Storytime with Lori

The Future of Leadership Isn’t Louder. It’s More Human.

In this powerful episode of Storytime with Lori, Michelle Regus McBain shares the deeply personal story behind her success in channel, partnerships, and cybersecurity leadership. Together, Lori and Michelle unpack: ❤️ Growing up in the channel ❤️ Building relationships as a career superpower ❤️ Being the first in her family to earn advanced degrees ❤️ Navigating imposter syndrome and leadership pressure ❤️ Motherhood and executive life ❤️ Heart surgery and resilience ❤️ Being married to world-renowned analyst Jay McBain ❤️ Learning how to stop proving and start evolving intentionally Michelle also shares the pivotal moment she turned down a CRO role because she didn’t feel fully ready — and how that realization pushed her to invest in herself through Wharton and executive leadership growth. Now helping lead channel strategy and partnerships at, Michelle’s journey is a powerful reminder that real leadership isn’t about pretending to have all the answers. It’s about continuing to grow into the next version of yourself. 🎙️ Listen now. #StoryTimeWithLori #MichelleRegusMcBain #Coreo #WomenInLeadership #LeadershipPodcast #Cybersecurity #ChannelLeadership #HealingWhileRising #ExecutiveLeadership #WomenInTech

For Anyone Feeling a Little B it of Everything Today

Holding More Than One Thing at Once This Mother’s Day Mother’s Day is one of the most emotionally layered days of the year. For some, it’s filled with joy and gratitude. For others, it brings grief, estrangement, infertility, loss, or complicated family dynamics. And for many of us, it’s all of those things at once. As I continue my own journey of healing, self-awareness, and opening my heart again, I’m realizing something important: We don’t need to simplify our emotions to make them acceptable. We’re allowed to feel: ✨ gratitude and grief ✨ love and disappointment ✨ hope and uncertainty ✨ strength and longing. All at the same time. Mother’s Day was originally created to honor the emotional labor, sacrifice, and humanity of women. Today, I think it’s important we expand that definition to include: -those grieving mothers-those who never had the mothers they needed-those navigating infertility or loss-those raising children while healing themselves and those longing to be chosen, loved, and seen. Healing isn’t about becoming emotionless. It’s about learning how to hold your emotions without abandoning yourself. If today feels heavy, you’re not alone. If today feels beautiful, you’re allowed that too. There is room for all of it.

Becoming in Real Time: Healing, Mental Health & Starting Again

This one is real. In this solo episode, Lori shares what the last several years have looked like behind the scenes—navigating depression, anxiety, ADHD, career loss, and rebuilding while still carrying it all. This conversation is about: * trusting again after hard experiences * managing mental health while growing your career * learning how to stay open after being hurt * understanding that healing isn’t linear If you’ve ever felt like you were “in it” while still trying to move forward—this episode will resonate. 🎙️ STORYTIME with Lori #MentalHealthAwareness #PersonalGrowth #CareerGrowth #SelfDevelopment #HealingJourney #WomenInLeadership #MindsetShift #AnxietySupport #DepressionRecovery #StoryTimeWithLori

From Albania to Tech: Ana’s Story of Courage, Immigration & Quiet Leadership

In this episode of Storytime with Lori, Lori Mayer sits down with Ana for a real, heartfelt conversation about connection, courage, identity, and quiet leadership. Ana shares her journey from Albania to England to the United States, navigating education, immigration, visa sponsorship, career pivots, and her unexpected path into the tech and data center industry. From attending Channel Partners solo to finding community in women in tech, Ana’s story is a powerful reminder that authentic networking, mentorship, and human connection can change everything. This conversation explores women in technology, career growth, immigration resilience, boutique companies, leadership, mentorship, professional development, and what it means to live authentically. 🎧 Listen for a story about courage, community, and becoming who you are meant to be. #StorytimeWithLori #WomenInTech #LeadershipPodcast #CareerGrowth #AuthenticLeadership #ImmigrationJourney #TechIndustry #DataCenters #ChannelPartners #Networking #Mentorship #WomenSupportingWomen #ProfessionalDevelopment #QuietLeadership #SanDiego #AlbanianWomen #Resilience #PodcastEpisode #LeadershipDevelopment #CareerJourney

This Is What It Took — The Duality of Becoming

🔥 “This is what it took.”That’s the line I keep coming back to after recording this episode.Because if I’m being honest…This wasn’t a straight path.It wasn’t clean.And it definitely wasn’t easy.Over the last 10 years, I’ve navigated:leaving a relationship and rebuilding as a single momliving in an environment that didn’t feel safe or stablebecoming estranged from my birth familyopening myself up to love… and getting it wrongcarrying trauma while still showing up every daybeing laid off multiple times (shoutout to the economy 🙃)while also being promoted, leading, and buildingmanaging a $400M+ sales careerbuying a home on my own with no safety netAll at the same time.And here’s the part I think people don’t talk about enough…👉 You can be breaking and building at the same time.👉 You can be healing and performing at the same time.👉 You can be carrying more than people see… and still show up.That’s not failure.That’s real life.This episode of Storytime with Lori is about that duality.It’s about what it actually takes to:✨ choose yourself✨ leave what’s breaking you✨ rebuild when everything falls apart✨ trust again when it would be easier not toAnd also this—This is just one piece of my story.Just like you’re living one piece of yours.We’re all navigating something.Different timelines. Different circumstances. Same weight.So if you’ve been feeling like you’re holding everything together while quietly figuring it out…You’re not alone.🎙️ New episode is live:#StorytimeWithLori [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/storytimewithlori] #Authenticity [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/authenticity] #WomenInLeadership [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/womeninleadership] #CareerGrowth [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/careergrowth] #PersonalDevelopment [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/personaldevelopment] #Resilience [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/resilience] #Leadership [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/leadership] #EmotionalIntelligence [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/emotionalintelligence] #GrowthMindset [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/growthmindset] #WomenSupportingWomen [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/womensupportingwomen] #SalesLeadership [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/salesleadership] #TechSales [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/techsales] #SingleMomStrong [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/singlemomstrong] #HealingJourney [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/healingjourney] #RealTalk [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/realtalk] #LifeLessons [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/lifelessons] #PodcastLaunch [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/podcastlaunch] #SelfGrowth [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/selfgrowth] #MindsetShift [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/mindsetshift]