Spark Something New

Episode Snapshot:

What if “reality” isn’t reality… but a well-worn habit of thinking that once protected you and is now quietly running your life? In this episode, Amy Kemp helps us name those subconscious patterns so we can stop living on autopilot and start making millimeter-shifts toward a life we actually love.

Summary:

Dr. Katie and Amy unpack how ~80% of our thoughts happen below conscious awareness, meaning we’re often reacting from old mental grooves that were built for survival—not fulfillment. Amy explains that the brain creates automatic thought patterns to conserve energy and keep us safe, but those same patterns can become limiting once the season that required them has passed. A major theme: you’re not your thoughts but you are the one who can notice them.

Through vivid stories (like launching a book and instantly sliding from “this will be amazing” to “this is a disaster”), Amy shows how quickly the brain can jump into catastrophic thinking. The turning point isn’t “fixing yourself”—it’s building awareness + language so you can slow down in high-risk moments and choose a different response. The conversation also explores why change feels terrifying even when we want it: your subconscious may interpret slowing down, earning more, or setting boundaries as danger because it threatens old survival rules, identity, or belonging. The path forward is not a five-step hack—it’s compassionate, incremental rewiring.

Key Learnings:

• Most of your thinking is subconscious. You’re living the top of the iceberg, while deeper mental grooves shape your reactions, choices, and relationships.
• Survival patterns can outlive their usefulness. What helped you “get the plane off the ground” (hustle, over-functioning, hypervigilance) can become the very thing that crashes you later.
• Naming creates agency. When you can label what’s happening (“I’m catastrophizing,” “I’m in fight-or-flight,” “I’m attached to this idea”), you create a pause—and the pause is power.
• The Habit Finder is about risk, not personality. It highlights where you’re most likely to slide into old grooves—so you can slow down, bring support, and build new pathways.
• Millimeter shifts beat dramatic overhauls. Deep, lasting change happens incrementally—especially in a culture addicted to speed, convenience, and constant stimulation.

Resources:

• Amy's book: "I See You"
• The Habit Finder assessment (behavioral “risk” tool Amy uses and offers via her website)
• The “superhighway” metaphor for neuroplasticity (Katie references The Confidence Code)

Guest Info:

Amy Kemp is the owner and CEO of Amy Kemp, Inc., an author, and a coach who helps leaders and business professionals understand how subconscious habits of thinking shape performance, relationships, and fulfillment. Her work centers on building awareness of the mental “grooves” that once protected us but may now be limiting us. Using tools like the Habit Finder assessment, Amy helps clients identify thinking risks, slow down in pivotal moments, and create sustainable change through incremental practice. Her approach is deeply compassionate, practical, and grounded in how the brain is wired for survival.

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also get free resources to help you on your purpose journey at www.katiesandoe.com.

Episode Snapshot:

What if being “your own cheerleader” isn’t self-promotion… but self-respect in motion? In this episode, Dr. Katie chats with organizational psychologist, Neelu Kaur, who reframes self-advocacy as a generous act—one that helps you and leaves a trail for others to follow.

Summary:

In this conversation, Katie and Neelu explore the tension so many of us feel: we’re told to share our voice and value—yet we’re also conditioned not to “brag,” “show off,” or “rock the boat.” Neelu introduces a powerful reframe: move from a “look at me” mindset (which can feel hollow or icky) to a “listen to me” mindset rooted in contribution, clarity, and meaningful impact.

Neelu shares how repeated downsizing and being escorted out of a job became the catalyst for her own self-advocacy journey. Together, she and Katie unpack the cultural roots of self-silencing (collectivism vs. individualism, family conditioning, small-town and military norms, neurodivergence, introversion) and why “doing great work” is rarely enough in modern workplaces—especially large, matrixed organizations.

The conversation gets practical: Neelu offers micro-practices to build the self-advocacy muscle in low-stakes situations (think: dinner plans, choosing the restaurant, speaking up in a line at CVS), and a “dial” approach to communication—adjusting the “I” and “we” depending on context without betraying your authenticity. The episode closes with a reminder that self-advocacy isn’t just about career advancement—it’s a life skill that can help you set boundaries, leave unhealthy dynamics, and claim space in any room you enter.

Key Learnings:

• Reframe the goal: self-advocacy doesn’t have to be “look at me”—it can be “listen to me,” grounded in value and service.
• It’s cultural, not just personal: our comfort with self-promotion is shaped by upbringing, microculture, collectivist norms, personality, and identity.
• Use the “dial” method: turn up I (performance reviews, promotions, wins) and turn up we (team settings)—without losing who you are.
• Build the muscle with micro-moments: practice in low-stakes spaces so you can show up in high-stakes ones.
• Self-advocacy is generous: when you advocate for yourself, you model what’s possible and create a path for others—especially those who’ve been socialized to stay small.

Resources:

• Neelu Kaur — Be Your Own Cheerleader (book)
• Explore Neelu's work: https://www.neelukaur.com/
• Concepts discussed: collectivism vs. individualism, microaggressions, representation, internal branding, relationship-building in matrixed organizations
• Katie’s practical tool from the episode: ask others, “What are you working on that you’re excited about?” then share your own answer naturally.

Guest Info:

Neelu Kaur is an organizational psychologist, keynote speaker, coach, and author of Be Your Own Cheerleader. She champions self-advocacy—especially for those who have been conditioned by culture, identity, or workplace dynamics to stay quiet and “let their work speak for itself.” Through her work, Neelu helps people build confident, authentic communication skills that elevate their voice, visibility, and impact. Her approach blends psychology, leadership development, and practical tools that make self-advocacy feel doable—not performative.

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also get free resources to help you on your purpose journey at www.katiesandoe.com.

Episode Snapshot:

It’s the first Monday of 2026—aka “new year, new health goals” season—and this episode offers a refreshingly different way to take control of your wellbeing: track what’s happening inside your body, not what’s showing up on the scale. Dr. Torkil Færø breaks down important metrics from everyday wearables that can become your personal health dashboard for energy, resilience, and longevity. 

Summary:

In this conversation, Dr. Katie nerds out (in the best way) with Dr. Torkil Færø—medical doctor, photographer, and bestselling author of The Pulse Cure—about how wearable data can help you “listen” to your body with more clarity than guesswork alone. Torkil explains why metrics like heart rate variability (HRV) and resting heart rate can signal stress, inflammation, overtraining, late meals, alcohol, or even an oncoming illness before symptoms appear—essentially giving you early warning signs so you can respond sooner.

Rather than chasing trendy fixes, Torkil reframes the goal as health normalization: getting your body back to how it’s designed to function. He emphasizes that the biggest levers are still the basics—sleep, movement, sunlight, nutrition, stress management, and connection—yet most people underestimate how powerfully these choices show up in their data. The episode ultimately lands on an empowering message: your wearable can help you reclaim agency, reduce chronic “blah,” and build a lifestyle that supports long-term vitality and longevity.

Key Learnings:

• Your body often “knows” before you do. HRV dropping and resting heart rate rising can be early indicators of illness, inflammation, or overload—sometimes before you feel symptoms.
• VO₂ max is a longevity signal. Improving fitness capacity isn’t just about performance—it’s strongly tied to overall health and long-term outcomes (and it reflects how well your cells, especially mitochondria, are functioning).
• Food, alcohol, and timing can be major stressors. Ultra-processed foods, added sugar, alcohol, and late-night eating can show up clearly in your recovery and sleep—sometimes more than your “mental stress” does.
• Data builds body awareness—not replaces it. Wearables act like a missing “internal sense,” helping you connect patterns (sleep, meals, cycle timing, training load) to how you feel and function.

Resources:

• The Pulse Cure — Dr. Torkil Færø (also available as an audiobook)
• Wearables mentioned: Garmin (recommended as best value), Oura Ring, WHOOP, Apple Watch (usable, varies by features)
• Key metrics to explore: HRV, resting heart rate, VO₂ max, sleep score/recovery, stress tracking

Guest Info:

Dr. Torkil Færø is a medical doctor, photographer, and bestselling author known for making health data practical and accessible. After working with tens of thousands of patients, he became passionate about prevention—and about helping people use everyday wearable metrics to better understand stress, recovery, sleep, and overall resilience. His book The Pulse Cure shares lifestyle-based strategies to “normalize” health by using the heart’s signals as a real-time guide. He’s also built a global following by translating complex physiology into simple, actionable steps people can use immediately.

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also get free resources to help you on your purpose journey at www.katiesandoe.com.

We talk a lot about the roles we hold—parent, partner, leader, creator—but how often do we ask if those roles actually feel fulfilling? 

In this powerful conversation, Dr. Katie chats with Professor Daiki Kato, who coined the term rolefulness: a practical, human way to experience meaning and harmony in everyday life by nurturing both our “big” roles and the small, easily overlooked ones. 

Katie and Professor Kato explore why modern life pulls us toward checklists and away from connection—and how simple, intentional practices can restore joy, identity, and purpose.

What You'll Learn:

• Two sides of rolefulness: (1) Social rolefulness (feeling useful, needed, connected with familiar people—even two people make a “society”); and (2) Internal rolefulness (how those experiences internalize into confidence, identity, and self-trust).
• Why we feel role distress: over-investing in a few “big” roles while ignoring smaller, nourishing ones; living by facts and to-dos while neglecting feelings and connection.
• Balance beats perfection: shifting from “I have to be a perfect ___” to “I can be myself in this role.”
• Micro-practices that work: express gratitude often, enjoy short real conversations, exchange simple greetings, and intentionally notice the small roles that light you up.
• Identity connection: how social rolefulness becomes internal rolefulness—turning moments of contribution into confidence and a more grounded sense of self.

About Professor Kato:
Daiki Kato is a clinical psychologist and professor at Kinjo Gakuin University in Japan. His research and practice bridge art therapy and everyday well-being. He coined the concept of rolefulness and studies how cultivating small, interpersonal roles can strengthen mental health, confidence, and purpose.

Links & Resources:

• Connect with Professor Kato on LinkedIn
• Explore more about Rolefulness

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also get free resources to help you on your purpose journey at www.katiesandoe.com.

In this conversation, Dr. Katie sits down with Marina Ivanov, co-founder and CEO of Apex Transit Solutions, a transportation and logistics company. They explore what it really means to lead as yourself—especially when the room, the industry, and the playbook weren’t designed with you in mind.

They talk about the inner work it takes to step into your own power, how to find purpose in an industry that doesn’t look “sexy” from the outside, and what it really means to be the only (or first) woman in the room—and refuse to shrink.  

What You'll Learn:

• Why “I just help…” is a red flag
  How and why so many women instinctively downplay their leadership—and what shifts when you finally name what you actually do.
• How empathy becomes a leadership superpower
  Why Marina stopped hiding her deep care and emotion and how showing it has made her a stronger, not weaker, leader.
• Moving from hustle to alignment
  The belief Marina let go of about hard work—and what she’s replaced it with instead (hint: relationships, systems, and the right “who,” not just more “doing”).
• Being the only woman in the room
  Practical ways to walk into spaces with grounded confidence, prepare yourself energetically, and remember it’s not about proving your worth—it’s about shifting what’s possible for the women who come after you.
• Reframing power
  How to move from power-over and scarcity to a more expansive, shared model of power rooted in agency, impact, and collective rise.
• Why allies matter
  The role supportive men and colleagues have played in Marina’s journey—and how we can all champion women leaders in more intentional ways.

About Marina:

Marina Ivanov is the co-founder and CEO of Apex Transit Solutions, a transportation and logistics company she helped build from a single truck into a thriving business that supports dozens of families. A first-generation woman leader in a traditionally male-dominated industry, Marina advocates for drivers and small carriers at both the state and national level, serves on multiple advisory boards, and is passionate about creating workplaces where people feel valued, seen, and safe to be themselves. She is a powerful example of what happens when a woman stops playing small, owns her leadership, and chooses to lead with both strength and heart.

Links & Resources:

• Connect with Marina on LinkedIn
• Explore Apex Transit Solutions

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also get free resources to help you on your purpose journey at www.katiesandoe.com.

We live in a culture that worships busy, celebrates burnout, and treats worthiness like something you earn through overwork. In this beautiful, soulful conversation, Dr. Katie and Fabi Preslar gently challenge that narrative.

Fabi is the founder and president of SPARK Publications and the author of Wilted and Worthy: Essays on Holding On, Letting Go, and Living Fully. She shares how a cancer diagnosis, a healing sabbatical, and a camera turned toward wilting flowers completely shifted her relationship with control, achievement, and what it means to live a meaningful life.

Katie and Fabi talk about why so many of us cling to productivity, how to recognize when we’re forcing a dream that no longer fits, and what it looks like to honor our “wilted” seasons as just as worthy as our perky, high-achieving ones. 

This episode is an invitation to soften your grip, listen to your own heart, and move into your next season with more courage, clarity, and compassion—for yourself and your story.

What You'll Learn:

• A new way to think about “living fully” that centers authenticity, courage, and creative self-expression (not constant doing)
• How to notice when you’re forcing a dream, identity, or path—and a simple question Fabi uses to discern whether it’s time to rest or to release
• The emotional cost of hustle culture and what happens when you stop chasing scale, status, and other people’s definitions of success
• Why contentment is not complacency, and how gratitude for this moment can coexist with desire for what’s next

About Fabi Preslar:

Fabi Preslar is the founder and president of SPARK Publications, an award-winning publishing firm that helps thought leaders and business owners turn their expertise into high-impact books and magazines. She is the author of Wilted and Worthy: Essays on Holding On, Letting Go, and Living Fully, a lyrical collection of essays and images that invites readers to honor every season of their becoming.

Proceeds from Wilted and Worthy support Radiant Chapters Collective, the nonprofit Fabi founded to help underrepresented authors get published and share their stories with the world. Across all of her work, Fabi is devoted to helping people embrace their authenticity, find rest in stillness, and transform their stories into legacies of healing and empowerment.

Links & Resources:

• Connect with Fabi on LinkedIn
• Connect with Fabi on Instagram
• Purchase Fabi's book: Wilted and Worthy
• Explore SPARK Publications

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also get free resources to help you on your purpose journey at www.katiesandoe.com.

What does it really look like to surrender to the life you’re actually living—mess, mortification, miracles and all? In this raw, funny, and deeply human conversation, TEDx speaker-in-training and entrepreneur Cindy Ruzicka shares her story of “Welcome to the Sh!t Show.” It’s a journey from secrecy and shame to nervous-system healing, cold-water courage, and a new definition of strength: not the tidy “I’ve got it all together,” but the grounded “I can be with what is.”

What You'll Learn:

• How surrender becomes strength. When life blows up your illusion of control, what happens next?
• Why “having your sh!t together” is a cultural performance—and how dropping the act sets you free.
• Cold Water Courage. How breathwork and cold exposure helped Cindy regulate her nervous system, quiet shame, and rebuild trust in her body.
• The difference between “dirty pain” and “clean pain.” And why the second kind is where healing actually happens.
• How to transform humiliation into something sacred. A practical reframing for anyone moving through their own private sh!t show.
• A simple, powerful tool you can use today: one intentional breath that interrupts panic and brings you back home to yourself.

If you’re in the thick of your own sh!t show, this episode is your reminder that you’re not alone—and that the thing you’re hiding might hold the very wisdom you need next.

About Cindy Ruzicka:
Cindy Ruzicka is an entrepreneur, designer, speaker, and in-home wellness expert whose work now centers on nervous system healing, authenticity, and what she calls Cold Water Courage. After navigating a life-altering health crisis marked by shame, isolation, and ultimately profound transformation, Cindy has become a powerful voice for surrender, embodiment, and the kind of truth-telling that sets people free. She and her husband Dion are passionate advocates of breathwork, sauna, and cold immersion practices, and together they help others reconnect with their bodies, reclaim their courage, and find peace in the midst of the messy, beautiful human journey.

Links & Resources:

• Connect with Cindy on LinkedIn
• Explore Cindy's business: https://www.loylysaunalounge.com/

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also get free resources to help you on your purpose journey at www.katiesandoe.com.

In this conversation, Dr. Katie sits down with longtime friend and purpose-driven leader Dan Sahd, third-generation co-owner of Sahd Metal Recycling. Scrap metal isn’t an industry people typically associate with deep meaning and inspiration, but that’s exactly why Dan is on the show. His story proves that you don’t need a glamorous job or a “noble” profession to live—and lead—with deep purpose.

Dan shares how he moved through several careers before realizing he could build a meaningful, integrated life right where he was: in a family scrapyard asking people to torch metal in 5° or 95° weather. Today, he’s transforming his company and his community through intentional leadership, a humility-first mindset, and a belief that business can—and should—be a force for good.

This episode is an invitation to rethink the 90,000 hours most of us spend at work and to see that purpose isn’t “out there” somewhere… it’s something we create, on purpose, exactly where we stand.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why you don’t need to change industries to do meaningful work—and how to start living with purpose today.
• How Dan’s “humility agenda” is reshaping a traditionally fixed-mindset, blue-collar industry.
• The surprising ROI of pouring into people and community, even when it doesn’t show up neatly on a spreadsheet.
• Three powerful questions to ask in a job interview to quickly understand whether a leader will invest in your growth.
• How to integrate (not silo) your life, work, purpose, and values into one cohesive whole.
• Why Gen Z stays loyal to leaders who work with them, not above them—and what that means for the future of leadership.

About Dan Sahd:

Dan Sahd is a third-generation leader of Sahd Metal Recycling, a family-owned industrial metal recycling business in Columbia, Pennsylvania. After spending years in media sales and research, Dan returned home to the business and now leads operations alongside his cousin Mike. He is committed to purpose-driven leadership: empowering team members, investing in community sustainability, and building business with integrity. Under his guidance, the company prioritizes education, innovation, and both people-and planet-focused values. 

Links & Resources:

• Dan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-sahd-8b27a127/
• Website: https://recycleyourmetal.com/

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also get free resources to help you on your purpose journey at www.katiesandoe.com.

Sometimes we don’t even realize we’re stuck — we just call it busy, fine, or being responsible. But what if that overwhelm is actually pointing to something deeper?

In this week’s conversation, Kristy Kuhl — high-performance coach, keynote speaker, and energy catalyst for entrepreneurs and executives — joins Dr. Katie to unpack what “stuck” really means. She helps us see that "stuckness' is a signal of misalignment between who we are and how we’re showing up.

Kristy and Katie talk about the three ways people get stuck (not knowing the next step, reacting to fear, or feeling trapped by the life they’ve built), the sneaky role of what will people think, and the “rise reflex” that pulls us back to our comfort zone just as we start to rise. Kristy shares practical steps to recalibrate, build momentum, and get back into motion — without waiting for perfect clarity.

If you’ve ever felt like you’ve outgrown your current chapter but aren’t sure what comes next, this episode will remind you that you’re not broken — you’re becoming.

What You'll Learn:
⚡ The hidden wisdom inside your “stuck” seasons
⚡Why fear of judgment quietly runs the show
⚡How to spot your rise reflex before it pulls you backward
⚡A simple shift to turn overthinking into forward motion

About Kristy Kuhl:

Kristy is a high-performance coach, keynote speaker, and podcast host who helps leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives unleash their clarity, confidence, and full potential. After a 15-year career leading multimillion-dollar sales teams in the medical device industry, Kristy walked away from corporate success to live and lead in full alignment with her authentic self.

Today, she’s known as an energy catalyst — empowering others to break free from fear, redefine success on their own terms, and step boldly into what’s next. Kristy’s work combines real-world strategy with deep emotional intelligence, helping people bridge the gap between who they’ve been and who they’re becoming.

Links & Resources:

• Website: www.kristykuhl.com
• Coaching + Speaking: www.unleashwithkristy.com
• Instagram: @kristy_kuhl

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also get free resources to help you on your purpose journey at www.katiesandoe.com.

In a world pulsing with chaos, division, and the everyday hard stuff of being human, this conversation with author and entrepreneur Tamara Hill is a gentle and gutsy invitation to face what hurts—and grow because of it. 

On this episode, Dr. Katie and Tamara explore how to talk about the hard things, how sharing our stories creates connection, and why courage (not perfection) is the bridge to resilience.

Tamara opens up about losing people she loves, navigating divorce and health challenges, and choosing to keep walking—sometimes stumbling—through the doors that life opens. We talk about the power of asking for what you need, the difference between pain and suffering, and practical ways to move toward peace and clarity when life feels heavy. If you’ve been carrying something quietly, this episode will help you name it, befriend it, and take a next brave step.

• Why poetry (and other non-linear forms of self-expression) can make it safer to tell the truth about your life
• The difference between pain (inevitable) and suffering (optional)
• How sharing your story reduces isolation—for you and everyone listening
• Boundary-setting as healing (and what it looks like in real life)
• Practical practices to re-center: body, spirit, community, nature
• How to “walk through the door” even when you might trip on the threshold

Tamara is an author, speaker, entrepreneur, and self-described global citizen who splits her time between Italy and the U.S. She’s also a devoted mom (and dog mom). Her new book, The Threads of Becoming: A Memoir in Poems, invites readers to process life’s hardest moments through poems that meet you where you are—honest, vulnerable, and fiercely hopeful.

• Connect with Tamara Hill on LinkedIn
• Buy Tamara's Book — The Threads of Becoming: A Memoir in Poems
• Explore Tamara's website: TheHillHouseGroup.com

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also get free resources to help you on your purpose journey at www.katiesandoe.com.