Hidden Genius

What do you do, when you are underestimated and constantly overlooked? 

“Do the work and let your work make the noise,” said Lisa Dunkley, who is so familiar with being overlooked and underestimated. 

When she was running in the state election, she just focused on doing her work well. Serving people and being a politician seems like an incompatible match these days. Yet, that’s what Lisa does. That’s who she is. 

When she entered the political race, her chances were slim: no big pockets or a brand name… 

Lisa just did the right thing — served people and spoke her truth (I know another anomaly these days in politics)…

It was a personal challenge for her to see what she was made of, albeit her military service has carved great discipline and focus in her character. 

One day, she was on the way to her office and someone said, “You won!”

“I won?” Lisa was shocked

That’s when she realised the true essence of doing the work quietly, when no-one notices or pays attention and allowing the results speak for themselves. 

Her new project she is working behind the scenes is one of those quiet efforts that create a profound meaning. 

Deb Dredden had a life most people dream about. The most fabulous childhood, loving parents who brought up their children with “You can be anything, you can do anything” mindset, successful career, amazing husband… She had it all! But then one day, the universe thought — she has it too easy… Let’s make her story a bit more interesting 😉

She loses her six-figure job after 30 years of a successful career in a retail industry. Shortly after her husband loses his job. The rug has been pulled from beneath Deb’s feet… Financial security gone. Certainty in future vanished. Identity left with big questions.

It is easy to have the possibility mindset when things are going great. But when yogurt hits the fan, how do you respond? That’s the true measure of who you are. 

Deb had a perfect opportunity to put to life all those wonderful beliefs and positive thinking her parents instilled in her and rise to the challenge. It all started with a simple question that she asked herself, “What would you love to do?”

The answer was easy. Deb has been successful in her career because she was talented at developing people. Her departments always thrived under her leadership… Becoming an executive coach was a natural progression from her profession. But the transition from corporate to being a business owner was a steep learning curve… To say the least. During that steep learning curve, she discovered a principle that would reshape everything...

Deb had to learn the power of conscious choice. No matter what challenge she faced, she learned how to choose her response. Who she was being in the moment — a victim or a creator. 

One of Deb’s favourite quotes is by V. Frankle, “Between a stimulus and a response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

That simple principle applied consistently to her coaching business created a snowball effect.

That’s the essence of her coaching — empowering leaders and executives with the power of conscious choice — being the conscious creators of their life not unconscious drifters, helping them reconnect with their inner genius. 

Her clients step into the conscious choice. They stop waiting for permission and start creating their lives intentionally. The result? They lead from clarity instead of fear. They step into promotions, navigate career changes, build stronger teams, make more money. Those are not simply side effects. They are the outcomes of the natural expression of knowing who they are. Deb simply helps her clients embrace and live that. 

When Melanie shared in class she wanted to be a lawyer, her teacher said, “you would be better off stacking up shelves in the supermarket” 

 She was left thinking, “Am I good enough?” 

However, her Jamaican mother, who was a strong woman and didn’t take any nonsense, said to her, “Never let anyone limit your story. You keep going no matter what you hear. Just keep going.”

That’s what pushed Melanie to overcome any hurdle thrown her way. 

She got a lawyer’s degree. 

And 200 rejections letters ( yes, 200!!) later, she got a job as a defence lawyer in Bristol, UK. 

Talking about not taking a “no” for an answer. 

She then served as a prosecutor in Birmingham…

But only when she had her kids and her daughter developed some severe skin irritation problems, she knew — something needed to change. Her all-consuming career wasn’t worth missing out on the most important thing in life — family and raising her kids. 

The transition from a lawyer to a skincare maker was inspired by her daughter Simone, who had an acute eczema with cracked and bleeding skin…

When the doctors couldn’t help, having Jamaican roots, Melanie knew the answer was in nature. So she got matters in her own hands… Little Mel’s luxuries were born. Not only it helped cure Simone’s skin, it turned into a thriving business giving Melanie that work life balance, so she wouldn’t miss out on the most important thing in life — her family. 

Listen to our soulful and inspiring conversation on my Hidden Genius Podcast

She was raped at the age of 13. The guy who profoundly violated her in the downstairs bathroom of a friend's house tied off the condom, went to the party, and started swinging it around, an idiotic but satisfied look on his face. She could hear the guys cheering him on, clapping. Meanwhile she stood there feeling as if someone had cracked an egg on her forehead, the yellow goo of shame flowing all over her face.

Larissa Astara Gray shared her story, laced with deeply vulnerable and shocking details. Through the context of her story, we discussed the most beautiful, divine, natural act that created every single one of us — sex. And how misrepresented, distorted, wrapped in shame, guilt, taboo and abuse it unfortunately is…

Her mission is to give people their voice back around sex, as reclaiming her own voice has been her life's work — healing and piecing back together what drug and sexual abuse shattered. Larissa is an incredible storyteller, and you'll find her ability to draw life-affirming insight from the most abhorrent trauma events most inspiring.

A big, warm smile is the first thing you notice when you meet Maggie.

Beneath her warm and loving personality is a woman with the heart of a lion.

"I am not afraid," she kept saying as she shared her story.

Moving from the relaxed pace of life in St. Lucia to the fast-paced, results-driven environment of the USA came with its challenges. In her new job, she was constantly learning. "Of course, I was falling on my face and making mistakes..." she said.

But instead of support, she was met with mockery and humiliation.

She had to become her own cheerleader when she felt unseen. Learning to quiet the negative voices, both inside and outside, was preparing Maggie for what came next. She had to learn how to channel her capability when she felt unseen. 

Today, she works with executives who feel unseen or overlooked within their companies and organisations. She helps them recognise the value they bring, so they can step fully into their potential, elevate their performance, contribute to exponential success for the organisations they serve, and create greater success for themselves in the process.

Her mission is to empower individuals and teams to succeed together, because lasting success is never achieved alone. She has developed her unique approach to make people SEE themselves… When that happens, success becomes inevitable. 

Have you lost touch with your value? Do you see the "evidence" around you that seems to prove you're "behind"? But you want more? That's the problem Maggie is committed to helping you solve.

When I think of Ioana Lupo’s story, I imagine a field full of beautiful wild flowers. It is a picture-perfect scene. Now, imagine one flower being plucked out, planted into a pot and placed in a dark room. Will it survive? Maybe. But will it thrive, blossom and add beauty to its surrounding? Unlikely. 

It is the same with people. When we are in a favourable environment, we thrive and blossom. That’s how I saw Ioana Lupo’s mission drawn from her story — creating an environment where people flourish. 

Born in Romania, she once wanted to be a geographer, drawn to unmapped land and the pull of exploring it. Life moved her into HR instead, and somewhere inside organisations and the people trying to survive them, she found the territory she was always meant to explore — not land, but the conditions that let a person flourish, or quietly take them apart.

Today she’s an executive coach for HR professionals — giving people the tools and resources to recognise what they need to flourish themselves and how to create flourishing environments. 

In this conversation, we talk about her story, the leap from one continent to a completely different terrain, and the fear underneath most fears — not failure, not other people, but whether we’re actually capable of what we’re being asked to become. And what’s waiting on the other side once you find out you are.

Locked in a shack at 5. No food. Two little brothers. Guatemala.

Ericka Kelly walked to America on foot. Was homeless as a teenager. Survived three abusive marriages.

Then somehow ended up in the White House. Working at the Pentagon. Reaching the highest enlisted rank in the US Air Force. Becoming a special agent under the Department of Homeland Security.

The girl who ate ants and dirt to survive didn't just make it — she made it into rooms most people never see.

And still, she'll tell you: self-doubt followed her into every single one of them.

This episode is about how she stopped letting it win.

When resilience is not an empty word but a story of life. 

Marie Cosgrove was born to a mother with severe brain damage who had been raped. Her family told her she'd most likely end up homeless or a prostitute. She survived an abusive marriage and raised five children on her own.

And yet — she became a top sales rep selling medical equipment in a tough male-dominated industry. She bought the company that fired her. She became a serial entrepreneur. Now she's a full-time keynote speaker helping audiences turn adversity into opportunity through her Built to Rise Framework.

But here's what makes Marie's story remarkable: through all of it, she never lost her kind, loving heart. She had every reason to. She didn't.

That's her genius.

Listen to the full story 

Check my book Your Story is Your Power to help you discover and express your unique genius message

The world is drowning in noise yet is starving for meaning. This podcast is aimed to help people understand what makes them unique. Uncover and articulate your true differentiation. Turn your story into a powerful, relevant message. And connect it with a real need in the marketplace