Why do we dismiss the skills that come naturally to us? That's just one of the questions we explore with Brianca Johnson, Strategic Brand and Business Consultant, in this episode. Brianca shares her path from working on political campaigns to building a consulting business that helps women leverage their corporate expertise into consulting roles.

We discuss why women minimize their natural talents, how to prove your expertise by documenting quantitative and qualitative results, and why everyone has a unique "fingerprint" in how they work. Brianca explains the importance of developing frameworks that deliver consistent results, tackles the shame around self-promotion that holds women back, and reveals why imposter syndrome disappears when you face the facts of your contributions. We also explore how to set your own pace in business, why you don't need everything figured out before you start, and how being of service is the real mission behind consulting work.

Brianca also addresses the visibility challenge for women who've built careers being of service, why shameless self-promotion shouldn't feel shameful if you're qualified, and how to set sustainable boundaries in your business instead of chasing hustle culture.

Key quotes:

• "The things that come the easiest to us are often the things that we are the quickest to disregard"
• "I'm the sauce" - Why your framework can't be replicated without you
• "Who are you NOT to be of service?"
• "You get to set your pace... My only request would be that whatever boundary you set, you maintain"

Connect with Brianca:

Briancajohnson.com

Instagram: @thebriancajohnson (DM her for a free guide called "The Pivot Plan")

LinkedIn

After climbing Mount Kilimanjaro at age 50, John Donnelly - a seasoned mortgage professional - found himself somewhat unexpectedly on a thought leadership trajectory. In today’s episode, John and I discuss leadership in unexpected places, the power of listening, creating your personal board of directors, and how taking action - even when you don't know where it leads - can reveal a deeper purpose.

We dive into why leadership matters in real estate transactions and every industry, and explore listening as a superpower using John's "WAIT" acronym (Why Am I Talking). John shares his concept of creating a personal "board of directors" of 10 people to model yourself after, and explains what it means to be a "class act" who shows up with intention. And he explains why he needed to climb a mountain to feel worthy of being on stage.

John and I also discuss servant leadership through the lens of wanting more FOR people than FROM them, and hear about the 12-hour walk that led John’s epic mountain hike. He also opens up about being pulled into speaking after achieving something outside his comfort zone, finding purpose by helping others reach theirs, and why you don't have to wait until you "feel ready" to do something brave.

Books mentioned:

• "Mindset" by Carol Dweck
• "Never Split the Difference" by Chris Voss
• "The 12 Hour Walk" by Colin O'Brady
• "The E-Myth Revisited" by Michael E. Gerber

What if you don’t want to just “survive” in your career? What if there’s something else? That’s exactly what we’ll be covering more of in this new era of Manager on a Mission. Of course we’re still talking about how to be a great manager in difficult environments. But we're also exploring what happens when talented people decide there's another path: building something new.

This season we’ll be sharing more post-corporate stories and second acts. It’s not about telling everyone to leave their jobs, but about expanding what's possible. And while we’ll have more stories from people who've made the leap, we’ll also feature people staying in corporate but doing it differently, and of course, sassy solo rants from me.

Do you have a story I should cover? Let’s connect:

LinkedIn

Instagram - Tosca Fasso

Instagram - Dreamtech

Email: tosca@toscafasso.com

Get my book

Today’s episode is exactly what we need for hard times when it seems like good people can’t finish first. My guest is an author, thought leader and visionary who proves every day that principled leadership isn’t just possible but actually drives results.

I’m so excited to introduce Irma Neal, who has navigated everything from being the actual Deputy Mayor of Indianapolis to corporate executive positions to building multiple successful businesses, all while maintaining her core principles and beliefs. Irma shares how she identifies and handles people who thrive on chaos, why she always looks at herself first when mistakes happen, and how creating clear values-based boundaries actually empowers teams to self-police toxic behavior.

Rather than accepting that you have to compromise your integrity to succeed, Irma shows us how leaders who stay true to their values create loyalty, reduce turnover, and build environments where people genuinely want to contribute their best work. She also reveals why financial wellness programs aren't just nice-to-haves but strategic investments that create measurable returns in productivity, retention, and employee loyalty.

Resources:

• "Leading in Chaos" by Irma Neal
• Onyx Rising website
• Onyx Rising on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook
• Free Money Mindset Quiz
• Irma Neal on LinkedIn

Many of us secretly (or not so secretly) believe that being successful means being boring, safe, and having basically no fun at work. But if you scratch beneath the surface, you’ll probably remember a few shining moments where you were having a great time AND doing some of the best work of your life. My guest, Todd Schuchart, is all about creating these moments for himself and his teams.

Sure, you aren’t going to love everything about your work, but why is it inevitable that we accept environments that squeeze the creativity and humanity out of talented people when we have experts like Todd dedicating their lives to making work more fun and creative?

In this episode, you'll learn how to do exactly this from Todd, who went from corporate executive to self-proclaimed "certified goofball" running a multi-million dollar lead generation company. Todd challenges the myth that you have to choose between being successful and being yourself, sharing his "sandbox method" for managing teams and his philosophy that being serious about results doesn't mean you can't have fun doing the work.

Rather than accepting the soul-crushing aspects of traditional corporate culture, Todd shows us how setting boundaries, maintaining your sense of humor, and focusing on what really matters can create both better business outcomes and a workplace where people actually want to show up.

Resources:

• Todd’s YouTube Channel - Razor Ridge Leads
• Razor Ridge website
• Razor Ridge on LinkedIn
• Razor Ridge on Facebook

Conventional wisdom often says that leadership is about having all the answers. But I’d argue that today’s business world requires the opposite: the skill and comfort to ask the right questions and help teams navigate change and ambiguity.

If you’re a leader, I implore you to ask yourself: when was the last time you helped someone see a "failure" as an iteration? Or created space for your team to actually innovate instead of just survive?

In this episode, we explore these questions with adaptive leadership coach Valerie Sandjivy, who challenges us to find harmony amidst the chaos by fundamentally reframing how we think about change, mistakes, and what it means to lead.

In this moment when businesses desperately need innovation and resilience, too many leaders are clinging to outdated approaches that create fear instead of the creative, collaborative cultures that would actually drive real results and retain talent.

Rather than resisting the constant shifts in our world, Valerie shows us how adaptive leadership means staying "one step ahead" by listening to signals and creating with intention instead of reacting from fear. She breaks down her four-pillar foundation for leadership and reveals why the most successful leaders treat every challenge as a training room for the next level.

Resources:

• Valarie’s Free Leadership Self-Assessment Quiz
• Valerie Sandjivy on LinkedIn
• Book: "Not Safe for Work: A good manager's guide to better feeling work in a toxic culture" by me

Remember Six Sigma? Before you say “no” and feel super smug that you never had to deal with it, how about Lean UX or Agile? And do you remember how much more awesome work became after your company rolled those out? No? Me either.

I know it’s more complicated than that. And maybe some things did improve in some ways. But I have to ask: why do companies insist on chasing trendy, expensive, complicated workflow and productivity overhauls when we already know some very simple things corporations COULD do to truly improve productivity, innovation, and even employee retention.

In this episode, we explore this question and look at the reasons why companies continue to chase a new fix while ignoring what we employees already know, including the mounting evidence that "always on" culture actually destroys productivity and innovation.

Rather than making us more efficient, this constant availability has allowed corporations to ignore and even indulge in their systemic inefficiencies, passing problems downstream to employees instead of fixing broken processes and placing accountability where it actually belongs.

The irony? In this historic moment when U.S. businesses desperately need to be more innovative and competitive, senior executives are turning instead to being more controlling and stifling the creativity and culture that would actually allow them to deliver real impact and results.

• Making Time Off Predictable - Harvard Business Review
• Deloitte Workplace Study on Right to Disconnect policies
• That’s What the Money is For! Manager on a Mission podcast episode
• From Gatekeeping to Gardening Manager on a Mission podcast episode
• Books: "Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less" by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang and Not Safe for Work: A good manager’s guide to better feeling work in a toxic culture by me

Featuring an episode of SheThrives - Influencing women to rise above fear, build self esteem and THRIVE in all areas of their lives. With Lori Murphy.

Join Tosca and Lori as they talk about Tosca’s mission of creating a safe and healthy work environment.

Tosca is a former Fortune 100 executive on a mission to rework the workplace by putting people first. After snagging her first management role at age 25, she knew that creating a vision with a team, coaching them to succeed, and building a culture where team members actually liked and respected each other was her life’s work. Tosca left her Wall Street position to write her book “Not Safe for Work – A good manager’s guide to better feeling work in a toxic culture”. She also hosts the Manager on a Mission podcast and coaches people-focused leaders who know there’s a better way to manage teams but need just a little support to build the systems that are both good for people as well as profits.

Join Lori’s FREE Facebook Community for Women:

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1ENSALcUax