Lead with Spark | Authentic Leadership for Women, Executive Presence & Career Confidence

Lynsey Mulder
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Welcome to the Lead with Spark Podcast: Authentic Leadership for Women Who Want More. You're leading a team, building a career, and trying to actually have a life. But somewhere between the title, the to-do list, and everyone else's expectations, you've started wondering: Is this it? This podcast is for ambitious women leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs who are ready to lead with clarity, confidence, and purpose, without burning out or losing themselves in the process. I'm Lynsey Mulder, leadership coach, keynote speaker, and former Fortune 100 Senior Vice President turned full-time champion for purpose-driven women. I earned my first coaching certification decades ago, long before leadership development for women became a conversation. Since then, I've built teams, raised a family, navigated the C-suite, and checked every success box, until burnout made me stop and reimagine everything. Today, I coach high-performing women, business owners, and executives ready to lead from the inside out. On Lead with Spark, we dig into what authentic leadership actually looks like in real life: executive presence, leadership communication, career confidence, values-driven decision-making, setting boundaries, overcoming imposter syndrome, balancing life, and reclaiming the energy and purpose that got you here in the first place. Whether you're leading a team, running a company, navigating a career transition, or just trying to lead your life more intentionally, you'll find real conversations, actionable leadership strategies, and personal development insights that meet you where you are. Because leadership isn't just about what you do. It's about who you are. Ready to lead with more purpose, presence, and power? Hit subscribe and join a growing community of women in leadership who are done settling for "fine." Keep showing up. Keep leading with spark. You've got this, and I've got you. Connect through wwwLynseyMulder.com.

  1. 6d ago

    E64 You Do Not Have a Time Problem: How to Finish the Year Strong on the Energy You Have

    It is the end of August, which means sometime in the next two weeks you will open your calendar, look at what is left of the year, and feel one of two things. The sprint: grab every unfinished January goal and muscle to December 31st on caffeine and sheer personality. Or the quiet quit: eh, we will regroup in January, and coast through four months of your one precious life. Both are traps. In this solo episode, Lynsey offers a third way. You do not have a time problem, you have an energy problem, and no planner has ever minted a 25th hour. She walks you through the energy ledger, a 10-minute audit of where your energy actually goes, and the year-end edit built on three lists: cut, park, and protect. Then she names the real reason we do not cut anything, and it is not discipline. It is fear. Together we will talk about: Why the year-end sprint and the quiet quit are both traps, and what the third way looks like The reframe that changes everything: you do not have a time problem, you have an energy problem The energy ledger, a 10-minute line-by-line audit of last week's calendar marked simply plus or minus The year-end edit in three lists: cut the performative work and ghost goals, park the good-but-wrong-time ideas, and protect the two or three things that actually mattered Why one protected thing must be your own renewal, because renewal is infrastructure, not indulgence The hidden fears underneath a bloated calendar, and why they will quietly veto every boundary until you name them One line to take with you: "Renewal is not what you do after the important work. Renewal is what makes the important work possible. That is not indulgence, that is infrastructure." This week's challenge: Do the energy ledger, then make one cut and name one protect. Just one of each. Then tell someone about both, because a boundary spoken out loud is ten times stronger than one that only lives in your head. The Audaciously Unapologetic Retreat: October 15 to 18, 2026 at CIVANA Wellness Resort and Spa in Carefree, Arizona. Four days and three nights built around clarity, confidence, and connection: inner work to rebuild your foundation, the immunity map that x-rays what has really been in your way, a real action plan for your next chapter, plus sound baths, yoga, private dinners under the desert sky, and a burning ceremony. Co-facilitated by Lynsey Mulder and Paula Shannon. By application, intentionally capped. Apply, or schedule a no-pressure chat with Lynsey first, at https://audaciouslyunapologetic.com/  Connect with Lynsey: Website: LynseyMulder.com Facebook: @LynseySMulder LinkedIn: @Lynsey-Mulder Instagram: @LynseyMulder Pinterest: @LynseyMulder YouTube: @LynseyMulder Follow Lead with Spark on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Podbean so you never miss an episode

  2. Aug 26

    E63 The Permission Slip: The Memo That Is Never Coming

    You have been waiting on a memo. The one where your boss, the board, or some committee of very official people sits you down and says you are now allowed to lead your way. Trust your gut. Push back in the meeting. Run the team the way you actually want to. Signed, everyone. Lovingly, here is the truth: that memo does not exist. It was never in the mail. In this solo episode, Lynsey names why so many accomplished women keep their real leadership in a drawer, waiting at a window where no one is working. She traces it back to a lifetime of permission-based success, counts what the waiting actually costs, and hands you three permission slips to write yourself this week. Because the vetting is done. The only approval still outstanding is yours. Together we will talk about: Why waiting for permission is training, not a character flaw, and where the game quietly changed on you mid-career The four costs of waiting: the world gets a photocopy of you, your ideas go unclaimed, the people watching you learn to wait too, and the slow leak of burnout The reframe: permission is not granted to leaders, it is taken, quietly and usually without an announcement Why this is not about going rogue, and the difference between skipping accountability and bringing your actual self to the role you already earned Three permission slips to write yourself: to lead in your own style, to speak before you are certain, and to invest in yourself without earning it first The present-tense trick that helps your brain believe the slip is already true One line to take with you: "Permission is not granted to leaders. It is taken, quietly, confidently, and usually without an announcement." This week's challenge: Write one permission slip this week. Your way, out loud, in present tense, as if it is already true. Put it somewhere you will see it every morning and read it aloud, even if it feels a little silly. Your brain believes what it hears you say, especially in your own voice. The Audaciously Unapologetic Retreat: October 15 to 18, 2026 at CIVANA Wellness Resort and Spa in Carefree, Arizona. Four days and three nights for high-performing women, built around clarity, confidence, and connection: coaching that gets underneath your patterns, sound baths, yoga, meditation under the desert sky, private dinners, and a curated circle of women who become the personal board of directors you have been missing. Co-facilitated by Lynsey Mulder and Paula Shannon. By application, intentionally capped. Apply, or schedule a no-pressure chat with Lynsey first, at https://audaciouslyunapologetic.com/  Connect with Lynsey: Website: LynseyMulder.com Facebook: @LynseySMulder LinkedIn: @Lynsey-Mulder Instagram: @LynseyMulder Pinterest: @LynseyMulder YouTube: @LynseyMulder Follow Lead with Spark on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Podbean so you never miss an episode

  3. Aug 19

    E62 Worthy of Rest: Belief, Burnout, and the Stories Running Underneath Your Leadership, with Dr. Alicia Newsome

    If you are carrying a lot, leading a lot, achieving a lot, and still wondering why you feel exhausted underneath all of it, this conversation is for you. Dr. Alicia Newsome returns for Part 2 of our series, and this time we zoom out from the body to the whole picture: the beliefs running underneath your leadership, the exhaustion our culture quietly applauds, and her new book, Worthy of Rest. This is the honest, practical half of the conversation, the one about the story you have been telling yourself since you were eight years old and how it is still shaping the decisions you make in the boardroom. Together we will talk about: The Integrative Leadership Framework: body, business, and belief, and why all three have to move together Why the eight-year-old version of you cannot be the one driving the car, and the pause-and-name practice that puts her safely in the back seat Perfectionism, burnout, and worthiness are symptoms, not root causes; fourteen perfectionists in a room have fourteen different stories The types of rest most of us have never heard of: sensory, emotional, spiritual, and physical, and why a nap is not always the answer Alicia's practice of taking three full weeks off twice a year, what it reveals about your business, and Lynsey's vacation SOP that keeps 500 emails from piling up while she is gone Building a team around your life: hiring for how people think, paid test projects, the human-in-the-loop AI standard, and the three things every hire should do for you Why every yes is a no to something else, and how to give yourself permission to use a two-letter word One line to take with you: "We live in a culture that worships exhaustion." This week's challenge: Look at what you have said yes to this month. Find the one that was never a full yes, the one you hesitated on, and ask yourself what you said no to in order to make room for it. Then practice the two-letter sentence. No is a complete answer. Connect with Dr. Alicia Newsome: Grab her free gift for Lead with Spark listeners at www.draliciagifts.com Learn about working with her, completely virtually, at www.dralicianewsome.com Follow her on: Instagram @ dr.alicianewsome LinkedIn @ dr-alicia-newsome YouTube @ dr.alicianewsome Facebook @ dralicianewsome Watch for her upcoming book, Worthy of Rest, which we dig into in Part 2 Connect with Lynsey: Follow Lead with Spark on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Podbean so you do not miss Part 2 with Dr. Alicia next week, and leave a review if this one hit home Ready to go deeper? Learn about the Audaciously Unapologetic retreat in Carefree, Arizona at audaciouslyunapologetic.com Website: LynseyMulder.com Facebook: @LynseySMulder LinkedIn: @Lynsey-Mulder Instagram: @LynseyMulder Pinterest: @LynseyMulder YouTube: @LynseyMulder Start here: this is Part 2 of a two-part series. If you missed Part 1, go back for the conversation on hormones, chronic stress, and what your body has been trying to tell you.

  4. Aug 12

    E61 The Lifeguard Trap: Why Rescuing Your Team Is Quietly Draining You

    When someone on your team is struggling, what is your first instinct? Do you coach them through it, or do you quietly take the thing and do it yourself? If you just went quiet, this one is for you. In this solo episode, Lynsey names what she and her retreat co-facilitator Paula Shannon call the lifeguard trap: the habit of jumping in to rescue that feels like leadership, looks like dedication, and is quietly draining the life out of you. A lifeguard who saves everyone means no one learns to swim and the lifeguard is soaked and exhausted. A swim coach stays on the deck, builds stronger swimmers, and the pool does not fall apart on their day off. Lynsey unpacks the hidden commitment underneath the over-functioning, why you cannot delegate your way out of an identity problem, and three shifts you can start this week. This episode is also the official invitation to the Audaciously Unapologetic Retreat, four days of clarity, confidence, and connection in the Arizona desert this October. Together we will talk about: The lifeguard trap, and why rescuing your team feels like leadership while it drains you The lifeguard versus the swim coach, and what changes when you move from the water to the deck The hidden commitment underneath over-functioning: if everything runs through me, then I matter here Why this is an identity problem, not a calendar problem, and why no productivity system will fix it Three shifts you can make this week: catch the rescue reflex, trade the rescue for a question, and remember that every yes is a no One line to take with you: "Your value was never in rescuing. Your value is in your clarity, your voice, and what you build in other people." This week's challenge: For one week, catch the rescue reflex. Every time you are about to take something off someone's plate, pause and ask: is this person actually drowning, or are they three feet from the wall? Do not change anything yet. Just notice how many times a day that reflex fires. The Audaciously Unapologetic Retreat: October 15 to 18, 2026 at CIVANA Wellness Resort and Spa in Carefree, Arizona. Four days of coaching, sound baths, private dinners under the desert sky, and a curated circle of women who are done running on fumes and ready to lead at full power. Co-facilitated by Lynsey Mulder and Paula Shannon. Attendance is by application and intentionally capped. Apply, or schedule a no-pressure chat with Lynsey first, at https://audaciouslyunapologetic.com/ Connect with Lynsey: Website: https://lynseymulder.com/com Facebook: @LynseySMulder LinkedIn: @Lynsey-Mulder Instagram: @LynseyMulder

  5. Aug 5

    E60 Your Body Isn't Betraying You: Hormones, Stress, and Midlife Leadership with Dr. Alicia Newsome

    If you have ever felt just a little bit off but could not quite explain it, this conversation will open your eyes in the best way. This week kicks off a special two-part series with Dr. Alicia Newsome, a functional medicine practitioner, executive advisor, international speaker, and three-time bestselling author who helps high performers get to the root cause of what is going on inside their bodies, without drugs or surgery. Together, Lynsey and Dr. Alicia unpack the symptoms so many women have been told are normal (the fatigue, the brain fog, the PMS, the two o'clock crash) and reveal what your body is actually trying to tell you. Together we will talk about: The difference between common and normal, and why headaches, exhaustion, bloating, and weight loss resistance are your body's check engine light What is really happening with your hormones and adrenal glands during perimenopause, and why a life of chronic stress makes this season so much harder than it has to be Why high-achieving women say "I'm not stressed" while their labs, and their massage therapists, say otherwise Where hormone replacement therapy fits as a tool, and why dealing with the foundation comes first Alicia's free morning, afternoon, and evening routines: gratitude you actually feel, two daily goals, transition rituals, the nightly brain dump, and binaural beats for deeper sleep How taking care of your body is not selfish; it is what protects your family, your team, and your purpose One line to take with you: "Headaches are common, but they are not normal. You did not have a headache because you had a Tylenol deficiency." This week's challenge: Pick one of Dr. Alicia's free routines and try it every day this week. Start with the morning practice: write down five things you are grateful for, actually feel them, then set two goals for your day. At the end of the month, read your running gratitude list back to yourself. Connect with Dr. Alicia Newsome: Grab her free gift for Lead with Spark listeners at www.draliciagifts.com Learn about working with her, completely virtually, at www.dralicianewsome.com Follow her on: Instagram @ dr.alicianewsome LinkedIn @ dr-alicia-newsome YouTube @ dr.alicianewsome Facebook @ dralicianewsome Watch for her upcoming book, Worthy of Rest, which we dig into in Part 2 Connect with Lynsey: Follow Lead with Spark on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Podbean so you do not miss Part 2 with Dr. Alicia next week, and leave a review if this one hit home Ready to go deeper? Learn about the Audaciously Unapologetic retreat in Carefree, Arizona at audaciouslyunapologetic.com Website: LynseyMulder.com Facebook: @LynseySMulder LinkedIn: @Lynsey-Mulder Instagram: @LynseyMulder Pinterest: @LynseyMulder YouTube: @LynseyMulder Related listening: E58 The Expensive FYI, on how meeting culture keeps your body in the chronic stress this episode is all about.

  6. Jul 29

    E59 The Big Reveal: Introducing the Audaciously Unapologetic Retreat with Paula Shannon

    Something big is happening this October, and in this episode you get the full reveal. Lynsey is joined by Paula Shannon, founder of Whole Leader Lab, former deputy superintendent, and a leader who spent 30 years in public education before clinical burnout forced a reckoning. Together they announce the Audaciously Unapologetic Retreat, a four-day wellness and leadership experience for women, October 15 to 18 at CIVANA Wellness Resort and Spa in Carefree, Arizona. But this is not just a retreat pitch. Lynsey shares the moment she realized she was juggling so fast she could not even tell which ball she had dropped, and Paula tells the story of the mentor who told her to stop being a lifeguard and start being a swim coach, a shift that gave her 40 hours a week back. If you are the person everyone leans on, this conversation is your permission slip to press pause. Together we will talk about The moment Lynsey broke down in a hallway and what it taught her about holding everything together Paula's lifeguard versus swim coach lesson and how stepping down from the lifeguard stand reclaimed 40 hours a week Why clinical burnout took Paula two and a half years to recover from, and the real cost of not saying yes to yourself sooner What an immunity map is and how it uncovers the hidden fears and big assumptions driving your behavior Everything inside the Audaciously Unapologetic Retreat: sound baths, private experiences, a pre-retreat workshop, an integration call, and a personal board of directors you take home with you One line to take with you “I am two and a half years out of clinical burnout, and it has taken two and a half years to recover. That was the cost of not saying yes to myself sooner.” Paula Shannon   This week's challenge Ask yourself Lynsey's question: are you ready to invest in yourself to gain clarity, confidence, and join a community? What is the pattern you have created costing you? Apply for the Audaciously Unapologetic Retreat. The Audaciously Unapologetic Retreat October 15 to 18, 2026 at CIVANA Wellness Resort and Spa, Carefree, Arizona Four days, three nights, all-inclusive: food, signature cocktails, private dinners, three private experiences, and at least three wellness activities daily Includes a pre-retreat grounding workshop and a post-retreat integration call Capped enrollment. Come solo or bring a friend and share a room. Apply at com Want your organization to cover it? Download the employer funding guide at the bottom of the retreat site. Connect with Paula Whole Leader Lab LinkedIn: @PaulaRShannon Connect with Lynsey Website: LynseyMulder.com Facebook: @LynseySMulder LinkedIn: @Lynsey-Mulder Instagram: @LynseyMulder Pinterest: @LynseyMulder YouTube: @LynseyMulder

    E59 The Big Reveal: Introducing the Audaciously Unapologetic Retreat with Paula Shannon

  7. Jul 22

    E58 The Expensive FYI: How Meeting Culture Steals Your Best Work

    Eight hours of real work capacity. Fourteen meetings on the calendar. The math has never worked, and yet somewhere along the way we all agreed that this is what a workday looks like. In this episode, Lynsey names the meeting culture problem for what it is: not a scheduling issue, but a culture that quietly turns you into a very expensive FYI. Drawing on 26 years in corporate leadership, including the day she logged on to find 21 meetings stacked into an 8-hour day, Lynsey breaks down the four hidden costs of meeting overload and hands you a practical playbook to change it from the inside, without a mandate, a memo, or permission. Together we will talk about: Why meetings became the default answer to everything, and what that is really costing you The four hidden costs of meeting culture: decision fatigue, pressure procrastination, strategic starvation, and the ripple effect that follows you home The leader track: auditing the meetings you own, shrinking default meeting lengths, making attendance honest, and protecting visible thinking time The individual contributor track: the one magic question to ask before accepting any invite, the graceful script for declining, and how to make the meetings you do attend better How to spot the pattern creeping back in, even when you thought you had it handled One line to take with you: "Your calendar is full, but your real work is homeless." This week's challenge: Pick the single meeting on your calendar where you contribute the least, then either ask the organizer what is actually needed from you or ask for the notes instead. One meeting. Watch what it does for your energy, and for the people watching you. Connect with Lynsey: Follow Lead with Spark on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Podbean so you never miss an episode, and leave a review if this one hit home Free Crack Your Code BANK assessment Website: LynseyMulder.com Facebook: @LynseySMulder LinkedIn: @Lynsey-Mulder Instagram: @LynseyMulder Pinterest: @LynseyMulder YouTube: @LynseyMulder Ready to go deeper? Learn about the Audaciously Unapologetic retreat in Carefree, Arizona at audaciouslyunapologetic.com Related listening: E54 The Tactical Trap, on why tactical competence becomes a ceiling for senior leaders.

  8. Jul 15

    E57 The Identity Gap: Who You Were vs. Who You Are Becoming

    Have you ever looked at your life on paper and thought, this all looks right, so why does something feel off? Nothing is broken. Your career is solid, your family is fine, and yet there is a quiet hum underneath it all telling you that this is not it anymore. In this episode, Lynsey digs into the identity gap: the space between the version of you that got you here and the version of you that is trying to emerge. This is a reflection episode with no homework and no five-part framework, because the identity gap does not close through doing. It closes through honest reflection. You will hear why the tension you feel is a signal and not a siren, how the Be Do Have model works when you stop running it backwards, and why the woman you used to be deserves your gratitude instead of your embarrassment. Lynsey also shares the moment she freaked out at a networking event when she realized she had been hiding behind a corporate title for decades, and she walks you through the rocking chair question that reveals what your identity has been about all along. In this episode: Why honoring who you were is the first step to becoming who you are meant to be How the identity gap shows up as small shifts in what lights you up The Be Do Have model, and why society teaches it in reverse The rocking chair question and what it reveals about your real identity Four questions to carry with you (no worksheet required)   Ready to explore your own next chapter? Book a free discovery session with Lynsey at lynseymulder.com. No agenda, no pressure, just space to think through your questions together. And if you are ready for deeper work, join Lynsey and a small group of women this October at the Audaciously Unapologetic Retreat in Carefree, Arizona. Real coaching paired with wellness experiences you have never tried, and you leave with a plan for your next chapter. Details at audaciouslyunapologetic.com.

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Welcome to the Lead with Spark Podcast: Authentic Leadership for Women Who Want More. You're leading a team, building a career, and trying to actually have a life. But somewhere between the title, the to-do list, and everyone else's expectations, you've started wondering: Is this it? This podcast is for ambitious women leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs who are ready to lead with clarity, confidence, and purpose, without burning out or losing themselves in the process. I'm Lynsey Mulder, leadership coach, keynote speaker, and former Fortune 100 Senior Vice President turned full-time champion for purpose-driven women. I earned my first coaching certification decades ago, long before leadership development for women became a conversation. Since then, I've built teams, raised a family, navigated the C-suite, and checked every success box, until burnout made me stop and reimagine everything. Today, I coach high-performing women, business owners, and executives ready to lead from the inside out. On Lead with Spark, we dig into what authentic leadership actually looks like in real life: executive presence, leadership communication, career confidence, values-driven decision-making, setting boundaries, overcoming imposter syndrome, balancing life, and reclaiming the energy and purpose that got you here in the first place. Whether you're leading a team, running a company, navigating a career transition, or just trying to lead your life more intentionally, you'll find real conversations, actionable leadership strategies, and personal development insights that meet you where you are. Because leadership isn't just about what you do. It's about who you are. Ready to lead with more purpose, presence, and power? Hit subscribe and join a growing community of women in leadership who are done settling for "fine." Keep showing up. Keep leading with spark. You've got this, and I've got you. Connect through wwwLynseyMulder.com.

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