Leah Warwick: Hi, everyone. I’m Leah Warwick, and you’re listening to The Admin Edge. This season was recorded at the Administrative Professionals Conference 2025, in Seattle, and this episode features the host of most episodes this season, Debra Coleman, talking with guest April Stallworth. Fun fact: April was our first ASAP Award winner, and she is a returning trainer at this event. So, without further ado, let’s dive in with Deb and April on the show floor at APC.

00:00:40

Debra Coleman: Well, hello, everyone. I’m Deb Coleman, owner of The Seat Upstairs, and our guest today on The Admin Edge podcast is none other than the beautiful Ms. April Stallworth, who is the chief of staff at T.D. Jakes Enterprises and trainer at APC Seattle. So, welcome, April, to the podcast.

April Stallworth: Thank you. I’m so glad to be back at APC. It’s been a few years, but I’m back, baby.

Debra Coleman: Back and on fire, yes, exactly. [laughter] And you are here to talk to us—which is going to be an amazing conversation—about how to get unstuck. If anyone can get us through that journey, it’s going to be Ms. April. So, thank you so much for this conversation.

April Stallworth: I’m so excited to talk about that, because I think many people are stuck for a number of reasons. Our world is stuck a little bit right now, so it’s no wonder that it’s kind of trickled down. And so I’m doing a session on getting unstuck, leveling up, and so I’m super excited to have this conversation today, because I speak to so many professionals who feel either stuck, they feel stagnant, [or] they don’t feel like they’re at the level they want to be at.

00:01:55

And so it’s a hot topic, and I’m glad to be able to talk about it today.

Debra Coleman: Oh, I can feel that energy, and we are so privileged to get a preview of that. That’s going to be amazing. Okay, let’s dive in.

April Stallworth: Yeah, can’t wait.

Debra Coleman: Let’s go. Well, as you just said, many admin professionals, especially in today’s workplace—I mean, I don’t have to go there, but you know—we find ourselves in seasons where we feel stuck, whether it’s in our role, in our career growth, or even day-to-day motivation, just to stay motivated. So, April, from your experience, what’s the very first step someone can take when they realized they’ve landed in that stuck space?

April Stallworth: Yeah, so I like to tell my coaching clients and admins that I interact with, first of all, breathe. Just breathe. Stop whatever you’re doing and just be in that moment, because that moment is there to guide you. It’s happening for a reason.

00:02:58

So, the question isn’t, why me? The question is, what for? Why am I feel stuck right now? And so whatever your centering practice is, I want that to be the first thing you do. So, for some people, it’s breathing. Some people, it’s meditation. Some people, it’s prayer. Whatever your centering practice is that you do in moments of overwhelm, frustration, despair, I want you to lean into that first and just connect with yourself in a holistic sort of way. So that’s usually the first thing I tell them, to breathe.

Then, once you’ve had a chance to do that, then we’re going to say, “Okay, this is a moment. This is not my life. This is a season. This is a chapter. This is just one snapshot of the full film reel, because what can happen when we get in those moments of being stuck or being in despair [is] we tend to dramatize it.

00:04:04

Drama queens, cut it out. This is not your whole life. This is just one moment, and it’s meant to do something super powerful in this season of your life, so let’s not overdramatize it. Let’s remember: This is a season, a chapter, a moment; it is not the totality of my life.

And then we’re going to look to then take some action after that. That’s going to vary depending on what your situation is, who you are, what resources are available to you. So there’s a lot more that will go into what that next action step is going to be, but don’t do anything until you do those first two things that I told you, because, otherwise, your mind just gets you all over the place. And when you’re all over the place and you’re not thinking straight, or you’re overly sensitized, that is not the time to make decisions.

00:05:03

It is not the time to make decisions, and it’s not the time to chart a course. So do those first things, those first two things first, please, I beg you. [laughter]

Debra Coleman: You heard it here. April is begging you: Do not… Yes, there is an order. I really like that you leaned into leaning on yourself and centering yourself first. It’s like that oxygen-mask theory. I love that you pointed that out, because I think so many of us look externally for that help and support, which is wonderful, but we really should start from within, first and foremost.

April Stallworth: First and foremost, absolutely, yeah, because when you go externally, that’s somebody else’s story. And we can learn from other people’s story. We can get tips and tricks. I mean, I’m a trainer, so I’m all about that, but it starts with you. It always starts with you, so I’m glad you said that.

Debra Coleman: Thank you. Thank you for guiding us through that. That’s a beautiful segue, though, into turning the conversation more towards resilience.

00:06:01

And as a chief of staff? I mean, that’s probably right between the lines of your job description: resilience and agility, right?

April Stallworth: Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Debra Coleman: High pressure in this role, too, as a chief of staff, so let’s put that hat on a for a second. So that kind of experience, I’m sure, has really guided you and taught you to build up that resilience muscle. How would you now advise admins to apply that same sort of strategy of building resilience when dealing with this roadblock or these stalled feelings or season that they’re in? Does resilience come into play there?

April Stallworth: Yeah, absolutely. I want to be very clear and transparent. I’ve been a chief of staff for two years. I’ve held that particular title. But it’s actually my administrative support professional foundation that has given me the resilience that I needed to be able to hold the job that I hold now.

00:06:56

And so resilience, adaptability, being versatile, that came from being an administrative support professional, which I actually still consider myself an administrative support professional. It’s still the same thing, just using different skills, at different levels and different timeframes. So the resiliency, the adaptability, started with being able to function as an administrative support professional in various corporate environments, nonprofit, education, now back to for-profit, sort of faith-adjacent, like all over the place. And so unless you’ve got a blindfold on, your mouth taped, your hands behind your back, and you’re buried somewhere, you’ve got to know: the world is changing every single moment.

00:07:50

Like from the political landscape to the technology landscape, to every landscape of our lives, change is happening all around us. And if we’re not resilient and adaptable, it’s going to bury us, and we’re not going to be able to function. We’re not going to be able to have good relationships. We’re not going to be able to hold our families together.

Change is upon us in every sphere of life, and so we—again, going back to within, whatever those practices are for yourself, grounding yourself to be able to ride the waves of change because you’re not going to be able to make it in any sphere of your life—let alone business and in the job environment, which we know what’s happening out there for our colleagues and just for everybody that’s in the workforce right now, be they entrepreneurs, be they corporate people, wherever you work—nonprofit, education, things are happening, some not so good things.

00:08:52

And so we’ve got to be able to ride that wave and be able to adapt to that, because if we can’t, we’re not going to make it. And I’m going to tell you, I need people on my team who can do that, and that’s what I’m looking for. I need to see, how have you been able to remain resilient and adapt, in order to be able to hire somebody on our team. If you can’t—if you’re stuck in one way of doing things, or you’re not catching the clues, unfortunately, you’re not going to remain employable. That’s just the honest truth.

What I love about being at APC and conferences like this is that you have people here who are on that team. They’re ready to go, they’re ready to learn, they’re ready to get in community, they’re ready to talk about, “What do I need to do to keep my value high, so I can remain steady and strong in the business landscape?”

00:09:50

Debra Coleman: I mean, beautifully said, honestly. Drop the mic, wrap it up, that’s it—that’s all we need to hear. That is perfect. I’m going to get a little sassy here for a minute and say, that message times two for women in the workplace, today especially. I think resiliency for us, because our landscape has changed dramatically.

April Stallworth: Absolutely. And then if you go one level deeper, women of color who have traditionally had to deal with some things in the workplace that not everyone has, it really is important. So here we are.

Debra Coleman: Here we are, exactly.

April Stallworth: Here we are to stay.

Debra Coleman: That’s right! To stay. Love that. To stay. [laughter] Well, I’ve got another question for you, April. Talking again about being stuck, being stuck doesn’t always mean a bad thing, necessarily. Sometimes, would you agree, it could be, well, we’re just maybe not—we’ve outgrown where we’re at and we need to maybe broaden our horizons, or think bigger, big picture.

April Stallworth: Mm-hm.

Debra Coleman: So what’s your advice for making that move to get unstuck more confidently, or maybe from a place of a more positive mindset?

00:10:59

April Stallworth: Absolutely. Yeah, stuck doesn’t necessarily have to be a negative connotation. I’m so glad you said that. Stuck is a symptom. Symptoms are good. Symptoms tell us something’s wrong, be it physical symptoms, relationship symptoms, symptoms in your family. They just are pointing you in a direction: There’s something wrong here. We need to address it.

I just had some health challenges recently—I’m okay, everybody. Relax. But it was symptoms that alerted me to the fact that there’s something in your diet that needs to change because you have a sensitivity to it. Had I not had the symptoms, then something’s going on inside I don’t about it.

00:11:48

So the same comes with being stuck. If I’m stuck in my career, if I feel like I’m not at the level I think I should be, I feel like there’s more in me, I don’t feel like I’m contributing at the highest levels, maybe I need a new job. Maybe I just need a new assignment. Maybe I need leadership opportunities. Maybe I need a new boss. I don’t know what your “new” is, but that stuff is alerting you to the fact that you’ve gotten either stagnant, comfortable, or the environment has changed and it no longer suits you.

And so identify: Why do I feel stuck? Why do I feel stagnant? What is it? And again, in a reflection, journaling, writing it down, taking a look at what’s going on around you, eyes and ears open. Having accountability partners around you that can talk about what they see, because you trust their counsel and all of that.

00:12:49

It’s going to then say: Okay, I’ve got to make some changes. Let’s identify them, and let’s get moving. The time is now. Let’s get unstuck. Let’s go.

Debra Coleman: That’s right. I love how you kind of made that full circle, how it comes back to you, it comes back to listening to that inner you and that inner voice and your body, really, communicating to you.

00:13:09

April Stallworth: Yes, absolutely.

Debra Coleman: Beautifully put. I love it. Well, April, before we wrap, do you have time for one listener question?

April Stallworth: Sure.

Debra Coleman: They knew you were here and so they submitted them like crazy.

April Stallworth: Let’s do it.

Debra Coleman: We pulled on. All right, this is a pretty good one. Our listener asks: Do you have any advice on how to navigate elevating from maybe like an office supervisor role to that of more of maybe an office administrator, or even EA or executive assistant, being over the age of 50?

April Stallworth: Come on, over the age of 50? Love over the age of 50.

Debra Coleman: I do, too.

April Stallworth: That’s my camp all day.

Debra Coleman: Mine, too.

April Stallworth: Listen, I know I look 20, but I’ve got some miles on me here. [laughter] You’re not out of time. As a matter of fact, your wisdom, the experiences you’ve been through, all the things that you’ve been able to amass throughout your career actually positions you perfectly for your next step.

00:14:10

I’ve heard it said [that] your latter days are going to be greater than your former days. I believe that, and so I would differentiate myself because I love all the generations. We’re at a time where we could have five generations in the workplace at the same time. That’s very common, certainly four. So what is my differentiator at the age that I am? And then how do I get in line with some of the other generations and figure out how we can work best, and then bring all of that into the workforce?

00:14:49

You’re needed. Your wisdom, your expertise, all the historical information that you have is so needed to the other generations. And then we need what they have. And that combination together is deadly. I mean, there’s so much we can do as a multigenerational population, and I think too many times generations are in conflict with each other when, actually, we should be working together.

So, Ms. 50-Year-Old, Mr. 60-Year-Old, even the 70-year-olds, I want to sit at the feet of those folks who have been in the trenches and learn from them, and there are people who want that from you. So get that differentiator. Stay in the game. Stay relevant. Keep learning. Keep training. And then bring everything you have an let it rip. Let’s go.

00:15:47

Debra Coleman: Let it rip! [laughter] That’s the best advice right there.

April Stallworth: Yeah, let it rip.

Debra Coleman: That’s excellent. Very empowering. Thank you. I’m sure our listener appreciates that perspective. It’s a very uplifting, empowering perspective.

April Stallworth: Good, good, good.

Debra Coleman: Well, those listening, who might want more of Ms. April, where can we find you out there in the wild? Where can we connect with you?

April Stallworth: My main ‘hood is LinkedIn. Come on, find me in LinkedIn. Definitely find me in the LinkedIn Learning Library. I’ve got about four or five courses out there for administrative support professionals, global reach, and I love interacting with all my learners, so LinkedIn. And then come on by Instagram, too, because I bet cuttin’ up on there. Come on through.

Debra Coleman: Are you? Okay. [laughter]

April Stallworth: April Stallworth or April Michelle Stallworth on Instagram.

Debra Coleman: Excellent. We will do that. Thank you, Ms. April. This has been so great. Oh, sorry. I love this conversation. Thank you so much.

00:16:39

April Stallworth: Thank you for having me.

[music playing]

Leah Warwick: Thank you for listening to The Admin Edge, produced by the American Society of Administrative Professionals, original music and audio editing by Warwick Productions, with audio and video production by 5Tool Productions. If you liked this podcast, please leave us a nice review, five stars, and subscribe. If you’d like to submit a listener question, you may do so on our website at ASAPorg.com/podcast.