EP8: Integrating more joy and pleasure in your life with Ashleah Nelson
Release Date: 06/03/2021
S9E9: Communicating to Connect with Keshawn Hughes
Black Woman Leading
Neuroscience strategist Keyshawn Hughes joins Laura to explain what's actually happening in the brain when we communicate, and why so many of us feel more connected online yet lonelier than ever. The founder of Neuro Savvy Leadership breaks down her memorable framing of a world running on "dopamine hits" while starving for "oxytocin drips," the slow, in-person bonding that real relationships require. She and Laura explore how threat and reward show up in our tone and body language, what happens neurologically when Black women go silent or shrink in unsafe rooms, and how to build the...
info_outline
S9E8: Becoming a Future-Ready Leader
Black Woman Leading
What does it take to lead well when the ground will not stop shaking? In this solo episode, Laura introduces the Future-Ready Leader Model, a tree-based framework for leading from the inside out, through your roots, your trunk, and your branches. Roots. Your internal foundation: Self-awareness, emotional regulation, values, and grounding. Trunk. Your strategic positioning: The clarity and intentional choices that keep you standing. Branches. Your expansive impact: The influence, relationships, and reach beyond your role. You were not designed to only lead when things are easy....
info_outline
S9E7: Recalibrating Relationship Building with Dawn Pinnock
Black Woman Leading
After nearly 30 years in public service, Dawn Pinnock stepped into an entirely new sector as president and CEO of the Center for Urban Community Services, and had to rebuild something she had spent decades earning: her professional relationships. In this episode, she and Laura break down what it takes to recalibrate how you connect when you are deeply established in one world and starting fresh in another. Dawn shares the exact process she used, taking honest stock of her track record, gathering candid feedback from longtime supporters and even former opponents, and turning those themes into a...
info_outline
S9E6: Manufacturing Fearlessness with Caressa Bell
Black Woman Leading
Fear never fully goes away, so what if the goal was never to get rid of it? Caressa Bell, a Gulf War veteran, former Fortune 50 executive, and author of Manufactured Fearlessness, joins Laura to reframe fearlessness as something you build, not something you're born with. Drawing on the moment she deployed to war with a newborn at home, Caressa shares how "moving even when you're not ready" became the practice that carried her through a military career, two decades in corporate leadership, and the leap into entrepreneurship. She and Laura dig into leading yourself before you lead others,...
info_outline
S9E5: Building a Strong Reputation as a New Employee with Dr. Ciera Graham
Black Woman Leading
Starting a new role is one of the most pivotal, and most vulnerable, moments in a career. Dr. Ciera Graham joins Laura with a clear, intentional framework for building and activating a strong professional reputation from day one. Drawing on her own journey, Ciera unpacks how to make a strong first impression, build the right relationships early, and manage your visibility and narrative so the right people understand your value. Whether you are stepping into a new job, a new team, or a new level, this conversation offers a practical roadmap for establishing credibility on purpose. In this...
info_outline
S9E4: Creating Your Own Happiness with Dr. Kiki Ramsey
Black Woman Leading
Dr. Kiki Ramsey brings a positive psychology lens to one of the most important relationships we have: the one with ourselves. In this conversation, she and Laura explore what it means to create your own happiness rather than waiting on circumstances, titles, or other people to deliver it. Kiki shares her leadership journey and the science-backed practices that help Black women cultivate joy as a discipline rather than a destination. It is a grounding, hopeful conversation about tending to your inner life with the same intention you bring to your goals. In this episode: Why happiness is...
info_outline
S9E3: Rewiring the Way We Think About Relationships with Mecca Anderson
Black Woman Leading
Mecca Anderson joins Laura to challenge the assumptions we carry into our personal and professional relationships. Too often we operate on autopilot, repeating old patterns and making unintentional missteps that quietly cost us trust, connection, and opportunity. Mecca shares her own leadership story and her approach to rewiring how we relate to the people who shape our lives and careers, from being more intentional about the connections we build to noticing the small habits that get in our way. It is a candid, practical conversation about relating to others, and to ourselves, with more...
info_outline
S9E2: Auditing Your Leadership Identity
Black Woman Leading
Who are you being as a leader right now, and did you ever actually choose her? In this solo episode, Laura opens Season 9's work on the relationship with yourself by guiding you through a leadership identity audit. This is not about casting a vision for who you want to become. It is an honest, present-tense look at who you already are. Most of us never consciously designed our leadership identity. We built it in survival mode, in rooms that required it, and we kept performing it long after the room changed. The audit gives you a simple framework to examine what you are carrying, tell the...
info_outline
S9E1: Welcome to Season 9!
Black Woman Leading
Welcome to Season 9 of Black Woman Leading, the podcast! This podcast is an extension of the Black Woman Leading programs and events. In this opener, Laura sets the table for a new season built entirely around relationships, the full ecosystem of connections that either sustain us or drain us as leaders. Coming out of Season 8's work on joy and wholeness, she frames this season as what we build from that grounded place: authentic relationships with ourselves, our teams, our communities, and the people in our personal lives who make our leadership sustainable. At the...
info_outline
S8E29: Season 8 Reflections & Recap
Black Woman Leading
This episode is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Cree Scott, clinical psychologist, founder of Serenity Psy Consulting, and our guest for Episode 21. Dr. Scott recorded with us in November 2025 and passed away in December. Her episode aired posthumously in March 2026, timed to the launch of her book. Her wisdom, her warmth, and her work live on. Rest well, Dr. Cree. Twenty-eight episodes. One theme. And more wisdom than could have been anticipated when Season 8 began. In this solo season finale, Laura reflects on the conversations, themes, and light bulb moments that defined Season 8 of Black...
info_outlineIn today’s episode, we are joined by Know Full Well Founder, Ashleah Nelson! We are talking about a joy and pleasure-based approach to holistic wellness for Black women.
Ashleah Nelson is a wellness coach and educator dedicated to shifting wellness inward. Her approach is informed by her experiences as a social worker and sexual health advocate- prioritizing intuitive knowledge, body respect, and pleasure. Through individual coaching and weight-neutral fitness, Ashleah helps Black women reconnect with their intuition in order to nourish a full life.
In this insightful episode, we discuss Ashleah’s personal journey towards centering pleasure in her self-care practices. Ashleah, like many of us, felt the pressure to be healthy by being restrictive in her wellness practices. Things like over-exercising, counting every single calorie, and eating one too many quinoa bowls to be “healthy” became her norm (she doesn’t even like quinoa!). She was doing all the things, but she didn’t feel good about it. She began to question her approach, and this led her on a quest to prioritize practices that contributed positively to her health AND brought more joy into her life.
Ashleah challenges us to shift from a mindset of lack to abundance and embark on this pleasure-based journey as well. We discuss how to examine and create new “rules” for yourself, tips for being more connected and present in your body, and her insights on how to create intentional joy practices in your daily life.
Resources:
- Visit Ashleah’s website at www.knowfullwell.co
- You can also find her on Instagram at www.instagram.com/knowfullwell.co/
Credits:
Learn more about the Black Woman Leading™ learning experience at http://blackwomanleading.com/
Email Laura: laura@knightsconsultinggroup.com
Instagram: @blackwomanleading
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackwomanleading
Podcast Music: Marshall Knights Music
Podcast Production: JourneyGurl Magic Productions
Graphics: Olayinka Ajibola
Listen and follow the podcast on all major platforms: