Bad & Boujee & Brilliant: The Status Quo has a new Foe...Put Her In Coach

Allow me to “trash can” all semantics from the jump, April Little is a full-force-no apology needed-got time today-powerhouse! Her essence embodies your girlfriend telling you to leave him, your best mate giving you game, your mom kicking you out for the third time—pure unadulterated transparency. Here is the long kicker, your best interest and earning potential are bedrock and woven through the designer fabric of all her efforts!?Now that it’s understood, we have room for proper context.

Stardate: 6:36 p.m. on 7 April 2024, my memory is razor-blade sharp, traveling through a galaxy of wantrepreneurs, McKinsey-ites, 1.5 million soon-to-be-CEOs, and the corporate dress rehearsal, pardon me…LinkedIn, I was T-boned. The normal scenic route is limited to around 2700 seconds a day of this mind-altering scroll, which I have mastered. The hunt is on and for real insight this time to warm the soul, while also charging the battery. There is an apparent depletion from the redundancy of "How to Build Your Brand" monologues and carousels. Then BOOM...HOLD UP, WAIT...SAY WHAT? On my sacred feed marches in Mrs. April Little, the talent acquisitions manager deliberately turned Executive Career Coach.

A close friend recently left her job of 15+ years without another lined up. The reason was simple: The pursuit of happiness

April's World

Five years ago, coaching as an industry, practice, or primary income stream was “the” Jerry Maguire cute feel-good story. By the end of 2023, the industry, globally, was valued at nearly 5 billion dollars and escalating at warp speed. Whatever your little procrastinating or blueprint-wanting heart desires: life coach, business coach, career coach, relationship, mindset, health, they got something for you. During my initial LinkedIn visits, I regularly noticed the messaging and salesmanship, but just never acknowledged the value of the movers and shakers. Unawareness tilted with a 4-day rabbit hole—expresso-induced—tour of April’s World. All stereotypes were dismantled. This is a woman of color instructing me to box up my 22 “employee of the month” certificates, Scentsy candle warmer, and office swag, while I simultaneously, “Fire My Employer”.

Taking back the establishment, all the rights promised, advocating for autonomy, negotiating salaries, and chunking a deuce at the exit door is a Molotov cocktail using a 2009 Chateau Lafite Rothschild bottle as the throwing mechanism—disastrous—somehow elegant. How can this woman be this bold and brash, but emphatic? Beat down my current job status, but show me my worth? Who is this lady and what or who gives her permission?

Transforming the world during the late 1800s on the back of George Eastman and the Kodak empire, Rochester NY is the marked territory Mrs. Little occupies. Skinning her teeth over a decade ago through the Human Resources executive side, April has catapulted more than 100 female executives to prominent roles through her client engagement with Fortune 500 organizations such as Pfizer, PepsiCo, Johnson & Johnson, and Disney, humble brag. She is a wife, and mother, who is methodical and militant in her business practices, content, and services offered. You will not find the cliche “For this One Time Offer”, “7 Steps To”, or “Black Friday Sales”. The Standard is the Standard.

Remember, donations are for real charities in need, your financial potential with your employer is NOT one of them.

Where All My Real Ladies At?

Ursula Burns and Indra Nooyi’s names do not have familiar sticking power as say, Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, unfortunately, they should. Both women were the first. Mrs. Burns was the first African American female CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Mrs. Nooyi was the first woman of color and immigrant to lead a Fortune 50 company. Remove the CEO title, in executive roles period, women are underrepresented when comparing their stake in the workplace. In the good ole United States, women hold only 25% of the C-suite market share and less than 40% in management roles. In simple terms, a disparity. The past issues, childcare, emotions, qualifications, confidence, and work-life balance have now been replaced with a more direct or social barrier term, the Glass Ceiling. The invisible constraint prevents women (and minorities) from obtaining senior-level positions.?

Gender bias, discrimination, workplace culture, lack of diversity, pay disparity, you get the intent, these labels are strongholds. Having representation is pivotal in any endeavor or aspiration. If there is no opportunity to touch, feel, or see a person with similarities, assuming there is a possibility, is not realistic. Most women in key positions are consumed with protecting their necks and competing with the billionaire boys club, reaching back to help does not align with the agenda. And let’s not undermine human nature, it’s either you or me, not we Sis.

When “Corp X” has two SVP roles and 6 eligible women within the organization, fingernail files are out. Add another complex layer with the 7 eligible male counterparts and the battlefield of the movie Braveheart looks like a pee-wee football game. Securing a financially life-changing position will bring out the monster in anyone. The absence of sponsorship has significantly impacted the female ascension into the C-suite. More times than not women have seemed threatened by other women on the climb, in corporate terms this is called the “Queen Bee Syndrome”. A rusty wrench thrust inside the organizational engine, bulldozing all Girl Power or strength in numbers. ?

A Coach's Archetype

Curiosity running a marathon, I registered for the upcoming, “Executive Communication: How to Organize your Thoughts”, webinar April was hosting on a Sunday. For the past months, I formed a surface-level understanding regarding her brand and strategy from the extensive backlog of content. Taboo topics many coaches would perform a touch and go, she addressed aggressively, imposter syndrome, confidence, authenticity, MBAs, office politics, remote work, and double-tapping weekly conversation surrounding equal pay. Most of my adult working life has been within high-performing organizations, the guidance shared shifted my view of certain nuance about the workforce from what was instilled earlier in my career.

The judgment day, apologies, the webinar had come quickly. To say expectations were high was an understatement, this time slot was reserved for Netflix, not the sage on the stage or repurposing content. Me and 300 of my closest friends were locked in virtually: pens, pads, and criticism at the ready. When you got IT, you got IT. From the opening bell, addressing people by name, setting the tone and agenda, speaking with clarity, and executive presence on full display. Mrs. Little had just pulled off a Masterclass (Value Articulation) with actionable items in under 45 minutes. If suddenly a Cash App link flashed across the screen for payment, there would be no pushback on my part. Objective met, knowledge stored.

The Collective

If you peruse the doctrine embedded in April’s LinkedIn posts, there is an eye-catching, yet easy-to-overlook gem. As a supplement, enhancing the tactics and tools she utilizes to ensure her message is clear, concise, and nerve-racking, the unrelenting support she shows others is equally impressive. In his new piece of art, “This is Strategy”, the marketing guru and author Seth Godin has a chapter dedicated to what he calls, The Collective. “A system that takes inputs and outputs and turns them into something of value for all participants”. Mrs. Little adds substantial wisdom within comments to the “system”.

Jahmaal Marshall, Elvi Caperonis, Megan Lieu, Jean Kang, and Mita Mallick are a few usual suspects in this sort of PayPal Mafia. All on the same assignment. A group of coaches, influencers, entrepreneurs, and honest brokers, giants in their respective scopes of practice. They advocate for each other, celebrate wins, share business practices, and understand society’s resistance to their authenticity. The genuine camaraderie displayed does not reek of fabrication or attention-grabbing. One win, they all win. A perspective lost in the age of social media’s at-all-cost mindset.?

My name is April Little, and I coach professional women corporate Leaders that do care about TITLES and they’re not ashamed of it!

Men Lie, Women Lie, Numbers Don't

Recently, April surpassed 250k followers on LinkedIn. What could be considered a remarkable feat, struck me by surprise. I went on a recon mission to view the analytics of the average followership throughout her industry and peer group. There are over 1 billion subscribers to LinkedIn, with 43.6% being female. In September 2024, 4.7 million subscribers had “coach” in their description. Thankfully, I am now privy to the fact, that having “coach” in the description and executing as a “coach” are worlds apart, obligations apart, experience apart, results apart, and businesses apart. Transmitted through her content, posts, newsletter, and podcasts, is a different impact. Since the first post read, there is a trait I can’t explain and can’t point to which part. Is it the transparency part, support part, professionalism part, or belief part? Maybe that is just it. Millions of coaches are playing the part, and Mrs. Little is living the part. You are more than welcome to take part.