415 Striving For Excellence
When was the last time you took a moment to truly acknowledge just how far you’ve come and the work you have done to get to this point? No exceptions, no talking down about your accomplishments, just true and genuine acceptance of how amazing you are because of how hard you have worked. Perfection is impossible, but Excellence is achievable. We can always improve, but we must also acknowledge and sit with how well we have done to get to this moment.
In this episode Sarah Elkins and Anne Catherine discuss the importance of art and the soul, the necessity of knowing when we are truly excellent, and to encourage it in others and ourselves.
Highlights
What super power are you hiding?
What is the art you practice that you don’t often think is art?
Are you coloring in someone else’s lines or your own?
Letting go of perfection and striving for excellence.
What was the last thing you were really proud of? No buts.
Quotes
“It’s funny because I didn’t study art or anything right? My medium is paint, of all sorts so I could say I’m a painter, but I never started. I always went straight to artist because I think it’s in your soul, it doesn’t matter even when I do science, I assemble molecules. There’s an art to that. That’s what felt right to me, I never defined myself as a painter even though that’s my medium for traditional art as we would say so.”
“You don’t have to pick, you can be all the things that your heart desires.”
“I don’t want to color in someone else’s lines anymore.”
Dear Listeners it is now your turn,
What will you do with your insights from this conversation? Will you choose to color out of the lines or to make your own lines? Will you choose to simply color within those lines just to express your own need for color for some form of relaxing, because it can be a great tool. But if you are driven, if you are compelled to stop coloring inside someone else’s lines, I want to know what that looks like for you.
And, as always, thank you for listening.
About Anne Catherine
Anne-Catherine is a French-Canadian PhD chemist and abstract artist whose work invites people to reclaim their wholeness. She bridges two worlds that rarely meet: science and art.
What started as a personal outlet became a transformative practice that helped her process emotions beyond the reach of language. This shaped her belief that creative expression can regulate the nervous system and reconnect us with the parts of ourselves we tend to silence.
Through her brand Labcoat & Leggings, she explores the intersection of scientific themes and bold creative freedom. As a scientist and a mother, she has witnessed how often women in STEM hide parts of themselves to navigate spaces not designed for them. Her work is about reclaiming what we mute and showing what it looks like when someone leads with honesty and humanity in a way that makes the world more welcoming and inclusive for all.
Be sure to check out Anne’s LinkedIn and Instagram! And be sure to check out her website Labcoat & Leggings!
About Sarah
"Uncovering the right stories for the right audiences so executives, leaders, public speakers, and job seekers can clearly and actively demonstrate their character, values, and vision."
In my work with coaching clients, I guide people to improve their communication using storytelling as the foundation of our work together. What I’ve realized over years of coaching and podcasting is that the majority of people don’t realize the impact of the stories they share - on their internal messages, and on the people they’re sharing them with.
My work with leaders and people who aspire to be leaders follows a similar path to the interviews on my podcast, uncovering pivotal moments in their lives and learning how to share them to connect more authentically with others, to make their presentations and speaking more engaging, to reveal patterns that have kept them stuck or moved them forward, and to improve their relationships at work and at home.
The audiobook, Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will is now available!
Included with your purchase are two bonus tracks, songs recorded by Sarah's band, Spare Change, in her living room in Montana.
Be sure to check out the Storytelling For Professionals Course as well to make sure you nail that next interview!