132. Cultivating Your Path and Building Connections with Donna Rettle

<p>As rewarding as leadership can be, it's also incredibly lonely.</p><p>When <em>you're</em> the person who people go to for guidance and support, where does that leave you in <em>your</em> times of need?</p><p>It's a question that many owners and directors I work with have grappled with, including Donna Rettle.</p><p>In 2016, Donna was hired to work under the Executive Director as the Director of Education at a preschool in upstate New York. Her talent, drive, and fresh perspective made her the perfect candidate to replace the Executive Director when she retired.</p><p>The only issue was, no one knew exactly <em>when</em> she would retire.</p><p>Although the Executive Director often talked about retiring, she never actually took the steps to make it happen. And this continued for years.</p><p>For Donna, this back and forth, will-she-or-won't-she situation was incredibly disheartening. She felt like she was being toyed with and would spend many nights in tears over the uncertainty of her future in the program.</p><p>And worst of all, she felt alone. As a director whose issue involved the Executive Director of the preschool, she had no one to consult or lean on for support.</p><p>By 2021, Donna had reached her limit. As much as she believed in the program and the work she was doing, she had had enough and was ready to move on.</p><p>But just as she was ready to walk away, something happened that changed Donna's perspective: She came across my guest appearance on the HiMama podcast.</p><p>Hearing about Schools of Excellence and the work we do with owners and directors suddenly made Donna feel less alone in her struggles. For the first time in five years, she realized she <em>was</em> part of a community—she just needed to find them.</p><p>In this week's podcast episode, I sit down with Donna Rettle to talk about her journey from being trapped in isolating limbo to becoming the successful executive director she is today.&nbsp;</p><p>We chat about Donna's experience within the Schools of Excellence Director's Inner