courage and the magnificent things people have chosen to do despite whatever the circumstances were.
And when you look at, we get so shortsighted. And I do think that there's a little bit of a, an awakening happening, especially for women of this generation that, like I, I'm, I'm like grateful for how easy some things were. And how now? And then now it's like, oh, this, like we had women on from Kenya and Syria and Burma and Tanzania who are running NGOs on a special panel episode and they're being bombed.
They're having rights taken away and given back. Like you never know what's happening every day. Um, there's like, they're having to do things even though it's illegal to help people and support people, and. You just, they're like, I asked them, how do you do that? Like, how, what makes you keep going? They're like, well, what else would I do?
Exactly.
And I think that like, it was such, I needed that message because holding, uh. Being in charge of powerful ladies means people come to me when they start freaking out and I'm like, guys, I love that you think I have all the answers. I certainly do not.
Especially in the country and the messaging that we're receiving right now.
Yeah. In the time where, um, there are, you know, um, defunding. Opportunities that existed for women, for women-owned businesses, for women of color. Right? For marginalized communities, right? Yeah. All of that, right? Mm-hmm. It's like, will, it's illegal. Will, they're making it illegal. Like, do I still show up? You absolutely still show up.
Yes.
You absolutely still show up because you showing up isn't for you. It's for us. As a collective to create an equitable society where we all thrive.
Mm-hmm.
And we need more courage right now.
Yeah.
More than ever. And knowing that, and we don't need decisiveness, breaking us apart, saying that we don't belong together.
We belong with like-mindedness together. And it does not matter what you look like.
Yeah. And it doesn't matter who's in charge, like the, and
it definitely doesn't matter who's in charge because Oh, by the way, when we don't have to depend on who's in charge, then we take control over our own.
Yeah. And, and so many of the things that like. Women are wanting to slam their head against the wall because it's like, what? Now we have to deal with this too. Like we know that like if someone needs help, we help. We know that. Like I, I personally have never met anyone in all of the communities. All of the environments I've been in, I have never met someone who wanted to stay needing help.
People wanna be empowered. People want to be independent. People wanna make a contribution. And I feel like women see that more often. And there's, I'm so inspired lately by the women who are doing the work no matter what. Yeah. And there's, there's a. A naturalized citizen immigration attorney who has to keep a low profile right now because they're receiving letters about like you can be kicked out of the country too, for helping these people, which is so nonsense and not true, and not constitutional, but just sitting there doing the work anyway.
How many people can we like, I'm gonna help again with the laws that I have access to help with, and you can threaten me and we're gonna keep going anyway. And yeah, like when you talk about the extra courage that we have, what I think maybe we're using 10% a day.
Yeah.
What happens if we go to 20%? I don't know if that's a big lift, right?
Mm-hmm. Why not?
Yeah. I love that we ask everyone on the powerful ladies, um, where you put yourself on the powerful ladies scale. If zero is average everyday human and 10 is the most powerful lady you can imagine, where would you rank yourself today and on an average day?
Yeah. Well, let me tell you, this week has been a week. I've been in three cities and I've been in two states. I'm like, all right, your girl. I spoke at an, I did a keynote at an event last night. I woke up early this morning, got on flight, got back home. I did school uniforms, uh, to get ready for our first day of school. I, I'm feeling pretty balanced. And if I feel balanced, I'm feeling powerful.
It has nothing to do with the deals that I landed. It has everything to do with how my value showed up.
Mm-hmm.
Time freedom, financial freedom, time with my family. Community involvement, uh, influence. If I look back over this week, it all showed up.
That's a good week.
And, and, and that makes me feel pretty powerful. But on the days when it don't, right. And I, I'm not, I'm not showing up in my, or my values are not showing up core, right? Then that's when I don't feel powerful, right? When I let the day control me, when I didn't start my day with me in mind, right. When. I let the circumstances take control over me. That's when I don't, but the, the way I ground myself in that, is spending time with myself in the morning. I write my gratitude list out. I do all the things Angie taught us, right?
Yeah.
But then I do this one thing. I ask, God, God, what are you expecting from me today? And how can I show up and that expectation? And then I tell God, God, this is what I'm expecting from you. And that's when my most powerful self shows up.
And there, and there's something the, I think audacity's rewarded in those moments, right? Because whatever you believe in God, the universe, like they didn't, they wanna play, they want you at, they want this engagement, they want see you going for all the things and. I love that you can stand in a space and like tell God what you expect for the day and then be like, okay, I'm ready to play. Are you ready to play? Let's go.
Yep.
Because like how exciting like when, especially when you think about like a parent-child relationship in that way.
Mm-hmm.
When, when. You see like the engagement and like the hunger in their eyes. Like, Ooh, we're ready. Okay, let's go. Because you, you can engage with somebody at a different level.
Yep.
When they're showing up that way. And it's so interesting because I, I am willing to bet so many people have heard you talk about that and talk about being audacious and immediately think to themselves, how dare you tell God what to give you. And of course that speaks to like all the things in their world, but like how, how I could never.
Right. Um, but I like, but he, he says make his, our request known to him. That is biblical scripture. Right. And I also believe in what his promises says for me to have a cup that overflows to be a happy mother with children. Um, yeah. If he takes care of the lilies in the field, then why don't I think he can take care of me?
Yeah.
And so, um, and I also know that the enemy goes before me, before God about me every single day. So if I don't go and advocate for myself when the enemy is potting against me, then what disservice am I doing?
And, and what a great correlation for advocating in a corporate environment too, because there's always somebody who's gonna think like, oh, she is such a pain in my butt. Can we just get rid of her? Can we get her off the team? Like people who are playing small don't see the power of the game you're playing. And it, yeah, clearing that path for ourselves is, I, I, yeah. I hope everyone listening is taking that away in the biggest way possible.
Yep.
Final question for today.
Yeah.
This is a powerful, connected community. What is on your to-do list? Wishlist. Manifest list. What can we hold space for you for or help cause happen? Like what do you want?
Yes. Thank you for asking. Okay. So I have my book coming out. This is my book cover. It's called Audacious. It is. I love the design. It's like, here we go. It's upside down because. To be audacious takes flow. It's up. It's down. It's movement to it, right? But I am believing and expecting to be a New York Times bestseller. And here's why. It has nothing to do with me just being on the bestseller list, but it has everything to do with my values and how my values show up, right?
I believe that this book impacts community. Community is one of my values and influence, right? But I also believe that this leads to financial freedom, freedom for my family, right? And so. I am, I am believing to be honored in this season of sharing a compilation of the last seven years of building Boss Women Media and l Olivia of my space sitting in corporate America.
And lessons that I learned my childhood and how it, um, crafted me as the person to believe and not to believe in the most. Audacious ways. Um, and I believe that this is a love letter to the next person who believes that it is possible for them. And, um, and so I would love everyone to hold space and to believe and unite with me for New York Times bestseller, which basically means I need listeners to go pre-order this book on specifically Barnes and Noble.
Okay. Um, and, and let the world know that Audacious is coming out October the 14th. Um, and I'll go on a I'll, I'll be on a six City book tour for it, so if it shows up in your city, please come support. We're doing Chicago, dc, Charlotte, Dallas, and New York. And, um, I'm really excited for it to, to transform the way people see what's possible.
Because like I said, audacity belongs to all of us and it doesn't discriminate. Audacity doesn't discriminate, and it's for all of us to take if we want to have it.
Yes, please. Uh, so for everyone who is obsessed with you, wants to be in your groups, wants they buy the book, all the things, where can they find support and follow you?
Yes, you can follow me on Instagram, Marty McDonald, just like the restaurant. You can can head over to our website, boss women.org to find out all the things. Slash audacious is how you can sign up for the email list for the book.
Amazing. Well, thank you so much for being a yes to me and to this community of powerful ladies. Thank you for the work you're doing and how you are lifting up so many other women. And of course the young girls with, I'm obsessed with all the cheetah print colorways. Like, I'm so glad that you are also making adult sizes. I was like, thank you, thank you. Yes. Um, but just, yeah, thank you for who you're being. It, it gives me peace of mind that you are. Working your butt off to create these spaces in your corner so that the rest of us can own our corners and know like, all right, we've got her over there. Cool. We can all hold hands and make sure that this change is happening. Thank you.
Oh, thank you so much. It was such a pleasure to be connected and in space with you. Thank you for the work that you're doing. I am cheering for for you.
Thanks for listening to The Powerful Ladies Podcast. If you enjoyed this conversation, please subscribe. Leave us a review or share it with a friend. Head to the powerful ladies.com. We can find all the links To connect with today's guest show notes, discover like episodes, enjoy bonus content and more.
We'll be back next week with a brand new episode and new amazing guest. Make sure you're following us on Instagram or Substack at Powerful ladies. To get the first preview of next week's episode, you can find me and all my socials@karaduffy.com. This is a Powerful Ladies production produced by Jordan Duffy and Amanda Kass.
Until then, I hope you're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
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Instagram: @martytmcdonald
Website: www.bosswomen.org
LinkedIn: martymcdonaldmba
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
