Ellen Lubensky is a Stanford-educated attorney who practiced Social Security Disability and medical malpractice law. She spent 20 years physically disabled by tardive dystonia caused by psychiatric medications. The very medications meant to help her caused the harm.

That's not a story. That's a betrayal.

Today, Ellen speaks publicly about psychiatric medication harm, withdrawal, and the legal and ethical issues surrounding informed consent.

In this episode of The Honest Mic, Ellen talks about what true informed consent looks like, what it felt like to realize the medications were causing the harm, and what she'd say to someone still inside the system.

If you've ever trusted a system that let you down, this conversation is for you.

Guest Links

LinkedIn: Ellen Lubensky

Website: https://ellenlubensky.com/

Charity: https://www.thementalhealthchoiceproject.org/

What holds us back in the workplace is rarely our ability to do the work itself. It's the fears, doubts, and insecurities we bring to our interactions with others. The worry that someone will discover you're not as capable as they think you are. The anxiety that you have nothing valuable to contribute. The fear of asking for help because it might expose you as unqualified.

Kim Meninger is a leadership coach, consultant, and TEDx speaker on a mission to make it easier to be human at work. After spending more than a decade in the high-tech industry, she understands the pressures many professionals face. Having experienced impostor syndrome herself, she knows how quietly it can shape careers and confidence.

In this episode of The Honest Mic, Kim explains what impostor syndrome really is, why so many professionals struggle with self-doubt, how to advocate for yourself without feeling like you're bragging, and how to grow your influence within your organization.

If you've ever questioned your abilities, stayed quiet when you had something to say, or wondered whether you truly belong, this conversation is for you.

Connect with Kim:

• Free Resource: KimMeninger.com/challenge (7-Day Impostor Syndrome Challenge)

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/KimMeninger

Tijana Tucic was born in Yugoslavia in 1977. Before she ever discovered healing, she endured sexual abuse, civil war, bombings, poverty, and years of life without basic comforts. She grew up in a house made of hay and mud without electricity, lived without a bathroom for 37 years, and married at 21 to escape an abusive father, only to find herself in another difficult situation. By the time she became a single mother, she was physically and emotionally exhausted, weighing just 38 kilograms and struggling with depression.

And then she began to rewire her brain.

While working three factory shifts and raising her son, Tijana completed her university degree. She built a house, paid off her debt, became a Lean Manager in the corporate world, and is now writing her autobiography while helping other trauma survivors transform their pain into abundance through her transformational writing programs.

In this episode of The Honest Mic, Tijana talks about what it really takes to rewire your brain, how to transform pain into purpose, and how healing can become the foundation for a completely different life.

If you've ever felt like your circumstances are too heavy to overcome, this conversation is for you.

Connect with Tijana:

• Website: Set-Priorities.com

• Programs: 6-week Transformational Writing Program, Higher Purpose Retreat

• Book: Autobiography (upcoming)

JonRobert Tartaglione has spent more than a decade pursuing one question: What moves people? Not in a manipulative way. Not in a sales pitch. But genuinely. What makes people think differently, behave differently, and choose differently?

JonRobert is a psychologist and behavioral scientist, as well as the Founder and CEO of Influence 51. He is an expert on influence, persuasion, and strategic communication. He holds two Master's degrees from the University of Chicago and University College London, along with a PhD in Psychology from the University of Cambridge. His work has supported Fortune 500 companies, leading law firms, financial institutions, nonprofits, and political campaigns.

In this episode of The Honest Mic, JonRobert explains the Five Principles of Influence, why the human brain isn't a computer, the three biggest mistakes people make when trying to change minds, and what actually drives human decision-making.

Whether you're leading a team, communicating an idea, or trying to influence change, this conversation will transform the way you think about persuasion.

Connect with JonRobert:

• Website: Influence51.com

• Free Resources: Newsletter, leadership guides, and influence assessments

Jenna Udenberg was diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis at just seven years old. By age eight, she was using a manual wheelchair. What followed wasn't a story defined by limitation, but one shaped by resilience, advocacy, and the people who chose to see possibility instead of barriers.

Jenna is the founder of Above & Beyond With U, a nonprofit dedicated to creating more inclusive and accessible communities. She's also a former music educator of 19 years, a 2020 Bush Fellow, and the author of Within My Spokes, a memoir that explores perseverance, healing, and discovering purpose through life's challenges.

In this episode of The Honest Mic, Jenna explains why disability is not a bad word, why simply meeting ADA requirements isn't the same as creating genuine inclusion, what the world looks like from her perspective, and how all of us can help build communities where everyone belongs.

If you've ever wondered what true inclusion looks like, this conversation is for you.

Connect with Jenna:

• Website: AboveAndBeyondWithU.org

• Book: Within My Spokes

• Column: Local View from 4 Foot 2

For two decades, Suneet Bhatt looked like a success. He helped organizations fight back from the brink, raise millions, survive acquisitions and spinoffs, even natural disasters and cyberattacks. And every 18 to 24 months, right after the win, he'd feel bored and empty. He'd start self-sabotaging. Resign, quit, or get fired. Then go chase the next honeymoon.

He told himself it was the job. Eventually, he realized it was him.

In this episode of The Honest Mic, Suneet — executive coach, EOS Implementer, and author of Making Sense of Purpose — talks about the two-decade cycle of winning and walking away, why chasing purpose directly tends to backfire, the 67-year-old entrepreneur whose question changed everything, and the sailboat that replaces Maslow's pyramid.

If you've ever achieved something big and felt empty after, this conversation is for you.

Guest Links

Book Pre-Order: MakingSenseOfPurpose.com/pre-order

Book Release: August 25, 2026 (Morgan James Publishing)

Two divorces. Two bankruptcies. Failed businesses. Near death. Two bouts of cancer. That's not a highlight reel. That's a life that kept breaking. And Sue Paulson kept getting back up.

Sue is a best-selling author of two books, Magnificent Misery and The Healing Call of Cancer. She's a Magnificence Mentor who helps others awaken to and embrace their own magnificence. But she didn't get there by taking the easy path. She got there by going through the fire and refusing to stay down.

In this episode of The Honest Mic, Sue talks about what actually got her through the bankruptcies, what she learned from the businesses that failed that no success could ever teach, what the near death experience showed her that she couldn't see before, and what it really means to awaken to magnificence.

If you're going through your own fire right now, this conversation is for you.

Guest Links

Website: suePaulson.com

YouTube: @suepaulson (229+ videos on magnificence and personal growth)

When Nancy Dunham was a kid, she wanted to be anyone but herself. She spent years interviewing musicians to get at 'the truth' while avoiding her own. And then life forced her to stop running.

Nancy is a writer, an interviewer, and the author of Bonus Tracks. She's interviewed hundreds of musicians and artists and collected their wisdom. But the real story is what happened when she finally turned the microphone on herself. She's a widow who watched her healthy husband die suddenly. She spent years of her childhood in hospitals with a critically ill parent. She survived a half-sister who nearly drove her to psychosis. And she found a way to face all of it and turn it into something useful.

In this episode of The Honest Mic, Nancy talks about what it felt like to want to be anyone but herself, the moment she realized she couldn't keep running, the loss that broke her open, and what she learned from musicians that she couldn't have heard before she did her own hard work.

If you've ever felt like you're running from yourself, this conversation is for you.

Guest Links

Substack: BonusTracksByNancy.Substack.com

Book: Bonus Tracks

Most organizations talk about diversity and inclusion the way they talk about the weather — a lot of concern, very little action. They hire a consultant, check a box, and move on. Real cultural change takes something different. It takes someone who can actually bridge the gap between intention and impact.

Mathias Lemos Castillo is a cultural bridge builder and community engagement consultant. Born and raised in Uruguay, he moved to the United States and built a career helping organizations develop comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that actually drive meaningful change.

In this episode of The Honest Mic, Mathias talks about the most common mistake companies make when they decide to become more inclusive, how to measure success in DEI work, what cultural competency actually looks like in practice, and the moment he realized this work needed to be his full focus.

If you've ever wondered whether your organization is actually inclusive or just performing inclusion, this conversation is for you.

Guest Links

LinkedIn: Mathias Lemos Castillo

Website: https://consultantmlc.com/

Six words changed everything for Luke Mickelson. 'No kid sleeps on the floor in our town.'

In 2012, Luke was a farm kid from Kimberly, Idaho. He had a successful career in business. But something was missing. So he took one simple act of kindness — building a bed for a child who didn't have one — and turned it into a global movement.

Today, Sleep in Heavenly Peace has over 400 chapters across 47 U.S. states and 4 countries. They've delivered over 350,000 beds to children in need.

In this episode of The Honest Mic, Luke talks about the journey from a small garage to a global movement, what it actually takes to start a nonprofit, the moment he almost quit, and what to do when you feel the pull to serve but don't know where to start.

If you've ever felt like something is missing, this conversation is for you.

Guest Links

Website: SHPbeds.org

Nonprofit: Sleep in Heavenly Peace