About Disruptive Insights:
Welcome to Disruptive Insights: A Newsletter from the Unruly Mind of a Scientist Witch—where systems thinking meets rebellion, and deep reflection comes with a side of irreverence.
This is not a leadership digest, this is not a self-help newsletter, and this is definitely not the place for empty platitudes about “mindset shifts” divorced from reality.
This is where I think out loud. I wrestle with power, systems, identity, and the absurdity of it all—without trying to package it neatly for LinkedIn. I question the narratives we’ve been sold and, sometimes, gleefully set them on fire.
Expect:
🔥 Power, privilege, and the polite lies we tell ourselves—unpacked with just enough humor to keep us from spiraling into existential despair.
🌀 Systems thinking for real life—because the same forces that shape political revolutions also explain why your family WhatsApp group is a never-ending crisis management exercise.
💀 The self-improvement industrial complex, exposed—why so much “personal growth” advice is just capitalism in a flowy kimono whispering, you’re not enough (but buy this course!).
🌙 The mystical, the scientific, and the contradictions we live in—because binary thinking is boring.
This is where I get personal. I share the insights that don’t fit neatly into my work as a coach and leadership strategist. Where I say the things I’d normally save for a whiskey-fueled conversation with my most unruly friends.
If you love deep conversations, disruptive thinking, and the occasional existential crisis wrapped in wit—this is for you.
👉 Subscribe, argue (nicely), and let’s make some magic out of the mess.
About the Author:
Hi, I am Virginia Lacayo. I was raised on revolution. Born in France but forged in the fires of the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua, I grew up surrounded by activists, feminists, and political thinkers who debated justice at the dinner table like other families discussed the weather. Thanks to my mother, a feminist trailblazer, and my father’s political missions, I learned early that "normal" was a construct—and one worth dismantling.
By 19, I was already shaking up the airwaves, hosting Sexto Sentido Radio, a pioneering youth talk show that topped ratings in its first year. That success led to Sexto Sentido, Nicaragua’s first social-change TV soap opera, which disrupted cultural narratives before “disruption” became a business cliché. But I wasn’t done. A deep hunger for understanding complexity (and possibly an allergy to oversimplified solutions) led me to Ohio University, where I earned a Ph.D. that led me into a quest into how systems actually change—hint: not through five-point strategic plans.
Now, as the co-founder and CEO of Massive, I work with leaders who are ready to stop tinkering at the edges and start shifting entire paradigms. As a feminist, social entrepreneur, and complexity science geek, I blend neuroscience, equity-driven frameworks, and a hefty dose of irreverence to coach leaders who refuse to play small.
I also chair the board of the Central American Women’s Fund (FCAM), which supports 600+ women’s rights organizations globally. Based in Austin, Texas, I remain deeply committed to justice and equity and calling out systemic nonsense wherever it hides.
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