Greetings everyone, and welcome to another episode of Conversations Spoken in the Dark. I’m your host, Hermence Matsotsa, Transformational Leadership and Career Transition Coach and Founder of uBuntuSpeaks.

I created this podcast because too often, the most meaningful conversations — the ones about identity, healing, belonging, and how we live, learn, and lead — are whispered in the dark. They go unspoken, overlooked, or carried as silent burdens. Conversations Spoken in the Dark is a space to bring those stories into the light so we can name them, understand them, and begin to heal — both individually and collectively.

In this episode, I’m joined by my dear friend and business partner, Elizabeth (Liz) Davila-Sleigh, an ICF-accredited coach, facilitator, and leadership consultant who helps women lead with intention and balance. Together, we’re diving into a topic so many high-achieving women know too well — burnout.

We explore how culture, gender norms, and workplace expectations shape the way we experience burnout — and what it takes to move from constant doing to intentional achieving. This is a conversation about rediscovering joy, alignment, and purpose — moving from survival mode to living and leading with clarity.

✨ So take a breath, and join us in this honest, heart-centered dialogue.

💡About the Guest — Elizabeth (Liz) Davila-Sleigh

Elizabeth Davila-Sleigh, ACC, is an International Coaching Federation–accredited coach, facilitator, and leadership consultant who helps leaders and organizations elevate performance, navigate change, and foster cultures of inclusion and purpose. With over two decades of leadership experience in higher education and professional development, Liz’s work blends strategic insight with deep empathy.

She is passionate about helping women find alignment between success and well-being — guiding them to lead with clarity, confidence, and compassion.

🔗 Connect with Liz: LinkedIn: Elizabeth Davila-Sleigh, ACC

💡About the Host — Hermence Matsotsa

Hermence Matsotsa is the Founder and CEO of uBuntuSpeaks, LLC and host of Conversations Spoken in the Dark. She is a Transformational Leadership and Career Transition Coach dedicated to helping leaders and teams thrive in high-pressure, multicultural environments.

Through Positive Intelligence (PQ) coaching, Cultural Intelligence (CQ) training, psychological safety workshops, and inclusive leadership development, Hermence empowers organizations to build workplaces where people feel valued, connected, and inspired.

Grounded in the South African philosophy of UBUNTU — “I am because we are” — Hermence created Conversations Spoken in the Dark to bring light to the unspoken stories of identity, healing, and belonging that connect us all.

🔗 Connect with Hermence:
Website: www.ubuntuworkforce.com
LinkedIn: Hermence Matsotsa
Instagram: @ubuntuspeaks
Facebook: uBuntuSpeaks LLC
Book a session: Schedule a Conversation

This episode will inspire you to pause, reflect, and reclaim your energy — so you can lead, live, and love without losing yourself in the process.

🎧 Listen now and share with another woman who needs this reminder.

Greetings everyone, and welcome to another episode of Conversations Spoken in the Dark. I’m your host, Hermence Matsotsa, Transformational Leadership and Career Transition Coach and Founder of uBuntuSpeaks.

I created this podcast because too often, the most meaningful conversations the ones about identity, healing, belonging, and how we live, learn, and lead are whispered in the dark. They go unspoken, overlooked, or carried as silent burdens. Conversations Spoken in the Dark is a space to bring those stories into the light so we can name them, understand them, and begin to heal both individually and collectively.

In today’s episode, titled Learning Without Limits, I’m joined by Jeremy Grandstaff, leadership and talent development strategist, facilitator, and champion for creating inclusive, courageous systems together. Jeremy is passionate about helping organizations spark the change they want to see, and his approach to learning and development challenges us to think differently about how growth really happens.

Together, we’ll explore what it means to learn without limits to move beyond routine learning and toward a culture where people can grow, experiment, and show up as their full selves.

So settle in and join me for this insightful conversation.
Let’s learn, lead, and grow — together in the light.

🎙️ About the Guest

Jeremy Grandstaff is a senior learning and development and change management executive with 25+ years of experience in stakeholder engagement, instructional design, andorganizational transformation. He is driven by a belief in accessible user experiences, inclusive leadership, collaborative processes, and culture-centered strategy. Currently, he serves as the Director of Learning Initiatives for Penny Forward and co-facilitates workshops with the Institute for Culture, Change, and Leadership, including Learning without Limits, The Culture Professionals Mastermind, and the Professional Certificate in cultural Competence.

Jeremy’s professional background includes senior roles at CurbCutOS, IBM Global Services, Cogent Analytics, and the Alliance for Biking & Walking. He spent two decades as CEO of S&G Endeavors, helping clients across public, private, and nonprofit sectors implement collaborative learning and organizational change.

As a  2025 TEDxYpsilanti speaker, an author, and A blind, gay advocate, Jeremy brings authenticity, curiosity, and measurability to every engagement.

Connect with Jeremy:

[email protected]

Connect on LinkedIn

🎙️ About the Host

Hermence Matsotsa is the Founder and CEO of uBuntuSpeaks, LLC and host of Conversations Spoken in the Dark. She is a Transformational Leadership and Career Transition Coach dedicated to helping leaders and teams thrive in high-pressure, multicultural environments.

Through Positive Intelligence (PQ) coaching, Cultural Intelligence (CQ) training, psychological safety workshops, and inclusive leadership development, Hermence empowers organizations to build workplaces where people feel valued, connected, and empowered.

Grounded in the South African philosophy of UBUNTU — “I am because we are” — Hermence created Conversations Spoken in the Dark to bring light to the unspoken stories of identity, healing, and belonging that connect us all.

Connect with Hermence:
[email protected]

⁠Connect on LinkedIn⁠ Book a conversation

www.ubuntuworkforce.com

Greetings everyone, and welcome to another episode of Conversations Spoken in the Dark. I’m your host, Hermence Matsotsa, Transformational Leadership and Career Transition Coach and Founder of uBuntuSpeaks.

I created this podcast because too often, the most meaningful conversations — the ones about identity, healing, belonging, and how we live, learn, and lead — are whispered in the dark. They go unspoken, overlooked, or carried as silent burdens. Conversations Spoken in the Dark is a space to bring those stories into the light so we can name them, understand them, and begin to heal — both individually and collectively.

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Dr. Lisette Sanchez, bilingual and bicultural psychologist, international speaker, writer, and contributor to Oprah Daily, where she recently published the article “Why Being ‘The Strong One’ Is a Form of Self-Sabotage.”

We’re unpacking what it really means to be “the strong one,” especially for Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color — and how that strength, while often celebrated, can become a form of self-sabotage that keeps us from rest, support, and true resilience.

Together, we’ll explore impostor phenomenon, intergenerational healing, and how we can redefine what strength looks and feels like for ourselves and our communities. Also learn Dr. Sanchez LOOP method when applied will help us take better care of ourselves.

So settle in and join me for this powerful conversation.
Let’s step into the light together.

About Guest:

Dr. Lisette Sanchez is a bilingual and bicultural psychologist, international speaker, writer, and founder of Calathea Wellness, a virtual platform dedicated to supporting first-generation professionals. Raised in Southern California by Salvadoran and Mexican immigrant parents, she brings both expertise and lived experience to her work on identity, belonging, and intergenerational healing. Through her work, she helps individuals and organizations break through barriers like impostor phenomenon, build resilience, and honor cultural roots. Whether in therapy, on the page, or at the podium, Dr. Lisette is a trusted guide helping individuals transform cultural complexity into clarity, pride, and purpose.

Links:

Website: https://www.calatheawellness.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thefirstgenpsychologist/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefirstgenpsychologist/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thefirstgenpsychologist 

CSID Podcast Host

Hermence Matsotsa is the Founder and CEO of uBuntuSpeaks, LLC and host of Conversations Spoken in the Dark. She is a Transformational Leadership and Career Transition Coach dedicated to helping leaders and teams thrive in high-pressure, multicultural environments.

Through Positive Intelligence (PQ) coaching, Cultural Intelligence (CQ) training, psychological safety workshops, and inclusive leadership development, Hermence empowers organizations to build workplaces where people feel valued, connected, and empowered.

Grounded in the South African philosophy of UBUNTU — “I am because we are” — Hermence created Conversations Spoken in the Dark to bring light to the unspoken stories of identity, healing, and belonging that connect us all.

Connect with Hermence:
📧 [email protected]
📅 Book a conversation
🌍 www.ubuntuworkforce.com

Social Media

Social media links:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hmubuntuworkforce/

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/uBuntuSpeaksLLC

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ubuntuspeaks_hermence/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/uBuntuSpeaksLLC

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@sageelevation

What happens when adults are taught that play is childish, joy is indulgent, and rest must be earned?

In this powerful episode of Conversations Spoken in the Dark, Hermence sits down with Tina O’Hoang—researcher, writer, and host of The Courageous Inner Beast podcast—for a raw and reflective conversation about reclaiming joy and challenging the invisible rules that govern how we show up in the world.

We’re talking about the societal, cultural norms, and personal weight many adults carry when it comes to the concept of play, joy, and simply being allowed to let go. In a world—and within communities—where achievement, responsibility, and quiet strength are often prioritized, play can feel… indulgent. Even selfish. Or completely out of reach.

We discuss what gets suppressed, what gets passed down, and what it takes to reclaim joy on your own terms. We’re unpacking generational patterns, expectations around seriousness, and the invisible scripts that tell adults who they should be… and who they’re not allowed to be.

✨ This conversation is for anyone who has ever felt like joy had to be earned or delayed—and is finally ready to rewrite that story.

Guest Bio -Tina O’Hoang

Tina O’Hoang is a brilliant researcher, writer, and voice in the space of cultural identity, healing, and reclaiming joy. Her work explores how cultural norms shape Asian women’s relationship to play—what gets suppressed, what gets passed down, and what it takes to reclaim joy on your own terms.

She is the host of The Courageous Inner Beast podcast, where she creates space for honest, often uncomfortable conversations around mental health, creativity, and breaking free from generational and cultural expectations.

🔗 Connect with Tina:

• Podcast: The Courageous Inner Beast — Listen on Spotify

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tina-o-hoang

Conversations Spoken in the Dark is Hosted by Hermence Matsotsa, Founder of uBuntuSpeaks® , Transformational Leadership Strategist and Workforce Development Speaker and Positive Intelligence Coach for high-performing professionals and entrepreneurs. Hermence creates powerful spaces for raw, honest conversations on leadership, identity, healing, and the parts of our lives we rarely speak out loud—until now.

🌐 www.ubuntuworkforce.com

📧 [email protected]
📸 Instagram: @ubuntuspeaks_hermence

💼 LinkedIn: Hermence Matsotsa

UBUNTU- I Am Who I Am Because We Are!

Welcome back to Conversations Spoken in the Dark with Hermence —a space where we speak the truths most often carried in silence, and where transformation is allowed to take up space.

In this deeply soul-stirring episode, I, your host, Hermence Matsotsa am joined by Michelle Wincell O’Leary—Author, Therapist, Intuitive Guide, Master Alchemist, and Conscious Co-Creator. Michelle is a former mental health executive and clinician whose life looked “successful” on paper… until she chose to honor a deeper calling.

What followed was what she calls a sacred unraveling: releasing a long-standing marriage, selling the family home, and letting go of the identity she once built to make space for who she truly is.

Together, we talk about what it means to walk away from the life you thought you were supposed to live—and step into the one your soul has been calling for. We unpack grief, awakening, courage, identity, and the messy, beautiful truth about transformation.

This conversation isn’t about reinvention—it’s about realignment. About trusting the voice within, even when the world outside doesn’t understand. And about leading from your truth, not your title.

✨ If you're in a season of transition—or feel like one is quietly building inside you—this episode is for you.

🌿 Want to connect with Michelle or explore her offerings?

Visit:
🔗 Website: https://spiritoftherapyllc.net
🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/michellewincelloleary
📧 Email: [email protected]
📱 Instagram: @michellewincelloleary
🔗 LinkedIn: Michelle Wincell O’Leary
📘 Facebook: Michelle Wincell O’Leary

🧘🏽‍♀️ Special Offer for My Listeners:
Receive 25% off Michelle’s Resilience Skills Master Class (valued at $149) by contacting her directly and mentioning Conversations Spoken in the Dark. That’s a $37 savings on this transformative offering.

___________________________________________________________

Conversations Spoken in the Dark hosted by Hermence Matsotsa, Founder of uBuntuSpeaks® and Positive Intelligence Coach for high-performing professionals and entrepreneurs. Hermence creates powerful spaces for raw, honest conversations on identity, healing, work, leadership, and the parts of our lives we rarely speak out loud—until now.

UBUNTU- I am who I am because we all are!

📧 Email: [email protected]
🌐 Website: www.ubuntuworkforce.com
📱 TikTok: @SageElevationWithHermence
📸 Instagram: @ubuntuspeaks_hermence
💼 LinkedIn: Hermence Matsotsa
📘 Facebook: uBuntuSpeaks LLC

🎙️ To learn more, book a session, or explore future speaking and podcast collaborations, visit my website or reach out directly.

Welcome back to Conversations Spoken in the Dark with your host, Hermence Matsotsa—where we ditch the filters and speak the truths we usually keep to ourselves.

In this episode, I sit down with the bold and brilliant Jamia S. Dixon for a no-holds-barred conversation about dating after 40 and getting married at 50.

Jamia keeps it real—from navigating dry dating pools and ghosting culture to holding boundaries, honoring your worth, and finally saying yes to love on her terms.

We talk about what changes when you’ve done the inner work, raised your kids, built your career—and you’re no longer interested in shrinking, pretending, or settling just to be in a relationship.

This isn’t your typical “love story.” It’s a grown-woman, real-world, unfiltered talk about love, desire, second chances, and what it means to choose yourself first—before letting anyone else in.

🎧 Get ready for laughs, gems, and some seriously relatable moments.
Let’s get into it.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Guest Bio:

Jamia S. Dixon is a devoted mother, proud veteran, and lifelong learner who raised two daughters as a single parent while building a successful career in Human Resources. Her journey is one of perseverance, growth, and faith—balancing professional ambition with the deep commitment of parenthood. After years of pouring into her family and career, Jamia stepped into a new season of joy and love—dating again in her late 40s and marrying at 50 and embracing the beauty of God’s perfect timing and proving that life continues to blossom at every stage. She believes in leading with heart, living with purpose, and embracing joy at every opportunity.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Podcast Host Bio and Contact

Hosted by Hermence Matsotsa, Founder of uBuntuSpeaks® and a Transformational Leadership Coach and Strategist Positive Intelligence Coach for high-performing professionals and entrepreneurs, Conversations Spoken in the Dark is a podcast where unfiltered truth meets personal transformation.

Hermence creates a brave space to talk about the things that keep us up at night—identity, resilience, relationships, transitions, and the quiet doubts we rarely say out loud.

Her mission? To remind us that we’re not alone in our thoughts, and there are strategies to quiet the noise, reframe the fear, and move forward with intention. These are the conversations we need to hear—and maybe the ones we’ve been afraid to speak.

Subscribe, listen, and join the conversation.
📩 To connect with Hermence or be a guest on the show, email [email protected].

Welcome back to Conversations Spoken in the Dark—where we speak the truths so many of us carry in silence, and bring light to the parts of ourselves we've been taught to ignore.

In this powerful, honest, and at times raw episode, I’m joined by Abigail White, RN, BSN—a medical intuitive, public speaker, and the founder of Breath of Life LLC, an intuitive guidance and wellness company that helps people reconnect their energetic and physical bodies to achieve deep, lasting healing.

Abigail is the creator of the 1% Method, a groundbreaking approach that fuses decades of biomedical knowledge with life-long intuitive gifts. She’s helped clients heal from chronic illnesses, mental health challenges, fertility struggles, gut issues, and more—not just by treating the symptoms, but by addressing the energetic roots.

A recipient of the Excellence in Healthcare award from the internationally recognized Health 2.0 Organization, and a featured member of Marquis Who's Who in America, Abigail is redefining what it truly means to care for ourselves.

In this episode, we explore how modern medicine and energetic healing don’t have to be in opposition—they can be in conversation. If you’re ready to rethink self-care and explore healing through a more integrated lens, this is a conversation you don’t want to miss.

Let’s begin!

Hermence Matsotsa, Podcast Host

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/hmubuntuworkforce

Website: ⁠www.ubuntuworkforce.com⁠

Call: 202.421.9184

Let's Talk: https://app.simplymeet.me/hermenceubuntuworkforce

----------------------------------------------------------------

Guest Expert Contacts: Abigail White, RN,BSN

Email: [email protected]

Links: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/breathoflife_healer/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/breathoflifeintuitive

Website - https://www.breathoflifellc.com

On this episode of Conversations Spoken in the Dark—a podcast devoted to the real, raw, and often unspoken truths that shape our leadership, our lives, and our legacy—we step into a deeply personal and transformative story of parenthood, identity, and love.

Bill Carmody, Positive Intelligence Coach, leadership strategist, and father, joins me to share his journey parenting a transgender child. With heartfelt vulnerability, Bill reflects on the early days of supporting his daughter Violet through her transition—from facing the confusion and fear ofwell-meaning relatives to learning how to fully show up with empathy, humility, and unconditional love.

This isn’t just a parenting story. It’s a life story. It’s a human story. It’s the kind of conversation we rarely have out loud, and that’s exactly why it belongs here—in the dark, where truth often waits to be spoken.

Whether you're a parent, an ally, or simply someone seeking to lead with more compassion and courage, this episode offers honest reflections, hard-won wisdom, and a call to love our children—and each other—for exactly who we are.

Connect with Bill Carmody

• X: https://x.com/BillCarmody
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marketingwhisperer/

Website / Contact Info: 

1. AskBill.us (https://app.AskBill.us) 
2. BillCarmody.com (https://www.BillCarmody.com) 

Welcome to uBuntuSpeaks Conversations Spoken in the Dark Podcast with your host Hermence Matsotsa, MPH, Ed. (She, Her, Hers)

Today’s podcast, Do Your Employees feel Psychologically Safe? kicks off our Leadership and Workforce Development series where we will be having in-depth conversations with our guests about our mental, emotional, and spiritual needs around our jobs. Yes, the conversations we have with ourselves often keep us up at night.

Together we will define what psychological safety in the workplace truly is, share our own experiences working in psychologically unsafe environments, and how we help corporations and organizations create psychologically safe environments for their employees. 

Guest Expert

Debra Enloe (She, Her, Hers) - President & CEO of Genuine Compass, Certified Psychological Safety Facilitator and Trainer from LeaderFactor and Certified Diversity Coach through CoachDiversity Institute. Prior to launching Genuine Compass, Debra spent more than 25 years in a variety of roles that spanned from entry-level to global executive leader within organizations whose size ranged from 15 to 160,000 employees. This experience has fostered the importance of leading with empathy for Debra. She authentically seeks to understand what is at the root and strives to remain neutral when listening. 

She will provide critical subject matter expertise and draw upon skills acquired through leading a global team, change management, coaching, consulting, facilitation, curriculum design, training documentation, evaluation development, and strategic communications to formulate and execute strategies in support of the larger culture effort. She coaches any role within an organization to be able to have difficult conversations to ensure continuity in culture change.

Email: [email protected]   Phone: 612-201-6565

Social Media Link: LinkedIn

The entrepreneur journey is different for every woman entrepreneur, however one thing that all entrepreneurs at one point of their journey have experienced are conversations with themselves in the dark.  We have asked ourselves questions, doubted our decisions, fought with imposter syndrome, rejoiced  in our small wins, and privately cried ourselves to sleep with our failures and challenges.  So what happens "When the fire within us dims low"? What do we do then? How do we reignite that spark to keep our passion burning? Who if anyone do we turn to for help?   In this episode, my guest Speaker, Author, CEO, Entrepreneur, and Wife and mother of three, LaTonya Bynum will be joining me to discuss: 

 1. Our Passion the importance of one’s passion 

2. Where to draw inspiration and from whom 

3. Life Experiment with Failure- what that looks like, how we choose to live with it and overcome

4. What allows us to push forward through the obstacles, challenges, stress 

5. Are we really our Sister’s keepers? Are we ready to be that Sister we rave we are? 

Why LaTonya Bynum and not someone else you may ask?  Well for those of you who may not be part of her vast social media network and have been inspired by her daily list of career, entrepreneurship, and "just do it" life strategies, then l present to you Speaker, Author, CEO, and " No Excuses, Just Make it Happen" Guru, LaTonya Bynum.   LaTonya Bynum has truly learned to take life on as one of the greatest experiments in  failing fast. For years, she allowed others to label her and tell her what she could and couldn’t do. 

Now, LaTonya has been on a journey for the past 3 years at living life her way on her terms as she rises with the ebb and flow of life. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Health Education with a concentration in Community Health and Spanish from the University of Central Arkansas. In addition, she earned her Master’s in Public Health (MPH) with an emphasis in Health Policy and Management from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Furthermore, she holds the mantle of being the first in her immediate family to earn a bachelor and master’s degree. As a Technical Editor with Gainwell Technologies, a global IT company, she now has a combined total of over twenty years of experience in Retail Sales, Public Health, and Health Information Technology. This editor position led to her interest in self-publishing books entitled “Tools for Career Success: 101 FAQs about Public Health” and “Mind Ya Busi-ness: Are You Okay?”.  LaTonya enjoys analyzing data and conducting research to write scientific papers. Her graduate level MPH work titled “The Role of Depression in Chronic Disease Management: An Analysis of the U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System” is published in the Public Health Open Access Journal. Additionally, she has co-authored papers regarding Falls and Comorbid Conditions, Diabetic Retinopathy, and Eye Care Services.   

In 2017, LaTonya founded U.R.A. Resource Center, LLC, a public health consulting firm specializing in creative/technical writing, public speaking, and research/data analysis. The mission of the practice is to Utilize Research for Access in improving the health status and quality of life of all mankind. FB: https://www.facebook.com/URARESOURCE  LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/latonyabynum/  IG: https://www.instagram.com/sisspeakslife/ Tw: https://twitter.com/sisspeakslife  YT: https://www.youtube.com/user/LaTonyaBynumTV                                 Website: https://www.latonyabynum.com