Worth Reading – Something Major: The New Playbook for Women at Work by Randi Braun is today’s featured author interview on WE Magazine for Women.

“Pick up this book now! Every woman wants to believe she is on the precipice of something major and this book gives you the tools to get yourself there. Randi Braun has created a fun and practical way forward for women who are looking to channel their inner bad-ass, crack the leadership code, and soar!”
JEN MORMILE, CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER OF CONDÉ NAST

About the Author

Randi Braun is an expert at empowering women who have demanding jobs and bold goals. As a certified executive coach and the CEO of the women’s leadership firm, Something Major, she helps women thrive.

In her women’s leadership book Something Major: The New Playbook for Women at Work (New Degree Press, 2023), Braun infuses conversations with life-changing ideas, advancing women leaders one wildly entertaining story at a time. 

A sought-after thought leader and speaker, Braun’s insights have been featured in The Washington Post, Forbes, and Parents Magazine, among others. Braun has coached women around the globe and partnered with more than 50 organizations across diverse sectors, including. the Fortune 500, healthcare, start-ups, Big Law, public relations, entertainment, trade associations, government, non-profits, and others.

To learn more about Braun’s work, events, and background, visit the Something Major Coaching website.

This is her interview.

What is your book about?
A while back a woman confessed to me, “I have no desire… in fact, I can’t even remember the last time I was in the mood.” She wasn’t talking about what you think she was talking about. She was talking about a case of what I call “low work libido” and she’s not alone. Unfortunately, there’s just no little blue pill for that, and women at work need a practical new playbook to get their groove back at work. That’s why I wrote them one in Something Major: The New Playbook for Women at Work. My book is empowering women to write their own new playbook on ten core competencies — from cracking the code on self-doubt to owning our message and reimagining our well-being — so we can play the game on our own terms and win.

What do you hope other people will take away from reading your book?
Somebody once described my book as “sage advice shared one wildly entertaining story at a time,” and I loved that. I hope women will learn tactical skills like 16 things I forbid you to say at work or how to quiet the voice of your inner critic, but also have fun along the way.  

What was the biggest challenge in writing your book?
My biggest challenge was time. I’m the CEO of a women’s leadership business called Something Major: I have clients, constantly travel to deliver keynotes at conferences, run retreats and manage a team. When I’m not at work I’m also the wife to a technology executive and a mom to two young kids. Plus, I’m an extrovert who loves hanging out with my friends and I do not sacrifice sleep. So… that didn’t leave me tons of time to write this book. My secret is that I’m absolutely ruthless about my priorities and boundaries. As Ashley Whillans, a professor at Harvard Business School who studies the relationship between time, productivity, and happiness, once said “How we spend our time signals everything we care about.” I think about that constantly and it’s how I made time to write this book. I’m so glad I did! Even when it was hard or meant saying no to things.

How long did it take to write your book?
It’s insane to say this because of the above, but I wrote the first draft of the 72,000+ word manuscript in 5 months. I’m a huge believer, as I write in my book, that big moments happen one small moment at a time. I got clear on what I was saying “yes” to in order to make it happen and what I had to say “no” to in order to protect those yeses. I hope everyone who reads this book, or this article will feel empowered to own their time the same way and protect their priorities with daily choices.

What does literary success look like to you?
Hitting the Wall Street Journal Best Sellers List was a total trip, but it’s the emails and DMs I get from women on social media like LinkedIn and Instagram telling me what they loved in the book and how it’s changing the way they show up at work that really feels most like “success.” As somebody who literally wrote an entire chapter about recovering my addiction to external validation, I was honestly scared that tracking best-seller status (which I was blown away to hit) or counting book sales would trigger a “relapse.” It’s funny, the fanfare honestly doesn’t mean as much to me as those notes and seeing women putting the New Playbook into practice. I wrote this book to have an impact and that is what success will continue to look like for me.

What’s the best writing advice you have ever received?
Finishing your first draft is like having a migraine. You just have to get through it to be over it, so why would you ever ask for an extension? It was incredible advice for Eric Koester, a professor at Georgetown University who leads the Creators Institute, a writing program I used to help write my book. I was about to ask for an extension when I was like “wait, this IS like a migraine and it’s AWFUL.” I just cranked it out and go through it and it really is true that editing is easier than drafting.”

Something Major: The New Playbook for Women at Work is available at Amazon

What’s next for you?
Albert Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result… and yet, I can’t stop collecting notes for another book I’m dying to write about shaking up the working motherhood conversation. I’m exhausted about people talking to women about caregiving (yes there is a crisis, and we need solutions), but I’m hungry for a new playbook for working moms who are ambitious on the “work” side of the equation and want tools to go for their goals. We’ll see where it goes…

What is the best way for our readers to connect with you?

https://www.somethingmajorcoaching.com/

https://www.instagram.com/something_major_coaching/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063008902636