05/15/2026
I watched a brilliant woman burn her own business down.
She had the talent, the team, and the timing. All of it.
She got jealous of the person she put in charge of her best idea.
Her top person was excelling. Growing. Becoming the face of something remarkable.
And instead of celebrating that, she quietly reassigned her. Moved her out of the spotlight without a conversation.
That person left.
Started her own company.
Took the team.
Improved the technology.
And today she is the sole provider of that service in her industry.
The woman who started it all? Looking for a buyer.
I have sat with that story for a long time because it is not unique. I have watched versions of it play out in boardrooms, small businesses, and startups. The details change, but the outcome rarely does.
Here is what I know after two decades of guiding leaders:
The biggest threat to your business is rarely outside of you.
Leading yourself first means getting honest about what is running the show underneath your decisions.
Your insecurities. Your unhealed stories. The places where fear is dressed up as strategy.
It means asking yourself the hard questions:
1. Am I showing up the way I would want to be led?
2. Are my decisions coming from vision or from fear?
3. What am I protecting that is quietly costing everyone around me?
You do not have to be perfect. Nobody is asking for that.
But the way you show up every single day ripples out to every person in your business. Your team. Your clients. Your culture. Like a pebble dropped in still water, those ripples grow bigger as they go.
You get to choose what kind of ripples you are sending out.
That choice starts with you.
Magnetic Leadership for Women Entrepreneurs launches May 21.
