Paula Washington breaks down the ENCORE framework, a practical roadmap for mid-life professionals ready to stop shrinking their story and start building what comes next.
GROWTH PILLAR: Leadership & Ops
WHO THIS IS FOR: SMB owners / Solopreneurs / Corporate escapees / Leaders building systems
WHAT THEY'LL GAIN: A clear framework for intentional transition, tools to get unstuck, and real strategies for building your next chapter on your own terms.
You've built a career. You've led teams, run businesses, made hard calls. So why does the next move feel so unclear?
Paula Washington is a business and leadership strategist, speaker, and author who helps mid-life professionals — especially women leaders — step boldly into what she calls their Encore Era. This is the season where everything you've lived through becomes the foundation for everything you build next.
In this episode, Paula breaks down her ENCORE framework — a step-by-step roadmap covering how to Exit with intention, Navigate through chaos, Commit to yourself, communicate authentically, find Opportunity, stay Relevant, and pursue Excellence as your personal trademark.
Paula covers:
Paula also shares how her own family legacy, a great-grandmother who earned a college degree in 1894, a Juilliard-trained grandmother who used real estate to open doors for others, and a trailblazing mother in banking, shaped the way she sees leadership, resilience, and what's possible at any stage of life.
Her books, The Encore Playbook and The Encore Reset Journal, are available on Amazon and at paulawashington.com.
Connect with Paula:
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Next Steps
Bernie (00:22)
Question to the audience. You have achieved a lot. Why do you feel stuck, unseen, or unsure what's next? And how do you build your best chapter now?
That's the core problem our guest solves. She will talk about stepping into your encore era, how to stop shrinking your story, align your experience with intention and design, and a next chapter built on clarity, courage, and legacy. If you're a founder, executive, or professional at a crossroads, this conversation is for you. Our guest today is Paula Washington. She's a business and leadership strategist, speaker, author,
Who helps seasoned professionals, especially women leaders, step boldly into what she calls their Encore era, a powerful season where experience meets intention and legacy. Through her signature frameworks, the Encore Playbook, and the Encore Reset Journal, Paula guides high achieving leaders to refine and redefine their success on their own terms, with clarity, confidence, and courage.
Her work is deeply personal, rooted in a legacy of visionary women, from a great grandmother who earned a college degree in 1894, not 1984, but 1894, to a Juilliard-trained real estate savvy grandmother, to a trailblazing mother in banking. With sharp strategy, real-world insight, and a dose of laughter, Paula challenges leaders to stop shrinking their story and start building what comes next on purpose.
Paula, it's an absolute pleasure having here today. How are you? And give your favorite quote of saying you'd like to share with us.
Paula (01:50)
Well, I am doing wonderful and it's so good to be here. Favorite quote. Mm, tell thy own self be true. Cause we're talking about our encore era, so we're gonna be true to ourselves and pay attention.
Bernie (02:03)
So what made you believe the best is still ahead? And I like, you know, the we've traveled the miles we've traveled or the kilometers, depending on where you are in the world, but you know, the best is still ahead.
What's the genesis of that thought? It's a good thought. I I have no qualms with it, but just what brought you there?
Paula (02:18)
Well, I looked at the journey you know, the previous sixty years and then I looked at where I am now and I'm like, wow, I'm doing the greatest things I could ever do at this state. What happened? We had some family loss a couple of years ago, and I started looking at my mortality and I looked at what they left. And I was like, Well, I'm not finished yet. And I have been toying with this idea about encore, what's next, wanting to repackage my material and share it with people.
And really, you know, take them to the next stage in life. And so I'm saying, hmm. And so that's really what sparked that whole next chapter, best chapter, because I at this stage in life, everything makes sense. Could look back and see why everything did or didn't happen, what will or may not happen, very clear on what I would like to happen, and the having the wisdom.
now that I didn't have when I was younger. So it is the most invigorating, exciting time as we mature in our life. That's how I see my best is still ahead.
Bernie (03:20)
I like the idea of encore because usually when you hear that in in the theater, it means, give us a bit more, right? At a at a at a music whether festival or opera. You know, you just you just want some more of that the good stuff. What how how did you come up with that term? I I mean, it's kind of obvious based on what I've just described, but like, you know, how did how did that f unfold for you?
Paula (03:42)
Well, I was looking at everything that I've done and I realized, you know, when I was caregiving for my mom before she left that she's there they were all in their nineties and so forth. So I'm in my sixties. Hmm. Well, what's my contribution? What's my encore? I mean, I've done all this work, I've done a lot of great things. And that's what I did. But now, what do I get to do?
And so the whole thing about encore is standing center stage in in your own life and showing up for who you are 100% unapologetically, doing it any way you want to, however you feel like you want to, and giving yourself applause, whether no one else applauds you or not, is just the most freeing and liberating time in your life. So you give yourself an encore. I tell the women.
you should give yourself a performance, Oscar for your lifetime because of what you've had to carry and how you navigated the children, the family to this, to that, and the other thing. So it's the same thing. Give yourself an award. Honor yourself and let that season be the best season in your life because that's what it's designed to be.
Bernie (04:50)
So part part of it and just I'm gonna kind of deak off our our path here. so an encore doesn't necessarily cause you're talking about leaders, right? Maybe you people leaving their leadership positions. So if they're part of the corporate universe, the Encore, it may not be, you know, if if they were a CFO, CMO, CO, supervisor, you assembly line worker, you know, matters not where you're in the spectrum.
It's the the there's an encore era that's coming up. Exactly. Is that how does that unfold then too? What they're gonna do next? I mean, I I I there's always there's always life after, right? Hopefully your data is not totally tied to your work. So how do you get into that? How do you get that framed into position then? Because now you're going, I've just left what I've done for the last, you know, whether it's the last 20 years or the last five years. How do I reframe that? How do I get past that and into the new box of what I'm at?
We're looking at
Paula (05:43)
First, we're gonna throw away the box. That's what we're gonna do first. Next, we're gonna break down Encore ENCR. E stands for exit with intention. So that means you're looking at, okay, I've done this, that's who I was, who I am now, and where I am now is not gonna take me to where I want to be. Even though I may not know what that looks like, let's get a plan for it, let's create a strategy for it, let's leverage all of your experience.
And expertise in everything that you've done. And let's repackage that into something new, whether it's a new encore career as far as a job, whether you want to set up a business, or whether you want to do some type of legacy company or something for your family. Whatever it is. This is the season. That's the E for exit with intention. Be intentional in business and at work. We always have an exit strategy for everything we do under that risk management. So
If you are looking at the stage of life you're at, whether you're in your 40s, 50s, 60s, or wherever, every decade you're a new person. Every decade you elevate in who you are, or you should. And if it hasn't happened, it will. And you'll all of a sudden be uncomfortable where you are naturally. So when you go from one season to the next, you're naturally uncomfortable because what served you in the last season will not serve you in the new season.
So then we look at and navigate the new after the crazy and the chaos. We've all had crazy and chaos in our life. We've caused it, may have been the fryer in the frying pan, or been the frying pan. Doesn't matter. We all caused it, okay? And we own our stuff, but we look at the good things we learned along the way. So we create a strategy around that that aligns with the exit strategy. And then we're looking at the next, which is I feel the key, which is C. Commit. Make a commitment. This is not a diet.
You have to commit to yourself to make the changes you want to see as you move forward in your life. Next, you have to be able to communicate that in such a way that it's natural and it's fluid because it's coming from your heart and it's really who you are and what you really want to do. And that equals authentic connections. If you don't have the right relationships, you may want to check yourself before you look at external. Always check internal, then external.
Or you may have to leave some groups that you once served you that no longer you outgrew. So you move on. And then we look at for opportunity. Many times people don't see opportunities are all around them and they don't recognize them. So pay attention. There are opportunities all around you. If you don't see them, create them. And then when you see them, seize it. Go for it. Don't sit there and think about it. well, maybe I'll do this or maybe I'll do that. No.
Just go. Because the best thing that could happen is you will experience something that you never thought possible. And then we're looking at R, being relevant. One of the things about as we mature, it's very important to be relevant in our own life, but also in our business or career or whatever we're going to do. Because now it's an investment of our time and energy and our cash flow. So
If I'm gonna make sure if I'm going to do something, it has to be resonant. It has to be resonant, realistic goals that yield results. And so if you as you go through the encore, you see how it builds on each other. And then the lastly is E for excellence, your personal trademark. You are the go-to person for one thing. Just focus on one thing. That one thing you focus on, you're the go-to person.
Now, your encore has begun.
Bernie (09:12)
You know, I I as you were describing this and I'm thinking back about your your your family tree. That's that is just embodies it all the way through from your your great grandmother and going forward. So I guess that's that was part of the you know, your reflections looking back, you know, the where your family have have been and what they have done and what they've achieved. that is a really that's a really good really good story and and
To me it it it speaks volumes, right? It speaks volumes of tenacity and the willingness to explore and to do more success.
Paula (09:44)
And it first and you know that's that's true because it wasn't that we were they were looking for success. They were looking to be who they were at a time when they weren't allowed or shouldn't have been. And so they didn't care. They just did it. You know, it wasn't a question, you know. It they just went to school. They my great grandmother went to school, graduated in 1894. Yeah, she was Kumadi and everything. And then her daughter goes to Juilliard, becomes a pianist.
And then it goes into real estate.
so that people could purchase homes that weren't allowed to live certain neighborhoods. Cause her parents, my great grandparents had to have their attorney purchase their homes, even though they were paying cash because they had a business. So then you look at my mother, who was the only female manager in a branch in a bank, where the only other women were tellers and secretaries. And then she happened to be a woman of color at that time. So it wasn't as if they went into this stuff thinking they were gonna change anything.
This is their reality, and they'll say, okay, let's make the best of it. You know what I mean? And the courage and all of the thing, leadership skills and all that stuff they learned along the way and how they live their life. I saw excellence in them. I saw their digni. I saw the dignity come through them. I saw their faith. I saw their resilience. Because it was challenging. Very, very challenging. And so we're always going to have challenges. It's how we navigate through.
And what I see now, people are like, well, I don't know if I want to do it or what stop whimping now. Get get to work. Do something. Okay? Because if you're sitting there wallowing in it and whimping it, you know, and being all it wishy-washy, you'll never achieve anything. So just do something. It doesn't even matter if that's the thing you're gonna continue with, but you have to do something.
Bernie (11:20)
Yeah, it's it's either a sink or a swim, then start swimming, or at least tread water just a bit.
Paula (11:25)
Yes.
Bernie (11:25)
I want to swing back to the the professionals that you end up having chats with because you know sometimes things are available and the resistance is just you the person, not not the environment. So nothing nothing's saying, I you can't do this because you're not and fill in the blanks, whatever they are. How do you get how do you get a how do you get a person then to go, listen, you got it. Now plug in.
Or go forward, you know, or move forward. How do you get them to kind of pony up and go, Okay, let's go.
Paula (11:55)
Well, it's it's a it's a matter of options. We have one option. You can stay where you are and you can whine about it and be unfulfilled, miserable, and what have you, even though nothing is wrong. Or you can try something new and the thrill and the excitement of seeing what you have never achieved. Which one do you want? It's a very simple door. Now you of course you're gonna go through this second door.
You're of course you may have some fear, 'cause we always have fear when we've done something that we've never done before. And the confidence is like, mm-hmm, not so sure. But go.
so that that whole thing about going, that's it.
Bernie (12:32)
How do you know when someone's ready to to pull the trigger as opposed to like, you know, they're thinking about it, you know, they haven't got the gumption up yet. They have, you know, they haven't built up the inertia, for lack of better words, I guess. How do you know they're ready to to pull the trigger and go, okay, let's go, mate, let's make this happen?
Paula (12:47)
Hmm. Well, there's an action that they do. Like I excuse me. I started with a new client yesterday and she quit her job. She was ready to go. She says, I just quit two weeks ago. I need a business coach. I've started this business while I was working, and I realized I don't want to be on the job anymore. She was a very high level executive.
And she just said I had enough. She didn't want it. And so they'll leave that way.
Then there's another type of person that says, I want to leave, but I'm concerned about this, that, and the other. So they need an exit strategy. Once they can see it on paper or the tool or assessments that I use, prove themselves out, they're ready to go. But they have to have some type of confirmation or validation, other than somebody telling them, you could do it, you could do it.
It has to come from design. And then there are others that are just like, let's do this. They just want to take a risk and run. And so that gives you kind of a variation of how people think.
Bernie (13:45)
You find it like you've talked about someone who's been corporate. like two of them that have been corporate. One you know what, that's it. I'm out of here. I pulled pulled the pen. And another one who's going, you know, I I'm kind of ready, but I'm not, you know, so that they don't they don't have their sea legs per se, or or like you said, the plan mapped out. But if you're running the business and you're going, my gosh, I'm on a treadmill. I don't know if I want to do any more treadmill runs. I'm
Maybe weight maybe yeah, arm curls are okay, but you know, running on the treadmill, not so much so. How do you help that person then kind of like is that all about the planning again and the strategy? Or is it, you know, if they want off badly and but like immediate, or is it something they can transition and phase out of their life? How do you help them in that space to realize that dream?
Paula (14:32)
Well, first let's start with the question, what do you want?
And they usually don't know. Then I say, What are you afraid of? And then they kind of look and they don't want to say. So then we start to have a conversation. And I say, okay, so in your ideal world today, the stage of life you're at, what do you see would work without any barriers? I always wanted to. And I said, so
You forgot what you always wanted to do, and you forgot why you set this business up. I had an executive very high level. He had about four CEOs under him. And so he was getting caught up in that and them and forgot about himself and his own business to the degree that he was like, you know, feeling like he was spiraling in every area of his life. So it kind of walked him through a series of questions and conversation.
And he started to remember. And then there was a deal he was looking to go and close that day. And he didn't even want to do it because he just felt so drain. But by the time we finished talking, and then he told me about what it was, I gave him a strategy on how to approach it. Okay, our next meeting, he was off to the races. He actually did the paperwork. I gave him some paperwork to do to help him align everything. And he did it. Yay! When they finished the paperwork.
And he was so excited because he actually experienced the results of doing the work. Go figure. And now he realized that he can't, you know, not that he's above them in the sense that he's more than them, but he has to have that space in between to keep his own autonomy. Otherwise, he gets caught up in everything under him and then everything around him.
And he's the one that's supposed to see from the top and lead them. And once he realized that, he was so excited because now he got his why back, so to speak. And so he was very excited and moved forward. Now there are some people that decide, you know what, I don't want to do this anymore. I want to sell the business or close the business. Then we have to come up with a strategy on how to transition them out. Or if they want a family member to take over the business, we have to make sure the family wants to do it.
'cause that's another thing. So there's so many different scenarios that can happen, but what they want doesn't always match what the people they want to do what they want come together. So we have to ensure that that happens. And so, you know, it's a lot of conversation. It's it's mapping it out. It's helping them get their vision back, get their why back, and enjoy it. You know, w
We're supposed to enjoy making money. We're supposed to enjoy doing business. We're supposed to enjoy helping people. And we're supposed to enjoy leading and seeing others lead. So if you don't have those things going on, we need to determine why. And maybe you've outgrown the business. Maybe it's time to walk away. Maybe it's time to close it. If it's not making money and it's not doing what you want it to do, close it. If you want to start something else, then let it be a hobby, more so than a big organization where you leave.
people and so forth and so on, do that, whatever it is, but find something that gives you value. Because once you receive value from what you set up, then you can do anything. Because you're internally motivated.
Bernie (17:46)
I find that some people, I'm almost reflecting back, you know, some people are really good in high school, let's say doing sports, right? they're the quarterback or you know, or in the hockey, you know, you're the goalie or forward, whatever whatever the position or whatever the role is. It was at some point in time you're super good at something in your in your space. And then time moved on.
And as as we all know, the our bodies go, yeah, yeah, hold hold that thought. You are not as liber as you once were, you know, 40 years later down the pipe, right? How do you are there times where people get stuck in the glory days? And you know
Paula (18:23)
Well.
Bernie (18:24)
how do you shake that tree? I mean, it not it's like it it's kudos to having that success. Nothing no no never to take that away, ever, you know, but
What happened 40 years ago? It's yeah. I mean, I got a jean jacket downstairs when I was 16. I I tried putting it on. I couldn't fit my forearm down the sleeve. And I'm thinking, what the heck happened? Yeah, I obviously my body moved, you know, grew, right? But yeah. How do you get people past that mode? Do you hand them the jean jacket and try to put it on metaphorically?
Paula (18:55)
Yes, in a way. Reality. Okay, so you play college, you may have played football in college. You are not in college now. Your body is not in college now. So you might as well go and coach a l a team or find a way to be in that environment that you can contribute and participate in that'll make you happy. But don't go and recreate the glory days. I had this is a wonderful mentor of mine many years ago. I had a women's foundation.
And I knew it was coming towards the end of running that because I had built it so forth and so on. And I said, Well, you know, we're gonna do this event, do this, this is nice. And I was sitting down and talking to her. She said, Paula, you're finished. You're done. It's not gonna happen. You notice things are slowly driving, drying up, and the market is shifting. So you need to get out because you really are not passionate about it. You just wanna do it because this is what you've done.
Let it go. And I gave her all these excuses and she didn't say a word. And you know, silence will teach you a lot of things. One, shut up. But two, it doesn't matter. The answer's still the same. Let it go. And I did exactly what she said. Although I did one more event and it liked to take me out. But I did let it go. And I'm so glad that I did, because many of my peers that stayed in that realm.
there were a lot of changes going on in the in the States and the funding and all this other kind of thing and there was a lot of fluctuation changing. And so what once was lucrative and flowing and available was no longer. And I had already moved on and started something different and I didn't got get caught up in that. So I was really happy about that.
Bernie (20:29)
It almost sounds like a Darwinian playbook, you know, adaptation. I mean, I use Darwinian only just because it's kind of an easiest model to understand, but it's adaptation. The circumstances change. If the water's not plentiful, then either you hold on to it or you'll be able to find it where you weren't able to before. You have something called the Encore playbook.
Paula (20:49)
Yes.
Bernie (20:49)
Can you flash that out what's that all about?
How d how does someone get into that and how do they participate?
Paula (20:56)
Well, the Encore Playbook was actually when I relaunched my business last year, after the losses that I talked about earlier. and I relaunched my business in a different way. And I put all of my not all of my, but a lot of my trade secrets in there. And one was a strategic life plan and aligned that with your business aspirations. Whether you want to do an encore career, whether you want to set up a business or whatever it is you wanna do. And I aligned the two together, put in the case studies and
all of the work that I've done over the last twenty, thirty years and put it all in one small little capsule. There are a lot of lessons in there, there are a lot of tools in there. There are a lot of things that can help you set up a plan and move forward immediately. You know, if you're motivated. And then there are those things in there that'll take you time over over time. So the Yoncore framework is in there and that leads everything.
in all of the areas of your life, personally, professionally, socially, you know, spiritually, physically, and emotionally, all those things. And then your hierarchies in the area your of intelligence hierarchy, your emotional hierarchy, and then humility, I'm sorry. Emotional humility, your intelligence humility, and then your hierarchical humility. And what I mean by that is if as you mature, you
Course, you excel. But as you excel, there's a level of humility that should be present in order that you can embrace where you're going, even though you may know a lot or you may experience a lot, but understanding how to use that for the greater good as far as the team, as far as yourself, as far as your family and everyone else, and being able to share that in a way where everyone else can enjoy it.
So in Alcall Playbook, what the what people experience when they read it is a lot of, wow, that's what that meant back then when I didn't get the job, or when I didn't get this, when I didn't get that. wow, that's why I got that. Or this is why that happened. So it's a very powerful book. And then I created the reset journal because my clients asked for it last year. And then my older previous clients, they said well they wanted it. And so I launched that in December.
And so we're, you know, I'm doing workshop this weekend, walking people through the the reset journal. And what it does is it takes you through the lessons in the playbook, you know, that first level of it. Whatever plan you don't have, we'll establish that, put a shape around it so that for twenty twenty six and beyond, you have a clear path of where you're going. Now, how you're gonna get there is determined about how we back into it and the strategies and so forth and then the work that we do together.
Bernie (23:36)
I seem to recall this is for professionals. if I recall correctly the article read, it was in LinkedIn, that a lawyer had, you know, successful in in in their in his career. And at one point in time he also liked doing something else that was totally not within the profession. it was like a hobby. I I I I think it was dealing with with plants, flora. And it just it was just a passion.
And how do you figure out now, you know, been doing this a really long time, like you said earlier, right? Your coach is going, Yeah, it's time to shift gears and do something else. How do you find that something else? Is it something that you have an underlying passion and interest in? Or and the reason I'm kind of going, or is that sometimes you know, I like the idea of owning a owning a cottage, and it really sounds great till up till the time in time then you go.
yeah, I gotta go make sure I gotta go up there and open it, close it, maintain it. So it's another house. All right. So it's not so bad if you have a team with you doing it. But how do you find that? I like to do that, but is that is that my smart move? next step.
Paula (24:40)
Well, one thing I tell everybody, there are no guarantees. Or there's one guarantee. If you bet on yourself, you'll always win. So whatever it is you pursue, you're gonna win. How you win, we don't know the outcome, but you're responsible to establish something. So we I have assessment tools and different things that I use to help to kind of figure out if they what they want. If they want this to be profitable, then we have to look at it in it one way.
If they wanna have fun and let it be just something they do from time to time. If they make money, they do, if they don't, they're not really concerned. That's another thing. And then if they want a combination of both, like a seasonal business, you know, I have some, I've had some clients that were retirees and they call it the side hustle. And I said, first of all, we're not gonna call it a side hustle, because at your stage of life, you ain't hustling to do anything. But if you wanna say,
your business that you do. and it's a seasonal business. So if you're only looking to work two quarters a year, then whatever the service you're providing or whatever you're doing, you want to adjust the business as such. And in in in your talking about the hobby thing, my sister loves to cook. She's basically all that kind of stuff. So when she got laid off from her job, she started making cakes and so forth as well. And so she only did them seasonally.
Because she didn't want her passion to be turned into a hardcore business that she didn't get to enjoy. Because she used that as a way to relax. And so if the passion is something you like doing and it makes people happy, you may want to be a vendor, you may want to do a franchise, you may want to do things that allow you the freedom and flexibility.
to travel to do whatever it is you really want to do, but then you can schedule it in and be responsible with it because you schedule the time. So if you're making cakes just for the holiday seasons, great. Then the rest of the year, you're fine because you're only doing it for the holidays. So that's two or three weeks out of every quarter. You're good. You want to do get a vendor booth and sell all your books or your or whatever it is you create, do that.
You know, if you want to travel around the world and you want to set up a you know, to a lot of people travel and go to all these different conferences and vendor shows and things like that, they like it. It's fun for them. So their business actually isn't what they're selling. They like to travel and they like to be around people and they like to talk to people. So they create something that gives them opportunity to do that. So those are kind of out-of-the-box creative ways in which people get to express themselves.
and enjoy it and they get to make money if they want to.
Bernie (27:17)
Most as you're describing this, and I'm thinking of past colleagues that have retired, you know, in the corporate, just like you know, life's going along, yep, pension time. And some of them ended up getting side gigs. They never even started a business, they did a side gig instead, right? And then you know, on and off, you know, and earned good coin. And I guess the question I'm getting at here is the client that you're helping, are they the person that goes, Yep, was over here.
And I you know, if if I'm looking at someone that's, you know, a little more seasoned, if I can say it that way, you know, more mature. And are you taught are you helping those folks I'm trying to d determine who your client base is. Is it the person who's leaving leaving and looking to create their own work or looking to leave and also maybe work as a side gig? Or is it all both?
Paula (28:03)
It is the midlife individual 15 and beyond. Because they're ready to make a change and they're preparing for the next stage of life. It is not the person that is has one focus and only wants to go in one direction. That's not my client. Mine is the midlife individual preparing for next, pre and post retirement, or if they're in business, they want to transfer the business to the children, or they want to sell the business, they want to go set up another business, they want to do something.
And so it's that individual that's internally and self motivated but may not have a direction and then may be a little fearful because this is a big leap for them, you know, when someone decides to close a business and then take some time off and then figure out what they want to do, that's a big leaf for an individual, especially if they've been doing it a long time and it's been their passion project. So a lot of times people have passion projects which are called side gigs or whatever, whatever, whatever.
And so now the Passion Project has a its own little assessment and conversation that I walk with them on because then I know, okay, this is this is a passion project for you. You wanna you are an educator, you wanna go back and help principals, but you don't wanna be in the school system, you don't want a long term contract, you just wanna go in there, teach a little bit, share your book and your rah rah rah and help them get from one stage to the other. Okay, so you only wanna work what, how many, two quarters a year?
Yeah, that's all I want to do. And I had a client like that. She was educated like that. She wanted to do that, you know. And so you make room for what they want to do for themselves personally. And then what happens is whatever they're doing with their skills and talents and what have you, they do that with a level of joy and excellence to the degree that they start to do it more than they thought. Because they feel like I'm not pressed to do it.
Because a lot of times what happens with individuals, and I notice even with myself sometimes, if I have to do something and I'm obligated to do something, and I really don't want to be obligated, then it's a chore. But if I don't have that obligation and it's my choice, well, then that opens and so it's all in how you see it as far as perspective. Does that make sense?
Bernie (30:13)
Paula makes perfect sense. And it perfect. Sorry, it just is as as you're my brain's picking up all the information, going, this is really awesome stuff. Hey, Paula, where where were you when I was, you know, going, I'm gonna retire from? this this would have been a perfect stage left process. As a person goes forward and they say, Listen, Paula, help me. Is there like a
Because sometimes you need you need those internal rewards, a little dopamine hit. You need the little, yeah, yeah, I'm on the right path. Yay, win. Right. And I'm not talking massive ones. It's like someone dropped a pot of gold in your lap, so to speak, today, and tomorrow is a pot of diamonds. But what should they be looking for, as encouragements as they're moving forward, as they're going in into that space and and following it.
Paula (30:58)
Looking at
For what they're looking for is to see themselves excel and have that personal satisfaction that's internal. And then as that continues to grow, guess what happens externally? People start to say it to you, people start to encourage you, you start to build momentum, and you start moving out in directions that you never thought you would go in. Then opportunities come to you. And then you get paid what you want to get paid, you know, and that's a a big encouragement.
How I got started, which most people don't know, I had gotten a little downsize from corporate. I was in training and development. Downsize, I was gonna go to, I went to the SBA to get a loan or to start a business. And at the time, they didn't have a program for women in business. And the director that was there was a little upset and what have you. And I asked what was wrong. And so she said, Well, we have this and the funding, but we don't have a program. I got a program, no problem. Pull it out of my briefcase.
rearrange whatever they needed. She went to the meeting. Boom, I became the spokesperson. So these are opportunities that okay, that was a big level of encouragement. What they paid me that day was a big deal to me because I was going to get a loan. And I came back from the contract.
L those are the little not little things, but those are the things that, you know, God sends you, like the little kisses on the cheek, the little surprise birdies that drop a opportunity in front of you, you know. And so if you're if you're a person that pays attention, you're gonna see those things. And when you see them, you're gonna smile like, and those are the things that you write down. You're grateful for. I'm grateful for this opportunity today. I'm grateful for this. And they start to build up.
And then you start to have a level of expectation. And your confidence goes through the roof.
Bernie (32:43)
You know, do you find because the population's is fifty percent male, fifty percent female? I'm not not gonna get into the different variations of themes that can possibly happen, but on on average, you know, we're either male or female. Do you find that for women this is this is a harder journey? I sometimes like when I hear your the backstory of your family lineage, it almost sounded like no.
But I I'm not a woman. I've not lived through, you know, I've not lived through any resistance in in the overall system, right? in a patriarchal space, being a male, right? So and I'm being a white male on top of it. So you know there's certain things I've I've not experienced. I've experienced some resistance to certain things because I'm not always of a certain group. But for women, is this something that this is
Much more needed, much more yeah, it it gives because I I watch my spouse working and I'm sitting back and just amazed. Like she just does stuff and I'm sitting there like geez, I wish I'd thought of that. Right. And but and that's in her workspace. Do you find that women need more encouragement or it's something that's
Underfilled in the space of s of support?
Paula (33:53)
say this it is harder for us because society set it up as we were to serve everybody and not have an it be an individual and to lead in who we are. We were good to take care of the family, do all of this. Growing up I heard you go to college, you get married, you work 30 years, you retire, have children, all that. But that's not who we are as women. There was a roles that we play. And so one of the reasons that Encore is so
precious to me, especially for women, is because we were taught to live in our roles as our identity and not our identity as a woman who is intelligent and has the right to enjoy life on her own terms, whatever that is, and whatever it looks like in business, in in family, whatever. So yes, it's easier for the white male. When I was talking about my mom, she was the only black female.
in leadership and she was and now everybody else in the bank or white males. So of course my dad goes every six weeks or so and sits down and has lunch with her boss to let him know I'm here to support my wife because she had to deal with a lot of stuff. Now, it wasn't that she went in there wanting to be a trailblazer. They set her up. You know, it was a setup. and if we look at situations as what they really are, it t it looked what looked like wouldn't work.
ended up turning around being an incredible opportunity for not just her but other women to be able to come in management not just that branch but other branches that were in a situation where it'd be very difficult. Did she go in thinking that? No. She went in this is the job they offered me. I took the promotion and I went. That was it. You know, and we as women have to do what we have to do because we're with the children, we're with the family, the caregiving piece
You know, the oldest daughter. And so the responsibilities of caregiving for parents, it's gonna happen. You got the teenagers, all of those dynamics of life are the responsibility of a woman in a different way that men will never experience and will never experience what you experience. Not lessening what you deal with, but what we deal with is as far has more definite
Because if we do not protect who we are in our own identity, we'll fall into these roles. And then after the roles are over, then we're sitting there with not knowing who we are. they talk about empty nesters. Well, your children are for your whole life. You're training and raising them and and and and cultivating them to be individuals and people. But you better have a vision for yourself after they go. If the relationship doesn't work,
Who were you before the relationship? You should have been a person before you went into it. And that's why I always say, because I was divorced I went through divorce, don't marry until you know who you are. And you're confident and you're solid in that. And then when you couple with someone that knows who they are, you got a better chance of moving forward. But everybody doesn't grow up the same way and the same time in a relationship, whether it's a marriage, whether it's a partnership.
Whether it's on a team, whether wherever you are, people have different levels in which they see things, perceive things, and how they grow and will adapt or will not. And they have backgrounds. And so as a female going into business and working in whatever environment she's in, there's an underlying expectation she's there to serve. When in actuality, no, she's there to lead in whatever role she's doing. So yes.
It is harder for us. It is difficult to navigate. And the what I've created in this encore playbook is to help give them a vision, like a peephole, while they're going through those dark times. When I was going through the caregiving the first time with my dad and my mom and he had a long term illness and I'm sitting in the hospital and the doctors, everybody's le losing it. I'm like, Okay, he's not gonna die. You all are gonna go in there and do what you gotta do. So the tears coming down on this side.
And on the other side, I'm sitting there typing up a business plan. So I mean, you know what I mean? You smile through your tears. But we as women, that's what we do. Because we don't have the luxury of time. Especially if we're responsible for our household a hundred percent by ourselves. And even if we're not, we still don't have the luxury of time of being who we are. I hope that kind of gives you a clarity of it.
Bernie (38:05)
Paula I remember one time a co-worker of mine came up to me and she says to me, She says, Your your boss is a woman. I said, You've always reported to guys. I said, Yeah. She says, notice any difference? And I said, I don't look at my boss as a woman. I I know she's physiologically a woman and I respect that. but I've never viewed her as a woman. I viewed her as my boss, right? So that you know, just
Turn if we had to turn left, we turn left, we turn right, you know, go slow down, whatever the instructions were. So yeah, no, and I and I can fully appreciate it. The the reason I'm asked asked the question is that for the audience perspective, right? What does that mean? And some people understand it, and some people who are women might not understand it even. They might understand the circumstance, but you know, like you have to be more. So
Is it a reinvention? Is it a strategy or is it a psychological shift? What is the the encore program?
Paula (38:57)
The encore program is betting on yourself, taking the risk for your next step, your next chapter, the best season of your life. We're not gonna reinvent what already happened because I'm not the person from that yesterday. But I am going to blossom into today. And this is who I am, and this is how I want to show up, and this is how I'm gonna share it with you. So we look at it from that perspective. It's the next. It is not.
Yesterday, it's next. And it's now.
Bernie (39:25)
So Paula, do you have any books or podcasts you wanna share with the with the audience that that are out there?
Paula (39:32)
Yeah, I do have my you know, my Encore playbook and the reset journal are on Amazon and you get can get them on my website, Paula Washington dot com. also I have a YouTube. it's at Paula Washington on my YouTube and Instagram is I am Paula Washington. So those are the ways that you can reach me.
Bernie (39:53)
Paula, I want to say thank you so much. Really appreciate your time today. And to you that and to you the Knack 4 Business listeners, you know what? Paula's got really has a super rich background story about being surrounded by women who refuse to live small. And from her great grandmother earning a college degree in 1894. I mean, I I I it's kind of hard to fathom those days, but those are the old, old days relative to today, considering it's 2026 now.
Right. So just a wee bit of a wee bit of time's gone by. And and breaking barriers in the banking industry and understanding it wasn't so much the goal wasn't to break the barrier as opposed to I need work and this is the job I can do. And so if you are from the Knack 4 Business listeners space, if you're looking to go listen, I want to transition out. I I want to shift my gears. I'm a little more in the mature side of the fence, reach out to Paula.
It just might offer you that opportunity to to shove off into a new new direction and become better you.