Community Builder - Visionary

Community Builder - Visionary

Today’s guest is the embodiment of what happens when courage is built one tiny, uncomfortable step at a time. From launching hands-on workforce development events for kids… to rebuilding after COVID… to becoming a tour guide in Detroit just to overcome her fear of speaking… TEDx hopeful, mastermind creator, entrepreneur, and future keynote speaker Melissa Wilson is proof that reinvention doesn’t require certainty — it requires willingness. She’s the founder of the Visionaries Mastermind Group, a passionate advocate for accountability partnerships, and a woman who decided that fear wasn’t going to be the final voice in her story. What I love most about Melissa is that she didn’t wait to feel “ready.” She simply kept taking what I call micro courageous acts until her confidence caught up with her calling. This conversation is about radical responsibility, enthusiasm over burnout, getting out of your own way, and why human connection still matters in an AI world. Grab Your Complimentary copy of Your Inner Billionaire: https://me.thedebbiedobbins.com/your-inner-billionaire-ultimate-guide-to-prosperity Connect with Melissa:  https://www.pathwayxevents.com Official Bio: Melissa Raymond Wilson is the founder of Pathway X, a Winston-Salem-based business focused on peer learning and accountability programming for founders and executive leaders. With more than 8 years designing and facilitating leadership development programs, she brings a structured, results-oriented approach to helping CEOs and organizational leaders grow with intention. Melissa is the creator of Pathway X Mastermind Groups and the Aligned Accountability MethodTM, a facilitation framework built for private, peer-level conversations among senior leaders. Grounded in a shared code of conduct, each session includes structured roundtable discussions where members bring current leadership challenges to the group for collective response —functioning as a mini-board of peers. Sessions also center on deliberate accountability statements tied to financial, workforce, and operational goals, tracked and revisited monthly. She has used this model since 2022 to lead the Pathway X Visionaries Mastermind, a CEO Professional Development Group for growth-stage entrepreneurs, built on her earlier experience facilitating CEO roundtables through SCORE, with several founding members coaching privately with Melissa today. Her nonprofit fluency is grounded in experience. Prior to founding Pathway X, she served as Senior Event Manager at the Michigan Science Center, located in midtown Detroit, where she managed and produced more than 400 events across programming, fundraising, and donor engagement. She understands the pressures of nonprofit leadership, including board relationships, staff accountability, and the isolation that often accompanies the executive role. She also was an active event creator and volunteer with Ferndale School District in Oakland County, often working directly with the School Board and Intermediate School District coordinators to implement initiatives in the local middle and high schools. Melissa holds certifications through the Kauffman Foundation as a FastTrac Affiliate and Facilitator and 1 Million Cups Organizer. Recently, International Strategic Management training certified her as a facilitator in Capital Readiness, Coach the Coaches, and Exploring Entrepreneurship. She also developed the current structure for their Mastermind Circles Membership for CEOs. She earns trust quickly, leads with both structure and warmth, and creates environments where senior leaders feel safe enough to be honest and supported enough to take action. She moved from Detroit to Winston-Salem in September of 2025 and is actively engaged in the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem, as a member of REACH Women's Network and the Lewisville Clemons Chamber. She works out of the Flywheel co-workspace and in April she launched a 5 week pilot called Pitch & Present in the Innovation Quarter, a weekly in-person gathering and catalyst to support early-stage founders in the city. She plans to expand the program in the Triad later this year.

Second Hand Doubt

Today on Radical Responsibility Revolution, I’m joined by Susan Houston — TEDx speaker, podcast host, and a woman who is having some very honest conversations about judgment, identity, resilience, and what happens when we stop pretending to be who the world expects us to be. And honestly… I have a feeling this conversation is going to go in about 47 different directions — in the best possible way. Because Susan and I share a lot of similar observations about the world right now. The pressure to perform online. The exhaustion of trying to build authentic businesses in an internet culture full of noise, gurus, algorithms, and shiny-object promises. The deeper conversation around energy, frequency, trauma, self-worth, and why so many people are walking around disconnected from themselves while trying to convince everyone else they’re fine. We’re also diving into something Susan calls ‘secondhand doubt’ — the beliefs and limitations we inherit from other people and unknowingly build our lives around. So this is going to be part business conversation, part human conversation, part spiritual conversation… and probably a little rebellion mixed in for good measure. Grab Your Complimentary Copy of Your Inner Billionaire:   Connect with Susan:   Website:  https://www.thesusanhouston.com [https://www.thesusanhouston.com/] Social Media: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/susanhouston.kienitz/ [https://www.instagram.com/susanhouston.kienitz/] Linked In www.linkedin.com/in/thesusanhouston [http://www.linkedin.com/in/thesusanhouston] Facebook https://www.facebook.com/susanhouston.kienitz/ [https://www.facebook.com/susanhouston.kienitz/] Podcast https://www.youtube.com/@done-pretending [https://www.youtube.com/@done-pretending]

Is Your Energy Blocked?

Today’s guest is one of those women where you sit down next to her… and within five minutes you’re like, “Wait… how do you know that about me?” I’m joined by Lynnae Velasquez, an intuitive transformation coach who reads energy, calls out your blocks, and then helps you actually do something about them. She’s 36 years sober, built a powerhouse career in sales, walked away from it, and now helps women—especially in direct sales and business—stop spinning their wheels and start becoming the version of themselves that can actually receive what they say they want. This one? We’re talking energy, identity, addiction patterns, money… and why most people are working way too hard for way too little. Grab Your Complimentary Copy of Your Inner Billionaire:  https://me.thedebbiedobbins.com/your-inner-billionaire-ultimate-guide-to-prosperity Connect with Lynnea: Website:  https://www.lynnaeann.com/ [https://www.lynnaeann.com/] https://www.instagram.com/growthjunkiecoaching/ YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@LynnaeGrowthJunkieCoaching [https://www.youtube.com/@LynnaeGrowthJunkieCoaching] Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/LynnaeGrowthJunkieCoaching/ Next Level Pattern Assessment:  https://www.lynnaeann.com/nextlevelpatternassessment Official Bio: Lynnae Velasquez is an Energetic Transformation Coach and creator of The Aligned Woman’s Path™. She helps high-capacity women—especially those in direct sales—break through the invisible patterns that keep them stuck in overthinking, inconsistency, and income plateaus. With over 36 years in personal transformation and personal growth work and more than two decades in high-level direct sales leadership, Lynnae blends nervous system regulation, energetic alignment, and identity transformation to help women expand their capacity for money, visibility, and leadership—so success finally feels steady, not forced.

Get Speaking Gigs!

Today’s guest is someone who’s built a business around helping people get on stages… but what I’m actually interested in isn’t just the stage. It’s the woman behind the strategy. Because there are a lot of people teaching ‘how to speak’… but far fewer who understand what it really takes to be heard. Leisa Reid is known as the Speaking Strategy Mentor, has delivered over 600 talks, written 9 books, and built platforms like Get Speaking Gigs Now™ and the International Speaker Network™. But what caught my attention… isn’t the volume. It’s the consistency. The decision to keep showing up, keep refining, and keep putting your voice into the world—whether it’s polished or not. So today, we’re not just talking about getting booked. We’re talking about: What it actually takes to own your voice… Why so many people stay invisible… And what shifts when you stop performing… and start telling the truth. Grab Your Complimentary copy of Your Inner Billionaire:  https://me.thedebbiedobbins.com/your-inner-billionaire-ultimate-guide-to-prosperity Connect with Leisa: Leisa@GetSpeakingGigsNow.com [Leisa@GetSpeakingGigsNow.com] GetSpeakingGigsNow.com [http://getspeakinggigsnow.com/] Click HERE for "5 Top Tips to Get More Speaking Gigs!" [https://getspeakinggigsnow.com/tips] Founder, Get Speaking Gigs Now CEO, The International Speaker Network Get 5 Top Tips to Get MORE Speaking Gigs HERE [https://getspeakinggigsnow.com/tips] Let's Connect on  LinkedIN [https://www.linkedin.com/in/leisareid/]   Official Bio:   Leisa Reid is known as The Speaking Strategy Mentor and is the Founder of Get Speaking Gigs Now™ and the CEO of the International Speaker Network™. Having delivered over 600 talks and authored 9 books, Leisa has helped business owners scale their impact beyond 1:1- through the power of speaking. She believes speaking isn’t just about giving a talk; it’s about creating a consistent strategy to get booked, stay booked, and attract clients for the lifetime of your business. Leisa is passionate about showing experts how to use speaking as a serious revenue pathway, without the pressure of being perfect or “salesy.” Her down-to-earth approach and proven system empower business owners to confidently share their message, grow their business, and make the impact they were born to create. When she’s not mentoring speakers, you’ll find Leisa enjoying 80’s music, live concerts, and her life in Southern California with her family.

The Truth About Reinvention

Today I have a guest who I instantly connected with — partly because we both have a love for Playa del Carmen, and partly because she represents something I talk about all the time… reinvention, curiosity, and refusing to stay stuck just because the world tells you you should. My guest today is Lourdes Alfonso, originally from Trinidad and Tobago, who later built a life in Canada, worked in advertising, fashion marketing, technology sales, teaching, and now coaching — and she is currently living in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, creating an entirely new chapter of her life while helping women do the same. What I love about Lourdes is that she has lived across cultures, across careers, and across decades of change — and instead of shrinking as she got older, she expanded. And that is exactly the kind of conversation we love to have here… especially for women in midlife who know deep down there is more, but aren’t always sure how to step into it. So today we’re going to talk about reinvention, cross-cultural wisdom, getting unstuck, visibility later in life, and why curiosity might be the most powerful personal development tool you have. Grab Your Complimentary copy of Your Inner Billionaire:  Link to book [https://me.thedebbiedobbins.com/your-inner-billionaire-ultimate-guide-to-prosperity]