Insights from recent episode analysis
Audience Interest
Podcast Focus
Publishing Consistency
Platform Reach
Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
Total monthly reach
Estimated from 1 chart position in 1 market.
By chart position
- 🇦🇺AU · Non-Profit#6730K to 100K
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
9K to 30K🎙 Daily cadence·33 episodes·Last published 2d ago - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
30K to 100K🇦🇺100% - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
12K to 40K
Market Insights
Platform Distribution
Reach across major podcast platforms, updated hourly
Total Followers
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* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
On the show
Recent episodes
Systems Hold The Vision
Jun 23, 2026
1h 02m 08s
Only Go Where You’ve Been
Jun 16, 2026
1h 05m 06s
When Providence Moves
Jun 9, 2026
1h 03m 04s
What the Body Refuses to Hide
Jun 2, 2026
1h 07m 18s
When Discipline Wears a Mask
May 26, 2026
19m 09s
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| Date | Episode | Description | Length | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/23/26 | Systems Hold The Vision | In this episode, Don reflects on the difference between having a vision and building the systems that can actually sustain it. He also explores the personal side of that work: how we begin to close the gap between who we say we want to become and how we actually live. He is joined by Barrett Takesian, founder of Portland Community Squash, for a conversation about founder energy, organizational growth, the discipline of sustainability, and what it takes to build something strong enough to car... | 1h 02m 08s | ||||||
| 6/16/26 | Only Go Where You’ve Been | In this episode, Don reflects on what happens when leaders offer direction to places they have not yet been willing to go themselves, and how the inner work we avoid often becomes the limit of our ability to stay present with others. He is joined by Mish Sommers, a facilitator, organizational development leader, and founder of Happier Outside, whose work has helped people and organizations move through uncertainty, transition, and change with greater presence and clarity. Together, they expl... | 1h 05m 06s | ||||||
| 6/9/26 | When Providence Moves | In this episode, Don reflects on what happens when leaders find themselves waiting for certainty, when what the work may really need is commitment, and how the path often begins to appear only after we take the first step. He is joined by Beth Benedix, an educator, writer, filmmaker, and founder of The Castle, whose work in rural Indiana has helped illuminate the strength, complexity, and possibility of young people and the communities that shape them. Together, they explore Providence, fait... | 1h 03m 04s | ||||||
| 6/2/26 | What the Body Refuses to Hide | In this episode, Don reflects on what the body often knows before we are ready to say it out loud, and how the parts of ourselves we learn to silence can still shape the way we lead. He is joined by his wife, Sheryl Carpenter, a former educator, longtime accountant, nutrition coach, personal trainer, and group fitness instructor who has spent more than 30 years helping people grow stronger, healthier, and more trusting of themselves. Together, they explore quiet leadership, the courage to ch... | 1h 07m 18s | ||||||
| 5/26/26 | When Discipline Wears a Mask | In this episode, Don offers a solo reflection on the complicated role discipline can play in a leader’s life. Discipline can help us show up, follow through, and build something meaningful, but it can also become a way of staying above reproach while keeping parts of ourselves out of reach from others. To learn more about Don's work, upcoming offerings, and leadership resources, visit carpentercompanyconsulting.com If something in today’s episode spoke to you, I hope you’ll sub... | 19m 09s | ||||||
| 5/19/26 | What You See is What You Grow | What changes when leaders begin with what is strong instead of what is wrong? In this episode, Don reflects on the ways a deficit mindset can quietly shape how we see ourselves, our teams, and the work we are called to grow. He is joined by Susan Bates, a board and civic leader, relationship-centered facilitator, and longtime community builder, for a conversation about listening, leadership, data, family, community, and the discipline of seeing what people are already bringing.&n... | 54m 18s | ||||||
| 5/12/26 | The Scale of the Solution | What if the problems we care about most are bigger than the solutions we have built to address them? In this episode, Don reflects on the challenge of staying faithful to the problem rather than simply preserving the structure, and is joined by Peter Jenks, longtime Episcopal priest, community leader, and one of the original sparks behind Trekkers. Together, they explore service, collaboration, enduring leadership, and what becomes possible when a leader commits to a community long eno... | 1h 00m 26s | ||||||
| 5/5/26 | The Mirror We Carry | What if the leaders we become are shaped, in part, by the people willing to reflect us with honesty, care, and courage? In this episode, Don reflects on the power of being mirrored in relationships that call us forward and is joined by Dr. Ruth Kermish, Executive Director of the Maine Math and Science Alliance, for a rich conversation about leadership, learning, and creating the conditions where people can grow. Together, they explore how trust, reflection, and the right environment he... | 57m 26s | ||||||
| 4/28/26 | The Generosity of Being Fully Here | In a world shaped by urgency, distraction, and performance, what does it mean to lead with real presence? In this episode, Don reflects on the rare gift of giving someone your full attention and is joined by Martha Kempe, former Head of Schools at Wayfinder Schools, whose remarkable career building humane, resilient spaces for vulnerable people offers a powerful window into leadership shaped by compassion, depth, and care. Together, they explore how presence can restore dignity, ... | 1h 03m 12s | ||||||
| 4/21/26 | The Day It All Makes Sense | What if purpose does not arrive all at once, but reveals itself through the people, questions, and experiences that bring us most alive? In this episode, Don reflects on the quiet clues that point us toward our deeper calling and is joined by Tom Kulp, whose journey from longtime engineer to Director of Experiential Learning at Urban Promise in Camden, NJ is a powerful story of courage, alignment, and following what has been true all along. To learn more about Don's work, upcomin... | 1h 03m 27s | ||||||
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| 4/14/26 | The Strength To Not Take It Personally | What does it take to lead with heart without being undone by other people’s reactions? In this episode of Meditations on Leadership, Don reflects on the inner challenge of not taking things personally, especially in moments of tension, misunderstanding, or silence that can so easily pull us off center. He is then joined by Jamie Dorr, Executive Director of Midcoast Youth Center, for an honest conversation about emotional immunity, sensitivity, self-awareness, and the kind of grounded strengt... | 57m 06s | ||||||
| 4/7/26 | Built to Be, Not Just Seen | What does it mean to lead from the inside out? In this episode of Meditations on Leadership, Don reflects on the difference between image and character, and on how the deepest mark we leave as leaders is often shaped less by what we try to project than by the quieter qualities that consistently come through us. He is then joined by former Maine State Senator Chris Rector for a thoughtful conversation about public service, personal formation, and the lifelong work of building strength of hear... | 1h 02m 07s | ||||||
| 3/31/26 | Choosing Peace Over Being Right | What happens when the need to be right starts to weaken trust, damage connection, and disrupt the peace around you? In this episode of Meditations on Leadership, Don reflects on the tension between conviction and peace, and the quiet ways a leader’s need to be right can erode trust, connection, and culture. He then sits down with educator Neal Walter Young for a thoughtful conversation about teaching, civic life, moral clarity, and what it means to lead with both principle and humility... | 1h 02m 54s | ||||||
| 3/24/26 | Do No Harm | What happens when leaders hold too tightly to control? In this episode of Meditations on Leadership, Don reflects on a lesson from his early years building an organization and how learning to trust others transformed the culture around him. He is then joined by his cousin, Dr. Aaron Carpenter, President of North Florida for Nemours Children’s Health, for a conversation about accountability, trust, and creating environments where people can grow into their potential. A simple but powerful rem... | 1h 01m 37s | ||||||
| 3/17/26 | The Performance Trap | In this episode of Meditations on Leadership, Don reflects on a tension many leaders quietly carry: the pull between making an impression and leading from a deeper, more authentic center. In a culture that often rewards visibility and performance, how do leaders stay grounded in values, wisdom, and lived experience rather than image? Don is joined by Yellow Light Breen, President and CEO of the Maine Development Foundation, for a thoughtful conversation about leadership, growing up in rural ... | 1h 09m 27s | ||||||
| 3/10/26 | Leadership is an Inside Job | Who in your life has permission to challenge you? In this episode of Meditations on Leadership, Don reflects on the rare gift of having someone who will hold up an honest mirror and why that kind of accountability is essential for growth. He’s then joined by Sinclaire Williams, a nonprofit and community leader in Immokalee, Florida, for a conversation about feedback, humility, and the inner work that shapes effective leadership. Together, they explore how courageous leadership is forge... | 57m 56s | ||||||
| 3/3/26 | Let Your Team Grow You | What does it take to lead alongside people who are strong, capable, and perhaps even more experienced than you? In this episode, Don reflects on the humility required to let others stretch your leadership instead of threaten it. Through personal stories from decades of mentoring, he explores how ego can quietly limit growth, and how releasing it can expand your capacity to serve. He’s joined by Carrie Letourneau, Executive Director of the William & Mary Foundation, for a thoughtful conve... | 1h 02m 43s | ||||||
| 2/24/26 | Broken Open | When hard times come, we can be broken down or broken open. In this episode of Meditations on Leadership, Don reflects on the quiet but critical choice leaders face in seasons of pressure: to harden or to open. Through personal story and honest conversation with Ray and Patricia Estabrook, the episode explores resilience, release, vulnerability, and the courage to let challenges shape us rather than shrink us. A reflection on how leadership is formed not in ease, but in the moments that test... | 1h 02m 29s | ||||||
| 2/17/26 | The Spiral of Integration | What if growth isn’t linear, but a spiral? In this episode of Meditations on Leadership, Don reflects on the lessons that keep returning, not as failures, but as invitations to integrate more deeply. Joined by Maine publisher and entrepreneur Reade Brower, the conversation explores confidence without a fallback plan, living “water over rocks,” and what it means to trust the unfolding of a life. As Reade approaches 70 and reflects on what he calls the “Book of Reade,” this episode is about ev... | 58m 25s | ||||||
| 2/10/26 | The Road to Inner Light | In this episode of Meditations on Leadership, Don reflects on The Road to Inner Light and the often overlooked cost of alignment. While meaningful work can light us up from the inside, it also asks something in return. This episode explores the tension between calling and sacrifice, and what it means to stay with work that matters when it is hard, lonely, or slow to take shape. Don is joined by Patrisha McLean, a survivor of domestic abuse, women’s rights activist, and photojournalist, and t... | 59m 08s | ||||||
| 2/3/26 | Built by Staying | In this episode of Meditations on Leadership, Don reflects on Built by Staying and the quiet power of long term commitment in leadership. He explores how trust, credibility, and transformation are not built through declarations or quick wins, but through showing up consistently over time, especially when the work is slow, complex, or unseen. Don is joined by Emanuel Pariser, a longtime educator, co-founder of the Community School in Maine, and leader in alternative education whose reputation... | 1h 05m 25s | ||||||
| 1/27/26 | The Clarity of Knowing What Matters | In this episode of Meditations on Leadership, Don reflects on The Clarity of Knowing What Matters and the often overlooked work of naming and living from our values. Citing research that suggests only 7 percent of people can name their own values, Don explores why clarity is so rare and why alignment, once found, can actually make leadership decisions harder rather than easier. Don is joined by Rick Bresnahan, a longtime community builder and philanthropist whose life’s work across Midcoast ... | 56m 13s | ||||||
| 1/20/26 | The Courage to Face Shame | In this episode of Meditations on Leadership, Don reflects on The Courage to Face Shame and the quiet ways shame can shape our leadership beneath the surface. Drawing from personal experience, he explores how shame often interrupts growth when it is internalized and hidden, and how awareness, honesty, and self compassion can begin to loosen its grip. The meditation invites listeners to reflect on self worth, the difference between guilt and shame, and why facing shame is an essential act of ... | 1h 03m 23s | ||||||
| 1/13/26 | The Gift of Honest Failure | In this episode of Meditations on Leadership, Don explores The Gift of Honest Failure and the quiet courage it takes to lead with humility when things don’t go as planned. Reflecting on personal missteps and the human side of leadership, Don invites listeners to consider how honesty and self-awareness can turn failure into forward movement. Don is joined by David Engle, a Maine-based entrepreneur, investor, and community builder whose leadership journey includes both bold growth and hard-ear... | 1h 07m 54s | ||||||
| 1/6/26 | From the Vault: A Meditation on the Road That Led Here | This year-end episode once again steps outside the usual rhythm of Meditations on Leadership to share something personal. In this special “From the Vault” installment, Don revisits a piece of writing from 1997, created during a travel-based graduate program that deeply shaped his views on life, learning and community. Recorded with fellow travelers and set to music, it offers a glimpse into an earlier chapter, when the earth was educator and the road itself was the teacher. A reflectio... | 13m 39s | ||||||
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Chart Positions
1 placement across 1 market.
Chart Positions
1 placement across 1 market.