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Breaking Barriers with Nada Lena Nasserdeen

Mick Unplugged

Sat Oct 25 2025

Summary

Podcast Summary: Mick Unplugged - “Breaking Barriers with Nada Lena Nasserdeen”

Podcast: Mick Unplugged
Host: Mick Huntoff
Guest: Nada Lena Nasserdeen
Release Date: October 25, 2025

Overview

This episode dives deep into the power of self-confidence, emotional intelligence, and modern leadership with Nada Lena Nasserdeen, CEO of Rise Up For You and an acclaimed leadership coach. Mick and Nada explore why moving beyond surface-level “why’s” to a core “because” drives sustainable success and fulfillment. The conversation delivers actionable strategies for building unshakeable self-confidence, identifying toxic cultures, and leading with transformation. Both speakers share personal stories, practical tools, and memorable quotes, making this a go-to episode for any leader, doer, or individual ready to transform their life and career.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Power of “Because” and Nada’s Driving Force

Nada’s “Because”: Elevating the human condition by helping people build essential “soft skills” that account for 80% of one’s success.
- “I'm obsessed with helping people reach their potential and this is how we do it.” – Nada [01:37]

2. Self-Confidence: Macro vs. Micro

Key Statistic: 83% of professionals say self-confidence is their number one challenge. [00:31]
Micro-Confidence: Confidence in specific skills (e.g., Excel, public speaking).
Macro-Confidence (True Self-Confidence): An unwavering inner belief in one’s ability, regardless of external circumstances.
- During crises (e.g. COVID layoffs), those relying on micro-confidence felt lost when their context changed.
- “We've been taught to build micro level confidence... But we're never really taught to build the macro level confidence, AKA self confidence... that's not sustainable.” – Nada [04:56]

3. Building Self-Confidence: Practical Steps

Nine Elements of Self-Confidence: Nada’s framework (free quiz at riseupforyou.com).
Not everyone lacks confidence in all areas; identify weakest elements first.
- “The first step of building self confidence is identifying which element you need support with.” – Nada [06:37]
Common Confidence Crusher: Difficulty setting healthy boundaries, being a people pleaser.
- “No is a complete sentence. No can help you sleep better at night.” – Mick [09:01]

4. The Four B’s to Reverse Engineer Healthy Boundaries [09:20]

Belief: Identify your limiting belief (e.g., “If I say no, I won’t be liked.”).
Backstory: Locate the origin of that belief.
Behavior: Recognize resulting habits/actions (“I overcommit and burn out.”).
Break It: Design personal strategies to shift this belief and corresponding behaviors.
- “Our beliefs dictate our behaviors... And that last B—the breaking—is not cookie cutter.” – Nada [10:20]

5. Ongoing Growth: “Your career will only grow to the extent that you do.” [13:39]

Industry competition and volatility mean continual self-development is essential.
80% of success is due to social and emotional intelligence, not technical skills.
- “The difference between those that are in the top 10%... is their ability to continue to pivot and exercise emotional intelligence.” – Nada [14:21]
Emotional intelligence correlates with adaptability, relationship building, and influence—what separates job applicants and advancing leaders.

6. Emotional & Social Intelligence: Critical for Modern Leadership

Key Stat: 92% of people have goals, but 92% do not accomplish them. [17:21]
Poor communication costs American businesses $1.2 trillion/year.
Disengagement and lack of self-awareness are rampant among leaders.
- “All of those things are equated to a lack of soft skills, a lack of ability to communicate, to build relationships, to influence, to empower and to create change.” – Nada [17:35]

7. Diagnosing and Shifting Toxic Work Culture

Spotting Toxicity: Not just about gossip—can be lack of accountability, unclear values, or disengagement.
- “A toxic culture can be that nobody has accountability… That’s also toxicity.” – Nada [19:36]
Action Steps:
- Assess Values: Ask your team what your company stands for—do they know the values?
- Climate Check: Anonymous surveys for honest feedback from team members.
- Nada shares a personal story of discovering she was seen as intimidating and how feedback allowed her to grow as a leader. [22:40]
  - “I was mortified… but it was the best thing I did because you can’t change what you don’t know needs changing.” – Nada [25:22]

8. The Feedback Loop: Critical for Effective Leadership

Leaders must solicit and utilize internal feedback (360 reviews).
- “The most critical thing you can do as a leader. … If you’re not doing it, ask yourself why.” – Nada [27:40]
Feedback helps identify true areas of need for your team and yourself—for focused, impactful development.
- “When you hear what they actually need from you, it shrinks where you need to think.” – Mick [29:00]

9. Rise Up For You’s Four Pillars of Leadership & New Book Series

Four Pillars: Self-confidence, emotional intelligence, transformational leadership, influential communication.
Nada’s book series covers each pillar. Recently released: Transformational Leadership—moving beyond transactional, resource-focused leadership to facilitating self-actualization on teams.
- “How can I help you reach your potential? How do I help you become the best that you can be, so that one day you can take my spot?” – Nada [32:20]
Coming soon: Influential Communication.

10. Investing in Yourself

Champions and high performers invest in coaching and ongoing development.
- “If you had what it took to do it by yourself, you would have done it already.” – Nada [33:40]
- “The greatest tragedy is wasted human potential. Do not let that be your story.” – Nada [34:20]

Memorable Moments & Quotes (with Timestamps)

On True Self-Confidence:
“Macro confidence… is an inner belief that you are enough simply because you exist.” – Nada [05:13]
On the Power of Boundaries:
“No is a complete sentence.” – Mick [09:01]
On the Value of Feedback:
“You can’t change what you don’t know needs changing.” – Nada [25:22]
On Personal Growth:
“Your career will only grow to the extent that you do.” – Mick [13:39], often attributed to Nada as a core teaching.
On Leadership Development:
“Great leadership, it’s not about you.” – Nada [27:40]
On Investing in Yourself:
“The greatest athletes and performers in the world, they invest in their development with coaches and trainers that can see things they can’t see.” – Nada [33:40]
On Transformational Leadership:
“How can I help you reach your potential?...Most leaders aren’t exercising that.” – Nada [32:30]

Rapid-Fire “Quick Five” with Nada (Timestamp: [34:39] - [37:00])

Daily non-negotiable: Prayer [34:47]
Favorite place to speak: Dubai and Las Vegas [34:56]
Pre-stage mindset: “It’s not about you.” [35:20]
Cheat meal: Pizza with mushrooms and onion [35:39]
Most inspirational leaders: Her parents—“I would say that I’m proud to look at myself in the mirror… because of them.” [35:57]

Where to Find & Follow Nada Lena Nasserdeen

Organization: Rise Up For You
LinkedIn & Instagram: @NadaLena
Books available on the website—links included in show notes.

In Closing

Nada and Mick deliver a passionate, insight-rich episode brimming with practical tools for leaders, professionals, and anyone looking to break through their barriers. The emphasis on actionable assessments, the inside-out work of self-confidence, and embracing feedback make this conversation essential listening.

Key Takeaway:
"Your ‘Because’ is your superpower. Go unleash it!"

For more resources and to connect:

Rise Up For You - Official Site
Mick Huntoff: mchuntofficial.com

[End of Summary]

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Transcript

Commercial Narrator (0:02)

Every story you love, every invention that moves you, every idea you wished was yours. All began as nothing. Just a blank page with a blinking cursor asking a simple question. What do you see? Great ideas. Start on Mac. Find out more on apple.com Mac hey.

Mick Huntoff (0:31)

I'm just going to hit you with three amazing stats that we're going to talk about. Deep in this conversation, 83% of people lack self confidence. 92% of people think that they're self aware, but they're actually not. 80% of your success is contingent on your social and emotional intelligence. In this episode, my really good friend Natalina Nasserdine and I are gonna talk through some strategies and you are gonna learn from the best of the best. Natalina is simply the best. Buckle up and get ready. This is my good friend, Natalina Nasredin. Natalina, how you doing today, dear?

Natalina Nasserdine (1:10)

Thank you so much. I'm so good. Thank you. And thank you for that intro. That was awesome. I appreciate you. Thank you.

Mick Huntoff (1:16)

No, no, no, I am the one that appreciates you, Natalina. You know, on the show I like to ask people what's your. Because that thing that's deeper than your why. Your true passion, the reason you keep doing what you do. So Natalina, today, what's your.

Sponsor/Ad Voice (1:32)

Because why are you doing all these.

Mick Huntoff (1:34)

Amazing things that you do?

Natalina Nasserdine (1:37)

Honestly, Mick, I truly believe in elevating the human condition. I believe that that's why we were put on this planet. And in all of the experiences that I've had and jobs that I've had, I believe that the way to do that is to help people build the skills. Skills that help them elevate themselves and their potential. And those are the soft skills, the skills that make up 80% of our success that most of us never really learn that are a game changer when it comes to not only your professional life but your personal life. And that is, that's deep rooted in me. I'm obsessed with helping people reach their potential and this is how we do it.

Sponsor/Ad Voice (2:15)

I love it.

Mick Huntoff (2:16)

And I want to go right there and unpack a lot of what you just talked about. So I know that there are people that are watching or listening right now that when you said that they raised their hand, they're like, that is me. And we know that Natalina is the guru of turning that self doubt into powerful conviction and powerful self mastery. So for the person that raised their hand, Natalina, that's like. Yep, she described me. What are some things that they can do? What are some of the skills that they need? To start developing right now.

Natalina Nasserdine (6:37)

Yes. So there's a tool that we use and if you're. If you're okay with it, Mick, I want to share it. It's totally free, but I would say the first thing is go to rise of for you.com and go to the free section and download the confidence quiz. Okay. Now, the reason why I say that is because there's nine elements of self confidence. And so the first step, step of building self confidence is identifying which element you need support with. Because we don't need support with all areas. We might just have one or two that we say. This is what crushes my confidence. So for example, I'll just list off a couple of them. I won't do all nine. Trusting your intuition is a confidence crusher or a confidence elevator. Right. It can go either way. So some people will say, like, I'm really good at trusting my intuition. If I feel something in my stomach, I always respect myself and I listen to it. Other people say, like, I tend to listen to other people. I hush that intuition. And then I do things that I know I shouldn't have done. And then, like, I feel bad about myself. Right. So you're gonna score yourself in that element. Another area is perfectionist mindset. So some people listening might say, oh, I really struggle with perfectionist mindset. And I've lost opportunity because of it. I lost clients because of it. I've been sitting on a book that I want to get out there for years because of it. And so that could be crushing their confidence. And other people might say, I don't have a problem with that. And so I would say the first thing is take the quiz and identify which out of the nine you. You struggle with, because then that's what we're going to tackle and that's what we're going to work on. I can tell you right now, one of the biggest confidence crushers we see with the majority of people is setting healthy boundaries. So many individuals have a hard time saying no, and they're people pleasers, and so they do things and they say things that don't fit them because they want to be liked. And we see this in leaders across the board. We see this everywhere. And so that's. That's one of the, I would say, most critical confidence elements that a lot of people struggle with.

Natalina Nasserdine (14:21)

Yeah, Yeah. I mean, well, the reality is this. Every industry is inundated. Every industry, right. As an entrepreneur, there's million people that do what you do, that have a business, that you have in the workspace. There's a million people that are in your industry that do what you do. And so the difference between those that are in the top 10% and those that are not in the top 10%, is their ability to continue to pivot and exercise emotional intelligence in the process. Because your success, 80% of it, is contingent upon your emotional and your social intelligence, not your technical skill. And so we gotta keep growing because the world is constantly growing, right? Industries are changing, politics change. You know what's happening, the economy is changing. And so if you are not changing and pivoting with society and with your environment, you're gonna get left behind. But most people don't recognize and realize that emotional intelligence is the number one skill that's gonna help you do that. Because emotional intelligence, it allows you the ability to adapt, to pivot, to have motivation, to have self confidence even when you don't know something, the confidence to learn something, exercising growth, mindset, and probably most importantly, is building relationships and being able to influence. Right? So I always say, like I used to be an executive. And, and Mick, I know you have expertise, expertise and experience in this too. But you know, when I was an executive and I, you know, had a job opening and I needed to hire and I would get all of these resumes, they all said the same thing, they all had the same degree, right? I'm like, okay, these people all have the same degree. They all went to a four year university. Their resumes all look pretty good. Okay, well who am I going to hire? I'm going to hire the person that walks into the interview that displays emotional intelligence, that knows how to communicate with influence, that has confidence, that, and that has the soft skills that so many of us don't take the time to learn.

Natalina Nasserdine (31:11)

Yes. Thank you so much. So it's a part of our empowering and educational book series. So at the company Rise up for you. As I mentioned, there's the four major pillars that we focus on. Self confidence, emotional intelligence, transformational leadership and influential communication. These are the four skills that we believe every person and company should double down on. So earlier this year we released the self confidence and the Emotional Intelligence book. It's an empowering, educational book that has a ton of strategies. And we just released the Transformational Leadership book. Now, the Transformational leadership book is that next level of leadership that really dives into how do you move away from being a transactional leader to a leader that creates transformation in your team? Because so many leaders, I like to use Maslow's hierarchy as the analogy. So many leaders function at the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy. At the bottom, which is just, do you feel safe and do you have resources? Right. How many leaders do we know that just say, just checking in on you, do you feel good? Do you have everything you need? Is everything clear? Do you have the resources that you need to get the job done? But what we really want to do is be a transformational leader where we take our team all the way to the top of the pyramid to self actualization, which is more than just, do you feel safe? It's how can I help you reach your potential? How do I help you become the best that you can be so that one day you can take my spot? And most leaders aren't exercising that. And so that book, transformational Leadership is come, is out. And then at the end of the year is the fourth pillar, which is influential communication. That book will be launching all about the ability to influence every day we are communicating with our body, with our words. But the question is, are you able to drive the receiver to take action and movement based off of your communication?