GrowthReady Podcast with Steve Mellor

This week, Steve sits down with Heather Younger, leadership and workplace culture expert, four-time bestselling author, and author of The Unshakable Team, to explore why growth requires more than good intentions. It requires a willingness to be challenged, to question what we believe, and to follow through on the commitments we make. 

Heather introduces a practical way to think about meaningful change through four key elements. 

The conversation explores what this looks like at both the individual and organizational level. From the agreements we make with ourselves to the commitments leaders make to their teams, St...

Sonal Bahl has spent nearly two decades in HR leadership at companies like GE and PwC. She's reviewed more than 250,000 resumes, interviewed thousands of candidates, and seen firsthand why talented professionals sometimes struggle to advance their careers, recognize their value, and land the opportunities they're looking for.

In this conversation with Steve Mellor, Sonal gets into the parts of career growth that don't always show up on a resume: the self-doubt that keeps people from pursuing bigger roles, the discomfort of putting yourself out there, and the challenge of recognizing your own experience. She shares practical insights...

This week, entrepreneur and leadership consultant Lucy Donald joins Steve for a conversation about self-trust, personal growth, and the courage to change. Drawing on her journey through sobriety, entrepreneurship, and self-discovery, Lucy explores what it means to recognize when an environment no longer serves you and why meaningful change begins when the discomfort of staying the same outweighs the fear of doing something different. 

Lucy challenges us to rethink our relationship with ourselves and the role it plays in how we show up in every area of life. She shares how building self-awareness, changing the way we s...

This week, Professor Emerita of Sociology and author, Jeni Cross, joins Steve for a conversation about agency, awareness, and the stories we tell ourselves about our lives. Jeni challenges the idea that we’re simply products of our circumstances, reminding us that while the world around us shapes our options, we still have opportunities to choose differently and create new possibilities. 

Jeni challenges us to explore how the stories we tell ourselves influence everything from our reactions to everyday frustrations to the way we navigate life’s biggest challenges. She shares why learning to recognize our own agenc...

In this week’s episode, Steve sits down with Jeff “Bones” Bonner, Harvard-trained performance strategist, former combat fighter pilot and squadron commander, current airline captain, and author of The Daily Debrief™, for a conversation about human performance, continuous improvement, and why experience alone isn’t enough to help us grow. 

Drawing on his experience in military aviation and other high-performance environments, Jeff shares a principle that has shaped his approach to growth. He explains how a simple, structured debrief can help us learn from both our successes and mistakes, build confidence, and prepare to perform better the next time a...

This week, Steve sits down with Niluka Kavanagh, Executive Advisor, international speaker, and Founder of The Modern CEO and ImagineThat, for a conversation about curiosity, uncertainty, meaningful growth, and why staying busy isn’t the same as making an impact. 

After leaving the corporate world in 2022, Niluka booked a one-way flight to Valencia and began a journey that would take her to more than 14 countries and lead her to launch multiple businesses. Rather than defining success solely by the outcome, she made herself a different promise: if she grew through the experience, it would be worthwhile. 

Th...

Ever wonder what it takes to earn the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award before you’re 50? In this episode, Steve sits down with Jake Rademacher, for a story-filled conversation about courage, commitment, authenticity, service, and what it means to make the hard choices that move us toward a life that feels like our own. 

Jake traces his journey from walking away from a promising path in business to pursuing acting and filmmaking, eventually risking everything to tell the story of his brothers serving in Iraq. What began with a borrowed camera and an idea no one wanted to fun...

This week, Steve sits down with John Ravaris, author of “Define Value, Drive Growth” and founder of UVP Solutions, for a conversation about staying curious, figuring out your unique value, and what it really takes to deserve to win. 

 John has spent his career building and leading sales organizations, but his philosophy on growth extends far beyond the sales team. For John, sustainable growth happens when an entire organization understands why it is different, the value it creates, who that value matters to, and how every person on the team contributes to delivering it. 

The convers...

This week, Steve sits down with Steve Miska, author, former military leader, educator, and founder of Wrangling & Writing, for a conversation about curiosity, risk, leadership, decision-making, and what it means to move forward when you’re never truly ready. 

Miska embraces the idea of the 40/70 rule-- the belief that waiting for complete clarity can cause us to miss important opportunities, while acting with too little information can lead us down the wrong path. Instead, he argues that there is a productive space between the two: a point where we have enough clarity to act while remaining open to...

This week, Steve sits down with Ayelet Fishbach, Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and author of Get It Done, for a conversation about motivation, goal setting, identity, self-control, and what it really means to understand what drives us forward. 

Ayelet challenges the idea that motivation is simply something we either have or don’t have. Instead, she explains why motivation is something we can learn through knowledge—knowledge of ourselves, our goals, our obstacles, and the environments we create around us. 

The conversation explores how to set...

Steve sits down with Jeanine Stewart, PhD, Neuroscientist, Coach, and Creator of the NeuroMighty framework, for a conversation about failure, behavior change, human performance, and what it means to stay distinctly human in an increasingly AI-driven world. 

Jeanine brings together neuroscience and coaching to explore how we grow through the moments when what used to work no longer does. For her, GrowthReady comes down to three practices: authentic curiosity, humble discernment, and impactful clarity. 

The conversation also explores what those skills mean in the age of AI. As technology becomes increasingly embedded in the way we...

Steve sits down with Nick Montalbine, founder of Inner Voice Analytics, for a conversation about growth, change, listening to the signals around us, and knowing when something needs to change before the cracks become chasms.

Nick’s career has taken him from Nike and the world of Lean Six Sigma to entrepreneurship, leadership, and helping organizations better understand what their people are really experiencing. Along the way, he learned that growth does not always begin with a big breakthrough. Sometimes, it starts with the small signals we are tempted to ignore.

Nick shares a deeply pe...

Steve sits down with Cindy Cohn, former Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, for a conversation about values, leadership, change, and knowing when it is time to make room for what comes next.

Cindy has spent decades fighting for digital rights, privacy, free speech, and a better internet for the people who use it. Her career is a powerful example of what it means to stay grounded in your values while remaining flexible enough to adapt as the world changes around you.

Cindy also shares a deeply personal look at her decision to step...

David Hiler’s answer to “What does it mean to be growth ready? ”is simple—and hard-earned: adapt to whatever comes your way.

A lifelong runner and hospitality entrepreneur, David’s life changed fast when a knee issue turned into cancer. Faced with two paths—an invasive rebuild with uncertain outcomes or amputation with a clear shot at living fully—he chose the decision that protected what mattered most: movement, presence, and the life he wanted to keep saying yes to.

Then came the second wave: recovering during COVID while trying to keep multiple hospi...

Jared Goralnick joins the GrowthReady Podcast with a deceptively simple definition of what it means to be growth ready: manage your energy and get clear on where you’re going.

Jared Goralnick has spent 15 years building products that help organizations find, develop, and grow talent. He was Head of Product at LinkedIn Recruiter and VP of Product at Upwork, Go1, and Articulate, and previously founded SET Consulting and VC-backed AwayFind. He now leads Your360 AI, using voice AI to make coaching-grade, interview-style 360 feedback accessible beyond the executive level.

The conversation goes deep into something most le...

Patrick O’Donnell is the founder of Ignite Five and a performance-and-growth coach who helps leaders and organizations build repeatable rhythms that drive results without sacrificing the human being behind the role. He’s known for translating “systems” into something practical, daily routines, clear expectations, and real accountability.

In this conversation, Patrick shares how the 2008 real estate crash became a turning point that pushed him to study peak performers and build a framework for sustainable growth. He also breaks down the “Personal Compass” (the 8 F’s) and why leaders who invest in their people’s whole lives create better pe...

Some conversations don’t just spark ideas, they put words to something you’ve been carrying for a long time.

In this episode, Jason A. Sousa (Coach J), known as The Performance Architect, founder of Mental Edge Athletics, and creator of the Performance Architecture methodology, joins the show to unpack what’s happening beneath the surface when the stakes rise and you can’t access the level you know you have. Jason works with athletes and high performers to map the patterns that show up under pressure.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

This is a GrowthReady Replay, rewinding back to Fall 2020, when Steve Mellor sat down with Jesse Cole, founder of Fans First Entertainment and the owner of the Banana Ball Championship League, including the world-famous Savannah Bananas.

It’s a conversation about what real competitors do when the world gets smaller: they don’t complain about limitations… they lean into them.

Jesse shares the story behind building a baseball brand that sells out games, creates lifelong memories for fans, and turns entertainment into a serious competitive advantage, especially when pressure hits.

Afte...

What if the discomfort you’re trying to avoid is the very thing making you stronger?

Steve sits down with Ben Granger, Chief Workplace Psychologist at Qualtrics and author of A Leader Worth Following, to unpack what growth mindset really looks like in the real world: under pressure, inside messy organizations, and in moments where you don’t feel ready.

Ben shares how he grew up with a fixed mindset (“I’m just not good at that”), what neuroscience and practice actually prove about improvement, and why people who experience more change can...

Most people don’t quit because they’re incapable.

They quit because they’re waiting for proof.

In this Coaches’ Corner, Steve uses Abraham Lincoln as a case study in resilience, someone who lost elections, failed in business, navigated depression, and still kept moving forward when there wasn’t much evidence things were “working.”

The core shift: hope sounds productive, but it can hide hesitation. Insistence is different. It’s the decision to keep going because it matters, whether it’s validated yet or not.

Steve also shares...

𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕, 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆. - Kendall Breitman

In this episode of the GrowthReady Podcast, Steve Mellor sits down with Kendall Breitman, former political journalist (NBC, Bloomberg) and now Head of Community at  @Riversidefm , to unpack the real story behind career pivots, personal reinvention, and building community that actually feels human.

Kendall shares how she went from chasing a clear career trajectory to embracing a more open (and more honest) version of growth, one built on trust, adaptability, and the courage to choose what fulfills you now, not what you decided years ago.

In this episode:
▪️Hunger vs. capacity (and why both matter)
▪️Leaving a “made it” career behind
▪️Trusting yourself without needing certainty
▪️How community is built through real conversations
▪️Why overproduced brand content is fading
▪️Kendall’s next edge: influence, visibility, and starting a podcas...

What if the thing holding you back isn’t a lack of expertise, but the fact that your voice hasn’t caught up to what you know?

In this episode, Steve Mellor sits down with Dr. Leslie Gordon, a speech, voice, and accent expert who helps high-performing professionals speak with more confidence, presence, and impact. Leslie introduces the idea of the “growing edge,” a powerful replacement for the word “weakness,” and explains why real growth requires more than mindset. It requires action, repetition, awareness, and the willingness to step into unfamiliar territory.

This conversation is for anyone w...

There’s a moment in the Tour de France most people miss. Not the sprint finish. Not the podium. Not the yellow jersey.

It’s the mountain stage, where you realize the leader isn’t actually alone.

We use that image to challenge a belief a lot of high performers quietly live by: self-sufficiency equals strength. It might be the very thing that helped you win early stages of growth… and the same thing that now limits what’s next.

We explore why high performance isn’t just about endurance and capacity, it’s about exposu...

A lot of high-performers know how to win, but far fewer know how to use failure well. And when life gets uncomfortable, the instinct is often to avoid it, rush past it, or pretend it didn’t mean anything.

My guest today, Leanda Cave, is a four-time world champion triathlete who’s lived through elite success, personal setbacks, major transition, and a powerful season of self-discovery beyond sport.

In this episode, you’ll hear how failure can become one of the greatest forces for growth, why awareness changes everything, and how to redefine high performance in a w...

What does it really mean to be Growth Ready?

In this episode, Steve Mellor sits down with Joe Smarro for a deeply honest conversation about identity, self-awareness, and the cost of living for everyone else. Joe shares why growth starts with curiosity, why so much of our identity is inherited rather than chosen, and why external validation keeps so many high-performers stuck. Together, they explore the tension between the person we present to the world and the person we sit with in private, and how closing that gap can transform the way we lead, live, and grow.<...

In this episode, Steve sits down with Samara Bay to unpack what it really means to be “ready” when the stakes are high. Together, they explore the connection between body, mind, and communication—and why so many high-performers flatten their presence by trying to hide fear instead of working with it.

Samara explains how public speaking is really about power, permission, and presence. She shares why “readiness” is more of a body-based practice than a mental state, how love-based thinking can shift us out of fight-or-flight, and why the warm-up before any important conversation may be the real work...

About the guest: Megan Torrance is a workplace learning and development leader who helps organizations create better systems for growth, performance, and skill development. In this conversation, she brings together practical insight from her work in learning design, her perspective on AI as an augmentation tool, and her own lived experience as an athlete, coach-supported leader, and endurance hiker.

About the episode: In this episode, Steve sits down with Megan Torrance to unpack what it really means to be growth ready. Megan reframes growth as what we learn from a leap, not just...

About the guest: Meghan Popoleo is the President of The O’Connor Group, where she has spent the last decade helping organizations grow through strong people strategy, culture, and leadership. She came into the business from the nonprofit world, openly admits she did not start out loving HR, and has grown into a values-driven leader known for vulnerability, execution, collaboration, and people-first leadership.

About the episode: In this conversation, Steve sits down with Meghan to unpack what it really means to be “growth ready.” Megan shares why vulnerability is not weakness, but a leader...

About the Guest: Raymond Lee is the founder of CareerMinds, a virtual outplacement and leadership development company he started in 2008. After years of building the business, Raymond went through a deep season of self-reflection in late 2021 that reshaped how he saw leadership, identity, and growth. He later sold CareerMinds and stepped into a new chapter with even greater clarity around impact, authenticity, and helping people find work that truly aligns with who they are. He’s also the host of the Clocking Out podcast and author of the book Clocking Out.

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