Breaking Rank

Breaking Rank is a bold leadership podcast redefining what it means to lead with authenticity, courage, and identity in today’s workplace.Hosted by Diana Lauritson, a seasoned business development leader, storyteller, and advocate for authentic leadership, Breaking Rank spotlights nontraditional and underestimated leaders who are reshaping industries by breaking away from traditional expectations and leading on their own terms.If you’ve ever felt underestimated, overlooked, or out of place in professional spaces, this podcast is your reminder that you’re not alone, and you’re not wrong for wanting more.Because the best leaders don’t fall in line — they break rank.

Breaking Rank is a business podcast hosted by Diana Lauritson, with 18 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Diana Lauritson hosts Breaking Rank, a business show with 18 episodes published.

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  Episode #18

  Queer or Called: One Reverend's Refusal to Choose

  Aug 5, 20261h 10mS1

  Black. Queer. Reverend. In this episode of Breaking Rank, Rev. Don Abram refuses to choose between the parts of himself the world keeps asking him to separate. Don grew up in a hand-clapping, toe-tapping Baptist church on the South Side of Chicago, raised by a Jamaican Patois-speaking grandmother who dragged him to service every Sunday. He shares the story of a recurring dream that called him to the pulpit, and the moment his grandmother told him she couldn't interpret it for him, because only he knew what God was telling him. That moment became his first real introduction to queer theology. Don makes the case that the church has been naming the wrong sin all along, and it has nothing to do with who anyone loves. He also talks about the manufactured care crisis he sees playing out across institutions, the belief that care is a limited resource that only belongs to some, and what it would take to build systems from a place of abundance instead. This conversation covers his founding of Toward Pride, formerly Pride in the Pews, and what's next for the organization, including a new initiative supporting people living with HIV and a research partnership with Northwestern University exploring faith as a determinant of health. This is a conversation about theology, identity, and refusing to shrink any part of yourself to be accepted by a room. Connect with Breaking Rank: Instagram & Threads: @breakingrankpod TikTok: @breaking.rank.pod YouTube: @breakingrankpod breakingrankpod.com Connect with Toward Pride: Website: towardpride.org Facebook & Instagram: Toward Pride #breakingrank #theology #queertheology #faith #queer #leadership #authenticity

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  Episode #17

  The Only One in the Room: Disability, Dignity, and Leadership

  Jul 29, 202656 minS1

  What if we looked for the remarkability in people instead of the disability? July is Disability Pride Month, which marks the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, so there is no better time to share this conversation. In this episode of Breaking Rank, the podcast where we lead without permission, I sit down with Roxy B. Rocker, a disability advocate, consultant, and broadcaster, and the founder of Embracing Disability. Roxy has lived with disability her whole life, and she has spent decades turning that lived experience into advocacy, education, and community for others. We talk about what it means to carry multiple visible and invisible disabilities, and why so much of what people navigate every day is something the rest of the world never sees. Roxy is honest about the discrimination and bullying she has faced, about being told she could not be a leader, and about being doubted even now by people who question whether her disabilities are real. She shares the turning point that led her to found Embracing Disability: a stretch of hospital stays in 2021 that ended with a serious accident and eleven days in a hospital bed, where she found herself asking for something as basic as dignity. That experience became a mission. Embracing Disability is now a media and education platform built around disability stories, representation, and inclusion, with a magazine, an adaptive clothing line called Roxease, a television project, and a growing community. Roxy is also working to turn it into a nonprofit that teaches broadcasting and hosting skills to people with disabilities. We get into the psychology of the word "disability" itself, why it can trigger pity instead of connection, and how Roxy reframes her work around inclusion, relationships, and community. We also talk about advocacy and leadership: the history of the disability rights movement, the fight for accessibility and independent living, and her belief that we all have a seat at the table, even when someone would rather we were not in the room. This is a conversation about dignity, visibility, and the kind of leadership that refuses to disappear. As Roxy puts it, learn, listen, ask questions, and look for the remarkability instead of the disability. In this episode: Living with multiple visible and invisible disabilities Why so many disabilities are hidden, and what that means at work and in daily life The hospital experience that inspired Embracing Disability Why dignity in care should never be optional The psychology of the word "disability" and the pity response it can trigger Building inclusive media: a magazine, adaptive clothing, television, and community Disability rights history, the ADA, and the fight for accessibility Why we all belong at the table, and how to stay in the room Roxy's challenge to see the remarkability, not the disability Learn more about Roxy's work at embracing-disability.com. Find every episode and more at breakingrankpod.com. If this episode opened your eyes, share it with someone who needs to hear it. #BreakingRank #leadership #authenticity #reinvention #resilience #disabilityawareness #DisabilityPrideMonth #ADA

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  Episode #16

  From Outsider to Leader: On Her Own Terms

  Jul 22, 202648 minS1

  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: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-steiner-44298833/ Find every episode and more at breakingrankpod.com. 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

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  Episode #15

  Leading Through Adversity: Divorce, Resilience, and Rising Again

  Jul 8, 202644 minS1

  In this episode of Breaking Rank, we sit down with Nadira Ford-Robbins for a conversation about courage, adversity, and the kind of leadership that gets built in the middle of a crisis instead of before one. Nadira takes us back to her childhood in Staten Island, growing up in a family of eight with a mother who put herself through nursing school while raising her kids largely on her own. That early exposure to grit and grind followed her into adulthood, through marriage, motherhood, a divorce that reshaped her entire world, and ultimately into a leadership role she wasn't sure she was ready for. We talk about what it means to lead while you're still rebuilding, how she became chapter president of her organization in the middle of her divorce, and the leadership lessons that carried her through it, including failing forward, eating the frog first, and learning to let criticism roll off without letting it stop her. Nadira also opens up about raising a Black gay son and helping him navigate identity and rejection in a world that isn't always built for him. This is a conversation about resilience, reinvention, and refusing to let one devastating season define the rest of the story. Nadira reminds us that leadership doesn't always look like the version we were sold, and that showing up in your own way still counts.

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  Episode #14

  From Actor to CEO: Leading Through Reinvention

  Jun 24, 202653 minS1

  Reinvention isn't a one-time event. Just ask David Ackert. David Ackert is the co-founder and CEO of PipelinePlus, bestselling author of The Short List, Gold Award winner for nonfiction book of the year, and one of the most respected voices in legal industry business development. But before all of that, he was an immigrant kid navigating the hostage crisis, a bullying victim who found refuge in theater, and a trained actor who landed roles on The West Wing, CSI: Miami, and JAG before walking away from Hollywood entirely to build something of his own. In this episode of Breaking Rank, David opens up about what it really means to reinvent yourself, not once, but multiple times, and what leadership looks like when your path doesn't follow any conventional playbook. We talk about growing up between two cultures, the typecasting he faced in Hollywood, the moment he decided to leave it all behind, and how he built PipelinePlus into a firm that now serves some of the most elite law firms in the country. We also get into the mindset behind it all, including why David swears by Theodore Roosevelt's "comparison is the thief of joy," and why he believes the legal marketing community is more capable of reinvention than it gives itself credit for. This is one of those conversations that goes way beyond business development. It's about identity, resilience, and what becomes possible when you stop letting the world decide who you are. Topics covered in this episode: Growing up between Iran and the US during the hostage crisis Being bullied and finding theater as an escape Training at Carnegie Mellon and breaking into Hollywood Typecasting as a Middle Eastern actor in post-9/11 Hollywood Walking away from acting and why Building a business development consulting firm in the legal industry Co-founding PipelinePlus Writing and publishing The Short List Why reinvention is always possible, even in law firms The Roosevelt quote that David returns to when life gets hard What's next for PipelinePlus and David Ackert Connect with David Ackert: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidackert/ PipelinePlus: https://www.pipelineplus.com The Short List: https://www.pipelineplus.com/the-short-list Subscribe to Breaking Rank on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. If this episode resonated with you, leave us a review. It helps more people find the show.

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