Liz Volker: The Interview

Apr 22
This week, hosts Sarah Collins and Bill Dippel reflect on the conclusion of Season One of their podcast, discussing the evolution of their format and the exciting changes coming in Season Two. They introduce Liz Volker, a participant in the 'Strong as a Mother' initiative, who shares her journey of discovering her strengths as a mother and how it has transformed her family dynamics. Liz discusses her top strengths, their practical applications in parenting, and the importance of strengths awareness in relationships. The conversation emphasizes the power of recognizing and utilizing individual strengths to enhance personal and family growth. In this conversation, Liz Volker shares her insights on parenting, emphasizing the importance of curiosity, empowerment, and individualization in raising children. She discusses the balance between futuristic thinking and being present, the evolving definition of motherhood, and the significance of recognizing strengths and weaknesses in parenting. Liz also expresses her wishes for meaningful relationships and personal growth, highlighting the transformative power of understanding one's strengths.
To contact Lizzie:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizzie-vietz/
7 Main Takeaways
1. Your strengths are your superpowers—even in motherhood.
2. Strengths awareness can radically shift your home life.
3. You don’t have to be like other moms—be the best version of you.
4. Strategic thinking isn’t just for business—it’s for building strong families.
5. Recognition and connection at home matter just as much as in the workplace.
6. Understanding strengths in your partner and kids can reduce conflict and increase empathy.
7. Empowerment starts young when kids are seen for who they are.
Liz's Top 10 CliftonStrengths
1) Strategic
2) Learner
3) Relator
4) Input
5) Responsibility
6) Individualization
7) Self-Assurance
8) Command
9) Activator
10) Futuristic

Bill's Top 10 CliftonStrengths
1) Individualization
2) Developer
3) Activator
4) Woo
5) Restorative
6) Empathy
7) Harmony
8) Connectedness
9) Relator
10) Learner
Sarah's Top 10 CliftonStrengths
1) Positivity
2) Woo
3) Communication
4) Harmony
5) Activator
6) Developer
7) Input
8) Individualization
9) Responsibility
10) Arranger
Official Strengths On Fire Website: https://strengthsonfire.transistor.fm
Transcript
Sarah Collins (00:01.226)
Well, Mr. Bill Dippel, how you doing?

Bill Dippel (00:04.966)
bittersweet.

Sarah Collins (00:08.792)
Countdown!

Bill Dippel (00:09.916)
Bitter, sweet for me today. That's I'm wearing black in protest.

Sarah Collins (00:12.204)
You

Liz Volker (00:17.756)
Sarah Collins (00:21.014)
tell the audience why you're bittersweet black funeral style today.

Bill Dippel (00:24.576)
so you know what I am first off I am so happy and so proud of what we did it's okay to worry about it I am so happy of everything we did for the first season right it has been phenomenal but I'm wearing black because it's the last episode of season one we can let everyone know now where this is my official protest of you know I don't get my

Sarah Collins (00:31.597)
my god!

Sarah Collins (00:35.552)
Buh-Dee!

Bill Dippel (00:51.864)
Friday, Sarah podcast fun time. So a little.

Sarah Collins (00:55.864)
Well, do not make the people think that we are done with this podcast. This is just the sunset of season one. Season two is coming, my friends.

Bill Dippel (00:58.739)
we're not done. No.

not only is it coming, we've already set the framework. We're ready. We've got, we're changing it. Little teaser for our arsonists. We're changing some formatting. It's going to be a whole different kind of fun get together event. So yes, same vibe. Totally true. Same vibe, same vibe. Yeah. Yeah.

Sarah Collins (01:08.174)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (01:11.703)
Yes.

Sarah Collins (01:19.438)
very similar same vibes, right? Like we're changing it, but we're also keeping it the same. We're same vibes, same fun, same laughing, same dumpster fires. We're just going to do a little different twist on what we're talking to our guests about because we have some amazing guests. So it's going to allow us to have repeat guests and it's going to allow us to really hone in on Strakes enthusiasts out there. So if you are listening to this, please pay attention to my LinkedIn because I'm going to be polling.

Bill Dippel (01:41.677)
Right, right.

Sarah Collins (01:48.526)
people on the internet to get some ideas and we're going to be incorporating your questions and your thoughts into the episodes in season two. So more interaction from the strengths enthusiasts out there in the community who are so excited. And there's just so many people have asked us to be on the podcast, which is literally so flattering. my gosh. Like if you have sent me a message saying, can I be on the podcast? Like hallelujah. Thank you. This makes it feel like it's working and we want to more opportunity to invite them in.

Bill Dippel (02:07.228)
I know, I love it. I love it.

Bill Dippel (02:13.295)
I love it.

Absolutely. And I would also say I've heard from some people that Mark is not our number one fan. There's a debate now going on. More and more people coming up. So again, I don't know. might have a... We promised some stuff kind of in an upcoming season. We promised a late night wine night episode that we have to... We got to put that together. We've...

Sarah Collins (02:26.23)
a debate.

Sarah Collins (02:37.92)
Yes, strengths after dark. We gotta put it together.

Bill Dippel (02:41.552)
We have another number one fan that may be in a knife fight. That episode airs just before this one. So if you're a regular listener, you've just heard it. And that those people we got to get on together. Right. We got to figure out that we got. But now and there's other people want to come into the octagon for that. So I think we, you know, we got to we got some we do have some format stuff we got to do. But I am super excited about what the new.

Sarah Collins (02:47.458)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (02:54.166)
Yes, yes, gotta get the battle of the biggest fans.

You

Bill Dippel (03:09.968)
format is, how we're changing it up a bit, and what we're going to bring for people to listen to and have fun on that. So, yeah.

Sarah Collins (03:15.938)
Yeah, I know. So in true Strengths on Fire fashion, I have a question for you, Mr. Bill Dippel. Are you ready? If you were an inanimate object for a day, what would you be and what would you want to experience?

Bill Dippel (03:19.65)
Hmm. Yes, I am. Well, I'm going to say I'm I'm going to say I'm ready, but I'm not certain.

Bill Dippel (03:35.522)
Interesting. I would be a stoplight.

Sarah Collins (03:40.698)
so weird. Okay, tell me more.

Bill Dippel (03:43.012)
I want to be out in the world. And I want a busy stoplight area. want to be on like Fifth and Broadway or somewhere where a lot of stuff's going on. Because I have my control freak moments. want to hope, stop, go, just pick it up, speed up, do that. But also, I want to see the best. I'm a people watcher. Like I'm in an airport, and I love watching people do it, interacting and doing stuff.

Sarah Collins (03:47.072)
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (04:00.43)
Stop go.

Sarah Collins (04:07.832)
Huh?

Yeah.

Bill Dippel (04:12.614)
This gives me the ultimate people watching event and the crosswalks and those. And I get to see people in their best driving and jamming out in their cars. I get to see, I'm just thinking, you know, it's a fun way to view people and humanity and kind of run that way. So.

Sarah Collins (04:29.932)
I really feel like I sent you this question in advance. You knew immediately and you had such a good reason for it. And for the audience, this is the first Bill's heard of it. You just came up with that so slick and quick. You're getting really good at this 30 episodes in.

Bill Dippel (04:38.074)
Yeah, no idea. Yeah. Well, we did. We've had a little time to practice these questions. So I know part of the trick is I got to think fast on my feet. just got to spill out. And like Sarah, I have to spill out the first thing that comes to my brain, which gets me in trouble. I don't want to, you know, there are moments where I'm like, gosh, you know what, what just happened? They do. I just, I had a client yesterday.

Sarah Collins (04:45.676)
Yeah!

Sarah Collins (04:50.467)
That's right.

Sarah Collins (04:57.205)
Indeed it does.

People know a lot about us now.

Bill Dippel (05:06.488)
I can't say her name, Nora. And Nora, we were sitting and I have to tell you, I was so honored. We did their strengths discovery where we came together and we were just starting to talk about what they do and how the strengths lean into it and what they're, what they do. And she was with her husband. And so we were doing that. And I made about four or five references to things in the report. And of those four and five times each time she said, well, you know, in your podcast, said.

Liz Volker (05:16.229)
you

Sarah Collins (05:24.76)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (05:37.56)
Yes.

Bill Dippel (05:37.628)
And I was like, that's so good. That is so good.

Sarah Collins (05:42.796)
Well, and it's great because our guest today actually sent us some prep work and I could tell she had listened to the podcast because she also made reference to things that we have said in the podcast. And it really made me think, wow, I will be held accountable for the things that I say in this podcast.

Bill Dippel (05:47.846)
she did.

she did.

Liz Volker (05:59.376)
you

Bill Dippel (05:59.676)
I'm excited, yeah. Yeah.

Sarah Collins (06:00.322)
So without further ado, I am happy to introduce Liz Volker to the podcast today. And Liz is a unique strengths enthusiast because she is a client of mine, but a little bit different than what I normally do. So where we normally work with businesses, sometimes individuals, I also host a coaching group for my Lincoln, Nebraska community called Strong as a Mother.

I've talked about this a little bit on the pod, but I created this group during the pandemic when I was trapped at home with the three children all close in age and was kind of drowning in motherhood. And I was realizing of all the coaches in our community, we were all coaching on things for women and business women and no one was talking about motherhood. And here I am on the call trying to like get through a zoom call in my kitchen with my children hanging off of me. And I just said in the moment,

Activator came out and I was like, I am going to do a group on motherhood and strengths and I'm going to call it strong as a mother. And it just all flowed like it was meant to be. And so that has been, geez, probably, well, obviously pandemic 2020, it's 2025, five years now. I ran the group for free for my community. I've ran paid groups. I've even had employers pay me to run it for groups of women within their company. So really incredible.

And the whole point of strong as a mother is not a parenting class. I'm by no means an expert parent. And I'm not an expert in motherhood either, but it was we need to focus on the experience of the mother, which is so often overlooked in society and for mothers. And what if we look at your strengths? Because yes, they show up at work. That's why we get paid to come to your office and do this, but they show up in your whole life.

And so what if we use the CliftonStrengths assessment to help mothers look at themselves to see, how am I doing this mothering thing? What strengths show up at home? How do I use them with my partner? How do I use them in the role of a mother? And how do I use them to really just be the best version of myself so I can show up as a mother? So today we have Liz here who was a participant, honestly, one of the most engaged participants I've ever had in Strong as a Mother. And I'm just delighted to have you. So Liz, welcome.

Liz Volker (08:21.83)
Thank you, I'm excited to be here.

Sarah Collins (08:23.884)
Yes. Okay.

Bill Dippel (08:24.048)
I'm excited. Excited to have you, Liz. Let's we're to jump into some questions, but I want to point out right now, Sarah just bailed out of an important part of the show. Sarah, if you were an inanimate object, what would you be? I'm just curious. Yes. I realize what you were doing. Yeah, I know what you're up to. So what do you. OK.

Liz Volker (08:39.452)
Sarah Collins (08:40.354)
Well, I'm glad you asked me. I'm sorry, I was just trying to move the show along, you know, programming schedules. I would be a heated blanket.

Liz Volker (08:43.485)
Thank

Sarah Collins (08:51.918)
Because one, a heated blanket is amazing. If someone is using me, like I just get to sit in bed all day and be warm and cozy, like that's awesome. And you're probably gonna just like bench a TV show like, oh, I'm just gonna get in my heated blanket and like bench watch some like crappy TV. So like as the heated blanket, I just get like keep you warm and be snuggly and watch like a bunch of TV with you or sleep.

Bill Dippel (08:52.454)
Go on. Yes.

Bill Dippel (08:59.024)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (09:16.918)
And this is also how we see Bill, we are so different. We're so similar yet so different. You're like, I wanna be a stoplight and control people and see the world. And I'm like, I just wanna be a heated blanket in someone's bed and be warm and cozy.

Bill Dippel (09:27.708)
I just want to binge watch Netflix and hang out and do the goodies. So Liz, we've introduced you. If you were an inanimate object, what would you be? Let's just start there.

Sarah Collins (09:30.126)
binge watch TV. Yeah, yeah.

Liz Volker (09:38.018)
geez. The first thing I can see is our reclining rocking chair in my living room. And so I feel like that would be that's like the place that we all sit together and relax and rock and tell stories and talk about our day. We read books. I feel like it's the ugliest chair that I've ever seen, but it's the comfiest chair. And I've tried to like talk to my husband. Maybe we would just buy something else because it's it's not like P yellow.

but it's very unflattering, but it's so comfortable. And so it's just.

Sarah Collins (10:10.03)
You

Bill Dippel (10:13.468)
Does it have a Sarah Collins comfy throw on it? Just curious. Nice. right. right. Well.

Liz Volker (10:16.636)
Kind of beside it. So yeah, there's a blanket bin, but you know.

Sarah Collins (10:17.966)
Yeah, do you have a blanket? Yeah?

that is great. Okay, Liz, give us your top 15 because you claim top 15. tell us your top 15 to get us started today.

Liz Volker (10:28.176)
Yes, I do claim.

Okay, so the top 15 that I claim, strategic, learner, relator, input, responsibility, individualization, self-assurance, command, activator, futuristic, so those are the top 10, the extras that I claim, maximizer, empathy, developer, context, and significance.

Sarah Collins (10:54.102)
Ooh, and for the audience, talk to us about why you go to 15.

Liz Volker (10:58.3)
Because I see those the most used every single day. And so I just feel like those are the ones that I'm pulling from constantly that feel the most authentic to who I am on a day-to-day basis. So I feel like I didn't want to stop myself at 10 because then I'm like, okay, maximizer, constantly using that. So these are the ones that I feel like I am constantly using that.

Sarah Collins (11:05.262)
Mmm.

Bill Dippel (11:25.958)
So let me ask you a quick question, however. And I don't know the answer to this for everyone. And like you, when I did this, I go down pretty far. I think I go to like 16. And then when you start reading them, I just fall off a cliff. I get there, but I just drop off. But I have found the ones later on, Renee and I coach around being called the floor. If it's a tool belt, 11 and on, 10, you got to get to the floor to pick up that tool maybe.

Do you find that those are maybe in supporting roles for you a bit more? Are they supporting the top 10 or are they just as go-go and just as important as the top 10 and they are in a supporting role, they're a lead?

Liz Volker (12:09.456)
No, I definitely feel like these are a lead. Especially like in motherhood, like being empathetic, being able to develop. So a lot of those, like, man, I use those, I flex that muscle pretty consistently all the time that I see that those are for sure leaders. Yeah.

Sarah Collins (12:22.766)
Mm-hmm.

Bill Dippel (12:27.216)
smart.

Sarah Collins (12:27.374)
Yeah. And so on that Liz, tell us a little bit about your story because you, again, unlike some of our other guests, you flex mother motherhood and working. So tell us a little bit about your, you know, your life situation, how you spend your time and how you came to take the assessment and why you were interested in doing strong as a mother.

Liz Volker (12:50.598)
So I have two kids, seven and six. And before we even had children, we always talked about, I would love to stay at home. And so we had our first, I was able to stay at home and I now homeschool our children. And so part of that is like the flexibility and the freedom to be able to see not only my strengths, but their strengths. I also coach at a gym.

for three classes a week. So twice a week I go in, I'm able to fill my bucket in a little bit different capacity. But the rest of the time we are here learning. I saw on Instagram, you're strong as a mother. And I had taken CliftonStrengths way before when I worked at the hospital, but we only got our top five. And then there wasn't a lot of resources as to what did that mean? So I'm like, that's really cool. I've got these things.

Sarah Collins (13:27.512)
Hmm.

Sarah Collins (13:44.664)
Mm-hmm.

Liz Volker (13:50.426)
And so when I saw this, thought, man, I've kind of been exposed, but I would like to know more, especially now, so deep in the throes of motherhood, what does that look like to be able to use these strengths to learn more about them, to grow myself, to grow, I mean, I've even had my husband take it, my oldest son has taken it, so we've really bought into this completely as a family.

Sarah Collins (14:17.07)
Absolutely. No, that's great. Yes.

Liz Volker (14:17.51)
That answer. Yeah, okay.

Bill Dippel (14:17.756)
No, that's no absolutely perfect. I you're about to get an invite for the build up all strong as a father event coming up soon. Let your husband know that would be great. So well, you wrote an amazing email back to us about when we had sent you some prep information and it was very complimentary to Sarah. Again, she deserves all the credit she gets anyway, but

Liz Volker (14:30.769)
Yeah.

Liz Volker (14:41.99)
We need

Bill Dippel (14:45.122)
In it, you defined a little bit of life changiness in Sarah's event. So we brought this up and you just touched on it as a mother, strong as a mother event. Can you talk about how the strengths play into you from a strong as a mother point of view, how it may have changed the family dynamic a little bit and what that looks like for you kind of daily?

Liz Volker (15:05.53)
Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. So one thing that I thought was like foundationally changing for me through going through Strong as a Mother. And I say that because there's so many things that, you I'll have friends say, if you put cottage cheese in your eggs, that's going to be life changing. You're adding more protein. But when I say this, it truly has been life changing. And this has been something that we talk about almost every single day for the last, I took this in June, we're recording in March. So 10 months ago, essentially.

And part of going through this was learning my strengths, especially in motherhood, could be a superpower. And so being able to go through and thinking about The Incredibles movie and seeing the change from Mr. Incredible when he had a job where he was unable to use his strength of helping people and how that had such a negative impact on him, on his family, on his friendships. And then he's able to have this opportunity to become a superhero.

And you can see how it radically changes who he is by using the power of being able to help someone as a superpower. so looking at that and seeing, okay, these are my strengths. These are my superpowers. How can I tap into them and flex that muscle and grow that strength in a way that impacts me and my children? And so from day one of thinking about that to even

you gave a scenario where there was a case study done on not just looking at what's wrong but what's strong and not thinking about I need to be such a well-rounded person. I want to be able to grow these strengths and really be able to tap in them as a superpower of the speed reading course. And so they took people whose speed reading was not really their strength and they had them do a six-week speed reading course.

Sarah Collins (16:55.233)
Mm-hmm.

Liz Volker (17:02.332)
And they went from 91 words to 125 words at the end. So they were able to increase a little bit, not dramatically, but they saw an increase. And then they took a group of people who were strong, proficient readers who loved to read, and they took them through the exact same speed reading course. And at the beginning, they could read 300 words per minute, and at the end, over 2,000 words per minute. And so just to see this huge exponential growth happen.

just by doing something and getting better at something that they're already good at. And so for me, I thought, man, if I could really encapsulate my top five, top 10, top 15 and grow those in some sort of capacity to be able to see this growth, because our motherhood is going to outlive me right now. It's going to go on to my kids. so I'm like, man, what is my goal five years, 10 years, 15 years from now?

Sarah Collins (17:50.531)
Mm-hmm.

Liz Volker (17:58.956)
are the things that I'm doing now impacting that in positive way. And so being able to go through this course and to see, man, if I can flex this or if I incorporate these a little differently, I can see this growth and it really does come down to my cores and my values and the strengths to be able to get to 15 years down the line. I know the things that I've been doing today were impacting that in such a positive way. And so I think that this course

Bill Dippel (18:22.192)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Liz Volker (18:26.428)
If you're in Lincoln, shout out. It's going on now, I believe. next, this summer. Okay. Yes. And so, but I'm like, man, I'm only one person in our family unit. So I did, I'm like, man, this has radically shifted so much. And I feel like it really did unlock a lot of my potential because I feel like, and there was different jobs that I had before I became a mom that

Sarah Collins (18:30.434)
This summer, this summer, so there will be time. They'll be able to probably join by the time this gets dropped.

Bill Dippel (18:34.812)
one coming. Yeah.

Liz Volker (18:56.08)
man, this pulled a piece of who I am and I had a different job and this pulls another piece, a different job. Man, these have pulled three different pieces, but I'm not feeling authentic and truly who I am. And then I became a mom and I'm like, okay, a lot more pieces of the puzzle are coming together. And then I take this course and I'm like, holy cow, not only do I have these core things that I feel like motherhood is already like pieced together for me, I just bought so many more pieces and I'm seeing this picture more clearly.

And I just feel so empowered on what I'm and how it's impacting our household and our family unit. And so like I said, my husband's taken it. We've talked about how is this going to impact us as a couple? How is it going to impact our kids? I thought it was really interesting because we, my husband and I both have high responsibility, meaning I'm going to do the things that I say I'm going to do and I'm going to do them well. And I had my son take it. And again, he's seven, almost eight. And so I knew was like,

Bill Dippel (19:33.756)
Ciao!

Liz Volker (19:56.292)
Strengths Explorer, this might not be the best time to take it, but it's 10 bucks, I'm like, why not? And he has high responsibility as well. And so I was like, okay, even in that, it's allowed me to go from like nagging, hey, you said you were gonna do this to, hey, Elliot, I know that you doing the things that you say you're gonna do is really important to you. for us, we do laundry on Mondays and Thursdays.

Bill Dippel (20:26.278)
now.

Liz Volker (20:26.298)
And so it's Thursday and he really wants to go play with a friend. And so I said, okay, you have laundry that needs to get done and you want to go do this. So what's your plan in order to make it both happen? And so then I'm putting the responsibility back on him essentially and helping him grow in that of I know I need to do laundry and then developing a plan. Okay, I'm going to do it at three o'clock or after this time. But anyway, so that's just a little bit about how it's impacted us in a small way.

Bill Dippel (20:55.9)
Well, so to expand on that just a little bit, right? Because I hate seeing Sarah's head get this big because I mean, she's so good at what she does and she already knows it. But I want to dive into this just a hair more of this subject before we move on. A big part of what we all established coaches that continue to do this, a big part of what we do. And as I mentioned, I just worked with a couple that own a company. I've done a group.

Liz Volker (20:59.205)
Okay, yeah.

Bill Dippel (21:25.422)
session for a bunch of business owners that were women called spouses decoded, where we did write ups about how your husbands may react to situations, how you might and shared those. we do do a lot of work around how couples may use this. So I want to and one of the things we emphasize quite a bit is strengths recognition, how it played out and where it where you noticed it and where it was positive, maybe where it tripped you up a little bit.

But I do, I'm really curious about this part of it from your point of view, because from my point of view, I get it from a whole different side. My wife is also a strengths coach. What have you noticed in your husband? What is the strength that you most admire or what has changed the most to change in your love? If you guys talk about this on a regular basis, what's the one you're always bringing up going, man, I loved that. Or I saw that or.

can, you know, that worked really well. If you're going to give a shout out to him right now, what would it be?

Liz Volker (22:25.968)
Yeah, yeah, I think he is very intentional in being able to relate, being able to hold space and relate to me when I'm having a hard day to the kids. I mean, he comes home, he has a really interesting schedule and he is just dead tired, but he comes home and he's able to relate in such an impactful way to the kids. And I think that

that muscle has grown and flexed in such a beautiful way in the way he pours into friendships. We have a camp called Teen Reach Adventure Camp. It's for kids who have graduated from royal family kids camps. So they have history of abuse and neglect or in foster care. And it's for kids ages 12 to 15. And even that is like a huge place that he loves to serve to pour into these youth in such an impactful way. So it's,

Something that I really appreciate about him is his ability to relate to other people and hold space for them. I will say that we've had to define some words. He has high achiever. we talked one time, we're like, all right, I don't have to do anything. It's the weekend, he's home. I just need a rest day. And he was like, great, me too. Well, guess what? His rest meant.

we're gonna clean out the garage, we're gonna rake up the leaves, and we're gonna do this. And so even we're like, yes, rest, but it meant two radically different things because we were viewing it from his achieving strength. And so I was like, okay, from now on, like I do feel like there's a lot of stuff we do well, but we're still finding ways of, we need to circle back and define, or can you explain this to me? Because I didn't wanna rake up leaves. I don't wanna clean up the garage, I just wanna...

Sarah Collins (23:53.372)
you

Liz Volker (24:20.014)
I want a heated blanket on the couch to binge watch trash TV.

Sarah Collins (24:21.813)
Yeah!

Bill Dippel (24:22.812)
Right. Right. Yeah. And especially when you, when you thought, when your mindset was rest, right? I raking leaves. That's, that doesn't feel restful, but one coaching moment for you. And I'm sure Sarah would lead you down this road is as an achiever, if you want to define rest with him, put it on the list. I, need, we need to binge watch, binge watch, right? Cuddle curl during this, right? If you can do that.

Liz Volker (24:43.888)
Yes.

Sarah Collins (24:45.934)
We're going watch a movie tonight.

Bill Dippel (24:52.208)
for an achiever, then it becomes a much more achievable mode.

Liz Volker (24:55.322)
Yeah, and so for me though, I've had to say, I'm gonna have a rest day, which means rest, but that means the day before, that's when the whole list gets done. So then I'm like mentally in the head space, I know I'm going to get the laundry and the dishes and the floors all clean. So when it's rest day, it is a complete rest day because everything, I don't wanna do stuff on my rest day. I will do it on a day before. So we've had to figure out what works for us in that, yeah.

Sarah Collins (25:15.0)
Hmm.

Bill Dippel (25:18.629)
Right.

Sarah Collins (25:18.999)
Yeah.

Bill Dippel (25:23.866)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (25:24.718)
I love that strengths awareness. And one of the things I just want to point out if you're listening, you really lead with strategic thinking. And I feel like your ability to learn about and implement strengths in your family is so emblematic of those strategic thinking themes. You've got strategic learner input and futuristic, and then you've got context that you claim at 14. And I just

I just hear that right the learner and the input the way you're soaking this up and then sharing it sharing it with our audience sharing it with your husband sharing it with your kids sharing it with your friends you're out there that input and you can I feel like I can hear that futuristic playing too of like you're talking about my motherhood in five years my mother look you know my motherhood is going to outlive me what am I planning for today

and how do I set up who I want to be as a mother that's going to set my children up for success when they're adults? And so to me, your strategic thinking themes have just like latched onto this. Do you feel that too? Yeah, it's really cool. You're like the perfect participant for a program like this to take that.

Liz Volker (26:27.604)
yeah, absolutely, yes.

Sarah Collins (26:36.43)
I would love to have you talk to us more about some of your influencing themes. You've got Self-Assurance, Command, and Activator in your top 10. How do you see those show up for you? What do they look like?

Liz Volker (26:50.084)
well, I'm sure we'll talk about this in the dumpster fire. I feel like because Zach and I both have high activator. So when we think that's a good idea, we cannonball in. are not, not, I'm not going to touch the water with my toe and figure it out. We're, that's a great idea. We're going completely all in and we'll figure it out as we go. And so sometimes that gets us in quite a bit of trouble because we'll just be like, well.

Sarah Collins (26:53.003)
I'm out.

Sarah Collins (27:02.045)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (27:11.683)
Mm-hmm.

Liz Volker (27:18.18)
let's knock down this wall, just open up the floor space. And that is true, but it's turned into a full gut the house type of situation. Cause obviously one thing leads to another. But as far as like command activator, feel like I especially, cause I'm not coming through this as I do work a little bit. I do stay at home. I am homeschooling the kids. So I get the opportunity to see my kids all the time.

Sarah Collins (27:28.622)
you

Liz Volker (27:47.332)
And so there's been this growth of when they were younger, doing things for them because it was easier for me to do it. And so now that they're older, obviously I'm preparing them for, you're gonna have to do this on your own when you eventually leave the house. So what skills can I equip you with now in order to be able to do that in a way that feels good for me and for them. But I will, for example, like,

activate, have the kids help with household items. Okay, we're going to talk about what meals do we want to eat this week? Everyone has to share one. And then what do you need for that? Okay, I think I need this, this and this. Okay, do we have it in the pantry? Do we have this? What will we need? Where will we find it in the store? And so kind of like activating them to think about it, to go do something, to be prepared in order to do it. And so

I am allowing them to take on more responsibility within a whole bunch of different tasks that I have the unique opportunity to do because I stay at home and see them a lot more with that.

Bill Dippel (28:59.248)
Powerful. Powerful. Yeah, really good.

Sarah Collins (29:00.15)
Yeah, and I'm going to a list of what you're doing because my children are very similar ages to your children and they are not doing that kind of stuff and I would like them to be so I'm like, well, that is a great idea. I would like my children to be empowered that way too.

Liz Volker (29:06.374)
What?

Bill Dippel (29:07.091)
Hahaha

Bill Dippel (29:14.276)
Yeah, I got

Liz Volker (29:14.76)
But I do, I feel like I have from a very young age when you're like, oh, I want that like that input of what are you doing? I have always had that. So when I was eight or nine, I used to have a journal that I would carry around with me and I would ask people because I was always like, what do I want to be when I grow up? So I would go and I'd be with my mom and we're in the store and I'd see someone, hey, what is your job? Do you like it? What do you like about it? And I would write it down. We were in Superior, Nebraska at this Jack and Jill little grocery store.

Sarah Collins (29:36.674)
No way.

Liz Volker (29:42.49)
and we're checking out and I'm like, okay, what is your name? You work here. What do you, and she just went on about all the stuff she hates about her job. And I just remember like full handing, like I grabbed my pen and I scratch out until I can hardly see cashier. And I thought, I never want to do that. That sounds horrible. But I've taken the, I carry a journal. I journal a lot, I think, but I also talk with moms who are further ahead of me.

Bill Dippel (30:04.554)
Hmm.

Liz Volker (30:10.756)
in a lot of different stages of what's working for your family. And then maybe I'll implement it, maybe not. But there's a lot of things that I feel like I've pulled from other resources to see, will this work for us? Will it not? And if not, I feel like nothing is ever wasted that I've learned something in that process of trying it out because then I can see, well, why didn't it work? Or if it did work, why did it work? And so when you're like, I want to pull from that, I feel like I'm constantly pulling and asking people.

Sarah Collins (30:23.542)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (30:32.558)
Yeah.

Bill Dippel (30:34.758)
down.

Liz Volker (30:40.152)
more and more what works, what doesn't work and trying it out.

Sarah Collins (30:44.29)
And you hear your individualization in that process too, right Bill? You can just hear your curiosity about people in the world to say, tell me your story, what do you like? And writing it down, your learner and your input. It's so cool to see even at a young age, those were popping out for you.

Bill Dippel (30:47.686)
Very much, very much, so much. Yeah.

Bill Dippel (31:02.406)
I don't want to do this, right? yeah. And, and my kids, my kids are in their forties and I'm trying to empower them the way you empower yours. So, you know, I hope they get there. I'm totally kidding. Garrett, Josh, Mandy, you're all, you're great. Don't, you know, you're, you're really, really good. So bringing, coming back towards the strategic side for a second, because this is something we do coach on a lot. I point out to people, strategics, I'm sorry, futuristic's like in the 20 mid.

Liz Volker (31:03.653)
Yeah.

Liz Volker (31:10.608)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Liz Volker (31:18.586)
Yeah.

Bill Dippel (31:31.174)
mid to low 20s for me, context, 34. I forgot the beginning of this podcast already, right? I just don't really get to think about the past a whole bunch. You have them both within the area that you claim, futuristic's a little higher for you. I don't coach a lot of people that have them both, you and I will tell futuristic people you think here, context people tend to think here. There are no true opposites. There's nothing that...

is a true, you know, you have to think one way or the other in the Gallup realm. But it is pretty true that I think right here. I'm always right in the moment. So talk about futuristic and context for you together. How does how does that look for you when you're thinking about forward and back and and how it affects what you need to do right now?

Liz Volker (32:25.03)
Yeah, great question. I think because I have the ability to see, for example, like my kids, what they're working on, what they're struggling with, where they've been at the past. And I can also see what their strengths are. Maybe I need to like guide or push them a little bit more in an area because I can see where we're headed with them. One of the things is I saw a need for, like I just want to get people together and

I, one of the ways that I've done that is I've started a homeschool PE group here and we have a couple of families who come. And so I've seen the need and I've tried to meet it and I've grown it in the way of, before it was we'd start with a question of the day, we had a five finger contract rule that everyone says they agree to, they're upholding for themselves and keeping the group accountable. We'll do a warmup and then there's usually games.

then we're doing some skill work, some more games, and then there's some sort of challenge course component where people have to step up and lead. That being said, there are my kids or kids in the group that I've seen where they're struggling. I see the skill or the ability that they have that they can't see in themselves. And so I'll put them in situations to try to get them to a leadership role. And so I've just seen this growth of like, okay, this is where they've been.

this is where I think they should be and where we're headed. How can I lead and guide them to come to this rationalization themselves without me flat out telling them over and over and over because there has to be a time where you learn it because you've done it and you fully bought into this belief system to grow your confidence in that skill or that strength. And so I've just been able to, okay, this is where they are. This is how I can maybe pull or lead them in this way to come to this conclusion.

to get this skill in a month per se. And we've seen it in some of the moms who are there like, my gosh, my daughter, she didn't want to say anything and now she's leading groups. And so there's just been stuff that I've seen with my kids and the kids that are in this group in such an impactful way of their growing because we've seen where they're at and where they could go and just helping them and guide them in a cool way through that.

Bill Dippel (34:26.854)
Yeah.

Bill Dippel (34:44.602)
Yeah. Nice. So one of the blind spots actually in the report for futuristic, because that's an excellent answer to that question. I love the fact that you're thinking this is where they are. This is where they've been. is where that that so clearly defines both of those and that individualization supercharges that too. I'm so good at seeing the little things that they are that could grow into more. So it's a fantastic answer. But one of the blind spots.

bullet points within the, within futuristic is sometimes you think so far in advance and I would assume also in context, sometimes you're thinking so far about that and that, that you don't take a moment to enjoy right now, that maybe this minute is slipping by. Do you find that that affects you sometimes or, or, or, because you also have relator and individualization, you have so many tiers too. I'm just curious how that works for you. Do you sometimes miss the moment?

Liz Volker (35:42.436)
Yeah, I do. And I've tried to pull myself back and say, I don't want to just be a memory giver, but I want to be a recipient of that too. I think of so much of like, I want to give this, I want to set this up to be able to have these experiences for my kids or for a family. But I want to be in the moment too. So what do I need to do in order to make that happen? And one of my friends said, Liz, just be where your feet are.

Sarah Collins (35:55.15)
.

Liz Volker (36:10.99)
And so there's little things that I've tried to help trigger me or pull me back into the moment of where I'm at, but it's definitely an area where I have to grow in, but I'm trying to be aware of that. But I do feel like it's easier for me to see, all right, I'm already planning for our homeschool for next year. Like my journal's gonna get, or my lesson planner is gonna be delivered today. I'm waiting, I'm so excited to do that.

Sarah Collins (36:32.877)
Mm-hmm.

Liz Volker (36:39.056)
But then I'm like, okay, Liz, you're right here, right now is in the moment. And anyway, that's just like a little example. But yes, I definitely feel like I am living in the future way more than I need to draw it back, yeah.

Bill Dippel (36:50.556)
nice.

Sarah Collins (36:50.574)
I just have to say that when you said I don't want to just be a memory giver, but I want to be a recipient, I got kind of teary eyed unexpectedly. It hit me right in the feels because I think as a mother, that is something that we can easily do. Right. Like it is something it's we are making memories, we are planning and it is so easy to miss out on the experience and realizing that we get to be a part of it. And I just have to say, I love hearing you talk about

your strengths, that context and that futuristic, you just seem so made to do that homeschooling role that you're in. And I just think that's wonderful because I couldn't, the strengths I have, you I stayed home with my kids part time when they were little and it was so hard for me. And what I realized during that moment was that I, my strengths are not the best in that role.

And this is why there is no certain way someone should live their life. this is, feel like I, especially in motherhood, I've done a lot of it. I stayed home, I did part-time, I do full-time now. And what I learned from that is I will never judge a mother because it's all hard. We're all doing our best and there is no right way. It's the season you're in and who you are built to be. And so with that, I have a question for you, Liz, we talked about this in Strong as a Mother. I think anyone listening to this,

probably a lot of moms, one of the questions we talk about in Strong as a Mother is what does it mean to be a good mom? And we explore that question. So I'm curious for you, based on your strengths, what does it mean to be a good mom?

Liz Volker (38:27.26)
I think that being a good mom just simply means that I am showing up for my kids and that I'm present and I'm willing to listen and be there for them. But then I'm also honoring who I am in the moment as well. Yeah, and I think there was a lot of different answers even in the class.

Sarah Collins (38:48.685)
Yeah.

Liz Volker (38:54.492)
And it just goes to show like there is no one true definition. And I thought that was so beautiful. And it allowed me to see like, I don't have to be envious or jealous of say my friend Danielle and her motherhood. Cause I would cause I was like, oh my gosh, I wish I was more like her. And then taking this course, I'm like, no, I am different. I need to be me, not them. And that will impact everything in a positive way because it'll work for us. So it allowed me to.

Sarah Collins (38:57.934)
Absolutely.

Liz Volker (39:24.004)
be happy for my friends and their motherhood, even though I wish sometimes I was more like them in a lot of different ways. But it just made me accept and appreciate me and my strengths in a different way than I had before.

Bill Dippel (39:35.004)
Nice. Well, in accepting yourself in that way and in looking at the people around you, individualization, congratulations. I don't need to compare. Let's talk for a minute about the dumpster fire. You brought it up. So you touched on it for just a minute. Can you dive into that a little deeper for us? What what strength is it that maybe leads you to the dumpster fire when you're not being a successful arsonist? And what does that look like?

Liz Volker (39:42.96)
Well, yeah.

Liz Volker (39:49.905)
Yeah.

Liz Volker (40:04.188)
So I did talk about if we're going to do something it's all in but also learner I think sometimes can get me into a lot of hiccups because I like to learn. I like the process of learning but sometimes I feel like I can just get so hyper focused on what I'm learning or where that's taking me that sometimes I want to just do that and I have this long list of stuff that needs to get done that sometimes I'll just

put to the side because I'm so busy learning or navigating something else and then I'll have these big dreams, I'm seeing the forest and then it's like okay well I have now just completely overbooked or overestimated what I think we're gonna be able to do and so now I then I have to draw that back quite a bit.

Sarah Collins (40:55.822)
And I see your achieve her husband being like, Hey, why isn't this list done? We got these things that need to do. What are you over here daydreaming for?

Liz Volker (40:58.938)
Yeah.

But see, I've had to, I have now made a list of, okay, this is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then a little portion that says extra. And so for me, it has on Monday, what are we eating? Breakfast, lunch, supper, two snacks. When am I working out? What are we doing for our Bible devotional? What are the lessons plans? And at the bottom,

What do I need to do? Who needs to be called? What are things that are pertinent that have to get done for the day? And then if there's something that's not allocated that just has to get done for the week, it goes into the extra column because otherwise I will sometimes like squirrel out and I'll do this and I'll do this or I'm taking the laundry and then I stop because I see that there's dishes that need, you know, so I'm like doing all of these little things where I feel like I've had to implement different processes into my day to day to help keep me on track because sometimes I just.

Sometimes everything feels important and then it feels like the dashboard on a car. Everything is blinking. And so instead of just like putting the piece of paper over the top so I can't see the dashboard anymore, I'm like, okay, I need to start to address some of these things. And so I've implemented different things at home that help everything go more smoothly. One of the, do we have time? Do we have like two more minutes? Okay.

Sarah Collins (42:25.676)
Yeah, yeah, go. Yeah, this is your show. This is the last episode. Hold them here all day.

Bill Dippel (42:25.798)
Well, we got, hey, this is our show. You take all the time you want, you know, we do. This is it. You go long.

Liz Volker (42:27.278)
Okay, okay. Okay. Okay, okay. So some of the things that I was thinking about of like, what do we do that works well for us? Because if we have, I want to honor my strengths and those around me as part of our guidepost for our family. We've had a poster in our dining room where everybody can see it. One says Volcker, last name, and then like V stands for vulnerability. And what does that look like? O stands

So we have some of this, we also created a chart where it has me and my husband and my kids and we said, okay, on what are some of the activities that you love to do? I love to jump on the trampoline, I love to go swimming, I love to go on a bike ride, I love to do these. And we've built this list and posted it in the dining room because that's where we typically all are as a way to build connection. So if I see Emerson is having a really hard day.

It's easy for me then to look at her thing and say, man, she really loves to do this. Maybe I can ask her, hey, Emerson, would you love to go for a walk around the block with me? I'm doing something. I'm building connection with her in a way that she really loves and finds value in. And it's building awareness of them identifying what do I like? Because one of the questions in the motherhood class was, you get the best version of me when? You get the worst version of me when?

And so even identifying for the kids, you get the best version of me when I get to go do these things. And now they're building awareness of them. They're now building awareness of what do I need to look for in my household of everyone else who lives here? And how can I connect with them that makes them feel good? Because I have solo walk where I just need to be by myself. That doesn't make me a bad mom because I want to go do something by myself. I also like to kickbox. And so that's not something that the kids will actively do.

But I do have other things that they will get to participate with me in. And so it just shows we're all different. We need something different. There's another thing that we do. I actually brought one of them over. Is each of the kids have a journal. They gotta decorate their journals. We have, I know Sarah, I think you've said like, I really like time block schedules. So from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. I know exactly what everything is doing. And I know some people focus really well on having those time block. Other people are like, hey,

Liz Volker (44:50.908)
from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. this is your list, just get it done. We've blended that where we have quiet time from three to four. You have to just be quiet. You can be in your room, you can be outside, but we're quiet. After that we do a read aloud and a snack. So I feel like there's a lot of stories that build connection that have became little things that we'll say to each other and make us laugh that only our family has. But then at 720 I have an alarm that goes off on my phone.

and it's called Hush the House. So the overhead lights come off, the lamps come on, and if it's, I'm gonna say your day, there's certain days of the week that I put Elliot to bed. The other days of week I put Emerson to bed. So if I'm Elliot to bed, that's his day. He's in charge of after meals, wiping down and cleaning the kitchen. He's in charge then when it's 7.20 and the timer has gone off, he gets to pick how we're gonna bond as a family. Maybe it's a board game, a card game, we're gonna read a book.

Eight o'clock our alarm goes off. Elliot's day, so Elliot gets to use the bathroom and get ready for bed. Emerson's getting her jammies on while they're getting ready for bed. I am writing an Elliot's book. So for everyone on YouTube, on here are just fun little notes. So Elliot, I was so proud of the way that you were brave in doing this or how you're so kindhearted and I loved the way that you helped Emerson work through this problem. So we're ending the night.

Connecting as a family and doing a board game or a card game Then when we put them to bed they get to read the notes that I wrote in Elliot and Zach also wrote in Elliot So Zach and I are both writing in both of their journals something that we saw about them and their character that we absolutely loved So then they're now reading this they get to keep this as they're getting older to look back and reflect on man I my parents love spending time with me and to see the way that they've

grown or like Elliot likes when you make really funny faces and he likes to imitate those faces. So it's just a way to like build connection with the kids in a way that draws back to their character and the things that we've seen, the areas that we've watched them grow and then ends the night on a high. And I think that's one way of like I'm futuristically looking, I'm strategically trying to implement these things, I'm using an individualization, I'm trying to like

Liz Volker (47:12.762)
I've seen all of these strengths come and how we're now forming these household habits of, it going to look like that this summer when they're playing baseball and softball? Probably not. There's going to be days where it's off the wall, which is also really hard for me because if we have a day where we quote, don't have anything planned, we're just going to go hike and have a picnic. Totally fine if we're going to be spontaneous. But if you tell me, hey, we're going to go do this, but at three o'clock this has to happen.

Sometimes it gives me anxiety if that thing doesn't happen because we have high responsibility. So I've had to figure out my strengths and I don't know where I was going with that. But anyway, I feel like we tried to find ways of connecting and things that feel good that work for us. And sometimes we even ask the kids like, is this working? Do you like this? Do you not like this? To get input from the household of some of that.

Sarah Collins (47:43.918)
you

Bill Dippel (47:52.948)
you

Bill Dippel (48:03.56)
Yeah.

Well, I mean, talk about being an amazing parent, letting the kids grow up with a book that they'll be able to reflect on, being able to put in notes from mom. It's not just your journal. We're going to talk to each other in it. Having those adult grown up, but still kid friendly moments, putting in fun pictures. mean, my dad drew this or mom drew that. I get to imitate that. Those are just gold for growth, for getting up.

Liz Volker (48:18.554)
Yeah.

Liz Volker (48:25.883)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (48:27.0)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (48:35.63)
Mm-hmm.

Bill Dippel (48:36.228)
And again, strengths recognition or just recognizing what they're doing well and why they're doing it and what it meant and that not only all of it, what it meant and all that, but that you noticed it, that I'm acknowledging it, that there's just the notice there. I don't, I, know, I, I want to be your kid. Liz just come acknowledge me for one or two things. Right. So.

Sarah Collins (48:48.536)
huh.

Sarah Collins (48:56.17)
I know. And I just say, you set the bar so high. You mean, I totally subscribe to the things that I coached about, like, to be the best mom. Yeah, you got to be yourself. You have to honor who you are and do it your way. Right. And so it's going to look different for everyone. But I kind of want to do it this way because it sounds wonderful. And I am going to have to go listen to this episode as soon as it gets released and be like, how can I implement some of these in my household?

Because the intentionality behind your motherhood is so impressive. I hope you know that. And I want to recognize you to say like the energy and effort you have put into living your family values, creating a home with family values and really recognizing your children. I mean, the list of things on the wall that the each family member loves to do and needs from the others and to teach everyone in the family.

hey, if someone is seeming off, they probably need connection. And so here are a list of things they love to do that we can then take responsibility to go and do with them or let them go do on their own. I mean, I think that is so genius and strengths are wonderful. I live and breathe it. But the second part of that is recognition. We have to say what we see, right? Because we can't just do this in a silo. We have to do it. We live and operate with other people.

and the way other people breathe life into our strengths is to notice them, to say something, to participate in them. And even though your kids are still little, so we don't know like, you know, they're top 10, you see them, you're noticing them, you're paying attention. And I think that is unbelievably powerful. And I just wanna give you massive props and kudos because being a mom is hard, being a stay at home mom is hard, homeschooling is incredibly hard. And you just seem to have

taking it and thrived in it. your kids are just, I have to imagine they're gonna be extremely well-rounded, thriving adults. And that, I think, is what we're working towards, right? We're raising adults. And I can't wait to see yours as adults.

Liz Volker (51:08.688)
Thanks.

Bill Dippel (51:09.166)
And giving them the strengths language at this age, because as they then become older and start stepping, maybe getting away from the house or becoming on their own, you've already instilled the language of, well, you know what, let's talk about your relator. Let's talk about your responsibility. That homework in the college class. Why was that? You know, how did that fall? You've already instilled that. So now they have that basis for a language for you to build on with them, which

Liz Volker (51:17.788)
Yeah.

Bill Dippel (51:38.362)
only increases your parenting ability and gives you an even ground. So many parents don't know how to ask, well, what did that look like? Why didn't you do that? Instead of, well, your responsibility probably should have led you towards having that going. Where do you think your responsibility fell off on that? Why did that happen? And just having that, just starting there as young adults and then being able to go into full-blown adulthood.

Sarah Collins (52:02.158)
Hmm.

Bill Dippel (52:07.29)
and hey, I can talk to mom and we can talk on a lot of levels, this is a really good one. This is one way if we need to get deep and talk about our feelings, emotions are what we did, why we did it, where we went, why it happened to us, why did I misinterpret that? You have now a basis to do that. So kudos to you. Yeah.

Sarah Collins (52:11.522)
Yeah.

Liz Volker (52:23.26)
Yeah. Yeah, thanks.

Sarah Collins (52:25.974)
Okay Liz, I have a special question. you ready? You're given a magic lamp and your strengths are your three wish granting genies. What do they grant first?

Liz Volker (52:28.721)
Yes.

Liz Volker (52:39.836)
Okay, so I want a life of deep meaningful relationships and conversations. I feel like I thrive on that and I need that as part of just who I am. And so I would want a unlimited well of wisdom and the ability to understand and develop the people around me would

for sure be the number one thing that I would ask the genie. The second one would be for clarity and confidence in a bold path forward. I don't feel like I settle for mediocrity at all and it's really hard for me to accept that. And so I don't want a life full of mediocre people or mediocre conversations and so

I would want it something where I would be able to have strengths where I could make an impact in a deep meaningful way with those people that I've now been able to understand and help develop. My final wish would be for bold action and making sure I have a clear path forward. So instead of like doing something and going completely all in and then be like, man, we didn't really think about this, this, this, or this.

because we just went for it. I would want, if I could, have a clear vision forward and be bold in that, knowing that it was the right path and these are the right steps that I'm taking. And I can just be bold and confident in being able to do whatever it is that I need to do. So.

Bill Dippel (54:25.883)
Wow.

Sarah Collins (54:26.562)
The way you hear maximizer, futuristic, individualization, mean, such good wishes. I was like, man.

Bill Dippel (54:29.179)
Wow.

Bill Dippel (54:34.254)
An unlimited deep well of knowledge? Come on. I mean, only, right? That's so good.

Liz Volker (54:37.21)
Yeah, I got all these boobs, so just like, feed me, feed me, feed me, yes.

Sarah Collins (54:38.974)
Yes! Lerder, yes!

Bill Dippel (54:43.46)
Yes, that is so good. I love it. Unlimited deep well of helping people, hearing you step into that, being able to build that relationship. What I also hear in that is a very mature usage of knowing maybe sometimes where the blind spots or pitfalls come in for you. Because man, I wish I could do this a little better. We can all do all sorts of things much better. your awareness of them and your ability to step into them.

Honestly, for me, it's a bit of your self assurance to be able to talk about it and to be assured in. I do not know everything. I have worked with people whose self assurance is out of control. They know everything. There is nothing they can improve on. They are perfect. And where that self assurance has been high. And you certainly do not suffer from that. You are stepping in with self assurance and knowing I can be better as a mom, as a as a wife, as a, know, every every step of where I go, I can go to a.

class led by some stranger named Sarah Collins I've never met and get much better at something specific and learn specific things. So kudos kudos to you for having that ability to be self assured but and know where sometimes the blind spot might come in and bite you a little bit. Yeah, awesome.

Liz Volker (55:57.148)
Yeah, definitely.

Sarah Collins (56:00.834)
Well, Liz, it was a pleasure to have you on today. Thank you for representing mothers out there in the strengths world. think that, you know, strong as a mother is not the only mothership, mothership, motherhood, motherhood strengths, course or offering, but there's not that many. think mostly people invest in strengths through their professional work, which is obviously very powerful there.

Bill Dippel (56:14.468)
mother mothership.

Sarah Collins (56:28.632)
but I think that there are many, many other places in our lives that we can implement this. And so I just think you did a great job today of articulating how you've used your strengths in your motherhood for yourself, for your partner, for your children, for your life. And it's really, really cool to see. And I'm so proud. Like just consider me proud mama bear over here for this strongest mother graduate that we've got today. So Liz, any final words before we go?

Liz Volker (56:58.338)
I don't think so. Thank you guys for having me. Sarah, you truly have transformed my life. And yeah, we'll just stop there. No! Yeah, I know, yeah.

Bill Dippel (57:07.452)
No, don't stop there. Tell me, how did she? I started it. Look what happened. It's spreading quickly. Well, Sarah's changed my life too. So I mean, I could say that.

Sarah Collins (57:08.43)
Okay, we're all gonna cry today on this podcast.

Liz Volker (57:13.925)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I just think of like your field of dreams reference when you were talking about Doc and the girl and like, him doing that in a way of like, I'm really good at this stuff, but I'm needed here. And just thinking about like, there are probably other things that I could go and do, right?

Bill Dippel (57:24.7)
Yeah...

Liz Volker (57:46.822)
But for me, utilizing my strengths knowing that I'm needed here and I can flourish and thrive here for me and being able to be equipped with the knowledge that you gave.

Yeah, I'm just...

grown so much in such a good way. Gosh, Bill, you started this. So anyway, Sarah, am so, so really, I am so thankful and I highly, highly recommend other mothers being able to go through this class and to see, see themselves as being able to have access to the opportunity to learn more about themselves, to grow and feel more confident in who they are.

Bill Dippel (58:07.824)
Yes you are. I know it's horrible.

Liz Volker (58:30.916)
And so I sing your praises. tell everyone, I've had my friends take the assess, you know, I've just like, I bought into this on such a deep meaningful way of like, this will truly impact your life. And I loved working with you.

Bill Dippel (58:44.668)
It will impact your life if you work with the right people. I want to make that clear. A lot of people take it and think, great. That's another piece of, know, but knowing it, listening to podcasts like this, getting connected with good coaches. It's not just Sarah and I. There is a whole community of really good coaches out there in the world. Many of them listen to this and we've had on as well. So getting connected with those people is a big part of the journey or spending a ton of time researching yourself and knowing what it says about you. That's a possibility.

Liz Volker (58:47.664)
Yes.

Bill Dippel (59:14.268)
but much quicker, much easier to get through it as we go there. And thank you for bringing up the Field of Dreams reference. I've had two or three people tell me, that's the exact moment. And I always thought it was just me. I always thought, you know, there's a lot of reasons to really feel emotional about that movie. But right when that moment gets there, I get really, oh gosh, you know, and I've had people reach out to me and just say, that's it, that is the, and I'm like, well, good, thank you.

Liz Volker (59:40.54)
Boo!

Bill Dippel (59:41.676)
I'm glad it's not just me that that particular moment. I love being here. I love what I'm doing. I'm so fortunate I finally got here. It was this whole journey, but I gotta go there. I have to move.

Sarah Collins (59:41.698)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (59:52.748)
And I just have to say one last thing. A coach can only do so much. So while I love your praise and kudos and it warms my heart, makes me feel like I really am doing the work God wanted me to do. It really is the client. We say all the time, sometimes we have great clients like you, Liz, who take this and run with it and are able to have transformative experiences. And sometimes we don't. So it's not the coach that transforms you, it's you.

that transforms you. So you should look in the mirror when you say some of that because you really are the one who changed your life. And so thank you for being such an incredible client and saying nice things about me. My Woo really likes that. And Bill, thank you for 30 episodes of Strengths on Fire. It has been incredible. I love it. I tell people all the time when they say, how's the podcast going? I say, we don't make any money from it, but I love it.

Liz Volker (01:00:29.532)
You

Bill Dippel (01:00:37.18)
Pish posh, easy, right?

Liz Volker (01:00:46.588)
This

Bill Dippel (01:00:47.356)
I have no we we don't make a dime it costs us every episode and we love it. So Yeah

Liz Volker (01:00:49.948)
Sarah Collins (01:00:51.47)
We spend money to produce it, but you know, we have big dreams that someday that won't be the case and we'll figure out how to market it better, but...

Bill Dippel (01:00:56.966)
Somebody, somebody help us out. Sure. you know, it's funny, Sarah, I think you and I just said the same thing differently. I said, you know, get a coach, get somebody and you said, but it is about the client. And the reality is when I say get a coach, it is all on the client to recognize. need, I need, I want to expand on this. want help. I'll tell clients all the time, big companies, corporations, groups. if, if you're not all in, if you're not really invested in this.

Sarah Collins (01:01:07.201)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (01:01:13.911)
Yeah.

Bill Dippel (01:01:25.946)
I'm probably not your coach. can, I can send you to another spot. So you're right. It is about the client. They have to be ready to do it, which means they are reaching out and really bonding to a coach. And by the way, Sarah or myself may not be that perfect coach for you. You may need to talk to a couple to get there, but once, once you're there and once you feel it, I get people all the time asking me, is my golf swing, right? Am I swinging too fast? And I always inevitably, no, you don't want to ask me. I am not.

Sarah Collins (01:01:27.288)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (01:01:36.354)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Sarah Collins (01:01:53.739)
Mm-hmm.

Bill Dippel (01:01:54.618)
Because what I want you to do is get with a PGA Pro and get consistent. Because I may have a thought about, my gosh, what are you doing? Yeah, well, I'll just say with coaching, you want to bond with the person and make it happen. And that really requires a client, a client that's willing to put in the time and do it. So Sarah, I think you and I made that point together in a very different way, but I love that. And Liz, you've clearly stepped into that because look at...

Sarah Collins (01:02:03.254)
Why are we talking about golf right now? Do you just always gotta bring it back to golf?

Sarah Collins (01:02:14.446)
Mm-hmm.

Bill Dippel (01:02:22.596)
look at you and Sarah and what she has meant to you and what she continues to mean for so many people. So Sarah, thank you for that. You've meant a lot to everyone on this show. And I keep hearing how amazing it is that she gets. think half my clients have jumped to Sarah. So that's just fine. I'm, know.

Liz Volker (01:02:37.435)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (01:02:37.618)
stop that. Everybody that works with you loves you, so you knock it off. You're incredible. Okay, let's stop doing all of this stroking each other's ego thing and get out of here. We'll see you people in a few months when we come back for season two.

Bill Dippel (01:02:42.052)
Yeah. All right. Let's get out here. Well. We will. We do not know how long we're going to be out. We're already starting season two. Right. Yeah, we we've started season two as far as getting it all set up frameworks. As mentioned, Sarah is going to do some reaching out. I'll do some reaching out on our social Liz. Thank you so much for being here. A perfect.

Liz Volker (01:02:45.21)
You

Sarah Collins (01:02:54.562)
Hashtag activator.

Liz Volker (01:02:55.772)
Bill Dippel (01:03:11.548)
emotional way to end our last our 30th That's kind of cool, right? Having everyone come in and talk about it and be very emotional and honest about what it is So thank you for that We are super grateful to be here. We will talk to our arsonists on the next season I have to change the end on that we have we will talk to our arsonists on the next season Thank you so much for listening and we will talk soon

Liz Volker (01:03:16.134)
No.

Sarah Collins (01:03:29.838)
Nyeh!

Liz Volker (01:03:30.022)
Wait.

Sarah Collins (01:03:36.398)
Bye.
Sarah Collins
Liz Volker: The Interview

Anne George, Bill Dippel Strengths Coaching: The Coaches Table
