In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we explore what’s possible when we shift from fear to curiosity in the face of the unknown. Change is hard—not just because of what’s happening around us, but because of what’s happening inside of us. Our brains are wired to protect us, constantly scanning for threats and steering us toward what feels safe. But that protective wiring can also trigger self-doubt, fear, and impostor syndrome—especially when we’re doing something new. My guest this week is Lisa DeAngelis, author of Embracing the Unknown. Together, we talk about what it means to reframe fear as a natural part of growth—and how we can consciously choose curiosity over judgment. We explore the “stretch zone,” that powerful space between comfort and panic where learning and transformation occur. And we discuss how to create “proof loops” to help our brains (and bodies) build new confidence through lived experience. If you’ve ever questioned whether you’re capable of what comes next, this episode is a reminder that your brain may be trying to keep you safe—but everything changes when you choose curiosity instead.

About My Guest
Lisa DeAngelis is a holistic change practitioner, author, teacher, and speaker, and a skilled expert in the art of navigating sustainable change. Lisa brings a warm, thoughtful, and creative approach to her work guiding personal and leadership transformation, and is sought after for her ability to coalesce and communicate information, weaving together ideas in meaningful ways. Lisa's personal goals include a commitment to "walking her talk" and helping re-envision how leaders can navigate change with more authenticity and intentionality to embrace the process of growth while learning to align with guiding principles and core values that support meaningful and impactful choices. Her debut book, Embracing the Unknown: Exploring the Pathways to Change offers research, wisdom, and aspirational stories that empower others in their quest to gracefully navigate change in their own lives. An avid traveler, singer, and lover of the arts, Lisa lives and works in New York City.

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Connect with Lisa:
Embracing the Unknown: Exploring the Pathways to Change - Lisa’s Book
Use promo code “confidence” for $0.99 version of ebook: https://lisadeangelis.com/purchase/ebook-digital-download

Website: https://lisadeangelis.com/
Instagram: @lissop44
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-deangelis1/

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Connect with Kim and The Impostor Syndrome Files:

Join the free Impostor Syndrome Challenge:
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Learn more about the Leading Humans discussion group:
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Connect on LinkedIn:
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Website:
https://kimmeninger.com

In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we’re talking about one of the biggest blind spots in leadership today—the difference between leading from fear and leading with trust. So many of us were taught to prioritize logic, results, and control in the workplace. But the truth is, we’re emotional beings, not rational machines. And when we ignore the emotional side of leadership, we unintentionally create environments where fear—not engagement—drives behavior. My guest this week is Thomas Gelmi, a global leadership expert who helps organizations strengthen what he calls “human skills”—the emotional intelligence and self-awareness needed to lead with empathy, humility, and trust. In this conversation, we talk about why so many leaders get promoted despite emotional blind spots, and how this disconnect impacts psychological safety, performance, and retention. We also explore the emotional cost of high pressure, what makes 360 feedback so powerful, and how leaders can begin shifting from fear-based habits to more confident, connected leadership. If you’ve ever wondered whether emotional intelligence really matters in the workplace, this episode makes the business case—loud and clear.

About My Guest
Executive Coach Thomas Gelmi has been a trusted advisor to leaders and their teams for more than two decades. His programs, which have attracted roughly 10,000 participants from nearly 90 countries, reflect his adaptability and appeal across cultures and industries. Thomas works in four languages and his clients range from global corporations to SMEs and private individuals worldwide.

Thomas draws on an extraordinary biography with exciting milestones, such as his many years as a Maître de Cabine, leading cabin crew at Swissair, and eight years as operations manager of an international leadership development company. In addition to his extensive professional experience, he also gathered years of experience as a trained caregiver, providing psychological assistance to victims in crises, accidents, and other extreme situations.

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Connect with Thomas:
Facebook (Business): https://www.facebook.com/thomas.gelmi/
LinkedIn: http://ch.linkedin.com/in/thomasgelmi
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thomasgelmi
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thomasgelmi
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thomas.gelmi

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Connect with Kim and The Impostor Syndrome Files:

Join the free Impostor Syndrome Challenge:
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Learn more about the Leading Humans discussion group:
https://www.kimmeninger.com/leadinghumansgroup

Join the Slack channel to learn from, connect with and support other professionals: https://forms.gle/Ts4Vg4Nx4HDnTVUC6

Join the Facebook group:
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Schedule time to speak with Kim Meninger directly about your questions/challenges: https://bookme.name/ExecCareer/strategy-session

Connect on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimmeninger/

Website:
https://kimmeninger.com

In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the challenges facing working moms. Are you struggling to balance your professional ambitions with the demands of home life? Wondering if it’s even possible to stay in the workforce without burning out or stepping back? My guest this week is Kathryn Sollmann, career coach and author of The Four Jobs Club. Kathryn is on a mission to keep women in the workforce—and in this conversation, she shares practical, compassionate advice for doing just that. We talk about why so many women leave the workforce at emotional low points, how to reframe unpaid work in business terms, and why letting go of perfection is key to thriving at work and at home. We also discuss how to have proactive conversations with your employer to create more flexible, sustainable career paths. Whether you’re re-entering the workforce, contemplating a career pivot, or just trying to stay afloat, this episode is a powerful reminder that you have more options—and more power—than you think.

About My Guest
Kathryn Sollmann, Speaker, Coach and Author, has made it her mission to keep women working toward financial security in a flexible way—alongside child and aging parent caregiving roles. Kathryn’s forthcoming book, The 4 Jobs Club: How Smart Women Care for It All—Kids, Aging Parents, Home & Career, features 200+ simple tips and strategies from 50 C-Suite Women on how they have found ways to blend work and life—and take care of themselves, too.\

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Connect with Kathryn:
Website: https://www.kathrynsollmann.com/the-4-jobs-club/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynsollmann/

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Connect with Kim and The Impostor Syndrome Files:

Join the free Impostor Syndrome Challenge:
https://www.kimmeninger.com/challenge

Learn more about the Leading Humans discussion group:
https://www.kimmeninger.com/leadinghumansgroup

Join the Slack channel to learn from, connect with and support other professionals: https://forms.gle/Ts4Vg4Nx4HDnTVUC6

Join the Facebook group:
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Schedule time to speak with Kim Meninger directly about your questions/challenges: https://bookme.name/ExecCareer/strategy-session

Connect on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimmeninger/

Website:
https://kimmeninger.com

In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about digital overwhelm. Are you feeling digitally overwhelmed? So much of our communication these days happens virtually, which inherently feels more performative and high-pressure. If you’re already prone to impostor syndrome, you may feel even more like a fraud in these environments. But it doesn’t have to be this challenging. My guest this week is Craig Mattson, professor of communication at Calvin University, who shares his research on work culture in our digital age, which inspired his book, Digital Overwhelm: A Mid-Career Guide to Coping at Work. Here we discuss the added stresses and self-doubts that come with communicating virtually. We also explore strategies to maintain confidence, leverage our existing strengths and communicate with greater intentionality.

About My Guest
Professor Mattson taught and conducted research for 20 years at Trinity Christian College on the south side of Chicago, where he and his wife brought up four children. Now, having moved to Grand Rapids, Craig and Rhoda enjoy hiking, playing racquetball, and walking their Shih Tzu, an extremely timid creature named Chaucer. Craig writes quite nearly every day of his life and enjoys reading hard books in the company of good-humored folk.

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Connect with Craig:
Website: https://www.themodeswitch.com/

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Connect with Kim and The Impostor Syndrome Files:

Join the free Impostor Syndrome Challenge:
https://www.kimmeninger.com/challenge

Learn more about the Leading Humans discussion group:
https://www.kimmeninger.com/leadinghumansgroup

Join the Slack channel to learn from, connect with and support other professionals: https://forms.gle/Ts4Vg4Nx4HDnTVUC6

Join the Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadinghumans

Schedule time to speak with Kim Meninger directly about your questions/challenges: https://bookme.name/ExecCareer/strategy-session

Connect on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimmeninger/

Website:
https://kimmeninger.com

In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the power of relationships at work, not just with others but with ourselves. Do you prioritize building relationships at work? Are you intentional about nurturing those relationships? If not, you may be missing important opportunities. My guest this week is Morag Barrett, a leadership expert and executive coach. Here we talk about how to make time for relationship-building when you’re feeling too busy to connect. We also talk about simple steps you can take to build and nurture trusted relationships. And we talk about why it’s so important to set healthy boundaries in order to have the best relationship with yourself.

About My Guest
Morag Barrett is a leadership expert, executive coach, and author with over 20 years of experience helping leaders build stronger, more meaningful workplace relationships. As the founder of SkyeTeam, she has worked with over 15,000 leaders across 20 countries, empowering them to cultivate high-performing teams and navigate the complexities of professional relationships. Morag’s work is grounded in the power of connection, and she is passionate about creating cultures of collaboration and trust, whether in-person or remote. She’s the author of Cultivate: The Power of Winning Relationships and You, Me, We, Why we all need a friend at work (and how to show up as one!) and is on a mission to help leaders—and organizations—cultures of connection in a world of disconnection.

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Connect with Morag:
LinkedIn and subscribe to newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moragbarrett/
Learn more at: https://www.skyeteam.com/blog
Listeners are invited to complete their complimentary Ally Mindset Profile: https://www.skyeteam.cloud/youmewe

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Connect with Kim and The Impostor Syndrome Files:

Join the free Impostor Syndrome Challenge:
https://www.kimmeninger.com/challenge

Learn more about the Leading Humans discussion group:
https://www.kimmeninger.com/leadinghumansgroup

Join the Slack channel to learn from, connect with and support other professionals: https://forms.gle/Ts4Vg4Nx4HDnTVUC6

Join the Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadinghumans

Schedule time to speak with Kim Meninger directly about your questions/challenges: https://bookme.name/ExecCareer/strategy-session

Connect on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimmeninger/

Website:
https://kimmeninger.com

In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about managing impostor syndrome. Does impostor syndrome keep you paralyzed and afraid to take risks? Do you find yourself asking, “Do I belong in this room?” If so, you’re far from alone. My guest this week is Damon Lembi, bestselling author, podcast host and CEO of Learnit. Here we talk about his experience with impostor syndrome as a college baseball player. We also talk about how that experience led him to create a 4-step framework for managing impostor syndrome that he continues to use to this day. Lastly, we talk about the importance of helping your people recognize their greatness.

About My Guest
Damon Lembi is a 2x bestselling author, the host of The Learn-It-All Podcast, and CEO of Learnit – a live learning platform that has upskilled over 2 million people. Drawing from his prior baseball career, Damon brings an athlete’s perspective to leadership. Through his journey, he has gained invaluable insights into what helps organizations grow, how great leaders learn, and why learn-it-all companies outpace their competitors every time.

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Connect with Damon:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damonlembi/
Podcast: https://www.thelearnitallleader.com/podcast
Website: www.learnit.com

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Connect with Kim and The Impostor Syndrome Files:

Join the free Impostor Syndrome Challenge:
https://www.kimmeninger.com/challenge

Learn more about the Leading Humans discussion group:
https://www.kimmeninger.com/leadinghumansgroup

Join the Slack channel to learn from, connect with and support other professionals: https://forms.gle/Ts4Vg4Nx4HDnTVUC6

Join the Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadinghumans

Schedule time to speak with Kim Meninger directly about your questions/challenges: https://bookme.name/ExecCareer/strategy-session

Connect on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimmeninger/

Website:
https://kimmeninger.com

In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about the power of fear and how to manage it. Fear exists for a reason. And it shows up in many clever and unexpected forms. My guest this week is Rhonda Britten, founder of the Fearless Living Institute, who discusses how fear shaped her life as the survivor of unimaginable childhood trauma. (Trigger warning for anyone sensitive to domestic violence themes.) We talk about the ways she struggled, internally and externally, until she finally understood her fears and how to manage them. She now teaches others how to identify and manage their own fears, and she shares some of those strategies and insights here.

About My Guest
Rhonda Britten – Emmy Award-winner, Repeat Oprah guest, Master Coach – has changed lives in over 600 episodes of reality television including starring in the hit daytime reality show, "Starting Over," is the author of four bestsellers including her seminal work, “Fearless Living” and is the Founder of the Fearless Living Institute, home of the Ivy League of Life Coaching Training. Named “America’s Favorite Life Coach,” she brings the neuroscience of fear down to earth giving you a path out of “not being good enough” using the “Wheels” technology she developed that saved her own life.

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Connect with Rhonda:
Website: https://fearlessliving.org
Free Gift: https://FearlessLiving.org/risk

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Connect with Kim and The Impostor Syndrome Files:

Join the free Impostor Syndrome Challenge:
https://www.kimmeninger.com/challenge

Learn more about the Leading Humans discussion group:
https://www.kimmeninger.com/leadinghumansgroup

Join the Slack channel to learn from, connect with and support other professionals: https://forms.gle/Ts4Vg4Nx4HDnTVUC6

Join the Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadinghumans

Schedule time to speak with Kim Meninger directly about your questions/challenges: https://bookme.name/ExecCareer/strategy-session

Connect on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimmeninger/

Website:
https://kimmeninger.com

In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about menopause. For some women, the phases of menopause follow a reasonably predictable course. For others, however, it might start earlier than expected or lead to unexplained symptoms that can have you asking, “What’s wrong with me?” My guest this week, Susan Miele, a menopause educator and former chief people officer, shares how early perimenopause interrupted her once-thriving career. Without an understanding of what was happening to her, she began self-medicating and eventually left her job to focus on her health. Here we discuss the importance of menopause awareness in the workplace so that women can get the support and care they need to stay in their roles and continue to grow their careers. We also talk about ways in which organizations can have these conversations and normalize this experience.

About My Guest
Dr. Susan Miele is a transformational leader and workplace well-being advocate dedicated to redefining the narrative around menopause. Susan frequently speaks and writes about workforce inclusivity, gender equality, and the retention of senior women, challenging organizations to see menopause as a key factor in creating supportive, inclusive workplaces.

A former Chief People Officer at Ginkgo Bioworks, Susan led efforts to make biology easier to engineer. At Foundation Medicine Inc., she built a People Team that helped drive the company’s rapid global growth and earned it multiple Best Places to Work awards. Her career spans senior leadership roles across biotech, publishing, finance, and more.

Susan holds a PhD in Human and Organizational Systems and brings a mindset of continuous learning to her work. A dedicated yogi, she infuses her leadership with mindfulness and compassion. Susan is active on several boards, with a special focus on organizations that bring resilience and well-being to marginalized communities in her hometown of Portland, Maine.

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Connect with Susan:
Websites:
https://menopause.org/
https://www.susanmiele.com/
https://www.letstalkmenopause.org/

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Other Resources:
The Menopause Society: https://menopause.org/

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Connect with Kim and The Impostor Syndrome Files:

Join the free Impostor Syndrome Challenge:
https://www.kimmeninger.com/challenge

Learn more about the Leading Humans discussion group:
https://www.kimmeninger.com/leadinghumansgroup

Join the Slack channel to learn from, connect with and support other professionals: https://forms.gle/Ts4Vg4Nx4HDnTVUC6

Join the Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadinghumans

Schedule time to speak with Kim Meninger directly about your questions/challenges: https://bookme.name/ExecCareer/strategy-session

Connect on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimmeninger/

Website:
https://kimmeninger.com