Chief Change Officer™
Change is already working on you. Could you make it work for you?
Chief Change Officer™ is a podcast for people who want to turn change into a breakthrough. It is for those reshaping a career, redirecting an organization, or rebuilding a life.
The show is hosted by Vince Chan, whose first lesson in change came at age four, after a severe arm injury led to surgery, hospitalization, and a long recovery. Since adolescence, she has lived through 20 major transformations across countries, careers, and crises. Before launching the podcast, she spent three decades in global finance and economics, from central banking and credit markets to billion-dollar institutional capital.
That experience taught her that change is never only personal. Markets shift. Institutions decide. Circumstances expand or narrow what people believe is possible. Talent matters, but so do context, timing, and power.
Vince brings together rare minds, black sheep, breakthrough builders, and unconventional champions from around the world. They include scholars who have spent decades studying people and institutions, executives who have carried responsibility through uncertainty, and leaders whose most valuable knowledge was earned beyond the clean lines of a textbook.
Together, they bring what Vince calls hard-earned human intelligence: judgment shaped by consequence and tested by time, trial, and revision.
They do not offer polished success stories or textbook formulas. They reveal what helped when plans collapsed, careers broke open, or life demanded a new direction.
Each conversation turns hard-earned human intelligence into practical judgment: how to understand what is changing, make stronger decisions, and move forward without losing yourself.
Chief Change Officer™ extends Vince’s work beyond markets and institutions into the human side of power and change. How people understand themselves, navigate their environment, and reclaim agency when the old rules no longer hold.
A Global Top 1% podcast and US #1 Careers show, Chief Change Officer™ is built for people who do not want merely to endure change. They want to understand it, use it, and turn it into a breakthrough.
Life is change. The question is whether change works on you, or you learn to make it work for you.
Chief Change Officer™
#423 Brian Sims: When Truth Gets Political — Part One
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In Part One, Brian walks us through the pivotal moments that shaped his path—from coming out as a college athlete to confronting power structures as a civil rights lawyer. He shares how being raised by military parents shaped his moral compass, how football taught him about leadership under pressure, and why he believes his queerness has made him a better, sharper advocate. This is the story of a public servant forged in fire—and not afraid to stay loud.
Key Highlights of Our Interview:
The Day Job and the Gay Job
“There was work I did to earn a living. And work I did to sleep at night.”
Brian’s legal path wasn’t linear—it was moral. Disability law by day, LGBTQ+ advocacy by choice. The real career came when he fused both.
Feminist Lawyer at Age 12
“I told people I wanted to be a feminist lawyer… before I even knew what that fully meant.”
His mother’s defiance of gender roles shaped more than his politics. It gave him a framework for justice—before he ever came out.
Raised by a Combat Nurse with a Crew Cut
“She probably got accused of being a lesbian once a week in the military. It didn’t harden her—it strengthened her.”
Growing up with two military parents meant discipline and love. But it was his mother’s quiet power that taught him to be an upstander, not a bystander.
Coming Out—and Coming Into Power
“My teammates waited until they knew I’d be safe to ask me if I was gay.”
Brian’s coming out wasn’t loud—it was supported. That emotional safety net shaped how he now builds space for others.
From Closet to Capitol
“Eight months before I took office, I knew I was the only out person in the room. But I also knew I wasn’t the only one.”
Brian didn’t just fight for LGBTQ+ rights—he stood up for racial justice, reproductive rights, and equality as a full strategy. Being gay got him elected. Being an ally kept him effective.
_______________________________
Connect with us:
Host: Vince Chan | Guest: Brian Sims
--Chief Change Officer--
Change Ambitiously. Outgrow Yourself.
Open a World of Expansive Human Intelligence
for Transformation Gurus, Black Sheep,
Unsung Visionaries & Bold Hearts.
EdTech Leadership Awards 2025 Finalist.
20 Million+ All-Time Downloads.
80+ Countries Reached Daily.
Global Top 1% Podcast.
Top 5 US Business.
Top 1 US Careers.
>>>200,000+ are outgrowing. Act Today.<<<