Welcome to A Change Question — a special mini-series from The Inner Game of Change.
In each short, solo episode, I bring you one question worth sitting with — the kind that can spark both personal and professional shifts.

We start with a deceptively simple one: What am I tolerating that I no longer have room for?

From George Eliot’s idea of the unhistoric acts that shape our days, to Seneca’s warning about the quiet waste of possibility, this episode explores how the small things we put up with, in our work, our habits, our relationships, can drain more than just our energy. I will share a practical way to name, assess, and act on them, and why framing it as a question opens the door to change.

If you have been feeling the slow weight of things you have outgrown, this one is for you.

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Ali Juma
@The Inner Game of Change podcast

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Welcome to The Inner Game of Change, the podcast where we explore the unseen forces that shape how we lead, adapt, and thrive in the face of change and transformation.

On today’s episode, I am speaking with someone who is not just talking about fixing higher education; she is building a new one from the ground up.

Sasha Thackaberry-Voinovich is a change maker in every sense of the word. As Founder and President of Newstate University, a skills-first, competency-based online university, she is on a mission to lift people into the middle class without burying them in debt.

Sasha has spent her career leading innovation at some of the biggest names in higher ed, but when she saw the limits of tweaking the old system, she chose a different path; AI-first, student-centred, and free of the red tape that stops too many learners at the door.

In our conversation, Sasha opens up about decision making under uncertainty, the courage and risk appetite needed to lead big change, and the execution discipline that turns vision into results. She is candid, she is bold, and she is relentlessly focused on impact.

I am grateful to have Sasha chatting with me today.

About Sasha

Sasha Thackaberry (@sashatberr) is a higher education leader in innovative learning models and the effective use of eLearning systems. She is currently the Founder and President of Newstate University, a skills-first, competency-based, online university with fully stackable certificates and degrees. www.newstateu.com

She previously served as the President of SkillsWave, a rollout of a company from D2L when she was Senior Vice President of Wave at D2L, an upskilling platform that serves as a matchmaker between corporations needing upskilling, and education partners delivering excellence in learning.

She has supported teams and grown enrollments across a range of institutions, including as the Vice President of Student and Partner Services at Pearson, as Vice President for Online and Continuing Education at Louisiana State University, and as Assistant Vice President for Academic Technology and New Learning Models at Southern New Hampshire University. She was previously the District Director of eLearning Technologies for the Office of eLearning and Innovation (eLi) at Cuyahoga Community College, responsible for both operational support for eLearning technologies and for innovative learning projects. In that role she led the administration and front end support for Blackboard Learn, as well as other academic technologies. She also led Quality Matters initiatives at Tri-C, including serving as the QM Coordinator. She has consulted for higher education organizations, for corporations in their eLearning efforts, and in the K-12 sector.

Presentations include local, state, and national conferences, general sessions and keynotes, and enjoys writing in the field. Her PhD in Educational Administration - Higher Education is from Kent State University, as is her Masters in the Art of Teaching.

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Sasha’s Profile

linkedin.com/in/sashatberr

Website

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"A Case Study in Corporate Fear" deconstructs how fear transforms successful...

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Ali Juma
@The Inner Game of Change podcast

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Welcome to a very special mini-series on The Inner Game of Change. I’m thrilled to take you on this journey as we explore something both timeless and practical: Mental Models for Managing Change.

Now, before we step into today’s topic, let’s revisit something we mention in every episode, what is a mental model anyway?

A mental model is a way of seeing, a framework that helps us interpret complexity, solve problems, and make better decisions.
You can think of it like a mental lens. The clearer it is, the better we navigate uncertainty and lead with intention.

In our last episode, we explored Chunking — a model about breaking big challenges into small, manageable pieces so we can make steady progress without feeling overwhelmed.

Today, we are staying in that space between vision and execution. Because once we’ve broken things down into chunks, the next trap is how we estimate the time and effort those chunks will take.

And that’s where today’s mental model comes in — The Planning Fallacy.

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Ali Juma
@The Inner Game of Change podcast

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