Hey Sue

Nick Smith is the CEO and Co-Founder of Hauska, which uses AI to make home remodeling easier. But the real challenge in his life right now is how to raise a house full of teenage girls. Sue and Leah dive into what that responsibility means to Nick, as well as his core belief that “you either pay now and play later, or you play now and pay later.”

The session investigates how to use anxiety as an invitation to get curious about your priorities. For Nick, that means leaning into what he knows is most important to him and discovering his own tricks for spending more time doing things he loves with the people he loves.

If you find yourself staring at a full calendar wondering what you need to do to be happier, we recommend this piece by Sue on being “full” and this meditation by Leah on the tension between doing and rest. If you are also a golfer, you may enjoy this post where Sue gets some timely coaching during one of her worst games ever.

Dominique Aubry-Morgan is a high-achiever who is on a quest for more ease. In this episode, Sue and Leah engage with Dominique about how her desire to find a new cadence is in tension with her ambitious nature. They dive into her familiar cycles around all the competing desires she has for her life. What would happen if she did a trust fall into life?

At the heart of this episode is the issue of how to navigate — and eventually release — the complex emotions, diligence, and “doing” that often accompanies (and can forestall) learning and change.

To dig into these ideas a bit more, you can read about Sue’s strategy for shifting core patterns and listen to Leah’s exploration on not knowing.

Rachel Pickett comes to this coaching conversation with Sue and Leah with a pretty common problem: figuring out how to get her organization to grow. Rachel is the Founder and Executive Director of The Thinking Project, which also makes her the first non-profit leader on the HeySue podcast. Her organization (and her passion) is focused on bringing Byron Katy’s The Work to children in educational settings. This conversation becomes an exploration of how love for something – an idea, a product, a cause – can be the key to unlocking growth. If you are not yet familiar with Byron Katy and The Work, you can visit thework.com. And if this is an entirely new tool to you, then this episode will certainly spark some curiosity!

Sue and Leah welcomed the first anonymous guest “Ryan” to the HeySue podcast! He kicked off the conversation by explaining that he is in the market for a coach who can help him get out of a funk.Sue and Leah invited Ryan to reflect on different parts of himself – from the achievement-oriented “higher self” to the cheese-loving slacker “Gary.” Ryan’s curiosity and self-reflection shine through in this conversation that spans creativity, self-worth, quantified-self journaling, and Miyazaki’s Fujimoto from Ponyo.

This is a great listen for anyone (i.e. everyone) familiar with patterns of “productivity” and “laziness.” To go deeper, here is an exploration about how to allow yourself to rest. If you want to explore Ryan’s pop culture references, listen to some Sufjan Stevens or watch the 1983 movie Wind in the Willows.

David Secunda is a successful serial entrepreneur who has big ideas ranging from tech solutions for talent management at companies to what may be the best adventure summer camp for kids in the US. In this live coaching episode of the HeySue podcast, David opens his heart and mind, sharing the deep questions he wonders about in his leadership. He talks about a recurring worry that he is “too much.” The inquiry around that worry unlocks a conversation about wanting to be liked as a leader, the upper limits he encounters as a visionary, reacting to internal and external critiques, and a persona named “Tiny” who is trying to protect David.

Robin Izsak-Tseng is the VP of Revenue Marketing at G2. She is a leader with a lot of expertise to offer, but having so many young tech dudes around makes her feel like an imposter. She wonders if she is holding herself back from the next level of leadership.In this bold and revealing session, Robin, Sue, and Leah Pearlman talk about the perks of being self-effacing, the desire to be more punk rock, and a tension between leading and belonging. You will hear about personas and why they show up, as well as how to stay with feelings of insecurity as you grow and move to the next level.

Shawna Barnhart is a seasoned product leader in tech who loves team building, cross-functional project orchestration, and deep, revealing client conversations. Like many leaders in tech, she was recently a part of a reduction in force.

Shawna is trying to balance “holding on” and “letting go” in the midst of that transition. During this honest and joy-filled conversation, Shawna, Sue, and Leah dig into the issue of “selling yourself” on the job market by simply showing up with your passion and genius. This episode in particular showcases guest coach Leah Pearlman’s coaching technique of “welcoming.” You can learn more about it at www.welcomingway.com.

Rachel Beisel is a seasoned executive who has achieved a lot of her goals and feels like she’s at her next phase of growth. She climbed all of Colorado’s 14-ers, ended her marriage, rang many professional bells, and wrote a book. She’s looking at rewriting her bio in a literal and metaphorical sense. 

In this live coaching session, Rachel shares the questions she’s facing as she is looking at the next chapter of her life and career with a hope of shifting some of her core patterns of planning, goals, and checklists for achievement.

In this episode, Leah takes Rachel through an exploration to tune into her inner seven year old, finding a place of not knowing and opening to wonder.

Ajay Manglani, an exec in the generative AI space, joins Sue Heilbronner and Leah Pearlman for another episode of live executive coaching.

Ajay, who brings a warmth, relatability, and sensitivity to this podcast and, seemingly, his leadership, raises two issues we hear often from company leaders.

First, he discusses his effort to strike what he sees as the right balance around how much information (about board meetings, future company decisions, etc.) to share with his direct reports and larger team. He asks Leah and Sue for insights on how to think of that balance in a way that works best for him and for his team, and the coaches provide some thoughts you might find useful if you’ve wondered about this.

Second, he asks how he might create more connected relationships with his colleagues. Leah does a bit of welcoming around his true motivations for wanting both more and less connection at once.

As we do more of these episodes, we’re grateful for the willingness of our leader guests to share what’s really on their minds. We are game to talk to more leaders who are interested in this live coaching experience on the Hey Sue podcast. Find Sue on Linkedin, connect or follow, and send a message. We’ll be in touch.

Pull back the curtain on conscious leadership executive coaching with a new leader every episode. In this episode, Yong Kim, CEO of Wonolo, joins Leah Pearlman and Sue Heilbronner for a deep and vulnerable live executive coaching session. Yong, who describes himself as the "Chief Empathy Officer" of Wonolo shares his concerns about a miss on quarterly numbers and opens the door to a wonderful conversation about 100% responsibility, the inner critic, and the many sides of empathy in leadership.

This episode offers great insights on leadership pressures at any time, and surely during difficult macroeconomic conditions. It also offers wonderful perspective on optimizing a nurturing, compassionate relationship between CEO, venture investors, and company Boards of Directors.