Think about the last environment you walked into — a meeting, a family dinner, a conversation with someone you manage or someone who manages you. Did you create that environment? Or did it just happen to you?

Most of us spend a lot of time thinking about what we're in. What we don't always do — and what takes far more courage — is turn the lens around and ask: What am I creating?

That's what the 2026 season of The Courage Effect is built around.

The central idea: you don't just work in an environment. You create one. And most of the time, you're doing it unconsciously — replicating patterns from the systems that shaped you, even when those patterns aren't working. This season, we're asking three honest questions: When did you become aware of the system around you? When did you become aware of your impact on it? And what did you do about it?

Coming this season: Kat Kibben, author of The Bounce Back Factor, who sold everything and ran their business from a van for three years — only to discover they'd been replicating broken leadership patterns all along. And Emily Parkhurst, who left her role as publisher and president of the Puget Sound Business Journal to found Formidable, a media company built specifically for women leaders that existing systems weren't seeing.

Plus solo episodes, a live event in Seattle this summer, and livestreams where you can be part of the conversation in real time.

The new season launches in June. Between now and then, sit with this: What environment are you creating — before you've even said a word?

📩 suzanneweller.substack.com | 🌐 wellercollaboration.com/thecourageeffect

What are you walking into rooms and unconsciously building?