Breaking Rank

Rachel Clar has a law degree and chose to walk away from it early. Not because she failed, but because she was paying attention. She saw the billable hours, felt the misogyny, received no mentorship, and made a decision that would take 15 years to fully make sense. She went into real estate, affordable housing, urban infill, and renewable energy, and built a career entirely outside the walls of law. Then the pandemic hit and she couldn't look away from what was happening to the women she'd been quietly inserting herself into conversations with for years. Smart women. Women lawyers who were exhausted, underpaid, invisible to leadership, and had no roadmap for building a book of business no one had ever actually taught them to build. So she built Interconnected Us. In this episode, Rachel and I talk about what it cost her to leave law when everyone expected her to stay, what 15 years in business development taught her that no law school could have, and how the "good girl" archetype plays out as a very real career barrier for women in Big Law. We dig into non-binary thinking, her study of non-violent communication, and why she calls herself a compassionate disruptor. We also get into AI, specifically why Rachel believes the timeline is shrinking for women to take the reins of their careers, and why knowing the tools is not enough. This is a conversation about trusting the long way around, and why for some of us, that's the only path that was ever going to work. Connect with Rachel Clar:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelclarWebsite: https://www.interconnectedus.com Connect with Breaking Rank Podcast:Website: https://www.breakingrankpod.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/breakingrankpodLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/breaking-rank-podcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakingRankPodTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@breaking.rank.podFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61583609863334

Leading from the margins looks like this: curriculum and human development strategist Ly'chel Carmichael joins Breaking Rank to talk about dyslexia, ADHD, and why emotional intelligence beats any system. Ly'chel Carmichael was a non-reader until almost the 9th grade. Undiagnosed dyslexia and dysgraphia, three years of failing the same grade, and a brain injury that finally led to the right diagnosis and the right support. She graduated on time, went on to earn five degrees, and became a special education teacher, curriculum strategist, and multi-hyphenate entrepreneur running ventures in beauty, food, media, and business consulting. In this episode, host Diana Lauritson talks with Ly'chel about what it actually takes to lead people, not just manage systems, in a world where AI is automating more of the technical work every day. Ly'chel explains why she believes emotional intelligence is the leadership currency that will not be replaced, how assuming positive intent changes outcomes in hard conversations, and why she thinks reading and math scores are a flawed measure of a child's intelligence. In this episode, you'll hear about Ly'chel's path from undiagnosed learning disabilities to five degrees and a doctoral study in progress. Why she manages people's emotional wellbeing before she manages any program, and how that turned a struggling daycare into a million-dollar facility. The year she took over one of the most challenging classrooms in her school, more than 85 percent of the students with IEPs, and spent two weeks on emotional repair before teaching a single academic lesson (that class ranked third in the state). Why she believes AI is a tool for leaders willing to question it, not a threat to replace them. What culturally responsive curriculum actually requires, and why representation in literature changes outcomes for Black boys in particular. Building four businesses at once: Goddess Lux Beauty, Food by a Goddess, Love Jones Media, and Dream Chasers Business Solutions. Connect with Ly'chel Carmichael:Website: dreamchasersbusinesssolutions.comInstagram: @goddessluxbeauty Breaking Rank is the podcast about leading without permission, hosted by Diana Lauritson. New episodes explore leadership, reinvention, and what it takes to build a life and a career on your own terms. If this episode resonated with you, leave a rating and review, and share it with someone who needs permission to lead differently. breakingrankpod.com

Megan Senese gave everything to Big Law. When the review that called her work the best they had ever seen came with the smallest raise they could offer, she decided to build something that belonged to her. In this episode of Breaking Rank, Diana talks with Megan Senese, co-founder of stage and co-host of So Much to Say: A Legal Podcast for People, about leaving the firm and going to market as her full self. Megan started building her visibility before anyone knew she was leaving Big Law, launched a company with $2,000 and a one-year runway, and grew a LinkedIn following of 23,000 by trying every strategy she was told would never work. They talk personal branding, business development, and why the simplest outreach beats the polished campaigns. They get into abundance over scarcity, being the person who builds the room instead of guarding it, bad bosses, and how Megan turned a childhood label into the name of her show. For legal marketers, business developers, and anyone considering the leap out of a role that no longer fits. Find Megan on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/megansenese/ and at stage.guide, and listen to So Much to Say: A Legal Podcast for People wherever you get your podcasts. For more from Breaking Rank, visit https://breakingrankpod.com Like, subscribe, and share Breaking Rank.

Black. Queer. Reverend. In this episode of Breaking Rank, Rev. Don Abram refuses to choose between the parts of himself the world keeps asking him to separate. Don grew up in a hand-clapping, toe-tapping Baptist church on the South Side of Chicago, raised by a Jamaican Patois-speaking grandmother who dragged him to service every Sunday. He shares the story of a recurring dream that called him to the pulpit, and the moment his grandmother told him she couldn't interpret it for him, because only he knew what God was telling him. That moment became his first real introduction to queer theology. Don makes the case that the church has been naming the wrong sin all along, and it has nothing to do with who anyone loves. He also talks about the manufactured care crisis he sees playing out across institutions, the belief that care is a limited resource that only belongs to some, and what it would take to build systems from a place of abundance instead. This conversation covers his founding of Toward Pride, formerly Pride in the Pews, and what's next for the organization, including a new initiative supporting people living with HIV and a research partnership with Northwestern University exploring faith as a determinant of health. This is a conversation about theology, identity, and refusing to shrink any part of yourself to be accepted by a room. Connect with Breaking Rank:Instagram & Threads: @breakingrankpodTikTok: @breaking.rank.podYouTube: @breakingrankpod breakingrankpod.com Connect with Toward Pride:Website: towardpride.orgFacebook & Instagram: Toward Pride #breakingrank #theology #queertheology #faith #queer #leadership #authenticity

What if we looked for the remarkability in people instead of the disability? July is Disability Pride Month, which marks the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, so there is no better time to share this conversation. In this episode of Breaking Rank, the podcast where we lead without permission, I sit down with Roxy B. Rocker, a disability advocate, consultant, and broadcaster, and the founder of Embracing Disability. Roxy has lived with disability her whole life, and she has spent decades turning that lived experience into advocacy, education, and community for others. We talk about what it means to carry multiple visible and invisible disabilities, and why so much of what people navigate every day is something the rest of the world never sees. Roxy is honest about the discrimination and bullying she has faced, about being told she could not be a leader, and about being doubted even now by people who question whether her disabilities are real. She shares the turning point that led her to found Embracing Disability: a stretch of hospital stays in 2021 that ended with a serious accident and eleven days in a hospital bed, where she found herself asking for something as basic as dignity. That experience became a mission. Embracing Disability is now a media and education platform built around disability stories, representation, and inclusion, with a magazine, an adaptive clothing line called Roxease, a television project, and a growing community. Roxy is also working to turn it into a nonprofit that teaches broadcasting and hosting skills to people with disabilities. We get into the psychology of the word "disability" itself, why it can trigger pity instead of connection, and how Roxy reframes her work around inclusion, relationships, and community. We also talk about advocacy and leadership: the history of the disability rights movement, the fight for accessibility and independent living, and her belief that we all have a seat at the table, even when someone would rather we were not in the room. This is a conversation about dignity, visibility, and the kind of leadership that refuses to disappear. As Roxy puts it, learn, listen, ask questions, and look for the remarkability instead of the disability. In this episode: Living with multiple visible and invisible disabilities Why so many disabilities are hidden, and what that means at work and in daily life The hospital experience that inspired Embracing Disability Why dignity in care should never be optional The psychology of the word "disability" and the pity response it can trigger Building inclusive media: a magazine, adaptive clothing, television, and community Disability rights history, the ADA, and the fight for accessibility Why we all belong at the table, and how to stay in the room Roxy's challenge to see the remarkability, not the disability Learn more about Roxy's work at embracing-disability.com. Find every episode and more at breakingrankpod.com. If this episode opened your eyes, share it with someone who needs to hear it. #BreakingRank #leadership #authenticity #reinvention #resilience #disabilityawareness #DisabilityPrideMonth #ADA