Make Life Less Difficult

Send us a message! My guest today is Dr. Tova Rubin.  Tova is a licensed clinical psychologist, and she brings a unique awareness and ability to listen between the lines to her work that allows her to shine a light on areas of relationships and patterns of communication.  Tova is also an expert in the field of positive psychology and is regularly invited to give workshops and talks about positive...

Send us a message! My guest today is Jessica Zucal. Jess is a returning guest and I'm so honored to share this conversation with you. Jess is an organizational change and culture specialist.  She supports leaders and organizations in navigating transformational change by integrating both the inner work of leadership and the systemic work of organizational change. She helps leaders see their o...

Send us a message! My guest today is Donna Moreno. Donna spent 34 years at Verizon, where she was trained as a company spokesperson, representing them everywhere from industry conferences to investor events. Today she's at The Washington Post, working on compensation, pay equity, job architecture, and how AI is reshaping the way we design jobs. But her résumé only tells you a sliver of the st...

Send us a message! Today's guest is Nick Reittinger (write - ting - jer). And Russ Watts is hosting today. Nick is a seismic consultant in Kyle TX. If it shakes, rattles or rolls, he's got it covered. His real passion in life is traveling with his lovely wife and two beautiful daughters. Connecting with individuals across the country has turned out to be an unexpected skill.  In this con...

Send us a message! My guest today is Graham Shelby. Graham is a storyteller in just about every sense of the word — a writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times and on NPR's The Moth Radio Hour, a veteran stage performer, a speechwriter, and director of the documentary City of Ali, about the week the city of Louisville, Kentucky — Muhammad Ali's hometown — came together to say...

Send us a message! My guest today is Nicole Anderson. Nicole is a leadership development consultant and coach. Nicole is a returning guest to the podcast and this is an inspiring conversation that includes stories of Nicole's recent journey of starting her own company and podcast. Nicole founded Audacia after two decades inside the rooms where growth-stage decisions get made, leading teams, b...

Send us a message! It's been 5 years since the release of the first episode of Make Life Less Difficult! Today, Russ Watts joins me to reflect on the journey of this podcast, what it means to me, how it's impacted me (and others), and what I envision for the upcoming 5 years! Russ is a guest host and a frequent guest of the podcast.  He and I facilitate retreats and workshops focused on...

Send us a message! My guest today is Suneet Bhatt. Suneet helps people and organizations get unstuck, find purpose, and build momentum.  Suneet teaches at Rutgers University, helping students make sense of their purpose and understand their journey to purpose. In his work, Suneet has found that before we can make sense of our purpose, we have to make sense of ourselves.  This sounds so simple, but...

Send us a message! My guest today is Srikanth Seshadri. Sri is a returning guest, previously on episode 169 in 2022. Today, Sri and I discuss the book, What to Make of a Life , by Jim Collins.   Sri is an executive coach who helps CEOs scale their companies and accelerate performance. When Sri and I talked about doing another podcast together, he sent me a link to this book, suggesting we both rea...

Send us a message! My guest today is Deonna Marie Cattledge. Deonna Marie is an EMMY Award-Winning Vocalist, Storyteller, Keynote Speaker, Actress, & Intuitive Vocal Coach from Grand Rapids, Michigan. A classically trained singer with over a decade of experience, Deonna Marie has worked with internationally known vocalists, vocal teachers & coaches, stage directors, and choral conductors. ...

Send us a message! My guest today is Ashley T Brundage  Ashley is the Founder and President of Empowering Differences, a consultancy that helps people and organizations turn personal and identity-based differences into a source of strength rather than a barrier.  As a transgender woman, Ashley has overcome harassment, discrimination, and homelessness.  After beginning her transition in 2008, she s...

Send us a message! My guest today is Phil Chu. I had the privilege of meeting Phil through our mutual friend, Ravi Ram -- thank you Ravi! Phil is the founder and head coach of SEEN, a relational fitness training company.  In our conversation today Phil shares about his journey to starting SEEN, what relational fitness is and means, the payoff of learning to step into conflict with a framework bigg...

Send us a message! My guest today is Jordan Friedman. Jordan is known as The Stress Coach.  He offers a ‘chill factory’ of virtual and in-person stress management and anxiety reduction speaker programs, coaching options, courses, and more to support mental health, productivity and retention.  For 30 years, Jordan has pioneered innovative stress management training for companies,  coaches, schools,...

Send us a message! Today's guest is Stuart Voeden. Russ Watts is hosting this inspiring conversation with Stuart.  Thank you, Russ! In their conversation today, Stuart and Russ explore Stuart's journey from corporate burnout to embodied artistic practice, and how confronting one's shadow, embracing intuition, and "coming at life sideways" can make existence less difficult...

Send us a message! My guest today is Kathryn Broullire. Kathryn and I connected through the Georgetown Leadership Coaching mentorship program and from our first interaction, it has felt like a connection that was meant to be! Kathryn is a Learning and Development expert and has worked in the educational space for over 13 years.  She's completed the Georgetown University Leadership Coaching pr...

Send us a message! Today my conversation is with Russ Watts.  Russ co-hosts and guest-hosts here on the podcast, so his is a familiar voice to many of you.  Russ and I have been co-creating and co-facilitating storytelling experiences since 2019. It was such a delight to sit down with Russ and dive into a conversation today.  We made no plans, just pressed record and started sharing. Our hope is t...

Send us a message! My guest today is Derrek Cooper. Derrek is an executive coach and had a masters in applied positive psychology.  If his name is familiar, you may have heard his conversation here on the podcast with Russ.   Today, Derrek and I get to have a great conversation that I think you'll find very inspiring, especially if you find yourself in some kind of transition.  We talk about...

Send us a message! My guest today is Niki Mathias. Niki is an author who is helping the world better understand what it means to be a highly sensitive person.  Her upcoming book, Derby and the Dandelions, explores this through the unique lens of a teenage girl and her best friends. I'm very excited to share this conversation because I learned so much from talking with Niki.  Her stories and s...

Send us a message! My guest today is Lisa Lewis Daniels. Lisa is a returning guest and you can hear my first conversation with her on episode 265. Lisa is the founder and CEO of Lionheart Society.  She helps her clients find their identity, purpose during life transitions.   Today, Lisa shares more about her own transition, more about her time in what she calls the Messy Middle (a phrase I know I...

Send us a message! My guest today is Kenny Leahman. Kenny is retired from the Central Intelligence Agency after a 24-year career.  He now is a coach, educator, and consultant who helps others discover what really matters by focusing on values-based living and leadership.  Kenny says, “Make choices based on what matters.  If it doesn’t matter, let it go.” Kenny was a guest on Episode 215, and if yo...

Send us a message! My guest today is Tony Cerella. Tony is a returning guest and if you haven't listened to our previous conversations, please check them out.  They are a series of 3 conversations about Tony's transition into retirement after 23 years in the US Army. Now, 2 years post retirement, Tony shares about a recent experience he had: wandering.  Going places without knowing. Here...

Send us a message! Today's guest is Derrek Cooper.  Russ Watts is hosting this conversation! Derrek brings a rare blend of lived experience, leadership insight, and academic rigor to his coaching. From serving aboard submarines in the U.S. Navy to leading global teams as a software executive, his 25+ year career has spanned industries, continents, and complexity. With a Master’s in Mechanical...

Send us a message! My guest today is Jason Frohnmayer. Jason is a retired U.S. Diplomat, having served his country in a variety of capacities at overseas posts and in Washington D.C.  Throughout his career at the U.S. Department of State, he managed grants and drafted media products to ensure accurate information dissemination on global initiatives. He also created content surrounding community-bu...

Send us a message! Our guest today is Tom Bohnic.  Russ brings this beautiful conversation to us in today's episode. Tom spent most of his professional career leading business transformation and service innovation at scales from Fortune Global 50 to Start-ups from both consulting and internal executive-level positions.  It was the challenges of real-world engagement in complex business challe...

Send us a message! In today's episode, my good friend, Titus Mott, asks me about my recent 50 days of rock climbing adventure for my 50th birthday.  It's amusingly intimidating to be the guest on my own podcast and I'm so grateful to Titus for taking the time to do this episode with me! Thanks to everyone who supported me from near and far for this epic life adventure! See picture h...