We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Madi Baldwin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Madi below.
Hi Madi, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
Building resilience isn’t something that happens overnight; it’s like planting seeds that grow over time as we face challenges and learn from them. Although it can sometimes feel tiring to persistently move ahead, the journey becomes more enjoyable if we pause to acknowledge our successes along the way. Instead of a constant “push” forward, it transforms into a leisurely stroll of progress.
It can be easy to lose sight of that fact while you’re in the middle of balancing all the things going on in your life at once or when you come across a setback. The thing that helps me the most in these moments is the incredibly simple idea of, “you can do it.” It’s something that seems so simple it’s almost childish but by believing in our own capabilities, we dismantle barriers that might otherwise hinder us. If you believe that you can do it – there’s very little that can stop you. Most people fail because they stop pushing forward. You have to keep pushing and keep believing in yourself even when things get hard. You are absolutely capable of doing whatever you set your mind to, but know that it may come with sacrifices.
I always say, “you can do anything, but you can’t do everything.” You will get so much more out of putting your full effort into one or two things, than you will spreading yourself thin across many. Be incredibly intentional where you put your time and effort – this will also help you to avoid burnout which will help you lean into your own resilience more.
On my podcast, the Gen Z Girlies Podcast, we often discuss on the fact of how a lot of the time you can’t see past the bend in the road until your journey brings you past it. So you never know what is waiting for you until you get there. The only way to see what lies beyond the bend is to continue moving forward.
It’s easy to talk about resilience, but I know it’s a different thing (and much more difficult) to actually live it out. For me, figuring out what this looks like in my life has always come down to the fact that doing nothing has to be more scary than failing. Because if you try at something, you actually can’t fail. Not everything will always work out – but you will always learn something. And that something may just be the tool you need to make the next thing succeed. Moving forward in the world is about stacking all that you’ve learned like a tower until one day you get high enough to reach your destination.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Hi! I’m Madi – the the Founder & Host of the Gen Z Girlies Podcast, a podcast focusing on helping Gen Z women and non-binary individuals build lives and careers that they love by giving them insider info on how other Gen Zers have managed to leverage their skills and talents to build careers and lives that they love.
On Gen Z Girlies we don’t just talk about where people are at but the concrete steps that got them there. And how you can do it too! We cover career fields spanning everything you can think of. So far we’ve interviewed lawyers, poets, journalists, musicians, freelancers, Forbes 30 under 30 awardees, CEOs, founders, YouTubers, LinkedIn Top Voices, and more!
When I started the Gen Z Girlies Podcast a lot of the comments I got (and still get!) were along the lines of “isn’t that name too unprofessional if it’s dealing with building a career?”
My answer to that? Yes, it is. But that was the point.
I wanted to challenge the idea that in order to have a career that you have to leave your personality at home. That actually opening up room for a more “causal” atmosphere in the workplace doesn’t negatively impact behavior, production, productivity, or efficiency. Gen Z Girlies Podcast is actively working to widen perceptions by giving Gen Z women and non-binary individuals a space to provide behind-the-scenes insights into their careers, show concrete steps forward, and to prove that you don’t have to get rid of your personality in order to be successful.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Drive, learning when to say no, and a willingness to be uncomfortable
Drive works hand in hand with resilience and will get you where you want to go. When I want to accomplish a goal, drive is what helps me to it.
Learning what to say no to has helped me to be able to put my focus into the things that actually matter – to only do the things that actually bring about impact.
But I’d say the most important factor that has been the most impactful in my journey is the willingness to be uncomfortable. Growth doesn’t happen in your comfort-zone and getting out of your comfort-zone is the most important thing when it comes to building a career and life. There’s nothing wrong spending some time being comfortable, but if you never are willing to take a risk on something new, something unknown – you’ll never be able to take that step forward. Uncertainty can be scary, but if you bring the right tools (goals and focus) you’ll always be able to find your way.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
The Gen Z Girlies Podcast is always looking for new guests to feature, publications to partner with, or any other number of possibilities. If you’d like to get in contact, please email us at [email protected] and we’d love to make something happen. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Contact Info:
- Website: genzgirliespodcast.com
- Instagram: @genzgirliespodcast
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madibaldwin/
- Other: email: [email protected]
