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The CEO Sage — Business
The CEO Sage

You’re vitally important and completely invisible. You’re performing in what you once dreamed. The thing you built to free you has become the thing you’re trapped inside.

You’ve built something real. A business that works. A reputation that precedes you. By every measure, you’re succeeding.
And something is wrong that you can’t quite name.

You’ve tried the frameworks. You’ve bought the courses. You’ve followed the gurus. And on some level you know that none of it is going to give you what you’re actually looking for, because what you’re actually looking for is yourself.

This is The CEO Sage—a podcast for the woman who is ready to stop looking outside herself for the answer.

Kris Plachy doesn’t offer you recipes or tactics or the “real way” to scale your business. She offers you something more rare: permission to listen to what you already know. In intimate, unflinching conversations, she names the truths you’ve been waiting to hear aloud. That your wisdom matters more than the strategy. That your self-trust is the asset worth protecting. That what feels like failure might actually be an invitation to something better.

If you’ve achieved the success everyone told you to want and discovered it wasn’t what you were looking for, this is for you. If you know something needs to change but can’t see the path, this is for you. If you’re ready to stop performing and start revealing—to yourself first, then to the world—this is for you.

The CEO Sage. Where the work of becoming begins with the work of remembering who you already are.

Copyright: Copyright © 2019 - 2021 Kris Plachy

Latest Episodes:

Why I've Closed My Business Aug 17, 2026

Show notes

If you recognize there's a bottleneck between where you are and where you want to be, this is for you.

Kris has closed her business and opened her practice. The difference matters. A practice isn't about reaching thousands through funnels and content calendars. It's about working directly with women who are ready to actually change.

Not women who want to learn more. Women who want to execute differently. Not women who are curious about personal growth. Women who are willing to do the uncomfortable work to get a different result. Women who know something has to shift but can't figure out what.

She's looking for women at different stages. Some are trying to grow their companies but know their confidence or competence is the bottleneck. Some have built the life they dreamed and are asking who they are now. Some are close to selling and unsure who they need to become in that process. Some are drowning in masterminds and group programs when what they actually need is someone to help them remember who they are.

What you'll learn

What kind of woman is actually ready for private coaching
Why group masterminds and programs might not be what you need
How to know if you're in learning mode when you should be in integration mode
What happens when you stop exposing yourself to everyone else's ideas
About a 2-day live event happening in September

If you're listening to this and thinking "that's me," it probably is.

Connect with Kris

Interested in joining the live event in September? Visit https://www.thevisionary.ceo/septemberwithkris for the details and to register.
If this is you, let's work together. Explore SAGE at www.thevisionary.ceo/sageinvitation
Be sure to hit the Subscribe button for this podcast so you don't miss new episodes.
If this episode landed for you, subscribe to the Sage Letters to go deeper: www.thevisionary.ceo/letters

The Topic We All Must Talk About Aug 10, 2026

Show notes

Every business has an ending. The question is whether you're going to plan for it or let it happen to you.

Kris is thinking about something that doesn't get talked about nearly enough. Aging. Exits. The reality that your business, no matter how successful it is, will not last forever. And if you're waiting until you're ready to leave to start planning, you're already too late.

She's watched it happen too many times. Women in their 50s and 60s realize they need to exit and discover they've built a business that cannot operate without them. They cannot delegate. They cannot step back. The business needs what's in their head to function. And now they're stuck.

Here's what you need to know: it takes 12 to 36 months to get a business ready to sell. If you're already wondering about it, you should start now. Not because you have to sell tomorrow, but because getting ready invites opportunity.

What you'll learn:

Why most women never think about exit strategy the way men do
How building a business as if you could sell it changes everything
What happens when you become too enmeshed in your own business
The tipping point where it becomes too late to exit easily
How to shift from founder to custodian of what you've built
What to ask yourself if you're staying past your expiration date

The sooner you start thinking about this, the more choices you'll have. It's time to get honest about what comes next.

Connect with Kris

Build a business you can actually leave. Explore SAGE at www.thevisionary.ceo/sageinvitation
Be sure to hit the Subscribe button for this podcast so you don't miss new episodes.
If this episode landed for you, subscribe to the Sage Letters to go deeper: www.thevisionary.ceo/letters

Self-Acceptance & Leadership Aug 03, 2026

Show notes

What if the person judging you the most isn't anyone else? It's you.

Kris has noticed something that shows up in almost everything her clients struggle with. They feel judged. They don't fit in. They're doing it wrong. They're not enough. And so they build their lives around trying to hide the parts of themselves they believe are unacceptable.

Here's the truth: it's not actually judgment from the outside. It's what you believe about yourself on the inside.

She walks through the difference between negative patterns worth changing and traits that are just who you are. Between things that prevent you from getting results and things that don't matter at all. Between needing to grow and needing to accept.

And then she gets real about leadership. You cannot hold a vision for what you want to create while simultaneously believing you're not the right person to create it. The moment you lack self-acceptance, you become defensive. You take things personally. You lose it over things that have nothing to do with you.

What you'll learn:

How to know the difference between patterns to change and traits to accep
Why your fear of judgment is actually a signal of self-rejection
What lack of self-acceptance costs you in leadership
How to stop hiding yourself and start being all in on who you are
Why retelling painful stories is keeping you stuck
How to set a boundary without apologizing for being yourself

The real work isn't becoming someone different. It's accepting who you already are and leading from there.

Connect with Kris

· Stop apologizing for who you are. See how SAGE can help at www.thevisionary.ceo/sageinvitation

· Be sure to hit the Subscribe button for this podcast so you don't miss new episodes.

· If this episode landed for you, subscribe to the Sage Letters to go deeper: www.thevisionary.ceo/letters

Stop Living the Default Jul 27, 2026

Show notes

What if the life you're living right now is based on definitions you never questioned?

Kris has been thinking about home. Not just the physical structure, but what it means. She and her husband are considering selling their custom-built house to rent, to travel, to redirect their money toward experiences instead of a mortgage. And in the process of looking at options, she's realizing that the definition she chooses will determine everything about how she actually lives.

But this isn't just about real estate. This is about how you define yourself in every role. How you define being a business owner. How you define being a mother. How you define what's possible for you. The definition you choose is what drives the result you get.

What you'll learn:

• How the definitions you're operating from shape every outcome you create • Why your choices are always choices, even when you tell yourself they aren't • How to deliberately redefine something instead of accepting the default • What happens when you decide to define your life on purpose • That you can change your definition and change everything

The invitation is simple. Stop defaulting to how things have always been defined. Start choosing.

Connect with Kris

Ready to stop living the default? Explore SAGE at www.thevisionary.ceo/sageinvitation
Be sure to hit the Subscribe button for this podcast so you don't miss new episode
If this episode landed for you, subscribe to the Sage Letters to go deeper: www.thevisionary.ceo/letters

What Holding On Is Really Costing You Jul 20, 2026

Show notes

What if the anger and resentment you think you're supposed to keep is actually what's keeping you trapped?

Kris is on a walk thinking about grief, anger, loss, and what we do with it. 2026 has handed her several hard things. But this episode isn't about surviving them. It's about what happens after.

Most of us believe we're supposed to hold onto our anger forever. Like letting it go somehow means we're creating permission for what happened. Like we're minimizing the people we lost or the pain we endured.

Kris is offering a completely different way to think about it.

What you'll learn:

• Why holding onto negative emotions actually strips you of your agency • How acknowledging your role in circumstances is different from blaming yourself • The permission you're not giving anyone by letting an emotion move through you • How to honor what happened without carrying it forever • What "taking your agency back" actually means in practice

There's vulnerability in this episode. There's also a quiet invitation to stop carrying things that aren't serving you.

Connect with Kris

Want to know about Sage? Visit www.thevisionary.ceo/sageinvitation to learn more and schedule a call with Kris.
If this episode landed for you, subscribe to the Sage Letters to go deeper: www.thevisionary.ceo/letters
Be sure to hit the Subscribe button for this podcast so you don't miss new episodes.

In Pursuit of Greatness Jul 13, 2026

Show notes

What if admitting you want more isn't selfish? What if it's actually the point?

Kris has been thinking about greatness. Not achievement. Not goals. Greatness. And she's noticing that most women don't think of themselves as being in pursuit of it. They think of themselves as trying to achieve goals or make something happen. But not as women pursuing greatness.

She's wondering what would shift if you actually claimed that.

The women she works with know there's more to pursue, more to experience, more to become. And that hunger doesn't turn off. It doesn't take a break. It doesn't have an off button. Which means if it's not well-directed, it has consequences.

In this episode, Kris is asking you to get honest about where you're still pursuing something. Not in a frantic way. In an expansive, invigorating, curious way.

What you'll learn:

What happens when your pursuit of greatness isn't directed
How your superpower can become your poison if it's not directed
What happens when you acknowledge that you want to be great
Where greatness might be calling to you that you haven't named yet
How to know if you're pursuing something real or something that isn't aligned
About two opportunities opening up if you're ready to pursue your next level

The question she leaves you with is simple. Where else is greatness calling to me?

Connect with Kris

Ready to pursue greatness for yourself? Visit www.thevisionary.ceo/sageinvitation to learn more about Sage.
If this episode landed for you, subscribe to the Sage Letters to go deeper: thevisionary.ceo/letters
Be sure to hit the Subscribe button for this podcast so you don't miss new episodes.

The Difference Between Wanting and Believing Jul 06, 2026

Show notes

The only thing separating you from what you want is belief.

Kris is in the car on her way to pick up her daughter from the airport during peak rush hour traffic on the Bay Area bridge. She hates that drive. She has anxiety about it. And yet she just knows she's going to do it. Not hopes. Knows.

That's the difference she's naming in this episode.

Most women spend their energy attached to why something is hard. Why they can't figure out where to start. Why they need to do all the research first. Why the goal is confusing. And somewhere in all that noise, they lose the simple fact: they already know what to do. They just don't believe it yet.

What you'll learn:

• The difference between wanting something and knowing it will happen • Why belief is the only variable that actually matters • What someone who already has what you want thinks about it (spoiler: different than you do) • How your story about why it's hard is keeping you stuck • What you would do differently today if you just knew it was happening • What's changing in her world and who she's working with going forward

Stupid simple, she says. But simple means you actually have to do the uncomfortable thing.

Connect with Kris

· Know what you want but are spinning in the confusion? You can stop all that by joining Kris for Hot Seat Summer. Go to www.thevisionary.ceo/hotseatsummer to register for four Fridays of coaching to get what you want.

· If this episode landed for you, subscribe to the Sage Letters to go deeper: www.thevisionary.ceo/letters

· Be sure to hit the Subscribe button for this podcast so you don't miss new episodes.

Your Thriving Matters to Everyone Jun 29, 2026

Show notes

What you're not doing for yourself is actually harming everyone around you.

Kris knows what's happening. You're in survival mode. Not because your life is falling apart, but because the last decade has been relentless. Your business is affected. Your family is affected. Your nervous system is affected. And so you've locked into the question: how do I keep this afloat?

But here's the truth she's naming: when you thrive, everything around you thrives. And when you don't, nothing can.

The gap between knowing this and actually doing it is where most women live. You nod along, you agree with every word, and then you go back to putting everyone else first. You skip the haircut. You don't get your nails done. You don't take the trip. You tell yourself there's no time, and the weight of that unattended desire just sits there, reminding you that you're not worth your own investment.

In this episode, Kris walks through her own year of being pulled away from her dreams and then choosing to pull herself back. She's not talking about inspiration. She's talking about reinvestment in your own joy as a non-negotiable act.

What you'll learn:

• Why survival mode is contagious and whose job it is to break the cycle • What the smallest acts of self-care are actually telling you • How to know if you're in confusion, avoidance, or victimhood about your own desires • What happens when you finally attend to yourself • Why this is the time, not the time to wait

Nothing feels worse and heavier than having desire that is unattended to. The question isn't whether you have time. The question is whether you're willing to reclaim your own agency.

Connect with Kris

· Ready to get out of your own way? Go to www.thevisionary.ceo/hotseatsummer to register for four Fridays of coaching to get what you want.

· Be sure to hit the Subscribe button for this podcast so you don't miss new episodes.

· If this episode landed for you, subscribe to the Sage Letters to go deeper: www.thevisionary.ceo/letters

Get What You Want Jun 22, 2026

Show notes

If the pattern keeps repeating, it's time to turn up the heat.

Kris has spent her entire career helping other people get what they want. And she's watching women do the same thing. Pouring everything into helping clients, employees, family, friends figure out what they want, while their own desires sit dormant on a shelf.

Here's the truth she's naming: You know what you want. You've always known. The problem isn't figuring it out. The problem is you're scared. You have more to lose now than you did when you started, so you've tempered your dreams. You've muffled the joy and aspiration. You've told yourself it's too risky.

And the pattern keeps repeating.

In this episode, Kris walks through her own journey of learning to help people get what they really, truly want. Not the surface answer, but the real one. She shares the Zig Ziglar quote that's followed her for decades, why Martha Beck's ten-minute coaching principle changed everything, and what it actually takes to reclaim your own wants.

What you'll learn:

• Why you keep tempering what you want as you get older and more successful • How to ask yourself the real question and cut through the fluff • Why helping everyone else get what they want is actually keeping you stuck • What happens when someone really sees you and asks what you want • How patterns repeat until you decide to turn up the heat • About the four-week coaching experience happening this summer

This is Kris reminding you that you have so much left to create, to be, to experience. And it starts with being honest about what you actually want.

Connect with Kris

Ready for the Hot Seat Summer? Head to www.thevisionary.ceo/hotseatsummer to register.
If this episode landed for you, subscribe to the Sage Letters to go deeper: www.thevisionary.ceo/letters.
Be sure to hit the Subscribe button for this podcast so you don't miss new episodes.

What If It Could Be Better? Jun 15, 2026

Show notes

You built something incredible. You made a thing that didn't exist. You're running a multi-million-dollar business, and yes, that's magic.

But somewhere along the way, the dream you chased became a box you're trapped in.

Kris calls this the quiet crisis. You've achieved the success you set out to create, but now you're drowning in it. You can't leave because too many people depend on you. You can't pivot because you're afraid of losing the revenue, the security, the key people. So you stay, spinning on all the ways it could fall apart.

Sound familiar?

In this episode, she's talking to the woman who built her empire and is now wondering if this is it. Is this the whole thing? Can you ever be free? And she's offering a completely different way to think about it.

What you'll learn:

Why the very thing that got you here (risk and adventure) is what you need to keep moving forward
How fear becomes the cage you lock yourself into
Why losing something might be the best thing that ever happened (and the evidence that proves it)
The question she asked herself that changed everything
Why you're more trapped when you're too close to the weeds
What happens when you reframe from protection mode to belief mode

There's a moment early in the episode where Kris talks about Elastigirl from the Incredibles, stretched so far she can't move. That's you right now. Completely maxed out because you've painted such a terrifying picture of what happens if you let go.

But what if you're not done building? What if you don't have to just protect what you have, but build something on top of it? The woman who started this business would believe that.

Connect with Kris

Be sure to hit the Subscribe button for this podcast so you don't miss new episodes.
If this episode landed for you, subscribe to the Sage Letters to go deeper: www.thevisionary.ceo/letters

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