From Outsider to Leader: On Her Own Terms

What does it take to stop proving your worth to everyone else and finally live on your own terms? In this episode of Breaking Rank, I sit down with my longtime friend Nicole Steiner, someone I've watched grow over 20 years of friendship into one of the most driven and authentic leaders I know.

Nicole grew up as a brown girl in a white family in Oregon, then spent her early adulthood chasing every external marker of success: the master's degree at 23, the six-figure income, the house, the titles. From the outside she looked like she had it all figured out.

On the inside, none of it was filling the cup that actually mattered. We get into the moment everything cracked open about five years ago.

Walking away from a lucrative marketing career. Getting sober.

Spending six weeks in Africa. Rebuilding her whole life around boundaries, self-worth, and a simple line she once read on a therapist's wall: you matter.

Nicole also shares how she found real purpose in energy-based medical technology, where she became a top global sales rep by leading with kindness instead of a script. That work is also what allowed her to give her own son a laser treatment that helped him breathe and sleep through the night, which she describes as one of the most meaningful moments of her career.

We talk about why she refuses to hide anything, from her plastic surgery to her mental health, and what she's learning about being neurodivergent in a world that expects everyone to be the same. As she puts it, if you expect a fish to climb a tree, it will always look like a failure.

This one is about identity, reinvention, and choosing yourself first. If you've ever felt like the outsider, or like you had to earn your place by becoming whoever everyone else wanted you to be, this conversation is for you.

In this episode: Growing up as an "other" and learning to believe that love had to be proven Reconnecting with her biological family after tragedy Why success on paper left her empty underneath The breaking point: sobriety, therapy, and six weeks in Africa Setting hard boundaries and parallel parenting through a difficult co-parenting situation Finding real purpose in medicine and selling by leading with kindness The laser treatment that helped her son breathe and sleep Being unapologetically herself, red wardrobe and all Why the best leaders make space for people to be different Connect with Nicole on LinkedIn: Find every episode and more at . If this episode moved something in you, share it with someone who needs to hear that they matter first. #BreakingRank #leadership #authenticity #reinvention #resilience #adversity