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Your track record for surviving hard days is 100%. Let me prove it to you.

In this deeply personal episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on the three T's that have kept me grounded through 28 years in tech, multiple layoffs, career transitions, and everything in between.

You'll learn:

• Transparency: Why vulnerability is your secret weapon—and how admitting "I'm not okay" actually heals you and everyone around you
• Transformation: The counterintuitive reason job loss and setbacks aren't punishment—they're your forge for becoming who you're meant to be
• Trust: How to stop white-knuckling control and actually go with the flow (even when your brain screams otherwise)

This isn't motivational fluff. It's real talk about resilience, acceptance, and the power of showing up authentically in your professional and personal life. Perfect if you're navigating career change, burnout, imposter syndrome, or just wondering how to keep going when things get hard.

Featured In This Episode:

• The power of honest conversation during crisis
• How change and transformation work together
• Mindfulness, acceptance, and releasing what you can't control
• Real examples from my own layoff and career transition journey
• Why you're tougher than you think

For women in tech and cybersecurity

If you’re working to find, refine, and use your voice—whether through leadership, speaking, or visibility—this is part of the work I deeply care about and actively support. Explore how I can help

Ask Me Anything (AMA) — coming soon

If you have questions—from career navigation to cyber pathways to dealing with being “the only one” in the room 👉🏽 send them in.

Support the show

Hey, listeners and tech enthusiasts! 🌟 If you've been enjoying our podcast and finding value in the insights shared, we'd love your support. You can:

• Take a moment to share this podcast with someone.
• Submit the interest form if you’d like to be a guest.
• Let us know how we're doing. We’d love to hear from you.
• Leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.
• If you’re in a position to support financially, consider supporting via the Tip Jar, or Buy Me a Coffee. This podcast is a self-funded and how we give back, especially to underrepresented voices in tech and cybersecurity.

Your support keeps us going and growing. Thanks for being part of this journey and our community!

Stay connected! Sign up for the weekly newsletter, Courageous Circuits: https://tinyurl.com/wz8fepyc

Looking for mentorship? Let's talk about what you need and how I may be able to help: Mentor Moments

The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are personal and not reflective of any employer.

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What if the key to better leadership, stronger teams, and healthier workplace culture starts with one thing—self-awareness?

In this episode, I sit down with Larissa Fitzhugh, founder of Diadem Solutions, to explore what it really takes to build workplaces where people can thrive—not just perform.

Larissa shares how her journey in HR operations led her to focus on employee experience after realizing she couldn’t always answer one simple question honestly: “What is your culture really like?”

From that moment, she chose to be part of the solution.

In this conversation, we unpack:

• Why self-awareness is one of the most powerful career accelerators
• How the DISC framework (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness) helps you understand how you show up under pressure
• The two breakthroughs that change everything: relief and compassion
• Why culture isn’t built through big initiatives—but in small, consistent daily moments
• The leadership gap around difficult conversations—and how to approach them without overthinking
• Why differences on teams are not a liability—but a necessity for growth

We also talk about the reality organizations are facing:

• AI is reshaping the workforce, but human understanding and emotional intelligence are more critical than ever
• Many organizations know change is needed—but aren’t taking action
• Culture and leadership development are often deprioritized due to time and budget constraints

This episode is a powerful reminder:
Leadership is not just about strategy—it’s about people.

And the leaders who understand themselves—and others—will be the ones who shape the future of work.

Connect with us:

Larissa: www.diademsolutions.co | linkedin.com/in/larissa-fitzhugh

Dawn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnbutler1/

Support the show

Hey, listeners and tech enthusiasts! 🌟 If you've been enjoying our podcast and finding value in the insights shared, we'd love your support. You can:

• Take a moment to share this podcast with someone.
• Submit the interest form if you’d like to be a guest.
• Let us know how we're doing. We’d love to hear from you.
• Leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.
• If you’re in a position to support financially, consider supporting via the Tip Jar, or Buy Me a Coffee. This podcast is a self-funded and how we give back, especially to underrepresented voices in tech and cybersecurity.

Your support keeps us going and growing. Thanks for being part of this journey and our community!

Stay connected! Sign up for the weekly newsletter, Courageous Circuits: https://tinyurl.com/wz8fepyc

Looking for mentorship? Let's talk about what you need and how I may be able to help: Mentor Moments

The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are personal and not reflective of any employer.

Send us Fan Mail

What if the biggest cybersecurity risk isn’t your company - but your life?

In this powerful conversation, I sit down with Hazel Cerra, a retired U.S. Secret Service agent who spent 25 years protecting world leaders before stepping into the world of digital security convergence at BlackCloak.

We explore how today’s threat landscape has evolved far beyond physical protection. Executives are now 12 times more likely to be targeted—not just because of what they do, but because of who they are and how visible they are online.

Hazel breaks down:

• The convergence of physical and digital threats—and why you can’t separate them anymore
• Sophisticated scams like spear phishing and “pig butchering” crypto fraud
• Why executives and their families are prime targets
• The psychological toll of cybercrime, from betrayal to loss of trust and relationships
• The growing risk of sextortion targeting young people

We also go deeper into leadership:

• Navigating high-pressure, male-dominated environments like the Secret Service
• Building confidence through worst-case scenario thinking
• The role of mentorship in advancing into leadership

This conversation is a wake-up call—and a reminder that cybersecurity is no longer just about systems. It’s about people.

If you’re a leader, a parent, or simply someone living in a connected world, this episode will change how you think about protection.

Connect with us:

Hazel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hazelcerra-cybergal/

Dawn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnbutler1/

Support the show

Hey, listeners and tech enthusiasts! 🌟 If you've been enjoying our podcast and finding value in the insights shared, we'd love your support. You can:

• Take a moment to share this podcast with someone.
• Submit the interest form if you’d like to be a guest.
• Let us know how we're doing. We’d love to hear from you.
• Leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.
• If you’re in a position to support financially, consider supporting via the Tip Jar, or Buy Me a Coffee. This podcast is a self-funded and how we give back, especially to underrepresented voices in tech and cybersecurity.

Your support keeps us going and growing. Thanks for being part of this journey and our community!

Stay connected! Sign up for the weekly newsletter, Courageous Circuits: https://tinyurl.com/wz8fepyc

Looking for mentorship? Let's talk about what you need and how I may be able to help: Mentor Moments

The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are personal and not reflective of any employer.