It Comes Down To This… Stop Performing. Start Leading.

You don’t need a louder voice—you need a clearer identity.

 In this episode of It Comes Down To This…, I sit down with Olivia De Girolamo, a leadership coach and voice mentor who’s on a mission to help people stop performing and start showing up as who they really are.

We dig into the deep stuff—what fear does to our voice, why most branding advice is backwards, and how we lose ourselves in roles we think we’re supposed to play. Olivia doesn’t just teach presence—she lives it. And her take on leadership, identity, and reclaiming your voice is a breath of fresh air in a world full of noise.

This one’s for the people who’ve felt unseen while doing everything “right.” You don’t need to add more. You need to come back to who you are.

Guest Introduction:
Olivia De Girolamo is a leadership coach, speaker, and founder of Out Loud. With a background in theater and a gift for pulling the truth out of people, Olivia helps founders, leaders, and creatives find their voice—literally and figuratively. Her work blends performance, trauma-informed coaching, and identity development to help people stop hiding behind personas and start showing up as themselves. Olivia is known for creating brave spaces where real presence can emerge, and for calling people into more honest, embodied leadership.

Key Takeaways:
– You don’t find your voice by trying harder—you find it by letting go.

– Leadership is not about doing more; it’s about showing up with less armor.

– Most branding strategies reward performance—but real influence comes from presence.

– Fear lives in the body. So does clarity.

– You can’t connect with others if you’re not connected to yourself.

Chapter Markers:
00:00 Business Isn’t Just Strategy – It’s Personal  
01:15 Meet Nils Vinje: Leadership Coach and System Builder  
04:02 From Corporate Frustration to Entrepreneurial Freedom  
08:20 Why Most Leaders Aren’t Really Leading  
12:34 The 4 Systems Every Leader Needs  
17:08 How to Build a Team That Thinks for Itself  
21:47 Scaling Without Losing Culture or Clarity  
26:20 The Weekly Leadership Ritual That Changes Everything  
31:14 Getting Out of the Weeds as a Founder  
36:02 The Secret to Freedom: Document Everything  
40:45 Final Advice – Lead with Systems, Live with Purpose

Keywords:
Olivia De Girolamo, Monte Clark, It Comes Down To This podcast, leadership voice, authentic leadership, trauma-informed coaching, performance vs presence, personal branding, identity in business, how to find your voice, leadership development podcast