Leadership That Liberates

In this episode, I explore the personal and collective shifts, seasons, and cycles we’re moving through—and what it means to meet this moment of change with intention.I offer an invitation to enter winter with eyes wide open—to consciously witness the ways our inner world creates our outer reality (and vice versa) as we meet the patterns, roles, and stories that rise to the surface when we return to the soil we were planted in.Now is the perfect time to pay attention, to let the old fall away, and to step into our becoming.If you sense it’s time to move through a season of inner transformation with a community of support, join us inside RootWork for Liberation, where we’ll tend to the roots of our Being (past, present, and future) with curiosity, courage, and compassion. 

This episode highlights the layers of nourishment, support, and resourcing we need in order to do true liberation work. I share intimate pieces of my own story, from childhood memories in Greece to ancestral protection to the oceanic depth that shapes my approach to personal and collective healing.Together, we explore what it really takes to feel safe, held, and steady enough to unearth old wounds, disrupt generational patterns, and move through death-and-rebirth cycles of transformation.If you're longing for belonging, grounding, and the kind of support that lets you go deeper into your own practice and process, join us inside RootWork for Liberation. Enrollment closes tomorrow, December 3rd.

In this episode, I share what leadership really is—and why so many of the people who embody it most beautifully don’t identify as leaders at all. Leadership isn’t a position, a title, or a hierarchy. It’s how you show up in your life, in your relationships, and in the world. It’s the courage and capacity to stay connected to your humanity in systems designed to disconnect you from it.We explore the deeper patterns that keep us playing small—internalized powerlessness, self-extraction, inherited wounds—and how reclaiming your personal power is essential to breaking cycles of harm. Because if you’re here to build a more beautiful world, you’re already leading.Want to dive deep into this work with me, alongside a collective field of folks just like you?Join us inside RootWork for Liberation: A 10-week leadership immersion for heart-led changemakers who want to grow an impactful and sustainable legacy—without unconsciously replicating harmful patterns rooted in inherited trauma.Enrollment ends this Wednesday, Dec 3. Register now. 

The shadow of projection reveals the parts of ourselves we cannot yet face or the ways we’ve taken on the parts of others that they cannot face and impose on us instead.This episode is part of Seeding Liberation, a five-day mini-series exploring how unconscious beliefs take root and how we can tend to them, so we can live and lead in alignment with our truest blueprint—without the imprints of hurt and harm getting in the way. Ready to get to the root of the patterns and loops holding you back in life and leadership? RootWork for Liberation is a 10-week rite of passage for world-changing visionaries, changemakers, and revolutionaries who want to grow an impactful and sustainable legacy—without unconsciously repeating harmful patterns rooted in inherited trauma.If you want to dive deep into this work while being held by a collective field of care and compassion, join the RootWork for Liberation waitlist. Enrollment opens Nov 24. Join us this Sunday, Nov 23 for a preview of the program experience! Bring one challenge or recurring pattern you face in life or leadership. Together, we'll get to the root of why this is happening, how it's showing up for you, and what you can do to shift it.

The shadow of introjection exposes the beliefs, judgments, fears, and stories we’ve absorbed and internalized from the world around us.This episode is part of Seeding Liberation, a five-day mini-series exploring how unconscious beliefs take root and how we can tend to them, so we can live and lead in alignment with our truest blueprint—without the imprints of hurt and harm getting in the way. Ready to get to the root of the patterns and loops holding you back in life and leadership? RootWork for Liberation is a 10-week rite of passage for world-changing visionaries, changemakers, and revolutionaries who want to grow an impactful and sustainable legacy—without unconsciously repeating harmful patterns rooted in inherited trauma.If you want to dive deep into this work while being held by a collective field of care and compassion, join the RootWork for Liberation waitlist. Enrollment opens Nov 24. Join us this Sunday, Nov 23 for a preview of the program experience! Bring one challenge or recurring pattern you face in life or leadership. Together, we'll get to the root of why this is happening, how it's showing up for you, and what you can do to shift it.

The shadow of protection reflects the defenses we’ve built to survive—strategies that once kept us safe but now keep us small.This episode is part of Seeding Liberation, a five-day mini-series exploring how unconscious beliefs take root and how we can tend to them, so we can live and lead in alignment with our truest blueprint—without the imprints of hurt and harm getting in the way. Ready to get to the root of the patterns and loops holding you back in life and leadership? RootWork for Liberation is a 10-week rite of passage for world-changing visionaries, changemakers, and revolutionaries who want to grow an impactful and sustainable legacy—without unconsciously repeating harmful patterns rooted in inherited trauma.If you want to dive deep into this work while being held by a collective field of care and compassion, join the RootWork for Liberation waitlist. Enrollment opens Nov 24. Join us this Sunday, Nov 23 for a preview of the program experience! Bring one challenge or recurring pattern you face in life or leadership. Together, we'll get to the root of why this is happening, how it's showing up for you, and what you can do to shift it.

The shadow of retention relates to the unresolved wounds, patterns, and survival responses that we’ve inherited through our lineage and that are stored in our bodies.This episode is part of Seeding Liberation, a five-day mini-series exploring how unconscious beliefs take root and how we can tend to them, so we can live and lead in alignment with our truest blueprint—without the imprints of hurt and harm getting in the way. Ready to get to the root of the patterns and loops holding you back in life and leadership? RootWork for Liberation is a 10-week rite of passage for world-changing visionaries, changemakers, and revolutionaries who want to grow an impactful and sustainable legacy—without unconsciously repeating harmful patterns rooted in inherited trauma.If you want to dive deep into this work while being held by a collective field of care and compassion, join the RootWork for Liberation waitlist. Enrollment opens Nov 24. Join us this Sunday, Nov 23 for a preview of the program experience! Bring one challenge or recurring pattern you face in life or leadership. Together, we'll get to the root of why this is happening, how it's showing up for you, and what you can do to shift it.

The shadow of repression represents the qualities and characteristics we’ve denied or disowned in order to earn approval, belonging, or safety. This episode is part of Seeding Liberation, a five-day mini-series exploring how unconscious beliefs take root and how we can tend to them, so we can live and lead in alignment with our truest blueprint—without the imprints of inherited trauma getting in the way. Ready to get to the root of what’s really holding you back in life and leadership? RootWork for Liberation is a 10-week rite of passage for world-changing visionaries, changemakers, and revolutionaries who want to grow an impactful and sustainable legacy—without unconsciously repeating harmful patterns rooted in inherited trauma.If you want to dive deep into this work while being held by a collective field of care and compassion, join the RootWork for Liberation waitlist. Enrollment opens Nov 24. Join us this Sunday, Nov 23 for a preview of the program experience! Bring one challenge or recurring pattern you face in life or leadership. Together, we'll get to the root of why this is happening, how it's showing up for you, and what you can do to shift it.

Last week, I shared the story of a past relationship that went horribly wrong. In this week’s episode, I highlight the eye-opening realizations and life-changing lessons that followed. I unpack the narcissistic abuse cycle and how it can lead even the most intuitive, intelligent people to question their reality, distrust their body’s signals, and lose themselves in a void of distortion and self-doubt.I share what this experience revealed about the wisdom of the body, rebuilding self-trust, and recognizing relationship patterns that mirror our earliest wounds—leading to a difficult but necessary choice I made for my own mental and emotional well-being. I also explore the connection between personal pain and collective healing, and why revolutionary social change requires us to face what hurts—in ourselves and in our world.*If you missed last week’s episode, start there to get the full context for this week’s content*This is the last episode of the year. The podcast will be back in 2026! Share your feedback.Want my support in unearthing and transforming your unconscious beliefs, protective patterns, and survival strategies? ⁠⁠Explore 1:1 coaching⁠.Visit my ⁠⁠website⁠⁠ to learn about my organizational offerings or to request a custom-created leadership workshop, program, or retreat for your institution.Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠ to catch the next episode. Please leave a rating and/or review if you find this content insightful, meaningful, or useful. Prefer this content in video form? Subscribe to my ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠.

In this week’s episode, I share the deeply personal story of a relationship that broke me but ultimately led me back to myself.At first, it seemed too good to be true—and it was. Over time, I lost myself in the illusion as love bombing, gaslighting, and emotional manipulation distanced me from my inner knowing, distorted my sense of reality, and left me unraveling a web of unbelievable truths that felt more like a Netflix docuseries than my own life. If you’ve ever found yourself in a similar dynamic, I hope my story helps you see your own experience with more clarity and compassion. Too many of us have experienced manipulation masquerading as love. You are not alone, and it is not your fault.Next week, I’ll unpack what this experience taught me about intuition, somatic memory, trauma bonds, and the unconscious drivers that keep us trapped in familiar, yet painful patterns.Want my support in unearthing and transforming your unconscious beliefs, protective patterns, and survival strategies? ⁠Explore 1:1 coaching.Visit my ⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠ to learn about my organizational offerings or to request a custom-created leadership workshop, program, or retreat for your institution.Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠ to catch the next episode. Please leave a rating and/or review if you find this content insightful, meaningful, or useful. Prefer this content in video form? Subscribe to my ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠.

We can’t lead ourselves and one another to liberation if we’re still operating from the logic of oppression.In this episode, we unpack the shadow side of activism—exploring how moral absolutism and purity politics lead to fear-based fawning and dynamics that silence and suppress.I talk about how these dynamics show up in our activism and advocacy work, reproducing the same rigid, hierarchical, and fundamentalist structures and ideologies we claim to resist. We examine how fear, shame, and ego can transform activism into a kind of authoritarianism—turning courage into fear, curiosity into compliance, and authenticity into performance. When activism becomes about being seen or proving our goodness, our need to be “right” eclipses our capacity to be real while the fear of moral imperfection cuts us off from curiosity, connection, and growth.Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing, there is a field (Rumi)—a field we cannot reach until we’ve humbly faced the shadows within us that reflect the systems around us.Visit my ⁠⁠website⁠⁠ to learn about my organizational offerings or to request a custom-created leadership workshop, program, or retreat for your institution.Want my support in unearthing and transforming your unconscious beliefs, protective patterns, and survival strategies? ⁠Explore 1:1 coaching.Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠ to catch the next episode. Please leave a rating and/or review if you find this content insightful, meaningful, or useful. Prefer this content in video form? Subscribe to my ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠.

In this episode, I guide you through my Purpose Blueprint process—a framework designed to help you weave together the deeper threads connecting your lived experiences, authentic self-expression, and the unique contribution you’re here to make in the world.Together, we’ll explore how to align who you are with what you’re here to do, so that your life and leadership reflect what feels most true, resonant, and meaningful to you.You’ll be invited to reflect on:The ideal world you envision and what needs to shift to make it possibleThe experiences that have shaped how you see and move through lifeThe values, lessons, and strengths that guide your leadershipWhat success means to you—beyond societal definitionsHow you can serve others with your unique gifts Whether you’re clear on your purpose or still searching for direction, this process will illuminate how your personal journey of evolution mirrors how you can make a difference.Get the Purpose Blueprint guideVisit my ⁠⁠website⁠⁠ to learn about my organizational offerings or to request a custom leadership workshop, program, or retreat for your institution.Want my support in unearthing and transforming your unconscious beliefs, protective patterns, and survival strategies? ⁠Explore 1:1 coaching.Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠ to catch the next episode. Please leave a rating and/or review if you find this content insightful, meaningful, or useful. Prefer this content in video form? Subscribe to my ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠.

Life is always uncertain, but in times like these it feels especially heavy. Political extremism, climate crisis, economic instability, and the rise of authoritarianism worldwide can understandably leave us spiraling in fear of what might go wrong or what the future might hold. But what if we related to uncertainty differently? In this episode, I explore our collective relationship to control and surrender, unpacking how our cultural conditioning shapes the way we show up in the space between what has been and what is yet to be.Together, we traverse the tender terrain of the unknown, examining the deeper roots of our fear, how attachment styles impact our response to uncertainty, and why practices like presence and gratitude can help us anchor into truth and trust when the world feels chaotic. This isn’t about creating the conditions for certainty—which I don’t believe we can do—but rather about how we build the courage and capacity to trust that even in the unraveling, we are held and supported.Visit my ⁠⁠website⁠⁠ to learn about my organizational offerings or to request a custom-created leadership workshop, program, or retreat for your institution.Want my support in unearthing and transforming your unconscious beliefs, protective patterns, and survival strategies? ⁠Explore 1:1 coaching.Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠ to catch the next episode. Please leave a rating and/or review if you find this content insightful, meaningful, or useful. Prefer this content in video form? Subscribe to my ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠.

Our identities are often tied to pride, meaning, and belonging—but they can also box us in, cut us off from authentic self-expression, and fuel the divisions between us.In this episode, I explore how personal, social, and cultural identities shape our self-concept, why categorical labels create inner incongruence, and how collective attachments to identity drive division, conflict, and even war.Drawing on personal experiences as well as my research on religious and national identity, I examine the double-edged nature of identity and how it can offer connection while also perpetuating separation. What identities are shaping who you believe yourself to be? To what extent are they limiting your personal growth or reinforcing collective divides? And how might letting go of rigidity create space for more freedom—both within us and between us?Visit my ⁠⁠website⁠⁠ to learn about my organizational offerings or to request a custom-created leadership workshop, program, or retreat for your institution.Want my support in unearthing and transforming your unconscious beliefs, protective patterns, and survival strategies? ⁠Apply for 3 months of 1:1 coaching.Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠ to catch the next episode. Please leave a rating and/or review if you find this content insightful, meaningful, or useful. Prefer this content in video form? Subscribe to my ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠.

How can we hold both conviction and compassion in a world that demands we choose sides?In this episode, I wrestle with my own inner conflict around maintaining objectivity while simultaneously honoring the truths that live in my heart. I share my own journey of being deeply opinionated as a child, to being shaped by anthropological training that demanded neutrality, and how the tension between the two shows up for me now.Together, we explore the gray area between and beyond binaries—that sacred and oftentimes unsettling space where nuance and complexity collide with clear conviction and our desire for justice.I don’t know if there’s an answer. Maybe this dilemma is simply an invitation to deepen into life’s big questions. How do we hold space for our shared humanity without collapsing into the trauma-led impulse to separate right from wrong, victim from villain?And how can we meet the pain in ourselves and in one another with more love?Visit my ⁠⁠website⁠⁠ to learn about my organizational offerings or to request a custom-created leadership workshop, program, or retreat for your institution.Want my support in unearthing and transforming your unconscious beliefs, protective patterns, and survival strategies? ⁠Apply for 3 months of 1:1 coaching.Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠ to catch the next episode. Please leave a rating and/or review if you find this content insightful, meaningful, or useful. Prefer this content in video form? Subscribe to my ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠.

Are you moving through a growth spiral or stuck in a repetitive loop?This episode dives into the difference between spirals and loops—the ways we revisit life lessons for deeper integration versus the cycles we get stuck in when we circle round and round the same lesson rather than meeting it head on. I unpack why it’s so uncomfortable to face the parts of ourselves that keep us trapped in repeating patterns, how our unconscious self-protective mechanisms perpetuate loops, and why taking accountability for the role we play in our own suffering is critical to our personal (and collective) liberation.I also share some reflection questions to help you identify where and why you might be circling without resolution, and how to step into your power and break free of needless repetition.Subscribe to my mailing list to receive weekly messages and reflection questions (like the ones mentioned in this episode)Stuck in a loop? Get my support in unearthing and transforming your unconscious beliefs, protective patterns, and survival strategies: ⁠Apply for 3 months of 1:1 coaching.Visit my ⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠ to learn about my organizational offerings or to request a custom-created leadership workshop, program, or retreat for your institution.Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠ to catch the next episode. Please leave a rating and/or review if you find this content insightful, meaningful, or useful. Prefer this content in video form? Subscribe to my ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠.

What if the ways we pursue justice are keeping us trapped in the very dynamics we seek to dismantle?In this episode, I explore the rise of shaming, punitive policing, and cancel culture—particularly in the online space—and share why I see these practices as reflections of colonialism, capitalism, and white supremacy.If shame is at the center of why we self-suppress and oppress others, then what happens when we weaponize shame in the name of liberation? I think there are deeper unmet needs beneath our desire for punishment, the parts of us that take pleasure in others’ pain, and why it feels easier to choose exile over compassion, courage, and connection.But if we’re serious about liberation, we have to move beyond false binaries and quick fixes and learn how to meet one another in our full humanity. That starts with examining the oppression we’ve internalized and taking responsibility for how we replicate harm. Real accountability means choosing the harder, braver work of relational repair, restoration, and reconciliation over the ease of blame and banishment.Join the waitlist for my signature RootWork program.Visit my ⁠⁠website⁠⁠ to learn about my organizational offerings or to request a custom-created leadership workshop, program, or retreat for your institution.Want my support in unearthing and transforming your unconscious beliefs, protective patterns, and survival strategies? ⁠Apply for 3 months of 1:1 coaching.Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠ to catch the next episode. Please leave a rating and/or review if you find this content insightful, meaningful, or useful. Prefer this content in video form? Subscribe to my ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠.

How do we stay anchored in hope when the weight of the world is too much to hold?In this episode, I reflect on the impact of witnessing ongoing atrocity—especially the genocide in Gaza—and the heartbreak, helplessness, and hopelessness that can so easily consume us.We explore how trauma is inherited from generations before us, how it lives in our bodies and bloodlines, and what it really means to nurture our nervous systems and harness hope while holding so much despair in our cells and in our souls. We each have a critical part to play in the web of collective change, but none of us can play every part. I invite you to reflect on how you can show up, both in this moment and in devotion to a long-term vision for liberation. I also share some of the ways I take action in solidarity with a free Palestine.For a list of the people, resources, and actions referenced in this episode, visit this document.ICYMI: The podcast will be on pause for a few weeks. We’ll return September 3rd with a new episode on Shaming, Policing, and Cancel Culture. Please fill out this form to share your feedback on the podcast and shape the content of future episodes. I'd really love to receive your insights and input! Join the waitlist for my signature RootWork program.Visit my ⁠⁠website⁠⁠ to learn about my organizational offerings or to request a custom-created leadership workshop, program, or retreat for your institution.Want my support in unearthing and transforming your unconscious beliefs, protective patterns, and survival strategies? ⁠Apply for 3 months of 1:1 coaching.Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠ to catch the next episode. Please leave a rating and/or review if you find this content insightful, meaningful, or useful. Prefer this content in video form? Subscribe to my ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠.

What if the global systems created to “do good” are actually rooted in extraction and exploitation?Building on last week’s conversation about how martyrdom and saviorism show up in our personal relationships, this episode zooms out to examine how those unconscious patterns play out in global systems shaped by the same ideologies that fueled and justified colonialism.I share reflections from my time teaching in Tanzania and unpack how neocolonial narratives are embedded in international development and humanitarian aid, reinforcing problematic power dynamics while undermining the agency and autonomy of local communities.Is it even possible to reform these systems? And what does it mean to decolonize ourselves and reshape the narratives we’ve internalized about who needs to be saved and who is meant to do the saving?Join the waitlist for my signature RootWork program⁠.Visit my ⁠⁠website⁠⁠ to learn about my organizational offerings or to request a custom-created leadership workshop, program, or retreat for your institution.Want my support in unearthing and transforming your unconscious beliefs, protective patterns, and survival strategies? ⁠Apply for 3 months of 1:1 coaching.Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠ to catch the next episode. Please leave a rating and/or review if you find this content insightful, meaningful, or useful. Prefer this content in video form? Subscribe to my ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠.

What if our conditioning around being a “good” person actually does more harm than good? In this episode, I explore how our ideas of what it means to be “good” have been shaped by oppressive systems—religion, colonialism, patriarchy, and capitalism—and how internalized shame and scarcity shape our sense of self and show up in the ways we try to show up for others. I unpack the shadow expression of martyrdom and saviorism—archetypes we may fall into when trying to “help”—and the unconscious ways we seek to have our needs met, often at the expense of ourselves and those we care about.This is an invitation to reflect on the ways goodness can manifest as performance and what becomes possible when we choose self-sovereignty over self-sacrifice.Join the waitlist for my signature RootWork program⁠.Visit my ⁠⁠website⁠⁠ to learn about my organizational offerings or to request a custom-created leadership workshop, program, or retreat for your institution.Want my support in unearthing and transforming your unconscious beliefs, protective patterns, and survival strategies? ⁠Apply for 3 months of 1:1 mentorship⁠.Follow the podcast on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠ to catch the next episode. Please leave a rating and/or review if you find this content insightful, meaningful, or useful. Prefer this content in video form? Subscribe to my ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠.