Author: Rosie Ward

This is probably one of the most transparent, authentic, human conversations I’ve had yet on this podcast. Carley Kammerer, CEO of Wildflyer Coffee, openly shares her journey as a force trying to end youth homelessness and in reconnecting to who she is as a person and a leader. Her journey is so commonly human, and I know you’ll find yourself resonating with so much of it - from recognizing the limitations of showing up trying to be hyper-productive and all things to all people to giving ourselves permission to feel, be human and find and embrace our authentic selves. I hope you walk away from this conversation inspired, enlightened and embracing more of your own unique gifts.

Whether we want to admit it or not, life will challenge us, throw us curve balls, and many times will leave us face down. The question is what we do when this happens. I had such a delightful conversation with the incredible Kari Warberg Block - CEO and Founder of EarthKind® and an incredible change-maker and force for good in the world. Her insights on anchoring on purpose, letting ourselves surrender to challenges and find the important lessons and growth, and showing up authentically - even when the world seems against us - are inspiring. Kari’s wisdom and stories have broad-reaching application. I know you’ll leave our conversation full of hope, encouragement, and perhaps giving yourself permission to stand more firmly in your purpose and values.

Scarcity is a universal experience; we’ve all faced different types of it at different times. And during the pandemic, we all faced the scarcity of certainty - and how much extra effort and focus it takes for things. In this insightful conversation I had with Linda Riddell, she uses wonderful examples to help us understand what it’s actually like for people living in poverty and the challenges of chronic scarcity and overload. And she gives tangible things we all can do to be more aware, empathetic, inclusive, and helpful for the millions of people struggling financially. If you’re like me, you’ll leave this conversation awakened and hopefully looking for opportunities where you can show up as a leader and make a positive difference for others.

The foundation of the work I do is geared towards improving workplace culture. So I enjoyed this conversation with Kevin Oakes, the head of the world’s leading HR research firm, the Institute for Corporate Productivity. There’s such alignment in our work. We discuss key aspects of his new book, Culture Renovation: 18 Leadership Actions to Build an Unshakeable Company. I love how Kevin describes approaching culture change as a renovation (like a home remodeling project) rather than a full transformation (i.e., leveling the house and starting over). There are tangible items in our conversation that anyone can use to lead and influence change to create a more effective, human workplace culture.

As human beings, we are neurobiologically hardwired for connection. In this insightful conversation I have with Eric Williamson, we talk about how success is dependent upon our ability to form and maintain great relationships with others. He shares his lessons learned from letting his Ego take over and becoming a work jerk (i.e., someone who does not use social skills as a necessary job skill and fails to manage their emotions), how we can avoid the same fate, and how we can still get stuff done when we are faced with jerks. We also talk about the importance and value of being willing to take in feedback, look in the mirror and wade in the messy middle to work on ourselves. I hope you’ll leave our conversation with a newfound appreciation of continuing to work on ourselves, questions to ask to effectively move forward (vs. raise defensiveness), and ways to be effective - even if you find yourself surrounded by jerks.

Every conversation and interaction I have with Wendy Lynch is like a calming, warm hug! She is such an incredible leader who is so humble (as you’ll hear, she doesn’t even consider herself a leader). We talk about her work for getting to what matters and key tools we can all use to transform conversations in our lives. We use her tools as core content in our workshops on improved communication to help people have a common foundation for how to listen and create safe spaces for people to feel valued and heard. I think her work matters now more than ever (no pun intended) given how divisive our world has become. I hope you’ll leave our conversation uplifted, hopeful, and with tools to show up more intentionally and effectively in your conversations with others.

I had so much fun talking with Brian Mohr! In this episode, we discuss how, since the dawn of time, human beings have been hardwired for connection and what it takes to create meaningful connections with others. This is especially true at work where we need to see people beyond the “boxes” they fill in an organizational chart. We also discuss the very real experience of technology fatigue and how we can use music and other common shared interests and experiences to foster meaningful connections with others. Brian is so real and authentically shares the inner work he has done and the common experience of imposter syndrome. I hope you’ll leave our conversation energized and inspired to be more intentional about how you connect with people in your life.

In this episode, I speak with Lisa McLeod and Elizabeth Lotardo about what it means to make a difference by leveraging our noble purpose and having the courage to show up as our authentic selves. Our noble purpose is how we make a difference when we’re at our best and in the service of something bigger than ourselves. While their work focuses on sales, we can all do this work (and need to do the work) to clarify our purpose and show up aligned with our best self and purpose. We also talk about how to scale this by moving from numbers and logic to emotion and belief, why The Greatest Showman is a metaphor for everything good in life, and tangible things we can do now to be more effective.