Real Leaders

Rachel Pickett comes to this coaching conversation with Sue and Leah with a pretty common problem: figuring out how to get her organization to grow. Rachel is the Founder and Executive Director of The Thinking Project, which also makes her the first non-profit leader on the HeySue podcast. Her organization (and her passion) is focused on bringing Byron Katy’s The Work to children in educational settings. This conversation becomes an exploration of how love for something – an idea, a product, a cause – can be the key to unlocking growth. If you are not yet familiar with Byron Katy and The Work, you can visit thework.com. And if this is an entirely new tool to you, then this episode will certainly spark some curiosity!

Sue and Leah welcomed the first anonymous guest “Ryan” to the HeySue podcast! He kicked off the conversation by explaining that he is in the market for a coach who can help him get out of a funk. Sue and Leah invited Ryan to reflect on different parts of himself – from the achievement-oriented “higher self” to the cheese-loving slacker “Gary.” Ryan’s curiosity and self-reflection shine through in this conversation that spans creativity, self-worth, quantified-self journaling, and Miyazaki’s Fujimoto from Ponyo. This is a great listen for anyone (i.e. everyone) familiar with patterns of “productivity” and “laziness.” To go deeper, here is an exploration about how to allow yourself to rest. If you want to explore Ryan’s pop culture references, listen to some Sufjan Stevens or watch the 1983 movie Wind in the Willows.

David Secunda is a successful serial entrepreneur who has big ideas ranging from tech solutions for talent management at companies to what may be the best adventure summer camp for kids in the US. In this live coaching episode of the HeySue podcast, David opens his heart and mind, sharing the deep questions he wonders about in his leadership. He talks about a recurring worry that he is “too much.” The inquiry around that worry unlocks a conversation about wanting to be liked as a leader, the upper limits he encounters as a visionary, reacting to internal and external critiques, and a persona named “Tiny” who is trying to protect David.

Robin Izsak-Tseng is the VP of Revenue Marketing at G2. She is a leader with a lot of expertise to offer, but having so many young tech dudes around makes her feel like an imposter. She wonders if she is holding herself back from the next level of leadership. In this bold and revealing session, Robin, Sue, and Leah Pearlman talk about the perks of being self-effacing, the desire to be more punk rock, and a tension between leading and belonging. You will hear about personas and why they show up, as well as how to stay with feelings of insecurity as you grow and move to the next level.

Shawna Barnhart is a seasoned product leader in tech who loves team building, cross-functional project orchestration, and deep, revealing client conversations. Like many leaders in tech, she was recently a part of a reduction in force. Shawna is trying to balance “holding on” and “letting go” in the midst of that transition. During this honest and joy-filled conversation, Shawna, Sue, and Leah dig into the issue of “selling yourself” on the job market by simply showing up with your passion and genius. This episode in particular showcases guest coach Leah Pearlman’s coaching technique of “welcoming.” You can learn more about it at www.welcomingway.com.

Rachel Beisel is a seasoned executive who has achieved a lot of her goals and feels like she’s at her next phase of growth. She climbed all of Colorado’s 14-ers, ended her marriage, rang many professional bells, and wrote a book. She’s looking at rewriting her bio in a literal and metaphorical sense. In this live coaching session, Rachel shares the questions she’s facing as she is looking at the next chapter of her life and career with a hope of shifting some of her core patterns of planning, goals, and checklists for achievement. In this episode, Leah takes Rachel through an exploration to tune into her inner seven year old, finding a place of not knowing and opening to wonder.

Ajay Manglani, an exec in the generative AI space, joins Sue Heilbronner and Leah Pearlman for another episode of live executive coaching. Ajay, who brings a warmth, relatability, and sensitivity to this podcast and, seemingly, his leadership, raises two issues we hear often from company leaders. First, he discusses his effort to strike what he sees as the right balance around how much information (about board meetings, future company decisions, etc.) to share with his direct reports and larger team. He asks Leah and Sue for insights on how to think of that balance in a way that works best for him and for his team, and the coaches provide some thoughts you might find useful if you’ve wondered about this. Second, he asks how he might create more connected relationships with his colleagues. Leah does a bit of welcoming around his true motivations for wanting both more and less connection at once. As we do more of these episodes, we’re grateful for the willingness of our leader guests to share what’s really

Pull back the curtain on conscious leadership executive coaching with a new leader every episode. In this ep, Yong Kim, CEO of Wonolo, joins Leah Pearlman and Sue Heilbronner for a deep and vulnerable live executive coaching session. Yong, who describes himself as the "Chief Empathy Officer" of Wonolo shares his concerns about a miss on quarterly numbers and opens the door to a wonderful conversation about 100% responsibility, the inner critic, and the many sides of empathy in leadership. This episode offers great insights on leadership pressures at any time, and surely during difficult macroeconomic conditions. It also offers wonderful perspective on optimizing a nurturing, compassionate relationship between CEO, venture investors, and company Boards of Directors.

Real Leaders takes a break from speaking with founders and leaders at technology startups to talk to the founders of Yogapod, a dynamic brick and mortar business in the heart of the yoga haven of Boulder, Colorado. But wait for it. Yoga pod founders Nicole and Gerry Wienholt have an even wider range than their 120-class weekly yoga schedule might have reflected, and they rose the challenge of Covid-19 closures days before the fast-moving municipalities mandated shutdowns. Today's yogapod is, for now, a tech company first. This is a winning story of two entrepreneurs who skipped over the five stages of grief in just one weekend, taking action to ensure the longevity of their vibrant business in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. Yogapod--home to teachers and students who have been loyal since the business opened a decade ago--was live-streaming yoga classes before we knew the hashtag #flattenthecurve, and their loyal client base (I'm included) stayed the course, having a chance to meet live with their favorit

Jim Dethmer and Diana Chapman – co-founders of the coaching and consulting business Conscious Leadership Group – are working to shift the mindset and level of self-awareness in global companies and organizations. Jim and Diana have been at the forefront of this movement, launching their bestselling book 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership in 2015 with Kaley Klemp. In this episode of the Real Leaders podcast, Sue Heilbronner leads an intimate interview with her long-time friends and fellow Conscious Leadership advocates Jim and Diana about why, how, and when they co-founded CLG. Combining their individual experience, skills, and resources, Jim and Diana decided to join forces to increase their impact. Jim’s passion for continued growth in consciousness and Diana’s practical approach to communication are what enable them to make change happen for their clients and coaches-in-training. CLG now comprises a talented group of coaches, trainers, and consultants who work with thousands of leaders and companies in

Chapter 2 in our series Conscious Leadership AMA ("Ask Me Anything") with Sue Heilbronner, CEO of MergeLane Fund and Leadership Camp. Conscious Leadership AMAs are open to alumni of MergeLane programs and camps at Leadership.camp. Leaders ask about their challenges and opportunities in implementing conscious leadership into their daily work and life. This episode features a heavy focus on unconscious commitments, including how to spot clearly the patterns that we are using in our leadership and how those patterns can make us more and less effective. Raw, real and revealed inquiries and live executive coaching from Conscious Leadership Coach Sue Heilbronner on the Real Leaders Podcast.

First episode in our series Conscious Leadership AMA ("Ask Me Anything") with Sue Heilbronner, CEO of MergeLane Fund and Leadership Camp. Hear from MergeLane portfolio fund CEOs and previous attendees of Leadership.camp about their challenges and opportunities in implementing conscious leadership into their daily work and life. Part of a new, occasional series from the Real Leaders Podcast

Mat Vogels is an extremely zestful CEO. And it's no surprise that he's founded a high-momentum startup called Zestful -- which is setting the standard for the next generation of employee perks -- with the tagline "live full." Because Mat Vogels lives fully. And behind his extraordinary attitude, full-time smile, and easy way of being stands a tenacious startup founder committed to making his company a winner. In this episode of the Real Leaders podcast with Sue Heilbronner, Mat shares his two-year journey in great detail -- the big wins like a berth in Y-combinator and funding from Bessemer -- and the long and arid valleys in between. He also opens up about how his personality traits make him the best and the worst CEO of a growth company and how he is managing that self-awareness to create the best version of himself and his company. Learn about the real story behind a fast-moving startup and its all-in founder in this telling episode of Real Leaders.

This is the third and final episode (so far) of our series on living kidney donation. Here seasoned donor coordinator Neshiyqah Nash tells you everything you need to know to consider being a non-directed donor or a donor to any of the 100,000 Americans (and plenty in your country if you're not American) awaiting a donor kidney right now. Learn about the process, the donor requirements, the timelines and your next steps to become a living kidney donor in this episode of the Real Leaders Podcast with Sue Heilbronner. If you like this episode, go back to hear episode 36 with Patty Graham, a successful altruistic donor who kicked off a huge chain of donations, and episode 35 with Mike Heilbronner, the recipient of a living kidney donation.

There are only slightly more than a hundred of people each year that make a "non-directed donor" kidney donation. Patty Graham is one of them. This means that Patty voluntarily donated a kidney not knowing who would receive it, and with her decision, she sparked a chain of kidney recipients getting their life-saving organ. Hear what motivated Patty and how her sister laid the groundwork when years ago she donated a kidney to their stepfather. Patty is an inspiring force of altruism in the world. Hear her story and all the wonderful things that have flowed from her decision to donate on this episode of the Real Leaders Podcast with Sue Heilbronner.

This is the first in a 3-part Real Leaders series on living organ donation. Our focus is on living kidney donation and the 100,000 people in the United States alone who are waiting for a life-saving kidney donation. In this episode, 50-year-old Mike Heilbronner talks about his need for a new kidney in his late forties and how he navigated the questions around asking for a living donor to step forward. He also discusses the process by which he ultimately decided to do a "marketing campaign" for a new organ and how an altruistic donor whom he didn't know stepped forward to fill his need. Learn about voluntary, in-life donation and how it affects recipients in this unique episode of the Real Leaders podcast with Sue Heilbronner.

Robyn Knowlan joined her two best friends from elementary school to start a business. Instead of trying their hands at a scalable tech business and targeting a high-multiple exit, they chose a cold-pressed juice retail operation that counts thousands of techies as its biggest fans in Boulder, Colorado. Wonder Press Juice is a business built with and from love, and as well as anyone I've met, Robyn explains how heart (and a massive amount of work) can create a fast-growing, values-aligned company bent on enhancing its customers' health. Hear about the journey of Robyn as a founder, then a CEO, and about Wonder Press, both the highs and the lows in this episode of the Real Leaders Podcast with Sue Heilbronner.

Perhaps you've heard of the mission-critical first 100 days in a new role. If you're looking at a new position and wanting to ensure your success -- or if you are making a key hire and want to ensure the same for that person -- Dennis Adsit of Adsum Insights has some great insights. Dennis has been coaching through his First 100 Days program, optimizing that key stage for new hires starting from before Day 1 in a new role. Hear his thoughts on this episode of the Real Leaders Podcast with Sue Heilbronner.

Alex Canter was born with a stainless steel spoon in his mouth, and on that spoon was a really excellent matzoh ball. Alex is among the fourth generation of Canter family members who learned about business early by working at the 87-old deli institution in Los Angeles. Canter's Deli is a Jewish-style restaurant that has been open 24 hours a day for the last 87 years. There is no lock on the door. When Alex began working at the restaurant, he saw that online ordering and food delivery were becoming a major part of the future opportunity for the business. Walk-in customers were down, and Alex wanted Canter's to triumph in this new age. He signed up for nine ordering services and saw the impact of the new revenue stream. He also saw the perils, with separate, non-integrated tablets behind the counter for Seamless, Grubhub, Uber Eats, and more. Orders were being lost, customers were having to wait when they arrived to pick up their food, the staff was confused. In this chaos, Alex Canter saw an opportunity to

Lisa Weinstein had reached a point in her career where she'd covered most of the ground in advertising, from executive positions in global advertising firms to leading a major roll-up in the ad-tech space. After grabbing a number of brass rings in her industry, Lisa made a huge jump to lead a company she had been advising, Curiosity.com. Hear about her move, her ramp in this new role as a startup CEO, and her thoughts on where digital advertising and ad tech are headed on the Real Leaders Podcast with Sue Heilbronner.