She's That Founder: Business Strategy, Time Management and AI Magic for Impactful Female Leaders

119 | I Almost Deleted This. What Every Female Founder Must Stop Doing in 2026 To Lead Like They Mean It

• Dawn Andrews

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What if the real reason your 2026 goals feel flat… is because you set them from fear instead of truth?

In this raw, unfiltered Founder’s Rant, Dawn Andrews gets deeply honest about something she's been scared to say out loud, both politically and professionally.

 This episode isn’t about politics, it’s about power. It’s about what happens when you hide your voice, and how playing small infects everything you create. 

If you’ve ever watered yourself down to stay safe, this episode is your wake-up call. 

The goals you set from fear build a business that requires you to keep hiding. Dawn’s not doing that anymore and she’s inviting you to stop, too.

What You'll Learn:

  • Who you’re being creates everything. Leading from fear teaches fear. Leading from possibility multiplies it.
  • Stop waiting to be "ready." You don’t need all the answers. You need to decide who you’re going to be.
  • Truth over safety. Goals set from your whole self create businesses that move you, not just revenue.
  • Playing small is contagious. When you hide, your clients and community feel it.
  • This is your moment. January 1st isn’t just a calendar reset, it’s a chance to choose differently.

Ready to stop hiding in 2026? Join the AI for Founders Community and tell Dawn:
What are you choosing to stop hiding this year?
Join the LinkedIn Community Here

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Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “She's That Founder” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

 I almost didn't record this episode because what I need to say scares the hell outta me. 

I spent the last year teaching you how to delegate, how to lead, how to step into your power as a CEO, and the whole time I've been playing small myself. 

I've been getting it done. I've been getting it out. Instead of being moved by my own work, I've been teaching you to take up space while I've been carefully moderating my own voice and on January 1st, this moment of pure possibility.

I'm done with that.

So this is me choosing differently, and I'm inviting you to choose differently too. Hey, hey, hey. Welcome to She's That founder Thursday edition. These are the quick rants. Kick in the pants, velvet boot moments that represent me standing in the future, pulling you and me toward an even stronger, better, more powerful version of yourself with AI as your copilot.  

I'm Dawn Andrews, and today we're talking about who you choose to be when everything feels like it's falling apart.  Here's the truth, I haven't been saying out loud.  I do not support President Trump.

 I don't support his government or his Project 2025 agenda.  I wholeheartedly disagree with what he and his team are doing to immigrants, to women, to marginalized communities, and to our democracy. I'm concerned for our democracy and the future of our country,  and I believe women, women of all ages, need to be visible, vocal, and engaged.

I said it,  and you know what's wild? I have been terrified to say that,  afraid that I'll lose clients.  Afraid, that I'll be targeted,  afraid that I don't know enough to defend my position intelligently enough.  So instead, I've been playing it safe,  keeping my head down, moderating my voice.  

And here's what hit me this week: I've been teaching you to do the exact same thing.

And that makes me a little nauseous.  When I self-censor out of fear, I'm teaching you that women should modulate their voices,  that we should stay safe and fly under the radar.  that our truth isn't enough unless we have every fact, every argument, every defense perfectly lined up.

 And that,  that is not the lesson I wanna leave you with.  At best, it's mediocre, and at worst, it's enabling others to seize control and dictate who we're supposed to be and what our country is supposed to be.  Here's what I know from years of work with Landmark Education,  who you're being creates everything.

When you collapse into a head space of there's no possibility here,  there's no choice. The outcome is inevitable. I just need to like ride this out. We just need to wait a couple more years. We just need to just hang on.  Then we're done.  We become cynics.  We become the people who drag everyone down with us.

We are always teaching people who we are and how to be with us, how to see us, how to react to us,  and when I'm leading from a place of fear, when I'm hiding my truth, when I play small,  I'm teaching you that leadership means having all the answers before you speak,  but that is a lie. 

Real leadership is choosing who you're going to be in the face of what's happening. It's choosing tolerance, kindness, compassion, empowerment,  the possibility of equity and justice, and compassion,  and trusting that when you come from that place, when you operate from that place, even without all the answers, the best solutions present themselves often in collaboration with others, even with people who disagree with you.

So here we are. January 1st, 2026. You're setting goals for the year. You're planning your strategy. You're thinking about your team, your systems, your revenue targets. You're open to innovation,  but here's my question.  Who are you choosing to be while you create and pursue those goals?

Are you setting them from fear, from just getting through, from hiding,  from the version of you who's learned to play it safe?  Or are you setting them from possibility from your whole self, your values, your politics, your truth, all of it?

Because here is what I have learned the hard way.  

The goals that you set from hiding will create a business that requires you. To keep hiding.  You'll hit your revenue target and still feel empty.  You'll build your team and still feel disconnected from them and from your own work.  You'll get it done and get it out and wonder why you're not moved by any of it.

But the goals that you set from wholehearted truth, from bringing all of you, even the parts that scare you.  These goals create something that you're actually moved by.  So, girl, listen,  I don't have this figured out.  I am scared too.  I still worry that I'll lose clients, that I don't know enough, that I'll say the wrong thing, that I'll put my foot in my mouth.

But you know what scares me more?  Building a business and a life where I'm not allowed to show up fully.  And that's what the leadership of our country right now really wants for me as a woman, and I'm not having it.  Teaching you to delegate and lead and step into your power while I'm hiding mine, that's not 2026.

I refuse to create that.  

So yes, it's inconvenient to speak up,  but we simply must not because we have all the answers, but because who we are in this moment matters.  

And I'm choosing to be somebody who leads from love,  from possibility, from wholehearted truth, even when I'm scared, especially when I'm scared.  

Here's what I want you to take with you. 

One who you are creates everything.  When you lead from fear, you teach fear. When you lead from possibility, you create more of it for yourself and for everyone else.

Two, the goals that you're setting today,  set them as your whole self.  Not the version who's learned to play small. 

Three. You don't need all the answers. Hell no, you don't. But you need to choose who you're going to be and trust that the solutions will emerge.  

So if this fired you up and you're ready to stop hiding in 2026, I wanna hear from you.

Join the AI for Founders community and tell me "what are you choosing to stop hiding this year?"  

Let's do this together because none of us can do it alone,  but for now. Step into who you are wholeheartedly, and go set those goals with vigor and  fun and just make sure that you're bringing the whole version of you, not the one who's learned to stay quiet.

 I'm wishing you the very best 2026, Lovey. Take care, and I'll see you next time.