50, NOT DEAD EPISODE 15: Gabby Nelson

Gabby Nelson is the founder and lead consultant of Rodenhus Group where she “un-gnarls large, global communications problems. "  

Prior to going solo, Gabby was the senior most Communications Leader at Sleep Number (the top luxury mattress retailer in the country) and was a Senior Communications Leader at America’s largest private company; Cargill (which has 160,000 workers in 70 countries).

This is a very talented person I am speaking with.  Talented, smart, brave, and extremely self-aware. Always having a plan for "the worst case scenario" helped build Gabby's confidence to always go for it.  But it was when she stopped seeking external validation that was truly transformative in her life and career.

When she began to seek validation INTERNALLY she realized that the growth she needed was OUTSIDE OF WORK. 

Angry that society was telling her that she had an expiration date;  as a woman,  for her own mental health, she decided to fully reject that. 

She was not on a chase for a bigger title, bigger house or more cars, in fact she consciously threw off all of those shackles so she could focus on her own definition of value.

Gabby is crushing the narrative that we have to be "done" at 50.

Her commitment? That she is asking of herself and of us?

1. Start with the women around us.

2. Accept them for exactly who they are.

3. Give all women acceptance.

4. Validate women.

5. Ask hiring managers to challenge biases.

6. See people for who they are and believe in them as they are.

7. Believe that women are enough and our greatness allows us to be even greater. 

The age narrative has to change and we have to be the first one to change it.

Contact Gabby:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabby-nelson-9a458b4/