Who's taking care of you?

As leaders, we're often the people everyone depends on. We solve problems. We support our teams. We pour into students, colleagues, friends, and family.

But who pours into us?

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Kevina Brown and Samantha Hernandez, two leaders I've known and admired for years. We talk about the people who saw something in us before we could see it ourselves, how those moments shaped the leaders we've become, and why even experienced leaders need spaces where they can be honest, supported, and reminded of their worth.

What I found most fascinating was how different our stories were, yet they all led us to the same place.

Kevina shared how, as one of only a handful of Black students in her elementary school, her second-grade teacher cast her—a little Black girl—as the king in the school play.

She said, "In that single action, she gave me wings."

Sam talked about the mentors who saw potential in her long before she believed it herself and how those experiences shaped the way she now leads and serves students.

Listening to both of them reminded me that leadership doesn't begin with a title. It begins with someone believing in us. And sometimes, years later, we still need someone to remind us of who we are.

I also realized we weren't just talking about leadership. We were talking about the people everyone else depends on.

Who's taking care of them?

I hope this conversation reminds you that leadership was never meant to be a solo journey.

About the Guests Dr. Kevina Brown

Dr. Kevina Brown has more than 20 years of experience in higher education and currently serves as Community Relations Specialist and a part-time lecturer at San José State University. Throughout her career, she has been committed to student success, educational leadership, and creating spaces where students feel seen, supported, and empowered. A proud member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., she believes leadership begins with helping people feel seen, heard, and valued.

Samantha F. Hernandez

Samantha F. Hernandez serves as Director of Student Engagement, Director of Student Needs, Undocumented Student Liaison, and Advisor to Student Government at a California community college. A Latina and first-generation college graduate, Samantha has dedicated her career to ensuring students have the support they need to thrive. Since 2019, she has led the growth of her college's basic needs program, expanding resources for food security, housing, financial stability, and wellness. She believes education changes lives when students feel safe, seen, and empowered.

About the Host

Dr. Debra Griffith is the founder of Do Better Coaching & Consulting, where she coaches senior leaders, develops executive teams, and partners with organizations to build stronger leadership and healthier workplace cultures. With nearly three decades of leadership experience across higher education and 6–12 education, she has dedicated her career to helping leaders navigate complexity, strengthen relationships, and create meaningful change.

Through her podcast, coaching, consulting, and speaking, Debra creates conversations that help people make sense of the experiences that shape who they become. She believes leadership is deeply personal, our greatest lessons often come through one another, and we are all still becoming.

Connect with Debra

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

Learn more about executive coaching, consulting, speaking, and the ROOTS leadership community: https://www.dobettercoachingandconsulting.com

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What does it look like to stop abandoning yourself just to keep the peace?

In this episode of Do Better with Debra, I'm joined by Rebekah Tayebi for a real and honest conversation about boundaries, what they are, why they feel so hard, and what it actually takes to live them.

This is not a conversation about "just saying no." This is a conversation about patterns. Conditioning. And the cost of being the one who always shows up for everyone else but yourself.

Rebekah is a therapist, mindfulness teacher, and parent coach who brings both clinical insight and lived experience into her work. Together, we explore how people-pleasing gets formed, how early relationships shape our need to be seen and liked, and why so many of us wait until we're completely depleted before we finally set a boundary.

We talk about how boundaries live in the body, the fatigue, the resentment, the disconnection and what it means to start listening to those signals instead of overriding them. Rebekah shares the difference between internal and external boundaries, and why both are necessary if we want to stay connected to ourselves while being in relationship with others.

We also go into the realities of boundaries at work, the fear of being seen as difficult, the pressure to overperform, and the moment when you realize you don't have to stay in environments that don't value you.

This conversation is honest, layered, and at times uncomfortable because it asks you to look at yourself.

If you've ever felt like setting a boundary makes you selfish… If you've ever said yes when you meant no… If you're tired of carrying more than your share…

This episode is an invitation to pause and ask yourself:

Where am I leaving myself?

My hope is that you hear something that helps you come back to yourself, not perfectly, but intentionally.

Key Takeaways

Boundaries are not selfish; they are how we come back to ourselves

People-pleasing is often rooted in early experiences of needing to be seen, loved, or safe

The body signals when a boundary has been crossed, through fatigue, resentment, and disconnection

Internal boundaries (what we allow ourselves to hold onto) are just as important as external ones

Workplace environments often reward overextension, but you still have a choice

Setting boundaries can feel awkward and messy and that's part of the process

About Rebekah Tayebi

Rebekah Tayebi, LCSW, is a therapist, mindfulness teacher, and parent coach with over eighteen years of experience working with teens, adults, and families. Her work is rooted in relationship, honesty, and practical tools that support lasting change.

She specializes in developmental trauma and integrates mindfulness, embodiment, and trauma-informed practices into her work. Rebekah is also a 500-hour certified yoga teacher and leads Yoga for Trauma Recovery workshops.

She is the co-author of The Wanderlust Warrior Project and has developed curriculum for teens and young adults, with published work in Elephant Journal and Breathe Together.

Her approach is grounded, compassionate, and real, helping people reconnect to themselves and build the skills needed for healing.

Website: https://satyafamilycoaching.com/

About the Host

Debra Y. Griffith, Ed.D. is an executive coach, consultant, and the voice behind Do Better with Debra. She currently serves as Chief Equity Programs Officer at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools in Los Angeles, where she leads system-wide strategy focused on belonging, college readiness, and postsecondary success.

With more than 25 years in education and leadership, Debra supports women of color leaders navigating complexity and change, without abandoning themselves in the process.

Connect with Debra

Website: www.dobetterexecutivecoaching.com LinkedIn: Debra Y. Griffith, Ed.D. Instagram: @dobetterwithdebra

What does it look like to stop living in survival mode and actually listen to what your nervous system has been asking for all along?

In this episode of Do Better with Debra, I'm joined by Zabie Yamasaki for a deeply grounding, expansive conversation about healing, boundaries, and learning how to choose ease in a world that rewards overextension. This is a conversation about slowing down, honoring capacity, and remembering that rest is not collapse, it's care.

Zabie shares her journey as a survivor, healer, educator, and mother, and how her lived experiences shaped the work she now offers to others. We talk honestly about trauma, hypervigilance, and the ways survival mode can quietly become our baseline, especially for women of color, caregivers, and those working in systems that demand constant giving.

We explore how boundaries live in the body, why "boundary work is nervous system work," and what happens when we stop overriding the signals our bodies send us. Zabie reflects on the moments that led her to write Protect Your Energy, a book that reads less like instruction and more like a restorative inhale, gentle, spacious, and deeply affirming.

This conversation weaves together stories of loss, resilience, activism, and healing, while naming the exhaustion so many of us carry but rarely say out loud. We talk about toxic work environments, the pressure to overperform, redefining success, and learning to ask for and receive, what we deserve.

If you are tired, carrying too much, or questioning whether another way is possible, this episode is an invitation to pause. You don't need to fix anything. You don't need to do more. You just need to listen.

My hope is that you hear something that reminds you that your body is wise, your capacity matters, and you are allowed to choose yourself, without guilt.

Key Takeaways

• Survival mode often shows up quietly and can become normalized over time

• Boundary work is not just cognitive; it lives in the nervous system and the body

• Rest is not collapse it can be restorative when practiced with intention

• Honoring capacity requires slowing down and learning to trust bodily cues

• Healing does not require perfection or completion; it can happen right in the middle

About Zabie Yamasaki

Zabie Yamasaki, M.Ed., RYT is the founder of Transcending Trauma through Yoga and a nationally recognized trauma-informed yoga instructor, resilience educator, consultant, and keynote speaker. Her work centers nervous system regulation, embodied healing, and supporting trauma survivors through accessible, compassionate practices.

Zabie's yoga as healing curriculum is implemented at over fifty college campuses and trauma agencies across the country, including the University of California system, Stanford, Yale, USC, Notre Dame, and Johns Hopkins University. She is the author of multiple books and healing tools, including Protect Your Energy: A Gentle Guide to Nurture Your Nervous System, Cultivate Rest, and Honor Your Needs.

She lives in Los Angeles with her partner and children and sees her sensitivity and softness as her greatest strength.

Connect with Zabie: Instagram: @transcending_trauma_with_yoga Website: zyamasaki.com

About the Host

Debra Y. Griffith, Ed.D. is an executive coach, consultant, and the voice behind Do Better with Debra. She currently serves as Chief Equity Programs Officer at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools in Los Angeles, where she leads system-wide equity strategy focused on belonging, college readiness, and postsecondary success.

With more than 25 years in education and leadership, Debra supports women of color leaders navigating transition, complexity, and change, without abandoning themselves in the process.

Connect with Debra:

Website: www.dobetterexecutivecoaching.com

LinkedIn: Debraygriffith

Instagram: @dobetterwithdebra

Subscribe to Do Better with Debra on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

Episode Description

What does it really cost to lead in systems that were never built with you in mind and why do some leaders choose to stay anyway?

In this episode of Do Better with Debra, I'm joined by Rachel Camacho, Ph.D. and Armando Madrid, Ed.D., co-founders of Alchemy Blueprint Collective, for a deeply honest conversation about leadership, becoming, and the quiet emotional labor so many mid-level leaders carry.

Rachel and Armando are university leaders, educators, and leadership architects who have spent their careers navigating higher education from the margins, building programs, launching inaugural roles, mentoring emerging leaders, and holding systems accountable to their values. In this conversation, they move beyond titles and accomplishments and speak candidly about what leadership has asked of them over time.

We talk about the emotional and psychological toll of leading while being watched, questioned, and expected to represent more than just yourself. They reflect on what they had to unlearn to lead with more tenderness and authenticity, why vulnerability can be both powerful and risky in institutional spaces, and how joy, community, and laughter have become essential leadership practices, not extras.

Rachel and Armando share what it means to "bet on yourself," including the courage it takes to leave environments that cause harm, the importance of thought partners and community, and how they now pour into others so emerging leaders don't have to figure everything out alone. Together, they name why leadership development is justice work and why building new tables matters just as much as getting a seat at existing ones.

This is a conversation for leaders who are tired, thoughtful, and still hopeful. For those navigating complexity, questioning their next move, or wondering if another way of leading is possible, this episode is a reminder that you are not alone, and you are not imagining the weight.

My hope is that you hear something that helps you feel seen, steadied, and reminded that leadership is not just about endurance, it's about alignment, care, and becoming.

Key Takeaways

• Leadership in systems not built for us carries an emotional and psychological toll that often goes unnamed

• Vulnerability and tenderness can be leadership strengths when practiced with intention and discernment

• Betting on yourself sometimes means leaving, pausing, or redefining success altogether

• Community, thought partners, and mentorship are essential for sustaining leadership over time

• Pouring into others is a form of justice and a way to change systems from the inside out

About Rachel Camacho, Ph.D.

Rachel Camacho, Ph.D. (she/her/ella) is a first-generation, system-impacted Latina scholar-practitioner, leadership architect, and equity advocate. Her work centers educational access, leadership development, and justice-informed practice. She holds a BA from Pitzer College and an MA and PhD in Higher Education and Social Justice from Claremont Graduate University.

About Armando Madrid, Ed.D.

Armando Madrid, Ed.D. (he/him/él) is a first-generation, Latinx and queer educator, researcher, and leadership coach. His work focuses on social justice–centered leadership, self-advocacy, and creating spaces where historically marginalized staff and students can navigate higher education with clarity and purpose. He holds degrees from UCLA, CSU Long Beach, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

About Alchemy Blueprint Collective

Founded by Drs. Rachel Camacho and Armando Madrid, Alchemy Blueprint Collective supports emerging, mid-level, and executive leaders, particularly those from BIPOC and marginalized communities, through equity-centered coaching, leadership development, and strategic consulting. Their work helps leaders align purpose, identity, and impact while navigating complex institutions.

Learn more about Alchemy Blueprint Collective Connect with Dr. Rachel Camacho on Linkedin and Dr. Madrid on Linkedin

About the Host:

Debra Y. Griffith, Ed.D. is an executive coach, consultant, and the voice behind the Do Better with Debra podcast. She currently serves as Chief Equity Programs Officer at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools in Los Angeles, where she leads network-wide equity strategy focused on college readiness, belonging, and postsecondary completion across 25 schools.

With more than 25 years in education and leadership, Debra supports women of color leaders navigating transition, carrying a lot, and still committed to leading transformative change in their organizations and in their own lives. Through coaching, consulting, and storytelling, she creates spaces for reflection, clarity, and courage.

Connect with Debra:

Website: www.dobetterexecutivecoaching.com

LinkedIn: Debraygriffith

Instagram: @dobetterwithdebra

Subscribe to Do Better with Debra on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

What does it really mean to be first-generation after college ends?

In this episode of Do Better with Debra, I'm joined by Dr. Bryan Rojas-Araúz for a powerful, deeply human conversation about what it means to be first-gen forever. Together, we explore the reality of moving through professional and leadership spaces without a blueprint, negotiating identity, belonging, and authenticity in systems that were never designed with us in mind.

Bryan shares his journey from being an undocumented, first-generation college student to becoming a licensed psychologist, professor, and scholar-activist. We talk about the moments that shaped him, the mentors who helped open doors, and the internal negotiations that followed him from college into professional life. We also name the pressure many first-gen professionals feel to overperform, code-switch, and constantly prove they belong just to earn a seat at the table.

This conversation is about more than career paths. It's about reclaiming identity, understanding lived experience as wisdom, and letting go of the need to ask permission to exist. We reflect on imposter syndrome, authenticity, and why belonging doesn't come from institutions, but from clarity about who you are and why you're here.

If you are a first-generation professional navigating work, family, leadership, or identity, and feel like you are always negotiating who you can be in different spaces, this episode is for you.

My hope is that you hear something that reminds you that you are not behind, you are not imagining it, and you do not need permission to take up space.

Key Takeaways:

• First-gen identity does not end at graduation. It continues throughout professional and personal life.
• Negotiating systems often begins as a strategy for access, but awareness allows us to choose what we no longer need to negotiate.
• Overachievement, performance, and constant proving are common responses to navigating spaces without a roadmap.
• Authenticity is not just personal; it is a leadership practice and a form of resistance.
• Belonging does not come from institutions that were not built for us. It comes from community, purpose, and self-trust.

About Dr. Bryan Rojas-Araúz:

Dr. Bryan Rojas-Araúz is a bilingual, bicultural Afroindigenous immigrant of Costa Rican and Panamanian descent. He is a licensed psychologist, educator, and scholar-activist whose work centers trauma, immigration, culturally responsive and decolonial healing, and the social conditions that shape wellbeing.

He is the founder of In Lak'ech Counseling, Education, and Consulting, where he provides trauma- and culturally responsive psychological services, immigration evaluations, training, consultation, and speaking engagements. Dr. Rojas-Araúz is also a Clinical Assistant Professor in the International Disaster Psychology: Trauma and Global Mental Health program at the University of Denver, where he facilitates Spanish-language supervision in the Trauma and Disaster Psychology Clinic.

His work centers Latine and Indigenous wellness, critical consciousness, and collective care. He is a co-author of the Workbook for Social Action for Counselors, Psychologists, and Helping Professionals and identifies as a scholar-activist, hip hop educator, slam poet, and documentary filmmaker.

Connect with Dr. Bryan Rojas-Araúz:

Learn more about his work at In Lak'ech Counseling, Education, and Consulting at www.inlakechcec.com

About the Host:

Debra Y. Griffith, Ed.D. is an executive coach, consultant, and the voice behind the Do Better with Debra podcast. She currently serves as Chief Equity Programs Officer at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools in Los Angeles, where she leads network-wide equity strategy focused on college readiness, belonging, and postsecondary completion across 25 schools.

With more than 25 years in education and leadership, Debra supports women of color leaders navigating transition, carrying a lot, and still committed to leading transformative change in their organizations and in their own lives. Through coaching, consulting, and storytelling, she creates spaces for reflection, clarity, and courage.

Connect with Debra:

Website: www.dobetterexecutivecoaching.com

LinkedIn: Debraygriffith

Instagram: @dobetterwithdebra

Subscribe to Do Better with Debra on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

In this episode, I'm joined by two incredible women, Monica Varela, owner of The Brow Foundry in Old Pasadena, and Kalei Mahi, Chief Legacy Officer of NextGen Legacy NIL. Both of them took the leap from stability into the unknown, building businesses rooted in integrity, purpose, and a deep commitment to the people they serve.

Together, we talk about the truth behind betting on yourself, the pivots you don't expect, the boundaries you learn to hold, the imposter syndrome that creeps in, the intuition that guides you, and the courage it takes to walk away from the safety of an 8-to-5 to build something with your own name on it.

Monica and Kalei share what it's really like to be mothers, partners, and business owners while trying to create a life that honors their values. They speak honestly about fear, burnout, learning to ask for help, and the emotional stretch of navigating the early years of entrepreneurship. Their stories are powerful reminders that the leap isn't perfect but it is possible.

If you've been sitting on a dream, feeling the tug to do something different, or talking yourself out of taking the next step, this conversation is for you. My hope is that you hear something that reminds you that you're not behind, you're not alone, and you are absolutely allowed to choose yourself.

This episode is an invitation for the gifted, tired woman holding so much, the woman sitting on a dream she hasn't fully given herself permission to pursue, to trust her intuition, set boundaries that protect her peace, and remember that she's not behind… she's standing at the edge of her next pivot.

🎧 Available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

Key Takeaways

• Taking the leap often starts with a quiet realization: "I can't keep living my life this way."

• Boundaries around time, energy, and integrity are the backbone of a sustainable business and a grounded life.

• Unlearning corporate conditioning (people-pleasing, over-functioning, equating worth with output) is essential to building a business that reflects who you are.

• Asking for help is not a weakness; it's a practice of self-preservation that makes space for presence, purpose, and well-being.

• Women supporting women, through referrals, encouragement, and honest conversation, expands what's possible for all of us.

About Monica Varela

Monica Varela is the owner of The Brow Foundry, a brow and beauty studio in Old Pasadena. A brow artist with over 14 years of experience, she's known for her naturally defined brow style and her ability to make clients feel seen, safe, and at ease the moment they sit in her chair. Monica built her business in the midst of the pandemic, relying on intuition, deep client relationships, and a commitment to creating a one-on-one space where people can relax, connect, and leave feeling like the best version of themselves.

🌐 Learn more about "The Brow Foundry Pasadena" 🔗 Connect with Monica on social media through @THE.BROW.FOUNDRY

About Kalei Mahi

Kalei Mahi is the Founder and Chief Legacy Officer of NextGen Legacy NIL, where she helps high school and college athletes and their families, navigate partnerships, contracts, financial literacy, and personal branding in the evolving NIL landscape. With more than 15 years of experience working with brands such as AT&T, The Coca-Cola Company, Sony, Lexus, and YouTube, and her background as a record-holding Division I swimmer, Kalei brings both expertise and empathy to her work. She teaches athletes how to protect their value, understand the business behind their opportunities, and make informed decisions that will serve them long after their playing careers end.

🌐 Learn more about NextGen Legacy NIL 🔗 Connect with Kalei and NextGen Legacy NIL Instagram: @nextgenlegacy_nil LinkedIn

About Dr. Debra Griffith

Dr. Debra Y. Griffith is an executive coach, consultant, and the voice behind the Do Better with Debra podcast. She currently serves as Chief Equity Programs Officer at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools in Los Angeles, where she leads network-wide equity strategy focused on college readiness, belonging, and postsecondary completion for more than 13,000 scholars across 25 schools. With over 25 years in education and leadership, Debra now supports women of color leaders navigating transition, carrying a lot, and still committed to leading transformative change, in their organizations and in their own lives.

🌐 Learn more about coaching and consulting at Do Better Executive Coaching 🔗 Connect with Debra on LinkedIn

So many of us hold ideas we love, a script, a podcast, a book, a creative project that keeps tapping us on the shoulder but something gets in the way of actually beginning. Fear. Perfection. Comparison. Not knowing the "how." Or simply believing we need everything in place before we take the first step.

In this episode, I sit down with Valerie Frugé, an actor, audio producer, and creative who is developing a limited series rooted in history and storytelling, and Steve Moreno, a music enthusiast and host of the upcoming podcast Nostalgic Jamz, who brings a deep passion for the songs that shaped us. Both of them have been carrying powerful ideas for years and both are now choosing to move from intention into action.

Together, we talk honestly about what holds us back, why starting often feels so heavy, and what shifts when you finally give yourself permission to begin. We explore fear, perfection, comparison, and the stories we tell ourselves that keep us stuck. And we talk about support, how the right conversation, the right question, or the right person can open the door to momentum.

This episode is for anyone sitting on a dream… anyone who knows there's more they want to create… and anyone standing in that uncomfortable space between knowing and doing.

🎧 Available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and You Tube. It's time to move toward the thing you keep thinking about.

Key Takeaways

• The first step doesn't have to be big, it just has to be real.

• Fear shows up when something matters, not when we're unqualified.

• Comparison keeps us stuck in our heads; community helps us move.

• Perfection is a distraction from purpose.

• Support and accountability make starting possible.

About Steve Moreno

Steve Moreno is an actor, audio producer, and creative based in Los Angeles. With years of experience in voiceover, comedy, and audio production, including work with Comedy Central, he brings a deep love of storytelling and collaboration to every project. He is currently developing a limited series inspired by historical events in Los Angeles, focusing on themes of identity, justice, and community.

About Valerie Frugé

Valerie Frugé is a creative, dancer, and lifelong music enthusiast based in Los Angeles. A self-described Xennial with a deep love for 70s–2000s music, she is the host of the upcoming podcast Nostalgic Jamz, where she explores the stories, memories, and meaning behind the songs that shaped a generation. Passionate, thoughtful, and rooted in connection, Valerie brings music and storytelling together in a fresh, grounded way.

About Dr. Debra Griffith

Dr. Debra Griffith is an executive coach, consultant, and host of the Do Better with Debra podcast. As Chief Equity Programs Officer at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, she leads the network's equity, belonging, and postsecondary strategy. Through Do Better Executive Coaching, she supports women of color leaders navigating transitions and designing lives and careers anchored in clarity, power, and purpose.

🌐 Learn more at Do Better Executive Coaching 🔗 Connect with Debra on LinkedIn

Jasmine Brett Stringer, MAPP, is a dynamic keynote speaker, award-winning author, television personality, and Founder & CEO of Carpe Diem with Jasmine LLC. Known for her vibrant presence and grounded wisdom, Jasmine blends the science of positive psychology with real-world experience to help individuals and organizations flourish.

In this episode, Jasmine and I talk about the R.E.S.T. framework she created, born out of one of the hardest seasons of her life, while studying positive psychology and caring for her father through illness. Her framework, designed especially with Black women in mind, reframes rest not as a luxury but as a necessity for our healing and wholeness.

Together, we explore how recovery, emotional agility, support, and time can transform the way we lead and live. Jasmine shares what it means to practice emotional agility, redefine strength, and reclaim time as an act of self-preservation. This conversation is an invitation for every woman holding so much to pause, breathe, and give herself permission to rest.

🎧 Available now on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

Key Takeaways

• Rest is not a reward—it's a requirement for your well-being.

• Emotional agility helps us feel, name, and move through emotions with awareness.

• Support means offering what's in your toolkit and receiving help with grace.

• Reclaiming your time is an act of self-love, not selfishness.

About Jasmine Brett Stringer Jasmine Brett Stringer, MAPP, is a keynote speaker, award-winning author, television personality, and Founder & CEO of Carpe Diem with Jasmine LLC. Through her signature frameworks, A.C.I.R., R.E.S.T., and Seize Your Life. she helps people build emotional agility, overcome overwhelm, and unlock joy. Jasmine's clients include the Federal Reserve Bank, Land O'Lakes, Airbnb, General Mills, Bayer, and the University of Minnesota. Based in Minneapolis, she holds a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and brings both warmth and rigor to her work helping others flourish.

🔗 Connect with Jasmine on LinkedIn 🌐 Learn more at jasminebrettstringer.com

About Dr. Debra Griffith Dr. Debra Griffith is an executive coach, consultant, and the voice behind the Do Better with Debra podcast. She currently serves as Chief Equity Programs Officer at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, where she leads the network's equity strategy focused on college readiness, belonging, and postsecondary success across 25 schools serving more than 13,000 scholars. With over 25 years in education and leadership, Debra now supports women of color leaders navigating transitions and leading transformative change.

🌐 Learn more at Do Better Executive Coaching 🔗 Connect with Debra on LinkedIn

Rodolfo "Rudy" Elizondo is an equity-driven leader who has spent more than two decades in public education and the nonprofit sector. Recently appointed Chief of Education at College Track, Rudy brings deep experience as a system-level strategist, a champion for first-generation scholars, and a leader whose philosophy centers real-world problem solving, collaboration, and trust.

In this episode, Rudy and I reflect on our rare partnership as two Chiefs working side by side one grounded in data and analysis, the other in intuition and human connection. We talk about what it takes to build trust across differences, how generosity and humility change the way leaders show up, and why leaving ego at the door creates space for the work that really matters. Together, we explore moving past imposter syndrome, leading with our whole selves, and creating partnerships that allow us to focus on scholars, not titles.

This conversation is for every leader navigating complex systems who has ever wondered: What would it feel like to lead without ego?

🎧 Available now on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

Key Takeaways

• Leadership without ego creates space for trust, generosity, and impact.

• Partnerships thrive when leaders align on purpose, not titles.

• Imposter syndrome loses power when you choose to lead as your full self.

• True collaboration honors both data and intuition as sources of wisdom.

About Rudy Elizondo Rodolfo "Rudy" Elizondo is the Chief of Education at College Track, a national organization equipping first-generation and underserved students to earn their bachelor's degrees and lead lives of purpose and power. Previously, he served as Chief Instructional Officer at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, overseeing 26 middle and high schools serving nearly 13,000 scholars. A first-generation Mexican-American, Rudy's leadership is grounded in equity, innovation, and a belief in education as a pathway to mobility and transformation. He is a Broad Fellow, a Cambiar Catalyst Fellow, and trained in Culturally Responsive Principal Supervision at the NYC Leadership Academy.

🔗 Connect with Rudy on LinkedIn

About Dr. Debra Griffith Dr. Debra Griffith is an executive coach, consultant, and the voice behind the Do Better with Debra podcast. She currently serves as Chief Equity Programs Officer at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, where she leads the network's equity strategy focused on college readiness, belonging, and postsecondary success across 25 schools serving more than 13,000 scholars. With over 25 years of experience in education and higher education leadership, she now supports women of color leaders and executives navigating professional transitions and leading transformative change.

🌐 Learn more at Do Better Executive Coaching 🔗 Connect with Debra on LinkedIn

Dr. Jonathan Grady is an influential leader, scholar, and equity strategist whose work centers transformative justice, radical imagination, and leading with love. As Senior Associate Vice President for Equity & Belonging at Cal Poly Pomona, he brings more than 17 years of experience driving systemic equity strategies, cultivating holistic workplace cultures, and building communities where people can recognize their inner strength, brilliance, and magic.

In this episode, Jonathan and I talk about what it means to lead with love inside systems that often strip away humanity, and how his framework, The Helper's Story, offers language for the cost of constant caregiving while also pointing us toward healing and sustainability. We talk about legacy, connection, and why true leadership requires vulnerability, accountability, and joy.

This conversation is for every leader who has ever given until emptyand is ready to believe that caring for themselves is not indulgence but resistance.

🎧 Available now on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

Key Takeaways

• Love is not just a feeling, it is an action, a framework, and a leadership practice.

• The Helper's Story invites us to begin within, make meaning, embody action, and embrace transformation.

• True leadership creates healing spaces where mistakes become opportunities for learning.

• Rest, joy, and boundaries are revolutionary acts for helpers and caretakers.

About Dr. Jonathan Grady Dr. Jonathan Grady is the Senior Associate Vice President for Equity & Belonging at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. A nationally recognized scholar, speaker, and administrator, his work challenges us to rethink how we show up for ourselves and others. Through his Helper's Story framework, he helps leaders and organizations cultivate cultures rooted in love, healing, and accountability.

🔗 Connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn

About Dr. Debra Griffith Dr. Debra Griffith is an executive coach, consultant, and the voice behind the Do Better with Debra podcast. With a career rooted in education and equity-centered leadership, she now supports women of color leaders and executives navigating professional transitions and leading transformative change.

🌐 Learn more at Do Better Executive Coaching 🔗 Connect with Debra on LinkedIn