The Conscious Entrepreneur | Leadership, Self-Awareness & Mindset

EP 122: Startup Stress Isn’t Just a Founder Problem: Startup Culture and Employee Mental Health

Startup stress does not stop at the founder’s desk and the hidden emotional ripple effects inside a company may be shaping employee mental health startup culture and long term viability more than any strategy deck ever could.
 
Sarah Lockwood is joined by Yael Benjamin founder of Startup Snapshot and Annika Sten Pärson founder of the Inner Foundation to unpack new research on the emotional reality inside early stage startups. Drawing on data from hundreds of employees alongside an investor perspective on mental health, the conversation challenges the assumption that stress lives mainly with founders. Anxiety burnout and sustained pressure show up across teams, often more intensely than leaders expect. What happens when employees feel startup stress without the context that helps them make sense of it?
 
A core insight centers on trust and transparency. The research shows that lack of clarity is one of the strongest drivers of distress inside startup culture, outweighing concerns about compensation or company survival. When founders underestimate how much their stress is felt or assume silence is protective, teams often fill the gaps with fear driven narratives. The episode reframes emotional health as a real business variable and argues that how founders communicate, regulate pressure and build trust already shapes retention performance and long term outcomes.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 The Inner World of Startup Founders
03:54 Research Insights on Employee Well-being
07:32 The Impact of Founder Stress on Teams
12:04 The Importance of Transparency in Startups
16:43 Building Support Systems for Founders and Teams
21:10 Preventative Strategies for Startup Success
Connect with Yael Benjamin and Annika Sten Pärson:
Connect with Yael on LinkedIn
Visit Startup Snapshot
The Inner Circle - Startup Snapshot
Link to the Research
 
Connect with Annika on LinkedIn
Visit the inner foundation
 
Connect with Sarah Lockwood:
Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn
Visit HiveCast
 
Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur:
Visit The Conscious Entrepreneur website 
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on LinkedIn
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on Instagram 
Subscribe to The Conscious Entrepreneur on YouTube
 
HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

EP 121: How Startup Colorado Is Rethinking Access To Capital, Founder Mentorship, and Support for Rural Entrepreneurs

Rural entrepreneurship is not a niche story or a lifestyle choice but a high-stakes engine for job creation, community survival and the future of Colorado’s economy.
 
This episode features a candid conversation with Brittany Romano of Startup Colorado about what entrepreneurship in rural communities actually requires when access to capital mentorship and networks is limited. Drawing from her own experience as a rural founder Brittany explains why many Colorado startups remain in a prolonged startup phase and how rural business growth depends on long-term support rather than quick wins. What happens when strong businesses fall into the missing middle between small business and venture scale? How do founders build momentum when funding and advisors are harder to reach?
 
The conversation also reframes rural economic development as essential to statewide competitiveness rather than philanthropy. Startup Colorado’s work highlights why small business support in rural areas sustains jobs, strengthens communities and makes it possible for people to live and work across the state. For listeners interested in startup funding in Colorado or building companies outside major metros this episode offers a grounded perspective on why rural entrepreneurship deserves serious attention.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Why Rural Entrepreneurship Matters for Colorado’s Economy
05:40 The Real Challenges Facing Rural Entrepreneurs
10:54 Access to Capital and the Rural Funding Gap
17:00 Building Strong Startup Ecosystems Outside Major Cities
23:40 How Listeners Can Support Rural Founders and Communities
Links:
Visit Howdy Partners
Bridge Entrepreneurs Network Colorado
 
Connect with Brittany Romano:
Connect with Brittany on LinkedIn
Visit the Startup Colorado website
 
Connect with Sarah Lockwood:
Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn
Visit HiveCast
 
Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur:
Visit The Conscious Entrepreneur website 
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on LinkedIn
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on Instagram 
Subscribe to The Conscious Entrepreneur on YouTube
 
HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

EP 120: 2026 Business Planning for Entrepreneurs: Future Self Identity, Limiting Beliefs, and the “How Can We” Framework with Debbie King

Most business plans fail before the first meeting because they use last year’s results to decide what is possible next.
 
Sarah sits down with Debbie King, business strategist, executive coach, and author of Loving Your Business, about future self business planning as a more effective approach to strategic planning for entrepreneurs who want to learn how to stop letting past results limit your future business growth. Debbie questions the habit of treating prior performance as a ceiling and invites a different starting point for planning that begins with identity, belief, and vision. If your current results reflect who you have been, what changes when you plan from who you are becoming?
 
The discussion turns to the quiet beliefs leaders carry about themselves, their teams, their market, and their offer, and how those beliefs shape decisions long before strategy enters the room. Which assumptions feel true simply because they are familiar? What might open up if you challenged them before pulling your team into the process? Debbie introduces the “How can we?” framework as a way to create forward motion without waiting for certainty, and the episode offers a grounded reset for entrepreneurs who want their 2026 planning to feel clear, focused, and genuinely expansive.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Future Self Business Planning for 2026
03:02 Why Past Results Limit Future Business Growth
09:01 How Beliefs Shape Business Results
17:57 Strategic Planning Begins With Inner Work
26:58 The “How Can We” Framework for Expansion
44:09 Decide, Act, Evaluate, Iterate
Connect with Debbie King:
Visit the Loving Your Business website
Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn
 
Connect with Sarah Lockwood:
Visit HiveCast
Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn
 
Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur:
Visit The Conscious Entrepreneur website 
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on LinkedIn
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on Instagram 
Subscribe to The Conscious Entrepreneur on YouTube
 
HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

EP 119: High-Performance in a For-Purpose Business: How Strong Leadership, Top Talent, and Mission-Aligned Fundraising Create Generational Change

Jason Janz challenges the entire playbook of nonprofit work by showing how long haul commitment and leader backed philanthropy can actually move families out of poverty. His approach sits at the intersection of entrepreneurship, business, and wellbeing and offers a real-time look at how a for-purpose business model can fuel meaningful social impact through strong organizational culture and long-term vision.
 
Jason explains why CrossPurpose prioritizes deep relational work over broad but shallow programming and how that choice shapes everything from team dynamics to fundraising strategy to the overall health of the communities they serve. He reflects on the influence of his own upbringing, the mentors who shifted his understanding of leadership, and the decision to grow a mission-driven organization that thinks like a high-performance company without losing sight of human dignity. The conversation raises essential questions for any founder: What happens when you commit to one person’s success with the same rigor you bring to your own enterprise? How do you build trust when donors want evidence and families want genuine care? What does wellbeing look like inside a team tasked with solving hard human problems?
 
Jason also offers a candid perspective on fundraising through shared vision rather than transactions and explains why transformational partnerships outperform traditional tactics. He invites entrepreneurs to consider the power of leader backed philanthropy and the role they can play in shaping generational change. The episode becomes a thoughtful reflection on leadership, purpose, and the kind of steady commitment that strengthens families, organizations, and entire communities.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Introduction to Conscious Entrepreneurship
03:14 The Mission and Model Behind CrossPurpose
06:00 Jason’s Personal Story and Leadership Philosophy
08:58 Deep vs Wide: A Different Approach to Social Impact
17:59 Transformational Fundraising and Donor Partnership
25:51 Advice for Future Nonprofit Founders
Connect with Jason Janz: 
Visit CrossPurpose
 
Connect with Sarah Lockwood:
Visit HiveCast
Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn
 
Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur:
Visit The Conscious Entrepreneur website 
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on LinkedIn
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on Instagram 
Subscribe to The Conscious Entrepreneur on YouTube
 
HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

EP 118: Leadership Communication In A Virtual World: Build Executive Presence, Speak With Confidence, And Lead Better Zoom & Hybrid Meetings

Few moments expose a leader’s true confidence faster than the stare of a camera lens.
 
Karin Reed, founder of Speaker Dynamics, brings forward a clear view of why virtual communication rattles even seasoned leaders and what presence actually requires when the usual cues disappear. She points to a familiar pattern: people become smaller, flatter, or overly polished once the lens becomes the audience, and those shifts quietly shape how trustworthy or grounded they appear. The conversation asks an important question for anyone leading through a screen: what builds credibility when connection feels harder to access?
 
Karin’s insight centers on the qualities that make leaders feel real on camera. Authentic expression carries farther than perfect delivery. Natural movement brings energy back into the voice. Audio quality influences how intelligent and credible someone seems. Early interaction sets the tone for participation. These elements are less about technique and more about the leader’s willingness to show up with a steady, human presence that invites others in.
 
The conversation ultimately challenges leaders to rethink executive presence for a virtual world. Confidence becomes easier to project when leaders stop performing and start communicating with the same clarity and ease they rely on in person. The screen changes the environment, but it doesn’t change what people want from a leader: someone they can hear, follow, and trust.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Leadership Communication in a Virtual World
01:55 Karin Reed’s Path to On-Camera Expertise
09:59 Eye Contact and Connection in Virtual Meetings
15:35 Body Language That Builds Executive Presence
24:10 The MVP Framework for Strong Virtual Communication
29:46 Why Production Quality Shapes Credibility
35:20 Authenticity and Executive Presence
Connect with Karin Reed:
Visit Speaker Dynamics 
Connect with Karin on LinkedIn
 
Connect with Sarah Lockwood:
Visit HiveCast
Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn
 
Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur:
Visit The Conscious Entrepreneur website 
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on LinkedIn
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on Instagram 
Subscribe to The Conscious Entrepreneur on YouTube
 
HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

EP 117: Working With Your Spouse in a Family Business: How Married Co-Founders Stay Healthy & Happy Together

If you are wondering if you should work with your husband or wife, or for tips and tricks to stay married when you work together, you are in the right place today!  When married partners work together, the business is never “just business.”  Working in a #familybusiness is a dynamic that impacts the partners at home and at work, and it impacts everyone in the company, too.
Kaley Warner Klemp, co-author of The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership and The 80/80 Marriage, discusses actionable tips to help partnerships thrive.  She shares suggestions for aiming for generosity rather than fairness, why clear roles protect both the relationship and the business, and how spouses can repair after conflict when you are doing it in front of the whole company. 
They discuss the quieter questions leaders rarely ask out loud. How do power dynamics shift when work and home blend so closely? What do employees notice before the couple does? What helps a team feel steady when conflict between partners surfaces in real time?
Kaley offers tools for conversations, visible repair, and the kind of leadership that supports long-term wellbeing for the couple and the company. It’s a grounded look at working with your partner in a way that strengthens both the business and the relationship behind it.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Marriage and Business Dynamics
03:00 Conscious Leadership in Action
06:12 The 80/80 Marriage Framework
12:10 How Couples Affect Team Culture
17:59 Power Dynamics at Work and at Home
29:52 Repairing Conflict in Front of Your Team
 
Connect with Kaley Warner Klemp:
Visit Kaley’s Website
Connect with Sarah Lockwood:
Visit HiveCast
Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn
Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur:
Visit The Conscious Entrepreneur website 
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on LinkedIn
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on Instagram 
Subscribe to The Conscious Entrepreneur on YouTube
 
HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

EP 116: Why Inner Work Belongs at Work: Work–Life Integration, Conscious Leadership, Values-Aligned Staffing

Work–Life Integration, Conscious Leadership, and Values-Aligned Staffing are at the heart of this conversation with entrepreneur, Scott Britton. Scott shares how he went from Princeton, Forbes 30 Under 30, and a startup sold to Salesforce to realizing that no amount of achievement could fix the feeling of being reactive, stressed, and out of sync inside his own life.
He talks about the moment he began treating his reactions as data instead of flaws, and how that simple shift helped him see the patterns driving his stress and decision-making. Scott walks through his “freedom log” practice that any conscious leader can start using immediately, the difference between emotions and long-running patterns, and how everyday triggers at work can become practical entry points for awareness instead of something to hide or power through. Work stops being separate from inner growth and starts to become one of the most honest places to see what is actually going on inside you.
Scott also shares how this path led to his book Conscious Accomplishment and to Conscious Talent, a staffing company that connects talent with companies committed to both professional excellence and inner work. For founders and leaders who feel like they have “outgrown” the company they built, his story offers a grounded look at what it means to bring more of your inner life into how you hire, lead, and shape culture.
In this conversation, you’ll hear about:
The point where external success stopped working for Scott and what he noticed next
How he uses the “freedom log” to track triggers and unpack the stories underneath them
Why work can be one of the most powerful places for real inner growth
Practical ways to bring more authenticity into leadership without blowing up your culture overnight
How Conscious Talent supports values-aligned staffing for leaders who care about both results and inner development
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Introduction
05:09 Scott Britton’s Turning Point and Inner Shift
07:55 How Business Becomes a Spiritual Dojo
17:51 Emotional Awareness Tools for Leaders
18:45 Why Scott Created Conscious Talent
31:30 Values-Aligned Hiring and Modern Leadership
 
Links
Connect with Scott Britton:
Scott’s book: Conscious Accomplishment
Learn more about Scott's Projects:
ConsciousTalent.com 
https://linktr.ee/scottbritton 
 
Connect with Sarah Lockwood:
Visit HiveCast
Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn
 
Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur:
Visit The Conscious Entrepreneur website 
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on LinkedIn
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on Instagram 
Subscribe to The Conscious Entrepreneur on YouTube
HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm.
 

EP 115: A Better Way to Say Thanks: Authentic Employee Appreciation and Corporate Gifting

Appreciation can lift a team or quietly erode it, and Sarah Lockwood breaks down why the difference often comes down to whether people feel genuinely seen.
 
In this solo episode, she explains why the usual holiday scramble for company gifts rarely creates the connection leaders intend and why Thanksgiving offers a clearer moment for gratitude that feels personal instead of performative. Sarah shares how a simple note or a small, thoughtful gesture can shift how someone experiences their work, and she challenges leaders to consider what their gifts say about their culture. A day of rest signals care, a learning budget signals curiosity, and a mismatched gift signals a gap between stated values and lived values. She also covers the practical side of appreciation with tools like Goody that let teams choose their own gift while still giving leaders room to add a personal message.
 
Sarah closes by reminding listeners that recognition works best as a steady habit. Even one specific thank you can strengthen trust, and she encourages leaders to pause, notice one meaningful contribution, and send a message that proves someone’s effort didn’t go unseen.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 The Art of Meaningful Employee Appreciation
01:25 Why Thanksgiving Is the Perfect Moment for Team Appreciation
04:05 The Power of Specific and Authentic Gratitude
06:10 Choose Gifts That Reflect Your Company Values
07:02 A Practical Tool for Personalized Corporate Gifting (Goody)
08:09 Make Recognition a Habit, Not a Holiday Task
 
Links:
Goody
 
Connect with Sarah Lockwood:
Visit HiveCast
Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn
 
Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur:
The Conscious Entrepreneur 
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on LinkedIn
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on Instagram 
Subscribe to The Conscious Entrepreneur on YouTube
 
HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

EP 114: How Great Leaders Reframe Fear: Nataly Kogan on Building a Possibility Mindset

The story you tell yourself as a leader becomes the culture your team lives in, and Nataly Kogan shows how to rewrite that story with agency, awareness, and action.
 
Sarah sits down with Nataly Kogan for a grounded conversation about entrepreneurship, business, and wellbeing—how the way we think shapes the way we lead. Nataly shares how to “talk back to your brain,” a practice that helps quiet fear, interrupt unhelpful patterns, and create space for better choices. They discuss how mindset ripples through an organization, shaping how teams respond to uncertainty and whether they lean toward anxiety or possibility.
 
Nataly offers simple tools to help leaders edit their thoughts and reframe challenges as creative prompts. What story are you telling your team right now—and is it one that invites courage, clarity, and connection? This episode is a reminder that leadership starts in the mind, but it comes to life through the stories we choose to share.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Nataly Kogan on Entrepreneurship and Wellbeing
04:15 Why Confidence Follows Action
07:06 The Power of Agency in Times of Change
09:07 How to Talk Back to Your Brain
14:24 Reframing Negativity and Building Constructive Beliefs
18:04 From Obstacles to Possibilities
26:01 The Edit Your Thoughts Practice
34:01 Creating a Culture of Possibility in Business
42:56 Leading with Clarity, Courage, and Humanity
Connect with Nataly Kogan:Visit Nataly Kogan’s Website
Connect with Nataly on LinkedIn
 
Connect with Sarah Lockwood:
Visit HiveCast
Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn
 
Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur:
Visit The Conscious Entrepreneur website 
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on LinkedIn
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on Instagram 
Subscribe to The Conscious Entrepreneur on YouTube
HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

EP 113: The Secret to Loving Your Business - Even When It’s Driving You Crazy

When your business becomes your identity, resentment follows.
Entrepreneur and author Debbie King shares how she rebuilt her company, and herself, by separating self-worth from success metrics. Her framework, “the model,” links circumstance, thought, feeling, action, and result, revealing how the stories we tell ourselves drive outcomes. Facts are neutral; meaning is optional. Which thoughts support the kind of results and wellbeing you actually want in your business?
 
She explains how founders can interrupt unhelpful thinking through quick “thought downloads,” turning frustration into clarity instead of self-criticism. When results are viewed as data, not verdicts, entrepreneurship becomes a practice of learning and refinement.
 
Debbie also connects mindset to enterprise value. Every recurring pain point signals a risk: “no time” often means founder dependence; “too many mistakes” signals missing systems; low pricing power points to weak differentiation. Simplifying offers and building repeatable structures creates freedom, for both the owner and the company.
 
Her “future self” exercise ties mindset to strategy: put your goal in the result line, then ask what your future self believes and does to make it happen. Growth follows identity. When wellbeing and business align, entrepreneurship becomes sustainable, and success starts to feel like something worth keeping.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Identity Trap: When Business Becomes You
03:35 Rebuilding an Unsellable Business
05:38 The Model: Thoughts Create Results
17:46 Founder Mindset Shifts
25:27 Future Self Framework
32:06 Hidden Risks in Your Business
34:51 Systems That Scale
39:44 Data Over Drama
Connect with Debbie King:
Visit the Loving Your Business website
Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn
 
Connect with Sarah Lockwood:
Visit HiveCast
Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn
 
Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur:
Visit The Conscious Entrepreneur website 
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on LinkedIn
Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on Instagram 
Subscribe to The Conscious Entrepreneur on YouTube
HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm