Not All Business

What if your best career story is the one you keep trying to hide?Britt Hunter, leadership speaker and founder of Be The Exception Coaching, joins Heather Cooper and Blakely Graham to explain why young professionals and seasoned leaders alike need to hurry up and fail. Britt shows how mistakes build clarity and confidence when you stop protecting a perfect image and start getting honest about what you learned.She breaks down a failure pitch that begins with a real capability, adds the setback that tested it, and turns the lesson into a memorable introduction. The conversation also explores why getting older does not automatically make us better, how small behavior rules create useful reps, and why leaders must learn to receive feedback without immediately defending themselves.Plus, Heather checks Garth Brooks off her bucket list, the team puts its opening banter on a ten-minute timer, and everyone shares a simple source of joy worth passing along.Key Takeaways:Why failure can become proof that you are coachableHow to stop waiting until you can try something perfectlyWhy confidence comes from reps rather than ageHow to build a failure pitch using a capability, a setback, and your nameWhy specific strengths are more memorable than generic claims like “I am collaborative”How small, measurable rules can help change social habitsWhy leaders need to own their actions without leading with a defensive explanationHow Britt's PIVOT framework moves accountability from facts and feelings to values and actionWhy creators should focus on the person who needs their message instead of trying to please the whole internetHow adults can normalize mistakes without giving up authorityPlease consider sharing this episode and subscribing to the show for more of the career questions women want answered but rarely ask out loud.Follow Our Guest:Britt Hunter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittbritt-hunter Britt Hunter on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachbhunt_/ Be The Exception Coaching: https://www.betheexceptioncoaching.com/ Follow Not All Business:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notallbiz/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/notallbusiness/ Substack: https://notallbusiness.substack.com/ Links & Mentions:Be The Exception Coaching: https://www.betheexceptioncoaching.com/ (Britt's leadership coaching, keynotes, workshops, and Own Your Adventure program)Britt Hunter's link hub: https://linktr.ee/BeTheExceptionCoaching  (current links for Britt's newsletter, social profiles, podcast, and ownership quiz)Garth Brooks: https://www.garthbrooks.com/  (mentioned during Heather's bucket-list story)Grizzly Rose: https://grizzlyrose.com/ (the Denver honky-tonk discussed in the opening)“Chaos Space Marine” by Black Country, New Road: https://open.spotify.com/track/2UEH1NjNHGsoEIr3GKLhNR?si=9cc4aa8bd1ce4ca3 “One Battle After Another”: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30144839/ Submit Your Sticky Situations:Got a sticky situation for Not All Business? Send an email or voice recording to [email protected] or drop your question in the comments.Thank You to Our Sponsors:Face Five Acne Clinic, Root-Cause Acne Care, No Harsh Prescriptions Required: https://facefiveacne.com - code NOTALLBIZ10 for 10% off your first orderFollow Face Five Skincare: https://www.instagram.com/facefiveskincare/Follow Wellness with Yuki: https://www.instagram.com/wellnesswithyuki/ Not All Business is Sex Ed for Your Career: the honest work questions women want answered but rarely ask out loud. Hosted by Heather Cooper and Blakely Graham, alongside producer and co-host Clay Carnill, new episodes drop every Thursday covering the real stuff: workplace drama, salary negotiation, imposter syndrome, and the sticky situations nobody has a script for. Subscribe so you never miss the next conversation.

Why is it so easy to offer help and so uncomfortable to ask for it?Melissa Moody, co-founder of Wednesday Women, joins Heather Cooper and Blakely Graham to explain why your career is bigger than your day job. She shows how to build a portfolio career around what matters in this season without turning your life into an endless list of obligations.Then Melissa introduces the give and the get. She explains how to identify what you need, turn a transactional request into a relational one, remove the hedging language, and stop talking long enough for the other person to answer. Heather and Blakely also get honest about comparison, CrossFit, writing a book, and deciding what not to do.Plus, Blakely takes us inside Olivia Rodrigo's Daisy Chain Fields festival and its lesson in how to support the next generation without disappearing.Key Takeaways:Why your career portfolio includes more than the job that pays youHow to invest in a side project without turning your life into an endless list of obligationsWhy priorities should change across different seasons of lifeHow comparison can make someone else's goal feel like your failureWhy deciding what not to do is part of building a meaningful careerHow to identify a get by looking at an opportunity or a blockerHow to turn a transactional request into a relational askWhy hedging words like “just” can undo a request before anyone answersHow asking gives someone else the opportunity to helpWhy practicing rejection can make the next ask easierPlease consider sharing this episode and subscribing to the show for more of the career questions women want answered but rarely ask out loud.Follow Our Guest:Melissa Moody on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissammoody Wednesday Women: https://www.wednesdaywomen.org/ Follow Not All Business:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notallbiz/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/notallbusiness/ Substack: https://notallbusiness.substack.com/ Links & Mentions:Wednesday Women: https://www.wednesdaywomen.org/  (the movement and executive membership community Melissa co-founded to amplify women leaders and help them support one another)Daisy Chain Fields: https://www.daisychainfields.com/ (Olivia Rodrigo's women-led music festival supporting organizations that serve women and girls)Associated Press on Daisy Chain Fields: https://apnews.com/article/aa831e6e96d6e75f315ae35633c6cd06  (reporting on the festival's $20 million raised for 10 nonprofit partners)Women in the Workplace 2025: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace (the McKinsey and LeanIn.Org research discussed in the episode about ambition and career support)Submit Your Sticky Situations:Got a sticky situation for Not All Business? Send an email or voice recording to [email protected] or drop your question in the comments.Thank You to Our Sponsors:Face Five Acne Clinic, Root-Cause Acne Care, No Harsh Prescriptions Required: https://facefiveacne.com - code NOTALLBIZ10 for 10% off your first orderFollow Face Five Skincare: https://www.instagram.com/facefiveskincare/Follow Wellness with Yuki: https://www.instagram.com/wellnesswithyuki/ Not All Business is Sex Ed for Your Career: the honest work questions women want answered but rarely ask out loud. Hosted by Heather Cooper and Blakely Graham, alongside producer and co-host Clay Carnill, new episodes drop every Thursday covering the real stuff: workplace drama, salary negotiation, imposter syndrome, and the sticky situations nobody has a script for. Subscribe so you never miss the next conversation.

Your highest-producing employee refuses to delegate, never comes to team day, and has become the office joke. Is she still your top performer?In Part 2 of the Arcadia conversation, Heather Cooper and Blakely Graham bring more anonymous Sticky Situations home from the Arcadia Leadership Experience in Bozeman. They explain why individual output is not the same as leadership, why special rules for one star employee can wreck a culture, and how a manager can hold someone accountable without trying to diagnose what may be happening in her personal life.They also help a self-employed listener caught between too much work and no work at all. The conversation moves from self-worth and breadwinner identity to practical ways to steady a business, including defining an ideal client, building recurring revenue, using slow periods to work on the business, and refusing the clients you already know you will resent.Then Blakely answers the question she received at Arcadia: During her years as a CEO, was she actually happy? Her answer opens an honest conversation about ambition, daycare, motherhood, burnout, therapy, and why learning what you need is only the beginning. You still have to practice it.Before the Sticky Situations, Heather and Blakely recap the conference itself: fly fishing, breathwork, a sound bath mishap, real connection without cell service, and an AI session that pushed them to confront the growing gender gap in AI work.Key Takeaways:Why individual output does not automatically make someone a top performerHow special treatment for one employee becomes a culture problem for everyoneWhy managers should address observable patterns, not diagnose an employeeHow compassion and accountability can exist at the same timeWhat self-employed people can do during the slow part of a feast-or-famine cycleHow ambition and motherhood can both be true without either one being the problemWhy insight from therapy, a retreat, or a breakthrough still requires daily practiceWhy women should build AI literacy without giving up the human skills that matterPlease consider sharing this episode and subscribing to the show for more of the career questions women want answered but rarely ask out loud.Follow Hosts:Blakely: https://www.instagram.com/blakelygraham/ Heather: https://www.instagram.com/heathercooper.nab/ Clay: https://www.instagram.com/claycarnill/Follow Not All Business:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notallbiz/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/notallbusiness/ Substack: https://notallbusiness.substack.com/ Links & Mentions:Arcadia Leadership Experience: https://www.arcadialeadershipexperience.com/ (the Bozeman leadership gathering where this episode’s audience questions originated)Brian Sowards: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-sowards-41456731b (led the “AI Backpack” session that became an open conversation about using AI as a collaborative tool) LinkedIn research on women in AI hiring: https://news.linkedin.com/2026/new-linkedin-research-finds-women-account-for-just-26-percent-of-ai-hires-as-ai-jobs-surge Lauren Goodell of Clustr Innovations: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-goodell  (helps sales teams adopt AI without losing the judgment, empathy, and human connection the technology cannot replace)Shannon Hawley, breathwork and sound bath facilitator: https://songandsoundhealing.com/ Submit Your Sticky Situations:Got a sticky situation for Not All Business? Send an email or voice recording to [email protected] or drop your question in the comments.Thank You to Our Sponsors:Face Five Acne Clinic, Root-Cause Acne Care, No Harsh Prescriptions Required: https://facefiveacne.com - code NOTALLBIZ10 for 10% off your first orderFollow Face Five Skincare: https://www.instagram.com/facefiveskincare/Follow Wellness with Yuki: https://www.instagram.com/wellnesswithyuki/ Not All Business is Sex Ed for Your Career. Subscribe so you never miss the next conversation.

You built the career. You reached the milestone. So why does it no longer feel like enough?Fresh from recording Sticky Situations live at the Arcadia Leadership Experience in Bozeman (https://www.arcadialeadershipexperience.com/), Blakely Graham and Heather Cooper bring the audience’s hardest career questions home. They unpack the strange lull that can follow achievement, the difference between burnout and outgrowing a role, and how to explore a career change without pretending money and responsibilities do not matter.Blakely and Heather share what happened after their own career exits, why purpose rarely arrives on command, and how small “one-degree decisions” (an idea from Lindsay Tjepkema, https://lindsaytjepkema.com/) can help you regain control before you make a dramatic move. They also debate quiet quitting, taking a pay cut for work you actually want, trusting your gut versus the spreadsheet, and whether it is better to coast between successes or chase the next unknown thing.The conversation begins with a tribute to Dolly Parton: her kindness, professionalism, refusal to shrink, and extraordinary legacy.Key Takeaways:Why getting everything you wanted can still leave you without purposeHow to tell career burnout from having outgrown your roleWhy “get interested in your interests” is better than forcing a five-year planHow to listen to intuition without confusing it with fear or your inner criticHow Lindsay Tjepkema’s “one-degree decisions” can move you toward a career change without rage quittingWhy salary is only one part of a job’s real valueThe case for coasting and the case for chasing what comes nextPlease consider sharing this episode & subscribing to the show for more unfiltered conversations about leadership, growth, and the messy human side of business.Follow Hosts:Blakely: https://www.instagram.com/blakelygraham/ Heather: https://www.instagram.com/heathercooper.nab/ Clay: https://www.instagram.com/claycarnill/Follow Not All Business:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notallbiz/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/notallbusiness/ Substack: https://notallbusiness.substack.com/ Links & Mentions:Arcadia Leadership Experience: https://www.arcadialeadershipexperience.com/ (the Bozeman leadership gathering where this episode’s audience questions originated)Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library: https://imaginationlibrary.com/ (free, age-appropriate books for enrolled children from birth to age five through participating local programs)From Strength to Strength by Arthur C. Brooks: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/646134/from-strength-to-strength-by-arthur-c-brooks/ (a guide to finding purpose, meaning, and success in the second half of life)Jayne Robinson, “Dying At Your Desk? Why Comfort Is More Dangerous Than Failure”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8AIomCptBE (the earlier NAB conversation about telling your real inner voice from fear-driven noise)Lane McLeod, “She’s Teaching Women to Buy Houses Alone: And It’s Working”: https://youtu.be/Cbmv0xwBaGs (the earlier NAB conversation about Lane’s career pivot and building wealth through homeownership)Sam Yarborough, “Stop Pitch Slapping and Start Connecting”: https://youtu.be/nyWpMGYTd8k (the earlier NAB conversation with Arcadia co-founder Sam Yarborough)Plum Village Monastery: https://plumvillage.org/Lindsay Tjepkema: https://lindsaytjepkema.com/ (source of the “one-degree decisions” idea discussed in the episode)Submit Your Sticky Situations:Got a sticky situation for Not All Business? Send an email or voice recording to [email protected] or drop your question in the comments.Thank You to Our Sponsors:Face Five Acne Clinic, Root-Cause Acne Care, No Harsh Prescriptions Required: https://facefiveacne.com - code NOTALLBIZ10 for 10% off your first orderFollow Face Five Skincare: https://www.instagram.com/facefiveskincare/Follow Wellness with Yuki: https://www.instagram.com/wellnesswithyuki/

Leadership sounds exciting until you're the one who has to deliver the bad news.What do you say when you have to fire someone and can't stop thinking about their family, bills, and future? How do you honestly review a friend whose performance is below expectations? And what happens when your boss tells you to be more assertive—after previously criticizing you for being too intense?In this Sticky Summer episode, Heather and Blakely tackle the painful leadership situations that rarely have a perfect answer. They share what they've learned about firing with compassion, giving honest feedback, standing up for yourself without losing credibility, and knowing when taking one for the team has gone too far.They also respond to a listener whose work was handed to a "better presenter" days before a major conference—and explain why the real failure may belong to the manager who never gave them the chance to improve.Then Clay puts them through another rapid-fire round on bad managers, corporate buzzwords, overrated leadership advice, and the biggest lie companies tell their employees.Key Takeaways:Why feeling terrible about firing someone may actually mean you belong in managementHow to keep a termination conversation short, clear, kind, and focused on the employeeWhy honest feedback is a gift—even when the person receiving it is your friendWhat to do when you're criticized for being both too passive and too intenseHow to stop calibrating your behavior to everyone else's expectationsThe difference between voluntarily taking one for the team and being afraid to defend yourselfWhy handing your presentation to someone else at the last minute is a management failureThe biggest lie about corporate life: your workplace is not your familyPlease consider sharing this episode & subscribing to the show for more of the questions women want answered but rarely ask out loud.Follow Our Hosts:Blakely: https://www.instagram.com/blakelygrahamHeather: https://www.instagram.com/heathercooper.nabClay: https://www.instagram.com/claycarnillFollow Not All Business:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notallbizLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/notallbusinessSubstack: https://notallbusiness.substack.comSubmit Your Sticky Situations & Workplace Dilemmas:Got a sticky situation for Not All Business? Send a voice recording to [email protected] or drop your question in the comments.Thank You to Our Sponsors:Face Five Acne Clinic, Root-Cause Acne Care, No Harsh Prescriptions Required: https://facefiveacne.com - code NOTALLBIZ10 for 10% off your first orderFollow Face Five Skincare: https://www.instagram.com/facefiveskincare/Follow Wellness with Yuki: https://www.instagram.com/wellnesswithyuki/ Not All Business is Sex Ed for Your Career — the honest questions women want answered but rarely ask out loud. Hosted by Heather Cooper and Blakely Graham, alongside producer and co-host Clay Carnill, new episodes drop every Thursday covering the real stuff: workplace drama, salary negotiation, imposter syndrome, and the sticky situations nobody has a script for. Subscribe so you never miss the next conversation.