Untamed Leader
Untamed Leader is a podcast for loving rebels who are ready to speak, live, and lead from the radiant pulse of their purpose—the wild-hearted ones dedicated to transforming the vibe in the room and igniting meaningful change. Through heart-to-heart conversations, breakthrough coaching moments, solo reflections, and inspiring stories from the edge of becoming, Untamed Leader explores what it means to lead from the inside out. Host Lauri Smith weaves together three essential leadership threads: vision, creativity, and voice. Here, leadership is a sacred art. Intuition guides creation. Presence shapes communication. And your voice channels the rhythm already alive in your soul. Whether you’re already visible—or standing at the edge of visibility—something in you knows: It’s time to lead untamed.
Episodes
Certified life coach and culture strategist Joni Woods spent years being told who she wasn't: not smart enough, not leadership material, only useful for how she looked.
After a divorce, a devastating house fire, and a full rebuild of her confidence, Joni discovered that boundaries, not performance, were the doorway to belonging.
In this conversation, Joni and Lauri trace the line from a coaching progra...
Executive coach Chip Scholz spent nearly 30 years helping leaders navigate change, and 25 years learning to lead himself. In this episode of the Untamed Leader Podcast, Chip and Lauri talk about what happens when the identity you built at work stops fitting.
They get into why being called a "team player" isn't always a compliment, the phone call Chip made two and a half decades later to make amends with someone h...
What if the thing standing between you and your legacy is a boardroom in your own head?
Linda Berger, founder of the Mission-Led Institute and creator of the Mission Activation Framework, joins Lauri Smith to unpack 27 years of watching business owners hit the moment their work starts asking more of them than they've been willing and able to give.
They explore the “friction lock” that keeps us circling...
Speaker, author, and purpose-driven coach Larry Kesslin joins Untamed Leader to unpack the difference between the self you were trained to perform and the one underneath it. After four waves of depression over eight years, Larry stopped treating it as something broken in him and started calling it deep rest: his body's way of refusing to keep playing a character that was never really his.
We talk about the discom...
Former Chief People Officer Oksana Lukash used to lock her knees in fear before speaking in public. Now she's a TEDx speaker who built her career on one habit: asking the question she was scared to ask.
In this Untamed Leader conversation, Lauri and Oksana trace what happens when curiosity becomes a leadership practice: from a stranger at a summer social, to a keynote in the Caribbean, to the TEDx stage where the...
Master certified coach Linda Bucher used to wear a crown in a jail cell she built herself, performing “poor Linda” so convincingly that even she almost believed it. In this episode of the Untamed Leader Podcast, Linda walks Lauri through the belief continuum that carried her from a locked hallway of impossible to an untamed life she calls easy, abundant, and fully her own.
Along the way: the moment mi...
What if untaming your presence isn't about becoming someone new, but remembering who you already are?
In this off-season episode, Lauri Smith joins Linda Bucher on Conversations Worth Your While to explore what it costs mission-driven leaders to keep performing the version of themselves that feels safe, and what opens up when they stop. They cover the difference between fitting in and belonging, why your issues a...
What if not knowing isn't the problem? What if it’s the whole point?
This conversation was recorded the evening before the very first Untamed Leader Retreat. Lauri joins Kelly Myerson on the Bridges and Beacons Podcast for a wide-ranging exploration of what it means to lead from intuition rather than prescription, and why the wild, amoeba-like feeling of not-yet-knowing might be the most important leadershi...
What if the reason your voice isn't landing has nothing to do with your words?
In this off-season episode, Lauri Smith joins Desiree Stanley on the Pockets of Knowledge Podcast for a conversation that goes well beyond speaking tips. They cover what's happening in the body when you open your mouth, why playing offense instead of defense changes everything about how you show up, and the difference between meek, agg...
What if vulnerability isn't the thing that holds your voice back, but the doorway to finding it?
In this off-season episode, Lauri Smith joins Lisa Roche on Find Your Flow, the podcast for people who are stuck and honest enough to say so. Lisa shares her own story: standing in front of a class, unable to say her name, unable to breathe, crumbling, and the room of strangers who rose, circled her, and held her. Tha...
What if charisma isn't something you learn, it's something you were born with that got covered up?
In this off-season episode, Lauri Smith joins Kelly Myerson on what was then the Mystic Nerd Squad Podcast (now Bridges and Beacons) for a wide-ranging conversation about authentic speaking, the soul suckers that drain your energy before you open your mouth, and why imitating Martin Luther King Jr. or Lady Gaga will...
What's the difference between a talk people remember and one that actually changes something? It's not the words, it's whether they actually felt you.
In this off-season episode, Lauri Smith joins Kat Polsinelli on Real Chat with Kat for a conversation about what it really means to speak from the heart. They cover the five speaker masks that dim your one-in-eight-billion radiance, why breath is almost always the ...
I’ve written a new book, Land Your Message, and I'd love for you to be a part of getting it into the world. Back the Indiegogo campaign, grab early access, or share it with someone who needs it: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/laurismith/land-your-message
Take the Speaker Alter Ego quiz to find out which protective mask hides your natural radiance so you can learn how to get pr...
What if visibility isn't about performing—it's about being felt?
In this off-season drop, you're getting a front-row seat to a conversation that happened on Jeni Holla's Soul Chats podcast. Jeni and Lauri explore the soul of visibility: why performing for attention keeps us small, what it actually costs to let people in, and how speaking from your true frequency changes the energy of every room you enter.
La...
What if your biggest leadership mistake wasn't the decisions you made, but the mental model you were carrying when you made them?
Leadership coach Kurt Bush started out believing leaders had to have all the answers. Spoiler: it nearly cost him the room. What he discovered instead, through mentorship, a pandemic, and a lot of curiosity, reshaped how he shows up in every room, every conversation, every crisis.
In th...
What if the version of you that shrinks is both timid and brilliant?
In this retreat coaching session, we sit with Brian Perry, an authentic communication coach and singer-songwriter, as his body remembers a childhood rule: being seen is dangerous.
What unfolds is a vivid map of survival, from bullying to family dynamics, and the subtle ways a protector part can keep you safe while also keeping you small.
A k...
The most dangerous career trap is not failure. It’s comfort that slowly turns into a cage.
In this episode of the Untamed Leader Podcast, Lauri sits down with Dr. Karen Koepp, a strategic advisor who helps senior leaders navigate high-stakes turning points. At the heart of the conversation is a childhood expedition that still shapes how Karen guides clients today and the pattern she sees with leaders ...
What does untaming look like and how do we do it? This is a real coaching session from the Untamed Leader Spring Retreat: Embody Your Vision — unscripted, embodied, and alive.
Dana is stepping into a new chapter: retiring from her career, feeling called to “ocean” more, and finding out what living with more presence, intention, and impact feels like in her body. What you’ll witness is the ...
What happens when insight isn't enough — when your vision is clear, your mind runs fast, and follow-through keeps breaking anyway?
Executive functioning and resilience coach Kevin Bailey spent years burning out trying to out-learn and out-effort his way to success before he stopped trying to fix himself and started designing support systems built for him. That terrain between knowing and doing became part o...
What if the reason your business feels stuck isn't the strategy — it's all the disconnected parts that nobody's connecting? Fractional COO Lauren Zaslansky Conner has spent decades doing exactly that: linking the systems, the people, and the purpose that most businesses leave siloed.
In this episode, Lauren shares how a "jungle gym career" — moving through corporate, startup, and fractional consulting...
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