311: How To Recognize and Release The Damaging Shame You Hold
Release Date: 07/10/2025
321: How to Be a Likeable Badass
Finding Brave
What if the very traits you’ve been told to soften, like being collaborative or agreeable, are actually essential to your success, not obstacles to it? In this episode of Finding Brave, we explore why so many professionals, especially women, feel trapped between being liked and being respected, and what it really takes to be both. In this episode, Kathy Caprino speaks with , an organizational psychologist, professor at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, and bestselling author of . Drawing on her extensive research on status, power, negotiation, and influence,...
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320: Be Yourself at Work: Show Up, Stand Out, and Lead from the Heart
Finding Brave
What does it really mean to be yourself at work without hiding, performing, or shrinking to fit expectations? In this Finding Brave conversation, we explore why authentic presence is not a soft skill or a personal indulgence, but a powerful leadership practice that builds trust, connection, and impact in today’s fast-moving, emotionally complex workplaces. Today’s inspiring guest is , the world’s first Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX, where she partners with CEO Gary Vaynerchuk to shape culture and leadership at scale. A sought-after speaker and the author of , Claude brings a...
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319: A Talent for Giving: Creating a More Generous Society for All
Finding Brave
The world around us has transformed dramatically—but has philanthropy kept up? For our Finding Brave guest today, , American-British investor and humanitarian and the author of the new book , this question isn't academic—it's deeply personal. His philanthropic journey began humbly, volunteering at a soup kitchen as a teenager. Today, he's recognized globally for transformative work addressing homelessness through London's Passage Day Centre and championing emerging artists through the . In the U.S., he serves on the boards of The J. Paul Getty Trust, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the...
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318: How Organizations Need to Change Their Narrative In Challenging Times
Finding Brave
Everybody wants to believe in something, but the truth is, if you're a leader who shies away from asking tough questions, you're making it harder for people to believe in you. In this Finding Brave episode, we are joined by , known as the Rapid Growth Guy and storytelling expert responsible for five multi-million dollar business success stories. He is the author of and has been featured in Forbes and listed by Global Gurus as one of the Top 30 Sales Professionals. In this conversation, we explore what it truly means to lead through authentic, compelling story, not spin. Matthew unpacks how...
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317: How to Attract Great Investors For Your Products and Business
Finding Brave
Protecting your ideas is a critical step for attracting excellent aligned investors. In this episode of Finding Brave, I sit down with intellectual property expert and attorney , senior partner at , to demystify what it really takes to secure funding and safeguard innovation. Drawing on his extensive experience helping inventors, entrepreneurs, and creative professionals, David shares how a strong IP strategy serves as both protection and proof of your business’s credibility. A registered patent attorney and professor at Temple University, Parsons School of Design, and Radzyner Law School,...
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316: Taking the Brave Leap to Live Your Life Purpose
Finding Brave
Why would someone walk away from a lucrative, 15-year career in software engineering? For , it came down to one thing: learning to prioritize the "spirit mind" over the "material mind.” That perspective shift gave him the inner clarity—and the bravery and courage—to finally move into a life and career of deeper purpose. Jeffrey is a spiritual teacher and energy healer whose work has empowered thousands of people, through ’s Healing Programs and through his own courses, trainings and years of individual and group work with thousands of people around the globe. His mission is to make...
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315: FAWNING: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves
Finding Brave
On the surface, you may look like the model employee, partner, or friend: always dependable, always agreeable. But beneath the surface, you may be carrying a lifetime of survival strategies that keep you invisible in your own life. This is the story knows both personally and professionally, and it’s the story she helps so many of us begin to rewrite. Dr. Ingrid Clayton is a licensed clinical psychologist with advanced degrees in transpersonal and clinical psychology. She has maintained a thriving private practice for more than fifteen years and writes the popular Psychology Today blog, ,...
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314: You Are Not Your Trauma: How You Can Heal Your Life Experience
Finding Brave
What if the parenting behaviors you dislike most in yourself aren’t really “you”? What if they’re trauma responses your brain learned long ago to survive, and what if you could change them? In this episode of Finding Brave, explores how trauma shapes our parenting and what we can do to change the cycle. Dr. Koslowitz is a trauma expert, child psychologist, and author of the new book . She treats children, adolescents, and families at the , and hosts the Post-Traumatic Parenting and . In this conversation, she explains how trauma responses can surface in family life through yelling,...
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313: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change
Finding Brave
Uncertainty has become the defining condition of our time, yet most of us still struggle to find our footing in it. What if you could reframe change itself as a source of strength? Today on Finding Brave, we’re joined by global change advisor, futurist, and author to uncover how to cultivate a “flux mindset” and discover the hidden opportunities within constant change. April, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and one of Forbes’ 50 Leading Female Futurists, is a trusted advisor to organizations from Airbnb and Nike to the World Bank. She is the author of , a book that helps...
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312: How Confidence Is The Key and How You Can Get It, Build It and Keep It
Finding Brave
Thank you for listening to our Finding Brave show, ranked in the Top 100 Apple Career Podcasts! “Whether you’re on an athletic team, a sales force, or a symphony orchestra, you better be honest about what you think about yourself. What you think about yourself and what you think about all the things that happen day by day, that’s what constitutes your confidence.” – Dr. Nate Zinsser Confidence is a character trait that has relatively little to do with what happens to you, but rather it’s a function of how you think. Today’s Finding Brave guest reveals how you can change your...
info_outlineAre your thoughts and actions regularly dictated by a harsh inner critic? Do you find yourself filled with feelings of unworthiness and that you are undeserving of love? If so, you may well be dealing with the symptoms of core shame. Our guest, David Jurasek, knows firsthand the devastating impact shame can have on your life and relationships, and he joins us today to shed light on this urgent topic.
Drawing on his 25 years of experience as a mentor and therapist, David’s work is defined by his belief that your biggest source of sabotage is driven by core shame. He is the founder of Powerful and Loving, a community helping men and boys become powerful leaders who cultivate thriving relationships. Additionally, he is the author of My Heart Is A Muscle, a book that he wrote with the hopes of moving 500 men in the deepest way possible.
In today’s conversation, we unpack the concept of core shame, where it tends to stem from, the devastating impact it can have on our lives, and how we can begin to release and heal from it. David opens up about the role that shame played in his life and explains why identifying its root cause is so important. We explore how our shame-based society prevents us from looking inward and the power of healthy relationships and community in helping us heal from shame.
Our conversation also investigates the role of shame in our relationships and how we can break patterns of blame and criticism, before exploring how to go about dethroning your inner critic, followed by simple and effective techniques to help you process and let go of shame. Today’s episode is filled with profound insights and will give you a newfound understanding of the complexities of shame and its impact. We hope you’ll join us for a thought-provoking and empowering conversation on healing from shame and the power of love and community.
Key Highlights From This Episode:
- Unpacking the concept of core shame, the impact of seeing yourself as unworthy or unlovable, and how this influences our lives and behavior. [06:40]
- Why it’s so important to understand where your shame comes from and what it’s attached to. [12:10]
- David’s vulnerable account of how shame impacted him, and how the kindness of a friend, who had confronted his own core shame, altered David’s life. [21:23]
- The symptoms of shame, why most people don’t realize they are carrying core shame, and why a shame-based society doesn’t want us to look internally. [26:13]
- How patriarchal, racist, and capitalist systems have created a shame-based society, and what David has learned from studying healthy communities. [30:17]
- Understanding how shame can show up in relationships; how we project our shame onto loved ones; and what it looks like to unlearn shame and your unique conditioning. [33:40]
- Dethroning your inner critic and how this shifts your perspective; the physiological effects of releasing shame; effective and accessible techniques for letting go of shame. [39:37]
- The nuances of shame and how interrogating it can teach us powerful lessons about our natural gifts. [49:40]
- Find out where you can learn more about David’s work and get in touch. [55:47]
For More Information:
Powerful and Loving
Critical Love
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Check out David’s book My Heart Is A Muscle
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Kathy’s TEDx Talk, Time To Brave Up & Free Career Path Self-Assessment
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Quotes:
“We all have shame. It’s a question of what is your shame about? What is it attached to? What’s the label?” — David Jurasek [0:14:28]
“It’s really hard to identify it and notice [shame] because it’s so internal. It’s who you think you are. You don’t know your soul. But when you look deep, deep, deep down, you meet your shame. And your shame tries to tell you, this is who you are, trust me.” — David Jurasek [0:18:34]
“To un-shame, is to start to name it. And I think often in intimate relationships, it’s so easy to project our shame on our partner on our kids.” — David Jurasek [0:34:24]
“It’s confronting that voice inside and saying, ‘Whoa, when did I make you the authority of my life? It must have been when I was a child, because I’m a 46-year-old adult now. You better sit the fuck down.’” — David Jurasek [0:38:48]
“We need support because that shame is so sticky. It’s like black tar, gunky stuff, it hides and it sticks.” — David Jurasek [0:44:20]
“I’m breaking the chains of the past. I’m healing society by releasing shame from my nervous system. So I don’t recreate it. And I don’t add to it and don’t put it on other people. I think it’s the most important thing we could ever do.” — David Jurasek [0:45:04]
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