Amy Ries Shares the Journey of How to Find Purpose & Authenticity for You and Your Team

Pamela Bardhi
Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of underdog today I have an incredible guest here with me, Amy, how are you, my friend?

Amy Ries
I am wonderful. How are you today? I’m so excited to be here.

Pamela Bardhi
So excited to have you. Your energy is infectious. You are such a boss lady, and I love it so much. And I’m so excited to hear your journey today. So thank you again for being here, Amy. I always start with my favorite question, which is what inspired you on your journey toward where you are today?

Amy Ries
That one’s pretty easy for me, I was blessed with three daughters. And they for sure are my biggest inspiration. They didn’t come easy just in the terms of you know, get keeping it real years of fertility and then I surprise identical twins. So lots of fun during those years. But the truth is, I was blessed with three beautiful daughters and feel a tonne of personal responsibility not only as their mother but as their female role model. I’m who they have to demonstrate what is it like, to be a working woman? What’s it like to keep trying to keep a family of flow? To chase your passion and follow your dreams. And for me, really the main reason that I am where I am today and why I did have such the big career switch I had.

Because for years I spent time telling my daughters how to trust their instincts and go with their gut and prioritize their happiness and money isn’t everything and do what you love. I would look in the mirror. At one point, I just looked at myself and I said you are such a fraud, you are telling these girls, all everything right out of the book. And yet your actions are speaking much louder than your words. And it was a little bit of a slap in my own face and saying, What are they learning? Because we all know, they’re looking at my actions.

And it wasn’t, it was a real hard look at myself to say this isn’t the role model I want to be. Because I have three amazing women behind me that are going to come up and change the world and I need to be doing it right. So they know how to do it. So by far, they’re my biggest inspiration, reality check. Like when I go off course I’m like, because I know they’re always watching.

Pamela Bardhi
I love that. I love that Amy and like so as a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Amy Ries
Oh, gosh, I wanted to be Julie from The Love Boat, literally is what I wanted to be I grew up in a very small town. You know, three 4000 people, everybody knew everybody. Everybody was in each other’s business type of environment. And I think even at a very early age, I knew I need to get out. I need to see the world, I need to go bigger and get more just people and energy in my life. And I would literally my mom would watch The Love Boat.

And here was Julie the cruise director dress super cute, traveling all over the world in the sunshine and with her clipboard. She ran the whole show. I was like I don’t even know what she’s doing. But she’s the boss I want to be, that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to travel all over the world and look at you doing it and I’m just going to be in charge of all of these people. And literally as a young child, that’s what never had set foot on a cruise or anything like that. But I was like that energy, that space is you know what I’m going to be when I grew up.

Pamela Bardhi
I love that. So who was a big inspiration to you growing up like work, it can be more than one influence and realm. But yeah, what was the big source of inspiration for you growing up?

Amy Ries
You know, I think my dad so my parents didn’t go to college, my mom went to nursing school, my dad was in the Navy. And so it’s funny because my grandparents literally lived like houses away from where I grew up both sets of grandparents. So within this very few blocks was my house and both sets of grandparents’ house and aunts uncles house was a very small community. And my dad even though we all still live there, he was the one that went into the Navy.

So we had all these things around our house from when he went to Africa for the first time or went to Asia for the first time. You know, different just trinkets and whatnot. He would have stories and tell different things about who he met and what he did and what he saw. And I loved that. I knew I wanted to travel and get out there. There is such a big wide world that I wanted to see from a very young age that I was just really itching to do that. And I think a lot of it was my dad and really the stories and the excitement that he brought about it into our household.

Pamela Bardhi
Your daddy’s girl just like me.

Amy Ries
Yes. Yeah. Fill in fill out. Love.

Pamela Bardhi
I know save saves. You can’t get away from that. I love that so much. Wow. So in your career, how did it start? So after high school, walk me through what the career path looks like for you? Because you mentioned a little bit with your daughters, it sounds like you were in the corporate world for a little bit.

Amy Ries
Yes. I went to Penn State for undergrad, I needed to go to college and Pennsylvania. That’s where I grew up. And so I found the biggest school that there was, which was Penn State, and it’s 60,000 students. First time I visited, I was like, yep, this looks like the place for me. I love Penn State been there well, and really started right out of undergrad at Johnson and Johnson and stayed there. Went to business school at Villanova stayed through, with the Johnson and Johnson company for 16 years. So I was there a really long time, I was blessed in that at the time, especially the organization. And likely still is very mobile with their talent. So you were able to do jobs for two years, and then switch teams and switch departments and get different exposure to what you want.

And even then I knew I wasn’t a stay in one job forever type of person. So really took that opportunity to every two, three years, very intentionally explore different areas of the company. From operations to their international business through sales, most of the time in sales, through trade marketing. Really feeling out and learning how a business is run and the different start to finish of launching new products and bringing them to market, etc. So I spent the vast majority of my career there, I say, all the time, I grew up there. And some of my closest friends are still from there that I met those years.

It got to a point where nothing happened, there wasn’t a big event that sort of flipped the switch for me. I started to get those feelings of there’s a very real chance, if I don’t do something soon, I’m going to end up retiring here. Not that there’s nothing wrong with that for the people that do that. But I never saw myself as staying in one company my entire career, that seems ludicrous to me. Yet I was there. It was I was on the fringe of it feels like it might be around that time. And I was starting to have much less patience with the corporate politics and the corporate BS than I had a few years earlier. And it spent like it was also around the time when the safety of being incorporated was really starting to diminish.

There is no safety anywhere you could be let go at any time by anyone. And so I was approached about a startup opportunity and enter with an international business out of Canada and decided to go for it. So I left j&j, the comfort of multi 100,000 plus employees, and became employee five, at an international Canadian startup. And I thought many days, I was super excited. Some days, I thought I lost my mind, pretty much everyone I knew thought I lost my mind. But I needed to do something else, I needed to see what else is out there. I needed to see what it was like, even though I’ve done it on a large scale.

I wanted to get more in the weeds and more in the dirt and have that ownership for something real. And so switched made that big switch from a very large multinational to a very, very, very, very small, international startup. Which was really a huge turning point in my career, especially now when I look back at it.

Pamela Bardhi
That’s incredible. I’m gonna ask you the golden handcuffs question, which is what was the final push that you were like, Alright, I’m out. It’s like a thought process. And all of that reason I asked this because I know that there’s a lot of listeners listening right now that could potentially be at the precipice of do I go here. Or do I go there, because I feel like what’s happening with COVID is just making everyone reevaluate their entire existence? And so it’s not just even about money anymore. People are driving more towards purpose. So for you what was like the deciding factor that you were just like, Okay, I’m out of j&j. Like my comfortable, secure job, and go here.

Amy Ries
You know, it’s funny, because when I think back, I have many, many clients who are in the exact situation that you’re describing. Who are at that point of reevaluation, you know, I think in some ways, I would be lying if I said, I had this great epiphany. Now when I look back, it’s very easy for me to see but at the time, I was approached about another opportunity and I had been sent product to evaluate, I remember. And was got this big box at my house because I said to them before I even talk to them. I said if I don’t believe in this I’m not coming like I don’t care what you offer me the title salary.

I’ve been in the beauty industry for years, and they sent me the products. And I started to use them and use them on my kids. It worked really, really well. And I report it back and give all my thoughts and my feedback. It was immediately overnight, they were ready to take action, not only bringing me on but putting into place and implementing the ideas and suggestions I had. I realized the speed of business, which that smaller business moves versus coming from a place where if you want to make a change on anything, it’s like you’re steering the Titanic. You better get your six to nine months ready.

And the pace and the energy, honestly, it was a little bit of a poll, it was less of I’m walking away from this and more of that’s the energy I want. I want the speed, I want the quick decision making. We decided today, we do it tomorrow and have the impact and the implementation. And so for me making that switch, it wasn’t like I said, it wasn’t this huge negative thing. It was more realization of where I fit and am going to be happy. Don’t get me wrong. I say this all the time, JJ was an amazing place. Still, I work with people there all the time now.

But for me, I was at that point in my career where my patience was thin, I had it with the slow pace, I had it with the corporate PS, I was spending too much time managing up down sideways. All this and not enough time contributing, making a difference moving things forward. I like to work I like to contribute. I like to grow businesses and help people and build teams. And all of that stuff was just so slowed down and just heavy and not where my attention was that I was a little bit like I was drawn to the light at the time. Like I wanted to go where that was and whether or not I was 100% clear and why I was doing what I was doing. All I know is I felt that it was the right place.

For me. It felt more true to who I was, it felt more true to the speed with which I work. It felt more true to the impact I wanted to have at that moment in my life. And I leaned into me, you know, I said, I’ve got to trust this worst case. God bless my husband who I would be lying if I didn’t say he wasn’t a huge part of all this. Who said so you do this. And it’s the worst. It’s the worst, pretend it’s the worst decision you ever made protect. You still have a resume with 16 years of high-level executive j&j experience, you could go work wherever you want. I was like, You know what? You’re right.

So it helped hearing it from someone else help take some of that fear away and allowed me to believe in where I was. And trust what I was after, and trust what I wanted to chase. So it was a little bit of a combination of both. But it was truly nothing that necessarily JJ did wrong. As much as I decided, rather than stay on, it felt a little bit like I was on those moving in the airport. Those moving walkways, just going right along and yours became decades become 16 years. And it was like if I’m not the one to take the step off, where’s that going to come from? So that was really for me. It was a bit of a shift in how I saw what I wanted to be contributing at that point.

Pamela Bardhi
I love that. And then so from there, you went on to basically start your own business.

Amy Ries
Yeah, so I stayed in the startup world for about four years, I worked here for a year remote, I actually relocated to Halifax, Nova Scotia, me and my husband, my three daughters. It was supposed to be a year it ended up being two years and then came back and worked here remote again, which was really very challenging. The timing in Canada was great. The whole team was up there had a huge staff, we were in the US, Canada, and Europe, it was great. But for me, personally, I needed to come back to the States. And the truth is the role I was in needed to be in Canada.

This was a time when I was trying to work remotely. In a time when there was no zoom. There were no teams. It was old school phone. We were not using Google Docs, like any of this. And so I have such empathy for people now who struggle with working remotely. Because there was a good year where I felt every minute I was behind the eight ball. Every minute, I wasn’t up to speed. Every minute I was missing the conversations. I went to bed feeling behind I woke up feeling behind yet I was working 70 plus hours a week. Never seeing my kids, freaking out on my husband, was a really tough year for me. And it got to the point where I said, I was around 40 at the time and said, this is not the life I want to be living.

And it doesn’t matter that my title starts with the letter C and it doesn’t matter that it’s the biggest paycheck I’ve ever received. It doesn’t matter that I’m flying on private jets because this life the person I am is not the person I want to be. And had it really come to Jesus moment with what am I going to do here because I have young children and I love to work, I love to contribute. I cannot and I will not do this for 20 more years, I just won’t. So, after many, many conversations, a lot of support for my husband, and really a lot of work with myself, I made the decision that I was gonna leave the corporate world. It was the longest breakup in history, it didn’t happen overnight.

You know, I tell people all the time that I coach, who do leave the corporate world, you know, there’s a way to do it, right. And then there’s the way I did it, which was probably wrong. But now I’m so much wiser I can help you all. It took about a year where I was just doing different contract work and decided this year, I’m going to figure out what I’m going to do for the rest of my life. And fortunately, we were, you know, smart with finances.

We said this is too big of a change too big of a pivotal moment in my life that I want to jump from the frying pan to the fire. And I will say that was really hard to resist because I got a lot of job offers that were very similar to what I was doing. I was like, you know, wait a second if I don’t want to work 70 hours a week anymore. And there’s no amount of money that can compensate for my stress level and my lack. Like I haven’t seen friends in months, you know, I’m not just taking your other job for the sake of taking another job. But that is a very hard thing to do. Believe me, there are many arguments about that with myself.

But I didn’t, I committed to figuring out me and figuring out who Amy was at 40. Because Amy at 20 is the Amy that said, I’m gonna get married, I’m gonna have three kids, I’m gonna work in the corporate world, I’m gonna be super, super successful. I’m gonna have a C title and life’s gonna be grand. And by all intents and purposes, I did that, except for the last part because life wasn’t grand life was miserable. And I didn’t factor that into the equation. I thought I had it all figured out at 20. So Amy at 40 says, All right, you would everything you’ve believed in your life. Everything you’ve been told by people you trust and admire, admire and respect up until now, not that they’ve been wrong. But it hasn’t turned out as you planned.

So we’re going to get intentional about what comes next. And for almost a year, that’s what I did, I literally spent a year doing things strictly for pleasure. I myself when I’m multiple retreats, I myself got a coach, I myself started coaching All-Star cheerleading, which is a huge passion of mine. I started learning to horseback ride, I had my first summer off since the age of 13. That was the best summer ever, I was got to start to shed some of the heaviness of my previous sort of corporate being weighed down.

And really started I got much more spiritual as an individual much more in touch with myself much more trusting of my intuition. And realize through that process that while there were things about the corporate environment. That I didn’t necessarily want to go back to, particularly around the politics and some of that. I had always been blessed with amazing teams. I’ve always been blessed leading with people in particular leading women. It was the last company I worked at was 90%, female, even a j&j, I worked with a tremendous amount of over-index and female teams.

I started the Women’s Leadership Initiative at j&j, I’ve been blessed with three daughters. It took me a hot minute to take a step back and say, Oh, my God, like the universe is banging me over the head, like you’re meant to leave women. And you need to figure out how you’re going to do that. And so that’s what I did, I decided that’s what I love. It’s what I’ve always loved. It’s probably why I used to work 70 hours a week. Because I’d spend 50 of it caring about my team and my people and getting them on course.

And then the rest of the time trying to catch up on my own stuff. So that’s why I decided I wanted to move into the coaching space. Continue to work with executives continue work with the people who were where I was. And help them so that they don’t get to the point that I was at. So I went back and on top of my, MBA got a two-year coaching certification. That’s what I do now. So now I do executive coaching and specialize in retreats. It’s been a super fun journey, and super rewarding. I would never have imagined being here, but I’m so happy I ended up here.

Pamela Bardhi
That’s so amazing. I love the journey and your process and your growth throughout it too, which is so beautiful, and awesome. And it’s just, it’s so inspiring. It truly is, you know, to follow your path, but still be genuine and authentic to who you are. You know what I mean? Like you didn’t stray far from the corporate world. Like you’re still helping them exactly where your heart was before. It’s just you kind of did it and reframed it in a different way. Which I really love because some people are so fearful of jumping into something that they don’t know. Or like getting into another business or like any of that. But you had a way to incorporate it all together, which encompass it all together, which is so cool.

Amy Ries
Thank you and it wasn’t that clear at the time. You know, and I say that because For people who are going through this process. And I see it all the time, I talk to them all the time Hindsight is 2020. Believe me, when I was in it, it was not as clear as it is looking back now. You took the help of other people, it’s why we struggle writing our own resumes. It’s very hard, you can be the most objective person to anyone on the planet. I don’t care who you are, it is almost impossible to do it accurately to yourself. It just is, you know, we under index on what we’re good at. We over-index on what we’re bad at, you know, it’s very hard to do. So I did have help along the way.

And I say that for anyone who’s serious about making any type of big change like this going it alone. It’s one of the scariest things that you can do. It’s not that you might not get there, because you may, but it’s going to take a lot longer, it’s going to be filled with a lot more fear and doubt. And it’s just going to speed the process along if you have support in that. Because you really need that these are not things that we’re ever taught how to do. You know no one teaches you how to pivot in your career and your 40s. Nobody teaches you that you just to find people that you can get support. I also say this, too, I love me, my family, and friends, but they are not it. You know, they are not it.

They mean well, but they will always default to a protection mode of you, right. And when you’re in the midst of change, when you’re in the midst of big pivots and things you really need to listen to people who are much more objective. That’s where you’re going to get the confidence. That’s where you’re going to get the real insight because love some family and friends. But any fear and insecurity they ever had are going to be inadvertently projected on you. So it’s just a watch out because sometimes those people we go to for that. Not that they don’t mean well. It’s just they haven’t been where you are. So just I always say you got to watch out. You got to watch out for that.

Pamela Bardhi
First. Sure. And so like what advice would you give for someone who’s on the brink of transition, that is seeking that clarity. Because like you said, hindsight is 2020. But at this point in time when you’re looking to pivot and you’re just like, I’m so sick of x, what would be your advice.

Amy Ries
My biggest advice is you have to find a way to reconnect with you. And I truly believe we all have the answer inside us. As hokey as that probably sounds coming out of my mouth. But I do you just have to find a way to get in touch with the woman or the man or the person you are today. And for everyone that might look a little bit different whether they do it with the help of a coach or retreat or spiritual person, or they choose to go with their own. Sometimes we freeze ourselves in this picture or this mindset when we were in our early 20s. We don’t realize that we’ve lived since then we’ve grown we’ve experienced, we’ve learned we’re not the person we were then.

We are and it’s about if you’re on you know precipice of something new, who are you today, really. And you have to find that person, any sentence in that process that starts with I should, like send off the sirens. If the word should come up at any point in this process that whatever follows is not the answer. Because it when you’re making those types of big changes. There’s no more should because opinions and thoughts and beliefs put on us from other people and other sources. Now it’s about what do I believe to be true? What do I want, what’s gonna make me happy, and that finding that within is so important.

And truly, it’s the only way you’re going to get the confidence to move forward in whatever action you choose. If you can’t rely on yourself and know that that decision is the right one within, it’s not going to work. It’s just not because there will be hard days and you need to know that you can your guiding principles yourself. And your guiding light yourself and you’re able to figure it out there the process of how to do that can vary. But at the end of the day, that’s what it’s about. It’s about really getting in touch with who you are today, and what that person wants.

Pamela Bardhi
I love that. Amy, I love that. And I love that you mentioned so in your business that you also added retreats into the mix, which is super cool. So walk me a little bit through like your business evolution because again, you were starting up an entrepreneur.

Amy Ries
So it’s funny because I didn’t actually add them in believer and I started with retreats whole three months before COVID. So you know, you always have to twist and pivot. But the reason that I feel so strongly about retreat tonight and I did start there. Because when I was thinking back about when I myself was in the thick of it. We were in the thick of working crazy hours and trying to keep my family in order. And trying to have a relationship with my husband and if someone came to me and said, Okay, Amy, you’re going to get this amazing coach. They’re the best coach in the world and they’re going to help you solve all your problems. I don’t care who this person was. That would have sounded to me like another thing on my to-do list.

I spend all day trying to get stuff off my to-do list. And I’m like, the last thing I need is someone coming in here giving me more stuff to do to put on my to-do list. That’s the truth. That’s how I would have responded. So when I was in that year and took that time off. When I went away on retreat, I left my house, I left my husband, I left my kids, I left my job, I left my cell phone, I left the laundry, I left all the things. And I went to another geographical location. The only thing I had to focus on was me, it was life-changing.

Every big for me personally awakening, Aha I had was on retreat, it was when I was able to quiet all those other distractions and noise. And truly guiltlessly, focus on myself look inward, I had to, you know, with the guidance of great retreat leaders. It was when all of my major breakthroughs happened. And it was all when the ball really started rolling and connecting. I thought this is what these women need. Because then when I came back from retreat, that’s when I picked up a coach.

And I was like, this is the best model ever. Because then I was in a completely different mindset, I was in a completely different space, I was 250% in. I saw the future, I was excited about where I was headed, and this person was going to help me get there. It would not for me, would not have worked the other way around, or maybe it would have been not as effective. So I find, you know, all of the women who come on my retreats, every single one of them. I don’t have time to get away, I can’t get away, I can’t leave my job, I can’t leave my this.

Then they finally do. And they’re like their hairs blown back. Because they’re like, I had no idea how much I needed this how much I needed to step away from all of it. I’m not talking for two weeks, I’m talking three nights, four days like it doesn’t take long. But it’s enough time that you’re truly able to leave all those other responsibilities and pressures and listen to the side and focus on Word. And that’s where, you know, that’s where the shift, that’s where the aha, that’s where the awakening comes from. So that’s what I wanted to give women. I wanted to give women that experience that luxury that you know, something they don’t get to do.

And so my company actually is called retreat by Amy because of that, that’s how strongly I believe in that. And then when the pandemic hit quite a few months later, that added a twist, I didn’t see coming. But that’s okay, is when I really started getting more into one on one coaching. But even with my coaching, I do private retreats. So every one of my one-on-one clients, the first thing we do is go away for an overnight. It doesn’t have to be far if we’re geographically close, we just driving distance.

It doesn’t have to be somewhere out west or wherever, some exotic location, it just has to be somewhere where they can truly disconnect. Where we can truly go look face to face, eye to eye, heart to heart, go deep, get it all out, get where we’re going together, get on the same page. So that the next few months of our coaching together are that much more transformational. So it’s a little bit you know, as us all with COVID have had a pivot a bit. I do still do group cheats, they are fewer and far between because of the environment we’re in. But even with my one-on-one, private retreats are a huge part of my business now.

What Would Amy’s Older Self Tell Her Younger Self

Pamela Bardhi
That’s incredible. Amy, I love that I love that you started with that is it rude cheats, I’ve changed my life since I was a kid. I remember I went to I was on spiritual retreats since I was in high school. And I remember the first one that I went internationally, I went to Dr. Dominican Republic and we built houses. We saw poverty at the highest level and it makes you just appreciate life so much more. And then we’re getting into like at nighttime doing journaling about ourselves and our feelings and emotions. So it’s like they were teaching us through those retreats, emotional intelligence at such a young age.

And I give a lot of credit, the retreats literally are life-changing transformations when you pull yourself out of a physical environment and jump into that I can speak to that 100%. Because it really I mean and that did it for me in my teenage years. And I think that’s the reason why I’ve been able to come out so strong in business. Because I built the foundation myself started at a young age. What I mean working on that so it’s amazing to hear the transformation that you’ve seen on your level as well as clients. You yourself personally and then your clients are really amazing.

And I’m sure you’ve seen a lot with your transitions of other people and your clients going through your process and then your own process. So my favorite question which I love, love, love, love to ask is, what would your older self tell your younger self based on what you know now, and it could be anything whatever you’re pulled to.

Amy Ries
I think I would tell myself first of all, never stop trusting your gut. As a kid and there’s so distinct memories I have of times when I knew things before, I should know. As a little kid, you just brush sort of that stuff off. And I always had a very strong intuition, very strong guiding in turtle system for a lot of years I lost it. I don’t think I lost it as much as I didn’t listen to it. And I didn’t trust it and I moved out of my body a little bit and into my head. When I did the shoulds. Did you know the other things that I thought were right at the time, and I got away from trusting what I know?

And every right decision I’ve made in my life has been one that I’ve trusted my gut with 100%. So I would for sure, remind myself that that’s not just, that’s something special. You know, it’s something I tell my kids all the time. It’s something I tell my kids I coach on cheer, it’s so core and central to who we are. And if we can stay in touch with that intuition part of ourselves, we’re all going to be alright. Because that knows the path we’re all supposed to be on. So when those times and you just feel like I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do. You do.

There’s just a lot of things clouding it right now. And so I think I would have been more deliberate about staying more in touch with the truth of who Amy is believed to be true, for sure. That is the word should, I wish I knew earlier on that when you’re really trying to make big decisions in life. If any of those decisions, any of those options have the word should in them. That’s the wrong one. And it’s literally as simple as that sometimes like, or eat, maybe it’s not the wrong one.

But it’s at least worth pausing and really thinking about it, and really saying, Do I feel this way? Or is this something that’s been impressed upon me from wherever? So I think now it’s funny when I hear people say it, like, in my mind, it’s like, turns red, like your Word of the word, it changes colors in my head. That’s what happened. I wish that happened sooner. You know, I wish I was more in tune with those certain keywords that you have clues of, this isn’t really what I want. Similarly to trusting your gut.

Pamela Bardhi
I love that. Thank you so much for sharing that. And now like in your world, what’s up in like, the next six to 12 months? What’s 2022? Looking like for you?

Amy Ries
Yeah, so 2022, I’m really excited about 2022, I have to say, I actually have a retreat every January, I do a new year’s retreat. So that’s next week. So right around the corner. And I love that because you know, I’m not a resolution person. But I do believe that it’s a great time of year and great energy this time year to pause and reevaluate. And that’s what it’s about. That’s what you know if you’re still living a life based on decisions you made 10 20 30 years ago. You need to pause and reflect because you are we’re all changing the world’s changing.

And I love that in January. So I do always love my January retreat. But I think the biggest thing for me this year is by the time my clients come to me. They’re pretty far down the path of I want something different. Not all of them. But I would say 80%, right, they’re either ready to make a move, try something new, chase their passion. Figure out what they want to be when they grow up at whatever age. And I had spent a lot of time thinking this past year. You know, I almost wish I could get to them before they found me, you know what I mean? I want to make a bigger impact further upstream.

So what I am doing this year as I’m transitioning, when I left the corporate world in my mind there was like this image of me. With like blazing fire in the background like I’m never going back, celebrate something like that. And maybe time heals all wounds in some ways because now I find myself for 2022. Starting to work with corporations and starting to work with companies. Helping their employees specifically remote teams, specifically high potential leaders, specifically regrettable loss individuals, specifically C suite and very high executives. Help them figure out really work-life alignment so that they don’t end up calling me after looking on.

So you know, I want to continue to help women help men help individuals figure out what’s going to make them enjoy Sunday night and Monday morning. Nobody wants to feel that pit in their stomach on Sunday night and it really only comes when your work and your life are in alignment. I have found that to be truth hands down. When those two are in alignment. It doesn’t matter if it’s Sunday night or Tuesday night or Saturday morning. You’re feeling good and that’s what I want everybody to find and I so for me this year. It’s about I will continue to have my you know, one on one clients for sure.

But I am now working with corporations on moving in-house holding retreats for team. You know, remote teams who never see each other and have never met face to face, bringing them together for two, three days. And not only setting goals and business planning, but really connecting. Really bringing their authentic self getting to know each other and bonding on closer levels. So that it’s transformational when they go back to their Zoom screen. So really bringing together leaders of different industries for offsites. Maybe some retreats are teams as a whole in one unit, other retreats or individuals from a similar industry.

But coming together, getting out from their computer screen, finding that time to really connect with themselves. Getting their work and life in alignment, and then going back to the office refreshed. Recharged and ready to make a bigger impact on their team and their organization. So for me, that’s really the big shift this year is to start to layer in the corporate work to hopefully make a bigger impact sooner. So that I can help with some of the retention issues and some of the cultural issues. And helping these managers figure out how the heck I lead in a remote environment. Nobody’s taught us how to do that.

But I can tell you, I have years of experience of people telling me all the things that were wrong. And all those and I myself had tried to do it years ago and have figured out along the way. What people really want and what people really need and I want to share that back. I want to share that back inside corporations and help them figure it out sooner.

Pamela Bardhi
I love that you are such a rockstar and I just love your journey and everything in general. Now you gotta let everyone know where to find you and your awesomeness.

Amy Ries
Yeah, so you can find me on LinkedIn at Amy Ries. You can find me on Instagram @retreatbyamyries. And you can find me on my website at retreatbyamyries.com.

Pamela Bardhi
You are such a rockstar Amy. It’s such an honor to have you here today. Thank you for sharing your story, your insight, your awesomeness, and all of that.

Amy Ries
Thank you. I’ve loved it. I love chatting with you. You’re just an awesome person yourself. So super excited to be here. Thank you.