Lonely at the Top

When you’re searching for direction, rather than seeking outside guidance or reading other people's advice books, sometimes what you need is to slow down, listen deeply, and learn the language of your own inner guidance. In this solo episode, host and Soul Medic Rachel Alexandria explores what it's like to trust yourself, especially when you’ve been conditioned not to.  Drawing from her work with...

After decades of building a values-driven business and guiding spiritually centered entrepreneurs, Mark Silver has come to see leadership as a practice of deep listening, consent, and integrity. This episode of Lonely at the Top explores leadership defined by relationship, accountability, and alignment with Something Greater. What does it really means to lead in a world shaped by disconnection and...

Dr. Pamela Lee has spent her career making life-or-death decisions in the operating room while carrying the pressure that comes with being one of the few women leading in surgery. As a colorectal surgeon, robotic surgery specialist, and Chair of Surgery at both Sharp Memorial Hospital and Sharp Reese Stealy Medical Group, Pamela operates in environments where mistakes carry enormous weight and eve...

After spending more than two decades in real estate, Marguerite Martin never expected her work would force her to confront difficult questions about community, power, and the unintended consequences of success. What began as a civic-minded passion project to help people discover Tacoma quickly turned her into a local public figure and, eventually, a lightning rod for conversations around housing a...

After growing up as one of the shyest kids—constantly moving, constantly adapting—Bennett Peji never imagined he would become a leader responsible for bringing entire communities together. From feeling like an outsider to leading large-scale, community-centered design projects, Bennett’s journey is a testament to the power of adaptability, empathy, and intentional growth. This episode of Lonely at...

After decades moving between corporate leadership, consulting, and academia, Jeff McAuliffe has seen leadership from every angle. From sitting at executive tables to building his own consulting practice from scratch, he’s learned that “the top” isn’t a fixed place—and that loneliness shows up in ways most people don’t expect. This episode of Lonely at the Top is about the quiet realities of leader...

Lauren Goche has cracked the code on something most leaders never admit they need: community. A principal real estate broker, micro-influencer, and self-described love bully, Lauren built her career by staying connected — and then discovered that even she had a chaos habit she didn't see coming. In this episode, she talks with Rachel about the expensive sabbatical lesson that revealed she didn't k...

Dr. Mark Vossler spent 30 years as a cardiologist before most people retire from their first career. He was medical director of cardiac services for a decade, managed physicians, navigated hospital politics, and learned the hard way that medicine is really just people work with better equipment. Then he retired. And got busier. Now he leads Physicians for Social Responsibility, a national organiza...

He built influence in rooms that were never designed with him in mind. Growing up in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, Alfred Fraijo, Jr. grew up food insecure in one of LA's most underserved neighborhoods. Now he's reshaping the cities that once failed communities like his. He built a career at the top of a major international law firm, then walked away to bet everything on himself. This episode of Lon...

Dan Graham spent 30 years at Sony, rising from organizing office supplies to managing 150 people, all without the pedigree or resume you’d expect. But his defining leadership moment wasn’t the promotion. It was the day he was called into HR and told he might lose his job, not because the numbers were bad, but because he’d forgotten the people behind them. This episode is about what happens when su...

In this episode of Lonely at the Top , Rachel sits down with Dr. Kazique J. Prince , psychologist, executive consultant, and creator of the Djembe Card Deck, for a deeply human conversation about dignity, authenticity, and the quiet loneliness that comes with leadership. Drawing from decades of experience advising mayors, CEOs, and change-makers, Dr. Prince challenges the myth that authority requi...

In this episode of Lonely at the Top , Rachel sits down with Emma Whittard , a former senior executive in global children’s publishing turned transformational coach for women leaders in midlife. Emma shares what it was really like to rise through the ranks at companies like Disney, DreamWorks, and Warner Brothers , including the invisible loneliness of being the only person in the room who knew ho...

In this episode of Lonely at the Top , Rachel sits down with Sorby Grant , President and CEO of Climb Hire , an equity-focused workforce development nonprofit supporting underemployed adults in accessing real economic mobility. Sorby reflects on the emotional cost of being the decision-maker, the pressure of stewarding a mission rooted in justice and opportunity, and the quiet exhaustion that can...

In this episode, Michelle Markwart Deveaux —author, singer, facilitator, coach, and founder of multiple mission-driven businesses— shares her journey from theology and the arts into business ownership, and the often unseen emotional labor of building something meaningful in systems that weren’t designed to sustain creatives. She speaks candidly about self-doubt at high levels of leadership, the di...

In this deeply transformational episode, international teacher and healer Zach Rehder explores what happens on the other side of loneliness. Zach shares how, despite years of seeking, studying, and gathering spiritual knowledge, he still suffered loneliness until an unexpected flood of despair in a Chipotle parking lot forced him into surrender. What he found on the other side wasn’t destruction,...

In this raw and deeply human conversation, therapist, consultant, and founder Sarah Buino pulls back the curtain on what it really cost her to build — and ultimately let go of — a thriving group therapy practice. Sarah shares how rapid growth, unhealed trauma, and a crushing sense of responsibility left her completely burnt out, pushed her into residential treatment, and forced her to confront her...

Dee Meacham, Senior Vice President of People Solutions, has built her career at the intersection of technology and humanity. From being one of only four women in her engineering class to leading global transformation initiatives, Dee has learned to thrive in the gray—where systems meet people and innovation meets tradition. In this conversation with host Rachel Alexandria, Dee shares how she built...

Gwen Bortner has spent her career thriving where others hesitate—inside systems, startups, and boardrooms that weren’t designed for her. As the founder and CEO of Everyday Effectiveness , Gwen has led teams across 47 industries, from tech to telecom to fiber arts, and knows firsthand what it means to stand out at the table. In this episode, host Rachel Alexandria and Gwen talk about being “the onl...

When you’re at the top, no one can hand you a map. The path forward is yours to navigate, and sometimes, the only compass you have is your own intuition. In this solo episode, host and Soul Medic Rachel Alexandria explores how leaders can learn to trust their inner knowing when logic and strategy fall short. Drawing from her own journey and lessons from past guests, she shares how intuition speaks...

In this candid conversation, real estate developer Ginger Hitzke joins Lonely at the Top to talk about what it really costs to lead with heart. A first-generation business owner who went from housing insecurity to building over 2,000 affordable apartments, Ginger shares how she carries the emotional and ethical burden of her work — deciding rent increases, managing cash flow, and being both landlo...

In this episode, Erin Reeves , co-founder and principal at Next Level Org, brings over 25 years of executive strategy and HR leadership to an open, grounded conversation about what it really feels like to sit at the decision-maker’s table. Erin shares how each step up the leadership ladder expands not only your view but also your sense of isolation — and how asking better questions can become a qu...

In this solo episode, Rachel reflects on a listener’s response to Executive Fashion as Armor, Ritual, and Identity with Susana Perczek — specifically the power of hearing a woman speak positively about herself without apology. Rachel explores the generational messages many of us received about “not being too big for your britches” and how those lessons often left us afraid to celebrate our own tal...

In this episode, Megan Gluth , owner and CEO of Catalynt Solutions , shares her remarkable journey from attorney to industry leader in chemical distribution — and how she doubled the size of her company in just a few years while navigating the chaos of a global pandemic. Raised on food stamps in rural Iowa, Meg brings both grit and vision to her role, blending sharp business acumen with a deep com...

In this solo episode, Rachel Alexandria shares the origin story of Lonely at the Top . She reflects on her two decades of work with high performers, the blend of therapeutic, coaching, and spiritual practices she brings to leaders, and the repeated moments that sparked the podcast’s creation. Rachel describes why she felt called to make space for honest conversations about the invisible burdens of...

In this conversation with Louis Fordham , Vice President of Human Resources at Engineered Floors, we explore what leadership looks like from the perspective of someone who has spent 35 years guiding executives from inside . Louis shares what it’s like to witness CEOs carry the immense weight of responsibility, why he never aspired to the top job himself, and how isolation is often built into leade...