Meet Elaine Williams

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elaine Williams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Elaine, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I’d always loved performing and had done so professionally growing up in TX. When I moved to NYC to pursue theatre, people kept telling me I was funny. Finally I took a stand up comedy class. It was intimidating and frustrating. The night of the show, I told myself to just think that I was doing a monologue and not to expect any laughs-God knows I hadn’t gotten any laughs in class. When I got into my dysfunctional family material, the place went crazy. Everyone was howling with laughter. That’s when my lite bulb moment hit me: I was supposed to help others heal through laughter. I’ve been using humor ever since with my teaching, coaching; in my business and in my life.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I absolutely love the work that I get to do with my clients. I help people become more effective communicators so that they can have more impact and make more money. I love taking people who are already good speakers to their next level. Sometimes it’s a few tiny tweaks. Getting to work on people’s stories is so much fun. There are so many ways we can add creativity, movement, tone, gestures, and delivery to make the story come alive.

I partnered up with my brilliant colleague, Neal Howard, who is a consultant for law firms. We have been working with junior litigators to show them how to add vocal variety, nuances to their pitch, tone, phrasing and delivery. We were able to coach them on their actual cases they were working and the results were tremendous.
Neal is a master when it comes to crafting persuasive communication. My acting and directing background has been a great addition to his expertise. It’s been an invigorating and inspiring collaboration and I look forward to many more.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1.Don’t give up. Be tenacious. You have to want it more than you’re scared of it. Don’t listen to yourself. Your ego/identity will tell you all kinds of things in order to keep you safe. Know that your brain’s job is to keep you safe. And you get to say how it’s going to go. Learning to master your own inner critics is key!

2.Talk to yourself, instead of listening to yourself. Coach yourself. Speak to yourself with empowering language, not the old habitual critical voice. Learn to be your best coach.

3. Surround yourself with people who you respect and feel safe around. It’s ok to change environments or friend groups. That can be painful, when you outgrow people, but it’s part of the game. When you’re with the right group and you feel connected and supported, anything is possible!

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I love collaborating with growth oriented business owners and lawyers who want to invest in themselves and their junior litigators.. Communication is powerful when it’s done well. It’s a joy to watch people truly own the room and captivate the crowd. People will forget what you say, but they remember how you made them feel.

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Image Credits
Sherry Sutton

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