When the CEO Can’t Lead: Bijal Shah, Guild, and the Continuity Plan That Worked

When the CEO role finds you instead of the other way around, everything about leadership gets tested. Bijal Shah shares what it was really like to step into the interim CEO role at Guild while on parental leave after a sudden crisis. The conversation sits at the intersection of entrepreneurship, business, and wellbeing, and asks […]
Emotional Self-Regulation for Leaders – Part 3: Honesty With Yourself (Replay)
Telling yourself the truth might be the most radical leadership skill you’ll ever develop. In part three of the Emotional Self-Regulation for Leaders series, Sarah Lockwood is joined by Beck Sydow and Marina Suholutsky for a conversation about the power of radical self-honesty in leadership. They explore how self-awareness for leaders isn’t just about introspection […]
Emotional Self-Regulation for Leaders – Part 2: Interrupt Fear With Curiosity (Replay)

Curiosity is the leadership skill that helps you regulate your nervous system, interrupt fear loops, and make conscious choices in real time. This episode is part 2 of the Emotional Self-Regulation for Leaders series, where Sarah Lockwood is joined again by Marina Suholutsky, the founder of PurposeBuilt, and Beck Sydow, the founder of HumanKind Business […]
Emotional Self-Regulation for Leaders – Part 1 Fear and Suffering (Replay)
Fear isn’t the enemy of great leadership. Ignoring it is. How often do you walk into a meeting already bracing for impact? Or catch yourself shrinking back in a moment where you meant to lead with clarity? Sarah Lockwood sits down with Beck Sydow, the founder of HumanKind Business Leaders, and Marina Suholutsky, the founder […]
A Better Way to Say Thanks: Authentic Employee Appreciation and Corporate Gifting
Appreciation can lift a team or quietly erode it, and Sarah Lockwood breaks down why the difference often comes down to whether people feel genuinely seen. In this solo episode, she explains why the usual holiday scramble for company gifts rarely creates the connection leaders intend and why Thanksgiving offers a clearer moment for gratitude […]
How Great Leaders Reframe Fear: Nataly Kogan on Building a Possibility Mindset

The story you tell yourself as a leader becomes the culture your team lives in, and Nataly Kogan shows how to rewrite that story with agency, awareness, and action. Sarah sits down with Nataly Kogan for a grounded conversation about entrepreneurship, business, and wellbeing—how the way we think shapes the way we lead. Nataly shares […]
The Secret to Loving Your Business – Even When It’s Driving You Crazy

When your business becomes your identity, resentment follows. Entrepreneur and author Debbie King shares how she rebuilt her company, and herself, by separating self-worth from success metrics. Her framework, “the model,” links circumstance, thought, feeling, action, and result, revealing how the stories we tell ourselves drive outcomes. Facts are neutral; meaning is optional. Which thoughts […]
Honest Conversations, Compassionate Leadership, and Real Accountability with Marc Lesser

Traditional leadership models tend to choose between kindness and clarity. Zen teacher and executive coach Marc Lesser argues that’s a false dichotomy. In this episode, Sarah sits down with Marc to unpack the concept of compassionate accountability — or in Marc’s preferred language, alignment with caring. It’s the core of modern Entrepreneurship and Business leadership: […]
Don’t Feed the Critic. Train the Coach: How to Rewire Negative Self-Talk and Lead Better

Entrepreneurship demands resilience, but too many founders rely on pressure and self-criticism as their fuel. Mike Robbins joins Sarah Lockwood to unpack why most business leaders treat self-worth as a scoreboard metric, praising achievement while ignoring wellbeing. He draws a clear line between recognition (results-based approval) and appreciation (inherent value), making the case that positive […]
The Simplest (and Cheapest) Way to Keep Your Best People

Employee recognition might sound obvious, but why do so many leaders miss it in practice? Dr. Bob Nelson joins Sarah Lockwood to explains why low-cost recognition ideas often matter more than paychecks or perks when it comes to real employee motivation. How do you create loyalty from day one with a new hire? What’s the […]