Short Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and Entrepreneurs
Beki Fraser
56 episodes
1 week ago
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. We revisit five leaders whose choices show how humanity shapes real decisions under pressure. Fulfillment, empowerment, grace, resilience, and agency move from ideas to habits you can use right away. • Integrating identity with leadership choices • Choosing fulfillment after loss and fear • Shifting from expert to team builder • Leaving with dignity and clear boundaries • Treating joy as a resilience st...
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Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. We revisit five leaders whose choices show how humanity shapes real decisions under pressure. Fulfillment, empowerment, grace, resilience, and agency move from ideas to habits you can use right away. • Integrating identity with leadership choices • Choosing fulfillment after loss and fear • Shifting from expert to team builder • Leaving with dignity and clear boundaries • Treating joy as a resilience st...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. We revisit five leaders whose choices show how humanity shapes real decisions under pressure. Fulfillment, empowerment, grace, resilience, and agency move from ideas to habits you can use right away. • Integrating identity with leadership choices • Choosing fulfillment after loss and fear • Shifting from expert to team builder • Leaving with dignity and clear boundaries • Treating joy as a resilience st...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. Uncertainty isn’t just noisy—it quietly warps how we lead. Beki digs into the hidden cost of a chaotic year: not only drained calendars and frayed nerves, but a distorted leadership identity that turns visionary thinkers into reactive firefighters. Instead of piling on more habits and rigid routines, we step back and rebuild the architecture that protects attention, steadiness, and influence when nothing...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. Start with the person, not the playbook. That simple shift runs through Beki’s journey from HR leader managing mergers and reorganizations to a coach who helps thoughtful, questioning leaders turn inner clarity into outer results. Across two candid radio conversations with hosts Jim Masters and Doug Llewellyn, we unpack why boundaries attract respect, how authenticity doesn’t require oversharing, and wha...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. I explore gratitude as a daily leadership practice that turns ambition into belonging and presence into progress. There's a simple three-direction exercise—upward, outward, inward—to make gratitude real at work and at home. • gratitude as a lens for work and life • recognition as everyday noticing • self-compassion as part of gratitude • how leaders show gratitude through trust and time • the shift from...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. Plans rarely survive contact with real life, and that’s where leadership truly begins. Drawing on Kaila’s leap from solopreneur to agency owner while becoming a parent, we explore how to trade grind for grace and control for connection without sacrificing results. I walk through the practical tools that help leaders stay human and effective when the ground shifts: shifting language from I to we to build ...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. Ever built two babies at once—one human, one company? That’s the real-world tension Kaila brings to the mic as she shares how a leap from solo designer to agency owner collided with a surprise pregnancy, forcing her to redesign time, pricing, and identity in a matter of months. We walk through the strategic moves that made it possible: shifting from hourly to value-based pricing, rolling out subscription...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. What if safety and fulfillment were not opposites, but partners you could design on purpose? We walk through a practical, human path from control to contribution—using a true story about shifting from programming to journalism as a lens for smarter career bets and better leadership. Rather than glorifying big leaps, we unpack how small, low‑stakes experiments reveal fit, build confidence, and protect wha...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. What if the safest choice isn’t the most honest one? That question frames a candid conversation with science journalist Holden Galusha, who started in programming for stability and found his voice by following curiosity, not clichés. A personal loss forced a new lens—regret minimization—sparking a shift from IT to writing that wasn’t a reckless jump, but a series of smart, low-risk experiments that grew ...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. The ground will shift—so what do you train for? We dive into resilience you can actually use: the steady, repeatable practice of recovering with intention, not the myth of unbreakable confidence. Sparked by Greg Stephens’ honest story about near-misses and next steps, we explore how leaders build credibility through consistent recovery, not perfect outcomes, and why the quiet choice to pause can change t...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. Some choices don’t arrive with fanfare—they hit like a shove out of the nest. Greg Stevens shares the moment he was on his own at seventeen and the vow that followed: choose the path that honors your gut, then move one step at a time until the dream is real. That commitment led him to Baylor without a safety net, into door-to-door sales to fund tuition, and eventually into a career coaching leaders throu...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. Ever feel like your career is steering you instead of the other way around? We dig into the shift from autopilot to agency and unpack how development-minded leadership turns growth into a daily practice rather than a once-a-year form. Drawing on Tammy’s pivot from partnership to solo work, we explore how intentional choices, clear boundaries, and visible value help you build momentum without burning out....
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. What happens when you finally take control of your career? Tammy Daniels' story reveals how one pivotal decision transformed her professional trajectory and personal understanding. After years of following the work at established law firms, Tammy found herself at a crossroads. The legal work had become "mundane and perfunctory," leaving her in a state of complacency. When faced with yet another firm tra...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. Layoffs shatter our sense of security and challenge our professional identity in profound ways. Whether you've just received the news, survived while colleagues departed, or sense the anxiety of possible workforce reductions, this episode offers crucial guidance for navigating before, during, and after these difficult transitions. The shock of job loss often comes with confusion about what happened and ...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. When the rug is pulled out from under your career, what comes next? Steve Jaffe knows this disorienting experience all too well. After weathering four layoffs across his 25-year marketing career, he's transformed from someone devastated by job loss to someone who "sails right through it like water off a duck's back." Steve's journey reveals a profound truth about career disruptions: they're detours, not...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. What happens when the version of success you've been told to follow no longer fits who you really are? Chris Blount faced this question head-on, making the brave choice to honor his authentic self by leaving behind security for something unknown but true. Our lives are shaped by countless messages about who we "should" be – from parents, community members, and even strangers. These influences create sto...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. What happens when the blueprint you've been handed for success starts suffocating your soul? Chris Blount's journey offers a compelling answer to this question that many of us face but few dare to confront. Growing up in a blue-collar New Orleans family, Chris absorbed the message that a man's worth was measured solely by his ability to provide. "You work until you don't. That is everything that you're ...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. Ever found yourself drowning in tasks but wondering why you're not growing as a leader? You might be caught in what I call the "breadth trap" – mistaking busyness for advancement and spreading yourself too thin across responsibilities without developing true expertise. After my conversation with Shannon King about broken organizational promises, I realized how many of us tie our worth to external valida...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. The moment Shannon King declined a lateral position after returning from maternity leave, she knew exactly what it meant – unemployment. Yet, she felt completely at peace with her decision. After seven years of building a department from scratch and countless promises of leadership opportunities, the restructuring that happened during her maternity leave revealed a harsh truth: corporate loyalty often fl...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. The leap from technical expert to strategic leader requires more than skill—it demands a shift in mindset. This episode highlights the subtle but powerful communication shifts that signal executive readiness, and the importance of creating space—for yourself and your team—to focus on what matters most. For leaders with technical backgrounds, it’s a practical look at what it actually means to ...
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. In this episode, I reconnect with Aaron Wilkerson, a former client and thoughtful leader whose growth journey offers real insight into what it takes to move from technical expert to strategic leader. Together, we explore how leadership evolves beyond having the right answers — into building team capacity, developing others, and aligning your work with broader business strategy. Aaron shares what sh...
Short Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and Entrepreneurs
Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it. We revisit five leaders whose choices show how humanity shapes real decisions under pressure. Fulfillment, empowerment, grace, resilience, and agency move from ideas to habits you can use right away. • Integrating identity with leadership choices • Choosing fulfillment after loss and fear • Shifting from expert to team builder • Leaving with dignity and clear boundaries • Treating joy as a resilience st...
