Blank Space, with Natalie Byrne
Natalie Byrne, Founder of Blank Space communications firm, and a Legacy, Impact & Brand Purpose Strategist, explains what "blank space" IS, shares stories from her work with President Obama and the United Nations, weighs the metaphorical benefits of being on a speed boat vs a cruise ship, and reveals what we can learn from horses about leadership.
Transcript
Welcome to Let's Talk Legacy. I'm Gary Michels,
Gary Michels:your host today we have Natalie Byrne, founder of Blank Space
Gary Michels:communication firm and a legacy impact and brand purpose
Gary Michels:strategist. So I want to dig right in because tell us a
Gary Michels:little bit about what Blank Space is, and how did you arrive
Gary Michels:at that name?
Natalie Byrne:Ok, well, I love this question right off the bat,
Natalie Byrne:and it's just so great to meet you, and it's great to be here
Natalie Byrne:and with your audience, I'm, you know, I'm someone who thinks
Natalie Byrne:about legacy all day. So this is just, this is so exciting and
Natalie Byrne:blank space actually came to me. I was in the private sector. I
Natalie Byrne:was working with big brands and Unilever before I started my
Natalie Byrne:firm about seven, eight years ago. Actually, it was a time
Natalie Byrne:when we were really thinking about, what is a business bigger
Natalie Byrne:than any product, what is its value system, what is its
Natalie Byrne:purpose? So I was working with brands on their brand purpose
Natalie Byrne:work, and working with founders on their legacy work. So
Natalie Byrne:thinking about who are they, beyond just one business, what
Natalie Byrne:is their philanthropic interests? What is their
Natalie Byrne:mission? And how can we really build this life of legacy for
Natalie Byrne:both a brand and a founder? So that's how I started the
Natalie Byrne:business and and blank space, the name really came from the
Natalie Byrne:idea that I don't think that we need to put, you know,
Natalie Byrne:categories into what we do. This is where I make money. This is
Natalie Byrne:where I give it away. This is who I am in my community. I
Natalie Byrne:really think of the blank space as this future that we can all
Natalie Byrne:be in, where we are in our true lane. We are doing good while we
Natalie Byrne:are making money, we are supporting our community and our
Natalie Byrne:family and everything that we do. So the blank space is this
Natalie Byrne:idea of kind of wiping clean everything we've known to create
Natalie Byrne:something new and and our own legacy.
Gary Michels:Right on. Do people when you tell them what
Gary Michels:blank space is, are they surprised after you explain it?
Gary Michels:Or, okay, that makes sense. How do most people respond to that?
Natalie Byrne:They actually get really excited, because it's a
Natalie Byrne:method we have, the blank space method. We've started doing
Natalie Byrne:blank space workshops all around the country and thinking about,
Natalie Byrne:what is your blank space? So I actually think it's fun, because
Natalie Byrne:it opens you up to something bigger than just, okay, what am
Natalie Byrne:I doing as a company, or what am I doing as an individual? It's
Natalie Byrne:it's a new way of thinking about things and being really in your
Natalie Byrne:lane.
Gary Michels:So the mission of blank space is to create a
Gary Michels:legacy of impact. Before we dive in deeper to this topic,
Gary Michels:what are each of those words, legacy and impact mean to you?
Natalie Byrne:Oh, that's a great question. In my work, I
Natalie Byrne:really think that words matter, so I like the challenge of
Natalie Byrne:defining them right off the bat. Impact we can start there is
Natalie Byrne:slightly overused, if I'm honest, but I've been working in
Natalie Byrne:impact and thinking about positive impact, social impact,
Natalie Byrne:a company's impact and a family's impact for a very long
Natalie Byrne:time. And so I think that with impact, it's really important
Natalie Byrne:that we think about how we show up, what we're doing every day,
Natalie Byrne:to make a difference and at the same time, you know, drive our
Natalie Byrne:business growth. So I don't think of those two things as
Natalie Byrne:separate, which is different than other people who would say
Natalie Byrne:they work in the impact field. It's not necessarily about
Natalie Byrne:philanthropic endeavors only. It is truly how you show up every
Natalie Byrne:day and legacy that could be everything from as simple as the
Natalie Byrne:way you make someone feel when you're ordering your coffee at
Natalie Byrne:Starbucks. Are you the type of person who's in and out and not
Natalie Byrne:making any eye contact and running from thing to thing? Or
Natalie Byrne:are you present? And you know, blank space also has a lot to do
Natalie Byrne:with being present, being fully present in your life, so that
Natalie Byrne:your legacy isn't something that happens after you die. It's
Natalie Byrne:something that you can actually create in the way you show up
Natalie Byrne:every day.
Gary Michels:It's, it's like when someone says, Are you
Gary Michels:present? See how are how you doing? And and they come, fine.
Gary Michels:No, no, no, no, how you really doing? Yes, which I think people
Gary Michels:are in such a fast paced world that often people don't do that.
Gary Michels:It's almost like the thought of slow down to speed up.
Natalie Byrne:Oh my gosh. I completely agree. I was working
Natalie Byrne:with a big grocery retailer brand the past few years, and we
Natalie Byrne:were thinking about your neighborhood grocery store is
Natalie Byrne:really like a community hub, whether you're in line next to a
Natalie Byrne:neighbor, or maybe your other neighbor is behind the deli
Natalie Byrne:counter, helping you, you know, choose what, what you're going
Natalie Byrne:to get for your lunches that week. I love the idea that we
Natalie Byrne:can just be, as you said, more present, more in our true self,
Natalie Byrne:too. And you know, in the world that we live in today, on our
Natalie Byrne:phones, heads down, running around it is, it is hard to do
Natalie Byrne:that, but that's exactly what we try to do with the blank space.
Natalie Byrne:So I wanted to just note that, because you are how you make
Natalie Byrne:other people feel.
Gary Michels:Now you you created a legacy roadmap which
Gary Michels:helps clients rethink what they do, why they do it, which is
Gary Michels:really important, and how. They can move towards a more legacy
Gary Michels:driven way of life. Can you tell us a little bit about that
Gary Michels:roadmap?
Natalie Byrne:Oh my gosh, I would love to you're talking
Natalie Byrne:about all my favorite things. You know, when you have a north
Natalie Byrne:you know, on the compass, or a North Star, or I even think of
Natalie Byrne:it sometimes, when I'm working with a really big company, this
Natalie Byrne:is a cruise ship that's carrying a lot of different people, and
Natalie Byrne:you want to make sure it's pointed in the right direction,
Natalie Byrne:and that's what a legacy roadmap is all about. What are we
Natalie Byrne:thinking about now? So when we get to these times in our life
Natalie Byrne:that might be more challenging, or we might have to make big
Natalie Byrne:decisions, we have this really grounded sense of our value
Natalie Byrne:system, is probably where I would start. And so we do like
Natalie Byrne:an assessment of where you are, you know, where the business is,
Natalie Byrne:where the family is, and thinking about, Okay, so we're
Natalie Byrne:here, and this is our value. So as we think of our big, big
Natalie Byrne:goals and where we want to go, the way we can measure that
Natalie Byrne:along the way is by being very value centered. You know, this
Natalie Byrne:is it's interesting, because we've seen some big companies in
Natalie Byrne:the past few years in the headlines, making huge mistakes.
Natalie Byrne:CEOs ousted based on values, where they've skewed so far away
Natalie Byrne:from what the company's mission is and what they are trying to
Natalie Byrne:do for both their employees and their consumers and their
Natalie Byrne:shareholders, that they've lost their values. They've lost
Natalie Byrne:what's driving them, and I think that's the same in our own
Natalie Byrne:lives. An example that comes to mind is like Boeing, right? This
Natalie Byrne:is a company that's been around a long time, so the CEO
Natalie Byrne:definitely inherited a set of values. But if that has been
Natalie Byrne:done correctly, what we as we would say in the business, it's
Natalie Byrne:evergreen. It doesn't change. You don't change your North
Natalie Byrne:Star, but if you haven't done the work. So sometimes I'm
Natalie Byrne:coming in and helping businesses who have been around for a long
Natalie Byrne:time that have never asked these questions, why do we do what we
Natalie Byrne:do? Who are we actually serving? What is our bigger mission, and
Natalie Byrne:you know, beyond just the products that we're releasing?
Natalie Byrne:So to so I think that to your question, there's a yes, and we
Natalie Byrne:want a value system to last. I don't think that if family and
Natalie Byrne:community is important to you, that shouldn't change in 10
Natalie Byrne:years, and if your roadmap has gone off, then that's where you
Natalie Byrne:can counter and say, Wow, we're spending all of our investment
Natalie Byrne:in this one area, and yet this isn't a part of our core values
Natalie Byrne:at all.
Gary Michels:Not at all. You've also created an exclusive Legacy
Gary Michels:Council. Can you tell us about the council a little bit?
Natalie Byrne:Yes, I'm so excited. You mentioned this, and
Natalie Byrne:this is a cohort of eight individuals who are really
Natalie Byrne:thinking about their leadership in these places. So you know,
Natalie Byrne:whether they're scaling their business or launching a
Natalie Byrne:foundation, or maybe they're ready to write a book about
Natalie Byrne:their story. You know what they've brought to the table?
Natalie Byrne:This is going to be a cohort of eight people together, which is
Natalie Byrne:so exciting to me, because there's so much peer to peer
Natalie Byrne:advisory too, that that I see, and I've been working so for so
Natalie Byrne:long behind the scenes with these big companies that in
Natalie Byrne:order to make this group that can work on their legacy
Natalie Byrne:together and go behind the scenes at some of these big, big
Natalie Byrne:places where it comes to life, I am so excited by the legacy
Natalie Byrne:Council. And then year over year, that group just gets
Natalie Byrne:bigger and bigger. So you have this whole network of other
Natalie Byrne:people who are value driven, who are thinking about thought
Natalie Byrne:leadership, or they're thinking about their values, and they're
Natalie Byrne:thinking about how their businesses and philanthropy and
Natalie Byrne:lives are really all representative of that. And the
Natalie Byrne:thing about these eight people is they're bringing so much to
Natalie Byrne:the table. So there is an opportunity for so much shared
Natalie Byrne:life, understandings and learnings and growth, and the
Natalie Byrne:curriculum involves everything from you know, what is your
Natalie Byrne:authentic voice and what rooms you should be in, how you say no
Natalie Byrne:to things that are outside of your lane, looking at planning
Natalie Byrne:through transitions, transfer of wealth, scaling your venture.
Natalie Byrne:Post m a next gen legacy conversations, there's a lot
Natalie Byrne:about narrative, which we even started talking about in the
Natalie Byrne:very beginning of our chat. So I feel like there might be some
Natalie Byrne:people in the audience who could be a good fit for this. And
Natalie Byrne:everyone gets to bring something to the table that they're
Natalie Byrne:working on, so they get the benefit of the advisory of the
Natalie Byrne:firm, but in this much more fun and accessible way, there is
Natalie Byrne:sharing out to the group and accountability, and then working
Natalie Byrne:with me privately so that everyone knows that what they're
Natalie Byrne:building on their side is moving forward.
Gary Michels:Sweet. Love it. So you've personally been honored
Gary Michels:to be a White House delegate under President Obama, traveling
Gary Michels:with him to Kenya for the global entrepreneur summit as a
Gary Michels:speaker, that's awesome to be honored, to be able to do
Gary Michels:something like that.
Natalie Byrne:Well there's nothing like connecting with
Natalie Byrne:people's hearts and shifting minds and, you know, speaking
Natalie Byrne:and bringing these messages to groups. So I love that. It's a
Natalie Byrne:passion of mine. I started as a journalist, so listening and
Natalie Byrne:speaking and and, you know. Helping to drive these
Natalie Byrne:narratives is so important to me. That was one of the biggest
Natalie Byrne:honors I've ever had. It was his, if you remember, it was his
Natalie Byrne:homecoming trip to Kenya. And we actually gathered entrepreneurs
Natalie Byrne:from all over Africa to come together to Kenya. And you know,
Natalie Byrne:these were entrepreneurs of all ages. You had young
Natalie Byrne:entrepreneurs. You had so many different countries represented,
Natalie Byrne:and it was, it was, it was awesome. You got to see the
Natalie Byrne:innovation and creativity that is driving this continent. And
Natalie Byrne:the continent is a lot younger than what we see in Europe or
Natalie Byrne:even here in the United States, so you have a lot of young
Natalie Byrne:innovation. And it was an exciting time. So we did
Natalie Byrne:mentorship, we did speaking, we did round tables, and we talked
Natalie Byrne:about how entrepreneurship can just drive so much for a country
Natalie Byrne:forward. And I take that with me. I love working with
Natalie Byrne:entrepreneurs. I think you could probably hear that from like the
Natalie Byrne:legacy Council and the different work we do. Think founders have
Natalie Byrne:that certain passion in them that they're they're leading an
Natalie Byrne:organization and a family all at the same time. So it was a
Natalie Byrne:really special trip. And Africa is such a special continent, and
Natalie Byrne:I just was so honored to be a part of his delegation.
Gary Michels:What do you think it is that drives people?
Natalie Byrne:Hmm, you know, I feel like there's so much more
Natalie Byrne:that connects us than keeps us separate, and you wouldn't know
Natalie Byrne:that by turning on the news today, because it's just a lot
Natalie Byrne:of a lot of fighting and a lot of disagreeing. And I think that
Natalie Byrne:there's so much more that brings us to the table. So when you ask
Natalie Byrne:what drives us, I think that's such a personal, heart centered
Natalie Byrne:value driven. People want to provide for their family. They
Natalie Byrne:want to feel safe and secure. They want to feel healthy, so
Natalie Byrne:they want to have access to these basic things, like, you
Natalie Byrne:know, good food, good water, clean air. They want their kids
Natalie Byrne:to have access to a really good education. I mean, these are
Natalie Byrne:your universal desires for for people and families. And when we
Natalie Byrne:get into what we're talking about with legacy, I think it
Natalie Byrne:also matters how we're being perceived and what we're leaving
Natalie Byrne:behind, even if it's something so small that no one really
Natalie Byrne:knows, because it's just the way that you are maintaining a local
Natalie Byrne:garden. You know, on the weekend, there is just this
Natalie Byrne:feeling of pride of contributing. When I talk about
Natalie Byrne:careers and what we do, I actually think of it as how we
Natalie Byrne:contribute to the world around us, and how we serve, how we use
Natalie Byrne:our gifts. And I think that we're missing that in a lot of
Natalie Byrne:these conversations.
Gary Michels:Absolutely. Well, you've also, I mean, gosh,
Gary Michels:you've accomplished so many things in your life, and I'm
Gary Michels:glad that we were able to have you on the show, working on so
Gary Michels:many projects with the United Nations too, which is such a
Gary Michels:huge important role in our world.
Natalie Byrne:One of my favorite initiatives was
Natalie Byrne:actually bringing business leaders in some of the things
Natalie Byrne:that make you really good at business, risk taking,
Natalie Byrne:creativity, innovation, thinking fast is not things that the UN
Natalie Byrne:does well. So the idea that we can learn from, you know, we
Natalie Byrne:think sometimes as a speed boat and a cruise ship, I go back to
Natalie Byrne:that we can learn from each other. You know, you move fast
Natalie Byrne:on a speed boat, but a cruise ship brings a lot of people with
Natalie Byrne:it. So I think that there's such an opportunity at the UN for
Natalie Byrne:shared learnings. Some of the initiatives we've done are
Natalie Byrne:around women and climate. We've also done peace conversations
Natalie Byrne:based on supporting local businesses. When you support
Natalie Byrne:local business growth in some of these countries that are facing
Natalie Byrne:a lot of difficulties, a lot of challenges, things that we
Natalie Byrne:aren't seeing here at home, you actually help the community to
Natalie Byrne:thrive. And once you can make a living and your kids can go to
Natalie Byrne:school, you'll see an economy transform. So I thought that
Natalie Byrne:that was really, really uplifting. And idea of investing
Natalie Byrne:in other countries really also helps us thrive. This has become
Natalie Byrne:something that's quite a hot topic currently, and with the
Natalie Byrne:United Nations, it's just so inspirational to see how many
Natalie Byrne:people come together to make the world a better place. There's so
Natalie Byrne:many youth driving this. There's so many youth here in the US
Natalie Byrne:that come together at the UN and are meeting on things that are,
Natalie Byrne:you know, that seems so such big challenges for us, but for them,
Natalie Byrne:they're like, We got this. Our generation is stepping in. We
Natalie Byrne:want to collaborate. We want to think big. And I find that
Natalie Byrne:really inspiring.
Gary Michels:So with legacy being such a big focus, what
Gary Michels:legacy do you hope to leave behind through your work in your
Gary Michels:organizations, professional, individual? A big legacy that
Gary Michels:ties everything together?
Natalie Byrne:Oh, that's such a good question. You have all the
Natalie Byrne:good questions. I think for me, my legacy is for people to know
Natalie Byrne:that what they do matters, and sometimes we feel like we have
Natalie Byrne:no impact on the world around us, and it's a scary place. And
Natalie Byrne:I think that if everyone had takes a second to go inside, and
Natalie Byrne:I am the leader in this own place, in my world, and I can
Natalie Byrne:make a difference in his own, own little pocket of the world.
Natalie Byrne:Um. Um, that what I would like my legacy to be is just
Natalie Byrne:inspiring and lighting a spark in everyone, that what they do
Natalie Byrne:really matters. And it can matter to your neighbor, to your
Natalie Byrne:kid, to your spouse, to your boss, to your teammate. This is
Natalie Byrne:the type of world that I want to live in. And I'll take the other
Natalie Byrne:thing you brought up earlier in being present. If we could all
Natalie Byrne:just be present with each other a little bit more and listen a
Natalie Byrne:little bit more and open our hearts a little bit more, I
Natalie Byrne:think we would solve some of these big problems pretty
Natalie Byrne:quickly.
Gary Michels:Is there anything like in your personal life that
Gary Michels:would be different?
Natalie Byrne:Well, I I'm really passionate about the time
Natalie Byrne:I spent at the stables. I love riding horses.
Gary Michels:Love it. Me too. I used to ride all the time.
Gary Michels:Hunter jumper? What do you, what did you do?
Natalie Byrne:I'm a trained hunter jumper. Now, you know I'm
Natalie Byrne:I'm not doing that competitively or anything, but time with
Natalie Byrne:horses, time at the stable, it's so grounding. I've these animals
Natalie Byrne:teach us so much. And I actually just got certified in eques
Natalie Byrne:leadership development.
Gary Michels:That's awesome. There's nothing like just with
Gary Michels:the touch of your hand and your seat, and to be able to get a
Gary Michels:horse to jump over a four foot jump, it's, there's nothing like
Gary Michels:it, right? Or it's, it's crazy.
Natalie Byrne:Talk about being present, right? I mean, you if
Natalie Byrne:you are ahead of that jump or behind that jump, then you are
Natalie Byrne:falling off that horse.
Gary Michels:I've got stories. The horses are, they're, they're
Gary Michels:such smart animals and calming. And there is so much to be
Gary Michels:learned that's awesome.
Natalie Byrne:Yeah, one of the things I can leave you with
Natalie Byrne:around that too, is, you know, you know this because you ride,
Natalie Byrne:their nervous system is so much bigger, and the way that they
Natalie Byrne:self regulate as a herd, so they are constantly in communication,
Natalie Byrne:even a couple football fields away, through their nervous
Natalie Byrne:system and their heart and how fast it's beating and what's
Natalie Byrne:happening. And is there anything to be afraid of out there in the
Natalie Byrne:in the woods, outside of the field. So they really teach us
Natalie Byrne:how to come into ourselves, how to connect with the people
Natalie Byrne:around us, and I think, just to make, actually, a lot better
Natalie Byrne:decisions in our everyday and in our business lives. That'll be
Natalie Byrne:part of my legacy. I'll have a ranch one day with my horses.
Gary Michels:There you go. So what's next for you, and where
Gary Michels:can our listeners learn more about what you're doing?
Natalie Byrne:Well, if they're interested in the Legacy
Natalie Byrne:Council, please reach out. Blankspaceworks.com, and I think
Natalie Byrne:what's coming up next right now is I'm working on a book around
Natalie Byrne:being in your heart, being present, moving everything out
Natalie Byrne:so that you could be in your lane. I think that we're in a
Natalie Byrne:world where we're saying yes to everything. We're being
Natalie Byrne:overwhelmed with opportunities and information, and the more
Natalie Byrne:you can be in the blank space, the more you could be in your
Natalie Byrne:lane, the better everything gets, the more success you could
Natalie Byrne:bring in because you're focused.
Gary Michels:Absolutely. Well, gosh, it's been awesome, and I'm
Gary Michels:sure people will be reaching out to you.
Natalie Byrne:Yay. Yes, okay, well, you and I have to meet in
Natalie Byrne:person at some time with a bunch of horses around us.
Gary Michels:Absolutely, absolutely.
