Summary:

In this special one-year anniversary episode of the Joy CEO Podcast, I’m reflecting on what it’s meant to show up consistently for 52 straight weeks of long-form conversations around leadership, growth, joy, and becoming the woman you’re meant to be.

I share why I started this podcast in the first place: to create a space where you could truly get to know me, my coaching philosophy, and the work I care deeply about. This episode is more personal, conversational, and completely off-script as I walk through six leadership lessons that have shaped me this past year.

From learning that growth happens faster through people—not isolation—to redefining joy as something we already carry within us, these lessons have impacted how I lead, work, and live. I also talk about why careers are rarely linear, how adopting an athlete’s mindset changed my perspective on resilience, and why challenging yourself beyond your comfort zone is necessary for growth.

If you’ve been feeling stuck, overwhelmed by figuring everything out alone, or disconnected from joy, I hope this episode reminds you that you don’t have to have all the answers to move forward.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

“Who, Not How” Changed the Way I Grow

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that I don’t need to have every answer myself. Growth happens faster when I stop obsessing over the “how” and start finding the right people to support, guide, and collaborate with me.

Audience follow-up → Where are you trying to do everything alone instead of asking for support?

Joy Isn’t Something I Have to Earn

For so long, I thought joy came after the achievement, the milestone, or the success. But I’ve learned that love, joy, and fulfillment already exist within us—we don’t have to prove ourselves worthy of experiencing them.

Audience follow-up → What would change if you stopped delaying joy until “someday”?

I Want to Lead People First

The older I get, the more I believe leadership is about making people feel seen, valued, and safe. Whether in business or everyday life, people remember how you made them feel.

Audience follow-up → Who in your life could feel more appreciated or acknowledged by you this week?

My Career Hasn’t Been Linear—And That’s Okay

I’ve had pivots, unexpected turns, and moments where things didn’t go according to plan. This year reminded me that careers and personal growth are rarely straight lines, and sometimes the detours shape us the most.

Audience follow-up → What if your current transition is leading you somewhere better than you expected?

Adopting an Athlete’s Mindset Changed Me

I talk about how sports and athletic discipline influenced the way I approach leadership, consistency, and resilience. Leadership isn’t about perfection—it’s about showing up, practicing, and learning how to work as part of a team.

Audience follow-up → What habits are helping you build resilience in your daily life?

Growth Requires Me to Challenge Myself

Some of the biggest breakthroughs in my life came from doing things that felt uncomfortable or bigger than I thought I was ready for. I’ve learned that growth often lives on the other side of challenge—and that I don’t have to navigate it alone.

Audience follow-up → What challenge have you been avoiding because it feels too big or uncertain?

🔎 Mentioned in the Episode:

• Celebrating 52 episodes and one full year of the Joy CEO Podcast
• Why I committed to weekly long-form content
• The “Who Not How” mindset and asking for support
• Leadership through connection, joy, and resilience
• Lessons from athletics and teamwork applied to business and life
• The importance of embracing pivots and personal growth

✨ Reflection Prompts:

• Where am I making things harder by trying to do everything myself?
• What does joy look like for me outside of achievement?
• How do I want people to feel after interacting with me?
• Am I resisting change—or allowing myself to evolve?
• What challenge could help me grow into the next version of myself?

🧠 Who This Episode Is For:

• Women navigating career pivots or reinvention
• Entrepreneurs and leaders craving more joy and alignment
• High achievers learning to ask for support
• Professionals rebuilding confidence after setbacks
• Anyone wanting leadership lessons grounded in connection, growth, and humanity

⏱ Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Anniversary Kickoff
00:48 Why I Started
03:06 Who Not How
06:53 Love And Joy
08:20 People First
09:39 Careers Aren't Linear
11:37 Find The Athlete
13:25 Challenge Yourself
14:48 Wrap Up And Next Steps

📩 Want to Go Deeper?

Follow Lori on LinkedIn to continue the conversation

• Book a Leadership Strategy Call with Lori: loripine.com

🎧 Subscribe to The Joy CEO Podcast

⭐️ Leave a review to help other heart-centered leaders find the show

📲 Share this episode with someone who’s navigating pressure and wants to do it with more grace

Transcript

I am going completely off-script today. I've got a few bullet points that I want to just make sure I highlight because I gotta tell you, this last year has been such a [00:01:00] journey.
This all started because my coach, Teresa, big shout-out to Teresa over in the UK with her very thick British accent, said, "Lori," and proceeded to tell me that in order to do my marketing, I needed to have long-form content so people could hear me, hear my thoughts, know what I was all about in order to come into my world, to come into my coaching world, come into my consulting world, come into the group coaching that I've been building called The Connect.
And before they were gonna spend money with me or want to be part of who I was and what I was building, they needed to hear from me. So we decided that I would do a podcast, and she said, "But you cannot do this unless you absolutely commit to 52 weeks, because most podcasters will quit after eight episodes [00:02:00] and that's it, lights out."
So I was all in. 52 weeks, I'm here, and what's happened is I love this podcast. I love showing up each week. I love having a conversation with you. I love interviewing new and interesting people that I can introduce you to. Many of them are just in my world, and so it's like, "Hey, I have a friend, and I wanna introduce you to my other friend, so let's just do an episode so that you can know how awesome this friend of mine is and these amazing insights that they have to share."
And hopefully that helps you somewhere along the way with your leadership and what's going on in your life and the things that you're doing. So let me take you through... I've got six bullets that I wanna make sure that I cover with you in this episode as we really [00:03:00] celebrate, you know, a whole year, 52 episodes of talking about the power of joy in leadership.
And so the first bullet is, it is always, and let me score always, who not how. Whenever we're faced with something, we immediately wanna go to, "How am I gonna figure this out? How am I gonna get this done? How am I gonna get from the point I'm at right now in this moment to the next point or to the goal line?"
My experience is it is always a person. It is the who that actually makes that possible. From my very first job that I ever got out of college, that was a who. My mom's sister, my aunt, went to this small college in Vermont, made this very best friend that she's had for life. That very best [00:04:00] friend became an integral part of our family, kinda like a pseudo aunt, fairy godmother, if you will.
And that was the person who opened the door, made introductions for me, and helped me get my very first job with Anheuser-Busch right out of college. That was a who. There are other whos. The who of my first mentor when I was in that job at Anheuser-Busch. That person left and went to the Coca-Cola Company, called me up one day and said, "I wanna bring you with me.
They're doing this elite training program. They're only taking 15 people. I want you to be one of the 15 people." That was a six-month leadership training program in Atlanta with the Coca-Cola Company. It was like getting a PhD in leadership, and that changed the trajectory of my career as well. The executives I was introduced to, the rooms I got to sit in, the, the [00:05:00] job that I was ge- then offered, and 15 years working for the Coca-Cola Company, where I went to the Sydney Olympics, I went to NCAA Final Fours, I went to Super Bowls.
I hosted brand events like a Sprite Step Off In my market and got to meet celebrities like Ludacris. In fact, I negotiated with Ludacris to come and be in New York. So substantial things that really changed my trajectory, but it was all a who. And then, of course, in my personal life, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you about Jane.
Jane was this person who I met because of my ex-husband's sister, and Jane introduced me to two of the most important people in my life. Jane introduced me to Anne, who you all have heard me talk about, my beloved mentor, and Jane also [00:06:00] introduced me to Michael Pine. So Jane for the wind. So whenever you're thinking about, "How am I ever going to meet, you know, the love of my life?"
It's probably not a how question. It's probably a who is going to introduce me question. If you're thinking about, "How am I going to get this next job promotion?" It's probably not a how question, it's probably a who could help me? Who could help me with perspective? What blind spots do I have? Who knows somebody that could open a door?
Who is connected to somebody that I'm not connected to that could help me have a conversation? Who is really what unlocks things for us? Okay, next bullet. Love and joy. They are both equally [00:07:00] important to our overall well-being, and they exist within us. We have the ability to control how much we give, and we can have experiences in our life that turn us, make us bitter, make us not want to trust people, make us think the world is dark and doomed, or we can believe that love actually heals, love connects, love makes the world go round, and that joy is ours to have because it actually lives within us.
It is not something out there that when I get it, I will then have it. No, no, no. It is already within you. And so the more you believe it, the more you practice it, [00:08:00] it will just expand exponentially, both love and joy. And the ripple effect of that is so tremendous. It will affect every single person in your orbit.
So love and joy Share them, let them grow, let them multiply. Next bullet, putting people first. When we put people first, we let people know that they matter. Now, listen, we are all busy people. We've got deadlines, we've got KPIs, we've got goals to hit, we've got year-end metrics that we need to hit. We are busy people.
But nothing matters more than people. And when you make sure that people know that they are seen, they are heard, they are valued, and that in your personal life, that they are loved, it can cure [00:09:00] almost anything. So take the time, send the text, pick up the phone. And when you have that grouchy voice in your head that says, "Well, they never call me.
Why do I always have to be the first?" Just do it anyway. Because what we want is connection. We want connection. As humans, we are meant to be in connection with other humans. So pick up the phone, let people know, articulate their value. Next bullet, careers are not linear. We all wanna go from down here all the way straight up the ladder, right to the C-suite, and that's not really how it works.
I have interviewed some of the most dynamic, successful people on the podcast this year. I'm sure you've heard their [00:10:00] episodes, Justin Honiman, Susan Dean, Nan Chambers, Andi Simon, Jennifer Nemeska. I mean, on and on with some of these just incredible corporate leaders, and none of them have had a linear career.
They have all had setbacks, pivots, turnarounds, comebacks. Because that's the reality of a career, of life. You know, sometimes life just gets lifey, and we have no choice but to pivot. My own story is an example of that. I had a couple of pivots, one in 2013 when I was let go from the Coca-Cola Company in, in a major reorg, and I took a three-year hiatus doing consulting, running my own marketing company.
And then again in 2021, I left corporate altogether to become a stay-at-home mom when my youngest [00:11:00] son was 17. So, you know, we think things are gonna go a certain way But they don't always, and that's okay. It doesn't mean we're done, we're washed up, we're no longer have any value. The beautiful thing is you take all of your experience with you, even into the transition period, and you never know what can come out of that transition period that just might be so remarkable that you actually did not have planned, but the universe had planned for you.
Find the athlete within. That's my next bullet. Even if you're not an athlete, find that drive within you that can go one extra inch, one extra foot, one extra yard when what you wanna do is just throw in the towel. You know, I played [00:12:00] sports all the way through college, and what people saw were the games.
They saw us on the field as a team in our uniforms, whether we won, whether we lost. But nobody really saw those triple session preseason weeks when it was 85 or 90 degrees in August, and you were showing up early, coming back in the middle of the afternoon, breaking for a couple of hours, and coming back for an evening session with your muscles so sore and so tired.
But yet you do it for something bigger, for something that you love, something that makes you a part of, and that is what we're all here to do. So whether you've been an athlete or you haven't been an athlete, that mindset goes so far in your career. If you can show up with that [00:13:00] ability to look beyond just yourself l- and look to what is this for the team, what is this for the company, what is this for the goal, and be a part of something that is going to be bigger than you, and have the discipline to do the pushups and the sit-ups when nobody else is watching.
That's really the work. And then the last thing, to challenge yourself. Status quo is going to lead to boredom, to complacency, and to you being stuck in a place that won't have you at your highest and greatest good, not only for yourself, but for the world. Because your gifts are meant to be a gift to whomever needs them.
And so challenge [00:14:00] yourself. Get out of your comfort zone. If there is something on your heart, a dream, a thought, a desire, consider it the universe's invitation into something bigger and greater than you. And if you don't know how to do that, find somebody who does. There is a who. There is somebody who has done what you want to do.
There is somebody who knows somebody who has done that thing. Find them. Have a conversation with them. Hire them if they're available to be hired, and watch your dreams come to life. And if you're scared, do it anyway. It is such a pleasure to be here with you each and every week. I'm hoping we're gonna do this for at least another 52 episodes.
I'm Lori Pyne, the Joy [00:15:00] CEO, and I love this podcast. If you love it too, please leave a five-star review. It matters so much. And if you really love it, please make sure you share it with your colleagues, your besties, your sisters, your friends. It really does help when we spread the word and get these messages out there.
I'll see you all next week. Thanks so much for celebrating. Glad to be doing it with you. Thanks for listening to The Joy CEO. I hope today's conversation left you feeling seen, stretched, and a little more grounded in your own joy. If something resonated, be sure to hit Subscribe, leave a five-star review, and share this episode with someone walking a similar path.
And if you're ready to take this work deeper, connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram, @loripyne, or head over to my website, loripyne.com, to learn more about coaching, retreats, and how we can work together. Because joy [00:16:00] isn't just personal, it's powerful. And when you lead with joy, you don't just rise, you bring others with you.