The Compassionate Leaders Circle Podcast

Compassionate Leaders Circle
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Compassion isn't soft — it's a strategy. Join us on the Compassionate Leaders Circle Podcast, where we dive into the hearts and minds of leaders who harness the timeless power of compassion to enrich their communities and enterprises. Hosted by Laurel Donnellan and Darryl Brown, each episode features intimate conversations with trailblazers who prove that compassion is more than a virtue — it's one of the most powerful strategies for building healthy workplaces and vibrant communities. Discover how these leaders blend ancient wisdom with modern insights to create environments where people and businesses don't just survive, but truly thrive. This is the podcast for leaders who refuse to choose between doing good and doing well.

  1. This CEO Is Solving Healthcare's Most Expensive Problem With Scott Schnell

    5D AGO

    This CEO Is Solving Healthcare's Most Expensive Problem With Scott Schnell

    Scott Schnell, Cofounder and CEO, built MedZed by reaching the people healthcare can’t — and staying long enough to change outcomes. He leads a team of compassionate, hardworking caregivers who help our country’s most vulnerable Medicaid patients.  Here is a number that should stop you: insurance companies routinely classify between 15% and 20% of their most vulnerable Medicaid members as “unable to contact.” Most outreach organizations call, get no answer, while MedZed goes into the community and finds them wherever they are.  By combining boots-on-the-ground community outreach with digital support and phone contact, MedZed finds upwards of 40% of member referrals that other organizations never reach.  Schnell views the people MedZed serves through the metaphor embedded in the name of its technology platform, Tapestry. Each of us, he explains, has a rich, dense, multicolored weave — our lives, relationships, and resources. We help people with lives that have become worn tapestries. There are frays, gaps, and the colors have faded, and we seek to bring a little more color to their lives,” he said.

    32 min
  2. The Compassionate Leader's Companion Pod Series - #1 Courage with Guest Host Sarah Feely

    APR 11

    The Compassionate Leader's Companion Pod Series - #1 Courage with Guest Host Sarah Feely

    Join Sarah Feely, CLC's Chief Learning Officer, as she launches a new series to help listeners dive deeper and emerge stronger, more compassionate leaders. She interviews CLC's podcast hosts through a personal journey of history, healing, and hope that will inspire you to be braver and encourage others to do the same.

    44 min
  3. From Seminary to CEO with Denis Ring

    MAR 2

    From Seminary to CEO with Denis Ring

    Let's talk about faith at work. Join Sarah Feely and Laurel Donnellan as they interview Denis Ring about food, kindness, and leadership. Denis's story includes membership in the Jesuit Order, a business career as a leader at Whole Foods, and the CEO of Ocho Chocolate. He offers practical advice for anyone wanting to lead with love and integrate their values into leadership.

    52 min
  4. AI Can Make Your Business More Human with Katie Read

    FEB 18

    AI Can Make Your Business More Human with Katie Read

    Join me for a fascinating conversation with my friend Katie Read. She became a therapist back before it was cool, and now she is an AI entrepreneur. Her obsession with human psychology evolved into a fascination with buyer behavior and marketing psych, leading her to create an online program that hit seven figures in its first year. When AI showed up, Katie had one of those movie-epiphany moments—and immediately saw it for what it could be, a tool to help humans be better humans. Learn about the greatest buyer-behavior simulation tool the business world has ever seen and how to apply her lessons to your business.

    39 min
  5. Lead with Love Summit - Special Episode

    FEB 16

    Lead with Love Summit - Special Episode

    In this special episode of the Compassionate Leaders Circle podcast, we’re sharing the recording of our inaugural Lead with Love Summit where we have a conversation about what leadership requires right now.Founder Laurel Donnellan, Chief Learning Officer Sarah Feely, and Chief Compassion Officer Chelsea Stoll explore why compassion is an important leadership strategy. You’ll hear the research behind why kind leaders outperform, the science of hope as a practical framework for change, and the difference between empathy (which exhausts leaders) and compassion (which moves people to action).The team also introduces the 7 C’s of Compassionate Leadership, sharing real-world stories of leaders who improve workplaces and communities through everyday acts of courage, curiosity, collaboration, and care. If leadership has felt heavy lately, this conversation will ground you and give you something concrete to practice immediately.

    35 min
  6. Say Something Kind: Suicide Prevention Conversations with Francesca Reicherter

    JAN 28

    Say Something Kind: Suicide Prevention Conversations with Francesca Reicherter

    In this powerful episode of the Compassionate Leaders Circle Podcast, host Laurel Donnellan sits down with Francesca Reicherter, founder of Inspiring My Generation, to explore what truly helps when someone is in suicidal pain and what compassionate care looks like when the stakes are life and death. Francesca shares, with honesty and courage, what she needed from the people around her when she was attempting suicide: kindness, presence, and words for what she was experiencing. She reflects on what it’s like to suffer without the language to ask for help and how that absence can deepen isolation. Today, Francesca is building the very support she once needed, creating tools, programs, and conversations that equip others to show up when it matters most.

    42 min
  7. Looking For Hope Through Hunger Heartbreak with Celebrity Chef Tom Colicchio

    12/05/2025

    Looking For Hope Through Hunger Heartbreak with Celebrity Chef Tom Colicchio

    Guest host Meryl Eriksen, Tom Colicchio, and Laurel have a candid conversation about politics and how to address hunger through advocacy.  Tom Colicchio is best known for his restaurant group, Crafted Hospitality, and for being a pioneer in food entertainment, first as the head judge on Top Chef. He is one of the country’s leading voices on food policy and hunger advocacy. He co-founded Food Policy Action, a nonprofit focused on strengthening national food legislation, and served as an executive producer of A Place at the Table, a documentary examining food insecurity in America. Since the current administration has cut food subsidies, the gains to end hunger in the US have been lost. In 2023, 13.5% of households experienced food insecurity, and that statistic soared to 36% this year. Listen and learn about how hunger impacts all of us and what we can all do to move this trend back in the right direction.

    40 min
  8. How To Find Your Business Soulmate with Floor-Fix Pro Partners

    11/20/2025

    How To Find Your Business Soulmate with Floor-Fix Pro Partners

    We know plenty of stories related to how people find their romantic partner, but how do you find your perfect business partner?Find out in this episode as we chat with Paul Lanzarotti and Gabriel Sauma. Seven years ago, Paul founded a unique consumer goods company, Floor-Fix Pro, launched after solving a problem he needed to fix in his own home. His young daughter Sienna was a baby at the time, and his new floors squeaked, waking her. His lines of sustainable DIY products have become a global brand, and about a year ago, he realized he needed a partner with a financial background to help him grow and organize the business. Ironically, his young daughter helped with this problem as well. Her friend's father, Gabriel Sauma, recently left his banking job to join Paul on this entrepreneurial journey. Learn tips on how to find your way to soul work and perhaps your next business partner from this unlikely story.

    39 min
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5
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About

Compassion isn't soft — it's a strategy. Join us on the Compassionate Leaders Circle Podcast, where we dive into the hearts and minds of leaders who harness the timeless power of compassion to enrich their communities and enterprises. Hosted by Laurel Donnellan and Darryl Brown, each episode features intimate conversations with trailblazers who prove that compassion is more than a virtue — it's one of the most powerful strategies for building healthy workplaces and vibrant communities. Discover how these leaders blend ancient wisdom with modern insights to create environments where people and businesses don't just survive, but truly thrive. This is the podcast for leaders who refuse to choose between doing good and doing well.

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