Breaking Rank

In this episode of Breaking Rank, we sit down with Nadira Ford-Robbins for a conversation about courage, adversity, and the kind of leadership that gets built in the middle of a crisis instead of before one. Nadira takes us back to her childhood in Staten Island, growing up in a family of eight with a mother who put herself through nursing school while raising her kids largely on her own. That ear...

Reinvention isn't a one-time event. Just ask David Ackert. David Ackert is the co-founder and CEO of PipelinePlus, bestselling author of The Short List, Gold Award winner for nonfiction book of the year, and one of the most respected voices in legal industry business development. But before all of that, he was an immigrant kid navigating the hostage crisis, a bullying victim who found refuge in th...

What does it really mean to lead — and who gets to do it? In this episode of Breaking Rank, host Diana Lauritson sits down with her best friend and HR veteran Angela Jones for a no-holds-barred conversation about leadership: where it comes from, who it's designed for, and what it costs to show up in spaces that weren't built with you in mind. From the earliest leadership examples they witnessed gr...

What does it actually look like to build wealth, lead at the highest level, and never lose yourself in the process? Shomari James, Founder and CEO of Equity Now, Inc., is living proof that success without selling out is not just possible. It is powerful. Shomari grew up getting kicked out of nearly every school he attended. He was raised by a mother who kept him grounded and a father who told him...

What does it mean to build something that outlasts you when no one built it for you first? In this episode of Breaking Rank, Diana sits down with Carl Gray III, founder and CEO of Raising Founders and Launch with Carl. Carl grew up in DC navigating a dual life between the streets and the church pew, with a father in and out of jail and a mother who earned her diploma the same year Carl graduated c...

The legal profession has never made it easy to be a present father. Matthew Korn decided to change that. Matthew is a partner at Fisher Phillips and the founder of Dad, Esq., a community built specifically for lawyer dads navigating the intersection of high-stakes careers and hands-on fatherhood. In this episode, he and Diana dig into why working dads face a unique and largely invisible set of pre...

What happens when the plan falls apart and you build something better? In this episode of Breaking Rank, host Diana Lauritson sits down with Jessica Aries, founder of By Aries and Legal Marketing Association International board member, for a conversation that covers it all: growing up in a single-parent household in Austin, TX, walking away from a law career, launching a business in the middle of...

What happens when you stop chasing titles and start choosing yourself? In this episode of Breaking Rank, Diana Lauritson sits down with Laura Gutierrez for a deeply human conversation about leadership that is not driven by rank, optics, or traditional ambition. Laura has spent decades building digital infrastructure for marketing teams, but her story is not about climbing a career ladder. It is ab...

What does it mean to build a life with intention when the odds are stacked against you? In this episode of Breaking Rank, I sit down with Sofia DeMartino for a powerful conversation about leadership shaped by lived experience. Sofia’s journey is not a traditional one. As a young single mother raising three children, she pursued higher education, earned advanced degrees, and built a career rooted i...

What does it mean to stop asking for inclusion and start building power? In this episode of Breaking Rank, Diana sits down with Aneka Jiwaji, a racialized woman lawyer who refused to let the industry define her value. Instead of accepting a narrative that positioned her as a diversity checkbox, Aneka chose something bolder. She built her own firm alongside her sister, rooted in justice, intention,...

Breaking Rank with Diana Lauritson featuring Lindsay Ellis What separates transformational leaders from the ones people quietly endure? In this episode of Breaking Rank, Diana Lauritson sits down with Lindsay Ellis, executive leader, mentor, and author of Beyond the Ordinary Leader: The No-Suck Leadership Manifesto, to unpack what modern leadership really requires — and why so many organizations a...

In this episode of Breaking Rank, Roy Sexton reflects on what it looks like to lead differently and why conformity was never the goal. Roy shares how he has pushed back against systems that expect leaders to shrink, soften, or fit a narrow mold. He talks openly about taking risks despite criticism, the pressure to change appearance or behavior to keep others comfortable, and the resolve it takes t...

What if leadership has nothing to do with titles, authority, or being in charge? In this episode of Breaking Rank, Jeffery Epting shows what it looks like to lead from clarity, values, and self-knowledge. No corner office. No permission. No hierarchy required. This is a conversation for anyone who has ever led without being “the boss,” refused to shrink to fit outdated systems, or chosen integrity...

What happens when you stop pushing through and finally listen to your body? In this powerful episode of Breaking Rank, I sit down with Tahisha Fugate to talk about the power of the pause—what it really means to step away from work to prioritize your physical health and mental wellness, especially in high-pressure, high-visibility careers. Tahisha opens up about making the difficult decision to pau...

Choosing Myself: Trauma, Power, and the Refusal to Shrink is a deeply personal and unapologetic opening episode of Breaking Rank. In this conversation, host Diana Lauritson is interviewed by her longtime friend and guest host Sofia DeMartino, tracing the moments that forced Diana to confront a hard truth: success that requires silence, self-erasure, or endurance at the cost of your well-being is n...