The Honest Mic

Fortune
  • 4.9 (10)
  • Careers

Most success stories skip the expensive part. The Honest Mic is where founders, operators, creators, and people with scars worth learning from share what it really takes to build, recover, and keep going. No hype. No highlight reel. Just honest conversations from people who've been through something worth hearing. The goal isn't inspiration. It's perspective you can actually use.

  1. 1d ago

    Leadership with a Servant's Heart | Kevin Wayne Johnson

    Most people think leadership is about titles. About being in charge. About having the corner office and the team that reports to you. But Dr. Kevin Wayne Johnson has spent more than three decades learning that leadership isn't about any of that. It's about service. Kevin spent 34 years in the federal government and private industry as a frontline, mid-level, and senior-level leader. He led workforce development, organizational change, acquisition, customer service, security, budget and finance, records management, facilities, IT, and HR. He was a key leader on the National Performance Review under the first Clinton and Gore Administration. He served as Command Secretariat during the standup of the U.S. Cyber Command. And in 2024, he received the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award. Since 2001, he's written 24 books as a principal or contributing author. His current series, Leadership with a Servant's Heart, has earned 18 literary awards and has been a two-time new release bestseller on Amazon. In 2025, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humanitarianism. In this episode of The Honest Mic, Kevin talks about why leadership matters, the difference between leadership and management, and the missing ingredient most leaders don't know. If you're early in your leadership journey and wondering what really matters, this conversation is for you. Connect with Kevin: Website: https://www.thejohnsonleadershipgroup.com/ LinkedIn: Kevin Wayne Johnson Firm: The Johnson Leadership Group Books: Leadership with a Servant's Heart series

  2. 1d ago

    Rewire. Untangle. Lead. | Marcia Ruben

    You can be smart, capable, and completely overwhelmed. Not because you lack skill or drive. Because your brain is running patterns that made sense once and now work against you. That's the pattern Dr. Marcia Ruben has spent more than three decades helping leaders untangle. She's an executive coach, organizational consultant, and graduate leadership professor emerita with a doctorate and a deep background as a student of social cognitive neuroscience. She's won two teaching awards. And her new book, The Neuroscience of Leadership: Rewire. Untangle. Lead., just hit number one new release on Amazon in both Business & Management and Social Science Research within days. She's known as the Untangle Doctor. And what she brings isn't a pep talk or a productivity hack. It's a grounded, research-informed framework that explains why capable leaders get stuck — and exactly what they can do about it. In this episode of The Honest Mic, Marcia talks about the difference between tangled and untangled leadership, what Thought Knots actually are, and what neuroscience tells us about why smart people keep reacting badly under pressure. If you've ever felt like your brain is working against you, this conversation is for you. Connect with Marcia: Book: The Neuroscience of Leadership: Rewire. Untangle. Lead. (Amazon link in show notes) Website: Leadershiptangles.com

  3. 1d ago

    The Authority X-Factor: From Best-Kept Secret to Recognized Authority | Kelly Schuknecht

    You can be the most knowledgeable person in your field. You can have years of expertise. You can be the one everyone comes to for answers. And still feel like the spotlight was meant for someone else. That's the internal hurdle Kelly Schuknecht has spent over twenty years helping professionals overcome. She's a marketing strategist and thought leadership expert who helps professionals move from being the industry's best-kept secret to a recognized authority. She's the author of Unlocking Your Authority X-Factor, where she shares her proven 3-Pillar Framework for building a brand through Visibility, Credibility, and Consistency. She's the founder of Two Mile High Marketing. She hosts two podcasts — Beyond the Bestseller and The Authority X-Factor. In this episode of The Honest Mic, Kelly talks about why capable people stay invisible, how the three pillars work together, and why personal branding is actually an act of service. If you've been the best-kept secret in your industry for too long, this conversation is for you. Connect with Kelly: Website: KellySchuknecht.com Book: Unlocking Your Authority X-Factor Podcasts: Beyond the Bestseller | The Authority X-Factor

  4. 1d ago

    Coincidence or God? One Man's Journey Through the Impossible | Mick Wienholt

    In 2000, Mick Wienholt was climbing alone on a 14,000-foot peak in Colorado. He caused an avalanche. It would have killed him. His skull was fractured in three places. His scalp was split open to the bone. He was losing significant blood. And he was alone. He hiked three miles back to his truck. By the time he got there, he was so weak he couldn't get his jacket off or get into his truck. And thirty seconds before he reached that parking lot, a stranger named Steve arrived. That's one story. There are two more. In 2012, his firstborn son, Luke, was a full-term stillbirth at 39 weeks. And in 2025, Mick walked away from the highest-paying job of his career — after the offer was rescinded days before he was supposed to start — and followed what he believes was God's direction into podcasting. Mick is a high-energy Christian communicator, multiple President's Club sales award winner, and the host of Coincidence or God? — a podcast where ordinary people share extraordinary experiences and listeners decide for themselves. In this episode of The Honest Mic, Mick talks about the avalanche, the loss of his son, and the moment he walked away from a lucrative career to follow God's direction. If you've ever faced something you couldn't explain or control, this conversation is for you. Connect with Mick: Website: https://www.coincidenceorgod.com/

  5. 1d ago

    The Light Switch Myth: Why Healing Doesn't Work Like a Flip | Kerisma Vere

    Most self-help tells you to flip a switch. Find the right system, the right mindset, the right morning routine, and everything changes. But if healing actually worked like a light switch, none of us would still be struggling with the same things we've been struggling with for years. Kerisma Vere knows that the light switch myth is one of the most damaging stories we tell ourselves about change. She's a holistic wellness coach and author who helps people move away from all-or-nothing self-help and toward healing, self-trust, and quality of life. Her work is grounded in lived experience — navigating trauma, anxiety, depression, PTSD, addiction, and significant life adversity. She's the author of The Light Switch Myth: Contemporary Approaches to Creating Lasting Change, the companion journal Ways I Showed Up for Myself, and the creator of the seven-module course From Pressure to Path: A Compassionate Framework for Change. In this episode of The Honest Mic, Kerisma talks about what her own recovery taught her about what doesn't help, how trauma affects motivation and self-trust, and why nervous system regulation matters more than willpower. If you've tried every system and still feel stuck, this conversation is for you. Connect with Kerisma: Website: TowardsWellness.ca Books: The Light Switch Myth | Ways I Showed Up for Myself Course: From Pressure to Path

  6. Oct 20

    The Agreeable Child: A Yogic Journey from Tragedy to Triumph | Bradley Gabbert

    At two years old, Bradley Gabbert was struck by a car and spent two weeks in a coma. He came home having lost the ability to walk and speak. He relearned both. And from the outside, he built a remarkably normal life. But there was another part of the recovery he wouldn't recognize for decades. He grew up becoming what he calls the agreeable child. Easygoing. Accommodating. Conflict-avoidant. Willing to let other people make the decisions. What looked like kindness from the outside gradually became a way of surrendering his own voice. He carried those patterns into adulthood, relationships, fatherhood, and his professional life. Industrial engineer. SAG-AFTRA actor for twelve years. Outwardly successful. And underneath it all was a question he had never really examined: why was he so willing to give his choices away? The answer began revealing itself much later in life. During therapy, a simple 4-7-8 breathing exercise unexpectedly opened an emotional door that had been closed for decades. That experience led him to yoga, meditation, Yoga Nidra, and a deeper examination of the survival patterns that had followed him from childhood into adulthood. That journey became his memoir, The Agreeable Child: A Yogic Journey from Tragedy to Triumph. In this episode of The Honest Mic, Bradley talks about the accident, what "the agreeable child" actually meant in practice, the breathing exercise that changed everything, and what he'd say to someone who believes it's too late to change. If you've been the agreeable one your whole life — easygoing on the outside, disappearing on the inside — this conversation is for you. Connect with Bradley: Book Website: TheAgreeableChild.com Author Website: BradleyLGabbert.com Book: The Agreeable Child: A Yogic Journey from Tragedy to Triumph

  7. Oct 20

    Lighter, Quieter, Stronger — and Bio-Based | Phil Cohen

    Phil Cohen is the CEO and co-founder of Simplifyber, a North Carolina-based advanced materials company that has raised $20 million to commercialize a proprietary liquid fiber molding platform. They form bio-based, shaped parts directly from natural cellulose fibers. And this isn't his first rodeo. Phil is a serial entrepreneur, a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, a combat veteran, and an MIT Sloan MBA. He's building his fourth venture-backed company, following prior ventures across music tech, healthcare, and consumer goods. His mission is to replace the world's outdated manufacturing systems with something far better. In this episode of The Honest Mic, Phil talks about what he saw on the factory floors of China, how Simplifyber is approaching cost parity with plastic, and why the real pitch to automotive and consumer goods companies isn't sustainability but superior performance. If you're building something that could replace the way an industry works, this conversation is for you. Connect with Phil: Website: Simplifyber.com

  8. Oct 20

    Transformation Doesn't Happen by Chance — It Happens by Design | Paul Padgett

    Most people are not living. They're surviving. They're getting up, going to work, paying bills, handling the next crisis, going to bed, and doing it all over again. And somewhere along the way, they stop asking whether there's another way. Paul Padgett knows that pattern. He's spent decades in leadership, business development, and personal transformation, and he's built his entire career around one core belief: transformation does not happen by chance. It happens by design. He's the President and CEO of Blueprints To Success™, the creator and architect of the Blueprints To Success™ framework — a system designed to help individuals escape survival mode and intentionally create lives of purpose, resilience, and fulfillment. In this episode of The Honest Mic, Paul talks about what survival mode actually means, the invisible chains holding people back, and how to start designing a life instead of reacting to one. If you've been surviving for too long and are ready to start thriving, this conversation is for you. Connect with Paul: Website: BlueprintsToSuccess.com

See All (180)

4.9
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

Most success stories skip the expensive part. The Honest Mic is where founders, operators, creators, and people with scars worth learning from share what it really takes to build, recover, and keep going. No hype. No highlight reel. Just honest conversations from people who've been through something worth hearing. The goal isn't inspiration. It's perspective you can actually use.

Information

  • Creator
    Fortune
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    180
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Fortune
  • Show Website
    The Honest Mic