Leading Visionaries Podcast

What does it take to transform deep expertise into a scalable, investment-grade business? In this special anniversary episode of the Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell sits down with Dr. Dia Burger, founder of Stiletto Med Spa, the International Med Spa Academy, and the Million Dollar Med Spa Method.With more than 30 years of medical experience and two decades in aesthetics, Dr. Dia shares how her vision evolved from operating a highly successful med spa to creating a global chain of premium med spas designed for exceptional client outcomes and strong investor returns. She discusses the importance of leadership, intellectual property, business systems, ethical practices, and trusting your intuition when building something extraordinary.This inspiring conversation explores the intersection of vision, innovation, profitability, and purpose while revealing what it takes to create a business that is both scalable and sustainable.What You Will LearnHow vision often emerges through a combination of frustration, reflection, and faith.Why leading visionaries must continually refine and narrow their focus to achieve greater impact.The importance of having trusted advisors who can reflect blind spots and accelerate growth.How Dr. Dia evolved from helping investors build med spas to creating her own global med spa brand.Why safety, integrity, and client outcomes are foundational to sustainable business success.How undervaluing your expertise can leave significant opportunities and revenue on the table.The difference between being a skilled practitioner and being an effective business owner.Why intellectual property and proven systems create long-term business value.How efficiency, not volume, drives exceptional results in medical aesthetics.The leadership lessons required to scale a vision into a world-class organization.Why protecting standards and execution is critical when expanding a successful model.How investors benefit from businesses built on proven systems and measurable performance.FAQ:How can med spa owners increase profitability without increasing treatment volume?Dr. Dia explains that profitability comes from efficiency rather than simply performing more procedures. By improving systems, client experience, injector performance, operational workflows, and business processes, med spas can significantly increase revenue without sacrificing quality.What leadership skills are necessary to scale a business successfully?Successful business leaders must balance empathy with strong business decision-making. Dr. Dia emphasizes the importance of setting boundaries, understanding the value of your expertise, building systems that scale, and seeking trusted advisors who can identify blind spots and accelerate growth.How do investors benefit from investing in med spa businesses?Investors benefit when med spas are built on proven systems that create predictable revenue, operational efficiency, and strong profit margins. Dr. Dia's model focuses on creating investment-grade businesses designed for long-term scalability and attractive returns.Connect with Dr. Dia BurgerLinkedInLeading Visionaries PodcastJoin the Leading Visionaries CommunityMake a Donation to Support the ShowCreative Age Consulting Group

What if burnout isn’t a personal failure, but a leadership signal asking for something different?In this episode of the Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell sits down with Sophia Mikelionis, self-leadership expert and founder of Gearing Together. Sophia shares her journey from thriving in corporate leadership to realizing that success without alignment was costing her relationships, health, and joy. If you lead a team, run a business, or feel the quiet exhaustion of always being the reliable one, this conversation will give you language, permission, and tools to lead differently.What You Will Learn:Why burnout is often a systems and leadership issue, not a personal weakness.How self-leadership differs from traditional leadership models.Why empathy is a strategic leadership skill, not a soft one.How constant availability and smartphone culture contribute to chronic burnout.What it means to “delegate to tomorrow” and why it is a form of self-trust.How middle managers become trapped between senior leadership pressure and team burnout.Why high performers struggle to slow down even when success is costing them personally.How emotional flatness can be an early warning sign of burnout.What physical cues like tension, fatigue, and irritability reveal about overextension.How to identify energy leaks in your calendar and daily routines.Why sunk cost fallacy keeps leaders stuck in misaligned roles, systems, or strategies.How small, intentional habits can prevent burnout before it escalates.Why leaders must create space for strategic thinking instead of living in execution mode.How teams can address burnout together instead of in isolation.What sustainable leadership looks like in a fast-moving, high-demand world.Resource:Sophia MikelionisGearing TogetherLeading Visionaries PodcastJoin the Leading Visionaries CommunityMake a Donation to Support the ShowCreative Age Consulting Group

What if the biggest thing blocking your vision is not your strategy, but your nervous system. In this episode of the Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell sits down with Luis Mojica, somatic therapist, trauma nutritionist, musician, and founder of Holistic Life Navigation, for a powerful conversation about what it really takes to lead, create, and build sustainably. Luis shares how his lineage shaped his visionary capacity, why he experiences creativity as a kind of natural “psychedelic” communion, and how developmental trauma can become an initiation into purpose. If you are a visionary who wants to create without burning out, this episode is a great place to reset.What You Will Learn:How Luis defines visionary leadership through lineage, migration, and the courage to leave what is familiar.Why imagination and “psychic” creativity can be a natural lived experience, not something you have to force through rituals.How developmental trauma can function as an initiation that shapes purpose over time.What “capacity” means in somatic terms and why it determines how well you can metabolize stress.How constriction in the body impacts leadership, marketing, and decision-making.Why money can be the biggest challenge for service-led visionaries and how boundaries create healthier reciprocity.How Food Therapy reframes nutrition as a tool for trauma recovery, anxiety relief, and stress navigation.Why lowering stress hormones changes the quality of imagination from scarcity and urgency into spacious possibility.How Luis grew Holistic Life Navigation by responding to need rather than following a rigid long-term vision.Why building a team based on trust, relational fit, and shared mission can be more effective than hiring on credentials alone.A simple leadership filter you can use quarterly: keep what you love doing and delegate what drains you.Resource:Luis MojicaHolistic Life NavigationThe HLN PodcastLeading Visionaries PodcastJoin the Leading Visionaries CommunityMake a Donation to Support the ShowCreative Age Consulting Group

What if the fastest way to scale isn’t doing more, but touching less. In this episode of the Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell sits down with Max Lewis, author of Who Is Max Lewis? Max went from selling mangoes as a kid to building a propane tank exchange business that ultimately sold for $37 million.This episode is a masterclass for founders, CEOs, and visionaries who feel capped by their own effort and are ready to step into the next version of leadership.What You Will Learn:Why vision is often developed through experience and small wins rather than arriving fully formed at the beginning.How staying the “single point of failure” quietly limits growth no matter how hard you work.Why the transition from operator to owner requires a complete identity shift, not just better systems.How learning to “not touch anything” becomes the most uncomfortable and necessary leadership upgrade.Why hiring friends may feel supportive early on but can cap the long-term potential of a business.How intentional thinking time becomes a strategic advantage for solving bigger problems and scaling faster.Why asking questions like what a $25M business owner knows clarifies exactly what you need to learn next.How learning just enough about a subject allows you to hire the right experts without becoming one yourself.How role playing reveals what your team does when you are not present and gives you the power to coach proactively.Why investing in education compounds forever because knowledge is something you never lose.How designing your physical environment can keep your vision, focus, and priorities aligned daily.What it looks like to scale through coaching, training, and trust instead of effort and exhaustion.Resource:Max LewisInstagramBook: Who is Max Lewis?Leading Visionaries PodcastJoin the Leading Visionaries CommunityMake a Donation to Support the ShowCreative Age Consulting Group