Advising ambitious women to find & exhibit their confidence using science-backed principles ✨ Confidence Coach | Career Coach | Public Speaking Coach | Corporate Communication Trainer | Speaker

If you’re a woman who wants to feel self-assured, make your authority obvious, stop people-pleasing, have a great boss, fair pay, advance your career, and communicate confidently—while being yourself—I can help.

You’ve tried job searching and “leaning in,” but customizing every resume, networking endlessly, and “faking it 'til you make it” isn’t working. You’re *burnt out.*

Five years ago, I was in the same place—compromising who I was in a corporate “bro culture,” passed over for roles, underpaid, ignored, and working for a toxic boss. 

I researched relentlessly and found science-backed principles that worked. Before I could use them, I was fired—right at the start of COVID.

That’s when I chose a new path: helping women master the communication skills I once lacked—skills that have since transformed 100+ careers.

My Job Search Accelerator Program cuts job search time from 6–12 months to 3 months for 88% of clients. My Secret Confidence Code helps women feel consistently confident, even 12 months after completion.

Why it works: Unlike other coaches, I use strategies backed by research and scientific evidence.

HOW TO WORK WITH ME:

✅ 1:1 or Group Coaching – For female professionals who want to identify great cultures, be heard, stop people-pleasing, and feel confident.
✔ "Lori coached me to embrace my who I am as an individual, improve my interview skills, & be unapologetic in the workplace." - Abbey O.
✔ “I found a job in less than a month after searching for months.” – Rich B.
✔ “I doubled my pay and got $18K more than expected.” – Crystal L.
✔ “I went from Specialist to Director with a $30K raise and a standing ovation for my TEDx Talk.” – Stephanie T.

✅ Corporate Training – Most recently, I ran a workshop for Meta (Facebook) and trained TED Talk speakers. I help teams:
• Improve communication 🗣
• Moderate meetings 🎤
• Hold attention 👏
• Increase influence 🤝
• Give better feedback 🤝
• Portray confidence ⭐

✔ “Great session—learned techniques to increase professional influence.” – Salina D.

📅 Ready to stop the burnout? Book a free consultation: https://meet.brevo.com/lori-potts/strategy-call-20

Confidence Coach | Women’s Career Coach | Communication Coach | Public Speaking Coach | Communication Trainer | Training Facilitator | Job Search Coach | TED/TEDx Coach

Lori T. Potts

Keep speaking the truth ladies, even when others feel uncomfortable. It’s how we make progress. 💙

Stop people-pleasing & live authentically | Science-backed coaching for ambitious women ✨88% of clients land interviews in 3 months or less | Career, Public Speaking & Confidence Coach | Corporate Communication Trainer

Order The Devil Emails at Midnight 😈💻🕛 On a mission to fix what’s broken at work | Wall Street Journal & USA TODAY & LA Times Best Selling Author | Thinkers 50 Radar List | Workplace Strategist | LinkedIn Top Voice

We are not intimidating. We are confident. We aren’t mean. We are direct, we get to the point quickly. We don’t have time to waste.

We speak the truth without shrinking. 

Because we aren’t afraid of the truth.

We have nothing to hide.

We voice our concerns for ourselves and for others.

We offer differing points of view to try and make the outcome stronger.

Others can mistake our clarity for attitude when they aren't used to this level of authenticity.

They call us entitled, arrogant, overconfident, too much, and a whole host of other labels which are absolutely laughable.

Our presence isn't the problem; their comfort is the problem.

When we move with confidence in our workplaces, 

Their insecurities quickly become exposed.

And we don’t apologize for our expertise and our experience and our genius.

We keep moving forward.

They can sit in their discomfort.

Because it’s not our job to make them comfortable.

#leadership #culture #MitaMallick 

Image credit: found on Instagram

If you’re not valued or appreciated you’re just in the wrong environment! Create a plan and get out!

I stayed for the big title. I stayed because it was a “big brand name” on my resume. I stayed because I was promised a promotion.

I stayed for the paycheck.

I stayed because I thought they would finally get rid of the bully boss.

I stayed because I thought if I just worked harder it would get better.

I stayed for that bonus.

I stayed because I was afraid of what my friends and family would say if I left.

I stayed because I was scared. 

I stayed because my job had become my identity.

I thought it was better to just survive the chaos then try something new.

And more.

Until you realize 

You have to love yourself enough

To start to make the plans
To craft the exit strategy 
To ask for help 

To remove yourself from workplaces and work relationships 

Where you are no longer 
valued or appreciated or respected.

So why do you think we stay?
Why did you stay?

#leadership #culture #MitaMallick 

Image credit: YVETTE_ALOE

How your people-pleasing is showing up in your job interviews—especially in the words you choose.


It sounds “professional” on the surface, but it quietly gives away your power.

Here are a few common people-pleasing interview phrases you may be using—and what to say instead:

Instead of:
“I’m pretty flexible, I can really do whatever the team needs.”
Try:
“I do my best work when expectations are clear, and these are the areas where I add the most value.”

Instead of:
“I don’t have a lot of experience with that, but I’m a fast learner.”
Try:
“I haven’t owned that yet, and here’s how I’d get up to speed quickly.”

Instead of:
“I just helped out where I could.”
Try:
“I was responsible for X, and the outcome was Y.”

Instead of:
“I’m open to whatever compensation makes sense.”
Try:
“Based on the scope of the role and market data, I’m targeting a range of X–Y.”

Instead of:
“I don’t really have any questions, everything sounds great.”
Try:
“I’d love to understand how success is measured in the first 90 days.”

Instead of:
“I’m happy to take feedback.”
Try:
“I work best with direct feedback—can you share how feedback is typically given here?”

People-pleasing in interviews isn’t about being kind.
It’s about staying safe.

But interviews aren’t a performance—they’re a 2-way conversation—where you’re ALSO deciding if they’re a fit for YOU. 

The goal isn’t to be chosen at any cost. It’s to choose *each other.*

When you shift your language, you shift how you’re perceived—
from agreeable to grounded,
from eager to confident,
from “hoping to be picked” to evaluating alignment.

That’s not arrogance.
That’s self-trust.

If you want to stop people-pleasing and start living more authentically, take up space, and own your power, follow me for more.

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Are you unknowingly undermining yourself with your people-pleasing communication habits? 

Take a listen to my most recent podcast interview on The Human Connection Podcast and see if any of the habits you have are hindering your credibility. Thanks for having me Karl Pontau!

View company: The Human Connection Podcast

Your leadership team sounds insecure and they don't even know it.

Just talked to Lori T. Potts—communication coach who's helped 80% of her clients land interviews in 3 months (in THIS job market, no less)—and she dropped a truth bomb that's going to make you squirm.

You know that executive on your team who ends every statement like a question? The one who says "right?" after every sentence? The VP who apologizes before sharing an idea in meetings?

Yeah. They sound like they're questioning their own expertise. And your clients? They're picking up on it.

Here's the brutal reality:

The likability trap is real, and it's killing your women leaders' credibility.

Not because they're not brilliant. Not because they don't have the answers. But because they've been conditioned since childhood to communicate in ways that undermine their own authority.

Lori told me about a guy starting a business whose friends kept telling him to "sound more confident." He was CONFUSED. He felt confident! Turns out he was uptalking—ending every sentence with a subtle question inflection—and didn't even know it.

Subtle. But deadly.

For women? It's 10x worse. Because assertive communication gets labeled "aggressive" or "cold" while the same behavior from men gets praised as "decisive leadership."

Cool cool cool. Love that for us. 🙄

But here's where Lori gets practical:

You need to balance warmth AND competence. Not one or the other. Both. Or people won't give you opportunities, won't see you as capable, won't feel comfortable working with you.

Her advice for women getting interrupted in meetings? Try this:

"Thanks so much for your perspective, George. Let me finish. Then you can hop in."

Warm. Clear. Doesn't apologize for taking up space.

My favorite story: Lori's husband works with mostly women in behavioral analysis. He started saying "I accept your apology" every time someone said "sorry" unnecessarily. It's sarcastic, it's funny, AND it works.

Because when you say "sorry" before speaking up, you're literally apologizing for using your voice. For being there. For existing in that meeting.

Stop. Doing. That.

For you execs trying to build high-performing teams in Health Tech and MedTech? Your communication blind spots are costing you talent, credibility, and revenue.

Record yourself in your next meeting. Listen back. Count the "ums," the "likes," the question inflections on statements, the unnecessary apologies.
You'll be horrified. Good. Now fix it.

Episode dropped today. Lori breaks down the specific habits undermining your credibility, how to get out of the likability trap, and why focusing on what you CAN control (your communication) matters more than raging against broken systems.

Link in comments.

#KarlTheBridge

P.S. If you just thought "this doesn't apply to me," congratulations—you're exactly who needs to listen to this episode. Self-awareness is the first step, and you clearly don't have it yet.

Too direct. Too intense. Too opinionated.


I was born unafraid to say what everyone was thinking—but afraid to say out loud.

As a kid, that honesty got labeled as too much.

So I learned to soften it.
Package it.
Ask for permission before telling the truth.

That habit didn’t disappear in adulthood—it just followed me into work.

Holding back in meetings.
Editing myself in interviews.
Saying what felt “safe” instead of what was true.

And here’s what I see now, especially with women in their careers:

The very instinct that makes you insightful, strategic, and perceptive is often the first thing you’re taught to silence.

But leadership doesn’t come from saying the right thing. It comes from saying the necessary thing.

The shift isn’t becoming louder.
It’s becoming less afraid of your own clarity.

If you’ve ever been told to “tone it down,”
this is your reminder: your voice was never the problem.

✨ What truth have you been editing lately?

University of Illinois Extension

Create and enter expense reports into Emburse Enterprise.  Review expense reports for seven community outreach workers and three extension educators.  Support seven community outreach workers and three extension educators remotely across three office locations.  Purchase office supplies, groceries, and educational/instructional supplies as necessary.

Office Support Associate 

Brookfield Public Library

As part of the 125th anniversary historical society committee, I am scanning old documents and photographs. I then upload them to Biblioboard with appropriate metadata descriptors.

Volunteer Curator

Linda Sokol Francis Brookfield Public Library

*Serve the public by checking items in and out of the library
*Direct members to relevant information sources
*Provide excellent customer service
*Count items for delivery service
*Participate in closing procedures
*Check in and barcode periodical titles for usage 
*Assisted at LSF Brookfield Public Library preview events

Circulation Associate

First Presbyterian Church of La Grange

Maintain weekly attendance records for service.  Make flyers and other publications using Microsoft Publisher and Microsoft Word.  Record data using ACS software.  Keep records of visitors and other needs using Microsoft Excel.  Order janitorial and office supplies as requested. Maintain contact tracing records during 2020.

Office Administrator

BuildCentral, Inc.

I researched RFP documents for editing.  I posted building projects to the BuildCentral website at a minimum of 12 projects daily.

Research Assistant

Society of the Little Flower

Development Assistant

Clarendon Hills Public Library

* Managed one part-time Circulation Desk staff member and five volunteers
* Responsible for Interlibrary Loan Services
* Knowledge of Millenium Circulation and PC Reservation

Circulation Services Manager

Oak Park Public Library

Shelf-reader Volunteer.  I was assigned a section and responsible for keeping the books in order.

Volunteer

United Way

River Forest Public Library

I assisted individual patrons in finding the correct ways to use PowerPoint.  I helped patrons maintain learning with the instructor.

Adult PowerPoint Computer Class

Assisted with Adult PowerPoint Computer Class
Helped provide one-to-one instruction with adult students in small class setting

Teaching Assistant Intern

Information Professional experienced in libraries and office administration utilizing strong customer service and professional communication skills. I am seeking a position in the library/information/knowledge management areas. I always strive for administrative excellence in all of my work positions. I have worked with various databases in my different positions, including SWAN, SirsiDynix, ACS, and REALM.  I am experienced with data entry  and in keeping current information on members and prospective members.  I create and summarize expense reports in Emburse Enterprise, upload the files into Box, and maintain a journal of expenses in Quicken.  I am improving my communication and leadership skills through my involvement with Toastmasters International; teamwork is important to me as well.   I am also interested in the  non-profit and project management fields. I am always open to volunteer opportunities. I would like to be employed in the Greater Chicagoland area. The best way to contact me is at leannepavel@gmail.com.

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