Leadership Tea
On Leadership Tea, we talk about what it takes to reach the executive level, and how to thrive when you get there. Powerful leaders share their journeys, insights, and triumphs in conversations with hosts Shelby Smith-Wilson and Belinda Jackson Farrier.
Join us every other Wednesday to be inspired by the unvarnished stories of amazing executives who know what it's like to be "the only" at the table and who have succeeded regardless. They have proven leadership experience in their respective fields, from international affairs to the private sector to academia, and want to help others create their own success stories.
Leadership Tea
Before You Plan 2026, Reflect on This About 2025
In this Leadership Tea Podcast episode, Belinda and Shelby take stock of 2025 with clear eyes, celebrate wins, acknowledge lows, and set 2026 on two pillars: abundance and audacity. We trade scarcity for flow, set targets for brave action, and commit to celebrating progress while we implement at full speed. Here are the highlights:
• review of our 2025 focus words and what they produced
• identity shift after career change and entrepreneurship growth
• choosing abundance over scarcity as a mental model
• audacity as the engine for implementation in 2026
• embracing no’s as data and momentum
• dreaming bigger and designing a life with flexibility
• visualizing New Year’s Eve 2026 as a scoreboard
• practical prompts for listener reflection and planning
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We publish new episodes every other Wednesday.
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Welcome to the Leadership Tea Podcast, where we talk about not only what it takes to reach the executive level, but how to thrive once you get there. I don't know about you, but Belinda and I are ready for 2025 to be over. It has been a year.
SPEAKER_01:When you say it has definitely been a year. I'm over it. Let's go. 2026.
SPEAKER_00:Over it. Totally over it. And so we thought we would use this time with you all to talk about the words that we started out with in January of 2025 to see how did we live out our values and if we actually held true to what we said we wanted to do this year. And we're ready, we're just ready to jumpstart 2026. You know, it's been a tough year. We're reflecting on, you know, things that happened, maybe a few things that didn't go as we thought they would, but we're really ready to just begin framing what we want out of 2026. But let's start with a review of the past year. Linda, do you want to go ahead and kick us off?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no. So I started last year. I'm just like looking to make sure I remember with embrace, elevate, and activate, right? And when I look at what that meant to me, I was really talking about my professional life and really embracing being a business owner and an entrepreneur. And so I do think that 2025 was a year of really learning how to be in business and how to believe that I am in business. And so I did embrace it, right? I did put myself out there in uncomfortable ways. Um, I did elevate. I was, but I think back it was to what I was doing in 2024, which was very much like, I think I have a business kind of sort of, can I maybe do something? Here I am, maybe sort of 2025. I did elevate things and I invested in in platforms and frameworks and and things that I think helped to elevate the business as well. And then activate, like, yeah, I just I I did I I did things and I spent, I think, the latter half of the year focused on now that I've activated, how can I activate even more? So I feel really good about the words that I chose, and I feel like they're they were the right push that I needed to put me where I need to be for 2026. What about you? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So I chose expand, extraordinary, and expectations. And like you, I expanded myself in the sense of rethinking, rediscovering who is Shelby when she is unconstrained, based on one of the questions that you asked me in our coaching episode. That was that was a critical, um, critical and pivotal moment. Um, so yes, expanding just kind of where I am and what I think of myself. Um, extraordinary. There are many reasons why this was an extraordinary year, you know, including, you know, how my employment ended with the State Department, but it was also extraordinary in terms of what I learned and partnering with you and stretching myself, you know, as a coach, as an entrepreneur, um, and really really seeing where we could go, you know, in in this business, um, through the podcast as well as some of the other things that we're doing. And then expectations. I think I had a lot of expectations at the beginning of the year that shifted as the year progressed. Um, and that's okay. You know, I think it was just a natural part of the growth process for me. There were certain expectations that I had at the beginning of the year that didn't manifest in the way that I had hoped. Um, but there are a couple of things that I accomplished um on a personal level with my husband. Like we set out an expectation to pay off a significant amount of our debt. And we did that. And so I'm very proud that we, you know, together had a joint goal of crushing our debt, and and we did. And I think, you know, it's good to just take this moment, you know, to our listeners, really sit down and reflect on like, okay, what did you knock out of the park? What went well? You know, hopefully you can look back and see something, you know, either in your personal life or in your professional life, where you can say, Yeah, I did that. And, you know, here are some other areas that I have, you know, that maybe I need to work on and grow in for for the next year. But yeah, I'm I'm looking forward to 2026.
SPEAKER_01:No, 100%. I feel like every quarter there was growth, every quarter I had goals and I I hit them. And I and so perhaps 2025 was about proving the model to myself. I proved it all the way from you know, taking coaching clients completely through a program to repose, yeah, right, and and putting on a retreat. Okay, like all the things we talk about doing, we did, and we did well, and then it also includes growing this podcast, right? Right. Um, you know, I'm kind of curious, and I this would be for those of you who are listening on or watching on YouTube, as you should be, come over and join us. I would love to see in the chat what were your goals for 2025 and did you meet them? And how will you adjust in 2026? So share your thoughts in the chat. I think I would love to learn from everyone. So, Shelby, with all that said, what are you looking at for 2026?
SPEAKER_00:You know, right before we started recording, I was thinking, okay, do I need three words? Do I need one? Like, how do I want to shape 2026? And I've been thinking about this actually for the past few days, in terms of where I want to go based on where we are right now, based on where I am individually, like what would be the thing to take me to that next level? And the word that comes to mind for me is abundance. I like it. I just want to live in abundance, like in terms of my home life. You know, I want my home life to feel abundant, my marriage, my relationships with my children, spiritually, emotionally. I don't want to be in a place of scarcity. And I feel like 2025 has just been overwhelmed with a scarcity mindset that seems to be creeping into everything that we do, despite us trying to like, you know, push that off, like push off the bad vibes and and the bad juju. There's this scarcity environment that that we're being subjected to. And I don't, I don't want that. I I want to live in abundance. I want to live in abundance in in every way, financially, of course, as well, as we you know expand our business, but just in terms of how I show up, how I think, how I approach things, I want to be in abundance. Yeah, I really like that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:What about you? Yeah, I'm reflecting on that. Like it's making me want to change my words. Um, no. Um, when you said that to me, I also thought about how you know we often say flow, not force. And I thought abundance also feels like things are just flowing. Yeah, it's happening, you're not meeting resistance, you're doing what you're supposed to do, and it's falling in place. But for me, um, I'm gonna stick with the word that I chose, which is audacity. Yeah, and say more audacity is just when I when I when I look at what 2026 has in store for me, for us, for my family, like all the building blocks are there. We we built, we built in 2024 and 2025, like it's done. 2026 is about implementation, and the only thing standing between me, us, everybody, and implementation is just bravery and confidence, yeah, audacity. Um I just see, you know, I see people around me who don't have as good of a plan or don't have as strong of a framework. We're out here living in abundance, and I'm like, oh, I can get that abundance if I had my audacity. So that is the plan. Um because yeah, I don't, I don't, we're especially when I think about our plans and where we want to see leadership tea go. Yeah, no, I think we we have a solid plan. We're good planners. Yes, we are. We're we're we're good at at coming up with the ideas, we're good at at coming up with the scenarios and running through them. Like we did that, okay. Uh-huh. We did that. It's game day. Yep, yeah. So that's I'm excited for 2026. And when I look at, I mean, I'm excited for for us. I'm excited for my family. I don't know. The rest of it, I gotta try to not let my emotions like ride with the news cycle. Yeah, but when I focus on what I can control, I'm excited about that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. I feel it, I feel it, I see it. I've got my question for you now. Like, whenever I see you getting stuck in 2026, I'm just gonna be like, yo, Belinda, where's your audacity? Exactly. Where is your audacity? Let's go.
SPEAKER_01:And and getting ready for no, no, embracing no's. Yeah, embracing nos because getting nos means that I'm out here doing the work. So, and I'm learning. So, you know, we had we said something, I don't know if we said it here on the podcast or if we just said it to each other. We were we were gonna aim for like as with the things that we're trying, all the different projects, we're gonna aim for like 15 no's. Yeah, yep, yep. Um, yeah, I still want to aim for 15 no's a month. I was just listening to a business podcast, and um, they were founders of what is now a major uh platform, but they were talking about in their initial stages as they were looking for say funding, they got 93 no's in a row before they got a yes, and they made 93 pitches before they got a yes, and they kept going. It took like four years or something. Okay, I'm not trying to do all that, but I was like, maybe, maybe it's a slide deck, like maybe there's something. No, but um yeah, no, I'm just I can already see projecting out the exciting things that we're gonna do and the results that they will bring.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I want to ready to go experience it, right? Because we have a lot to offer. What we offer is solid and transformational, and I'm really I'm really looking forward to to what we're going to continue to to manifest. It's funny, the other thing that I was thinking about this week as we were getting ready for for this episode is something else that you and I discussed a few months ago. I don't know, um, I jotted it down in my journal. Like you're not dreaming big enough. No, 100%. You're not dreaming big enough. Your dreams are too small.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And that just ties into this notion of abundance, like just really owning the space that we have created, you know, what we're what we're building together is really something, you know, special and and unique. And we just need to to to go all in. Right.
SPEAKER_01:I've been thinking a lot lately on like two different, are that not different two sides of the same coin in terms of concepts. One is I've been thinking a lot about how the ancestors were not made to walk so that I could also walk, right? Like, right? No, no, no, no, that was not the dream. I should run. There's literally nothing stopping me from running between other than me. So I just do stuff, and the other is that ultimately it's more philosophical, I suppose. But like, okay, like, did God put you on earth to be miserable? Like to wake up every day and be like, Well, I gotta gotta make the donuts. Like, I did that, yeah. I played that game, I didn't choose the life that I have now so that I can be miserable. So I should wake up every day curious and excited, exactly, right?
SPEAKER_00:Um, yeah, because there have been too many sacrifices made to get us to this space of of privilege that we occupy. Yeah, and yeah, the answer to not want us to just struggle and suffer and question and and doubt and have our heads hanging down. No.
SPEAKER_01:No, and when I think about the life that I have now, I have I I perceive sometimes when I'm sitting in it that I've stumbled into it. But no, no, no. I I worked hard for like almost 30 years to create what I have and what I have right now, in particular my availability to be present for my daughter and for my husband, particularly that piece. Yeah, when I first thought about wanting it, it seemed impossible. There's no way I'm ever gonna have time to go on field trips, there's no way I'm ever gonna be able to like make cupcakes, drop them off at school. Like, like, I gotta work. And I am, I'm working hard, I'm doing the things, but whoever thought I would be able to do that and have flexibility. That's that for me, that was the impossible dream. And when I look back on 2024 and 2025, even though there were some painful moments, even though it's hard, even though I don't yet I haven't achieved all the goals I want to achieve yet. Wow, I was able to be present. And if you had told me that 10 years ago, you'd be like, no, no way too. Like, what are you talking about? Yeah, let me go write this memo. Let me get ready for this this conference call.
SPEAKER_00:Right, right, but you're constructing the the life that you want to live on your terms, yeah, and a life that reflects Belinda and Belinda's values. Yeah. And like you said, this is like, you know, you put in the work, like this was not it was not an accident. So our success and everything that has has that has been manifested up until this point was not an accident, like everything has been done on purpose, intentionally, with a lot of you know, blood, sweat, and tears. Like we we are where we are because we put in the work, because we do intentional work. When you look backwards, it all makes sense.
SPEAKER_01:You're like, oh yeah. So I went there, but then I went to that. Oh, and yeah, if I hadn't done that, I couldn't have done that, and that wouldn't have led me to that. Yeah. When you're in it, it's hard to see it. It's hard to see it. But when I look backwards, I'm like, you know what, it all worked out. So I'm gonna go ahead and trust that it's gonna continue to work out.
SPEAKER_00:A thousand percent. Yeah, a thousand percent. And I would encourage our viewers and listeners to to do the same when you look at the arc of your life and everything that you have done to get to where you are in this moment. First of all, you need to just take a moment to celebrate that, you know, give yourself a pat on the back, but also, you know, never stop this process of evolution and and growing. You know, take a moment to look back on 2025, you know, what went well, what didn't, but also begin thinking about what do you want for yourself in 2026? Who is the you waiting for you at the end of next year? Who do you want to see at the end of next year? Where do you want to be? That's what we encourage you to start thinking about right now.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So as we get ready to wrap, Shelby, I do have one question for you, which is when you get to New Year's Eve 2026, and you are so excited that you're living a life of abundance, what does that look like?
SPEAKER_00:My immediate thought was me holding a large glass of champagne, and I'm decked out in a beautiful gown, my hair is done, my nails are done, I'm dancing, you're there, Michael is there, Vince is there, and we're celebrating because we have you know accomplished everything that we set out to and more. Like 2026 is going to be full of abundance beyond anything that we can imagine right now in this moment.
SPEAKER_01:I like that. We should pick a offline, we should pick a country and say like 2026, New Year's Eve. This is where it's at.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I'm here for it. I'm here for it. But what about you? What do you see for yourself?
SPEAKER_01:Like, there's just so many end-of-the-year, like loose, loose threads that I just want tied up, right? Um, so what do I see this time next year? I would like to see the child in a high school that she's happy with and thriving.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, we want that. Right.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, I need that. Um I would like Audacity will bring me consistency. Audacity will bring me predictability. I want to be able to, and and and with consistency and predictability, it opens up space to implement the other dreams that I have. So 2027 is like phase two. Yeah. Right? There's phase two things I want to be. So I I see myself um New Year's Eve, thinking about the flight I have to catch the next morning to go sign a contract for whatever my various properties, my goats, my whatever it is, you know. I I feel like 2027 is the year of like angel investing and like multi-generational like plants.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, look at you. You've already leapfrogged into 2027. I you're all about business. Meanwhile, I'm over here drinking my champagne. I think that's because it brings up something else that we've been talking about. We we didn't really take the time to celebrate our wins. I mean, there we had a few, you know, here and there, but not not really. Like, I want to go all out. And again, this ties into my my theme of abundance. Like, I I want to celebrate the wins that I know are coming. And that is why I am imagining myself holding a beautiful champagne flute toasting with you and and our hubbies.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I love it. I see fireworks, I see amazing food. Yes, I see, yeah, that's a win. Okay, let's go. Let's go. Let's do it. Reservations. What's up? All right. Well, for everyone who's listening, look, it's been a pleasure. Thank you for joining us for 2025. I know there's been a lot of ups and downs for many of our listeners. Um, but let's move into 2026 with hope and with plans, right? Uh, so if you aren't already on YouTube with us, please join us. Please like and subscribe. And uh wherever you're you're listening to us, I encourage you to head to our website to find different programs and tools that we have available to hopefully get you ready for 2026. So again, thank you. And as always, we enjoy sipping wisdom and stirring success with you.
