Diana Lowe on Why Great People Leave - and What Leaders Can Do About It

Following our Women Who Lead: 20 Founders edition, we continue the conversation with Diana Lowe - CEO and founder of Blue Light Leadership, executive coach, and Amazon bestselling author based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Diana spent the early part of her career working internationally across the UK, Mexico, Australia, Japan, and the Netherlands - and it was in those corporate environments that she first came face to face with the kind of leadership that breaks people. What followed was a painful and deeply personal journey through toxic workplaces, clinical depression, and recovery - and a vow to make sure it wouldn't keep happening to others.

Today, Diana holds a Master's in Positive Psychology and is an ICF PCC certified coach with over a decade of experience working with directors and C-suite executives at Fortune 500 companies. Through Blue Light Leadership, she helps organizations stop losing their best people by transforming how leaders show up under pressure - using evidence-based tools rooted in emotional intelligence, resilience, and positive psychology. Her first book, Hard to Handle, became an Amazon bestseller, with a companion workbook, audiobook, and Spanish edition all on the way.

What inspired Diana to start? 

Early in my career, I worked in finance. Living abroad just out of college, I was wide-eyed, energized, and independent. Life was vibrant: clubbing in London, dinners with friends, a buzzing social life. But as the novelty faded, reality hit hard. Job after job became a battlefield. I can’t say I ever had a boss who believed in me or mentored me the way I would have liked. Instead, I faced a slew of managers who constantly disparaged me, undermined me, excluded me, and sometimes even humiliated me publicly and cruelly. 

One manager told me, in excruciating detail, why every teammate supposedly hated me—without offering a single solution. Another “awarded” me a used pair of tighty-whities in front of the entire company at a town hall meeting, calling me “the most annoying person” simply because I had sat in his seat. I was devastated, but I felt powerless to quit because I desperately needed the paycheck. 

There were days I wished I’d get hit by a bus—not to die, but to have a legitimate reason to stop showing up to work. That’s when I knew something was wrong. Deeply wrong. Eventually, after an emotional breakdown that left me crying for three days straight, I was diagnosed with clinical depression. 

Even in recovery, I encountered dismissal and judgment. One woman told me, “No one wants to hear your story.” A therapist mocked my dreams as “foolish.” But with the support of my loving husband and cherished friends, I began to heal—bit by bit. I found solace in learning new skills, returning to the things I once loved, and gradually rebuilding my confidence. 

And I made a vow: I would do everything I could to stop bad bosses from ruining people’s lives. That vow became Blue Light Leadership, founded with the mission to empower people leaders to elevate personal engagement from the inside out for the betterment of work and society. I can't change every toxic workplace—at least not yet! But I can help people navigate them, and I can support leaders in becoming more self-aware, more empathetic, and more accountable. 

Today, I’m a certified cognitive behavioral coach with expertise in emotional intelligence. I help organizations retain their top talent by transforming technical experts into impactful people leaders. My work is grounded in the science of positive psychology, resilience training, and intentional relationship-building.

What problem is she solving? 

Blue Light Leadership is solving the costly problem of top talent leaving because of difficult, emotionally unaware leaders. That is why I left almost every job. And to me that just isn’t right. 

More specifically, Blue Light Leadership exists to address this core business problem: 

Companies lose great people when technically strong leaders create fear, frustration, disconnection, and burnout. 

That problem shows up as: 

● disengagement 

● low morale 

● toxic team dynamics 

● high turnover 

● HR distress 

● poor communication 

● leaders who deliver results but damage culture in the process 

What makes Blue Light Leadership different is that we do not just offer generic leadership development or surface-level training. We work with evidence based interventions that create real and lasting change. That means helping leaders become more self-aware, emotionally intelligent, accountable, and effective under pressure so they stop driving away the very people the company wants to keep. 

Blue Light Leadership solves the problem of talented employees leaving because of hard-to-handle leaders. We help organizations retain top talent by changing how leaders show up under pressure—improving engagement, communication, and culture from the inside out.

What’s next for her? 

It’s been an extraordinary season of growth and creative momentum. 

Last year I published my first book, Hard to Handle, which went on to become an Amazon Best Seller. Since then, the work has taken on a life of its own. In the next six weeks, we will be releasing the companion workbook and the audiobook — opening up new ways for leaders, HR professionals, and organizations to engage with these ideas in a practical and deeply personal way. 

And we’re just getting started. 

Later this year, we will launch a full Spanish edition of the book, along with a Spanish audiobook and workbook. This expansion is about more than translation — it’s about reaching more leaders around the world who are navigating the complex human realities of modern work. 

Because leadership today is not just about strategy or performance. 

It is about emotional impact. 

It is about behavior under pressure. 

It is about the unseen dynamics that determine whether people stay, disengage, or quietly lose confidence in themselves. 

To explore these themes more deeply, we will also be launching a new Substack: 

The Emotional Cost of Work 

Where leadership behavior, workplace psychology, and positive psychology collide. 

This publication will go beyond surface-level leadership advice. It will open the door to the real conversations happening behind closed coaching sessions and inside organizations — the moments where brilliant leaders struggle, teams fracture, trust erodes, and growth becomes possible again. 

Through powerful stories, research, and practical insight, I will explore questions many professionals feel but rarely articulate: 

● Why do high performers sometimes become the hardest people to work with?

● How does leadership behavior shape confidence, motivation, and culture?

● What is the true emotional cost of toxic or unaware leadership? 

● And what does science actually tell us about helping people thrive at work?

This work lives at the intersection of leadership psychology, emotional intelligence, and positive psychology. It is for leaders who want to grow, HR professionals who want real solutions, and thoughtful professionals who want to understand the human side of performance. 

Because when we understand the psychology of work, we gain the power to change how work feels — not just how it functions. 

There are many exciting ways to connect with this movement in the coming months. I’m deeply grateful to be building something that is resonating with so many people who care about better leadership and healthier workplaces. 

More to come very soon.

This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at hi@foundedbywomen.org