Ep. 8 | Anne Grady: Evolvability, the Inner Critic, and Why Your Brain Would Rather Be Predictably Unhappy

What happens when the life you planned falls completely apart — and you end up more yourself than you ever would have been otherwise?

Anne Grady is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and resilience expert who has spent two decades learning — the hard way — how to not just survive tough circumstances but actually grow through them. Her son Evan was born with autism, mental illness, and developmental delays, and navigating his world as a single mom became the unlikely foundation for everything she now teaches.

In this conversation, Anne and Angie cover a lot of ground: why uncertainty is neurologically threatening, the 15-second trick that rewires your brain, what it means to use your values as a decision filter when the choice feels impossible, and why your resume and your eulogy really shouldn't be the same thing.

Anne also unpacks her brand new book Evolvability — and the difference between resilience (surviving) and evolvability (actually growing forward).

This episode is packed with neuroscience that doesn't feel like neuroscience, real talk about mental health stigma, and more than a few lines you'll want to write down.

Books mentioned: 📚 Evolvability by Anne Grady 📚 Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff 📚 Anchored, Aligned, Accountable by Ayo Bethia 📚 Joyful Prayerful Thankful by Kevin Karschnik

Connect with Anne: Website: AnneGradyGroup.com Free adaptability assessment: evolvability.com Social: @AnneGradyGroup

Kathy Wetzel is a tech executive, long-time SIM leader, and one of those people who has quietly shaped rooms full of leaders for decades. Armed with both an accounting and computer science degree, her career took her from Honeywell to Great Clips to TASB, the Texas Association of School Board Services, with a few wild pivots in between.

This conversation is packed with real leadership wisdom. Kathy breaks down why change management is a people problem first and a technology problem second, why you need to stop chasing the naysayers and win the people in the middle, and why your HR person should be on your speed dial before you ever have a crisis.

She also talks about building a personal board of directors, succession planning as a leadership essential, and the books that kept showing up for her at every stage of life and career.

Books cited are Don't Sweat the Small Stuff to Crucial Conversations to Who Moved My Cheese,

She closes with a perspective on AI that is grounded and hopeful. She has watched every major tech cycle arrive and create more than it displaced. Her take on the jobs that do not exist yet is worth the listen alone.

This one is for every leader navigating change they did not sign up for.

What do you do when everything you built — suddenly disappears overnight?

That's the real conversation in Episode 6 of The Books That Shaped Me.

Melinda Quiroz spent 11 years building a massive insurance book of business. Then, on March 17th, 2026, that chapter ended — without warning, without a choice.

She calls it her "captive to called" season.

And what she says next stopped me in my tracks:

"I truly would have never seen what my true worth was... until I lost it all."

If you've ever poured your whole self into something — your job, your business, your title — and then had it taken away, this episode is for you.

We talk about:

• Why your gaping hole might actually be cleared space
• The "upper limit problem" from The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks
• Ella Langley's Dandelion album and why Melinda says it was made for this season
• What it means to rebuild — and why rebuilding is NOT failure

Brandon is a well-read servant leader. He has served our country and continues in public service in IT at TX Facilities Commission. He shared about "radical accountability" and how these lessons, that have been hard earned have shown him how to be empathetic while maintaining grit in the face of adversity.

• Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
• Extreme Ownership and The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jacko Wilkins and Leif Babin
• Hidden Potential by Adam Grant
• The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter
• Think Like A Monk by Jay Shetty

Join me in this conversation with Brooke, she shares her journey with vulnerability and beauty.

1. The Sacrament of Happy by Lisa Harper
2. Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
3. I Do Feelings by Havilah Cunnington

What do Spartan Races have to do with getting a CIO job at a space agency?

Everything, it turns out.

Episode 3 of The Books That Shaped Me drops this week — and Rafael Pimentel Pinto brought a book that changed how he sees obstacles, careers, and the moment your mind says "I can't."

Spoiler: he learned to ignore that voice.

Theresa Pore is a Business Coach, Motivational Speaker and Entrepreneur.

Theresa’s passion in business is to help individuals become the best version of themselves while teaching them how to bring their authentic self, their personal strengths and gifts towards becoming independently wealthy in business and in life.

The life that they design.

Activator by Dr. Jason Jones

Introduction discussion with podcast host Angie Smith and long-time bestie Gina Dodd. Together the vision for the podcast is set along with the guiding concepts for further conversations. Books are like teachers, showing up at the right time to aide us on our journey of life.