What happens inside you when you interact with a difficult person at work? In this episode, Sandra Crowe explores how challenging relationships impact our nervous system—and why self-awareness is often 95% of the cure.

Sandra explains how workplace friction is rarely just about the other person. Instead, it often activates old patterns, unresolved dynamics, and emotional triggers that live beneath the surface. By recognizing what’s happening internally—whether it’s a spike in heart rate, shallow breathing, rapid blinking, or emotional reactivity—we can begin to separate ourselves from the trigger rather than being ruled by it.

From subtle annoyances to navigating narcissistic leaders, Sandra shares practical strategies for responding skillfully instead of reacting defensively. She discusses how to communicate without blame, how to reduce nervous system escalation, and how even the most difficult people can become unexpected teachers in our growth.

You can learn more about Sandra Crowe here: https://www.sandracrowe.com/

What does it really take to learn the skills needed to build and scale a business? In this episode, entrepreneur JP Forno, founder and CEO of Meteor, shares his journey from employee to business owner. He explains how curiosity, experimentation, and sustained drive helped him grow into the role step by step

The conversation explores learning as an active process rooted in action and reflection, not passive information consumption. JP discusses how embracing mistakes, staying curious, and executing consistently shaped his leadership style and supported Meteor’s growth.

JP also unpacks his philosophy on hiring: focusing less on credentials and more on qualities like critical thinking, initiative, coachability, and integrity. While technical skills can be taught, mindset and hunger are much harder to instill in your employees.

This episode is a candid look at entrepreneurship, lifelong learning, and building teams that scale—perfect for leaders, aspiring founders, and anyone curious about how skills are truly developed in the real world.

You can learn more about JP Forno and Meteor here: https://www.trymeteor.com/en/

We all say trust matters, but how many of us actually go first? In this episode, we talk with Dr. Michelle Reina about what it really means to build trust, especially when it’s been broken. Michelle challenges a common leadership trap: waiting for others to “prove” they can be trusted. Instead, she argues, trust begins with you — your willingness to take the first step, extend openness, and model the behavior you want to see.

This episode explores what makes trust so fragile in today’s workplaces, and how leaders can build it back stronger. You’ll hear about the three dimensions of trust (Character, Communication, and Capability), why trust is both behavioral and emotional, and how to rebuild it after it’s been lost. Michelle shares real tools and frameworks from her upcoming book The Art of Trust Building, including:

• The Individual Trust Scale, a self-assessment that reveals how your actions build or compromise trust.

• How leaders can measure and strengthen trust to drive engagement and performance.

• The seven steps to healing trust after a breakdown.

• Why vulnerability and courage are inseparable from leadership.

This is a conversation for every leader who’s ever struggled to rebuild a relationship, repair a team, or restore faith after a tough season. Trust isn’t a one-time achievement — it’s a daily practice. And when leaders model it first, the results ripple through entire cultures.

Dr. Michelle Reina is a researcher, author, and co-founder of Reina Trust Building®, where she and her husband, Dr. Dennis Reina, have spent more than 35 years studying the behavioral science of trust. Their work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fortune, The New York Times, CNN, and CNBC. Their forthcoming book, The Art of Trust Building, releases January 2026, with pre-orders available November 2025.

Learn more at reinatrustbuilding.com.