The Tessa Tubbs Podcast

Hosted by Tessa Tubbs

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Latest episode

Jul 2026

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EN-US

About the show

The Tessa Tubbs Podcast is a space for Self-Leadership: identity, emotional maturity, agency, boundaries, integrity, burnout, and reinvention. After years helping leaders navigate strategy and complexity inside organizations, I followed a deeper question: “What if the life you built was never meant for you?” Each week we explore how to know yourself accurately, own your choices, and live aligned with what’s true. Expect 30+ minute conversations plus 5-minute quick hits you can apply immediately.

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51 recent

September 1, 2026Episode 5147 min

AI, Reinvention, and Redefining Success Without Losing Yourself | Dr. Charlie Apigian

Podcast Episode Description In this episode of The Tessa Tubbs Podcast , Tessa sits down with Dr. Charlie Apigian, founder of Data Inspire and lead data and AI strategist at LBMC, for a thoughtful conversation about success, identity, AI, reinvention, and staying human in the middle of achievement. Charlie’s path has moved from the automotive industry to academia, entrepreneurship, data strategy, and artificial intelligence. After decades as a professor helping people make sense of complex systems, Charlie entered a new season of work focused on helping companies and individuals begin their AI journey with clarity and intention. Together, Tessa and Charlie explore the tension between achievement and alignment: what happens when you are still “winning” externally, but something inside you has started to drift. Charlie shares how becoming an entrepreneur, losing his father, parenting four grown children, and rethinking his own definition of impact have shaped the way he now thinks about work, family, purpose, and what matters most. They also discuss how AI can be used not to replace our humanity, but to make more room for it. Charlie shares his personal AI guardrails, built around creating deeper experiences and connections while staying genuine and authentic. This conversation is for anyone refining what success means, navigating a new chapter, or asking how to keep growing without losing themselves in the process. Listen in for a grounded discussion on AI, self-awareness, identity, entrepreneurship, family, reinvention, and building a life where the journey matters as much as the outcome. More about Dr. Charlie Apagian: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/capigian Data Inspire: https://www.datainspire.io/about

August 31, 2026Episode 5038 min

When the Life You Built No Longer Fits

In this episode of The Tessa Tubbs Podcast , Tessa sits down with Beth Raebeck Hall, founder of The Quantum Creator, to explore identity, reinvention, and the quiet threshold many women reach when the life they built no longer feels aligned. Beth brings more than 30 years of experience across music, media, technology, entrepreneurship, and coaching. A TEDx speaker, Grammy-nominated songwriter, award-winning writer, and strategic business coach, she has advised founders, creatives, startups, and small businesses through seasons of growth, change, and self-discovery. Together, Tessa and Beth discuss what happens when women outgrow roles that once defined them, from career titles and motherhood seasons to old expectations, external validation, and the pressure to keep pushing through. Beth shares how reinvention often begins when “remaining the same” becomes more painful than change, and why origin stories can hold both the wounds we need to heal and the parts of ourselves we are ready to recover. This conversation is for women who are successful, capable, and grateful for what they have built, yet sense that something inside them is asking for a new chapter. It is a grounded invitation to listen to that signal, reconnect with your values, and ask: What do I want now, and is the life I’m living still aligned with who I am becoming? Listen in for a thoughtful conversation on reinvention, identity, self-leadership, women’s power, personal change, and building a life that holds up over time. Connect with Beth Raebeck Hall: Website: https://www.quantumcreatorcoach.com LinkedIn: Search Beth Raebeck Hall / The Quantum Creator

July 14, 2026Episode 4926 min

Choosing to Rise: Bryan Neely on Resilience, Faith, and Becoming Who You Were Created to Be

In this episode of The Tessa Tubbs Podcast, Tessa sits down with Bryan Neely for a powerful conversation on resilience, faith, identity, and the quiet strength it takes to keep rising when life does not unfold the way you imagined. Bryan is the owner of Billy Goat Coffee Cafe, a Krav Maga instructor, Young Life Ministry leader, ultra marathoner, military funeral honors officer, TEDx speaker, and author of Embrace Your Roar: A Call to Stop Comparing, Start Rising, and Step Into the Life You Were Created For. His story is marked by deep faith, personal grief, military transition, rejection, endurance, and a commitment to turning obstacles into opportunities for growth and service. Together, Tessa and Bryan explore what it means to hit rock bottom with your “rock” in the right place, how faith and community can help remind you who you are, and why rising is not always dramatic. Often, it is one honest decision repeated over time. Bryan shares how self-talk, doing hard things, surrounding yourself with the right people, and staying connected to purpose have helped him move through breaking points and become a stronger, more grounded version of himself. This episode is for anyone walking through hardship, rebuilding after disappointment, or learning how to lead themselves with courage, humility, and intention. Listen in for a conversation on self-leadership, resilience, emotional endurance, faith, personal growth, and choosing to rise into who you are becoming. For more on Bryan check out his links: Business: BILLY GOAT COFFEE CAFE Books: Embrace Your Roarrr: The Key To Rising Up In Everything You Do Mile 17 Devotional: Where Breaking Points Become Breakthroughs Socials: Instagram Facebook LinkedIn

July 7, 2026Episode 481 min

Self-Awareness for Leaders: A Simple End-of-Day Reflection

In this episode of The Tessa Tubbs Podcast , Tessa shares a simple five-minute reflection practice leaders can use at the end of the day to build greater self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and intentional leadership. Rather than adding another complicated routine or lengthy journaling exercise, this practice invites you to pause and ask honest, compassionate questions: Where did I feel most like the leader I aim to be today? Where did I lead from insecurity, urgency, or ego? What might I try differently tomorrow? Self-awareness does not grow through self-criticism. It grows through recognition. By taking a few quiet moments to observe your impact, notice your patterns, and reflect without judgment, you create more room to lead with clarity, steadiness, and choice instead of reactivity. This episode is for leaders, professionals, and anyone practicing self-leadership who wants to become more intentional in how they show up each day.

June 30, 2026Episode 472 min

The Subtle Way We Abandon Ourselves in Meetings (and How to Stop)

Ever walk out of a meeting feeling less like yourself than when you walked in? In this episode, Tessa names a common but subtle self-abandonment pattern: softening your position when there’s tension , not because you learned something new, but because you felt displeasure in the room. She breaks down the “tells” many of us don’t notice until after the meeting is over: Adding qualifiers, over-explaining, or quickly finding something to agree with just to restore warmth Mistaking conflict-avoidance for collaboration, then leaving with an outcome you didn’t actually want Creating “meetings outside the meeting” because the real conversation never happened in the room You’ll learn how to hold your ground without being combative , acknowledge different viewpoints without dismantling your own, and leave the room with integrity and clarity. If you’ve been people-pleasing in professional settings or quietly eroding your voice to keep things smooth, this episode will help you lead yourself differently. More at TessaTubbs.com

June 23, 2026Episode 462 min

Firm Boundaries Without Being Harsh (Boundary Scripts You Can Use)

Setting boundaries doesn’t have to sound cold, defensive, or overly emotional. In this episode of The Tessa Tubbs Podcast , Tessa shares a handful of simple, repeatable sentences you can use to say no with clarity while still protecting the relationship. You’ll learn: How to decline a request without over-explaining or apologizing for your boundary The “redirect” approach: “That doesn’t work for me, but here’s what does” How to frame a boundary as an act of care, especially in close relationships How to say “I’m not the right person for that” without guilt, and still be helpful by offering an alternative If you’ve been avoiding boundaries because you don’t want to disappoint people, this episode gives you language that’s firm, human, and clean, so you can stay honest without burning bridges. Learn More at TessaTubbs.com

June 16, 2026Episode 452 min

Support vs Over-Functioning (and the Question That Keeps You Honest)

How do you tell the difference between being supportive… and over-functioning for someone? In this short episode of The Tessa Tubbs Podcast , Tessa offers a simple distinction that can change the way you lead, parent, partner, and collaborate: Support empowers. Over-functioning replaces. Tessa breaks down what over-functioning actually is: substituting your capacity for someone else’s, often because watching them struggle makes you uncomfortable, you want things to move faster, or you’ve learned to feel useful by stepping in. She also names the deeper truth: over-functioning is frequently more about the helper than the person being helped. It can relieve your discomfort, satisfy your need to feel needed or in control, and unintentionally communicate to the other person that you don’t believe they can handle it on their own. To stay honest, Tessa shares the question she uses as a real-time check: “Whose comfort am I serving right now?” If you’ve been exhausted from carrying too much, rescuing too quickly, or feeling responsible for outcomes that aren’t yours, this episode will help you build healthier support, clearer boundaries, and stronger self-leadership. Learn More at TessaTubbs.com

June 9, 2026Episode 4437 min

Holding Space Without Disappearing Yourself (with Rachael Lewis)

Many of us are carrying responsibility, expectations, and care for others, often with very little room to be fully human ourselves. This conversation lives right there, not in performance or polish, but in the real work of showing up honestly, being seen, and creating safe space for others without abandoning yourself. In this episode of The Tessa Tubbs Podcast , Tessa sits down with Rachael Lewis , owner of Honey and Sage Salon and former educator, to talk about reinvention, vulnerability, and what it costs (and gives) to choose alignment over expectation. Rachael shares her courageous shift from teaching during the COVID era to hair school, the sacrifices that came with it, and the freedom she found on the other side. In this conversation, we explore: Why vulnerability isn’t “one and done,” it’s a lived state of being The hidden weight of staying in soul-sucking environments, and what changes when you finally choose presence over protection How to navigate judgment, disruption, and the real barriers that make change complex Creating safe space and community, including what it means to be a trusted “beacon” for others Over-functioning, boundaries, and the self-leadership skill of saying “no” without guilt Why you shouldn’t light yourself on fire to keep someone else warm If you’ve been holding everyone else up while quietly disappearing yourself, this episode will help you rethink what you’re tolerating, reclaim your boundaries, and choose a life that actually holds up. Connect with Rachael Lewis / Honey and Sage Salon: Website: honeyandsagessalon.com Instagram / TikTok / Facebook: @HoneyandSageSalon Also: @SaltandWavesHair See Rachel's TedX Talk Here: https://youtu.be/EcrlmMtG-uU?si=noWUvH4aT5y_ok59

June 2, 2026Episode 432 min

Your Availability Is Not Your Commitment

What’s the boundary you wish you’d learned a decade earlier? In this episode of The Tessa Tubbs Podcast , Tessa answers with a truth that hits a lot of high-functioning people right in the chest: your availability is not the same as your commitment. Tessa reflects on a season where she treated being available as generosity and “yes” as proof of value, only to realize that radical availability can be an angst-driven pattern rooted in not trusting that your real value is enough. She unpacks how she made herself indispensable through access, and what boundary work taught her about protecting energy, focusing on what matters most, and thinking through the downstream trade-offs of automatic yeses. You’ll hear why over-availability can quietly turn you into “infrastructure” in relationships instead of a mutual person, and how constantly responding keeps you from initiating the life you actually want. If you’ve been exhausted, overextended, or resentful while telling yourself you’re just being helpful, this episode will help you reconnect to self, set cleaner boundaries, and make choices that protect what deserves your deepest focus. Learn more at TessaTubbs.com

May 27, 2026Episode 422 min

Dismantling the Belief That Success Requires Sacrifice (Solo with Tessa Tubbs)

Many of us inherit a simple, seductive belief about success: you earn it through sacrifice . You outwork, outlast, outperform. You prove your worth through visible output, and rest isn’t rewarded. In this solo episode of The Tessa Tubbs Podcast , Tessa unpacks how deeply this mindset can get wired into us through family, culture, and professional environments and how it can quietly train you to equate productivity with worth . She shares how her relationship with stillness exposed the belief operating underneath the surface, and the “reckoning moments” that forced a new question: am I doing this because it’s right, or because proving it feels like it justifies the cost? Ultimately, Tessa offers a powerful redefinition: Success is alignment between how you live and what you actually believe, not just what you achieve. If you’ve been living in go-go-go mode, measuring yourself by output, and feeling uneasy when you slow down, this episode will help you reassess the trade-offs and build a new metric: a through line of integrity. Learn More at TessaTubbs.com