Real. Raw. No Holding Back. Stories from people like you who&#39;ve burnt out and come back to tell the tale. From thought leaders to your friend down the street, there&#39;s a story in FRIED that you will relate to, guaranteed. </p>You are not alone. You might be fried crispy at this point, but I promise you there is a way through. Each week, there is a story of breakdown and build back up and we don&#39;t skip over the nasty bits. The journey through burnout is rarely a beautiful one, but it creates some pretty amazing careers and lives. The point of this space is to assure you that you aren&#39;t alone and that there is a way through. If one week doesn&#39;t resonate, be sure that another week will. There&#39;s a solution for every story and we will cover them all. I promise. </p>And - the help doesn&#39;t stop there. UNFRIED is a small group coaching program (under 10 people per cohort) that is available for you. <a href="https://caitdonovan.com/unfried" rel="nofollow">Find the info here</a>. (bit.ly/UNFRIED)</p>
“I often say that story is the most powerful tool on earth and I really believe that,” says today’s FRIED guest Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson, who, as the founder and CEO of the Heartwood Leadership Institute, has helped countless Fortune 500 executives step into their leadership. Today she joins host Cait Donovan to discuss the stories we tell ourselves—about who we are, what life and work are meant to be like and how these stories manifest in our lives and even in our bodies until we finally dig deep down and investigate what’s underneath them. The two women discuss the most common stories people—particularly those who end up burning out—tell themselves about worthiness, visibility and attempting to go the journey alone.
Ingrained into us at the deepest cultural level are all the variations of author Joseph Campbell’s “hero’s journey”—wherein the protagonist sets out on a journey, encounters and overcomes obstacles and emerges victorious. Jacquelyn and Cait discuss the destructive messages this classic trope can nonetheless instill in us about our value being determined by how hard we struggle.
One of the most powerful aspects of storytelling is its malleability. Join today’s conversation to learn how to shape the story you tell about yourself.
Quotes
Links
Connect with Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson:
https://www.heartwoodleadership.com
https://jacquelynfletcherjohnson.substack.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelynfletcherjohnson
https://www.amazon.com/Coyote-Wisdom-Power-Story-Healing/dp/1591430291
https://www.jcf.org/learn/joseph-campbell-heros-journey
Connect with Cait:
Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait
Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
“I want you to give yourself permission to live in this rule of thirds,” says host Cait Donovan, borrowing a concept that Olympic runner Alexi Pappas recently shared online. Alexi's coach told her that anything you're doing right will feel a combination of good, bad and just neutral. Cait explains how this applies to burnout recovery, and how to incorporate it into your own life.
She also discusses fourth grade teacher Ryan Brazil's viral clip which explains that we are not obligated to blindly follow our first and, perhaps, most impulsive thoughts. Instead, we have the power to adhere to or act upon any one of the many successive thoughts that align more with who we want to be.
Cait shares a story from her own life where she chose to place emphasis on her second thought of compassion over her first thought of judgement.
Quotes
Links
Alexi Pappas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKndqq0CsRc
Ryan Brazil: https://www.instagram.com/mrs.brazil_28/reel/C_MRG4vSh4g/
Connect with Cait:
Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait
Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
“Part of the empowerment is recognizing that the things that you’re weak in are actually just the flip side of your strengths,” explains Sarah Yovovich, teacher writer and body worker, who joins FRIED to discuss the kind of burnout which results from emotional abuse. The same emotional intuition that kept her empathizing with her abuser makes her a profound healer, deeply tuned into her clients’ emotional, physical and energetic layers through Thai massage--a meditation on loving kindness. Today, she speaks to Sarah Vosen about the five elements of Chinese medicine, how they changed her life and helped her heal from burnout.
They also make her feel more connected to all elements of the world around her, a concept with which Sarah Jovovich, in turn, empowers her clients. She discusses the importance of community supporting each other and working in tandem. She also explains how she learned to set boundaries, for others’ benefit as much as her own.
Join the two friends in a discussion about healing and empowerment, the pitfalls of being a “terminal optimist” and why abuse is like an expressway.
Quotes
Links
Connect with Sarah Yovovich:
https://instagram.com/acro.mama
www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-yovovich-2124b07
One-on-one coaching free call with Sarah Vosen:
https://caitdonovan.as.me/coachwithsarah Element constitution quiz: https://s.pointerpro.com/primaryelement
Connect with Cait:
Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait
Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
“I just didn’t feel like I had the permission to bring that part of myself into the workplace and say, ‘Hey, I want to start making some shifts,’”says Roslyn McLarty, of her time as co-founder of the GIST, a women-run sports media brand, making sports more inclusive. As the company grew, so did the responsibilities and overwhelm, and she found herself growing away from the company. Since completing burnout recovery coaching with Cait through Cait’s Wayfinder program, Roslyn has learned that when you act in integrity with what your mind, body and soul want to do, not only do you deliver the most impact, you have more to offer the company, and as a founder, set the example for those around you. On today’s episode of FRIED, she shares how her journey through burnout has informed the founding of her latest venture Within, a personal development platform for purpose-driven leaders.
A large part of Roslyn’s burnout recovery included learning to be present in her body—rather than just living inside of her own head—and get in better touch with her intuition. She learned to get to the root of her people-pleasing tendencies, to release her resentments and frustration.
Roslyn’s story proves what a difference a year can truly make. Join today’s discussion to hear the advice she has for founders based on what she’s learned throughout her own journey.
Quotes
Links
Connect with Roslyn McLarty:
https://www.instagram.com/roslynmclarty/
www.linkedin.com/in/roslyn-mclarty-51058223
Connect with Cait:
Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait
Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv
“Cool, this is an emotion, but what is it telling me? What is the information?” asks Nicole Maitland, host of the podcast “Yarns for the Soul” and today’s guest on this episode of FRIED hosted by Sarah Vosen. The same high level of sensitivity that made Nicole an effective human rights lawyer in her native New Zealand made her vicariously vulnerable to her clients’ trauma, and her people-pleasing tendencies drove her to give her best to those clients even as her body was screaming for her to stop. Today, Nicole explains how she is learning to give herself the time, space and permission to feel her feelings without guilt or judgment, and what’s more, to learn to determine the message and information her emotions are trying to deliver.
She compares emotions to waves, and the messages the emotions contain, to boats. When we let the waves wash over us and pay attention to the boats, we can receive the message that ultimately helps us bring ourselves more into what Sarah calls “soul alignment”— the lack of which is what leads to burnout in the first place. Nicole also talks about listening to the messages your body is trying to tell you, either through the symptoms of burnout, or in the subtle ways your gut and heart are trying to lead you in the right direction.
Currently, Nicole is living the life of a “slow nomad,” and in turn is learning to let her soul be a “free and easy wanderer.” Learn more about her journey, how working with a naturopath changed her perspective and what she learned about life from growing up on her family’s farm.
Quotes
Links
Connect with Nicole Maitland:
https://nicole28j.wixsite.com/nicole-maitland-1
https://www.instagram.com/yarnsforthesoulnicole/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-maitland-4544706a/
Connect with Cait:
Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait
Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
“What’s more important: being happy for having some stupid business card?” Asks Bryan Huhn, who joins FRIED today to discuss the relationship between financial stress and burnout, particularly when we allow the money we’re making—and the money we think we can’t live without—to convince us we need to remain in jobs that are making us miserable even to the point of illness. Bryan spent years valuing what people thought of him more than his own genuine passions and in an effort to people-please, pursued a career in finance rather than his dream of becoming a baseball coach. This led to a toxic cycle where his self-worth was tied to a job he had no passion for and therefore didn’t excel at, the stress of which, he believes, contributed to a cancer diagnosis in 2015.
With what he’s learned, he wants to help others make the most of their money so that they can create the best lives for themselves, and don’t have to spend another minute in jobs that they hate. As he explains to host Cait Donovan, this requires being brutally honest with yourself about where your money is going, what that says about what you value, and how you can start financially planning so that you can buy your freedom without wasting any more of that resource that is perhaps more valuable than money: your time.
This requires getting real with yourself, while at the same time refraining from judging yourself or comparing yourself to anyone else. Join today’s episode of FRIED to learn how your approach to financial planning will help you start to live your best life.
Quotes
Links
Connect with Bryan Huhn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanhuhn/
Connect with Cait:
Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait
Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
Ready to leave burnout behind for good? Join UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start reclaiming your energy and joy. Apply today! https://bit.ly/unfryapply
“The problem isn’t you; the problem is the toxic workplace,” explains host Caitlin Donovan on this latest #straightfromcait episode of FRIED, in which she discusses the dangers of returning to a toxic workplace only to repeat the burnout cycle again, as if you never made any recovery progress. Too often we’re led to believe that if we improve ourselves enough, we can develop an immunity against a bad environment, which, as Cait says, simply isn’t true.
On today’s episode, she explains why you should reconsider returning to your toxic workplace, and, if you do find yourself there, what to do if you find yourself unsupported. She discusses the common feelings of isolation, loneliness, emotional and mental paralysis and low self-esteem that accompany this scenario, and the devastating effects of bullies in the workplace.
You’ve come too far in your burnout recovery to jump back into the very situation that got you burned out in the first place. Join Cait today to learn the importance of being aware of, and listening to your body responses, to better detect and determine if your environment is safe.
Quotes
Links
Connect with Cait:
Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait
Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv
Ready to leave burnout behind for good? Join UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start reclaiming your energy and joy. Apply today! https://bit.ly/unfryapply
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
Ready to leave burnout behind for good? Join UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start reclaiming your energy and joy. Apply today! https://bit.ly/unfryapply
“How do we rewrite the playbook together?” asks Daisy Auger-Dominguez, global leader, workplace strategist and author of the upcoming book “From Burnt Out to Lit Up,” on today’s episode of FRIED. The contemporary workplace is in major flux at the moment. In addition to being in collective burnout that we’ve just been able to give a name to, we’re also in what Daisy calls a “messy middle,” where workers are still learning how to effectively use their voices and leaders are trying to navigate these rapidly changing waters with archaic methods. So, how can leaders gain the skills to lead high-performing teams, shift workplace culture, and drive performance without causing more burnout? By showing up differently, modeling vulnerability and humanity for their workers, so that they feel seen, can heal, and eventually, help change the system from the inside out.
Today Daisy talks about what it takes to do such healing. It includes being conscious of your sacrifices, weighing the pros and cons of your decisions, replenishing your social battery and staying on top of your cultural debt. Many leaders fall into the trap of thinking they’re needed everywhere 24/7—when delegating not only eases the leader’s burden but lets capable workers shine.
Daisy explains how we can acknowledge the undue burden many groups experience in the workplace while exercising agency that helps not only us thrive but others as well. By rewriting the stories we tell ourselves, we help remodel the current paradigm of workplace culture into something better.
Quotes
Links
Connect with Daisy Auger-Dominguez:
https://www.daisyauger-dominguez.com
https://www.instagram.com/daisyaugerdominguez/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/daisyaugerdominguez/
Connect with Cait:
Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait
Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv
Burnout doesn’t have to be your story. Apply to UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start your journey toward lasting recovery. Spots are limited—apply now! https://bit.ly/unfryapply
Ready to leave burnout behind for good? Join UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start reclaiming your energy and joy. Apply today! https://bit.ly/unfryapply
“What kind of 85-year-old do you want to be?” asks Cathy Richards, exercise physiologist, wellness coach and best-selling author of “Boom! Six Steps to Living a Longer, Healthier Life” who joins the podcast to help us learn what we can do to protect our brains against neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. The habits we build now—starting with as little as just five minutes a day—will help, in large part, to determine the quality of our later years.
The best thing you can do? Get moving. This doesn’t have to mean exercise. Cathy and Cait discuss the power of movement to not only yield physical benefits such as weight loss, but helps to promote neuroplasticity that will help us develop healthier thoughts and, ultimately, belief systems. The point is to build small consistent habits over time.
The future is coming faster than we think. Though none of us has entire control over it, we can begin today to form the best version of ourselves in the future.
Quotes
Links
Connect with Cathy Richards:
https://www.cathyrichards.net/blog/taking-a-year-to-inspire-vitality-in-yourself https://www.cathyrichards.neet
https://www.instagram.com/inspiringvitality
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathymrichards/
https://www.cathyrichards.net/brainpower.html https://www.facebook.com/groups/intentionallivingandlongevity
Connect with Cait:
Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait
Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv
Burnout doesn’t have to be your story. Apply to UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start your journey toward lasting recovery. Spots are limited—apply now! https://bit.ly/unfryapply
Ready to leave burnout behind for good? Join UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start reclaiming your energy and joy. Apply today! https://bit.ly/unfryapply
“We really need to break our limitations of what we say rest is,” says Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, a board-certified internal medicine physician, internationally renowned thought leader on well-being, and author of the bestselling book “Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity.” By overwhelming demand, Dr. Saundra joins the FRIED podcast to discuss the seven types of rest, which she explains is distinct from—but nonetheless essential to—sleep. She’ll explain how you can determine in which area of your life—from the mental, physical and emotional, to the sensorial, spiritual and creative—-you are experiencing the greatest rest deficit, and how you can begin to fill those empty buckets amidst your busy life, not around it.
Along the way she reveals some surprising insights about the nature of rest and unpacks some of our most enduring misconceptions about it. Often what we think of as rest is really more work and when we think we are relaxing we are just indulging ourselves. She explains the difference between fitting in and true belonging, why trauma dumping can actually cause more stress, and why that watercolor painting class is not as creatively restoring as you may think it is.
Over 250,000 people have discovered their personal rest deficit with Dr. Saundra’s help. Join today’s episode to learn how you can discover yours and start your journey toward overcoming burnout and living your best life.
Quotes
Links
Connect with Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith:
https://www.drdaltonsmith.com/
https://www.instagram.com/drdaltonsmith
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdaltonsmith/
Connect with Cait:
Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait
Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv
Burnout doesn’t have to be your story. Apply to UNFRIED: A Small Group Burnout Recovery Program and start your journey toward lasting recovery. Spots are limited—apply now! https://bit.ly/unfryapply
Amanda is a wife. A mother. A blogger. A Christian.
A charming, beautiful, bubbly, young woman who lives life to the fullest.
But Amanda is dying, with a secret she doesn’t want anyone to know.
She starts a blog detailing her cancer journey, and becomes an inspiration, touching and
captivating her local community as well as followers all over the world.
Until one day investigative producer Nancy gets an anonymous tip telling her to look at Amanda’s
blog, setting Nancy on an unimaginable road to uncover Amanda’s secret.
Award winning journalist Charlie Webster explores this unbelievable and bizarre, but
all-too-real tale, of a woman from San Jose, California whose secret ripped a family apart and
left a community in shock.
Scamanda is the true story of a woman whose own words held the key to her secret.
New episodes every Monday.
Follow Scamanda on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
Amanda’s blog posts are read by actor Kendall Horn.