33 Conversations Podcast · June 4, 2026
What happens to your identity as a leader when the title, team, structure, and external validation disappear? In this episode of the 33 Conversations Podcast, Dr. Julie Armstrong reflects on the transition from nearly 30 years of organizational leadership into independent consulting and entrepreneurship. She shares the unexpected emotional complexity of leaving behind the systems that once reinforced her sense of contribution and explores what it means to continue seeing yourself as a leader when leadership is no longer tied to a formal role. The conversation offers a candid look at career transition, vulnerability, external validation, and the process of rebuilding confidence and identity in a new season of work.
The episode also explores a deeper form of self-leadership: learning in public, building relationships intentionally, reflecting on experience, and separating genuine excellence from the pressure to perform for approval. Julie and host Michael Abney discuss how leadership can become less about position and more about presence, influence, and the choices we make when no one is assigning the role. For leaders, consultants, founders, and others navigating significant professional transitions, the conversation is a reminder that losing a title doesn’t mean losing the capacity to lead—it may create an opportunity to understand leadership, and yourself, more clearly.