Episode Description

What do you do when the moment doesn’t go according to plan?

In this episode of The Grace Space Podcast, Kaitlyn Rios is joined by Haylee Foy, founder of Building Better Mindsets, for an honest conversation about navigating difficult situations when there’s no script, no perfect response, and no one-size-fits-all solution.

Haylee shares her personal journey through toxic workplaces, followed by an early and humbling moment in her coaching career — when a client took a phone call in the middle of a group coaching session, freezing her in her tracks and forcing her to confront the reality that leadership often requires adaptation, not perfection.

Together, they'll explore how hard lessons, creative pivots, and unconventional tools — including the introduction of art into Haylee’s coaching practice — can fundamentally reshape how we lead, respond, and grow. This episode is about learning to navigate complexity creatively, trusting yourself in real time, and allowing difficult moments to shape you into the leader you’re becoming.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

• How toxic workplaces quietly shape leadership instincts and self-trust

• An early coaching moment that forced Haylee to rethink control, authority, and adaptability

• Why there is no one-size-fits-all approach to leadership or growth

• How creativity and art can unlock new pathways for communication and healing

• What it means to lead in moments that don’t go as planned

• How hard lessons become formative — not failures

Reflection Prompts for Listeners

• Where am I clinging to a “right way” when flexibility is needed instead?

• What difficult moment shaped me more than any success ever did?

• How might creativity help me navigate a situation I feel stuck in right now?

Guest Spotlight

Haylee Foy is the founder of Building Better Mindsets, a leadership and creative wellbeing practice centered on helping individuals and teams move out of survival mode and into intentional, adaptive leadership.

After navigating toxic workplace environments and confronting early challenges in her coaching career, Haylee began integrating creativity and art into her work — transforming how clients process difficult experiences, build self-awareness, and respond to complexity.

She is known for her grounded presence, trauma-informed approach, and belief that the hardest lessons often become the foundation for the most effective leadership.

Resources Mentioned

• Building Better Mindsets

• Creative and art-based leadership practices

Connect

• Kaitlyn Rios / Faced With Grace

www.facedwithgrace.org

connect@facedwithgrace.org

• Haylee Foy / Building Better Mindsets

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

If This Episode Resonated

If this conversation resonated with you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who might need permission to lead a little more creatively — and a little more honestly — today.

The Realities of Purpose-Driven Work:

Behind the Scenes of Nonprofit Leadership

In this honest conversation, Kaitlyn Rios and Kris Fanning explore the true realities of choosing impact over ease in the nonprofit world. From invisible labor to emotional resilience, they delve into the grit required to build meaningful change without a safety net.

Key Topics:

• The emotional and physical toll of nonprofit work and invisible labor
• The pivotal moments and mindset shifts that lead to impactful career changes
• The significance of purpose and how to recognize it in your life
• Strategies for managing imposter syndrome and maintaining self-belief
• The importance of small wins and self-acknowledgment during hard times
• Building organizational foundation with patience and grace
• The challenges and rewards of leading unpaid boards and volunteer teams
• Practical advice on balancing purpose-driven work with business acumen

Timestamps:

00:02 - The hidden struggles of choosing impact over ease
00:31 - Kris Fanning’s journey from healthcare to nonprofit leadership
02:05 - Sharing the lesser-known stories behind their public personas
03:05 - What it feels like when a system no longer fits
03:37 - Recognizing purpose as a guiding principle
04:53 - The power of vision books in goal-setting
06:17 - The catalyst moments that triggered career leaps
09:22 - The unseen labor and emotional weight of nonprofit leadership
11:28 - Managing the solitude and overwhelm of building impactful organizations
12:21 - Practical tips for mental resilience and self-care
14:33 - The importance of celebrating small wins amidst big challenges
15:23 - Leading without a traditional team — the nuances of influence and authority
17:02 - Navigating the dynamics of unpaid boards and volunteer leadership
18:38 - Overcoming imposter syndrome in high-stakes environments
19:59 - Moments of affirmation that reinforce impact-driven decisions
21:26 - Personal growth through purpose-driven work
22:39 - The importance of patience and strong foundation building
23:05 - Common misconceptions about purpose and impact work
24:25 - How to connect with Kris Fanning and Texas

Faced With Grace:

www.facedwithgrace.org

connect@facedwithgrace.org

TicKidsResources & Links:

• Texas TicKids - Learn more about Kris Fanning’s impactful organization

Connect with Kris Fanning:

• Facebook

These show notes aim to capture the raw, insightful dialogue on leadership, purpose, and resilience. Whether you're considering a leap into impact work or already navigating its challenges, this episode offers real-world wisdom to guide your journey.

Episode Description

We are living in heavy times.

Between personal challenges, constant news cycles, and the pressure to perform professionally, many of us are carrying more than we let on.

In this episode of The Grace Space Podcast, Kaitlyn Rios sits down with Jenn Farr — senior corporate leader, creator of The Treehouse Principle, and Crisis to Creation coach — for an honest and expansive conversation about what it means to show up while the world is heavy.

Jenn shares how personal crisis reshaped her identity, clarified her boundaries, and transformed her approach to leadership. Together, they explore how organizations respond when humanity interrupts productivity — and why crisis leadership cannot operate from rigid precedent in a world that is constantly evolving.

This episode is about:

• How crisis reveals culture

• The identity shift that follows survival

• Why “business as usual” doesn’t work after life changes

• The emotional weight of modern times

• Transforming hardship into intentional leadership

This conversation is not political.

It is human.

And it offers insight for anyone navigating personal hardship while still expected to perform professionally.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

• How crisis exposes the truth of organizational culture

• The internal transformation that follows life-altering events

• Why precedent-driven crisis management falls short

• The emotional impact of living in a constant-news world

• How leaders can create psychologically safer environments

• What it means to move from crisis into creation

Reflection Prompts for Listeners

• What am I carrying right now that others may not see?

• How would my workplace respond if I needed real support tomorrow?

• Where might I be leading from policy instead of presence?

• How have hard seasons reshaped the leader I am becoming?

• What might “creation” look like on the other side of my current challenge?

Guest Spotlight

Jenn Farr is a senior corporate leader and a coach for Crisis to Creation, a coaching platform dedicated to helping individuals transform life’s most challenging seasons into clarity, strength, and intentional leadership.

Drawing from decades of corporate leadership experience and profound personal transformation, Jenn guides professionals through identity shifts, boundary recalibration, and purpose realignment after life-altering events.

Her work centers on the belief that crisis does not have to be the end of momentum — it can be the beginning of intentional creation.

Connect

• Kaitlyn Rios / Faced With Grace

Connect@facedwithgrace.org

www.facedwithgrace.org

• Jenn Farr

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenn-farr/

If This Episode Resonated

If this conversation resonated with you, consider this:

The world may feel heavy.

But heaviness does not disqualify you from leadership.

In fact, the leaders who acknowledge weight — instead of denying it — are often the ones who build cultures where people can survive, grow, and belong.

If this episode spoke to you, I invite you to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who might need permission to show up honestly — even when the world feels heavy.