S9E10: Abolishing Limiting Beliefs About Money with Dr. Billina Shaw
Black Woman Leading
Most money advice is tactical: budget this, invest that. Dr. Billina Shaw brings something almost no one else does, a psychiatrist's lens. A Yale-educated, triple board-certified psychiatrist turned financial wellness strategist, she joins Laura to go underneath the numbers to the behavioral and psychological roots of how we relate to money. Fresh off her own pivot, laid off from a federal role and ninety days into full-time entrepreneurship, Billina gets vulnerable about discovering that her own anxiety wasn't about the bills, it was about worth and identity. She and Laura name financial...
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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...
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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....
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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...
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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,...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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_outlineWelcome to Season 3 of Black Woman Leading, the podcast! We are so excited to be back! This podcast is an extension of the Black Woman Leading learning experience.
The theme for season three is “Own your story. Amplify your voice.” We will be putting all of our topics this season through the lens of honoring our VOICE. What does it look like to find, reclaim, and continue taking up space to boldly and confidently use your voice as a Black Woman Leading? That’s the central question that will serve as the foundation for all of our episodes this season.
In keeping with our core pillars, the episodes will continue to have a holistic focus on three core areas--leadership development, mental wellness, and relationship management. We’ll explore these areas through the lens of our theme for season three in both solo and guest episodes.
Laura also shares some highlights of what’s happening behind the scenes at Black Woman Leading!
We invite you to join us on this journey of reflection, learning, and growth. Our hope is that you feel seen, heard, validated, and loved. And, that you leave your time with us with new perspectives, insights, tools, and strategies to support you along your leadership journey.
About Laura
Laura Knights is the Creator of Black Woman Leading™ and host of the podcast. She is an executive coach, speaker, facilitator, and licensed clinical social worker with 18+ years of experience creating personal and professional development programs that have touched leaders worldwide.
Her expertise and background in business, human resources, adult education, and social work uniquely equip her to teach others how to deal with both the "head work" and "heart work" required to succeed at work and in life. She is the Founder and CEO of Knights Consulting LLC, a leadership development consultancy that provides customized training and coaching programs to create more confident leaders and high-performing teams.
Laura has always been dedicated to supporting Black women to survive AND thrive in their personal and professional endeavors. Black Woman Leading™ is the latest iteration of her efforts and a genuine passion project that combines all the best of her professional experiences and skills.
NOW ENROLLING for the August 2022 cohort!
Learn more about the Black Woman Leading® learning experience at https://blackwomanleading.com/program/
Credits:
Learn more about our consulting work with organizations at https://knightsconsultinggroup.com/
Email Laura: laura@knightsconsultinggroup.com
Connect with Laura on LinkedIn
Instagram: @blackwomanleading
Facebook: @blackwomanleading
Podcast Music & Production: Marshall Knights
Graphics: Olayinka Ajibola
Listen and follow the podcast on all major platforms: