In this episode of The Change Effect, I sit down with Angelina "Strike" Stephens, a former Air Force officer, speaker, leadership coach, and advisor whose career has been defined by both high-performance leadership and the courage to speak openly about mental health.

Strike spent over two decades in the military, rising through the ranks in aircraft maintenance and global leadership roles. But alongside that professional trajectory, she was quietly navigating something deeply personal. After the birth of her first son, she experienced severe postpartum anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts, and struggled for nearly a year before recognizing what she was going through.

We talk about why high performers often struggle harder, how stigma breaking creates real institutional change, and what it looks like to lead with clarity, courage, and grounded self-trust, especially in environments where identity and performance are tightly intertwined.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why high performers and leaders often struggle harder, and carry it more silently, than anyone around them realizes
• What it actually takes to break the silence inside a highly structured system, and how honesty can deepen rather than diminish your leadership
• How to navigate a major career transition when you don't yet have the answers, and why treating it like a research project changes everything
• The connection between mental health, leadership, and team culture, and why these conversations belong together, not apart

This episode is a reminder that real leadership isn't built on having it all together. It's built on the courage to be honest, the willingness to be supported, and the conviction to let your lived experience, not just your achievements, lead the way.

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Connect with Angela Strikes Stephens:

Website: www.strikestephens.com 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/strikestephens 

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/angelinastephens 

Victory Strategies Webiste: www.victory-strategies.com

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