If I could only use one word to describe Angie Gray it would be PASSIONATE. She is passionate about the senior living industry. She is passionate about nurses. She is passionate about authenticity, and showing up with love, and also speaking truth to power. She is passionate about pretty much anything she chooses to pour herself into.

The founder of High Performance Nursing (https://www.highperformancenursing.com/), Angie blends her own story with the lived experiences of other nurse leaders to help them to thrive - not just professionally but also personally.

A fervent and outspoken leader herself, she encourages others to speak up about toxic workplaces and cultures and to take control of their environments. She to "rediscover your purpose, enhance your well-being, and forge authentic connections."

In this episode, Angie and I discussed many of the factors contributing to managing (and supporting) the workforce in senior living.

We talked about "Head and Heart" leadership, our experiences at the Think Tank event (www.thinktankleadership.com), how/why she created her business, the importance of the leader's mindset, and SO much more.

Connect with Angie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angie-gray-high-performance-nursing/

Kim Kaupe is a self-described "accidental entrepreneur" who has built a crystal clear personal brand as someone who helps other leaders to thrive. Her opening statement on her website boldly reads, "I help leaders become public-facing powerhouses.*" The asterisk states "I've done it & I want you to join me."

Kim is also an educator, a podcaster, speaker, LinkedIn instructor and formidable business leader. I had the great privilege of working with Kim at the 2024 Think Tank event we hosted in San Antonio, where she delivered an impactful session on storytelling through LinkedIn.

In our episode, Kim and I talked about all things related to building and growing your personal brand. A few of the topics in our episode:

• What is a brand and why invest in your personal brand?
• Leaving breadcrumbs and being explicit about "What's Next?"
• Her K.N.O.W. framework for telling your story
• Using bread-crumb trails in introductions
• The value of creating content on LinkedIn

Kim also walked me through some tips and advice for how to start with baby steps, copy people’s homework, and find someone to hold your hand toward new goals. For me, the next frontier in personal brand is my nervous trepidation of getting started with LinkedIn Live. Kim offers great advice and encouragement on how to get started.

You can connect with Kim in several ways, and I’ve linked a few of them below.

Live on LinkedIn every Wednesday at 1:00 pm est: getcoffeewithkim.com [calendar invitation]

Her website: kimkaupe.com

All social media channels: @kimkaupe
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimkaupe/

Elaina Davis is the Chief Community Officer in her new role (at the time of this recording) at a senior living consulting firm, primarily serving the Richmond, VA market.

In this special episode of Level Up Leadership Podcast, I had the opportunity to get into the coach's seat with Elaina in the learner's seat.

We reflected on Elaina's learning journey of where and how she learned the skills to equip her to lead others today. More simply, how we do acquire the skills to make the transition from an individual performer into a leader of others who perform?

Few organizations have formal or informal coaching structures to teach, mentor, and grow people beyond a "supervisory" or "task completion" de facto management relationship.

In this episode, Elaina and I dug into areas such as:

• Evaluating one's own strengths
• Having the right environment that is conducive to your learning and development
• An insight that our weaknesses are actually our strengths overdone
• The concept of aligning strengths to job responsibilities and outsourcing or delegating those responsibilities we're not well suited to execute
• The value of focusing on strengths more than we focus on our weaknesses

We delved into many universal themes of self-growth and strengths and weaknesses, and we hope that you take your own nuggets of wisdom away from our conversation together.