Today we’d like to introduce you to Patty Williams-Downs.
Hi Patty, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I am still that big-hearted little girl from New Jersey. My mom used to call me “The Spider Web Catcher.” She said I was fearless and would go first to ‘catch the spider webs for others to journey their path.” That’s who I am today, except I wouldn’t call myself fearless. I am not without fear. I experience fear all the time, especially as an early-stage entrepreneur. And when I experience fear, I’ve learned to process it and show up for my purpose anyway. That isn’t fearlessness; it is bravery.
I learned this from an early age. I had so many great role models! The women in my family were giants to me, proximate warriors.
I come from a long line of powerful women. Women who defied the odds. Women who said, “At the end of the day, ‘I am’ the end of the day.” Women who kicked socialized norms and fought to create their own. My mom, my sisters, my grandmothers, and my aunts are boundary breakers. They taught me that nothing I wanted was off-limits. They taught me that betting on myself wasn’t selfish but an act of love, a beautiful gift to give myself and the world. Their bravery unlocked something in me early in my life: a strength and zeal to go forth no matter what.
Today, I use that strength to unlock my dreams and to support others in theirs. The resilience those women taught me is the fuel I used to launch my first entrepreneurial endeavor: BreakingBounds, an executive coaching and consulting firm that supports purpose-driven leaders and entrepreneurs to break boundaries in their respective sectors.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Smooth? No, not at all! There are lots of ups, downs, curves, turns, peaks and valleys. But as Viola Davis said in her memoir ‘Finding Me,’ “My dreams were bigger than my fears.”
I’ve learned to prioritize these three things on my journey:
1. Know yourself
2. Know your people (customers and your internal team)
3. Know your money
Know Yourself. The race in leadership isn’t only about building wealth and accumulating assets. Those things are important for sure! And the most important race is to learn oneself. None of it will matter unless you’ve found internal peace and calm that comes from self and social awareness and self-management. I once read a quote that perfectly embodies this sentiment.
“There is no self-development without self-awareness. You can read as many books as you like, but if you’re unable to read yourself, you’ll never learn a thing” ~Unknown
Knowing your people is imperative to build a great customer experience and a staff experience. Your mission will hopefully outlive you through others. Those ‘others’ need to be engaged through your efforts.
Know your money! Without it, you won’t have a viable mission. An incredible leader once told me, “Patty, know your P&L like a poem. It’s the difference between being a Creative Director and an Executive.” Their advice was so powerful. They wanted me to develop my financial acumen. I turn-keyed that advice into leveraging members of my board and my peer group as financial advisors. Their job was to accelerate my business acumen. My work in this arena paid off! My team and I effectively positioned the business to recover from being in the red 2 years running to 5 consecutive years of being in the black and accumulating a reserve.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Leadership is lonely. I experienced this loneliness acutely during my first year as an Executive Director of a large education non-profit. Financially, culturally, and programmatically, we were in a fragile place. I hired an executive coach, my team and I, and all of our supporters, swung for the fences, and we won! Five years later, we’d established ourselves in the market.
Five years later, we’d established
My executive coach was the game changer for me. She coached me through that dark time. She was ‘my person.’ To me, she felt like the only person I could confide in, find solace with, confront my greatest fears with, and turn that fear into fuel. And I did! We did! She helped me use my strength and intellect to improve my financial understanding as a profit and loss owner. Her coaching helped me access the courage and genius in me which led me to support my team to redesign our revenue strategy and our culture practices.
Executive coaching helped me lead the chapter to celebrate its 10th birthday, a feat only 3% of all social sector organizations have the privilege of celebrating. With over $2T (yes, 2 trillion dollars), only 38% of social impact organizations make it to see their 2nd birthday. While I’m proud of my team and I hurdled that feat, I knew I wanted to provide the essential service of executive coaching and consulting to other leaders across the globe to sing happy birthday and watch their impact have the good they intended.
BreakingBounds was registered in 2020 but not given full life until June of 2023.
We provide 3 services anchored in teaching and learning: coaching, facilitation/workshops, and public speaking.
In just 6 short months, we’ve accomplished quite a bit:
– We’ve provided executive coaching and consulting to leaders and entrepreneurs in several industries across the United States. 100% of our clients would recommend our services and are ready to take their learnings to the next level.
– We’ve been invited to keynote with at least 8 companies
– We’ve facilitated several leadership convenings for Boards of Directors, leadership teams, and groups of leaders.
– Including this publication, we’ve been featured in at least 4
And this month, we’ll be launching a podcast titled ‘Boundary Breakers’! The “Boundary Breakers Podcast” exists to support leaders across various industries to break the sound barrier and amplify their voices across the globe. The Boundary Breakers podcast will serve as a platform for leaders to experience community and connectedness while building global awareness of their story, mission and impact. Stay tuned!
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I’d love to connect with you!
If you’re an entrepreneur or leader ready to accelerate your game, we’re your coaching firm!
If you’re an investor that supports leaders and entrepreneurs, we’re your capacity-building firm.
Website: https://www.
Email: Patty.Williams-Downs@
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.
Instagram- @pattydowns_breakingbounds
Facebook- @pattydowns
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.
breakingbounds.com/ - Instagram: @pattydowns_
breakingbounds - Facebook: @pattydowns
- Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.
com/in/pwdowns
