What does it really take to be in the top 5% of leaders - without burning yourself out or armouring up?

In this episode of Driving Impact: The Top 5% Method, Katheline Jean-Pierre sits down with Victoria Pelletier - “turnaround queen”, transformation executive, and former “Iron Maiden” - to unpack what healthy resilience looks like in real life, and how to lead as a whole human in an AI-driven world.

Born to a drug-addicted teenage mother, adopted into a low-income family, and carrying decades of unprocessed trauma, Victoria became a COO at 24 and a CEO at 41. In this conversation, she shares how she moved from rigid armour to authentic, vulnerable leadership - and why that shift unlocked deeper trust, better teams, and bigger business results.

We also dive into how organizations can implement AI in a way that actually works for people, not just for the slide deck.

In this episode, we cover:

• Healthy resilience vs. protective armour - why “toughing it out” eventually breaks you
• How Victoria carried her “Iron Maiden” persona for decades - and what finally cracked it
• Becoming COO at 24 and leading a 6,000-person organization without a traditional path
• Why confidence is often mistaken for competence (and how she backs it up with execution)
• Building high-performing teams and earning the nickname “turnaround queen”
• Values-driven leadership: saying no to performative DEI and misaligned work
• Whole-human leadership - bringing your full lived experience into the way you lead
• How to balance high expectations with genuine care, trust, and vulnerability
• The 3 A’s of AI transformation: Alignment, Adoption & Ability
• Why AI success is 70% people and process, not just algorithms and tooling
• What Victoria learned from horrible leaders (and how not to lead)
• The biggest lie about success - and how she defines it now
• What the top 5% achievers do that the other 95% don’t
• The one lesson every founder needs to hear about not doing it all themselves

Connect with Victoria Pelletier via her website: victoria-pelletier.com

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SUMMARY:

Bianca Nepales shares her journey from being a public school teacher to becoming the VP of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Lionsgate. She discusses the power of storytelling in influencing change, her role in promoting diversity in the entertainment industry, and her personal rituals for staying grounded and authentic. Bianca emphasizes the importance of mentorship, taking risks, and understanding the rules to rewrite them. She also shares her vision for using AI to democratize storytelling and empower diverse voices.

Follow us on all podcasting channels.

Comment + Watch the video on Spotify (coming soon).

Follow us online:

• Apply to Launch a side business, accelerate your career or develop your personal brand: https://www.top5percentmethod.com/
• Join the 28,000 high performance tribe in my FREE newsletter: https://www.top5method.com/

In this Thanksgiving-week episode, Katheline introduces Part 1 of her framework for designing a wildly different 2026: the Calendar Audit. Rather than relying on memory, she argues your calendar tells the truth about how you actually spend your time. By reviewing month-by-month and categorizing hours across work, side projects, relationships, health, learning, and reactive versus strategic tasks, you'll uncover the gap between your stated values and reality. Katheline shares her own example: she claimed health was a priority but her calendar showed only 3 hours monthly—far below what she'd previously committed. The audit isn't about judgment; it's the data foundation needed to intentionally redesign how you spend your time in 2026.

00:00 Thanksgiving Reflections and Career Reinvention
01:19 The Importance of a Calendar Audit
02:09 Redesigning Your Career: A New Approach
02:39 Podcast Intro & Outro.mp4