We’re not playing nice in this one, friend! This episode features the creatively talented Rochelle Sodipo, Creative Director at Roseredd. In it, we discuss the widespread practice of faux vulnerability, the art of intellectualizing, and how you can start bringing out your own authentically vulnerable creativity.

Meet Rochelle Sodipo:

Rochelle is best known for Brand Identity and Brand Strategy. She is the founder and Creative Director of Roseredd, Etc.®, a brand support agency focused on branding and design.

As a consultant and coach, Rochelle partners with executives, entrepreneurs, artists, and influencers to build and cultivate individual and organizational brands across their stages of growth, from start-up to scale. She supports clients that range in size from small businesses to multi-million dollar organizations.

A fine artist and educator by training, Rochelle pairs her passion for the aesthetics of art with her expertise in scaffolding and pedagogy to work with clients to understand and refine a brand vision that reflects their core values. Her signature service, “Soul Level Branding,” leverages the Roseredd, Etc.®️ framework to go beyond design by defining, highlighting, and amplifying the personality and value proposition of a brand before curating a complementary visual identity.

Rochelle self-identifies as a creative leader. As a designer, she prides herself on using standard tools in non-traditional ways and finding clear connections between what others may see as disparate ideas to create a cohesive vision.

Outside of running day-to-day operations for Roseredd, Etc.®, Rochelle teaches tools and tactics to support solo-entrepreneurs and other students in understanding how to effectively mix brand theory and creative artistry to drive impact while retaining the heart of a brand.

Episode Highlights:

• (10:50) Weapons of distraction;
• (26:36) Faux vulnerability;
• (32:15) Leverage good storytelling;
• (46:39) Introspection;

Connect with Rochelle

Facebook: @rosereddetc

Instagram: @rosereddetc

LinkedIn: @rochellesodipo

Episode Resources:

• Roseredd Course (https://www.rosereddcourses.com)
• For more Management Mastery head over to ManageMint (https://managemint.co)
• Get our free eBook "Super Leaders Need Love, Too: 3 Hacks for Not-So-Great Days" (https://www.managemint.co/ebooks)

Support the Show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/takethisoffline)

We are featuring the wonderfully regal Liz Miranda, State Representative 5th Suffolk District, MA House of Representatives. In it, Miranda shares her journey about being an immigrant in the United States, how the killing of her brother shaped her career, and the importance of being an effective political leader in underrepresented communities.

Meet Liz Miranda:

Liz is best known for leading the police reform bill in Massachusetts to passage and her Social Moniker is Betti!

Since elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2020, Elizabeth "Liz" Miranda has served as State Representative for the 5th Suffolk District of Roxbury and Dorchester.

Representative Miranda currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Committee on Human Resources and Employee Engagement, and serves on the Joint Committee(s) on Community Development and Small Businesses, Public Safety and Homeland Security, and Veterans and Federal Affairs.

In her first term, Representative Miranda has filed and passed legislation to reimagine public safety, improve racial disparities in maternal health, promote environmental justice within disproportionately impacted communities, and ensure a just recovery for micro-to-small businesses most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, she was the first legislator in the Commonwealth to establish a district-led community care program which connected 3,000 vulnerable residents with support and resources.

As a result of Rep. Miranda’s Covid Vaccine Equity Bill, Governor Baker implemented nearly all of the core tenants of the legislation- reimagining health to include socioeconomic determinants.

As the daughter of Cabo Verdean immigrants, Representative Miranda has been a tireless advocate for immigrant rights, while leading the fight for an equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to serving in the Massachusetts Legislature, Representative Miranda was a non-profit executive, entrepreneur, and community organizer, which began as a teen living in the Dudley triangle.

In 2017, Representative Miranda lost her 28-year-old brother, Michael Miranda, to gun violence. After her decades long advocacy for gun violence prevention, losing her brother was a catalyst in her entrance to electoral politics. Her lived experience and commitment to community propels her fight for immigrant rights, criminal legal system reform, improved black maternal health outcomes, and economic justice.

Her professional roles have included serving as the Executive Director for the Hawthorne Youth and Community Center and Director of Youth Opportunity Development at Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI). Rep. Miranda’s career has aimed to build resident-led leadership and advocacy for youth development, violence prevention, and economic justice.

Representative Miranda is a Wellesley College alumna and proud graduate of Boston Public Schools, graduating from the John D O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Boston Alumnae Chapter, and the Wellesley Club of Boston.

Episode Highlights:

• (10:04) Demand more and demand better;
• (12:03) Leadership is both a privilege and a responsibility;
• (17:59) Being a little too much in leadership;

Connect with Liz:

Email: liz@lizmiranda.com

Website: https://lizmiranda.com

Instagram: @replizmiranda

Episode Resources:

• For more Management Mastery head over to ManageMint (

This episode features the brilliant Lenita Dunlap, Principal at Not Just Fundraising, as she discusses what it means to cut through the chaos. Lenita tells us what led her to provide trauma-informed care, the world of nonprofits, and her mission to provide access to mental health and equitable education for marginalized communities.

Meet Lenita Dunlap:

Known as The Chaos Whisperer, Lenita loves working through crisis situations and helping individuals and organizations experience freedom. She has such a heart for the third sector and believes we can truly change the world with proper resources and support. Lenita’s an advocate for change and will help leaders achieve their goals.

For the past 20 years, Lenita has dedicated her life to service and advocacy for access to mental health and equitable education for marginalized communities through working in educational and nonprofit organizations that uplift and empower young people and their families. As a consultant and thought partner, she specializes in guiding teams through crisis situations and introducing their missions to various stakeholders. As a Community Development and Mental Health expert, Lenita combines research, policy, and expertise to empower, motivate, and rally teams through facilitation and leadership development.

Lenita’s commitment to mental health access was birthed from advocating for her family's mental health journey. She witnessed firsthand the difficulty in finding proper support, as well as the lack of affordability, diversity, and cultural competency needed to create safe psychological spaces for healing. Leveraging this experience led her to revamp a failing after-school program to a creative and innovative after-school program based on research centered around the effects of trauma on refugee children. Instead of focusing solely on academics, she introduced trauma-informed care to the refugee serving space within after-school work that later received international recognition and accolades. In this previous leadership role, Lenita grew the organization's annual budget by 300% within five years, led a rebranding campaign, expanded program reach, garnered international attention, and earned certification for all sites.

Lenita was a featured speaker at the 2019 Australia and New Zealand Refugee Trauma Recovery in Resettlement Conference in Brisbane, Australia, and the North American Refugee Health Conference in Toronto, Canada. Both platforms provided an opportunity to share her unique perspective. Her presentation highlights included addressing mental health during after-school programming, diving deeper into the effects of trauma on the brain in the context of refugees, and observing different models of implementation for various therapies. She has also co-led and facilitated presentations for the local and global chapters for the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). Within these platforms, she taught participants how to diversify their board and staff, pivot and twirl during challenging times, and shared with nonprofit leaders the need to SLOW DOWN, BREATHE AND CELEBRATE.

Currently, VP of Operations at Abide Women’s Health and as a PhD student in Public Administration and Policy at the University of Texas at Arlington researching burnout, refugee resettlement, equity, and, leadership, Lenita understands the trials and triumphs of nonprofit leaders not only practically but theoretically. She holds two masters: one in Education and the other Public Administration. Lenita also earned certificates in nonprofit management and marketing from the Center for Nonprofit Management.

Episode Highlights:

• (4:05) Cutting through the chaos;
• (12:59) What do you need as a leader;
• (17:52) What’s happening to our leadership pipeline?;
• (22:00) Healthy...

The talented principal and CEO at The Board Pro, Christal Cherry shares with us the struggles she faced in her dating life, the challenges she faced when she decided to adopt at 45, and how her little boy has not only made her a better person but has taught her to be a better leader.

Meet Christal Cherry:

Christal’s Social Moniker is I'm a Bold Bitch! and she’s best known for being direct, loyal, and vocal!

“She pushed through her fear and did it anyway!”

Christal M. Cherry is a nationally recognized nonprofit executive and professionally trained fundraiser. With over 20 years in the nonprofit sector, she has supported higher education institutions, human services organizations, and faith-based missions. Christal also served as a Senior Consultant at the GA Center for Nonprofits and is currently the CEO of The Board Pro, a consulting firm designed to transform leaders through board service.

As The Board Pro, Christal’s works with nonprofit boards to coach, train, and counsel them to be effective governing and fundraising arms for their organizations. She also assists with finding qualified and diverse talent to add to boards, onboarding, culture assessments, and diversity, equity, and inclusion training.

Christal earned a MA in Counseling from Hampton University, a BA in Liberal Arts from Hofstra University, and professional development certifications in nonprofit leadership, social media fundraising, and nonprofit management.

She currently serves on the board of the Greater Atlanta chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Villages of Carver YMCA. She is a regular trainer and facilitator with CANDID, Qgiv, Network for Good, Bloomerang, Kindful, and the Mississippi Alliance of Nonprofits and Philanthropy where she facilitates webinars and teaches courses in fundraising, board development, and equity and inclusion. Christal has been a guest on multiple podcasts and enjoy serving as a requested expert on board matters. She is contributing author in Collecting Courage, a documenting of racism and survival by fourteen accomplished Black fundraisers working across the United States and Canada. Her first children’s book: Mac and Cheez: Being Different is Okay will be released on Amazon on November 21, 2021. Christal also enjoys her membership in the African American Development Officers Network, Toastmasters, and F3, Fabulous Female Fundraisers which she founded.

Episode Highlights:

• (14:05) Challenges of adopting;
• (19:15) How life changed after adoption;
• (41:19) The Board Pro;

Connect with Christal:

Facebook: @theboardpro

LinkedIn: @Christal M Cherry

The Board Pro: https://www.theboardpro.com

Episode Resources:

• For more Management Mastery head over to ManageMint (https://managemint.co)
• Get our free eBook "Super Leaders Need Love, Too: 3 Hacks for Not-So-Great Days" (https://www.managemint.co/ebooks)

Support the Show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/takethisoffline)

We are featuring award-winning speaker Aiko Bethea, the Founder of RARE Coaching & Consulting. In the episode, Aiko addresses the hard questions. How are you showing up for your team as a conscious leader? While creating a diverse team is great, Aiko discusses why creating a culture that amplifies and encourages diversity is even better.

Meet Aiko Bethea:

Known as the Seeker of Justice, Aiko is a leader, builder, and connector. She successfully navigated leadership roles in government, philanthropic, nonprofit, and private sectors. In each sector, she created and served in inaugural roles to meet growing organizational needs.

Aiko is an award-winning and highly sought-after equity consultant, executive coach, and speaker. She is the founder of RARE Coaching & Consulting, a consulting practice focused on coaching leaders and organizations to remove barriers to inclusion. Her practice integrates operations, leadership coaching, and education strategies that yield measurable outcomes.

Aiko is Sr. Director of the Daring Way™ and Dare to Lead™ communities of Brené Brown Education and Research Group. She oversees development and implementation of the overall strategy for the communities, as well as the specific diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging strategy and oversite of the global 1000+ member facilitator community.

Episode Highlights:

• (11:09) Accountability;
• (14:47) Intention of the work;
• (19:27) Performative authenticity and assimilation;
• (26:28) Perfectionism and toxic productivity;
• (48:04) Authentic Leadership;

Connect with Aiko:

Instagram: @rare_coach

LinkedIn: @AikoBethea

Episode Resources:

• For more Management Mastery head over to ManageMint (https://managemint.co)
• Get our free eBook "Super Leaders Need Love, Too: 3 Hacks for Not-So-Great Days" (https://www.managemint.co/ebooks)

Support the Show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/takethisoffline)

We are featuring the amazing Danielle Henry, the Senior PM / OD Consultant at Great Dane 921 LLC. We're taking on the topic of Cultural EQ, a topic that’s been dominating boardroom conversations in the workplace: emotional intelligence in ourselves and the people on our teams. Danielle doesn’t hold back as she tells us all about what we think we know, what we don’t, and how to bridge the gap between the two.

Meet Danielle Henry:

Danielle Antoinette Henry has a demonstrated history of working in the management consulting industry for-profit and nonprofit entities with a focus on social impact digital marketing, branding, web development, and operations. Currently, Danielle is a Senior Manager, Client Partnerships for Sarankco Creative Studio.

She is the Founder and CEO of Great Dane 921 Consulting, LLC, a consultancy firm focused on developing solutions that are based upon the foundation of empathetic understanding and the need for more compassion and transparency at work. She has conducted professional development training for nonprofits such as WestHab (NY), Youth Shelter Program of Westchester (NY), Junior League of Orange County, NY, and The Rooted Collaborative conferences centered on topics such as leadership development, cultural intelligence, DEI, effective communication strategies, team building, and conflict management and resolution. She has also conducted a diversity dialogue series for the town of Warwick, NY as a diversity facilitator for We the People Warwick.

Danielle is a third-year doctoral student in the Organization and Leadership Psychology program with a concentration in the Neuroscience of Leadership at William James College. She obtained her MPA in Public and Non-Profit Management and Policy with a specialization in General Finance from the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University and BA in American Politics from the College of Arts and Science at New York University. She holds a certificate in project leadership from the Cornell University – School of Engineering and is a Certified Scrum Master from the Scrum Alliance. She was a 2021-2022 Opportunity Hub (OHUB) South by Southwest student fellow. In addition, she is a Registered Parliamentarian under the National Association of Parliamentarians, and is an arbitrator for FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority).

With public service in her heart, Danielle has been an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and is the Immediate Past President of the Westchester Alumnae Chapter serving Westchester County, NY. She is also the Past President and sustainer member of the Junior League of Orange County, NY. A born and bred New Yorker, in her spare time, you can find Danielle doing monthly cultural outings to museums, gardens, or immersive exhibits with her Fur, Floral, Culture, and Cocktails crew around NYC, doing Reiki as a certified Reiki Practitioner, roller skating at her local skating rink, or as a podcast co-host for the Empress High Council whose focus is on self-care and entrepreneurship.

Episode Highlights:

• (6:42) It’s all in the Q;
• (12:57) DEI has been lacking CQ;
• (21:15) How do leaders weave in CQ?;
• (22:25) Organization Development Levels;
• (36:05) Steps toward CQ;

Connect with Danielle:

LinkedIn: @danielleahenry

Instagram: @greatdanedannie

Episode Resources:

• Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux (

We are featuring the ever-empowering Jarius McNair Edens. Jarius is a Holistic Personal Growth & Leadership Trainer at The Kreative Lounge & Social Kollective. Kishshana and Jarius chat about what it means to lead with joy. As leaders, we have to know that if we can come to the table, to the meeting, to our team with that joy and internal insight of excitement about what we're doing, we can ultimately spread that out to everyone else.

Jarius explains that when you do work that is deep, you have to lead with joy and it starts with personal growth. Think about what you are doing in your personal life to awaken joy within you because as a leader, who we are is what we bring.

Meet Jarius McNair Edens:

Jarius is best known for writing compelling stories and empowering women to do what feels good to them.

As a conscious thought leader and intuitive advisor, she is known for teaching, leading, and guiding women to their own desired level of contentment, confidence, and bliss. She is a former English teacher turned serial entrepreneur. In 2017, a successful collaborative workspace and community hub in Springfield, Il. After the opening of TKL, she explored other creative outlets such as writing and coaching. She enjoys things that bring her and others joy, and she wants to share joy with the world. Jarius does several things to cultivate bliss for herself---from hosting personal growth classes to doing Zumba in her living room. She hopes to help women cultivate this same joy in their own lives. She speaks to over 100 women (and a few good men) daily in her tribe.

She currently resides in North Carolina.

Episode Highlights:

• (7:04) Talk to me about Zest;
• (8:08) Pathways to being a leader;
• (16:28) Do we want a kiddie pool or an olympic sized pool?;
• (21:08) Start with your own personal joy;
• (35:15) Encourage family centering;

Connect with Jarius:

LinkedIn: @jarius-edens

Episode Resources:

• For more Management Mastery head over to ManageMint (https://managemint.co)
• Get our free eBook "Super Leaders Need Love, Too: 3 Hacks for Not-So-Great Days" (https://www.managemint.co/ebooks)

Support the Show (https://buymeacoffee.com/takethisoffline)

Kishshana and Mama J discuss our obsession with credentials and the importance of developing ​​a liberatory mindset so you can break out of the confining boxes you’ve put yourself in and unlock new levels of potential.

Mama J is on a quest for love and revolution, acknowledging and accepting the lifelong evolution of unbecoming. She talks about unlearning and how to transform pain into power and how we can do so collectively.

Meet Jillian "Mama J" Love:

Jillian “Mama J” Love (she/they) is in a pivot season—a both/and of embracing the dance of being the Founder & Designer of Lovelution Inc at 40 while also being ready to put their two decades of lived and professional experience to work for a values-aligned organization.

Mama J models Justice & Joy with bite-sized and deliberate action every damn day by embodying the revolution to radically rest to sustain oneself.

Most mornings you’ll find me with a cup of coffee amidst the dance of parenting, a sink full of dishes, and figuring out what’s for breakfast with my 8-year-old daughter and partner.

Episode Highlights:

• (16:20) Unlearning in relationships;
• (23:50) What does success mean;
• (31:24) Radical Rest;
• (55:49) Questions for Mama J;

Connect with Mama J:

Instagram: @mamajlove1

LinkedIn: @mamajlove

Podcast: Beyond Allyship (https://bit.ly/beyondallyshippodcast)

Episode Resources:

• For more Management Mastery head over to ManageMint (https://managemint.co)
• Get our free eBook "Super Leaders Need Love, Too: 3 Hacks for Not-So-Great Days" (https://www.managemint.co/ebooks)

Support the Show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/takethisoffline)