In this episode of The Leader's Table Podcast, host Diana Murphy discusses how to navigate intense emotional moments—anger, anxiety, sadness—during leadership situations like team meetings, difficult conversations, or receiving bad news. Rather than judging or suppressing emotions, she frames them as a portal to wisdom, values, integrity, and truth, helping leaders stay grounded instead of reacting as a "hothead." She introduces the SLOW tool to honor and engage emotions differently:

Stop and notice your breath

Linger to recover and let the emotion move

Stay Open and curious without judgment about what triggered you

Widen your perspective to reduce tunnel vision and access what you really want to do or say.

She emphasizes that nothing has gone wrong when emotions arise and promises that practicing SLOW leads to more aligned responses and deeper insight.

00:00 Welcome and Purpose

00:13 When Emotions Hit

01:22 Emotions as Wisdom

03:47 Honor the Moment

05:41 Engage Differently

07:07 SLOW Acronym

08:39 Widen Perspective

10:18 Repeat the Steps

11:55 Mammal Not Mind

14:07 Promises and Wrap Up

In this episode of The Leader's Table Podcast, host Diana Murphy lays out the "dirty secret" of transformational growth for business owners and leaders: real change is often confusing, disorienting, and guaranteed to bring strong emotions, not just excitement.

She argues emotions aren't good or bad, and that resisting grief, anxiety, fear, anger, or disappointment can block not only growth but also access to joy and wisdom. Drawing from her experience navigating divorce and coaching clients, she explains that learning to engage emotions as a portal—not an obstacle—builds self-awareness, agency, groundedness, and clearer decision-making.

Diana contrasts this with her past patterns of worry, procrastination, and toxic positivity, and offers reflective questions and practices like slowing down, noticing the body and breath, getting curious without judgment, and letting emotional energy move.

00:00 The Dirty Secret of Growth

01:07 Transformation Feels Messy

02:42 Emotions as a Portal

05:49 Old Patterns and Burnout

08:04 Coaching Shift to Allowing

09:19 Emotions Are Energy in Motion

10:27 Questions to Get Curious

12:25 Let It Move Find Wisdom

14:27 Closing and Share the Episode

Diana supports leaders like you who are wholeheartedly invested in their leadership and personal growth. She helps you move from overwhelmed and fire-fighting to grounded, intentional, and strategic leadership.

Find out more at dianamurphycoaching.com

A leader with a strong presence is often overlooked for support, because people assume they're fine. This is especially true for high-capacity individuals whose lives appear successful on the outside and who may need extra privacy while navigating major business transitions.

In this episode, Diana Murphy shares excerpts of her conversation with Caryn Gillen. They discuss resourcing as a baseline—coaching, bodywork, emotional wellbeing, and lifestyle supports that create a "nest" so leaders can make big decisions with integrity. Caryn prompts a key takeaway about "amnesia" during pivots: people forget their full breadth of life and work experience and start acting like they're beginning from scratch, which fuels imposter syndrome.

Diana urges listeners to be honest about their emotional experience, ask for practical support, lean into trusted relationships, use coaching or reflection to spot patterns, and remember everything they bring to the table during change.

The clips come from Caryn Gillen's podcast, Coach Business, and the conversation with Diana is Episode 201.

Diana Murphy returns to the microphone after time away, sharing that she has been deepening her work through major personal transition.

She explains that many client challenges are not solved by mindset alone, and she is relaunching with an integration of coaching modalities, real-life stories, and high-impact conversations aimed at leaders, entrepreneurs, and high-integrity, high-capacity people making big moves while being "rocked" by life circumstances.

She introduces an interview clip with her personal coach and colleague Caryn Gillen (from the same coaching school), which followed a retreat where Diana clarified her niche and chose to build her business in a way that aligned with her values rather than high-volume, pitchy scaling models. Diana appeared on Caryn's podcast, Coach Business and the full conversation is here.

Caryn described Diana's business as a "powerful locomotive." In the clip, Diana describes her niche as supporting high-capacity leaders and business owners when "shift hits the fan," acting as an "ER coach" for people navigating crises (divorce, death, health diagnoses) or major chosen pivots (new roles, leaving corporate), helping them regulate anxiety, access wisdom, and regain confident leadership.

Diana then outlines how to niche powerfully by studying what you love in your work, analyzing client impact, giving yourself permission to do it differently, and creating safety and white space in schedule and business to get out of reaction mode.

She emphasizes nervous system regulation practices and frames supportive containers, solo retreats, and consistent reflection as key to accessing one's genius.

Diana closes by thanking another mentor, Trudi Lebrón and reaffirming the podcast's purpose: helping listeners create the business and life of their dreams no matter what is happening.

The book Diana mentioned is Burnout by Emily Nagoski, Ph D

00:00 Back on the Mic

01:05 Why Coaching Must Evolve

02:33 Who This Podcast Serves

03:21 Introducing Karin Gillen

04:48 Coach Business Clip

05:58 ER Coach Niche

09:06 After the Clip Takeaways

09:27 Niche by Studying Your Work

12:54 Create White Space

13:53 Regulate Your Nervous System

15:40 Wrap Up and Next Steps

Annabelle Chamberlain and I had a profound conversation about transforming the way we handle grief. Both of us are from the Life Coach School and we talked about personal experiences and professional insights into managing grief beyond the conventional understanding.

Annabelle shared her journey through the grief of losing her father and how it propelled her into specializing in grief coaching, focusing on helping others regain control over their emotions, reconnect with themselves, and enhance their productivity and passion amidst pain.

We talked about the societal attitudes towards grief, the physical and psychological impacts of grief, and practical strategies for working through it, such as self-compassion, understanding brain changes during grief, the importance of rest, and employing warmth and comfort for healing.

Listen as we uncover the power of embracing grief to fuel personal growth and the generational shift towards a healthier, more open approach to managing emotional challenges.

01:35 Exploring Grief Beyond Loss: Annabelle's Professional Insight

06:21 The Science of Grief: Understanding Brain Changes

09:09 Practical Advice: Navigating Life and Productivity Through Grief

16:54 Personal Stories and the Power of Self-Compassion

22:37 Finding Your Inner Child in the Healing Process

24:22 Embracing Emotional Wisdom: A Personal Journey

24:49 The Power of Trusting Your Inner Wisdom

25:25 Navigating Life's Challenges with Emotional Intelligence

25:39 A Wedding Day Lesson: Embracing the Unexpected

27:56 The Transformative Power of Acknowledging Emotions

28:01 Navigating Divorce and Emotional Growth

31:56 Practical Tools for Emotional Healing and Growth

34:37 The Healing Power of Physical Comfort and Self-Care

38:34 Embracing Grief as a Path to Joy and Healing

41:54 Rethinking Grief: A New Approach to Life's Challenges

46:13 Conclusion: The Journey of Emotional Resilience

Welcome back to "The Leaders Table." I'm your host, Diana Murphy, and today's episode is truly special. Joining me is the incredible Kristen Rocco, who specializes in bold and noteworthy branding, —a theme that resonates deeply with my own journey into more vulnerable, authentic business practices.

Kristen and I first crossed paths at a networking dinner, and it was instantly clear that we shared similar values and experiences. Today, we dive into the concept of the "Midlife Click" versus the midlife crisis. This idea, brought to the table by Kristen, explores how significant life transitions can lead to powerful moments of clarity and transformation, rather than crisis.

We also unpack the nuances of branding, the importance of aligning your business with your personal values, and how to make bold moves that resonate with your core identity. Kristen's approach to marketing focuses on building nurturing relationships between brands and their audiences, a philosophy that has significantly influenced my own branding experiences.

Lastly, Kristen shares the "Bold Moves Recipe," a framework she's developed from her own experiences and those of her podcast guests, which includes understanding your desires deeply, leveraging your relationships (the 'who'), and taking decisive action.

This episode is for anyone standing at the crossroads of a significant life decision, contemplating their next big move. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a corporate executive, or someone exploring your next chapter, there's something in this conversation for you.

For more on Kristen's work and to dive into the world of impactful branding, visit KristenRocco.com. And for those of you new to the podcast, welcome to the table. This is where we have the conversations we're all dying to have and make the bold moves we're all dying to make.

Thank you for joining us at "The Leaders Table." Remember, your journey is as significant as the destination. Embrace it, and make your next move boldly.

01:11 Diving into Midlife Crisis vs. Midlife Click

02:43 Kristen Rocco's Journey: From Corporate to Bold Entrepreneur

04:26 The Power of Branding and Making Bold Moves

07:10 Introducing the Bold Moves Podcast and Its Impact

11:06 Unpacking the Midlife Click Phenomenon

16:54 Research Insights: Midlife Crisis Revisited

23:21 Navigating Career Transitions with Courage

27:12 Unlocking Curiosity and Energy Shifts

28:32 Embracing Change and the Power of Coaching

30:11 The Entrepreneurial Leap: From Layoff to Launch

31:01 Building a Bold and Noteworthy Brand

34:08 The Midlife Click: From Crisis to Clarity

39:24 Defining Success on Your Own Terms

41:52 The Power of Alignment and Bold Moves

46:41 Connecting and Sharing Bold Stories

You do not want to miss the insights and light bulb shares that happened in this conversation with author Anita Henderson. Becoming the Minimalist Entrepreneur: Lessons from My Journey to Work Less, Earn More and Play More is a memoir packed with encouraging insights and great nuggets learned along the way.

Dig into this podcast and expect to be encouraged and inspired by new ways of thinking about becoming a minimalist IN your business. As an experienced entrepreneur, Anita shares with us how to focus on what is truly important. This conversation was a powerful reminder of staying focused on YOUR genius and values as you decide where to put your time and energy in your business.

We cover SO many topics but ALL through this lens of her 3 pillars:

Clarify, Simplify and Focus.

This podcast exemplifies WHY I started The Leader's table to give you a behind the scenes conversation that illuminates great business practice, thought leadership and fabulous coaching insights that support your BIG growth and BIG moves this year.

Enjoy!

You can find Anita's website here: writeyourlife.net

Her author resources are here: http://minimalist.writeyourlife.net/

In today's episode, I will let you in on some of the paths to embracing personal growth and business transformation.

On my journey of becoming single after 40 years of marriage, I learned the importance of self-love, identity shifts, and creating a supportive social life.

Initially uncomfortable, I challenged societal norms and expectations, emphasizing the need to honor my emotions and create a healthy relationship with myself.

This practice of honoring my real felt experience applies to how ALL OF US experience life and growth.

As a business owner, being single brings its own challenges. The remedy — you guessed it — self-love and compassion. Transitions that are tough, yes, offering yourself grace, self-love and compassion are so. powerful and effective for your growth of stepping into what is next.

Listen in and discover:

• How to honor your singleness and understand its deeper meaning

• The shift to help you find joy in the middle of a big identity shift

• The story about how I took myself on two big solo trips (and how I do this today!)

• The key to learning how to trust your intuition

• How to create beautiful boundaries and lead from your heart

Join my list, check me out https://dianamurphycoaching.com/