Welcome to A Category of One: deep, honest conversations with entrepreneurs about how we show up as the truest version of ourselves, both personally and professionally.
I’m Leslie Silverman, brand strategist and curious human, and this podcast was born from one belief: when we let our light shine, we give others permission to do the same.
Each week, I sit down with founders, creatives, and business leaders to explore identity, ambition, doubt, reinvention, and the uncomfortable growth no one talks about.
We go beyond tactics and into:
-Authentic leadership
-Building a brand aligned with who you are
-The inner work behind outer success
-Navigating ambition without losing yourself
-Becoming a category of one, not by trying to stand out, but by telling the truth
If you care about meaningful work and living in alignment with who you actually are, you’re in the right place.
New episodes every Wednesday.
How to Unleash Yourself and Let Your Light Shine with David Rush
David Rush and I met in a breakout room during an online networking group, and the conversation flowed so easily we kept it going. On this episode of A Category of One, David, host of the Unleashed podcast and founder of The Morning Rush, shares what it has looked like to unleash himself and let his light shine, and how often it took someone else seeing it first.
One of those mirrors came from somewhere unexpected. After a break from his regular conversations with ChatGPT, David noticed it was responding differently. Slower, more thoughtful, saying less. When he asked if the program had changed, the answer was no. He had. It was simply reflecting him back. That exchange gave him a line he keeps coming back to: don't rush the ripening.
David used to be painfully shy, a young man who could barely put a sentence together. Five years ago, in a Zoom room, another David spoke openly about the leader he saw in him, and it changed the direction of his life. He's honest about how hard it still is to receive words like that, and how easy it is to wave them off when they don't match the picture you hold of yourself.
We also get into his virtual staffing work, connecting business owners with skilled assistants in the Philippines and Latin America, and why he thinks human connection will matter even more as AI keeps spreading.
In this episode:
Why the people around you often see your light before you do
What an AI conversation revealed about who David is becoming
Don't rush the ripening, and letting real change take its own time
Why compliments are so hard to receive, and what shifts when you let them land
Where AI falls short and a human touch still matters in business
Choosing how you respond instead of repeating what you learned
Connect with David Rush:
https://www.accessvirtualstaffing.com (https://www.accessvirtualstaffing.com)
https://www.themorningrush.org (https://www.themorningrush.org)
https://www.davidrushpartners.com (https://www.davidrushpartners.com)
https://www.youtube.com/@davidrush16 (https://www.youtube.com/@davidrush16)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrush16/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrush16/)
Connect with Leslie Silverman:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/ (https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/)
LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/)
FB: https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman (https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman)
Website: https://lesliesilverman.com (https://lesliesilverman.com)
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction and Guest Background
02:09 The Power of Authentic Self-Expression
05:01 Reflecting on Personal Blind Spots
08:28 The Concept of Rushing the Ripening
09:34 The Origin of the Morning Rush Community
11:36 The Impact of External Mirroring
14:35 The Power of Spoken Life and Vision Casting
16:17 The Influence of Words and Faith
17:16 Openness to Receiving and Self-Love
18:00 The Importance of Compliments and Affirmations
19:15 The Value of Human Connection Over AI
20:24 Outsourcing and Leveraging Virtual Assistants
22:54 The Benefits of Human Touch in Business
25:33 Success Stories with Virtual Assistants
28:17 Building Relationships with Global Virtual Assistants
29:56 Lessons from Nature
31:18 Embracing Individuality and Authenticity
31:46 Choosing Reactions and Responses
32:46 Join the Morning Rush and Connect
33:31 Closing Remarks and Future Collaborations
30 Sept 2026
How to Reprogram Your Subconscious for Success with Bri Seeley
In this episode of A Category of One, I sat down with Bri Seeley, creator of Subconscious Success Optimization, who uses hypnosis to help entrepreneurs reprogram their subconscious for success. A mutual friend told us there was no world where we didn't know each other. She was right, and this conversation picked up right where our friendship started.
Bri describes the subconscious as the operating system running in the background of your life, mostly installed before you turned eight. For her, that meant beliefs formed before the internet existed were still deciding what kind of business she was allowed to have. Layering positive thinking on top, she says, is like changing the wallpaper on a laptop that still has a virus.
We spent time on what she calls the success threshold, the point where your subconscious decides things have gotten unsafe and quietly pulls you back. It helps explain why working harder doesn't always move the needle. Her advice is to look at your results. The walls you keep hitting show you what's running underneath.
Bri also opened up about what happened when she turned up the heat on this work in her own life. It reshaped her business and her marriage, and left her living by one standard: greatness or nothing.
In this episode:
Why affirmations alone can't override beliefs installed in early childhood
The success threshold and why your subconscious pulls you back to what feels safe
Bri's garden metaphor for clearing old beliefs before planting new ones
Why rewiring takes 30 days of repetition, not a single breakthrough
How subconscious work can ripple into relationships and other areas beyond business
Why you can't expand a business without expanding yourself
Connect with Bri Seeley:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/briseeley (https://www.instagram.com/briseeley)
LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bri-seeley/
(https://www.linkedin.com/in/bri-seeley/)FB: https://www.facebook.com/bri.seeley (https://www.facebook.com/bri.seeley)
Website: https://www.briseeley.com/ (https://www.briseeley.com/)
Connect with Leslie Silverman:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/ (https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/)
LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/)
FB: https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman (https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman)
Website: https://lesliesilverman.com (https://lesliesilverman.com)
Chapters:
01:12 Introduction to Bree Seeley and Her Work
01:41 Exploring Subconscious Success Optimization
01:44 Introduction to Bri Seeley's Journey and Work
03:35 Bri shares her personal story of transformation and subconscious work
05:51 Understanding the subconscious mind and its influence
07:29 Childhood programming and limiting beliefs
10:28 The success threshold and how to raise it
13:27 Signs your subconscious may be holding you back
16:14 The process of subconscious reprogramming through hypnosis
19:09 Practical steps to rewire limiting beliefs
21:58 The importance of consistent practice and repetition
25:14 How subconscious work impacts all areas of life
27:56 Tools and protocols Bri uses for transformation
30:53 The role of growth mindset in success
33:37 Overcoming triggers and subconscious blocks
36:31 Upcoming programs and how to get involved
23 Sept 2026
How to Apply Improv Principles to Leadership and Team Building with Scott Parker
In this episode of A Category of One, I sat down with Scott Parker, a leadership consultant and team building facilitator who uses improv and juggling to help people communicate better. Scott and I know each other from Steamboat Springs, and we hadn't talked in years. It came out early in the conversation that we both went to college in Buffalo.
Scott's business is called Just Go For It, which is a fair description of how he's worked. Stripped down, improv is a practice of receiving someone else's idea instead of shutting it down. That matters more in a conference room than most people expect, because what an employee learns from the first "no" shapes every idea they bring after it. We talk about what changes when the answer is "tell me more," and about the other half of saying yes, which is staying open enough to notice an opportunity when it shows up.
Scott has spent years getting people out of their comfort zone without them realizing they left it. When people laugh together, they stop defending themselves, and that's where real communication has room to happen. That idea runs through the Chamber of Commerce he leads in Oregon wine country and the variety show he started in a divided town. I share what volunteering gave me that I never saw coming. Scott closes with what an eighth grade classroom taught him about being the same person no matter what role you're in.
In this episode:
Why "yes, and" changes which ideas employees bring to their manager
How playfulness gets into work that's usually dry
What it takes to say yes before you feel qualified
How a variety show got a divided town laughing together
What volunteering gives the person doing it
Why you can't be one person in the classroom and another person outside it
Links:
Connect with Scott Parker:
Website: https://www.scottparkerleadership.com/ (https://www.scottparkerleadership.com/)
LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-parker-89b62522/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-parker-89b62522/)
Connect with Leslie Silverman:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/ (https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/)
LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/)
FB: https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman (https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman)
Website: https://lesliesilverman.com (https://lesliesilverman.com)
Chapters:
00:19 Introduction to Scott Parker
00:44 The Power of Humor in Leadership
01:01 Introduction and guest background
02:59 The Chief Theater's history and community role
06:07 Scott's move to Oregon and community work
07:56 Integrating playfulness into leadership and consulting
10:47 The power of laughter and connection in community
13:38 Improv and the 'Yes And' approach in teams
16:38 Opportunities from being open and positive
19:37 Scott's community engagement and volunteer work
21:29 The impact of giving back and community involvement
24:11 Personal stories of influence and transformation
27:11 The importance of authenticity and fun in leadership
30:00 Scott's teaching experiences and lessons learned
31:53 The value of being true to oneself in work and life
33:43 Closing thoughts and how to connect with Scott
Reach and audience
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
10 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
7 ratings
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