Kathryn Ficarra on Rewriting the Leadership Narrative and Breaking Free from Mental Prisons

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In this episode of "Behind the Scenes Stories of Busy Professionals," host Rob Pene interviews Kathryn Ficarra, an expert in corporate executive leadership and cultural transformation. Kathryn shares her powerful personal journey and how it led to her current work helping executives develop authentic presence.

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Connect with Kathryn

https://www.instagram.com/thecgroupstudio
https://www.instagram.com/kathrynf__
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynficarra
https://www.youtube.com/@thecgroupstudio

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Kathryn reveals how losing her mother to cancer at age 19 led to unresolved trauma that she initially tried to escape by moving to Seattle. Despite achieving significant corporate success over 20 years, including executive positions in media, gaming, and e-commerce, she found herself engaging in self-sabotaging behaviors and feeling internally misaligned despite having "everything."

The turning point came when someone gave her the book "Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself." This sparked a period of deep introspective work that helped her understand how beliefs shape behaviors and how to break negative patterns. 

She developed the Impact Framework, a 13-week program that helps executives cultivate authentic presence through identity alignment, mindset mastery, persona identification, authentic communication, and transformative growth.

Key insights from the conversation include:

• The importance of understanding your personal paradigm and belief systems
• How to recognize and interrupt negative thought patterns using the "not today" technique
• The difference between operating from a "power state" versus a "primal state"
• The concept that "your presence is your power"
• How to build awareness of triggers and transform limiting beliefs
• The idea that you're "not excavating, but revealing" your authentic self

Kathryn is currently writing a book called "Your Presence is Your Power" and runs The C Group Studio, named after her children Chase and Camden. She can be found on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, where she continues to share her message about personal transformation and authentic leadership.