Meet Sandra Hardy

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sandra Hardy. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sandra , thank you so much for joining us today. Let’s jump right into something we’re really interested in hearing about from you – being the only one in the room. So many of us find ourselves as the only woman in the room, the only immigrant or the only artist in the room, etc. Can you talk to us about how you have learned to be effective and successful in situations where you are the only one in the room like you?
I believe my years in the military taught me how to be a critical thinker, confident, and strong leader. During my years in the military, I was sometimes the only woman in the room of men. In a space were women were not seen as equivalent to men, I had to lead with authority and confidence. I studied the military regulations to ensure that I was always prepared to be challenged on my knowledge and demand respect for my authority. As I transitioned out of the military, that confidence came with me along with my ability to stand firm in my skills. As a person who has to make decisions for my company, team, and guide other high achieving leaders, second guessing myself or showing uncertainty could undermine my knowledge and skills I bring to the table. I learned that your entrance into a room of people that does not look like you sets the expectations in the room. You see, before you ever open your mouth, the assessment has already begun by those already in the room. I have learned to make my entrance just as important as my message and command everyone’s attention with my nonverbal actions first, then confirm my confidence and abilities through my message.

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?
My story begins in 2003, during an already heavy hearted and chaotic time, my life took a turn for the worse. I was preparing soldiers to go to war when I received a phone call that changed my life forever, it was the Red Cross and they were informing that my mother had a massive stroke. As the only child, I became an instant caregiver and unable to deploy. Because I was non-deployable, I eventually was removed off active duty. I loss my ability to provide from my family. After experiencing the feelings of overwhelm, frustration and uncertainty about my future, I became severely depressed and for the first time in my life was prescribed Prozac. This period in my life was a dark period but it set me on the course to becoming an entrepreneur. I jokingly tell people, my company was conceived out of this dark time. I never wanted to feel that powerless ever again, nor did I ever wanted anyone else to be rendered powerless to provide for their families. Therefore, coaching entrepreneurs to maintain their businesses and to create businesses, was in perfect alignment with my purpose.

Today my company Bootz To Heelz, LLC works with high achieving leaders who are entrepreneurs to help them to create a solid business foundation to grow and scale their businesses and their organizations. As my company scaled to include EQ Executive Coaching, I also work with high achieving mid-level management and upper level management to empower them to become self-aware and socially aware as a leader enabling them to build stronger teams, effective communication and increase productivity and bottomline results.

Learning and understanding Emotional Intelligence was one of the key components that helped me to stay ahead of my anxiety, depression and panic attacks, all part of my disabling conditions from the military. Learning how to read and understand my emotions helped me to control how I responded to negative conditions. This helped to build a positive perception with others, and understanding how to be aware of those around me, and their actions to enable a broader and easier communication with others. EQ is the most exciting part of my coaching experience with my clients because they really become aware of their thoughts and actions to bring about change in their organizations. I love working with my clients because I get so much satisfaction out of watching a goal or strategy we establish become a realization and successful. I believe in order for me to be successful, my clients must become successful.

On November 3, 2023, I was awarded the Woman on The Rise award from ACHI Magazine. This was an amazing and humbling accomplishment for me. I am the Executive Producer and Host of my own TV show, The Leaders Empowerment Corner that is streaming on ROKU, Apple TV and Fire TV on the BHC Media Network channel. In 2024, Bootz To Heelz, LLC will be expanding our services by working with more corporate clients and conducting corporate trainings with major corporations to train top C-suite leaders, high-level managers, and mid-level managers on the importance of incorporating Emotional Intelligence as leaders to build a stronger and cohesive organization. I will be adding in 2024 a 2nd conference aimed at Leaders to train and discuss leadership skills and responsibilities, unlike the end of the year conference that I host every year called the Love Me Some Her Conference which targets women to encourage self-love. I have been seen in STS Branding Magazine, It’s Consulting Time, Canvas Rebel Magazine, Go Solo Blog, Beyond The Military, NC BCBS, In My City, Limitless Living with Shavannah, Real Conversations with Michelle, Successfest 23, and VoyageRaleigh.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
As I look back over my journey, I believe determination, courage, and a willingness to try something new was key in helping me to navigate my journey from the military, to becoming the founder/CEO of my company Bootz To Heelz, LLC and now being the executive producer of my own TV talk show, The Leaders Empowerment Corner. To be an entrepreneur takes a lots of courage to make the decision to step out into the unknown and create a business. Once you start the business, it takes determination to stay focused on your vision and dream even in the tough times of slow money flow, and the lack of support. The willingness to try something new is powerful especially when you factor in the realization that you could fail.

My advice for a new entrepreneur is to trust yourself. Give yourself grace for the things you don’t know, permission to seek out the things you need to know, and when you find out what is required to build a solid foundation and business, take the action and invest in the future of your business. Don’t fall into the trap of procrastination or self-doubt because they will paralyze you and keep you from taking action. Research your business ideas first to see if there is a market for your product or service. Understand your potential client’s pain points because this gives you the messaging to draw them to your product or service, and conduct surveys regularly to see if you need to make any changes to your product or service. This advice is only a few important things I can share to help someone in their beginning journey to creating and building a business.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
My ideal client is a high achieving leader whether in Corporate America or an entrepreneur with a passion for success and the willingness to do what is necessary to accomplish their goals. They are self-motivated, educated, driven by purpose and coachable. My ideal client understands the importance of investing in themselves to achieve maximum success in their careers, businesses, and lives. They are so driven, they are overwhelmed, stressed and struggling with time management and understanding the signs of their bodies and minds. They very rarely take vacations or spend time with family, My ideal clients have the technical and educational skills but lack the EQ skills and struggle to communicate effectively with their teams and therefore struggles with motivating their teams or employees. My ideal clients are male and female between the ages or 35 to 50, and has at least one school aged child.

These are some of the characteristics of my ideal client

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