From Good Girl to Fierce Leader: An Exclusive Interview With Jacqueline Young
Jacqueline D. Young is a former CEO, keynote speaker, leadership consultant, and founder of The MindShift Coach. With more than 35 years of experience across education, executive leadership, counselling, and human development, her work explores why capable, self-aware people can understand their patterns and still struggle to change them.
She is the creator of the MindShift Leadership Method and the Calm Authority framework, and the author of the forthcoming book Fierce. Drawing on her own experience of a difficult turning point in executive leadership, she helps people examine the habits that shape how they respond to pressure, responsibility, and the expectations of others.
In this interview, Jacqueline reflects on the childhood adaptations we can carry into leadership, why midlife can invite us to reconsider success, and how learning to pause, set boundaries, and trust ourselves can change the way we lead.
Article Highlights
Quote of the week
"Guilt can sound like conscience. Fear can sound like wisdom. Shame can sound like truth. That's what makes them so dangerous."
Brainz Expert Panel
What Is One Uncomfortable Truth About Success That Most People Ignore?
Expert Panelists are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within the areas of Business, Mindset, Leadership, Lifestyle, and Sustainability. Members of The Brainz Magazine community of experts will share their best tips, advice, ideas, and hacks within different topics.
3. Face your drivers
What is one uncomfortable truth about success that people rarely talk about? Share a hard lesson, common misconception, or overlooked reality from your personal or professional experience, explain why it matters, and offer practical advice to help readers navigate their own path to success with greater clarity and confidence.
Brainz podcast
How to Accept an Apology That May Never Come - Brainz Podcast with Christie Frenette
Christie Frenette is the Executive Director of Riptide Counselling Inc., an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto and a therapist whose work focuses on trauma, attachment and grief. For more than a decade, she has supported individuals, couples and families in building stronger bonds, deepening safety and connection, and creating resilience across generations.
In this episode, Christie explores living goodbyes, disenfranchised grief and why some losses are difficult to name. She explains what it means to hold pain, how connection can support healing, and why people need to feel seen before they can move forward.
She also shares insights on repair, shame, dignity and accepting an apology that may never come. From co-regulation and attachment to setting boundaries and healing at any age, this conversation offers a compassionate look at how grief can be held without losing yourself. It can open space for hope and connection.