In this episode of Executive Connect, Melissa Aarskaug sits down with Marcylle Combs, an entrepreneur, speaker, mentor, and longtime leader in the home care and hospice industry, for a candid conversation about developing people, leading through uncertainty, and building a legacy that lasts beyond business success.

Marcylle shares why her leadership philosophy comes down to honesty, humility, and honoring others. She explains how strong leaders balance encouragement with accountability, why failure and irresponsibility require very different responses, and how mentoring becomes more effective when you start with the other person’s goals.

The conversation also covers leading multiple businesses, managing remote teams long before remote work became mainstream, staying calm during crisis, women in leadership, board service, and why even highly successful executives still face personal struggles.

Marcylle also looks ahead at AI and the future of work, arguing that as technology handles more routine tasks, distinctly human strengths like communication, discernment, connection, and conflict resolution will matter even more.

Chapters:

(0:53) Meet Marcylle Combs

(2:20) What sparked her passion for leadership

(5:27) Honesty, humility, and honoring others

(10:47) Where strong leaders focus their energy

(13:04) Avoiding personal leadership bottlenecks

(15:36) What separates leaders who thrive

(20:39) When to push versus support

(24:13) Leadership lessons from home care and hospice

(33:43) What surprises Marcylle about top leaders

(39:23) Building legacy for the next generation

Marcylle

(0:00) I think AI is going to take over, which I’m sure you agree with, all the mundane daily tasks. (0:08) I think we aren’t, I hate to say this to my accountant friends, but I don’t think that we’re going to need 20 accountants grinding it out at the end of the season. (0:21) I think we’re going to have one that oversees what 20 could do.

(0:26) And so I think it all comes down to, I have to keep up, I have to learn, I have to be able to discern. (0:36) I have to be able to take whatever creative thought that AI gave us that day, and I have to say, does this really make sense? (0:46) Will this make sense to human beings?

(0:49) How do I connect with that person?

Melissa

(0:53) Some people study leadership, some people teach it, and there’s our guest today who seems to collect leadership roles all the way and onto, just like she collects coffee mugs. (1:08) Marcel Combs is a national and international recognized speaker, mentor, and leader across industries, and a powerhouse in the home care and hospice world. (1:20) She runs not one, but three companies, sits on multiple boards, and somehow still finds time to guide the next generation of leaders with a mix of wisdom, humor, and straight truth.

(1:36) If you’ve ever wondered how to lead with both strength and heart, this episode is your master class. (1:43) Welcome to Leadership with Marcel Combs. (1:47) Welcome, Marcel.

(1:50) I’m so excited to talk to you, Melissa. (1:52) It’s going to be a great time. (1:55) And I love it about the coffee mugs too, I have to say, as I stumbled because I was partially laughing while I was thinking of this.

(2:01) I collect coffee mugs to the airports I go to, and my children beg me not to bring home another coffee mug. (2:09) So I’m glad it’s not just me. (2:12) But you spent your career shaping leaders and elevating the home care and hospice community.

(2:20) When you look back on that journey, what first sparked your passion for leadership and mentorship?

Marcylle

(2:27) Do you know, I started as a woman entrepreneur when that was pretty unusual. (2:36) It still continues. (2:37) We have a lot of women entrepreneurs.

(2:40) And I think what I wanted, what I realized was, I could do more than what people expected me to do. (2:48) And I could achieve whatever I wanted to achieve. (2:52) So my number one goal is to work with, in particular, women and help them achieve whatever they want.

(3:00) Some just want to work part-time, and they want to go, and they want to go home, and they want to do that thing. (3:06) But others, they really want to be in the C-suite, or they really do want to do the next level of their own business, or they want to make a million dollars. (3:17) And I’m the first one to say, that’s probably not enough, sister.

(3:22) And so you might need to expand your goals. (3:25) So it brings me, as I end up my last portion of my career, it’s really in helping give back and helping women achieve what they want to achieve. (3:37) Ready to lead smarter and invest wiser?

Melissa

(3:40) On the Executive Connect podcast, we unpack executive strategies for wealth and influence. (3:47) Hit the subscribe button now. (3:50) Don’t just watch, act.

(3:51) I love that. (3:52) That’s such a noble thing to do. (3:56) I wish I had that younger on in my career.

(4:00) I had to kind of pay the dumb tax and learn myself all throughout my career. (4:05) So who was the first leader who truly shaped how you lead today?

Marcylle

(4:10) I really think it is my business mentor. (4:15) If I look at that, I think one is he probably did a lot of things that I disagreed with. (4:23) He’s my same age, but he also gave me a path to understand in business that I could get alone, and I could buy business, and I could do those things.

(4:40) From a personal level on leadership, I’ve got to say I have to give most of that to John Maxwell, who’s written a kajillion books on leadership. (4:51) I know John well. (4:54) And just everything was so practical way before I had the opportunity to meet him or know him.

(5:03) I was teaching and reading his books, and everything was just… (5:07) He’s written the forward in my book. (5:10) And so it was just everything I believed.

(5:14) I could just practically say, how do we connect people? (5:18) How do we communicate with people? (5:20) How do we inspire people to do more than just market a job?

Melissa

(5:27) Now, how has the definition of leadership changed for you over the years? (5:32) Or maybe the better question is, has the definition of leadership changed for you over the years?

Marcylle

(5:37) I can honestly say probably I have really grown to own what I believe about leadership. (5:47) I believe that leadership comes down to honesty, and humility, and honoring other people. (5:57) And there’s a lot of simpler terms to put that in, but the real truth is that’s where it comes down.

(6:06) How can I show up at work as my whole person in a way that other people just see me for who I am, and yet try to have a level or be a person that they can follow. (6:25) Always one of my number one things was, which about has killed me over the years, is I never wanted anyone to work harder than I worked. (6:34) And so if they looked at me having, doing whatever, they could say, the girl is doing the work too.

Melissa

(6:44) Yeah. (6:44) Okay. (6:45) So leading across three companies, I love that.

(6:48) I want to say amazing. (6:53) You don’t just lead one, you lead three. (6:56) So how do you approach leadership when your influence spans multiple different businesses and multiple different teams?

Marcylle

(7:06) I will say that one of my new ventures that I had played in just a little bit, and I would say from a personal level, my husband and I always did well in buying a house, and selling a house, and buying a house, and selling a house. (7:23) There were a couple outliers over the years, but we almost always went up 30, 40 percent. (7:30) So that’s the real estate company.

(7:32) And so if I look at my other two companies, they are more aligned with what I’ve always done, leadership and women, or home health and hospice consulting. (7:45) Those two, and I do contracted outsource, you know, kind of services in the consulting one. (7:53) The real estate one, I’ve had, girl, I have had a whole lot to learn there.

(8:00) And I would say she seemed brilliant on, you know, having a big office building until 2020 hit. (8:11) And then let’s just say she hasn’t been as brilliant as normal. (8:18) I’ve had a whole lot to learn about commercial real estate.

(8:24) And that has been the major struggle. (8:32) One is just learning how you value or how you evaluate certain properties, and what that looks like, how you, I mean, that to me as a whole, and trying to lead people where, in the other two areas I work in, I know that. (8:53) I mean, I know it from top to bottom.

(8:56) But in real estate, I’ve had to learn it. (9:01) And I’ve had to somewhat learn it from the people who are working for me. (9:06) So that’s been, if you ask me the biggest struggle, that’s been the biggest struggle.

(9:13) When to hold and when to fold, that’s another, you know, struggle. (9:21) So it’s been, and some of the properties I’ve owned and sold have been in West Texas. (9:28) And so it’s been interesting, let’s just say.

(9:33) I can’t say that I’m going to be, well, we could say Donald Trump, but I don’t think I’m going to be the next mogul of real estate. (9:45) But it has been a struggle, from leadership all the way to the business mechanics in general. (9:53) I have some residential rental properties, and those have not been that big of a bar.

(10:02) But the commercial, that’s been a struggle.

Melissa

(10:05) Well, you’re not alone. (10:08) I thought I knew what I was doing prior to 2007. (10:12) And then, you know, the change happened in 2007.

(10:15) And then, you know, Austin’s boom with real estate and change in real estate. (10:21) And, you know, Texas has struggled a bit, a lot. (10:24) Some of the biggest real estate investors in Texas are figuring out if they’re folding or holding.

(10:33) And so it’s something it’s part of being an entrepreneur. (10:37) We learn and we kind of learn from the mistakes and we move to the next. (10:41) So where do you decide what and when to personally focus on?

(10:47) How do you decide where you’re spending your time and energy?

Marcylle

(10:50) You know, that’s always a struggle from the whole rhythm of life. (10:57) And how do we decide where to focus? (11:03) I think I’m a little different in the stage of my career.

(11:08) So I’m doing a lot more in the area of giving back. (11:16) I’m fairly well known in the home health and hospice. (11:19) I say I’m very well known in the home health and hospice community.

(11:24) So I really probably only spend maybe 10 or 20 percent of time in the business that’s probably generating the most revenue. (11:35) And that’s because I don’t really have to. (11:37) One, I have a team that does that.

(11:40) And so I don’t, when I decide where am I going to focus my time, it’s one, what’s the strength of the leadership that I have in that area? (11:50) And because I have such strong leadership, that business can run itself for the most part. (11:58) When it comes to the real estate, actually, I just sold a property in Austin, Texas and did quite well on it.

(12:05) Now, the question is going to be, did I sell too soon? (12:10) I doubled my money on a actually like Austin property. (12:15) Did I sell it for less than it might be in five years?

(12:19) Maybe. (12:21) Or did it, so I, you know, did I sell it for just the right time because it’s all going to crash even worse? (12:28) I, you know, only time, only time will tell.

(12:32) All I know is I folded and I may, I doubled my money. (12:37) And so how bad can that be? (12:39) But so I’ve spent a lot of time in the real estate business, probably because it seems most risky to me.

(12:50) So when you look at what is in your portfolio, even if it’s all under one business, in my mind, where’s your biggest risk and where’s your biggest gain? (13:02) And that’s where I try to focus.

Melissa

(13:04) So I’m curious what systems help you avoid being bottlenecked? (13:13) Is there a certain systems that you use to avoid any of these bottlenecks? (13:17) Me personally or me personally?

Marcylle

(13:20) Yeah.

Melissa

(13:20) Do you have any systems?

Marcylle

(13:23) Well, if I have a personal system, it’s more about setting myself a artificial deadline. (13:33) Even if there’s not a deadline, then I tell myself I must get this done. (13:39) I actually, that’s not, I’m speaking in Boston.

(13:42) Why on earth would I agree to speak in Boston in January? (13:46) But they’re lovely people. (13:48) So I said, yes.

(13:49) And I’m, I’m going to whine about it. (13:52) I told them, you’ve got a Texas girl and she’s going to Boston in January. (13:57) And so she’s going to do nothing but whine the whole time.

(14:01) So just expect it. (14:03) I just can’t decide, do you want to take my ski gear or how do you talk in front of a group in your snow boots? (14:10) I don’t know a business people.

(14:14) But I think for me, that’s the number one thing is how do I set an artificial deadline for myself? (14:24) Now I use all kinds of tools. (14:26) I can’t live without my Microsoft calendar.

(14:29) I try to look at it every night before the next day. (14:32) Do I meet every one of my artificial deadlines? (14:36) Absolutely not.

(14:38) Because I know they’re artificial, but if I don’t do that, then again, I might find, especially the boring stuff. (14:47) I’m a starter, Melissa. (14:50) I love a new project and I love to start a new project.

(14:54) But where I don’t like it is when it gets in the daily grind and somewhere between starting it and ending it, there’s a dull, boring, crank it out part. (15:07) And that’s if I’m going to personally bottleneck, it’s going to be somewhere in this when it’s not fun anymore. (15:15) And it doesn’t seem exciting anymore.

(15:18) Like I have a things we’re recording for some seconds and I really just haven’t, because I am kind of spread out, I haven’t finished recording. (15:31) And so that is that it is hard to get beyond yourself. (15:35) That’s what I would say.

Melissa

(15:36) Now let’s talk about switching gears here. (15:41) Developing strong leaders is no small feat. (15:47) I’ve been managing people for almost 20 years now and it was tough to develop talent.

(15:56) And so I know that you’re known for mentoring leaders at every single level. (16:02) So what separates the leaders who thrive from those who actually struggle?

Marcylle

(16:08) I think most of that, well, let’s just say we all struggle at one point or another. (16:14) There’s always going to be something, whether it’s personal. (16:20) I think with women, the struggle may be a choice.

(16:26) I mean, maybe they’re working because they have to work and maybe they don’t want to work. (16:31) Maybe life turned out different. (16:32) Maybe they planned on, maybe they did marry a rich husband, but they’re divorced and they have to start over.

(16:40) Part of it comes from just a leader is what are their personal goals in life? (16:49) And you can’t, you can’t mentor. (16:52) You have to, it’s a mentor mentee process.

(16:56) So the mentee has to be as much into it as the mentor. (17:02) Now if I would, I love hiring new college grads because they’re so fresh and the world hasn’t hit them 20,000 times and they’ve got all these new ideas. (17:16) And these days, they all think that they’re smarter than you, which in some ways they are just because they haven’t fallen down yet.

(17:26) But really part of it is who do they want to be? (17:30) What do they want? (17:32) How does that look?

(17:34) Or maybe it is that divorced woman who’s not worked in years and she comes in and she wants to send her kids to college and she wants to travel and she wants to do those things. (17:48) Then I try to sit down and work from the goal backwards. (17:53) Where do they want to be?

(17:56) And always in my companies, okay, if you’ve got a great new idea and you want to champion that and you want to run that, I would have some kind of measured success failure. (18:13) How can we get there? (18:14) How can we start this new project?

(18:16) How does it pay for itself? (18:18) And how do you run it? (18:19) And I’m probably the first one who’s going to encourage you to do it.

(18:23) So I think it’s also if you give me this huge goal, then I’m gonna, my bar for you is going to go up. (18:32) And I’m going to hold you to higher standards because this is what you want to do. (18:39) And sometimes you have to work and sometimes you have to rest.

(18:42) And I said sometimes you have to work all weekend and you feel better at the end of it. (18:49) And sometimes you need to just lay down the electronics and not look at anything all weekend because Monday is going to be better. (18:59) And I have to be able to talk you through that and walk you through that instead of just telling you that.

(19:07) Yeah, definitely. (19:09) It can’t be, it’s not something, there are times for me that I just, I mean, as I said, I sat in my chair last night and just beat out this presentation. (19:22) Not that I finished, but I’m much closer because even though I was tired, I feel much better today because I’m so much closer.

(19:33) Where, you know, other people might’ve said, lay it down and rest. (19:38) That wasn’t the right decision for me last night. (19:42) And so that’s, I think it’s a measure of encouragement and yet inspection and yet accountability when you’re mentoring someone.

Melissa

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(20:39) So how do you know when it’s time to push someone harder versus support them more?

Marcylle

(20:49) I think one is, I had some statements. (20:55) If you come to me with a problem, you come to me with a solution. (21:00) So don’t walk in, throw up all over my desk and walk out because you feel better and I got a big mess to clean up.

(21:08) That’s speaking from a healthcare perspective. (21:10) You can hear that occasionally. (21:13) My children could always eat through anything because, you know, they were surrounded by healthcare people who talked about anything as you’re eating your steak.

(21:22) But, you know, also I think if they’ve set a goal and you’re dependent upon them that goal, I’m the first one to say, if you failed, I’m going to agree with you. (21:38) I mean, if you’ve dropped the ball, I’m going to be kind about that because I don’t need to be wicked about that. (21:45) I can be very tough and very firm and my daughter would say sometimes scary.

(21:52) But, you know, if you fail, that’s just part of life. (21:59) That’s part of pushing your goals further. (22:01) But I’m going to let you own that.

(22:03) And then I’m going to say, what are we going to do not to change this? (22:06) But if you fail out of just no responsibility toward that goal and you forget the goal and you don’t even come back to me with that, I’m going to come down hard on you. (22:20) Because if you miss a deadline, you should be in my office or calling me or talking to me saying, I’m going to miss this deadline and here’s why.

(22:31) And these are the things that I need to do to change that. (22:35) But it can’t be every time. (22:38) It has to be.

(22:40) And I, I mean, I am trying to be slow to hire and quick to fire. (22:47) But I would say that if you’re really trying and you really are making honest mistakes, I’m going to hang with you for a while. (23:00) But if you are not responsible in that at all, I’m not going to be the person that you’re, you’re going to want to come to.

(23:09) Cause I, I’m going to say, no, you, you didn’t get this done because you didn’t get this done. (23:16) So I don’t know if that really answers your question, Melissa or not.

Melissa

(23:22) No, it does. (23:23) I think, um, you know, one of the things as a leader is I see so much potential in people that I want to push them a little bit and push them out of their comfort box. (23:37) Um, but you don’t want to push them where it kind of backfires.

(23:41) Do you want to support them? (23:42) And, um, so I’ve had, you know, different people that I, I always say every employee that ever reported to me in my career of leading people, they were the CEO of something, they were in charge of something. (23:54) So whether they were my admin or they were a leader or whatever they were doing, all of them had a role as a leader, but I was kind of pushing them a bit and, um, supporting them along the way.

(24:09) So no, it absolutely answers the question. (24:11) Um, switching gears. (24:13) I want to talk about lessons from home care and hospice leadership, um, home care and hospice demands.

(24:24) Definitely a lot of compassion and decisiveness. (24:30) So what has this field taught you about leadership that other industries overlook?

Marcylle

(24:39) Do you know, I think the one crazy thing, actually, I was talking to someone today who says that they’re the pioneer of remote workers. (24:48) Um, you know, home health and hospice have always, you know, happened elsewhere. (24:56) They happen in people’s homes.

(24:59) They don’t happen in your brick and mortar hospital. (25:03) They, um, always at least 50, 60% of our workforce has been remote, uh, always. (25:11) Um, and so, you know, I learned early on what it was to expect productivity, um, to expect accountability.

(25:25) I’m, I’m sending people 30, 40, 50 miles, um, out to someone’s home. (25:32) I can’t be there to watch them. (25:35) I, I have to trust them.

(25:37) They have to be honest. (25:39) Um, they have to do their job. (25:41) Um, they have to show up.

(25:44) So you, I guess from the beginning of this, even when I worked in it, uh, you, you don’t have an eight to five kind of schedule. (25:54) You have five or six patients and they have to be seen that day, you know, and, and the paperwork has to be turned in. (26:02) So you, as a leader, you have to learn to, to manage those people.

(26:08) So when 2020 happened and the world all went remote, home health and hospice just said, okay, now the rest of our workforce might be working offsite. (26:21) So how do I measure productivity and how do I measure accountability and how do I connect with my people if they aren’t in the office? (26:30) But those are all things, uh, that we had to do otherwise.

(26:35) And I think that above all else is probably the difference maker. (26:39) Um, and a leader like me is that I’ve always had to do that.

Melissa

(26:47) Um, now what behavior matters the most when you’re in crisis mode in these industries?

Marcylle

(26:57) Oh gosh. (26:59) I, I think it’s a firm, confident, you, you’re never going to see a good nurse or a good physical, you’re never going to see them better than in a crisis, uh, because they will slow down and yet speed up. (27:16) Um, so what matters most, uh, is one, you know, when you’re in trouble, you know, the question to ask you, you know that what’s about to happen, you don’t know the answer to, so you’ve got to lean on someone else that, that to me, even in a hospital setting, the calm, cool collected, uh, is probably the biggest personality trait that you’ll have.

(27:45) You’ll, you’ll see, um, even if it was the fire, a house was burning down, you’re going to see the healthcare people take a different, they’re going to have a different process going on in their mind. (27:59) What’s step one and step two and step three and step four, and they are going to automatically do that because they’ve been trained to do that. (28:08) Um, so I, you know, I, um, I, I think that’s probably most important that you have someone, one, that knows when they’re in trouble and two, that they, they are the personality that’s going through that process in their head.

Melissa

(28:25) Yeah. (28:25) I was, I would agree. (28:27) Calm.

(28:28) Um, cause if everybody else is in crisis mode, stressed out, the house is burning and you just kind of more fire on the fire, um, versus staying calm. (28:36) So I, I love that. (28:37) Now pivoting again, you’ve spoke and led on national and international stages across industries across the world.

(28:50) What universal leadership message always lands?

Marcylle

(28:56) I, I think that, um, for women, it, it always lands in that hate the word balance. (29:06) So, um, you know, the rhythm of work and life, I think even if you’re speaking with an interpreter, which I think is the biggest challenge ever, cause I don’t think they say what you say. (29:21) Um, but, um, I looked at a Chinese, you know, and her anyway, interpreter one time.

(29:28) And I said, did you just say what I said? (29:30) Because it took him two seconds. (29:32) And I thought that cannot be right.

(29:35) Uh, but I, I think, I think if I am looking at something that’s universal and you mentioned this (29:44) earlier before we got on, it is that, um, men automatically lead with, it feels like, uh, (29:54) with some kind of artificial confidence where women are going to think through the pros and cons (30:02) and, uh, not that they’re not going to get there, or maybe they don’t look like that from the (30:07) outside, but from the inside they’re questioning. (30:11) And, and that’s, that’s what I’ve seen internationally in particular, uh, is women looking at how do I handle this in China?

(30:22) It’s usually one kid or two kids. (30:25) And how do I run this big business? (30:27) And then, then my role, my role as a female leader is expected in a different place.

(30:34) I’m at work and I’m in charge and blah, blah, blah. (30:36) When I get home, my husband expects me to fill this role. (30:41) That’s what I’ve seen internationally, especially in China.

(30:45) Um, in the United States, I, I would say it’s still, it’s, it’s not necessarily that role expectation anymore because we have more of a collaborative handhold in a team as, especially if you have children, as a parent. (31:02) Um, but it’s still kind of the guilt. (31:06) Um, you, you are, you know, ever present.

(31:10) You are the person who is, um, trying to do all things, whether they’re kids or they’re, you know, animals or they’re, you know, whatever you’ve chosen in that life. (31:24) Um, they, it’s, it’s that guilt meter. (31:28) In the United States, that’s what I see women struggle with most from a home and work life, um, kind of rhythm from, from just leading.

(31:40) You know, I really can’t see a lot of difference between men and women when I’m teaching leaders. (31:49) Uh, women might worry about it more. (31:51) Um, but the struggles they have on who to fire, who to hire, um, how do I present before this group?

(32:00) Um, how does that look? (32:02) Uh, how do I get the funding? (32:04) I might still say it’s 2026 and it’s still prejudice toward a man entrepreneur walking in a bank versus a female.

(32:13) Go look for female presidents of banks. (32:17) You’re, they’re still very in the minority. (32:21) Um, it’s, it’s a hard, it’s a hard knock life.

(32:25) Um, so it’s, it’s difficult and you sure don’t want to talk about your feelings in front of the bank. (32:32) Those are some things that I teach women. (32:35) Don’t be going in there and saying this stuff, you know, they don’t care.

Melissa

(32:41) Um, yeah, and it’s definitely, I agree. (32:43) I think it’s the feminine, masculine shift. (32:46) It’s the shape shift of moving.

(32:49) Um, I, I talk about this a lot, how much I armored up in my twenties in my first real big leadership role. (32:57) I was, you know, very educated, very confident. (33:00) I knew what I was doing, but I can’t tell you how many times I showed up in a room where I was serving coffee to everyone.

(33:05) And I was, you know, twice their senior. (33:09) And, um, you know, looking back on those days, um, it’s different. (33:14) And so I, I hear, I’ve always heard this a lot in my roles, um, as well in male dominated fields, like how did you get that courage?

(33:23) And it’s either courage or ignorance. (33:24) I don’t know. (33:25) Um, maybe a little bit of both.

(33:27) I just showed up and, um, and it, it’s just practice, right? (33:33) It’s practice and, you know, seeing other people’s perspectives. (33:37) And so, you know, what surprises you about leaders at the highest level?

Marcylle

(33:43) Do you know, I think the always a surprising level is they’re just people. (33:48) Um, and they, they have all the same struggles and insecurity. (33:55) Um, I, I don’t know if I would say surprised, but, but I ever present, uh, you would think that by the time a person is running a billion dollar company, um, that they would no longer feel insecure about anything.

(34:15) And that’s not true. (34:17) Um, they don’t, they might present that they really might present that, but if you get them in a room by themselves, um, they’re, they’re most of them, at least the ones I’ve met with are, are going to have the same struggles. (34:34) They, maybe their wife just walked out or their husband just walked out and they have no clue why.

(34:41) Um, I’m thinking maybe because you were working a hundred hours a week, but I don’t say that maybe you forgot that the divorce is costly. (34:53) Uh, don’t do it. (34:56) Um, anyway, um, you know, I, I think that that’s probably for me, the thing that I continue to be amazed at, um, is just a role, even if you’re successful at it, doesn’t necessarily make you feel whole.

Melissa

(35:16) Today’s episode is brought to you by Renaissance, redefining success for modern Mavericks, a book I coauthored with Michelle Coyne. (35:26) It’s a straightforward guide through reinvention, leadership, and building real freedom. (35:32) Inside, you’ll find practical frameworks, the Maverick test, and stories that help you take action today.

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(35:51) Now talking about roles that make you feel whole. (35:55) Now you’ve served on several boards with, you know, what I would say is an impressive track record. (36:02) What have these roles taught you about influence and long-term leadership?

(36:07) Girl, boards. (36:09) Um, I like working boards.

Marcylle

(36:12) I just resigned last year. (36:15) I said, my goal was to resign half the boards I was on. (36:19) Uh, I was on too many boards.

(36:21) And, and what I say now, if you called me tomorrow and said, Marcel, will you be on this board? (36:26) No matter how much I believed in the cause, I would say, you don’t want me. (36:30) I don’t have time for this.

(36:34) You know, if I don’t have time, you don’t want me. (36:37) If you just want to check for me, then just ask me for the check. (36:43) Now that that’s terrible to say that.

(36:45) And I, I hope the audience will forgive me. (36:48) Um, but, but I would say, um, what they’ve taught me is there are three kinds of people there. (36:57) There are the people like me that have been talked into it, and they, they probably really do believe in whatever’s going on there.

(37:05) Um, or, or there are people who want it on their resume. (37:10) They’re, they, they want to be impressive to other people. (37:14) And really, Melissa, I don’t really care about that.

(37:17) I’ve never really cared about how impressive I was or, or they’re just taking up a spot. (37:24) Um, they’re there because they have to be someone told them you must be. (37:29) And I, every board that I have been on now, I granted, I’ve been on some boards with some people that even today, um, I would say I respect in a crazy way.

(37:45) And I, I have, um, enjoyed every moment I could sit with them and, and I can text them now and say, Hey, I’m speaking for this group in New England. (37:58) Uh, what do you think the biggest challenges of 2026 are? (38:02) Um, you know, what, what book have you read?

(38:06) Um, who, who’s the guru in this kind of thing? (38:10) You, Melissa, you told me you worked in AI and, um, you know, I I’m way into AI right now. (38:17) I think it’s fascinating and, and I’m not going to be alive in 50 years when they look back and the terminators coming back to say, what were you thinking?

(38:28) Um, so, you know, um, I, but I, but I’m fascinated by toilet that can analyze what you’ve put in the toilet. (38:38) I’m fascinated by that. (38:40) I now who’s going to pay for the toilet and how that works.

(38:44) I don’t know, but I’m fascinated with the fact, um, that we have so much potential, um, before us.

Melissa

(38:55) Well, I’m so glad you brought up the terminator because that just makes me want to move into the next subject about legacy and building a legacy, um, for the next generation of leaders. (39:11) So, you know, it’s, this is something I’ve been reflecting a lot on in the new year of 2026 and, um, myself. (39:21) And so I’d love to get your perspective.

(39:23) And when you think of legacy, what do you want the next generation of leaders to carry forward from your work?

Marcylle

(39:32) Well, I wrote a book, um, called never hire your friends with the never, you know, marked out, which means always hire your friends. (39:41) I, I think that, um, from a legacy perspective and a lot of my, uh, a lot of, you know, what I do these days is, is just in that legacy work. (39:54) Um, how do I, number one, I have children, um, and I have grandchildren.

(40:00) And so I, I want them to remember me as someone who wasn’t ordinary, um, but, but who also, uh, I left an impact on them. (40:16) Uh, I had, uh, my oldest granddaughter, my, my second son got married young and had kids young. (40:22) And my oldest granddaughter said, they call me gam.

(40:26) I want to be just like you when I’m grown up now that you can’t, you know, you can’t buy if she wanted a better Christmas gift, I would give this child anything. (40:37) Um, but, um, you know, to have that kind of impact because, you know, in, in 75 years, no one living’s probably going to be alive. (40:50) Maybe now we should say a hundred, um, that knew you that really knew you.

(40:56) Um, and that is a, think about that window. (40:59) That’s a short period of time. (41:02) You just said, you’ve been doing leadership positions for 20 years.

(41:07) Um, I’ve been doing those for 40 years. (41:10) I mean, in a heartbeat, it’s over. (41:14) So what, what is it that I do every day?

(41:17) It’s not going to be by making a million dollars by building 10, a hundred million dollar companies. (41:24) It’s not going to be any of that. (41:26) It’s going to be how I impacted the person closest to me next to me.

(41:31) Um, someone who met me along the way.

Melissa

(41:35) That’s what it’s going to be. (41:37) That gives me so much goosebumps. (41:39) I love that.

(41:39) And as a mother of daughters, I look at my girls and I hope that they have the confidence before they get out in the workforce, um, instead of having to build it in the workforce. (41:53) And, you know, I’m seeing it in their behavior and it’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever seen in my life. (42:00) And so how do leaders think about legacy when they’re in the middle of working?

Marcylle

(42:08) You know, I, I think again, it comes back to that. (42:12) Who am I the first, the only person, which, you know, you’re married, uh, you know, that the only person in that marriage you can really impact is yourself. (42:21) You might, I will say after a long period of time of being married, my husband does empty the dishwasher.

(42:29) And usually if I, usually he makes the bed, it’s kind of the rule. (42:36) If you get out of bed last, you have to make the bed. (42:40) Um, and, you know, I, I think the number one thing you can do for legacy is to be the very best version of yourself.

(42:51) How, how am I, what books am I going to read in 2026? (42:56) Who am I going to get? (42:58) I mean, again, when you get at my level, you have a lot of people who say really nice things, but you need to say to have some people in your life who can jerk your chain and who can say, Marcel, you didn’t meet that deadline.

(43:12) Marcel, you’re letting people down. (43:15) Marcel, maybe you shouldn’t say those things when you’re being recorded. (43:20) Um, you know, the, you, you need, um, you don’t need people to, you know, puff you up every day.

(43:28) You, you do need those people, but you also need the people who will call you to task and say, what are you doing in 2026 that is making you a better leader? (43:42) What, what are you learning? (43:44) What are you in?

(43:45) And I hope the last day I grow is the last breath I take on this earth. (43:52) That, that’s the goal. (43:53) Even though I would really frankly rather watch trash TV some days that has no real outcome in improving me.

Melissa

(44:06) Um, and I love that. (44:08) So what does the kind of leader look like? (44:12) You know, what, maybe the better question is what kind of leader does the future need more of?

Marcylle

(44:18) Well, I think we’re going to be, I think AI is going to take over, which I’m sure you agree with all the mundane daily tasks. (44:29) I, I think we aren’t, I hate to say this to my accountant friends, but I don’t think that we’re going to need 20 accountants grinding it out at the end of the season. (44:42) I think we’re going to have one that oversees what 20 could do.

(44:47) Uh, and so I think it, it all comes down to, I, I have to keep up. (44:53) I have to learn. (44:54) I have to be able to discern.

(44:57) I have to be able to take whatever creative thought that AI gave us that day. (45:03) And I have to say, does this really make sense? (45:07) Will this make sense to human beings?

(45:10) Uh, how do I connect with that person? (45:13) It’s going to be the connectors, the communicators, uh, the people with really good discernment skills. (45:21) That’s the person we need in the future because they are going to be in charge of the machines.

(45:26) Um, and the machines, just like we saw so many things in the past, they are, they are going to take on lots and lots more work. (45:37) I mean, I know Starbucks, I think, experimented with the complete, uh, robot. (45:43) That’s what I want for a caretaker.

(45:45) I want a robot that isn’t programmed by my children. (45:49) Um, and so I, we aren’t there yet. (45:54) Um, but that’s, you know, the human touch part cannot be replaced by a machine, even if we can get all the tasks to be replaced by a machine.

(46:06) So I think that’s the leader we need. (46:08) We need to be working on, you know, if all I’ve done is go to school remotely and all I’ve done is remote jobs and I haven’t had to pick up the phone, I haven’t had to sit in front of someone, then, then how are my communication skills? (46:25) How are my conflict resolution skills?

(46:28) Um, how do I talk to you, Melissa, for an hour? (46:33) Um, you know, what, what do those look like? (46:38) And I, we have to mentor people to do this, to speak and not just text, to communicate and not just send an email.

(46:50) Um, and, and that is harder, especially if you haven’t done it. (46:55) Um, if you, you’re this four-year-old you’re raising, he’s gonna have a lot of his stuff is gonna be, um, based on a computer and not a human being, but he’s got to be able to relate to human beings.

Melissa

(47:13) So true. (47:14) I love that. (47:15) Okay.

(47:16) I love this part. (47:17) The lightning fire round, fast, quick answer part. (47:22) Um, I have to ask this question.

(47:24) Leadership is taught or caught both. (47:31) Oh, all right. (47:33) There you go.

(47:34) Both hard conversations or hard decisions, hard conversations, one leadership trait. (47:44) You will never compromise on integrity mentors or sponsors. (47:50) What matters more mentors?

(47:54) What’s the fastest way leaders lose trust. (47:58) Oh, honesty, one leadership, one leadership myth. (48:05) You wish would disappear forever.

Marcylle

(48:08) That you have to be hard and you can’t ever let down your guard.

Melissa

(48:13) Uh, culture starts with who or how, who leadership presence is felt most when, when a person of integrity shows up, the greatest leader should be remembered for what the impact they made. (48:41) Legacy is built daily or decided at the end of the day. (48:46) Daily.

(48:48) One word that defines leadership to you.

Marcylle

(48:53) This is the only one I’m not a person of one words. (48:58) Um, I think honoring. (49:02) Honoring.

Melissa

(49:05) That’s good. (49:06) Now you’ve shown us that leadership isn’t just a title, but it’s a calling. (49:10) It’s, it’s been such a blessing to have you here today and share your knowledge and spirit with our listeners.

(49:18) What is the best way for them to connect with you and learn more about the great work you’re doing?

Marcylle

(49:24) Well, if you know how to spell my name, you can find me on, and I’m sure you’ll put that in show notes. (49:31) You can find me on LinkedIn, um, at Marcell Combs and you can find the website at marcellcombs.com. (49:40) So usually the website is the best way, but feel free to communicate with me on Instagram, LinkedIn, uh, any social media platform.

(49:51) Thank you so much for being here.

Melissa

(49:54) That is the executive connect fought podcast, podcast, not podcast. (49:59) That’s a whole new word.