The Cost of Becoming a More Honest and Resilient CEO

The Cost of Becoming a More Honest and Resilient CEO

What does it cost to become a more honest and resilient leader?On this episode of Alchemize with Alanna, Alanna Levenson sits down with entrepreneur and founder Mohammed Abouelsoud for a conversation about the emotional realities of leadership, identity, and growth under pressure.As a founder building in a space that can often feel overlooked, Mohammed opens up about the weight of leading without constant validation, questioning decisions in real time, and learning how to navigate the difficult internal conversations that come with scaling both a business and yourself.Together, they'll explore what happens when leaders stop trying to manage perception and start making decisions from greater clarity, honesty, and emotional maturity.This conversation reflects the heart of Alchemize with Alanna with moments where leadership, self-awareness, and difficult decisions intersect.Topics include:• The emotional weight of building without constant validation• Navigating hard leadership conversations with yourself and others• Becoming the CEO your business actually needs• Letting go of wanting to be liked while leading with clarityRegister now and join us for the conversation from the comments.

Leadership Decisions in Uncertain Business Environments

What happens when the things you used to rely on no longer hold?The title doesn’t carry the same weight.The market doesn’t reward difference the same way.The team isn’t operating at the level you expected.In this episode of Alchemize with Alanna, Alanna Levenson is joined by Anthony Reeves, who has spent years working alongside leadership teams inside companies where growth depends on clear decisions, aligned execution, and knowing what cannot be allowed to slip.His work focuses on the points where things start to break down—before they become visible in performance.This conversation gets into what leaders are actually dealing with in those moments.We’ll explore:• Earning Authority Without Built-In Structure• Competing When Every Brand Looks the Same• Addressing Performance Gaps in Remote TeamsFrom stepping into roles where authority has to be established in real time, to making calls in markets where everything starts to look interchangeable, to addressing underperformance that is harder to see in remote environments, this discussion stays close to situations that require clear judgment and direct action.If you are in a position where how you handle something will have consequences, this conversation will be relevant.

The Foundations of Growth: Ethics, Identity, and the Unknown

Trust tends to get overlooked until something starts to feel off, whether that shows up in how people communicate, how decisions are made, or how teams engage with each other over time. It rarely breaks in obvious ways. Instead, it builds or erodes through small, consistent interactions, how people interpret each other, what gets said or left unsaid, and how those moments are handled. In this episode of Alchemize with Alanna, Alanna Levenson - Fractional Chief Decision Officer sits down with Yonason Goldson - The Ethics Ninja to explore what actually shapes trust in real environments and how ethics influence the way people show up, make decisions, and respond to one another. The conversation will explore: 1. Ethics as the Foundation of Success and Fulfillment 2. How Labels Limit Understanding of Self and Others 3. Discovering Potential by Embracing the Unknown Yonason brings a perspective grounded in ethics and leadership, with a focus on what drives behaviour over time and what creates the conditions for trust to either strengthen or break down. This is a discussion about how people interpret what’s in front of them, how those interpretations influence outcomes, and what that means for how things move forward. If this is something you’ve been noticing in your own environment, you’re welcome to join us and listen in.

What Leadership Requires Now

Leadership expectations are changing quickly. Traditional feedback cycles are being questioned, AI is reshaping how decisions are made, and human skills are becoming more critical as information becomes widely accessible. On this episode of Alchemize with Alanna, Alanna Levenson - Fractional Chief Decision Officer is joined by Ben Perreau, founder of Parafoil, for a conversation about what leadership requires now. Ben brings a unique perspective from his work at the intersection of cognitive science, AI, product development, and leadership intelligence, as well as years of experience advising executives and building systems that support people managers at scale. Together, they will explore how leaders can move beyond static evaluation models toward ongoing leadership feedback, what the growing influence of AI means for leadership development, and why human skills matter more than ever in a world where knowledge is abundant. This conversation is designed for leaders, founders, and people managers who are navigating change and looking to build leadership approaches that are both technologically informed and deeply human. Topics include: 1. From Annual Reviews to Ongoing Leadership Feedback 2. The Influence of AI on Leadership 3. Why Human Skills Matter More When Knowledge Is Abundant This episode invites reflection on how leadership is evolving and what it takes to lead with clarity, adaptability, and intention in today’s environment.

From Kindness and Trauma to Purpose and Transformation

There are seasons in life that break you open. And then there are moments when you realize those very experiences are shaping who you’re becoming. In this episode of Alchemize with Alanna, Nathaniel Allenby joins the conversation to share a journey that spans 28,000 miles on a bicycle, years of personal adversity, creative reinvention, and a deep commitment to service. Nathaniel’s story weaves together compassion, trauma, performance, art, and psychology. From restoring his faith in humanity through radical acts of kindness, to transforming personal hardship into meaningful work, his path reflects what it looks like to turn lived experience into purpose. We’ll explore: 1. Kindness That Restores Faith in Humanity 2. Turning Trauma Into Purposeful Service 3. Transforming Pain Through Art and Purpose This conversation isn’t about bypassing pain. It’s about meeting it, learning from it, and allowing it to shape something deeper and more intentional. If you’ve ever wondered how your hardest chapters might become part of your calling, this episode invites you into that reflection.