Put down the self-help books and find your BREATH with Executive Coach Annie Leib

After hitting rock bottom and inspired by a poster quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson in an auto body shop, Annie Leib decided to change her life, discover her core values and live life on her own terms. In this episode, Annie discusses how her BREATH framework can help you excavate your authentic self, and find personal fulfillment in your daily life.

Diversity Beyond the Checkbox is brought to you by The Diversity Movement, hosted by Head of Content Jackie Ferguson and is a production of Earfluence.

Transcript

Jackie Ferguson: Welcome to the Diversity Beyond the Checkbox Podcast. My guest today is Annie Leib. Annie is an award-winning CEO and executive coach, using the breath framework modality to guide leaders to become their most authentic selves and drive impact. Annie, thank you for joining us.

Annie Leib: Thanks for having me, Jackie. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. I feel like we met a while ago and I’m finally here.

Jackie: Yes, me too. And thank you for recording this podcast on your birthday. Happy Birthday.

Annie: Thank you so much. I know I don’t look a day over 25. No, I’m just kidding. I’m definitely older than 25. But you’re welcome, this is a joy for me.

Jackie: I love it. Well, Annie, let’s just jump into talking a little about yourself. Tell us about your background, your family, your identity, whatever you’d like to share.

Annie: Well, as you can see, I, I can’t put this as my most top priority, but it’s pretty close to my kids. I have a Phillies little sweatshirt on today. I’m a Philly girl. The sports in Philadelphia right now are crazy lit. Everybody’s in playoffs mode and, and playing amazing football, and it’s just making me really happy. So that’s a big part of my life. 

I have two children who are my heart and soul. They are just about 11 and just turned 13, a girl and a boy. I have a corporate background in pharmaceuticals, in sales and business development for years. And then I went back to school in 2018 and put myself through an MBA program and that’s when I decided I needed to start my own company.

And that’s when I decided there was a gap in coaching that I thought I could fill. And I got my coaching certificate and that’s sort of what, and I’ll tell you the story of breath framework and how that was created. but that’s really like the modality that I use. And what else could I tell you about? I love to read. I love to write. and we have a rescue dog named Randall. He’s a pit bull.

Jackie: I love it. I love it. Thanks for that, Annie. So let’s jump into the breath framework. Tell us about what that is and how you developed it?

Annie: Sure. So it goes back to 2014 and 2015, a very, very low time in my life, like sort of a rock bottom where I was just, I was getting a divorce. I was signing my divorce papers in an autobody shop because that’s where the notary was, and I was like, wow, this is what my life has come to. I have a two-and-a-half-year-old and a four-and-a-half-year-old, and I looked over on the wall and get this, There’s a Ralph Waldo Emerson poem on the wall of an auto body shop.

Okay. And I look and I see one sentence and it says something about breath, breathing. And I’m like, you know what? You can strip me of everything, but you cannot take my breath. That’s mine. And I turned on my heel and I went to Center City Philadelphia, and I got breath tattooed on my hip. So fast forward.

Full Episode Transcript

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