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Mental Stillness

Mental Stillness

Written by: Derek Sloan LPCC NCC CCTP
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This podcast aims to bridge the gap between leadership and mental health, emphasizing that the "how" of leadership is as crucial as the "what." It explores practical strategies for leaders to enhance their effectiveness by addressing both their own mental health and that of their team members. Derek Sloan is your host. Derek has graduate degrees in both leadership and clinical mental health. Derek is a board certified professional clinical counselor (LPCC), National Certified Counselor (NCC), Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP), and a Certified Leadership Coach.Derek Sloan, LPCC, NCC, CCTP Self-Help Success
Episodes
  • 59. Teri Pruitt - Over 25 years on Broadway in New York City
    Oct 18 2026

    Teri has spent more than 30 years inside the theatrical process, including more than 25 years on Broadway and nearly two decades with Wicked. In that time she has watched hundreds of professionals take on the same challenges every leader and organization faces, eight times a week, with no pause button and a paying audience watching.

    Most people see Broadway as entertainment. Teri sees one of the world’s most complex living operating systems, where leadership, collaboration, communication, adaptability, and human performance are tested in real time at every single performance. The difference between Broadway and most workplaces? According to Teri, Broadway just has better costumes, more sequins, and a few more dance numbers.

    Teri founded Open the Aperture to bridge the gap between the theatrical and business worlds. Through keynotes, interactive workshops, and podcast conversations, she uses the theatrical process to help leaders and organizations see teamwork, leadership, communication, and collaboration from an entirely new perspective.


    www.teripruitt.world

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    57 mins
  • 58. Guinness McFadden - The Unlikely Path to the Winner's Circle
    Aug 14 2026

    Guinness's horse, Country House, was the 2019 Kentucky Derby winner with the improbable odds of 65-1. Country House claimed the win after Maximum Security was disqualified for interference, a shocking and historic finish. Guinness is also the founder and president of Blackwood Distilling Co., a luxury Kentucky whiskey brand rooted in one of the most improbable stories in recent Derby history. Blackwood is named after the horse stable that Guinness and his wife Lisa owned.

    That next chapter is a case study in unconventional leadership. Guinness didn't start out in horse racing. He was living in Reno working construction until the housing market crashed, and a friend suggested he try the horse industry instead. He worked his way up from a groom to eventually owning a Derby-winning Thoroughbred. By his own admission, that win reshaped how people saw him overnight. Suddenly his opinion mattered in rooms it never had before. Rather than resting on that moment, he pointed that same outsider's drive at an entirely different industry.

    The result is Blackwood Distilling Co., launched in 2020 in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Blackwood breaks from convention here too: instead of batching and finishing barrels the traditional way, it re-barrels aged Kentucky straight bourbon and Indiana straight rye one-to-one into new toasted barrels, a proprietary process built on craft over volume. Guinness's path is a throughline of betting on himself in industries where he started as an outsider, and it's exactly that journey we dig into on this episode.

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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • 57. Travis D. Hahler - Author of "Rethink Resistance"
    Jul 16 2026

    As Senior Director of Global Strategy and Transformation at Salesforce, and Founder of The Neurological Nomad, Hahler brings an unprecedented fusion of neuroscience and business acumen to organizational transformation.

    Travis has guided more than 100 organizations through transformation efforts and is known as the “Resistance Fortune Teller” for his ability to predict where change efforts will stall. In addition to his role at Salesforce, he has led change initiatives at companies including Google and has delivered his neuroscience-of-change keynote to more than 25,000 leaders across 150 global events. His work is both research-informed and highly practical for audiences navigating constant organizational change.

    Rethink Resistance, his new book, represents Hahler’s continued mission to democratize neuroscience for business leaders. Helping them to remove ego and embrace neuroscience to lead transformational change.

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    42 mins
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