In this edition of Wisdom Moments, Sandra Boyd is joined by Kirsten Stanger, co-founder of TalentWise Collective, for an honest and practical conversation about career management and taking ownership of your professional journey.

They explore why so many people spend years managing their jobs but never their careers, the unique challenges women face around self-promotion and visibility, and why reflection, reputation, and networking are essential for long-term success.

This episode offers actionable insights for anyone navigating uncertainty, career transitions, or simply wanting to be more intentional about where their career is headed.

Listen to more conversations that support clarity, confidence, and career ownership on the Women on Wisdom podcast.
https://linktr.ee/womenonwisdom

In this edition of Wisdom Moments, Sandra Boyd examines the growing tendency to label people as narcissists in online discourse and everyday conversation. While narcissistic behaviour exists on a spectrum, true Narcissistic Personality Disorder affects only a small percentage of the population.

Sandra reflects on how casually applied labels oversimplify complex human behaviour, contribute to mental health stigma, and disproportionately harm women, especially female leaders, mothers, and women who are speaking up and setting boundaries.

This conversation is a call for greater awareness, responsibility, and care in how we talk about mental health, power, and behaviour.

Listen to more conversations that challenge assumptions and invite deeper wisdom on the Women on Wisdom Podcast:

https://linktr.ee/womenonwisdom

What happens when three senior women leaders leave corporate life and build a business from scratch?

Sandra Boyd, Patricia Polischuk, and Kirsten Stanger reflect on their first year as co-founders of TalentWise Collective, sharing the lessons no one talks about.

From burnout and self-doubt to healing professional relationships and finding new confidence, this conversation explores what it really means to start an entrepreneurial journey.

You’ll hear about:

• The courage it takes to step out of corporate security
• The hidden emotional toll of entrepreneurship
• Navigating grief, caregiving, and exhaustion while building a company
• Why trust and psychological safety matter more than titles
• The myth of “having it all figured out”
• When to let go, and when to lean into leadership
• Why it’s never too late to begin again

This episode is a reminder that entrepreneurship isn’t a straight line, it’s a deeply human journey. One built on resilience, reflection, and the decision to keep moving forward, even when the path isn’t clear.

Our guests this week:

Patricia Polischuk is the Co-Founder and COO of TalentWise Collective, a boutique firm that curates leadership development, coaching, and HR advisory solutions through a trusted network of experts. She leads the firm’s strategy, operations, and community of coaches, shaping high-impact programs for clients across sectors. Recognized for her leadership and community contributions, Patricia has received a Distinguished Governor’s Award from Wilfrid Laurier University and multiple nominations for community leadership and internal recognition awards. She is a trusted advisor and connector, known for her human-centred approach and commitment to helping people and organizations thrive.

Patricia's LinkedIn can be found here.

Kirsten Stanger is a seasoned people strategist and Co-Founder of TalentWise Collective, where she helps organizations and leaders unlock their full potential. With more than 25 years of experience spanning corporate and not-for-profit sectors, Kirsten’s career has focused on leadership development, culture transformation, change management, and career transition. Known for her genuine, empowering, and engaging approach, Kirsten brings curiosity, humour, and heart to every room she’s in. She designs and delivers programs that turn insights into real-world results—helping teams strengthen trust, collaboration, and performance. 

Kirsten's LinkedIn can be found here.

In this episode of Wisdom Moments, Sandra Boyd explores the growing influence of the manosphere and the online rhetoric shaping how many young men understand masculinity, power, and gender roles.

What often begins as content about confidence, success, or self-improvement can quietly shift into messaging that frames women as a problem and equality as a threat. Sandra reflects on why this trend matters for leaders, parents, educators, and organizations and why she believes this form of internet discourse represents an invisible war on women.

This conversation is about awareness, responsibility, and how we respond with clarity and care in a digital age.

Listen to more leadership and culture conversations on the Women on Wisdom podcast: ⁠https://linktr.ee/womenonwisdom

Delve into the tales of a true leader-adventurer! In this episode, Sandra welcomes Heather Arthur—a corporate executive, leadership coach, and adventure-driven leader. Together, they explore how extreme travel, presence, and reframing fear can transform how we lead, decide, and grow—at work and in life.

We talk about:

• Why fear and excitement feel the same in the body—and how to reframe them
• “Just breathe” and “one step at a time”: practical tools from shark dives and mountain treks
• Lessons from Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, Morocco, Bhutan—and bringing them into the boardroom
• Moving beyond the “numbers game”: sponsorship vs. mentorship to close the 124-year gender gap
• Imposter syndrome, visualized: invite her along—but keep your hands on the wheel
• Presence and gratitude as antidotes to anxiety and overdrive
• Saying yes to yourself: the mindset behind Heather’s Say Yes Movement podcast and leadership philosophy

Whether you’re scaling a career mountain or navigating daily uncertainty, this episode blends vivid stories with evidence-inspired practices to help you lead with courage, curiosity, and calm—one intentional breath and one bold step at a time.

Our guest this week:

Heather Arthur is a dynamic customer experience and sales industry expert with over two decades of experience. Currently, as the Vice President, Global Client Experience Centre at Scotiabank. Heather has been recognized as one of the Top 30 Contact Centre Leaders in CX to follow in 2025. An award-winning professional and certified Neuro-Linguistics Programing practitioner, Heather is also the host of the Say YES Movement podcast, motivating and inspiring individuals and organizations to reach their full potential.

Heather’s LinkedIn can be found here.

Get ready for a moving and fascinating conversation. Sandra is joined by guests Sue and Deb to open up about the invisible toll of caregiving—on families, careers, and women’s equality. With decades of experience as executives, coaches, and caregivers themselves, they share unfiltered stories of navigating long-term care, juggling executive roles, parenting, grief, and the relentless demands of being “the rock” at home and at work.

We talk about:

• Deb’s journey from corporate executive to caregiver, losing her husband and parents while raising kids—and how it reshaped her career and purpose
• Sue’s story of caring for her father through end-of-life, balancing a startup role, and transforming her experience into a platform of support for others
• The hidden costs of caregiving: burnout, depression, financial strain, and the unspoken career trade-offs women face
• Why flexibility at work is no longer a “perk” but a necessity for caregivers—and what leaders can do differently
• The three “buckets” of caregiving choices, and the regrets that linger when support isn’t there
• How humor, therapy, friendships, and community can be lifelines through the hardest seasons
• Why reframing caregiving as both a burden and a blessing is essential to shifting culture—and closing the gender gap

Raw, honest, and at times heartbreaking, this conversation shines a light on the realities 75% of caregivers—mostly women—face worldwide. It’s a call for workplaces, leaders, and society to rethink how we support those carrying the heaviest load.

Whether you’re a caregiver now, have been one in the past, or will be in the future, this episode will leave you seen, supported, and inspired to keep pushing for change.

Our guests this week:

Deborah Bakti worked as an executive in seniors’ care for 11 years, and during that time became a resident’s family member three times with her husband, mom, and dad. That life-changing experience led her to found her consulting and training company, THINK Breakthrough Inc, to support seniors’ care organizations in building stronger partnerships with families. Her signature methodology, The Relational Approach™, helps transform the emotionally complex transition into seniors’ care by shifting interactions between staff and families from transactional to relational, building trust, clarity, and connection from the very first day.

Deborah is the author of two books, with a third forthcoming, and hosts The Relational Approach™ podcast.Deborah’s LinkedIn can be found ⁠here⁠.

Susan Van Klink is the Founder and CEO of SVK & Associates, where she helps funded start-up founders transform capital into accelerated growth through her proprietary Revenue Flywheel™ model. This proven framework integrates go-to-market strategy, customer acquisition, retention, and expansion into a self-reinforcing loop that drives predictable, scalable results.

Before founding SVK & Associates, Susan spent over 20 years in executive leadership roles at high-growth HCM software companies, guiding organizations through rapid scale and transformation. After stepping away to care for her family — first supporting her father through his end-of-life journey and then fostering her niece’s newborn son — she returned to entrepreneurship with renewed purpose.

Now, Susan channels her deep experience and expertise into helping founders accelerate ARR, extend runway, and build enterprise-ready sales motions designed to deliver sustainable, exponential growth.

Susan’s LinkedIn can be found ⁠here⁠.