Theresa Bowie, a military officer, engineer and coach, joins Niiamah Ashong on the Outlier's Edge Podcast to talk about embracing unconventional paths to success. She shares the prismatic experiences she brings into every room, from six years of active duty and a steel mill to the corporate world and coaching. What emerged is a reframe: what she has called the long way around has actually been a series of shortcuts, and when her soul calls for something, she jumps in and makes it work.
Episode at a glance
- Guest: Theresa Bowie, Military officer, engineer and coach
- Host: Niiamah Ashong, coach to outlier leaders
- Show: Outlier’s Edge Podcast, released March 21, 2023
- Format: conversation, 43 minutes
- Topics: A prismatic perspective, From the military to the corporate world, Beginner's mind in every room, Unconventional paths as shortcuts, Following the soul's calling, Leading people back to a colorful world
What Theresa brought to the conversation
Theresa Bowie brings what she calls a prismatic perspective. She served six years of active duty in the military, completed her degree, and started her career in an 1890-vintage steel mill, one of the experiences she says she'll treasure most, before moving into the corporate world. She earned her commission as an officer late in her career, going through officer training alongside graduates more than 10 years younger, and has over 17 years of military experience. About a year before this conversation she completed a long, global certification to teach a program whose message she is passionate about getting out to everyone, and she feels pulled to step away from corporate life to give back in bigger ways.
What emerged
The central shift is a reframe of her story. Theresa Bowie has called her path the long way around, and Niiamah Ashong showed her it has been a series of shortcuts: she keeps landing in rooms others took far longer to reach, bringing experiences they don't have. She named what drives it: when her soul calls for something, she goes with it and things happen, and she is learning to own that rather than call it luck. Her vision is to lead people out of the gray shades of daily life and back into a colorful world where they reconnect with their own mission.
Questions this episode answers
How can an unconventional career path become a shortcut?
Niiamah Ashong noticed that Theresa Bowie describes her path as the long way around, yet she keeps arriving in rooms that others spent years working toward, carrying experiences they didn't bring. He saw the same in his own career when he realized people in the same room had taken 15 years longer to get there, and he invited her to drop the long-way-around story.
How can a leader walk into a room with beginner's mind?
Theresa Bowie comes into rooms without making assumptions, almost like an empty cup, asking both what she can bring to the room and how the space can fill her up. Niiamah Ashong calls this a superpower, because many givers don't give themselves the space to keep playing the game when they don't look at how it fills them up.
How can military experience carry into a corporate career?
Theresa Bowie brought six years of active duty in the military into a steel mill and then the corporate world, where she found that behind the shiny glass windows it felt really familiar: everyone was just wearing different uniforms. People often see her as fresh out of college or brand new, and they are taken aback to learn she has more than 17 years of military experience.
What does it mean to follow your soul's calling in your career?
Theresa Bowie says that when her soul calls for something and she feels a burning desire to manifest it, she goes with it and things happen, and she is learning that it's not just luck, because people create their own luck. Stepping away from a lucrative job as an electrical engineer might sound crazy to other people, and her answer is that what she is doing isn't changing the world enough or fast enough for her.
Why should leaders stop playing down their own stories?
When Theresa Bowie closed a story by saying it was just one of the things that came to mind, Niiamah Ashong invited her to end it with a period instead. He sees phrases like that as innocuous habits people use to be polite, and he was there to celebrate her, not to let her give up on herself in the middle of it. Putting a period on the story led her to name its essence: when her soul calls for something, she goes with it.
In their words
Okay, actually this feels really familiar, we're just wearing different uniforms.
Theresa Bowie
What I'm doing is not changing the world enough or fast enough for me right now, so I need to do something different.
Theresa Bowie
Lead them back into the colorful world so they can reconnect with their souls and feel that spark to be driven on their own mission.
Theresa Bowie
Key moments
02:04 – Seen as a multifaceted diamond
04:39 – A prismatic perspective
05:39 – From the military to a steel mill
07:45 – Earning a commission late
13:01 – An empty cup in every room
18:45 – Different paths into the same room
22:27 – Unconventional paths as shortcuts
27:11 – Ending the sentence with a period
28:46 – When the soul calls
34:26 – Leading people back to color
About Niiamah Ashong
Niiamah Ashong is a coach to outlier leaders, host of the Outlier’s Edge Podcast, and founder of the Trailblazer Collective. He coaches leaders who are creating something only they can make: a company, a body of work or a movement. Make a difference with your difference.
Work with Niiamah: 1:1 with Niiamah | World of Difference
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