What If Your Superpower Is the Obvious Thing?

Dr. Sofia Pertuz spent 25 years in higher education before realizing the skills she'd been using her entire career — coaching, training, building systems, facilitating hard conversations — were exactly what she should be doing on her own. In this episode, Sofia and I talk about the long road from resident assistant to associate VP and dean of students, the burnout she didn't have a name for, pivoting through the nonprofit world and Billie Jean King Enterprises, and what it finally took to bet on herself. Plus, she's revealing something publicly for the first time on this show.We dig into why the things that come most naturally to us are often the last things we recognize as valuable — and what happens when you finally flip that switch.About Dr. Sofia B. Pertuz:Dr. Sofia B. Pertuz is a certified executive coach, consultant, and workplace culture strategist who partners with leaders and mission-driven organizations to strengthen culture, performance, and leadership capacity. As Founder of Mainstream Insight, she designs executive coaching engagements, leadership development programs, and team retreats grounded in values alignment and organizational growth. Sofia’s career spans senior leadership roles at Billie Jean King Enterprises, The Jed Foundation, and Hofstra University, where she advanced leadership pathways, workforce engagement, and organizational resilience. A bilingual facilitator and international speaker, Sofia leads transformative conversations on leadership, cultural identity, organizational change, and LGBTQ+ advocacy in both English and Spanish. She holds a PhD from Seton Hall University, serves on nonprofit boards, and is certified as an ICF Professional Certified Coach, Certified Diversity Executive®, and certified practitioner of Intercultural Development Inventory ®, Everything DiSC® and CliftonStrengths®.https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofiabautistapertuz/https://www.instagram.com/sofiabpertuzphdShow Notes:(00:00) Teaser + Intro (05:00) What Sofia wanted to be growing up — and the secret audition her mom never knew about (10:00) How a raffle ticket explains the curse of competence (14:00) 25 years in higher ed — from RA at 22 to associate VP and dean of students (17:00) The weight of life-and-death decisions on campus (21:00) Getting recruited out of academia and discovering what freedom feels like (24:00) The standup comedy class — and why trying something totally new matters (27:00) From Jed Foundation to Billie Jean King Enterprises (34:00) Seeing the DEI backlash coming — and pivoting early (39:00) The moment she decided to bet on herself (42:00) Quitting, grief, and why she wasn't ready to talk about it until now (45:00) A first-time public announcement: Sofia wrote a book (49:00) The change implementation model she keeps coming back to in coaching (54:00) Earning your freedom with discipline (56:00) Her mom, Avon, Tupperware — and why "hustle" isn't the right word