On today’s episode, we chat with real-life Wonder Woman, Joy McAdams! Not only is Joy a successful business leader and LinkedIn influencer with over 230,000 followers, but she’s also a decorated endurance athlete and mom of five. In today’s episode, we discuss how Joy embodies growth mindset and grace in everything that she does, and how she’s finding greater purpose and inspiration for training by partnering with Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.
Joy McAdams is what you call a growth mindset guru. In today’s episode, she shares how her emotional intelligence and positive self-discipline has helped propel her business, social media following, athletic training, and family forward.
With her medical consulting agency, she helps medical professionals embrace social media, digital marketing, and relationship building so that they get the referrals they need. She also helps clients develop the communication, empathy, and emotional intelligence skills needed for a thriving practice.
Her racing resume includes the Rim2Rim2Rim race, running 46 miles of the Grand Canyon in less than 24 hours, as well as 6 IRONMAN Triathlons. In today’s episode, she shares her recent experience of running the Boston Marathon to raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital. Working with the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals has helped her dig deeper and overcome mindset barriers.
But, she’s not slowing down yet! Joy also shares her goals for 2022 and beyond, including writing a book, creating content to help guide people, and qualifying for the 140.6 IRONMAN World Championship in Kona. Tune in to hear our inspiring conversation with Joy and learn more about tapping into your growth mindset.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Simplecast, or on your favorite podcast platform.
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[00:00:00] Anne O’Neil: Hey, Hey, GBLS we have one of the most dynamic women you will meet on today's show. She is a V walking definition of growth mindset. Joyce Adams is an elite athlete competing in long distance endurance races, including multiple irons. Marathons and a grand canyon race called rim to rim where she tracked for 46 miles on top of being an incredible athlete.
Julia is a vice-president of the Georgia drug card, a LinkedIn influencer with over 235,000 followers and a flourishing mama. We were worn out just reading her resume, but seriously, she exudes growth in every area of her life, including her charity work for the children's miracle network hospitals, where they treat over 22,000 sick kids each and every day in their 170 locations.
Enjoy this conversation. As you hear the numerous ways that joy has given them. And getting busy live in what? Just kind of recap. We met in 2019 at a LinkedIn local, and that's where I first met you and Barry was there too. And we were kind of reflecting on that sharing. And you were so authentic and had so many great stories to tell about growth mindset.
We were like, we have to bring joy on and chat with
[00:01:24] Joy McAdams: her now, is that the one in west? Yeah. Yeah. That was such a fun
[00:01:30] Anne O’Neil: night. Our friend Cindy Metzler was there. Yes.
[00:01:33] Joy McAdams: Yes. That was such a fun night. Oh my
goodness.
[00:01:36] Barry Gottlieb: There was a great event before the COVID hit. It was nice where I already
[00:01:40] Anne O’Neil: get
[00:01:40] Joy McAdams: online. Now I know that was so crazy.
What a year?
[00:01:46] Barry Gottlieb: So my question that I wanted to ask you is I know how the growth mindset works for you so well with your work. I know how it works with all of your athletics that you do, and we'll get into that later because I'm still blown away by the stuff that you do. How does it work in your family? Do they kids, does your husband, are you all on this growth mindset?
[00:02:07] Joy McAdams: As a family and as you are raising and you know, you feel that heavy responsibility to lead and guide a life, right? I mean, that's like overwhelming and there's no hiding from it because they see you at your best. They see you at your worst. You know, I could show up and put on this perfect, you know, look and outlook and attitude on video, but that's just a small fraction, right?
It could not even be reality. There's no hiding, whether I'm really like that, you know, in my family and in the family setting and in the family at time conflicts and things that arise. But I think raising the kids and pointing them in the direction to grasp the fact that conflict and struggle. And all of that, you know, that's something that we embrace because it's gonna make us better and stronger.
And we always have the opportunity to grow from it. The three youngest are mine, biologically. And so taking my first biological son to college this year, I had to model growth mindset. I mean, it even gets me choked up talking about it because it was tough. It was tough to transfer. Having him here. And he was such a rock for me through everything I went through, even though he was little, you know, when everything went down, but he's just always been that rocket.
So to be excited and dropped him off and no looking forward from the older kids, knowing that you're not losing somebody, you're gaining the relationship totally changes once they go off. And it becomes a more mature like peer, not peer to peer, but you start to get more into a friendship type of relationship.
More than that. When we got married, we blended a 14 year old, a 10 year old, a seven-year-old, a five-year-old and a three-year-old. So even throwing all these different personalities together, birth orders got messed up, which is huge. And seeing it became a Petri dish for seeing how different personality.
I have to learn how to conform and get along and coincide. And I mean, it was the biggest emotional intelligence type of study for me because everyone had a different personality and you see what every personality needs to feel validated, to feel loved, to feel important, and then how those are going to interact and then teaching them how to interact and being.
Absolutely
[00:04:23] Anne O’Neil: on that point. Joy I've been following you for a long time now, and I didn't even realize that you had a blended family. So that goes to say like how incredible you did with the language and the psychology of creating such a unique. You know, family and mindset there, you know, that's really been profound to watch the growth.
And you even mentioned it about emotional intelligence. Yeah. But you had mentioned about the emotional intelligence that showed up through that and that it's just profound. It's something to commend you because there are so many women out there that, you know, have blended families, but the way that you've gone about creating that is just really a powerful place.
[00:05:02] Joy McAdams: It's truly become more than normal. And I do feel there's not a lot out there because it's so many unwritten rules that it's hard to put into. It's not like normal parenting, but yeah, I do eventually I want to put together some content and more material to help with that. We have to finish getting through.
Well, you have that great
[00:05:21] Anne O’Neil: podcast with your daughter, the youngest one you were talking about in middle school, the boss bay. Yeah. She enjoyed listening to that.
[00:05:29] Joy McAdams: She ditched. You got to cool for that. Cause she got into middle school. I didn't want her kid, her friends listening. So yeah. Yeah,
[00:05:38] Anne O’Neil: I really enjoyed listening to it and the cute quotes at the beginning all the time, I was like, she's going to be, you know, already having a LinkedIn following.
[00:05:46] Joy McAdams: I'll have to bring her back
[00:05:49] Barry Gottlieb: joy if you don't mind me asking. I mean, I look at you and I see all the things that you do. I mean, the, the Boston marathon and the whole story with the charity, we're going to get into that. But, but doing the Ironman runs, I know that you're training to do the, the rim. Which is what, 46 hours or something like that.
So you have a career, you have five kids. How are you surviving and thriving with everything that you've got going on?
[00:06:19] Joy McAdams: I think to do all these things, you either have to have two types of personalities. You either have to really be the, of. That's kind of laid back and kind of goes with the flow or you have to be super military stringent, you know, to be able to pull it all off.
And I actually, you know, I think I kinda evolved more and more as my family got bigger and bigger and things get crazier and crazier and you realize. Control life is, you know, like there's no such thing when kids are little, there's no planning to get out the door at a certain time, right? Because anything and everything happens from a dirty diaper.
The minute you put them in the car seat to someone spilling the food all over themselves. I just got to the point where I had to realize, you know, what, like my kids and their wellbeing and their, and my emotional health is more important sometimes than checking all the boxes. And same thing with my trainee.
Yeah. Every week I have initially in front of me, what I would like to accomplish, but sometimes, you know, it might mean in the middle of a session, I'm throwing the casserole in the oven or, um, doing homework and then doing the subtle way. Like I'm integrating it into everything I do. You know, and, and it, the sessions don't look as pretty and professional as somebody who could do it, you know, like full time, but I'm giving it my best effort and I'm giving myself a lot of grace and then you really can sit back and think, wow, I accomplished a lot more than most people, even though it might not have looked as pretty as most people, you know, but you're getting all the.
Well, you know,
[00:07:50] Anne O’Neil: one of the podcasts I listened to, you had this incredible story of the end of 2018, when you saw this picture of yourself and that kind of set you on this trajectory of all these, you know, endurance, marathons and endurance races. Can you share that story with everyone and what you've been able to accomplish and, you know, elevate that growth mindset you already had.
[00:08:11] Joy McAdams: Sure. Absolutely. So, yeah, the end of 2018, I was just starting on LinkedIn and there was just something about LinkedIn that was really you're there. If you want to grow. And I was learning and growing from 70 people, it was so inspiring, but my business was at a stand still and I was just kind of like, what can I do?
Like, how can I grow? How can I expand? And I was just hitting my head against the wall and I knew I needed growth. You're just at a time. What else can I do? And I was slipping, I guess I was looking for a Christmas card stuff or when I was looking to old animals and I saw that little picture that I posted from time to time of me as a little girl, I worshiped my dad.
I would ask him to go running with him long story short. I ended up doing a 9.3 mile run as a four year old, which is, you know, initially if you think, oh, that's so impressive, but it's not, what's impressive is the focus. Right? Cause kids have that energy. I mean, they're bouncing off the walls. It wasn't the energy to do the race.
It was definitely the focus that's, what's impressive. Like what four year old wants to go push her body? Cause I remember when I finished that race, I was crying. Like I had stepped into what I'm trying to find again in like. Sport is laying it all out there physically to where when you finish you're depleted and you know, in endurance sports, especially when you pass that threshold, physically, you become emotional.
You break down because you've truly laid it all on the line, right at the end of the race. And now the more I learned about endurance sport, the more now I even went back in. As a year old, I crossed that threshold at the mind over body, pushing it to its absolute limit to some people that comes naturally.
But since that point, it just never did. I was always like, you know, let off the gas right before you get to that point, you know, like that's enough. I don't, I don't want to step into that crazy pain. And so. All of that. I was like, I need that focus. And that had to do with running. So I was like, I've never done a full marathon.
Right? Like I was still very active, you know, but just running three to four miles a day, doing strength, training, consistently eating home. I mean, everything healthy, but nothing endurance. And so I was like, I need to do a full marathon. I had never done that before. And I had no idea that training for that and all the lessons I've learned through.
The race. I incentivize myself by doing the marathon in Hawaii. Cause I thought, well, you know, it's something to look forward to you. If you're going to send out a
bad
[00:10:32] Barry Gottlieb: incentive,
[00:10:34] Joy McAdams: if you're going to suffer suffering paradise. Right. And that's kind of my motto. I like, that's not good because now this week I'm like suffering paradise.
You know, and, and I, I knew nothing, no coach, I followed a little plane. I think I found on Pinterest, but I knew nothing about marathon training. I didn't realize downhill would wreck you. Cause it's, you know, it's both of your quads and your hamstrings. I flew down the first 10 miles. So come mile 10, everything my glutes.
Everything fired up and was like, and I was like, what? I ran further than this and training what what's a matter. I still had no clue. And you know that little sound that's out there. No one's coming for you. No one was coming. No one was coming for me. So the next 16.2 miles was when I truly learned and stepped into that.
Like putting your body into submission, your mind, putting your body into submission. And when I finished that marathon, I felt like, like, boss, you know, like, wow, I can do anything. It was like a walk the next day. So we did a helicopter tour and then as we were flying over the Conocos, the pilot of course says, so what's next.
And I was like, why did you say that? Like, I mean, the state of like roads, and now you put another idea and then that's how the whole triathlon of pursuit started. Never thinking I would do a full, I just thought I eventually get to a house, but then it, once you start down that journey, I never saw.
There's
[00:12:07] Barry Gottlieb: all of this research that's been done on mind body, and you learned an incredible lesson, just running that first marathon you saw how important that mind body connection is because our bodies can do so much more. And I'd love to touch base on this and then shift over to those charities that work with.
But when you find a way to connect with teams and you help them create an emotional intelligence, And the team, especially in the leadership, what has been your experience and working professionally with emotional intelligence and growth mindset. So a little bit on that. How have you helped practices improve based on those things?
[00:12:54] Joy McAdams: Sure sure. What's there seeing the medical field. There's so much room for growth because so many of the people who are in charge, running the business, running the marketing they're clinical, right. And their whole life study has been clinical. And it's a totally different mindset than I'm thinking of them.
But then, you know, like for instance, that they ran a campaign, they want to exactly see at that moment why that what's the ROI on that campaign. And that's not always possible in that minute. Right. Because a lot of the patients that need procedures or need something done, they might not need it in that minute, but come two months from now when they need it, they saw that, you know, so it's expanding their minds to, you know, open the.
To embrace social media, digital marketing relationships out in the medical community so that they get the referrals they need. And then a lot of sometimes just the communication, cause a lot of them aren't great communicators. And so teaching them the communication skills, the empathy skills, the emotional intelligence skills, because they're so brilliant.
But like I said, that clinical side sometimes holds them back. And the thing that the best that can also be there, you know, what holds them back.
[00:14:02] Barry Gottlieb: Sure Chris, they teach the medical school stuff, but they don't teach how to be a better business person, how to market yourself. They don't teach emotional intelligence.
And when you worked with the companies in banjo now with Palo Alto, are you finding the
[00:14:15] Anne O’Neil: same thing? Well, you know, on that, to that point, I actually worked even before Vancouver, but, and politics is more of a consulting role in the performance and people role, but some of my business background was working with Stryker.
So I worked for Stryker for a while, which I'm sure you're familiar with joy and. Dental field, which again, they were their own business owners there and yes, they know everything clinical and there's a whole world out there to be able to build their business and build that relationship. And what I loved at following you, even from that marathon that you did in 2019, is that your journey?
Paralleled with the growth of your business. Can you speak a little bit to that on LinkedIn and how sharing your journey and growth mindset on the athletic side actually helps propel your business even further? Like you said, you were stuck at the beginning.
[00:15:03] Joy McAdams: Yeah. Yeah. And it's so funny because people are like, you know, you don't even really talk about your business.
How is this helping you? But people just want to work with people and products and services are boring. Right. But people are interesting. And so the more. People would get to know who I was and what I do. Then if they were in that field, they already wanted to work with me. So it's not like they had to, you know, like I had an interview or it was when, by the time they call me, it's already like, I want to work with you.
I want to find a way to work with you. And so it's like, perfect. I mean, it's a whole different way of doing business and putting yourself out there without having. You know, like cold call or anything like that. So that is how my business has grown. And you know, a lot of times the executives and the people at the top, they are German people who really appreciate, you know, the endurance type of sports.
They get that, or they're former athletes themselves, you know, as you know, it's a different type of person. Oh yeah.
[00:16:00] Anne O’Neil: And you know, one of the things that, you know, between your iron Ironmans, the marathons we have to hear about this incredible. Boston marathon you did with Ella. Is that her name that you worked with?
The Boston children's hospital share about that? Because I love the pictures. We will be putting those on our social media and, and all of your work that you're doing with the children's hospital network.
[00:16:22] Joy McAdams: Sure. Well, I was first introduced to the, you know, all the incredible work of children's miracle network hospitals through one of the programs I work with the Georgia drug card.
Oh, it's a prescription assistance program. And that the founder of that company really has a heart for kids. And so he set up the program in all the states nationwide to have a portion of it, you know, constantly be supporting children's miracle network possible. So part of working with them was going into the hospitals, um, seeing what they're doing and being able to do the check presentations from the work our team did.
So that's how I fell in love with children's miracle now mean you see firsthand what they're doing and how they're impacting. These kids' lives. It's amazing. So of course, when it came time to run Boston, I qualified for Boston, but I wanted it to mean even more. And I was like, you know, about this or no brainer, like, let me walk and run for Boston children's hospital.
And they connected me with a patient partner, her name's Ella, and, oh my goodness. It was such a highlight to go up there and meet her family. She was born without radio bones, which means she didn't have. So at Boston, children's over a series of a lot of different surgeries throughout her life. They took one, a brother fingers, made it a thumb.
She had to learn how to use all that and just meeting her in person. She showed up with all her little posse of friends, her, her pants, and went up to lunch and just to see. Spirit in her fight and how like nothing holds her back. I think they just made it to the soccer championship. I think they lost them the championship, but they made it all the way to the championship and like just her zest for life.
And it was so humbling as I was running that race. Everybody yelling go, Ella. Cause that's what was written on my shirt. And to hear the people yell, go Boston children's cause they just, obviously the love Boston children's hospital and then halfway, they had a tent and I can't tell you how excited I was to get to mile 13 because I knew that ELA and all her friends and her family were going to be there.
And we, you know, we stopped and I only stopped for a minute cause I am trying to qualify again. I want to make sure I hit my son, but they were ready. As soon as I showed up, they had the size I turned around and we stopped a few pictures. I only spent, I think, like three minutes there, but we took our pictures and it was like my heart just swelled up as I approached that mile 13 and they were just all there and it's just, she's so inspired.
And that's what I kept thinking the whole time. If she can do everything she's doing and you know, what is this pain? It's nothing right. Like pressed harder, push harder. And, and that's what I'm really working on. And that's what I'm overcoming to truly become more of a, you know, I won't say all the way elite, but you know, be able to start winning my age group and all of that and be an elite age grouper.
It's really just the mindset. It's just the mindset because physically I can do it. I'm there. I have the coaching now I have. The only difference between me right now. And that is my mindset. And that's a frustrating game to play because I realized that I have to be willing to step into the, over that threshold to accomplish it.
Am I strong enough and brave enough to do that? I don't know. We'll see the end of this week.
[00:19:23] Barry Gottlieb: Well, we will be there in heart and soul. Rudy. You know, I look at your story and I'm so glad that you've agreed to be a guest with Anne and with me on this, because I share this with Anna all the time. I wish I had come up with it, but it's something that I read somewhere along the way.
And the quote is a lion. Never has to tell anybody that they are Elian.
[00:19:51] Anne O’Neil: You are Alliant. It's
[00:19:53] Joy McAdams: a group effort. And that chili is my prayer in my discipline. Stepping into 2022 is to put together more solid content that people can go back and reference and holding their hand. You know, I want to write a book this year.
I'm going to put out more like courses things to help guide. And you're writing for me. It truly is all about just taking people on how I'm maneuvering all this, so that hopefully it helps them maneuver. It's not about looking at me at all because I still feel like I have so far to go, but Hey, I'll bring you on my struggle if you want to come.
And if it helps you, I that's. You've been
[00:20:29] Anne O’Neil: such a great role model for me, just following you for a little bit, and then, you know, preparing for this interview and this conversation, I feel like I opened up a whole new world of like who you were. And like, I emailed you. And I said, I was nodding my head at so many conversations and experiences.
And I also appreciate you bringing onto the children's miracle network hospitals, you know, The Nicholas children's hospital here in Miami that I was familiar with, but I didn't realize they were a part of this 170 children's network hospitals across the U S so it's so great to be able to have that one in our backyard and then be able to follow them and donate just like you and your, and your company did as well.
So,
[00:21:08] Joy McAdams: Yeah. And other amazing rural quick, I'll tell you one more connection to them. When I was still training for my first marathon, the president of children's miracle network hospital was a big endurance guy and we had a check presentation and he spoke at this event. And after we spoke, he kind of followed up with me, congratulating him on a marathon, but I just looked up to him so much and he ended up passing away like a year from the date that I met him.
And it was just so. Blow, but yet such like it was so sort of real, you know, that someone like that, he had such a big impact on my life versus short term. And of course it was a huge blow to children's miracle network hospitals, because he was such an incredible leader. So that too is just a big connection.
I have. I mean, their leadership is incredible on, had a big impact on me personally, and now they're incredible. I
[00:21:53] Barry Gottlieb: love them. Great. May I ask you a question? You mentioned leadership. And, and I, your perception of what a good leader looks
[00:22:04] Joy McAdams: like, uh, reader, exactly what you said. I mean, there's a person that, you know, it said in so many different ways, it's not mine necessarily, but it's the person that like served side to side.
Right? I mean, they're the ones that are like, I'm not going to ask you to do something, just like my little fitness stuff that I do on LinkedIn. I'm not going to encourage people to go for a walk if I'm not doing it, like I want to be so far above and ahead overdoing when I'm emphasizing them to do so that they're like, wow, if she can do that, I can at least do this.
And I think it's so important that we model on the same thing for my kids. You know, if we're telling them to extend grace to their friends, I have to extend grace to my husband in front of them. Right. I have to extend grace all around me to my parents. So my family, like I have to go far and above what I'm asking them to do.
And I think that's a big quality of a leader. And,
[00:22:54] Anne O’Neil: and I had
[00:22:54] Barry Gottlieb: this thing about, you know, in the old days we always called the CEO, the chief executive officer where we've changed that. And, and I have changed that to the CEO is now. Empowerment
[00:23:06] Joy McAdams: officer. Oh, I love it. I love it. Yes.
[00:23:10] Anne O’Neil: We had a feeling you would fit right in here with our conversation, our vibe, and the ways that you give back.
And, you know, you said that we talked about the chief empowerment officer, but you're also like a chief example officer. Cause you walk the walk.
[00:23:28] Joy McAdams: We're always becoming, I love that word and everything represents it. And we have to always, absolutely because at different seasons in our life, we have different callings and we have to step up to what that calling is for that season in our life. And, you know, we can't live off the past. I don't care about the past.
Now.
[00:23:47] Barry Gottlieb: Love a fantastic, I personally have been on. And I'm grateful that you joined us on this podcast.
[00:23:55] Anne O’Neil: Yes. We're so thankful and honored to get to know you so much better even than the last little bit. Yeah.
I'd love to thank you so much joy. Well, thank you so much for listening into our conversation. If you have a GBL story in your life, share it with us on Instagram at get busy living underscore pod. We might just share your story on a future episode. And lastly, listeners of the podcast can get a free chapter of Barry's book.
Brilliant on the basics. Simply go to www dot, get busy living. Dot com to download it now. Well, thank you so much for sharing in the good vibes and giving back and GB yelling with us.