1 Jun 2026 · 27 min
Kris Plachy relaunches her podcast as The CEO Sage, moving away from polished production to focus on authentic dialogue with high-performing women. At 53, she decluttered her life and decided to center in-person work and community. The show draws on Celtic traditions about three life phases—maiden, matron, and crone—to help women access their internal wisdom.
Chapters
Well, hello, how are you? I'm so happy to be back. I took a little break, y'all, and, uh, I sprung it on— for those of you who have been longtime listeners, I sprung that on you. I just sort of said, hey, I'm taking a break. This is the end of Leadership is Feminine as you've known it. And, um, I did that for a lot of reasons. Uh, the biggest one was that I knew my conversation with you needed to change, and I didn't know what I wanted that to look like. I didn't know if that was because I wanted to be completely off the webs altogether, to just start writing, to, you know, I really honestly, after being in a— having a business now, I'm, I'm almost into my 15th year. I have worked with thousands of people, um, I have recorded thousands and thousands and thousands of hours of content, and, um, The last thing I ever wanna do is either myself get bored with what I'm talking about or be boring, right? Like, oh God, what is she talking about? Like, what is she doing? And, and so I needed, I've needed a little time and, um, there's some themes that continue to resurface for me. And so that's why I decided to I mean, I guess we're going to call this a relaunch, but it has a new name. So there's that. Um, because the conversations will be different. And for those of you who have found this podcast, this actual episode, and you've never heard of me, talk to me, anything in your life before, hi. I'm Kris Plachy. I am a CEO coach. I have worked with high-performing, highly successful female entrepreneurs and founders for a, a decade or more. And I have been in the leadership coaching and personal life coaching space for, um, 30+ years. Um, I had a very successful and incredibly well-published— I think there's almost 400 episodes of a previous podcast called Leadership is Feminine. But this podcast, this chapter, this next series of lessons is different. This is me serving you as the CEO's sage. You see, there are unique postures that women who are compelled to pursue a vision must learn how to embrace, and those postures come with a level of learning, both intellectual learning and intuitive learning, so that we can evolve into our sage self. A sage version of you, right, is the woman who is well known for what she does, who has a level of success and achievement that is significant in her orbit, whatever that orbit is. And Sage knows there's always more to know. I work with those women, women who, who see life as a quest, as a as a journey, as an adventure, as a challenge, and who know that inherently the answers to solving whatever the present-day external moments are that present themselves to you, they live within you. They are not going to— the answers are not going to be found in another person, try as you might. The only way that they are found in relation to another person is through what I call the cocktail of wisdom that comes together when we connect. So my role in your life is to share with you observations, insights, conversations I have with other clients, my own intuitive knowing, my own challenges and the process through which I navigate those, what I have witnessed in others. And for you to recognize that there is a sage knowing within you. Um, you know, my, my heredity, my, my ancestry is rooted in Scotland and Ireland, primarily a lot of European, but primarily Scotland and Ireland. And so I'm quite drawn to Celtic wisdom practices, etc. Even shamanism, for my own knowing, for my own illumination. I'm not a religious person, but I have a lot of, um, connection to the energy of spirit and how we're all connected and, and how lessons continue to present for as long as we need before they are learned. And so I love, um, I love cultural practices that ground us back to what is the truth, which is the earth, uh, the land, the, the products of the land, trees, flowers. I, I just believe I— that's why I'm so drawn to Polynesian culture. I'm so drawn to Native American culture. I'm so drawn to Celtic practices and, um, ritual for the same reason. They are of the earth. So I'm telling you all of that because there are three distinct phases that women are believed to go through in that culture, and that is the matron, the the maiden, which is prior to children and I guess marriage, the matron, which is once you've had children and you are raising them, and then the crone, which is in your 50s. And it's a terrible word, or it has become a terrible word. It's become associated with witches and all sorts of things. But really what crone means is that you are now in your age of wisdom. And it is a time where others historically would seek women out for their wisdom, because by the time you reach your 50s, you, you have gathered a body of work. Whether you're a creator of work or not, it doesn't matter. You have a point of view, you have an assimilation of wisdom and knowing and ideas and learning and skill. And for the people who are in your world, you are for them. And in the Celtic practices, there is a croning ceremony where we— well, where we recognize women who achieve this position in their communities because it is to be heralded. A woman in her crone years is the woman we seek. And so my work around Sage is to guide my clients through this process of self-discovery so that they develop their own wisdom cocktail, their own knowing, because there is such grace and peace in achieving that. You know, our, our younger years and our aspirational years and our years of collecting— I remember, um, one of the biggest books that had— one of the books that had a huge influence on me was, uh, True North by Bill George. And he talks about that the '20s and the '30s are about, you know, gathering and collecting and making and doing and Right? Like all of this establishing of who we are. And then as we move into our forties, we start to release. We start to let go, we stop accumulating and we start releasing. And it, and in the forties, it is a, it is oftentimes quite a confusing time because we've collected so much. We have collected so much and It all feels so important, but is it? And then we move into our 50s and I, this is like been my trajectory. 3 years ago when I turned, the year I turned 53, we bought a new house and I literally threw almost everything I owned away or gave it away. I started all over. And it— and people were marveled, like, what are you doing? I'm like, no, this has to happen. There is a whole new part of me that's coming here, and this person does not want any of this. Whatever all this is, she doesn't want any of it. The stuff, the commitments, the activities, none of it. And that's when I started pulling off of social media, and I started pulling down as much Zoomy stuff. And right, like, I just really recognize, like, what I want is to help in my business. I want to help. And the, and the way that I know how best to help you is to help you, which is why all of my work will be in person going forward. We have to connect, you guys. We have to get back together. We have to experience the, the things that can only be experienced in the presence of other women. And if you've been a follower of mine, you know I'm not like a— I'm not going to be dancing around in circles, and I don't know, not that there's anything wrong with that, just not my jam. I just love really rich conversation, and that's, that's what I, I host with my clients. So this space, the CEO Sage, is where women who are at the point in life, whether you're 32 or 52, that you recognize you're ready to acknowledge that, or you've always known that the path forward for you is not someone else's instructions. That you were born a whole human with all of what she needed, and the path forward is discovery It's alignment. It's telling the truth. It's release. It's honoring you because you are the asset. You are, you are the vessel that makes all of it go. And in, and in so many of our cases, our vessel, who we are. We are the asset, but we can become depleted, numb, enraged, bitter, apathetic. And that isn't because there's anything wrong. It's because We need to build a new bridge to help you rediscover the core wisdom and truth of who you are. And once you do, you can live within yourself with so much clarity, so much, um, power, so much agency. So as the CEO's Sage, my job is to be the sage for the sages. When you listen to my words and you identify with them, you know There are very few places you can go where you feel held, where you feel like you can let go, that you can drop, that you can say, I don't know, where you don't have to hold all the answers, where everyone isn't looking to you as the expert. I hold that space for women like you. And through these episodes, lessons, I will bring you wisdom, ideas, and insights for you to kind of think about. And I also wanna be very clear and honest that I, I've returned to the podcast for two really important reasons. First of all, I was journaling this morning and I was doing the whole like who, what, why, how, when, right? I don't know if I did that in order, but that's how I wrote it. And I was asking like, who am I for? What, what do I do for them? You know, why do I do it? And I actually wrote, I am for myself. And that might sound a little weird coming from a coach, I suppose, but I really wrote it. And I realized that for whatever reason, this lifetime of mine, I am, I am constantly fed ideas. It's, it's, it's, it's fun and horrific, overwhelming to be, um, to always have a new way of thinking about something. And I love to write, but writing is slow for me. I'm not going to stop writing, but I love to process and verbally process what I want to share it's faster. It's— and honestly feels better to me. And I miss talking to you. I miss talking to you. You. Yes, you. And so the podcast is the way for me to actually help myself. And what I wrote was, if, if by doing so I help others, then this there is magic here. And the second reason is that the only way I know how to truly help you is to help you, is to help you. And so what I want is, is you listen to this. If, if we haven't worked together and you think, ooh, this might be the time that we need to do this, I want you to know that. And I think this is the best way for you to imagine what it would be like if we were in a room together in person, which is ultimately what I would love, is that women, you join the other women I work with who are, who are transformative women. They, they change their lives, they change other people's lives, and they have an insatiability about it. It, there isn't an end date. There isn't an expiration date on personal growth for them. I want you to feel the feeling of it. And this to me is the best way I know how to do that. And it's funny, you know, one of the other things when I stopped the podcast back in December, there's so growth, podcast growth is insane. Right now, and it's getting very polished. You know, there's, there's a lot of people now who, who don't even really watch TV. They just go on the YouTube and they watch everybody. And I, and I, I've had a lot of people I've talked to who are like, you need to have better cameras, you need to have better lighting, you need to have a better backdrop. And I'm not here for that. And I get it, if that, if that helps more people be attracted to my message, fine, but I'm not doing it. I watch other podcasts. This is just a rant. The male podcasts, those dudes look like ass. I mean, can we be honest? They don't try to get ready. They don't have gorgeous lighting. They don't have a gorgeous backdrop. They have on a t-shirt and their hat on backwards. And the expectation of women in this space is very different, and I refuse. So, but at the time I was like, I don't wanna play this game, man. And so, you know, part of the sage's business, part of this, the work of a sage is to filter out that, is to get out of The have-tos and the what if everybody else is. And I always know when I'm in the fray of that, when I can't separate myself from what other people are doing and what I should be doing and what they think I should be, I can, I'm human. We all have this dance. That's when I know something needs to change because I'm feeling drawn to participate in a way that is not healthy for me. But I don't know what the healthy is. And so what I know now is that the Leadership is Feminine body of work exists for anyone who wants help on how to lead and manage a team. And that body of work exists, and so does all of the digital content that I've created over the years to support it. If that is the work that someone needs, I want them to have it. I am not removing it. I'm not taking it down. It all exists, but it is complete for me. It is. I have nothing more to add in that space. My work is to guide women who are at intersections of their life and business, or just life, where they know a new level of wisdom is necessary before any strategy. We're so quick to want to know how to do something before we've even really thought about why we're asking the question. This space will be reserved for us to talk through the natural intersections that we experience as women with a lot of responsibility, potentially a lot of power and influence, a lot of desire for results, for women who have, even in their incredible success, abdicated or given away their own personal agency in their marriages, in their partnerships, in their businesses. Just because a woman is running a kabillion-dollar company doesn't mean she's confident in herself, and it doesn't mean she knows how to live in her life as an empowered woman. I've seen it so many times, and I want to— I want you to hear me that as your sage, I am telling you that if there are parts of your life where you are abdicating your own authority, that can change. And if I dare say, we need it too. For you and for the rest of us. Because at the end of the day, none of us can get where we want to go when some of us are still stuck in thinking or in behaviors that compromise what's possible for you. So A Sage CEO is a woman who accepts that responsibility and ownership for herself. She is beyond blame. She is beyond seeking reasons why this is the way that it is. And instead she says, this is the way that it is. And I would like to progress through, out, over, drop, let go of it. So I will be dropping thoughts for you to think about, practices for you to consider, questions that I'm considering. But it's a place where we can meet, and what I want most is for us to meet in a space that is honest, authentic, and perfect for the right women. If you have gotten this far, maybe that's true for you. And if you've gotten this far and you're like, oh goodness, no, it's okay. But if we're there together, I'd love for you to subscribe to this new edition. And if you know other women like you who might love this, please help them know that this exists. I am, uh, I'm a referral queen. I don't love to use some of the current channels. I've tried, but I'm really— I really prefer a great referral than Spending thousands of dollars on an ad. And so this is just my invitation that if you know other women who, who you think, ooh, this could be savory for them, please pass it on. So until then, till the next episode, I hope you are well. And I invite you to look at those wisdom cocktails that you already have, those things that you already know. Because if you're facing a challenge right now, if you're facing something that you just can't see your way out of, I want you to ask yourself a question. And that is that if I could see what I already know through the lens of someone else's eyes and ears, what would I What do I tell myself is the simplest and straightest path forward? Because it always exists. The trouble is sometimes we don't like what that involves, but there is always a simple and straight path forward. Ask that and then decide, are you willing? Are you willing to take it to the next one? All right, friends, thanks for joining me.
