Anya Cheng didn’t build her career by waiting to feel ready. She built it by acting in moments when nothing felt certain.

After immigrating from Taiwan and graduating into the 2008 financial crisis, she couldn’t get a single interview. So she created her own access, waiting outside buildings in Chicago winters, knocking on doors, and cold-calling publishers until someone said yes. What looks like persistence was actually precision. She was using what she already knew how to do. As a former reporter, she knew how to approach strangers, ask questions, and follow leads, and she used those strengths to move forward.

That same pattern carried her through 15 years at Target, McDonald’s, eBay, and Meta, and eventually into founding Taelor, an AI-powered men’s clothing subscription service. But what stands out is not just how she kept going, it’s how her relationship to confidence evolved. Anya doesn’t see confidence as something you wait to feel. She built it through action, by trusting her own thinking before anyone else validated it. She shares what it looked like to lose opportunities when she stopped trusting herself, and what changed when she began to stand in her own point of view. She also speaks candidly about imposter syndrome, not as something that disappears, but something you learn to recognize and manage early.

This episode is about what it really means to earn your authority, through repeated moments of showing up, learning, and choosing to trust your voice when it matters most.

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Where to find Anya: 
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/anyacheng
Email: [email protected]

Connect with Kristiana: 
Website: https://www.worthytolead.co/ 
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kristianacorona 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worthytolead/ 
Substack: https://worthytolead.substack.com/

How do you stay grounded as a leader when everything around you is falling apart?

Craig Nishizaki has answered that question more than once. Early in his career, a manager told him he'd only keep him on to avoid a discrimination lawsuit. Later, he went seven months without a paycheck while his wife was pregnant. He was passed over for promotions. And at every single turning point, he made the same choice: face it, don't run from it.

Today, Craig is the co-owner of UpTop, a UX design agency that has partnered with Amazon, Microsoft, and SAP. 98% of their clients take him with them when they get promoted. And he leads with one of the rarest qualities in today's workplace: calm, intentional, trust-first leadership.

In this episode, Craig shares the experiences that shaped how he leads, why he believes we are in a trust recession, and how he has built a culture that people genuinely want to be part of.

Resources Mentioned:

Where to find Craig:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craignishizaki/
Website: https://uptopcorp.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@uptopcorp/videos

Connect with Kristiana:
Website: https://www.worthytolead.co/
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kristianacorona
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worthytolead/
Substack: https://worthytolead.substack.com/

What if you started looking at chaos as a transition to a new operating system?  Governments are shifting, layoffs are spreading, AI is rewriting entire industries, and somewhere in the middle of all of it, leaders are expected to show up steady while privately managing fear, uncertainty, and the quiet question of whether everything they've built is going to hold.

In this episode, I'm sharing four insights from the 2026 GROW Conference in Galveston, Texas, plus four concrete actions you can take this week to stop bracing for the rapids and start learning how to paddle through them.

We get into:

Featured voices from the conference:

Resources mentioned:

Connect with Kristiana:

Website: https://www.worthytolead.co/
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kristianacorona
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worthytolead/
Substack: https://worthytolead.substack.com/

You think things are fine. Your team seems okay. But your best people are quietly checking out, and the reason might be something you can't see about yourself.

In this episode, I break down what a leadership ceiling actually is, why the most dangerous blind spots are the ones you're most confident you don't have, and how to build a simple feedback system that tells you the truth before your team stops showing up.

We get into:

If you've ever had a top performer leave and wondered why, or if you suspect there's something going on with your team that nobody's saying out loud, this episode will show you exactly where to look.

🔗 Free leadership audit: https://www.worthytolead.co/audit

Connect with Kristiana:
Website: https://www.worthytolead.co/
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kristianacorona
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worthytolead/
Substack: https://worthytolead.substack.com/

You know you need to sell. Your business depends on it. But every time you think about reaching out to someone, you feel like you're about to do something sleazy.

In this conversation with Catherine Brown, we talk about why so many of us are carrying around baggage about sales, and what it actually takes to sell in a way that feels honest, useful, and like yourself.

In this episode, we get into:

If you've ever avoided following up with a lead because it felt gross, or if you're tired of feeling conflicted every time you have to sell your work, this episode will give you a completely different way to think about it.

📕How Good Humans Sell: https://www.howgoodhumanssell.com/about 

📩 Connect with Catherine Brown: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherineleebrown/ 

Connect with Kristiana: 

Website: https://www.worthytolead.co/  

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kristianacorona  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worthytolead/ 

Substack: https://worthytolead.substack.com/

You're smart. You're experienced. You're ambitious. So why does it feel like you can't find time to think strategically?

Most senior leaders aren't lacking intelligence or drive. They're lacking what I call “white space.” Their calendars are crammed, their days are fully stacked, and their strategic thinking is forced between the cracks of back-to-back meetings.

In this episode, I'm getting personal about my own struggle with white space and sharing what the science actually says about how our brains do complex thinking.

We get into:

If you've ever said "I wish I had more time to focus on strategy" or "I don't have time to innovate right now, I'm too busy," this episode will challenge how you think about productivity, leadership discipline, and what actually drives better decisions.

 Mentioned in this Episode:

Book a free call to explore coaching as a way to increase your strategic thinking: https://calendar.app.google/MaFvGfH7YHATZ1Nz6

📩 Connect with Kristiana:

Website: https://www.worthytolead.co/
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kristianacorona
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worthytolead/
Substack: https://worthytolead.substack.com/

You've done the work. You know what the answer should be. But when you walk into that meeting with senior leaders, everything falls apart. The conversation goes sideways, people argue about things that don't matter, and you leave without the decision you came for.

In this conversation with strategy consultant Marja Fox, we talk about what it actually takes to influence upward, facilitate difficult conversations, and get results when the stakes are high, and everyone disagrees.

In this episode, we get into:

If you've ever walked out of a meeting wondering why it didn't go the way you planned, or if you're tired of watching important decisions get derailed by politics and rabbit holes, this episode will give you a completely different playbook.

📩 Connect with Marja Fox:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marjafox/
Email Newsletter: https://izmkb-zngp.maillist-manage.com/ua/Optin?od=11287ecd287ef6&zx=135d19bbf&tD=1156ea13bb23b8b91&sD=1156ea13bb23c9143

Connect with Kristiana:
Website: https://www.worthytolead.co/
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kristianacorona
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worthytolead/
Substack: https://worthytolead.substack.com/

As the year comes to a close, Kristiana Corona is joined by Operations Manager and Coach Catalina Velez-Watson for an honest reflection on what it really took to build Worthy to Lead from the ground up.

In this end-of-year recap, they go behind the scenes of the past year—leaving corporate careers, navigating burnout and uncertainty, learning how to work together in real time, and the seamless collaboration that helped to build the business quickly.

This conversation isn’t about polished success. It’s about the messy middle. The experiments that worked, the ones that didn’t, and the lessons that shaped both the business and their leadership along the way.

In this episode, we explore:

If you’re in a season of transition, building something new, or rethinking how you lead, this episode offers perspective, reassurance, and a reminder that growth rarely follows a straight line.

Connect with Catalina Velez-Watson:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catalinavw/
Substack: https://substack.com/@cvwatson

Connect with Kristiana:
Website: https://www.worthytolead.co/
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kristianacorona
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worthytolead/

Leaders are doing everything they can to support their teams, but many don’t realize they might also be training their people to rely on them for every decision. That pattern has a name: learned helplessness. And once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

In this conversation with executive coach and host of The STaR Coach Show, Meg Rentschler, we talk about why so many well-intentioned leaders end up exhausted, overloaded, and stuck with teams that won’t move without their approval. Meg shares how her background as a psychotherapist opened her eyes to how unhealthy work dynamics form, and why leaders often contribute to the very problems they’re trying to solve.

We also unpack what happens when you start using a coaching mindset to bring out the ideas, confidence, and creativity in the people around you without giving up your standards or losing control of important decisions.

In this episode, we get into:

If you’ve ever felt like you can’t go on vacation without everything falling apart, or you’re tired of being the person who has to solve every problem, this episode will give you a calmer, more sustainable way to lead.

Links and Resources:
📕Get Meg’s free guide on Coaching vs. Managing: https://starcoaches.mykajabi.com/optin-coaching-vs-managing

Connect with Meg Rentschler:
www.starcoachshow.com
www.afocusonresults.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@starcoachshow
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megrentschler
FB: https://www.facebook.com/STaRCoachShow
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megrentschler/

Connect with Kristiana:
Website: https://www.worthytolead.co/
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kristianacorona
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worthytolead/

Leaders are being asked to “figure out AI” while juggling shrinking teams, constant change, and heavier expectations. Many are overwhelmed not because AI is too technical, but because they’re trying to navigate this shift without support.

In this episode, I sit down with Blessing Richardson, small business AI & tech strategist and founder of Sayla. Blessing has 15 years of experience building digital tools, leading engineering work, and helping non-technical founders use AI effectively. 

Blessing brings a clear, grounded perspective that helps leaders understand what AI can do, what it can’t, and how to start using it with confidence.

We discuss:
• The real reason AI feels overwhelming for leaders
• How to use AI to reduce friction, not replace your work
• What good data hygiene looks like and why it matters
• How to evaluate whether something is truly an AI problem
• How to build your AI skill set through small, safe experiments
• Why judgment and context remain a leader’s greatest strengths

If you’re ready to approach AI with more clarity and less pressure, this episode is for you.

Links and Resources:
Join the Core Leadership Lab: https://worthytolead.co/member

Connect with Blessing Richardson:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blessingri/
Sayla: https://sayla.co/g/worthytolead?utm_source=wtl202511

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Connect with Kristiana Corona:
Website: http://worthytolead.co
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kristianacorona
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worthytolead/