You meant to stay calm during the meeting, but you snapped at your colleague, just like it happened last time. 

Why does this keep happening? 

When we’re under stress or pressure, we fall back on old habits wired into our bodies: reflexes that once helped us get by, even if they don’t serve us anymore. 

In this episode, corporate sociologist and embodied leadership expert Suzanne Mau-Asam explores, with learning and development expert Emma ten Veen, the science and stories behind these conditioned tendencies: the automatic reactions we all carry. 

These patterns aren’t your flaws. They’re old survival strategies you simply don’t need anymore. And once you see them clearly, you can begin to change them. 

This episode covers: 

Learn more about our embodied leadership programmes on our website. 

You meant to speak up. But your voice caught. 

That’s not just nerves: it’s your shaping story. 

In this episode, embodied leadership expert Suzanne Mau-Asam and her colleague, learning & development expert Emma ten Veen, unpack how past experiences, whether from childhood, culture, or early career, leave a deep imprint in the body. These patterns often go unnoticed, but they affect how we work, lead, speak, and relate. 

We explore: 

- What a shaping story is, and how it shows up in your leadership 

Learn more about our embodied leadership programmes on our website 

She did all the ‘right’ things: showing up, speaking up, staying visible. 

In our first full episode, corporate sociologist Suzanne Mau-Asam shares a deeply personal story about trying to ‘fit in’ by performing a version of leadership that wasn’t entirely hers. 

The shift didn’t come from learning more ‘tricks’. 

Together with colleague and learning & development expert Emma ten Veen, she explores: 

Learn more about our embodied leadership programmes on our website 

Welcome to Beyond the Corporate Mask. 

If you’ve ever walked into a meeting and found yourself adjusting your voice, your posture, or even your personality, this podcast is for you. 

Corporate sociologist Suzanne Mau-Asam and learning and development expert Emma ten Veen introduce the heart of the series: embodied leadership. This is authentic leadership that includes your body, your senses, and the very human parts often left out at work. 

In this teaser, we explore: 

Learn more about embodied leadership on our website