Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Impostor Syndrome Files
Plongez dans la liste complète des épisodes de The Impostor Syndrome Files. Chaque épisode est catalogué accompagné de descriptions détaillées, ce qui facilite la recherche et l'exploration de sujets spécifiques. Suivez tous les épisodes de votre podcast préféré et ne manquez aucun contenu pertinent.
Rows per page:
50
1–50 of 321
Titre
Date
Durée
Cultivating Charisma: Your Path to Authentic Confidence
04 Nov 2025
00:35:32
In this episode of The Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about charisma, and not the slick or manipulative version we sometimes imagine. My guest this week is Milam Miller, leadership development and sales consultant and author of The Charisma Craft: A Modern Leadership Guide to Enhance Your Riz Factor.
Milam shares how his own journey from Texas football to New York sports to European soccer and now entrepreneurship taught him that charisma is not an inborn trait but a skill we can all develop. We dig into the ABCs of charisma (Authenticity, Boldness, Curiosity), why confidence is quiet and deeply human and how kindness and decency fuel true influence and connection.
About My Guest Milam Miller personifies healthy charisma. His optimistic outlook and zest for life allow him to engage with audiences in an authentic way that inspires bold action and fierce courage.
BCK – “Be Confident and Kind” – was a private mantra that Milam created to serve him in the corporate world. Over the course of his career in sports & entertainment, Milam negotiated more than $100MM in commercial revenue for all of the organizations he proudly represented. From the red carpet of The ESPY Awards in Los Angeles to the desert dunes of Doha, Milam has built deep relationships through his study of soft skills and genuine care for people.
Milam’s mental health severely suffered in a fully remote senior leadership role during the isolation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. After seeking out help from coaches and therapists, Milam realized he was living out of alignment. In 2022, he stepped back into his power to launch BCK and serve leaders desiring to create stronger teams and drive better results.
What was once a personal philosophy is now a public movement to positively transform the future of work. BCK does this by teaching charismatic leadership principles on how to influence, motivate, persuade others.
Milam speaks to and coaches Executives, Senior Leaders, and Managers, alike. He also facilitates workshops for Fortune 100 companies, such as Amazon and Google. His subject matter is culturally relevant, topical, and most all, engaging & fun.
In this episode of The Impostor Syndrome Files, we explore what it takes to create a fulfilling professional life while also protecting our well-being. My guest this week is Bree Groff, a seasoned consultant, transformation expert and author of Today Was Fun: A Book About Work (Seriously).
Bree shares her unconventional career journey from teaching middle and high school math and physics, to acting, to consulting and culture change and ultimately to authoring a book about joy at work. Along the way, she opens up about identity shifts, learning to slow down and the hard-earned perspective that comes from life’s toughest seasons, including caring for her mother through terminal illness.
Together we talk about:
The messy, non-linear path to a fulfilling career
Why “future you” is stronger and more resourceful than you think
How to create more joy in your workdays without ignoring hard realities
Practical strategies for setting boundaries, pacing yourself and making space for what matters most
About My Guest Bree Groff is a workplace culture expert and author of "Today Was Fun: A Book About Work (Seriously)". She has spent her career guiding C-suite leaders at companies such as Microsoft, Google, Pfizer, Calvin Klein, Target, and Hilton through periods of complex change. She is a Senior Advisor to the global consultancy SYPartners, previously served as the CEO of NOBL Collective, a consultancy pioneering new ways of working, and she holds an MS in Learning and Organizational Change from Northwestern University. Bree lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.
In this episode of The Impostor Syndrome Files, we explore the powerful truth that courage isn’t something you’re born with, it’s something you build. My guest this week is Jen Hardy, COO at the Academy of MotivAction. Together, we discuss how early life experiences shape our inner stories, why emotional awareness is key to personal growth and how courage and vulnerability are interconnected. Jen shares her own journey from feeling like an impostor in the classroom to stepping into her voice and owning her role as a teacher and coach.
We also talk about how self-sabotage often shows up as a protective strategy, how to start identifying the unconscious patterns that keep us stuck, and why courage is a skill that must be practiced in order to build resilience and self-trust.
About My Guest Jen Hardy, the COO at The Academy of MotivAction, is a transformation-driven educator, speaker, and coach who bridges logic and emotion to create lasting impact. A former public educator and state championship soccer coach, Jen left the traditional system to pursue a broader mission—empowering individuals to harness resilience, clarity, and emotional intelligence under pressure. With expertise in neuroscience, behavioral science, and communication, she helps people break through limitations, build confidence, and take decisive action. Beyond her work, Jen is a lifelong learner who thrives on deep conversations, is always juggling at least two books, and still finds joy on the soccer field.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about gaining control of our attention. Between our phones, our busy minds and all of the other distractions around us, it’s challenging to control our attention. But if we’re not focused on what we’re paying attention to, then we can’t be as intentional about our decisions, thoughts and behaviors. My guest this week, Derick Johnson, is an Army veteran, life coach and fitness trainer who shares his personal journey with childhood trauma and how he empowered himself to heal. We also explore simple, practical steps you can use to gain control of your attention and take your power back.
About My Guest Derick Johnson is a US Army Veteran, Life Coach and Trainer that has helped over 500 clients and 50 companies go from just surviving to thriving through his coaching modalities and marketing efforts.
Derick was awarded Soldier of the Year for his battalion 3x, received numerous Awards for PT and took his leadership skills, certifications and life experiences to help people take control of their mind and body so they can THRIVE, not just survive.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about perfectionism. Many of us are high achievers who take great pride in our work and want that work to be as high quality as possible. But there is a significant difference between aiming for excellence and trying to be perfect. My guest this week, Emily Sander, a former C-suite executive and now leadership coach, shares her journey with perfectionism and how it kept her from being the person and the leader she wanted to be. We also talk about strategies you can use to better manage perfectionism.
About My Guest Emily Sander is a C-Suite Executive turned Leadership Coach. She is the founder of Next Level Coaching. As an ICF-Certified Coach, she helps business professionals step into effective leadership with one-on-one coaching. She’s written two books: - "Hacking Executive Leadership" and - "An Insider’s Perspective on the Chief of Staff."
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about how to make our work more effortless. Too many of us are struggling at work and we don’t know why. My guest this week, Sneha Mandala, a sustainable peak performance expert, shares her research on how we can raise our self-awareness and take action to achieve more flow states. She also shares her own career transition and strategies you can use to minimize risk and maximize confidence in your own transitions.
About My Guest Sneha Mandala is an expert in "Sustainable Peak Performance" for corporate and tech professionals. Her focus is on optimizing employee performance while combating disengagement and burnout, which has been proven to significantly reduce business expenses. In fact, this problem is currently costing the U.S. economy $1 trillion annually.
Sneha also holds the prestigious Professional Certified Coach (PCC) designation from the International Coach Federation (ICF). This is a rare accomplishment at her age, as only around 350 coaches in the millennial age group have achieved professional credentials out of the 300,000 coaches in the U.S. according to ICF studies.
As a highly regarded speaker for Vistage, the world's largest executive coaching organization, Sneha Mandala has trained and coached business and tech leaders with remarkable results. She has reduced turnover and elevated engagement and performance in these organizations. Her expertise has led to repeat appearances on Fox24 News, where she dissects intricate corporate issues and provides impactful solutions that resonate with diverse employee age groups.
Sneha Mandala has over 1500 coaching hours under her belt, specializing in making work "effortless". Her innovative two-step framework for effortless work, featured in a TED talk, has transformed corporate work culture dynamics. Additionally, she has pioneered transformative L&D programs, introduced gamification and TikTok-style learning, and served as a keynote speaker for executive audiences. All of these accomplishments have solidified her reputation in Sustainable Peak Performance.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about how helping men to heal will help all of us to thrive. So much of the dysfunction we experience in today’s workplaces is rooted in the lack of compassion we have for ourselves, our fragile egos, and the way we perceive others as threats. This is much deeper than impostor syndrome. While we tend to focus on women’s challenges in the workplace, a giant missing piece of the puzzle is how we understand men’s experience. When men are in pain, and so many of them are, they hurt others on small or large scales. My guest this week is Sean Harvey, author of the new book Warrior Compassion, Unleashing the Healing Power of Men. Sean is an organization development consultant, an interfaith minister and much, much more. One of the things I find most fascinating about his work is the healing work he does with men in hyper-masculine systems, such as police forces and even right-wing extremist groups. Here, Sean and I discuss what our DEI conversations are missing and how compassion will lead us to far greater levels of inclusion.
About My Guest Sean Harvey, MSOD, MSEd, is an organization development consultant, master facilitator and mentor, professor, interfaith minister, TEDx speaker, and men’s soul adventure guide. He received the Saul A. Silverman 2021 Award for Conflict Resolution and Healing from the International Organization Development Association for his healing work with men in hyper-masculine systems.
His work in personal, organizational, and societal transformation is inspired by twenty-five years of purpose, talent, and organization development consulting combined with having served on the faculties of Cornell, New York University, and Baruch College CUNY teaching courses in the areas of leadership, management, and organizational behavior and change. Sean is affiliated with George Washington University’s Center for Excellence in Public Leadership in Washington, D.C. As an interfaith minister, he co-founded Project Compassion, a national initiative to deepen compassion in police departments and communities.
In 2021, he delivered his TEDx, “Compassion Makes the Warrior.” Sean's book, "Warrior Compassion: Unleashing the Healing Power of Men" was published in September 2023 and became an Amazon New Release Best Seller for Organizational Change and Fourth Best Seller for Men's Gender Studies.
What the U.S. Military Can Teach Us about Leadership
17 Oct 2023
00:33:41
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about what the US military can teach us about leadership. If you’re like me and have limited experience with the military, your perceptions are likely based on what you see in the movies. But there is a lot we can learn from the military’s approach to leadership. My guest this week, Ben Grimes, is a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot and military attorney who now coaches and consults with lawyers, law firms and other organizations to improve their cultures and performance levels. Here we talk about the importance of trust and empathy to human-centered leadership.
About My Guest Ben is a leadership coach and consultant who brings decades of leadership training and development experience. From his twenty-year career as U.S. Army helicopter pilot and military attorney to years as a federal government leader and recognized professionalism expert, Ben is a resource to lawyers, law firms, and other professionals working to shift performance and culture. With a focus on developing leaders grounded in principles of trust, transparency, empathy, and passion, Ben facilitates growth in personal capacity, organizational health, and enterprise success. Ben is, himself, passionate about the power and potential of leadership with a human lens. He holds a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a law degree from New York University School of Law.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the power of storytelling to create greater connection and inclusion. But sharing our stories can be challenging, especially if we belong to marginalized groups. How do we stay true to what’s important to us when society tells us we’re not good enough? My guest this week, Mark Travis Rivera, is a Latinx, queer, disabled, gender non-conforming professional storyteller. Here he shares his own personal journey of using the power of stories to connect and fulfill his calling. We also talk about how we can all use vulnerability to empower ourselves and those around us.
We talk about the power of storytelling to create greater connection and inclusion. My guest shares his own personal journey of using the power of stories to connect and fulfill his calling. We also talk about how we can all use vulnerability to empower ourselves and those around us.
About My Guest Telling stories is at the core of Mark Travis Rivera’s purpose in life. He is an award-winning creative entrepreneur and the Chief Executive Officer + Founder of The Professional Storyteller.
As a writer, Rivera’s bylines include The Bergen Record, Herald News, The Star-Ledger, Fox News Latino, and The Huffington Post. He was also a contributing author in the anthology, Crisis and Care: Queer Activist Responses to a Global Pandemic (PM Press, 2022), edited by Adrian Shanker. His debut collection, Drafts: An Imperfect Collection of Writing, was published in August 2017. He was also a contributing writer for Imagining: A Gibney Journal, where he shared his experience as a disabled choreographer and dancer.
As a stubborn and determined 17-year-old, Rivera founded marked dance project (2009-2019), becoming the youngest person in the United States to create and lead an integrated dance company for disabled and non-disabled dancers. Inspired by his desire to dance as a person with cerebral palsy, he would go on to help disabled and non-disabled dancers alike find their voice as artists.
As a speaker, he has addressed audiences at various institutions of higher learning, including Harvard, MIT, Rutgers, and NYU. As a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant and facilitator, he has spoken to corporate audiences virtually in the UK, Canada, Mexico, Latin America, Israel, China, and India, just to name a few. His TEDx Talk, “Embracing Yourself, Embracing Your Potential,” was a smash in 2014 at Bergen Community College.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the scripts that guide us. We all have scripts that inform our behavior but how often do we stop to examine them to see if they still serve us? And how often do we update them when they aren’t working for us any longer? My guest this week, Kathy Hadizadeh, shares her perspective on the value of deep reflection in helping us to become our best selves. We also discuss the connection between impostor syndrome and anxiety, as well as strategies for how to manage these experiences, including the power of the pause.
About My Guest Kathy Hadizadeh is a highly accomplished former Tech Executive with an impressive 15-year tenure in the corporate world. Throughout her career, Kathy has worked with renowned Fortune 100 and 500 companies, including DIRECTV, AT&T, and Omnicom. Her vast experience spans across diverse industries such as Technology, Entertainment, Marketing and Advertising, Fintech and Biotech.
In 2018, Kathy embarked on a new journey by founding Heart Mind Tuning, an exceptional agency dedicated to empowering senior leaders in the Tech, Product, and Engineering fields. At Heart Mind Tuning, Kathy offers a comprehensive range of services designed to enhance whole person leadership and executive coaching. With her expertise in Mindfulness practices, she enables leaders to bring about transformative change, both personally and professionally.
Clients who have embraced Kathy's proven Pause to Rise Method have witnessed extraordinary results, experiencing a remarkable 50-70% increase in their executive presence. By mastering the art of pausing, reflecting, and rising with purpose, leaders are equipped to navigate challenges with clarity, authenticity, and resilience. Kathy's unique approach combines deep introspection with practical strategies, enabling her clients to unlock their full potential and achieve exceptional success.
Elevate your leadership to new heights with Kathy Hadizadeh and Heart Mind Tuning. Discover the path to becoming a truly transformative senior tech leader, making impactful decisions, fostering meaningful connections, and propelling your organization to remarkable heights of achievement.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we move beyond impostor syndrome and talk about the effects of childhood pain and trauma on our experiences as adults. While it’s easy to say that, “the past is the past,” the reality is that our childhood experiences stay with us into adulthood. This week, I talk with Avi Wolfson about his journey to heal his childhood wounds, including the power of leveraging resources to help him do this important work. We also talk about how to share our authentic selves while protecting ourselves in the workplace. And, we talk about the importance of failure to achieving success.
About My Guest Avi Wolfson leverages a career as a licensed realtor, professional salesperson, 3 time axe throwing champion, and best-selling author to help audiences directly as a professional speaker. Wolfson, an expert in resilience, entrepreneurship, and self-discovery, inspires others with his story of overcoming childhood trauma and mental health challenges and finding work-life balance. In addition, Wolfson is a proponent of failure as part of the success process, giving back positivity into the universe by paying it forward. Audiences and critics find Wolfson “creative, humble, honest and smart” and adept at growing organizations by “helping people into better positions where they’re happy and flourish.”
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the upper limit. Just as homeostasis keeps our bodies in a state of equilibrium, our minds tend to do this as well. Often, we set up an upper limit of what we think we’re capable of, or what we think we deserve, which becomes our own glass ceiling. My guest this week, Jill Avey, shares strategies for how we can push past this upper limit to better utilize our strengths and more confidently achieve our goals.
About My Guest Jill Avey helps women leaders get promoted to the Director and VP levels. She does this by supporting her clients to develop their strengths, increase their influence, and improve team performance while navigating gender bias. She believes that everyone has talents they haven’t yet fully realized. She is inspired to help her clients find deep fulfillment in their careers, both personally and financially. Her approach is grounded in research, applied behavioral science, and her own personal experience as an executive.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the trap of the comfort zone. It’s all too easy to get stuck in our comfort zones. Each time we choose not to take action, we reinforce the security of our comfort zones, which makes the outside world feel that much scarier. This week, I talk with Aaron Trahan, a former executive leader turned performance coach who now helps leaders reach their full potential. Here we talk about strategies to break free from complacency and the status quo to become the best versions of ourselves.
About My Guest Aaron has a 15+ year progressive background as a senior-level executive leader within public-company corporate environments & early-stage startups. Aaron’s leadership roles have included overseeing GTM strategy, operations, key growth initiatives, people & organizational development, & performance management. Aaron is passionate about leadership development, and most especially, helping professionals find their path from good-to-great. As a certified leadership & executive performance coach - Aaron leverages his background & training to support leaders with the implementation of systems, mental models, frameworks, growth programs, & external accountability that allows them to accelerate their path to operating as the best version of themselves and reaching full potential.
In this episode of The Impostor Syndrome Files, we explore what happens when logic isn’t enough to break through self-doubt—and how hypnosis can help us shift long-held patterns that keep us stuck. My guest this week is Jennifer Fidder, a social psychologist, NLP practitioner, and transformational hypnotist who helps high-achievers move from awareness to sustainable change.
Together, we discuss the hidden logic of the subconscious mind and why the fears, perfectionism, and self-sabotage we experience aren’t personal failings—they’re outdated protective strategies. Jennifer offers a powerful reframe of impostor syndrome, not as a flaw to fix, but as a signal that we’re leveling up and stretching into new territory.
We also dive into how hypnosis can help rewire our thinking and create space for more confident action — from applying for a promotion to simply taking the next bold step. If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in a cycle of overthinking, procrastination, or fear of failure, this episode offers a fascinating look at how we can reprogram old patterns and move forward with clarity and courage.
About My Guest Jennifer Fidder is a social psychologist and hypnotist with almost 20 decades experience in the coaching field. She helps others overcome their fears, doubts, and insecurities, so they can feel more empowered, confident, and fulfilled - in their personal life and business.
Her services include virtual one-on-one hypnosis sessions, workshops, seminars, as well as speeches.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the monsters under our bed. We all have them, but they look different for each of us based on our own experiences and beliefs. My guest this week is Sheila Buswell, CEO of Buswell Biomedical and author of the book, “Is This Seat for Me?” Here we discuss her journey with impostor syndrome, which stems not from her work experience but from her identity as a woman, having been told throughout her life that she’s “too girly,” or not “girly enough.” Sheila and I talk about why we experience impostor syndrome in some situations and not others. We also talk about the power of authenticity and vulnerability to slowly change systems around us.
About My Guest Sheila Buswell is the CEO/ Co-Founder of Buswell Biomedical. She developed the concept for the Upward Mobility in 2018. In 1997, she joined the Army, injuring her foot in Bosnia in 1998. After receiving a medical discharge in 2001, Sheila moved to Missouri to continue her education and help her sister with babysitting. She earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 2005 from Missouri University of Science and Technology (then UMR). Sheila holds an MS in Biomedical Engineering from Saint Louis University.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about reframing our mindsets. Much of our behavior and beliefs are guided by the stories we tell ourselves. So, if we want to create change, we need to examine those stories. My guest this week, Tammy Heerman, shares her perspective on the power of women’s empowerment programming and the value of sharing our stories with one another. We also talk about the freedom that comes with the understanding that we all, regardless of gender, share the same fears. What’s different is how we manage them. With this awareness, we can make more empowered choices about how we show up in our workplaces.
About My Guest Tammy Heermann is an award-winning leadership expert sought out by some of the world’s top companies for her programs that accelerate women’s advancement. In 2021, she published Reframe Your Story: Real Talk for Women Who Want to Let Go, Do Less and Be More-Together urging women to challenge the current narratives reinforced by society, systems and those of your own making. For over twenty years, she has helped change thousands of mindsets around what it takes to lead, both self and others. While having impact in the C-suite, nothing makes her happier than pushing up-and-coming leaders to break through organizational and self-imposed barriers to reach their potential. Tammy transforms her audiences with alternating moments of humor and heartache as she shares stories of her own journey from senior consultant to senior vice president. She is a perennial mentor with Women in Communications and Technology and is also addicted to the Peloton, Pilates and perogies. She lives in Toronto with her husband and daughter.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about listening to ourselves so that can we choose our responses, not just react to our surroundings. Many of us are too busy to listen to our bodies, or we try to deny the signals they’re sending us. But we do so at our own peril. My guest this week, Vicki Bradley, is an executive coach and former retail executive who shares how her own experience with ignoring her body’s signals resulted in stress and sickness that forced her to make a career change. Here we talk about the need to listen to our hearts and bodies, so that we can make more empowered choices. We also talk about the power of support networks and asking for help.
About My Guest Vicki Bradley is the founder and CEO of Women in Leadership Empowered, executive coach, PCC, certified in EQ, CIQ. Primarily work with women in senior leadership roles and emerging leaders. Focus in on being a conscious leader, with a bold voice, and the confidence to achieve your dreams. Spent 25+ years as a Sr Exec and a number of iconic retailers. Currently working on a Transdiciplinary PhD.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the power of optimism. This week, I welcome back Moshe Cohen, a lecturer, coach, mediator, and expert on negotiation. He is also the author of two books on optimism, which we dig into more deeply in this conversation. Moshe shares his own journey with optimism and the benefits he has experienced as a result. We also explore the connection between optimism and empowerment. And we discuss steps you can take to become more optimistic, particularly if it’s not something that comes naturally to you today.
About My Guest Moshe Cohen has been teaching negotiation, leadership, conflict resolution and organizational behavior as founder of The Negotiating Table since 1995 and as a senior lecturer at Boston University's Questrom School of Business since 2000. He has worked with thousands of students as well as companies worldwide. As a mediator, Moshe has worked to resolve hundreds of matters, and also coaches executives, managers, and individuals on leading others and negotiating effectively. He is the author of two books - Collywobbles, How to Negotiate When Negotiating Makes You Nervous and Optimism is a Choice and Other Timeless Ideas. He has also written numerous articles and cases, and appears in podcasts, videos, and interviews. Moshe studied Physics at Cornell University and has a Master's in Electrical Engineering from McGill University, specializing in robotics. After a dozen years in robotics, he completed his MBA from Boston University and fell in love with negotiation, mediation, and leadership.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about slaying our dragons of self-doubt. My guest this week, Katherine Wintsch is the founder of the Mom Complex and author of, “Slay Like a Mother.” Here she shares her journey from marketing and advertising executive to entrepreneur and how she came to stop caring about what other people think and focus on what means most to her. In the process, she’s built a business and a life she loves. And she shares strategies to help all of us do the same.
About My Guest Katherine Wintsch is the founder and CEO of The Mom Complex where she helps some of the largest companies in the world such as Walmart, Johnson & Johnson, Pinterest and Chobani develop better products and services for mothers. She is also author of the popular book Slay Like a Mother – which Parade magazine recently named one of the “top 10 life-changing self-help books of the year.” Katherine’s sought-after research on women and mothers has been featured by The Today Show, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Working Mother magazine. But don’t let all the accolades fool you. She’s also been through years of therapy, decades of self-doubt and more than her fair share of tequila. Thankfully, she tamed her “dragon of self-doubt” and now she’s helping other women do the same.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about relationship building. While relationship-building tends to happen more naturally than we think, many of us hesitate to reach out and build connection with others due to self-doubt and other fears. My guest this week, Ingrid Goldbloom Bloch, excels at relationship building. Here she shares insights and practical tips to help us feel more comfortable building relationships.
About My Guest Ingrid Goldbloom Bloch is a sought-after career development leader, trainer and speaker with 20+ years of experience working at the intersection of design thinking, cognitive psychology, career counseling, and coaching. Through her business, Mosaic Careers, Ingrid has helped over 5,000 people transform their careers and expand their businesses. Her sweet spot is helping people see patterns and possibilities where they hadn’t before, leading to career and business transformation.
Ingrid works with a globally diverse population of clients across a wide range of backgrounds and sectors. When working with individuals she helps them identify and secure meaningful work, manage difficult work situations and create career growth opportunities within or outside of an organization. When working with organizations, she helps leaders engage, inspire and retain their workforce.
Ingrid is not a typical career counselor, trainer and coach. In addition to her business training, she is an internationally recognized artist with a specialty for giving new life to recycled/upcycled/everyday items. Her ability to transform objects into something entirely new, is the same process she uses coaching clients on creative ways to reimagine their careers and businesses.
Ingrid holds a Master’s degree in counseling psychology from Lesley University and a dual, bachelor of science degree in communication arts and psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received advanced graduate training in career development from the John F. Kennedy School and is trained in structural consulting from Robert Fritz, Inc. She is also MBTI certified and Master Certified in TypeCoach.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the fear of public speaking. And by public speaking, we’re not referring to a keynote address in front of hundreds of people. We’re talking about the everyday moments in our work when we have to speak up in meetings or present our work to our teams. These moments can trigger intense anxiety and self-doubt, but they don’t have to. My guest this week, organizational psychologist Amanda Tobe, talks about the fear of public speaking and the stories we tell ourselves that reinforce our fear-based narratives. We also talk about steps we can take to reframe our fears and show up more confidently in public speaking situations.
About My Guest Amanda Tobe is a Toronto-based organizational psychologist passionate about helping her clients build soul-filled and purposeful careers with less fear. She has spent several years researching job interview anxiety and her work can be found in Harvard Business Review, The Huffington Post, Men's Health Magazine as well as psychology and business journals. Amanda recently designed an 8-week group to help her clients reduce their fears of public speaking to learn to communicate with clarity and confidence. Amanda brings her corporate experience of more than 5 years as a consultant and manager of talent management, talent assessment, and career development for various organizations. She earned her MA and PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of Guelph.
~
Connect with Amanda: Website: www.amandatobe.com Instagram handle: @dr.amandatobe Public speaking group: https://www.amandatobe.com/public-speaking-group-coaching
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about what my guest this week, Melody Wilding, calls sensitive strivers. The term sensitive strivers refers to those of us who think and feel more deeply than others while also putting a lot of pressure on ourselves to set goals and succeed. This combination of traits tends to leave us more susceptible to self-doubt and impostor syndrome. Here we talk about strategies to help you set clearer boundaries, stop the constant worrying and overthinking, and better manage perfectionism so that you can achieve success on your own terms.
About My Guest Melody’s work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Oprah Magazine, NBC News, and dozens of other high-profile publications.
Recently named one of Business Insider’s “Most Innovative Coaches,” Melody’s client list includes hundreds of CEOs, executives, and top-performers at the world’s most successful companies, including Google, Facebook, IBM, Netflix, and more.
Her recent speaking engagements include Amazon, Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Walmart, Conde Nast, Rutgers University, Adweek, and many other distinguished organizations.
Melody is a licensed social worker with a Masters degree from Columbia University, and a former researcher at Rutgers University. She teaches Human Behavior at Hunter College and is a contributor to Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fast Company, and Business Insider.
Her best-selling book, Trust Yourself: Stop Overthinking and Channel Your Emotions into Success at Work (Chronicle Books) debuted as a #1 New Release in multiple Amazon categories and was selected by Apple Books as a “Best Book of the Month” for May 2021.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the power of our voices and the importance of projecting confidence. My guest this week, John Henny, is a vocal coach for singers and speakers. Here we explore the ways in which we may neglect our voice when preparing for important meetings, the assumptions we make about what our voices are capable of, and how we can strengthen our voices to become more confident speakers.
About My Guest John Henny has decades of experience helping thousands of voice users around the world become more effective communicators. He is a featured lecturer at top voice conferences and institutions, including IVTOM, Osborne Head and Neck Institute, VIP Worldwide Voice Conference, The Paul McCartney Liverpool Institute and USC. John coaches professional voice users at Corporate Businesses, the US Military, Sports Announcers, and Voice Over Artists. His cutting-edge methods help eliminate strain and bring out your best-sounding, compelling voice. John is the author of three Amazon bestselling books, hosts the popular podcast The Intelligent Vocalist (with over 500,000 downloads) and has 130,000 subscribers with 14 million views on YouTube. He is also a seasoned on-line course creator with an extensive library of training courses for singers, speakers and voice teachers.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about trauma in the workplace. While we tend to think of trauma as the effects of violence, death or injury, there are more subtle forms of trauma happening around us in the workplace at all times. My guest this week, Rosie Yeung, an “un-executive” coach for Asian and racialized women, shares her perspective on trauma in the workplace and how we can begin to address it.
About My Guest Rosie Yeung is the Un-Executive Coach™ for racialized women professionals. She specializes in 1-on-1 and small group coaching with “model minority” women who are constrained by conflict between professional success, family/cultural values, and personal identity. Through her trauma-informed programs, she helps them tame their triggers, calm their stress, and use their power.
Rosie is also a nonviolent JEDI Warrior (JEDI = Justice, Equity, Decolonization and Inclusion) focused on anti-racism, anti-misogyny, and wealth redistribution. Her life’s mission is to help decolonize corporate Canada and heal our workplaces from the insidious inequity embedded in corporate systems.
As a Certified HR Leader, Positive Intelligence Coach™, and Chartered Professional Accountant with 20+ years of corporate and not-for-profit experience, Rosie leverages all her skills and experiences – her whole self – to help women rise higher, recover faster, and work healthier.
Based in what we now call Toronto, Canada, Rosie enjoys travel (except during global pandemics), and has served communities in Guatemala, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda. To de-stress, Rosie devours popcorn, movies, and ice cream - often simultaneously!
In this episode of The Impostor Syndrome Files, we explore how to bridge the gap between believing and achieving and what it really takes to pursue your potential, even when the path ahead is unclear. My guest this week is Adam Haston, entrepreneur and author of The Wonder Effect.
Together, we unpack the importance of believing in yourself, recognizing limiting assumptions and developing a practical framework to move from believing to achieving. Adam shares his perspective on why we must first shed the false narratives we’ve absorbed from others—teachers, advisors, even well-meaning mentors—so we can reconnect with our authentic vision and values.
We also talk about why mindset and strategy matter more than rigid tactics when it comes to change, how to break through the fear of not knowing what you want by paying attention to the everyday clues that already surround you, and the value of seeking advice from people just a few steps ahead of you—and how to balance guidance with your own inner compass. Whether you’re at a crossroads or simply curious about what’s next, this episode offers a refreshingly honest take on how to take action, one small step at a time.
About My Guest Adam J. Haston, author of The Wonder Effect, is an entrepreneur, educator, and community leader dedicated to helping others unlock their potential. The founder and CEO of Haston Equity Group, a financial and real estate firm, he combines business acumen with a passion for personal growth.
A former rabbi and director of programming at Chabad of Greater New Haven, Haston learned that transformation begins with truly listening. He has mentored professionals, students, and entrepreneurs, guiding them through career transitions, personal challenges, and leadership development. He has led workshops on financial success, personal growth, and resilience. His philanthropic work includes fundraising for schools, synagogues, and the Friendship Circle, where he organized a charity climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. A lifelong adventurer, Haston has run the NYC Marathon and traveled the world, but his greatest journey is as a devoted husband to Esther and father to seven incredible children. You can learn more at www.adamhaston.com
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about what keeps us from reaching our full potential. Although we want to continue to grow, take risks and achieve our goals, our brains want to keep us safe. This means we have a bias towards our comfort zones because what’s comfortable to us has proven to have kept us alive. Unfortunately, what got us here won’t get us where we want to go. My guest this week, Byron Morrison, mindset and performance coach and author of the book, “Maybe You Should Give Up - 7 Ways to Get Out of Your Own Way and Take Control of Your Life”, shares powerful insights and action steps we can use to get unstuck and become the people we want to be.
About My Guest Byron Morrison is the author of 3 best-selling books and over the last decade, he has worked with CEOs, entrepreneurs and leaders in 15 different countries to help them take back control of their life and business.
Life hasn't always been this way though, for most of his life he was his own worst enemy, sabotaging everything from his health to his relationships and his personal success. After his dad's cancer he went on a journey of transformation, where after losing 50 pounds and turning his life around, he set out on a mission to help others take control of their life.
For the last decade, he’s been working with people from around the world to help them get out of their own way so that they can start living the life that they want. Everything he’s done has built up to his new book “Maybe you should give up - 7 ways to get out of your own way and take control of your life” which hits stores in June.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the pressure that many of us, particularly women of color, feel to downplay our authentic selves in the workplace. My guest this week, Tricia Montalvo Timm, author of the book, Embrace the Power of You, Owning Your Identity at Work, shares her journey as a first-generation Latina and how her quest to assimilate led her to hide parts of her identity at work. We also talk about how we can embrace what makes us unique and what we can all do to create more inclusive workplaces.
About My Guest Tricia Montalvo Timm is a first-generation Latina who rose through the ranks of Silicon Valley advising high-tech companies big and small, culminating in the sale of data analytics software company Looker to Google for $2.6 billion. Tricia is one of the few Latinas to have attained the triple achievement of reaching the C-suite, joining the boardroom and cracking the venture capital ceiling. Her career has spanned from working with some of the largest publicly traded multinational companies to stepping on as one of the first leaders to help build and scale several high-growth start-ups.
Tricia currently serves on the board of Salsify, a top SaaS software company whose commerce experience management platform helps brand manufacturers, distributors and retailers collaborate to win on the digital shelf. In addition to board service, Tricia spends her time as a venture capital investor and is a limited partner in several venture capital funds and an angel investor in over a dozen companies.
Most recently, Tricia served as General Counsel and Executive Sponsor of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Looker. At Looker, Tricia oversaw the company’s legal, data privacy, equity and DEI functions. During the Looker/Google acquisition, Tricia also led the company’s global antitrust regulatory process, which included review and approval from the U.S. Department of Justice.
~
Connect with Tricia: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ptimm/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pmontalvotimm/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/tricia_timm
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the workplace experience and what each of us can do to influence our environments. While it’s tempting to point the finger at others when we’re unhappy with our workplace cultures, my guest this week, Dr. Shahrzad Nooravi shares that each one of us has responsibility for the culture. Her empowering perspective allows us to recognize the options available to all of us to create better workplace cultures.
About My Guest Dr. Shahrzad Nooravi is a business psychologist, Master Certified Coach (MCC) and Founder and CEO of Strategy Meets Performance, a business consulting firm that partners with leaders of mid-sized to Fortune 500 organizations to help them create engaging, innovative, and productive cultures. Dr. Nooravi has been named “Trailblazer of the Year,” “Citizen of the Year,” and “A Voice to Listen to” for driving positive change in her community. Her new leadership book, "A Powerful Culture Starts with You" was rated as the #1 New Release in Workplace Culture and Best Seller in Business Coaching.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about what makes us decide whether or not to stay in our current roles or organizations. Trends like the Great Resignation have shown that employees are willing to leave their jobs if their needs aren’t met. So what can managers and companies do? My guest this week, Anne Donovan, a former HR leader turned entrepreneur, is on a mission to make the workplace better for everyone. And she does so by focusing on the critical issue of employee retention. Here she shares her research and what we can all do to make our workplaces better.
About My Guest Anne Donovan is a Human Resources leader known for developing new programs and training, dramatically improving employee retention and leadership performance. Conducting extensive employee feedback research, she designs initiatives to address underlying issues across many industries. Executives value her talent for identifying core workforce needs and taking action to develop and drive projects. Anne’s successes include introducing retention programs, spearheading leadership development programs, and creating succession plans looking toward the future. Leading culture shifts and change management during highly stressful times are some of her specialties.
She’s worked in some of the most well-known luxury brands in hospitality and has created high-performing teams by leading with a people-first philosophy. She creates and facilitates Leadership Development workshops with high energy and an eye on drawing people in for maximized learning. The workshops she’s presented include “Coaching for Success”, “Civility”, and “Reducing Turnover and Increasing Retention”. Anne’s passion lies in helping people grow, both personally and professionally.
Anne has a talent for spotting potential in people. She is passionate about growing people and giving them support so they realize their full potential. She has a proven track record of her leadership. She is very good at influencing people and motivating them--a true leader.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about power. Many of us reject the idea of power because we don’t like the concept of power over others. My guest this week, Noomi Natan, reframes power, not as the power to control but as power from within. And most importantly, she shares that power is not about us. Connecting with our inner power is not about self-service but about being of greatest service to the world around us. She also invites us to ask ourselves, “What am I a channel for?” to ensure that we’re maximizing our value.
About My Guest Noomi Melchior Natan is an internationally-experienced leadership coach and founder of the Female Inner Power Club. She is also the host of the podcasts Leadership Behind the Scenes and the Female Inner Power podcast.
Noomi has more than 15 years experience of helping helps leaders and business owners generate the results they want, while also increasing their joy. Noomi’s work centres on embracing being fully human in every part of life, including work. She often helps unlock deep layers of imposter syndrome and other success blocks, by diving into patterns that were created all the way back in the client’s childhood.
Noomi specialises in deeply transformational work and has helped clients working in a wide range of industries from the owners of micro-businesses to CEOs of major household names. She is a certified coach, NLP practitioner and has a certificate in Adult Training and Development from the University of Toronto. She is also qualified in Family Constellations and Organisational Constellations.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about how impostor syndrome undermines our confidence and keeps up playing small in the workplace. This week, I talk with Tracy Pruzan-Roy, a high-performance leadership coach, who shares her story of rising from entry-level to senior executive in the media and entertainment industry. She talks about the ways in which impostor syndrome showed up in her career and shares how she now supports leaders to overcome self-doubt and reach their full potential.
About My Guest Tracy is a Certified Executive + High Performance Leadership Coach. With a background in media/entertainment, she worked her way up the ladder from individual contributor to Senior Vice President at major corporations. During this time, she counseled, mentored, and challenged her team daily. Now as a coach, she brings this energy and expertise to her clients and her executive background gives her a unique advantage to her coaching. She guides leaders and emerging leaders to step up to the next level by helping them identify and leverage their strengths, conquer their inner critic, use their voice and rediscover their purpose, all in service of achieving both their career and personal goals.
Tracy resides in West Orange, NJ, just outside of NYC, with her husband and son. Her favorite activities outside of coaching include rooting for the Baltimore Orioles, traveling, and attending as many live concerts as humanly possible.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about writing our resumes. I’ve never met anyone who looks forward to updating their resume. But it’s an important part of the career management process. My guest this week, Fatemah Mirza, a certified resume master, shares strategies to help us move past self-doubt and humility to craft a resume that best reflects our strengths and orients us towards our ideal roles. She also offers tips for how to talk with your manager about promotions.
About My Guest Fatemah Mirza is a Certified Resume Master who has been helping job seekers with their resumes for the past 13 years. She owns a company named CareerTuners. CareerTuners is a small team of skilled professionals from various industries who specialize in providing professional resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles, and much more career-related services to help ambitious people land their dream jobs and achieve career goals.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the benefits of failure. While most of us want to continuously learn and challenge ourselves, many of us end up playing it safe. We get stuck in fixed mindsets that keep us from reaching our full potential and living the lives we want to live. My guest this week, Zach White, is a consultant who began his career as an engineer and now helps engineering leaders to achieve their career goals without burning out. He shares his personal story of how his approach to his career led him to hit rock bottom. He also shares how he found his way back with even greater career success once he got clear about his values and learned to set boundaries. Zach shares practical advice to help all of us avoid burnout and authentically achieve our definitions of success.
About My Guest Zach White is known around the world for changing the game in career coaching for engineering leaders. He has worked with hundreds of leaders at top companies worldwide to achieve breakthrough results and escape burnout.
Zach is the founder and CEO of Oasis of Courage, a fast-growing company with unique and proven coaching programs exclusively for engineers. He also hosts a top-rated show, “The Happy Engineer Podcast.”
As a coach for engineering leaders, Zach understands the journey firsthand, holding both a bachelor's and master’s degree in mechanical engineering, and spending over a decade building his career in the Fortune 200.
Zach is affectionately known as the World’s Best Lifestyle Engineer, and your coach.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about our tendency, as humans, to start things we don’t finish. Many of us enthusiastically start something new, only to walk away when we get uncomfortable. This often leaves us with feelings of guilt, self-doubt and regret. But why do we do this? And what can we do about it? My guest this week, Tim Vandehey, author of the book, “Swipe: The Science Behind Why We Don't Finish What We Start,” talks about our reflexive responses to discomfort and the ways in which they disrupt our efforts. He also shares what we can all do, proactively and in the moment, to set ourselves up for greater success in finishing what we start.
About My Guest Tim is a journalist, columnist, and New York Times bestselling ghostwriter of more than 65 nonfiction books in such genres such as business, finance, advice, outdoor adventure, religion, memoir, parenting, and health. His work has been featured in Fast Company, Inc., Forbes and Entrepreneur, and his ghostwritten books have been published by major houses including HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Wiley & Sons, St. Martin’s Press, and The MIT Press. Tim’s work has also garnered numerous awards, including multiple Axiom Business Book medals and Independent Publisher Book awards. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from California State University, Fullerton, and is also an accomplished jazz vocalist, writing coach, and sailor.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about time. Why do so many of us struggle with time? Why do we feel so out of control of our own calendars? And how do we keep ourselves from reaching our breaking point? My guest this week, Marissa Lee, is an HR leader and thought leader on what she refers to as time wealth. Marissa shares her journey with time and how she came to realize that she needed to make changes. She also helps us to understand why this is such a challenge for us and what we can do to build our own time wealth.
About My Guest Marissa Lee is a Time Wealth™ Strategist, Career Activist, Leadership Expert, and Author with a unique approach to helping rethink the relationship between employer and employee through the lens of time. She specializes in helping aspiring/new senior leaders decode the employee experience to improve personal and team engagement, performance, and career success. Over the 13 years, Marissa has combined her passion for people and processes to provide strategic business solutions for Fortune 500 companies in the fashion, building materials, and chemical industries.
She is the founder of SOW EVOLVE, LLC, an HR consulting business, where she provides B2B employee experience, employee engagement, and team synergy solutions. She also provides individual and group leadership development coaching. The firm provides private coaching services, strategy sessions, and corporate trainings to support and accelerate success. Through her work, she is on a mission to create time-wealthy and life-healthy leaders.
In 2019, Marissa published her first book, a #1 Amazon Bestseller in Career Management, Why I Broke Up With My Company. The book builds on Marissa’s advocacy of career ownership and helps the reader level up and progress with her E.V.O.L.V.E methodology. Whether employee or employer, Marissa challenges the reader to analyze the “stay or go” decision.
When Marissa is not busy growing the SOW EVOLVE brand, she’s spends her time with her German American Rottweiler, Domino Boss Lee. She is also a proud graduate of The Ohio State University.
Paint the Canvas Before You Exit: How to Prepare for Life After Work
29 Jul 2025
00:41:14
In this episode of The Impostor Syndrome Files, we explore a life transition that often goes unexamined: retirement. What happens when your professional identity has defined you for decades, and suddenly you’re faced with the question, “What now?” My guest this week is Sarah Friedell O’Connell, executive transition coach and founder of ChangePoint Advisors. Sarah specializes in helping high-achieving professionals prepare for the non-financial side of retirement—what it means for their identity, purpose, and daily life.
Together, we unpack the emotional and psychological aspects of leaving full-time work, how to intentionally design your next chapter and why so many of us struggle to imagine a fulfilling life outside of our careers. Whether you’re approaching retirement or simply want to live more intentionally now, this conversation is a powerful reminder that transitions don’t have to be terrifying, they can be transformational.
About My Guest Sarah Friedell O’Connell is an Executive Transition Coach and the owner of ChangePoint Advisors, a firm dedicated to helping senior executives navigate career changes. Sarah brings both business and career management expertise to her work with senior leaders, and her background as a former communications executive at Fidelity Investments and a spokeswoman for the President of Harvard University gives her a unique perspective and deep understanding of business and leadership. Sarah made her own career pivot into executive coaching, so she understands what it takes to successfully manage major change.
Sarah has been coaching C-suite executives for over 10 years, helping hundreds of executives across a variety of industries and functions achieve success personally and professionally. Sarah is a graduate of the College of William and Mary where she received a B.A. degree, and is certified in several psychological assessment tools. She is a graduate of the Coaches Training Institute and the College of Executive Coaching and is a Certified Retirement Coach.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the unfortunate prevalence of inappropriate behavior in the workplace. When this happens to us, we’re often blindsided and unprepared for how to best respond. It can lead us to doubt ourselves and second-guess our own behavior. And even our organizations may not be prepared to adequately address the problem. My guests this week, Wesley Ellison Stewart and Jamie Hays Szelc, founders of JWS Empowerment Solutions, share their personal stories of sexual harassment in the workplace and how their experiences led them to start a consulting business focused on empowering individuals and organizations to more effectively address inappropriate behavior in higher education fundraising and beyond.
About My Guests
Wesley Ellison Stewart Wesley E. Stewart is the Associate Vice President for Major Giving & Athletics Advancement at Boston College. In her tenure, she has led the regional, parent, and athletics advancement teams to breakout years, envisioning and executing on complex organizational change that implements best practices and positions BC to be ambitious in its next campaign. Her leadership in this role has had a direct impact on the past three record breaking years at BC. She also serves as the University Advancement liaison to the Office of Student Affairs & Capital Planning. She was promoted into this role from previously serving as Associate Vice President for Major Giving and Senior Associate Athletics Director for Development.
Jamie Hays Szelc
Jamie Hays Szelc is co-founder of JWS Empowerment Solutions, alongside her business partner, Wesley Ellison Stewart. Jamie also works for PILYTIX, an Austin-based AI Tech company dedicated to implementing technological solutions designed to generate revenue, save time, and reduce costs for universities, and sports & entertainment organizations. There, Jamie serves as Director of Business Development for their fundraising unit.
Jamie has vast development experience and leadership roles in Higher Ed that spans nearly 20 years. Prior to her role at PILYTIX, Jamie served as Associate Athletics Director for Development at the University of Kansas.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about making career transitions. My guest this week, Danielle McCombs, shares her story of having transitioned from a 20-year career in the commercial real estate industry to an entrepreneur. She talks about the ways in which a growth mindset helped her to manage the fears associated with making a change and take the risks needed to step into a more fulfilling role. We also talk about how we can all leverage the growth mindset to more confidently step outside of our comfort zones and achieve our goals.
About My Guest Danielle McCombs is a growth minded individual that is constantly striving to improve herself and deepen the understanding of the world around her.
Danielle is a native New Yorker that relocated to San Francisco in 2016.
After a 20-year career in commercial real estate Danielle decided to pursue her passion of inspiring others to be the best version of themselves. Danielle is a Co-Active Training Institute Certified coach and has started her own Life Coaching practice, Danielle McCombs Coaching.
Danielle hosts the podcast "The Opposite of Small Talk", with her friend Kristy Olinger where they explore topics about personal and professional development focusing on connection, reflection and social justice.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about humanizing the workplace through greater self-reflection and emotional intelligence. My guest this week, leadership development expert Kristen Harcourt, shares her perspective on the need for more human-centered workplaces. While most of us are so focused on doing, fewer of us make the commitment to ongoing self-reflection to better understand ourselves and how we show up to those around us. We also discuss the benefits to individuals and businesses when we humanize our workplaces.
About My Guest With over 15-years as a People and Culture Leader partnering with hundreds of companies worldwide, Kristen empowers executives and leaders at all levels to build lives and organizations of success, health and sustainability.
Kristen excels at guiding leaders to achieve extraordinary and sustainable results through increased self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and mindfulness. Her client companies are diverse and her results are consistent. Her passion for leadership development and creating positive work cultures shines through it all.
An expert in Leadership Development, she hosts a bi-weekly podcast called Inspirational Leadership where she interviews progressive CEOs, strategic HR leaders and forward-thinking experts who share her mission to humanize work and transform leaders.
A big believer in compassion, authenticity and conscious leadership, Kristen’s mission is to help leaders transform from the inside out so they can create a meaningful career and purpose-driven life and reach their full potential.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about negotiation. While many of us understand the basic skills involved in negotiations, our ability to practice these skills can be undermined by fear, self-doubt and limiting beliefs. This week, I talk with Moshe Cohen, a negotiations expert, mediator, author and senior lecturer at Boston University, about why it’s so hard for us to negotiate at work. Moshe shares powerful insights about the human experience in the negotiation process and how we can all empower ourselves to negotiate with greater confidence.
About My Guest Moshe Cohen has been teaching negotiation, leadership, conflict resolution and organizational behavior as founder of The Negotiating Table since 1995 and as a senior lecturer at Boston University's Questrom School of Business since 2000. He has worked with thousands of students as well as companies worldwide. As a mediator, Moshe has worked to resolve hundreds of matters, and also coaches executives, managers, and individuals on leading others and negotiating effectively. He is the author of two books - Collywobbles, How to Negotiate When Negotiating Makes You Nervous and Optimism is a Choice and Other Timeless Ideas. He has also written numerous articles and cases, and appears in podcasts, videos, and interviews. Moshe studied Physics at Cornell University and has a Master's in Electrical Engineering from McGill University, specializing in robotics. After a dozen years in robotics, he completed his MBA from Boston University and fell in love with negotiation, mediation, and leadership.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about leadership as an identity, one that empowers us to own our own destinies. My guest this week, speaker, coach and author Sabine Gedeon, shares her story of transitioning from corporate HR leader to entrepreneur. We also address important challenges facing women in leadership, including the need for greater self-awareness so that we understand our greatest strengths and how to best contribute them, the ways in which we de-prioritize our own needs, and the fear-based stories we tell ourselves about what’s possible. She also shares practical, actionable tips for how to empower ourselves to lead in all areas of our lives.
About My Guest Sabine Gedeon serves as a transformational Speaker, Author, and Coach. With nearly 20 years’ experience across various corporate HR disciplines, in addition to coaching and consulting, she is highly skilled in getting to the root of issues, and creating solutions to support growth and transformation, both personal and professional.
From start-ups and Fortune 500 companies, she supports women, emerging leaders, and entrepreneurs by helping them become effective change agents and influencers. Known for her ability to connect with people at the deepest levels of their beings, to reveal their unique brilliance, she helps clients break through their own mental limits to lead with confidence and elevate their influence and impact.
She is the Founder of She Leads Network, and host of She Leads Now (a top-rated podcast centered around women in leadership and business), which both exist to empower and equip women leaders with the strategy, resources, and self-belief needed to create fulfillment in every aspect of life.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the importance of self-leadership. Particularly for those who represent historically marginalized groups, it’s easy to assume that we lack power in our workplaces, but each of us has more power than we think we do. My guest this week, Meenakshi Iyer, founder and principal at NorthStar Solutions and Services, shares her personal story of navigating much of her life feeling different from those around her. She also talks about how her experience has influenced her perspectives on leadership, including the importance of recognizing and leveraging our personal power.
About My Guest Meenakshi Iyer thrives at the intersection of People, Process, and Technology. She is a T-shaped leader and community builder with a 25-year portfolio career spanning IT, Agile/Business Process Transformation, international healthcare, HR, and Training, in India and the USA. “Stop, breathe, think, act” is her motto.
In her latest career pivot, she serves as the Founder and Principal at NorthStar Solutions and Services, a virtual coaching, training and consulting practice serving clients globally. An ICF-certified Personal Agility, Self-Leadership and Change Leadership Coach, Meenakshi partners with Mid-career Technology Leaders, Women in Tech, and those who, like her, speak English as an additional language.
Meenakshi is a speaker, and since 2020, Meenakshi has delivered 20+ virtual, and in-person talks and webinars, hosted panel discussions, and facilitated workshops globally. She is also a certified #IamRemarkable workshop facilitator. Meenakshi is the creator and co-host of NorthStar’s Annual Future of Work Virtual Conference. In 2021, she founded Building My Runway – a Global Mentorship program for mid-career Women in Tech, and the alumni community is 16 women strong coming from 5+ countries. She is the host of two livestream shows: Exploring Intersections, and The NorthStar Café.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the ways in which our need to prove ourselves, combined with our fear of being exposed as a fraud, lead us to overwork and potential burnout. My guest this week, Caroline Rae, shares her story of living in a burnout cycle for over 15 years because of a constant need to prove herself, driven, in large part, by impostor syndrome. She also shares how she came to see the need for change, including a tough family intervention, and what advice she has for others facing similar challenges.
About My Guest Caroline Rae is an executive coach and career strategist who has helped hundreds of experienced professional women to make powerful and aligned career moves they believed were 3-5 years away. In every high-stakes arena her career has taken her (from tackling health inequality to 10 Downing Street to co-founder to coach), she's witnessed the career trajectories of countless brilliant women stagnate at midlife. Caroline is committed to helping women reclaim their career mojo and have even more impact as an authentic, empowering leader.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about our natural tendencies to neglect self-care because it feels too selfish or because we don’t believe we have the time. My guest this week, John Chilkotowsky, executive coach and former executive leader, shares his story of how a panic attack changed his relationship with himself and his work. He also shares insights for others who might be neglecting their own self-care.
About My Guest What if you are the most efficient and effective being alive, but your map is incorrect?
First, you will be in constant motion that may look like success for a little while. And second, you will quickly get to somewhere you don’t really want to go.
Some might say: “But MY map is correct!”
Others might say: “I’m SO fast that I can afford to have a map that’s incorrect. I’ll just go twice the distance.”
What do you say?
As a former Fortune 100 consultant and nonprofit leader, and as a current entrepreneur Executive Coach, John Chilkotowsky learned a lot from what seemed like failures in the moment, but later as golden opportunities. He helps leaders recognize the ways in which their mindset creates their reality, and how they can create a map aligned with what they really want, and start moving towards the “gold” in their leadership and life.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about new ways to think about leadership in a changing world. My guest this week, Keith Rovinelli, is an HR consultant and firefighter who shares his views on leadership, including the importance of kindness and service to others, and how he’s able to transfer lessons and experiences between his two full-time roles. Keith also shares his passion for yoga and how he went from hiding that from his fellow firefighters to bringing it openly to the fire station.
About My Guest Keith Rovinelli is a dog loving, yoga practicing, self-proclaimed chef who uses his innate curiosity to connect, listen to and share his unique perspective with others. He finds inspiration in building leadership skills that create thriving communities. As an HR consultant, Keith leverages his experience as a full-time firefighter to serve a portfolio of clients including Fortune 100 companies.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about success, including how we define it and whether that definition actually works for us. My guest, Jean Tien, intuitive mindset coach, author and podcast host, shares her S.U.C.C.E.S.S. method, which is designed to help us define and achieve success on our own terms, rather than in ways that are influenced by external pressures. We also talk about changes that need to happen in the workplace to make it easier for all of us to pursue our own definitions of success.
About My Guest As the first-born daughter of Asian immigrants, Jean followed her parents’ formula for success. They pushed her in her studies so that she could graduate from an Ivy League university and work in a corporate setting that would provide a nice paycheck. Even though her corporate career flourished with 2 promotions in 2 consecutive years and a 6 figure income jump in only 3 years, she continued to fumble through life until she finally realized that “happily ever after” doesn’t automatically happen when you start to make more money or climb the corporate ladder. She says that following this age-old formula for success, I wasn’t allowing myself to be ME.
With over 20 years of experience, Jean knows what it's like to juggle a successful career with being a mom yet still feels like she hasn’t gotten anywhere. No matter how hard she worked to achieve more in life, Jean knew that she couldn't reach it if she kept pushing herself to conform to the expected definition of success. This is what motivated her to create the S.U.C.C.E.S.S Method for ambitious women to achieve the success they never thought possible.
Jean is also a podcast host. Her podcast, Being Unapologetically Authentically, has been featured in Armstrong Wolfe, the Financial Advisory Firm for the COO. She’s also been a guest on a number of podcasts, as well as featured in magazines, such as the Authority Magazine, an online publication devoted to sharing in-depth, and interesting interviews, featuring people who are authorities in Business, Pop Culture, Wellness, Social Impact, and Tech.
From Validation-Seeking to Value-Creating: How to Step into Your Authority
22 Jul 2025
00:32:37
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about what it really means to lead with confidence, especially when you feel like you don’t belong. Are you constantly trying to prove yourself at work—working harder, saying all the right things, hoping others will finally see your value? My guest this week is Chris Marr, executive coach and author of Become an Authoritative Coach. In this inspiring conversation, Chris shares how his journey from people-pleasing and self-doubt to grounded self-respect transformed the way he shows up as a leader.
We explore how the need to be liked quietly undermines our authority, why true confidence is an inside job and how embracing your unique perspective can be your greatest leadership asset. Chris also shares practical strategies to show up with intentionality in high-stakes moments, how to stop over-performing to prove yourself and why setting clear rules of engagement helps build stronger, more honest relationships—at work and beyond.
About My Guest Chris Marr is the founder of The Authoritative Coach and the author of Become an Authoritative Coach: Stop People-Pleasing, Challenge Your Clients, and Be Indispensable.
Chris has over 15 years of experience working with client-facing professionals and has helped individuals and teams across the globe—from small businesses to nine-figure enterprises—build stronger client relationships, navigate difficult conversations, and position themselves as indispensable experts.
What’s really fascinating about Chris is his obsession with client communication. He’s made it his mission to help professionals overcome people-pleasing habits, troubleshoot high-stakes client situations, and gain the confidence they need to truly thrive in their roles.
Chris’s work doesn’t stop there—he’s also the creator of the People Pleaser’s Path to Authority assessment, a tool that helps professionals identify and overcome habits that hold them back from doing their best work.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about our tendency to make what we’re doing so much bigger than it actually is, which leads to stress, worry and self-doubt. My guest, Neha Lagoo Ratnakar, shares personal stories of times when she has overinflated the significance of what she was doing in ways that created unnecessary anxiety and stress and how she navigated these situations. We also talk about her extensive global experience, living in eight countries and speaking eight different languages, and what that has taught her about herself and humanity.
About My Guest Neha Lagoo Ratnakar was born in Indore, India and currently lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands with her genius husband, a strong-willed daughter, and an extremely gullible dog. Neha’s nomadic life as a trailing spouse could have cost her career, and she knows what taking a break feels like. As she has continued her career journey across changing geographies and sectors, she’s faced challenges and learned invaluable life lessons. It’s these challenges and lessons that have carried her to where she is today as a writer.
When Neha isn’t writing, she’s a talent development professional and a part-time entrepreneur. She’s also been a face painter, a handwriting analyst, a website designer, and a henna artist.
In her spare time, Neha enjoys playing improv and saying “yes” to the curveballs life throws at her. And when life has nothing to throw, she shakes things up anyway by doing something crazy. Back on Your Feet is Neha’s first published book.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we are doing something a little different. My guest this week is Robert Kerbeck, author of the book Ruse: Lying the American Dream from Hollywood to Wall Street. He shares a fascinating story of his career as a corporate spy and the experience of being an actual impostor in the workplace. He also talks about leaving that role for Corporate America and how unprepared he was for the politics and self-serving behaviors he found when he got there. In the end, Robert shares his pivot to his current career as a writer and how that has brought him back to his creative roots. Throughout the conversation, he shares insights and advice to help others along their career journeys.
About My Guest Robert Kerbeck’s true crime memoir, RUSE: Lying the American Dream from Hollywood to Wall Street is the story of how a wannabe actor became the world’s greatest corporate spy. Frank Abagnale, author of Catch Me If You Can, said, “Kerbeck has mastered the art of social engineering, or what he calls 'rusing', and taken it to a whole new level,” while Shondaland (the producer of the Netflix series Inventing Anna) described RUSE as "a story almost too good to be true with no shortage of wild stories.” Kerbeck’s previous book MALIBU BURNING: The Real Story Behind LA’s Most Devastating Wildfire, won a 2021 SoCal Journalism Award, the 2020 IPPY Award, and the 2020 Best of LA Award. His writing has appeared in numerous publications including the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Magazine, and Lithub’s Crime Reads.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the interview process. Making a career change can feel daunting. It’s a time of great vulnerability, which tends to activate our impostor syndrome and leave us second-guessing ourselves. My guest this week is Gina Riley, career coach, executive search consultant and interviewing expert. She and I explore many of the challenges we face before, during and after the interview process and how to more confidently and effectively navigate the experience.
About My Guest An authority in career transition, Gina Riley is an HR professional, career transition coach, executive search consultant, and interview skills trainer who applies her expertise working with leaders and executives with her Career Velocity™ System. She holds a master’s degree in Whole Systems Design and is a certified YouMap® coach. Riley has authored many articles to include a series called “How Your Next Executive Role Finds You,” and provides access a free Masterclass and printable workbook that outlines how to start a career transition plan. You can find this and more at GinaRileyConsulting.com.