Leadership expert Carol Sankar joins us today for this episode of Happy Black Woman. Carol developed The Confidence Factor for Women in Leadership. Today she is a business consultant specializing in working with executives and high growth business models. But her story starts at the beginning of her career. Carol was working in the Real Estate world, lonely and wondering where the other women were. She found herself as the only woman in meetings with men, feeling outnumbered, ignored and underestimated.  When she attempted to rally women to take action on opportunities, she was met with excuses, insecurity and a lack of confidence. It wasn’t a lack of opportunities available for women, they simply lacked the confidence to try. How did Carol come to this conclusion and turn an epidemic into a business? Find out on this episode of Happy Black Woman.   The study of 100 women unveiled the underlying problem   Carol went to work collecting data and studying 100 women for four years. These were women in various positions and seasons of life. Some were operating successful businesses and developing high level concepts. Carol provided them with endless resources, opportunities and personal support, but out of 100 women, only one “made it.” Only one used the resources, followed the steps and seized the opportunity to get out of her job and move into her ideal business pursuit. What Carol found was 99 women with low expectations, willing to remain average. They did not expect to be successful.  They were fearful of money, lived in fear of being judged, did not think they were equipped to compete in business realms, never thought they were ready, were continually getting ready to get ready, never sure enough and delayed making decisions until opportunities disappeared. Carol concluded that women were not positioning themselves for success. They were in the wrong room. Do you recognize your own voice in these excuses? Listen in to hear how you can be the one, and not part of the 99.     Recognize time as currency   Carol capitalized on the huge hole in confidence she found in her study. She recognized that the issue of confidence had to be addressed before women would move into positions of leadership. In this episode, Carol outlines action steps to recognize your excuses and begin competing in a world filled with opportunities. The first step is to recognize time as a form of currency.  On the exchange rate, everyday you say “Tomorrow,” you are missing out.  Confident women make confident decisions, and they make them fast. Carol began communicating to women that opportunities do not wait for you. People listened as she challenged the fear of failure as an excuse holding women back. She began empowering women to say yes to the moment, take a chance now, and stop waiting to be ready. Listen in as Carol addresses procrastination in all of its forms and exposes what holds you back from saying yes to your moment.   Organizing profitable time before personal time   During this conversation, Carol explains how she lives in her own confidence factor and steps up to opportunities.  Her daily structure stems from all profitable things first, all personal things last. Carol’s morning “Wheaties” are purposeful things and profitable circles. She starts her day early and intentionally. It is not that Carol’s life is distraction-free, she just uses her time wisely and practices discipline. Listen to Carol’s analysis of a typical day to see where your time, and therefore your currency, are going.  She says that at the end of the day, “An unstructured entrepreneur is a broke one.” When the dream is to quit your job and run your business full time, people are tempted to cast out all structure.  But structuring and scheduling your freedom keeps your business profitable.  Carol offers tips on blocking out time for clients, and for yourself, to stay in control of your schedule.  Be sure to listen!   Embracing growth and going big   The thing that makes Caro