Sheryl Raphael Whitaker Hosts New Weekly Show, 'It Starts with Joy - LIVE,' on Mornings in the Lab Live Network

Sheryl Raphael Whitaker with digital characters Atlas, Beatrice and Zola from “It Starts with Joy - LIVE.” Image Courtesy of Sheryl Raphael Whitaker

PLAINFIELD, NJ, UNITED STATES, May 4, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Sheryl Raphael Whitaker, MBA, Leadership Transformation Expert and Founder & CEO of EdenAnthony Elite Talent Solutions LLC, is spotlighting her weekly live show, “It Starts with Joy - LIVE,” as a central platform for her work on joy-centered leadership. Produced by and airing every Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET on the Mornings in the Lab Live Network through YouTube and LinkedIn Live, the show brings leaders into candid, real-time conversations about what it takes to lead through growth, pressure and change.

Whitaker says, "We’re building this show for anyone leading something — a team, a company, a household, a life. Leadership is an inside job before it's anything else, and these conversations make that visible."

The show is gaining traction by focusing on moments leaders rarely talk about out loud. In a recent episode, “The Leader Goes First,” Whitaker sat down with Sharon Raphael-Diaz, a Prosci-certified HR strategist and transformation executive who currently serves as Director of HR Strategy & Reimagining at CIBC Caribbean, for a conversation on identity, self-trust and what happens when leaders stop performing leadership and start trusting it.

Another episode, “The Accountability Room,” brought Whitaker’s own accountability circle into the conversation. Four coaches joined her live to talk about how leadership is rarely built alone and what it’s like being held by people who refuse to let you shrink.

In another segment, Whitaker used the rise of artificial intelligence as a lens to examine what she calls “the leadership skill AI can’t fake.”

What sets “It Starts with Joy - LIVE” apart is how it brings the internal leadership experience into the open. This comes through three recurring AI-generated digital characters, developed through MiTL Studio’s production system.

"Beatrice," a feisty 3D-animated elephant in a hot-pink tutu, plays the inner critic that questions every move. "Atlas," a grounded digital human with a warm British baritone, holds the steadier voice, the one rooted in clarity and self-trust. "Zola," a digital co-host who carries 25 years of corporate experience and the wisdom of women who've lived both sides of success, anchors the show's "Real Talk with Zola" segment and meets each guest with the recognition that comes from having been there. Together they make the internal leadership dialogue visible, relatable, and impossible to ignore.

Inspired by her best-selling book, It Starts with Joy: The Inner Shift that Changes Everything, the show explores leadership from the inside out. Each episode is unscripted and shaped by real conversations, often touching on burnout, identity, boundaries and the pressure to keep everything together. Whitaker's premise is structural, not motivational. Joy isn't the reward for good leadership. It's the operating system underneath it.

Whitaker brings more than 35 years of Fortune 500 leadership experience to the platform, including senior roles at State Farm, AutoOne Insurance, AIG and USAA, where she led enterprise learning transformation for more than 37,000 employees. Through her signature JoyShift™ Method, It Starts with Joy framework and “Joy is my COO™” philosophy, she helps leaders move out of survival mode and into a more steady, sustainable way of leading.

She explains, "This work isn't about adding more pressure. It's about helping people come back to themselves, so they can lead from who they are instead of from what they're afraid of."

The weekly show is part of a broader platform for Whitaker as she prepares for her TEDxSouthlake 2026 keynote and continues her 100 Joy Talks initiative, where she is committed to delivering 100 talks this year on joy as a leadership operating system.

Her work has been recognized by Top 100 Magazine and Brainz Magazine, and featured in outlets such as MSN, Apple News, Grit Daily, C-Suite Brief, NY Weekly, US Business News, Economic Insider and CEO Weekly.

To watch upcoming episodes, visit https://www.youtube.com/@itstartswithjoylive. To learn more about Sheryl's work, visit www.sherylraphaelwhitaker.com.

About “It Starts with Joy - LIVE”

“It Starts with Joy - LIVE” is a weekly live leadership show hosted by Sheryl Raphael Whitaker, MBA, Leadership Transformation Expert, executive coach, best-selling author and Founder & CEO of EdenAnthony Elite Talent Solutions LLC. Produced by and airing every Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET on the Mornings in the Lab Live Network through YouTube and LinkedIn Live, the show explores joy as a leadership operating system through honest, unscripted conversations. Each episode brings together real-time reflection, guest dialogue and audience engagement, while integrating the recurring digital characters Beatrice, Atlas, and Zola to make the inner leadership dialogue visible. The show is designed for leaders who are ready to move beyond performance-driven leadership and build something more grounded, human and sustainable.

The show is produced by the Mornings in the Lab Live Network, part of MiTL Studio, founded by Keith Bilous. The studio develops branded live programming using its ConversationOS production system, which also powers the show’s signature digital characters, Beatrice, Atlas, and Zola.

Whitaker, the author of It Starts with Joy: The Inner Shift that Changes Everything, brings more than 35 years of Fortune 500 leadership experience to the platform, along with the perspective behind her JoyShift™ Method and “Joy is my COO™” philosophy. Learn more at Edenanthonyelitetalent.com.

Heather Burgett
The Burgett Group, Inc.
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