The CEO Sage

Your business is frustrating. Your team is frustrating. Your life is overwhelming. And you think it's because of what's happening around you. But what if that's not true? What's happening around you isn't making you feel this way. It's what you're thinking about what's happening.

This has been a running theme across all of Kris's coaching lately. And it makes sense. Because if you believe your circumstances are making you feel this way, then you're waiting for them to change. But what if the only thing that actually needs to change is what you're thinking about them...

You're making money. Your business is functioning. But you're leaving money on the table because you haven't looked at what's actually broken. And it's not what you think.

What you'll learn

What happens when your aging parent needs you more and you're already stretched too thin? Michelle Arant knows. For five years, she ran Kris's operation while her mom slowly disappeared into dementia. On the surface, she had it all together. But she was barely holding on.

This is a conversation about what happens when you're the person everyone depends on, and suddenly you can't fix what matters most.

About the pressure that builds when you're holding it all.

About the things nobody talks about because we're too ashamed to admit we're not okay.<...

I keep seeing the same pattern. Successful women running multimillion dollar businesses who don't have assistants. Women trying to figure out their marriages, their family problems, their health...all on their own. And I'm watching it wear us down.

What you'll learn:

On September 27th, my mom passed away at 88 years old. I was with her, holding her hand, as she died.

In this deeply personal episode, I'm sharing what that experience was like, the complicated relationship my mother and I navigated throughout our lives, and the decision I made months before her death that changed everything about how I experienced losing her.

We talk about the realities of aging parents, the emotional responsibilities we carry as adult children, the importance of allowing people their own agency, and why we need to normalize honest conversations about death...

You're researching. You're exploring. You're gathering more information. But what if the real problem isn't that you don't know enough? What if you just don't believe yet?

What you'll learn

Kris has been thinking about this. Watching people stay...

You swallow your feelings to keep the peace. But you're the one paying the price.

Kris has stopped doing it. Something shifted this year. She's unwilling to pretend she isn't feeling what she's feeling or thinking what she's thinking. When she's named it, risking the relationship, something unexpected happened. The relationships either got stronger or they recalibrated into something more honest.

But here's what she's noticing in her clients: everyone is doing what she used to do. Holding back. Not bringing their whole self to the table. Swallowing feelings so other people don't have bad...

You can't wait to feel happy. You have to practice it.

Kris has been thinking about joy. Real joy, not the performative kind. The kind where you wake up and think, okay, this is good. She's noticed something in herself this year and in the women she works with: happiness isn't something that just happens to you. It's something you have to make a practice of.

Most of us are too busy absorbing everyone else's problems, worries, and fears to find our own joy anymore. We put happiness on the someday list. We treat it...

This episode is different. There's no lesson, no breakdown, no list of takeaways. Just a meditation.

Kris created this for the women who can't stop. The ones who feel guilty the moment they're not producing. The ones whose nervous system never really rests. The ones who measure their worth by what they accomplish and their value by who needs them.

She's not asking you to fix anything or become anything. She's just inviting you to remember something you probably forgot: you're allowed to be here without earning it.

Take 15 minutes. Find somewhere comfortable...

You say you want it. Then you spend all your energy explaining why you can't have it.

Kris has been working on breaking her own cycles, and she's watching this pattern everywhere. Women tell her they want more revenue, more freedom, a better team, less responsibility. Then the moment she asks what needs to change, they argue about why it's impossible. How expensive it would be. How hard. How much time it would take. Why it won't work.

Here's what she's noticing: we get on treadmills and we stay on them. We believe we can't...

You built the dream. Now the ground underneath it is changing.

Kris is experiencing it.

She's talking to women whose businesses are soaring but they don't want to run them anymore.

Women whose businesses are falling apart and they're not sure they want to rebuild.

Women who sold and are asking, now who am I?

This is the shift. It can be external (the market, the team, the industry) or internal (something changing inside you) or both. And what makes it uniquely hard is that you know exactly what...

Your confusion isn't a problem. It's a tell.

In her years of coaching women, Kris keeps seeing the same pattern. Women say they're confused about what they want, whether to keep an employee, or what their next move should be. But confusion isn't the real issue.

Confusion means you actually know what you want, or what needs to happen. You just don't like the consequences. So instead of choosing, you stay stuck in confusion, waiting for other people to change or circumstances to shift in your favor.

She walks through how to move...

If you recognize there's a bottleneck between where you are and where you want to be, this is for you.

Kris has closed her business and opened her practice. The difference matters. A practice isn't about reaching thousands through funnels and content calendars. It's about working directly with women who are ready to actually change.

Not women who want to learn more. Women who want to execute differently. Not women who are curious about personal growth. Women who are willing to do the uncomfortable work to get a different result. Women who know something has...

Every business has an ending. The question is whether you're going to plan for it or let it happen to you.

Kris is thinking about something that doesn't get talked about nearly enough. Aging. Exits. The reality that your business, no matter how successful it is, will not last forever. And if you're waiting until you're ready to leave to start planning, you're already too late.

She's watched it happen too many times. Women in their 50s and 60s realize they need to exit and discover they've built a business that cannot operate without them...

What if the person judging you the most isn't anyone else? It's you.

Kris has noticed something that shows up in almost everything her clients struggle with. They feel judged. They don't fit in. They're doing it wrong. They're not enough. And so they build their lives around trying to hide the parts of themselves they believe are unacceptable.

Here's the truth: it's not actually judgment from the outside. It's what you believe about yourself on the inside.

She walks through the difference between negative patterns worth changing and traits that are just...

What if the life you're living right now is based on definitions you never questioned?

Kris has been thinking about home. Not just the physical structure, but what it means. She and her husband are considering selling their custom-built house to rent, to travel, to redirect their money toward experiences instead of a mortgage. And in the process of looking at options, she's realizing that the definition she chooses will determine everything about how she actually lives.

But this isn't just about real estate. This is about how you define yourself in every role. How...

What if the anger and resentment you think you're supposed to keep is actually what's keeping you trapped?

Kris is on a walk thinking about grief, anger, loss, and what we do with it. 2026 has handed her several hard things. But this episode isn't about surviving them. It's about what happens after.

Most of us believe we're supposed to hold onto our anger forever. Like letting it go somehow means we're creating permission for what happened. Like we're minimizing the people we lost or the pain we endured.

Kris is offering a completely...

What if admitting you want more isn't selfish? What if it's actually the point?

Kris has been thinking about greatness. Not achievement. Not goals. Greatness. And she's noticing that most women don't think of themselves as being in pursuit of it. They think of themselves as trying to achieve goals or make something happen. But not as women pursuing greatness.

She's wondering what would shift if you actually claimed that.

The women she works with know there's more to pursue, more to experience, more to become. And that hunger doesn't turn off. It...

The only thing separating you from what you want is belief.

Kris is in the car on her way to pick up her daughter from the airport during peak rush hour traffic on the Bay Area bridge. She hates that drive. She has anxiety about it. And yet she just knows she's going to do it. Not hopes. Knows.

That's the difference she's naming in this episode.

Most women spend their energy attached to why something is hard. Why they can't figure out where to start. Why they need to do all the...

What you're not doing for yourself is actually harming everyone around you.

Kris knows what's happening. You're in survival mode. Not because your life is falling apart, but because the last decade has been relentless. Your business is affected. Your family is affected. Your nervous system is affected. And so you've locked into the question: how do I keep this afloat?

But here's the truth she's naming: when you thrive, everything around you thrives. And when you don't, nothing can.

The gap between knowing this and actually doing it is where most women...

If the pattern keeps repeating, it's time to turn up the heat.

Kris has spent her entire career helping other people get what they want. And she's watching women do the same thing. Pouring everything into helping clients, employees, family, friends figure out what they want, while their own desires sit dormant on a shelf.

Here's the truth she's naming: You know what you want. You've always known. The problem isn't figuring it out. The problem is you're scared. You have more to lose now than you did when you started, so you've tempered your...

You built something incredible. You made a thing that didn't exist. You're running a multi-million-dollar business, and yes, that's magic.

But somewhere along the way, the dream you chased became a box you're trapped in.

Kris calls this the quiet crisis. You've achieved the success you set out to create, but now you're drowning in it. You can't leave because too many people depend on you. You can't pivot because you're afraid of losing the revenue, the security, the key people. So you stay, spinning on all the ways it could fall apart.

...

Here's the thing people get wrong. When you see someone doing well, the instinct is to copy what they do. That job they have, that approach they take, that course they're selling. If it works for them, it should work for you, right?

Wrong.

In this episode, Kris walks through why mimicking someone else's playbook will never be your answer, and why the real issue is that you're looking in the wrong place.

She shares her early sales career story, when she was surrounded by people killing it and she was, in her...

If you followed Leadership is Feminine®️, this is going to feel different. Better, actually. Kris takes a beat to explain why she needed to hit pause on the podcast, why she's back, and why the conversation has changed altogether.

Turns out, after 15 years in this work and thousands of hours of content, she had some things to sort through. Specifically, what does she actually want her life to look like now? This isn't a philosophical question for her. It's a real one.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

-Why she restructured her entire lif...

What if the bravest act of leadership is knowing when it's time to pause?
In this deeply personal episode, Kris invites listeners into the raw, honest crossroads she's currently  navigating—one marked by completion, uncertainty, and a longing for deeper, more human connection. After nearly 400 episodes, thousands of hours of recording, and decades spent teaching leaders how to lead, she shares the truth many high-achieving women rarely admit out loud: sometimes the thing we've mastered is the very thing we're meant to release.

Kris reflects on how leadership hasn't fundamentally changed—and on the bittersweet realization that...

We love the idea of accountability—until it gets uncomfortable. Until it requires us to tell the truth and stop making excuses for what we've been tolerating. In this powerful episode, Kris Plachy explores the deep connection between accountability, self-trust, and personal agency—and why even the most successful women can find themselves over-tolerating, over-accommodating, and avoiding difficult conversations.

Kris challenges high-achieving women to stop externalizing the problem ("Why won't they just…") and instead reclaim responsibility for their own responses, expectations, and results. The truth? Accountability isn't about controlling others—it's about your willingness to show up, follow t...

In this week's episode of Leadership is Feminine®, Kris speaks straight to the hearts of high-achieving women who are carrying so much—the businesses they run, the households they manage, the people they care for, and the decisions they make every hour of the day. Kris argues that successful women don't just deserve joy. They require it.

After years of hosting immersive client retreats, she's seen firsthand what happens when accomplished women are offered a space designed entirely for them: where they don't have to drive, plan, decide, or take care of anyone. They get to receive. And...

Kris is back with another round of the pet sitting saga—but this time, it's about more than just unreliable pet sitters. It's a story about accountability, boundaries, and leadership. Through a string of mishaps (and three fired sitters), Kris explores how these small, personal frustrations mirror the much larger issue of how we manage people in our lives and businesses.

When expectations aren't met, many leaders justify, tolerate, or avoid confrontation. But as Kris shares, avoiding accountability—whether with a pet sitter or an employee—only recycles poor performance and creates a culture of tolerance instead of tru...

This week on Leadership is Feminine, Kris Plachy and her Director of Operations, Michelle Arant, sit down for an unscripted conversation that captures leadership in its most human form. What started as a casual team discussion turned into a powerful reflection on how we handle discomfort, accountability, and growth — both in business and in life.

Through the lens of a lighthearted story about a pet sitter, Kris and Michelle explore how everyday moments can reveal our relationship with responsibility and self-management. They discuss the tendency to over-accommodate others, the generational shifts in resilience and follow-through, and why tr...

What if your mind needed the same care as your home? In this episode, Kris introduces the concept of brainkeeping—a leadership practice as vital as housekeeping. Just as we tidy our physical spaces, our mental and emotional spaces require regular clearing, reflection, and renewal.

Kris shares how her lifelong curiosity and deep conversations with friends and clients have shaped her unique approach to coaching high-achieving women. Through brainkeeping she helps leaders sort through the clutter of overthinking, self-doubt, and noise—so they can access their clarity, wisdom, and creativity.

She explores why so many wome...

As we head into the final quarter of the year, Kris invites you to shift your focus—from running the business to owning the business. She challenges high-achieving female founders to stop operating on autopilot and start thinking like the visionary asset holders they are.

Too many women spend years building companies without ever asking the most important question: What's the plan? Whether you eventually want to sell, scale back, or simply create more freedom, your business deserves a clear direction—and so do you.

Kris also introduces the Sage Mini Mastermind, a 12-week experience for w...

What does it feel like to finally stop overworking, over-explaining, and over-proving—and instead lead from a place of grounded confidence? In this episode, Kris shows us what life and leadership look like when self-trust and self-worth are fully integrated.

She shares the story of a client who went from being minimized by her partners to running a thriving $10M company while taking a guilt-free month away from her business. This transformation illustrates the power of moving beyond surface-level fixes to address the root issue: believing yourself and believing in yourself.

Kris outlines the real ma...

What if your worth wasn't tied to your revenue, your output, or anyone else's approval? In this episode, Kris takes us deeper into the heart of worthiness and why so many high-achieving women still wrestle with believing in themselves—even after building successful companies, raising families, and achieving goals most people only dream of.

Kris breaks down the difference between self-trust (believing yourself) and self-worth (believing in yourself), and why the latter is the quiet, constant hum that shapes everything you do. She explores how conditional worth shows up in subtle ways—like people pleasing, avoiding difficult conv...

Why can you trust yourself to build a multimillion-dollar company—but not to have one hard conversation? In this episode, Kris pulls back the curtain on the anatomy of self-trust. From visionary ideas to money, health, relationships, and leadership, she reveals why so many women compartmentalize their confidence—rock solid in some domains, shaky in others.

You'll hear how past experiences, identity "totems," and cultural conditioning quietly erode our confidence, and why fear, vulnerability, and inherited stories often dictate where we doubt ourselves most. More importantly, Kris shows you how to begin repairing that trust—through awareness, refram...

Why do so many accomplished women still doubt themselves—even after building extraordinary lives and businesses? Kris continues her Self-Trust & Self-Worth mini-series with a powerful exploration of the programming women inherit from generations before us.

She invites us to reflect on the systemic, cultural, and ancestral patterns that quietly shape how women value themselves—and why even the most accomplished female founders still lie awake at night second-guessing their own decisions.

From hiding success out of guilt to resisting difficult conversations at work, Kris shows how the paradox of female leadership is never about capability—it's a...

Kris launches a brand-new mini-series with a masterclass on Self-Trust and Self-Worth for Female Founders. And she encourages us to ask: Why do we trust ourselves to build entire businesses—but not to have one hard conversation?

After wrapping the seven transitions of Beyond the CEO, this next season dives deeper—into the paradox that so many successful women face: the ability to make bold, visionary moves while quietly second-guessing themselves in the day-to-day.

Across the next five weeks, you'll hear Kris unpack her full Self-Trust and Self-Worth masterclass, designed to help you see how ever...

What's your plan for the business you've worked so hard to build?

After walking through all seven transitions in the Beyond the CEO series, Kris is turning her focus to what comes next: the tactical and strategic steps every founder must take to ensure the business can run—and even thrive—without her constant presence.

This isn't just about getting through today's to-do list. It's about preparing your business, your team, and yourself for what's ahead—whether that's scaling, exiting, or simply reclaiming more of your life. Because the truth is, too many women wait until...

Are you willing to release control and trust others with what you've built

In this episode, Kris closes out the Beyond the CEO series by walking through the final transitions that take you from structure and strategy into wisdom and possibility. It's not just about building processes—it's about letting go of false truths, reclaiming clarity, playing without an agenda, and stepping fully into Sage energy.

This is where leadership becomes less about control and more about trust, curiosity, and freedom.

Here's what we explore:

Have you been intentional about what stays in your life—and what goes?

If you've been following this special Beyond the CEO mini-series on the seven transitions every founder must face, you know last week was all about play, curiosity, and exploration. Now, in Transition Six—Intentional Design—we take everything you've discovered in that playful, curious phase and start shaping it into a grounded, deliberate vision for what's next.

This isn't about hustling toward another "should." It's about building your next chapter with clarity, purpose, and your own rules. Kris shares why this stage only w...

Play. Stillness. Curiosity. When did you stop giving yourself that permission?
You're going through the motions in a life you once dreamed of—and wondering when that dream stopped being yours.

In this episode—the next in Kris's series on the seven essential transitions every successful woman must navigate—she invites you to consider the one most of us avoid: curiosity, play, and exploration.

This isn't a conversation about productivity or purpose. It's about what happens when you finally lift your head, look around, and realize: the version of you running the show today isn't...