How Showing Up Fully in Leadership Becomes Its Own Definition of Success

You Don't Need a Plan to Start Over. You Need Permission to Choose Yourself.

What does it actually take to build a life and a business that are actually yours, not just impressive on paper? Jen Baxter has rebuilt her career three times: eight years in health insurance, a job in book publishing that ended on a Zoom call, and now her own business helping nonfiction authors build their audience on Substack.  Along the way she's had to figure out what stability even means when the ground keeps shifting, how AI upended the copywriting world she'd just landed in, and why the version of herself she'd been performing for everyone else wasn't actually who she was. We talk about the pause that comes before every real reinvention, the martyr role she played for years without knowing it had a name, what it means to build something creatively instead of just profitably, and the identity work she didn't know she needed. If you've ever felt the quiet tug of "maybe there's something else," this conversation is for you. 🔗 Get clarity on your own next move: beldenstrategies.com/clarityconsult What You'll Learn ⭐ Why "stability" doesn't mean what it used to ⭐ How to recognize when you're playing a role nobody actually asked you to play ⭐ Why the pause before your next chapter is the work, not a delay from it ⭐ How to know when you're building a business that's actually yours versus one that's just familiar ⭐ Why creative fulfillment matters as much as the financial plan ⭐ How to do the identity work that actually changes what you're capable of building Key Insights Stability Isn't What It Used to Be After watching her company collapse on a Zoom call, Jen realized chasing a "stable" job might be riskier than building her own thing. The old rules about safety don't hold the way they used to. The Pause Isn't Empty. It's Where the Choosing Happens Jen didn't rush back into stability after either major life disruption. She let herself stop, even when stopping felt like falling behind, because moving forward without first asking what she actually wanted would have just rebuilt the same life again. The Martyr Role Often Gets Praised Right Into Place Jen spent years as the one who "had it handled" while caretaking for sick parents — a role she didn't choose so much as absorb, partly because the people around her kept thanking her for carrying it. Building a Business Creatively Matters as Much as Building It Profitably Jen realized she'd been setting up her work to protect the parts that feel creatively alive to her, not just the parts that are easiest to scale. That distinction, more than any strategy, is what makes the business sustainable for her. Timestamps  00:00 Intro: meet Jen, three careers and three reinventions in  03:12 The Zoom call layoff that changed everything  08:18 How AI upended the copywriting job market overnight  09:58 What "stability" even means anymore  13:00 The power of the pause  18:51 Bali: realizing it's a choice, not a sentence  21:09 The uncoiling — letting go of who you had to be  24:00 The martyr role nobody asked her to play  27:43 Learning to live — and build a business — creatively  36:07 What is your "enough"?  37:47 Oxford, writing, and the identity she almost missed  44:17 NLP, belief work, and the fear of being left behind  53:17 The legacy question Resources and Links Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinbelden/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinbelden/] Or at https://www.BeldenStrategies.com [https://www.BeldenStrategies.com] Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: https://www.BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter [https://www.BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter] Connect with Jen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenbaxter/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenbaxter/] Sign up for her Substack: https://jenbaxter.substack.com/ [https://jenbaxter.substack.com/] If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who needed to hear it, and consider leaving a review. It helps more women find these conversations! #careerchange #careerreinvention #womeninmidlife #permissiontochooseyourself #burnoutrecovery #creativeentrepreneurship #midlifecareerpivot #womenleadership #buildingyourownbusiness #substackstrategy #aiandwork #womeninbusiness #legacy #over40 #kindofabigdeal #kristinbelden

Stop Waiting for a Seat at the Table. Build Your Own Room Instead.

What does it look like to leave a 20-year career not because you have to, but because you finally recognize you're ready? Angeliki is an MD-PhD with 35 years in medicine, the last two decades at Pfizer as a molecular medicine and pathology specialist. She was building AI-powered cancer prediction tools twenty years before "AI" became a buzzword, holds international patents with over 1,000 citations, and was named one of the 100 most influential women in biosciences out of 3,000 nominees. She also holds a master's in Arts and Literature from the Sorbonne... and somewhere in there, she got a skydiving degree and was accepted into NASA's Mars mission program. Now she's walking away from corporate entirely to build something of her own. Not because the work ran out, but because, as she puts it, the timing made the decision - not the decision itself. We talk about what it means to create your own room when nobody offers you a seat at the table, why joy is a choice instead of a circumstance, and what legacy looks like once you stop asking for permission. What You'll Learn ⭐ Why leaving a 20-year career can feel like relief instead of loss ⭐ How to create your own room when nobody offers you a seat at the table ⭐ Why joy is a choice, not a reaction to your circumstances ⭐ How to stop performing who you are and start building from who you are ⭐ How combining two unrelated disciplines can become your biggest professional advantage ⭐ What legacy actually means once you stop measuring it in money or titles Key Insights Pull the Chair and Sit at the Table In a male-dominated industry, Angeliki stopped waiting to be invited in. Her rule: if the room doesn't want you, build your own room - and welcome others into it. The Mind Is Like a Parachute Her theory: it works better when it's open. Pairing medicine with a master's in Arts and Literature from the Sorbonne taught her to translate complexity into something a room can actually act on. Joy Is a Choice, Not a Circumstance For Angeliki, joy isn't about whether life is going well. It's an internal practice you choose daily, based on your own values - regardless of what's happening around you. Legacy Isn't About What You Leave Behind It's about what you build, what it costs, and doing it anyway... so the people coming behind you know it's possible. Timestamps 00:00 Intro: meet Angeliki, the MD-PhD who almost went to Mars 03:00 A master's in Arts and Literature from the Sorbonne, and why it matters 04:00 Arriving in the US alone and building a career from zero 05:00 At three years old, she already knew she'd become a doctor 07:00 The skydiving degree and the NASA Mars mission acceptance 12:00 Her theory: the mind is like a parachute 17:00 Pull the chair and sit at the table — or build your own room 21:00 Why leaving corporate after 20 years felt like relief, not loss 24:00 Why she stopped waiting for the conditions to be right 40:00 Every decision that's true to who you are is a celebration 41:00 Joy is a choice, not a circumstance 50:00 What legacy really means Resources and Links Connect with Angeliki on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/angeliki-kotsianti/] Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinbelden/] or at BeldenStrategies.com [https://www.beldenstrategies.com/] Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter [https://www.beldenstrategies.com/newsletter] If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who needed to hear it - and consider leaving a review. It helps more awesome folks find these conversations. #careerchange #careerreinvention #womeninmidlife #leavingcorporate #womeninSTEM #AIinmedicine #executivecareerchange #purposedrivencareer #buildingyourownbusiness #midlifecareerpivot #womenleadership #legacy #over40 #kindofabigdeal #kristinbelden

Successful Businesses Don't Choose Between Impact and Income

What if you could build a business that refuses to choose between making money and making a difference - and that treats the people you serve like the full human beings they are? Melissa Camilleri is the co-founder of Stand for the And, an education company that supports people to develop, launch, and facilitate scalable learning experiences with their IP. Their both/and philosophy isn't just a tagline, it's the foundation of how they sell, how they work with clients, and how they think about impact. In this episode, we get into ethical selling, the identity reckoning that comes when experts step out from behind a title or institution, and what it means to stand on your own work. Melissa also shares her remarkable origin story of how she became an accidental entrepreneur in the middle of divorce, grief, and a leave of absence - and why she believes creation is the antithesis of destruction. What You'll Learn: ⭐ What it means to build a business on a both/and philosophy  ⭐ Why ethical selling starts with giving people their full agency  ⭐ The two unexpected transformations every expert goes through when they go out on their own  ⭐ What visibility really means when you no longer have an institution behind your name  ⭐ Why your most "disparate" experiences might be your greatest competitive advantage  ⭐ What legacy looks like when your mission is to fan people's flames Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction  02:00 What is Stand for the And?  07:00 Ethical selling and pain-point marketing  19:00 Giving people their full agency as buyers  21:00 The two big transformations experts don't see coming  25:00 Visibility and standing on your own work  28:00 The line in the sand moment  29:00 Getting to know yourself again  32:00 Going back to your childhood self  41:00 Building at a forever pace  43:00 Melissa's origin story  46:00 The leave of absence that changed everything  48:00 Creation as the antithesis of grief  54:00 Your squiggly background is your superpower  57:00 Legacy: being a mirror for others  1:01:00 Kids Bowl Free PSA Resources and Links: Find host Kristin Belden: On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinbelden/ On her website: https://www.BeldenStrategies.com Sign up for her newsletter: https://www.beldenstrategies.com/newsletter Stand for the And Website: https://www.standfortheand.com Connect with Melissa Camilleri on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissacamilleri/ Check out their Substack: https://substack.com/@standfortheand

Women in Tech: Breaking Silos and Scaling

What does it look like to build a career at the intersection of tech, business, and people - and realize, looking back, that it was always going to end up here? Noa Barak is a tech customer and go-to-market enablement and growth advisor who has spent her career doing the work most people don't see - building the infrastructure that helps companies scale without falling apart.  She's worked everywhere from 50-person startups to large enterprise organizations, co-founded her own ventures, and built enablement programs from the ground up. She also has an engineering degree in biotechnology and an MBA, which honestly tracks once you hear her story. Her through line across all of it: start with the end in mind. Know your values, know your impact, know what you're building toward, and pull everything back from there. We also talk about what it means to build diverse teams intentionally, why breaking down silos is harder than it sounds, and what happens when you realize the work you're doing is missing the most important ingredient - the human element. Noa and I also happen to be part of the same Support Squad, a small group of women from a coaching program we both went through, and getting to witness her journey up close has been one of the unexpected gifts of the last couple of years. You'll Learn  ⭐ What customer and go-to-market enablement actually is   ⭐ How to build from the ground up and scale without losing what matters  ⭐ Why breaking down silos starts with language and communication  ⭐ What it takes to build and maintain diverse teams intentionally  ⭐ How to hold onto your culture when you're growing fast  ⭐ Why starting with the end in mind works across every size and type of organization  ⭐ What happens when you realize your work is missing the human element Key Insights Start With the End in Mind No matter the company size, industry, or stage - this is Noa's north star. What's the impact? What are the values? What does success actually look like? Build everything backwards from there. Breaking Silos Starts With Language When everyone's using five different words for the same thing, you're not just dealing with a communication problem. You're dealing with a culture problem. Getting everyone speaking the same language is the foundation. Diversity Makes Teams Stronger Not just in the obvious ways. When people bring different experiences, different expertise, and different perspectives to the same table, the whole team gets better - as long as the values and communication are aligned. The Human Element Is the Through Line Noa left a biotechnology engineering path because something was missing. That missing piece, the people, has been at the center of everything she's built since. Timestamps  02:00 How Noa and Kristin met and what the Support Squad is  06:00 What enablement actually means  09:00 The feedback loop between customers, sales, and product  10:00 Rewinding: from high school youth trainer to biotechnology engineer  13:00 The pivot away from engineering and toward people  15:00 Joining a semiconductor company and flying globally as a training engineer 18:00 Moving into the startup world and building enablement from scratch  22:00 Women in tech: the numbers, the gaps, and what needs to change  28:00 Male allies and why women-only spaces aren't the whole answer  32:00 The through line across every role: start with the end in mind  38:00 How to scale quickly without losing your culture  42:00 Building diverse teams  46:00 Breaking silos: communication, language, and steering committees  49:00 Legacy: leaving the world a little better, one small thing at a time Resources and Links Connect with Noa on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/noa-barak/ Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinbelden/ or at BeldenStrategies.com [https://www.beldenstrategies.com/] Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter [https://www.beldenstrategies.com/newsletter] If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who needed to hear it - and consider leaving a review. It helps more women find these conversations.

Building in Public: What It Takes to Show Up Before You Have It Figured Out

What does it actually look like to build something before anyone is paying attention? Molly started with a personal blog, written to process her own life. For months, nothing happened. No readers, no traction, just blind faith and a lot of content that never saw the light of day. Then one post went viral. An NBC reporter found a completely different post. And suddenly the Today Show came calling. What followed was years of quietly, intentionally building - through pivots, experiments, and a lot of showing up before she knew exactly where it was all going - into a thriving business. Molly is now an expert in all things LinkedIn, helping female coaches, consultants, and fractional professionals show up confidently on the platform in a way that feels real and actually doable. We talk about what it takes to build in public before you have it all figured out, why community is one of the most underrated tools for solopreneurs, and how to get out of your own way so the right people can actually find you. You'll Learn ⭐ How to show up publicly when you're still figuring it out ⭐ What women specifically struggle with on LinkedIn, and how to move through it ⭐ Why community needs change by season and what to look for ⭐ How strategic connections on LinkedIn matter more than follower count ⭐ What it means to choose your work every single day Key Insights Blind Faith Is a Strategy Months of content that no one read. No traction, no validation. And then one post changed everything. Molly credits the breakthrough entirely to just not stopping. You Have to Choose It Every Day Building a business, showing up on a platform, putting your voice out there - none of it just happens. It's an act of choice, every single day. LinkedIn Is More Intimidating Than Any Other Platform Only about 3% of LinkedIn users actually create content. That means the bar to stand out is lower than you think. You just have to be willing to show up. Community Needs Are Seasonal Sometimes you need a lot of support. Sometimes the group chat feels like noise. Both are valid. A good community makes room for both. Timestamps 02:00 How Molly and Kristin met - and why LinkedIn gets the credit 05:00 The sabbatical, the nursing school pivot, and how a blog started everything 09:00 The best and hardest parts of working for yourself 13:00 Six months of silence and the post that went viral 16:00 The Today Show call she thought was spam 19:00 On evolving publicly and the vulnerability of not having it figured out 22:00 The community she built for women creators on LinkedIn 26:00 What it actually means to be a content creator — and why it matters now 35:00 The LinkedIn algorithm, the ebbs, and how to work with it 42:00 Nervous system regulation and what it has to do with showing up 48:00 What shaped her as a leader that would never show up on a resume 51:00 Legacy: having people's backs, unconditionally Resources and Links Connect with Molly on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-godfrey/] Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinbelden/] or at BeldenStrategies.com [https://www.beldenstrategies.com/] Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter [https://www.beldenstrategies.com/newsletter] If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who needed to hear it — and consider leaving a review. It helps more women find these conversations.