Fault Lines

In this episode, we sit down with the co-founders of Firestarter Collective to explore how branding, identity, and trust shape business growth in the B2B world. Dr. Chris Endersby and Mickey Wilson share how their different career paths (from social work, academia, leadership, coaching, entrepreneurship, and agency life) came together to build a bold partnership grounded in strategy, creativity, and relationship-building.
We dig into what makes a brand truly trustworthy, why differentiation matters more than ever, and how authentic messaging can help founders earn confidence before they ever get in the room.  
The conversation also covers the role of coaching in uncovering deeper identity, the tension between creativity and commercial structure, and why self-trust is one of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs face.
You’ll also hear how Firestarter’s DARE formula (differentiation, authenticity, resonance, and expression) helps businesses build brands that are not only memorable, but meaningful. 
If you’re a founder, marketer, or B2B leader looking to sharpen your positioning and build stronger trust with your audience, this episode is packed with practical insight and inspiration.

In this impactful episode, Reem Borrows, founder of Dream Coaching and Consulting, shares how her journey from Palestine to Australia shaped her approach to heart-centered leadership, resilience, and human performance.
Drawing from more than 20 years in corporate leadership across sales, marketing, training, and development, Reem explains why true growth starts with values, self-awareness, and the willingness to question what no longer serves us.
We explore the dangers of leadership stagnation, the role of emotional intelligence and inclusion in effective teams, and why strategic plans only matter if they are actually lived through consistent habits and culture. Reem also opens up about identity, belonging, and the power of human stories to cut through division and propaganda.
This conversation is a compelling reminder that leadership is not just about performance metrics; it’s about trust, responsibility, and the courage to create meaningful change.
Listen to discover:
Why heart-centered leadership is essential in today’s world
How values shape better decisions and stronger culture
The connection between resilience, identity, and growth
Why critical thinking and inclusion matter in leadership
How to move from busyness to meaningful impact
If you’re interested in leadership development, executive coaching, resilience, DEI, organizational culture, and values-based strategy, this episode offers both insight and practical wisdom.

Most discussions around higher education focus on the economics. What if the real crisis is about trust, accessibility, and relevance? Sara Goldrick-Rab, a sociologist who has spent her entire career fighting for affordable, equitable college access, exposes the systemic failures that have left countless Americans invisible and unheard. Her personal journey from her grandfather’s GI Bill stories to current policy debates reveals a powerful truth: higher education can be a tool for opportunity or a barrier to success.
In this eye-opening conversation, Sara shares the deeply human stories behind college enrollment, dropout rates, and public trust. She argues that the elite narratives and policy missteps create a disconnect between what people want and what they need, from community colleges to land grant institutions, from job retraining to basic healthcare. 
You'll discover the hidden strategies driving the high costs, the political motivations behind attacks on public universities, and how funding models often prioritize research over the very students they’re supposed to serve. Sara breaks down the myths, such as the “college as a rite of passage,” and invites us to rethink higher ed as a lifelong, flexible pursuit accessible to everyone, at any age.
You’ll learn:
Why the current obsession with four-year degrees ignores the real needs of working Americans;
How trust (and the stories we tell) can change the future of education;
Actionable ways to bring higher education closer to communities through funding, partnerships, and storytelling.
This is essential listening if you care about restoring faith in institutions, fixing systemic inequality, and creating pathways for all Americans to thrive.
Sara Goldrick-Rab is a distinguished professor and advocate for educational equity, known globally for her research on the impact of policy on opportunity and her fearless critique of higher education politics. Her work has transformed how policymakers and institutions understand affordability, trust, and access. She is author of Paying the Price (2016). 
Whether you're an educator, policymaker, student, or parent, this episode challenges you to see higher education through a new lens, and offers hope for building a system that truly works for everyone.
Don’t miss these insights into fixing a broken system from the inside out!

In this episode, Shannon Lucas shares her journey in building an innovation program at Vodafone and the challenges that come with driving organizational transformation, including burnout among change-makers. She explores the unique role of catalysts (individuals who spark and sustain change within organizations) and the importance of recognizing, supporting, and empowering them
In this episode, we sit down with Shannon Lucas to explore the hidden power of catalysts inside organizations, those fast-moving, highly intuitive change-makers who spot opportunities others miss and help teams turn transformation ideas into real results.
Shannon shares how her career in global innovation led her to co-found Catalyst Constellations, why so many high-impact employees burn out, and what leaders can do to support the people driving positive change.
We also dig into the five attributes of a catalyst, the role of trust in innovation, why traditional change management often fails, and how organizations can activate internal talent to accelerate transformation.
If you’ve ever felt like you see problems before everyone else does (or you lead people like that) this conversation will make you feel see and understood.
Topics include:
Building innovation programs at Vodafone, Cisco, and Ericsson
Why catalysts are often overlooked in large organizations
Burnout, rejuvenation, and sustainable change leadership
How trust unlocks transformation
The Catalyst Constellations program and its five phases
Learn more at catalystconstellations.com and take the quiz to see if you might be a catalyst.

Most people don’t realize how private industry, privatization, and government failures intertwine to sustain systems that trap and profit from vulnerable communities. Anne Kim, renowned journalist and policy expert, exposes the shocking networks fueling America’s ongoing poverty crisis, and how transparency and systemic change could restore trust and equity.
In this compelling conversation, you’ll uncover how a complex web of private contractors, from tax preparers to dialysis providers and criminal justice companies, exploits systemic weaknesses, often operating invisibly in plain sight.
Anne shares eye-opening insights from her book Poverty for Profit, revealing industry-by-industry breakdowns: how for-profit firms profit from low-income tax credit skimming, prison privatization, and even the administration of public health programs like Medicaid. You’ll learn why these industries flourish in a landscape plagued by systemic distrust, political manipulation, and laws designed to outsource rather than improve public services.
You'll also discover the historical roots of America’s suspicion of poverty (fueled by ingrained cultural myths of worthiness and self-made success) and how these beliefs have shaped policies that systematically stigmatize and marginalize vulnerable populations.
The episode dives into how privatization, starting from Reagan’s era and culminating in recent welfare reform, has hollowed out government capacity, which turned essential services into profit centers that often prioritize their own interests over the public good.
This isn’t just about exposing corruption; instead, Anne argues that dismantling these harmful systems requires restoring trust through competent, transparent governance and a moral reckoning with who benefits from poverty’s persistence.
She offers practical advice: fostering empathy, engaging locally, and holding leaders accountable are vital steps for anyone eager to contribute to a more equitable America. If you're concerned about the future of social safety nets, or want to understand how vested interests influence policies that impact millions, this episode is essential listening.
Anne Kim is a journalist, lawyer, and senior editor at Washington Monthly Magazine, known for her investigative reporting into systemic inequality and the privatization of public services. Her work has shed light on how entrenched industries benefit from a broken system, and how informed citizens can push for reforms rooted in fairness and accountability.
Perfect for policymakers, activists, educators, or anyone hungry for a deeper understanding of the forces shaping America’s social safety nets, and eager to explore real paths toward rebuilding trust and opportunity for all.

Bernadette Marciniak shares how a background in journalism, photography, and videography shaped her approach to storytelling, trust, and leadership.
From growing up in a family of Polish immigrants to building Solhaus Media in Los Angeles, Bernadette explains how visual storytelling can do more than create beautiful content; it can also help nonprofits, social impact organizations, and small businesses connect with audiences in a more honest and meaningful way.
We dive into the role of vulnerability in rebuilding trust, why storytelling matters in a time of misinformation and over-saturation, and how creative work can repair systems that no longer serve people well.
Bernadette also discusses her work with survivors of gender-based violence, food insecurity nonprofits, and mission-driven brands that need both strategy and visuals to move their message forward.
This conversation is a must-listen for anyone interested in journalism, nonprofit marketing, brand storytelling, creative entrepreneurship, and the future of trust in media.  Bernadette’s perspective is thoughtful, practical, and human, a necessary reminder that stories can do more than just inform. They can create change.
Listen now to hear how Solhaus Media helps organizations turn authentic storytelling into impact.

In this powerful episode, Michelle Thielen shares the remarkable story behind Yoga Faith and the lessons she learned through entrepreneurship, betrayal, forgiveness, discernment, and rebuilding trust. From a life-altering business setback to a deeply personal leadership crisis, Michelle opens up about how faith, resilience, and embodied practice helped her move forward and create a mission-driven organization rooted in purpose.
We explore the origins of Yoga Faith, why Christian spirituality and yoga can coexist, and how posture, breath, and trauma-informed movement can support healing. Michelle also shares how her work with trafficking survivors shaped her approach to trust, leadership, and community care, and why she believes healing begins with looking inward and leading by example.
If you’re interested in faith-based leadership, healing after betrayal, trauma-informed wellness, Christian yoga, entrepreneurship, or building trust in community, this conversation offers both encouragement and insight.
Listen to hear:
How Michelle turned hardship into purpose
Why discernment matters in leadership and relationships
The role of forgiveness in rebuilding trust
How Yoga Faith blends scripture, prayer, and movement
Why embodied healing matters for trauma survivors
Tune in for an honest, hopeful conversation about resilience, calling, and the power of trusting your path

In this thoughtful conversation, Richard Roman sits down with his former English professor, Shannon Gayk, to explore how medieval literature and environmental writing can speak powerfully to the climate crises of the present.
Professor Gayk is the author of Apocalyptic Ecologies. She reflects on the ways apocalyptic stories, biblical retellings, and ethical traditions from the Middle Ages offer surprising insight into how we live, grieve, care, and remain attentive in fragile times.
From the Black Death and the Little Ice Age to modern climate emergency, this episode draws striking parallels between historical catastrophe and today’s environmental uncertainty. We discuss themes of trust, deep attention, embodied care, and “making odd kin” in moments of crisis, as well as why staying with the trouble may be more meaningful than trying to escape it.
We also talk about the power of walking in nature, the importance of presence, and how ancient texts can help us reimagine responsibility toward both human and more-than-human life.
If you’re interested in climate humanities, medieval studies, religion, literature, or the ethics of care, this conversation offers a rich and moving perspective.

In this episode, we sit down with Sonia Baschez, an early-stage startup marketer and fractional CMO at Yapping as a Service (YAAS), to unpack why the best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing at all; instead, it feels like a story people want to follow. Sonia shares how her path from immigration law and architecture firms to political campaigns and startup growth shaped her approach to communication, trust, and action-driven storytelling.
We dive into the rise of “forensic fandom,” the power of building in public, and why brands that understand culture can create stronger emotional connections with their audiences.
Sonia also breaks down what separates cringe trend-hopping from smart, authentic brand participation, using examples from Nike, Wendy’s, Taylor Swift, and major viral moments in pop culture and politics.
If you’re a founder, marketer, creator, or anyone trying to turn attention into trust, this conversation is packed with practical insight on how to make your message clear, compelling, and impossible to ignore.

In this thought-provoking episode, Richard speaks with Dr. Kevin McClure about the realities of burnout, trust, and organizational care in higher education.
Drawing from his research, his book The Caring University, and years of interviewing higher ed professionals, Dr. McClure explains why so many faculty and staff feel stretched thin, and why the solution can’t just be “better individual time management.”
Instead, the conversation explores how institutions can create healthier, more sustainable workplaces by rethinking systems, leadership, employee voice, compensation, hybrid work, and the gap between stated values and lived experience.
They also unpack how the pandemic accelerated long-running issues in higher education, why trust is the foundation of healthy organizations, and what it really means for universities to act with integrity.
If you care about higher ed leadership, workplace culture, employee wellbeing, or the future of trust in organizations, this episode offers a practical and profound human perspective on what change could look like and where it’s already happening.