Summary:

Nicole Dubois is a nonprofit executive leader and CHRO with 19+ years building people systems and developing leaders. She’s also the author of Unparalyzed, a memoir she first published under the pseudonym “Danielle M. Bryan” before choosing to stand fully in her story.

I sat down with Nicole to unpack a career shaped by courageous pivots: the “principal’s office” meeting that launched her into HR leadership, a mid-life health diagnosis that reframed everything, and the decision to drop the mask and claim her work under her real name. This one’s a masterclass in moving forward without perfect certainty—and why you can’t lead while hiding.

Chapters:

00:00 – The mask: why she published under a pseudonym (and what changed)

07:00 – Mixed feelings, sponsorship, and choosing the leap

09:00 – The mantra: be afraid—but move anyway

14:00 – Divorce, MS, and writing Unparalyzed

19:00 – “You can only be one person”: unmasking at work and beyond

28:00 – Telling the team, dropping the pseudonym, leading more openly

32:00 – Where to find the book + closing reflections

Host Alexa Beavers: linkedin.com/in/alexabeaverspmp

Guest Nicole Dubois: linkedin.com/in/nicole-dubois-24568510

Executive Producer Shannon Cornelison: linkedin.com/in/shannon-cornelison-9aa8b8248

Creative Advisor Dr. Jim Kanichirayil: linkedin.com/in/drjimk

Music Credit: "Lost in Dreams" by Kulakovka