If you’ve ever thought, “My team sees me more clearly than I see myself,” welcome to The Owner’s Room—where we stop pretending and actually look. This episode is exploratory on purpose: real-time answers to five uncomfortable leadership questions plus two scenarios that hit nerves (inconsistency and burnout). Expect candor, not polish; usefulness, not theory.
You’ll hear about
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction to the Culture Focused Practice Podcast
00:14 The Owner's Room: An Exploratory Episode
00:45 Understanding Team Perception
01:25 Five Questions: Diving Deep into Leadership
01:28 Question 1: Team's Perception vs. Intention
05:28 Question 2: Stories Leaders Tell Themselves
10:23 Question 3: Gratitude for Painful Feedback
12:32 Question 4: Craving Validation vs. Seeking Truth
14:47 Question 5: Defensiveness and Resistance
18:13 Bonus Question: Letting Your Team Be Right
19:51 Scenarios: Real-Life Leadership Challenges
20:01 Scenario 1: Inconsistent Communication Style
23:39 Scenario 2: Addressing Burnout and Morale
28:53 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
CTA: Want peers and structure while you evolve (without the performative leadership nonsense)? Join Inside the Living Practice—monthly live Q&A + trainings with me, a tight-knit community, and only-the-useful resources: http://www.taravossenkemper.com/the-membership
If your “accountability” strategy is thinly veiled public shaming, congratulations—you’re not building culture, you’re building silence. In this episode, I break down how to call people on their bullshit without being a dick about it. We dig into why shame backfires, what accountability actually is, and how to hold a line with clarity, curiosity, and respect. Fewer hot seats. More alignment. Better results.
You’ll hear about:
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction and Podcast Welcome
01:37 The Problem with Shame in Accountability
07:00 Understanding True Accountability
12:24 Holding Standards with Respect
17:56 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
CTA: Want a practice where accountability feels normal, not nuclear? Join Inside the Living Practice—monthly live Q&A + trainings with me, a tight-knit community, and only-the-useful resources: http://www.taravossenkemper.com/the-membership
When your practice outgrows the old version of you, it’s equal parts thrilling and nauseating. In this Owner’s Room episode, I sit in that tension—identity vs. evolution, connection vs. necessary detachment—and walk through five un-prepped questions and two painfully common scenarios leaders hit as their businesses scale. This one’s honest, messy, and useful on purpose.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview
00:21 The Owner's Room Concept
01:25 Question 1: Shifting Roles
06:37 Question 2: Resisting Growth
11:32 Question 3: Leading the Current Business
13:02 Question 4: Fear of Replacement
16:36 Question 5: Gratitude and Grief
19:13 Scenario 1: Feeling Detached
23:26 Scenario 2: Business Growth Discomfort
28:47 Conclusion and Membership Invitation
CTA:
Want a real-deal space to process this stuff with peers (and me), get monthly live Q&A + trainings, and grab only-the-useful resources?
Join Inside the Living Practice → http://www.taravossenkemper.com/the-membership
In this episode of The Culture Focused Practice Podcast, Dr. Tara Vossenkemper calls BS on the idea of the “natural-born leader.” Leadership isn’t something you have — it’s something you build. Through failure, feedback, and that elusive beast called self-awareness, leaders are made, not born.
Tara breaks down the myth of the charismatic “natural,” digs into the actual skills that define quality leadership (emotional regulation, communication, and accountability), and makes the case that self-awareness is your real superpower.
If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re “cut out” for leadership — this episode will reframe that entirely. You don’t need to be perfect; you just need to practice.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction to Leadership Myths
01:49 The Natural Leader Myth
03:32 Key Traits of Quality Leadership
07:53 Leadership is Learned, Not Innate
14:55 Growing into Your Unique Leadership Style
19:47 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
CTA:
Ready to evolve your leadership and build structure that actually supports you (and your team)? Get first dibs access to the next EOS Mastermind at www.taravossenkemper.com/eos-mastermind.
In this Owner’s Room episode of the Culture Focused Practice podcast, I’m walking through something a little different: that feeling of being trapped by the very systems that are supposed to set you free. (👀 IYKYK.)
This is a real-time, unscripted exploration where I’m asking myself — and you — the hard stuff. Things like:
Across six questions and two real-life scenarios, I dig into the very real tension between structure and soul. I talk EOS (yes), rigidity (yep), creative suppression (ugh), and how to course-correct when your well-oiled machine starts feeling like a cage.
This one’s a grounded, reflective traipse through what happens when leadership growth meets system fatigue — and how to recalibrate without burning it all down.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview
00:31 The Owner's Room: Feeling Trapped by Your Own System
01:45 Question 1: Do I Still Feel Free Inside My Own Business?
04:49 Question 2: Following the System Too Tightly
07:38 Question 3: Losing Spontaneity and Creativity
11:31 Question 4: Tension Between Organization and Authenticity
17:07 Question 5: EOS as a Framework, Not a Religion
18:18 Question 6: The Freedom I'm Chasing
19:29 Real-Life Scenarios and Solutions
27:49 Conclusion and Call to Action
👉 Want more grounded structure without losing yourself in the process?
Get first dibs access to the next EOS Mastermind cohort:
www.taravossenkemper.com/eos-mastermind
Okay, so the numbers look good… but your nervous system didn’t get the memo.
This episode goes straight into the emotional undercurrent of EOS (that no one seems to talk about). I’m breaking down why clean data ≠ internal calm — and how to use scorecards and structure without bypassing your actual lived experience as a leader.
Here's the three-part lens I'm offering up:
– Data gives you clarity, but not courage
– Why fear sticks around even when the metrics say you're doing great
– How to use EOS tools without turning into a robot
If you’ve ever looked at a perfect scorecard and still felt like everything was about to fall apart — this one’s for you.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:22 The Emotional Side of EOS
01:24 Agenda Overview
01:55 Data Gives Clarity, But Not Courage
04:53 Why Fear Persists Despite Good Numbers
08:39 Using EOS Tools Without Ignoring Emotions
13:37 Final Thoughts and Resources
👉 Grab the free Scorecard Starter Kit if you want a plug-and-play way to track what actually matters.
👉 Or join the EOS Mastermind to do this kind of work with other brave, badass practice owners.
In this Owner’s Room episode of the Culture Focused Practice Podcast, Dr. Tara Vossenkemper sits with the messy middle of leadership — those moments when the data says what you don’t want it to.
She works through five questions and two scenarios that expose how easy it is to avoid, rationalize, or overwork our way around uncomfortable numbers. Instead of teaching or prescribing, Tara opens up her own thought process, weaving in honesty, candor, and the hard-earned reminder that metrics are signals, not sentences.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction to the Culture Focused Practice Podcast
00:40 The Owner's Room: When Data Tells You What You Don't Want to Hear
01:38 Question 1: Am I Ignoring Data or Hoping It Self-Corrects?
04:29 Question 2: Do My Feelings About the Numbers Reflect Fear of Failure or Fear of Being Seen?
07:24 Question 3: What Conversations Am I Avoiding Because of These Numbers?
11:53 Question 4: How Do I Separate the Story in My Head from What's on Paper?
13:35 Question 5: What Does My Team Need from Me When the Numbers Look Bad?
16:37 Scenario 1: Client Retention Numbers Dropping
21:33 Scenario 2: Revenue Projections Not Lining Up
28:06 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
If this episode hits home, subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss future Owner’s Room conversations — and share it with a friend who might need to hear this too.
In this episode of the Culture Focused Practice podcast, Dr. Tara Vossenkemper flips the script on how we think about scorecards. Spoiler: it’s not about tracking for the sake of tracking — it’s about meaning-making, alignment, accountability, and (surprise!) trust.
Tara breaks the episode into three key buckets:
You’ll walk away with practical strategies for keeping metrics simple, tying them back to vision and values, and using them as a pulse check on your practice culture. Plus, she drops a not-so-subtle reminder that if you're not tracking culture... your numbers will lie to you.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction and Podcast Welcome
00:07 Understanding Scorecards: Beyond Numbers
01:11 Agenda Overview
01:34 Scorecards for Meaning Making
06:26 Trust: The Hidden Foundation of Metrics
13:37 Building Believable Scorecards
19:28 Quantifying Culture and Final Thoughts
22:05 Conclusion and Additional Resources
💥 Want to dive deeper into running your practice like a living, breathing organism instead of a burnout factory?
Join the Inside the Living Practice membership for monthly trainings, tools, and templates that actually make your systems work for you.
🚀 Ready to implement EOS in a way that doesn’t feel robotic or overwhelming?
Get on the waitlist for the next EOS Mastermind cohort. It’s structured support with a side of sass and strategy.
In this Owner’s Room episode of the Culture Focused Practice Podcast, I get into the messy stuff: what happens when you’re more frustrated than you’re letting on.
I talk about how hidden frustration shows up (for me it’s resistance and irritability), how it sneaks into meetings or silence, and why it almost always ties back to accountability. I share the leadership lessons that shaped how I carry frustration now, walk through my “intensity × duration” rule for deciding when to act versus when to ride it out, and riff on a scenario where accountability is missing in leadership. EOS makes a cameo, of course, because structure always matters.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction to the Culture Focused Practice Podcast
01:29 Exploring Hidden Frustration in Leadership
04:06 Identifying Sources of Frustration
07:54 Naming and Addressing Frustration
10:56 Impact of Past Leadership Experiences
15:36 Distinguishing Actionable vs. Passive Frustration
18:58 Scenario: Handling Accountability Issues
26:34 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Subscribe to the Culture Focused Practice Podcast so you don’t miss the next Owner’s Room drop.
In this episode of the Culture Focused Practice podcast, I dig into accountability - not the “feet to the fire” kind, but the real kind that acts like glue for your culture. Enter the accountability mirror: the tool that forces us as leaders to ask, “What role did I play here?” before we go pointing fingers.
I’ll unpack why accountability is essential for trust, safety, and clarity, what happens when it goes missing (spoiler: resentment, over-functioning, and lowered standards), and how to bake it into your practice through systems and feedback. It’s messy, human, and necessary.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction and Podcast Overview
01:16 The Concept of the Accountability Mirror
04:09 Why Accountability Matters
05:50 Consequences of Missing Accountability
14:50 Building Accountability into Your Practice
21:26 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Want more support? Join Inside the Living Practice at www.taravossenkemper.com/the-membership. And if EOS is your jam, come hang out in the free EOS Collective for Group Practices on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/eoscollective
In this episode of the Culture Focused Practice podcast, Dr. Tara Vossenkemper steps into the Owner’s Room — her unfiltered space for talking about the real, raw side of leadership. No polished playbooks. No bulletproof strategies. Just the messy truth of what it feels like to lead when your business isn’t a machine but a living, breathing organism.
Through five self-reflective questions and two honest scenarios, Tara explores what happens when you feel bogged down, disconnected, or stagnant in your leadership role. She digs into identity shifts, decision-making, team dynamics, and that gut-punch moment of wondering if the practice you built still feels like yours.
This episode is for every leader who’s ever thought, “What the hell am I even doing?” and needed a reminder that leadership isn’t about fixing all the time — sometimes it’s about listening, stepping back, and remembering your practice is alive.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:08 Owner's Room Special: Unfiltered Leadership Talk
01:06 The Two-Part Structure of Owner's Room
01:53 Question 1: Decisions That Feel Alive
05:31 Question 2: Team Behavior Reflection
11:04 Question 3: Leadership Frustrations
13:41 Question 4: Business as a Living Organism
16:08 Question 5: Fixing vs. Listening to Your Business
23:21 Scenario 1: Disconnected Tasks and Vision
31:24 Scenario 2: Leadership and Culture Alignment
41:15 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
👉 Don’t miss future episodes that go deep into leadership, culture, and the messy middle of practice ownership. Subscribe to the podcast now!
In this episode of the Culture Focused Practice Podcast, we’re talking about why your group practice is not a machine (no matter how “well-oiled” you think it is) — it’s a living, breathing organism.
I introduce the Living Practice Framework™ — my way of blending the structure of EOS with the cultural, leadership, and people pieces EOS doesn’t fully capture. I walk you through the origin story, the five main elements, a real-life scenario of what it looks like in action, and the ridiculously small, doable steps to start implementing it without burning your practice down in the process.
Whether you’re running on EOS, winging it, or somewhere in between, this is about nurturing your practice’s ecosystem so you’ve got more clarity, trust, and alignment — and way less “what’s missing?” energy.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction to the Culture Focused Practice Podcast
00:08 The Concept of a Living Practice
01:08 Agenda Overview
01:33 Origin of the Living Practice Framework
04:51 Five Elements of the Living Practice Framework
10:58 Scenario: Applying the Living Practice Framework
14:28 Steps to Implement the Living Practice Framework
17:34 Recap and Membership Invitation
➡️ Want to actually build a living practice — not just think about it? Join me inside the Inside the Living Practice Membership at www.taravossenkemper.com/the-membership. Twice-monthly live trainings + Q&As, on-demand resources, and a community of group practice leaders doing business with humanity at the center.
In this encore episode of the Culture Focused Practice Podcast, Dr. Tara Vossenkemper brings back one of her personal favorites: Scripts for the Hard Stuff. Originally part of a conflict miniseries, this episode dives into the messy, uncomfortable, and emotionally charged conversations that every leader faces — and offers real, usable language to help you navigate them.
Whether you’re giving feedback, addressing cultural misalignment, or following up after a tense moment, this episode gives you grounded, non-cringey ways to open the conversation, hold space in the middle of it, and wrap with clarity.
Because leadership isn’t about being fearless. It’s about being prepared when the fear shows up.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction and Replay Announcement
01:40 Scripts for the Hard Stuff: Overview
03:37 Types of Conflict Moments
07:09 Helpful Language for Starting Conversations
13:25 In the Moment Holding Language
20:16 Ending with Clarity
22:41 Action Steps and Conclusion
💥 Want deeper support and actual frameworks for leading like this without losing your mind? Join me inside the Inside the Living Practice Membership. We talk leadership, culture, and the real human stuff that comes with owning a practice. Live trainings. Live Q&A. Real conversations.
In this Owner’s Room episode of the Culture Focused Practice Podcast, Dr. Tara Vossenkemper steps out of the strategy lane and into the real talk. No polished frameworks. No tidy how-tos. Just the raw, honest mess of leadership when your old wounds sneak into the driver’s seat.
Through five unfiltered questions and one all-too-real scenario, Tara explores how emotional caretaking, invisibility, and not-enoughness can quietly shape how we lead—and how to start untangling that. She shares personal stories of boundary wobbles, covert team dynamics, and the cost (financial and emotional) of leading from your history instead of your vision.
This one’s for the leaders doing the work—not just in their businesses, but in themselves.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction to the Culture Focused Practice Podcast
00:09 The Owner's Room Concept
01:03 Importance of Subscribing
01:26 Leading from Your Wounds
02:38 Exploring Personal Leadership Patterns
10:23 Impact of Emotional Caretaking
14:12 Leadership Lessons and Financial Costs
16:32 Self-Reflection and Gratitude
18:51 Scenario: Handling Team Pushback
27:13 Conclusion and Farewell
If this kind of leadership realness is your jam, you need to be inside the membership. Join Inside the Living Practice at www.taravossenkemper.com/the-membership for grounded, honest, and strategic support as you grow yourself and your group practice.
In this episode of the Culture Focused Practice Podcast, Dr. Tara Vossenkemper dives into the messy, revealing world of leadership origin stories. From the therapist default (hi, overexplaining and holding all the space) to the over-functioning pattern (aka fixing everything before anyone else notices), she breaks down four core scripts that quietly shape how we lead. You'll hear how early patterns show up in practice—like avoiding direct feedback, holding onto underperformers out of hope, or modeling instead of actually saying the damn thing—and why recognizing those behaviors is key to leadership evolution.
Dr. Vossenkemper walks through how to shift out of default mode and into intention with clear, actionable steps: auditing your autopilot, practicing radical honesty and ownership, and creating new, sustainable leadership patterns. Whether you're just starting to notice your scripts or deep into repatterning, this one hits home.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction to the Culture Focused Practice Podcast
01:39 Understanding Leadership Origin Stories
09:35 How Early Habits Show Up in Practice
15:50 Leading with Intention: Shifting Patterns
25:24 Conclusion and Membership Invitation
If you're ready to stop leading on autopilot and start building something healthier, join Inside the Living Practice. It's where structure meets soul, and leadership finally feels like yours.
In this Owner’s Room episode of the Culture Focused Practice podcast, Dr. Tara Vossenkemper gets personal, raw, and real about the emotional and operational weight of leadership. If you’ve ever looked around your group practice and thought, “Wait...did I build myself into a corner?” — this one’s for you.
Tara works through five tough but clarifying questions around resentment, role confusion, disengagement, and identity — and then walks through two common, real-life leadership scenarios:
Expect metaphors (giant deflated balloon, anyone?), vulnerability, practical tips, and a big dose of truth about how we get stuck — and how we start to shift.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview
00:44 The Owner's Room Concept
01:48 Question 1: Identifying Heavy and Draining Roles
05:16 Question 2: Expectations Shaping the Role
08:50 Question 3: Boundaries and Fear of Disappointment
10:11 Question 4: Identity Tied to Being the Boss
13:35 Question 5: Fear of Shifting Roles
16:21 Scenario 1: Over-Reliance on the Leader
24:51 Scenario 2: Flexible Workplace Challenges
32:57 Conclusion and Call to Action
If this episode hit home and you want more conversations like this, subscribe and share it with a fellow practice leader. And if you're ready to work on building a practice you actually want to lead, join the EOS Mastermind waitlist or check out Inside the Living Practice, my membership for culture-centered practice owners.
Let’s talk about systems fatigue—because yes, even with something as powerful as EOS, there comes a point where it feels heavy, clunky, or downright annoying. In this episode, I dig into what causes that burnout feeling around your systems, especially if you've been implementing EOS and suddenly feel like, “Wait… why is this not working anymore?”
We cover how to tell the difference between fatigue and actual failure, what to check first (clarity? leadership? cadence?), and how to course-correct before you throw the whole system out the damn window. From performative meetings to structure that feels more like red tape than support, we’re unpacking the real reasons your practice might feel stuck and how to shift.
And yeah—sometimes the answer is slowing down. (I hate it too.)
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction to Systems Fatigue
01:19 Why Systems Fatigue Happens
10:00 Diagnosing Systems Fatigue: Clarity, Leadership, and Cadence
15:13 What to Do When You're Ready to Give Up on EOS
21:12 Final Thoughts and Call to Action
Need real support around structure, leadership, and keeping your people sane (including yourself)?
Come join us Inside the Living Practice, my membership for practice owners who want to run a business without burning the whole thing down. You’ll get tools, live Q&As, EOS integration help, and a space to be the kind of leader you actually want to be. www.taravossenkemper.com/the-membership
In this episode of the Culture Focused Practice podcast, Dr. Tara Vossenkemper gets real about the gut-wrenching moment when a hire you thought was perfect turns out to be a total mismatch. Through a candid, question-based reflection, she walks through two hiring situations — one tangled up in attachment wounds and the other tanked by her absence from the process.
Dr. Tara explores five key questions, offering up lessons learned, personal accountability, and a brutally honest look at what happens when the paper-perfect candidate doesn’t pan out in real life. From team impact to hiring process flaws, this is a behind-the-scenes look at what leadership actually looks like when things get messy.
She also tackles a scenario: what do you do when someone starts missing deadlines and causing team tension within two weeks of being hired? (Spoiler: document everything, move fast, and trust your process.)
This is an Owner’s Room episode, which means it’s raw, unscripted, and fully grounded in real-time leadership tension.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction to The Owner's Room
00:32 The Perfect Hire Gone Wrong
01:30 Question 1: What Made Them Seem Perfect?
05:56 Question 2: Ignoring Gut Feelings
07:53 Question 3: Post-Onboarding Changes
13:58 Question 4: Team Impact
16:10 Question 5: Lessons Learned
19:05 Scenario: Stellar Resume, Poor Performance
24:46 Final Thoughts and Call to Action
👉 Got a real-life hiring or leadership scenario you want Dr. Tara to unpack? Submit it via the contact form at www.taravossenkemper.com — it might just be featured in an upcoming episode.
In this episode of the Culture Focused Practice Podcast, Dr. Tara Vossenkemper breaks down what happens when hiring gets hard and you start questioning your standards. You know that moment — you're tired, you're desperate, and suddenly "Can they do the job?" starts to feel like an acceptable question... even though it's the wrong one.
Tara dives into three major areas in this one:
She shares practical strategies like using structured rubrics, revisiting your onboarding processes, and building out a talent pool to stay proactive (even when the inbox is dry). This one is for the folks in the hiring trenches — the tired, the cautious, the quietly desperate.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview
01:34 The Cost of Lowering the Hiring Bar
06:24 How to Maintain High Standards in Hiring
11:00 Strategies for Navigating Hiring Deserts
19:09 Final Thoughts and Membership Invitation
Looking for hands-on support, clarity, and real-world strategy that doesn’t just live in theory? Come join us inside Inside the Living Practice, where we’re building leadership tools that actually work for group practice owners and values-led teams.
In this Owner’s Room episode of the Culture Focused Practice Podcast, Dr. Tara Vossenkemper gets into that maddening, murky territory where your team technically isn’t doing anything wrong… but something still feels off. When behavior doesn’t match your values, it’s not always easy to know what the hell is actually going on—or what to do about it.
Tara walks through five raw, unscripted questions around clarity, grace, feedback, and emotional tension. This one’s not a strategy playbook—it’s an inside look at what real-time leadership reflection sounds like. If you’ve ever found yourself wondering, “Is it me? Is it them? Is something broken or just misaligned?” this episode is for you.
She also riffs on a transparency scenario that hits a little too close to home for a lot of group practice owners.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction to the Culture Focused Practice Podcast
00:36 Understanding Team Behavior and Values
01:24 Balancing Clarity and Grace
05:45 Defining Desired Team Behavior
07:27 Exploring the Root Causes of Behavior Mismatches
09:52 Addressing Communication, Training, and Values Issues
13:16 Confronting Fears of Being Controlling
17:31 Scenario: When Transparency Fades
23:11 Conclusion and Call to Action
If this episode hit home, you’ll want to check out the Inside the Living Practice Membership. It’s where we dig even deeper into stuff like this—real leadership, team dynamics, and culture that doesn’t make you want to scream into a void.