​Anchored Conversations: Fireside Chat with Aiko Bethea & Corie Pauling, Esq.

​Self-Leadership for a Transformational Life

​Hosted by Charlotte community leader Colette Nichols

​Some conversations inspire us. Others change the way we see ourselves and the way we move through the world. Join Aiko Bethea and Corie Pauling, Esq. for an unforgettable evening of conversation, reflection, and community.

​Inspired by Aiko's new book, Anchored, Aligned, Accountable: A Framework for Transcending Bullsh*t and Transforming Our Lives and Work, this dynamic fireside conversation brings together one of today's most respected executive coaches and leadership facilitators with attorney and thought partner Corie Pauling for an evening of honest dialogue about life, leadership, courage, and what it truly means to become anchored in a rapidly changing world.

​Drawing from her experiences as a parent, recovering attorney, business owner, executive coach, and leadership consultant, Aiko brings a deeply human perspective to the challenges we all face in life and work. She has coached executives, leadership teams, and organizations around the world through moments of uncertainty, growth, and transformation.

​About Corie:

​Corie Pauling has joined The CRC Group as Lead Employment Counsel. As a business attorney, litigator and influencer in financial services for 20 years, she is energized and ready to support CRC’s growth.

​At TIAA for over 16 years, Corie progressively advanced as corporate counsel on its employment, benefits and labor law team, supporting the organization’s insurance, asset management and technology lines of business among others. Regarded for deep expertise, creative problem solving and proactive process building, her partnership supported major growth initiatives for TIAA including its restrictive covenant strategy, international expansion and workforce compliance standards. Moving to HR there, she led the organization’s inclusion and corporate social responsibility functions where, through industry-leading innovation, TIAA garnered employer of choice recognition by such outlets as Gartner, Forbes, Working Mother and Fatherly. Most recently, Corie served as Executive Director in USAA’s Strategy, Digital & Brand area and in Human Resources. Under her leadership there, she implemented enterprise legal and risk mitigation strategies for workforce compliance, advised on insurance product branding to members and reorganized its 14000-employee network of employee impact groups around business priorities.

​Corie is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law and also the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering. She is a former shareholder with the international employment law firm Littler Mendelson, P.C. and a former partner with the renowned civil rights law firm Ferguson Stein Chambers.

​Corie has a deep commitment to community leadership as well. Recognized by the Charlotte Business Journal, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and others, she currently serves on the board of directors of Classroom Central in Charlotte, following prior board posts with the Levine Museum of the New South and the Board of Governors of the North Carolina Bar Association where she chaired its 500-attorney statewide Labor and Employment Law Section. And, finally, as a proud Michigan Wolverine, Corie led its alumni association in recent years, launching new offerings for graduate, member, alumni club and affiliate engagement and deepening university collaborations and partnerships.

​What to Expect:

​Together, Aiko and Corie will explore questions that matter:

• ​What does it mean to become anchored when life feels uncertain?

• ​How do we recognize and move beyond the bullsh*t that keeps us disconnected from ourselves and our potential?

• ​How do our values shape our decisions, relationships, and leadership?

• ​What does accountability look like when it becomes an act of courage, integrity, and self-leadership?

• ​How can we create lives and workplaces that reflect who we truly are?

​Designed for people from every profession, industry, and season of life, this conversation is for anyone seeking greater clarity, stronger relationships, and a deeper connection to the life they want to build. Whether you're leading an organization, growing your career, building a business, serving your community, or navigating personal change, you'll leave with practical insights, renewed perspective, and tools you can immediately apply.

​More than a fireside chat, this is an opportunity to learn, reflect, ask questions, and connect with a community of people committed to living anchored, aligned, and accountable lives.

​Bring your copy of Anchored, Aligned, Accountable: A Framework for Transcending Bullsh*t and Transforming Our Lives and Work, and Aiko will be delighted to personally sign it following the conversation.

​This promises to be one of Charlotte's most engaging conversations of the season. Come prepared to learn, be challenged, make meaningful connections, and leave inspired to live your transformational life.

​We look forward to welcoming you.

​Event Details

​Venue: Delta Center, 5408 Beatties Ford Rd, Charlotte, NC 28216
Doors open: 5:30 PM ET
Fireside Chat: 6:30 PM ET
- Q&A to follow
- Book signing
Event ends: 8:30 PM ET