This Changes Things

Shoshanna Hecht

Are you driving your own life and career — or getting dragged along? That's the question at the heart of This Changes Things, a podcast about leadership, relationships, and what it actually takes to show up, at work, at home, and everywhere in between. Each week, host Shoshanna Hecht — an executive and leadership coach, drawing on two decades as a therapist and coach — sits down with a founder, a leader, a thinker she wants to learn from, and gets past the version they've told a hundred times to what matters most to them: the real decisions behind how they got here, and where they're headed now. Whatever they bring — a business they built, a book they wrote, a life they rebuilt — they get into it together, and into what it can offer the rest of us. Again and again, one thing surfaces: you don't have to hit a breaking point to change course and start leading & living like you mean it, it begins the moment you decide it does. It's the same conversation Shoshanna has with her clients every day: honest, specific, and on your side. You'll come away a little clearer on what matters to you, and a lot less alone in figuring out what to do about it. Whether you lead a company, a team, a partnership, or your own life, there's something here for you. New episodes weekly — the next chapter of the podcast formerly known as Your New Life Blend.

  1. 10h ago

    Christine Koh, Strategic Advisor to Mission-Driven Organizations

    How do you know when something is over? Christine Koh has answered that question a lot. She's who mission-driven organizations call when something important has gotten complicated and hard to name: a leadership transition, money spent with little to show for it, trust that's been broken. Her colleagues aptly call her The Diplomat. She got to that work by way of a Ph.D. in music and brain science, an NIH-funded postdoc across Harvard, MIT and Mass General, and a professorship she walked away from in 2006 with no plan & a new baby. She then ran a media brand for sixteen years, which she also closed on her own terms, started an advocacy business she paused at its peak, now hosting eleven years old podcast alongside her consultancy. In this episode of This Changes Things, host Shoshanna Hecht talks to Christine about what it can cost to leave something you're good at, how she knows when it's time, and why she thinks ending things well is a skill worth practicing (plus the only subject she could ever get an A in). Christine’s websites: https://www.christinekoh.com/ Christine’s podcast: https://edityourlifeshow.com/ Social Handles: Christine Koh https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinekoh/ https://www.instagram.com/drchristinekoh/ https://www.facebook.com/drchristinekoh/ Shoshanna Hecht https://www.linkedin.com/in/shoshannahecht/ https://www.instagram.com/shoshannahecht/ https://www.instagram.com/thischangesthingsshow/ Rate This Changes Things 5 stars and leave a review! Producer: Rob Heath https://www.robheathstudios.com/ Podcast Artwork Designer: Nicci Theron https://thecreative.co.nz/

  2. Oct 13

    Lesley Pinckney, Fractional CMO & Big Idea Catalyst

    How do you know whether you're actually steering your career — or just keeping up with it? Lesley Pinckney spent two decades at the intersection of culture and business: MTV, Essence.com, Omnicom, and then Intel, where she ran marketing for a portfolio of AI robotics. She was excellent at it. She also kept getting the same note (stay in your lane!) while having ideas that belonged to multiple other departments. A year & a half ago she left to build her consultancy, The Big Idea Catalyst, working as a thought partner and fractional CMO for smaller companies with big ambitions. She'll tell you her first filter is whether she actually wants to work with you. In this episode of This Changes Things, host Shoshanna Hecht talks to Lesley about defining and standing firm in your own values after years of watching companies treat theirs as negotiable; the infrastructure a leap like this actually takes (a business coach, a therapist, and one very honest conversation with her wife); and why the hardest part of leaving wasn't the risk, but the blank calendar and filling it for herself (no a**holes welcome :) ). Lesley’s websites: https://lesleypinckney.com/ https://thebigideacatalyst.com/ Social Handles: Lesley Pinckney https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-pinckney/ https://www.instagram.com/lesleypinckney/ Shoshanna Hecht https://www.linkedin.com/in/shoshannahecht/ https://www.instagram.com/shoshannahecht/ Rate This Changes Things 5 stars and leave a review! Producer: Rob Heath https://www.robheathstudios.com/ Podcast Artwork Designer: Nicci Theron https://thecreative.co.nz/

  3. Oct 6

    Michelle Larivee, Founder of WTHN Acupuncture

    Acupuncture is one of those things you've been meaning to try. Then you think about the needles, or the cost, or having to find someone good, and it slides back down the list. Michelle Larivee built a company for exactly that person, because she was one. Thirteen years into a finance career spanning Merrill Lynch, the World Bank, and Deloitte, a ski accident put her through the entire Western menu for chronic pain—none of it worked. Acupuncture did, and then it kept working on things she hadn't even gone in for. So she set out to build WTHN to remove the barriers to access; five studios across New York City, open seven days a week, same-day booking, lower price point. On this episode of This Changes Things, Michelle explains what acupuncture is actually doing in your body—whether it’s pain, regulating your nervous system & the hormones, the research that's finally catching up, and why it's built around going before a crisis. Shoshanna and Michelle get into what it really takes for it to work, why Michelle turns down nearly every wellness trend that comes at her, and how a self-described data-driven banker learned to move on instinct and data, instead of analytics alone. You'll come away thinking less about how long you'll live and more about how well — and with a much clearer sense of whether this is for you, and how to get started. Michelle’s websites: https://wthn.com/ Social Handles: WTHN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wthn/ https://www.instagram.com/wthn/ Shoshanna Hecht https://www.linkedin.com/in/shoshannahecht/ https://www.instagram.com/shoshannahecht/ Rate This Changes Things 5 stars and leave a review! Producer: Rob Heath[ https://www.robheathstudios.com/](https://www.robheathstudios.com/) Podcast Artwork Designer: Nicci Theron[ https://thecreative.co.nz/](https://thecreative.co.nz/)

  4. Sep 29

    Danielle Becker, Founder & CEO, Lefty's Right Mind

    Most people build the business and then try to fit a life around it. Danielle Becker went the other way, as she says: "I built a business around myself as a human being." Danielle spent ten years as a graphic designer in New York fashion — Aéropostale, Hanes, Champion, art director at Macy's & Bloomingdale's — painting nights and weekends the whole time. Friends started asking: denim jackets for a bridal party, a Goyard bag handed across a lunch table. When her mentor left after forty years and the company went into turmoil, she jumped. What she built is Lefty's Right Mind, an experiential marketing studio she runs with her mother. In practice that means two things: when a brand throws an event, her artists are on site making things by hand in front of you, and when a brand gives something away, they design it so you'd actually want to keep it. Clients range from Ralph Lauren & Manolo Blahnik to law and finance firms. Underneath all of it is a conviction she isn't shy about: people want to feel seen, and no amount of AI changes that. "Craftsmanship isn't trending," she says. "It's always there." On this episode of This Changes Things, Shoshanna and Danielle get into what it takes to build something in your own shape, being allergic to trends in a market that copies itself, going into business with your mother, growing slower on purpose, & what it cost to stop being the one holding the brush. A good one if you've been wondering what still counts in a world moving this fast - Turns out it's the same thing it always was: making someone feel seen. Danielle’s websites: https://www.leftysrightmind.com/ Social Handles: Danielle Becker https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-becker-lrm/ https://www.instagram.com/leftysrightmind https://www.tiktok.com/@leftysrightmind Shoshanna Hecht https://www.linkedin.com/in/shoshannahecht/ https://www.instagram.com/shoshannahecht/ Rate This Changes Things 5 stars and leave a review! Producer: Rob Heath https://www.robheathstudios.com/ Podcast Artwork Designer: Nicci Theron https://thecreative.co.nz/

  5. Sep 22

    Lorine Pendleton, VC Investor & Trailblazer

    Some people find their lane and stay in it. But if you're the other kind—the one who keeps turning the page, trusting what you see before anyone else does—you know both the thrill of it and the fear that rides along. Lorine Pendleton has turned the page many times: from music and years as an entertainment lawyer for Prince and Stevie Wonder, to tech, to venture investor. That last turn came from a stat that stopped her cold: less than 1% of venture capital reaches Black founders. Lorine set out to change both sides of the equation, not just who gets funded, but who writes the checks, turning more women of color into investors themselves. Now she runs her own fund, 125 Ventures, named for her Harlem roots, backing the future of women's sports. None of it has been fearless, Lorine just refuses to let the fear decide. On this episode of This Changes Things, Shoshanna and Lorine get into the journey, how she knows when it's time to leap, why she's certain sports is "AI-proof," & how she "eats no's for breakfast." You'll come away trusting yourself and what you see a little more, and thinking about the doors you might hold open, too. Lorine’s websites: https://www.125ventures.vc/ https://www.portfolia.co/fund-leadership Lorine’s Podcast: https://www.conversationloungepod.com/ Social Handles: Lorine Pendleton https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorinependleton/ https://www.instagram.com/lorinevc/ https://x.com/LorinePendleton Shoshanna Hecht https://www.linkedin.com/in/shoshannahecht/ https://www.instagram.com/shoshannahecht/ Rate This Changes Things 5 stars and leave a review! Producer: Rob Heath https://www.robheathstudios.com/ Podcast Artwork Designer: Nicci Theron https://thecreative.co.nz/

  6. Sep 15

    Cate Luzio, Founder & CEO, Luminary

    If you're the one who drives, the one who makes it happen, and who's maybe a little uncomfortable letting anyone else take the wheel, then you probably also know the quiet cost of it. That ever-present what-else-what-else, and the bar you keep raising on yourself. Cate Luzio has channeled that drive further than almost anyone. Two decades running multibillion-dollar businesses at HSBC and J.P. Morgan, and then the bold step: she walked away, bet on herself, and built Luminary — a professional education and networking platform — from nothing. Luminary is now, at eight years old, a global community of more than 15,000 members across 30 countries — and, three acquisitions in, still growing. But what makes Cate Cate is that she's never done: she's still building, still asking what's next, still driving. On this episode of This Changes Things, Shoshanna (a proud Luminary member herself) gets past the founding story Cate has told many times to what's driving her now: why impact, and not headcount or headlines, is the metric that matters most; what it took to let her team and her community show up for her when she couldn't just push through; and the decisions that get easier once you're clear on your values. You'll come away thinking differently about what it means to stay in the driver's seat, and when the strongest move is to let someone else drive. Websites:  https://www.cateluzio.com/ https://www.weareluminary.com/home Social Handles:  Cate Luzio https://www.linkedin.com/in/cluzio/ https://www.instagram.com/cateluzio/  Shoshanna Hecht https://www.linkedin.com/in/shoshannahecht/ https://www.instagram.com/shoshannahecht/ Rate This Changes Things 5 stars and leave a review! Producer: Rob Heath https://www.robheathstudios.com/ Podcast Artwork Designer: Nicci Theron https://thecreative.co.nz/

  7. Sep 8

    Caroline Webb, Leadership Coach, Economist, & Author

    Often, leading feels like drinking from a firehose, so it makes sense if you find yourself wondering if you're the problem, or the only one going under. You're not. And Caroline Webb has spent three decades showing leaders why. One of the world's most decorated coaches, an economist and former McKinsey partner, Caroline's driven by something disarmingly simple: she wants to be useful. So she took that drive and wrote us an exceptional book. On the first episode of This Changes Things, Shoshanna sits down with her dear friend Caroline, author of Leadership Intelligence, out today. They get into the book, the specific tools you can put to work the minute you finish listening, and a reframe that offers instant relief: your brain holds just a handful of things at a time while a billion come at you — so no, multitasking was never real, and also no, you're not failing. You'll come away leading differently, and not just at work. Website: https://carolinewebb.co/ Books: Leadership Intelligence: Science-Backed Strategies for Mastering 21 Everyday Management Challenges (Crown Currency, September 2026) Link to order: https://carolinewebb.co/books/leadership-intelligence/ How to Have a Good Day: Harness the Power of Behavioral Science to Transform Your Working Life — https://carolinewebb.co/books/how-to-have-a-good-day/ Newsletters: https://www.shoshannahecht.com/newsletter https://carolinewebb.co/newsletter/ Social Handles: Shoshanna Hecht https://www.linkedin.com/in/shoshannahecht/ https://www.instagram.com/shoshannahecht/ Caroline Webb linkedin.com/in/CarolineWebbAuthor https://x.com/Caroline_Webb_ https://www.facebook.com/CarolineWebbAuthor/ https://www.instagram.com/carolinewebbauthor/ Rate This Changes Things 5 stars and leave a review! Producer: Rob Heath https://www.robheathstudios.com/ Podcast Artwork Designer: Nicci Theron https://thecreative.co.nz/

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About

Are you driving your own life and career — or getting dragged along? That's the question at the heart of This Changes Things, a podcast about leadership, relationships, and what it actually takes to show up, at work, at home, and everywhere in between. Each week, host Shoshanna Hecht — an executive and leadership coach, drawing on two decades as a therapist and coach — sits down with a founder, a leader, a thinker she wants to learn from, and gets past the version they've told a hundred times to what matters most to them: the real decisions behind how they got here, and where they're headed now. Whatever they bring — a business they built, a book they wrote, a life they rebuilt — they get into it together, and into what it can offer the rest of us. Again and again, one thing surfaces: you don't have to hit a breaking point to change course and start leading & living like you mean it, it begins the moment you decide it does. It's the same conversation Shoshanna has with her clients every day: honest, specific, and on your side. You'll come away a little clearer on what matters to you, and a lot less alone in figuring out what to do about it. Whether you lead a company, a team, a partnership, or your own life, there's something here for you. New episodes weekly — the next chapter of the podcast formerly known as Your New Life Blend.

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