Eddy’s HR Mavericks Podcast
Created by Eddy and our HR Mavericks community.
Adopting a Fulfillment Mindset w/ Tony Martignetti
In episode 53, we talk with Tony Martignetti about how to find fulfillment at work – and help others do the same.
Episode 53
If you feel like your career is at a dead end, you’ve got a few options: reignite your spark or find another path. On this episode of the HR Mavericks podcast, we talked with Tony Martignetti, founder and chief inspiration officer at Inspired Purpose Coaching, about how to find fulfillment at work – and help others do the same. Tony draws from his own experience reinventing his career, pivoting from finance to the world of executive coaching. We discussed:
- The difference between happiness and fulfillment
- How to know if you’re on a path of fulfillment
- What it means to have a fulfillment mindset
- Why you should define success on your own terms
- Becoming the sort of person you want to be
- Reconnecting with the reason you chose a career in the first place
- What leaders can do to help employees find fulfillment
Tony’s recent book, Climbing The Right Mountain: Navigating the Journey to an Inspired LifeThe Virtual Campfire PodcastGet in touch with Tony through his website
Tony Martignetti
Tony is a trusted advisor, coach, experience creator, author, podcast host, and speaker. He brings together over 25 years of business and management experience, formal training, and extreme curiosity to elevate leaders and equip them with the tools to navigate through change and unlock their true potential. Tony is the host of The Virtual Campfire podcast and the author of "Climbing the Right Mountain: Navigating the Journey to An Inspired Life."
Full Transcript
Garrett Jestice: Welcome to the next episode of HR Mavericks. I'm Garrett Jestice and today I'm joined by Tony Martignetti, who's the founder and Chief Inspiration Officer at Inspired Purpose Coaching. He's also a podcast host of the Virtual Campfire Podcast and the author of Climbing The Right Mountain, Navigating The Journey To An Inspired Life.
Tony, how you doing?
Tony: I'm doing great. I'm so thrilled to be here, Garrett.
Garrett Jestice: We are super excited to have you on the show. And before we dive into our topic today, want to just get to know you a little bit better? So tell our guests a little bit more about you, about your background and also your business, what you guys do.
Tony: Cool. So, first of all, I'll just say that I love to connect with people. And I I've been an advisor for people who are accomplished leaders who are feeling like they want to have more fulfillment in their lives and they wanna lead with purpose and have a meaningful impact. I often talk about climbing mountains because I do enjoy climbing mountains.
In fact, I'm climbing my next mountain in August which is Kilimanjaro. So I'll be in Tanzania And for me, my background really coming before I came into the world of coaching and advising people through this process of facilitation and coaching, I, I was in the world of biotech mm-hmm where I spent most of my, my career working as a financing strategy professional in that space, really an an amazing journey in that field.
So, so yeah, that's really kind of a brief. Just tip of the iceberg background on me.
Garrett Jestice: I love it. That sounds super exciting. The, the Kilimanjaro that's, that's impressive. That's on my bucket list someday to go there. That'd be, that'd be amazing. So you have to let me know how it goes.
Tony: Yes, I'll definitely when I come back I'll I'll come back and share some tips.
Garrett Jestice: Okay. Awesome. Sounds good. Well, we're excited to have you on the show today. I know you have this wealth of experience, especially when it comes to executive coaching and finding purpose in and fulfillment in the work that you're doing. I think that's a topic that's so applicable to anyone, but I think, especially in HR, you know, most of our audiences, small business owners or people in HR who are in small businesses, and often they're acting as a coach.
Also, they have heavy, hard jobs. Right. And so finding that fulfillment and purpose is, or, or coming back to that fulfillment or purpose that drew them into that career is also, you know, so important.
Tony: Yeah. I, I, I totally agree with you. There's a sense of like, wanting to, and when you're doing something that is so like at the center of your being at a, you know, starting a company or continue to drive a company forward, it's really important to continue to check in with yourself and making sure that you're on the right path and that you are continuing to feel fulfillment on that path.
So it's important. Yeah.
Garrett Jestice: Perfect. Yeah. And on that note, that's exactly what we decided we wanted to talk about today is specifically about how do you adopt a fulfillment mindset. And I think that there'll be some really good tips and, and from your experience shared on this topic today. So before we get into that a little in in more depth, I wanna ask you first, you know, what, what really brought you to this work that you're doing today? You talked a little bit about that change, where you went from finance strategy, biotech to life coaching and so talk to us a little bit more about your career transition and why you chose to work in this space of executive coaching and especially focus on fulfillment and purpose.
Tony: Yeah. I think the starting point is that these things that we end up doing with our lives are callings. They find us in some way we don't go seeking it. So my journey to, to doing this work came from, you know, the challenges near the talent of my corporate career, where I was continuing to drive really hard to be the person who was at the top of their game, finance, professional you know, CFO of these biotech companies, in fact, even starting my own finance consulting business.
But I always felt like there was something missing and people would often tell me like, oh, you're not the typical finance person. I'm like, okay, well, what does that really mean? Like you have this sense of like connection to people and I'm like, okay, well, that's great, but this is what I do. And this is what I'm doing.
And I continue to drive and drive and drive myself to the point where I was driving myself to be totally depressed and burned out. And you know, when I got to my darkest moments, I finally was able to dig myself out of that that dark point with the glimer of hope, you know, really driving to this point of saying like, I gotta be here for my family.
I gotta start choosing a different path because if I don't it's not gonna be you know, a place for me to, to connect to. So I've started to do little steps that got me out of that darkness. And then I still stayed in the corporate world, but I was starting to see that there was a different path for me than just staying stuck.
So my big moment that broke me out of this. The corporate world was when I was sitting in a boardroom at a biotech company and, you know, realizing that, you know, I had spent my entire career, you know, working for companies and just collecting, you know, really healthy paycheck and then realizing that, you know, the people I was working with, we, we, we save lives.
But sometimes these leaders, they don't, they do it for the wrong reason. They're doing it because of their egos. They're doing it because they wanna be right. They want to be seen as the leader, they're serving as a title. And I was in this particular boardroom and I saw the, the CEO and the chief Medical Officer fighting over who was right and who was wrong and everyone else in the room we're all checked out. They're all looking at their cell phones. So I said to myself, I think I'm done. I think I'm ready to do something different. So I got up and I walked out and I said to myself, I'm going to leave this room to change the room. I don't know how I will do that, but I'm gonna do it. And so I walked out and that was the start of my journey into coaching, into leadership development.
And that's what really got me into the work that I'm doing. That's really the, the starting point. Everything else from there was trial and error and learning to, to connect with the, the sense of fulfillment, not just for me, which was a starting point, but also for others.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah. So fascinating. And I love hearing that story because you can tell, you know, this is meaningful to you because you've experienced what it's like to not be fulfilled, not have necessarily purpose in what you're doing, or maybe lose sight of that. And then that transition and kind of that journey to where you're at now. And it, I, I can see how that can be super helpful and impactful for you in coaching others to do the same thing. So really, really appreciate you being willing to join the show today and share some of, you know, those insights and your stories. So it sounds like, you know, you, you, you launched that journey. You've eventually found coaching and executive coaching and leadership development, and then eventually it was last year, right. You published your first book climbing the right mountain, navigating the journey of an inspired life. Is that.
Tony: Absolutely. It was, it was a journey that, you know, to creating the book was something was, that was coming from a place of not only my own story, but also from everyone I was talking to, the people I was working with.
Every time I heard their stories and their challenges, it had me thinking, I gotta write something, I gotta write this book. I have to write this book to help others. Yeah. And so. When I think about the book, you know, and what it, what it really is about you know, it's about defining success and fulfillment on our own terms and, you know, leading ourselves with intention and purpose.
You know, when I think about like where I was and and where I am now, you know, I was defining success on other people's terms. I was climbing the mountain because that's what everyone says you should do. And when I stopped and started to question a lot of the things that I was questioning, I started to realize that, you know, it was not the right path for me.
And it's not always the case that you have to leave the corporate world to do that. So I just wanna preface that.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah. Sometimes again, it's coming back to what brought you into that space, you know, in the first place? I think that's probably especially true for many of the small business HR professionals who I know are, you know, listeners of this podcast, many who have been guests on this podcast.
So often I hear them talk about how, you know, they wanted to help people. They wanted to help the business and they wanted to help people and they were kind of drawn to this role of HR. And it can be easy to kind of fall out of you know, the habits of the things that brought you there, or forget the reasons why you were drawn to that thing in the first place.
So sometimes it's, it's really not about a complete 180 or life change. Sometimes it's about a reentering and coming back to like the main core purpose.
Tony: Yeah. And I, I often talk about like this idea of reconnecting to the spark, you know, what got you going in the first place. Sometimes you get to step away from that pattern that you're stuck in, which it's just inevitable.
We sometimes we get stuck in patterns. So we have to, you know, step away and say, okay, what is it that lights me up? What gets me going? And that's why I often talk about inspiration as being this idea of like, we gotta, you know, find out what truly lights. Our spark and connect with that again, and then find out how do we get going on that again?
Garrett Jestice: So yeah, that's so good. I I'll actually wanna double click on that a little bit, cause I know you, you use the word fulfillment a lot and I'm curious if you can help us understand the difference between you know, fulfillment and happiness, right. So help us help us understand why do you choose to use that word fulfillment or the other one? I know that you've used multiple times is inspiration or inspired. Why those words, instead of something like happiness and what's the difference.
Tony: Yeah. And you know, it's not to say happiness is a bad thing. It's just that happiness is like a surface level thing. It's fleeting, you know, it, it's almost like having an ice cream cone and saying, okay, that was great.
It just doesn't last quite as long as fulfillment fulfillment is like a it's grounded in meaning and it's a choice. In fact, that's one of the things that's a place to come from. That's why I call it a mindset. So when you operate from a fulfillment fulfillment mindset, you come from a place of having everything you need in this moment that you just have to move from that, from this place of, of feeling fulfilled and then just operate forward from there. Not feeling like everything outside of you has to come, come to you instead. It's all inside of you. Yeah. Hope I'm not losing people right now.
Garrett Jestice: no, I, I love that. I'm, I'm sitting here thinking about, I, I love how you talk about how it's centered in purpose, right?
Yeah. And so again, it comes back to what is that purpose for you as an individual, right. And it's deeper than surface level happiness. So I love that. So I, I want to get into kind of the nuts and bolts of this, if you will, a little bit more. So we talked about, you know, this fulfillment mindset. So for our listeners out there, what are the steps that they need to take to adopt a fulfillment mindset?
Like what are the recommendations or steps based on your experience in working with so many others to help them do this? How did, how do they go about it, essentially?
Tony: Yeah. It starts with really getting an understanding of, of what is it that I want for myself. What are the things that really make me complete?
And that might start by looking back and saying, you know, what are the things that have led me here? Doing an inventory and saying, well, you know, the things that make me complete are when I am feeling connected to other people, when I am, you know, doing work that satisfies a certain urge and need to, to make an impact.
And knowing that you have done that in the past, how do I get back to that? How do I connect back to those things? And then when you think about the, the future. What are the things that I don't have already, or that I'm not doing already, that I want to be doing in the future. Don't think of it as external and saying, oh, I don't have it so therefore it's a, it's a, it's a gap in my in, in who I am instead start being that. Cause it is you, it just has to be embodied. So that's where you take that future self and you bring it into the present.
Garrett Jestice: What's an example of that. Yeah. Share. If you don't mind share an example of like what that looks like.
Tony: Yeah. So if you're someone who says, okay, well, you know, I, I wanna be more present. I wanna be more present with the people around me. And I've noticed that I've lately just haven't been because I've been distracted by the work that I've been doing. A lot of, you know, like there's a lot of work that's been getting in the way.
Maybe it's just busy work. So the first starting point of that is to say, what, what would a person who's more present be like, how would they do that? How would they operate? How would I allow myself to be more present? What starts by saying, what are the things they're getting in the way of my presence? Hm. And so clearing the way of the things that are, are, are being, getting in the way of your being present.
Yeah. The other example I use often is like, if you're someone who says, like, I, you know, I really want to run that marathon that I've been planning to do for a long time. And or, you know, I I've never run a marathon. I want to do that. So how do I be the marathoner? Well, it starts by what are the behaviors that I need to embody right now to be a marathoner?
Well, it starts by making sure that I'm running. Yeah. You know, and making sure that I do that, those things that a marathoner would embody. Yeah. If. You're not wired to think that way, then it's hard for you to, to just continue to say, well, I, I can't be a runner because I don't have these things. Well, you do have those things. You just have to do them.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah. I really like that point. Cuz again, that kind of goes back to why you refer to it as a mindset, right? Yeah. It's, it's less about, I'm not there yet. I'm lacking in some way and more about how, the way that I get there is by first changing that mindset, right? Yeah. By doing the things that I would do if I was there right now.
Right. Yeah. And that, that kind of connects those things and helps you on that path of improvement. Is that right?
Tony: Exactly. And, and, and just to connect this back to business for a moment, just to kind of, to get those people who are thinking themselves like, oh gosh, like, how do I relate this to my business?
So if I'm thinking, well, how do I get my employees to feel connected to the work that we're doing, you know, it starts by saying like, how do I tell them the message that I'm, you know, about what we are going where you know, what this business is about? Well, it starts by saying like, what do I want this business to be?
Who do I. Who do I wanna be as the person who's running this business. And it starts by embodying that by you embodying that and really being authentically real about that. I know authentic is so overdone, but it's true by you showing up in that way. The other people feel that. and they connect to that person who you are being.
Yeah. And that allows them to say, yeah, this is not a show. It's not a, it's not some fake person saying like, oh, we're gonna talk about this. You know the way we're gonna be, you know, running this businesses is this vision or these values on the wall, it's a person who's saying, I don't know where necessarily gonna go in terms of how, you know, it's going to play out.
But here. What I see, and this is how I'm gonna show up. And if you want, if you like that, then great. Come along. We're gonna do this.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah, that's great. Awesome. So Tony bringing it back a little bit to what we were talking about before, you know, how do you go about adopting that fulfillment mindset?
Are there any other tips that you'd share or lessons that you've learned on how did it actually go about doing.
Tony: Yeah. I mean, one of the biggest things to, to think about when it comes to adopting a fulfillment mindset is to, is to really think about the words that you're using for yourself and for the people around you, because that shapes the environment that that you're in. If you are always thinking about, you know, external factors, external things, then, you know, the, the challenge will, you'll never be able to get where you want to go. You'll never be able to kind of create the, the, the world that you want to create. It starts from within and how you talk to yourself.
So that inner game is what this is all about. So start with treating yourself with that kindness and, and really speaking to yourself as if this is who I am. This is how I wanna show up in the.
Garrett Jestice: Love it, Tony, this has been such an awesome conversation. I know we could probably go for, you know, there's a lot longer, more way more that you could share, but I know we, this has just been a, a small appetizer of some of what you offer in your coaching.
So we really appreciate you joining to show today and sharing some of those insights and your own personal experiences on this topic. You know, as we wrap up here, If there are listeners that want to get in contact with you to either learn more about working with you or your process, or have follow up questions, what's the best way for them to do that.
Tony: Yeah, well, first of all, this has been really enjoyable and the best place that people can find me is inspiredpurposecoach.com. That's my website. You can go there. You can take my leadership assessment that you can check in where you are and where you want to be. And that'll start the journey. And then also LinkedIn is a great place to, to, to find me.
And one last thing I'll mention too, is that I, my podcast is called The Virtual Campfire and it's, you can find that on any podcasting channel. And there I share people's journeys of transformation that really has been for me, a guilty pleasure, really to enjoy people's stories and share them with the world.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah, that's so amazing. So great. Well, Tony, as we, as we wrap up here, one last question I have for you. I like to ask all of our guests is, you know, what's a tangible tip or a recommendation for our listeners, specifically, something that you think they should do this week to help improve their HR or people functions.
Tony: Yeah, it's a great question. And this is one that you'll hear more about this for me in, in the coming year. I'll say, because I've got some things in the works, but you know, find opportunities for leaders and employees to bring more of who they are in the workplace. And what I mean by that is that, you know, people have hobbies and interests and, and stories that oftentimes they they're afraid to share because they're afraid that what that might bring to you know, their, their colleagues, what they might find out about them. But when people feel more open and connected to others, they're, they're willing to contribute with more intention. So a lot, give them avenues to, to share who they are with their colleagues. And you'll be surprised at what happens.
Garrett Jestice: I love it. Great tip. Well, Tony, thanks again for joining the podcast today and sharing some of your insights and stories with us and I'd encourage anyone out there interested in this topic or others related to this, or reach out to Tony, learn about working with him or grab his book, listen to his podcast.
There's a lot of great resources out there that Tony's put out there. So, Tony, again, thank you for joining and sharing some of your insights with us today.
Tony: Truly a pleasure. Thank you so much.
Tony, how you doing?
Tony: I'm doing great. I'm so thrilled to be here, Garrett.
Garrett Jestice: We are super excited to have you on the show. And before we dive into our topic today, want to just get to know you a little bit better? So tell our guests a little bit more about you, about your background and also your business, what you guys do.
Tony: Cool. So, first of all, I'll just say that I love to connect with people. And I I've been an advisor for people who are accomplished leaders who are feeling like they want to have more fulfillment in their lives and they wanna lead with purpose and have a meaningful impact. I often talk about climbing mountains because I do enjoy climbing mountains.
In fact, I'm climbing my next mountain in August which is Kilimanjaro. So I'll be in Tanzania And for me, my background really coming before I came into the world of coaching and advising people through this process of facilitation and coaching, I, I was in the world of biotech mm-hmm where I spent most of my, my career working as a financing strategy professional in that space, really an an amazing journey in that field.
So, so yeah, that's really kind of a brief. Just tip of the iceberg background on me.
Garrett Jestice: I love it. That sounds super exciting. The, the Kilimanjaro that's, that's impressive. That's on my bucket list someday to go there. That'd be, that'd be amazing. So you have to let me know how it goes.
Tony: Yes, I'll definitely when I come back I'll I'll come back and share some tips.
Garrett Jestice: Okay. Awesome. Sounds good. Well, we're excited to have you on the show today. I know you have this wealth of experience, especially when it comes to executive coaching and finding purpose in and fulfillment in the work that you're doing. I think that's a topic that's so applicable to anyone, but I think, especially in HR, you know, most of our audiences, small business owners or people in HR who are in small businesses, and often they're acting as a coach.
Also, they have heavy, hard jobs. Right. And so finding that fulfillment and purpose is, or, or coming back to that fulfillment or purpose that drew them into that career is also, you know, so important.
Tony: Yeah. I, I, I totally agree with you. There's a sense of like, wanting to, and when you're doing something that is so like at the center of your being at a, you know, starting a company or continue to drive a company forward, it's really important to continue to check in with yourself and making sure that you're on the right path and that you are continuing to feel fulfillment on that path.
So it's important. Yeah.
Garrett Jestice: Perfect. Yeah. And on that note, that's exactly what we decided we wanted to talk about today is specifically about how do you adopt a fulfillment mindset. And I think that there'll be some really good tips and, and from your experience shared on this topic today. So before we get into that a little in in more depth, I wanna ask you first, you know, what, what really brought you to this work that you're doing today? You talked a little bit about that change, where you went from finance strategy, biotech to life coaching and so talk to us a little bit more about your career transition and why you chose to work in this space of executive coaching and especially focus on fulfillment and purpose.
Tony: Yeah. I think the starting point is that these things that we end up doing with our lives are callings. They find us in some way we don't go seeking it. So my journey to, to doing this work came from, you know, the challenges near the talent of my corporate career, where I was continuing to drive really hard to be the person who was at the top of their game, finance, professional you know, CFO of these biotech companies, in fact, even starting my own finance consulting business.
But I always felt like there was something missing and people would often tell me like, oh, you're not the typical finance person. I'm like, okay, well, what does that really mean? Like you have this sense of like connection to people and I'm like, okay, well, that's great, but this is what I do. And this is what I'm doing.
And I continue to drive and drive and drive myself to the point where I was driving myself to be totally depressed and burned out. And you know, when I got to my darkest moments, I finally was able to dig myself out of that that dark point with the glimer of hope, you know, really driving to this point of saying like, I gotta be here for my family.
I gotta start choosing a different path because if I don't it's not gonna be you know, a place for me to, to connect to. So I've started to do little steps that got me out of that darkness. And then I still stayed in the corporate world, but I was starting to see that there was a different path for me than just staying stuck.
So my big moment that broke me out of this. The corporate world was when I was sitting in a boardroom at a biotech company and, you know, realizing that, you know, I had spent my entire career, you know, working for companies and just collecting, you know, really healthy paycheck and then realizing that, you know, the people I was working with, we, we, we save lives.
But sometimes these leaders, they don't, they do it for the wrong reason. They're doing it because of their egos. They're doing it because they wanna be right. They want to be seen as the leader, they're serving as a title. And I was in this particular boardroom and I saw the, the CEO and the chief Medical Officer fighting over who was right and who was wrong and everyone else in the room we're all checked out. They're all looking at their cell phones. So I said to myself, I think I'm done. I think I'm ready to do something different. So I got up and I walked out and I said to myself, I'm going to leave this room to change the room. I don't know how I will do that, but I'm gonna do it. And so I walked out and that was the start of my journey into coaching, into leadership development.
And that's what really got me into the work that I'm doing. That's really the, the starting point. Everything else from there was trial and error and learning to, to connect with the, the sense of fulfillment, not just for me, which was a starting point, but also for others.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah. So fascinating. And I love hearing that story because you can tell, you know, this is meaningful to you because you've experienced what it's like to not be fulfilled, not have necessarily purpose in what you're doing, or maybe lose sight of that. And then that transition and kind of that journey to where you're at now. And it, I, I can see how that can be super helpful and impactful for you in coaching others to do the same thing. So really, really appreciate you being willing to join the show today and share some of, you know, those insights and your stories. So it sounds like, you know, you, you, you launched that journey. You've eventually found coaching and executive coaching and leadership development, and then eventually it was last year, right. You published your first book climbing the right mountain, navigating the journey of an inspired life. Is that.
Tony: Absolutely. It was, it was a journey that, you know, to creating the book was something was, that was coming from a place of not only my own story, but also from everyone I was talking to, the people I was working with.
Every time I heard their stories and their challenges, it had me thinking, I gotta write something, I gotta write this book. I have to write this book to help others. Yeah. And so. When I think about the book, you know, and what it, what it really is about you know, it's about defining success and fulfillment on our own terms and, you know, leading ourselves with intention and purpose.
You know, when I think about like where I was and and where I am now, you know, I was defining success on other people's terms. I was climbing the mountain because that's what everyone says you should do. And when I stopped and started to question a lot of the things that I was questioning, I started to realize that, you know, it was not the right path for me.
And it's not always the case that you have to leave the corporate world to do that. So I just wanna preface that.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah. Sometimes again, it's coming back to what brought you into that space, you know, in the first place? I think that's probably especially true for many of the small business HR professionals who I know are, you know, listeners of this podcast, many who have been guests on this podcast.
So often I hear them talk about how, you know, they wanted to help people. They wanted to help the business and they wanted to help people and they were kind of drawn to this role of HR. And it can be easy to kind of fall out of you know, the habits of the things that brought you there, or forget the reasons why you were drawn to that thing in the first place.
So sometimes it's, it's really not about a complete 180 or life change. Sometimes it's about a reentering and coming back to like the main core purpose.
Tony: Yeah. And I, I often talk about like this idea of reconnecting to the spark, you know, what got you going in the first place. Sometimes you get to step away from that pattern that you're stuck in, which it's just inevitable.
We sometimes we get stuck in patterns. So we have to, you know, step away and say, okay, what is it that lights me up? What gets me going? And that's why I often talk about inspiration as being this idea of like, we gotta, you know, find out what truly lights. Our spark and connect with that again, and then find out how do we get going on that again?
Garrett Jestice: So yeah, that's so good. I I'll actually wanna double click on that a little bit, cause I know you, you use the word fulfillment a lot and I'm curious if you can help us understand the difference between you know, fulfillment and happiness, right. So help us help us understand why do you choose to use that word fulfillment or the other one? I know that you've used multiple times is inspiration or inspired. Why those words, instead of something like happiness and what's the difference.
Tony: Yeah. And you know, it's not to say happiness is a bad thing. It's just that happiness is like a surface level thing. It's fleeting, you know, it, it's almost like having an ice cream cone and saying, okay, that was great.
It just doesn't last quite as long as fulfillment fulfillment is like a it's grounded in meaning and it's a choice. In fact, that's one of the things that's a place to come from. That's why I call it a mindset. So when you operate from a fulfillment fulfillment mindset, you come from a place of having everything you need in this moment that you just have to move from that, from this place of, of feeling fulfilled and then just operate forward from there. Not feeling like everything outside of you has to come, come to you instead. It's all inside of you. Yeah. Hope I'm not losing people right now.
Garrett Jestice: no, I, I love that. I'm, I'm sitting here thinking about, I, I love how you talk about how it's centered in purpose, right?
Yeah. And so again, it comes back to what is that purpose for you as an individual, right. And it's deeper than surface level happiness. So I love that. So I, I want to get into kind of the nuts and bolts of this, if you will, a little bit more. So we talked about, you know, this fulfillment mindset. So for our listeners out there, what are the steps that they need to take to adopt a fulfillment mindset?
Like what are the recommendations or steps based on your experience in working with so many others to help them do this? How did, how do they go about it, essentially?
Tony: Yeah. It starts with really getting an understanding of, of what is it that I want for myself. What are the things that really make me complete?
And that might start by looking back and saying, you know, what are the things that have led me here? Doing an inventory and saying, well, you know, the things that make me complete are when I am feeling connected to other people, when I am, you know, doing work that satisfies a certain urge and need to, to make an impact.
And knowing that you have done that in the past, how do I get back to that? How do I connect back to those things? And then when you think about the, the future. What are the things that I don't have already, or that I'm not doing already, that I want to be doing in the future. Don't think of it as external and saying, oh, I don't have it so therefore it's a, it's a, it's a gap in my in, in who I am instead start being that. Cause it is you, it just has to be embodied. So that's where you take that future self and you bring it into the present.
Garrett Jestice: What's an example of that. Yeah. Share. If you don't mind share an example of like what that looks like.
Tony: Yeah. So if you're someone who says, okay, well, you know, I, I wanna be more present. I wanna be more present with the people around me. And I've noticed that I've lately just haven't been because I've been distracted by the work that I've been doing. A lot of, you know, like there's a lot of work that's been getting in the way.
Maybe it's just busy work. So the first starting point of that is to say, what, what would a person who's more present be like, how would they do that? How would they operate? How would I allow myself to be more present? What starts by saying, what are the things they're getting in the way of my presence? Hm. And so clearing the way of the things that are, are, are being, getting in the way of your being present.
Yeah. The other example I use often is like, if you're someone who says, like, I, you know, I really want to run that marathon that I've been planning to do for a long time. And or, you know, I I've never run a marathon. I want to do that. So how do I be the marathoner? Well, it starts by what are the behaviors that I need to embody right now to be a marathoner?
Well, it starts by making sure that I'm running. Yeah. You know, and making sure that I do that, those things that a marathoner would embody. Yeah. If. You're not wired to think that way, then it's hard for you to, to just continue to say, well, I, I can't be a runner because I don't have these things. Well, you do have those things. You just have to do them.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah. I really like that point. Cuz again, that kind of goes back to why you refer to it as a mindset, right? Yeah. It's, it's less about, I'm not there yet. I'm lacking in some way and more about how, the way that I get there is by first changing that mindset, right? Yeah. By doing the things that I would do if I was there right now.
Right. Yeah. And that, that kind of connects those things and helps you on that path of improvement. Is that right?
Tony: Exactly. And, and, and just to connect this back to business for a moment, just to kind of, to get those people who are thinking themselves like, oh gosh, like, how do I relate this to my business?
So if I'm thinking, well, how do I get my employees to feel connected to the work that we're doing, you know, it starts by saying like, how do I tell them the message that I'm, you know, about what we are going where you know, what this business is about? Well, it starts by saying like, what do I want this business to be?
Who do I. Who do I wanna be as the person who's running this business. And it starts by embodying that by you embodying that and really being authentically real about that. I know authentic is so overdone, but it's true by you showing up in that way. The other people feel that. and they connect to that person who you are being.
Yeah. And that allows them to say, yeah, this is not a show. It's not a, it's not some fake person saying like, oh, we're gonna talk about this. You know the way we're gonna be, you know, running this businesses is this vision or these values on the wall, it's a person who's saying, I don't know where necessarily gonna go in terms of how, you know, it's going to play out.
But here. What I see, and this is how I'm gonna show up. And if you want, if you like that, then great. Come along. We're gonna do this.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah, that's great. Awesome. So Tony bringing it back a little bit to what we were talking about before, you know, how do you go about adopting that fulfillment mindset?
Are there any other tips that you'd share or lessons that you've learned on how did it actually go about doing.
Tony: Yeah. I mean, one of the biggest things to, to think about when it comes to adopting a fulfillment mindset is to, is to really think about the words that you're using for yourself and for the people around you, because that shapes the environment that that you're in. If you are always thinking about, you know, external factors, external things, then, you know, the, the challenge will, you'll never be able to get where you want to go. You'll never be able to kind of create the, the, the world that you want to create. It starts from within and how you talk to yourself.
So that inner game is what this is all about. So start with treating yourself with that kindness and, and really speaking to yourself as if this is who I am. This is how I wanna show up in the.
Garrett Jestice: Love it, Tony, this has been such an awesome conversation. I know we could probably go for, you know, there's a lot longer, more way more that you could share, but I know we, this has just been a, a small appetizer of some of what you offer in your coaching.
So we really appreciate you joining to show today and sharing some of those insights and your own personal experiences on this topic. You know, as we wrap up here, If there are listeners that want to get in contact with you to either learn more about working with you or your process, or have follow up questions, what's the best way for them to do that.
Tony: Yeah, well, first of all, this has been really enjoyable and the best place that people can find me is inspiredpurposecoach.com. That's my website. You can go there. You can take my leadership assessment that you can check in where you are and where you want to be. And that'll start the journey. And then also LinkedIn is a great place to, to, to find me.
And one last thing I'll mention too, is that I, my podcast is called The Virtual Campfire and it's, you can find that on any podcasting channel. And there I share people's journeys of transformation that really has been for me, a guilty pleasure, really to enjoy people's stories and share them with the world.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah, that's so amazing. So great. Well, Tony, as we, as we wrap up here, one last question I have for you. I like to ask all of our guests is, you know, what's a tangible tip or a recommendation for our listeners, specifically, something that you think they should do this week to help improve their HR or people functions.
Tony: Yeah, it's a great question. And this is one that you'll hear more about this for me in, in the coming year. I'll say, because I've got some things in the works, but you know, find opportunities for leaders and employees to bring more of who they are in the workplace. And what I mean by that is that, you know, people have hobbies and interests and, and stories that oftentimes they they're afraid to share because they're afraid that what that might bring to you know, their, their colleagues, what they might find out about them. But when people feel more open and connected to others, they're, they're willing to contribute with more intention. So a lot, give them avenues to, to share who they are with their colleagues. And you'll be surprised at what happens.
Garrett Jestice: I love it. Great tip. Well, Tony, thanks again for joining the podcast today and sharing some of your insights and stories with us and I'd encourage anyone out there interested in this topic or others related to this, or reach out to Tony, learn about working with him or grab his book, listen to his podcast.
There's a lot of great resources out there that Tony's put out there. So, Tony, again, thank you for joining and sharing some of your insights with us today.
Tony: Truly a pleasure. Thank you so much.
Eddy’s HR Mavericks Podcast
Adopting a Fulfillment Mindset w/ Tony Martignetti
In episode 53, we talk with Tony Martignetti about how to find fulfillment at work – and help others do the same.
Episode 53
If you feel like your career is at a dead end, you’ve got a few options: reignite your spark or find another path. On this episode of the HR Mavericks podcast, we talked with Tony Martignetti, founder and chief inspiration officer at Inspired Purpose Coaching, about how to find fulfillment at work – and help others do the same. Tony draws from his own experience reinventing his career, pivoting from finance to the world of executive coaching. We discussed:
- The difference between happiness and fulfillment
- How to know if you’re on a path of fulfillment
- What it means to have a fulfillment mindset
- Why you should define success on your own terms
- Becoming the sort of person you want to be
- Reconnecting with the reason you chose a career in the first place
- What leaders can do to help employees find fulfillment
Tony’s recent book, Climbing The Right Mountain: Navigating the Journey to an Inspired LifeThe Virtual Campfire PodcastGet in touch with Tony through his website
Tony Martignetti
Tony is a trusted advisor, coach, experience creator, author, podcast host, and speaker. He brings together over 25 years of business and management experience, formal training, and extreme curiosity to elevate leaders and equip them with the tools to navigate through change and unlock their true potential. Tony is the host of The Virtual Campfire podcast and the author of "Climbing the Right Mountain: Navigating the Journey to An Inspired Life."
Full Transcript
Garrett Jestice: Welcome to the next episode of HR Mavericks. I'm Garrett Jestice and today I'm joined by Tony Martignetti, who's the founder and Chief Inspiration Officer at Inspired Purpose Coaching. He's also a podcast host of the Virtual Campfire Podcast and the author of Climbing The Right Mountain, Navigating The Journey To An Inspired Life.
Tony, how you doing?
Tony: I'm doing great. I'm so thrilled to be here, Garrett.
Garrett Jestice: We are super excited to have you on the show. And before we dive into our topic today, want to just get to know you a little bit better? So tell our guests a little bit more about you, about your background and also your business, what you guys do.
Tony: Cool. So, first of all, I'll just say that I love to connect with people. And I I've been an advisor for people who are accomplished leaders who are feeling like they want to have more fulfillment in their lives and they wanna lead with purpose and have a meaningful impact. I often talk about climbing mountains because I do enjoy climbing mountains.
In fact, I'm climbing my next mountain in August which is Kilimanjaro. So I'll be in Tanzania And for me, my background really coming before I came into the world of coaching and advising people through this process of facilitation and coaching, I, I was in the world of biotech mm-hmm where I spent most of my, my career working as a financing strategy professional in that space, really an an amazing journey in that field.
So, so yeah, that's really kind of a brief. Just tip of the iceberg background on me.
Garrett Jestice: I love it. That sounds super exciting. The, the Kilimanjaro that's, that's impressive. That's on my bucket list someday to go there. That'd be, that'd be amazing. So you have to let me know how it goes.
Tony: Yes, I'll definitely when I come back I'll I'll come back and share some tips.
Garrett Jestice: Okay. Awesome. Sounds good. Well, we're excited to have you on the show today. I know you have this wealth of experience, especially when it comes to executive coaching and finding purpose in and fulfillment in the work that you're doing. I think that's a topic that's so applicable to anyone, but I think, especially in HR, you know, most of our audiences, small business owners or people in HR who are in small businesses, and often they're acting as a coach.
Also, they have heavy, hard jobs. Right. And so finding that fulfillment and purpose is, or, or coming back to that fulfillment or purpose that drew them into that career is also, you know, so important.
Tony: Yeah. I, I, I totally agree with you. There's a sense of like, wanting to, and when you're doing something that is so like at the center of your being at a, you know, starting a company or continue to drive a company forward, it's really important to continue to check in with yourself and making sure that you're on the right path and that you are continuing to feel fulfillment on that path.
So it's important. Yeah.
Garrett Jestice: Perfect. Yeah. And on that note, that's exactly what we decided we wanted to talk about today is specifically about how do you adopt a fulfillment mindset. And I think that there'll be some really good tips and, and from your experience shared on this topic today. So before we get into that a little in in more depth, I wanna ask you first, you know, what, what really brought you to this work that you're doing today? You talked a little bit about that change, where you went from finance strategy, biotech to life coaching and so talk to us a little bit more about your career transition and why you chose to work in this space of executive coaching and especially focus on fulfillment and purpose.
Tony: Yeah. I think the starting point is that these things that we end up doing with our lives are callings. They find us in some way we don't go seeking it. So my journey to, to doing this work came from, you know, the challenges near the talent of my corporate career, where I was continuing to drive really hard to be the person who was at the top of their game, finance, professional you know, CFO of these biotech companies, in fact, even starting my own finance consulting business.
But I always felt like there was something missing and people would often tell me like, oh, you're not the typical finance person. I'm like, okay, well, what does that really mean? Like you have this sense of like connection to people and I'm like, okay, well, that's great, but this is what I do. And this is what I'm doing.
And I continue to drive and drive and drive myself to the point where I was driving myself to be totally depressed and burned out. And you know, when I got to my darkest moments, I finally was able to dig myself out of that that dark point with the glimer of hope, you know, really driving to this point of saying like, I gotta be here for my family.
I gotta start choosing a different path because if I don't it's not gonna be you know, a place for me to, to connect to. So I've started to do little steps that got me out of that darkness. And then I still stayed in the corporate world, but I was starting to see that there was a different path for me than just staying stuck.
So my big moment that broke me out of this. The corporate world was when I was sitting in a boardroom at a biotech company and, you know, realizing that, you know, I had spent my entire career, you know, working for companies and just collecting, you know, really healthy paycheck and then realizing that, you know, the people I was working with, we, we, we save lives.
But sometimes these leaders, they don't, they do it for the wrong reason. They're doing it because of their egos. They're doing it because they wanna be right. They want to be seen as the leader, they're serving as a title. And I was in this particular boardroom and I saw the, the CEO and the chief Medical Officer fighting over who was right and who was wrong and everyone else in the room we're all checked out. They're all looking at their cell phones. So I said to myself, I think I'm done. I think I'm ready to do something different. So I got up and I walked out and I said to myself, I'm going to leave this room to change the room. I don't know how I will do that, but I'm gonna do it. And so I walked out and that was the start of my journey into coaching, into leadership development.
And that's what really got me into the work that I'm doing. That's really the, the starting point. Everything else from there was trial and error and learning to, to connect with the, the sense of fulfillment, not just for me, which was a starting point, but also for others.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah. So fascinating. And I love hearing that story because you can tell, you know, this is meaningful to you because you've experienced what it's like to not be fulfilled, not have necessarily purpose in what you're doing, or maybe lose sight of that. And then that transition and kind of that journey to where you're at now. And it, I, I can see how that can be super helpful and impactful for you in coaching others to do the same thing. So really, really appreciate you being willing to join the show today and share some of, you know, those insights and your stories. So it sounds like, you know, you, you, you launched that journey. You've eventually found coaching and executive coaching and leadership development, and then eventually it was last year, right. You published your first book climbing the right mountain, navigating the journey of an inspired life. Is that.
Tony: Absolutely. It was, it was a journey that, you know, to creating the book was something was, that was coming from a place of not only my own story, but also from everyone I was talking to, the people I was working with.
Every time I heard their stories and their challenges, it had me thinking, I gotta write something, I gotta write this book. I have to write this book to help others. Yeah. And so. When I think about the book, you know, and what it, what it really is about you know, it's about defining success and fulfillment on our own terms and, you know, leading ourselves with intention and purpose.
You know, when I think about like where I was and and where I am now, you know, I was defining success on other people's terms. I was climbing the mountain because that's what everyone says you should do. And when I stopped and started to question a lot of the things that I was questioning, I started to realize that, you know, it was not the right path for me.
And it's not always the case that you have to leave the corporate world to do that. So I just wanna preface that.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah. Sometimes again, it's coming back to what brought you into that space, you know, in the first place? I think that's probably especially true for many of the small business HR professionals who I know are, you know, listeners of this podcast, many who have been guests on this podcast.
So often I hear them talk about how, you know, they wanted to help people. They wanted to help the business and they wanted to help people and they were kind of drawn to this role of HR. And it can be easy to kind of fall out of you know, the habits of the things that brought you there, or forget the reasons why you were drawn to that thing in the first place.
So sometimes it's, it's really not about a complete 180 or life change. Sometimes it's about a reentering and coming back to like the main core purpose.
Tony: Yeah. And I, I often talk about like this idea of reconnecting to the spark, you know, what got you going in the first place. Sometimes you get to step away from that pattern that you're stuck in, which it's just inevitable.
We sometimes we get stuck in patterns. So we have to, you know, step away and say, okay, what is it that lights me up? What gets me going? And that's why I often talk about inspiration as being this idea of like, we gotta, you know, find out what truly lights. Our spark and connect with that again, and then find out how do we get going on that again?
Garrett Jestice: So yeah, that's so good. I I'll actually wanna double click on that a little bit, cause I know you, you use the word fulfillment a lot and I'm curious if you can help us understand the difference between you know, fulfillment and happiness, right. So help us help us understand why do you choose to use that word fulfillment or the other one? I know that you've used multiple times is inspiration or inspired. Why those words, instead of something like happiness and what's the difference.
Tony: Yeah. And you know, it's not to say happiness is a bad thing. It's just that happiness is like a surface level thing. It's fleeting, you know, it, it's almost like having an ice cream cone and saying, okay, that was great.
It just doesn't last quite as long as fulfillment fulfillment is like a it's grounded in meaning and it's a choice. In fact, that's one of the things that's a place to come from. That's why I call it a mindset. So when you operate from a fulfillment fulfillment mindset, you come from a place of having everything you need in this moment that you just have to move from that, from this place of, of feeling fulfilled and then just operate forward from there. Not feeling like everything outside of you has to come, come to you instead. It's all inside of you. Yeah. Hope I'm not losing people right now.
Garrett Jestice: no, I, I love that. I'm, I'm sitting here thinking about, I, I love how you talk about how it's centered in purpose, right?
Yeah. And so again, it comes back to what is that purpose for you as an individual, right. And it's deeper than surface level happiness. So I love that. So I, I want to get into kind of the nuts and bolts of this, if you will, a little bit more. So we talked about, you know, this fulfillment mindset. So for our listeners out there, what are the steps that they need to take to adopt a fulfillment mindset?
Like what are the recommendations or steps based on your experience in working with so many others to help them do this? How did, how do they go about it, essentially?
Tony: Yeah. It starts with really getting an understanding of, of what is it that I want for myself. What are the things that really make me complete?
And that might start by looking back and saying, you know, what are the things that have led me here? Doing an inventory and saying, well, you know, the things that make me complete are when I am feeling connected to other people, when I am, you know, doing work that satisfies a certain urge and need to, to make an impact.
And knowing that you have done that in the past, how do I get back to that? How do I connect back to those things? And then when you think about the, the future. What are the things that I don't have already, or that I'm not doing already, that I want to be doing in the future. Don't think of it as external and saying, oh, I don't have it so therefore it's a, it's a, it's a gap in my in, in who I am instead start being that. Cause it is you, it just has to be embodied. So that's where you take that future self and you bring it into the present.
Garrett Jestice: What's an example of that. Yeah. Share. If you don't mind share an example of like what that looks like.
Tony: Yeah. So if you're someone who says, okay, well, you know, I, I wanna be more present. I wanna be more present with the people around me. And I've noticed that I've lately just haven't been because I've been distracted by the work that I've been doing. A lot of, you know, like there's a lot of work that's been getting in the way.
Maybe it's just busy work. So the first starting point of that is to say, what, what would a person who's more present be like, how would they do that? How would they operate? How would I allow myself to be more present? What starts by saying, what are the things they're getting in the way of my presence? Hm. And so clearing the way of the things that are, are, are being, getting in the way of your being present.
Yeah. The other example I use often is like, if you're someone who says, like, I, you know, I really want to run that marathon that I've been planning to do for a long time. And or, you know, I I've never run a marathon. I want to do that. So how do I be the marathoner? Well, it starts by what are the behaviors that I need to embody right now to be a marathoner?
Well, it starts by making sure that I'm running. Yeah. You know, and making sure that I do that, those things that a marathoner would embody. Yeah. If. You're not wired to think that way, then it's hard for you to, to just continue to say, well, I, I can't be a runner because I don't have these things. Well, you do have those things. You just have to do them.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah. I really like that point. Cuz again, that kind of goes back to why you refer to it as a mindset, right? Yeah. It's, it's less about, I'm not there yet. I'm lacking in some way and more about how, the way that I get there is by first changing that mindset, right? Yeah. By doing the things that I would do if I was there right now.
Right. Yeah. And that, that kind of connects those things and helps you on that path of improvement. Is that right?
Tony: Exactly. And, and, and just to connect this back to business for a moment, just to kind of, to get those people who are thinking themselves like, oh gosh, like, how do I relate this to my business?
So if I'm thinking, well, how do I get my employees to feel connected to the work that we're doing, you know, it starts by saying like, how do I tell them the message that I'm, you know, about what we are going where you know, what this business is about? Well, it starts by saying like, what do I want this business to be?
Who do I. Who do I wanna be as the person who's running this business. And it starts by embodying that by you embodying that and really being authentically real about that. I know authentic is so overdone, but it's true by you showing up in that way. The other people feel that. and they connect to that person who you are being.
Yeah. And that allows them to say, yeah, this is not a show. It's not a, it's not some fake person saying like, oh, we're gonna talk about this. You know the way we're gonna be, you know, running this businesses is this vision or these values on the wall, it's a person who's saying, I don't know where necessarily gonna go in terms of how, you know, it's going to play out.
But here. What I see, and this is how I'm gonna show up. And if you want, if you like that, then great. Come along. We're gonna do this.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah, that's great. Awesome. So Tony bringing it back a little bit to what we were talking about before, you know, how do you go about adopting that fulfillment mindset?
Are there any other tips that you'd share or lessons that you've learned on how did it actually go about doing.
Tony: Yeah. I mean, one of the biggest things to, to think about when it comes to adopting a fulfillment mindset is to, is to really think about the words that you're using for yourself and for the people around you, because that shapes the environment that that you're in. If you are always thinking about, you know, external factors, external things, then, you know, the, the challenge will, you'll never be able to get where you want to go. You'll never be able to kind of create the, the, the world that you want to create. It starts from within and how you talk to yourself.
So that inner game is what this is all about. So start with treating yourself with that kindness and, and really speaking to yourself as if this is who I am. This is how I wanna show up in the.
Garrett Jestice: Love it, Tony, this has been such an awesome conversation. I know we could probably go for, you know, there's a lot longer, more way more that you could share, but I know we, this has just been a, a small appetizer of some of what you offer in your coaching.
So we really appreciate you joining to show today and sharing some of those insights and your own personal experiences on this topic. You know, as we wrap up here, If there are listeners that want to get in contact with you to either learn more about working with you or your process, or have follow up questions, what's the best way for them to do that.
Tony: Yeah, well, first of all, this has been really enjoyable and the best place that people can find me is inspiredpurposecoach.com. That's my website. You can go there. You can take my leadership assessment that you can check in where you are and where you want to be. And that'll start the journey. And then also LinkedIn is a great place to, to, to find me.
And one last thing I'll mention too, is that I, my podcast is called The Virtual Campfire and it's, you can find that on any podcasting channel. And there I share people's journeys of transformation that really has been for me, a guilty pleasure, really to enjoy people's stories and share them with the world.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah, that's so amazing. So great. Well, Tony, as we, as we wrap up here, one last question I have for you. I like to ask all of our guests is, you know, what's a tangible tip or a recommendation for our listeners, specifically, something that you think they should do this week to help improve their HR or people functions.
Tony: Yeah, it's a great question. And this is one that you'll hear more about this for me in, in the coming year. I'll say, because I've got some things in the works, but you know, find opportunities for leaders and employees to bring more of who they are in the workplace. And what I mean by that is that, you know, people have hobbies and interests and, and stories that oftentimes they they're afraid to share because they're afraid that what that might bring to you know, their, their colleagues, what they might find out about them. But when people feel more open and connected to others, they're, they're willing to contribute with more intention. So a lot, give them avenues to, to share who they are with their colleagues. And you'll be surprised at what happens.
Garrett Jestice: I love it. Great tip. Well, Tony, thanks again for joining the podcast today and sharing some of your insights and stories with us and I'd encourage anyone out there interested in this topic or others related to this, or reach out to Tony, learn about working with him or grab his book, listen to his podcast.
There's a lot of great resources out there that Tony's put out there. So, Tony, again, thank you for joining and sharing some of your insights with us today.
Tony: Truly a pleasure. Thank you so much.
Tony, how you doing?
Tony: I'm doing great. I'm so thrilled to be here, Garrett.
Garrett Jestice: We are super excited to have you on the show. And before we dive into our topic today, want to just get to know you a little bit better? So tell our guests a little bit more about you, about your background and also your business, what you guys do.
Tony: Cool. So, first of all, I'll just say that I love to connect with people. And I I've been an advisor for people who are accomplished leaders who are feeling like they want to have more fulfillment in their lives and they wanna lead with purpose and have a meaningful impact. I often talk about climbing mountains because I do enjoy climbing mountains.
In fact, I'm climbing my next mountain in August which is Kilimanjaro. So I'll be in Tanzania And for me, my background really coming before I came into the world of coaching and advising people through this process of facilitation and coaching, I, I was in the world of biotech mm-hmm where I spent most of my, my career working as a financing strategy professional in that space, really an an amazing journey in that field.
So, so yeah, that's really kind of a brief. Just tip of the iceberg background on me.
Garrett Jestice: I love it. That sounds super exciting. The, the Kilimanjaro that's, that's impressive. That's on my bucket list someday to go there. That'd be, that'd be amazing. So you have to let me know how it goes.
Tony: Yes, I'll definitely when I come back I'll I'll come back and share some tips.
Garrett Jestice: Okay. Awesome. Sounds good. Well, we're excited to have you on the show today. I know you have this wealth of experience, especially when it comes to executive coaching and finding purpose in and fulfillment in the work that you're doing. I think that's a topic that's so applicable to anyone, but I think, especially in HR, you know, most of our audiences, small business owners or people in HR who are in small businesses, and often they're acting as a coach.
Also, they have heavy, hard jobs. Right. And so finding that fulfillment and purpose is, or, or coming back to that fulfillment or purpose that drew them into that career is also, you know, so important.
Tony: Yeah. I, I, I totally agree with you. There's a sense of like, wanting to, and when you're doing something that is so like at the center of your being at a, you know, starting a company or continue to drive a company forward, it's really important to continue to check in with yourself and making sure that you're on the right path and that you are continuing to feel fulfillment on that path.
So it's important. Yeah.
Garrett Jestice: Perfect. Yeah. And on that note, that's exactly what we decided we wanted to talk about today is specifically about how do you adopt a fulfillment mindset. And I think that there'll be some really good tips and, and from your experience shared on this topic today. So before we get into that a little in in more depth, I wanna ask you first, you know, what, what really brought you to this work that you're doing today? You talked a little bit about that change, where you went from finance strategy, biotech to life coaching and so talk to us a little bit more about your career transition and why you chose to work in this space of executive coaching and especially focus on fulfillment and purpose.
Tony: Yeah. I think the starting point is that these things that we end up doing with our lives are callings. They find us in some way we don't go seeking it. So my journey to, to doing this work came from, you know, the challenges near the talent of my corporate career, where I was continuing to drive really hard to be the person who was at the top of their game, finance, professional you know, CFO of these biotech companies, in fact, even starting my own finance consulting business.
But I always felt like there was something missing and people would often tell me like, oh, you're not the typical finance person. I'm like, okay, well, what does that really mean? Like you have this sense of like connection to people and I'm like, okay, well, that's great, but this is what I do. And this is what I'm doing.
And I continue to drive and drive and drive myself to the point where I was driving myself to be totally depressed and burned out. And you know, when I got to my darkest moments, I finally was able to dig myself out of that that dark point with the glimer of hope, you know, really driving to this point of saying like, I gotta be here for my family.
I gotta start choosing a different path because if I don't it's not gonna be you know, a place for me to, to connect to. So I've started to do little steps that got me out of that darkness. And then I still stayed in the corporate world, but I was starting to see that there was a different path for me than just staying stuck.
So my big moment that broke me out of this. The corporate world was when I was sitting in a boardroom at a biotech company and, you know, realizing that, you know, I had spent my entire career, you know, working for companies and just collecting, you know, really healthy paycheck and then realizing that, you know, the people I was working with, we, we, we save lives.
But sometimes these leaders, they don't, they do it for the wrong reason. They're doing it because of their egos. They're doing it because they wanna be right. They want to be seen as the leader, they're serving as a title. And I was in this particular boardroom and I saw the, the CEO and the chief Medical Officer fighting over who was right and who was wrong and everyone else in the room we're all checked out. They're all looking at their cell phones. So I said to myself, I think I'm done. I think I'm ready to do something different. So I got up and I walked out and I said to myself, I'm going to leave this room to change the room. I don't know how I will do that, but I'm gonna do it. And so I walked out and that was the start of my journey into coaching, into leadership development.
And that's what really got me into the work that I'm doing. That's really the, the starting point. Everything else from there was trial and error and learning to, to connect with the, the sense of fulfillment, not just for me, which was a starting point, but also for others.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah. So fascinating. And I love hearing that story because you can tell, you know, this is meaningful to you because you've experienced what it's like to not be fulfilled, not have necessarily purpose in what you're doing, or maybe lose sight of that. And then that transition and kind of that journey to where you're at now. And it, I, I can see how that can be super helpful and impactful for you in coaching others to do the same thing. So really, really appreciate you being willing to join the show today and share some of, you know, those insights and your stories. So it sounds like, you know, you, you, you launched that journey. You've eventually found coaching and executive coaching and leadership development, and then eventually it was last year, right. You published your first book climbing the right mountain, navigating the journey of an inspired life. Is that.
Tony: Absolutely. It was, it was a journey that, you know, to creating the book was something was, that was coming from a place of not only my own story, but also from everyone I was talking to, the people I was working with.
Every time I heard their stories and their challenges, it had me thinking, I gotta write something, I gotta write this book. I have to write this book to help others. Yeah. And so. When I think about the book, you know, and what it, what it really is about you know, it's about defining success and fulfillment on our own terms and, you know, leading ourselves with intention and purpose.
You know, when I think about like where I was and and where I am now, you know, I was defining success on other people's terms. I was climbing the mountain because that's what everyone says you should do. And when I stopped and started to question a lot of the things that I was questioning, I started to realize that, you know, it was not the right path for me.
And it's not always the case that you have to leave the corporate world to do that. So I just wanna preface that.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah. Sometimes again, it's coming back to what brought you into that space, you know, in the first place? I think that's probably especially true for many of the small business HR professionals who I know are, you know, listeners of this podcast, many who have been guests on this podcast.
So often I hear them talk about how, you know, they wanted to help people. They wanted to help the business and they wanted to help people and they were kind of drawn to this role of HR. And it can be easy to kind of fall out of you know, the habits of the things that brought you there, or forget the reasons why you were drawn to that thing in the first place.
So sometimes it's, it's really not about a complete 180 or life change. Sometimes it's about a reentering and coming back to like the main core purpose.
Tony: Yeah. And I, I often talk about like this idea of reconnecting to the spark, you know, what got you going in the first place. Sometimes you get to step away from that pattern that you're stuck in, which it's just inevitable.
We sometimes we get stuck in patterns. So we have to, you know, step away and say, okay, what is it that lights me up? What gets me going? And that's why I often talk about inspiration as being this idea of like, we gotta, you know, find out what truly lights. Our spark and connect with that again, and then find out how do we get going on that again?
Garrett Jestice: So yeah, that's so good. I I'll actually wanna double click on that a little bit, cause I know you, you use the word fulfillment a lot and I'm curious if you can help us understand the difference between you know, fulfillment and happiness, right. So help us help us understand why do you choose to use that word fulfillment or the other one? I know that you've used multiple times is inspiration or inspired. Why those words, instead of something like happiness and what's the difference.
Tony: Yeah. And you know, it's not to say happiness is a bad thing. It's just that happiness is like a surface level thing. It's fleeting, you know, it, it's almost like having an ice cream cone and saying, okay, that was great.
It just doesn't last quite as long as fulfillment fulfillment is like a it's grounded in meaning and it's a choice. In fact, that's one of the things that's a place to come from. That's why I call it a mindset. So when you operate from a fulfillment fulfillment mindset, you come from a place of having everything you need in this moment that you just have to move from that, from this place of, of feeling fulfilled and then just operate forward from there. Not feeling like everything outside of you has to come, come to you instead. It's all inside of you. Yeah. Hope I'm not losing people right now.
Garrett Jestice: no, I, I love that. I'm, I'm sitting here thinking about, I, I love how you talk about how it's centered in purpose, right?
Yeah. And so again, it comes back to what is that purpose for you as an individual, right. And it's deeper than surface level happiness. So I love that. So I, I want to get into kind of the nuts and bolts of this, if you will, a little bit more. So we talked about, you know, this fulfillment mindset. So for our listeners out there, what are the steps that they need to take to adopt a fulfillment mindset?
Like what are the recommendations or steps based on your experience in working with so many others to help them do this? How did, how do they go about it, essentially?
Tony: Yeah. It starts with really getting an understanding of, of what is it that I want for myself. What are the things that really make me complete?
And that might start by looking back and saying, you know, what are the things that have led me here? Doing an inventory and saying, well, you know, the things that make me complete are when I am feeling connected to other people, when I am, you know, doing work that satisfies a certain urge and need to, to make an impact.
And knowing that you have done that in the past, how do I get back to that? How do I connect back to those things? And then when you think about the, the future. What are the things that I don't have already, or that I'm not doing already, that I want to be doing in the future. Don't think of it as external and saying, oh, I don't have it so therefore it's a, it's a, it's a gap in my in, in who I am instead start being that. Cause it is you, it just has to be embodied. So that's where you take that future self and you bring it into the present.
Garrett Jestice: What's an example of that. Yeah. Share. If you don't mind share an example of like what that looks like.
Tony: Yeah. So if you're someone who says, okay, well, you know, I, I wanna be more present. I wanna be more present with the people around me. And I've noticed that I've lately just haven't been because I've been distracted by the work that I've been doing. A lot of, you know, like there's a lot of work that's been getting in the way.
Maybe it's just busy work. So the first starting point of that is to say, what, what would a person who's more present be like, how would they do that? How would they operate? How would I allow myself to be more present? What starts by saying, what are the things they're getting in the way of my presence? Hm. And so clearing the way of the things that are, are, are being, getting in the way of your being present.
Yeah. The other example I use often is like, if you're someone who says, like, I, you know, I really want to run that marathon that I've been planning to do for a long time. And or, you know, I I've never run a marathon. I want to do that. So how do I be the marathoner? Well, it starts by what are the behaviors that I need to embody right now to be a marathoner?
Well, it starts by making sure that I'm running. Yeah. You know, and making sure that I do that, those things that a marathoner would embody. Yeah. If. You're not wired to think that way, then it's hard for you to, to just continue to say, well, I, I can't be a runner because I don't have these things. Well, you do have those things. You just have to do them.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah. I really like that point. Cuz again, that kind of goes back to why you refer to it as a mindset, right? Yeah. It's, it's less about, I'm not there yet. I'm lacking in some way and more about how, the way that I get there is by first changing that mindset, right? Yeah. By doing the things that I would do if I was there right now.
Right. Yeah. And that, that kind of connects those things and helps you on that path of improvement. Is that right?
Tony: Exactly. And, and, and just to connect this back to business for a moment, just to kind of, to get those people who are thinking themselves like, oh gosh, like, how do I relate this to my business?
So if I'm thinking, well, how do I get my employees to feel connected to the work that we're doing, you know, it starts by saying like, how do I tell them the message that I'm, you know, about what we are going where you know, what this business is about? Well, it starts by saying like, what do I want this business to be?
Who do I. Who do I wanna be as the person who's running this business. And it starts by embodying that by you embodying that and really being authentically real about that. I know authentic is so overdone, but it's true by you showing up in that way. The other people feel that. and they connect to that person who you are being.
Yeah. And that allows them to say, yeah, this is not a show. It's not a, it's not some fake person saying like, oh, we're gonna talk about this. You know the way we're gonna be, you know, running this businesses is this vision or these values on the wall, it's a person who's saying, I don't know where necessarily gonna go in terms of how, you know, it's going to play out.
But here. What I see, and this is how I'm gonna show up. And if you want, if you like that, then great. Come along. We're gonna do this.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah, that's great. Awesome. So Tony bringing it back a little bit to what we were talking about before, you know, how do you go about adopting that fulfillment mindset?
Are there any other tips that you'd share or lessons that you've learned on how did it actually go about doing.
Tony: Yeah. I mean, one of the biggest things to, to think about when it comes to adopting a fulfillment mindset is to, is to really think about the words that you're using for yourself and for the people around you, because that shapes the environment that that you're in. If you are always thinking about, you know, external factors, external things, then, you know, the, the challenge will, you'll never be able to get where you want to go. You'll never be able to kind of create the, the, the world that you want to create. It starts from within and how you talk to yourself.
So that inner game is what this is all about. So start with treating yourself with that kindness and, and really speaking to yourself as if this is who I am. This is how I wanna show up in the.
Garrett Jestice: Love it, Tony, this has been such an awesome conversation. I know we could probably go for, you know, there's a lot longer, more way more that you could share, but I know we, this has just been a, a small appetizer of some of what you offer in your coaching.
So we really appreciate you joining to show today and sharing some of those insights and your own personal experiences on this topic. You know, as we wrap up here, If there are listeners that want to get in contact with you to either learn more about working with you or your process, or have follow up questions, what's the best way for them to do that.
Tony: Yeah, well, first of all, this has been really enjoyable and the best place that people can find me is inspiredpurposecoach.com. That's my website. You can go there. You can take my leadership assessment that you can check in where you are and where you want to be. And that'll start the journey. And then also LinkedIn is a great place to, to, to find me.
And one last thing I'll mention too, is that I, my podcast is called The Virtual Campfire and it's, you can find that on any podcasting channel. And there I share people's journeys of transformation that really has been for me, a guilty pleasure, really to enjoy people's stories and share them with the world.
Garrett Jestice: Yeah, that's so amazing. So great. Well, Tony, as we, as we wrap up here, one last question I have for you. I like to ask all of our guests is, you know, what's a tangible tip or a recommendation for our listeners, specifically, something that you think they should do this week to help improve their HR or people functions.
Tony: Yeah, it's a great question. And this is one that you'll hear more about this for me in, in the coming year. I'll say, because I've got some things in the works, but you know, find opportunities for leaders and employees to bring more of who they are in the workplace. And what I mean by that is that, you know, people have hobbies and interests and, and stories that oftentimes they they're afraid to share because they're afraid that what that might bring to you know, their, their colleagues, what they might find out about them. But when people feel more open and connected to others, they're, they're willing to contribute with more intention. So a lot, give them avenues to, to share who they are with their colleagues. And you'll be surprised at what happens.
Garrett Jestice: I love it. Great tip. Well, Tony, thanks again for joining the podcast today and sharing some of your insights and stories with us and I'd encourage anyone out there interested in this topic or others related to this, or reach out to Tony, learn about working with him or grab his book, listen to his podcast.
There's a lot of great resources out there that Tony's put out there. So, Tony, again, thank you for joining and sharing some of your insights with us today.
Tony: Truly a pleasure. Thank you so much.
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