Badass Softie

What if the biggest reason your marketing isn't working has nothing to do with your website, your social media, or your messaging?

What if it's the decision you've been avoiding?

After spending more than two decades helping global brands like Nike and Adidas tell clearer stories, Kris Jones made a surprising move—she narrowed her own business to focus on one specific audience. That d...

Your company probably doesn't have a differentiation problem.

It has a memory problem.

Dr. J.J. Peterson kicks off a new marketing series by exploring one of the biggest misconceptions he encounters in strategy sessions. Most businesses believe they need to stand out from the competition. In reality, many simply haven't decided what they want customers to remember.

Using research from psyc...

Some leaders seem willing to make impossible decisions. They change careers. Walk away from security. Speak uncomfortable truths. Bet on themselves when success is anything but certain.

What if courage isn't what makes those decisions possible?

Dr. J.J. Peterson explores a childhood moment that completely changed the way he understood risk, independence, and the people who quietly give us ...

Most people don't set out to become performers.

But over time, it's easy to trade pieces of ourselves for approval, success, certainty, or the version of us we think other people want to see.

Dr. J.J. Peterson sits down with author and book coach Ally Fallon for a conversation about authenticity, ambition, and the courage it takes to tell yourself the truth....

What if the moments that change someone's day are the ones we almost talk ourselves out of?

The compliment we never give.

The thank you we never send.

The invitation we never make.

The extra effort we decide isn't necessary.

In this conversation, Dr. J.J. Peterson sits down with bestselling author and hospitality expert Will Guidara, author of Unreasonable Hospitality, to explore a simple idea that has the power to change how we le...

Melissa Greene spent years as a member of the Grammy-nominated Christian music group Avalon before becoming a pastor, speaker, writer, and advocate.

But along the way, life began challenging some of the beliefs she had always held—and forcing her to confront an uncomfortable truth:

Growth doesn't happen by staying the same.

M...

What happens when the strategy stops working, but the mission still matters?

Dr. J.J. Peterson sits down with entrepreneur, author, and Copper founder Allison Trowbridge for a conversation about leadership, adaptation, and the difference between staying committed to a mission and staying attached to a plan.

Over the course of building Copper, Allison faced i...

What if the pressure you're carrying isn't coming from your workload, your business, or the world around you?

What if it's coming from the belief that you still have something to prove?

Dr. J.J. Peterson sits down with leadership coach and author Angus Nelson to explore why so many ambitious leaders feel exhausted, stuck, and disconnected from themselves...

Many leaders want their work to speak for itself.

But whether we like it or not, people start forming opinions about us long before we ever say a word.

Dr. J.J. Peterson and stylist and brand strategist Toi Sweeney explore the tension between authenticity and intention — and why showing up thoughtfully doesn’t have to mean hiding who you are.

Together, they unpack why presence shapes trust, how color and clothing influe...

Some businesses do exceptional work and still struggle to stand out.

In this conversation, Dr. J.J. Peterson sits down with Julie Firth and Sonya Whittam, founders of Story22, to explore the hidden gap between the value a business delivers and the way customers actually experience it.

They talk about why so many growing companies accidentally start blending into the market, how businesses outgrow their messaging without realizing i...

You can know your work helps people and still feel weird promoting yourself. The pressure to stay visible, market yourself online, and constantly talk about what you do can quickly start to feel performative, especially for leaders who care deeply about authenticity. In this episode, Dr. J.J. Peterson sits down with Heather Adams to talk about why so many thoughtful leaders struggle with visibility, and how to grow your influence...

What if the problem isn’t discipline — but understanding how your brain actually works?

In this conversation, Dr. JJ Peterson sits down with licensed therapist and co-host of the Something Shiny ADHD Podcast, Isabelle Richards, to explore how ADHD, neurodivergence, and what Isabelle calls being “neuro-spicy” can shape the way people lead, make decisions, manage pressure, and move through the world.

Together,...

Most experiences don’t stay with you.

You go to a conference, an event, a workshop, and within a few days, most of it is gone. Not because it wasn’t good, but nothing made it stick.

Dr. J.J. Peterson sits down with Matt Ford, experiential marketing expert behind activations for Adidas, Cartoon Network, and HGTV, to talk about the part most leaders overlook: what actually makes an experience stick.

They get into why smal...

What happens when you get what you wanted and it doesn’t fix what you thought it would?

You can spend years working toward something, only to realize it doesn’t feel the way you expected.

In this episode, Dr. J.J. Peterson sits down with Al Andrews, founder of Porter’s Call, to talk about what success actually does to people—and why it doesn’t always bring the fulfillment we expect.

After decades of...

Selling shouldn’t feel like pressure, persuasion, or pretending to be someone you’re not.

But for a lot of leaders, it does. In this episode, Dr. J.J. Peterson sits down with Bob Burg, co-author of The Go-Giver, to unpack why so many people feel uncomfortable with sales—and how a simple shift in perspective can change everything.

They explore what happens when you stop trying to “get” the sale and star...

So many leaders feel like they’re saying the right things… and still not being heard.

They create content. They follow the strategies. They build what they’ve been told will work. And yet—something doesn’t land.

In this conversation, Dr. J.J. Peterson sits down with Macy Robison, a strategist behind the resonant thought leadership system, to explore why that disconnect happens—and what to do abo...

Dr. J.J. Peterson sits down with designer, strategist, and storyteller Justin Ahrens to explore a part of leadership most people try to avoid: tension.

There’s a natural pull to resolve things quickly—to choose a side, simplify the path, or chase clarity. But some of the most meaningful leadership doesn’t come from eliminating tension. It comes from learning how to stay present inside it.

This conversation moves t...

There are things happening right in front of us that we can’t see.

Not because we’re ignoring them. Not because we don’t care. But because our experience has never required us to notice them.

Dr. JJ Peterson explores how two people can look at the same situation, care about the same outcome, and still walk away with completely different conclusions—not because one of them is wrong, but because they’re ...

In a world overflowing with information, what actually makes a leader stand out?

It isn’t having more knowledge, better data, or more polished content. What separates leaders who shape the world from those who simply repeat what others say is something deeper: a clear point of view.

But developing a point of view isn’t about trying to sound original or inventing ideas no one has ever heard before. It’s about under...