134: Leaders with Heart Embrace Change and Rise from It

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In this episode, Heather speaks directly to listeners about some recent changes she has made, and how she has learned to embrace change even during this pandemic. Heather also shares some key decisions she has made to create a metamorphosis in her life.

Key takeaways:

  • Now is the time to see change as a positive despite what is front of us.
  • Starting anew right now might be exactly what you need to help you see the situation differently.
  • How aligned are you with your personal and professional mission?
  • There are powerful ways to overcome your challenges and it all starts in the mind.

Prepare your ears for this wonderful episode. Listen and learn!

Embracing Change

I have reached quite a few milestones in my business these last couple of months during the coronavirus. My second book has been completed, and it’s a pretty big deal to write a book during a pandemic. I recognize it, and feel blessed to have done it.  

During this time, I know what I should have done. But I wasn’t doing it. I decided to do something that seems so obvious to me but I kept on fighting it—doing a name change for my business.

To be honest, my heart was really more in the place of employees. - @HeatherRYounger #leadershipwithheart Share on X

Noble Beginnings

For the last four or five years, the business name has been Customer Fanatix, and I decided to change it to Employee Fanatix. It was obvious because all of my work has been focused on employee listening, leadership development, and everything related to the employee experience, engagement, and retention.

The reason why I fought was because my heart was with customers and employees early on in my career. When I started Customer Fanatix, the idea was I would help organizations understand the connection between how leaders can impact both the customer and employee experience, and how we can look at it as a continuum or a journey. That’s looking at both stakeholders at the same time.

Over time, people were more confused if I was more on the customer side or on the employee side. My efforts and messaging on social media became more singular, focused and it was more about leaders and their impact on employees. I just made a choice not to include all of the customers.

I started my company in 2015. People were reaching out to me because of my writings on LinkedIn. They wanted me to help them on both the customer and employee experience. The focus changed, but in the end my heart didn’t change.

My end goal is to help employees and leaders be better and stronger. - @HeatherRYounger #leadershipwithheart Share on X Everything I do is about how we impact in their (employee) experience, whether they are working with leaders, executive, facilitating groups, or speaking on stage. - @HeatherRYounger #leadershipwithheart Share on X

The Metamorphosis

It was always about the underdog. When I was a child, I felt like an underdog. So, I have always been an advocate for people.

We are in very unsettling times. But I am thinking of what’s happening right now as a metamorphosis. It’s all about change and being comfortable with it. To be honest, I haven’t always been comfortable with change.

But what has worked for me in the past is I try to focus on a mission that is bigger than myself. I try to focus on something exciting, powerful, and way beyond me that it helps me move forward past any adversity put in front of me. It helps me build my resilience.

Recently, I have just hired my very first employee, Monica. I just brought in a marketing team to really help me take the business on and take things off my lap so I can be the leader I talk to you about all the time— the one who focuses on caring for myself and my family first.

Aligning what I was already doing and using this time to start anew and afresh help me focus on shedding some of the skin of the past and the pain of the current. - @HeatherRYounger #leadershipwithheart Share on X My desire is to uplift people by my words and my actions, and to bring people together in collaborative settings of safety. - @HeatherRYounger #leadershipwithheart Share on X

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Becoming Unshakeable Podcast

With Heather R. Younger

Becoming Unshakable is the podcast for leaders, creators, and changemakers who know TRUE LEADERSHIP starts from within.

Each episode explores what it takes to lead with resilience, compassion, and purpose while staying human through it all.

Through candid conversations with executives, frontline leaders, coaches, and everyday heroes, Heather uncovers the real stories behind growth, compassion, setbacks, and transformation.

From navigating change to creating emotionally safe cultures, Becoming Unshakable reveals what it really takes to create leaders—and organizations—that can’t be shaken.

Hi, I'm Heather

I've been through every type of
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
you can think of.

Layoffs, reorgs, mergers, acquisitions and major technology shifts. More than 20 years leading teams through high-stakes situations where results mattered, people depended on me, and decisions couldn't wait.

Those years taught me how to lead. But they also showed me the hidden cost of always being the one who holds it all together.

During our second reorg in less than a year, I walked out of a meeting with no say in what was happening, just marching orders. When my team asked how the meeting went, I should have said, “Give me 15 minutes to process this.” But I didn't. Instead, I let them absorb every ounce of my frustration.

Then I saw their faces.

The people who looked to me for stability had just watched me unravel. What was that teaching them about their ability to handle the pressure?

That moment changed how I saw my role as a leader. Leading teams isn't only about grit or resilience. It's about how your presence builds the trust your team needs to function when things get hard.

Today, I help organizations build unshakable leaders, teams, and cultures. Because when leaders become the calm teams can count on, organizations don't just survive change, they come out strong enough to handle what’s next.

Heather Sitting
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+1 403-398-8488

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Contact Heather Today!
+1 403-398-8488

Contact
Contact

I'm really interested in...

(select all that apply)*

I can be reached at...

Additional Comments