Craving Clarity: Seeing Greater Purpose in the New Era of She Leads and Women’s Entrepreneurship

00:00:00 Adrienne Garland: Leadership isn't just changing. It's evolving in ways we're only just beginning to imagine. And women, we're not playing this game anymore. We're the ones reshaping the entire field, building models, movements, and businesses that serve more than just a few. On the She Leads podcast, you'll hear real conversations with women who've broken through all kinds of barriers—revenue, identity, borders, and expectations. There's no sugar coating here, just the truth told by those who are living it. I'm Adrienne Garland, entrepreneur, strategist, educator, and creator of live experiences, gathering women leaders together for over a decade. And this is the She Leads podcast.

00:01:05 Adrienne Garland: Hi everybody and welcome back to the She Leads podcast. Happy 2026. I am just sort of waiting right now to interview a guest, my first guest of 2026. And I think that we have to reschedule. So, I figured, you know what? Let's continue with this little streak that I have going on.

00:01:28 Adrienne Garland: I had a little bit of an issue this morning getting some of my equipment set up. So, I was a little bit late and I think that that affected the start time for my guest. So, all good. All good. We are entrepreneurs over here and we roll with the changing times.

00:01:48 Adrienne Garland: So I am sporting some brand new glasses for 2026. My eyesight declined a tiny bit and so I needed to get glasses to see things more clearly. And what a theme for 2026, right? To be able to actually see things more clearly. I would like to bring that into my life in 2026. So, I think that I'm going to jump on the trend that so many people are on and my word for 2026, I think, is going to be clarity.

00:02:22 Adrienne Garland: Now, I usually am pretty clear about what I do and why I do it, and I still very much am. But I think that the important thing for me for this year is to get even more clear. Get even more clear on what my purpose is, what we are here to do at She Leads Media and the way in which we do that.

00:02:48 Adrienne Garland: So for the last 11 years, we have been serving women entrepreneurs, whether you're thinking about being an entrepreneur, whether you are just starting out, and we also have attracted many women entrepreneurs that have multi-million dollar businesses and they are looking to connect with women that are in the She Leads audience. Oftentimes they offer services for women-owned businesses that are growing and scaling as well.

00:03:20 Adrienne Garland: Now I love all of it. I love all of it. I really, really love helping people to get clarity on their businesses, their business models, who they serve. You know, who their ideal client is. It's what I teach in depth in my entrepreneurship classes. It is the thing that I guess lights the light bulb in students, whether that's graduate students or undergraduate students, really understanding who it is that we are building a company for, who we are looking to speak to, who we are looking to entice to come into our realm.

00:04:02 Adrienne Garland: That is certainly one of the most important aspects of starting a business, growing a business, and continuing to refine that business. So, this year I am going to take my own advice and really do a deep dive into who my ideal client is. And this is a real struggle for me and I just want to be really upfront about that because in my heart I would literally want to help everyone, right?

00:04:35 Adrienne Garland: It fills me with joy when I see that people get clarity around what it is that they would like to center their business life around and also just get clear on, you know, what their purpose is in this world and pursue opportunities that get them closer and closer to what that is. I want that for other people and I want that for myself, of course, right? Everything that we do is, I think, ultimately selfish, and I don't know if that's saying that in a bad way, but I do feel that everything that we do is maybe to right some wrongs that we felt like have been done to us. And I think a lot of women attempt to do that through entrepreneurship, which is such a beautiful thing.

00:05:25 Adrienne Garland: So just going back to the fact that I really, really want to help as many people as I possibly can to get clarity if they do want to become an entrepreneur. Help them to put systems into place. Help them to put structure into place. Help them to get their marketing messages clear. Help them to figure out who it is that they need on their team. You know, all of the things that go into building a business, planning and then executing. And I'm really good at that. You know, I'm really, really good at, I think, listening more than anything else.

00:06:05 Adrienne Garland: So the clarity for me comes through deep listening because I feel that people truly do know what is best for themselves and sometimes it just takes somebody that can listen for those clues or those key insights that can then play that back to somebody, make sure that that is truly what they want in their heart, in their being, and then help them to take steps in that direction. In class, I often talk to my students about the fact that no one really asks us, you know, as we're going through our education, you know, what is it that we truly want? And so I make sure that that's a question that I ask and that we explore in depth, I would say, from a couple of different aspects. I also speak about what is the fear that comes up within you when you start to think about what that vivid vision is for your life.

00:07:02 Adrienne Garland: It's so important as an entrepreneur to have a deep understanding of who you are as a person because you show up in your business whether you like it or not. When you are somebody that procrastinates, when you are somebody that has self-doubt, when you are somebody that just, you know, keeps going no matter what it is that's happening around you, you will replicate those things in your business. And some of those things are very helpful and they can really cause a business to grow, to get new opportunities. And some of those things are not great when it comes to building a business. They get in your way. They get in your team's way. You become a bottleneck. You are the one that prevents your company from growing, from expanding.

00:07:55 Adrienne Garland: So the work that we do—and it's not enough time, I feel like it's a lifetime—but the work that we do in my classes is understanding who we are and maybe, you know, what are some of the things that might get in our way. What can we do to maybe modify some of that thinking and that behavior? And if it's just something that we feel like we cannot overcome on our own, how do you get help? How do you put other tools into place, resources, people, etc.?

00:08:32 Adrienne Garland: So, lots and lots of talk about that, and that's all really early stage stuff and I love it and I don't ever want to stop doing it. But the way that I feel that my skills are best utilized is through teaching that early part to students who are just embarking upon entrepreneurship or maybe they've started some type of a side hustle or even had a business. There's plenty of students that have businesses and it is so amazing. They often do struggle with, you know, how to keep that business going while they're in school. You know, they often put it on pause until they're finished with their studies, but it's all early stage stuff.

00:09:18 Adrienne Garland: And so I have through She Leads Media also been serving women that are at those earlier stages and, you know, I feel like I'm repeating myself but I love it and I don't want to stop doing that, but I think that where that expertise of mine is best served is with my students at NYU, my students at Rice, even though they are graduate students they might be switching careers. So that is what I'm thinking is giving me a little bit more clarity—is utilizing all of the tools in my toolbox to help people at the early stages through my teaching. That brings me to the clarity around the group of people that I know that I can serve best at a higher level.

00:10:05 Adrienne Garland: Let's see. I just want to be very honest and transparent about a lot of this because I don't often think that these conversations happen, and if they do, they're, you know, maybe they're happening in your living room with somebody that you feel very close with that you can express these things. I feel that there is so much garbage out there about, you know, just business and getting to $10,000 months in, you know, right away. A lot of fantasy type of marketing and also a lot of nonsense and garbage and, you know, it's easy—just use AI, just be a content creator, just be an influencer, just be an affiliate marketer, just do this, that, and the other thing and you'll be rich. And I think that we all know by now that it is a lot of bullshit.

00:11:02 Adrienne Garland: I really don't know very many people that are making $10,000 a month or more that are doing these things. It's few and far between and that's because, you know, everything takes effort. Nothing is easy, and if it is something that you are passionate about and committed to, then yeah, there are certainly opportunities. But like we've talked about before on this podcast, the statistics are real.

00:11:35 Adrienne Garland: There's not a lot of women that get past that million-dollar mark in their business and the majority of women that have businesses even have trouble getting past the six-figure mark, so $100,000. There are statistics that show that really the majority of women-owned businesses don't even get past the, you know, $150,000 mark. So, it's remarkable when you do and it takes a while to get there.

00:12:10 Adrienne Garland: It also is highly dependent on the market, on the customers that you choose, on the products that you offer, the services that you offer, all of it, right? It's all the different variables that go into baking that entrepreneurial cake and sometimes it rises and sometimes it collapses. Right? This is the reality of entrepreneurship.

00:12:40 Adrienne Garland: So, circling back to clarity, the women that I know that I can help in an area that is often not explored enough is the women that have achieved that amazing feat of getting past the million-dollar mark in their business and they have even greater visions for themselves. So, I've spoken to a lot of these women and what often comes up is that they may have been an unexpected entrepreneur. They didn't expect in the first place to start a business, let alone get past the million-dollar mark.

00:13:18 Adrienne Garland: And so when they do, they feel very accomplished because of that. But because they now have this confidence that they can achieve these wonderful milestones and goals that not a lot of people are able to achieve, they start thinking about, well, what's next, right? Is it really about revenue or is it more about impact?

00:13:48 Adrienne Garland: And I hear this conversation over and over again that, you know, these women have sort of figured things out and yeah, you know, they want to continue to grow their business. They want their business to continue to employ people, help to uphold different households, give people opportunities to grow and to expand and to learn and all of that stuff. They want that to continue and they want to continue doing it at a pace that doesn't feel like it's unsustainable.

00:14:25 Adrienne Garland: I was just listening yesterday to the Jenna Kutcher podcast and I had listened to her years ago, read her book. She talks so much about marketing. She brings a lot of personal anecdotes into her podcast, and her podcast yesterday—I don't know if it came out yesterday or the day before—but she is basically shutting down the podcast. Now, I haven't listened to the whole entire episode.

00:14:58 Adrienne Garland: I know that she's going to be doing something really, you know, interesting and great and supportive of her life going forward, but it's funny to me that someone who is sort of at the height of her entrepreneurial journey is choosing to take a bit of a pause, if you will. And I think that she said that she's going to see what's next for her. And I see so many women that have created these amazing multi-million dollar businesses getting to the point where it's almost like they just don't want to do it anymore. They're freaking exhausted and as much as they have the teams and the supports and everything around them, it's just not what they want to continue doing.

00:15:48 Adrienne Garland: I feel like there's something that is—I don't know if the word is empty—and I am speaking from observation because I certainly have not gotten the She Leads Media business past the million-dollar mark. It's something that I have as a goal of mine in order to do that and to accomplish that. I've realized after 11 years that I better do something different because the things that I am doing in the business right now, the choices that I'm making, the offers that I have, the conferences that we put on, and even this podcast, they are nowhere near making that million-dollar mark.

00:16:35 Adrienne Garland: And if I am not able to get the business past that level, then I'm not going to be able to help all the women that I want to. So, I know I'm sort of all over the place. So, thank you for sticking around and listening to my really train of thought. And I apologize that I keep scratching my nose here. I have been sick since Christmas. And of course, during this podcast, my nose decides that it's going to run. So, hopefully you can't see that, but you can hear it.

00:17:12 Adrienne Garland: Apologies for maybe not being as professional as some other people, but this is me. And I hope that you appreciate the fact that I am a human being, a fallible human being who is trying to figure things out at this second stage of my career journey. I was thinking as I was driving back from an appointment this morning, you know, what do I want this next section of my life to be about?

00:17:45 Adrienne Garland: So, I feel like I might be in like a third phase of my life from a professional perspective. And so much of my life has been, I guess, characterized by who my professional self is. It is definitely part of my identity, which is super interesting. But I guess you could say the first part of my career journey was all about corporate, all about fitting in, proving myself, my worth, my talent, my skills, and bringing to bear everything that I had learned throughout my educational journey. And I realized that, you know, I'm really good being in business, right? Whether that's as an employee, whether that's as a manager, as a leader, I just kind of get business. I understand it.

00:18:40 Adrienne Garland: I've always had a very, I guess, left-brain and right-brain type of mind. So, I understand numbers. I understand logic. I understand decision making.

00:18:55 Adrienne Garland: Hey everyone. So, for years, I've been working with Dr. Kent and sending people in my network his way. He does so much impact work. What do I mean by that? Well, he helps people create books and podcasts and things like that. He even helps with this podcast behind the scenes. Dr. Kent is my thought partner.

00:19:18 Adrienne Garland: Anyone listening knows that we all need to do what we can to get our thoughts, opinions, and voices out into the world and how important it is for women to invest in other women and for women to hire other women. I am all about that and you all know that. But in this case, I think Dr. Kent is an exception. He's doing something really different via this new program that he's launched called the Genius Discovery Program. So, he wants to work with people like me and like you who are impact driven.

00:19:55 Adrienne Garland: Dr. Kent has an intensive program that goes for a month. He also has a three-month program where he figures out where you're headed with your brand, your business, your speaking, and your signature story as a thought leader. I've known Dr. Kent for a long time. So, believe me when I say that he has a ton of experience working with people that are looking to make an impact but might not know exactly how to approach it.

00:20:28 Adrienne Garland: So if you're interested in talking to him, you can go directly to talktokent.com or you can send me a DM on Instagram at She Leads Media or just shoot me an email over at hello@sheleadsmedia.com.

00:20:48 Adrienne Garland: I also understand the more creative aspect to business and I truly love it. I think it is super interesting. Every day is a different day. The markets and the market conditions are constantly changing. Everybody is adjusting. It's super interesting. And, you know, my undergraduate degree was in economics.

00:21:15 Adrienne Garland: And that, I think, speaks to who I am because economics is not so much about money. It is about people and really like trading, right? So the market is a physical location—was a physical location—that people brought their wares to sell to people that needed the things that the other people were creating, right? And that is ultimately what economics is all about. What are the supplies and then what are the demands, and then that X factor that no one is ever able to actually accurately, perfectly pinpoint is how human beings react and the choices that they make and what they do.

00:22:02 Adrienne Garland: And that is the human side of things, the creative side of things, right? So there's the business aspect and then there's the people aspect. And I think that's what I really love about business and that's what I really love about entrepreneurship because you can be so creative. You can be observant. You can help people through this container that's called business. And I think once you get to a certain point in business, the goal changes, right? It's not so much about maximizing profit for infinity. It becomes about something more.

00:22:45 Adrienne Garland: So what starts out as perhaps creating a solution to a very real problem and then focusing on the profitability aspect of it so that problem can continue to be solved morphs into something more. And I see that morphing into something more showing up for women at a greater rate. And so that's why She Leads Media will be focusing on helping women in 2026 and beyond to identify and pursue impact and what is meaningful to them in the context of their business and in the context of their lives.

00:23:28 Adrienne Garland: We do not want women to burn out. We do not want women to opt out at any point of this economic journey. If it means that women need to create an entirely new economic structure that supports themselves and their lives, then that's what we must build. And so much of what I've been listening to, people that have podcasts, YouTube channels, businesses, women—they are seeking something more. We realize that there is something more to do.

00:24:05 Adrienne Garland: And I see more and more women either—I'm not going—no, I was about to say waking up to this and it's not—that is so not the right word. It's this knowing, you know, it's this knowing without knowing. It's this knowing without being able to put words to it yet, a calling, if you will. Oh, and that really sounds airy, fairy, and nebulous and gosh, not business oriented, right? Not profit focused. How in the world do you fund something that you cannot describe? I don't know.

00:24:48 Adrienne Garland: But what I do know is that more and more women really want to help one another. More and more women know that when we put resources into the hands of other women that humanity will be healed. And I know that you know—everybody that's listening to this podcast, I know that you know—that we need some major, major healing and we need to be doing things in a much, much, much different way, especially here in the US where what's happening does not even feel real.

00:25:30 Adrienne Garland: It definitely feels like we're watching some really tragic story and we're in the middle of it and we are here just watching it unfold and wondering how it's going to ultimately impact us and our future. It's impacting so many people right here, right now, today, and it's going to be impacting everybody whether you like it or not. Everybody's going to be impacted by a lot of the decisions that are being made by people that do not have your or my or good human beings' interests in mind.

00:26:12 Adrienne Garland: So, yeah, in 2026, we are going to be focused on helping women that are getting to that million-dollar mark in their business. They're beyond that million-dollar mark. Maybe they have multi-million dollar businesses and the area that they will be focusing on next is not so much philanthropy. I want to be very clear. It's not about philanthropy. It's not about, you know, nonprofit type of work. It is about impact. It is about change. It's revolutionary. It's bringing something and creating something that is brand new that we do not have structure for, we do not have language for, but there is something brewing and I want to be part of that.

00:27:02 Adrienne Garland: And I know that I can be helpful because I am someone that is observant. I am somebody that listens deeply and I'm also someone who is encouraging and helpful. And I know that I can help the right people. And when I say that, I mean the people that are attracted to She Leads and what we're doing. I know that I can help the right people to gain clarity around the impact that she will have in this world.

00:27:38 Adrienne Garland: So, I'll just wrap up this episode with that, with a call to action to you, woman of impact that is looking to talk things through and get to a point of greater clarity. Now, I can't make any promises that we're going to have this humongous epiphany, but what I can guarantee because I have worked with many other women around this is that we will get to the essence of what it is that you are looking to take action on and how you really want to make an impact in this next year, in the next five years.

00:28:18 Adrienne Garland: And women that have the resources to work with me—because working with me means getting access to all of my experience, my expertise, everything that I have been learning, everything that I've been cultivating over these last—gosh, I should do the math, but it's, you know—over these last 20, 25 years of being a human being in this world, of being a woman human being in this world, traveling all over the world, speaking to hundreds and hundreds, thousands of people over the course of all of the 11 years of the conferences and different events that I've put on, of all the students that have come through my classroom both online and in person, all the countries that I've visited through the Global Field Experience at Rice University.

00:29:15 Adrienne Garland: All of these experiences and the deep knowledge that I have gained through all of these is unique and it is special, and I want to help you to get to that clarity so that together we can make change in the world that has a very positive impact. So if you want to work with me, if you want to hear more about all of this, reach out to me at hello@sheleadsmedia.com.

00:29:48 Adrienne Garland: Next week we will be interviewing a guest. So these solo episodes will probably be a little bit further in between, but you never know because I really do love podcasting and I do love speaking and sharing my thoughts and sharing my heart. And when I interview people, I love to hear their stories, but I often don't get the chance to reflect back on all of the things that I've heard and tie all of these threads together. So perhaps in 2026 you will be getting more of me in these solo episodes.

00:30:30 Adrienne Garland: I'd love to hear if you want that. You know, do you like hearing from me in these solo episodes? Do you prefer when I interview these incredible guests? Do you like the mix of it? I would love to hear from you. I am calling out to all of you that are listening to me to send me an email. Also, you can follow me on Instagram. Our handle is She Leads Media.

00:31:02 Adrienne Garland: If you send me an email, I will definitely get back to you. I think that, you know, if you've listened to me long enough, that I'm definitely not somebody that blows off people who take the time to reach out. I might not respond immediately because I think like all of us, we get thousands of emails every day, but I will do my very best to respond to each and every one of you. Just put in the subject line "writing to you from your podcast" or something that refers to the podcast so that I know that you have heard this episode and that you're reaching out to me.

00:31:45 Adrienne Garland: I want to know what you would like to hear more about on this podcast. Are there other people that you'd like me to interview? Do you want me to start teaching some topics that I am speaking about in my classes that I've been speaking about for the last five years? I really want the She Leads podcast to be a leadership podcast for women that shows that we can be exactly who we are and talk about the exact things that we want to talk about and that we can be successful doing it.

00:32:28 Adrienne Garland: So, a couple of calls to action. If you would like to work with me on clarity and impact, reach out to me at hello@sheleadsmedia.com. If you would like to give me some feedback and also requests for what you'd like to hear on this podcast, send me an email with the subject line referring to the podcast and you can also send that to hello@sheleadsmedia.com.

00:33:02 Adrienne Garland: And if you haven't done so already, I would greatly appreciate you giving this podcast a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you can do that on any of the other platforms that you listen to podcasts on, I would greatly appreciate it. And to go even further, if you'd like to just take a moment and write a quick review—one or two sentences would be so helpful. I'm looking to get some support for the podcast this year, whether that's through sponsorships or underwriting.

00:33:45 Adrienne Garland: So, if you would even like to sponsor this podcast for a couple of episodes and you're a woman that wants to show that you have power and impact, then reach out to me and let me know that you want to sponsor a couple of episodes, that you'd like to sponsor me doing some research on a topic that is impactful and interesting to you. I am very open to changing around the ways that we do things. It is so not about millions and millions of views and downloads and all of that anymore.

00:34:28 Adrienne Garland: I'm not a superstar. It's going to be about women supporting other women in real ways. So, if you'd like to be a sponsor for this podcast or any of the events that we are holding in 2026, the in-person events, please just let me know. Reach out to me and I would love, love, love to speak to you.

00:34:55 Adrienne Garland: So thank you again for listening, for giving me your time. I hope that you enjoyed this episode and we will be back again next week.

00:36:20 Adrienne Garland: If this conversation moved you, inspired you, or made you think differently, please take a moment to leave a five-star rating and review. It's not just about boosting the show. It's about amplifying the voices of women entrepreneurs who are leading with vision, building with purpose, and shaping what's next. We need more of these conversations in the world right now, don't you think?

00:36:50 Adrienne Garland: And if someone came to mind while you were listening, someone who matters to you, send this episode to them. If there's something on your mind about leadership, legacy, or what's next, I want to hear it. Head to sheleadsmedia.com/voice and leave a voice memo or note. Your insight might just help shape a future episode. Make sure to follow the show and come back next week for more conversations you won't hear anywhere else. Thank you so much for listening.