What happens when you achieve everything you set out to accomplish—only to realize success is costing you the very things you wanted it for?

In Part 1 of this four-part Black Womaning in Corporate America® conversation, host Nicole S. Palmer welcomes Lesa Frye, a certified life and business coach and real estate professional with more than three decades of experience.

Nicole and Lesa explore the difference between achievement and fulfillment, the importance of defining success for yourself, and three questions that can help you reclaim agency over your career and your life.

Coming in Part 2: What happens after you recognize that something needs to change? Lesa shares how she began course-correcting—and why boundaries matter.

🤎 LEARN MORE ABOUT LESA FRYE

Discover Lesa’s approach to creating success without sacrificing yourself or the people you love.

Website: https://lesafrye.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesafrye/

📖 READ THE BOOK

Explore Nicole’s award-winning and bestselling Playing the Game While Black Womaning in Corporate America™:

https://delnicmedia.com/product/playing-the-game-while-black-womaning-in-corporate-america/

🏆 SUPPORT NICOLE FOR TOP HOST 2026

Nicole S. Palmer is competing for the title of Top Host 2026! Support her journey to amplify underrepresented voices and bring more conversations like these to a wider audience.

Cast your free daily vote and learn how to support her campaign: https://tophost.org/2026/nicole-s-palmer

Subscribe to follow all four installments of this November series.

#BlackWomaningInCorporateAmerica #BWICA #LesaFrye #WomenInBusiness #WorkLifeBalance #TopHost2026

Sometimes “fit” has very little to do with performance—and everything to do with how bias gets interpreted as culture.

In the conclusion of our October BWICA™ feature, Jan Buckner Walker draws on her experience as an employment lawyer to unpack coded language, microaggressions, advocacy, performance plans, severance, medical leave, and why Black women should not automatically assume they are the problem when something feels off at work.

She also leaves us with one final reminder: nurture your quiet.

Watch Part 4 of our conversation with Jan Buckner Walker now.

📖 READ THE BOOK

Explore Nicole’s award-winning and bestselling book, Playing the Game While Black Womaning in Corporate America™:

https://delnicmedia.com/product/playing-the-game-while-black-womaning-in-corporate-america/

🏆 SUPPORT NICOLE FOR TOP HOST 2026

Nicole S. Palmer is competing for the title of Top Host 2026! Support her journey to amplify underrepresented voices and bring more conversations like these to a wider audience.

Cast your free daily vote and learn how to support her campaign:

https://tophost.org/2026/nicole-s-palmer

#BWICA #BlackWomaningInCorporateAmerica #JanBucknerWalker

You don’t have to be the first. You can be the first of your kind.

In Part 3 of our October BWICA™ feature, Jan Buckner Walker and Nicole S. Palmer talk about starting again, finding your niche, trusting the perspective only you can bring, and refusing to let self-limiting beliefs decide what’s possible.

Jan also reflects on what happens when you stop asking, “Who would want this?” and start recognizing that your people may already be waiting for what you have to create.

Watch Part 3 now.

00:00 Podcast Welcome

00:44 Previously On Recap

02:13 Starting Over After Layoffs

02:43 Finding Your Niche

04:44 Stories That Fuel You

05:17 Stop Self Limiting

06:08 Inspiration Beyond Demographics

07:23 Microaggressions At Work

07:54 Challenging Fit Bias

09:07 Protecting Employees Fairly

11:05 Advice And Closing

#BWICA #BlackWomaningInCorporateAmerica #JanBucknerWalker #BlackWomenInBusiness #Entrepreneurship

Learn more about Jan Buckner Walker and Black Crosswords:

- Website: https://blackcrosswords.com/

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kidsacrossparentsdown/

Vote Nicole for Top Host: https://tophost.org/2026/nicole-s-palmer

In Part 2 of our October conversation with cruciverbalist Jan Buckner Walker, we move beyond the crossword puzzle itself and into the bigger question: what happens when the career you built no longer feels like where you belong?

Jan talks about finding the thing that has always been in you, the difference between hard work and being uncomfortable, creating work that feels safe and inclusive, and why it’s never too late to “shake your own box” and discover what else might be inside.

Chapters

00:00 Podcast Welcome

00:41 Previously On

02:37 Why This Work Matters

04:59 Finding Your Calling

08:05 The Right Shoes on the Wrong Feet

11:03 Making Puzzles Feel Safe

13:29 Representation Without Judgment

14:51 Closing Thoughts

Learn more about Jan Buckner Walker and Black Crosswords:

- Website: https://blackcrosswords.com/

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kidsacrossparentsdown/

Jan will also celebrate Black Crosswords: In Our Own Words, Volume 2 at Sankofa Video, Books & Cafe in Washington, DC, on October 14, 2026.

Event details: https://www.sankofa.com/events/book-event-black-crosswords-in-our-own-words-vol-2

Last year, we sat down with cruciverbalist Jan Buckner-Walker ahead of the release of Black Crosswords: In Our Own Words. We could think of no better way to celebrate its first birthday than by sharing our BWICA conversation with Jan about the story behind the book.

Jan talks about her path from journalism and law to crossword construction, creating puzzles for The Washington Post, Essence, and Ebony, and why Black representation in crossword culture matters.

Chapters

00:00 Podcast Intro

00:44 Meet Jan Buckner-Walker

01:29 Why Black Crosswords Matter

02:51 Jan’s Origin Story

03:27 From Law to Puzzles

04:12 Kids Across, Parents Down

04:57 Breaking Into Syndication

06:19 Representation in Crosswords

07:10 Essence and Ebony Crosswords

08:03 Making Crosswords Welcoming

09:59 The Book Finally Happens

10:27 Why Black Crosswords Matter Now

11:07 Closing Thoughts

Learn more about Jan Buckner-Walker and Black Crosswords:

- Website: https://blackcrosswords.com/

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kidsacrossparentsdown/

Jan will also celebrate Black Crosswords: In Our Own Words, Volume 2 at Sankofa Video, Books & Cafe in Washington, DC, on October 14, 2026.

Event details: https://www.sankofa.com/events/book-event-black-crosswords-in-our-own-words-vol-2

Host Nicole S. Palmer closes her conversation with Dr. Wendi Williams, 2026 President of the American Psychological Association and founder of The Well.

In Part 4, they discuss workplace harm, recovery, boundaries, nervous-system reset, and Dr. Williams’ work through The Well to help Black women move beyond survival toward healing, joy, and becoming abundantly well.

They also explore community care, accessible tools, and reconnecting with the parts of ourselves that work and trauma can force us to abandon.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to BWICA

00:41 Previously on BWICA

02:02 What’s Next for The Well

02:43 The Well Podcast

04:22 Frameworks, Retreats & Reset

05:22 When Work Lives in the Body

07:39 Nicole’s Closing Reflection

09:07 No Shame, Only Care

10:29 Finding the Little Girl Again

11:11 Connect With Dr. Wendi

11:56 Closing

Learn more about Dr. Wendi Williams and The Well:

Website: drwendiwilliams.com

Instagram: @drwendiwilliams

LinkedIn: Dr. Wendi Williams

The Well newsletter: wellwithdrwendi.substack.com

Host Nicole S. Palmer continues her conversation with Dr. Wendi Williams, 2026 President of the American Psychological Association and founder of The Well.

In Part 3, they redefine the “mountaintop,” explore the difference between a job and a calling, and unpack what it means to build a life around joy, purpose, and a sense of self that exists beyond work.

00:00 Welcome to BWICA

00:41 Redefining the Mountaintop

02:53 You Were Not Born to Do a Job

05:31 Little Girl Dreams

07:19 Fear as a Compass

09:11 Building The Well

12:25 Staying in Corporate Differently

13:31 Emotional Detachment at Work

14:51 Replaceable at Work

15:44 The ROI of Black Labor

16:31 Closing

Learn more about Dr. Wendi Williams and The Well:

Website: drwendiwilliams.com

Instagram: @drwendiwilliams

LinkedIn: Dr. Wendi Williams

The Well newsletter: wellwithdrwendi.substack.com

Host Nicole S. Palmer continues her conversation with Dr. Wendi Williams, 2026 President of the American Psychological Association and founder of The Well.

In Part 2, they explore boundaries, rest as self-respect, the stereotypes and projections placed on Black women, and why centering Black women can become a pathway to broader freedom.

The conversation also examines DEI rollbacks, racism, burnout, and what it means to start choosing yourself.

00:00 Welcome to BWICA

00:41 Previously on BWICA

01:02 Black First, Woman Second

02:01 Holding Your Own Boundaries

03:43 Rest as Active Respect

05:01 Why Center Black Women

07:19 Black Women as Workplace Canaries

08:29 How Racism Hurts Everyone

10:30 Moving Toward the Life You Want

12:41 This One Is Mine

13:20 Closing

Learn more about Dr. Wendi Williams and The Well:

Website: drwendiwilliams.com

Instagram: @drwendiwilliams

LinkedIn: Dr. Wendi Williams

The Well newsletter: wellwithdrwendi.substack.com