The Challenges of Change

What happens when a 30 year career in finance ends not because of burnout, but because of a mosh pit, a moment of clarity, and a voice you finally decided to trust? Steve Sapourn spent decades high functioning and quietly falling apart. Childhood trauma, addiction, and a nervous system wired for survival had him operating as if life was something to brace for rather than build. Until it wasn't...

What if the thing you call "control" is just fear wearing a very convincing costume? You've felt it — that grip-tightening urgency when things start slipping. The frantic planning. The self-blame spiral that sounds rational but quietly hollows you out. We tell ourselves we just need to get a handle on things. But what if control was never the point? In this episode, Laura gets honest...

We treat confidence like a prerequisite—that magical armor we need to earn before we’re allowed to be brave. But what if waiting for confidence is actually the very thing keeping you stuck? Most of us spend our lives chasing the feeling of certainty, hoping that if we just "had more confidence," the fear would disappear. We look at our environment, wait for validation, and shrink when th...

You've been showing up. Giving everything. Shrinking yourself just enough so nobody feels uncomfortable. And the people you've been doing it for? Still not clapping. Tammi B knows this story from the inside. For years she was the prayer warrior, the encourager, the one everyone leaned on...while quietly fighting depression nobody could see. She was performing her life far better than she w...

What if every conflict you've been running from was actually an invitation to be trusted, respected, and known? Most of us weren't taught how to fight well. We were just taught not to fight — swallow it, smooth it over, move on. And so we did. Until we looked up one day and realized nobody really sees us, nobody really hears us, and we've been at war with ourselves this whole time. Thi...

What if the thing holding you back isn't a lack of motivation—it's a story you don't even know you're telling yourself? Most of us aren't struggling because we're lazy, broken, or not trying hard enough. We're struggling because we're running on invisible scripts—unconscious assumptions so deeply embedded in how we see ourselves and the world that we've never on...

What if the emotions you've been running from are actually trying to guide you? In this episode, we sit down with a conversation that stops you in your tracks, the kind that makes you pull over, put your phone down, and actually listen . We're talking about the hard stuff: grief, fear, shame, anger — and why resisting them doesn't make you stronger. It makes you smaller. You'll hea...

There’s a quiet pattern many of us live inside, and most of the time we don’t even notice it. Before the world has a chance to say no… we say it to ourselves. We assume we’re not qualified. We assume they won’t like us. We assume the opportunity isn’t meant for us. And without realizing it, we pull back, stay silent, or never even try. In this episode, Laura explores the hidden habit of self-rejec...

Most of us believe the path to change starts with motivation, discipline, or a better strategy. But real transformation begins somewhere much less comfortable: accepting reality exactly as it is. In this episode of The Challenges of Change , Laura explores what happens when we refuse to acknowledge the “rules of the game” shaping our lives—whether in relationships, careers, networking, or personal...

You don’t procrastinate because you’re lazy. You procrastinate because you’re human. In this episode, Laura breaks down the three types of procrastination most people cycle through: conscious delay, creative avoidance, and priority dilution. If you’ve ever reorganized your desk instead of starting the hard thing… this is for you. Drawing on insights from organizational psychologist Adam Grant , La...

Most people think motivation comes from pushing harder. In reality, it often comes from aiming differently . In this episode, Laura breaks down how your thought patterns—especially your focus on what you don’t want—quietly shape your decisions, energy, and results. Drawing on neuroscience, she explains how the brain’s reticular activating system filters reality based on your focus, often reinforci...

Why do so many habits fall apart 🤔 In this episode, Laura sits down with Jess to unpack why motivation fades, why “knowing better” doesn’t always lead to doing better, and what it actually takes to create sustainable change. From the common habit drop-off to the challenge of intellectualizing emotional and somatic work without integrating it, this conversation gets honest about why habit change i...

Mental health isn’t just something you have —it’s something you actively care for . In this episode of The Challenges Of change , we challenge the way most people think about mental health and explore what it really means to take responsibility for your mind. You’ll learn why numbing behaviors like endless scrolling, binge-watching, or “checking out” don’t actually relieve stress—and how they quie...

Most people think leadership is about influence, authority, or managing others. It’s not. In this episode, Laura breaks down the leadership skill no one talks about—but every great leader must master: leading yourself first . After introducing The Challengers Circle , a new community built for personal growth and self-trust, Laura shares a pivotal coaching moment with a client who identified as a...

Personal growth changes you—but it also changes your relationships. And if you’re not paying attention, stress can quietly become the wedge between who you’re becoming and the people you love. In this episode, Laura unpacks what happens when self-awareness increases faster than your nervous system’s ability to regulate. She shares a personal story about returning home after a major life shift, nav...

Perfectionism doesn’t make you better—it makes you smaller. In this episode of The Challenges Of Change , Laura and Jessica unpack how perfectionism quietly shapes our decisions, fuels resistance, and limits our ability to adapt when life doesn’t go according to plan. What starts as a desire for control and safety often turns into a deep distrust of our own resilience. You’ll learn how to recogniz...

Most New Year’s resolutions don’t fail because of laziness—they fail because they’re built on the wrong foundation. In this episode, Laura breaks down a smarter, more sustainable way to approach goal-setting—one rooted in alignment, intention, and self-trust , not pressure or perfection. Instead of obsessing over rigid outcomes, she invites you to identify the feeling you’re actually chasing—and d...

We all say we want more : more success, more meaning, more happiness, more ease. But what if the very thing exhausting you isn’t the work — it’s the false equation you’re using to pursue it? In this episode, we unpack the uncomfortable contradiction between what we think we want and what fulfillment actually requires. From bigger houses and better jobs to purpose, joy, and meaning, we explore why...

Ever feel like you're doing everything right and still carrying pressure that won’t quit? In this episode, Laura pulls back the curtain on the “invisible forces” shaping your life—unconscious cultural norms, inherited expectations, and internal micro-cultures you don’t even realize you’re following. From productivity guilt to communication habits like ghosting, Laura breaks down how these syst...

What actually transforms a life? In this raw and unfiltered episode, Laura sits down with Deb to unpack the mechanics of real, lasting change — the kind that starts when everything falls apart. Deb takes us back to 2011, when she hit rock bottom: the wrong career, destructive relationships, and addiction. Two mentors changed everything by introducing her to NLP and personal development work — igni...

Most people don’t fail because they’re “undisciplined.” They fail because they build goals on invisible expectations, rigid rules, and versions of themselves that don’t match their real capacity. In this eye-opening episode, Laura breaks down the psychology behind why so many pursuits—fitness, weight loss, habit building, career changes—fall apart. She exposes the unconscious assumptions that sabo...

What if “satisfied” isn’t a finish line… but a practice? In this episode, Laura sits down with Eric, a former fitness coach turned mindset coach at Change By Challenge, to unpack what it really means to feel satisfied in your life—not just on paper. They trace Eric’s journey from chasing external results to learning how to create inner peace, clarity, and a life that actually feels good to live. T...

We don’t just fear losing money or time — we fear losing identity, status, relationships, and the story we’ve built about who we are. That fear silently shapes our choices every day. In this episode, we break down the psychology of loss aversion, sunk cost effect, sure loss aversion, status quo bias, and commission vs. omission bias —and how they keep you stuck in jobs, relationships, and habits y...

We all know what it feels like to be misunderstood by other people—but what about when you misunderstand yourself ? In this episode, Laura breaks down the quiet, everyday ways we mislabel our emotions, misread our motives, and then build whole stories (and decisions) on top of those inaccuracies. You’ll hear how a client who thought she was in an “anxious season” was actually experiencing exciteme...

What if the fastest way to change your life is the simplest—your next breath? In this conversation, Laura sits down with Anthony (half English, half Italian; citizen of many cultures) to unpack how conscious breathing became his lifelong practice after a transformative moment at age eight. Together they explore how breathwork sharpens clarity, de-escalates conflict, and builds real agency—at home,...