What if leadership has nothing to do with titles, authority, or being in charge?

In this episode of Breaking Rank, Jeffery Epting shows what it looks like to lead from clarity, values, and self-knowledge. No corner office. No permission. No hierarchy required.

This is a conversation for anyone who has ever led without being “the boss,” refused to shrink to fit outdated systems, or chosen integrity over control.

Leadership doesn’t require power. It requires liberation.

What happens when you stop pushing through and finally listen to your body?

In this powerful episode of Breaking Rank, I sit down with Tahisha Fugate to talk about the power of the pause—what it really means to step away from work to prioritize your physical health and mental wellness, especially in high-pressure, high-visibility careers.

Tahisha opens up about making the difficult decision to pause her professional life, the repercussions she didn’t expect, and the clarity and healing that followed.

Together, we explore what it’s like navigating demanding legal environments, the added complexity of showing up as Black women in the industry, and the cost of constantly choosing productivity over well-being.

This conversation also dives into:

• Navigating high-pressure careers without losing yourself
• The physical and mental toll of “pushing through”
• Finding and leaning on a real support system
• Surviving dark seasons and rebuilding with intention
• Redefining success when your health is on the line

This episode is honest, grounding, and deeply necessary for anyone who has ever felt trapped between ambition and survival.

🎙️ This is a must-listen episode.

If this conversation resonates:

• Subscribe to Breaking Rank
• Like this video to support the podcast
• Share it with someone who needs permission to pause

Because sometimes the most powerful move you can make is to stop.

Choosing Myself: Trauma, Power, and the Refusal to Shrink is a deeply personal and unapologetic opening episode of Breaking Rank.

In this conversation, host Diana Lauritson is interviewed by her longtime friend and guest host Sofia DeMartino, tracing the moments that forced Diana to confront a hard truth: success that requires silence, self-erasure, or endurance at the cost of your well-being is not success at all.

Together, they unpack how personal trauma rooted in family, upbringing, and relationships intersects with workplace trauma and systemic harm in high-pressure professional environments. Diana reflects on how ambition is shaped by survival, how power is often conditioned on silence, and why choosing yourself, especially as a woman of color, can feel both radical and necessary.

This episode explores:

• The hidden cost of shrinking to survive professionally

• How workplace systems reward endurance over authenticity

• Why refusing to shrink is not selfish, but strategic

• What it looks like to reclaim power without asking for permission

This episode sets the foundation for Breaking Rank: a podcast for people navigating high-pressure careers who are done playing small and ready to lead on their own terms.

If this resonates, subscribe to Breaking Rank and share this episode with someone who needs permission to choose themselves.