A Category of One
Claim This Podcastby Leslie Silverman
Podcast Overview
<p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />We go beyond tactics and into:<br />-Authentic leadership<br />-Building a brand aligned with who you are<br />-The inner work behind outer success<br />-Navigating ambition without losing yourself<br />-Becoming a category of one, not by trying to stand out, but by telling the truth<br /></p><p><br />If you care about meaningful work and living in alignment with who you actually are, you’re in the right place.<br /><br />New episodes every Wednesday.</p>
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
3/9/2026
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Recent Episodes
June 24, 2026
How to Find the Story Behind a Hard-to-Sell Product with Shawn Teasley
<p><b>Most marketing advice assumes you already have something exciting to sell.</b></p><p></p><p><b>Shawn Teasley is a marketing and social media strategist and the founder of Social Tonic, and some of her most interesting projects are the ones nobody would call flashy. One of her clients sells energy efficient building products, the kind of thing that lives behind the drywall where no one ever sees it. No drone footage, no sexy interior reveal. And that's exactly where the story is.</b><br /></p><p><b>We talked about how she finds it. The owner retrofitted a 1970s house with the same principles he sells, because of his two daughters and what he believes about the energy future. That's not a product feature. That's a reason. What Shawn does well is pull that reason out of people and put it where customers can feel it.</b></p><p></p><p><b>That same instinct runs through the rest of the conversation. We got into being witnessed, the idea that people open up when they feel genuinely seen, and how that shapes everything from a single client relationship to a team spread across three countries. We talked about asking better questions, the difference between collecting LinkedIn connections and actually nurturing a relationship, and why bringing your personal self into your work isn't unprofessional. It's the whole point.</b></p><p></p><p><b>In this episode:</b></p><ul><li><b>Why the most unglamorous products often have the best stories</b></li><li><b>How to find the reason behind what someone sells, not just the features</b></li><li><b>What it means to make a client feel witnessed, and why it changes the work</b></li><li><b>The line between collecting LinkedIn connections and building real relationships</b></li><li><b>How asking better questions surfaces the story that actually sells</b></li><li><b>Why your personal life belongs in your business more than you think</b></li></ul><p><br /></p><p><b>Chapters:</b></p><p><b>01:16 The Importance of Strategic Marketing for Startups</b></p><p><b>02:16 Exploring Authenticity in Business</b></p><p><b>05:14 The Role of AI in Marketing</b></p><p><b>08:02 Creative Storytelling in Marketing</b></p><p><b>11:12 Travel and Personal Growth</b></p><p><b>14:16 Cultural Connections and Team Dynamics</b></p><p><b>21:04 The Intersection of Personal and Professional Life</b></p><p><b>29:11 Ideal Clients and Networking Strategies</b></p><p><b>33:50 Understanding the Mind-Body Connection</b></p><p></p><p><b>Connect with Shawn Teasley:</b></p><p><b>Website: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://socialtonic.us/" target="_blank"><b>https://socialtonic.us/</b></a></p><p><b>LI: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnteasley/" target="_blank"><b>https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnteasley/</b></a></p><p><b>BIZ: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/socialtonic/" target="_blank"><b>https://www.linkedin.com/company/socialtonic/</b></a><b> </b><br /></p><p><b>Connect with Leslie Silverman:</b></p><p><b>IG: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/" target="_blank"><b>https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/</b></a></p><p><b>LI: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/" target="_blank"><b>https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/</b></a></p><p><b>FB: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman" target="_blank"><b>https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman</b></a></p><p><b>Website: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://lesliesilverman.com" target="_blank"><b>https://lesliesilverman.com</b></a></p><p><b>Hive180 Branding Agency: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://hive180.com" target="_blank"><b>https://hive180.com</b></a></p>
June 17, 2026
How to Plan Events That Help People Show Up as Themselves with Vivian Butler
<p><b>In this episode I sat down with Vivian Butler, a licensed therapist turned event planner and founder of Vivian Butler Events. We started with how a counselor ends up running an events business, but it kept circling back to something bigger: what it actually takes to build a room where people feel safe enough to be themselves.</b></p><p></p><p><b>Vivian's path didn't follow a plan. She moved through restaurants, social work, ropes courses, and experiential psychology before she realized events had been the thread running through all of it. She isn't just handling logistics. She's paying attention to how people feel, and whether they can drop the persona long enough to connect.</b></p><p></p><p><b>We got into the loneliness most gatherings quietly produce, where you can be surrounded by people and still feel alone, and what it takes to design against it. We also got honest about the parts of entrepreneurship nobody romanticizes. Pushing past your comfort zone every day. Learning that when you sell a service, you are the product. Trusting that a no is just clearing space for a more aligned yes.</b></p><p></p><p><b>Underneath all of it is a simple idea about permission. The way Vivian sees it, her real job is to build a room where people can stop performing and just be themselves. A couple keeping their wedding theirs instead of everyone else's. Coworkers dropping their titles for an afternoon. </b></p><p></p><p><b>In this episode:</b></p><ul><li><b>Why a therapist's lens changes what an event can do for people in the room</b></li><li><b>The difference between an event that looks polished and one where people feel safe to be themselves</b></li><li><b>What the loneliness epidemic has to do with how we gather, at work and everywhere else</b></li><li><b>The daily discomfort of running a solo business, and why Vivian signs up for it anyway</b></li><li><b>How "you are the product" reframes the way you sell a service</b></li></ul><p></p><p><b>Connect with Vivian Butler:</b></p><p><b>LI: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivianabutler/" target="_blank"><b>https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivianabutler/</b></a></p><p><b>FB: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.facebook.com/Vivianbutlerevents" target="_blank"><b>https://www.facebook.com/Vivianbutlerevents</b></a></p><p><b>IG: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/vivianbutlerevents/" target="_blank"><b>https://www.instagram.com/vivianbutlerevents/</b></a></p><p><b>Website: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.vivianbutlerevents.com/" target="_blank"><b>https://www.vivianbutlerevents.com/</b></a></p><p></p><p><b>Connect with Leslie Silverman:</b></p><p><b>IG: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/" target="_blank"><b>https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/</b></a></p><p><b>LI: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/" target="_blank"><b>https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/</b></a></p><p><b>FB: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman" target="_blank"><b>https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman</b></a></p><p><b>Website: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://lesliesilverman.com" target="_blank"><b>https://lesliesilverman.com</b></a><br /></p><p><b>Chapters:</b></p><p><b>02:45 Transition from Counseling to Event Planning</b></p><p><b>05:38 Embracing the Solopreneur Journey</b></p><p><b>08:39 The Importance of Authenticity in Business</b></p><p><b>11:26 Understanding Your 'Why'</b></p><p><b>14:08 Creating Meaningful Connections at Events</b></p><p><b>17:10 The Loneliness Epidemic and Authentic Connection</b></p><p><b>20:00 Unique Approach to Event Planning</b></p><p><b>22:59 The Value of Hiring an Event Planner</b></p>
June 10, 2026
How to Use Generosity as a Business Mantra with Janne Robinson
<p><b>I met Janne Robinson years before this podcast existed. Then, back when I joined the first cohort of her year-long program, Your Truth Is Your Medicine, I was rebuilding myself after a codependent marriage, and she was the first person who truly gave me permission to be who I am.</b></p><p></p><p><b>Janne is a poet, author, facilitator, and keynote speaker, and she has built a business by refusing to narrow herself down to one thing. Her anchor isn't a niche or a funnel. It's purpose. She treats every offer she makes as a 50-50 conversation between what excites her and what her audience actually wants, and she's at peace when the answer is no.</b></p><p></p><p><b>There's a thread Janne keeps coming back to around generosity, what she calls sharing the cow. It started at an archaeological site in Sedona and runs through everything from the scholarships she gives away to a whale trip a CEO gifted her, the one she's now turning into a retreat for other people. We talk about what it actually looks like to run a business that way, and why being public carries a real cost she chooses to pay anyway.</b></p><p></p><p><b>In this episode:</b></p><ul><li><b>Why purpose works as a filter for what to build next</b></li><li><b>What it looks like to run a business as a multi-passionate person vs forcing yourself into one lane</b></li><li><b>How Janne handles criticism and the cost of putting your real self in public</b></li><li><b>Why your own story, not a tidied-up version of it, is the actual work</b><p></p></li></ul><p><b>Connect with Janne Robinson:</b></p><p>Find Janne's first book <i>This is for the Women Who Don't Give a Fuck </i>here: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1945796413" target="_blank"><b>https://www.amazon.com/dp/1945796413</b></a></p><p>Find Janne's second book <i>There's cobwebs on her Vagina </i>here: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.amazon.com/Theres-Cobwebs-Her-Vagina-Collection/dp/1734042109" target="_blank"><b>https://www.amazon.com/Theres-Cobwebs-Her-Vagina-Collection/dp/1734042109</b></a></p><p>Book a consultation to do purpose work 1-1 with Janne here<b>: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://hello.dubsado.com/public/form/view/646333e19b539e6b47ed9138" target="_blank"><b>https://hello.dubsado.com/public/form/view/646333e19b539e6b47ed9138</b></a></p><p><b>For Organizations (Speaking, Executive Coaching, Culture Repair and Enhancement Work): </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://jannerobinson.com/organizations" target="_blank"><b>https://jannerobinson.com/organizations</b></a></p><p><b>Swim with the Humpback Whales Retreat (2027): </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://janne-robinson.mykajabi.com/2027-retreat" target="_blank"><b>https://janne-robinson.mykajabi.com/2027-retreat</b></a></p><p></p><p><b>Connect with Leslie Silverman:</b></p><p><b>IG: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/" target="_blank"><b>https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/</b></a></p><p><b>LI: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/" target="_blank"><b>https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/</b></a></p><p><b>Hive180 Branding Agency: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://hive180.com" target="_blank"><b>https://hive180.com</b></a></p><p></p><p><b>Chapters:</b></p><p><b>01:49 Janne's Methodology and Impact</b></p><p><b>02:42 Personal Life and Creative Endeavors</b></p><p><b>02:48 Generosity and Boundaries in Community Living</b></p><p><b>38:53 Cultural Wisdom and the Power of Prayer</b></p><p><b>42:00 The Healing Power of Whales and Nature</b></p><p><b>45:50 Reconnecting with Community and Personal Joy</b></p><p><b>49:27 The Courage to Share Your Truth in Writing</b></p><p><b>52:46 Coaching and Retreat Opportunities</b></p>
17 total episodes available
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- What is A Category of One?
<p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />We go beyond tactics and into:<br />-Authentic leadership<br />-Building a brand aligned with who you are<br />-The inner work behind outer success<br />-Navigating ambition without losing yourself<br />-Becoming a category of one, not by trying to stand out, but by telling the truth<br /></p><p><br />If you care about meaningful work and living in alignment with who you actually are, you’re in the right place.<br /><br />New episodes every Wednesday.</p> - How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates daily.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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