Daring to Succeed

What happens to your self-leadership when the story in your head arrives before the facts do?

In this episode, I'm joined by Marc Hildebrand, a leadership coach and co-founder of Modern Leadership who spent 20 years with the Los Angeles Police Department and has trained more than 200 coaches. Together we look at why capable leaders can know the right next step and still not take it, and at the stories we tell ourselves that shape how we show up under pressure.

In this conversation, we talk about:

• why we so often react to the story we're telling ourselves rather than the situation in front of us,
• how separating fact from story in a single moment can change the conversation that follows, and
• what it looks like to choose the energy you bring into the room, especially when things are hard.

If you've ever walked into a conversation already braced for the worst, this one is worth slowing down for.

Connect with Marc:
- Website – https://modernleadership.us/
- LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/modernleadership/
- Marc’s free 5-part self-leadership series – https://modernleadership.us/lead

Connect with Julianna:
- LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliannayauyorgan
- Join my newsletter – https://www.daringtosucceed.com/newsletter

Almost none of it is actually urgent—so why does it feel like life or death?

In this episode, I'm joined by Gabrielle Ferguson, a career coach whose work centres on identity-led leadership—helping senior leaders understand who they are beyond their job title. We get into corporate urgency: the red dots and unread counts that set the shape of a working day, the fear sitting underneath the need to respond immediately, and what it costs when speed replaces impact.

In this conversation, we talk about:

• how the tools we work in are designed to trigger a sense of threat, and what that does to the quality of our thinking,
• why the consequences we imagine for not replying fast enough are so rarely real, and
• what is actually keeping the culture of urgency in place, and who it serves.

If your day is being set by a red dot in the corner of your screen, this is a conversation worth stepping out of the noise for.

Resources mentioned:

• Stolen Focus – Johann Hari
• Indistractable – Nir Eyal

Connect with Gabrielle:

• Website – https://www.gabrielleferguson.com/contact
• LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellefergusoncoach/

Connect with Julianna:

• LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliannayauyorgan
• Join my newsletter – https://www.daringtosucceed.com/newsletter

You were told your work would speak for itself. It accounts for 10%.

In this episode, I'm joined by Gabrielle Ferguson, a career coach whose work centres on identity-led leadership—helping senior leaders understand who they are beyond their job title. Gabs introduces the PIE model, and we look at why the 90% most of us ignore is the part that decides whether we get the promotion, the lateral move, or the room to do something new.

In this conversation, we talk about:

• why performance accounts for so little of career success, and where the rest of it actually comes from,
• how a reputation that has quietly gone out of date can block the move you are trying to make, and
• what it takes to find out what you are really known for, and to reposition it without a personality transplant.

If you have been doing excellent work and still watching someone else get chosen, this is a conversation worth having.

Connect with Gabrielle:

• Website – https://www.gabrielleferguson.com/contact
• LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellefergusoncoach/

Connect with Julianna:

• LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliannayauyorgan
• Join my newsletter – https://www.daringtosucceed.com/newsletter

We all say we want to make data-driven decisions—but most of us can't say what the data actually is.

In this episode, I'm joined by Michelle DeNio, a business growth strategist with 15+ years across business development, accounting, operations, sales and leadership, and the host of The Real Truth About Business.

Together we look at what a strategic decision looks like in practice: the offer you're ready to cancel after mentioning it three times in thirty days, the data points sitting in your business that have nothing to do with numbers, and why looking at what's already working tends to be more useful than hunting for what's broken.

In this conversation, we talk about:

• why "this isn't working" is usually a conclusion drawn from far too little information,
• how to find the data already sitting in your business—where your clients came from, how often you followed up, where your time went, and
• what changes when you define success on your own terms before measuring anything against it.

If you've ever made a decision because something felt like it wasn't working, this is a conversation worth sitting with.

Connect with Michelle:

• Website – http://www.michelledenioconsulting.com
• LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/in/michelledenio
• The Real Truth About Business podcast – https://michelledenioconsulting.com/podcast/
• Free worksheet: the five areas money is hiding in your business – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kuIGmNxUBYZhLCvcT6OqS6dD7HH2sKh3/view?usp=sharing

Connect with Julianna:

• LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliannayauyorgan
• Join my newsletter – https://daringtosucceed.com/business-newsletter/

Your to-do list isn't the problem—the mental load underneath it is.

In this episode, I'm joined by Gabrielle Ferguson, a career coach whose work centres on identity-led leadership—helping senior leaders understand who they are beyond their job title. Together we look at what mental load actually feels like from the inside, why the always-on culture of leadership keeps topping it up, and what it takes to get back the space to think.

In this conversation, we talk about:

• how mental load shows up differently in each of us, and why noticing your own signs matters more than naming the symptom,
• why clearing the list is not a strategy, and what to diagnose instead when your team is constantly interrupting you, and
• what a toxic culture costs you in capacity long before it costs you anything else.

If you've been logging on early and staying late just to find time to think, this is a conversation worth making space for.

Connect with Gabrielle:

• Website – https://www.gabrielleferguson.com/contact
• LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellefergusoncoach/

Connect with Julianna:

• LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliannayauyorgan
• Join my newsletter – https://www.daringtosucceed.com/newsletter

What does success actually mean—and why does it keep changing?

In this episode, I'm joined by Gabrielle Ferguson, a career coach whose work centres on identity-led leadership—helping senior leaders understand who they are beyond their job title. Together we look at how the definition of success evolves over a career: from the status, titles, and milestones many of us chase in our 20s and 30s, to the fulfilment and contentment that come to matter more as we grow.

In this conversation, we talk about:

- why our definition of success is meant to change as we grow, and why that shift can feel so jarring,

- how much of what we call success is really just what we think we "should" want, and

- what becomes possible when you stop chasing a version of success that was handed to you.

If you've ever hit the goals you set and quietly wondered why they no longer feel like enough, this is a conversation worth sitting with.

Connect with Gabrielle:

Website – https://www.gabrielleferguson.com/contact

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellefergusoncoach/

Connect with Julianna:

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliannayauyorgan

Join my newsletter – https://www.daringtosucceed.com/newsletter

Most advice about building a VA business tells you what to do. It rarely tells you whether it applies to your business specifically.

In Part 2 of our mini-series, Hannah Goodman walks through the VA side of the partnership — how to figure out your services, find your niche, and land those first clients without reinventing the wheel.

Drawing on her experience as both a successful VA and mentor, Hannah shares practical advice to help aspiring virtual assistants avoid common mistakes and create a flexible business that fits their lifestyle.

In this conversation between two business-owners who've learned these lessons firsthand, we talk about:

• why your best niche is probably hiding in your professional history,
• why niching down gets you more clients, not fewer, and
• how to find your first client without starting from scratch.

VA Resources

• Free VA Service List: https://www.stan.store/HannahGoodman/p/va-service-list 
• eBook Your VA Business, Your Dream Life: https://www.stan.store/HannahGoodman/p/your-va-business-your-dream-life-tsqf1xar

Connect with Hannah

• Website: https://www.assistifi-va.co.uk/ 
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hannah-goodman 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/assistifi 
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Assistifi/

Connect with Julianna

• Newsletter: https://www.daringtosucceed.com/newsletter 
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliannayauyorgan

If you're on the founder side, head back to Part 1 — that's where we covered how to find a VA, what to delegate, and how to start without over-committing.

We recently looked at why action sometimes feels hard, even when the decision is clear (S03E11). But does it matter what the reason behind the decision is, if the decision itself doesn’t change?

In this episode, we look at the question from two perspectives.

First, from the perspective of personal decisions on pivotal times in our careers.

Then, what happens when we anchor the same decision to different reasons at the leadership level—and the potential fallout from both scenarios.

Connect with Julianna:

• LinkedIn
• Newsletter

Leaders and business-owners alike are always encouraged to focus on higher value work and delegating “the rest”. But how do you actual go about it and who do you trust with your business-critical tasks?

In this episode, I unpack the how, who and when of delegating to a VA with Hannah Goodman, a professional EA who now mentors aspiring VAs on how to launch and grow their own VA business.

In this true conversation between two business-owners seeing both sides of working with a VA, we talk about:

• the benefits of starting to work with a VA before you’re at capacity,
• where to find your perfect VA who understands your business, and
• how to get started with them without over-committing before you’re sure they’re “the one”.

And if you’re looking to start your own VA business, stay tuned for Part 2 of our mini-series next month, where Hannah will walk you through exactly how to get started!

Connect with Hannah Goodman:

• Website - https://www.assistifi-va.co.uk/
• LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/hannah-goodman
• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Assistifi/

Connect with Julianna:

• Quarterly Newsletter: https://daringtosucceed.com/business-newsletter/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliannayauyorgan

There is a particular kind of frustration that shows up when you’ve made a decision, the path forward is obvious, and yet nothing moves.

This isn’t a capability problem. It isn’t a discipline problem. And it rarely improves with more structure or pressure.

Across leadership contexts, what presents as procrastination or indecision often traces back to something more precise: an unexamined assumption, a misaligned expectation, or a perceived risk that hasn’t been fully surfaced.

Until that layer is seen clearly, we stall—sometimes quietly, sometimes with a constant feeling of dread.

This episode reframes inaction as signal rather than failure or laziness.

Through real leadership scenarios, it explores how experienced professionals can appear stuck not because they lack clarity, but because part of the situation remains unresolved at a deeper level.

Connect with Julianna:

• LinkedIn
• Newsletter