Episodes

Fathers affect how their sons and daughters show up at work and also how they relate to their own children. Giji Mischel Dennard, the CEO of Well Fed Resources articulates a definition of the Father’s role that builds on the strengths and gifts men already use in their corporate jobs. She expands the definition of “Provider” to include more than financial provision. Giji debuted as a voice in the fatherlessness movement in 2012 after publishing the first edition of “Hungry for Wholeness: A Call...

Howard Behar, Founding International President and former Board member of Starbucks says the Starbucks “secret sauce” of success is people first at every level of the organization. Howard adds, “You grow the people, they grow the organization, and the organization grows the business.” Howard’s leadership took Starbucks from 28 stores to more than 15,000 on five continents. His career accomplishments span 50 years in consumer-oriented businesses, to include 21 years serving at Starbucks. Today i...

Executive leaders and combat pilots both scan the “battlefield” for new strategic opportunities. In both warfare and business mission advancement, success comes from the skillful execution of strengths and talents. Returning guest Loree Draude shares how recent life events prompted her to seize new creative opportunities in a different location. Loree Draude was one of the first women in the Navy to fly combat jets. She deployed twice to the Persian Gulf, accumulating over 300 carrier landings ...

Dennis Welch is the author of 500 songs, many of which listeners hear on the radio. He recently released his latest album, “What Love Makes Us Do.” Nashville veteran producer, record company owner, and manager Tony Mantor recorded Dennis’ song, “Why Not Me?” and named his 2020 album after the song. Mantor’s “Why Not Me?” was on the Top 10 List for 15 weeks. Dennis is now finishing a children’s book, “Why Not Me?” with his granddaughter who is the illustrator. On today’s show, Dennis sings and D...

What do you do when you, the CEO, are the one who is depressed? What are the dangers of admitting you are depressed? How do you get help? Dr. Clarence Shuler, President and CEO of Building Lasting Relationships is also an award winning speaker and the author of 10 books. Today he shares his personal journey with depression. In this transparent and vulnerable conversation, Dr. Shuler talks about his struggles with self-worth and validation and how God met and healed him in the dark place. His la...

For the last few years, we have lived through the COVID-19 pandemic with illnesses and deaths; social isolation due to virtual work, school, and spiritual services; racial unrest; mass shootings; lethal weather events; and now growing inflation. Today, Dr. Karen speaks with her colleagues, psychologists, Dr. Tonya Armstrong, Dr. Len Wysocki, and Dr. JC Wright, about the mental health challenges they see in coaching, consulting, and clinical clients. They also talk about the practical steps comp...

Dr. Karen, the President and CEO of TRANSLEADERSHIP®, INC. celebrated the 29th birthday of her company in 2024 with a new painting by Cheltenham, UK based artist, Louis Parsons. They take you behind the scenes to experience the collaborative process to co-create a commissioned art piece through Parsons’ unique SoulScaping approach. Through his talks, workshops, and art, Parsons unlocks the emerging art movement he terms “The Soul Renaissance and our ability to see the unique symphony of light t...

Social Entrepreneur Benedicte Early and her husband, Gene, have been a spiritual power couple since God brought them together more than 40 years ago. As the first saleswoman for Jockey men’s wear in Scandinavia, Benedicte subsequently led elsewhere in significant sales, marketing, and leadership development roles. She also served on the Women’s Aglow Ministry Board and as a missionary for Youth With a Mission (YWAM). Gene co-founded Genomic Health and served as Vice Chancellor of Operations at ...

Rebekah Simon-Peter is passionate about reconnecting spiritual leaders with their God-given powers to co-create miracles with the divine. Her award-winning group coaching program, “Creating a Culture of Renewal®” has energized church leaders across the country to reclaim their calling and to grow their ministries. Educated in Theology and Environmental studies and previously serving as an ordained United Methodist Pastor, Rebekah is uniquely prepared for her current consulting role to grow the ...

Vera Quinn, CEO and President of Cydcor, a face-to-face sales outsourcing firm, is the first woman to become President of Cydcor. She has taken the company to 300% growth through her business savvy and people-centric leadership. Vera creates compelling opportunities and fosters growth and potential in others. She also creates a positive culture of learning, development, entrepreneurism, hard work, and fun. In addition to paying success forward at Cydcor, Vera also elevates lives in the country ...

Welcome to a very special episode of “The Voice of Leadership” with your host, Dr. Karen Y. Wilson-Starks—Concierge Executive Leadership Advisor, U.S. Army veteran, and Founder of TRANSLEADERSHIP, INC.® In this inspiring episode, Dr. Karen uses a Biblical lens to reflect on 30 powerful years of serving business executives and global corporations. From standing terrified atop a 25-foot Army rappelling tower to guiding CEOs through corporate storms, Dr. Karen shares the life-changing lessons of f...

Sandra Yancey is the Founder and CEO of eWomenNetwork, the Premier Success System for women entrepreneurs. Her award-winning, multi-million dollar organization connects over 500,000 women through 118 chapters across the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK. Sandra is committed to helping a million women to each reach a million in business revenue. Today, she speaks with Dr. Karen about how to deliver distinctive Customer Experience (CX) that produces “stand out” excellence, repeat customers, raving...

Kate Lanz, author of the book, “All the Brains in the Business” explores how to properly value brain gender differences at work. As Founder and CEO of Mindbridge, an executive coaching and business performance consultancy in the UK, she specializes in the power of neuroscience for releasing latent brain potential at work. Dr. Karen and guest Kate Lanz talk about brain gender differences as one of the biggest sources of untapped competitive advantage. Reach Kate Lanz at www.mindbridge.co.uk The...

Alison Cornell, a certified Treasury Professional, was Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of two major New York Stock Exchange listed corporations, one of which was global. Prior to those roles, she held significant financial positions at AT&T where she learned how to be a corporate executive. Even today, women hold only10 % of major corporate CFO jobs. Currently Director and Audit Committee Chair at ZIVO Bioscience, Inc and Chou2 Pharma, Ms. Cornell is still committed to the development of women bo...

Guest Stuart Pickles is Managing Director of the UK based leadership consultancy, Aim Higher Leadership (www.aimhigherleadership.com). A former CFO with more than 25 years in Blue Chip companies such as Unilever, Kraft Foods, and Fosters, Stuart accelerates the development of higher level leadership for social justice, climate justice, and to build a regenerative future. Listen to this podcast as Dr. Karen dialogues with Stuart about how he, as a white male, is learning to leverage his privilege...

Barnaby Wynter grew up in the Cotswold region of the UK and didn’t see any Black people until he was 16 years old. Later in 1978, during the Two Tone era of music, he attended a concert of three mixed Black and White member bands who blended SCAR and Punk music. He experienced an amazing energy that has since informed his life about the power of blending. As a successful brand creation expert with over 457 brands to his name, Barnaby is the founder of The Brand Bucket Company, a UK based busine...

Dr. Clarence Shuler is the President of Building Lasting Relationships. He and his wife Brenda are the winners of the 2019 Family Life Speaker of the Year Award. Dr. Shuler, a marriage expert for Oprah’s 2020 Love Goals Reality show; speaker with New York Times Best Selling author, Dr. Gary Chapman for The Five Love Languages and Date Night Events; and author of more than ten books, shows how to affair proof your marriage. His book, “Keeping Your Wife Your Best Friend” is a favorite. In this epi...

When Rafael Ortiz—father, veteran, professional, and husband—began working at the Pentagon, he believed it was the opportunity of a lifetime. That’s why he was shocked when Nikita Ortiz—mother, veteran, professional, and wife to Rafael—flat out refused to join him. Ultimatums were not their style. They were a team in everything, so why was she making this call? Little did they know, her call would end up saving his life. Today, Rafael and Nikita Ortiz join Dr. Karen to tell their story of a lif...

The Black Church has a history of being a place of emotional refuge, leadership training, physical sustenance, the heartbeat of the civil rights movement, and a safe place to worship God with dignity. What relevance does the Black Church have today and into the future? Dr. Karen reviews the history of the official start of the Black Church in America. She and her guests, Pastor Ben Anderson, Senior Pastor of Solid Rock Christian Center in Colorado Springs and his wife, Pastor Wanda Anderson als...

Mike Mooney was part of the executive ecosystem behind NASCAR. As an award winning executive, he built and protected the global reputations of such brands as Mercedes-Benz, 3M, NASCAR, Sunoco, Tylenol, and Walmart. Author of the breakthrough book, “Reputation Shift- Lessons from Pit Road to the Boardroom,” Mike speaks with Dr. Karen about the leadership lessons he learned from decades of working with championship NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, and Roush Fenway drivers and teams. Contact Mike at ww...

Black Enterprise Magazine identified Shundrawn Thomas as one of the 75 most powerful Blacks on Wall St. and one of the most powerful executives in corporate America. Most recently President and Chief Executive of Northern Trust Asset Management and Management Group member, he also held key roles at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Known industry wide as an innovator in investment management and a champion of socially responsible investing, Shundrawn is also the author of four books, including ...

Why do people follow dictators? What are the implications for business leaders? Guest Jeff Rasley, the author of fourteen books including “The 72 Wisdoms,” shares his insights and perspectives on how to use wisdom to interrupt the patterns of fascist leaders. Jeff is the President of Basa Village Foundation, Secretary of Scientech Foundation, board member of the Indianapolis Peace and Justice Center, Co-Founder of the Jeff and Alicia Rasley Internship program for the ACLU of Indiana, and a gradu...

Brian Smith, The Founder of UGG Boots has charted his own course to become one of the great entrepreneurial success stories of our time. As a native Australian, his vision in 1978 was to put a pair of UGG sheepskin boots on every American. In each of the past five years, sales of UGG products have exceeded a billion dollars. Brian calls his book, “The Birth of a Brand,” an entrepreneurial road map. Today, on The Voice of Leadership, Brian speaks with Dr. Karen about growing his company from vis...

When Kirby Velarde started “Playing for God,” it catalyzed a process that included playing gospel music for Heritage Christian Center in Denver, Colorado, a congregation that has had up to 10,000 members, and playing for legendary gospel music great Kurt Carr. Accomplished musician Kirby Velarde was born into a musical family. He elevated his artistic pedigree to new heights when he followed God’s call on his life. On today’s episode of The Voice of Leadership, Kirby plays his music and tells D...