In this episode of the Work from the Inside Out podcast, I’m joined by executive coach and author of The Visibility Factor, Susan Barber. A former Fortune 500 IT Director, Susan helps business leaders who want to leverage their leadership strengths, increase their visibility, and elevate their impact in the workplace. Susan specializes in working with quiet, high-achieving leaders who want to step into the spotlight in authentic ways, so they can be seen, valued, and influential at work.

Susan shares her journey working for 25 years in various leadership roles at Kraft Heinz to entrepreneurship, including the moment she received career-changing feedback that she “wasn’t visible enough.” That feedback, despite years of strong performance, forced her to confront imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and the subtle ways leaders unintentionally hold themselves back.

We discuss what visibility really means, why it’s not about bragging or being the loudest voice in the room, and how leaders, especially introverts, can reframe visibility as service, clarity, and responsibility. Susan also shares insights from her recently published Your Journey to Visibility Workbook and offers practical guidance for people navigating career growth, and professional transitions.

In this week’s Work from the Inside Out podcast, learn more about:

• Why visibility ≠ self-promotion
• How imposter syndrome quietly limits career growth
• The difference between being busy and being visible
• Why introverts often struggle with visibility and how to reframe it
• How feedback (even painful feedback) can become a career-defining gift
• What it really means to “do the job before you get the job”
• Practical ways to show up more intentionally without changing who you are

Learn more about Susan:

• Read: The Visibility Factor: Breakthrough Your Fears, Stand In Your Own Power And Become The Authentic Leader You Were Meant To Be
• Read: Your Journey To Visibility Workbook: A Proven Action Plan to Achieve Career Success
• Listen: The Visibility Factor podcast
• Visit: SusanMBarber.com
• LinkedIn: SusanBarberCoaching



Stay Connected:

• Connect with Tammy on LinkedIn
• Buy Me A Coffee
• Work From The Inside Out Website
• Subscribe to the newsletter
• Subscribe to YouTube: @tammygoolerloeb

This week, Tammy welcomes back author and executive coach Jacqueline Wales, whose new book Fear Intelligence: A Practical Framework for Leading Beyond Fear offers a powerful, compassionate roadmap for understanding how fears shape our lives and our leadership style. Drawing on her two plus decades of coaching executives, professionals, and creatives, Jacqueline explains how fear, often misunderstood or ignored, offers a deeply influential emotional signal that calls for our attention.

In the conversation, Jacqueline shares the evolution of her work, beginning with her early books The Fearless Factor and The Fearless Factor at Work, and leading to her latest framework, a four-part acronym: Face It, Explore It, Act on It, Rise with It. She and Tammy discuss how fear shows up in our behaviors, especially as avoidance, perfectionism, people-pleasing, or over-functioning, and how intergenerational stories can quietly shape our sense of safety and self-worth. Jacqueline illustrates how fear often runs “in the background,” like a CPU, until we learn to pause, question, and explore what it’s actually signaling.

Listeners will gain a fresh understanding of fear as data, not destiny. Jacqueline emphasizes that growth is not about becoming fearless, a myth she debunks. Becoming fear intelligent means choosing honesty over avoidance and conscious action over self-sabotage. Practical tools, reflective questions, and stories from her coaching practice illuminate how anyone can begin clearing the “old stories” that block their potential and open up space for the life they truly want.

In this week’s Work from the Inside Out podcast, learn more about:

• What Fear Intelligence is and why it matters for leaders and professionals
• The four-step F.E.A.R. Framework: Face It, Explore It, Act on It, Rise with It
• How fear shapes behavior through avoidance, perfectionism, and people-pleasing
• Why fear is often intergenerational, and how those stories get passed along
• Viewing fear as data rather than danger — and how that shift empowers action
• How to identify the stories that quietly reinforce “I’m not good enough”
• Why uncertainty is unavoidable, and why choosing discomfort can open new paths
• Jacqueline’s personal journey from hardship to transformation
• Tools, exercises, and real-life examples from her new book Fear Intelligence
• How to begin building a more honest, compassionate relationship with yourself

Learn more about Jacqueline:

• Read: Fear Intelligence: A practical framework for leading beyond fear
• Visit JacquelineWales.com
• Visit fearintelligence.co
• LinkedIn: Jacqueline Wales



Stay Connected:

• Connect with Tammy on LinkedIn
• Buy Me A Coffee
• Work From The Inside Out Website
• Subscribe to the newsletter
• Subscribe to YouTube: @tammygoolerloeb

In this week’s episode of Work from the Inside Out, Tammy welcomes longtime friend and mission-driven leader Steve Zuckerman, whose multifaceted career spans private equity, economic justice work, and co-founding Stroke Onward, the nonprofit he founded with his wife, author and professor Debra Meyerson. Steve shares how his grounded upbringing, infused with values of service and perseverance, informed the choices he made throughout his professional and personal life.

Steve walks us through his career journey, from his entry into consulting, to private equity, to becoming a stay-at-home dad during a major life shift, and eventually pivoting to non-profit leadership. He describes his ‘strategically opportunistic’ mindset which developed over time. Steve reflected on how this approach enabled him to see opportunities beyond conventional pathways and engage with both planned and unexpected situations.

In 2010, the unexpected occurred when Steve’s wife, Deb experienced a life threatening stroke Debra, leaving her with a paralyzed right side and no speech at all. We discuss her continual recovery efforts, limitations imposed by her aphasia, and their collaborative mission to expand the conversation around identity loss and rebuilding after stroke. Steve shares how this experience reshaped his career priorities, leading to the founding of Stroke Onward and the second edition of Deb’s book Identity Theft: Rediscovering Ourselves After Stroke. Their goal: transform how the medical and rehabilitation systems support the long-term emotional journey of recovery.

In this week’s Work from the Inside Out podcast, learn more about:

• How Steve’s childhood values shaped his lifelong commitment to service and purpose-driven work.
• Why he turned down traditional career pathways in favor of roles aligned with his values.
• The philosophy of being “strategically opportunistic” and how it can guide career decisions.
• The year-long Mediterranean family sailing adventure that changed their perspective on life.
• Deb’s stroke, her life with aphasia, and how Steve supports her identity rebuilding.
• How the book Identity Theft evolved into a second edition and the founding of Stroke Onward.
• The systemic gaps in stroke recovery and why emotional healing needs long-term support.
• Steve’s advice for making career decisions rooted in clarity, compassion, and self-awareness.

Learn more about Steve:

• Learn more about Stroke Onward
• Follow on Instagram: @strokeonward
• Follow on Facebook: Stroke Onward’
• Follow Steve on LinkedIn
• Subscribe on YouTube: @strokeonward
• Read: Identity Theft: Rediscovering Ourselves After Stroke
• Listen to the audiobook: Identity Theft: Rediscovering Ourselves After Stroke
• Read: Identity Theft: Second Edition



Stay Connected:

• Connect with Tammy on LinkedIn
• Buy Me A Coffee
• Work From The Inside Out Website
• Subscribe to the newsletter
• Subscribe to YouTube: @tammygoolerloeb