Life Fulfilled Podcast — Where leadership, self awareness and workplace performance actually connect.

Most of us are taught that if we work hard enough, someone will notice. Trisha Stetzel believed that too, through boot camp leading 86 women in the Navy, a decade in corporate life at IBM, and building her own business afterward. At every stage, the belief that good work speaks for itself eventually stopped holding up. This conversation is about why recognition dries up as you rise, and what to do once no one's watching for you anymore.
Who This Is For
Leaders and entrepreneurs who've done everything right and still feel overlooked
Anyone who had mentors or sponsors early in their career and now finds themselves flying solo
People who think of self-promotion as “icky” and want a different way to frame it
Business owners and consultants who need to build visibility without feeling like they're bragging
Anyone launching a book, program, or business who needs a simple way to talk about their own work
Five Key Takeaways
Recognition happens automatically early in a career, because mentors and sponsors are watching for you. It stops once you move into higher leadership or start your own business, because no one else has the job of noticing on your behalf anymore.
Visibility isn't the same as self-promotion. It's sharing the results and the impact you created, not “me, me, me.”
Trisha's three-question framework for talking about your own work: What did I contribute? What changed because of it? Who could benefit from knowing what I learned?
Staying quiet about your work isn't humility. It's making the decision for someone else that they didn't need to know what you could give them.
The easiest way to start: tell someone else's story first. Share the impact you had on a client, customer, or teammate before you ever have to talk about yourself.
Connect With Trisha Stetzel
Website: https://trishastetzel.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trisha-stetzel/
YouTube: ​​https://youtube.com/@trishastetzel
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trishastetzel
Podcast: https://businessradiox.com/series/houston-business-radio/

Download The Human Dividend White Paper: A Leader's Guide to Human-Led AI Transformation
: https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/services/human-led-ai-transformation/
Learn more about the Human Dividend AI Assessment
: https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/human-dividend-ai-transformation-assessment/
Subscribe to the Weekly Fulfill newsletter
: https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/newsletter/
Watch this episode (and all episodes) on YouTube
: https://www.youtube.com/@lifefulfilledpod
Book Bernie Borges as a speaker at your next event
: https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/speaking/
Music Attribution:
Old Bossa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb6VxxLCWEg
Twin Musicom: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC636YLvNOD6r02q2ePw0XZw
Suno: https://suno.com/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Walter Miska has built four businesses and sold three of them, spanning promotional products, craft beer, and escape rooms. Now he's back running the brand where his own story began, this time as president of Fully Promoted. Most people would call that restless. Walter calls it self-awareness. This episode is about what happens when you finally catch up on everything you've been chasing, why that feeling never lasts, and why that isn't a problem to fix. It's the reason to keep building.
Who This Is For
• Entrepreneurs who've reached a goal and felt the letdown that showed up right behind it
• Leaders trying to figure out whether their own restlessness is a flaw or a signal
• Franchise owners and franchise-curious professionals weighing what actually makes a business sustainable
• Anyone who equates selling with persuading people, rather than earning trust
• Listeners looking for a practical way to enjoy where they are now without giving up on where they're headed
Five Key Takeaways
• The businesses Walter built, in promotional products, craft beer, and escape rooms, were never really about the industry. The throughline was building a business, growing a team, and eventually selling it.
• Self-awareness means knowing your fit as much as your skill. Walter knew early that food service and youth-focused businesses weren't right for him, even when the numbers made sense on paper.
• Trust drives recurring business more than sales technique does. Walter's approach, being nice, following up, and earning trust, built every customer relationship and team he's had.
• Reaching a finished to-do list rarely delivers lasting satisfaction. Walter describes getting everything caught up and feeling done within minutes, then already thinking about what to build next.
• You can enjoy your current stage and still look ahead. A lesson Walter's mother taught him about raising kids, don't rush to the next stage, is one he's carried into how he leads today.
Episode Summary
Walter Miska is an engineer by training and, he says, by nature. Twenty-five years ago, a trip to a Cold Stone Creamery with his mother sent him down a different path: entrepreneurship. Since then, he's built and sold businesses in promotional products, craft beer, and escape rooms, drawn less to any one industry and more to the process of building something from scratch. Earlier this year, Walter took a call from Andrew Titus, president of United Franchise Group, and returned to Fully Promoted, the brand where his own entrepreneurial story started, this time as president. In this conversation, Walter and Bernie talk about the self-awareness that let him catch his own patterns before someone else pointed them out, why he never saw himself as a salesperson even while building trust-based businesses, and the lesson from his mother about enjoying the stage you're in that now shapes how he leads.
Connect with Walter Miska
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walter-miska/
Website (Fully Promoted): https://www.fullypromoted.com
Download The Human Dividend White Paper: A Leader's Guide to Human-Led AI Transformation
Link: https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/services/human-led-ai-transformation/
Learn more about the Human Dividend AI Assessment
Link: https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/human-dividend-ai-transformation-assessment/
Subscribe to the Weekly Fulfill newsletter
Link: https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/newsletter/
Watch this episode (and all episodes) on YouTube
Link: https://www.youtube.com/@lifefulfilledpod
Book Bernie Borges as a speaker at your next event.
Link: https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/speaking/
Music Attribution
Old Bossa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb6VxxLCWEg
Twin Musicom: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC636YLvNOD6r02q2ePw0XZw
Suno: https://suno.com/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Meri Stockwell has coached more than 600 emerging leaders over three decades. But this episode isn't about strategy decks or performance reviews. It's about grief, a 6 a.m. walking habit, and a Cavapoo who ended up with the unofficial title of Chief Cultural Officer. What started as a way to survive the loss of two dogs in two years turned into a weekly video series, a softer leadership style, and a reminder that legacy isn't only what you plan. Sometimes it's a leash, a sunrise, and a promise you keep to yourself every morning.

Who This Is For

• Leaders who think legacy only comes from titles, milestones, or grand plans

• Anyone moving through grief and looking for a structure, not just advice, to help them process it

• People curious how one small daily habit can rebuild confidence, health, and connection

• Coaches and executives wondering whether a softer leadership style can also be a stronger one

• Listeners who enjoy an unconventional creator story, this one involves a dog with an executive title

Five Key Takeaways

1. After losing her two dogs, Sierra and Pebbles, within about two years of each other, Meri added the dates together, landed on 42, and committed to walking at least 42 minutes every morning at 6 a.m. as a way to move through grief rather than around it.

2. The walk led her to a Cavapoo she calls CC, after basketball player Caitlin Clark, whose presence softened how Meri shows up on camera and how she leads and coaches.

3. What started as a private ritual became Sunrise Saturday, a weekly video series filmed along Florida's Gulf Coast, where CC delivers three tips a week and always gets the last word.

4. The series built real community. Meri hears from high school classmates, neighbors, and strangers who recognize her and CC, with some videos reaching thousands of views.

5. Meri connects the ritual to all five fulfillment pillars: health (26 pounds lost and more consistency), mental fitness (staying present instead of stuck in grief), relationships (old friendships resurfacing and new ones forming), career (a more human coaching style), and legacy (built daily, not just planned for someday).

Connect With Meri Stockwell

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meristockwellleadership/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meritas_advisorygroup

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meritasadvisorygroup/

Website: https://www.meritasadvisorygroup.solutions/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@meritasadvisorygroup8937

Watch this episode (all episodes) on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@lifefulfilledpod

Book Bernie Borges as a speaker at your next event:
https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/speaking/

Download The Human Dividend White Paper: A Leader’s Guide to Human-Led AI Transformation
https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/services/human-led-ai-transformation/

Learn more about the Human Dividend AI Assessment
https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/human-dividend-ai-transformation-assessment/

Subscribe to the Weekly Fulfill newsletter
https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/newsletter/

Music Attribution

Old Bossa
Twin Musicom
Suno



Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Most leadership advice is about what you do when people are watching. Mike Reynold's best lessons came from fifteen years of showing up when no one was, mile after mile, chasing whatever scared him most.

A doctor once told him his running career was over: no marathons, no fun runs, no running with his kids, or he'd risk a hip replacement before 40. Mike waited, gained some weight, and stopped moving. Then, on a friend's back porch during COVID, he decided to try again anyway, one slow lap at a time, and started rebuilding more than his fitness.

Fifteen years, a $300 bike, and more than fifty interviews with endurance athletes later, Mike has completed obstacle course races, a full Ironman, and ultramarathons up to fifty miles. The same lesson kept showing up on every course: leadership isn't a title you're given. It's built through thousands of small choices nobody sees.

This episode isn't really about the races. It's about what a government affairs attorney learned about leading himself, and other people, by talking to firefighters, teachers, recovering addicts, cancer survivors, and world champions, and finding out they were all working on the same thing.

Who This Is For

●      Anyone who's been told by a doctor, a boss, or their own doubts that a chapter of their life is closed

●      Leaders who want a definition of leadership that has nothing to do with a title

●      People over 40 wondering if it's too late to start something hard

●      Endurance athletes and weekend warriors who want a community, not just a finish line

●      Anyone building a demanding career while trying to stay present at home

Five Key Takeaways

1. Fear works better as a compass than a stop sign.

Mike spent years being told what he couldn't do: no races, no risks, nothing that might undo a $300 hip repair. When he finally faced the things that scared him most, obstacle courses, open water, a fifty mile race against horses, fear stopped being a wall and became a signal pointing him toward what actually mattered to him.

2. Leadership is built through thousands of small choices no one sees.

The discipline it takes to train for an ultramarathon, the early mornings, the meals, the miles logged when no one's watching, is the same discipline that shows up later in a boardroom or on a Little League field. Mike's core claim: you don't build character in the finish line photo. You build it in the choices leading up to it.

3. The community that celebrates last place teaches something most workplaces miss.

In ultra racing, the DFL, dead last finisher, gets a trophy and a crowd, not because of how fast they went, but because of how far they went and how long they refused to quit. Mike sees that as a model for leadership: measure people by their grit and their follow-through, not just their speed.

4. There's more than one right way to lead.

Mike interviewed two ultrarunners with opposite styles: Andy Glaze, a battalion fire chief whose motto is "smile or you're doing it wrong," and Harvey Lewis, a teacher who ran 250 miles carrying an American flag and says anyone can lead just by showing up and caring. Mike's take: both are right, because leadership has to fit the person delivering it and the people receiving it.

5. Your priorities in one part of life protect every other part.

An orthopedic surgeon Mike interviewed put it simply: family first, work second, training a distant third. Mike has carried that ordering into his own life. If the foundation at home isn't solid, he says, none of the discipline required for the extreme stuff matters.

Connect with Mike Reynold

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikereynold/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrey32

Mike is currently writing a book based on more than fifty interviews with endurance athletes, tentatively titled "Joy in the Miles," expected in mid to late 2027. Follow him on LinkedIn or Instagram for updates on its release.

Download The Human Dividend White Paper: A Leader’s Guide to Human-Led AI Transformation
https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/services/human-led-ai-transformation/

 

Learn more about the Human Dividend AI Assessment

https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/human-dividend-ai-transformation-assessment/

Subscribe to the Weekly Fulfill newsletter

https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/newsletter/

Connect with Bernie Borges

Website: https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernieborges/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernieborges/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bernieborges

Speaking: https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/speaking/

Music Attribution

Old Bossa
Twin Musicom
Suno

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if the biggest blind spot in your leadership isn’t a missing skill, but something you can’t see about yourself? I learned that lesson the hard way, in an ordinary conversation with a family member. In the moment, I thought it went fine. Weeks later, she told me I had shut her down, a moment I didn’t even remember happening, and never meant to cause.

In this milestone 300th episode of the Life Fulfilled Podcast, I go solo to mark the occasion, and unpack a lesson nearly 30 years of studying leadership never fully settled for me: self-awareness is not something you earn once. It’s a daily practice, and it decides whether your influence on the people around you makes them stronger, or heavier.

This story also points to a harder truth. Most people won’t tell you when your influence has weighed them down. They’ll just quietly carry it.

Who This Is For

Leaders who want to understand how self-awareness shapes the influence they have on others

Anyone who has ever misjudged how a conversation landed with someone they care about

Managers and executives leading people through AI adoption or other organizational change

People navigating a personal transition, a move, a loss, a career change, who are also trying to lead others through it

Longtime listeners who want the milestone reflection behind 300 episodes of the show

Five Key Takeaways

1. Self-awareness is a daily practice, not a certificate you earn once. I’ve spent more than 30 years studying leadership and talked to hundreds of guests about it on this podcast, yet I still missed the moment my own words closed a door on a beloved family member. Self-awareness, I argue, has to be practiced daily, in every room, with everyone, because it is easy to lose track of.
2. Leadership is influence, not a title. If you have ever influenced another person, at work, at home, or in your community, you have led, whether or not you carry a formal title. My core claim: everyone carries that responsibility, whether they want it or not.
3. The most ineffective leaders never learned to lead themselves. Before you can lead anyone else well, I argue that you have to know how you show up and how that shows up in the people around you. The starting line for every leader, in my view, is self-leadership.
4. Change reveals whether your influence builds trust or fear. I outline four moves for leading through change, at work or at home: reduce fear, create clarity, preserve meaning, and build adaptability. I developed these to help leaders drive AI adoption, but they apply to any change people are living through, a merger, a move, a loss.
5. Most people won’t tell you when your influence made them feel heavier. My family member did, and I call that a gift most people never receive. My challenge to listeners: ask the question yourself, in every conversation, starting today. Does your influence make people stronger, or does it make them heavier?

Resources From Bernie 

Download the FREE 90 Day Self Leadership Blueprint 
https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/self-leadership-blueprint

Catch episode 294: The Self Leadership Plan Built to Last
https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/podcast/ep-294-the-self-leadership-plan-built-to-last-when-life-pushes-back/

 

Subscribe to the Weekly Fulfill newsletter: https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/ne...

Connect With Bernie Borges

Website: https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernieborges/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernieborges/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bernieborges

Speaking: https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/speaking/

"I record and produce my podcast in Riverside. I would use it even if I never recorded another episode. It’s an AI-powered platform for studio-quality recording (even on Zoom-style calls), plus ridiculously easy editing, transcription, and instant social clips. If you run webinars, record trainings, or want cleaner audio/video for meetings, take a look at my Riverside affiliate link." 

— Bernie Borges, Host, The Life Fulfilled Podcast

Music Attribution

Old Bossa
Twin Musicom
Suno

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.