We are excited to have Tricia Dege join us on the podcast! Women have been underrepresented in leadership positions for many years. The U.S. Census Bureau recently reported that 3 million women left the workforce during the pandemic.
While some have returned, the trend of women, specifically working moms, considering slowing their careers or leaving the workforce entirely continues. Tricia founded Mom Mastermind to change this trajectory by helping businesses develop and retain talented working moms, to grow their leadership pipeline and create more executive women leaders.
She is passionate about guiding others and seeing them live, love and lead the abundant life they already have. Mom Mastermind partners with business leaders across a variety of industries who are committed to ensuring women are well represented at various levels of leadership and are ready to take action to support them.
Tricia holds a Masters Degree in Health Services Management and Policy from The Ohio State University as well as a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from the University of Illinois. She trained with the High Performance Institute as a Certified High Performance Coach. She developed and leads the proprietary coaching program and community of women in Mom Mastermind.
For more than 25 years, Tricia worked with businesses to improve their operational and financial performance. She is skilled at merging financial, strategic, and operational perspectives to solve business challenges, using people, process, and technology solutions. She led finance, operations, and internal consulting roles for a health system in Minnesota as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer until 2021. Previously she served as a consultant at several large firms, supporting various clients’ performance improvement initiatives. She is known for creating simple solutions to complex problems. Her special skill is polished diplomacy, fostering trusted partnerships and relationships.
Tricia has been married for 15 years to her husband, Brian, who is a Pilot for Southwest Airlines. They spend most of their free time driving their daughters to activities and cheering them on at sporting events.
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Transcript
Dina Simon 0:00
Music.
John Simon Sr. 0:08
Welcome to Simon Says, inspire a podcast about life, leadership and building legacies. I'm John Simon, SR
Dina Simon 0:16
and I'm Dina Simon.
John Simon Sr. 0:18
Our guest today is Trisha Dege. Trisha is founder and CEO of mom mastermind. Trish. Welcome to the podcast.
Tricia Dege 0:27
Thank you. Well, thank you for having me, both of you.
John Simon Sr. 0:30
Well, Greg, why don't you take a minute or two, Trisha and just tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live, and little bit about your family and what you like to do in your spare time? Well,
Tricia Dege 0:41
I live on the east side of the Twin Cities, a little bit outside of the city. I'm a city dweller, but my husband is not. So here we are raising our two daughters. My my girls are 12, and our girls are 12 and 14. So I have two middle schoolers right now, which most people groan and say, oh my gosh, but it actually has been smoother than I anticipated. They're they're good kids, and we keep them kind of busy, so no room for trouble. And then my husband, Brian, we've been married 16 years earlier this month, and Ryan's a commercial pilot. He works for Southwest Airlines, so we have that kind of the juggling act going on here. Half the week he's home and super involved, and half the week he's gone and not particularly reachable. And so that's an interesting juggling act here. And usually we have a golden retriever. We don't have one right now, but we do a lot of babysitting on the weekends. We love golden and I would say we were in that stage of life where we're either driving to the kids to something, cheering them on for something, or on vacation. So given Brian's career, we really like to travel and get the girls out. We haven't done a lot of international travel yet, but we like to get them out to see lots of places and experience different things.
Dina Simon 1:59
Yeah, what a great benefit when you have somebody who works for the airlines, and if you can take advantage of it, how nice is that
Tricia Dege 2:06
it is? Yes, yep. Flying standby was a little much when they were little, so we didn't do as much. But now that they're older, they're really good travelers, and they love airports, and they like to people watch. So it's really fun. Well,
John Simon Sr. 2:18
I loved reading in your bio a little bit about how Brian, during covid, took a voluntary leave of absence so that he could spend time with the girls.
Tricia Dege 2:27
Yes, I don't know if the three of them would say the same. You know, I think he never really intended to sign on as teacher, but I was working full time and in healthcare at that time, so I really was working seven to seven, and sometimes more than that, just to try to, you know, help things keep moving in the healthcare system. And so I have print stores on my office. And so the dining room across the hallway became the school room. I felt like we lived in a one, one room schoolhouse, and we we got through it. It it was, and I think there were some silver linings of getting to spend a lot of time, more time together. And afterwards, we decided each kid was going to drop one activity, because we just we needed to slow down a little bit, and that we have kept that.
Dina Simon 3:13
I love that. Yeah. And how old were the girls? So if they're 12 and 14 now, so they were, they were
Tricia Dege 3:21
in third and fourth grade, in 2020, yeah. So it was, it was a lot, you know, all the really, a lot of educating going on at that at that stage, not a lot of self study going on when you're in third and fourth grade.
Dina Simon 3:35
There's so much, yeah, so hands on. Mine, my girl was a junior in high school, so I think I had a little bit easier,
Tricia Dege 3:41
yeah, right. But then I'm sure it got into Dina all, like, all the celebrations and what they could and couldn't do. And, yeah, I think everybody was a very unique experience with
Dina Simon 3:51
that. They do, yeah? She never, she never had a problem, junior or senior. So, yeah, yeah. So it is really unique, right?
John Simon Sr. 4:00
And, you know, right now, four years, you know, later, you almost don't even think about it anymore, you know, you kind of put it out of your mind. And every once a while you'll say, oh, yeah, that was back in covid, back in 2020, or 2021, and, and now, you know, four years later, you know, we survived, and now we're going to continue to move on.
Tricia Dege 4:20
Yep, yeah. I saw somebody with a mask at the grocery store the other day, and it was the first time that it struck me like, oh, right, oh yeah. Well, they're with that, right? Yeah, yeah.
John Simon Sr. 4:31
I was back in Pittsburgh this past weekend visiting my family, and my brother walks out of the house with a mask on and said, Bill, why? Well, I'm just trying to protect myself. Okay, if you feel better, doing that good for you.
Dina Simon 4:46
Yeah, exactly, yep. So, Trisha, when we were chatting before, you've lived in a lot of places, so I'm super excited just to get to know you better, but share with us a little bit about your about your journey. Oh,
Tricia Dege 4:58
sure. So. Oh, well, I was actually born in California, with which people find interesting, because I would say, kind of a Midwesterner at heart, but my parents were both. One was from Illinois and one from Iowa, and they met in California, and then when I was a baby, like before I was one, they moved back to the Midwest, kind of wanting to get back most of family and Midwestern values, and that was important to them, and I went to University of Illinois undergrad, and then I had a job as a leadership consultant, traveling all over the country. And while I was out and about, I was looking for a graduate school because I knew I wanted to get my Master's in healthcare administration. So as I was visiting all of these colleges, I was on the lookout, and I ended up, funny enough, with the University of Minnesota with high on the list for MHA programs, but I drew this line across the country, and I said, I won't go anyplace colder than this. So I ended up in Columbus, and then from there, coma Ohio, and then in the middle of graduate school, I did an internship in Manhattan, and really fell in love with New York City, and got my first job. An alum, you know, really just gave me a job after graduate school, and he was in Atlanta, so I went to work for Ernst and Young in Atlanta. Really enjoyed consulting, spent a lot of time traveling, a lot more time in New York City. And then at some point, I think my grandmother was sick, and so I moved from Atlanta to Chicago so I could be closer to my family. And then the group that I was with at Ernst and Young we got a project at Health Partners. And I remember heard of Health Partners. It was just funny, because up here, it's such a big common name, but ended up being here for three years as a consultant in the Twin Cities, and then I was gone for three and I was sitting at my desk and in Chicago, which is pretty uncommon as a consultant, we were usually out at a client site or, you know, at home, trying to kind of recover from being gone all the time. And I got this call saying, Oh, we have somebody who's leaving unexpectedly. Can you just come fill in for a little bit? I'm sure that'd be fun. And lo and behold, that led eventually to a job and moving here. I liked it here a lot, and I intended, really just to come for a bit, and I thought I'd go back to Chicago, but I moved here early 2000s I bought a house in April, and I got a puppy for the Fourth of July, and I met my husband two weeks later. And so then it was like, it just sort of all took off, and we got married and had the two girls, and so
John Simon Sr. 7:26
here we still are. And is Brian from the Twin Cities. He's from southern
Tricia Dege 7:31
Minnesota. Wow, okay, okay, yeah, and he has lived a few places. He lived in Detroit for a little bit, but he funny enough, I feel like I might have traveled more, just experienced more. You know, when we started dating, I thought, you know, being a pilot was so glamorous. And one time he was going to someplace in New York State, and I said, Well, when you get there, what will you do? And he said, Yeah, I'll take a hotel van from the airport to the hotel, watch the TV, go to bed and come back to the airport. And I was really disappointed by that answer. So when we travel together, I we can do all the things that we can get out and explore, yeah, because
Dina Simon 8:09
it's his job, so he has to rest. And you know all of that exactly. Where in California were you born? La Mirana, so Orange County? Oh, sure, yeah, yeah. Yeah. My
Tricia Dege 8:20
grandparents lived there. My dad's parents lives there. So we lived there quite a bit. Yeah, so
Dina Simon 8:25
similar story. So my daughter, Mandy, was born out in California. We were living out in the San Francisco area, and when she was two, we moved back here because we wanted to raise her back in the Midwest.
Tricia Dege 8:38
Yeah. My parents, I don't think, have ever questioned that decision and and it was nice to be close to family.
Dina Simon 8:43
Yeah, exactly. And that same, same. So I was traveling a lot, so we wanted her to be close to my sisters, so to support rich if something happened to her while, you know, they're sick and couldn't go to daycare or school. And there's nothing wrong with being raised out in California. It's just an hour drive for getting 10 miles. And so there's some trade offs with with what we have up here. So I think very true. Yeah, true, yeah. Well, I love it that you've experienced so many fun places though, too, right?
Tricia Dege 9:13
Yeah, yeah. Well, that makes a lot of places feel, in some ways, like home. So yeah, and I think not resistant to change at all. Like, I had moved around. I've had many different jobs, and so, like, everything's like, my mom says, everything's an adventure. Yes,
John Simon Sr. 9:29
so going from being the Chief Financial Officer of the healthcare organization to an entrepreneur and business owner that had the really exciting time for you, and maybe a little scary,
Tricia Dege 9:42
both very, they would say, and still both, yeah, still very exciting, still sometimes scary. And I think what's interesting is I never fancied myself an entrepreneur, a small business owner, or even a CEO. I really love operations, how things were. Making things really efficient, getting all everybody involved, moving in the same direction. But there just came a time, and it was during covid. But I think the sort of mental processing of it was before covid, that after a long career in healthcare, it just wasn't what I wanted to do anymore. And so just that, I spent about a year discerning, okay, if not, if not, when you you know when you find yourself in that spot of what you expected to always do isn't what you love anymore. And I just really peeled back the onion on Okay, well, what? What parts of this job do I really love? And it was might a decent sized team. And so it was always about working with them, helping them develop. And was lucky that when I said, you know, I think I want to leave my job, my husband was really supportive, and that was a big part of it, not being scary. Was working on that, you know, that that those pieces together and then up to, you know, including, you know, now, really having his support to make that being pivot.
John Simon Sr. 11:04
And when you take a look at balancing between your career and motherhood and a lot of people, I don't think we appreciate the challenges that go along with that, and there's a good reason to have somebody like you coaching, yeah,
Tricia Dege 11:19
it's, I think it's a really interesting, whatever you want to call it, juggling act, balancing act, harmonizing, blending, all the words, and I'll just use work life balance, because that's the most common vernacular. It really takes a lot of effort to figure out what matters most to you, and that's the unique part is, I don't think it lends itself particularly well to a book necessarily, or a training. You know, everybody's interests are different. I have clients that really work because they have to, and they would really prefer to be staying home. Most of them really love their jobs, but they also love being a mom. And so it's really trying to figure out how to do both of those things. Yeah,
Dina Simon 12:03
well, exactly. So will you give us a little bit more information about the mom mastermind? So tell us a little bit more about that. So at
Tricia Dege 12:11
its core, it's a Women's Leadership Development Company, and so I'm really passionate about seeing all women rise. And so a piece of the business is speaking. I run a speaker's collective, and so we speak on women's empowerment, most often in panels, and then I do workshops for companies on helping women leaders advance. And then the third and biggest piece of the business really is development cohorts, and that's where I focus my time on helping business leaders who are mothers, with the intent of helping companies to grow their leadership pipeline so they can get more women into the C suite and really developing their skills and their loyalty so that over time, we have more women in the C suite. And so people often ask me, Well, you know, why? Why do you work just with moms? And, you know, frankly, there are plenty of coaches and really good one to work with everybody. I don't think there are necessarily enough resources to help all the women who want to stay and do both. Well, do that. So just given my experience, it was like, Where, what can I offer that, you know, a legacy that's really not offered or not not enough of those resources. Yeah,
Dina Simon 13:30
yeah, and Trisha and and John, I would say the resources today and the focus also today, on moms and the balancing, again, whatever words we want to use, there seems to be some new resources and new focus on that. So I love that you have picked that lane and that's where you want to focus in, because it is so needed. So I wish that those were resources that I had found right when I was a young working mom. But John one of the things too. And Trisha, you can tell me if this is still a thing. I know me growing up being a working professional. You know, sometimes the hardest people to work with were other moms that I was working with, because sometimes they're not always supportive, right? It's like, hey, if I have to hustle and make all this work can happen. You know, you need to buck up and do it too. And so just having those corporate resources, as far as you going in and really working with corporations, and having that conversation on how women can really support each other, it does take a village to, you know, to get through those decades of life as we're raising our children and trying to have jobs so super interested in, you know, kind of what you're seeing out there these days, you know, I
Tricia Dege 14:45
will say my experience was different than that. I got really lucky in the female boss department and and peer group, although most of the time I was on the younger, younger end. So sometimes it felt. Uh, lonely isn't really the right word. I'm not somebody who I don't know that lonely is an emotion that I really feel, but, but a little maybe isolated or different, but, but I would say my experience was solid. I hear that from my clients, that that they sometimes feel more more judged or held to a higher standard by other women. Most often when I talk to potential businesses, I hear what you just said, Dina, is I wish I had had that. And for a while I would just say, Oh, well, yeah, you know. And just kind of, I didn't know the answer to that. And now my answer is yes, and now you have the opportunity to offer that to the women on your team, yay.
John Simon Sr. 15:41
And being a former Chief Financial Officer, you're a very detailed person, I would because that generally is required in that in that field. But I I'm going to read you one of your quotes because I thought it was so great. Excellence is never an accident. It requires intentional effort. And I thought that was a great quote.
Tricia Dege 16:01
Thank you.
Dina Simon 16:03
You're you're like, he's pulled a quote out of something. I said, it better be good.
Tricia Dege 16:07
I know. I'm like, oh, where will this come from? Yeah, I think that's true. And I think one of the things that's interesting because people do ask that. I mean, how do you go from being a CFO and, you know, responsible for a lot of money related transactions in a big company, to your own thing, and something that seems, you know, a lot of times. I think one of the challenges it seems fluffy, like the minute you say, Mom, it's like, soft or squishy, and it isn't that. And that's one of the lenses, I think, that I bring to this is it's got to be solid. It's got to be a really strong program, and it's got to have a return on investment. If companies are going to pay for this, I spend a lot of time making sure they're getting, individuals are getting and companies are getting their money's worth. And your coaching is, it's unregulated, it's under an unregulated industry. And so that's one of the things I spend a lot of time on, is making sure that what we're offering is is super strong and solid Absolutely.
Dina Simon 17:09
So then, yeah, that's where, again, your background will speak to the C suite that you are bringing your programs into, because you will be very focused on the ROI. So we talked a little bit about your life, and then obviously leadership. So anything else on just kind of leadership, or things that you're focusing in on right now in your business,
Tricia Dege 17:28
one of the things that that I think is really interesting is the rhetoric in the media right now about moms and and my position on the glass of always Apple kind of person, and I feel like sometimes you need very oppositional opinions to get to somewhere. You know, it's not it's not bad. It may be messy, but there are a lot of voices right now saying businesses have to change, and society have to change, and and those are, I think that remains to be explored. I heard somebody recently say, like, we keep telling moms it's it's all their fault, and we have to stop that. And I don't necessarily see that. I think there, there's independent you know, all the work that I do with my clients is what's in your control. You sometimes you need to talk to your boss or leadership at your company about something that's a little bit but outside of your control. But what personally can you take control of while all these discussions about business or government funded child care, or, you know, all the bigger things, vital things, while those play out, but but remind my clients that every day your kids are getting older, and so don't squander that time waiting for what, what somebody else is going to do. Let's, let's really harness what you what you have control over right now.
Dina Simon 18:49
Yes, I love that. Yeah, control what you can control right now. But also, our kids do grow. They we can't stop them from growing. Unfortunately, they keep doing it.
Tricia Dege 18:59
There are days I wish I could stop mine, especially my oldest, who's just about to go. We in January of this year, we did registration for high school. And so the number when you start talking about high school, you may inherently start talking about college, because you're planning out a curriculum, if that's your path and and that is right now her chosen path. And so the number of times in the month of January that the word college was spoken was really terrifying to this mom. Yes, a lot to think about.
Dina Simon 19:30
It is and I feel like high school, like the four years of high school goes by fast. And then, you know, I think as we get older, they say that time goes just super fast. And I feel that way. But like, Mandy, my daughter, is finishing her junior year and have college, and it's like, how did that even happen? So it does go by fast. So So yes, my advice to you with a daughter going into high school is, you know, again, that slowdown. I love what you talked about, how you had taken them all, both the girls, out of at least one activity. So you had time and just be really focused on those four years go so fast.
Tricia Dege 20:04
I know. I mean, best friend has her youngest this year in college, and so she gives me a lot of that same guidance of, you know, once they start driving, they're they're not here with you all the time, and really kind of enjoy it like,
Dina Simon 20:20
yeah, so John ina was at the luncheon that we had with Mick. I don't know if you met her, Trisha, she's from my team, but she was at the luncheon, and she's got two twin boys that are graduating and going off to college. And I had a really, real conversation with her, and she was so appreciative a couple months ago, because I'm like, it is really hard, and here's what happens, and all the emotions that you're gonna go through, and you've got two of them. So she was very appreciative of the conversation. And
Tricia Dege 20:48
mine are not twins, but they're back to back. So one will go, so they're 19 months of hurt, but they're back to back in school. And so one will go, and we'll just adjust to that, and then the other, and then they'll be
Dina Simon 20:59
going, yes, yes, yes, yes. So talk about the girls and just what your again, your legacy, what you're kind of living out on a day to day basis. How much do they know and watch and see with what you're doing? Because I'm sure that's a pretty cool lens for them to be seeing what you're doing.
Tricia Dege 21:15
Yeah, that is thank you for asking that. It is really interesting. So when I was in my corporate role, they knew where the building was, you know, we passed that. Or they occasionally, you know, once a year they'd come to visit. Their favorite thing to do was write on the whiteboard or go down to the snack bar, you know, get something. So they, I think they understood that. And then when I started the company, now I worked out of home. We call the corporate office as the kitchen table, and so they have a lot more lens to what I'm doing on a daily basis, like they keep popping their faces and buy these print stores to see me on a podcast, since they are highly aware, I have more evening commitments, networking events or business commitment, and they notice every, every single one of those. But I think the coolest thing has been, as most small business owners will tell you, starting a business and you started to go there, John, too, it takes a lot of fortitude, and they're they're really exciting parts, and their bumpy parts, and I don't know that they had ever really seen Brian or I like, go through something bumpy, starting a business in a pandemic probably wouldn't recommend that, and maybe didn't think that through mine as much as I might insight. And so I think that that has been one of the most important things. And every time I sign a client or do a podcast or give a presentation, and every now and then I'll let them listen, they get super excited. So I feel like they're much more involved, just because they see more and because it's mine, as opposed to a corporation, it feels a little more personal. But there was a lot in the beginning of assuring them that we were still going to live in this house and we'd still have a car to get them where they go. You know, all these things that you don't, you don't that you've made all these plans with your for me, it was with my spouse. And yet you don't think about the questions that young people might have about, oh, whooping change like that.
John Simon Sr. 23:17
I often remarked that all through my career, I signed the back of a check. When you're the owner and the CEO, you're signing the front of the check, and it takes that entrepreneurial spirit I never had it, that everyone that we've talked to that has it. I'm just astounded by the ideas, the thought that they that they go through, and the commitment they make.
Tricia Dege 23:42
I think when you find that thing that really there is not even through the ups and downs, there's not been a day where I sat up in bed and thought, Nash, I don't feel like doing this today. It's always okay. What's next? What can we do? And, and, and I think letting, some of it just happen. I'm very much a planner, and so there have been pieces that I've had to let go of and say, maybe that piece doesn't come as fast as I wanted or but here's a whole different avenue. The speaker's Collective is not something I ever imagined would be part of this, and that's been a really fun piece to bring to life. So just letting the market dictate some and letting it go where it's going to
Dina Simon 24:23
go. Tell us about that, about the speaker's collective. So that started
Tricia Dege 24:27
in 2022 I was starting to build a brand and getting calls to speak. And at the end of several months of doing that, I really took stock of, you know, what do I love? Like, that's one of the great things about going to work for yourself, is you get to do the things you love and cast off some things you don't. And what I realized was, as a presenter and as an audience member, I really resonate more with panels. I like the diversity, and it's just a little less reversed and and I love that. At and so I was talking with a friend of mine who happened to have experience working for a speaker's bureau and and I was telling her about this idea that I had, and she said, Yeah, well, you know, it's, it's hard for when you're planning an event and you've got an hour slide if you put in a panel now, you gotta get all, you gotta find all the panelists and get them all coordinated. And I thought, well, I could just do that for them. And so that's how this started. Was saying I just reached out to my network and and created a cross section of nearly every major industry, every you know, operations people, finance people, sales people, marketing folks. How could we create the most cross dimensional group of people that we possibly could? And some of them are mothers. Some of them didn't want to be mothers. Some are empty nesters, taking care of aging parents, all the things, professors, volunteers, stay at home moms, you can every dimension we could think of. And so when we get a call to to speak, I just I it's one and done. So in one phone call, an organizer tells me, what do you want, who's your audience, what do you want the outcome to be? What's your theme? And then we take it from there. And I love that. Show up and and do that. Yeah, for
Dina Simon 26:17
fun. Brilliant, brilliant.
John Simon Sr. 26:19
What the one thing I always loved about the panels are, it's a never ending the ideas that come out of it, because, as people sit there, they all seem to, you know, work off of each other, and the ideas just keep flowing.
Tricia Dege 26:33
Yes, the super fun and candid. I like the candidness and and some of them are Yeah, benefits rehearsed, yeah, and some of them are friends, and just actually International Women's Day, we were, we were doing a panel, and one of my friends, who's we've done five of these in the last year, and she said something was completely different. Oh, I love that. Yeah, I knew about her, and I just it kind of butts for a second. I didn't know that about you after all this
Dina Simon 27:02
fact. Yeah, right, right. That's awesome. So knowing that you were to be on the podcast talking about life, leadership and building legacies, anything else that you wanted to share with our listeners, well, I
Tricia Dege 27:14
think for me, the most important legacy is really advancing women leaders. I think there's still work to do there. And one of the things that's really important to me, I mentioned all the rhetoric and media coverage and different voices in the marketplace, one of the things that's really important to me is that women stop telling other women that having it all isn't possible. I feel really strongly. It takes a lot of work. It's go, it's joyful, and it's hard, but to me doing more to raise one another up and and raise ambition, as opposed to solely focusing on equitable pay or or child care benefits or maternity leave, all those things, they're all important, but us doing better for and with one another to help all women advance, I think, is, is the piece that's going to move us for this, for this quickly? Yeah,
Dina Simon 28:17
I agree. I agree. One of the things that I love too, about your personal story, and I'm sure this helps anybody that you're coaching. Is why you did decide to leave and start your own thing, right? So it was like, hey, I really like some of the aspects of this career I created for myself, but I'm not finding joy in it on a moment to moment basis, with everything that I'm doing like it served me really well and and all of that in climbing that corporate ladder, but that you then had the fortitude to pivot, whether it be in a pandemic or not, but to pivot and do that, and just how extraordinary that is as a busy working mom yourself like that, just so much benefit that your own personal experience will benefit so many of the people that you're working with,
Tricia Dege 29:01
it's been, it's been really fun. Yeah,
John Simon Sr. 29:04
and a number of the people that we've had on the podcast did start their businesses during the pandemic. Yeah,
Tricia Dege 29:09
it's sort of like, once you have the idea, like, even a pandemic's not going to stop you, it's it. For me, I'd spend enough time thinking about it that it didn't matter anymore. And in fact, I do think that helped to fuel the conversation a little bit, because we had, you know, challenges forever, with the balancing motherhood and career, and then we sent all these children home from school, and I did, you know, created a lot more research to work off of a lot more of people sharing their stories. And then I think what lingered was people saying, I like, I don't want to go back to the way that was before, and that's what I think we're still working through right now. Is okay, how much, how much do we blend pandemic, post pandemic and pre pandemic, and what's this going to look like long term? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah,
Dina Simon 30:00
yeah, I agree. Well, Trisha, it's been awesome getting to know you better. I'm so excited, and I know John was excited to get to know you as well, and that you're in the community here. So John was up in January, and we brought anybody from Minnesota. We've had other people on the podcast that it's not just all about Minnesota, but we did a happy hour, and so we'll do another one at some point this year, so that we can invite you. But it just super fun all of the different people and the stories, and there's some similarities, but differences and just super fun to get to know you.
John Simon Sr. 30:31
And it was a great get together, too, because the ideas just kept flowing, much like when you talk about, you know, when you have a panel, and that's kind of what it was like and people would get together in little groups and start talking, and a lot of people walked away with new friendships. Also, yeah,
Tricia Dege 30:48
yeah. The power of bringing good people together, right?
Dina Simon 30:51
Yes, exactly, exactly, sort
Tricia Dege 30:54
of like when Jen created that room full of women where I met you, Tina, just the power in that little, tiny conference rail was fantastic, yeah,
Dina Simon 31:03
and it's so interesting, because in any community, so even where John is in the Dallas Fort Worth area, similar to Minneapolis St Paul, like it's a, it's, it's a big city, but it's also a small, right, that we call, especially a st small. We call it because everybody knows each other. So you feel like, you know, Hammond walk into this room and I'm probably, I may not meet anybody that I don't know, but also what I love, too, from a generational perspective. So like Jen Lindahl, who's been on the podcast like she's a little bit younger than I am, so she also has a younger cast of crew that, you know, she's bringing to these things. So it's just been a really fun opportunity to meet new people like yourself, because we all can lean in together. It does take that village, and so how do we all lean in and make a positive impact? Yeah,
Tricia Dege 31:50
I think that's been one of the Silver Linings for me healthcare. You know, I worked in a big company, so just getting to know the people, there was one thing, and I didn't have a lot of time for networking outside. And I never anticipated all the people, men, women, everywhere I go, there's a whole new cast of characters to meet. And I loved that, and never anticipated that when I wanted to say it was not part of the part of the plan, and it's a really nice gift, yeah, nice.
John Simon Sr. 32:20
Never quit learning that's for sure.
Tricia Dege 32:22
Well, awesome. Well, thank
Dina Simon 32:24
you so much for joining us. We really appreciate. It was awesome to have you on the podcast.
Tricia Dege 32:28
Thanks for having me.
Dina Simon 32:30
Nice to meet you, too,
Unknown Speaker 32:30
John,
John Simon Sr. 32:31
Okay, nice to talk with you, Trisha.
Dina Simon 32:35
I'd like to thank Trisha Dee for joining us on the podcast. She is the founder of mom mastermind, which is helping businesses understand how to develop and retain their talented working moms so businesses thrive. And just so excited to get to know her and this movement that she's got going on to continue to grow executive women leaders. Thank you, Tricia. And as always, I'd like to thank my father in law, John Simon and until we talk again. You.
Music.
John Simon Sr. 0:08
Welcome to Simon Says, inspire a podcast about life, leadership and building legacies. I'm John Simon, SR
Dina Simon 0:16
and I'm Dina Simon.
John Simon Sr. 0:18
Our guest today is Trisha Dege. Trisha is founder and CEO of mom mastermind. Trish. Welcome to the podcast.
Tricia Dege 0:27
Thank you. Well, thank you for having me, both of you.
John Simon Sr. 0:30
Well, Greg, why don't you take a minute or two, Trisha and just tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live, and little bit about your family and what you like to do in your spare time? Well,
Tricia Dege 0:41
I live on the east side of the Twin Cities, a little bit outside of the city. I'm a city dweller, but my husband is not. So here we are raising our two daughters. My my girls are 12, and our girls are 12 and 14. So I have two middle schoolers right now, which most people groan and say, oh my gosh, but it actually has been smoother than I anticipated. They're they're good kids, and we keep them kind of busy, so no room for trouble. And then my husband, Brian, we've been married 16 years earlier this month, and Ryan's a commercial pilot. He works for Southwest Airlines, so we have that kind of the juggling act going on here. Half the week he's home and super involved, and half the week he's gone and not particularly reachable. And so that's an interesting juggling act here. And usually we have a golden retriever. We don't have one right now, but we do a lot of babysitting on the weekends. We love golden and I would say we were in that stage of life where we're either driving to the kids to something, cheering them on for something, or on vacation. So given Brian's career, we really like to travel and get the girls out. We haven't done a lot of international travel yet, but we like to get them out to see lots of places and experience different things.
Dina Simon 1:59
Yeah, what a great benefit when you have somebody who works for the airlines, and if you can take advantage of it, how nice is that
Tricia Dege 2:06
it is? Yes, yep. Flying standby was a little much when they were little, so we didn't do as much. But now that they're older, they're really good travelers, and they love airports, and they like to people watch. So it's really fun. Well,
John Simon Sr. 2:18
I loved reading in your bio a little bit about how Brian, during covid, took a voluntary leave of absence so that he could spend time with the girls.
Tricia Dege 2:27
Yes, I don't know if the three of them would say the same. You know, I think he never really intended to sign on as teacher, but I was working full time and in healthcare at that time, so I really was working seven to seven, and sometimes more than that, just to try to, you know, help things keep moving in the healthcare system. And so I have print stores on my office. And so the dining room across the hallway became the school room. I felt like we lived in a one, one room schoolhouse, and we we got through it. It it was, and I think there were some silver linings of getting to spend a lot of time, more time together. And afterwards, we decided each kid was going to drop one activity, because we just we needed to slow down a little bit, and that we have kept that.
Dina Simon 3:13
I love that. Yeah. And how old were the girls? So if they're 12 and 14 now, so they were, they were
Tricia Dege 3:21
in third and fourth grade, in 2020, yeah. So it was, it was a lot, you know, all the really, a lot of educating going on at that at that stage, not a lot of self study going on when you're in third and fourth grade.
Dina Simon 3:35
There's so much, yeah, so hands on. Mine, my girl was a junior in high school, so I think I had a little bit easier,
Tricia Dege 3:41
yeah, right. But then I'm sure it got into Dina all, like, all the celebrations and what they could and couldn't do. And, yeah, I think everybody was a very unique experience with
Dina Simon 3:51
that. They do, yeah? She never, she never had a problem, junior or senior. So, yeah, yeah. So it is really unique, right?
John Simon Sr. 4:00
And, you know, right now, four years, you know, later, you almost don't even think about it anymore, you know, you kind of put it out of your mind. And every once a while you'll say, oh, yeah, that was back in covid, back in 2020, or 2021, and, and now, you know, four years later, you know, we survived, and now we're going to continue to move on.
Tricia Dege 4:20
Yep, yeah. I saw somebody with a mask at the grocery store the other day, and it was the first time that it struck me like, oh, right, oh yeah. Well, they're with that, right? Yeah, yeah.
John Simon Sr. 4:31
I was back in Pittsburgh this past weekend visiting my family, and my brother walks out of the house with a mask on and said, Bill, why? Well, I'm just trying to protect myself. Okay, if you feel better, doing that good for you.
Dina Simon 4:46
Yeah, exactly, yep. So, Trisha, when we were chatting before, you've lived in a lot of places, so I'm super excited just to get to know you better, but share with us a little bit about your about your journey. Oh,
Tricia Dege 4:58
sure. So. Oh, well, I was actually born in California, with which people find interesting, because I would say, kind of a Midwesterner at heart, but my parents were both. One was from Illinois and one from Iowa, and they met in California, and then when I was a baby, like before I was one, they moved back to the Midwest, kind of wanting to get back most of family and Midwestern values, and that was important to them, and I went to University of Illinois undergrad, and then I had a job as a leadership consultant, traveling all over the country. And while I was out and about, I was looking for a graduate school because I knew I wanted to get my Master's in healthcare administration. So as I was visiting all of these colleges, I was on the lookout, and I ended up, funny enough, with the University of Minnesota with high on the list for MHA programs, but I drew this line across the country, and I said, I won't go anyplace colder than this. So I ended up in Columbus, and then from there, coma Ohio, and then in the middle of graduate school, I did an internship in Manhattan, and really fell in love with New York City, and got my first job. An alum, you know, really just gave me a job after graduate school, and he was in Atlanta, so I went to work for Ernst and Young in Atlanta. Really enjoyed consulting, spent a lot of time traveling, a lot more time in New York City. And then at some point, I think my grandmother was sick, and so I moved from Atlanta to Chicago so I could be closer to my family. And then the group that I was with at Ernst and Young we got a project at Health Partners. And I remember heard of Health Partners. It was just funny, because up here, it's such a big common name, but ended up being here for three years as a consultant in the Twin Cities, and then I was gone for three and I was sitting at my desk and in Chicago, which is pretty uncommon as a consultant, we were usually out at a client site or, you know, at home, trying to kind of recover from being gone all the time. And I got this call saying, Oh, we have somebody who's leaving unexpectedly. Can you just come fill in for a little bit? I'm sure that'd be fun. And lo and behold, that led eventually to a job and moving here. I liked it here a lot, and I intended, really just to come for a bit, and I thought I'd go back to Chicago, but I moved here early 2000s I bought a house in April, and I got a puppy for the Fourth of July, and I met my husband two weeks later. And so then it was like, it just sort of all took off, and we got married and had the two girls, and so
John Simon Sr. 7:26
here we still are. And is Brian from the Twin Cities. He's from southern
Tricia Dege 7:31
Minnesota. Wow, okay, okay, yeah, and he has lived a few places. He lived in Detroit for a little bit, but he funny enough, I feel like I might have traveled more, just experienced more. You know, when we started dating, I thought, you know, being a pilot was so glamorous. And one time he was going to someplace in New York State, and I said, Well, when you get there, what will you do? And he said, Yeah, I'll take a hotel van from the airport to the hotel, watch the TV, go to bed and come back to the airport. And I was really disappointed by that answer. So when we travel together, I we can do all the things that we can get out and explore, yeah, because
Dina Simon 8:09
it's his job, so he has to rest. And you know all of that exactly. Where in California were you born? La Mirana, so Orange County? Oh, sure, yeah, yeah. Yeah. My
Tricia Dege 8:20
grandparents lived there. My dad's parents lives there. So we lived there quite a bit. Yeah, so
Dina Simon 8:25
similar story. So my daughter, Mandy, was born out in California. We were living out in the San Francisco area, and when she was two, we moved back here because we wanted to raise her back in the Midwest.
Tricia Dege 8:38
Yeah. My parents, I don't think, have ever questioned that decision and and it was nice to be close to family.
Dina Simon 8:43
Yeah, exactly. And that same, same. So I was traveling a lot, so we wanted her to be close to my sisters, so to support rich if something happened to her while, you know, they're sick and couldn't go to daycare or school. And there's nothing wrong with being raised out in California. It's just an hour drive for getting 10 miles. And so there's some trade offs with with what we have up here. So I think very true. Yeah, true, yeah. Well, I love it that you've experienced so many fun places though, too, right?
Tricia Dege 9:13
Yeah, yeah. Well, that makes a lot of places feel, in some ways, like home. So yeah, and I think not resistant to change at all. Like, I had moved around. I've had many different jobs, and so, like, everything's like, my mom says, everything's an adventure. Yes,
John Simon Sr. 9:29
so going from being the Chief Financial Officer of the healthcare organization to an entrepreneur and business owner that had the really exciting time for you, and maybe a little scary,
Tricia Dege 9:42
both very, they would say, and still both, yeah, still very exciting, still sometimes scary. And I think what's interesting is I never fancied myself an entrepreneur, a small business owner, or even a CEO. I really love operations, how things were. Making things really efficient, getting all everybody involved, moving in the same direction. But there just came a time, and it was during covid. But I think the sort of mental processing of it was before covid, that after a long career in healthcare, it just wasn't what I wanted to do anymore. And so just that, I spent about a year discerning, okay, if not, if not, when you you know when you find yourself in that spot of what you expected to always do isn't what you love anymore. And I just really peeled back the onion on Okay, well, what? What parts of this job do I really love? And it was might a decent sized team. And so it was always about working with them, helping them develop. And was lucky that when I said, you know, I think I want to leave my job, my husband was really supportive, and that was a big part of it, not being scary. Was working on that, you know, that that those pieces together and then up to, you know, including, you know, now, really having his support to make that being pivot.
John Simon Sr. 11:04
And when you take a look at balancing between your career and motherhood and a lot of people, I don't think we appreciate the challenges that go along with that, and there's a good reason to have somebody like you coaching, yeah,
Tricia Dege 11:19
it's, I think it's a really interesting, whatever you want to call it, juggling act, balancing act, harmonizing, blending, all the words, and I'll just use work life balance, because that's the most common vernacular. It really takes a lot of effort to figure out what matters most to you, and that's the unique part is, I don't think it lends itself particularly well to a book necessarily, or a training. You know, everybody's interests are different. I have clients that really work because they have to, and they would really prefer to be staying home. Most of them really love their jobs, but they also love being a mom. And so it's really trying to figure out how to do both of those things. Yeah,
Dina Simon 12:03
well, exactly. So will you give us a little bit more information about the mom mastermind? So tell us a little bit more about that. So at
Tricia Dege 12:11
its core, it's a Women's Leadership Development Company, and so I'm really passionate about seeing all women rise. And so a piece of the business is speaking. I run a speaker's collective, and so we speak on women's empowerment, most often in panels, and then I do workshops for companies on helping women leaders advance. And then the third and biggest piece of the business really is development cohorts, and that's where I focus my time on helping business leaders who are mothers, with the intent of helping companies to grow their leadership pipeline so they can get more women into the C suite and really developing their skills and their loyalty so that over time, we have more women in the C suite. And so people often ask me, Well, you know, why? Why do you work just with moms? And, you know, frankly, there are plenty of coaches and really good one to work with everybody. I don't think there are necessarily enough resources to help all the women who want to stay and do both. Well, do that. So just given my experience, it was like, Where, what can I offer that, you know, a legacy that's really not offered or not not enough of those resources. Yeah,
Dina Simon 13:30
yeah, and Trisha and and John, I would say the resources today and the focus also today, on moms and the balancing, again, whatever words we want to use, there seems to be some new resources and new focus on that. So I love that you have picked that lane and that's where you want to focus in, because it is so needed. So I wish that those were resources that I had found right when I was a young working mom. But John one of the things too. And Trisha, you can tell me if this is still a thing. I know me growing up being a working professional. You know, sometimes the hardest people to work with were other moms that I was working with, because sometimes they're not always supportive, right? It's like, hey, if I have to hustle and make all this work can happen. You know, you need to buck up and do it too. And so just having those corporate resources, as far as you going in and really working with corporations, and having that conversation on how women can really support each other, it does take a village to, you know, to get through those decades of life as we're raising our children and trying to have jobs so super interested in, you know, kind of what you're seeing out there these days, you know, I
Tricia Dege 14:45
will say my experience was different than that. I got really lucky in the female boss department and and peer group, although most of the time I was on the younger, younger end. So sometimes it felt. Uh, lonely isn't really the right word. I'm not somebody who I don't know that lonely is an emotion that I really feel, but, but a little maybe isolated or different, but, but I would say my experience was solid. I hear that from my clients, that that they sometimes feel more more judged or held to a higher standard by other women. Most often when I talk to potential businesses, I hear what you just said, Dina, is I wish I had had that. And for a while I would just say, Oh, well, yeah, you know. And just kind of, I didn't know the answer to that. And now my answer is yes, and now you have the opportunity to offer that to the women on your team, yay.
John Simon Sr. 15:41
And being a former Chief Financial Officer, you're a very detailed person, I would because that generally is required in that in that field. But I I'm going to read you one of your quotes because I thought it was so great. Excellence is never an accident. It requires intentional effort. And I thought that was a great quote.
Tricia Dege 16:01
Thank you.
Dina Simon 16:03
You're you're like, he's pulled a quote out of something. I said, it better be good.
Tricia Dege 16:07
I know. I'm like, oh, where will this come from? Yeah, I think that's true. And I think one of the things that's interesting because people do ask that. I mean, how do you go from being a CFO and, you know, responsible for a lot of money related transactions in a big company, to your own thing, and something that seems, you know, a lot of times. I think one of the challenges it seems fluffy, like the minute you say, Mom, it's like, soft or squishy, and it isn't that. And that's one of the lenses, I think, that I bring to this is it's got to be solid. It's got to be a really strong program, and it's got to have a return on investment. If companies are going to pay for this, I spend a lot of time making sure they're getting, individuals are getting and companies are getting their money's worth. And your coaching is, it's unregulated, it's under an unregulated industry. And so that's one of the things I spend a lot of time on, is making sure that what we're offering is is super strong and solid Absolutely.
Dina Simon 17:09
So then, yeah, that's where, again, your background will speak to the C suite that you are bringing your programs into, because you will be very focused on the ROI. So we talked a little bit about your life, and then obviously leadership. So anything else on just kind of leadership, or things that you're focusing in on right now in your business,
Tricia Dege 17:28
one of the things that that I think is really interesting is the rhetoric in the media right now about moms and and my position on the glass of always Apple kind of person, and I feel like sometimes you need very oppositional opinions to get to somewhere. You know, it's not it's not bad. It may be messy, but there are a lot of voices right now saying businesses have to change, and society have to change, and and those are, I think that remains to be explored. I heard somebody recently say, like, we keep telling moms it's it's all their fault, and we have to stop that. And I don't necessarily see that. I think there, there's independent you know, all the work that I do with my clients is what's in your control. You sometimes you need to talk to your boss or leadership at your company about something that's a little bit but outside of your control. But what personally can you take control of while all these discussions about business or government funded child care, or, you know, all the bigger things, vital things, while those play out, but but remind my clients that every day your kids are getting older, and so don't squander that time waiting for what, what somebody else is going to do. Let's, let's really harness what you what you have control over right now.
Dina Simon 18:49
Yes, I love that. Yeah, control what you can control right now. But also, our kids do grow. They we can't stop them from growing. Unfortunately, they keep doing it.
Tricia Dege 18:59
There are days I wish I could stop mine, especially my oldest, who's just about to go. We in January of this year, we did registration for high school. And so the number when you start talking about high school, you may inherently start talking about college, because you're planning out a curriculum, if that's your path and and that is right now her chosen path. And so the number of times in the month of January that the word college was spoken was really terrifying to this mom. Yes, a lot to think about.
Dina Simon 19:30
It is and I feel like high school, like the four years of high school goes by fast. And then, you know, I think as we get older, they say that time goes just super fast. And I feel that way. But like, Mandy, my daughter, is finishing her junior year and have college, and it's like, how did that even happen? So it does go by fast. So So yes, my advice to you with a daughter going into high school is, you know, again, that slowdown. I love what you talked about, how you had taken them all, both the girls, out of at least one activity. So you had time and just be really focused on those four years go so fast.
Tricia Dege 20:04
I know. I mean, best friend has her youngest this year in college, and so she gives me a lot of that same guidance of, you know, once they start driving, they're they're not here with you all the time, and really kind of enjoy it like,
Dina Simon 20:20
yeah, so John ina was at the luncheon that we had with Mick. I don't know if you met her, Trisha, she's from my team, but she was at the luncheon, and she's got two twin boys that are graduating and going off to college. And I had a really, real conversation with her, and she was so appreciative a couple months ago, because I'm like, it is really hard, and here's what happens, and all the emotions that you're gonna go through, and you've got two of them. So she was very appreciative of the conversation. And
Tricia Dege 20:48
mine are not twins, but they're back to back. So one will go, so they're 19 months of hurt, but they're back to back in school. And so one will go, and we'll just adjust to that, and then the other, and then they'll be
Dina Simon 20:59
going, yes, yes, yes, yes. So talk about the girls and just what your again, your legacy, what you're kind of living out on a day to day basis. How much do they know and watch and see with what you're doing? Because I'm sure that's a pretty cool lens for them to be seeing what you're doing.
Tricia Dege 21:15
Yeah, that is thank you for asking that. It is really interesting. So when I was in my corporate role, they knew where the building was, you know, we passed that. Or they occasionally, you know, once a year they'd come to visit. Their favorite thing to do was write on the whiteboard or go down to the snack bar, you know, get something. So they, I think they understood that. And then when I started the company, now I worked out of home. We call the corporate office as the kitchen table, and so they have a lot more lens to what I'm doing on a daily basis, like they keep popping their faces and buy these print stores to see me on a podcast, since they are highly aware, I have more evening commitments, networking events or business commitment, and they notice every, every single one of those. But I think the coolest thing has been, as most small business owners will tell you, starting a business and you started to go there, John, too, it takes a lot of fortitude, and they're they're really exciting parts, and their bumpy parts, and I don't know that they had ever really seen Brian or I like, go through something bumpy, starting a business in a pandemic probably wouldn't recommend that, and maybe didn't think that through mine as much as I might insight. And so I think that that has been one of the most important things. And every time I sign a client or do a podcast or give a presentation, and every now and then I'll let them listen, they get super excited. So I feel like they're much more involved, just because they see more and because it's mine, as opposed to a corporation, it feels a little more personal. But there was a lot in the beginning of assuring them that we were still going to live in this house and we'd still have a car to get them where they go. You know, all these things that you don't, you don't that you've made all these plans with your for me, it was with my spouse. And yet you don't think about the questions that young people might have about, oh, whooping change like that.
John Simon Sr. 23:17
I often remarked that all through my career, I signed the back of a check. When you're the owner and the CEO, you're signing the front of the check, and it takes that entrepreneurial spirit I never had it, that everyone that we've talked to that has it. I'm just astounded by the ideas, the thought that they that they go through, and the commitment they make.
Tricia Dege 23:42
I think when you find that thing that really there is not even through the ups and downs, there's not been a day where I sat up in bed and thought, Nash, I don't feel like doing this today. It's always okay. What's next? What can we do? And, and, and I think letting, some of it just happen. I'm very much a planner, and so there have been pieces that I've had to let go of and say, maybe that piece doesn't come as fast as I wanted or but here's a whole different avenue. The speaker's Collective is not something I ever imagined would be part of this, and that's been a really fun piece to bring to life. So just letting the market dictate some and letting it go where it's going to
Dina Simon 24:23
go. Tell us about that, about the speaker's collective. So that started
Tricia Dege 24:27
in 2022 I was starting to build a brand and getting calls to speak. And at the end of several months of doing that, I really took stock of, you know, what do I love? Like, that's one of the great things about going to work for yourself, is you get to do the things you love and cast off some things you don't. And what I realized was, as a presenter and as an audience member, I really resonate more with panels. I like the diversity, and it's just a little less reversed and and I love that. At and so I was talking with a friend of mine who happened to have experience working for a speaker's bureau and and I was telling her about this idea that I had, and she said, Yeah, well, you know, it's, it's hard for when you're planning an event and you've got an hour slide if you put in a panel now, you gotta get all, you gotta find all the panelists and get them all coordinated. And I thought, well, I could just do that for them. And so that's how this started. Was saying I just reached out to my network and and created a cross section of nearly every major industry, every you know, operations people, finance people, sales people, marketing folks. How could we create the most cross dimensional group of people that we possibly could? And some of them are mothers. Some of them didn't want to be mothers. Some are empty nesters, taking care of aging parents, all the things, professors, volunteers, stay at home moms, you can every dimension we could think of. And so when we get a call to to speak, I just I it's one and done. So in one phone call, an organizer tells me, what do you want, who's your audience, what do you want the outcome to be? What's your theme? And then we take it from there. And I love that. Show up and and do that. Yeah, for
Dina Simon 26:17
fun. Brilliant, brilliant.
John Simon Sr. 26:19
What the one thing I always loved about the panels are, it's a never ending the ideas that come out of it, because, as people sit there, they all seem to, you know, work off of each other, and the ideas just keep flowing.
Tricia Dege 26:33
Yes, the super fun and candid. I like the candidness and and some of them are Yeah, benefits rehearsed, yeah, and some of them are friends, and just actually International Women's Day, we were, we were doing a panel, and one of my friends, who's we've done five of these in the last year, and she said something was completely different. Oh, I love that. Yeah, I knew about her, and I just it kind of butts for a second. I didn't know that about you after all this
Dina Simon 27:02
fact. Yeah, right, right. That's awesome. So knowing that you were to be on the podcast talking about life, leadership and building legacies, anything else that you wanted to share with our listeners, well, I
Tricia Dege 27:14
think for me, the most important legacy is really advancing women leaders. I think there's still work to do there. And one of the things that's really important to me, I mentioned all the rhetoric and media coverage and different voices in the marketplace, one of the things that's really important to me is that women stop telling other women that having it all isn't possible. I feel really strongly. It takes a lot of work. It's go, it's joyful, and it's hard, but to me doing more to raise one another up and and raise ambition, as opposed to solely focusing on equitable pay or or child care benefits or maternity leave, all those things, they're all important, but us doing better for and with one another to help all women advance, I think, is, is the piece that's going to move us for this, for this quickly? Yeah,
Dina Simon 28:17
I agree. I agree. One of the things that I love too, about your personal story, and I'm sure this helps anybody that you're coaching. Is why you did decide to leave and start your own thing, right? So it was like, hey, I really like some of the aspects of this career I created for myself, but I'm not finding joy in it on a moment to moment basis, with everything that I'm doing like it served me really well and and all of that in climbing that corporate ladder, but that you then had the fortitude to pivot, whether it be in a pandemic or not, but to pivot and do that, and just how extraordinary that is as a busy working mom yourself like that, just so much benefit that your own personal experience will benefit so many of the people that you're working with,
Tricia Dege 29:01
it's been, it's been really fun. Yeah,
John Simon Sr. 29:04
and a number of the people that we've had on the podcast did start their businesses during the pandemic. Yeah,
Tricia Dege 29:09
it's sort of like, once you have the idea, like, even a pandemic's not going to stop you, it's it. For me, I'd spend enough time thinking about it that it didn't matter anymore. And in fact, I do think that helped to fuel the conversation a little bit, because we had, you know, challenges forever, with the balancing motherhood and career, and then we sent all these children home from school, and I did, you know, created a lot more research to work off of a lot more of people sharing their stories. And then I think what lingered was people saying, I like, I don't want to go back to the way that was before, and that's what I think we're still working through right now. Is okay, how much, how much do we blend pandemic, post pandemic and pre pandemic, and what's this going to look like long term? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah,
Dina Simon 30:00
yeah, I agree. Well, Trisha, it's been awesome getting to know you better. I'm so excited, and I know John was excited to get to know you as well, and that you're in the community here. So John was up in January, and we brought anybody from Minnesota. We've had other people on the podcast that it's not just all about Minnesota, but we did a happy hour, and so we'll do another one at some point this year, so that we can invite you. But it just super fun all of the different people and the stories, and there's some similarities, but differences and just super fun to get to know you.
John Simon Sr. 30:31
And it was a great get together, too, because the ideas just kept flowing, much like when you talk about, you know, when you have a panel, and that's kind of what it was like and people would get together in little groups and start talking, and a lot of people walked away with new friendships. Also, yeah,
Tricia Dege 30:48
yeah. The power of bringing good people together, right?
Dina Simon 30:51
Yes, exactly, exactly, sort
Tricia Dege 30:54
of like when Jen created that room full of women where I met you, Tina, just the power in that little, tiny conference rail was fantastic, yeah,
Dina Simon 31:03
and it's so interesting, because in any community, so even where John is in the Dallas Fort Worth area, similar to Minneapolis St Paul, like it's a, it's, it's a big city, but it's also a small, right, that we call, especially a st small. We call it because everybody knows each other. So you feel like, you know, Hammond walk into this room and I'm probably, I may not meet anybody that I don't know, but also what I love, too, from a generational perspective. So like Jen Lindahl, who's been on the podcast like she's a little bit younger than I am, so she also has a younger cast of crew that, you know, she's bringing to these things. So it's just been a really fun opportunity to meet new people like yourself, because we all can lean in together. It does take that village, and so how do we all lean in and make a positive impact? Yeah,
Tricia Dege 31:50
I think that's been one of the Silver Linings for me healthcare. You know, I worked in a big company, so just getting to know the people, there was one thing, and I didn't have a lot of time for networking outside. And I never anticipated all the people, men, women, everywhere I go, there's a whole new cast of characters to meet. And I loved that, and never anticipated that when I wanted to say it was not part of the part of the plan, and it's a really nice gift, yeah, nice.
John Simon Sr. 32:20
Never quit learning that's for sure.
Tricia Dege 32:22
Well, awesome. Well, thank
Dina Simon 32:24
you so much for joining us. We really appreciate. It was awesome to have you on the podcast.
Tricia Dege 32:28
Thanks for having me.
Dina Simon 32:30
Nice to meet you, too,
Unknown Speaker 32:30
John,
John Simon Sr. 32:31
Okay, nice to talk with you, Trisha.
Dina Simon 32:35
I'd like to thank Trisha Dee for joining us on the podcast. She is the founder of mom mastermind, which is helping businesses understand how to develop and retain their talented working moms so businesses thrive. And just so excited to get to know her and this movement that she's got going on to continue to grow executive women leaders. Thank you, Tricia. And as always, I'd like to thank my father in law, John Simon and until we talk again. You.