Mar 10, 2026
Welcome back to The Ripple Effect
Podcast.
Today, you’re getting a conversation that hits where it counts.
Barbara Burgess joins us for a powerful interview that goes way
beyond career talk and straight into what it really takes to move
from corporate America to entrepreneurship.
Barbara Burgess is an author, mother, executive,
and unapologetic dark-chocolate lover who’s embraced the beautiful
messiness of life. She founded Corluma (cor =
heart, luma = light), a Chicago-based consulting firm; wrote and
performed a one-woman show, “The Extraordinary Experience of Being
Ordinary”; and most recently wrote her first book, Enough:
Finding Peace in a World of Distractions, Hustle, and
Expectations. Known for her humor, vulnerability, and
practical wisdom, Barbara shares simple shifts to help people
remember they are enough and have enough. Her ego is kept in
healthy check by two teenage children and career adventures that
include selling candy bars for Nestle Foods, launching Grainger
into internet commerce, a brief marketing stint at the Chicago
Mercantile Exchange, and, most recently, overseeing operations,
marketing, and finances as the COO of a non-profit.
Listen until the end because we get real about a lot of interesting
topics. We talk about the difference between confidence and
self-efficacy, why being an introvert can actually be an advantage
in entrepreneurship, and how that “not enough” voice loves to show
up when the world is screaming hustle, distraction, and
expectations. We also go into executive coaching for tough leaders,
what it looks like to face what isn’t working without flinching,
and the shift that happens when you start living by your own
compass instead of somebody else’s scoreboard.
If any of that feels familiar, you’re in the right place.
Ripple with Barbara Burgess
Website: www.corluma.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/barbaraburgess1
Book: www.beenough.com
Ripple with Steve Harper
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