Episodes
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Bloom Where You’re Planted (Even When It Makes You Angry)
What does it take to go from hiding in the shadows, watching other people live their lives, to running an award-winning media company that shapes the future of a whole city? Laura Terry is a Georgetown, TX-based entrepreneur, marketer, & podcaster who has spent 30 years helping businesses find...
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring Scott Francis
What does it take to build a company from 35 people to $450 million in revenue, and still feel the pull to start over from scratch? Scott Francis is a Stanford-trained computer scientist and serial entrepreneur who spent 7 yrs at Trilogy Software, 4 years at Lombardi Software, and then co-founded...
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring Steph Spector
What if the book that shaped your entire career was one you picked up at age 10 — from the wrong section of the bookstore? That's exactly what happened to Steph Spector, writer, editor, and business writing coach, and it set her on a path that's anything but conventional. Steph helps…
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring Michael Ciccolone
Episode Title: From the Marines to the Courtroom to the Boardroom | Michael Ciccolone, Blackline GC Description: What happens when an attorney decides the billable hour model is broken and builds something completely different? You get Michael Ciccolone. Michael is a Marine veteran, former Chief...
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring PJ Diamond
This episode is proudly sponsored by WinStar Insurance Group, owned and operated by Stephanie Dew out of Cedar Park, Texas. Real coverage, real integrity, and a heart for the people they serve. I'm joined by PJ Diamond, a leadership voice with Leadership Austin and a genuine global citizen. PJ...
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring Kat Rector
Finding Your Voice, Your Tribe, and Yourself with Kat Rector In this episode of The Books That Shaped Me, I sit down with Kat Rector, a tech leader and mom of two boys who I've admired from afar since we first connected on LinkedIn. Kat opens up about her divorce, years of burnout she didn't...
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring Dave Leon
Dave Leon, an executive, business, and life coach based in Austin who spent 34 years in corporate America first, seven years on Wall Street, then 27 years in enterprise tech and SaaS sales, including over a decade selling cloud and AI services for a major hyperscaler. Dave was laid off twice. The...
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring Carrie Davis
My guest is Carrie Davis, VP of Patient and Employee Experience at Hanger, Inc., born without her left arm and wearing a prosthesis since she was nine months old. We talk about growing up as an empath, the difference between performative confidence and the real thing, and why she's letting go of...
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring Nichola Cotta
Nichola Cotto — Founder & CEO of Women Who Govern, the first career navigation platform for women pursuing leadership in municipal government. Also serves on the CAPCOG Economic Development Advisory Board. Based in Austin, TX. Background spans real estate, nonprofit leadership (Director & CEO of…
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring Diana Sawyers
Diana Sawyers has spent almost 30 years leading enterprise transformation for the State of Texas. She's also a saxophone player, a guitar student who's played Stubb's and Antone's, a political junkie, and a mom launching two sons into the world. In this episode we talk about all of it, and the...
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring Loree Tamayo
Loree Tamayo built a life running hospitals and long-term care facilities, one that looked polished from the outside. Underneath it was a lifetime of psychological abuse she didn't even have language for, generational patterns passed down from her great-grandmother to her grandmother to her…
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring Jennifer Buaas
Today I'm sitting down with Jennifer Buaas. We first connected at work conferences over the years, and I knew there was a story here worth telling. Jennifer's path took her from driving a beverage cart at a golf course to the Texas Workers Compensation Commission, then to the Texas Department of...
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring Valentina MacGregor
Valentina MacGregor has lived on four continents, survived a body brace that reshaped her whole life, and turned heartbreak into one of the most meaningful projects of her career. Born in Buenos Aires, raised in Venezuela, and shaped by stints in Italy, London, Glasgow, and Madrid, Valentina…
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring Carrie Kass
Season 2 kicks off with Carrie Kass, founder, CEO, and TEDx Round Rock Women speaker. Carrie and Angie became friends through the multi-author book Pieces to Purpose, and this conversation picks up right where that friendship started. Carrie opens up about the moment she hit send on her first...
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring Vidya Moorthy
0:00 – Sponsor Message A quick thank-you to Windstar Insurance Group out of Cedar Park, owned by Angie's friend Stephanie Dew, for backing this season. 1:02 – Welcome to the Season 1 Finale Angie kicks off episode 10 with Vidya Moorthy, calling her "the crown jewel" to close out the first season....
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The Books That Shaped Me featuring Veronica Seever
0:00 – Intro: Angie welcomes Veronica Seaver, a woman she's known and admired for over a decade, back for Episode 9. 3:21 – Career Journey: Veronica traces her path from the restaurant industry at Hyatt to HR, to running her own nurseries, to becoming Elgin Chamber president. Every stop taught…
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring Anne Grady
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...
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The Books That Shaped Me featuring Kathy Wetzel
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...
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The Books That Shaped Me featuring Melinda Kay Quiroz
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...
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The Books That Shaped Me fea Brandon Glaser
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...
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring Rafael Pimentel Pinto
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...
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The Books That Shaped Me featuring Brooke Fleming
Join me in this conversation with Brooke, she shares her journey with vulnerability and beauty. The Sacrament of Happy by Lisa Harper Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis I Do Feelings by Havilah Cunnington
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Rafael Pimentel Pinto
0:00 – Intro & Welcome: Angie kicks off Episode 3 and introduces her guest Rafael, a fellow IT-world connector she met through Texas state agency networking events. 2:32 – Meet Rafael: Rafael shares what drives him — a lifelong restlessness, a hunger to learn, and a refusal to stay in one lane…
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The Books That Shaped Me Featuring Theresa Pore
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...
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The Books That Shaped Me Angie Smith featuring Gina Dodd
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.
About this show
The Books That Shaped Me is a space for leaders to share their journey. They highlight books, memories, moments that forged them into who they are today.
#leadership
#faith
#UnBreakable
Hosted by
Angie Smith
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