Today, on Notable Leaders' Radio, I speak with Stephanie Baker, Chief Experience Officer and artist. She highlights her journey of moving beyond achievement, sharing how embracing vulnerability, creativity, and leading with empathy has redefined what true success means, for herself, her teams, and those she mentors.

In today's episode, we discuss:

• Reimagine your definition of success. Step back from titles and checkboxes. Ask yourself whether your work aligns with your core values and your true impact. When your work is a reflection of who you are, fulfillment finds you, not the other way around.

• Lead with empathy and inclusion. Performance isn't just about KPIs; it's about how people feel in your presence. When you foster empathy, inclusion, and psychological safety, you build teams that are resilient, innovative, and engaged at every level.

• Make becoming a lifelong pursuit. You don't have to have it all figured out. The most effective, impactful leaders are those who stay open to growth and keep redefining who they are—at work and in life.

• Protect your energy unapologetically. Learn to say "no"—and realize that it's a complete sentence. Being deliberate with your time and focus allows you to say "yes" to what truly matters and show up at your best.

• Give yourself permission to explore new interests. Try picking up something new—painting, mentoring, creating. You never know which hidden strengths or sources of joy are waiting for you. (Check out her paintings in the show notes. She is GIFTED!)

RESOURCES:

Guest Bio:
Stephanie Baker is a Senior operations executive with 20+ years of experience driving enterprise performance and operational excellence. A trusted partner to CEOs and Boards, I specialize in aligning people, processes, and technology to deliver exceptional outcomes for customers and employees. Recognized for building inclusive, engaged teams and leading transformational change with clarity and purpose.

Website/Social Links
www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-baker-5833b78

• slbaker28@gmail.com

Belinda's Bio:
Belinda is a sought-after Leadership Advisor, Coach, Consultant and Keynote speaker and a leading authority in guiding global executives, professionals and small business owners to become today's highly respected leaders. As the Founder of BelindaPruyne.com, Belinda works with such organizations as IBM, Booz Allen Hamilton, BBDO, The BAM Connection, Hilton, Leidos, Yale School of Medicine, Landis, and the Discovery Channel. Most recently, she redesigned two global internal advertising agencies for Cella, a leader in creative staffing and consulting. She is a founding C-suite and executive management coach for Chief, the fastest-growing executive women's network. Since 2020, Belinda has delivered more than 72 interviews with top-level executives and business leaders who share their inner journey to success; letting you know the truth of what it took to achieve their success in her Notable Leaders Radio podcast.

She gained a wealth of expertise in the client services industry as Executive Vice President, Global Director of Creative Management at Grey Advertising, managing 500 people around the globe. With over 20+ years of leadership development experience, she brings industry-wide recognition to the executives and companies she works with. Whether a startup, turnaround, acquisition, or global corporation, executives and companies continue to turn to Pruyne for strategic and impactful solutions in a rapidly shifting economy and marketplace.

Website: Belindapruyne.com

Email Address: hello@belindapruyne.com

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NotableLeadersNetwork.BelindaPruyne/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/belindapruyne?lang=en

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/belindapruyne/

Today, on Notable Leaders' Radio, I speak with you as I launch the new "Still Becoming" series. I highlight how the journey of growth and self-discovery continues long after success is achieved, inviting you to explore the moments of untapped courage, unexpected opportunities, and personal evolution that unfold beyond traditional milestones.

In today's episode, we discuss:

• Explore life beyond achievement. Reflect on the moment when hitting goals and earning recognition stopped answering everything, and consider whether it's time to redesign what success looks like for you now.

• Listen for your quiet evolution. Notice the subtle inner shifts, new perspectives, expanded freedom, unexpected gentleness with yourself, that change how you see your work, your impact, and what's truly possible.

• Let the unexpected become a doorway. Revisit the chapters you never planned, a random elevator conversation, a surprise opportunity, a path you "stumbled into", that you now wouldn't give back for anything.

• Tap your untapped courage. Acknowledge the deeper reservoir of bravery it takes to step away from predictability, trust your inner knowing, and say yes when your path is no longer obvious or linear.

• Choose meaning over momentum. Ask where you're sprinting on autopilot and where you're ready to consciously trade speed for impact, alignment, and the kind of contribution that actually matters to you.

• Define what "more" means for you now. Let go of one-size-fits-all ambitions and get curious about your current version of "more" in this season—more joy, more presence, more service, more creativity—and honor that as valid and enough.

RESOURCES:

Belinda's Bio:
Belinda is a sought-after Leadership Advisor, Coach, Consultant and Keynote speaker and a leading authority in guiding global executives, professionals and small business owners to become today's highly respected leaders. As the Founder of BelindaPruyne.com, Belinda works with such organizations as IBM, Booz Allen Hamilton, BBDO, The BAM Connection, Hilton, Leidos, Yale School of Medicine, Landis, and the Discovery Channel. Most recently, she redesigned two global internal advertising agencies for Cella, a leader in creative staffing and consulting. She is a founding C-suite and executive management coach for Chief, the fastest-growing executive women's network. Since 2020, Belinda has delivered more than 72 interviews with top-level executives and business leaders who share their inner journey to success; letting you know the truth of what it took to achieve their success in her Notable Leaders Radio podcast.

She gained a wealth of expertise in the client services industry as Executive Vice President, Global Director of Creative Management at Grey Advertising, managing 500 people around the globe. With over 20+ years of leadership development experience, she brings industry-wide recognition to the executives and companies she works with. Whether a startup, turnaround, acquisition, or global corporation, executives and companies continue to turn to Pruyne for strategic and impactful solutions in a rapidly shifting economy and marketplace.

Website: Belindapruyne.com

Email Address: hello@belindapruyne.com

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NotableLeadersNetwork.BelindaPruyne/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/belindapruyne?lang=en

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/belindapruyne/

Today, on Notable Leaders' Radio, I dive into exploring a simple but often overlooked question:

Have you set yourself up for success, or expecting yourself to "just make it happen"?

This conversation isn't about fixing what you've done in the past or pushing harder in the year ahead. It's about approaching your goals with greater clarity, compassion, and intention—so what matters most has a real chance to take root.

In this episode, I reflect on:

• What it truly means to set yourself up for success
  Not through pressure or perfection, but through thoughtful preparation that builds confidence and capacity over time.

• How to reverse-engineer what you want to experience, create, or achieve
  Looking at daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly rhythms that support growth in a way that's sustainable and realistic.

• Why warming up matters, on and off the field
  Using a pole-vaulting metaphor to explore how gradual expansion and attention to form prepare you for new levels of leadership and impact.

• The value of pausing to distinguish desire from obligation
  Gently asking whether a goal truly reflects what you want now—or whether it's something you've been carrying out of habit or expectation.

At its heart, this episode is an invitation to replace self-demand with self-leadership, and to remember that professional success and personal fulfillment are not competing goals.

They are meant to grow together.

If you're looking to begin 2026 with greater clarity, alignment, and momentum, so better prepare yourself for celebrations at the end of the year, rather than disappointment with a list of things you did not accomplish. This podcast episode is for you.

Belinda's Bio:
Belinda is a sought-after Leadership Advisor, Coach, Consultant and Keynote speaker and a leading authority in guiding global executives, professionals and small business owners to become today's highly respected leaders. As the Founder of BelindaPruyne.com, Belinda works with such organizations as IBM, Booz Allen Hamilton, BBDO, The BAM Connection, Hilton, Leidos, Yale School of Medicine, Landis, and the Discovery Channel. Most recently, she redesigned two global internal advertising agencies for Cella, a leader in creative staffing and consulting. She is a founding C-suite and executive management coach for Chief, the fastest-growing executive women's network. Since 2020, Belinda has delivered more than 72 interviews with top-level executives and business leaders who share their inner journey to success; letting you know the truth of what it took to achieve their success in her Notable Leaders Radio podcast.

She gained a wealth of expertise in the client services industry as Executive Vice President, Global Director of Creative Management at Grey Advertising, managing 500 people around the globe. With over 20+ years of leadership development experience, she brings industry-wide recognition to the executives and companies she works with. Whether a startup, turnaround, acquisition, or global corporation, executives and companies continue to turn to Pruyne for strategic and impactful solutions in a rapidly shifting economy and marketplace.

Website: Belindapruyne.com

Email Address: hello@belindapruyne.com

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NotableLeadersNetwork.BelindaPruyne/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/belindapruyne?lang=en

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/belindapruyne/

Today, on Notable Leaders' Radio, I am going to share the wisdom from this year's guests. I noticed a theme in the messages that the guests shared. They each spoke from their perspectives on the importance of failure and being human as key elements of their success. Not the lack of them, but rather embracing them.

In today's episode, we discuss:

• Remember that you succeed because you're human, not despite it. Give yourself permission to feel, learn, and be imperfect, self‑trust and humanity fuel far better leadership than white‑knuckled control ever will

• Commit fully to the action and loosen your grip on the outcome. When you focus on aligned effort instead of rigid results, "failure" turns into feedback, experimentation feels safer, and it becomes much easier to stay in motion.

• Let your intuition come to work. The quirks, nonlinear career steps, and hard‑won stories you're tempted to hide are often exactly what make your leadership memorable, trustworthy, and uniquely valuable.

• Build flexible "blueprints" instead of rigid scripts. Map out where you're headed, but hold the plan lightly so you can adjust to new information, opportunities, or constraints without losing your sense of direction.

• In seasons of disruption, ask: Who am I becoming? Instead of freezing or bracing for impact, use job changes, industry shifts, or personal upheavals as prompts to align more closely with the kind of leader and human you want to be.

• Normalize vulnerability as part of your leadership toolkit. Naming your struggles, asking for help, or saying "I don't know yet" builds trust, strengthens teams, and creates room for others to be honest about what they need to thrive.
  
  

Belinda's Bio:

Belinda is a sought-after Leadership Advisor, Coach, Consultant, and Keynote speaker, and a leading authority in guiding global executives, professionals, and small business owners to become today's highly respected leaders. As the Founder of BelindaPruyne.com, Belinda works with organizations such as IBM, Booz Allen Hamilton, BBDO, The BAM Connection, Hilton, Leidos, Yale School of Medicine, Landis, Portland Trail Blazers, and the Discovery Channel. Most recently, she redesigned two global internal advertising agencies for Cella, a leader in creative staffing and consulting. She is a founding C-suite and executive management coach for Chief, the fastest-growing executive women's network. Since 2020, Belinda has conducted over 120 interviews with top-level executives and business leaders, who share their personal journeys to success, revealing the truth about what it took to achieve their success on her Notable Leaders Radio podcast.

She gained a wealth of expertise in the client services industry as Executive Vice President and Global Director of Creative Management at Grey Advertising, managing over 500 people worldwide. With over 20+ years of leadership development experience, she brings industry-wide recognition to the executives and companies she works with. Whether a startup, turnaround, acquisition, or global corporation, executives and companies continue to turn to Pruyne for strategic and impactful solutions in a rapidly shifting economy and marketplace.

Website: Belindapruyne.com

Email Address: hello@belindapruyne.com

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NotableLeadersNetwork.BelindaPruyne/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/belindapruyne?lang=en

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/belindapruyne/

• Surround yourself with experienced mentors. From public speaking training to business skills, Jourdan emphasizes that growing into leadership is a journey supported by those who have already walked the path.