Lead Like a Starling: Emergent Strategy Lessons for Solopreneurs with Taina Brown Artwork

Here's What I Learned: Ditching Biz-as-Usual for Values, Freedom, and Doing It Your Way

Welcome to Here’s What I Learned — the podcast for progressive entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses without sacrificing their values, creativity, or capacity. I’m Jacki Hayes: systems strategist, unapologetic smutty romantasy fan, and D&D geek. Around here, we get real about what it actually takes to build a business that fits your life.

Every episode offers something to take with you — sometimes through conversations with values-driven founders, sometimes through solo episodes where I dig into the lessons I’m learning inside my own business. We explore the choices we’re testing, the questions that create clarity, the experiments that move us forward, and the systems that stay simple on purpose.

If you value integrity, curiosity, and time freedom—and you’re looking for inspiration that’s as practical as it is empowering—you’ve found your people. Hit play, and let’s rewrite the rules together.

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Here's What I Learned: Ditching Biz-as-Usual for Values, Freedom, and Doing It Your Way

Lead Like a Starling: Emergent Strategy Lessons for Solopreneurs with Taina Brown

June 03, 2025 • Jacki Hayes • Season 8 • Episode 13

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When your business demands more than your body can give, what do you do? In this episode, I sit down with Taina Brown—personal and professional development coach, somatic facilitator, and strategy whiz—for a powerful conversation on sustainable business practices, values alignment, and how Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown transformed the way she leads.

After a health crisis forced her to pause her business entirely, Taina reimagined everything. From redefining what success looks like to exploring what it means to lead like a flock of starlings, this episode is a masterclass in adaptation, curiosity, and values-first entrepreneurship.

If you're a creative service provider rethinking how to structure your business in a way that supports you—not just your clients—this one’s for you.

Topics:

Navigating a full business pause due to a health crisis
How Emergent Strategy helped Taina rebuild her work around rest
Breaking free from toxic individualism in entrepreneurship
Tiny rebellions: Redefining professionalism and challenging white supremacy in business
3 lessons Taina would tell her past self about running a business

You can find Taina at:

Website: ifthenand.org/tainambrown

LinkedIn: /in/tainabrown

Podcast: Messy Liberation

Mentioned in the episode:

Emergent Strategy:Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by adrienne maree brown

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