Best of 2025, Part 1
Episode Details
Transcript
Join us for a special highlight reel in this episode of Something Extra. We’ve handpicked standout moments and compelling insights from our incredible guests throughout 2025. Reflect on the stories that inspired us, the lessons that shaped us, and the wisdom that continues to light the way forward. Let their advice and vision pave the way for your journey into what we hope will be your most impactful and remarkable year yet. Don’t miss this chance to recharge and set the stage for success in the year ahead!
Guest Links:
- EP319 - Jae Chung
- EP322 - Yvonne Carlson
- EP323 - Commerce Bank
- EP327 - Pallavi Chandak
- EP329 - Dave Peacock
- EP332 - Matt & Maria Granados
- EP334 - Dr. Kendall Brune & Dr. Ryan Rogers
Credits: Host: Lisa Nichols, Executive Producer: Jenny Heal, Marketing Support: Landon Burke and Joe Szynkowski, Podcast Engineer: Portside Media
Lisa Nichols
Welcome to the Something Extra podcast, where we explore the heart behind great leadership. I'm Lisa Nichols, your host and the CEO of Technology Partners. Last year brought so many meaningful conversations. We talked with Jay Chung about redefining success and service. Yvonne Carlson shared how to lead teams with clarity and seasons of change. And the Commerce Bank team reminded us what it looks like to build trust in every interaction. Today, we're excited to bring you part one of our Vesta twenty twenty five. These moments capture wisdom, humility, and the something extra that sets remarkable leaders apart. Let's dive in. In our first clip, Jae Chung, a partner at Bespoke Compass, shares a powerful message on how to surrender fear, shame, and guilt to find restoration in God's unconditional love. Talk about that a little bit more, Jay, because there may be people that are listening that are burned out. They don't recognize. They or they sometimes even admitting it to yourself, right, can be hard because you just keep going. Keep going every day. You know? Just keep doing and pushing and pushing. What, what would you say to that person that kinda has some angst in their spirit and just know that there's something not not right? Jae Chung
Yeah. Lisa Nichols
What would you say to them? Jae Chung
If that person was sitting right in front of me, I would say, hey, brother, hi, sister. I I've been there, where fear, shame, and guilt is literally eating my soul into pieces, ripping it apart. But will you surrender that fear, shame, and guilt to God who loves you completely. Only when you invite this god into your heart completely will you be able to overcome those fear, shame, and guilt that will constantly drive you to destruction, really. You know? Enemy comes to destroy us. Right? And he's not dumb, and so he's gonna use all kinds of tactics. Oh, look at you. You call yourself pastor. You call yourself this and that. You're no good. You're already tainted. You're never gonna be loved by God. So as long as we live, we buy into that lie, we're never gonna get up. You know? Woe was me is gonna be basically the the last verse you're gonna sing, but that's not what Christ did for us on the cross. And he defeated that. And so I would say it's normal. It's it's human to feel defeated by fear, shame, and guilt, but it's also God's will for you to hold on to the hand of God that'll rescue you from that lie and restore you to be the child of God that is forever loved without any condition, completely loved. And your value is in the eyes of God, estimated by God. So Right. Yeah. So that's what happened. For three, four months, I've been I would pray, and God would remind me again. But and and and know this, sometimes it takes more than one reminder, you know, to to really convince your heart. It's repeated bombardment of God's love in my heart that changed me. It wasn't my willpower. I don't think it was even me trying to be smart about it. There's there's no analysis that's gonna get you out of that slump. The the that that place of darkness. Only God's light, only God's hand, mercy, grace is gonna save you. So cry out to that. It it may take time. Lisa Nichols
In this next clip, Yvonne Carlson, chief technology officer at Global Media Outreach, shares how her Christian faith provides a worldview rooted in kindness, humility, and a belief in infinite possibilities, helping her stay level headed and calm under pressure. So this is one that I really want you to dig into. Over and over, people describe you as having an unparalleled positive attitude, a joyful presence about you. Are these your superpowers, and where does this come from? Yvonne Carlson
I don't know if I would say superpower, but I would say outlook. But that is really rooted in my worldview. So as a Christian, as a believer, it's really important for me to show up in the workplace in a way that reflects my faith. So, you know, being kind, being considerate. I think positivity is part of that and that you choose to believe the best in other people. And I think and this is a challenge in tech because tech is usually well well, I'll say it, the scapegoat. Right? You find yourself in those awkward conversations.Lisa Nichols
Blame it on the tech.Yvonne Carlson
Right? And, giving people the benefit of the doubt and going to work every day believing in infinite possibilities. And I think, as a Christian, I think god of god and how he's an infinite god. Right? He's he's endless. He's boundless. You know, he's the source of my creativity and who I am. So I want to bring that into the places and the spaces that I occupy. And, you know, am I perfect a hundred percent of the time? Absolutely not. But what is good about that outlook is that I have a place to go back to. Mhmm. And then I think that that, hopefully, you know, at the end of the day, it's that humility and that retrospection that we should all be doing, which which links into obviously empathy. It it's going first full circle because it's not if if you'll go through challenges or bumps in the road, It's when. It's when and how do you negotiate them, that's big to me. I think that's an important piece of being a technology leader. Lisa Nichols
No. I cannot agree more. Somebody said to me a couple of weeks ago, he said there and this in the dictionary or not, but he said it's the respondability, how you respond to those things. Right? And, you know, the way you just describe yourself, I mean, try to when things don't go right or when, you know, a system fails or an experiment that you're doing, you know, we we talk about fail fast. You know, you wanna fail fast, intact. But when that doesn't go right, how do you show up? You know? Are you somebody else had said, I wanna hear this one. I wanna hear your perspective on this one, and it probably goes back to the kind of the same thing, Yvonne. People said that you stay calm under pressure. You know? And as I've already said, IT, there there are things that go wrong. You're sometimes pushing up against deadlines and budget constraints. You know? So how do you stay calm under pressure? Do you have a secret sauce for this? Yvonne Carlson
Well, part of it is upbringing. My dad worked in, the defense industry. He worked on very secretive projects, and he and, there's a lot of what he did. I have no idea. You know? Right. But one thing I always knew about my dad is that he was level headed and and my uncles too. I was really close to one one uncle who is also a software engineer. And they approach things, it's back to that curiosity. Like, I'm not going to expect that I understand the full situation. I'm gonna expect that I have a fraction of the information that I need in order to understand this, really understand this, and, of course, that leans into good problem solving. So I think it was modeled for me. But then again, I think it's back to that, based on my worldview, it's working out of the idea of abundance instead of scarcity. Right? So we're we're in this very performance oriented world. And and I'm not saying that I don't want to compete and, you know, show up well in that way, but But I think it's important to consider that it's not just about winning. It's the manner in which you go about it. So for me, I think that it is is related. I think that's interconnected. Lisa Nichols
In our next conversation with Commerce Bank leaders, Beth Feuring, Susan Kalist, and Becki Feldmann, they discussed the workplace culture at Commerce Bank. So ladies, we've talked about this a little bit, but you guys have just built such an amazing culture at Commerce. And I think as we've just seen from what you guys talked about with your women in leadership, it is intentional. You're very intentional in how you have built this culture. So, well, I know Edge is the the, you know, the program. Does that is that an acronym for something? No? It's just No. Yeah. Tell us tell us more about it.Beth Feuring
It is our it is our edge. So, it is let me think of how to describe it. So we have been asked it before. Is it your is it an acronym for something? And it's not. It is a a a consistent program that we, launched internally with we actually, partnered with an external consulting firm, Centellini at the time. Now they're Hydross and Struggles. They have a set core of kind of culture concept that they will, put you through and put leadership team through. So it starts with the top, works its way down through the organization, and because they do believe culture is leader led, and sustained by all. And so, we put all leaders through this. It's a common language of concepts that we use, and we have woven that into everything, that we do going on fifteen years now. But the the base and the foundation of that is our purpose, our core values, and our guiding behaviors. So, it's all a common language that we put in everything that our team members do. So from onboarding to, recruitment to development to sustainability, it's all there, through the whole life cycle. Lisa Nichols
Yeah. Well, I was gonna say, I mean, commerce is huge. I mean, you guys, I think, have, what, thirty two billion in assets. You've got close to five thousand employ I mean, that's hard, right, to infiltrate culture that way. But what you just described to you, Beth, is it it it it's the common thread through onboarding and everything. So can you guys, one of you, I don't know, Becky or, Susan kinda describe to me because I know when I've talked to you guys in the past, like, you know, you've got the master, you know, you get the master culture champions, and then you've got those people have champions underneath them. Can somebody kind of explain the logistics of that to me? Becki Feldmann
Absolutely. So it's our culture network really is what it is. And I'll I'll start by saying, you know, when I first started at Commerce, being part of talent development, I got to attend a culture off-site, a culture retreat for our master champs and our super champs. I was not yet in that role, but I got to attend. And one of the things that struck me, Lisa, is, oh my goodness. They let us spend eight hours today working and talking about culture, and that's when I knew this was the real deal, that commerce understands, that we take care of people. We focus on our culture, and that impacts, obviously, the team member experience. It impacts the customer experience. They can feel it, and it leads to business outcomes. I mean, that is what makes us different. So the I'll I'll kinda start from the top as, a master champ. Actually, even above that, we have an EMC, so an executive management team member who kinda rotates over the years, who is playing in that that role. So it's not the same person every every year. They might hold that role for a couple of years, and then when it's when it's time, they'll pass the torch to someone else, to be the culture carrier for the organization. But below that, there are master champs. And this master champ role is in addition to someone's day job. So each master champ supports an executive leader. And then underneath the master champs, we have our super champs. And so these are the people who are, kind of the the arms and legs, you know, into the organization, to really make sure, that the culture is aligned, to really support a leader within a line of business, within a specific area of the bank because we know that, you know, there is an overall commerce culture, but there are gonna be some specific needs, of certain departments. And so that that super champ is gonna be working with that leader to say what matters most to you? How do your team members like to experience culture? And they listen and learn, and they're a partner in making that happen. So I currently play the role of master champ in talent management, and then I have a team of super champs who I work with to really spread the word, and to, be the culture carriers to bring that into into the lives of everyone at Commerce. And Susan got to play that role too, in her Commerce career. Susan, were you a master champ and a super champ at one point? Susan Kalist
Yes. I was a I was a super champ first and then got to be a master champ on the commercial side for almost three years. So, and what a great three years. So it's hard to pass the baton, but, you know, it's all part of the pro the program. Lisa Nichols
In this clip, Axia Women's Health CIO, Pallavi Chandak, shares the core leadership philosophy that she lives by, be first, best, or different, emphasizing the importance of bringing her best self to every new and often challenging experience. What do you believe are some of those leadership philosophies that have really helped you be successful? Because you're very successful. Pallavi Chandak
Oh, I'm still learning, still trying, but thank you for that. So my principles, I think they're leadership principles, but they're also life principles. I mentioned one which was to be first, best, or different. It's not my it's I I learned it from a a leader that I came across as soon as I moved to, Saint Louis. I admire him. Even today, I follow him. And, he said this, and it stuck with me because it resonated with my own journey. And then and also the fact that every time in your leadership journey, there's always going to be a first. You're always with me, it I've always been either the first woman or the first engineer or the first Indian executive or the first, the first, the first. Right? And so how do I bring my best into every first? How do I continue to, yes, I'm different. So I know that it's gonna it's going to come with a lot of courage I have to show, but I also have to bring everyone along on that journey with me, and continue to be the best in every role that I have been. So that's one of my principles, to be first, best, or different. Right? Even at Siemens, when I was a hardcore electrical engineering engineer at the, at the on the on the factory floor. They had not worked with a woman before, a woman engineer before. So not only was I their boss, but I also was a gender. They didn't know they've they've only see they they didn't know how to work with a woman. Mhmm. I remember that even the dress code was all male centric, and they had to revise the dress code when I started there. So so so, again, so many firsts, but then there were it wasn't easy. It was bumpy. But then once we were able to build trust with each other, then I learned so much from them because the folks that actually work with the machines are the ones that truly teach you so much. They know they know the process. They know the shop floors. They know the machines. So I'm still in touch with so many of my colleagues, and I learned so much, but it was a it was a hard start, in the beginning. Mhmm. Again, like my Bollywood journey, I I I was the first first to be starting a dance company. The first two, I was on Fox one time, when again, like, when Slumdog Millionaire became a big success, they wanted to show that, as well. And so, it was the first time that a Bollywood dancer had been on a local TV here. So I had to then think about how do I translate Bollywood to Saint Louis, and to Saint Louis audience. So but but it was I I worked hard. We became the best school that we had in town. We became a big company and so on. Lisa Nichols
The first, the best. I love it. I just love it. Pallavi Chandak
Be first, best, or different. And then another another philosophy principle is, reward is the journey. For me, it's it's never been about the destination, never been about the the finish line, if you would, but it's always been the thrill of being part of the race. Every connection, every friendship, every experience has been a gift. So that no matter what role I have been in, I I wanna savor every every moment of the role, give my best, and not really think about what I'm what's the end game here and, you know, just focus on the journey. And and that's that's the that's the true reward. So Right. To me, I think those those are some of the principles I live by. There are a few others, but those might be the, like, the the common theme of my, leadership journey. Lisa Nichols
In April, I got to sit down with Dave Peacock, CEO of Advantage Solutions. In this clip, he defines his aspirational leadership style using the acronym PAPI, which stands for pause, awareness, patience, and intentionality. What would you say, Dave? I mean, I I could put words in your mouth, but I wanna hear it from you. I think I know. But, like, what would you say your leadership style is? Dave Peacock
Well, I have my the leadership style I I aspire to. And and so Okay. And you can appreciate this more than anybody. Every I'm in a bible studies outside of even CAO forum. And, I always say the best leadership book in the world is the bible. Just read it. And and even for those who don't, who have a different belief system and you just look at it as stories, there is no better leadership book in in, you know, Ecclesiastes is a great example of that. But, we do a word every year that we work on, and a good friend of mine started using acronyms because it's cheating. And so my I think it it really does wrap up kind of how I want to lead. As I've been in this role two years, I was a much more thoughtful around it, and it's Poppy. And there was well, that's a weird word. Right? It's it's it's it's a Spanish word for father, but it also is an acronym with pause, awareness, patience, and intentionality. And and so so many times, we we we don't and I funneled this all the time. You're just so busy in the action in the moment. Sometimes you just when things are going on, you need to take a pause. Make sure you're really aware of been coming from curious around what's going on. Why is this happening? Why is this person doing this? Or why is this situation occurring? Be patient sometimes as far as how you're gonna respond because sometimes it's letting things come to you and leveraging your faith a little bit that, you know, things can can in ways work out, but also being intentional when you take action and and convicted around it. So, that is something I've been thinking about quite a bit this year, as far as how I wanna lead. But, you know, if I had to boil it down to one word, I'd say it's intentionality. And and that's trying to live every day and and and lead with intention as far as I mean, I pray briefly before meetings. I do things to be really intentional in the moment as much as possible. Because I think people deserve that. Lisa Nichols
Our next clip features Matt Granados, CEO and founder of Life Pulse, and his wife, Maria, executive director and founder of the Take Part Foundation, detailing their commitment to intentionality through a monthly life date philosophy. So how do you keep your marriage strong? As you were co laboring together, right, and you're working together on these initiatives, we get asked that question a lot. So I'm gonna ask you two. How do you how do you do that? Maria Granados
Well, we've done it wrong, and we've done it right. So it's a it's a constant learning. And now, like, we haven't been in the married game. We'll be coming up on ten years, I think. And, it's been it's been a journey. But for us, like Matt mentioned, it's the intentionality. We had something cheesy that we did with since we were dating called life date. And so every month, we knew we had this fun date coming up, and we made ourselves make a reservation even if it wasn't a fancy restaurant for that month. We made ourselves buy each other a little gift, you know, and sometimes it was like a five dollar gift. One time it was a car. Right? Like, we've done crazy stuff, but, like, when we wrote a hand we we wrote a card, like, by hand, and every time we get asked by the waiter or waitress, like, what are you celebrating? And we're like, just life. And but at that dinner, we weren't allowed to solve any problems for each other. We weren't allowed to do but we were just allowed to hear each other out and see how we're doing across the board, you know, and just have really good fruitful conversation. And I know that that sounds silly to some people to kinda be so scheduled out like that, but it actually was, like, very relieving to someone like us who has so much, like, going on. Like, you understand when you're running a business and you have kids, it starts to get kind of, overwhelming, but give us something to look forward to. And then when I knowing that there would be a gift, you know, that I have to get that month, it made me think about Matt when I was out and about or I was browsing my phone or, like, you know, what can I do to, to think of him and to honor him? So being really intentional about our relationship, our dating life no matter what. Matt Granados
Yeah. Maria Granados
And I think that that kind of at first, it was like, you know, okay. But it became a norm for us so much so that when, like, the couple months, like, I think even during COVID, we had to get creative. Like, you know, because we had our kids home, all this kind of stuff. Do we have a date night in? We'll order in. We'll make sure the kids are asleep. We wanna have a full blown date, though. Like so I think it's just that idea of we are so intentional about work. We're so intentional about fitness. We're so intentional about all these other things that we ought to give the intention to the the most important relationship in our life. Matt Granados
I think the other Right. Structure that we put if you haven't learned by yet now, we experience stuff. We build a structure. We test it against our family to make sure it works, then we offer it to our clients. But we call this the structure of success, and it's daily action, weekly planning, monthly review, quarterly reset, annual retreat. So we do that in our business, but we also do it in our marriage. So what Maria talked about was our monthly, review. That's our life plan or our life date. But every single year, we do an annual retreat. Yeah. Two of us get together and we go and plan out our year and make sure we're on the same page. Every quarter, we reset our goals both professionally and personally. Every month, we meet for that life date. Every week, we actually plan our weeks out together. Right? She uses her planner. I use my planner. We come together. And then every single day, we have to make the intentional action of her knowing that I love her and me knowing that she loves me. Lisa Nichols
Our final clip of part one features Dr. Kendall Brune and Dr. Ryan Rogers sharing key leadership lessons related to humility, managing expectations, and surrounding yourself with smart people. Well, Kendall, let me ask you this one. What surprised you the most about being a leader? Kendall Brune
People expect you to have all the answers. Lisa Nichols
But you're Obi-Wan Kenobi. Dr. Brune
I know. Yeah. I think really this, humility is trying to have that humility in the right example. You know? So you you you've got to, really, you know, show that, hey. I grew up in the same way you did. At least I do. I don't like to to have a, be on a high horse, so to speak, and and just really kind of, and I'm on I'm from the service industry. So, you know, from health care, I don't wanna they always call it the white coat issue and come in, the doctor's got a white coat, and and and all of a sudden, patients are like, oh, you gotta give me the answers. I don't. I'm I'm investigating. I'm a scientist, so so I'm just trying to figure out what's going on. You know? And so, you know, for us, I was I always just kinda say, well, we're gonna yes. I have a lot of experience. You know? I've had a lot of water under this bridge, so maybe I can share some of that. But I kinda do it not as a dictatorial. It's just sharing. You know? When we did this, this is what happened. Is it gonna work when I apply it? Let's measure it. And that's kinda where we're always chicken and tacking, you know, kinda like sailing. We're always kinda going back and forth, making adjustments. And and I that's for me my style has been very successful. Lisa Nichols
I would say that's the I would say that that is the truth. What about doctor Rogers, I'll ask you this one. Is there a piece of leadership advice? It could even be from Obi Wan over here that you have received over the years, that, you know, you carry with you? Piece of leadership advice. Dr. Rogers
Perseverance. Perseverance along with, you know, if you don't know the answer, find it. Like, search for it. Surround yourself with individuals who are smarter than you, and who are going places that you want to be and you want to eventually obtain. Announcer
Thank you for listening to today's show. Something extra with Lisa Nichols is a Technology Partners production. Copyright Technology Partners Inc two thousand and nineteen. For show notes or to reach Lisa, visit tpi dot co slash podcast. Don't forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen.