Make the Ask with Courage | Whitney Hooper

Faith at Work: Building Bold, Legal, and Kingdom-Minded Organizations | Bob Pruitt

When I asked Bob what he sees most often in Christian business leaders, he didn’t hesitate. The biggest fear, he said, is the fear of the unknown. 👉🏻 What can I legally say about faith at work? 👉🏻 What crosses a legal line? 👉🏻 What if I offend someone? 👉🏻 Can I get sued? Faith was never meant to be a weekend accessory. God invites us to live integrated lives—reflecting Christ everywhere we go, whether that’s church, the office, or the grocery store. Today’s guest, Bob Pruitt, is a C12 Business Forums Chair serving CEOs across Central Texas and a former attorney at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). C12 is the Largest Christian peer advisory organization, with a mission to build great businesses for a greater purpose. We share practical insights on: ✔️ Integrating faith and business in an honoring and legally compliant way. ✔️ Your greatest role as a leader is being Christ’s ambassador first and foremost. ✔️ Inspire participation through voluntary involvement. ✔️ Create and maintain a statement of faith and communicate that it aligns with clear expectations. ✔️ Integrity and community are sustaining resources for living out your life's purpose.  Resources Mentioned: Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF): adflegal.org/corporate [http://adflegal.org/corporate] Learn more about Bob at: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-pruitt-47551b35b/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-pruitt-47551b35b/] C12 Business Forums: https://www.joinc12.com/ [https://www.joinc12.com/]  Learn more about Emboldened Entrepreneur or connect with us at emboldenedentrep.com [http://emboldenedentrep.com/].

When Fear Is the Barrier: Leadership, Safety, and "Removing the Snake" | Mindy Spigel

Today’s guest, Mindy Spigel, is the founder of MG Spigel, LLC, the author of “There’s a Snake on my Head,” and a speaker featured on TedX San Antonio. Mindy is passionate about helping people learn to recognize fear, respond with compassion, and enhance communication with customers and team members to decrease fear and increase outcomes.  In this conversation, Mindy shares a simple but profound truth that people cannot hear, learn, or perform when fear is present. And yet, most organizations are structured as if fear is irrelevant—or worse, as if it’s a personal weakness instead of a predictable human response. We're digging into these topics on today's episode: ✔️ The issue isn’t whether fear exists. The issue is whether leaders recognize it—and know what to do with it. ✔️ How fear blocks comprehension, but tactics we can use to help people feel heard, seen, and valued.  ✔️ Being safe is not the same as feeling safe. And people do not perform based on objective reality—they perform based on perception. ✔️ Effective leadership understands anger as an outlet of emotion and how to validate the emotion so we can move beyond it together.  ✔️ Psychological safety, change, and clarity create cohesive action.  ✔️ An anchored purpose will triumph over fear and burnout with confidence and courage.  Resources Mentioned * On the Trail Podcast Episodes that talk about the validation elevator: * Pain Processing Pathway (Part 1); Episode 53: https://open.spotify.com/episode/29tWV8DeoOpiJurIv387Dk?si=zUFvOrCCS4CqmJZSngeGmQ [https://open.spotify.com/episode/29tWV8DeoOpiJurIv387Dk?si=zUFvOrCCS4CqmJZSngeGmQ] * Pain Processing Pathway (Part 2); Episode 54: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7rRlORlxsXRbDhVZiQJeh0?si=jIXtiO3rSk-d0qekTgwYxQ [https://open.spotify.com/episode/7rRlORlxsXRbDhVZiQJeh0?si=jIXtiO3rSk-d0qekTgwYxQ]  * Pain Processing Pathway (Part 3); Episode 55: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7zu1X9g9ekHJEnCaqv9wCl?si=RfpwQWl-Soax6l6XncJefA [https://open.spotify.com/episode/7zu1X9g9ekHJEnCaqv9wCl?si=RfpwQWl-Soax6l6XncJefA] * Pain Processing Pathway (Part 4); Episode 56: https://open.spotify.com/episode/41pYPVkcSafWq2VCUGVTwr?si=_bCcjwcZTi2QCtXAJ6DkWg [https://open.spotify.com/episode/41pYPVkcSafWq2VCUGVTwr?si=_bCcjwcZTi2QCtXAJ6DkWg]  Learn more about Emboldened Entrepreneur at emboldenedentrep.com [http://emboldenedentrep.com].  Learn more about Mindy at: Website: mindyspigel.com [http://mindyspigel.com]  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mindyspigel/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mindyspigel/]  Purchase her book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Strategies-Alleviating-Healthcare-Patients-Families/dp/B0B92L1MKN/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 [https://www.amazon.com/Strategies-Alleviating-Healthcare-Patients-Families/dp/B0B92L1MKN/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0]  View her Tedx Talk: How to Meet Fear With Compassion at https://youtu.be/rIrXZJWs5N0 [https://youtu.be/rIrXZJWs5N0]

To Change the Game You Have to Change the Tactics - A Journey of Refinement | Whitney Hooper

This is the last of the solo series through January. We'll regroup next week with more guest shows, but this is one of the greatest lessons Whitney learned in 2025.  * What's fueling your purpose?  * What are you holding back that's standing between you and the dream deeply embedded in your heart?  If you want more on the topics we've discussed this month, join our Emboldened Purpose waitlist. It's an 8-week intensive coaching program designed to help you understand how you're wired, what stands in your way, and make a plan to live with Emboldened purpose and courage for a life worth living.  We're piloting the course right now with a beta group get feedback and prepare for our first cohort of 2026! So stay tuned for more details. For now, you can join the waitlist or learn more at build.emboldenedentrep.com/purpose.  Waitlist link: https://emboldenedentrepreneur.kit.com/b22b583c8e

Make the Ask with Courage | Whitney Hooper

We're continuing with the solo show for January, recapping lessons learned in this journey of entrepreneurship.  In this episode, I'm sharing about an absurd ask and finding the courage to do it anyway. I learned that the answer is always no if you don't ask.  And I also share a powerful question a friend asked me this year that challenged the way I view how I show up.  We'd love to hear your feedback! Please take 2-3 minutes to provide your feedback to help shape the future of the podcast:   https://forms.gle/w19wgWE9YT1UaSd47

Building an Intentional & Emboldened New Year with God | Whitney Hooper

Happy 2026! 🎉  This episode is unique as we launch the year and I'll explain why.  In this episode we're talking about: * My most unexpected gift from hosting a podcast * New year goals & setting our most intentional goals * Highlight reels versus reality * Not living from the sidelines but with emboldened purpose * Turning down the volume of the world and turning up the volume on what matters most.  You can access the goal guide I mentioned at: www.emboldenedentrep.com/resources/goal-guide