PODCAST · business
Hey Sue
by Sue Heilbronner
Hey Sue is where leaders get real. Candid, unfiltered conversations about leadership, growth, sales, and the messy truth of life. Each episode, host Sue Heilbronner talks with founders, executives, and change-makers about the challenges they’re facing right now. Sue is a top conscious leadership executive coach who has worked with hundreds of leaders and teams. She draws on 15+ years as a tech executive, her early career as a U.S. Department of Justice attorney, and her experience as co-founder of the MergeLane VC fund. She’s also a Techstars mentor, TEDx speaker, and catalyst for authentic, transformative conversations. Whether you’re leading a team, building a company, or curious about the human side of leadership, Hey Sue offers a rare inside look at what it takes to grow—with candor, courage, a dash of irreverence, and plenty of heart.
Episodes
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What Nobody Tells You About Following Your Heart: Heartful Wonders with Vlada Bortnik
My friend Vlada Bortnik — CEO of Marco Polo and host of the Heartful Wonders podcast — recently had me on her show, and she asked me a question I wasn't fully prepared for: What if the emotion you think is your heart is actually fear? It's a good one. Decisions rooted in shame or self-doubt can...
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Building Legacy: EJ Meade on Creating a Company that Fosters Genius
In this inspiring episode, Sue sits down with renowned architect EJ Meade of Arch11 to explore the journey of building a meaningful career, the power of authentic client relationships, and the courage it takes to be selective about your work. EJ shares stories from his 30+ years in architecture,...
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Passion for People: Amit Shah’s Mission to Reverse Diabetes Through Personalized Nutrition
In this episode, Sue talks with Amit Shah, Chief Operating Officer of Virta Health, to explore how passionate leadership and evidence-based nutrition can transform metabolic health. Amit shares about Virta’s goal of reversing diabetes and obesity by centering its core values—putting people first...
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A Book Dedicatee and an Author Walk into a Podcast and Talk About WHY
Sue Heilbronner calls Leah Pearlman her “best friend.” Leah calls Sue “one of her best friends.” For some time, that bummed Sue out, but she got over it. For the last 15 years, all of Sue’s best decisions have been influenced by Leah’s wisdom, and the book dedication in Sue’s new book reflects…
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Fueling Growth by Staying True to Your ICP: Ian MacGregor on Building a Brand for Athletes
In this episode, Sue dives deep with Ian MacGregor, co-founder and CEO of Skratch Labs, to explore a radical approach to building a business that refuses to compromise its values for market share. From pro cycling to creating a revolutionary sports nutrition brand, Ian shares how staying…
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The Heart-Connected Craft of Selling: Todd Reed's Artful Approach to Business
Join Sue Heilbronner as she sits down with master metalworker and jewelry designer Todd Reed to explore a revolutionary approach to selling that transcends transactions. Todd shares how he built a brand rooted in creativity, emotional connection, and authentic design. We talk about: Why emotional...
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Passionate Ambivalence in Action: Ellen Kindelsperger on Building a Business Rooted in Care and Confidence
In this episode, Sue sits down with Ellen Kindelsperger – sports chiropractor, strength coach, and founder of ChiroLab in Boulder – to talk about selling with a focus on customer satisfaction, loyalty, and scale. Ellen shares how she’s built a thriving practice without pushing packages or locking...
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Hands-on Selling with Kevin Brown of Friction Labs
Welcome to the first episode of a special new focus for the HeySue Podcast: the Never Ask for the Sale Series. These new episodes are inspired by the September 2025 launch of Sue Heilbronner’s newest book, Never Ask for the Sale: Supercharge Your Business with the Power of Passionate Ambivalence....
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No One Cares What I Think. Live Coaching with Sarah Climenhaga
Sarah Climenhaga is a writer and facilitator of Byron Katy’s The Work. She is also a self-professed attention hog who loves to talk! But in this live coaching session with Sue and Leah, she brings her secret worry: “Does anyone actually care about what I have to say?” In this episode of the…
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Judging My Judgmental Self: Live Coaching with Fernanda Bertrand
Fernanda Bertrand is a business coach and the host of her own podcast. She came to the session with Sue and Leah wanting to better understand the “darker side” of her – a judgmental voice – that keeps intruding on her thoughts. She admits that she has been judging herself and others her whole...
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You’ve Got Life on Backwards. Live Coaching with Nick Smith
Nick Smith is the CEO and Co-Founder of Hauska, which uses AI to make home remodeling easier. But the real challenge in his life right now is how to raise a house full of teenage girls. Sue and Leah dive into what that responsibility means to Nick, as well as his core belief that “you either pay...
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Doing All the Things to Find More Ease: Live Coaching with Dominique Aubry-Morgan
Dominique Aubry-Morgan is a high-achiever who is on a quest for more ease. In this episode, Sue and Leah engage with Dominique about how her desire to find a new cadence is in tension with her ambitious nature. They dive into her familiar cycles around all the competing desires she has for her...
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Unlocking Growth Through Love: Live Coaching with Rachel Pickett
Rachel Pickett comes to this coaching conversation with Sue and Leah with a pretty common problem: figuring out how to get her organization to grow. Rachel is the Founder and Executive Director of The Thinking Project, which also makes her the first non-profit leader on the HeySue podcast. Her...
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What’s to Love About Being in a Funk? Live Coaching with “Ryan" (Anonymous)
Sue and Leah welcomed the first anonymous guest “Ryan” to the HeySue podcast! He kicked off the conversation by explaining that he is in the market for a coach who can help him get out of a funk.Sue and Leah invited Ryan to reflect on different parts of himself – from the achievement-oriented...
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Is This Successful Serial CEO “Too Much?” Find out. Live Coaching with David Secunda
David Secunda is a successful serial entrepreneur who has big ideas ranging from tech solutions for talent management at companies to what may be the best adventure summer camp for kids in the US. In this live coaching episode of the HeySue podcast, David opens his heart and mind, sharing the…
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Imposter Syndrome is not Punk Rock -- Live Coaching with Robin Izsak-Tseng
Robin Izsak-Tseng is the VP of Revenue Marketing at G2. She is a leader with a lot of expertise to offer, but having so many young tech dudes around makes her feel like an imposter. She wonders if she is holding herself back from the next level of leadership.In this bold and revealing session,...
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Selling Yourself by Showing Up as Yourself, Live Coaching with Shawna Barnhart
Shawna Barnhart is a seasoned product leader in tech who loves team building, cross-functional project orchestration, and deep, revealing client conversations. Like many leaders in tech, she was recently a part of a reduction in force. Shawna is trying to balance “holding on” and “letting go” in...
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Gaining Clarity on the Next Phase of Growth, One Way or Another with Rachel Beisel
Rachel Beisel is a seasoned executive who has achieved a lot of her goals and feels like she’s at her next phase of growth. She climbed all of Colorado’s 14-ers, ended her marriage, rang many professional bells, and wrote a book. She’s looking at rewriting her bio in a literal and metaphorical...
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How Close Should a Leader Be to Colleagues, Live Executive Coaching with Ajay Manglani
Ajay Manglani, an exec in the generative AI space, joins Sue Heilbronner and Leah Pearlman for another episode of live executive coaching. Ajay, who brings a warmth, relatability, and sensitivity to this podcast and, seemingly, his leadership, raises two issues we hear often from company leaders....
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The Vulnerability of a Miss: Executive Coaching with Yong Kim, CEO of Wonolo
Pull back the curtain on conscious leadership executive coaching with a new leader every episode. In this episode, Yong Kim, CEO of Wonolo, joins Leah Pearlman and Sue Heilbronner for a deep and vulnerable live executive coaching session. Yong, who describes himself as the "Chief Empathy Officer"...
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Flexibility and Alignment in the Age of Covid: Yoga pod's Founders on Their Quick Pivot
Real Leaders takes a break from speaking with founders and leaders at technology startups to talk to the founders of Yogapod, a dynamic brick and mortar business in the heart of the yoga haven of Boulder, Colorado. But wait for it. Yoga Pod founders Nicole and Gerry Wienholt have an even wider...
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Scaling a Conscious Leadership Company through Conscious Leadership–Jim Dethmer & Diana Chapman
Jim Dethmer and Diana Chapman – co-founders of the coaching and consulting business Conscious Leadership Group – are working to shift the mindset and level of self-awareness in global companies and organizations. Jim and Diana have been at the forefront of this movement, launching their…
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Conscious Leadership AMA (Ask me Anything) with Sue Heilbronner, Chapter 2
Chapter 2 in our series Conscious Leadership AMA ("Ask Me Anything") with Sue Heilbronner, CEO of MergeLane Fund and Leadership Camp. Conscious Leadership AMAs are open to alumni of MergeLane programs and camps at Leadership.camp. Leaders ask about their challenges and opportunities in…
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Conscious Leadership AMA (Ask me Anything) with Sue Heilbronner, Chapter 1
First episode in our series Conscious Leadership AMA ("Ask Me Anything") with Sue Heilbronner, CEO of MergeLane Fund and Leadership Camp. Hear from MergeLane portfolio fund CEOs and previous attendees of Leadership.camp about their challenges and opportunities in implementing conscious leadership...
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Mat Vogels, CEO of Employee Perks Upstart Zestful, on YC, VC, Troughs, Pivots, and Peaks
Mat Vogels is an extremely zestful CEO. And it's no surprise that he's founded a high-momentum startup called Zestful -- which is setting the standard for the next generation of employee perks -- with the tagline "live full." Because Mat Vogels lives fully. And behind his extraordinary attitude,...
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How to Be a Living Kidney Donor and Save a Life - or 10 - with Neshiyqah Nash
This is the third and final episode (so far) of our series on living kidney donation. Here seasoned donor coordinator Neshiyqah Nash tells you everything you need to know to consider being a non-directed donor or a donor to any of the 100,000 Americans (and plenty in your country if you're not...
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Living Kidney Donation Part 2: Non-directed Kidney Donation with Patty Graham
There are only slightly more than a hundred of people each year that make a "non-directed donor" kidney donation. Patty Graham is one of them. This means that Patty voluntarily donated a kidney not knowing who would receive it, and with her decision, she sparked a chain of kidney recipients…
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Living Kidney Donation Part 1: Focus on the Recipient with Mike Heilbronner
This is the first in a 3-part Real Leaders series on living organ donation. Our focus is on living kidney donation and the 100,000 people in the United States alone who are waiting for a life-saving kidney donation.In this episode, 50-year-old Mike Heilbronner talks about his need for a new…
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Robyn Knowlan, CEO of Wonder Press, Building a Brand and Bustling Juice Biz From Love
Robyn Knowlan joined her two best friends from elementary school to start a business. Instead of trying their hands at a scalable tech business and targeting a high-multiple exit, they chose a cold-pressed juice retail operation that counts thousands of techies as its biggest fans in Boulder,...
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Dennis Adsit -- How to Optimize the First 100 Days of a New Role, for You or Your Next Key Hire
Perhaps you've heard of the mission-critical first 100 days in a new role. If you're looking at a new position and wanting to ensure your success -- or if you are making a key hire and want to ensure the same for that person -- Dennis Adsit of Adsum Insights has some great insights. Dennis has…
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Alex Canter, CEO of Ordermark, A Deli Birthright Leads to Online Ordering Innovation
Alex Canter was born with a stainless steel spoon in his mouth, and on that spoon was a really excellent matzoh ball. Alex is among the fourth generation of Canter family members who learned about business early by working at the 87-old deli institution in Los Angeles. Canter's Deli is a...
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Lisa Weinstein, CEO of Curiosity on the move from Corp Ad Exec to Startup CEO
Lisa Weinstein had reached a point in her career where she'd covered most of the ground in advertising, from executive positions in global advertising firms to leading a major roll-up in the ad-tech space. After grabbing a number of brass rings in her industry, Lisa made a huge jump to lead a...
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Vlada Bortnik, Founder of Marco Polo, An Immigrant Story, An App To Help People Feel Close
When Vlada Bortnik arrived in the United States from the Ukraine at age 10 knowing very little English, her family settled in Kansas. Vlada was immersed in the language and in American culture, but she has never forgotten many of the things many Americans take for granted -- food in the grocery...
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Luke Saunders, CEO of Farmer's Fridge, the Next Wave of Healthy Food Distribution
Luke Saunders broke into entrepreneurship selling plants in elementary and middle school. After college, facing a poor economy and with a less-than-stellar academic record, he took the helm at his family's business, manufacturing and selling grease and lubricant to industrial producers.Luke was a...
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Seth Levine of Foundry Group: One "Middle-aged Guy's" Reaction to Sexual Harassment in Venture
Seth Levine, partner at Boulder-based venture capital firm Foundry Group, was dismayed to hear the news coming out of Silicon Valley about the sexual harassment and sexual assault claims connected to veritable luminaries in the venture world. Seth and Foundry did what they often do on issues that...
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Inside Listen: Mentor Deep Dive with Co-founders of Techstars Company Monday
Mentoring has become a ubiquitous "should." You should be a mentor. You should have mentors. You should listen to the insights of your terrific mentors. This is certainly the byword in the startup world, and fantastic accelerators like Techstars are "mentor-driven" specifically nodding to the…
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Vikas Reddy, Co-founder of Spatial Computing Company Occipital
You know that time when you ended up at a bar with one of the smartest, most future-focused engineers you've ever met and you asked him (or her) a bunch of pretty basic questions about AR, VR, and AI? This episode of the Real Leaders podcast is a bit like that, except I get to feel like the...
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Eric Friedenwald-Fishman, Founder Metropolitan Group, Good Work as Great Business
Eric Friedenwald-Fishman was raised in a family of hippies (his words). His upbringing rendered him a change agent and a force for justice, as early as elementary school. In this transparent conversation with Real Leaders host Sue Heilbronner, Eric explains how his core values built and still...
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Jason Eckenroth, Founder of ShipCompliant on Prevailing through Perseverance
Jason Eckenroth is coming off a terrific exit for the company he founded 17 years ago and ran for the entirety. Jason and ShipCompliant is a story about passion, perseverance, patience, and paving the way to building a great life through the creation and nurturing of a company that articulates…
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Devin Hibbard, CEO of BeadforLife, Where no challenge is too big
Devin Hibbard is changing the world, by radically enhancing the financial lives and self worth of women in its second largest continent. Devin could have chosen an easier path -- with talents perfectly suited to do just about anything -- but she has devoted her entire professional life to…
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Margaret Miner, Double Founder-CEO, A Pure-Play Organic Entrepreneur
You should know that Margaret Miner's companies generate way more revenue than you think, and way more than many of the tech companies you read about daily in TechCrunch. A completely different angle for this week's episode. Do you spend time and energy thinking about how to retain your top…
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Nicole Glaros, Chief Innovation Officer of Techstars -- On Independence and Purpose
Nicole Glaros recently became Chief Innovation Officer of Techstars. In taking this role after serving as Managing Director of Techstars Boulder (the original Techstars accelerator) for years and the company's Chief Product Officer, she shed most of her direct reports because managing people…
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Wendy Lea, CEO of Cintrifuse, A Manifester, Bridge Builder, and Wildly Introspective Leader
Wendy Lea has had a lifetime of high-profile successes in building successful businesses. Leaving Get Satisfaction after years as CEO, Wendy was lured to Cincinnati to develop and grow an enduring business ecosystem that brings together startups, bigcos, government nonprofits, neighborhoods and...
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Nicole DeBoom, CEO of Skirt Sports
I think company founders who are also world-class athletes bring a unique form of tenacity to their businesses. Nicole DeBoom founded Skirt Sports after wearing her own homemade running skirt in an Ironman World Championship that she won. Nicole has excelled at so many things. A Yale graduate who...
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Turning the Tables: Elizabeth Kraus Interviews Sue Heilbronner, Co-Founders of MergeLane
This episode of the Real Leaders podcast features Elizabeth Kraus and Sue Heilbronner, co-founders of MergeLane, the investment fund and accelerator targeting companies with at least one female in leadership. Here Elizabeth turns the tables on Real Leaders Host Sue by asking her about her goals…
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Bill Flagg, an Intentional Startup Owner Focused on Company Sovereignty
Bill Flagg has a contrarian suggestion for startups: build and hold your companies. Fund your firms with revenue. Build great, enduring companies. Bill is serious, and he came by his strong views on this topic honestly. He sold his first company in a very lucrative transaction that he came to...
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Erin Carson, A Gym GM and Owner Who is Building Careers and Community
Erin Carson has worked as a fitness professional at RallySport Health & Fitness in Boulder, Colorado, since the very start of her career. After decades of commitment to this community-centric fitness club -- located in the heart of one of the fittest cities in the world -- Erin had the…
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Lee Mayer, CEO of Havenly, Determined to Deliver Design that Delights
Lee Mayer, CEO of Havenly, joins Sue Heilbronner on the Real Leaders podcast to talk about the rapid growth of this cutting-edge design service. Lee shares reflections on the last two years and the role luck and gratitude has played in getting Havenly to where it is today. What comes through is...
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Johnny Hanna, Building Homie as a Company to Last and to Own
Founder and CEO of Homie, Johnny Hanna defies the entrepreneurial stereotypes. He is father of six kids under nine, and when his wife calls to remind him to come home from work, he does. Even more contrarian, Johnny Hanna has never been focused on the big exit. Instead, he has created companies...
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Fran Dunaway, CEO of TomboyX, A fast-growing startup catering to difference and LGBTQ
Fran Dunaway, co-founder and CEO of TomboyX, is an atypical leader. A humble and curious activist at heart, she's grown her women's apparel and accessories company at an amazing pace by being inclusive and focusing on previously underrepresented groups. As sales grow, new markets are discovering...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Hey Sue is where leaders get real. Candid, unfiltered conversations about leadership, growth, sales, and the messy truth of life. Each episode, host Sue Heilbronner talks with founders, executives, and change-makers about the challenges they’re facing right now.
Sue is a top conscious leadership executive coach who has worked with hundreds of leaders and teams. She draws on 15+ years as a tech executive, her early career as a U.S. Department of Justice attorney, and her experience as co-founder of the MergeLane VC fund. She’s also a Techstars mentor, TEDx speaker, and catalyst for authentic, transformative conversations.
Whether you’re leading a team, building a company, or curious about the human side of leadership, Hey Sue offers a rare inside look at what it takes to grow—with candor, courage, a dash of irreverence, and plenty of heart.
HOSTED BY
Sue Heilbronner
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Hey Sue have?
Hey Sue currently has 62 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Hey Sue about?
Hey Sue is where leaders get real. Candid, unfiltered conversations about leadership, growth, sales, and the messy truth of life. Each episode, host Sue Heilbronner talks with founders, executives, and change-makers about the challenges they’re facing right now. Sue is a top conscious leadership...
How often does Hey Sue release new episodes?
Hey Sue has 62 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Hey Sue?
You can listen to Hey Sue on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Hey Sue?
Hey Sue is created and hosted by Sue Heilbronner.
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