Episode 76

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Published on:

23rd Nov 2025

From Six-Month Death Sentences to a Life of Purpose

In this episode of Survival Mode Disrupted, Leticia sits down with Tom Le Noble, a man who has been given six months to live three times and is still here talking about purpose, power, and what it really means to live fully awake. Tom walks us through his wild path: From corporate leadership roles at MCI, Walmart.com, Palm, and early Facebook (yes, that Facebook — and yes, we talk about the stock)… To being the backbone of customer operations for tech companies… To becoming a philanthropist, coach, speaker, podcast host, and CEO of the Academy for Coaching Excellence. But this isn’t just a corporate highlight reel. Tom shares how living with metastatic cancer for 13 years forced him to redefine resilience, reframe “terrible gifts,” and choose engagement over fear – again and again.

🎙️ What We Talk About

  • What “survival mode” really looks like when your business is risk and resilience
  • Why he says, “I retired being retired to be inspired”
  • His story of joining Facebook in the early days, selling the stock, and why he truly doesn’t regret not being worth $200M
  • “Terrible gifts”: the painful experiences that still end up giving you something sacred
  • Being told you have six months to live three times – and deciding to make the most of every single six months
  • How Tom uses presence, engagement, and curiosity to walk into radiation rooms calm while others are frozen in fear
  • The power of belief in your healing and how mindset shapes what’s possible
  • Why most of us sit on the sidelines of our own life and how to stop outsourcing your power
  • Coaching vs therapy – and why coaches are often the ones holding space for reinvention and action
  • The “haystack method”: removing the hay so clients can finally see their own needle
  • How to think about your past, present, and future so you stop living in regret or anxiety and actually be here now

🔑 Key Takeaways

“Every storm runs out of rain. The real question is: what are you going to plant when it does?”
“Terrible things happen… and sometimes they still come wrapped in terrible gifts.”
“You are not a spectator in your life. You’re the one driving the damn car.”
“Baby steps turn into leaps – but only if you keep taking them.”


💬 Connect with Tom

  • Website: tomlenoble.com
  • Podcast: Opening Pathways with Tom Le Noble (all major platforms)
  • Academy: Academy for Coaching Excellence (ICF Level 2 training)
  • LinkedIn: Tom Le Noble


🔗 Resources & Links:

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About the Podcast

Survival Mode Disrupted with Leticia R Francis
Disruptive Unapologetic Conversations about Survival Mode
Survival Mode Disrupted is not just a podcast. It's a rebellion.

A raw, unfiltered space where we finally stop pretending we're fine and start telling the truth—the truth about the trauma we've carried, the identities they had to wear to survive, and the radical decisions we made to break free.

Because here's the deal: survival mode isn’t just a season. It’s a damn identity. One that so many were forced to adopt just to get through life, to stay safe, to stay needed, to stay sane. But eventually, it starts costing you more than it protects. Your peace. Your purpose. Your power.

This podcast is for the disruptors—the people who were told to stay small, stay silent, stay grateful for crumbs… and said “hell no.”

Hosted by Leticia, The Survival Mode Disruptor herself—a trauma recovery mentor, speaker, and woman who has lived through the fires of abuse, betrayal, and breakdown and still chose to rise—this show dives deep into the unapologetic exits from survival mode that no one talks about.

You’ll hear from women (and a few brave men) who walked away from toxic relationships, soul-sucking careers, generational dysfunction, religious trauma, cultural expectations, and the lies they were taught to believe about themselves. Not because it was easy—but because staying would’ve killed something sacred inside of them.

These are the stories of bold pivots, quiet courage, and messy but miraculous rebirths.

Each episode is a conversation—a disruption—meant to wake something up in you. Whether it’s a guest sharing the moment they chose themselves for the first time, or Leticia dropping a truth bomb that makes you question everything you’ve normalized, this podcast is here to shake the foundation of your survival mode identity and replace it with something truer. Something freer.

We’re not here for surface-level self-care tips or fake empowerment slogans.

We’re here to talk about what it really takes to:

Reclaim your voice after being silenced.

Reinvent yourself after being broken down.

Rewrite your story when everyone else wants you to stay the same.

Release the guilt of choosing YOU.

This is for those who are done performing. Done pleasing. Done pretending.

It’s for the ones ready to exit survival mode—not slowly, not quietly, but disruptively and unapologetically.

You won’t leave this podcast the same.
You’ll cry. You’ll rage. You’ll laugh.
You’ll see yourself in every story.
And more importantly, you’ll remember who the hell you are.

Welcome to Survival Mode Disrupted.
It’s not just a podcast.
It’s a movement.
And your exit begins here.

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About your host

Profile picture for Leticia Francis

Leticia Francis

I am not here to inspire you—I am here to activate you.

As a Survivor, Keynote Speaker, and Trauma Recovery Mentor, I know what it’s like to fight battles no one sees. I also know that breaking free is possible. My work is about disrupting survival mode, exposing trauma-driven success cycles, and giving women the blueprint to reclaim their lives.

🔹 200+ podcast features & speaking engagements
🔹 Global Women of Choice Award Winner 2022
🔹 Creator of the Survival Mode Exit Plan
🔹 Host of Survival Mode Disrupted Podcast