Welcome to Rebel Leaders!

For people who want to get shit done.

I was eight years old when I realized I was a little bit of a rebel. We were learning about the Greek gods and goddesses in third grade, and I was captivated by the images of golden giants and women gods. The idea that there was a religion that had lasted for over a thousand years but was now labeled “mythology” was mind blowing to a girl who was living in the very Mormon suburbs of Sandy, Utah. Even though my family wasn’t Mormon, this was the first time I’d ever heard a religious narrative that wasn’t the dominant one around me. 

I wanted to raise my hand and ask, “Well, if all those people believed in Zeus and Athena, but now they don’t, does that mean all religions are made up?” But I intuitively knew that I would get a tight smile from my teacher in return, that the other kids would turn to look at me, giggling or wide-eyed. The heat began rising in my cheeks (I’ve always been an easy one to blush) at the thought of raising my hand, and so I stayed quiet. (Always the good girl.)

But even at eight years old, something clicked. 

It wasn’t really about challenging religion. It was about asking the questions no one wanted to answer. That realization planted a spark in me: a quiet rebellion, a refusal to take the dominant narrative at face value.

Over time, though, even that brief spark was smothered. I didn’t want the other kids in class to laugh at me; I wanted to fit in, to play by the rules of what “success” looks like. So I went to college, got married, had three kids, stayed thin and blonde, built a career, and moved into a nice house. For a long time, I stayed neatly in the definition of what was expected of a “good girl.” It felt safe. It was what I knew. And hey, it all worked fine…until it didn’t.

It is a particularly infuriating and wounding moment when you realize that even though you followed all the rules, the game was never designed for you to win. You never had a chance. And that spark to challenge, to question, to rebel? It came roaring back in 2016 as I sobbed with fear and anger at the idea of a Trump presidency. 

Now the fires are lit. After nearly a decade of re-learning how to ask the challenging questions, I’m delighted to introduce Rebel Leaders.

Rebel Leaders

This space is born out of my work coaching women who don’t easily recognize themselves as leaders, because society has such a narrow definition of who gets to be a leader. It’s born out of my MA in Women, Gender, Spirituality, and Social Justice and my academic research of how patriarchy, white supremacy, and capitalism created rigid systemic hierarchies based on domination and fear, and how these hierarchies serve the people at the top at the expense of the people on the bottom. It’s born out of my experience as a mother, quietly leading my own three kids to be brave enough to raise their hands and ask the challenging questions. 

Leadership isn’t about titles or authority. Leadership is about how we align our actions with our values, or the way we inspire others to positive change, or the way we push back against dominant narratives that don’t serve to uplift humanity. 

The timing feels urgent. Yet again, America failed to elect its first woman president in the most recent election. Despite nearly 70 years of progress made in women’s rights and racial equity, we’re in a world where white men continue to dominate leadership roles in every system we have: corporate, education, government, religion, healthcare, media, technology, finance, law enforcement, sports, you name it.

At the same time, we’re facing unprecedented global challenges that demand innovation, empathy, and humanity. These qualities are too often undervalued in traditional leadership structures. 

Leadership is political, and I don't mean that just because every president we've ever had has been a man. Systemic oppression has shaped outdated leadership norms and Rebel Leaders will help change the narrative to uplift bold, diverse voices and create radical change.

We need a paradigm shift to redefine who gets to be a leader and a creative reimagining of what leadership can look like. And that’s what Rebel Leaders will do, by shining a light on the lessons and stories from people who are NOT playing it safe inside the margins: leaders who are antiracist, queer, feminist, spiritual, eco-conscious, and others who are unapologetically decolonizing the systems that no longer serve us.

Because, let’s face it, the dominant narratives? They’ve had their time. Now it’s ours.

Co-Creating Rebel Leaders

As Elizabeth Lesser says in Cassandra Speaks: “When women are the storytellers, the human story changes.” That’s what I hope to do here - shift the narrative by highlighting voices and perspectives that challenge the status quo.

I want this to be a collaborative, creative space where we explore leadership from the edges, not just the top. I’m not a so-called “expert”; I don’t have decades of business experience, or an MBA, or a PhD, or any number of “qualifications” other people have constructed to limit who gets to define leadership. Instead, I want to create a space where we can be inspired TOGETHER with ideas that are still in development. 

So for now, I’m keeping it simple: a free newsletter for everyone who wants to join the leadership revolution. It’s a place to start conversations about how to lead with care, inclusion, and collaboration, and to unlearn the belief that leadership is reserved for the loudest, most powerful, or the wealthiest. And for those of you who want to go deeper, I’ll offer a paid option with bonus content, live Q&A sessions, and a chance to collaborate more directly.

Collaboration and Support

Because being a rebel is hard. Raising your hand and asking the question that makes everyone stare at you is scary. Challenging norms and resisting dominant culture and attempting a new way of being can be dangerous. So Rebel Leaders offers a paid community where we can be bravely vulnerable and show up and say, “This work is hard and I need to be supported and uplifted.”

My hope is to build a truly supportive and creative space here; one where we’re not just churning and consuming content but engaging in real conversations about how we can lead differently.

Many of us have lost faith in traditional leadership, whether it’s elected officials or corporate executives, because it so often feels like their decisions are made in order to maintain power or prioritize their self-interest, instead of serving the people they are supposed to represent. This erosion of trust has left a void, but it also creates an opportunity: a chance to redefine leadership from the ground up.

Rebel Leaders is essential now because it centers leadership at the local and community levels, where real change can happen. It’s about encouraging those who don’t see themselves reflected in traditional leadership models to embrace their own style of leading, one that challenges dominant narratives and builds more equitable, compassionate systems.

Thank you for being here at the start of this journey. Whether you’re leading a team, a family, or your own life, we’ll be here to help you question the rules of an unfair game, challenge the systems that aren’t designed for you, and become a bit of a rebel leader yourself!