From Iron Maiden to Whole Human: Why Your Armor Is Costing You Millions

What does it really take to be in the top 5% of leaders - without burning yourself out or armouring up?

In this episode of Driving Impact: The Top 5% Method, Katheline Jean-Pierre sits down with Victoria Pelletier - “turnaround queen”, transformation executive, and former “Iron Maiden” - to unpack what healthy resilience looks like in real life, and how to lead as a whole human in an AI-driven world.

Born to a drug-addicted teenage mother, adopted into a low-income family, and carrying decades of unprocessed trauma, Victoria became a COO at 24 and a CEO at 41. In this conversation, she shares how she moved from rigid armour to authentic, vulnerable leadership - and why that shift unlocked deeper trust, better teams, and bigger business results.

We also dive into how organizations can implement AI in a way that actually works for people, not just for the slide deck.

In this episode, we cover:

• Healthy resilience vs. protective armour - why “toughing it out” eventually breaks you
• How Victoria carried her “Iron Maiden” persona for decades - and what finally cracked it
• Becoming COO at 24 and leading a 6,000-person organization without a traditional path
• Why confidence is often mistaken for competence (and how she backs it up with execution)
• Building high-performing teams and earning the nickname “turnaround queen”
• Values-driven leadership: saying no to performative DEI and misaligned work
• Whole-human leadership - bringing your full lived experience into the way you lead
• How to balance high expectations with genuine care, trust, and vulnerability
• The 3 A’s of AI transformation: Alignment, Adoption & Ability
• Why AI success is 70% people and process, not just algorithms and tooling
• What Victoria learned from horrible leaders (and how not to lead)
• The biggest lie about success - and how she defines it now
• What the top 5% achievers do that the other 95% don’t
• The one lesson every founder needs to hear about not doing it all themselves

Connect with Victoria Pelletier via her website: victoria-pelletier.com

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