Unprofessional

In this episode, Hilary Corna sits down with Marjorie Kreppel, CEO of The Counseling Center Group, to discuss scaling a mental health practice while maintaining quality care, strong culture, and human connection. Marjorie shares her journey from marketing to therapy and the challenges of expanding across multiple states. Together, they explore how technology, AI, and better processes can support g...

In this solo episode, Hilary Corna explores how AI is changing the consulting and coaching industry, and why that might actually be a good thing. As AI makes information, frameworks, and recommendations more accessible, she challenges consultants to rethink what clients should really be paying for: not knowledge or presentations, but measurable results and lasting improvements. Drawing from her ex...

In this episode, Hilary Corna sits down with Mahesh, Founder and Managing Director of Cosmic Electrical Limited, a Nepal-based energy company focused on transmission lines, distribution lines, and rural electrification projects. Mahesh shares how growing up in a village without electricity shaped his purpose, why bringing power to rural communities became deeply personal, and how Cosmic has impact...

In this episode, Hilary Corna sits down with Jim Jacobs, CEO of Focus Insight and Human Layer AI, to talk about how AI is changing the way companies think about process, scale, and operational efficiency. Jim shares how the EMP program transformed his perspective on growth, helping him rethink his business model, rebuild processes, and identify where AI could create real leverage. Together, Hilary...

In this solo episode, Hilary Corna talks about a common frustration she hears from CEOs: “If I’m not watching, it doesn’t get done.” She explains why this happens when the CEO becomes the invisible operating system of the business, and why relying on memory, check-ins, and personal follow-up creates hidden operational dependency. Hilary breaks down how leaders can move from supervision to true sys...

In this episode, Hilary Corna explores the risk of waiting too long to define, improve, and train around how work actually gets done. Through a live operational conversation, she discusses how inefficiencies become normalized, why process and culture are deeply connected, and how unclear systems make accountability harder than it needs to be. Hilary also explains why scaling is not solved by simpl...

In this solo episode, Hilary Corna shares five operational trends she is seeing as organizations return from summer and prepare for Q4. She explains why teams often come back to too many competing priorities, how unresolved process issues begin to look like people problems, and why growing companies can outpace the systems they rely on. Hilary also discusses the risks of automating inefficient pro...

In this special mashup episode, Hilary Corna brings together some of the strongest moments from the podcast so far in 2026. The episode highlights key themes around proactive leadership, continuous improvement, operational maturity, and the hidden ways companies normalize inefficiency. From avoiding a “wait and see” culture to stopping the habit of rewarding firefighting, Hilary shares practical r...

In this episode, Hilary sits down with Meghan Freed, CEO of FreedMarcroft, a Connecticut-based family and divorce law firm. They discuss the myth that entrepreneurship creates instant freedom, why employees should not be expected to “think like owners,” and how small operational issues can quietly become part of a company’s culture. From Toyota’s “Stop the Line” principle to the importance of surf...

In this solo episode, Hilary Corna shares the personal story behind her passion for Japanese culture, process improvement, and Toyota. She reflects on how childhood curiosity, studying Japanese, taking a leap to work abroad, and eventually joining Toyota in Singapore shaped the work she still does today. Hilary also shares why she left Toyota, how her first book came to life, and why she still fee...

In this solo episode, Hilary Corna shares reflections after speaking at EMP (a highly competitive, MIT-based program connected to the origins of EO). After dozens of conversations with founders and leadership teams, one theme kept coming up: most companies aren’t struggling because growth stopped—they’re struggling because growth started to feel heavier than it should. Hilary explains the concept...

In this solo episode, Hilary Corna calls out an uncomfortable truth: in many organizations, “continuous improvement” has quietly turned into corporate theater —a lot of activity that looks like progress, but doesn’t actually change anything. Hilary breaks down what real continuous improvement looks like day-to-day (stability, daily problem solving, psychological safety, and leadership maturity), p...

In this solo episode, Hilary Corna shares a real-time update from inside her Ops Edge Academy cohort—and a pattern she sees in almost every company trying to improve operations: the moment when “a few small fixes” suddenly turn into a web of dependencies. She explains why that discomfort is actually progress (not overcomplication), how scoping exposes the work that was already there, and what it l...

In this solo episode, Hilary Corna explains why most companies don’t improve until something actually breaks—and how that creates a “firefighting” culture that feels productive, but quietly makes the business fragile. She reframes the problem as a behavior issue (what gets rewarded) , not just a process issue, and shares how healthy organizations build momentum by improving while things are still...

In this solo episode, Hilary Corna explains what she calls the most dangerous (and most ignored) phase of business growth: the moment when everything looks fine on the outside—clients are coming in, the team is busy, the reputation is growing—but internally, execution feels heavier than it should. She breaks down the subtle signs you’re relying on effort instead of design, why issues become “norma...

In this solo episode, Hilary Corna unpacks a common leadership frustration: “We have really smart people… so why does everything still feel chaotic?” She explains why this usually isn’t a talent problem—it’s a systems and clarity problem. Hilary breaks down how unclear structures create inconsistent decisions and misalignment, walks through the three stages of organizational maturity, and shares t...

In this solo episode, Hilary Corna breaks down where to start with AI at work—without trying to “AI everything” and overwhelming your team. She shares a simple lens for choosing the right starting point (repeatable, already happening, and slightly painful), then walks through three high-ROI processes to AI-enable first: decision support, communication & documentation, and continuous improvemen...

In this solo episode, Hilary Corna challenges a common misconception in continuous improvement: doing “Lean” activities won’t automatically produce Toyota-level performance. She explains why many organizations copy the visible symptoms of Lean (boards, workshops, language) instead of building the system behind it—Toyota’s management architecture. Hilary breaks down what “architecture” really means...

In this solo episode, Hilary Corna breaks down what a “wait and see” culture really looks like inside growing organizations—especially during uncertainty—and why it quietly becomes one of the most expensive ways to run a business. She explains the three root causes that create reactive teams (fear of rocking the boat, unclear ownership, and overload), the hidden costs of waiting, and the simple cu...

Kicking off 2026 and celebrating year five of the show, Hilary Corna shares a simple but powerful leadership practice to spark meaningful process improvement: one question every leader should ask their team—“What feels harder than it should right now?” Hilary explains how this question uncovers real constraints, invites honest feedback, and shifts continuous improvement from something the business...

Build an ops engine that actually holds up in 2026. In this short holiday solo, Hilary shares three ways to work together in 2026—starting with The Ops Edge Academy (a 12-week, hands-on PDCA certification rooted in Toyota’s approach), plus the Flow State Workshop to master process mapping, 1:1 training for an Ops leader on your team, and her full engagement retainer for end-to-end process improvem...

In this end-of-year solo episode, Hilary Corna looks ahead to 2026 and explains why it will be a “convergence year” where AI goes mainstream and operations become a true competitive advantage. She walks through three core questions every leader should ask about their operations before Q1, shows how lack of clarity (“who does what, when, and why”) caps growth, and reframes AI as a solution to real...

In this solo episode, Hilary Corna shares how to boost revenue without adding more leads by tightening the quality of your sales process. She breaks down a simple three-stage pre-sales framework—prospecting, quoting, and closing—and shows where businesses commonly leak money through poor lead fit, inconsistent follow-up, and non-standard proposals or contracts. With practical examples, Hilary expl...

Bold leaders don't guess, they implement. In this special episode, Hilary Corna brings together the most powerful moments of 2025, where founders and experts revealed the specific processes they used to scale with clarity. Discover how they applied principles like PDCA to simplify operations, make data-driven decisions, and build impactful businesses without burning out. Enrolling now for The...

Ready to launch your new processes with consistency and clarity? In this episode, Hilary introduces a powerful tool she uses with all her clients—a training template designed to simplify go live preparations. Download the template at: https://rebrand.ly/training-template or visit www. HilaryCorna.com/Learning-center This template ensures that every training session is structured, standardized, and...