The Culture Soup Podcast®️

Skip the Theory. Speak Trust. We’re not here to add to the stack of unread leadership books on your desk, because we actually write the leadership books that you can actually relate to. Who's we? We’re decoding what really builds trust at work—with my friend who's only a text message away, Minda Harts, the author behind The Memo and her latest, Talk to Me Nice: The 7 Trust Languages for a Better W...

What happens when leadership rooted in the Black Church meets the rigors of neuroscience and positive psychology? In this episode of Leadership Revival, we explore the science pillar of my upcoming book, Call & Response: 10 Leadership Lessons from the Black Church. I take you behind the scenes of my coach training journey at The CaPP Institute—founded by my mentor coach, Valorie Burton—and explain...

This week, we step into the second pillar of Call & Response—science. In this episode:

Before the credentials. Before the awards and the accolades, there was a corporate executive with a podcast--and that was not cool, I was told. My, how far we've all come! #FlashbackFriday to the year 2020 when The Culture Soup Podcast had only been streaming for two years. I was invited to be on WFAA's Good Morning Texas for a segment called "Another Popin' Podcast" to discuss the show. This is a...

The Culture Soup Podcast goes all the way in. https://lmichellesmith.substack.com/p/its-a-leadership-revival

Welcome to the kickoff of the Leadership Revival—a new series on The Culture Soup Podcast that takes you behind the scenes of Call & Response: 10 Leadership Lessons from the Black Church. In this premiere episode, host L. Michelle Smith sets the stage with the “Front Matter”—a soulful introduction to the journey ahead. She reflects on how the book came together not just through writing, but th...

The revival has begun. The first episode of Leadership Revival, my new series on The Culture Soup Podcast, is now live. We’re going behind the scenes of Call & Response: 10 Leadership Lessons from the Black Church—starting with legacy, memory, and the historical pillar that holds this movement up. You’ll hear a powerful clip from my interview with Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., and a short “Footnote”...

Recently, I spent time with Seniors in TCU Bob Schieffer College of Communication, my alma mater, and while we had a wonderful discourse around leadership ethics, before I left they wanted to ask which episode of The Culture Soup Podcast was most meaningful to me. I had to really think, because all the episodes are with my friends, so we have context and meaning already, but there was one episode...

This Women’s History Month, we celebrate her legacy with someone who knows it intimately—her great-granddaughter, award-winning journalist and author A’Lelia Bundles. In her newest book, Joy Goddess, Bundles unearths the layers of A’Lelia Walker’s life—the glamour, the grit, the business, and the burden of being her mother’s daughter. This is one you don’t want to miss. Streams Thursday, wherever...

The Culture Soup Podcast – Women’s History Month Episode Guest: A’Lelia Bundles, Award-Winning Author & Journalist Joy Goddess: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance What if you were so extraordinary—so magnetic, so dazzling—that Langston Hughes himself called you “Joy Goddess”? A’Lelia Walker wasn’t just the daughter of Madam C.J. Walker. She was the heartbeat of the Harlem Renaissance—a woma...

The Culture Soup Podcast® – Women’s History Month Episode Guest: A’Lelia Bundles, Award-Winning Author & Journalist

Joy Goddess. That’s what Langston Hughes called her. Because A’Lelia Walker didn’t just exist—she illuminated. She knew how to create an experience that put people in their feelings. Sound familiar? She made spaces sacred, turned gatherings into history, and brought the Harlem Renaissance to life. She mastered personal branding before it was ever even a phrase! And now, her great-granddaughter, th...

oy Goddess. That’s what Langston Hughes called her. Because A’Lelia Walker didn’t just exist—she illuminated. She made spaces sacred, turned gatherings into history, and brought the Harlem Renaissance to life. And now, her great-granddaughter, the incredible A’Lelia Bundles, is telling her story in Joy Goddess—a book that’s as rich and radiant as the woman herself. This Women’s History Month, I’m...

What if you were so extraordinary—so magnetic, so dazzling—that Langston Hughes himself called you “Joy Goddess”? That’s the kind of legacy A’Lelia Walker left behind. A woman who owned the room, turned salons into sanctuaries for Black brilliance, and set the Harlem Renaissance ablaze with her presence. She was the daughter of the legendary Madam C.J. Walker—but she was a force all her own. And n...

Streams everywhere Thursday!

Show Notes - The Culture Soup Podcast In this episode, host L. Michelle Smith takes us on a reflective journey back to 2018, when she first launched The Culture Soup Podcast. She shares how an unexpected speaking career and a chance encounter led her to create both a podcast and a book, despite corporate challenges. She then shifts focus to the present, discussing the impact of recent executive or...

Show Notes - The Culture Soup Podcast In this episode, host L. Michelle Smith takes us on a reflective journey back to 2018, when she first launched The Culture Soup Podcast. She shares how an unexpected speaking career and a chance encounter led her to create both a podcast and a book, despite corporate challenges. She then shifts focus to the present, discussing the impact of recent executive or...

In the latest episode of The Culture Soup Podcast , I take time to reflect on 5 lessons I've learned over the past five years of running my professional private executive & personal coaching practice in a very special Coaching Corner episode. We are celebrating NSC Coaching's 5th anniversary all this month, and we are also observing International Coaching Week. Listen for what I learned along this...

Source: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep-187-five-big-lessons-i-learned-in-5-years-the-coaching-corner-w-l-michelle-smith--60063016 In this episode, I take time to reflect on 5 lessons I've learned over the past five years of running my professional private coaching practice. We are celebrating NSC Coaching's 5th anniversary all this month, and we are also observing International Coaching Week....

In this episode, I take time to reflect on 5 lessons I've learned over the past five years of running my professional private coaching practice. We are celebrating NSC Coaching's 5th anniversary all this month, and we are also observing International Coaching Week. Listen for what I learned along this journey so far about perseverance, determination, focus, relationships and other important lesson...

In essence, here's the motivation behind my mission: bridging the gap between science and culture. Let me illustrate how the workings of our minds play a pivotal role. It all begins in our minds. Understanding the intricacies of our brain function and its profound influence on our actions in various settings can empower us to excel, even when faced with formidable odds. The reality is that women,...

In 2019, I did what many corporate types would call "the unthinkable." I walked away from opportunities at a Fortune 10 after being "surplussed" without a job lined up. Sure, I had opportunities externally. Yes, I had a seedling of a business that I had started, but I wanted to take the time to think through my next step methodically. I had a mission that only a few were aware of, and that drove m...

In 2019, I did what many corporate types would call "the unthinkable." I walked away from opportunities at a Fortune 10 after being "surplussed" without a job lined up. Sure, I had opportunities externally. Yes, I had a seedling of a business that I had started, but I wanted to take the time to think through my next step methodically. I had a mission that only a few were aware of, and that drove m...

How about more about her time in Atlanta with the Executive Leadership Council’s C-Suite Academy, their conversation about how crucial P&L ownership is to their leadership ascension to the C-Suite? Or her book signing in Atlanta? It’s all here in this bonus edition of TCSP.

SHE’S BAAAAA-AAACK Coach L says the quiet part out loud about…. employee resource groups or ERGs. It’s what Black people say to each other, but never say in mixed company. The Culture Soup Podcast is streaming again, this time with a fresh new Coaching Corner episode. In this episode called The Catch Up, we will discuss the historic roots of attitudes surrounding Black people “gathering,” and how...