Meet Sandra Hardy

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sandra Hardy. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sandra below.

Sandra, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I found my purpose when my life took a turn for the worst in 2003, it was a chaotic and heavy hearted time because I was on active duty and preparing Soldiers to leave their families and go to war. I received a phone call that changed my life forever, it was the Red Cross informing me that my mother had a massive stroke. In that one phone call, I became non-deployable as an only child which meant I was going to lose my active duty job. I felt so many emotions during this time, sadness, stress, depression, uncertainty, helpless, powerless and anger. It was the feeling of helplessness, and depression and sadness that resulted in me having to see a therapist and being prescribed Prozac. At a time when I should be trying to figure out how to take care of my mother, I was now having to figure out how to provide for her and my child as a single mother. For any person whether female or male looking to provide and give your family the best life and have a career and then to lose it all in one fellow swoop, is a stressful time of ultimate powerlessness. But it was in this time of my darkest hour, I found my purpose and started my company Bootz To Heelz, LLC. a coaching and consulting company. Before this time, I never thought about entrepreneurship, encouraging others toward entrepreneurship or pushing for high achieving leaders to care about stress, mental wellbeing and self-awareness. After, I was determined never to be in a place of powerlessness to provide for my family or the mental wellbeing of myself and just as important, to become a sounding board of encouraging others to never allow themselves to be in a place of powerlessness. I tell my story all the time, and my walk keeps evolving in my company, Bootz To Heelz, LLC as the vision expands. But my purpose of empowering high achieving leaders to learn how to pivot, prepare, and mentally and emotionally to become self aware in their careers and businesses are constant.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Bootz To Heelz, LLC, specializes in working with high achieving leaders female and male in Corporate America and Business Owners through the foundation of Emotional Intelligence training to master self-awareness and social awareness, leadership skills, develop actionable goals, effective strong communication skills, improve stakeholder, shareholders and customers relationships, master stress management, build strong teams, enhance personal and business brand awareness, and improve organizational performance and business bottomline.

As part of empowering women to care about self-care and self-love, I host a conference every year in October called “Love Me Some Her” in Cary, NC where I allow women come out and hear from amazing women speakers who share their journey of self-love and self care, motivate and empower the attendees as well as provide tips to emotional wellbeing. This year it will be held on October 20, 2024, 10am at The Courtyard by Marriott in Cary, NC.

I am the Executive Producer and Host of my own TV show, The Leaders Empowerment Corner, that airs on BHC Media Network Channel on ROKU, Apple TV, and Fire TV bi-weekly. On my TV show, I interview high achieving leaders in different industries on the journey to becoming a leader and the importance of effective leadership as well as characteristics of effective leadership. I have recently launched my very own The Leaders Empowerment Network which is my own channel to allow leaders to launch their own TV shows. I am currently bringing on new TV shows to the channel. I am very excited.

I am proud to be an Ambassador Lead to Queen City Women in Business which is a membership based supplier sourcing and development platform committed to connecting women business owners to contracting opportunities faster by quickly matching their member to their partners. This company was created by Dawn Nicole McIlwain and amazing visionary. This is exciting because I get to help small women business owners to do big business with major corporations, and local and federal government which increasing their revenue and their ability to live an empowering and whole life for family and themselves.

I feel the most exciting thing about what I do is that I get to build, empower, or support someone into having a fulfilling, happy life, living out their dreams and goals. That is truly a Blessing and another way God allows me to live out my purpose.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I would say, faith, perseverance, determination, and integrity, was very instrumental in my journey. When I lost my only means of providing for my family, it was my faith that kept me as I walked through my darkness believing that God had already made a way. It is my perseverance and determination to succeed for my family, myself and others, having a business team that keep me going even in difficult challenges that all businesses go through in an up and down economy and financial challenges of many corporations and businesses. I had to list the fourth, integrity because it really drives me when it comes to working with my clients. I feel it is important for my clients to know, I am who I say I am, I am going to do for you what I say I can, and that I have your best interest at the forefront of all that we do in this client/consulting & coaching relationship.

As someone new starting a new career, new business, or just newly starting on the mental journey of wellbeing, trust in your abilities, skills, and yourself. Understand your “Why” for anything that you start because it is the “Why” that is going to keep you moving forward when everything around you seems to stop or stand still. Remember, you should always take care of yourself, understand the cues of your body, and listen. Goals are very important, realistic goals are necessary, and understanding how to section your goals into small obtainable steps is crucial to your success. Be able to encourage yourself even if no one else is cheering you on will sustain you. Most important, believe in something higher than yourself.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
As a military veteran with disabilities, I am being treated for mental disabling conditions due to the military such as major depression disorder, and anxiety. These conditions can heighten even in stressful conditions which can cause overwhelm and trigger anxiety and stress. Although I am receiving the necessary treatments and medical consultations with a psychiatrist, I noticed that I was still having issues. I began to look into ways in which I could feel the gaps and discovered Emotional Intelligence and the power of being self aware. Upon applying EI to my life, and developing my self awareness skills, learning my triggers, and putting into place coping mechanisms in place, I realized, I was able to balance out my anxiety, and minimize my stress and overwhelm. A total game changer and the bonus was it also allowed me to become social aware as well to become empowering to others in a more relatable and authentic way. After I saw and experienced how Emotional Intelligence enhanced and effected my life so powerfully, I became a certified Emotional Intelligence Executive Coach to help high achieving leaders in Corporate America and Business owners to do the exact same thing to master self awareness, social awareness, emotional control with results in stronger leadership skills, strong cohesive teams, and business owners sustaining their businesses.

My advice, incorporate EI into your life. Not sure how, I can help. It continues to change my life daily because I practice it daily.

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