Does leadership feel heavy—not because you’re failing, but because you’re winning?

On paper, everything is working. The business is growing, the team is functioning, and the numbers are there. But internally, you feel like you’re running underwater. You wake up bracing for the day, carrying the weight of conversations you haven’t had yet and responsibilities that have no clear boundaries.

In this episode, we’re pulling back the curtain on why high-capacity leadership often leads to internal overload. We explore the "Invisible Backpack"—the unnamed weight that compounds in silence—and why your brain often mistakes this weight for self-doubt or incompetence.

The Trap of the Capable: Why your greatest strengths might be the very things creating your heaviest burdens.

The 3 Hidden Sources of Weight: How "Ghost Expectations," Emotional Loading, and Overfunctioning are draining your tank.

A Biblical Blueprint for Shared Weight: What we can learn from the leadership styles of Moses and Nehemiah about organizing the "wall" and distributing the load.

The Diagnostic Gut-Check: Three questions to help you identify exactly what you need to set down today to regain your clarity.

If you don’t need more motivation, but you desperately need structure and clarity, this episode is for you. It’s time to move from internal overload to grounded authority.

“Clarity doesn’t remove responsibility; it organizes it. And organized weight feels very different than silent weight.”

Exodus 18:17–18 – Jethro’s warning to Moses about the weight of solitary leadership.

Galatians 6:2 & 5 – The divine tension between carrying one another's burdens and carrying our own load.

Luke 10:1 – How Jesus modeled the distribution of authority.

If this episode resonated with you and you’re sensing a call to deeper leadership work in 2026, Julie invites you to join the waitlist for the Legacy Leadership Intensive—a high-touch, faith-grounded experience for Christian women leaders ready to build a legacy, not just a résumé.

👉 Join the waitlist here: https://bit.ly/legacyleadershipintensive

New episodes of Leadership, Clearly Podcast drop every Monday - so you can start your week grounded, focused, and ready to lead boldly.

If this episode encouraged you, please share it with another leader and leave a review. Your support helps this message reach more Christian women who are ready to lead with faith and clarity.

Visit https://juliewagner.co for more information!

As 2025 comes to a close, this final episode of the year invites Christian women leaders to pause, reflect, and lead forward with intention.

In The 2025 Leadership Audit, Julie Wagner walks you through a faith-grounded, strategic review of the year - helping you identify what no longer belongs in your leadership, and what must carry forward into 2026.

This episode is designed for Christian women in leadership - founders, executives, entrepreneurs, and decision-makers who are ready to move beyond survival mode and lead with clarity, conviction, and confidence.

Instead of rushing into goal-setting or hustling into the new year exhausted, Julie challenges listeners to conduct a true leadership audit - one that honors faith, stewardship, and long-term impact.

- Why reflection is a critical leadership discipline—not a luxury

- The biblical principle of “numbering your days” and how it applies to leadership

- How to audit the ROI of your energy and identify hidden burnout

- Where unclear communication cost leaders the most in 2025—and how to correct it

- Why hustle culture undermines sustainable, faith-driven leadership

- How intentional, written goals increase clarity, focus, and follow-through

- What grounded leaders did differently in 2025—and why it mattered

- How to enter 2026 with confidence instead of chaos

Julie also shares personal leadership lessons from her decades in executive leadership and entrepreneurship - offering honest insight into what worked, what didn’t, and what she’s leaving behind.

- Psalm 90:12 (NLT) — “Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.”

Julie closes the episode with a powerful Stop / Start / Continue Leadership Exercise, helping you intentionally define what you are releasing, embracing, and carrying forward into the next year.

If this episode resonated with you and you’re sensing a call to deeper leadership work in 2026, Julie invites you to join the waitlist for the Legacy Leadership Intensive—a high-touch, faith-grounded experience for Christian women leaders ready to build a legacy, not just a résumé.

👉 Join the waitlist here: https://bit.ly/legacyleadershipintensive

New episodes of Leadership, Clearly Podcast drop every Monday - so you can start your week grounded, focused, and ready to lead boldly.

If this episode encouraged you, please share it with another leader and leave a review. Your support helps this message reach more Christian women who are ready to lead with faith and clarity.

Visit https://juliewagner.co for more information!

Stop Generic Praise: How to Use Intentional Recognition to Boost Team Engagement

Are you sick of handing out "Great job, team!" praise that lands with the impact of a spam email? You're not alone. Generic recognition is forgettable, vague, and can actually erode the trust you're working so hard to build. If you lead people—whether in the boardroom, the sanctuary, or your own seven-figure business—it’s time to move past transactional feedback and embrace a strategy that fuels ownership and loyalty.

In this power-packed episode, your host, Julie Thomas Wagner (Worship Pastor, Serial Entrepreneur, and 25-year Tech Leadership veteran), reintroduces the newly named Leadership, Clearly podcast and dives deep into Intentional Recognition—the "I" in our V.I.C.T.O.R.Y. Leadership Communication Series.

Julie shares the Leader's Secret to motivating high-performing, faith-aligned teams: recognition that is so specific, sincere, and personal, it becomes a Leadership Multiplier.

- The Problem with Generic Praise: Why vague recognition is not safe and why your team might be tuning you out (even if you mean well).

- The Intentional Recognition Protocol: Julie’s 5-step framework for making praise specific, timely, and personal—turning simple compliments into powerful confidence builders.

- The Legacy Layer: Learn how intentional language (Proverbs 18:21) moves recognition from a leadership skill to a legacy-building culture that reduces turnover and encourages healthy risk-taking.

- The Jesus Model: How Christ perfectly demonstrated Intentional Recognition by always seeing the individual and calling out strengths others overlooked.

- The Difference: How to ensure your affirmation is true recognition (telling the truth) and not uncomfortable flattery (avoiding accountability).

Your words as a leader shape the culture and build the legacy. If you're ready to install the full operating system for leading with both God's wisdom and a working strategy, this episode is your required reading.

Ready to go deeper? If you need hands-on help implementing these communication and team-building strategies, check out the Legacy Leadership Intensive—Julie’s transformational coaching experience designed for faith-driven women ready to lead with BOLD clarity.

If this episode resonated with you and you’re sensing a call to deeper leadership work in 2026, Julie invites you to join the waitlist for the Legacy Leadership Intensive—a high-touch, faith-grounded experience for Christian women leaders ready to build a legacy, not just a résumé.

👉 Join the waitlist here: https://bit.ly/legacyleadershipintensive

New episodes of Leadership, Clearly Podcast drop every Monday - so you can start your week grounded, focused, and ready to lead boldly.

If this episode encouraged you, please share it with another leader and leave a review. Your support helps this message reach more Christian women who are ready to lead with faith and clarity.

Visit https://juliewagner.co for more information!

Welcome to the kickoff of the V.I.C.T.O.R.Y. Leadership Communication Series! If you are a Christian leader ready to move beyond burnout and lead with courage, clarity, and Kingdom impact, this episode is for you.

In this powerful episode, Julie Wagner, executive leadership coach, speaker, and worship pastor, dives into the foundational principle of the V.I.C.T.O.R.Y. Strategy: Vulnerability & Vision. Learn how to build psychological safety on your team and master purpose-driven vision casting that inspires.

Grab your journal—this is essential listening for anyone seeking to practice heart-led leadership and create a lasting legacy.

Discover how to integrate vulnerability in leadership to build stronger teams.

• The Power of Vulnerability: We dismantle the myth of the "invincible leader." True leadership strength begins when you lead with genuine vulnerability, not by hiding struggles.

• Modeling Biblical Leadership: Julie explores how Jesus modeled vulnerability and clear vision for His disciples, providing a roadmap for modern faith-driven leaders.

• Building Team Trust: Practical frameworks and steps for cultivating psychological safety within your organization or team.

• Inspiring Vision-Casting: Learn to shift your focus from merely hitting numbers to communicating a God-given, purpose-driven vision that motivates and unites your team.

• Julie's Story: Hear Julie’s personal journey of leading through overwhelm and how vulnerability transformed her team culture.

This episode is packed with Biblical insights and practical steps to implement the Vulnerability & Vision principle immediately:

• Reflection Questions: Use these prompts for your next personal devotion or team leadership meeting:

  • Where are you tempted to hide your struggles as a Christian executive leader?

  • What is the God-given vision for your team in this next season?

  • How can you communicate that vision with radical clarity and conviction?

• Weekly Challenge: Lead with Heart

  1. Prepare: Write down one real leadership challenge and lesson from this year, and one clear vision for Q1.

  2. Act: Share both at your next team meeting—go first and model heart-led leadership!

  3. Engage: Invite your team to share their hopes and ideas for the new year.

If this episode resonated with you and you’re sensing a call to deeper leadership work in 2026, Julie invites you to join the waitlist for the Legacy Leadership Intensive—a high-touch, faith-grounded experience for Christian women leaders ready to build a legacy, not just a résumé.

👉 Join the waitlist here: https://bit.ly/legacyleadershipintensive

New episodes of Leadership, Clearly Podcast drop every Monday - so you can start your week grounded, focused, and ready to lead boldly.

If this episode encouraged you, please share it with another leader and leave a review. Your support helps this message reach more Christian women who are ready to lead with faith and clarity.

Visit https://juliewagner.co for more information!

A faith-based episode for entrepreneurs on practicing gratitude, protecting your mental health, and trusting God with your business when the numbers don’t match your expectations.

• What biblical gratitude in business really looks like, and what it is not
• How to practice gratitude when your sales, downloads, or engagement are discouraging
• The connection between gratitude, financial stress, and mental health, including insights from research
• A simple G.R.A.C.E. gratitude framework you can start using this week in your business

• Join the waitlist for Legacy Leadership Intensive, Julie’s high-touch leadership experience for faith-driven women who want to grow in identity, character, and conviction as they lead their businesses and teams.
• Explore individual coaching with Julie for personalized support in your leadership, communication, and business strategy.

If this episode resonated with you and you’re sensing a call to deeper leadership work in 2026, Julie invites you to join the waitlist for the Legacy Leadership Intensive—a high-touch, faith-grounded experience for Christian women leaders ready to build a legacy, not just a résumé.

👉 Join the waitlist here: https://bit.ly/legacyleadershipintensive

New episodes of Leadership, Clearly Podcast drop every Monday - so you can start your week grounded, focused, and ready to lead boldly.

If this episode encouraged you, please share it with another leader and leave a review. Your support helps this message reach more Christian women who are ready to lead with faith and clarity.

Visit https://juliewagner.co for more information!

Are you a Christian woman business owner feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or burnt out by the constant hustle?

In this essential episode, host Julie unpacks the powerful promise of Proverbs 3:5-6—“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

This isn't just theory. You'll learn the practical steps to stop relying on self-powered effort and invite God's leading into your daily operations.

Tune in to explore how to:

• Trade Self-Powered Hustle for Spirit-Led Strategy: Discover the freedom of letting go of over-responsibility and anxiety in your business.

• Identify Your 'Own Logic': Recognize the specific areas where fear, past failures, or simply relying on your intellect is limiting your growth.

• Trust God with Your Business Finances, Marketing, and Decisions: Learn what it really means to surrender all areas of your company to Him.

• Practical Application of Proverbs 3:6: Understand what it looks like for God to "make your paths straight" in real-life scenarios—from launching a new product to hiring a team member.

If you're ready for biblical business advice that moves you from anxious striving to deeper faith and strategic clarity, this episode is your roadmap.

Keywords to Note: Christian women business owners, Proverbs 3:5-6, Spirit-led strategy, trusting God in business, biblical business advice, Christian entrepreneur, stop the hustle, faith and business.

• Legacy Leadership Intensive – Now Open for Waitlist

  If this episode resonated with you and you’re sensing a call to deeper leadership work in 2026, Julie invites you to join the waitlist for the Legacy Leadership Intensive—a high-touch, faith-grounded experience for Christian women leaders ready to build a legacy, not just a résumé.

  👉 Join the waitlist here: https://bit.ly/legacyleadershipintensive

  New Episodes Every Monday

  New episodes of Leadership, Clearly Podcast drop every Monday - so you can start your week grounded, focused, and ready to lead boldly.

  If this episode encouraged you, please share it with another leader and leave a review. Your support helps this message reach more Christian women who are ready to lead with faith and clarity.

  Interested in working with Julie?

  Visit https://juliewagner.co for more information!

Banish Imposter Syndrome & Step Into Your God-Given Calling | Faith-Driven Leadership

Are mindset barriers dimming your light and holding you back from your God-given calling? You are not alone! In this heartfelt and powerful episode, Julie- a seasoned executive leadership coach, CEO of brandCREATED, and former woman-in-tech leader—lays bare her personal battle. Hear her candid journey of conquering imposter syndrome, crippling comparison, and stubborn self-doubt as one of the only women in the tech leadership room.

Julie delivers an essential truth: the thoughts and beliefs keeping you stuck can be broken. She lovingly invites you to partner with Jesus to shatter the chains of perfectionism, fear of failure, anxiety, and outdated money stories. Rooted in Biblical truth and real-life experience, you'll receive practical, grace-filled ways to silence the inner critic and move forward—one bold step at a time.

• Legacy Leadership Intensive – Now Open for Waitlist

  If this episode resonated with you and you’re sensing a call to deeper leadership work in 2026, Julie invites you to join the waitlist for the Legacy Leadership Intensive—a high-touch, faith-grounded experience for Christian women leaders ready to build a legacy, not just a résumé.

  👉 Join the waitlist here: https://bit.ly/legacyleadershipintensive

  New Episodes Every Monday

  New episodes of Leadership, Clearly Podcast drop every Monday - so you can start your week grounded, focused, and ready to lead boldly.

  If this episode encouraged you, please share it with another leader and leave a review. Your support helps this message reach more Christian women who are ready to lead with faith and clarity.

  Interested in working with Julie?

  Visit https://juliewagner.co for more information!

• Interested in 1:1 Coaching with Julie? Learn more here- https://juliewagner.co