Behind the Mic

Morgan DeNicola went from nightclub promoter to running the DeNicola Family Foundation and serving as vice chair of the Humpty Dumpty Institute, bringing Congress into closed-door embassy sessions worldwide. On Speaking of Phenomenal, she traces it all back to a trip to Africa and a two-year-old named Comfort, plus lessons on gratitude, mental health, and the philosophy that you don't change the world, you change it for one person.

In December 2023, Kate Markland was given one hour a week on FaceTime with her nine-year-old son. They read books. When they ran out of other people's stories, she asked him a question: would you like to be the hero of your own story? Eight weeks later they had six short stories. Kate self-published them. The work reached Parliament and UNICEF. Gabriel, now 12, is Chief Dream Officer of StoryQuest. This is not a survivor story. It is an inventor's story.

Season 5 Finale SOP Podcast Art

There’s a moment in every year when reflection feels unavoidable. The calendar shifts, expectations creep in, and we quietly ask ourselves what worked — and what didn’t. In this episode of Speaking of Phenomenal , my conversation with Taylor Elyse Morrison landed squarely in that space between looking back and choosing what comes next. Taylor describes herself as a portfolio careerist, someone whose work lives across multiple lanes at once. Coaching. Facilitating. Research.

I had to pause, rewind and hit play again when I heard Ellen Wilcox describe her job as the “head of listening” at the consumer venture capital firm Listen during the latest episode of the Speaking of Phenomenal podcast. I’m not very well-versed in business jargon, and wanted to make sure I wasn’t confounding her role with the company’s name. Yes, Ellen listens for a living. But what might seem like a simple human trait, for her, is an activity that demands preparation

Kari Fagin was having lunch with one of her mentors when he pushed a piece of paper across the table in her direction. She read 10 names...