No Boxes: Just Verses

Nicole Taylor on LA Roots, Stanford, From Oakland Schoolteacher to Philanthropy Leader, TIME100 Honoree, and CEO of Silicon Valley Community Foundation

What does it take to rise from an immigrant, single-mother household in Los Angeles to Stanford University, pivot from an Oakland middle school science classroom into exe

Tami Rosen on New York Roots, 17 Years at Goldman Sachs, a Pivot to Apple, CHRO Roles at Atlassian and Luminar Technologies, Becoming Pagaya’s First C-Suite Leader, and Her Next Chapter as a Board Director

What does it take to evolve from an accidental technical recruiter to a four-time Chief Human Resources Officer, public company board director, and pioneer of workplace t

Yolanda Sanders on Altadena Roots, Youngest of 12, UC Berkeley, From Morrison & Foerster to General Counsel of Gap Inc., Navigating Grief, and Her Next Chapter as CEO of Journey to Lead

What does it take to rise from the youngest of 12 children in Altadena, California, to Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Gap Inc., and now Chief Executive Offi

Clarence Wooten on Baltimore Roots, From Community College to Johns Hopkins, Striking Lightning Twice with Exits to Network Solutions and Box, Innovating at Google X, and Launching Cofounder.ai

What does it take to go from dodging stick-up kids in inner-city Baltimore to selling two venture-backed tech startups to publicly traded companies and leading moonshots

Betsy Tong on Boston Roots, UCLA, Leadership at PwC, IBM, Intel, Lenovo and Symantec, Building a $500M Business, and Becoming a Leading Voice on AI and the Future of Work

Executive leadership is rarely a straight line—it is built on adapting to unexpected turns, mastering the art of influence, and learning that your career is not defined b

Michael Strautmanis on Chicago Roots, Family and Faith, the Obama White House, Walt Disney, and Coming Home as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of the Obama Foundation

True leadership is built on recognizing that the mission is always bigger than your own ambition. It requires the humility to embrace being unboxed by the world, the cour

Martin Blencowe on English Roots, USC, From NFL Agent to Co-founding the Tech Unicorn, Cameo and His Next Chapter with Endorse

True leadership requires an unrelenting willingness to step up to the plate, risk constant public rejection, and fundamentally alter your trajectory when your target mark

Carole House on Global Leadership, From Army Brat to National Security Advisor and Pioneering Cyber Strategies at the White House

True leadership requires the courage to challenge the noise and step into high-stakes, ambiguous environments where the margin for error is zero. Carole House—strategic t

Ron Silverman on New York Roots, Reinvention from Federal Prosecutor to Partner in Two Prominent LA Law Firms, Leaving the Law for Wealth Management and Co-Founding Bel Air Investment Advisors, and Turning Personal Loss into Purpose Through the Matthew Si

True leadership requires the courage to walk away from success when it no longer aligns with your passion. Ron Silverman—former federal prosecutor, multi-time law firm pa

Julia Collins on San Francisco Roots, Stanford and Harvard, Building a Billion Dollar Unicorn Startup, and Blending Climate Tech and Creativity Through Planet FWD and PlanetHAUS

Serial entrepreneur and climate tech CEO Julia Collins joins Shannon Nash to discuss the milestones that led her to make history as the first Black woman to found a unico

Danny Guillory on AI-Driven Workforce Transformation, Stanford, Harvard Law, Studying and Living in Europe, a Pivot from Politics to People Leadership, Roles at Autodesk and Dropbox, and Chief People Officer at Glassdoor and GameTime

Leadership is not a static destination; it is a series of layers built through adaptation and personal choice. Danny Guillory has navigated a path that spans from the Phi

Anita Lynch on a Childhood Fascination with AI, a Career from Startups and Financial Services to Bain and Data Roles at Yahoo, Amazon, and Disney, Becoming Chief Data Officer at New Relic, and Now a Board Director at Nasdaq

This special edition of No Boxes, Just Verses is part of a series featuring leaders from the Iconic Women Awards. These awards are powered by the Recharge Group, a commun

Mary Stutts on Foster Care, Roots in TV and Public Affairs, a Pivot to Healthcare, and Building a Legacy in Healthcare at Genentech, Kaiser, Stanford, and UnitedHealth Group, and Now CEO of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association

This special edition of No Boxes, Just Verses is part of a series featuring leaders from the Iconic Women Awards. These awards are powered by the Recharge Group, a commun

Tonya Pitts on St. Louis Roots and Law Aspirations to Becoming a Trailblazing Sommelier, Wine Director, and James Beard Finalist

In this special edition of No Boxes, Just Verses, powered by the Recharge Group, Shannon Nash sits down with Dame Tonya Pitts—a 2025 James Beard semi-finalist and a force

Dr. Nicole Barnett on Ohio and Nursing Roots, a Passion for Global Health Justice, Healthcare Leadership at Kaiser Permanente, and advancing health equity as CEO of Planned Parenthood Northern California

Many leaders believe they have to choose between clinical expertise and executive leadership. Dr. Nicole Barnett proves that the most effective leaders are those who stay

Evita Grant on Ghanaian Roots, MIT, Harvard JD and PhD, Wilson Sonsini, and Founding TechHustle at the Intersection of Science, Law, and Technology

Many professionals feel they must stay in one lane for their whole career. You might think that once you pick a field like engineering or law, you are stuck there forever

Tanneasha Gordon on New York Roots, a Career in Management Consulting, Making Partner at Deloitte, Leading in Cyber, Risk, and AI Governance, and Becoming a Sci-Fi Author

Many leaders struggle to find their voice when moving between different worlds—whether transitioning from law to management consulting or navigating life as a first-gener

Bryan Neider on a Journey of Grit and Resilience from CPA Roots and Public Accounting to Building a Global Career at Electronic Arts, Rising to COO, and His Next Act as CEO of AbilityPath

Many leaders reach the peak of their corporate career only to find themselves asking what comes next beyond the bottom line. In this episode of No Boxes, Just Verses, Bry

Rod Cotton on Overcoming Cancer and Career Setbacks, Healthcare Leadership at Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, and Baxter, and Driving Impact in the Boardroom

How do you transition from a South Central bus program to the C-suite of a global healthcare giant, then survive a major health battle to find a new purpose? In this epis

Dolores Robinson [Part 2]: From Small Town America to Becoming a Trailblazing Hollywood Talent Manager, Guiding Iconic Careers, and Building a Lasting Legacy

How does a receptionist in a talent agency become the first Black female manager in film and television? In the conclusion of our talk with Dolores Robinson, we explore t