The BreakLine Arena

Join us in the BreakLine Arena for another conversation within our “How do I tell you…” series. These discussions aim to foster healthy work relationships and collaborative professional environments by leveraging data-driven insights from our community, best practices that we role model here at BreakLine, and a few personal experiences and stories as well. In this episode of the BreakLine Arena, Mack and Bethany unpack the topic of microaggressions in the workplace and how to address them. They share personal examples of these experiences as well as reactions they’ve witnessed when others have been targeted. They offer a framework on how being specific, outcomes-oriented, and gracious can drive toward productive conflict resolution. To learn more about how to handle difficult situations in both high-trust and low-trust environments, what you can do when you are on the receiving end of clumsy, hurtful, or unkind language, and why having a low ego and high tolerance are vital in receiving and giving feedback, be sure to tune in! “BreakLine’s perspective is that the level of responsibility for addressing an insult or an offensive remark rises along with your positional authority, your safety, and your stature within the organization.” — Mack GladneyPlease like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Join us in the BreakLine Arena for the first conversation within our “How do I tell you…” series. These discussions aim to foster healthy work relationships and collaborative professional environments by leveraging data-driven insights from our community, best practices that we role model here at BreakLine, and a few personal experiences and stories as well. BreakLine Senior Customer Success Manager, Mack Gladney, joins Bethany to unpack the topic of conditional support in the workplace and how to address it. Conditional support refers to the common experience of perceiving psychological safety and belonging as long as you continue to show up in a particular way, often a way that is prescribed by your coworkers or the company at large.They discuss their own experiences of conditional and unconditional support, leading with love instead of fear, building trust, and remaining outcomes-oriented. They also provide some real-world examples of how to successfully implement BreakLine’s problem-solving framework before Mack offers some inspirational parting words of wisdom. “Doing hard things with your teammates is how you build trust, and part of the hard thing is being vulnerable together.” — Mack Gladney“Unconditional support is not about solving someone else's problem; it’s about standing alongside another human being who is feeling something deeply.” — Bethany Coates Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Join us in the BreakLine Arena for a conversation with Aishatu Fatima Dozie, Founder and CEO of Bossy Cosmetics, a mission-driven women’s empowerment company operating through the beauty industry. In this episode, Aisha explains what it means for women to have economic power and her approach to changing the power structure through cosmetics. She shares insights from her interdisciplinary and multicultural experiences, the importance of feedback, how she builds resiliency, and how to grow and maintain a great support network. “Go out and give something a try. If it works, great. If it doesn’t work, learn. There is no failure. Failure is not doing it at all.”Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Join us in the BreakLine Arena for a conversation with Andy Rachleff, Executive Chairman of Wealthfront, Co-Founder of Benchmark Capital, and faculty member at Stanford Graduate School of Business.Andy shares his perspective on why Silicon Valley Bank collapsed (including the 'monstrous mistake' that led to a bank run), the actions that regulators took, and how these circumstances might affect the employment landscape and the broader economic environment. “Cash is oxygen and oxygen is life. This became a crisis for startups and young companies.”Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.

Join us in the BreakLine Arena for a conversation with Anilu Vazquez-Ubarri, Partner and CHRO at TPG, a leading global alternative asset management firm investing across five multi-product platforms: Capital, Growth, Impact, Real Estate, and Market Solutions.Diversity is synonymous with performance, especially when aligned with business outcomes. Anilu joins the BreakLine Arena to talk about her leadership experiences overseeing all-things people related, including diversity. She shares insights related to the importance of diverse boards of governance, why language surrounding diversity matters, why mentorship is vital, and how we can handle feedback with grace. “Being different is an asset… but make sure you’re not the only one who looks like you forever. Diversify the rooms you enter and then pay it backward for those who follow.” — Anilu Vazquez-UbarriPlease like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org

Join us in the BreakLine Arena for a conversation with Wyc Grousbeck, Lead Owner of the Boston Celtics!Wyc Grousbeck shares stories of determination, humility, kindness, insight, and respect. He recounts finding purpose through rowing - a lifelong pursuit that became a key driver of his success with the Boston Celtics. He also dives into the long-term plan he implemented together with Team Celtics to win the national championship in 2008.Beyond his interests and talents at the Celtics, Wyc explains why service, and in particular, Massachusetts Eye and Ear is dear to his heart. He further illustrates how he views young leaders in high-visibility roles, and why he will always cherish lasting relationships.“We know what the right thing to do is, all of us, and the more we can do it, the better.” — Wyc GrousbeckPlease like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Join us in the BreakLine Arena for a conversation with John Taylor, the Mary and Robert Raymond Professor of Economics at Stanford University, and the George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Economics at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Professor Taylor, developed the Taylor Rule, and is widely known for his expertise in fiscal and monetary policy, and international economics.According to Professor Taylor, monetary policy is the primary muscle behind inflation rates. In order to understand why simplicity in policy has never been more necessary, Professor Taylor discusses the Federal Reserve System (the Fed), their decision-making methods, inflation rate formulas, the macroeconomic environment in the US, and his predictions for the near future.Professor Taylor dissects the current inflation rate in the United States, where it is heading, the roadmap of a healthy economy, and why "2%" is the number to watch.“Simplification is becoming more and more attractive. The more that the monetary policy can focus on something simple the better.”Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org

Join us in the BreakLine Arena for a conversation with Roxanne Petraeus, CEO and Co-founder of Ethena, a compliance training platform with intuitive and powerful admin tools, built to make training easy, engaging, and effectiveIn today’s episode, Roxanne shares how Ethena is providing a new and improved take on compliance training, emphasizing the importance of action-oriented goals across the company and the need for driving measurable outcomes. She shares experiences of overcoming perfectionism and how her Army service translated to success in entrepreneurship. “Leadership matters. I lead with humility. I ask questions, probe for first principles to better understand the situation. That’s how I leverage and benefit from my teammates' incredible expertise.”Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Join us in the BreakLine Arena for a conversation with Special Operations Veteran, musician, and BreakLine participant, Chris Bickel.Chris shares his life story, opening up about how the diagnosis of a rare autoimmune disease recalibrated and ultimately improved his life. He discusses the complexity of living with and healing from invisible disabilities and the reluctance some people have, especially some veterans, towards claiming disability support. He also shares inspiring insights on leadership and the value of supporting those around you. “Not identifying as an operator or as a soldier, but just as me was one of the most valuable experiences of my entire life...Transcending is overcoming the reality of a situation. It’s enduring, preserving, and learning about yourself” Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Join us in the BreakLine Arena for a conversation with Dan Berschinski, BreakLine Alum, founder of Two Six Industries, and senior consultant at IBM. Dan is an Army veteran. During a combat deployment to Afghanistan, he stepped on a hidden IED. He lost both of his legs. After an intensive recovery, Dan went on to graduate from Stanford Graduate School of Business, and pursue his career in the private sector. This conversation, in celebration of the launch of BreakLine Transcend, our programming designed for people with disabilities, Dan talks about the importance of confronting problems early and managing our expectations of others. He shares how to acknowledge sensitive topics, illuminates the strength in asking for help, and explains why accepting assistance from others is necessary for success. Dan's story is a particularly powerful one. He says, “The more we talk about our differences, the better our society becomes, and the more human beings benefit, and live better lives because of it.”Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.