Stacy Kamigaki is a fractional CMO, firm owner, and Leadership Voices coauthor whose work centers on growing businesses and developing the people behind them. In this conversation on Leadership Portraits, she joins Jennifer Wright to explore how the leaders we see shape the leaders we become—and why there’s room for more than one way to lead.

The conversation begins with Stacy’s move into fractional leadership and what it means to take responsibility for marketing as part of a company’s leadership team. From there, she shares her approach to mentorship: understand each person’s strengths, interests, and ambitions, then help them grow with those differences in mind. She also reflects on what younger generations are teaching established leaders about speaking up and seeing the whole person.

At the center of the episode is Stacy’s Leadership Voices chapter, “See It Be It.” Writing it helped her connect experiences across her career, while conversations with eight leaders revealed how differently people describe the qualities they value. A young Sunday school student’s dream of becoming a nurse or doctor brought the idea into focus: the examples around us can expand what we believe is possible.

Stacy encourages emerging leaders to begin with self-awareness, seek feedback, and notice where their strengths can meet a real need. She also shares the story of a company rebrand that brought people from multiple acquisitions together around a shared identity. What made that work meaningful was the team’s sense of ownership in the result.

The conversation closes with the value of learning across disciplines, books Stacy returns to, and the advice she’d offer her younger self: slow down, reflect, recognize the people who have helped you, and ask who you want to become—not only what you want to accomplish.

“And that’s really important because it all comes down to the people.”

On bringing people into a shared identity

“I guess I’m just a student at heart, but I love going into those sessions and just learning something new.”

On curiosity and continuous learning

“Not just what I want to do, but what do I want to be?”

On reflection and the advice she’d give her younger self

Stacy Kamigaki | Fractional CMO and firm owner, yorCMO

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacykamigaki/

Your Story. Your Brand. — October 28, 2026, 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. as listed by BPW Colorado. Attend in Denver or via Zoom. Details and registration: https://www.bpwcolorado.org/event-6860933

Read Stacy’s chapter, “See It Be It,” in Leadership Voices.

www.LeadershipVoicesBook.com

Dare to Lead — Brené Brown

Good to Great — Jim Collins

Traction — Gino Wickman

Host: Jennifer Wright

Podcast: Leadership Portraits

Leadership Portraits is a gallery of inspirational leadership, exploring the stories, experiences, and qualities that shape how people lead. Follow for more conversations about the people behind the work.

www.LeadershipPortraits.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferwrightexecuwright/

Episode Summary

Lisseth Zouhbi is a Chief Human Resources Officer with 25 years of experience, a coauthor of multiple leadership anthologies—including Leadership Voices—a speaker, and a mother of two. In this conversation on Leadership Portraits, she shares the philosophy and frameworks that have shaped her career and her approach to developing leaders at every level.

At the center of this conversation is Lisseth’s concept of the Emotional Compass—a five-step framework for navigating emotional intelligence in the workplace. The steps move from self-awareness (identifying what triggers your emotions) through understanding the “why,” reading the situation and those around you, responding with intention, and finally reflecting on what you learned. In hybrid and remote work environments where reading tone and body language is harder than ever, she argues this skill is becoming non-negotiable for effective leadership.

Lisseth also speaks candidly about change management in the age of AI—a topic she sees as fundamentally a people challenge, not a technology one. For her, soft skills like critical thinking, communication, and emotional intelligence are more essential now than ever, precisely because AI cannot replace the human judgment required to validate, question, and act on its outputs.

She shares how her organization built a tiered leadership development program covering senior executives, middle managers, and emerging leaders—and what skills she believes every aspiring leader must prioritize. Her advice to her younger self is both simple and powerful: make mistakes, don’t be hard on yourself, and never stop pushing forward.

Lisseth Zouhbi embodies the kind of leader she encourages others to become—one who never stops learning, invests deeply in the people around her, and leads with curiosity, resilience, and heart.

“I tell my kids and I tell my team: never stop learning. Always be curious, because no one’s going to take that away from you.”

On continuous learning and curiosity

“It’s like having your own personal compass—because you need to understand how to navigate your personal emotions to drive whatever outcome that you are seeking.”

On the Emotional Compass concept

“Always persevere. Continue to push yourself, regardless of what the outcome is, because it just helps to continue to build who you are and who you’re going to be.”

Closing message

Learn more about Leadership Voices - the book that Lisseth recently co-authored.

www.LeadershipVoicesBook.com or

on Amazon at: https://a.co/d/0gA6vRwF

Connect With Us and Learn More about Leadership Portraits

• Host: Jennifer Wright
• Podcast: Leadership Portraits
• Description: Leadership Portraits is a gallery that pays homage to the exceptional individuals who have not only led great teams but have also ignited inspiration and motivation in the hearts of their followers. This unique collection of portraits delves into the core qualities that define extraordinary leadership, capturing the essence of those who have left an indelible mark on their respective fields
• Follow for more conversations that explore the stories, struggles, and insights behind modern leaders

www.LeadershipPortraits.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferwrightexecuwright/

Structure and Soul The case for human-first operational leadership

If you've ever felt like you're holding your entire business together with sheer willpower — this episode is for you.

Jen Wyatt is the founder of Elite BizOps and has spent over eleven years helping business owners build the operational systems that let them breathe again. She's a fractional operations expert, a soon-to-be author, and someone who brings a genuinely unique perspective to leadership — one shaped by an art and fashion design background, an MBA, life as a military spouse, and more than a decade of figuring out how people actually work best.

In this conversation, we get into all of it — the messy, the practical, and the refreshingly honest.

In this episode we talk about:

• Why her art background made her a sharper operational thinker
• The "my way or the highway" mindset and why it no longer works
• How to lead remote and hybrid teams with fairness and flexibility
• Using AI responsibly without losing the human touch
• What fractional leadership really looks like day-to-day
• The boundaries and systems she uses to protect her own time and energy
• Why her biggest leadership goal is to work herself out of a job

A few of our favorite moments: "Collaboration fosters innovation. The 'my way or the highway' mindset just fosters the status quo."

"The key commodity moving forward is going to be the human touch."

"In a vacuum, we can create any kind of story we want about any situation. Stop the stories. Keep it simple."

Connect with Jen: Find Jen Wyatt on LinkedIn and follow her newsletter on operational leadership. Her book on operational leadership is coming soon — one you'll want to watch for.

https://www.elite-biz-ops.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennferwyattmba/Connect With Us and Learn More about Leadership Portraits

Connect With Us and Learn More about Leadership Portraits

• Host: Jennifer Wright
• Podcast: Leadership Portraits
• Follow for more conversations that explore the stories, struggles, and insights behind modern leaders

www.LeadershipPortraits.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferwrightexecuwright/