Most people think legacy is about dying. Shawna Wells builds her whole life around the opposite idea: legacy is about living, and you are leaving one with every choice you make right now.
In this episode of Ronderings, Ron sits down with Shawna Wells, CEO of 7Gen Legacy Group, executive coach, and self-described generationalist, for a conversation about leadership, generational thinking, and what it actually means to live a legacy instead of leaving one.
Shawna traces it back to a moment at age 10. She fell off her bike in Northeast Philadelphia, two grown men drove past without stopping to ask if she was okay, and she walked home and told her mom that when she grew up, she would make sure the people coming behind her were alright.
That instinct became a career: teacher, school leader, and now a coach who helps CEOs, nonprofit leaders, and changemakers across the country align their daily decisions with the impact they say they want to make.
The conversation moves from the running track, where Shawna anchored relays and learned never to drop the baton, to the grandmother who left Wetumpka, Alabama and opened her home to hundreds heading north. Ron and Shawna dig into why social impact leaders feel under siege right now, why collective legacy beats clawing for funding alone, and the Las Vegas fellowship turning rival nonprofits into partners.
Tune in to hear Shawna's Rondering on generational health and the one question that cuts through everything: are you making it easier or harder for the people coming after you?
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01:38 Publish your book at
www.leveragepublishinggroup.com🪑
02:02 Meet Shawna Wells: educator, coach, and self-described generationalist
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04:29 The bike fall at 10 and the promise that shaped a life
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09:36 Anchoring the relay and the grandmother who housed hundreds
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12:14 Can you be a generationalist inside a system not built for it
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21:44 Legacy is about living, not dying: the question that changes everything
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25:01 Hamilton, Whitney, and the Uber drivers who tell you their life story
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28:34 How to shift an organization to think in generations
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31:22 Leading social impact work when you fear you may not survive the year
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36:06 Intertwining legacies: the Align Fellowship and turning rivals into partners
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44:18 Shawna's Rondering: generational health and not dropping the baton
Connect with Shawna Wells and the 7Gen Legacy Group team to explore executive coaching, leadership development, and the Living Your Legacy experience, and to find the new Legacy Switch program launching in January 2026.
Connect with Ron:
www.linkedin.com/in/rapatalo
Episode 95
