Little Kid in a Power Suit

How Childhood Trauma Shows Up for Leaders at Work

Trauma doesn’t stay at home, but you can change how it shows up at work.

Childhood trauma doesn’t disappear as we climb the ladder; it actually adapts, drives achievement, and eventually demands a reckoning. For high-achieving leaders like yourself who look unshakable on the outside but inside are unraveling, Little Kid in a Power Suit offers strategies to help you confront the self-doubt and fear that you’re not as capable as others think you are. Trauma-certified executive coach Teresa Vozza weaves personal examples, hers and those of her clients, to show you how addressing trauma benefits your professional career more than continuing to create leadership patterns rooted in fear.

Part memoir and part pragmatic business guide, this book empowers you to identify what lies beneath your stress without requiring you to quit your job or abandon your ambition. Many leaders find themselves locked in behaviors like over-functioning, perfectionism, “keeping receipts,” or constantly bracing for the next crisis. Grounded in a trauma-informed approach, Vozza translates complex nervous system science and attachment patterns into actionable workplace insights. She explores how these high-pressure behaviors often permeate team dynamics, helping leaders recognize that reactive habits are not character flaws, but ingrained responses that can be understood and rewired.

Achieving deep healing and optimized performance requires moving beyond outdated rules like “don’t need anything” or “just push through.” Teresa Vozza’s Little Kid in a Power Suit teaches you to replace old beliefs with kinder, more sustainable agreements with yourself. You will practice congruent leadership with clearer decisions, direct conversations at work, and boundaries that stick. If you are looking for relief from a kind of pain that feels bigger than “stress at work,” this is your guide to rising further up the ladder while staying grounded, confident, and whole.