Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors: Shatter Limiting Beliefs - Redefine Success - Chase Big Dreams

Have you ever held back from saying something you know, teaching something you have lived, or going for the thing you want - because a voice whispered that you haven't earned the right yet? Not the ordinary self-doubt. The deeper kind. The one that says your story isn't painful enough, your struggle wasn't dramatic enough, and other people are allowed to lead, but you have to wait u...

WHAT IF What if you didn’t need a tech background, a development team, or even a single line of code to build your own software? Kay Allen-Carr launched a working app in four hours and a full software company in 48. She’s not a developer. She’s a marketer. And she did it by stopping prompting AI and starting to partner with it — and now she teaches women entrepreneurs to do exactly the same. SUMMA...

WHAT IF What if the thing that’s been holding you back isn’t your resume, your credentials, or your experience. But the version of yourself you’ve been shrinking to fit rooms that were never built for you? Dr. Syreeta Rios has a doctorate, two decades in tech, a PMP certification, and a global career that took her from Delaware to Atlanta to Dubai. She still had to fight every single step of the w...

WHAT IF What if you've done everything right — the climb, the grind, the sacrifices — and the exhaustion you feel isn't a personal failing, but proof that the system was never designed for you to win? Meghan French Dunbar spent over a decade interviewing more than 1,000 leaders to find the ones who figured out how to succeed without destroying themselves — and what she found will change...

What if the thing standing between you and your biggest dream isn't a lack of strategy, resources, or time — but the story you've been telling yourself for so long you stopped questioning it? And what if the permission to dream again was never lost for good — just buried? That's exactly what Mitch Matthews has spent his career helping people uncover. Mitch Matthews has coached leade...

What if the hardest sticky floor you'll ever face isn't in the boardroom — it's in the bleachers? What if the thing that finally brings you to your knees isn't a difficult executive, a glass ceiling, or a career pivot, but an eight-year-old with a cheer bag and a breaking heart? That's where Erica is this week. And she's not pretending otherwise. This is a raw, unscri...

What If... What if the reason your weight feels impossible to manage has nothing to do with willpower, discipline, or how hard you are trying? What if the system that was supposed to help you has actually been working against you this whole time, and the missing piece was never the prescription at all? Dr. Meghan Garcia-Webb has been asking that question for years, and what she found will change t...

What If... What if the reason your income feels like a rollercoaster has nothing to do with your marketing strategy, your content calendar, or your next launch? What if the money you need is already sitting inside your business, and you just do not know where to look? Natalie Bernacchi spent 15 years scaling companies to $50 million in annual recurring revenue, and what she found will change the w...

What If... What if the very drive that made you successful is the exact thing that's quietly destroying your health? What if burnout doesn't announce itself with a dramatic breakdown, but instead shows up as bloating, fatigue, and a rash from eating eggs — and you, a physician, still miss it? Dr. Susan LaValle didn't just study burnout. She lived it, ignored it, and almost didn&apos...

What if the moment that looked like the end of everything was actually the moment your real life finally began? Not the life you planned, not the one that looked good on paper — but the one you were always meant to be living. That's not inspiration. That's Liz Prochaska's actual story. Liz spent 15 years climbing the corporate ladder in recruiting and HR leadership, quietly burning...

What if burnout isn't a mindset problem — it's a design flaw? And what if the systems you've been performing inside were literally built without your biology in mind? That's not a theory. It's neuroscience. And it changes everything. Kathryn Spears is a neuro somatic practitioner, applied neurology specialist, and international speaker working at the intersection of neuros...

What if the system you've been navigating was never designed to include you — and now the technology being built on top of it is about to make that permanent? That's not a hypothetical. It's happening right now. And Erica Rooney isn't just naming it — she's doing something about it. This is a solo episode and a bit of a manifesto. Erica pulls back the curtain on why Glass...

What if the "niceness" you were taught as a child is the very thing holding you back from a billion-dollar seat at the table? In this episode of Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors , Erica Rooney talks with Tracy Nolan , a Fortune 100 executive and Senior Vice President at Humana. Tracy’s journey is a masterclass in breaking barriers—from being one of the few women at an elite engineering s...

What happens when the "pinnacle" of your career suddenly disappears? In this powerhouse episode of Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors , Erica Rooney connects with Dr. Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer, a former Chief People Officer and author of the groundbreaking book Now Near Next . Cynthia reveals the "quiet but costly" mistake high-achieving women make: doing excellent work today withou...

What if the glass ceiling you just broke through leads to a room where you aren't even allowed to speak? In this episode of Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors , Erica Rooney sits down with Elizabeth Webb, author of Made for Magic . Elizabeth shares her raw experience as the first female employee at an all-male company, where she realized that "staying on principle" was actually costin...

What if the very traits you’ve been told make you "too emotional" for the C-suite are actually the high-level brain functions required for elite leadership? In this episode of Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors , Erica Rooney sits down with Melody Wilding , executive coach and author of Trust Yourself and Managing Up . Melody introduces the concept of the "Sensitive Striver" —hig...

What if being "canceled" in the office isn't a career death sentence, but a credential that proves you’re finally playing at a higher level? In this solo episode, host Erica Rooney takes a deep dive into the cultural phenomenon of "girlbossing too close to the sun." Using Taylor Swift’s track Cassandra (and the viral discourse around it) as a backdrop, Erica breaks down th...

What if the only thing standing between you and your biggest dream was a decades-old "software update" for your brain? Imagine moving across the world or pivoting your career not because you aren't afraid, but because you finally know how to handle the voice telling you to stay small. In this episode, executive coach and Opposite of Small Talk co-host Danielle McCombs joins Erica Ro...

What if the only thing standing between your current role and the C-suite isn't your resume, but your own internal "Good Girl" script? Imagine walking into a high-stakes meeting not hoping to be liked, but fully grounded in the power of your own perspective. Summary In this episode, acclaimed executive coach Sara Anderson joins Erica Rooney to bridge the gap between competence and c...

What if you could stop shape-shifting just to fit into a boardroom? Imagine leading with your full cultural identity, history, and brilliance without the crushing weight of burnout or the "invisible wound" of fragmentation.  Dr. Christine Coleman joins Erica Rooney to bridge clinical psychology with strategic equity, offering a roadmap for diverse leaders to integrate their whole selves....

What if you were as reliable to yourself as you are to your boss, your kids, or your community? Imagine a world where the promises you make in private—to rest, to move, or to create—carried the same weight as a deadline on your calendar. In this episode, Erica Rooney explores "self-ghosting," where ambitious women break promises to themselves while showing up flawlessly for everyone else...

What if your introversion wasn't a barrier to your leadership, but your greatest competitive advantage? Imagine commanding a room not by being the loudest voice, but by being the most intentional and prepared one. In this episode, Goldie Chan , a global personal branding guru and top LinkedIn voice, joins Erica Rooney to dismantle the myth that you have to be an extrovert to succeed in corpor...

Is your "biological clock" a source of anxiety or a tool for empowerment? In this episode, Erica Rooney sits down with Dr. Jaime Knopman , a leading reproductive endocrinologist, to dismantle the myths and shame surrounding women's health. Dr. Knopman challenges the "just relax" narrative, explains the cold hard facts about egg quality in your 30s, and shares why reproduct...

What if the secret to overcoming imposter syndrome isn't getting rid of your fear, but learning to invert your perspective and use it as fuel? In this episode of Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors , Erica Rooney sits down with Michelle "Mace" Curran, a former F-16 fighter pilot and lead solo pilot for the US Air Force Thunderbirds. As only one of two women in history to hold that titl...

What if the biggest barrier to your business growth isn't your vision, but your refusal to look at the numbers? In this episode of Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors , Erica Rooney sits down with Danielle Hendon, founder of Four Corners CFO. After a decade in corporate finance, Danielle realized that many entrepreneurs are brilliant at their craft but paralyzed by their books. She’s on a missio...