00;00;24;26 - 00;00;58;02
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Hello. Welcome back, Amazing Leaders to a very special holiday episode of Building Leadership Community Podcast. I'm your host, Coach Dora Mendez. Today's episode is different. There is no guest joining me for a conversation. Instead, this is an intentional pause, a moment to breathe, to reflect, to celebrate and to look ahead together. As this year comes to a close.
00;00;58;04 - 00;01;31;28
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I wanted to sit with you. No rush, no noise. Just honesty, gratitude and vision. Because leadership doesn't only happen in the boardroom or on stages. It happens in reflection. It happens in stillness. And it happens when we choose to name what we survived, what we built, and what were ready to release. So whatever you're listening, wherever you're listening from, I invite you to settle in.
00;01;32;01 - 00;02;03;23
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Take a breath and allow this episode to be a gift to yourself. This is our holiday special, and today we're closing out 2025 together at the top. Before we dive in, I want to say thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for sharing. Episodes. Thank you for your messages that say I needed this today. If you're new here, welcome to the Building Leadership Community Podcast.
00;02;03;26 - 00;02;36;27
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A space created for entrepreneurs, business owners, community builders, emerging and established leaders who are doing meaningful work and often are carrying it quietly. Because, as we always say here, it can be lonely at the top, but it does not have to be. If this episode resonates, please like, share and subscribe and click that bell icon. So you'll never miss a beat.
00;02;36;29 - 00;03;11;19
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Your engagement helps this community grow and reach leaders who may not yet know they're looking for us. Links to everything I mentioned today will be in the description. All right, let's reflect. So, I want to share something that I wrote about, and that's, top ten moments of 2025. I invite you to do the same. I invite you to reflect and do the same and think about your top ten, moments of 2025.
00;03;11;21 - 00;03;39;22
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I'm going to start with number one. My number one and on my top ten list is becoming AI-fluent and teaching others to do the same. I was in the 2025 trend. It was a turning point. I chose curiosity over fear and learned how to integrate I into coaching leadership, communication, and business strategy. Then I taught others to do the same.
00;03;39;25 - 00;04;19;14
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Here's my lesson. I doesn't replace your humanity. It protects your time so your humanity can lead. Number two, number two on my 2025 top ten list is this podcast, season two of this podcast and the 15,000 views on YouTube. Season two required consistency and vulnerability. 15,000 views later. What matters most is knowing these conversations helped leaders show up more courageously.
00;04;19;16 - 00;04;59;15
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Pro tip we share. I share a lot with my co-producer of this podcast. How we launched it and how to launch your own podcast. You can find on our website The Entrepreneur's Blueprint. Sharing what we know. And the lesson in the number two in the podcast season is that your voice is not extra. It's essential. Number three on, top ten is thriving as a solo business owner.
00;04;59;17 - 00;05;40;03
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This year, I price confidently sold without shrinking and made decisions like a CEO. I stopped waiting to feel ready. I've overdelivered and I'm so grateful for renewed contracts and repeat business in 2026. The lesson is confident is built by doing, not overthinking. Number four, in that same line. I made my first hire. I hired a virtual assistant doing everything myself.
00;05;40;03 - 00;06;19;29
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Stop being sustainable. Hiring support gave me back time, creativity, and space. The lesson here is delegation is leadership and action. Number five stepping fully into the fractional CRO role. I stepped fully into Strategic Human Resources Ltd leadership HR for organizations that need clarity, culture and people for systems without the full time overhead. The lesson learned purpose lives where expertise meets a real gap.
00;06;20;01 - 00;06;57;22
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Number six on the top ten of 2025. Launching my Substack publication. I wanted a space I owned. Substack became how I was able to have deeper reflections and leadership frameworks beyond the algorithm of social media. The lesson here is built what you control. Your community deserves consistency. So I'm loving Substack and, I highly recommend it as a as a space to share and reflect.
00;06;57;24 - 00;07;42;05
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Along that same, line of reflection and writing. Number seven, I'm really proud of this achievement. I copyrighted my manuscript, and I feel confident now in claiming the title of writer. Finishing and protecting my, manuscript was an identity shift. The lesson learned here was you don't need permission to name who you are. And that same line, number eight in my top ten is becoming a published author twice over.
00;07;42;07 - 00;08;17;12
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Seeing my words in print reinforce that representation isn't symbolic. It's who I've become. The lesson here is your story can be someone else's road map. If you're watching on YouTube the two books that, author are, you can see the behind my shoulder. It's, extraordinary Latinas volume. For and, Latinas Rising up and air was published in Spanish.
00;08;17;20 - 00;09;00;21
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So the bilingual publication really now has a global reach. So I want to thank United Latinas and Latinas Rising Up in HR for inviting me to share my story and, helping me become published. There's more to come in the publication front in 2026. Number nine, Creating Wellness Wednesdays. Leaders were carrying layoffs, burnout and uncertainty. Wellness Wednesday became a space to pause, reflect, and lead sustainably.
00;09;00;24 - 00;09;36;29
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Sharing my own wellness journey and my lovely Hawaii wellness retreat. Really helped me, realize that wellness is not a nice to have. It's a must have. And so the lesson learned there is wellbeing is leadership. It's not a bonus. More on, wellness and well-being later on. And number ten drum roll, please.
00;09;37;01 - 00;10;14;11
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Number ten. And my top ten is taking my family to Disney in Florida. I stopped waiting for the right time. We went, we laughed. We celebrated. The lesson there really, for me in 2025 was joy is not a reward for burnout. It's part of success. That's 2025. Not perfect, but powerful. And, yeah, there's my top ten.
00;10;14;14 - 00;10;52;10
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As this year ended. I ask myself one question how do I sustain leaders beyond inspiration? The question became the Coach Dora’s Wellness Club. So this is a space for leaders who want practical tools, real conversations, and communities that understands the way of leadership. So the success of Wellness Wednesdays, on YouTube. My own wellness journey this year in retreat.
00;10;52;13 - 00;11;33;04
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And the feedback that I've gotten from my community, really. And for the for the community of listeners, of building leadership community podcast we're launching in 2026. Right now, registration is open for founding membership slot. There are 26 founding membership slots. And as a founding member, you'll receive monthly wellness leadership toolkits, live Q&A sessions with me, an intimate community of value driven leaders who understand what you're going through.
00;11;33;07 - 00;12;11;07
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Early access to premium workshops, direct access and ongoing support. And founding member bonuses, including lifetime pricing and a private consultation with yours truly. So in the link in, there's a link to sign up. It's first come, first serve. The first obviously we've limited to 26 members. We don't want it to be too big. We want this to really be an intimate, community that's a manageable size.
00;12;11;07 - 00;12;42;16
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So finding founding membership is $260. And I hope that you all sign up as soon as you hear this. The link is in the description, and there'll be more to come and more details to come. I would love to welcome you and have a direct conversation with with you. So there we go, coach doors. One is club is my offering for 2026.
00;12;42;18 - 00;13;18;20
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Now I want to share a quick preview of Season 3 of the Building Leadership community Podcast. Let's talk about what's next for our show. Season 3 is not just more episodes. Although we will have more episodes. It's a deeper chapter. This season is for leaders asking, how do I stay grounded while I scale? How do I lead with courage when the stakes are so high?
00;13;18;23 - 00;13;53;27
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How do I build community when leadership feels isolating? How do I protect my wellness and still lead with excellence? Season 3 is special for three reasons. First, we go deeper than inspiration. You'll leave with language frameworks and leadership moves. You can apply immediately. Second, these are legacy level leaders, people with decades of impact, hard earned wisdom, and real receipts.
00;13;53;29 - 00;14;26;01
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We have such amazing guests for you. Third, the through line is courageous people first, leadership. As we say, it's a tagline for our show. It can be lonely at the top, but it doesn't have to be. Let me tease a few of our guests for you. Wow. Season one. Season two, and Season 3 will continue to focus on amazing women leaders.
00;14;26;08 - 00;15;07;03
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We are expanding our conversation with our allies and leaders in a broader scope of industries. We bring leaders rooted in activism into courage and the reminder that your voice is not optional. It's powerful. We interview a self-proclaimed equity warrior, bringing real talk about dismantling toxic, toxic systems without burning leaders out. We meet a financial whiz who pivoted their career to invent and innovate, and we got them before Shark Tank, did.
00;15;07;03 - 00;15;48;20
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So, I hope our episode airs before Shark Tank does. We host our first team interview, a neuroscientist and an organizational change facilitator partners in increasing productivity and performance. We've got a CEO offering insight on leading AI and technical, technical, logical transformations while staying deeply human centered. We've got authors. We've got a PR Exec, we got an award winning TEDx speaker, an educator, and listen, that's just a tease.
00;15;48;22 - 00;16;20;05
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We have even more incredible guests this season. So like, share and subscribe. Click the bell icon so you never miss a beat. Season 3 officially premieres mid January, and we're not just entering a new season of the podcast. We are entering a new season of leadership together. Trust me, you want to be there. As we close this year, I want to leave you with this.
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You lead.
00;16;25;23 - 00;17;10;00
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This is 2025. Has been a tough year. For lots of reasons. And, It's been a tough year for so many reasons. And. You've led through uncertainty. You showed up even when you were tired. And that matters. And I'm so grateful for. That you listen and you watch, and you come back and you share with our community.
00;17;10;03 - 00;17;42;25
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I didn't expect to get emotional there. So if you are listening and thank you for your patience, as we close out this year, I want to leave you with this. You led through uncertainty. You showed up even when you were tired. And that matters. As we step into the new year, choose rest without guilt, vision without fear, and leadership rooted in wellness.
00;17;42;27 - 00;18;05;05
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Thank you for being part of this community. From my heart to yours, Happy Holidays. And remember can be lonely at the top. But it doesn't have to be. I'll see you in Season 3. If this resonates with you, don't forget to like, share and subscribe so we can continue to bring you great content. I'm so appreciative.
