Every podcast needs a job. That's what Neil Veglio of B2B Podcasting Insights said in an episode I couldn't stop thinking about. And it made me ask myself a question I had been avoiding: what is the job of mine?

In this episode, I'm being honest about something. I started She Became CEO to heal from a complex trauma. That was its job. And for a while, it worked. But somewhere along the way, I got pulled into the mainstream — interviews, pitches, guests — and drifted away from what I actually wanted to say.

So I'm course-correcting. More solo episodes. Less scripting. More of my natural voice, unfiltered.

I also share why I'm moving away from scripted episodes even though I've worked hard on every script, and who is currently inspiring me to show up more unapologetically — even if she's not someone everyone will like.

If you've ever wondered why your content feels too polished to be real, or if you're a podcaster questioning whether your show is doing what it's actually supposed to do — this one is for you.

In this episode:

Mentioned in this episode:

If this episode resonated, follow the show and leave a comment. It helps more than you know.

What if the most valuable thing you have is the thing you've stopped seeing?

This episode started with a breakfast conversation. I had been listening to The Huberman Lab — Scott Galloway was the guest — and I couldn't stop thinking about what he said about the mentorship crisis facing young men today. The statistics are sobering: young men are four times as likely to kill themselves, three times as likely to become addicted, and twelve times as likely to be incarcerated as their female peers. And the single most common turning point? The loss of a male role model.

I bring this home with a personal story about my older son and the rowing coach who stepped in when no one else did — teaching not just sport, but life skills, character, and what it means to be part of a tribe.

But this episode isn't only about men or mentorship. It's about a blind spot most of us in midlife share: the inability to see the value in what we know, simply because we've always known it. I share my own version of this — how I turned my native Latvian language into a structured, properly priced digital offering while others were trading hours for dollars with no certainty of income.

The larger question I'm asking in this episode is one worth sitting with: what did our elders used to do that the modern world forgot to replace? And what happens to a society when the people with the most to give don't realize they have anything to offer?

In this episode:

Resources & mentions:

If this episode resonated, share it with someone in midlife who has more to offer than they realize.

Most of us try to build a business with words. A mission statement. A vision document. A goal-setting template. But what if the most important things you want to build toward do not actually live in language at all?

In this episode, I open with something unexpected — a summary of myself generated by an AI after a week of working together. What came back was not just a professional profile. It was a mirror. And it raised a question worth sitting with: what does it mean to be genuinely multifaceted in a world that keeps asking you to pick one thing?

From there, I move into territory She Became CEO has never explored before. The neuroscience of how the brain processes symbols differently from words. The oldest continuously used symbol system in Europe — hiding in plain sight in Latvian folk costumes and woven belts since the Iron Age. Tesla's 3, 6, and 9. A birth date that encodes yin and yang and 111. And the ancient practice of sigil work — encoding intention into a personal symbol created by your own hand — as a starting point for building a business from the inside out.

This is episode 60. The bridge number. Something has been growing underground. Today it comes above the ground.

In this episode:

What the AI said about me after one week — and why it matters for anyone who has ever struggled to explain what they do in one sentence.

Why symbols activate a broader network in the brain than words do — and what that means for how you set intentions.

The Latvian ornamental tradition and why women have been encoding prosperity and protection into geometric symbols since the Iron Age.

What a sigil is, where the word comes from, and how to create one using NLP principles.

Tesla's numbers, vortex math, and one very interesting birth date.

Four in-person experiences I am designing around vision, numbers, colors, and voice — and the larger vision they are building toward.

A Midsummer night in North Carolina on June 20th into June 21st — and an invitation to be there.

Mentioned or referenced:

Tesla's 3, 6, and 9 — vortex math

If something in this episode made you feel seen:

Reach out directly or stay close via the newsletter — including what is coming this Midsummer.

🔗 shebecameceo.com/podcast-newsletter-subscription/ 

About She Became CEO

I am Ilze Berzina — Amen University Certified Brain Health Coach, business mentor, and guide for women navigating midlife transition. I come from a maternal lineage of Latvian women with intuitive gifts and bring thirty years of entrepreneurial experience to every conversation.

This episode brings together two themes that run through this podcast: health and money—and how closely they are connected, especially in the second half of life.

I sit down with Dr. Heather Skeens, a physician with a rare combination of expertise in ophthalmology and functional medicine, and the founder behind multiple ventures that aim to rethink how we approach health. In this conversation, we talk about what happens when the traditional healthcare system looks at the body in parts—and what becomes possible when someone chooses to see the whole person instead.

Dr. Skeens shares the personal turning point that changed how she practices medicine, and why she believes patients must become active participants in their own care. Her message is simple, but not easy: listen to your body first, ask questions, and do not stop until you understand the “why.” At the same time, she speaks directly to healthcare providers, reminding them that patients often reveal the answers—if someone is willing to listen carefully enough.

We also move into entrepreneurship. Dr. Skeens explains how she made the decision to leave a traditional practice model and build something of her own, even without formal business training. Her perspective on risk, independence, and purpose will resonate with anyone in midlife who is questioning whether it is too late—or too complicated—to start over.

If you are someone who feels that your energy, clarity, or health is not where it should be… if you have been told everything looks “normal,” but you know it is not… or if you are thinking about building something new but worry your body may not keep up—this conversation will give you a different way to look at both your health and your choices.

Dr. Skeens is the author of Unshackled: Why Medicine Is Failing Doctors (and Patients) —and How We Can Break Free, a book written for both patients and physicians, calling for a more human, connected, and root-cause approach to care. You can learn more about her work through her website (BellaSeeBeauty), her company Aligness, and her presence on platforms like YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

This is a conversation about responsibility, awareness, and possibility—at a stage of life where many people begin to realize that both health and financial freedom require more intentional choices.

Host: Ilze Be Berzina

https://ilzebe.com 

https://shebecameceo.com  

Guest: Heather Skeens, MD CFMP

Link to Heather Skeen's book "Unshackled: Why Medicine Is Failing Doctors (and Patients) —and How We Can Break Free" on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Unshackled-Medicine-Failing-Doctors-Patients/dp/1953183972/ 

Links to BellaSeeBeauty and Aligness, Heather Skeen's businesses mentioned in this episode:

https://bellaseebeauty.com/ 

https://alignessq.com/ 

Three Stories for Easter: A Boat, a Rope, and a Seed

Stories have a way of reaching us differently than direct advice.

In this episode, I share three simple stories—not to explain them, but to invite you to think.

Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of communication. It works through images, metaphors, and meaning that often speak directly to the subconscious. That is why the same story can feel different depending on when you hear it and what you are going through.

This episode is an opportunity to slow down and notice how stories influence the way we interpret situations, make decisions, and structure our thinking.

Without overanalyzing, you may begin to see:

If you are interested in communication, messaging, and the role of storytelling in personal and professional life, this episode offers a different way to learn—through metaphors that resonate with you.

Sometimes, the most effective way to learn is not through explanation, but through reflection.

Listen, and notice what stands out to you.

A simple birthday call turned into a conversation about politics—and a reminder of how quickly people form strong opinions about complex decisions.

In this episode, I reflect on that moment and take it further by working through a detailed and highly opinionated article by a Latvian journalist. I walk through her arguments, her historical references, and her perspective on Iran, global conflict, and recent geopolitical decisions.

You will hear about:

This is an episode about thinking, speaking, and staying grounded when the subject is emotionally charged.

If you’ve ever hesitated to express your thoughts because a topic felt too complex or too controversial, this episode will give you a different way to approach it.

If you want to express your ideas more clearly, handle difficult conversations with more confidence, and build stronger messaging in your personal or professional life, reach out to me.

If you’ve ever worked with people from different cultures, traveled abroad, or simply wondered why people behave so differently depending on where they are, this episode will likely stay with you.

In this conversation, I invited someone who knows me well—my partner, Scott—to share what he noticed when stepping into my world: Latvia, my background, and the way I see people, business, and culture.

We talk about what it actually feels like to move between countries—not as a tourist, but as someone trying to understand how people think, communicate, and work.

You’ll hear:

What changes when you work with international teams

Why the same behavior can mean something completely different in another culture

What surprised him most about Latvia, from daily life to deeper history

The difference between surface-level friendliness and real connection

Why Americans (and not only Americans) often misunderstand the rest of the world

How travel forces you to question your own assumptions

There’s also a more personal layer in this episode.

If you’ve followed me for a while, disappeared with me, and are now seeing me return, you’ll understand more about what my life looks like behind the scenes.

This is not a structured interview. It’s a real conversation.

And somewhere in it, there’s a message I think matters:

You can’t understand people—or business—without understanding context.

If you are starting a business and thinking about hiring help, this episode may save you time, money, and frustration.

Many early-stage entrepreneurs quickly discover that coming up with an idea is the easy part. The real challenge begins when you start building a team, outsourcing work, and figuring out how to turn your experience into a functioning business.

In this episode, Ilze shares three real stories from her own entrepreneurial journey that offer practical lessons for new and aspiring entrepreneurs.

You will learn:

Hiring tips for beginner entrepreneurs

how to recognize red flags when outsourcing work

why the cheapest service provider can become the most expensive mistake

how previous experience can become the foundation for a new business direction

why you don’t always need a perfect plan before taking action

Ilze also reflects on her experience building and managing a translation company in Latvia, training employees, and working with international teams. Those lessons now inform the work she is developing through ILZE BE LLC, where she supports professionals and organizations with documentation, writing, translation, proofreading, and administrative preparation.

This episode is especially relevant if you:

• are starting a business with limited resources

You will also hear Ilze’s perspective on passion projects, persistence, and building a business later in life — especially for women transitioning into a new phase after raising families.

If you are trying to turn your experience into something meaningful and sustainable, this episode will give you ideas to think about before making your next move.

For coaching or collaboration inquiries:

In this episode, I explore how storytelling can happen through stage art.

Using the performance of Latvian singer Atvara, whose song “Ēna” won Latvia’s national Eurovision selection contest Supernova, I look at how music, staging, and visual effects can communicate a powerful story—even when the audience does not understand the lyrics.

To test how effective that storytelling is, I also share reactions from several YouTubers who watched the performance without knowing Latvian and tried to interpret the visuals.

You can listen to this episode as audio, but if you enjoy the intersection of music, art, and technology, you may also want to watch the video version on my YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/@SheBecameCEO

In this episode, I sit down with Leah Ellis, mother of four and founder of The Society of Child Entrepreneurs (SoCE) — a nonprofit teaching children ages 6–17 real entrepreneurship through hands-on business experience.

Leah’s mission is rooted in something deeply personal. As a child, she was told to shrink. Today, she teaches kids to stand up — sometimes literally on chairs — and use their voices.

We talk about:

Why Leah rejects the phrase “children are the future”

How kids build real businesses (from 3D printing to book-recommendation services)

The mindset shift from profit to impact in a nonprofit model

How to test demand before launching a business

What kind of risk you should accept — and what kind you should limit

Why children don’t need protection from responsibility — they need support

How adults can mentor child entrepreneurs (even without kids at home)

As an Amen University-certified brain health coach, I was especially intrigued by the idea of directing open neural plasticity responsibly. When confidence is nurtured early, adults don’t have to spend decades rebuilding it.

Leah Ellis is a mother of four and the founder of The Society of Child Entrepreneurs (SoCE), a nonprofit dedicated to helping children ages 6–17 build confidence, leadership, and real-world business skills through hands-on learning.

Through business fairs, curriculum, and coaching, she helps children launch real ventures, learn financial literacy, and develop resilience through experience, not theory.

At the heart of her work is a simple belief:

Important note:

Programs currently operate in South Central Kansas

🔗 Website: SOCEICT.org

Ilze Be Berzina

SheBecameCEO.com