What if the greatest threat to your vision isn’t the world outside but the stories you’ve been programmed to believe? In this episode of the Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell sits down with Lydia Knight, a former cult survivor turned paradigm-shifting author, speaker, and executive coach. Lydia shares how she rewrote her own life story literally and neurologically by using neuroscience-based tools she calls the “Five Cs.” Her journey from trauma and indoctrination to leadership and liberation is nothing short of extraordinary. Lydia’s unique insights into how fear holds us back and how to deprogram perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and people-pleasing are a must-hear for anyone who feels called to create change in the world. Whether you’re launching a movement, starting a business, or just learning how to lead yourself first, Lydia offers a roadmap to your most powerful self.

What You Will Learn:

The importance of leading yourself first before attempting to lead others.

Why fear keeps us self-focused and how to rewire the brain for courage.

How internal “chatter” can sabotage growth and what to do about it.

How to access the visionary part of the brain using practical language-based hacks.

The truth about perfectionism and how it delays action.

A new understanding of story as a neurological tool for creating your future.

The difference between goal setting and being pulled by a vision.

How to identify and take your next five-minute action step toward your vision.

The origin and evolution of The SHE Center and how it serves women leaders today.

The neuroscience framework behind the “Five Cs” for transformation.

Why celebration is a powerful neurotool for motivation and change.

A powerful example of how small consistent action outpaces perfection.

How to spot and interrupt limiting beliefs rooted in fear-based programming.

Resource:

Lydia Knight The She Center

The She Center Podcast

Leading Visionaries Podcast

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What if every complaint in your company was actually a doorway to possibility? In this episode of the Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell sits down with leadership strategist and founder of Elevated Talent Consulting, Traci Austin, to explore how HR can become a powerful tool for vision, alignment, and transformation. Traci shares her evolution from nonprofit HR leader to founder of a firm that partners with small and mid-sized trade businesses to redefine leadership, build future-ready teams, and develop people-first cultures that retain top talent.

Whether you're growing past the $3M or $10M mark in your business, or you're a mission-driven founder navigating growth with intention, Traci’s wisdom will help you reframe what’s possible. She dives deep into how to turn frustration into innovation, and how visionary leadership is as much about curiosity and enrollment as it is about structure and systems.

What You Will Learn:

How to transform common workplace complaints into clear, empowering requests.

The difference between urgent culture and visionary leadership.

The key indicators that your company needs leadership support or HR realignment.

Why HR doesn’t have to be the “organizational cop,” and what it looks like to lead from partnership.

How to move from compliance-heavy HR into people strategy and growth planning.

The impact of multi-generational dynamics in trade businesses and how to evolve them.

Why outlining talent pathway plans helps employees feel invested and aligned with company goals.

What business owners can learn from the trades about practical leadership development.

Resource:

Traci Austin Elevated Talent Consulting

The People Strategy Podcast

Leading Visionaries Podcast

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What does it really take to evolve as a visionary leader in today’s fast-changing world? In this special 2-year anniversary episode of the Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell brings together a powerful panel of past guests who are redefining leadership in business, wellness, and social impact. From soul-aligned wealth and multi-million-dollar med spa empires to strategy that breaks the rules and joy as a business model, these trailblazers reveal what has shifted for them—and how their leadership has deepened.

You’ll hear from:

Alara Sage, the Oracle of Wealth, who speaks to the energetic evolution of humanity and how joy, embodiment, and AI are reshaping our approach to wealth.

Guest Episode: Embracing Pleasure to Unlock Your Potential with Alara Sage

Alejandro Salazar, author of The Emergent Strategy, who shares insights on decoupling identity from business and the clarity required for scaling transformational work.

Guest Episode: Discovering the Power of Emergent Strategy with Alejandro Salazar

Dr. Dia Burger, the Face Sculptor, who talks about fast pivots, soul-aligned entrepreneurship, and the explosive potential of med spa growth.

Guest Episode: Becoming an Industry Leader in Medical Cosmetics—with Dr. Dia Burger

Stacie Shifflett, founder of Modern Consciousness, who unpacks the power of rooting into inner clarity and honoring your intuitive business downloads.

Guest Episode: Tap into Consciousness, Reclaim Your Joy—with Stacie Shifflett

Their collective wisdom makes this episode a treasure trove for visionary entrepreneurs, creators, and change-makers ready to scale their impact without compromising their soul.

If you’re a purpose-driven leader who’s done “business as usual” and still feels like something deeper is calling, this is your sign.

What You Will Learn:

How each guest's leadership vision has evolved since their original episode and what catalyzed that growth.

How releasing the hustle mindset and embodying joy can create more powerful soul aligned results.

Ways visionary leaders are integrating AI to create more spaciousness and deepen creativity.

How to magnetize team members clients and collaborators through authentic presence.

Insights into creating scalable offers that remain deeply transformational and personalized.

How guests are scaling their brands while staying rooted in values ethics and intuition.

Behind the scenes examples of how visionaries refine and expand their impact after massive growth.

How to enroll others in a mission by connecting to the deeper why behind the work.

The importance of staying true to an original calling even when others suggest alternatives.

Sparkly Insight Quote from Alara Sage:

“We’ve been taught limited ways of being. The real power is when you reconnect with your aliveness and let it carry your legacy.”

Sparkly Insight Quote from Alejandro Salazar:

“Clash with the market. Start by doing. That’s the first principle of my theory.”

Sparkly Insight Quote from Dr. Dia Burger:

“Build relationships with your team so they walk beside you, not just follow you.”

Sparkly Insight Quote from Staci Sehifflett:

“Stop outsourcing your clarity. The answers are already within you.”

Resource:

Alara Sage: Website

Alejandro Salazar:

Have you ever wondered what it would look like to lead your business with both financial clarity and visionary courage? In this episode of Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell interviews Teresa Wagonseller, founder of Higher Up CFO Services, who reveals how her journey from a challenging childhood to becoming a sought-after fractional CFO is a testament to the power of resourceful leadership. With over 30 years of experience spanning billion-dollar corporations and scrappy startups, Teresa doesn’t just manage numbers, she helps business owners see their vision more clearly through financial strategy. She challenges the myth that CFOs are only for big business and instead opens the door for founders and small business owners to imagine what’s possible when you stop DIYing your finances and start thinking like the big players.

From realizing as a child that there were other ways to live, to taking bold leaps in and out of entrepreneurship and corporate life, this episode is a roadmap for action.

What You Will Learn:

Why combining analytical thinking with creativity can be a major advantage in business.

How discovering different models of family and leadership can unlock new personal and professional goals.

The value of honoring changing dreams and adapting as new ideas and opportunities emerge.

Why leaving behind a successful business can be the right move for long-term fulfillment.

How fractional CFO services provide high-level support for small and growing businesses.

Why it’s essential to move from a DIY approach to bringing in experts for business growth.

The benefit of a financial assessment to reveal what’s working and where there’s opportunity.

How mentorship and team empowerment create stronger, more motivated organizations.

Why acting on inspiration is essential and how to move past fear to execution.

When it makes the most sense to bring in a fractional CFO based on company revenue.

Which tasks should be delegated to free up time for higher-value leadership activities.

How part-time financial leadership can lead to significant gains in profit and cash flow.

Why small businesses should adopt the mindset and structure of large, successful companies.

What a free financial review can reveal and why it’s a smart first step.

Resource:

Teresa Wagonseller: Higher Up CFO Services

Leading Visionaries Podcast

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What if the biggest act of leadership you’ll ever take is choosing yourself again and again? In this episode of Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell interviews Tzara Attwater. self-leadership and mindset coach. Imagine leaving behind comfort, career, and even relationships to build a van, chase eclipses across continents. But this isn’t just a story of escape, it’s about facing your fears, silencing your inner critic, and redefining success on your own terms.

Whether you’re a high-achiever battling imposter syndrome, a visionary stuck in analysis paralysis, or simply someone feeling the tug to do life differently, this episode will challenge and elevate you. And if you’ve ever wondered what it really means to "think smarter and lead stronger," don’t miss the final five minutes because that’s where the clarity hits hardest.

What You Will Learn:

What self-leadership really means and how to develop it through everyday decisions, even when no one is watching.

How to break free from imposter syndrome and reframe self-doubt into empowerment and resilience.

Why external success without internal connection can leave high-achievers feeling empty, and how to change that.

The role of the inner critic in your leadership journey, and how to quiet it so you can move forward with clarity.

How childhood experiences shape your inner dialogue and what to do when those mental patterns no longer serve you.

Why taking risks builds self-trust, especially when you're in unfamiliar territory and must rely on yourself.

How to hold your big vision lightly, allowing room for creative solutions, clarity, and personal growth.

Tools to become a stronger relational leader, especially if you're managing teams or navigating blurred boundaries at work.

The truth about building a business on the road.

A powerful mindset shift about time and energy, recognizing that your “heartbeats” are your most valuable currency.

Resource:

Tzara Attwater: My Confidence Coach

Leading Visionaries Podcast

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In a world teetering between ecological collapse and conscious awakening, few voices speak with the grounded clarity and spiritual depth. In this episode of Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell interviews Lev Natan. Lev shares a breathtaking origin story; his awakening during a shamanic journey in 2006 that revealed a future of global healing, forest regeneration, and communal leadership rooted in indigenous wisdom. Raised in the Jewish mystical tradition and deeply immersed in ceremony, Lev’s story unfolds like a sacred map, one that guides listeners from early inner questioning to the birth of his movement-based organization, Alliance for a Viable Future (AVF).

Through sound healing, community cohorts, intercultural partnerships, and inspired regional organizing, Lev has woven together threads of prophetic vision, practical leadership, and earth-based activism into a powerful call to action.

Whether you are an emerging visionary or a seasoned changemaker, this episode will stretch your perspective, stir your soul, and remind you that what the world truly needs is for you to come alive and stay rooted.

What You Will Learn:

How visionary experiences can emerge from deep emotional sensitivity and global exploration.

Why early feelings of misalignment with the world can signal a calling toward leadership and change-making.

The role of immersive travel and cross-cultural learning in shaping a worldview rooted in justice and sustainability.

What it looks like to receive a transformational vision during a ceremonial experience, and how it can inform life’s purpose.

How metaphors from nature, such as forests and trees, can serve as models for resilient community leadership.

The spiritual and symbolic meaning of light, vibration, and sound in healing both people and the Earth.

Why many visionary journeys require time, patience, and quiet integration before taking public action.

What it means to lead “like the forest” and why that model is essential in this ecological moment.

How reconnecting with your purpose can help overcome doubt and resistance in the leadership journey.

Resource:

Lev Natan: Alliance for a Viable Future

Leading Visionaries Podcast

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What if the key to better decision-making isn’t just gathering more data but learning how to think differently about the data you already have? In this episode of Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell interviews Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, investigative journalist turned decision science expert, to explore the radical power of intentional decision-making through her proprietary AREA Method. With a background writing for the New York Times and Harvard Business Review, Cheryl brings a journalist’s scrutiny and a visionary’s creativity to the question that haunts leaders and entrepreneurs alike: “How do I know I’m making the right call?”

Whether you’re facing a career pivot, launching a new venture, or navigating high-stakes decisions in uncertain times, Cheryl’s step-by-step system challenges the mental shortcuts we all rely on and replaces them with deeper insight, ethical clarity, and practical tools to guide you forward. From her five “Problem Solver Profiles” to the dangers of cognitive bias, this conversation is packed with actionable wisdom for anyone looking to lead with courage and clarity.

This episode will change how you make decisions. Forever.

What You Will Learn:

How to recognize and counter cognitive biases that impact your decision-making.

Why ethical clarity is essential in both journalism and leadership decisions.

What the AREA Method is and how each step supports better outcomes.

How to apply a structured process to complex personal or professional choices.

The five “Problem Solver Profiles” and how they shape the way people approach problems.

Why understanding others’ decision-making styles improves collaboration and communication.

How to use a pre-mortem to anticipate failure and strengthen decisions before execution.

The importance of collecting verifiable data and diverse perspectives before acting.

How your internal leadership and values influence external choices.

Where to access tools and assessments to discover your own problem-solving style.

Why skipping steps in research and analysis leads to flawed conclusions.

Why decisions fail when people rely too heavily on “mental shortcuts.”

How to create space for better insights by thinking critically about your assumptions.

What it means to explore versus exploit ideas when weighing decisions.

How leaders can balance creativity and data when making visionary moves.

Why collaborative decision-making requires understanding what others value in a choice.

Resource:

Cheryl Strauss Einhorn: AREA Method

Leading Visionaries Podcast

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Creative Age Consulting Group