We recently connected with Stephanie Butler and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Stephanie, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
Recently, I’ve adopted a mindset of making decisions that wholeheartedly align with my values and ever since I’ve been doing that, my purpose (for this moment in time) has become ultra clear.
I’ve always been passionate about public speaking and it all started back in high school. I traveled around the country competing for my high school speech team in a variety of different categories. From humor to drama to original oratory, I just loved it all. My happy place was (and still is) in front of an audience. In fact, the record number of speeches I gave in one day was 15.
So it’s no coincidence that when I graduated high school, I quickly returned to the team to start coaching. During that time, I was also studying communications in college and then a few years later I entered the workforce. Now, I had not been familiarized with Corporate America up until this point – neither of my parents worked in corporate and I was the first person in our family to graduate college. So when I entered the workforce, I quickly became aware that there was a lack of representation when it comes to women in positions of leadership.
Over the next few years, I’d also observe the lack of resources, coaching and support there was when it comes to public speaking. It felt like people were expected to learn on the job where your boss, stakeholders and leadership were all watching you. Not the most comfortable environment to make mistakes in. I also started observing that women are more affected by the nerves, imposter syndrome, and general discomfort that comes with public speaking than men.
So I started to coach. And sometimes I’d have people say to me – you’re so early in your career, how can you coach leadership? But honestly, by that point in time, I had likely given more speeches than any typical leader would in their entire career.
Today, my coaching business is 5 years old and my purpose is giving women an environment that I had when learning public speaking: a place where you can create, inspire, experiment, and be unapologetically yourself. Because when we create that space, we give women the freedom to discover their own art of public speaking – one that feels authentic to their voice.
I’ve watched women pass through my office now for years and every week, I receive texts from former students talking about the success they are achieving because of the skills they learned within the space I created for them. At this moment in time, there is nothing more fulfilling than that.
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?
I am the founder of Voices Who Will, a business dedicated to helping women succeed by redefining what public speaking means to them.
I’ve coached every phase of interview & public speaking. I incorporate strategies & frameworks into my coaching that help my students understand not only the audience they’re presenting to, but their own voices as well. From content creation to delivery, I look to understand the client’s unique voice to create a presentation strategy that works specifically for them.
There are a number of ways to engage with my coaching: digital resources, 1:1 coaching, group sessions, and keynote speeches. As a first step, I always encourage students to download my eBook: Public Speaking Womansplained.
Why it’s relevant:
First and foremost, everyone deserves to feel confident in their voice. But moreover, through studying communications and political science, and having extensive experience working in large corporations, I see the glaring need for more women voices across industries. We know that roughly only:
21% of C-suite members are women (McKinsey & Company 2020),
less than 30% of women make up the different levels of elected office (Rutgers 2022),
about 20% of small businesses across the country are women-owned (Census 2021).
While there are a variety of reasons these numbers are as low as they are, many can be addressed by instilling confidence in a woman’s voice to help her believe she can be at the top – and that begins with giving her the tools to find her voice in the first place.
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?
Fostering Connections: Relationship building is a key part of building a business, but more importantly it’s a key part of getting students to trust you as a coach. Especially when learning a vulnerable skill like public speaking, the relationship between a student and coach HAS to be strong enough so the student feels comfortable making mistakes with their coach. But moreover, being a person that is seen as trustworthy, personable, and insightful is someone people will refer their friends and family too. Up until this point, my business has been solely referral-based and I credit my ability to make strong connections to that.
Curiosity: When I started college and entered the workforce I was a sponge. Truly, I knew nothing about the environment I was entering so I asked a lot of questions and absorbed as much as I could. The same is true for me today. Even though in most cases, I am the coach, I am still learning from my clients about their story, their area of expertise, their experience with speaking – and all of that informs my ability to be a better coach. So I always say, ask more questions than you think you need to.
Trust: I think as a business owner, you need to trust in your vision. In my early years and even now as I continue growing, there are moments that have come up that I refer to as “tests.” Whether it is an outside person not agreeing with your vision, a business partner that doesn’t work out or even that inside voice that tells you, you can’t – I consider all of those moments as tests to see if I can stay true to myself, my vision and ultimately succeed for the betterment of the women I coach. Nobody said it’d be easy but I think as long as you stay true to your vision, you’ll reach and surpass your goals.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
The past year of my business has been really fun for me. I’ve rebranded, brought on a fantastic coach, launched an eBook, gave my first keynote and made decisions that align with my values. All of that has allowed me to serve my clients in a much better and bigger way. Overall, the business truly has elevated and when I think about where I was one year ago, I get excited for what’s to come from the next 12 months if we keep at this pace.
Contact Info:
- Website: voiceswhowill.com
- Instagram: @stephanielaurenbutler
- Linkedin: Stephanie Butler
Image Credits
photosbyjenniferjane.com
