Burnout-Proof Leadership – Victoria Mensch on Resilience, Reinvention, and Finding Joy in the Workplace

Brad Minus: And welcome back to Life-Changing Challengers. I'm really excited here. Ladies and gentlemen, I have Victoria Mensch with us today. She's a leadership strategist and burnout-proof expert, and she is the founder of Silicon. I. Valley Executive Academy. And we're gonna go through that a little bit later on.

Hey Victoria, how you doing? 

Victoria Mensch: I'm doing very well, not Brad. 

Brad Minus: I am happy for you to be here as well and I'm happy to, have this conversation with you.

But first. Victoria, can you tell us a little bit about your childhood? You know, like the compliment of your family, where you grew up, you ever been brothers or sisters, and what was it like to be Victoria as a kid? 

Victoria Mensch: That's an interesting question. So it actually, you know, usually people start with, where are you from?

And it's an easy question and it kind of considered to be small talk, but for me it's always, very hard to answer. So I was born in Russia, in Soviet Union, and then my family moved to Kazakhstan. So I grew up in Kazakhstan.

And, after that moved back to Moscow and then integrated to the United States. So the last. What, 25, 26 years. I actually lived in Silicon Valley most of the time. So that's, that's the story. Yes. So, and if you look at the history of it, I did, yeah. I was born in Soviet Union. Can you imagine? So a lot of people don't even remember that that country existed anymore.

All the, ups and downs of that country that no longer exists. But I did have a happy childhood, so I, I have to admit that, and I was a very active, child. I wanted to know everything. I wanted to learn everything. I started lots of things, did not finish most of them.

Most of the time was very, intellectually, curious and just really wanted to learn, learn, learn. 

Brad Minus: Okay. So you said that you went from Moscow to Kazakhstan. So, how long was that? What was what, so what grade or what age were you when you moved to Kazakhstan?

Victoria Mensch: I was born not in Moscow, I was born in the region that's called Euro Mountains. So, geographically it's really the, divider between Europe and Asia, somewhere next to Siberia. And, I was about eight years old when we moved to Kazakhstan. I grew up in Kazakhstan. I went to school, in Kazakhstan.

Went to my, I got my first degree in Kazakhstan. So yeah, so that was, pretty substantial number of years. 

Brad Minus: Can you tell us a little of the difference between where you grew up or where the first eight years, I dunno if you remember maybe what you do, the years that you spent in Russia versus the, well, so you had to be at least there, you said first degree.

So it had to be at least, 12, 15 years that you spent in Kazakhstan, correct? 

Victoria Mensch: I left Kazakhstan when I was, 21 years old. 

Brad Minus: Okay. 

Victoria Mensch: And have never been back, unfortunately, but really look forward to going back one day. Yes. So I think the main difference was that where I was born, it was a, more historical, more populated, long time.

Settlement. Right. When my family moved to Kazakhstan, that was kind of a new area. That's what the union decided to develop. They build lots of factories there, to cultivate, mineral resources. And, yeah. So most of the people in that small town were really newcomers, so there was not a lot of roots there.

So I think that's probably the biggest difference that I, noticed when we moved. That so many people were from so many different places and they were really new to that area. So there was not a lot of kind of, places to go.

Not a lot of history there. It was a pretty harsh environment. It was not far from the nuclear testing side, you know. 

Brad Minus: Okay. 

Victoria Mensch: Yesware was pretty harsh, and, there were really just two factories there. One was the metallurgy plant and one was the electro station that was serving the metallurgy plant.

So half of the town would work in one place and half of the town would work in another place. So that's kind of a, very interesting environment 

Brad Minus: I have say, as opposed to 

Victoria Mensch: yes, as opposed to where I was born, where people lived, generations and generations and generations. So, everywhere you go you could actually find someone, who know you are a grandmother or grand grandmother.

Or whose grand aunt went to school with, I don't know, like 60 years ago. So it was a very kind of deep roots over there. People who lived there, generation after generation. 

Brad Minus: That's amazing. Yeah. I had two generations in Chicago.

Mm-hmm. I live in Tampa now. My parents grew up in Chicago. My grandparents grew up in Chicago on both sides. So yeah, I thought that was gonna end up being generational. And then when we got to my generation, everybody started to move away. Spent all my childhood there, and then all of a sudden I've got 12 cousins and they all spread out everywhere.

Yeah. And all of a sudden North Carolina started to become the, the area where people were settling and then people moved from North Carolina to Florida. So, so right now it's very, a, my family is very transient, but, I love the fact that, that you've had that experience, in a, in a different area.

So, so, okay. So what, what school and degree did you finish in Kazakhstan? 

Victoria Mensch: Mm-hmm. So I went to, one of the, best schools in Kazakhstan. It was at Kazakh University. And the educational system was a little different in that time. Universities were for those who would prepare Ians or researchers, or those who would teach in other higher institutions.

And then, we had this professional kind of higher, educational. Organizations that would prepare like engineers or, doctors, more of a professional schools, but the universities were really for that intellectual elite, I would say. So I went to one of those. I was very privileged to go there.

Mm-hmm. And I studied psychology, so that was my passion. I thought that I'll follow my passion, which was also very unusual. My parents are engineers. My sister's an engineer. Her husband is an engineer. My grandparents are engineers. And I lived in the metallurgy plant and.

Electrical station. So psychology was not something that, people would normally go for. But I hold my passion. I decided to do that. And, from the educational point of view, it was really priceless. 

Brad Minus: Very nice. Yeah. And just to know what, how people tick, you know what I mean? I think that's pretty good knowledge, right?

Well, it's excellent knowledge to have at that point. We can see some of our best business leaders started out in psychology, just understanding behavioral people a lot of 'em were head masters and stuff. So you went from Kazakhstan, you got this degree in, psychology.

Then you said that you moved back to Russia. 

Victoria Mensch: Yes. Then I decided to, well there were several factors contribu to that, but, one of the, bigger drivers was that I wanted to continue my education. I actually wanted to do a PhD, so. One of the, bigger motivations was to go, to Moscow and get my PhD there.

Another one. There were all those political and economical and societal shifts that Soviet Union collapsed at that time. So, people started moving from one place to another. So Kazakhstan became an independent country. And, Russia became an independent country. So economically it was, not a very, easy time for a lot of people.

So I thought that that would actually bring me, a better, more stable situation if, I would go and study in Moscow. 

Brad Minus: And did you like Moscow? 

Victoria Mensch: Absolutely. 

Brad Minus: I hear mixed reviews from people that have gone, you know, Americans that have gone out there and what do they know? I mean, what the heck?

Victoria Mensch: Have changed a lot. Yeah. It's a beautiful city. It's very clean. There's lots of, cultural events going on. Lots of good, you know, comparison restaurants. So then you have a chance once you have a chance.

Brad Minus: I love to travel, so I'm all over it. So from there, did you ended up going to the States? 

Victoria Mensch: Yes. 

Brad Minus: Nice. And you went right to California. 

Victoria Mensch: Yes, exactly. 

Brad Minus: And never left. 

Victoria Mensch: Well, I stayed for as long, as I could. And then during Covid I actually decided to go to Bali.

So I spent three years in Bali and now I'm back to 

Brad Minus: California here. Oh, very nice. I have a friend that went to Bali and absolutely loved it. She said it was dirt cheap to hang out there. Very hard to beat. 

Victoria Mensch: Yes. 

Brad Minus: Yeah. But she was the said the same, had the same exact reaction that you did that, you know, it was beautiful and there was a lot to do and things like that, but, that was probably not a bad place to spend covid.  

I know it's not. That is, yes. It, it's, it's, it's decently sizable to hang out and walk around in, but I, I know it's not, you know, not. Not huge, but I, you could probably spend a couple years there and not see everything. So, all right, so you've got your PhD and then you step over here into the city of Dr.

Oh, the place of dreams where dreams come true. The mantra that was done in Pretty Woman, she, that guy that walks across the street and he is like, Hey, welcome to Hollywood, where dreams come true. Anyway, what city were you 

Victoria Mensch: you hang out in?

Well, Palo Alto Pin, Eastville San Francisco area. 

Brad Minus: Okay. 

Victoria Mensch: Yeah. 

Brad Minus: The home of, well, at the time, I don't know if it's still there. But you know, that was the start of Facebook right there in Palo Alto. So yeah, lots of, 

Victoria Mensch: lots of, companies that were startups. We're now legends, really.

Silicon Valley. So Facebook is, well, meta, right? Yeah. Google is here. Yeah. Now all the, other companies, they have their, headquarters here. So companies like Nvidia is here, Airbnb is here, boxes here. So you name it, any high tech company, probably originated from Silicon Valley one way or another.

Brad Minus: Yeah, I always remember that scene in the social network where Sean is talking to Mark and he's like, and he looks at it and it was, I guess it was called, it was the facebook.com and he goes, you know, not the Facebook drop, the. Facebook. It's one of my favorite scenes. I mean, he just turns around and just throws it at him and leaves.

Alright, so what did you do? You got, now you've gotten a PhD, you're in California. What did you end up doing? 

Victoria Mensch: So there were a couple of things that were happening.

I got my PhD. I followed my passion. I thought this is what I wanted to do. I really enjoyed studying psychology. And then I started. Working with people and what happened a year into, that, was that I said I made a mistake. I'm really not enjoying it. I cannot take one more day of, working with people in the counseling capacity.

So I made anesthetic. I thought I was following my passion. I thought this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. That's the problem. When I, landed in California, I decided to pivot. So I looked, at what I can do. What I know, those skills that are transferable in other areas.

And I decided that, marketing would be my next endeavor. I pivoted from academia and from. Research and from counseling into a corporate world and it so happened that that was actually the best time to do it because I came here, it was 97 or 98. It was the peak of the.com.

Boom. 

Brad Minus: Right. 

Victoria Mensch: So, and all those, you know, metas of the world and Googles of the world, and Sun and Microsoft, all of them were really kind of up and coming companies with a huge demand for, resources. Any resources. So if you could. Breathe. You could get, a foot in the door. So that was my big pivot into the corporate world.

Brad Minus: So what were you doing as far as market? I mean, marketing expands like so many things. And I imagine just the psychology that you had in the background to know how people tick, what do people's emotions rely on? And then to pivot that into script, video, audio.

Mm-hmm. And the whole bit. What were you doing? 

Victoria Mensch: I started with marketing research. So I completely, my most transferable skills were really those research skills. So everything that you do in the research in psychology, you could actually apply into marketing research, especially primary research, but secondary as well.

So that's how I started. I did analysis, I did, market research. The industry was the most challenging piece because I ended up in the semiconductor industry, very deeply, technological, and I started in the company that was doing licensing of Microprocessing architecture.

So that's how I was. I had no idea that computers had microprocessors, and that was a big learning curve and, a big challenge, but a welcome challenge as well. So that's kind of, the skills to researching, do analysis. Were there, but I really had to, beef up my, technology understanding, 

Brad Minus: I got into computers and most of what I did was self-taught. My day job is, I'm an IT project program product manager. You know, on the senior side. I've been doing it for 20 some odd years. My side hustles are endurance and endurance athlete coaching and athlete. I'm a high school coach and the whole bit, those are side hustles.

But, the thing that makes me money is, you know, is it, so understand the whole microprocessing, but I also understand going into a. Area that you don't know and need to learn kind of on the job. And you've gotta do that all your own little research. So it's like you have to do your pre-research on the stuff that you don't know so that you can actually do your job.

Which is research on the things that you're supposed to know. So I imagine that, that, that was the same for you. So, so how long were you doing marketing. 

Victoria Mensch: Well, Mar I ended up doing marketing for high tech companies for more than 20 years. Wow. Yes. Okay. So, different different parts.

Yes. Different, different, areas of marketing. Eventually I, went into product marketing and I think that my, background in psychology. Was really useful there because as you said, like, you know, what makes people take so, so the, when you come with that understanding, so why would they buy this product?

What their, what problems, you know, in addition to, technological problems, what their individual personal problems this product can solve and how can you formulate. Eh, and, and understanding that they can relate to, so that they can actually make a decision to, go with your product, or your solution and so on and so forth.

So that was a really good match, with my background. And by that time, you know, a little better understanding of technology. 

Brad Minus: Oh, awesome. Awesome. You said 20 years, is that including that product marketing or is that Yes, we did 20 years in marketing.

Mm-hmm. And then you did product marketing. Okay. 

Victoria Mensch: I was a market research analyst, and then I quickly switched into, a role that's closer to product and to people, how are people actually using this product? So that was, interesting to me.

Brad Minus: Well, and now you can take all that experience that you didn't want to have with the people that you did work with. And you can now, transfer it. I can see it. You know, Hey, it was worth something. I didn't like it, but it was worth something. So That's awesome. I love that. Okay, great.

So what happened at that 20th year? 

Victoria Mensch: Not in the 20th year. So I actually, switched my focus from one place to another. So I said that I was in the cynic conducting industry. And then, the cycle actually repeated itself at some point. I looked around, I said, oh, I made another mistake.

I thought I wanted to be in high tech. I thought I wanted to be, in market research. But, I made another mistake. I really don't like it here. Right? So this is not my passion. I couldn't find motivation. I couldn't relate to the product, to the meaning of this.

So for sure it's because of the company's, because of the culture, because I made another mistake. So I looked around and I said, well, maybe I need, an MBA, right? So maybe I need to take a break and get more of a business skills and, you know, look around to see what else, I want to do in life.

So, I went ahead and did that. And you know, after MBAI actually ended up back to the high tech industry, maybe a little bit closer to people and products and the usage not as deeply, technological, but still it was the same. And then at some point when that cycle started to repeat itself again, I started to think, so why does this keep happening?

So why, I keep running into the same problem, that I'm losing interest, I'm losing motivation. I'm tired, I'm stressed, I'm exhausted. I don't like people around me. And that's when actually, I started to look at the burnout. So by that time, the whole concept of burnout, became much more prevalent.

I looked at, all the things that were happening there and all the. Advice that people were saying, but I think the pivotal moment was to say, yes, there are some external factors that contributed to this. Maybe it wasn't the best culture, maybe. There was really a lot of things to do, that brought exhaustion.

But at the end of the day, it's those internal shifts that you make. That bring, a kind of more of a consistent, result. So I stopped changing environment around me and started looking at how I work, what my attitude is toward my responsibilities, for what was happening. How am I managing stress?

How am I dealing with, people around me? And those internal shifts in the mindset. And those strategies to really reenergize, bring that energy back to myself instead of continuously leaking energy outside. So that one actually helped to start making, much more rational, decisions and, to be able to sustain, you know, to be able to sustain the career and be happy, in that career.

Brad Minus: That is super interesting and I wanna delve into that a little bit, but I gotta tell you, so I've managed multiple teams before, teams of, anywhere from 20 to 50 people. And I always said, I says, there's three type of people that you know work, and it all depends.

It all starts with the first thoughts after you turn off your alarm in the morning. And Amber was like, huh, okay. Now when you hit that alarm and the first thing that comes to your head on a weekday or on a workday, you're like, one of the things that come to your head is, oh God, I gotta go to work.

Oh, I can't stand this. I gotta go to work again. It's a paycheck. I'm just gonna go work, do my thing and get home. And then he said the second type of person where they hit their alarm clock and they're like, yeah, I gotta go to work. Eh, okay. You know, I can handle it, it's fine. I know what I'm there for and I do a good job and, that's it.

And then there's the other guy that usually doesn't have to hit the alarm because they've turned it off prior to it going off. 'cause they're really excited about going to work. You know what I mean? And, I've been all three of those people. Then I always say to them, I says, you should. I says, no.

So I was a contractor, and I would work on contracts anywhere from three months to three years. So I moved, a lot during the 20 years, 22 years that I've been a project manager. And it's always like, okay, I. Yeah, there's two things that you have to deal with your environment, the people you work for and with, and the work. So you could love the work. Can't stand the people you work, you work for in canand, the environment, which the, those two are kind of interchangeable, right? The people you work for and the environment, kind of go together.

Mm-hmm. Or you could hate to work, but love the environment. Mm-hmm. Or you're lucky and you get the trifecta and you love the people you work with. You love the environment, and you love the work. Mm-hmm. I found my trifecta just recently. I started December 9th on this latest project and I'm excited.

So how do you feel about that? What do you think about those people that maybe started. As like number three, where they were just really excited and then kind of transitioned to number two, and then finally to number one. 

Victoria Mensch: Right? Yeah. I want to say that this is a typical transition.

Yeah, so it's a typical transition and that's why, I, so, so this is this, this is the story that I've been telling you right now. This is the story that I lived through, and it's quite a typical transition from being very excited, letting the environment, letting what you do, allowing people around you.

To kind of gradually losing that, excitement. So, and, and, and some of it, again, as I said, there is no, I don't want to say that this is all internal. Yes, there are disruptions that are happening all the time in the world. Political disruptions, you know, climate, distractions, disruptions, whatever, family, what dynamics.

All those changes happening. So what we know for sure is that everything is going to change, right? So that's the only constant thing. So those distractions, externally, they are happening, those disruptions happening, they will continue to have, and not only going to accelerate. Now, how do you remain, in your center?

You cannot just run on those initial excitement for a long time. You have to have a way to recharge that energy to really regulate. Your internal system and the way you build your environment. So that's actually, the big piece of this is that, this is not something that was imposed on me.

I am in control, so I have tools and I have, strategies to deal with the stress. To construct the way to work that works for me there individually, right? And I have ways to recharge that energy that I'm continuously keeping away by doing this work. So those are the tools and the techniques that really help to sustain the, pressures and the stress of the job and to continuously, look for ways to create an interest.

And create an excitement not to expect that somebody's going to give that excitement to you. But you know, continuously being aware, continuously be conscious of what it is that you like, what you don't like, and create that for yourself. And we have that. So we are very powerful. All these techniques, as I said, you know, all this, all this, mindset, tools, those are the tools to really kind of master that power. 

Brad Minus: Excellent. I have a very, I have a tough, pretty tough question for you. What is a, what is the best nugget? Of information or technique that you would give someone who is a number one, who is the person that hits the alarm clock and is like, I don't want to go to work.

I want nothing to do with it, but I have to go because I have responsibilities and I have to turn a paycheck. Where they once were maybe a three. You know, where they were excited about that. What would be a nugget or a technique that you could just give?

Yeah. I don't want you to give away the farm because you've got a lot of resources there and some great courses, and I want to feed that to the audience. Okay. But if you could give one thing away, what would you, what would you think? 

Victoria Mensch: So first of all, it's important because we talk about work, right?

What we're looking, when we say that, I wake up in the morning, I hit the alarm, I want to go to work or I don't want to go to work. It's very one dimensional. And we have this tendency to completely, identify ourselves with our jobs. So the fact of the matter is that I'm not my job.

You are not your job. You are a whole multi-dimensional, multi-passionate human being. So there are so many different parts of your life that contribute into your wellbeing. Job being one of those. So there is a job, there is a purpose. The relationships there are your hobbies, your vitality, your energy level.

There are all those things that contribute into your sense of flourishing. Job is just one element of that. So when we judge everything by whether I want to go to work where I don't want to go to work, we kind of, almost, artificially limit the problem and the solution.

So most of the time, one way to look at this is that, okay, well I am too. For whatever reason, I'm at the point where work is really like, this job is really training for me. So the first thing to look at is how am I recharging my energy? How am I recharging myself? What are those things that are not draining?

And it's very difficult to find them in the job where like, I cannot take one more day of this. And I've been there. I know like, I cannot take one more day of this. I need to. Get out, you know, get a business, whatever that is. Right. And it's not just job.

It could be, other areas of life. So that's the thing to realize that this is just one dimension. Now, how do I recharge my energy? So one of the most, impactful exercises for me, was this. Can you put together a list of 20 things that you like to do just because you enjoy doing that?

Not because somebody ask you to, not because it's useful, not because it's healthy, not because it brings you a return on investment. The only purpose of this thing being on that list is to bring you joy. And I know it's counterintuitive actually because we don't think about joy as something important, we just think is as a byproduct.

So some, somehow it happens. But we are intentional about this. We're intentional about bringing joy and happiness in our life that was going to bring that energy. So. It's exactly the exercise that I did. I'll tell you what happened When somebody gave me this exercise. I'll tell you what happened.

It took me two weeks to complete the list of 20 things that bring me joy. So, I stopped at number three. Yes. I forgot. I have no idea what I like anymore, so I know what people want from me. I know what my function is at work. I know what I need to deliver. I know what I need to take care of.

I know all that. I completely forgot, what it is that brings me joy. So I had to go back into my childhood. The conversation that was tired is like, what was it that I liked when I was seven years old? Literally like the, oh, I remember. I liked, to sing, right? Oh, what is it that I liked when I was, I don't know, 16 years old.

Oh, I remember. I liked playing tennis, so things like that. So I actually had to go back. And look at those things and remember them. So it was more of a memory exercise and need to kind of start from there. And this does do not need to be large things 

so it could be small things. Like, I like to enjoy the sun for five minutes in the middle of the day, so I like to go on the porch and sit down with a, cup of coffee and just do nothing and just feel the sun on the skin of my face. But you have to be intentional about that. The only reason for this exercise to exist, for this activity to exist is to bring you joy.

And that's important. That's how you prioritize your wellbeing, and that's what's gonna give you energy. 

Brad Minus: Can chocolate ice cream bring me joy? 

Victoria Mensch: It's really for you. Right? So if that brings you joy, put it on the list. 

Brad Minus: But I like the fact that you said, don't, don't take health out of it.

Don't you know it's not because of anything. Does it bring you joy or not? And chocolate ice cream fricking brings me joy. But I will tell you. I don't need to have that type of joy every day. And if I have too much of it, it does no longer brings me joy.

I am going to state that chocolate ice cream brings me. No, it's interesting that you mentioned that, that you started saying, oh, let's me go back into my childhood. 'cause I was just thinking about it. I used to love to play with a yo-yo. Remember, yo-yo Yes, of course. Yes. I used to love to play with the yo-yo.

Now, I was never a fricking yo-yo God, and they didn't tournaments for yo-yo. I just loved to watch it go up and down and used to play Wag the dog and, you know, a couple of times. And that was always fun for me. And I didn't think about that till you said, go back into your childhood. And think about it.

You do not have to identify with what you do. You know, like I said, okay, well, I'm a project manager. Well, no, you are. I'm not a project manager in my identity. That's my title for my job. My job only, my job is 40 hours out.

Out of the, 168 hours of the week, which don't get me wrong, it's still a significant portion. But my job is what I do, not what I am. And I think that is a big, that's a big thing to think about. And you hit the nail on the head. You might not have said it in those words, but that's what I got out of what you said.

So when, at what point did you decide to delve into more of burnout? Where did you start to come up with the idea that you were gonna turn this into a business? 

Victoria Mensch: Well, this is really more of a kind of mission. I'm on the mission, to help high achievers, successful people to be happy.

I think a lot of us, we really, we chase success, right? So we have this understanding of success as achievement. So like, I've been in that boat, right? So you go from one step to another. You get this degree, you get, this job, you get this promotion, you open your business, you get this customer, and so on and so forth.

It's an endless, endless list of achievements. At some point you look at that and you say, just from my own personal experience, at some point it becomes unproductive. So speaking of, this joy that we were talking about, and I'm not my job and all those things.

So immediately the, objection from companies or from managers, or from business owners become well fired. You are here because you are your job. Right? And my answer is that, yes, but you want productive people. You don't want unproductive people.

You don't want people who are just, you know, spending their time there. Who are complaining a lot, right? So who are stressed, who cannot deliver, who miss deadlines and so on and so forth. And that's a really big problem on the, on the company levels right now. And I think Covid really brought us there, very loud and clear that.

It's a problem. It's a problem with the retention, with the productivity. So we can't just sweep it under the rug. Right? So that was, kind of a big, revelation for me that yes, it is my personal experience and that's my passion. I want people to be happy. I want successful people to be happy and, you know, I'm happy to help, to be happy.

But there is actually a, a bigger mission there in the corporate world, just for whatever reasons. We built the culture that mostly, running people into the burnout. And the way, for me, my answer to that was that it really starts with the leadership.

So a lot of those changes on the leadership level, they start there and then that leader. Becomes a role model for the rest of the organization and that's how we create the lasting change, not just on the individual people, but on the people around us as well. And that's how we move the needle.

So that was my motivation to open this business. That's my motivation, yes, to call it Silicon Law Executive Academy. I am coming from the inundation background as well, and. High tech and innovation background. I've done some innovation, consulting before that when we are talking about the disruption and thinking out of the box and how we can do things differently.

This is how we can do things differently. And the big factor in this, is actually huge technological change that's happening right now, which is called artificial intelligence. And the artificial intelligence fundamentally shifts the way we're going to work and the way we'll need to manage people.

Brad Minus: That's interesting. AI has a way of managing people. Hmm. Yeah. I don't even know where to go with that. That's too broad of a topic for us to tackle right here, but it is an interesting, it's an interesting thought. Yeah, without, without ai, things would take a heck of a lot longer than they are right now.

I gotta tell you the, the, the, I still think we're at that point where you can let I a I help, but you shouldn't rely on it. You know, that's just my thought, you know what I mean? AI does, helps me a lot with this podcast. But it is by far not, I don't use the words of ai. Those are my words. But AI does help.

As far as managing people, that's interesting. That's something we might have to visit on a different side, hey, I just wanna let everybody know that, Victoria has started the Silicon Valley Executive Academy.

If you just have to go check out this website. It's actually beautiful. She has a ton of things going on with it. You can just schedule a call to talk with her team. There's leadership development. Team development, productivity, work, life harmony, entrepreneurial, and founder support, organizational consulting, custom programs, tailored to meet the unique needs of your organization.

She's got just a ton of stuff and you know, she partners with Toyota and IBM and SkyCity and Tera, and she's got great. Testimonials. She does. There's a ton of, events that they do. And you have to just check this out. There's so much that is going on in the Silicon Valley, executive Academy.

It is amazing some of the stuff that's on here, so you need to take a look at it. That's SV Executive Academy, again, SV as in Silicon Valley Executive Academy, and I will definitely put that in the show notes. And I think you can also catch Victoria on LinkedIn and we'll also have that for you.

In the show notes, are you on any of the other social networks? 

Victoria Mensch: My main network is LinkedIn. 

Brad Minus: Great. Yeah. Nothing wrong with that. I think LinkedIn is becoming more and more of the, I mean, it's always been, you know, the executive's social media. You don't date on, LinkedIn.

It's a no. But it's there for that and, but I have been finding a lot more. Social interaction on LinkedIn, not just about business and those kind of topics, but a lot of, other groups and things. Things that help you find a job, things that help you through your job and, you know, and Victoria's on there so.

That's, that just makes the whole fricking social network as it is. Exactly. But hey, Victoria, this has been wonderful. You've given us a lot of great nuggets to think about. And hey, you know what? If you're one of those one, two or threes, if, you can't stand going to work or you think it's okay, or you love it.

There's always gonna be something for you to take a look at at Silicon Valley Executive Academy. Just go to the show notes and you'll get the link right there. If you happen to be watching this on YouTube, we'd love for you to hit that like, and subscribe and hit that notification bell so you always know when the next episode is dropping.

If you happen to be listening on, on Apple or on Spotify, hey, leave us a review and you know what, you know, I don't care if it's a bad review. You can leave a bad review, but that's just gonna give me more bullets and advice and feedback and to make this a podcast evolve even further than it already has been.

And as, as you can tell with having Victoria on here, we've kind of moved away a little bit from the norm. But I've still given you some wonderful nuggets to help you level up. So again, Victoria, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate you being here. 

Victoria Mensch: Thank you very much, Brad.

Brad Minus: Appreciate it. All right, so for Victoria and myself, you have yourself a wonderful week, evening, whatever's coming up next for you. But we'll see you in the next one. 

Okay.