Make Life Less Difficult

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My guest today is Will LeBlanc.

Will is the author of the book, I Used to Be Somebody.

In mid-September, my husband and I were celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary on Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks, where we had gotten married.  It's a small island so the one main cafe for coffee was busy.  And their style of service was slow and deliberate.  As I stood waiting in line, John came up to me with a book and said, "This looks like your kind of book."  I started read...

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My guest today is Vincent Van den Broeck.

Vincent is the founder of UNTIL IT’S DONE (UID) — a brand and movement built to help people and companies make the impossible achievable through the alignment of five pillars: Mindset, Health, Lifestyle, Action, and Structure & Clarity.

Vincent's work sits at the intersection of performance, storytelling, and brand strategy. 

After surviving a life-threatening accident in 2024 and rebuilding himself piece by piece, he learned first-hand that nothing changes until you do — and that with the right systems, vision and discipline, people...

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My guest today is Dr. Tova Rubin. 

Tova is a licensed clinical psychologist, and she brings a unique awareness and ability to listen between the lines to her work that allows her to shine a light on areas of relationships and patterns of communication. 

Tova is also an expert in the field of positive psychology and is regularly invited to give workshops and talks about positive psychology and mindfulness. In our conversation today, Tova shares about the impact and empowerment of building emotional capacity, what changes when we let go...

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My guest today is Jessica Zucal.

Jess is a returning guest and I'm so honored to share this conversation with you.

Jess is an organizational change and culture specialist.  She supports leaders and organizations in navigating transformational change by integrating both the inner work of leadership and the systemic work of organizational change. She helps leaders see their organizations clearly, understand the patterns and dynamics shaping their reality, so they can move through complexity with greater alignment and make better informed decisions. 

Jess has been through significant ch...

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My guest today is Donna Moreno.

Donna spent 34 years at Verizon, where she was trained as a company spokesperson, representing them everywhere from industry conferences to investor events. Today she's at The Washington Post, working on compensation, pay equity, job architecture, and how AI is reshaping the way we design jobs.

But her résumé only tells you a sliver of the story. Donna has chaired committees at the Kennedy Center, led Rockville Sister Cities International, judged international competitions, and worked behind the scenes on productions like the Kennedy Ce...

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Today's guest is Nick Reittinger (write - ting - jer). And Russ Watts is hosting today.

Nick is a seismic consultant in Kyle TX. If it shakes, rattles or rolls, he's got it covered. His real passion in life is traveling with his lovely wife and two beautiful daughters. Connecting with individuals across the country has turned out to be an unexpected skill. 

In this conversation Nick shares a story about a time when everything he expected would happen, didn't.  The rug was pulled out from underneath him and it...

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My guest today is Graham Shelby.

Graham is a storyteller in just about every sense of the word — a writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times and on NPR's The Moth Radio Hour, a veteran stage performer, a speechwriter, and director of the documentary City of Ali, about the week the city of Louisville, Kentucky — Muhammad Ali's hometown — came together to say goodbye to its champion. 

In this conversation, we explore the power of story and the impact of truly listening, what to consider when telling a story...

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My guest today is Nicole Anderson.

Nicole is a leadership development consultant and coach. Nicole is a returning guest to the podcast and this is an inspiring conversation that includes stories of Nicole's recent journey of starting her own company and podcast.

Nicole founded Audacia after two decades inside the rooms where growth-stage decisions get made, leading teams, building leadership programs, and watching what separates the organizations that scale with purpose from the ones that scale into chaos.

She founded Audacia because the conversations leaders are having...

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It's been 5 years since the release of the first episode of Make Life Less Difficult!

Today, Russ Watts joins me to reflect on the journey of this podcast, what it means to me, how it's impacted me (and others), and what I envision for the upcoming 5 years!

Russ is a guest host and a frequent guest of the podcast.  He and I facilitate retreats and workshops focused on storytelling, connection, and soul space.

Check out our offerings at: https://thestoryacademy.org/

Support th...

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My guest today is Suneet Bhatt.

Suneet helps people and organizations get unstuck, find purpose, and build momentum.  Suneet teaches at Rutgers University, helping students make sense of their purpose and understand their journey to purpose.

In his work, Suneet has found that before we can make sense of our purpose, we have to make sense of ourselves.  This sounds so simple, but has profound implications and is so often overlooked. 

I love this conversation because Suneet both shares his own story of making sense of his pur...

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My guest today is Srikanth Seshadri.

Sri is a returning guest, previously on episode 169 in 2022.

Today, Sri and I discuss the book, What to Make of a Life, by Jim Collins.  

Sri is an executive coach who helps CEOs scale their companies and accelerate performance.

When Sri and I talked about doing another podcast together, he sent me a link to this book, suggesting we both read it and talk about it for the podcast.  

What to Make of a Life is an ex...

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My guest today is Deonna Marie Cattledge.

Deonna Marie is an EMMY Award-Winning Vocalist, Storyteller, Keynote Speaker, Actress, & Intuitive Vocal Coach from Grand Rapids, Michigan. A classically trained singer with over a decade of experience, Deonna Marie has worked with internationally known vocalists, vocal teachers & coaches, stage directors, and choral conductors. 

She is the writer & creator of The Deonna Marie Experience: From the Crack House to the Opera House, a one-woman show about her life.  OETA Gallery America released an EMMY Award-Winning segment titled, “The Deonna Marie Experience” currently availa...

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My guest today is Ashley T Brundage 

Ashley is the Founder and President of Empowering Differences, a consultancy that helps people and organizations turn personal and identity-based differences into a source of strength rather than a barrier. 

As a transgender woman, Ashley has overcome harassment, discrimination, and homelessness.  After beginning her transition in 2008, she started as a part-time bank teller and rose to National Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion in less than five years. 

That journey has been captured in a 4-step empowerment process, now the basi...

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My guest today is Phil Chu.

I had the privilege of meeting Phil through our mutual friend, Ravi Ram -- thank you Ravi!

Phil is the founder and head coach of SEEN, a relational fitness training company.  In our conversation today Phil shares about his journey to starting SEEN, what relational fitness is and means, the payoff of learning to step into conflict with a framework bigger than win/lose.

Phil shares his story of learning how to listen well (and learning that he needed to learn h...

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My guest today is Jordan Friedman.

Jordan is known as The Stress Coach.  He offers a ‘chill factory’ of virtual and in-person stress management and anxiety reduction speaker programs, coaching options, courses, and more to support mental health, productivity and retention. 

For 30 years, Jordan has pioneered innovative stress management training for companies,  coaches, schools, and individuals, including as director of Columbia University’s Health Education Program and host of The Chill Factory podcast. Jordan is also an engaging podcast and media guest.

In our conversation today Jordan shares ho...

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Today's guest is Stuart Voeden.

Russ Watts is hosting this inspiring conversation with Stuart.  Thank you, Russ!

In their conversation today, Stuart and Russ explore Stuart's journey from corporate burnout to embodied artistic practice, and how confronting one's shadow, embracing intuition, and "coming at life sideways" can make existence less difficult for ourselves and others.

Stuart is a wise companion, mentor and adviser, helping organizations and leaders through the maze of organisational change and people development.

With over 30 years experience in business, Stuart believes in t...

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My guest today is Kathryn Broullire.

Kathryn and I connected through the Georgetown Leadership Coaching mentorship program and from our first interaction, it has felt like a connection that was meant to be!

Kathryn is a Learning and Development expert and has worked in the educational space for over 13 years.  She's completed the Georgetown University Leadership Coaching program and is passionate about helping others find what they love, find their voice, and live out their potential.

When Kathryn and I first met, we quickly learned that we h...

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Today my conversation is with Russ Watts.  Russ co-hosts and guest-hosts here on the podcast, so his is a familiar voice to many of you.  Russ and I have been co-creating and co-facilitating storytelling experiences since 2019.

It was such a delight to sit down with Russ and dive into a conversation today.  We made no plans, just pressed record and started sharing.

Our hope is that as we explore the ideas of soul space, story, pilgrimages, as we share some of our own recent experiences and stories, as we pon...

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My guest today is Derrek Cooper.

Derrek is an executive coach and had a masters in applied positive psychology.  If his name is familiar, you may have heard his conversation here on the podcast with Russ.  

Today, Derrek and I get to have a great conversation that I think you'll find very inspiring, especially if you find yourself in some kind of transition.  We talk about positive psychology, the power of vulnerability, the idea of bouncing forward after setbacks or failures.  

Derrek shares pieces of his own stor...

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My guest today is Niki Mathias.

Niki is an author who is helping the world better understand what it means to be a highly sensitive person.  Her upcoming book, Derby and the Dandelions, explores this through the unique lens of a teenage girl and her best friends.

I'm very excited to share this conversation because I learned so much from talking with Niki.  Her stories and sharing come from firsthand experience and hard-earned wisdom.  She shared the framework of understanding people's nervous system processing as Dandelions, Tulips, and Orchids.  If y...

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My guest today is Lisa Lewis Daniels.

Lisa is a returning guest and you can hear my first conversation with her on episode 265.

Lisa is the founder and CEO of Lionheart Society.  She helps her clients find their identity, purpose during life transitions.  

Today, Lisa shares more about her own transition, more about her time in what she calls the Messy Middle (a phrase I know I relate to!), and what can happen when the messy middle extends for longer than we might want and/or have an...

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My guest today is Kenny Leahman.

Kenny is retired from the Central Intelligence Agency after a 24-year career.  He now is a coach, educator, and consultant who helps others discover what really matters by focusing on values-based living and leadership.  Kenny says, “Make choices based on what matters.  If it doesn’t matter, let it go.”

Kenny was a guest on Episode 215, and if you haven't listened to that episode, I highly recommend doing so either right now or immediately after listening to this one!

Today, Kenny shares pi...

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My guest today is Tony Cerella.

Tony is a returning guest and if you haven't listened to our previous conversations, please check them out.  They are a series of 3 conversations about Tony's transition into retirement after 23 years in the US Army.

Now, 2 years post retirement, Tony shares about a recent experience he had: wandering.  Going places without knowing.

Here are several phrases that came up for Tony during this trip:

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Today's guest is Derrek Cooper.  Russ Watts is hosting this conversation!

Derrek brings a rare blend of lived experience, leadership insight, and academic rigor to his coaching. From serving aboard submarines in the U.S. Navy to leading global teams as a software executive, his 25+ year career has spanned industries, continents, and complexity. With a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering and decades of experience partnering with some of the world’s largest manufacturing companies, he understands what it takes to lead in high-pressure environments.

Relentlessly curious, Derrek returned to schoo...

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My guest today is Jason Frohnmayer.

Jason is a retired U.S. Diplomat, having served his country in a variety of capacities at overseas posts and in Washington D.C. 

Throughout his career at the U.S. Department of State, he managed grants and drafted media products to ensure accurate information dissemination on global initiatives. He also created content surrounding community-building projects. 

Additionally, Jason co-managed a multimillion-dollar budget to drive programs in the public health, higher education, environmental conservation, and sustainable development domains in the Lower Mekong re...

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Our guest today is Tom Bohnic.  Russ brings this beautiful conversation to us in today's episode.

Tom spent most of his professional career leading business transformation and service innovation at scales from Fortune Global 50 to Start-ups from both consulting and internal executive-level positions.  It was the challenges of real-world engagement in complex business challenges that focused Tom’s attention on social and personal dynamics that enable or constrain movement in teams, groups, organizations, and communities. 

These real-world contexts are the foundation of Tom’s work as a thought leader and fac...

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In today's episode, my good friend, Titus Mott, asks me about my recent 50 days of rock climbing adventure for my 50th birthday.  It's amusingly intimidating to be the guest on my own podcast and I'm so grateful to Titus for taking the time to do this episode with me!

Thanks to everyone who supported me from near and far for this epic life adventure!

See picture here: https://makelifelessdifficult.com/lisas-50th-birthday

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My guest today is Stephanie Peña.

Stephanie is an accomplished vocalist, actress and voice-over artist.
Previously cast on an NBC sitcom, a member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild, Stephanie can currently be found on Netflix, Audible, iTunes, Amazon, YouTube and Vimeo. 

In our conversation today, Stephanie shares her insights, reflections, and wisdom.  Her stories are ones of confidence and courage.  And you'll hear how her current stories are continuing to unfold with new challenges that she's approaching with pois...

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My guest today is Jennie Snyder.

Jennie is an executive leadership coach.  She works with leaders during defining moments in their lives and leadership—navigating transitions and seeking impact that matters.

Our conversation today touches on Threshold Moments, what it means to be a Companion for others and for ourselves, and how discernment serves us in telling our stories.

Connect with Jennie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjenniesnyder/

Email: [email protected] 

Resources to support the journey of coming out:

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My guest today is Donna Gandt.

Donna  is the founder and lead coach at PSYCHĒ6, bringing over 30 years’ experience in leading people, projects, and change.  Today she shares pieces of her journey transitioning out of the corporate world into her work of leadership transformation, as well as her experience with breast cancer, and what it takes to redefine success.

Donna has navigated professional growth and transitions over the course of her career, most recently in executive leadership of sales and client-facing teams in SaaS companies with C-level responsibility for P&L a...

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My guest today is Béa Victoria Albina.

Béa is a returning guest and I'm so excited to share this second conversation with you where we dive deeper into her book, End Emotional Outsourcing: How to Overcome Your Codependent, Perfectionist, People-Pleasing Habits and Reclaim Your Life.

You'll learn more about how to take care of yourself and truly love those around you in ways that will support healthy growth and relationships.

Béa's website: https://beatrizalbina.com/

Béa's book: End Emotional Outsourcing: How to Over...

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My guest today is Lisa Lewis Daniels.

Lisa brings a unique blend of professional experience, academic achievement, and transformational coaching expertise to her work with individuals, couples, and families.

After the birth of her son, Lisa, Founder and CEO of Lionheart Society, LLC faced the challenge of balancing a stable, loving home with her career ambitions.

​Despite countless hours researching resources, she found no tribe or tools that fully met her new reality. This frustration sparked her passion to support women, men, couples, and families in practical, su...

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My guest today is Jessica Vogt.

Jess is a holistic leadership development coach who supports people with a foot in many worlds -- culturally, professionally, or personally.

Jess is a returning guest and I highly recommend listening to our first conversation on Episode 233 where she shared pieces of her story growing up as a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults).

Today Jess shares more about her passion for coming home to ourselves.  Finding who we really are, leading from this place of who we really are.  It's so mu...

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My guest today is Kelly Kienzle.

Kelly is a returning guest and today we are talking about her book, Alchemy Workbook: Journey into Your Next.

Alchemy Workbook blends art, journaling, and guided self-inquiry to help you chart a path from “what was” to “what’s becoming.” Inside, you’ll explore playful prompts, visual exercises, and intriguing practices that reveal patterns, possibilities, and a way forward. Designed for creators, dreamers, and anyone approaching a crossroads, Alchemy Workbookhelps you navigate change with curiosity by alchemizing what you already know into a clear path t...

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My guests today are Christopher Henze and Dominique Debroux, the Director and Producer team for the film, Wise Women: Humanity's Untold Origins.

I'm thrilled to share this conversation with you and cannot recommend the film enough.  There's so much to be discovered about the role of older women in our societies and world.

About the Film
Wise Women – Humanity’s Untold Origins reframes human evolution through a revolutionary lens: the leadership of post-reproductive women. It challenges 10,000 years of patriarchal storytelling and restores women — especially mature, experienced women — to their rig...

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 Our conversation today is hosted by Russ Watts. Russ, thanks so much for bringing this conversation to Make Life Less Difficult. 

Russ is talking with Conrad Coleman, and I cannot wait for you to hear this conversation. I listened to it and it will have you on the edge of your seat. As Conrad shares some of his sailing adventures, Conrad has circumnavigated the world multiple times on sailboats, including two solo voyages without using any fossil fuels, which is a cause close to his heart.

Conrad, thanks so muc...

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My guest today is Guryan Tighe.

Guryan is an experienced leadership coach, workshop facilitator, and communications strategist whose clients describe her as a “Fear Technician”. She founded her company, FOURAGE, on the belief that understanding and working with our fears, rather than trying to conquer them, yields more professional success and personal fulfillment. 

In her book, Unmasking Fear: How Fears are our Gateways to Freedom, Guryan  reframes the way we approach fear from the goal of conquering it to a goal of learning from it by providing readers three gatewa...

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My guest today is Mona Khan.

Mona is a culture alchemist and joy cultivator who helps teams co-create with clarity, navigate conflict with care, and show up fully — no masks, no holding back.

She helps teams embrace the joy of difference: thinking differently, acting differently, doing differently. She nurtures them to turn those differences into superpowers.

Collaboration stops being exhausting and starts being energizing, even fun.

Mona does this through coaching for leaders and teams, guiding organizations on culture-shift journeys, and hands-on skill-building like her Ar...

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Hello and welcome to the first officially released episode of 2026!  

I’ve got a great conversation with Jennifer Berryhill to share with you today that I think is very timely with the new year.

Before jumping into that conversation, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the start of this new year.  If you happened to listen to the last episode, you’ll know that there I reflected on the end of 2025.  While I am a full believer that every day, every moment, really, is a chance to begi...

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This is the last episode of 2025 so I wanted to share a few reflections before jumping into the main conversation. 

2025 has been a year with lots of change. Many friends have experienced their lives majorly disrupted in unexpected ways. Completely turned upside down. In my personal journey, I lost my dad which was a catalyst for lots of reflection and subsequent growth. My identity shifted significantly in the past few months as my husband changed jobs and I am no longer part of the Foreign Service Life—something that majorly influenced eve...