Nadine and Derek Nicholson on Escaping the Middle Zone Through Structure

Nadine & Derek Nicholson

Nadine Nicholson and Derek Nicholson are the co-founders of Ascend Leadership, where they help founders, CEOs, and entrepreneurs escape the “middle zone” of overwork, decision fatigue, and time guilt. Through their proprietary Impossible Freedom Equation, they guide leaders to achieve both next-level business growth and personal freedom—now, not someday. Their work blends leadership coaching, nature-based wisdom, and practical structure to help entrepreneurs build businesses that support life, not consume it.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[02:00] Why entrepreneurs get stuck in the middle zone of success and exhaustion.
[06:50] How nature helps leaders access clarity and better decision-making.
[10:45] What “Impossible Freedom” really means for founders and CEOs.
[14:10] The two leadership pillars that create time and team alignment.
[17:15] How brave decisions and courageous conversations unlock freedom.

In this episode:

Freedom doesn’t come from working harder—it comes from designing your business and life intentionally.

In this episode, Adi Klevit sits down with Nadine and Derek Nicholson to explore why so many entrepreneurs feel trapped inside businesses they worked hard to build. Nadine shares her journey from corporate leadership into coaching, while Derek reflects on his background managing complex operations and how a coaching mindset reshaped his leadership approach.

Together, they break down the Impossible Freedom Equation, which starts with two leadership pillars: time mastery and united team design. Nadine explains that time mastery is not about doing more, but about aligning time and energy with values and natural genius. Derek adds how redefining “team” beyond employees—and fully leveraging existing support systems—creates space and sustainability.

The conversation then moves into the three leadership amplifiers: wild wisdom, brave decisions, and courageous conversations. Nadine and Derek share how accessing inner clarity—often through nature—leads to better decisions, and how communicating those decisions clearly transforms both business results and personal fulfillment. The episode reinforces a core systems truth: freedom is built one aligned decision at a time.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

“Impossible freedom is living lit up while growing your business.”
“Time mastery is not time management—it’s time design.”
“Nature is the shortcut to clarity.”
“Freedom is built one decision at a time.”
“This isn’t a luxury—we’re talking about your life.”

Action Steps:

Assess how much of your time is spent in your natural genius versus energy drains.
Redesign your time around what truly lights you up and drives results.
Expand your definition of “team” to include all available support.
Practice making one brave decision at a time instead of avoiding discomfort.
Create systems that support freedom now, not someday.

Sponsor for this episode:

This episode is brought to you by Business Success Consulting Group.

At Business Success Consulting Group, we create custom processes and tailor-made management systems so businesses can thrive.

Businesses simply can’t survive without workable systems and well-documented processes. That’s why our team of experienced professionals takes care of it for you.

We provide business owners, entrepreneurs, and key executives with six phases to success, along with the long-lasting systems necessary to support business expansion.

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