In this episode we’re discussing how to turn obstacles into opportunities with my guest, Lasada Pippin.

Lasada was raised in an underserved community as a young African American and defied the odds to build a successful career in engineering and become a first-generation college graduate. His journey reflects the resilience and determination that now fuel his mission as an inspirational speaker.

Lasada’s signature keynote series, “Say It Better: Communicate with Clarity & Lead with Confidence” draws directly from that path: Empowering corporate professionals, educators, and youth to overcome obstacles and pursue meaningful growth. With a message rooted in grit, reinvention, and purpose, he equips audiences with practical strategies to lead with intention, rise stronger, and climb higher.

We dive into topics including:

How to make and support your decision to “burn the boats”
How to successfully step into the new space that you’re striving towards.
The importance of finding the finish line and keeping your eyes on it at all times.
What you need to do to build momentum to get to the finish line.
What to do to stay once you’ve “burned the boats’ and successfully gotten to your island of success.
The role of self-confidence in turning obstacles into opportunities.
Why it’s of the utmost importance to move towards something that you’re truly passionate about.
How to take action in “the moment of now” one small step at a time.
How to keep on keepin’ on after the initial excitement of your journey fades.
The reason you must really know and understand your “Why” on your journey.
How to get strategic about your goals instead of just riding high on excitement and love.
The power of starting with the end in mind.
The three questions you need to ask yourself and answer to turn obstacles into opportunities.
Why your journey never ends, it just evolves over time.
The importance of celebrating your small wins.
The importance of having a way to measure your progress and how to create it.
The one thing, above all else, that you need to do to turn obstacles into opportunities.

…and more golden nuggets of advice!

Starting to Turn Obstacles Into Opportunities

Lasada grew up in an underserved community with low resources and not having a whole lot. He feels like during his entire life that he’s had to turn obstacles into opportunities.

There was always some type of roadblock, there was always some type of challenge. Lasada has a background in engineering and technology where he spent his professional time for a decade. Even making the shift from engineering and technology into the keynote and motivational speaking space was an obstacle. Lasada had to see the opportunity inside of that transitional moment if he wanted to get past that obstacle.

An obstacle can be anything. It can be fear, it can be anxiety, it can be procrastination, it can be self-doubt, it can be a lack of self-confidence. There are so many obstacles that we don’t realize are obstacles because they’re wrapped in a different type of clothing.

Because of that there are so many obstacles that we need to identify, and that’s the only way that we can turn them into opportunities. For Lasada it was getting over the fear, embracing it, learning how to coexist with it, and building up his self-confidence. He needed to develop the confidence that he could make each leap and go forward and operate in the space of keynote and motivational speaking that he operates in today.

A Lifelong Journey

Turning obstacles into opportunities has been a lifelong journey for Lasada. He said that it doesn’t have to be a life altering, such as super darkness, but let’s just say “dark times”. When you hit the dark times, you hit obstacles. It’s then that you really need to see and focus on the opportunities.

A Decision to Create Opportunities

When Lasada was getting ready to leave corporate, he was faced with a decision. His contract had ended, and so he had the opportunity to renew his contract. He could stay there and prolong the contract and continue being in a place that included a great income and great people. Nothing was “wrong”. OR he could take a leap of faith and go after what he really wanted to do, what he really loved, and what he really desired.

He said a lot of times you are so blinded by what’s good that it blinds you from getting to what’s great. If you are blinded by darkness in your life, it’s oftentimes going to be hard to see that light. You have to shift that perspective. You have to change the way you see it.

You must look at it like as an obstacle, but at the same time realize there’s also an opportunity naturally baked into every obstacle. If you adopt a mentality that for every problem there is a solution, whether you have the solution at that time or not, that’s a whole different story.

You can adopt a mentality that within every problem that you face, there’s also a solution. So Lasada did a mental shift, and when he left and took that leap to put himself out there, he did something inspiring. He “burned the boats”. Lasada did that because you don’t want to give yourself room to go backwards after making a leap of faith.

Instead, you want to give yourself the opportunity to go forward. When Lasada made that leap and jumped out into the keynote and motivational speaking space, the way he burned the bolts was by deciding he couldn’t go back into Corporate America and couldn’t go back into contract positions. In short, he couldn’t go back into engineering and technology.

Lasada had to figure out where the opportunities were for him to continue to press forward. For every obstacle that he faced Lasada had to believe there has to be some kind of workaround and then embrace that pathway. He believed there had to be some type of solution to get to the island of success he yearned for.

Burning the boats needs to start from the moment that you make the decision. For Lasada, it was when he made the decision to leave engineering and technology and go into the keynote and motivational speaking space. The decision to burn the boats started right there at that moment.

The rest is history! Watch or listen to the full episode for more golden nuggets of advice!

You can get my book here: “Idea Climbing: How to Create a Support System for Your Next Big Idea”

About My Guest

Lasada Pippen Idea Climbing Podcast Headshot

Lasada Pippen’s journey from the tech world to the keynote stage equips him with a unique and powerful perspective as a motivational speaker. A bilingual STEM professional, he spent over a decade thriving in the engineering field before realizing that his greatest impact wouldn’t be made behind a screen, but in front of an audience.

Lasada is a former engineer turned keynote speaker and communication coach. He helps professionals, teams, and leaders say it...

How to Turn Obstacles into Opportunities with Lasada Pippen