Send a text

In Season 3, Episode 12 of Time To Press Pause, Ellen Williams sits down with Cory Dunham to explore what it truly means to disconnect in a world that never stops.

Cory introduces the concept of a “Digital Sabbath” a deliberate 24-hour period without screens, notifications, or digital noise.

But this conversation goes far beyond productivity hacks.

It’s about attention.
It’s about presence.
It’s about reclaiming humanity from the algorithms that compete for it.

Together, they discuss:

• Why leaders struggle to disconnect
• The anxiety that surfaces when we put the phone away
• How constant interruption erodes deep focus and meaningful relationships
• The difference between being informed and being consumed
• A simple starting point: the “Phone-Free First Hour”

Pressing pause isn’t about escaping the world.
It’s about returning to it, fully present.

Send us a text

What happens when something you believed would succeed… doesn’t ?

In this episode of Time To Press Pause, Ellen Williams is joined by Jon Sheldon, founder of Bellewood Coaching, who shares a humbling and deeply honest press pause story about accountability, ego, and misalignment.

After years of success in real estate investing, Jon made a decision that looked right on paper, but slowly became unsustainable in real life.

What followed was a difficult realization: the problem wasn’t the market, the property, or the people involved. The problem was his lack of focus and accountability.

This conversation explores what it really means to take ownership, not just of success, but of failure and how pressing pause can help realign your time, attention, and intention.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How ego can quietly drive misaligned decisions
• Why vision without accountability eventually breaks down
• The cost of assuming past success guarantees future results
• How to recognize when something no longer supports your life
• Why pressing pause is sometimes the most responsible leadership move

This episode is a powerful reminder that real growth begins when we stop deflecting and start owning the truth.



🔗 Learn more about Jon Sheldon and Bellewood Coaching:

👉 https://www.belleauwood.coach/

👉 https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-sheldon-82760a51/

🔗 Learn more about Ellen Williams:

📘 Ellen Williams upcoming book (pre-launch):
Creating Time: The Key to Productivity and Peace

👉 https://shopbooksdirect.com/product/creating-time/

📰 Subscribe to Ellen’s newsletter for updates on new episodes and the book launch:

👉 https://www.thesalientstrategist.com

👉 https://api.transpond.io/form?am=42668&fid=49041&host=true

Send us a text

How do you know when it’s time to leave, even when you’re the owner ?

In this episode of Time To Press Pause, Ellen Williams is joined by Sean O’Rourke, a cyber liability consultant, CFO, and former IT company co-founder, who shares the moment he realized he could no longer live in a millisecond-by-millisecond business.

After more than 25 years in technology, including 12 years running the IT firm he co-founded, Sean made the difficult decision to step away from day-to-day operations.

Not because he couldn’t do the work, but because it no longer aligned with the life he wanted to live.

Together, they explore what it means to pause without quitting, how identity and motivation shape leadership decisions, and why being honest with the “reflection in the mirror” matters more than external expectations.

In this conversation, you’ll hear:

• How to recognize burnout before it defines you
• What it really means to leave, even when you’re the boss
• Why technology became a 24/7 pressure cooker
• How Sean reshaped his career without walking away from his expertise
• The importance of being honest about what truly motivates you

This episode is a powerful reminder that pressing pause isn’t about stopping, it’s about choosing what comes next.

📘 Ellen Williams’ upcoming book (pre-launch):
Creating Time: The Key to Productivity and Peace
👉 https://shopbooksdirect.com/product/creating-time/

Learn more about Sean O’Rourke and his work at Combs & Company:
👉 https://www.combsandco.com

📰 Subscribe to Ellen’s newsletter for updates on new episodes, insights, and the book launch:
👉 https://api.transpond.io/form?am=42668&fid=49041&host=true

Send us a text

In this episode of Time To Press Pause, Ellen Williams sits down with Susan L. Combs, President of Combs & Company LLC and founder of the nonprofit Pancakes for Roger.

Susan’s press pause moment didn’t come from long reflection, it arrived suddenly, under pressure, and with real consequences.

After her nonprofit received an unexpected $20,000 donation, the donor later demanded that a large portion of the funds be redirected to an unvetted project.

What followed was a high-stakes leadership moment involving legal threats, board deliberation, and the responsibility of stewarding money that wasn’t hers, but belonged to the mission.

In this conversation, Susan shares how she:

• Pressed pause during a crisis instead of reacting emotionally
• Brought her board together to evaluate hard options quickly and ethically
• Chose integrity over convenience, even when it hurt financially
• Used the experience to strengthen governance and prevent future risk
• Learned why leadership sometimes means making decisions you won’t celebrate, but can live with

Ellen and Susan also discuss:

• Why nonprofits must be run with the same rigor as businesses
• How to handle emotionally charged conversations and legal threats
• Why being able to “sleep at night” is a powerful leadership compass
• The importance of tone-checking responses before reacting
• How moments like these shape better leaders and stronger organizations

This episode is a powerful reminder that pressing pause isn’t always calm or comfortable, sometimes it’s urgent, stressful, and necessary to protect integrity.

Learn more about Susan: https://combsandco.com

Learn more about Pancakes for Roger: https://pancakesforroger.org

Learn more about Ellen: https://thesalientstrategist.com

Send us a text

In this episode of Time To Press Pause, Ellen Williams speaks with Judy K. Herman, CEO of Relationship Wellness LLC, psychotherapist, author, and retreat facilitator who has spent decades helping heart-centered professionals step away from the noise of life so they can return transformed.

Judy’s press pause story doesn’t begin in a boardroom.

It starts in a graduate school classroom, in the middle of a troubled 30-year marriage, when she realized something had to change, and that something was her.

What followed was a decisive choice: to step away from her day-to-day life and invest in an individual spiritual retreat in Canada.

That quiet, intentional pause gave her clarity about her marriage, her identity, and the life she wanted to build next.

From there, Judy:

• Became a therapist to better understand her own story and help others with theirs
• Wrote Beyond Messy Relationships, blending her personal journey with client-centered insights
• Developed her A.I.R. framework for a “vibrantly authentic life”:
  • Awareness
  • Intentionality
  • Risk of growth
• Learned that you can’t change another person—you can only take responsibility for your own next step

She talks with Ellen about how retreats, body wisdom, and daily micro-pauses can become catalysts for major life shifts and why once you see something clearly, you can’t go backwards and unsee it.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How a single retreat became a defining turning point in Judy’s life
• Why partnership (or the lack of it) shapes both families and businesses
• What it really means to take the “risk of growth” in your personal and professional life
• Why well-intentioned pushback from others can’t be the final word on your decisions
• How to use body signals, journaling, and daily pauses to know when it’s time to press pause

If you’ve ever felt something in your life or leadership isn’t quite aligned, but you can’t yet name what it is, Judy’s story will give you language, frameworks, and courage to explore it.

Learn more about Judy: https://judycounselor.com

Learn more about Ellen: https://thesalientstrategist.com

📩 Join the newsletter for updates: https://api.transpond.io/form?am=42668&fid=49041&host=true

Send us a text

In this special Thanksgiving episode, Ellen Williams sits down with Mas Moriya, filmmaker, producer, and founder of Filmclusive, a platform he built from scratch to make hiring in film, TV, and gaming more transparent and equitable.

Mas was once an up-and-coming creative working with the likes of Alicia Keys.
But after the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes, rising production costs, and the LA fires, the industry around him collapsed.

Friends with feature films, fellowships, and awards were suddenly saying:

That turning point pushed Mas into a powerful pause, a year-long reset where he stepped away from filmmaking entirely to understand what was broken in Hollywood and how to fix it.
What he found wasn’t just economic failure… but a systemic lack of tools, structure, and support for working creatives.

So he taught himself software engineering and design, leaning heavily on analogies (including Pokémon!) to understand complex concepts.
Yes, The story Mas Moriya shared included a very creative idea on how to learn a new skill.

And that learning led him to build Filmclusive, a market network designed to end pay-to-play capitalism in Hollywood and give creatives free access to opportunities and digital tools.

In this episode, Mas and Ellen discuss:

• How Hollywood’s economic shifts are pushing out working creatives
• Why the industry still depends on spreadsheets and 10 disconnected tools
• The moment he realized no platform truly served filmmakers and performers
• How AI and analogy-driven learning helped him teach himself to code
• Why small daily pauses can lead to major life pivots
• The leadership lesson Mas believes every CEO should practice

A perfect episode for anyone navigating change, reinvention, or the courage to build something new.

Learn more about Mas: https://www.filmclusive.com/about-founder

Learn more about Ellen: https://thesalientstrategist.com

📩 Join the newsletter for updates: https://api.transpond.io/form?am=42668&fid=49041&host=true

Send us a text

In this episode of Time to Press Pause, host Ellen Williams sits down with Jenica Norris, ADHD entrepreneur, systems strategist, and CEO of Strategic Sound Consulting, for a powerful conversation about what it really means to pause when your brain works differently.

Jenica shares how navigating neurodivergence reshaped not only her career path but also the way she approaches energy, focus, and leadership. Instead of forcing herself into rigid productivity systems that never fit, she built a structure that supports how her mind actually works and now teaches others to do the same.

This episode dives into the truth many high performers quietly face:

Your success is not determined by how many minutes you manage, but by how well you understand and support your mind.

🎙 In this conversation, you’ll learn:

• Why traditional productivity systems fail neurodivergent leaders
• How to spot when your energy, not your schedule, is telling you to pause
• The difference between bandwidth and capacity
• How small, intentional pauses prevent burnout and expand your effectiveness
• Practical ways to build systems that support your brain, not drain it.

Whether you’re neurodivergent, managing a neurodiverse team, or simply tired of productivity advice that doesn’t work in real life, this conversation will help you approach your work with more clarity, compassion, and sustainable energy.

🌐 Learn more about Ellen: https://thesalientstrategist.com

🌐 Learn more about Jenica: https://www.strategicsoundconsulting.com

Send us a text

In this episode of Time to Press Pause, Ellen Williams sits down with Sophie Devonshire, CEO of The Marketing Society and bestselling author of Superfast: Lead at Speed, to talk about why strategic pauses are the fastest way to better decisions, clearer direction, and more sustainable momentum.

Sophie shares her “squiggly career” from P&G and Coca-Cola to founding and selling an e-commerce company, moving overseas, and writing Superfast.

You’ll hear how she builds micro-pauses into projects (pre-mortem, midpoint check, fast feedback), uses the “soak period” when navigating a transition, and why community and coffee chats are non-negotiable when you land somewhere new.

You’ll learn:

• How to slow down to speed up (and avoid headless-chicken mode)
• A simple cadence for year / mid-year / monthly reflection that actually sticks
• The “100 coffees” playbook to build a real network (friends, not just contacts)
• How to frame a break as a “strategic pause” so ambitious teams buy in