Shows
Short Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursAlignment Over Achievement — Robert Heath's StoryHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.Ever chased “go-to” status only to realize it’s costing you results at work and presence at home? That’s the tension we unpack with Robert Heath Sr., a nationally recognized leadership strategist and former Marine Corps officer who rebuilt a struggling unit and, just as importantly, rebuilt how he defined success. We start with the hard truth that positional authority doesn’t move systems—people do. Robert’s early lesson watching a talented superintendent flame out became the spark for his...
2026-02-101h 09
Short Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursStop Performing Leadership And Start Practicing ItHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.Ever felt like you’re acting like a leader instead of being one? We dig into the real difference between performing leadership and practicing it, and why steady confidence grows from competence, follow-through, and results under pressure. No gimmicks, no borrowed styles—just practical moves that help you choose substance over optics and integrity over approval.We break down how to “let the work speak” without disappearing into the background or blasting a bullhorn. You’ll hear simple wa...
2026-02-0319 min
Short Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursLeadership Without Pretending — Jose Bordetas' StoryHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.A single moment can rewire a life. For Jose Bordetas, it was the birth of his daughter—and the decision to trade the kitchen line and tour buses for a people-first leadership path that scaled from help desk to global operations. We dig into how he broke into tech without credentials, built confidence through challenge, and turned messy projects into career-defining wins. Along the way, he unpacks the mentor lessons that changed everything, including the radical practice of keepin...
2026-01-2749 minShort Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursSelf-Regulation Is LeadershipHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.Pressure doesn’t make great leaders—presence does. We dig into why the best leadership moves often begin inside your nervous system, long before a difficult conversation or high-stakes decision. Drawing on lived experience and insights from a previous conversation with Annie Paraison, we explore how to read the body’s early signals, pause before reacting, and turn tense moments into opportunities for trust and clarity.First, we unpack somatic awareness: those subtle cues like tightness, dread, or...
2026-01-2018 min
Short Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursBeyond The Plan: Compassion And Power — Annie Paraison's StoryHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.A quiet alarm in the body can be louder than any strategic plan. That’s where our conversation with Annie begins: the moment joy dimmed, restlessness rose, and an inner knowing said it was time to step away from nonprofit work and build something rooted in freedom, fairness, and love. From that leap came Love Before All, a practice that pairs self-regulation with compassion to create real, measurable change in people and the systems they live in.We...
2026-01-1347 minShort Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursHuman Choices, Real LeadershipHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.We revisit five leaders whose choices show how humanity shapes real decisions under pressure. Fulfillment, empowerment, grace, resilience, and agency move from ideas to habits you can use right away.• Integrating identity with leadership choices• Choosing fulfillment after loss and fear• Shifting from expert to team builder• Leaving with dignity and clear boundaries• Treating joy as a resilience strategy• Practicing agency and narrative fit• Translating values into calendar and habits• Preparing fo...
2025-12-1614 minShort Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursLead Through The SwirlHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.Uncertainty isn’t just noisy—it quietly warps how we lead. Beki digs into the hidden cost of a chaotic year: not only drained calendars and frayed nerves, but a distorted leadership identity that turns visionary thinkers into reactive firefighters. Instead of piling on more habits and rigid routines, we step back and rebuild the architecture that protects attention, steadiness, and influence when nothing else cooperates.We start with a counterintuitive idea: reduce your surface area. If you’r...
2025-12-0922 minShort Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursTrust Your Voice: Two Interviews Reveal the Heart of My WorkHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.Start with the person, not the playbook. That simple shift runs through Beki’s journey from HR leader managing mergers and reorganizations to a coach who helps thoughtful, questioning leaders turn inner clarity into outer results. Across two candid radio conversations with hosts Jim Masters and Doug Llewellyn, we unpack why boundaries attract respect, how authenticity doesn’t require oversharing, and what it takes to move from performance to practice as a leader.We share honest lessons...
2025-12-021h 00Short Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursNo, Not Every Challenge Is A Gift, But Gratitude Still WorksHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.I explore gratitude as a daily leadership practice that turns ambition into belonging and presence into progress. There's a simple three-direction exercise—upward, outward, inward—to make gratitude real at work and at home.• gratitude as a lens for work and life• recognition as everyday noticing• self-compassion as part of gratitude• how leaders show gratitude through trust and time• the shift from I to we• a three-direction gratitude practice• gratitude as discipline and anch...
2025-11-2505 minShort Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursWhen Vision Meets Uncertainty, Choose PresenceHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.Plans rarely survive contact with real life, and that’s where leadership truly begins. Drawing on Kaila’s leap from solopreneur to agency owner while becoming a parent, we explore how to trade grind for grace and control for connection without sacrificing results. I walk through the practical tools that help leaders stay human and effective when the ground shifts: shifting language from I to we to build ownership, setting boundaries that protect strategic focus, and designing systems that let...
2025-11-1824 min
Short Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursShifting Leadership From Me to We — Kaila Sachse’s StoryHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.Ever built two babies at once—one human, one company? That’s the real-world tension Kaila brings to the mic as she shares how a leap from solo designer to agency owner collided with a surprise pregnancy, forcing her to redesign time, pricing, and identity in a matter of months. We walk through the strategic moves that made it possible: shifting from hourly to value-based pricing, rolling out subscription services for predictable revenue, and turning I into we so clien...
2025-11-1145 minShort Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursRewriting the Story of SuccessHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.What if safety and fulfillment were not opposites, but partners you could design on purpose? We walk through a practical, human path from control to contribution—using a true story about shifting from programming to journalism as a lens for smarter career bets and better leadership. Rather than glorifying big leaps, we unpack how small, low‑stakes experiments reveal fit, build confidence, and protect what matters.We get specific about the leader’s role in growth: reflecting...
2025-11-0426 min
Short Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursStarting to Shift with a What If — Holden Galusha's StoryHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.What if the safest choice isn’t the most honest one? That question frames a candid conversation with science journalist Holden Galusha, who started in programming for stability and found his voice by following curiosity, not clichés. A personal loss forced a new lens—regret minimization—sparking a shift from IT to writing that wasn’t a reckless jump, but a series of smart, low-risk experiments that grew into a career.We talk about the power of smal...
2025-10-2847 minShort Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursYou Don’t Need Confidence. You Need PracticeHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.The ground will shift—so what do you train for? We dive into resilience you can actually use: the steady, repeatable practice of recovering with intention, not the myth of unbreakable confidence. Sparked by Greg Stephens’ honest story about near-misses and next steps, we explore how leaders build credibility through consistent recovery, not perfect outcomes, and why the quiet choice to pause can change the course of a hard conversation.We unpack the small moves that make a b...
2025-10-2120 min
Close Up RadioPart 2: Close Up Radio Welcomes Back Leadership Coach Beki Fraser of Introverted SkepticDetroit, MI - Beki Fraser is a business and leadership coach with strong values and human resources expertise that combine to empower her clients. Her work transcends genres and can incorporate leadership development, skills training, and life coaching. Since she had already been acting in advisory and mentoring capacities, coaching was a natural flow from her career in Human Resources. In those roles, she experienced the difference it made when skills, workstyles, and personality were the right match for a specific organization and its culture, and she began to realize that her last situation wasn’t a good match. Aft...
2025-10-1432 min
Short Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursEverything You Create, Promote, or Allow — Greg Stephens' StoryHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.Some choices don’t arrive with fanfare—they hit like a shove out of the nest. Greg Stephens shares the moment he was on his own at seventeen and the vow that followed: choose the path that honors your gut, then move one step at a time until the dream is real. That commitment led him to Baylor without a safety net, into door-to-door sales to fund tuition, and eventually into a career coaching leaders through their toughest conversa...
2025-10-1439 min
Close Up RadioPart 1: Close Up Radio Spotlights Leadership Coach Beki Fraser of Introverted SkepticDetroit, MI - Beki Fraser is a business and leadership coach with strong values and human resources expertise that combine to empower her clients. Her work transcends genres and can incorporate leadership development, skills training, and life coaching. Since she had already been acting in advisory and mentoring capacities, coaching was a natural flow from her career in Human Resources. In those roles, she experienced the difference it made when skills, workstyles, and personality were the right match for a specific organization and its culture, and she began to realize that her last situation wasn’t a good match. Af...
2025-10-0733 minShort Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursFrom Drifting to Driven: Building Career Ownership and GrowthHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.Ever feel like your career is steering you instead of the other way around? We dig into the shift from autopilot to agency and unpack how development-minded leadership turns growth into a daily practice rather than a once-a-year form. Drawing on Tammy’s pivot from partnership to solo work, we explore how intentional choices, clear boundaries, and visible value help you build momentum without burning out.We walk through practical ways to invite aspirations on your team—h...
2025-10-0717 min
Short Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursNo More Autopilot: Claim Your Leadership Agency — Tammy Daniels’ StoryHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.What happens when you finally take control of your career? Tammy Daniels' story reveals how one pivotal decision transformed her professional trajectory and personal understanding.After years of following the work at established law firms, Tammy found herself at a crossroads. The legal work had become "mundane and perfunctory," leaving her in a state of complacency. When faced with yet another firm transition, she made an unexpected choice: starting her own practice. This decision marked the firs...
2025-09-3057 minShort Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursLayoffs and Job Hugging: Leading Through UncertaintyHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.Layoffs shatter our sense of security and challenge our professional identity in profound ways. Whether you've just received the news, survived while colleagues departed, or sense the anxiety of possible workforce reductions, this episode offers crucial guidance for navigating before, during, and after these difficult transitions.The shock of job loss often comes with confusion about what happened and what it means about your value. Let's be crystal clear: being laid off is fundamentally different from bein...
2025-09-2324 min
Short Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursRedefining Success After a Layoff — Steve Jaffe’s StoryHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.When the rug is pulled out from under your career, what comes next? Steve Jaffe knows this disorienting experience all too well. After weathering four layoffs across his 25-year marketing career, he's transformed from someone devastated by job loss to someone who "sails right through it like water off a duck's back."Steve's journey reveals a profound truth about career disruptions: they're detours, not roadblocks. "The layoff experience will change you," he explains, "and it's up to y...
2025-09-1644 minShort Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursBreaking Old Scripts: The Courage to Choose Your Own Leadership StoryHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.What happens when the version of success you've been told to follow no longer fits who you really are? Chris Blount faced this question head-on, making the brave choice to honor his authentic self by leaving behind security for something unknown but true.Our lives are shaped by countless messages about who we "should" be – from parents, community members, and even strangers. These influences create stories and narratives about our identity that aren't capital-T True but built...
2025-09-0921 min
Short Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursFrom Burnout to On Purpose: Rewiring Work & Life — Chris Blount’s StoryHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.What happens when the blueprint you've been handed for success starts suffocating your soul? Chris Blount's journey offers a compelling answer to this question that many of us face but few dare to confront.Growing up in a blue-collar New Orleans family, Chris absorbed the message that a man's worth was measured solely by his ability to provide. "You work until you don't. That is everything that you're worth," he recalls being taught. This belief system prop...
2025-09-0245 minShort Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursStop Doing All the Things: Get Recognized for Your True ImpactHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.Ever found yourself drowning in tasks but wondering why you're not growing as a leader? You might be caught in what I call the "breadth trap" – mistaking busyness for advancement and spreading yourself too thin across responsibilities without developing true expertise.After my conversation with Shannon King about broken organizational promises, I realized how many of us tie our worth to external validation like job titles or recognition. When these don't materialize as expected, we question our ab...
2025-08-2624 min
Short Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursShannon King's Story: Surviving the Fallout of Broken Corporate PromisesHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.The moment Shannon King declined a lateral position after returning from maternity leave, she knew exactly what it meant – unemployment. Yet, she felt completely at peace with her decision. After seven years of building a department from scratch and countless promises of leadership opportunities, the restructuring that happened during her maternity leave revealed a harsh truth: corporate loyalty often flows in only one direction.Shannon's powerful story explores what happens when we choose ourselves in the face o...
2025-08-1947 minShort Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and EntrepreneursThe Mindset Shift: From Manager to Strategic LeaderHave a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.The leap from technical expert to strategic leader requires more than skill—it demands a shift in mindset. This episode highlights the subtle but powerful communication shifts that signal executive readiness, and the importance of creating space—for yourself and your team—to focus on what matters most. For leaders with technical backgrounds, it’s a practical look at what it actually means to “be more strategic,” and how to navigate that transition with clarity and intent...
2025-08-0504 min