At 44, everything changed.

In this episode, we sit down with a leader who experienced a stroke at the height of their career. What looked like success on the outside was hiding years of pressure, stress, and burnout.

This is a conversation about what leadership really costs and what happens when your body forces you to stop.

We talk about:

• The reality of stress in leadership
• Burnout and the warning signs most people ignore
• Life after a stroke and the recovery journey
• Redefining success after a health crisis

This episode is for anyone carrying more than they show.

If you're a founder, executive, manager, or ambitious professional, this is a conversation you need to hear.

In this roundtable conversation from the You Gotta NO! live event, we brought leaders together to talk about what doesn’t usually get said on stage:

What leadership actually feels like.

• Not the highlight reel
• Not the LinkedIn version
• Not the performance metrics

But the weight, expectations ,pressure to hold culture together.
The invisible emotional labor, The constant demand to say yes — even when capacity is low.

This conversation sets the tone for Season 2 and for the rebrand of You Gotta NO! as a full leadership ecosystem.

Because before leaders can grow, connect, or build better companies — they have to understand what they’re carrying.

And what needs to change.

This season marks a rebrand, not because the mission changed, but because it became clearer.

You Gotta NO! is no longer just a podcast.
It’s a leadership ecosystem built around one core idea:

Sustainable leadership requires knowing what to say no to.

Season 2 reflects that shift.

We’re expanding beyond conversations and into a deeper framework, one that connects the Podcast, the Next Level Series, and the YGN Workplace Summit under a single belief system.

Why the rebrand?

Because too many leaders are burning out trying to say yes to everything.

• Yes to growth
• Yes to performance
• Yes to expectations
• Yes to pressure

But no one is teaching them how to protect clarity, capacity, and culture in the process.

Season 2 is about sharper conversations and more intentional leadership. And building organizations that don’t collapse under success.

Welcome to You Gotta NO!

Heliona Live RSVP: Heliona.eventbrite.com

Leadership isn’t just about filling roles, it’s about developing people. In this episode of Heliona Insight, I sit down with Paul Kempinski, former President & CEO of Children’s Mercy and now Founder and President of Kempinski Consulting, LLC.

Paul shares the lessons he learned about building executive teams, why developing both current and emerging leaders is essential, and how investing in people creates lasting organizational resilience.

Through Kempinski Consulting, Paul is paying forward his 42 years of leadership experience by providing personalized executive coaching, governance and advisory services, and public speaking engagements for meetings and conferences. Learn more about Paul and Kempinski Consulting.

RSVP Today for Heliona Live: ⁠Workplace Unfiltered: A Heliona Experience

Retention isn’t just about paychecks or perks—it’s about creating cultures where people feel supported, inspired, and connected to purpose.

In this episode of Heliona Insight, I sit down with Tarnu Mulbah, founder of Dwell Real Estate, seasoned sales leader, and passionate advocate for “making purpose popular.” With over 14 years of experience driving growth, mentoring teams, and navigating high-pressure industries, Tarnu has seen firsthand how retention and mental health directly impact performance.

We unpack what leaders often get wrong about keeping talent, why mental health can no longer be sidelined, and how connecting people to purpose transforms both individuals and organizations. If you’re looking for actionable insight on building teams that last, this conversation is for you.

RSVP Today for Heliona Live: ⁠Workplace Unfiltered: A Heliona Experience

In this candid conversation, entrepreneur and operator Chris Jones breaks down the real work of scaling: set a clear vision, communicate it relentlessly, and build capacity at every step.

We dig into the “stair‑step” model of growth, hiring and letting go in fast-moving seasons, and why retention depends less on perks and more on three disciplines: clarity, communication, and capacity.

Chris also talks openly about burnout and boundaries—how to lead when life expands, and how to design systems that support your most human moments, not just your star performers.

If you’re growing a team, leading through change, or trying to keep momentum without losing people, this one’s a blueprint.

Connect with Chris Jones:

Linkedin

Website

RSVP Today for Heliona Live: Workplace Unfiltered: A Heliona Experience

Scott Havens, Partner at HUB International, brings a unique vantage point from decades of working with companies of 100+ employees on their healthcare benefits, technology integration, and executive strategy.

As someone who runs nine executive peer groups, sits on multiple boards, and works directly with CEOs, CFOs, and HR leaders, Scott has seen firsthand what drives retention and what erodes it.

In this conversation, we go beyond benefits to talk about the role of executive alignment, the importance of peer-to-peer learning, and how intentional leadership decisions ripple through an organization’s culture and performance.

Scott’s perspective blends business acumen with candid insight from years inside the executive circle.

If you’re a leader looking to strengthen retention, improve culture, and make better strategic decisions, this episode is packed with real-world takeaways.

What if the real cause of quiet quitting isn’t disengaged employees but disconnected leadership?

In this episode of Heliona Insight, I sit down with Dr. Leigh Anne Taylor Knight, a respected executive leader, education advocate, and culture strategist, to unpack the ripple effects of leadership behavior on workplace culture.

We explore how employee disengagement often mirrors the clarity, care, and consistency (or lack thereof) modeled by leadership and why culture is too important to be left to HR alone.

With a background bridging education, nonprofit leadership, and executive strategy, Dr. Taylor Knight brings both research and real-world wisdom to this conversation.

If you’re responsible for leading people, setting tone, or shaping vision, this episode will challenge you to see culture not as a perk but a practice. One that starts with how leaders show up.

Resources mentioned:

• Check out The DeBruce Foundation's free career resources: 
• Agile Work Profiler
• Career Explorer Tools
• Draw Your Future with Agilities
• ...and more at Agilities.org
• Read The DeBruce Foundation's annual research on what it takes to build careers with higher wages, less risk of unemployment, better benefits, more autonomy over work conditions, and the ability to build savings. 
• Learn more about Dr. Leigh Anne Taylor Knight
• Learn more about The DeBruce Foundation

In this episode of Heliona Insight, I sit down with Amber Miller Manning, CEO of The Miller Group, to talk about what it really takes to retain great people in one of the hardest industries: insurance.

Amber shares how she and her team have built a culture that holds a remarkable 90% employee retention rate—by centering communication, care, and consistency at every level of leadership.

We talk about the emotional reality of leading during high-pressure moments, what it means to set expectations with love, and how The Miller Group is modeling a better way to lead in service-centered work.

If you're trying to build a team that stays, this is the blueprint.

In the final episode of our special series, The Manager Crisis, I sit down with Ashley Kera, a workplace strategist, leadership coach, and former manager of 100+ early-career professionals to unpack what the data misses and what real managers are facing on the ground.

With a background in clinical psychology and a decade leading talent operations, Ashley brings clarity to the messy middle: the tension between performance expectations and actual human needs.

We talk about the limits of policy, why retention can’t be solved by perks, and how culture is felt in everyday interactions, not just all-hands slogans.

From burnout to bandwidth, Ashley shares practical insight for anyone tasked with leading people through pressure, change, and growth. If you’ve ever been the one “holding it all together,” this episode is for you.

Let’s close out this series with the honesty it deserves.