Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.

A quiet alarm in the body can be louder than any strategic plan. That’s where our conversation with Annie begins: the moment joy dimmed, restlessness rose, and an inner knowing said it was time to step away from nonprofit work and build something rooted in freedom, fairness, and love. From that leap came Love Before All, a practice that pairs self-regulation with compassion to create real, measurable change in people and the systems they live in.

We dig into the mechanics of that change. Annie walks us through how history and power shape institutions, why scarcity cultures persist, and how a relationship-first lens reframes leadership. We talk brain science in plain language: the amygdala’s threat response, somatic signals as data, and how a pause-and-breathe habit restores choice. She shares a grounding question that guides hard moments—what is the most loving thing to do now?—and a practical method for tough conversations: look for patterns, ask permission, lead with positive intent, and time it for trust.

Annie’s path from Haiti to New York adds a powerful through line of empathy and perspective-taking. That experience sharpened her ability to “put herself on a shelf,” meet others without judgment, and build bridges across difference. We connect this to culture change at scale: when individuals grow compassion from the inside out, teams regulate better, organizations collaborate more, and wellness becomes a shared priority. If belief can outrun truth, then let’s design beliefs that steady the nervous system, expand our options, and make room for facts to land.

You’ll leave with tools you can use today—how to notice somatic cues, interrupt reactivity, and deliver feedback without burning trust—as well as a bigger vision for how compassion can propagate across homes, schools, and workplaces. If you’re ready to integrate who you are with how you lead, press play, share this conversation with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help more listeners find the show.

To learn more about Annie Paraison, visit LoveBeforeAll.com

Connect with Beki on LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/BekiFraser
Learn more about her coaching: TheIntrovertedSkeptic.com

Learn more about 75 LEAD: FocusForGrowth.com/75LEAD

Follow Short Story Long's LinkedIn Page: Linkedin.com/showcase/shortstorylongpod

Get her book, C.O.A.C.H. Y.O.U.: The Introverted Skeptic’s Guide to Leadership - Amazon

Short Story Long is produced by Crowned Culture Media LLC

Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.

We revisit five leaders whose choices show how humanity shapes real decisions under pressure. Fulfillment, empowerment, grace, resilience, and agency move from ideas to habits you can use right away.

• Integrating identity with leadership choices
• Choosing fulfillment after loss and fear
• Shifting from expert to team builder
• Leaving with dignity and clear boundaries
• Treating joy as a resilience strategy
• Practicing agency and narrative fit
• Translating values into calendar and habits
• Preparing for a new season with intention

If you found this episode helpful, share it with someone who could benefit from it

Episodes mentioned:

• Starting to Shift with a What If — Holden Galusha's Story
• Aaron Wilkerson's Story: The Mindset Shift That Fueled His Promotion
• Shannon King's Story: Surviving the Fallout of Broken Corporate Promises
• From Burnout to On Purpose: Rewiring Work & Life — Chris Blount’s Story
• No More Autopilot: Claim Your Leadership Agency — Tammy Daniels’ Story

Connect with Beki on LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/BekiFraser
Learn more about her coaching: TheIntrovertedSkeptic.com

Learn more about 75 LEAD: FocusForGrowth.com/75LEAD

Follow Short Story Long's LinkedIn Page: Linkedin.com/showcase/shortstorylongpod

Get her book, C.O.A.C.H. Y.O.U.: The Introverted Skeptic’s Guide to Leadership - Amazon

Short Story Long is produced by Crowned Culture Media LLC

Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.

Uncertainty isn’t just noisy—it quietly warps how we lead. Beki digs into the hidden cost of a chaotic year: not only drained calendars and frayed nerves, but a distorted leadership identity that turns visionary thinkers into reactive firefighters. Instead of piling on more habits and rigid routines, we step back and rebuild the architecture that protects attention, steadiness, and influence when nothing else cooperates.

We start with a counterintuitive idea: reduce your surface area. If you’re reachable from every angle, your focus is rented out in fragments. Beki shows how to consolidate access points, use office hours intentionally, and set decision containers that clarify what your team owns and when to escalate. You’ll learn to stop being the bottleneck, foster real authority in others, and design meetings that make durable decisions—only when the right people, information, and power are in the room.

From there, we introduce a weekly checkpoint that takes minutes, not hours. Identify one win, one moment urgency hijacked your intent, and one place you drifted into the weeds. Then choose a single adjustment for the coming week. This small, repeatable rhythm cuts through the swirl and restores strategic posture. We also unpack why one-size-fits-all behavior systems often fail: they force leaders into someone else’s template. Instead, anchor on identity—your strengths, your values, and the signals that tell you you’re slipping—so actions flow from who you are.

Beki also shares the 75 LEAD challenge, a guided 75-day cadence designed to recenter your leadership identity in less than 20 minutes a day. It’s a steady framework for reducing noise, sharpening decisions, and growing leaders behind you, so you can reach for more strategic work without losing your footing.

If this conversation gives you a breath of space and a plan to reclaim your week, follow the show, share it with a leader who’s under pressure, and leave a review so others can find it. Your team takes its cues from you—let’s make those cues calm, clear, and intentional.

Connect with Beki on LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/BekiFraser
Learn more about her coaching: TheIntrovertedSkeptic.com

Learn more about 75 LEAD: FocusForGrowth.com/75LEAD

Follow Short Story Long's LinkedIn Page: Linkedin.com/showcase/shortstorylongpod

Get her book, C.O.A.C.H. Y.O.U.: The Introverted Skeptic’s Guide to Leadership - Amazon

Short Story Long is produced by Crowned Culture Media LLC