The Leadership Vision Podcast

Recording with Presence: Dr. Linda Schubring on the Audiobook Journey of Unfolded

• Nathan Freeburg, Linda Schubring, Brian Schubring • Season 8 • Episode 23

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In this episode of The Leadership Vision Podcast, CEO Dr. Linda Schubring shares what it was like to record the audiobook version of Unfolded: Lessons in Transformation from an Origami Crane. She discusses how holistic preparation, a lifetime of practice, and the courage to be fully present shaped this emotional experience—and how these lessons apply to leadership and life.

Listen as Linda shares:

  • Why recording the audiobook was more emotional than expected
  • How she prepared physically and mentally for the recording
  • Why practice includes both reading and self-compassion
  • What it means to bring your full presence to the mic—and your work

Key Takeaways:

  • Preparation isn’t just about logistics. It’s about knowing yourself and creating the conditions to thrive.
  • Practice includes emotional rehearsal and self-kindness in the face of failure.
  • Presence is what makes any performance—whether on stage or in the board room—transformational.

Links and Resources:

🎉 Unfolded is a National Bestseller!
#1 in Business & #5 Overall on USA Today
#17 on Publisher’s Weekly Nonfiction
📘 Grab your copy + get the FREE Reflection Guide!

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The Leadership Vision Podcast is a weekly show sharing our expertise in discovering, practicing, and implementing a Strengths-based approach to people, teams, and culture. Contact us to talk to us about helping your team understand the power of Strengths.

Speaker 1:

And so for me, when I was dialing it in and was the most present and I would say a name or say a phrase, it would be this flood of emotion and it was this sense of like. I really believe this, and there was a couple times I did get choked up, and it wasn't because the words are so great, but I allowed myself to experience the book for the first time and I think that there's times where whatever you're doing, giving yourself permission to experience something for the first time, will invite, sometimes, emotion, and it will invite new thoughts and a new perspective.

Speaker 2:

You are listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture. Our consulting firm has been doing this work for the past 25 years so that leaders are mentally engaged and emotionally healthy. For more information about our work, you can visit us on the web at leadershipvisionconsultingcom or click the link in the show notes. Hello everyone, my name is Nathan F Freeberg and today on the podcast, I am joined by Dr Linda Shubring, our CEO here at Leadership Vision and co-author of the book Unfolded Lessons in Transformation from an Origami Crane.

Speaker 2:

In this episode, linda reflects on her recent experience recording the audiobook version of Unfolded. Yes, that comes out late August of 2025. Make sure to go get your copy today, wherever good audiobooks are sold. She reflects on everything from the technical setup to the emotional highs and moments of presence, and she shares three core lessons she took away from this process that I really think apply to anything that we're trying to accomplish in life. Those are preparation, practice and presence. Now, as you listen to this episode, I invite you to reflect on this question when was the last time you fully showed up I'm talking mind, body and heart for something that truly mattered? Okay, so let's jump into it here with Dr Linda Shubring reflecting on her experience recording the audiobook for Unfolded reflecting on her experience recording the audiobook for Unfolded, linda, so this is big, exciting news for us here at Leadership Vision. You just finished recording the audiobook version of Unfolded Lessons in Transformation from an Origami Crane. What was that like?

Speaker 2:

I'm very jealous because as you know I love all things tech and audio. And the pictures you sent I was like ooh, what kind of sound deadening foam are that? So just big picture before we dive into the specific takeaways. What was that like? I'm so jealous.

Speaker 1:

Big picture. It was so fun. It was so fun. It was a moment for me that I feel like I was preparing for my whole life Awesome. I was nervous, appropriately. I was excited appropriately, and afterwards I was exhausted appropriately and I learned a lot through the process and I really enjoyed it, and I'm excited to share the audiobook with the world.

Speaker 2:

Well, today we're going to be talking about you've reflected a little bit on that experience and sort of summarize into these kind of three P words preparation, practice and presence which I think are. As I was reading through the notes and just briefly chatting about it, I was like these are actually great takeaways for anything that we're attempting to do in life? Be it a job promotion, running a marathon getting ready to go sit through a kid's band concert like whatever the thing is that we're doing.

Speaker 2:

Before we get to that, though, can you just briefly tell us, like, what can we expect from this audiobook? Is it just Linda reading the book? Like, tell us what it is.

Speaker 1:

Yes, let me tell you, I am narrating the book and although Brian and I wrote it together and he wrote some specific parts, and those would be the meditations, I read the whole thing and not only that. One of the things with audiobook to print and in the audio book postscript we get to answer some questions that our readers have had, and a lot of it has to do with like how did the two of you do this together and who did what? And did you take turns with chapters? So, I'm excited about that.

Speaker 2:

And then I had to read all the legalese which I which I I'm excited to hear that yes, no, no, this this may not be distributed or copyrighted, or without express certain consent. So I write it or, without express certain consent.

Speaker 1:

So I um brian was sending me photos and some videos, and I was looking at one of them when one of my kids was around. They're like what is that I was?

Speaker 2:

like, remember that book we were reading. Well, linda's reading the audiobook and, uh, vivian's big question is did you do the voices for the animals? Oh does the owl have a voice in the fox, or is it all just linda?

Speaker 1:

it is all just linda with a little. It has the emotion of the different characters. But I didn't do okay, so when I, when I read it, I know my, I mean, this isn't a children's book.

Speaker 2:

When I read my kids books, I do voices and they hate it. They don't like the voices. They're like, yeah, don't do the voices, just read your voice in your voice. So anyway, uh, so.

Speaker 1:

So that was interesting because I wanted to make sure that I didn't read, you know, like an announcer or read yeah like I'm screaming at a whole group or that I'm, you know, just people yeah, exactly, totally exactly, and I didn't want to overdo it with the voices, and so there'd be times where even brian say, hey, remember.

Speaker 2:

Yes, remember that he's not trying.

Speaker 1:

He's not mad, he's not mad.

Speaker 2:

He's just this character's not mad. Well, let's get into these three kind of three takeaways. The first one is preparation, and you talked about this preparation as holistic. What is that? Is that just like? La, la, la, la, la, la, la Like? What does that look like?

Speaker 1:

Some of that is getting your voice ready, but anytime you're doing something new, so that I'm not a voice actor, so I don't exactly know how to do all this.

Speaker 1:

However, I've had a lot of experience behind microphones and part of this is at the Leadership Vision podcast. So when I was asked to do this, I realized that I wanted to be prepared holistically, and part of that that looked like Googling things that I should do or asking people advice or learning some hot tips, or thinking about when I speak to a large audience or if I'm getting ready to do a keynote, what will I drink, how will I take care of my voice, how will I show up that way? And when I say that I had to prepare, part of it was the holistic, physical preparation of getting my body ready. And that may sound kind of strange, but maybe you know this from listening to the Leadership Vision podcast, but I have lung issues and so I knew that I needed to make sure that I was caring for my lungs, that I was prioritizing hydration and sleep and deprioritization how do you say that?

Speaker 1:

And deprioritization.

Speaker 2:

Not doing, you say that. And deprioritization Not doing stuff and not doing other stuff there you go.

Speaker 1:

And not doing other things like eating gluten or drinking wine or dairy leading up to the recording because I wanted to sound as good as I can, knowing that you can hear the rattle in my lungs and my sinuses, and that's just how it? Was, so I wanted to be ready that way.

Speaker 2:

That's so cool and I think that's something people forget that if you're going again some of the example a big meeting, a big whatever that you might need to sleep better. Some of the example a big meeting, a big whatever that you might need to sleep better, you might need to eat better, you might need to go on some runs, as you mentioned. Was there any sort of, I was gonna say, like emotional preparation, or like Deb and Chip and people who have?

Speaker 2:

been involved in the process, like you got this, like what was that part of the prep?

Speaker 1:

like Well, I'm the person that needs the fan club to rally a bit, and I think sometimes it's just like well, you got this, that's easy for you. And I think there is this sense that when I have been signed, when I signed up to do something, I feel the weight of it and I feel the responsibility of staying true to the text or staying true to the inspiration.

Speaker 1:

And so for me, when we were driving to the studio in Minneapolis for the recording, I looked down at my phone and there were two text messages, and one was from Deb on the East Coast and one was from Chip on the West Coast of the USA, and they were both the messages of you've got this, remember who you are, we are with you, we are cheering for you. You were built for this. And some of those messages at that time, knowing that we were about to go into the studio, I think it settled my emotions and then it released some of them. So at least I got a few tears out before I actually got into the studio. But our work and the book is designed to be emotional. It's designed to create a sense of emotional safety so that you can actually address and talk about some of your emotions throughout the story and in some of the reflection at the end?

Speaker 2:

Was there anything you weren't prepared for or you were surprised once you got into that booth?

Speaker 1:

I was surprised at the words that tripped me up, because the words that I could just smooth out and that were flowing in my practice. I was surprised that there were things that I just could not say and the engineer would be like stand up, just you know, right on like take a break, or whatever you need. I was surprised how nervous I was, and I wasn't because that's part of my process, so I think it's the familiarity of this is how I prepare.

Speaker 1:

I prepare holistically. I need the support around me, and then I'm willing to just take off and soar.

Speaker 2:

It's interesting how I, you know, when I do our podcast, I'll create a little intro that I'll go back and read. You know, it's only like, you know, 60 to 90 seconds and sometimes I'll be reading it and I'll trip up on a word and then it's like I can't read anything after that.

Speaker 1:

I'm like what happened here.

Speaker 2:

What is going on so?

Speaker 1:

that's good. Well, we never hear that, Nathan, because your post-production is brilliant. Of course not.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, exactly Before I move on to the next idea of practice, just one takeaway about preparation. What would you share with leaders about preparation that you learned? That's just like a little nugget.

Speaker 1:

Know what you need, know that if you need the right comfort. So I even brought a sweater in case the studio was too cold. I wore an outfit that I wanted to be feel strong in and bright in, knowing what you need to bring the best of you to the occasion.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so the next P is practice.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

And you said that you've been practicing for this moment your whole life?

Speaker 1:

I think so.

Speaker 2:

Tell us more about how your early life experiences has sort of led up to this, this moment of reading a audio book.

Speaker 1:

I've always been a reader. I love to read, I love to read out loud and you know, when Brian was five years old, he was dreaming of flying a plane and I was reading. So when I was, when I was five, and and I think that there were ways that I would read voices or read emotions, and Brian was asking me, this reflection of the practice like what did you learn? And I said I think even playing piano at a young age gave me an opportunity through music and through putting my hands to the keys, gave me a release of the emotions that I was carrying.

Speaker 1:

I think I'm an emotional person. I'm very in tune with my emotions and the emotions of others, and there's times where I just need a release. So it was. It was the practicing of that. It was the practicing of reading in front of I don't know school programs or asking to share this or that. You know, I was sitting down. I'm like, oh, this feels familiar, this feels like the leadership vision podcast, this feels like sitting with Nathan, and so there was a reminder of like I've been, I've been practicing for this moment.

Speaker 1:

And so there was a reminder of like I've been practicing for this moment, and not that it was like the be all, end, all moment, but the opportunity to let me breathe life and words and emotions into the words that we had written with that same spirit. That was everything for me.

Speaker 2:

Did you actually practice reading it ahead of time, like out loud sitting. What was that?

Speaker 1:

Yes, many times I read the book. Well, as I was writing and rewriting the chapters, I would meet up with Brian and we would either sit outside or whatever and I would read the chapter, and the first time I read a chapter he wept. And there would be times where I would work on something, or work on a paragraph or a part. I reread it and there was the same kind of emotion like that was it? That's what we wanted to say, I get it, and so there was a lot of practice that way, and I'm a very much. I was an only child, so I would spend time, my mom said, in front of a mirror, so no one psychoanalyzed that. However, there's this point where I want to make sure that I have the right posture to read, that I'm matching the right facial expressions to what I'm reading and not just reading with fervor so there's a lot of practice.

Speaker 2:

You also mentioned practicing self-compassion during this process.

Speaker 1:

Oh, Nathan.

Speaker 2:

I don't know if we have time to go into much about self-compassion.

Speaker 1:

maybe just a brief like expand on that a little bit yeah self-compassion, the self-compassion journey of just being mindful of what's happening and treating yourself like a good friend and offering the right phrases to reassure yourself and not just beat yourself up. So the act of practicing compassion with yourself. For me, when I would mess up you mentioned not being able to read the intro that you've read a million times there were times where I could easily get really mad at myself and instead I picked up a tick and it was like state and I would say something like that. And that was the moment of people mess up words every day and that was the moment of people mess up words every day.

Speaker 1:

This is not as easy as the brilliant voice actors make it sound. How do I translate who I am? How do I make sure that I'm enunciating but not annoying, and when I mess up, just other people mess up and I can show kindness to myself and I'm going to eventually get it. And that practice of self-compassion led me to read chapters three to five almost without mistake.

Speaker 2:

That's good. Yeah, I was listening to a baseball game the other day and the announcer who is in the broadcast hall fame okay uh, messed up like three or four times in one inning and I was like man you've got to have I would be so self-conscious. You know giant national broadcast but I guess you just gotta, like an athlete, just roll with it and forget about it and move on to the next thing.

Speaker 1:

So yes, you know you. Yes.

Speaker 2:

And that's our part number three here Presence, being here, being aware, being in the moment, and also, you wrote, being fully Linda. I had joked with you earlier, like before we recorded it. I'm like you know what voice are you going to do and you're like I'm going to be me. What was it like to be, Linda, not the announcer, the facilitator, what kind of helped you get into that authentic place of you?

Speaker 1:

Sometimes I can get in my head.

Speaker 1:

I'll answer your question, but I'll say this first Sometimes I can get in my head and think about all the people that are going to listen to whatever I say.

Speaker 1:

So I can start thinking about that, and and also I can look back and think about as I'm even reading, think about all the people that shaped the dialogue and shaped the points that we wanted to drive home with the book Unfolded, and, and and what I realized is that the feedback that I've received my whole life is that when I am present and I am fully aware of my surroundings and what's being, bit more space with that, with my words or my sentiments or my silence, I can create the kind of spaces where people are invited to step into that space of being present as well, not with me, but with themselves. And there was just this. I had some. I had an unfolded map with me from some work that we had done with a client, and so I felt connected to that group of people in particular, and even just just touching that map was this reminder to me. I am present, I'm here, let me enjoy what the process of, of reading, let me learn some things and let me help someone else.

Speaker 2:

I love that you had mentioned getting choked up.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

There are some moments that you know I don't know if you well, I'm curious, just tell me about that Like, did you have to stop and take a break? Like, what was that? Like, what was going through your head? Was that a result of being so fully present that you forgot? Uh, or not forgot, but that you're just like I'm here, I'm in this sentence, talk about that I was so in the sentence that I would feel the emotion.

Speaker 1:

Now some people will call adaptability presence, but I think it's a whole different the strength of adaptability, the strength of adaptability, or people being adaptable, because there's a movement that that goes with that can, that can feel hurried or flustered and not present. And so for me, when I was dialing it in and was the most present and I would say a name or say a phrase, it would be this flood of emotion and it was this sense of like. I really believe this, and there was a couple times, couple times I did get choked up and it wasn't because the words are so great, but the I allowed myself to experience the book for the first time, and I think that there's times where whatever you're doing, giving yourself permission to experience something for the first time, will invite, sometimes, emotion, and it will invite new thoughts and a new perspective.

Speaker 2:

I have two final questions for you. What do you hope people get out of listening to the audio book? Is it a different? I know it's the same message, but is it different experience, like is there something that you're like? I really hope people take this away from the audio book. That may be different from the printed book.

Speaker 1:

I am hoping that people will listen to the audio book and and be called into something greater. I think there's going to be moments, just like when people are reading the book and they need to pause and look up and wonder and wonder what it means for me or their family or their teams me or their family or their teams. I'm hoping that the audio book will cultivate the kind of emotional awareness in people to take the next step with the book, because I hope that the book will be a springboard into greater reflection and more effective action.

Speaker 2:

Linda, I had another question, but I think that's the one to end on what is the last one?

Speaker 1:

Well, I was just curious.

Speaker 2:

The book's been out for a little while now. You've interacted with people around it. Is there anything that you've heard someone be like this book touched me in this way? They're like I didn't think that, just something that surprised you of the way people are receiving it.

Speaker 1:

Every day. You name the age you name. A friend of ours sent audio recordings of her two sons reflecting on the book and which characters they liked, and I've heard from people that are retired. I've heard from people that now want to give this book to others. I've I've heard perspectives that we weren't trying to write into it but the allegory allows some of those bounces and I am hoping that we'll do a podcast or two or ten on some of the some not just feedback that we're getting, but the way Unfolded will launch people with the kind of courage and compassion to take on their dreams and to take on this world.

Speaker 2:

I love it. Well, linda, thank you so much. Thank you and thank you, listeners, for listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture. If you want to get a copy of Unfolded, you can go to shoobringscom and you can buy the hardcover book version and the audio version as soon as that is out in August.

Speaker 1:

We think we don't have an exact date.

Speaker 2:

Mid-August or wherever good books are sold or recorded. I'm Nathan Freeberg.

Speaker 1:

I'm Linda Schubring.

Speaker 2:

And on behalf of our entire team, thanks for listening, thanks for listening.

Speaker 1:

I think I said thanks for listening on the audiobook too, oh nice.