Bia: Becoming in Action

What does it take to build a business while caring for a family and learn that slowing down is part of success? In this episode of BIA: Becoming in Action , Justice, Army veteran and founder of Rooted Aesthetic Beauty Bar and Boutique, shares the winding path that brought her here. She talks about enlisting in the National Guard at 17, finding her way into the beauty industry, and building her bus...

What if the work you have always been drawn to is not something to fit around your career, but the work itself? In this episode of BIA: Becoming in Action, I sit down with Suneet Bhatt, author, educator, coach, and former high-growth executive, for an honest conversation about clarity, purpose, and the courage to reevaluate the life you have built. Suneet shares the journey that led him back to te...

What happens when you say yes before you feel completely ready? In this solo episode of Bia: Becoming in Action, I reflect on a life-changing year filled with personal reinvention, career transition, entrepreneurship, networking, creativity, and unexpected new beginnings. I share how one spontaneous yes to a BNI meeting changed my understanding of networking and introduced me to an incredible comm...

What happens when a moment of pure silliness turns into a spiral of self-consciousness? In this episode of Bia – Becoming in Action , I share the story of accidentally matching my outdoor couch, leaning all the way into the joke with a ridiculous George Costanza pose, and then immediately wanting the photo deleted. What started as laughter became embarrassment and judgment. Why did I do that? Why...

Careers rarely follow a straight line and maybe they aren't supposed to. In this episode, I sit down with Mia, a young professional who has already navigated multiple career pivots with remarkable clarity and self-awareness. From studying journalism at Northwestern to consulting at Bain, working in beauty startups, and now standing at yet another crossroads, Mia shares how she's learned to...

What if the way you see yourself isn't reality? What if it's a prescription you were given long before you were old enough to choose it? After reading Yesteryear , I found myself thinking less about the novel and more about the invisible lenses we inherit from childhood. The beliefs we absorb about who we are, what we're worth, and what we have to do to be loved can become so deeply em...

What if fun isn't something you earn after the work is done? What if it's something you've been missing all along? A comment from Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, a surprisingly lovable character from The Bear , and research on the science of fun all led me to the same question: When was the last time you had so much fun that you lost track of time? In this episode, I explor...

What does it take to build a life with intention? In this episode, I sit down with Amber, a wife, mother of four, former nurse anesthetist, business development professional, photographer, storyteller, and community builder. While her resume is impressive, what struck me most was the intentionality behind every chapter of her journey. Amber shares what it was like growing up as the oldest child an...

For most of my life, I thought the answer was to push through. Work harder. Stay positive. Find the silver lining. Keep things moving. But what if the discomfort we're trying so hard to override is actually trying to tell us something? In this episode, I share a recent realization sparked by an Instagram post that stopped me in my tracks: "Your nervous system clocks it before your mind ex...

What does leadership look like when it isn't loud? In this episode, I sit down with my longtime friend Patti, a woman whose impact has never depended on titles, credentials, or being the loudest voice in the room. Patti is one of the most compassionate and effective leaders I've had the privilege of knowing, and her story is a powerful reminder that quiet strength can create lasting change...

Mother's Day stirred up something unexpected in me this year. In this deeply personal episode, I share a part of my story that I've carried quietly for many years. The grief of never having a daughter. As a proud mom of three incredible boys, I've often felt guilty for acknowledging that longing. But through coaching, reflection, and a willingness to sit with difficult emotions, I'...

This week on the podcast, I’m joined by my cousin Kerry for a conversation about recovery, grief, leadership, creativity, and the long process of becoming yourself again. What started as a reconnection between cousins turned into a deeply honest conversation about the many ways people heal. Kerry shares her journey from a prescription opioid addiction that began after a car accident, to years of a...

In this Real Life, Real Work episode, we explore what happens when someone else’s anger or distress activates our own nervous system. Why do some of us rush to reassure, reframe, fix, or smooth things over the moment emotions get intense? Why can another person’s frustration feel so uncomfortable in our own body? This episode dives into the connection between nervous system activation, people plea...

So many of us build lives that look right on paper before we stop and ask ourselves: But does this actually feel like me? In this episode, my friend Sarah shares the winding path that took her from psychology student to lawyer to stay-at-home mom to therapist in her 40s. What I love most about Sarah’s story is that she kept listening to the quiet voice inside her that said: there is something more...

I went for an early morning walk in Napa and ended up at a literal dead end. Standing there, I realized something that completely reframed how I think about change, failure, uncertainty, and identity: I am not the dead end. The road is. In this episode, I talk about the years I spent as a supporting character in my own life, what my divorce taught me about agency, grief, and healing, and why I now...

Content Note This conversation includes discussion of addiction, alcoholism, recovery, and emotional struggle. Please listen with care if these topics are sensitive for you. Chris made one choice at 22 that changed the trajectory of his life. What started as a reluctant step into sobriety, without much intention beyond getting help in the moment, became 25 years of choosing differently. Choosing c...

She built her career by being the one who said yes. Yes to more responsibility. Yes to filling gaps. Yes to doing whatever it took to make things work. And it worked… until it didn’t. In this episode, I walk through the moment so many high performers hit but don’t always talk about. When the very traits that made you successful start to burn you out. When caring deeply about quality collides with...

This episode includes discussion of trauma, sexual assault, self-harm, suicide attempts, and serious illness. Please listen with care. In this episode, I sit down with Katy to talk about motherhood, family, and the unexpected ways our lives unfold. What begins as a conversation about her son, Julius, and the way she approaches parenting quickly becomes something much deeper. Katy shares her story....

What happens when you’ve carried too much for too long? What does it look like to keep showing up on the outside while everything is unraveling on the inside? In this deeply honest conversation, I sit down with Evan, a first responder who spent years serving others while privately carrying the cumulative weight of trauma, loss, stress, and emotional numbness. We talk about the culture of strength...

Comparison can quietly erode confidence at work. You start second-guessing yourself, staying quiet in meetings, and assuming everyone else has more to offer. In this episode of Real Talk, Real Work , we unpack how comparison becomes the thief of confidence and how to stop letting it run the show. We talk about recognizing when you’re stacking the deck against yourself, reframing what makes you dif...

When answers don’t come easily, how do you know when to keep pushing? In this deeply moving episode, Laurie shares the story of knowing something wasn’t right with her son, Grant, even when symptoms were subtle, tests were normal, and reassurance came from every direction. What began as small concerns slowly built into a years-long journey of appointments, second opinions, self-doubt, persistence,...

What if the moments you feel the most emotional are actually the moments where growth is happening? In this episode, I share what it’s looked like for me to shift from a definition of growth rooted in learning to one rooted in feeling. When my son comes home to visit, I want it to feel like pure joy. And part of it does. But there’s also fear, pressure, and emotion tied to a past experience that d...

In this first Real Life, Real Work episode, I talk about what really happens when we try to strip the “human” out of hard conversations at work. So many of us have been taught to separate our work self from who we are everywhere else. To stick to the facts. To stay neutral. To be professional. But low empathy isn’t neutral. It creates distance. And when there’s no connection, even the most accurat...

There are seasons in life when we’re just trying to keep up. And then there are seasons when we realize, we’re actually building something. In this conversation, I sit down with Kathy, a mother of four, recent law school graduate, community leader, and co-founder of Toledo’s Share, to talk about what it really looks like to build a meaningful life in the middle of a full one. We talk about the mom...

If you listened to the last episode and found yourself sitting with some uncomfortable questions, this is for you. This is a short, 5-minute centering practice for those moments when your mind is racing, when you’re feeling behind, or when that quiet question starts to creep in: Does this even matter? In this meditation, I guide you back to something simpler. Back to your breath. Back to your body...