Why I Left with Brian Aquart

Send a message to the show

What happens when the system you helped build no longer reflects the person you have become? Dr. Jessica Herbert knows that question from the inside. She left the same career twice, first to step away from law enforcement, then later to move beyond public safety analytics toward leadership transformation.

Jessica’s path spans law enforcement, federal task force work, data science, entrepreneurship, and executive coaching. She founded Idea Analytics, led analytics work for public agencies, and now serves as a practice leader at Asbatra Coaching, where she helps leaders think differently about trust, transformation, and human-centered change.

In this conversation, Jessica and Brian explore what it feels like to hit the same wall twice, why awareness is the first real step toward leaving, and how data can reveal the early warning signs leaders often ignore. This episode is for anyone who once believed in a system, built something meaningful inside it, and now feels the quiet pull toward something more aligned.

Enjoy!

Stay connected with Dr. Jessica Herbert
Website: https://drjessicaherbert.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjessicaherbert/
Substack: https://asbatracoaching.substack.com/ 

Work with Brian Aquart
Storyline by Kingswood helps leaders and professionals make sense of career transitions, identity shifts, and the stories they’re telling about their work.
Learn more: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IT1-NDl51cZbhNUzUO4lCyjVJiVcmvxS/view?usp=drive_link

Stay connected with Why I Left
Visit: https://www.WhyILeft.co 

Subscribe:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgQI4X0kEp8-o7Z9D3tRmg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TE4Y626idPxNeewpCG6Ef 

Follow:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialwhyileft/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/why-i-left/
Connect with Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaquart/
Rate us 5 stars and share feedback: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 

Music licensed through Soundstripe.

Code: GMOUNFIQHH9AQI79, SBBHRSGIJNZ80ZK5, G2KR6SSYJIY8IBBT

Your story deserves to be told with clarity and impact. That’s why I created Storyline by Kingswood, an executive branding and narrative strategy service for high-impact professionals who are stepping into a new chapter. Elevate your leadership. Command your story.

Support the show

Interested in sponsoring Why I Left?

Learn more about partnership opportunities here: https://whyileft.co/sponsor-why-i-left-podcast/

Send a message to the show

What happens when the life you built still works, but no longer fits? For Kjell van Zoen, that question became impossible to ignore during a conversation about scaling a business in a direction that looked successful on paper but felt wrong internally.

Kjell is a leadership coach, organizational development practitioner, and guide for people navigating personal and professional inflection points. In this conversation, they reflect on building and exiting Plywerk, moving between entrepreneurship and corporate life, coming out as non-binary, and learning how identity reshapes the way we experience work, leadership, and belonging.

This episode is for anyone quietly questioning whether their career still reflects who they are becoming. Brian and Kjell talk about alignment versus comfort, ambition versus agency, code shifting, inclusive leadership, and why the first honest step is not always leaving. Sometimes it is telling yourself the truth about what no longer fits.

Enjoy!

Stay connected with Kjell van Zoen
Website: vanzoen.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kvanzoen/ 

Work with Brian Aquart
Storyline by Kingswood helps leaders and professionals make sense of career transitions, identity shifts, and the stories they’re telling about their work.
Learn more: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IT1-NDl51cZbhNUzUO4lCyjVJiVcmvxS/view?usp=drive_link

Stay connected with Why I Left
Visit: https://www.WhyILeft.co 

Subscribe:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgQI4X0kEp8-o7Z9D3tRmg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TE4Y626idPxNeewpCG6Ef 

Follow:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialwhyileft/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/why-i-left/
Connect with Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaquart/
Rate us 5 stars and share feedback: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 

Thanks to our partners & sponsors: 
BetterHelp: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/whyileft and get 10% off your first month  

ApodcastGeek: Use Code BA10 to 10% off your first order at https://apodcastgeek.com/  

Your story deserves to be told with clarity and impact. That’s why I created Storyline by Kingswood, an executive branding and narrative strategy service for high-impact professionals who are stepping into a new chapter. Elevate your leadership. Command your story.

Support the show

Interested in sponsoring Why I Left?

Learn more about partnership opportunities here: https://whyileft.co/sponsor-why-i-left-podcast/

Send a message to the show

Dana T. Weekes had built the kind of career many people work years to reach. As a lawyer and policy advocate, she worked on complex legislative and regulatory issues, represented major clients, and became known for high-stakes problem solving. But behind the success, she was exhausted, disconnected, and losing touch with her own voice.

In this conversation, Dana shares why 2020 became the culmination point after years of 12 to 14 hour days, pandemic-era crisis work, and the emotional weight of showing up for everyone but herself. She talks about trying to resign, being offered a sabbatical, taking a full year to focus on rest, and eventually founding Thrive Architects. She also shares the deeper meaning behind The Rest of Us podcast, where she explores rest as self-liberation for advocates and professionals who give so much of themselves.

This episode is for anyone questioning whether the path they worked so hard to build is still the right one. Dana offers a grounded look at courage, identity, rest, and what it means to stop succeeding on someone else’s mountain.

Content note: This conversation includes a brief mention of suicidal ideation and mental health.

Stay connected with Dana T. Weekes
Website: https://thethrivearch.com/
Podcast: https://therestofuspodcast.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-tenille-weekes/
Substack: https://therestofuspodcast.substack.com/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=6p1t9m 

Work with Brian Aquart
Storyline by Kingswood helps leaders and professionals make sense of career transitions, identity shifts, and the stories they’re telling about their work.
Learn more: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IT1-NDl51cZbhNUzUO4lCyjVJiVcmvxS/view?usp=drive_link

Stay connected with Why I Left
Visit: https://www.WhyILeft.co 

Subscribe:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgQI4X0kEp8-o7Z9D3tRmg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TE4Y626idPxNeewpCG6Ef 

Follow:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialwhyileft/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/why-i-left/
Connect with Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaquart/
Rate us 5 stars and share feedback: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 

Your story deserves to be told with clarity and impact. That’s why I created Storyline by Kingswood, an executive branding and narrative strategy service for high-impact professionals who are stepping into a new chapter. Elevate your leadership. Command your story.

Support the show

Interested in sponsoring Why I Left?

Learn more about partnership opportunities here: https://whyileft.co/sponsor-why-i-left-podcast/

Send a message to the show

Some careers do more than give you a job. They give you structure, identity, mission, and a sense of belonging. For retired Lieutenant Colonel Oak McCulloch, leaving the Army meant more than stepping away from a role. It meant learning who he was without the uniform.

In this conversation, Brian talks with Oak about his transition out of military service, the grief of leaving behind a deeply rooted identity, and the surprise of entering civilian leadership spaces where mission, urgency, and communication were understood very differently. Oak shares how he moved from the Army into service-oriented work at a food bank, then into leadership development, keynote speaking, and helping organizations build stronger leaders.

This episode is for anyone who has felt loyal to a system that no longer fits, anyone rebuilding purpose after a major career shift, and anyone asking, “Who am I without this title?” Oak’s story is a reminder that service does not have to end when one chapter closes. Sometimes it becomes more personal, more deliberate, and more human.

Enjoy!

Stay connected with Oak McCulloch
Website: www.ltcoakmcculloch.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/oakland-mcculloch/

Work with Brian Aquart
Storyline by Kingswood helps leaders and professionals make sense of career transitions, identity shifts, and the stories they’re telling about their work.
Learn more: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IT1-NDl51cZbhNUzUO4lCyjVJiVcmvxS/view?usp=drive_link

Stay connected with Why I Left
Visit: https://www.WhyILeft.co 

Subscribe:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgQI4X0kEp8-o7Z9D3tRmg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TE4Y626idPxNeewpCG6Ef 

Follow:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialwhyileft/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/why-i-left/
Connect with Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaquart/
Rate us 5 stars and share feedback: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 

Your story deserves to be told with clarity and impact. That’s why I created Storyline by Kingswood, an executive branding and narrative strategy service for high-impact professionals who are stepping into a new chapter. Elevate your leadership. Command your story.

Support the show

Interested in sponsoring Why I Left?

Learn more about partnership opportunities here: https://whyileft.co/sponsor-why-i-left-podcast/

Send a message to the show

Money is rarely just about numbers. For Kara Stevens, founder of The Frugal Feminista, money was tied to avoidance, shame, family stories, ambition, risk, and the question of what it really means to have enough.

In this conversation, Kara shares how she moved from debt and financial avoidance to helping women heal their relationship with money. Before building The Frugal Feminista, she worked in education, eventually becoming an assistant principal. But after years of building systems, serving students, and growing her platform on the side, she realized she had reached the end of that chapter.

Kara talks with Brian about leaving education, preparing financially for a major life transition, moving to Ghana with her family, and learning to build community in a new country. She also explains why money stories matter, how shame shows up for professional women, and why a powerful exit requires more than a leap of faith.

This episode is for anyone who is considering a career move, questioning their relationship with money, or trying to make a values-based decision without ignoring the numbers.

Enjoy!

Stay connected with Kara Stevens
Website: The Frugal Feminista https://www.thefrugalfeminista.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kara-stevens-edm-37882b12/
Book: Heal Your Relationship with Money https://thefrugalfeministastore.thrivecart.com/heal-your-relationship-with-money-book/
Free resource: First three days of Heal Your Relationship with Money at https://www.thefrugalfeminista.com/community/

Work with Brian
Storyline by Kingswood helps leaders and professionals make sense of career transitions, identity shifts, and the stories they’re telling about their work.

Learn more:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IT1-NDl51cZbhNUzUO4lCyjVJiVcmvxS/view?usp=drive_link

Stay connected with Why I Left
Visit: https://www.WhyILeft.co 

Subscribe: 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgQI4X0kEp8-o7Z9D3tRmg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TE4Y626idPxNeewpCG6Ef 

Follow:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialwhyileft/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/why-i-left/
Connect with Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaquart/ 
Rate us 5 stars and share feedback: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 

Your story deserves to be told with clarity and impact. That’s why I created Storyline by Kingswood, an executive branding and narrative strategy service for high-impact professionals who are stepping into a new chapter. Elevate your leadership. Command your story.

Support the show

Interested in sponsoring Why I Left?

Learn more about partnership opportunities here: https://whyileft.co/sponsor-why-i-left-podcast/