Most leaders feel caught between impossible expectations. Be driven, but stay humble. Strive for excellence, but give yourself grace. Speak with candor, but never lose kindness.

When you stop trying to solve the tension and start learning to dance with it, you’ll discover a whole new way to lead — with both strength and softness. That’s the heart of being a Badass Softie. www.BadassSoftie.com

Have you ever worried that if you’re honest about your struggles, your team will lose respect for you? Many leaders default to fear and control to protect authority but that approach actually kills creativity and trust.

On this episode of Badass Softie, Dr. J.J. Peterson shows why being “safe” doesn’t mean being weak. True safety creates environments where teams can take risks, tell the truth, and do their best work. Skill may get you in the room, but character is what keeps you there.

This week J.J. is joined by Blaine Hogan — a creative director and storyteller who has worked with Nike, LeBron James, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and more. Blaine shares how panic attacks, failure, and rebuilding character shaped his leadership and why honesty and vulnerability became the very tools that made him stronger. His story shows you how to stop leading from fear, build the kind of trust that fuels creativity, and turn personal setbacks into the credibility your team needs to follow you.

You’ll take away:

📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube @BadassSoftie

When you stop leading from fear and start leading with courage and character, you’ll create the kind of culture where people and performance can truly thrive. That’s the essence of being a Badass Softie. www.BadassSoftie.com

If your business is just delivering “good service,” you may already be forgettable. Customers don’t talk about good — they remember extraordinary. Those are the moments that earn loyalty, spark word-of-mouth, and make your business unforgettable.

If you confuse, you lose. It’s the single biggest mistake leaders and businesses make — and it’s costing them influence, connection, and growth.

This choice defines your future. Every leader lives out four roles: victim, villain, hero, and guide. The question isn’t whether these roles will show up in your story — it’s which one you’ll choose next.

For too long, leadership has been framed as a false choice:

Have you ever felt the tension of trying to imitate other leaders — tough and aggressive on one hand, all passion and heart on the other? Like you had to choose one lane or the other just to be taken seriously?

Dr. J.J. Peterson has dealt with that same struggle. But the most successful leaders who inspired him most didn’t pick. They were able to be unapologetically ambitious while still leading with heart.

That realization is at the heart of Badass Softie, a new podcast for ambitious leaders like you who want to chase big goals without losing what makes you human. Hosted by Dr. J.J. Peterson — professor, consultant, storyteller, and messaging expert — each episode brings insights from leaders and innovators, along with personal stories and lessons from J.J. himself.

In this sneak peek, J.J. shares how the StoryBrand framework transformed his own leadership journey — and how it can help you step more fully into being a Badass Softie.

👉 Subscribe and follow so you’re ready when the first full episode drops on September 22, 2025.

Watch on YouTube

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

You don’t have to play by someone else's outdated leadership rules anymore. Together, we will rewrite what it means to lead as Badass Softies.

Have you ever felt that to be a great leader you have to choose between being loud and aggressive or compassionate and empathetic? You're too driven for the “soft” spaces, yet not cutthroat enough for the boardroom. But here’s the truth: you don’t have to choose.

Badass Softie is a new podcast for leaders who are unapologetically ambitious and want to lead with heart. Hosted by Dr. J.J. Peterson — professor, nonprofit leader, Hollywood storyteller, and messaging expert — J.J. has seen firsthand that the most impactful leaders don’t sacrifice one for the other. They chase big goals while leading with courage, vulnerability, and heart.

Each episode brings you insights from leaders and innovators, along with personal stories and lessons from J.J. himself. The goal is always the same: to help you step more fully into being a Badass Softie — a leader who is ambitious, kind, powerful, and deeply human.

Badass Softie launches September 22, 2025. Subscribe and follow wherever you get your podcasts — and watch episodes on YouTube at @BadassSoftie. It’s time to step fully into the kind of leader you were made to be, without playing by the outdated rules you were told to follow. Become a Badass Softie starting September 22.