The Unique Ability Podcast

After 28 years at Strategic Coach® and a podcast that became its own kind of discovery process, Julia Waller is stepping into her next chapter. Joined by producer and co-host Tamar Routly—who went through the Unique Ability® discovery process live on the show—Julia reflects on what it took to go from shy behind-the-scenes coach to someone willing to push herself off the cliff, why the courage phas...

You've got your statement. You've got your 10 Best Habits™. The poster is ready for the wall. But clarity without action is just a nice document. In this final episode of the Unique Ability® coaching series, Julia Waller and Tamar Routly walk you through five simple strategies for turning your Unique Ability into something you actually use: keep it visible as a daily reminder, share it wit...

Fred Feistmann has been a cowboy, a logger, an oil patch worker, an engineer, an auctioneer, and a wealth advisor. Every four years or so, he reinvents himself. But when he pulled out his Unique Ability® card in an airport recently—eight years after his session with Julia Waller—he read through all 12 Best Habits and wouldn't change a single word.  In this conversation, Fred shares how his Uni...

You've done the assessments. You've read the letters. You've written your 10 Best Habits™. Now comes the moment where all of it gets distilled into one statement—and it needs to sound like you, not like a polished marketing tagline. Julia Waller coaches producer Tamar Routly through the live process of crafting her Unique Ability® Statement, word by word, showing exactly how to move fr...

Carolyn Nolan was already running a thriving financial planning firm when she went through the Unique Ability® process, and the biggest shift wasn't discovering what she was good at. It was giving herself permission to stop doing it. In this conversation with Julia Waller, Carolyn shares how articulating her Unique Ability let her move faster, more unapologetically, and with a filter that chan...

Most leaders spend their energy trying to eliminate the messy, uncomfortable parts of their businesses and relationships. Marla Mattenson has built her life's work on going directly into that mess—and turning it into the foundation for trust, connection, and extraordinary results. In this conversation with Julia Waller, Marla shares how intimacy (defined as being unguarded and receptive) is th...

Most of us have a harder time accepting our strengths than admitting our weaknesses. Julia Waller and Tamar Routly continue their live Unique Ability® Discovery Process, going deeper into Tamar's 10 Best Habits™—from resilient uplifter to authentic communicator to values-driven advocate—and uncovering how sobriety, storytelling, and the courage to believe others' words about you can become...

The hardest part of naming your Unique Ability® isn't finding it—it's believing something so natural could be that extraordinary. Julia Waller and producer Tamar Routly continue their live coaching through the Unique Ability® Discovery Process, moving from assessment data into the deeply personal work of describing your 10 Best Habits™—the patterns of who you are when you're operating...

Colleen Bowler sat in her second Strategic Coach® workshop, stared at her Activity Inventory™, and felt the ground shift. She'd built a successful financial planning firm from scratch—starting at $14,000 a year as a single mom—but when she marked the activities she truly loved, nothing related to financial planning had a checkmark. What followed was a total reinvention: delegating every spread...

What Three Assessments Reveal About How You're Actually Wired Tamar Routly spent years wondering why her brain worked differently from everyone else's—why she'd jump into a new idea before anyone else had finished asking the question, why she'd build a ChatGPT bot in a doctor's waiting room, why routine follow-through felt like writing with the wrong hand.  In this conversation...

Tim Thackrah went from operating 10% in his Unique Ability® to 80% —here's how: Tim spent decades as a successful dental surgeon—clinically excellent, professionally respected, and quietly restless. After three attempts at articulating his Unique Ability, a breakthrough discovery in 2017 revealed what was already true: his brilliance isn't in fixing teeth—it's in enabling aspirational...

What if the clearest path to your brilliance isn’t inside your own head—but reflected back to you by others? In this episode, Julia Waller walks Tamar through the “Naming Path,” the second phase of the Unique Ability ® Discovery Process. Together, they explore the power of asking for positive feedback, receiving what others consistently see in you, and naming the strengths that have been hiding in...

Erik “The Viking” Solbakken joins Julia Waller for a real conversation about what happens when your Unique Ability becomes laser focused —and why that clarity creates energy, alignment, and freedom. Erik shares how the deep dive helped him reframe his past as raw material, stop “polishing the turd” of status quo thinking, and use frustration as a signal to find the right people on the right freque...

What if making your life better didn’t require more effort—just better alignment? In this episode of The Unique Ability® Podcast, Julia Waller continues the Unique Ability discovery journey with Tamar, moving from insight into action. Together, they explore the Action Plan—a practical, human way to free yourself from draining activities and create more space for what energizes you most. This conve...

What happens when your greatest strength is caring deeply—and noticing everything? In this heartfelt conversation, Julia Waller sits down with author, TEDx speaker, financial planner, dream architect, and widow advocate Paula Harris to explore how her Unique Ability® of building relationships and sharing wisdom has shaped her work, her leadership, and her life. From handwritten notes to moments of...

What would happen if work actually energized you instead of draining you? In this foundational episode, host Julia Waller walks listeners through the first step of the Unique Ability® Discovery Process: understanding why you’re doing the work in the first place. Joined by podcast producer and author Tamar Routly, Julia explores motivation, purpose, and the early clarity that sparks confidence, mom...

What happens when you stop defining yourself by your title and start living from your essence? In this deeply moving conversation, Julia Waller sits down with Dr. Stelios Nikolakakis—optometrist, founder, author, and guide—to explore the transformative power of discovering your Unique Ability. Together, they unpack identity, purpose, pain reframed as wisdom, and what becomes possible when you recl...

Unique Ability® doesn’t live in isolation—it comes alive in teamwork. In this powerful conversation, Julia Waller sits down with her sister, colleague, and Strategic Coach® partner, Shannon Waller, to explore how Unique Ability transforms leadership, collaboration, and culture. From Shannon’s Unique Ability® Statement to real stories of alignment, assumptions, and growth, this episode reveals why...

Discovering your Unique Ability® starts with self-awareness—and the right language. In this episode, Julia Waller breaks down the three core assessments used in The Unique Ability® Discovery Process: Kolbe, CliftonStrengths®, and PRINT®. Together, these tools illuminate how you take action, what you’re naturally motivated to do, and why you do it at the deepest level. This episode offers a clear,...

How do you find your Unique Ability® if you’ve been living it all along without realizing it? In this deeply personal episode, host Julia Waller shares her own journey—from teaching classrooms of children to becoming a guide for entrepreneurs discovering who they truly are. Through career pivots, fear, curiosity, and courage, Julia reveals how Unique Ability often shows up early in life—and how th...

Where did the concept of Unique Ability® come from—and why has it changed the way thousands of entrepreneurs build their lives and businesses? In this episode, Julia Waller shares the origin story of Unique Ability through the work and insights of Dan Sullivan, co-founder of Strategic Coach®. From early interviews with people living with disabilities to the realization that everyone has limitation...

Every person on the planet has a Unique Ability®—a natural way of creating value that feels effortless, energizing, and deeply satisfying. In this opening episode of The Unique Ability® Podcast , host Julia Waller introduces the concept of Unique Ability, where it comes from, why it never truly changes, and how learning to recognize it can become the most stable foundation for growth in your work...

Welcome to the Unique Ability Podcast. Here’s a preview of the conversations you’ll hear this season—stories filled with a little magic, a lot of heart, and the powerful impact that happens when people do what they love and use the gifts that come most naturally to them. Official Launch January 21st!