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

Hanna Bauer introduces a perspective on leadership that reframes accountability as the underlying structure that makes trust possible. Rather than treating it as corrective or punitive, she positions it as a shared system that enables alignment, clarity, and forward movement.

The conversation moves beyond accountability as individual discipline and into how it is shaped between people. We explore how unclear expectations and unspoken standards quietly erode trust, and what begins to shift when accountability is treated as something shared rather than enforced.

Connect with Hanna:

Website: https://www.HEARTnomics.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bauerhanna

Connect with Julianna:

Website: https://www.daringtosucceed.com

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

Capable leaders often assume their next move requires sharper strategy, better positioning, or more visible credentials.

But sometimes the real friction sits somewhere far quieter.

In moments of career transition—promotion opportunities, pivotal interviews, or long-planned exits—the brain’s threat-detection system can start interpreting normal signals as danger. A pause in an interview. A messy inherited team. A strategic decision that feels emotionally loaded.

None of these situations are unusual for senior professionals. Yet when the Protective Brain begins constructing stories around those signals, it can quietly derail clarity, confidence, and forward movement.

This episode explores three leadership situations where highly capable professionals appeared “stuck” on the surface, but where the real shift came from recalibrating how their brains interpreted what was happening.

Because the path forward is often less about tactics and more about restoring the Executive Brain’s ability to see the situation clearly.

Connect with Julianna:

Website: https://www.daringtosucceed.com

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

Forged from a B2B background where she needed to sell complicated ideas in the very first meeting to people she knew nothing about (and with no time to figure it out), Margo White found the only 2 “universes” that matter in the boardroom: Survivors and Inventors. Because the conversation with the person on the other side of the table doesn’t change based on the university they graduated from, the type of car they drive or how many kids they have.

Together, we discuss:

• Moving beyond literal applications of marketing archetypes
• The complexity of individual, group and company-level decision making psychology
• The markers of Survivors and Inventors, how to tell which you are, and how to quickly tell which someone else is
• Why we need both Survivors and Inventors, with examples from companies like Apple and Samsung
• The concept of identity as the driving force of how decisions are made, not what decision is made
• Practical guidance from both of us on how take this into your next boardroom or leadership conversation.

Connect with Margo White:

Website: https://prospectingbroker.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prospectingbroker/

Survivors, Inventors free download: https://prospectingbroker.com/survivors-inventors-book/

Connect with Julianna:

Website: https://www.daringtosucceed.com

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

What if confidence and mental toughness were skills you could train—just like your body?

In this conversation, Corey Corpodian shares how a life-altering melanoma diagnosis forced him to question the traditional blueprint for success—and led him to develop what he now calls emotional fitness.

Corey breaks down how entrepreneurs and high achievers can rewire their minds for confidence by changing their physical state, asking better questions, and consistently doing hard things. We explore why affirmations alone don’t work, how distraction keeps people stuck in “comfortable mediocrity,” and why long-term success is built through daily mental practice, not motivation.

This episode is a grounded look at confidence, discipline, and leadership—from someone who rebuilt his life by training his inner world as deliberately as his outer one.

Connect with Corey

• Website
• LinkedIn

We’re often told to stop overthinking — especially in high-pressure professional situations.

But what if the problem isn’t the thinking itself?

In this episode, I share a real leadership conversation that reframed “overthinking” as an unassessed signal rather than a flaw. When potential risks are ignored instead of examined, they don’t disappear — they create cognitive drag, hesitation, and quiet discomfort with our decisions.

This is a reflection on how experienced leaders can move forward more cleanly by allowing what’s being flagged to be acknowledged, assessed, and resolved — rather than dismissed.