A Category of One

Leslie Silverman
  • 5.0 (9)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to A Category of One: deep, honest conversations with entrepreneurs about how we show up as the truest version of ourselves, both personally and professionally. I’m Leslie Silverman, brand strategist and curious human, and this podcast was born from one belief: when we let our light shine, we give others permission to do the same. Each week, I sit down with founders, creatives, and business leaders to explore identity, ambition, doubt, reinvention, and the uncomfortable growth no one talks about. We go beyond tactics and into: -Authentic leadership -Building a brand aligned with who you are -The inner work behind outer success -Navigating ambition without losing yourself -Becoming a category of one, not by trying to stand out, but by telling the truth If you care about meaningful work and living in alignment with who you actually are, you’re in the right place. New episodes every Wednesday.

  1. 1d ago

    How to Decide If a Move Is Really the Answer with Mariette Frey

    Mariette Frey has moved 20 times in 24 years. She built a framework out of it, not because moving got easier, but because she kept relearning the same lessons. This conversation is about the difference between a move that solves something and a move that just relocates the problem. Mariette walks through her FRED framework (finances, robustness, ecosystem, dreams) and the question she asks every client before anything else: is this a relief move, or is this the only way to get somewhere you actually want to be. She talks about the client who did a "city bake-off," spending a month living in the city he thought he wanted to move to, only to come back realizing he missed his grocery store more than he wanted a new life. We get into the 6 month funk that hits after almost every relocation, the emotional and financial toll of a cross country move, and the difference between choosing a new life and running from an old one. On A Category of One, I sat down with Mariette to talk about what it actually takes to know if you're ready for a big change, and what it costs when you move before you're ready. In this episode: The FRED framework and how to know if a move will actually solve anythingWhy "relief moves" so often become the wrong decisionThe 6 month funk that follows almost every relocationHow to build community and support before you arrive somewhere newWhat it means to reparent the parts of you that want to stay Connect with Mariette Frey: Website: https://movingforsmarties.com/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/mariettesonthemove LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariettefrey/ YT: https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@Movingforsmarties⁩   Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2umVkjMDtrA6xfxmYn3oPD?si=84d5d2edad374b68 Connect with Leslie Silverman: IG: https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/ LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/ FB:  https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman YT: https://www.youtube.com/@lesliesilvermanofficial Website: https://lesliesilverman.com Chapters: 01:48 The Fred Framework 04:05 The evolution of Mariette's moving journey 05:39 The Fred framework for smart moves 08:15 Common moving scams and how to avoid them 11:55 The emotional impact of moving and the six-month funk 15:10 Using parts work to understand your moving motivations 18:35 The importance of intentional decision-making 22:46 Building community before moving 27:28 The role of self-coaching and reflection 32:01 Practical experiments to test readiness

  2. Aug 12

    How to Nurture a Business Through Every Stage of Growth with Heather Roberts

    Heather Roberts didn't set out to write a book. She started a Substack because she needed somewhere to put twenty years of lessons, and what came out was The Nurture Method, a framework built on something she noticed almost by accident: business and parenting run on the same clock. Infancy. School age. Adolescence. And eventually, the moment you have to decide whether to let go. This conversation moves through a business built out of an accidental wrong number, a decorative pillow company that succeeded and nearly broke her, and the decision to work herself out of the CEO role she'd held for twenty years. Along the way, Heather talks about her 72 hour rule for testing big ideas, what she calls "bright and shiny syndrome," and why she stopped trying to build a business the way she was taught a business was supposed to look. In this episode: Why Heather compares scaling a business to watching your kid learn to driveThe 72 hour rule she uses before acting on any big ideaWhat "bright and shiny syndrome" is and how it derails good businessesWhy she spent a year working herself out of her own companyHow getting banned from Amazon became one of her favorite storiesWhat it means to build a business into your life instead of around it Connect with Heather Roberts: https://www.instagram.com/sonowwhatyall/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/heathersroberts/ https://www.tiktok.com/@sowhatnowyall https://www.facebook.com/heatherslosson.roberts www.nowwhatyall.com https://heatherroberts.life/ https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-nurture-method-heather-roberts/1149899363?ean=9798895762035 Connect with Leslie Silverman: IG: https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/ LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/ FB:  https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman Website: https://lesliesilverman.com Chapters: 00:41 The Nurture Method: Balancing Business and Family Life 01:38 Introduction and Heather's Background 05:44 The Accidental Phone Call That Changed Everything 09:07 Trusting the Process and Divine Timing 11:24 The Four Stages of Entrepreneurial Growth 16:23 Showing Up Authentically in Business and Life 20:00 The Power of Vulnerability and Sharing Failures 24:39 Balancing Family and Business: A Personal Perspective 29:25 Following Your Intuition and Exploring New Passions 34:41 The Story Behind The Nurture Method and Book Ban 37:40 Heather's Approach to Authenticity and Success

  3. Aug 5

    How to Rebuild Your Identity When Your Story Falls Apart with Quinn Harwood

    In this episode, I sat down with Quinn "Coach Q" Harwood, a credentialed coach and author of Growth Time. This conversation started with a book about identity and ended up somewhere more personal, about what happens when the story you were building your life around stops working. Q talks openly about the year everything fell apart. A corporate layoff. A company that went under. A divorce. All in the same stretch of life. What he found on the other side wasn't a tidier story, but a different anchor entirely, one built on identity instead of outcome. We get into something not talked about enough: the real difference between coaching, therapy, and consulting, and how to know which one you actually need. Q breaks it down in a way that really made it click for me. In this episode: What it means to lose your identity to your own performanceWhy painful seasons can reveal growth gaps we didn't know existedThe real difference between coaching, therapy, and consultingHow authenticity is tied to the strength of your voiceWhat it looks like to rebuild a vision after a dream doesn't pan outWhy individuality still matters inside community and team Connect with Coach Q: FB: https://www.facebook.com/CoachQharwood LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quinn-harwood-455517108/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/coachq44/ YT: https://www.youtube.com/@coachQ44 Website: CoachQharwood.com Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/GrowthTime-Coaching-Fable-Unlock-Leadership/dp/B0F1G8ZZ9X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 Connect with Leslie Silverman: IG: https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/ LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman Website: https://lesliesilverman.com Branding Agency: https://hive180.com Chapters: 00:32 Coach Q's background, mission, and the story behind Growth Time 02:07 His journey through pain, purpose, and hard-won wisdom 06:32 Sports injuries, identity, and finding an anchor beyond performance 10:09 Clarity of purpose, and who Coach Q works with 12:04 EOS and business coaching, explained 13:32 Where personal and professional identity meet 14:59 The journey to authenticity and finding your voice 16:31 Individuality, community, and trusting your intuition 19:51 Coach Q's coaching process, from assessment to results 22:23 Coaching vs. therapy vs. consulting, and what credentials mean

  4. Jul 29

    How to Use a Magician's Framework to Build AI Visibility with Jimi Gibson

    In this episode of A Category of One, I sat down with Jimi Gibson, VP of Brand Communication at Thrive Internet Marketing Agency and author of Uninvisible. Jimi spent the first part of his career as a professional magician, performing at venues including the MGM Grand, before moving into digital marketing. That background shows up in everything he does now. We get into why personal visibility has become one of the clearest ROI drivers a business owner has right now, backed by Jimi's own research studying 400 companies across five industries. He breaks down how AI models actually pull information, using an analogy involving pizza dough and toppings that makes the whole process click in a way I haven't heard before. Jimi also walks through what he calls the magic script, a communication framework built on the same structure magicians use to create connection, curiosity, and closure. It's not about tricks. It's about understanding how attention actually works, and why playing it safe is the fastest way to disappear. In this episode: Why AI visibility works differently than traditional SEOThe pizza dough and toppings analogy for how AI models retrieve informationWhat E-E-A-T means and why it matters more than everThe magic script framework for structuring communicationWhy becoming an "intrapreneur" builds value even inside someone else's companyThe case for writing a book as a visibility and authority tool Connect with Jimi Gibson: Website:https://thriveagency.com/ LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimi-gibson/ Full research report: https://businessvisibilityindex.com Connect with Leslie Silverman: IG: https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/ LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/ FB:  https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman Website: https://lesliesilverman.com Hive180 Branding Agency: https://hive180.com Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to Jimi Gibson and His Book 01:45 Challenges in Publishing and Visibility 04:19 The Journey to Authority Building 07:31 The Importance of Personal Branding 11:11 AI's Role in Visibility and Differentiation 16:04 The Pizzeria Effect and AI's Functionality 22:10 The Magic of Communication and Curiosity 28:45 Applying Magic Principles to Marketing 33:35 Final Thoughts on Authority and Visibility

  5. Jul 22

    How to Build Emotional Safety in Relationships with Erin Berry Bliss

    In this episode of A Category of One, I sat down with Erin Berry Bliss, a relationship and intimacy coach and the creator of the Secure Love Soul Method. We started talking about emotional safety, and it turned into a much longer conversation about how we relate to ourselves first. Erin's work is body-based. She believes lasting change in relationship happens at the nervous system level, not just through insight or mindset. We got into what it actually means to feel safe with another person, physically, emotionally, mentally, energetically, and how easy it is to confuse a quiet relationship with a safe one. We also talked about the parts of this work that don't come up enough. What chemistry actually is, and what your body is telling you about it. Why it's gotten harder to stay authentically yourself online. And why curiosity, not certainty, is what actually closes the gap between men and women. In this episode: What emotional safety actually means, and why most people miss itHow the nervous system shapes our patterns in relationshipThe difference between getting back a connection and trying to create one that was never thereWhy self-acceptance has to come before someone else can meet you fullyHow curiosity closes the gap between men and women instead of certaintyWhat it means to stay authentically yourself in a saturated online space Connect with Erin Berry: IG: https://www.instagram.com/erinberrybliss/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/eberryblissful Website: https://www.erinberrybliss.com/ Connect with Leslie Silverman: IG: https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/ LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/ FB:  https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman Website: https://lesliesilverman.com Hive180 Branding Agency: https://hive180.com Chapters: 01:16 Introduction to Erin Berry and Her Work 03:19 The Secure Love Soul Method Explained 03:32 Introduction and Personal Connection 04:43 Erin's Journey to Relationship Coaching 06:43 The Importance of Self-Understanding in Relationships 10:55 Navigating the Modern Relationship Landscape 14:30 The Role of Emotional Safety in Intimacy 19:26 Understanding Intimacy and Authenticity 22:20 The Interplay of Masculine and Feminine Energies 25:39 Human Design and Personal Growth 28:46 Upcoming Retreats and Community Connection 33:26 Engagement and Closing Thoughts

  6. Jul 15

    How to Use AI Without Outsourcing Your Thinking with Elijah Evynn

    In this episode of A Category of One, I sat down with Elijah Evynn, who spends his days helping small and medium businesses build AI automations without losing the human parts of their work. This conversation started as a discussion about tools and quickly became about what AI is actually for and what it should never touch. Elijah has spent years managing large tech organizations, and now runs Guides of AI, where he helps business owners figure out what to automate and what to protect. His rule for every client is simple. Don't outsource the thinking. The taste, the opinions, the judgment calls, those stay human. Everything else is fair game. We talked about why AI is a bigger opportunity for small businesses than large ones, why the fear so many people carry about AI is worth questioning, and what changed for Elijah the moment he became a father. He also walked me through Gabbian, his client portal system, and a new project that lets AI skills move between different tools instead of staying locked in one. In this episode: Why AI favors the small and medium business, not the enterpriseThe difference between outsourcing tasks vs. thinkingHow to know what parts of your business are safe to automateWhy balance, not adoption or avoidance, is the real answer Connect with Elijah Evynn: IG: https://www.instagram.com/elijahevynn/ LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elijah-evynn/ https://www.guidesof.ai https://www.gabbian.com https://www.sharelume.ai/ Connect with Leslie Silverman: IG: https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/ LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/ FB:  https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman Website: https://lesliesilverman.com Chapters: 01:11 Introduction to Elijah Evan and His Ventures 02:27 Empowering Small and Medium-Sized Businesses with AI 02:48 Embracing AI: The Human Element 05:46 AI as an Efficiency Tool for Small Businesses 08:51 The Importance of Context in AI Engagement 11:39 Liberating Humanity Through Automation 14:28 Navigating the Digital Landscape with AI 17:17 Understanding Your 'Why' in the AI Era 19:54 Case Study: Empowering Small Businesses with AI 24:24 Understanding Automation in Different Industries 26:56 The Importance of Branding and Marketing 31:17 Innovations in AI and Client Management 32:09 The Meaning Behind Gabbian 32:53 Developing a Marketplace for AI Skills 35:29 Parenting in the Age of AI

  7. Jul 8

    How to Bring Play and Creativity Back Into Your Adult Life with Lara Galante

    Somewhere between childhood and retirement, play gets treated as something you're supposed to grow out of. The decades in the middle are for being productive and serious. Lara Galante doesn't buy that. In this episode of A Category of One, I sat down with Lara Galante, the founder of Find Your Inner Parakeet, where she runs creative workshops that help grown adults remember how to play. Her events are low pressure and tactile, with paint pens, feathers, and gem stickers on the table, but the real work happening in the room is permission. Permission to make something imperfect and to stop performing competence for a couple of hours. Lara is honest about how she got here. The idea sat in her head for years. She took another nonprofit job she already knew wasn't right because it was familiar. It wasn't until she quit, flew to Bhutan to mountain bike with her best friend, and came home wide awake at midnight that the whole business poured out of her in a single night. We also got into something a lot of people carry: the story someone told you about yourself when you were young. A teacher who said you couldn't sing. A friend who said you weren't creative. Lara and I both got versions of that, and much of this conversation is about deciding that story isn't the one you have to keep. In this episode: Why play stops being "allowed" in adulthood, and what that costsHow Lara turned an unhappy career detour into Find Your Inner ParakeetWhat actually happens in a room full of adults handed paint and permissionRewriting the labels you picked up as a kid about what you're good atWhy "life is short" stopped being a phrase for Lara and became how she makes decisions Connect with Lara Galante: Website: https://www.findyourinnerparakeet.com/ LI: linkedin.com/in/lara-galante-416766196/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/findyourinnerparakeet Connect with Leslie Silverman: IG: https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/ LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/ FB:  https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman Website: https://lesliesilverman.com Hive180 Branding Agency: https://hive180.com Chapters: 00:54 Rediscovering Playfulness in Adulthood 01:49 The Journey of Creativity and Chaos 01:51 Finding Your Inner Parakeet 06:55 The Importance of Playfulness 11:34 Creative Expression and Adulting 16:23 Overcoming Self-Doubt 21:28 The Power of Community and Connection

  8. Jul 1

    How to Heal Chronic Symptoms by Regulating Your Nervous System with Grace Secker

    In this episode of A Category of One, I sat down with Grace Secker, a somatic trauma therapist and nervous system coach who healed herself from years of chronic pain and fatigue before building the work she does now. We start with the nervous system, the part of you running in the background of every symptom and reaction, often saying no before your mind has caught up. Grace's view is that most chronic symptoms aren't random. They're the nervous system responding to stress it never got to resolve, and the way through isn't another pill or specialist. It's taking ownership of your own healing, which is harder than it sounds. She points out often we hand our health to a professional and wait to be told what's wrong, and that keeps us stuck in the same stress response we're trying to escape. Grace has been an entrepreneur for almost ten years, and she admitted she'd never applied any of this to her business. She talked about being anxiously attached to her company, reactive to its every high and low, and how the tools that healed her body started changing the way she shows up at work. She was diagnosed with depression at twelve, and that label quietly became her identity for a long time. That thread runs under the conversation. You are not your diagnosis. You're the person underneath the part that's afraid. In this episode: What the nervous system is, and why Grace says almost everything traces back to itHow chronic symptoms can work as signals instead of malfunctionsWhat it looks like to take ownership of your health not handing it offThe moment Grace realized she was anxiously attached to her businessHow a diagnosis at twelve became an identity, and how she stepped out of itWhy this kind of healing often goes better in community than alone Connect with Grace Secker: Heal with Grace podcast: https://healwithgrace.co/podcast/ Free Nervous System Masterclass -> The science of why your body breaks down under pressure and the first three things to do about it: https://healwithgrace.co/free-masterclass/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/heal.with.grace/ Substack: gracesecker.substack.com Connect with Leslie Silverman: IG: https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/ LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/ FB:  https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman Website: https://lesliesilverman.com Branding Agency: https://hive180.com Chapters: 01:07 Understanding the Mind-Body Connection 01:32 Understanding the Nervous System 11:31 Navigating Growth Edges and Ego 21:32 Mind-Body Healing Method

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About

Welcome to A Category of One: deep, honest conversations with entrepreneurs about how we show up as the truest version of ourselves, both personally and professionally. I’m Leslie Silverman, brand strategist and curious human, and this podcast was born from one belief: when we let our light shine, we give others permission to do the same. Each week, I sit down with founders, creatives, and business leaders to explore identity, ambition, doubt, reinvention, and the uncomfortable growth no one talks about. We go beyond tactics and into: -Authentic leadership -Building a brand aligned with who you are -The inner work behind outer success -Navigating ambition without losing yourself -Becoming a category of one, not by trying to stand out, but by telling the truth If you care about meaningful work and living in alignment with who you actually are, you’re in the right place. New episodes every Wednesday.

Information

  • Creator
    Leslie Silverman
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    25
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Leslie Silverman
  • Show Website
    A Category of One

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