Power of Why with Naomi Haile

About Power of Why with Naomi Haile

The Power of Why podcast is here to help you strategically advance your mission in the world. Hosted by talent and business strategist Naomi Haile, each episode delves into the minds of leaders who are building purposeful organizations, creating employment opportunities, and using their gifts for good. Featuring a diverse lineup of guests, from the Chief Human Resources Officer at Netflix to actors and artists, tech founders and business owners, and champions of local movements, the Power of Why is here to help you live according to your purpose.

Publisher

Naomi Haile

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

25 Jan 2019

Latest episode

8 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

160 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 Oct 2026

   How a CPA Redefines Personal Finance for First-Generation Professionals with Lianne Hannaway

   Lianne Hannaway is a CPA, financial educator, and wealth coach helping first-generation professional women build wealth without sacrificing values. Creator of the Bridge System™, she has guided over 500 first-gen professionals through her workshops and programs. In this conversation, she explains why standard money advice often leaves out the people you support, and how to plan generosity, protect your freedom, and price your expertise for the life you want. Connect with Lianne Hannaway Website → https://www.liannehannaway.com/ (https://www.liannehannaway.com/) LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/liannehannaway/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/liannehannaway/) YouTube → youtube.com/@emotionsplusmath (http://youtube.com/@emotionsplusmath) Connect with Naomi Haile: Website →⁠ https://www.naomihaile.com/⁠ (https://www.naomihaile.com/) Sign up to my Newsletter →⁠ https://powerofwhy.kit.com/57ca5180df⁠ (https://powerofwhy.kit.com/57ca5180df) Purchase the Purpose Canvas to ensure your dreams have an action plan →⁠ https://naomiahaile.gumroad.com/l/purposecanvas⁠ (https://naomiahaile.gumroad.com/l/purposecanvas) LOOKING FOR A SPECIFIC GEM? 00:00 Welcome and introduction to Lianne Hannaway 04:15 Growing up as the daughter of Caribbean immigrants 05:44 Working at 11 and learning financial responsibility early 10:04 Entering Big Four accounting without knowing the doors existed 13:02 Making partner, playing the part, questioning the next ladder 16:15 Earning for yourself while carrying family responsibilities 17:49 Finding people willing to talk openly about money 24:16 Why “pay yourself first” doesn't work for every family 25:50 Building the four bridges: security, growth, legacy, freedom 28:43 Bringing culture and lived reality into financial planning 30:14 Discovering that money is math plus emotions 34:49 Why financial stress can persist at a high income 37:30 Reframing what it means to be “the first” 41:03 Adjusting family support before leaving full-time employment 43:28 Expanding the definition of an emergency fund 47:17 Why entrepreneurs need to understand pricing and worth 50:54 Building wealth when some of your wealth lives in the business 54:04 Demystifying investing through the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA)

2. 

   24 Sept 2026

   What Nobody Tells You About Grief And Loss with Ariana Lavelli

   Ariana Lavelli is a Solutions Engineer at Slack (Salesforce), where she helps small businesses spot the gaps in how they work and match them to the right tech. She holds a bachelor's and master's degree in Accounting (with a minor in Spanish) from Binghamton University, and got her start at KPMG before making the jump to tech. The real turning point came in 2023, when Ariana became her mother's primary caregiver after a terminal diagnosis. After her mom passed, Ariana became the family's default executor, which meant she was the one untangling probate, estate admin, and all the family dynamics that grief blows wide open. Unexpectedly, she lost several more people close to her in quick succession, and learned some uncomfortable lessons firsthand and more than once. So on the two-year anniversary of her mom's death, Ariana started Light & Ari, a grief and end-of-life support company built to fill that experience gap for others. It's meant to be practical, unglamorous help for grievers and executors, delivered with the same whimsy and warmth her mom always brought to everything. Right now, Light & Ari (https://thelightandari.com/) is launching an Etsy shop of curated goods for the grief-stricken and the people who love them, with plans to grow into full-service support: legacy planning, document organization, probate guidance, trust funding, estate and home sales, memorial planning, the whole thing. Ariana is building it out of Brooklyn alongside her corporate career, with an eye toward going full-time early next year. Connect with Ariana Lavelli Website → ⁠https://thelightandari.com/⁠ (https://thelightandari.com/) Etsy Shop → https://www.etsy.com/shop/LightandAriShop (https://www.etsy.com/shop/LightandAriShop) LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/arianalavelli/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/arianalavelli/) Email → hello@thelightandari.com The Light and Ari Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/thelightandari/ (https://www.instagram.com/thelightandari/) Connect with Naomi Haile: Website → https://www.naomihaile.com/ (https://www.naomihaile.com/) Sign up to my Newsletter → https://powerofwhy.kit.com/57ca5180df (https://powerofwhy.kit.com/57ca5180df) Purchase the Purpose Canvas to ensure your dreams have an action plan → https://naomiahaile.gumroad.com/l/purposecanvas (https://naomiahaile.gumroad.com/l/purposecanvas) LOOKING FOR A SPECIFIC GEM? 00:00 Welcome and Ariana's story 06:00 Growing up in Yonkers and how travel shaped her view of community 09:25 Why third places matter, and why they're disappearing 10:20 How Ariana turned her own rooftop into a community space 13:01 AI, isolation, and the human need for connection 16:32 The "reverse centaur": what happens when AI takes the helm 20:05 Helping businesses separate AI FOMO from actual need 24:36 When grief breaks the optimization mindset 27:03 "There's no scorecard to life" 32:14 Why "How can I help?" may be the wrong question 38:31 The two deaths of a person: physical death and the death of memory 42:57 How losing her mother changed Ariana's relationship with work and money 46:12 Wills, trusts, healthcare preferences, and legacy conversations 55:45 From professional organizing to Light and Ari 59:12 Building a concierge for the logistical side of loss 1:01:59 The vision: from Etsy shop to a physical third place for grievers

3. 

   10 Sept 2026

   Work Transformation Expert: We Must Reimagine Work! The Current Model is Broken | Cali Williams Yost

   Cali Williams Yost (https://www.linkedin.com/in/caliwilliamsyost) is the Founder and CEO of Flex+Strategy Group (FSG) (https://flexstrategygroup.com/), a futurist, and was called "one of the most sophisticated thinkers" on the transformation of work by The New York Times. In the 90s, Cali graduated from Columbia Business School and began working in banking, at a think tank, and after seeing a large gap in the market, she launched her own consulting practice in 1998. For nearly three decades, FSG has helped organizations define the optimal operating architecture that drives high performance across places, technology, and time. Cali and her team engage all levels, from the C-Suite to the frontline, to build on what's working, reimagine what's possible, and then make that vision a reality guided by a proven, evidence-based framework. She has worked with and is trusted by organizations like BDO USA, The Gates Foundation, Columbia University, Stanford University, ConEdison, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and the Singapore Government. At a moment when many organizations feel they must make consequential decisions about AI and talent reactively, Cali is truly that leader that is looking at the data and helping leaders transform work deliberately. You can find her commentary regularly in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, CNBC, NPR, and NBC Nightly News. Cali is the author of two books on work transformation, “Work+Life; Finding the Fit That’s Right For You (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1573222682?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback)” and “Tweak It; Make What Matters to You Happen Every Day (https://www.amazon.com/dp/089296880X?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback)”, and is a sought-after keynote speaker for audiences worldwide. Connect with Cali Williams Yost LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/caliwilliamsyost (https://www.linkedin.com/in/caliwilliamsyost) Website → https://flexstrategygroup.com/ (https://flexstrategygroup.com/) Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/caliwilliamsyost/ (https://www.instagram.com/caliwilliamsyost/) FSG Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/flexstrategygroup/ (https://www.instagram.com/flexstrategygroup/) Connect with Naomi Haile: Website → https://www.naomihaile.com/ (https://www.naomihaile.com/) Sign up to my Newsletter → https://powerofwhy.kit.com/57ca5180df (https://powerofwhy.kit.com/57ca5180df) Purchase the Purpose Canvas to ensure your dreams have an action plan → https://naomiahaile.gumroad.com/l/purposecanvas (https://naomiahaile.gumroad.com/l/purposecanvas) LOOKING FOR A SPECIFIC GEM? 00:00 Welcome and introduce Cali Williams Yost and Flex Strategy Group 04:39 Growing up with a single mom whose work model didn't fit her life 07:31 The bank CEO's "stone cold businessman" line, the moment Cali decided to quit 15:03 Starting with the work, not the tool 18:04 The return-to-office mistake companies are now repeating with AI 21:37 The foundational conditions an organization needs before change will stick 24:02 Nobody trains managers — and why that's become unsustainable 25:22 The labor demographic shortage nobody's talking about 27:37 Reactive layoffs today, a talent cliff in three to four years 27:55 Why letting older workers retire wastes irreplaceable domain expertise 30:59 Why global companies aren't worried about the labor shortage 32:55 The "light bulb" moment that became the concept of work-life fit 32:35 Why "balance" puts unfair pressure on young people 37:22 The Oprah and Emma Grede moment that proves the point 39:13 Resetting the business when her daughter got sick 42:44 Redefining success instead of chasing an all-or-nothing standard 44:59 Her advice to young people: there's no fixed 50-50 split 46:33 Where to start with AI if you don't have a massive budget 49:26 Her book got scraped by AI 51:32 Making space for fun in the middle of all this change

Who has been a guest on Power of Why with Naomi Haile

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Chanel Cathey
• Sigute Zitikyte
• Justine Hendricks
• Denyse Nadon
• France Hébert

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

14,817

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 56 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

45

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

95

Contact Power of Why with Naomi Haile

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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