Leading Through Change: How Great CEOs Navigate Challenge, Vision, and Team Transformation
The C-Suite Mentor - Business Growth for Small Business Leaders with Theresa Cantley
Release Date: 11/24/2025
Why Entrepreneurs Must Redefine Wealth to Truly Win
The C-Suite Mentor - Business Growth for Small Business Leaders with Theresa Cantley
In this insightful episode of The C-Suite Mentor Podcast, Theresa Cantley sits down with Anthony Engler, founder of Alpha Advisory and former Goldman Sachs executive, for a powerful conversation about radical resilience, wealth creation, identity, and intentional leadership. Anthony shares his journey from corporate finance to entrepreneurship, revealing how early beliefs about money, success, and validation shaped his career — and how those beliefs eventually evolved. Together, Theresa and Anthony unpack why traditional wealth management often fails entrepreneurs, the real difference...
info_outline
How to Thrive as a Leader in a World Full of Noise, Change, and Uncertainty
The C-Suite Mentor - Business Growth for Small Business Leaders with Theresa Cantley
Trust is low. Change is constant. And leaders everywhere are feeling the pressure to keep it all together while navigating layoffs, AI disruption, cultural challenges, and nonstop external noise. In this episode of The C-Suite Mentor, Theresa Cantley shares a powerful six-part framework to help leaders stay above the line, close the execution gap, and thrive—without burning out or losing themselves in the chaos. Drawing from real conversations with clients, mentors, and lived experience, Theresa explains why leadership today isn’t about proving yourself—it’s about clarity, intention,...
info_outline
The Spirit of Phygiality: Leading with Humanity in an AI-Driven World
The C-Suite Mentor - Business Growth for Small Business Leaders with Theresa Cantley
Episode Description: As technology accelerates and AI continues to reshape the way we lead, many business owners feel overwhelmed, disconnected, or pressured to “keep up” at the expense of their people. In this powerful C-Suite Mentor episode, Theresa Cantley introduces The Spirit of Phyigiality — her signature leadership philosophy that blends human essence with technological structure. Theresa explores why organizations lose their soul when they treat people as replaceable, how misplaced efficiency is hurting creativity and culture, and what leaders can do to...
info_outline
Leading Through Change: How Great CEOs Navigate Challenge, Vision, and Team Transformation
The C-Suite Mentor - Business Growth for Small Business Leaders with Theresa Cantley
In this power-packed “Amuse Bouche” leadership mini-series, Teresa shares the real, behind-the-scenes conversations she’s having with CEOs and leaders navigating massive change—economic uncertainty, team restructuring, rising costs, AI disruption, and the emotional weight of leading when everyone is looking to you for answers. You’ll learn how to summon the best of who you are as a leader, regulate emotions under pressure, communicate vision with conviction, and guide teams who may resist change, avoid accountability, or fear the unknown. Teresa breaks down the 3 types of people in...
info_outline
Leading Through Change: Becoming the Difference Maker When Your Team Resists Transformation
The C-Suite Mentor - Business Growth for Small Business Leaders with Theresa Cantley
In this Amuse Bouche leadership episode, Theresa Cantley shares how to lead through change, adversity, and transformation — especially when your team is resistant, risk-averse, or uncomfortable with uncertainty. Through real case examples from the hospitality industry and her own leadership experience, Theresa reveals how to summon the best of who you are, communicate with conviction and adaptability, and create alignment even when the path forward is unclear. If you're navigating restructuring, growth, or major shifts in your business model, this episode gives you the mindset and practical...
info_outline
How Great Leaders Create Unforgettable Business Experiences | Leadership & Team Growth Tips
The C-Suite Mentor - Business Growth for Small Business Leaders with Theresa Cantley
Creating a great experience in business isn’t just about your customers — it starts with your team. In this episode of C-Suite Mentor, host Theresa Cantley shares powerful lessons from 30+ years of leadership, exploring how to design experiences that elevate your employees, delight your customers, and build a thriving culture that drives long-term growth. From selling luxury shoes to leading corporate sales events and running multiple businesses, Theresa reveals how intentional leadership, alignment, and human connection can transform your company from the inside out. ✨ Things to...
info_outline
How Leaders Can Support Employees Through Divorce with Rhonda Noordyk
The C-Suite Mentor - Business Growth for Small Business Leaders with Theresa Cantley
Divorce is a personal matter, but its effects on a business are significant. So what can business leaders do to support their team members through it? In this episode of C-Suite Mentor, Theresa Cantley chats with Rhonda Noordyk, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst. Rhonda is also the host of the top-rated podcast Disrupting Divorce: Conversations for Women. Together, Theresa and Rhonda tackled a topic that’s often left unspoken in the workplace: how divorce affects both individuals and organizations… and what leaders can do to help. Things to listen for: How Rhonda began helping...
info_outline
Leading Through Changes and Challenges: How to Guide Your Team With Vision, Empathy, and Strength
The C-Suite Mentor - Business Growth for Small Business Leaders with Theresa Cantley
When you hear the word change, what comes to mind? For many people, it’s resistance, stress, or that dreaded feeling of pushing a boulder uphill. But for others, change can be an exciting opportunity for growth and transformation. As leaders, CEOs, and business owners, we sit right in the middle of that tension. Our job is to not only navigate change ourselves but to bring our teams with us. That’s exactly what this episode of C-Suite Mentor is all about. In this first installment of the Amuse Bouche, Leadership Bites series, Theresa Cantley shares how to lead your team through...
info_outline
How to Feel Confident in Your Business Finances with Danielle Hendon
The C-Suite Mentor - Business Growth for Small Business Leaders with Theresa Cantley
If talking about your business finances makes you sweat, you’re not alone. Accounting, budgeting, and tackling your numbers can feel daunting – but it doesn’t have to. In this episode of C-Suite Mentor, Theresa Cantley chats with Danielle Hendon, former corporate accounting professional turned fractional CFO, to talk about making finances approachable, actionable, and even empowering for small business owners. Tune in to take the overwhelm out of money and take control of your finances! Things to listen for: How Danielle makes finances feel easy for business owners...
info_outline
Leading with Purpose: 8 Business Lessons Learned in 300 Episodes with Dennis Cantley
The C-Suite Mentor - Business Growth for Small Business Leaders with Theresa Cantley
In this special 300th episode of C-Suite Mentor, Theresa Cantley welcomes a fun guest to celebrate: her husband, Dennis Cantley. When she started the C-Suite Mentor podcast back in 2018, she never imagined the journey it would take her on – not just as a host, but as an entrepreneur, mentor, and human being. Today, she’s sharing a few of the business lessons learned along the way in hopes that they spark something in your own journey. Things to listen for: Why your story is your superpower [9:00] Why breaking down in your business can be a good thing [20:07] How to honor the bigger...
info_outlineIn this power-packed “Amuse Bouche” leadership mini-series, Teresa shares the real, behind-the-scenes conversations she’s having with CEOs and leaders navigating massive change—economic uncertainty, team restructuring, rising costs, AI disruption, and the emotional weight of leading when everyone is looking to you for answers.
You’ll learn how to summon the best of who you are as a leader, regulate emotions under pressure, communicate vision with conviction, and guide teams who may resist change, avoid accountability, or fear the unknown. Teresa breaks down the 3 types of people in change (resistors, handlers, and leaners), what it really costs a business to delay hard conversations, and how leaders can move from chaos → flow.
This episode is for Founder CEOs, business owners, and leaders navigating growth, restructuring, or transformation — especially if it feels like you’re “pushing a boulder uphill.”
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
-
The #1 internal shift leaders must make before they can lead change effectively
-
Why resisting change keeps your team — and your revenue — stuck
-
The hidden cost of holding on to misaligned team members
-
How to navigate transformation when your team is challenge-averse or risk-averse
-
The 3 ways people respond to change: resist, handle, or lean in
-
Why empathy isn’t a buzzword — it’s a strategic leadership skill
-
How to align vision → strategy → team structure for the final quarter of 2025
-
The “flow zone” of leadership and how to get your organization there
-
How to communicate the because behind your decisions
-
Why leaders must model adaptability, humility, and emotional regulation
Episode Breakdown
00:00 — Welcome to The C-Suite Mentor
Why Teresa created this new “Amuse Bouche” leadership series.
03:45 — Leading Through Team Resistance & Change Fatigue
Real examples from restaurant, retail, and hospitality teams.
08:12 — The Emotional Weight of Being a CEO
Why leadership often feels lonely — and how to shift that.
11:30 — Summoning the Best of Who You Are
The internal regulation leaders need before any strategy.
15:02 — Empathy vs. Sympathy (and why it matters)
The real meaning of empathetic leadership.
20:56 — The 3 Types of Reactions to Change
Resist. Handle. Lean in. Which one drives growth?
27:44 — When Vision Expands, Demands Expand
How growing vision requires everyone to play bigger.
34:10 — Moving Into the Flow Zone
Getting your team aligned and energized.
40:33 — Three Action Steps for Leaders Navigating Change
Define the vision, co-create the plan, and model the example.
48:14 — How to Navigate High-Stakes Decisions
What to do when you make the wrong call — and how to pivot.
54:21 — Invitation to the C-Suite Snapshot
A personalized roadmap to help you lead through transformation.
⭐ Key Idea
“We must first summon the best of who we are. When we lead with conviction, empathy, and emotional regulation, we become the change maker — not just the one enforcing change.”
🔗 Links Mentioned
👉 Apply for the C-Suite Snapshot:
theresacantley.com/business/audit
👉 Mentorship & Leadership Programs:
thecsuitementor.com