At Work, Under Pressure

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Sometimes the question is not, “What job should I take next?”

Sometimes the question is, “What kind of life am I trying to build?”

In this episode of At Work, Under Pressure, Jessi Beyer sits down with Korie Pelka to talk about career transitions, burnout, layoffs, retirement, creative identity, coaching, legacy, and what happens when successful people look great on paper but feel completely empty underneath.

Korie shares her journey from theater and corporate communications into coaching, including the moment she volunteered to be laid off because she had nothing left in the tank. She explains how people can follow “energy breadcrumbs,” identify the work that lights them up, build a legacy story, and navigate major transitions without waiting until they hit a breaking point.

In this episode, Jessi and Korie discuss:

• How creative skills can transfer into corporate leadership, communications, and coaching
• Why it can be hard to use the pronoun “I” after years of telling other people’s stories
• What burnout looks like when someone is still performing well on paper
• Why control and flexibility are often the real needs beneath career-change conversations
• How leaders can notice disengagement before someone fully checks out
• Why layoffs, retirement, and career transitions are emotionally significant moments
• How the “three buckets” exercise helps people decide what to leave behind, bring forward, and make room for

This episode is for leaders, HR professionals, coaches, executives, career changers, retirees, and anyone who has ever thought, “I can survive this for a few more years,” while knowing deep down that survival is not enough.

Because your career is not just a resume.

It is part of the story you are building with your life.

CONNECT WITH KORIE

• LinkedIn
• Website
• Get Unstuck. Get Clear. Get Going.: A Guide to Discovering and Planning the Next Stage in Your Career Journey

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Employees do not stop being human when they walk into the office.

They bring their mental health, family stress, grief, finances, relationships, anxiety, and caregiving responsibilities with them.

In this episode of At Work, Under Pressure, Jessi Beyer sits down with Olivia Carter-Hollis of Heitman to talk about workplace wellness, mental health resources, claims data, HR burnout, leadership care, manager discretion, and what it means to build a culture where people feel noticed before crisis escalates.

Olivia shares how Heitman has expanded wellness beyond chair massages and desk yoga into a more holistic strategy that includes mental health support, financial wellness, physical wellness, professional growth, employee relationships, personal stress, senior leader vulnerability, mental health resources, and a dedicated wellness space. She also opens up about her own experience with anxiety as an HR professional and why HR leaders need support too.

In this episode, Jessi and Olivia discuss:

• Why wellness has to be more than a once-a-year initiative
• How claims data can help HR leaders identify where employees need support
• Why mental health resources need to be easy, personalized, and accessible
• How senior leaders sharing their own struggles can give employees permission to be human
• Why managers should use discretion when employees need flexibility
• How HR professionals can burn out while carrying everyone else’s problems
• Why workplace suicide prevention starts with noticing, asking, and making sure people do not carry crisis alone

This episode is for HR leaders, people managers, wellness professionals, benefits leaders, executives, and anyone trying to build a workplace where care is practical, visible, and woven into the culture.

Because sometimes the most important message an employee can hear is simple: "I notice, and I care."

CONNECT WITH OLIVIA

• LinkedIn
• Website

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Grief does not wait outside the office door.

It comes to meetings. It answers emails. It leads teams. It hits deadlines. And often, it stays hidden beneath performance, behavior, silence, and operational strain.

In this episode of At Work, Under Pressure, Jessi Beyer sits down with Patricia Bravo of The Empathetic Leader to talk about grief literacy, bereavement leave, leadership, loss, workplace support, and what organizations need to understand when grief enters the room.

Patricia explains why grief at work is not limited to the death of a loved one. It can include professional loss, identity loss, relationship loss, role changes, missed promotions, organizational restructuring, AI-driven job changes, and any loss that changes what someone thought their life or career would become. She also shares why leaders do not need to become grief experts, but they do need language, awareness, presence, and the ability to check in over time.

In this episode, Jessi and Patricia discuss:

• Why grief is already in the room at work, even when no one names it
• What grief literacy means and why organizations need it
• Why the hierarchy of “acceptable grief” causes harm
• How leaders can support employees when grief resurfaces months later
• Why bereavement leave alone is not a complete grief response
• What to say, and what not to say, when someone is grieving
• Why accompaniment matters more than trying to fix the loss

This episode is for HR leaders, executives, managers, leadership development professionals, workplace culture leaders, and anyone who wants to support people with more humanity when loss changes their lives.

Because the question is not whether grief will come to work.

It is whether leaders will know what to do when it arrives.

CONNECT WITH PATRICIA

• LinkedIn
• Website
• In The Room: When Grief Comes To Work

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Executive protection is not just about being physically capable.

It is about judgment, emotional intelligence, perspective, and knowing when to raise the flag.

In this episode of At Work, Under Pressure, Jessi Beyer sits down with Oded Krashinsky of Advanced Security Concepts and Pacific West Academy to talk about executive protection, veteran transition, bodyguard training, emotional intelligence, mental health awareness, and what it means to operate under pressure in deeply human environments.

Oded shares how Advanced Security Concepts provides high-end protective services for families, estates, celebrities, and high-profile clients, while Pacific West Academy trains the next generation of executive protection professionals. He explains why the best protectors are not just technically skilled, but able to read behavior, understand pressure, stay calm, smile, serve, and recognize when someone may be in distress.

In this episode, Jessi and Oded discuss:

• Why executive protection is ultimately a people business
• How military experience can build creativity, discipline, perspective, and problem-solving
• Why Pacific West Academy focuses on shaping personalities, not changing them
• How bodyguards use emotional intelligence, silence, and observation with clients
• Why protectors may be uniquely positioned to notice mental health or substance-use crises
• How Pacific West Academy supports veterans during transition into civilian life
• Why leaders do not need to be doctors to care, pay attention, and raise the flag

This episode is for security leaders, executive protection professionals, veterans, criminal justice students, HR leaders, public safety professionals, and anyone responsible for keeping people safe under pressure.

Because sometimes crisis readiness starts with one simple skill: pay attention.

CONNECT WITH ODED

• LinkedIn
• Pacific West Academy
• Advanced Security Concepts

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Men do not need to be attacked.

They need to be invited into a better version of strength.

In this episode of At Work, Under Pressure, Jessi Beyer sits down with Jeff Perera of Higher UnLearning to talk about men, masculinity, mental health, emotional literacy, workplace culture, violence prevention, and what it means to move from harmful to helpful ideas of manhood.

Jeff explains why so many men are taught to climb a “ladder of manhood” built on stoicism, dominance, control, emotional suppression, and success at other people’s expense. He also shares why the goal is not to shame men, but to help them build a fuller emotional toolkit, develop emotional muscle, receive feedback, take responsibility, and create workplaces where people are not forced to survive harmful cultures in silence.

In this episode, Jessi and Jeff discuss:

• How to talk about men’s behavior without flattening the conversation into “men are bad”
• Why boys are often taught that emotions, compassion, and vulnerability are weakness
• How the “ladder of manhood” can push men toward dominance, disconnection, and harm
• Why the hammer is not the only tool men need
• How men’s mental health and suicide risk connect to emotional isolation and lack of support
• What workplace leaders need to ask about the “temperature of the water” in their culture
• Why looking under the hood of an organization requires courage

This episode is for HR leaders, executives, managers, educators, coaches, men’s mental health advocates, workplace culture leaders, and anyone trying to build spaces where men can be accountable without being disposable, and supported without being coddled.

Because strength is not having only one tool.

Strength is knowing which tool the moment requires.

CONNECT WITH JEFF

• LinkedIn
• Website

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People do not stay at a company just because there is a paycheck.

They stay when the full employment experience works: the pay, the benefits, the culture, the communication, the trust, and the feeling that the company actually sees them as a person.

In this episode of At Work, Under Pressure, Jessi Beyer sits down with Brian Rea of Forged HR to talk about HR, manufacturing and industrial workplaces, wellness benefits, EAPs, retention, culture, employee communication, and what companies often misunderstand when they complain that “people just aren’t loyal anymore.”

Brian shares how his early experience in a cheese manufacturing plant shaped his view of human resources, especially after seeing wellness programs, strong benefits, and EAP support long before many companies had invested in those areas. He also explains why companies that want loyalty have to look inward at what they are putting on the table, how they are treating people, and whether the overall employment package is worth staying for.

Jessi and Brian discuss:

• How HR can make the employer space a better place to work
• Why retention depends on more than pay, title, or surface-level perks
• How benefit changes can land psychologically as a message about employee value
• Why EAPs are often underused, even when they are low-cost and highly valuable
• How leaders can increase EAP utilization through repeated, practical, stigma-reducing communication
• Why manufacturing and industrial workplaces may need different wellness supports than corporate offices
• What leaders need to understand about suicide prevention, crisis support, and creating a workplace where people can ask for help

This episode is for HR leaders, manufacturing and industrial executives, people managers, business owners, benefits teams, and anyone trying to build a workplace where good people want to stay.

Because if you treat people like replaceable cogs, they will treat you like a replaceable employer.

And if you want loyalty, retention, and trust, you have to build an employment experience that actually supports the humans doing the work.

CONNECT WITH BRIAN

• LinkedIn
• Website

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Introverts do not need to become extroverts to succeed at work.

But workplaces do need to stop treating extroversion as the default path to leadership, visibility, and advancement.

In this episode of At Work, Under Pressure, Jessi Beyer sits down with Janice Chaka of The Career Introvert to talk about introversion, energy management, networking, imposter syndrome, leadership, meetings, systems, burnout, and why organizations need to design work for humans instead of machines.

Janice explains why introversion is not about disliking people, but about how people spend and restore energy. She also shares how introverts can build relationships without forcing themselves into happy-hour networking, why organizations often push great individual contributors into management roles they may not want, and how imposter syndrome can quietly cost companies talent, creativity, decision-making, and retention.

In this episode, Jessi and Janice discuss:

• Why introverts are more like rechargeable batteries than solar panels
• How workplaces financially reward management, even when someone is a brilliant individual contributor
• Why networking should be reframed as relationship building
• How introverts can build professional relationships with systems instead of forced small talk
• Why imposter syndrome is not just an individual issue, but an organizational talent issue
• How perfectionism, fear of being exposed, and self-doubt affect workplace performance
• Why rigid systems, burnout, lack of agency, and helplessness matter in workplace suicide prevention

This episode is for HR leaders, people managers, introverted professionals, career coaches, L&D leaders, executives, and anyone trying to build a workplace where people can succeed without pretending to be someone they are not.

Because all the best humans have limits.

And the smartest workplaces design around them.

CONNECT WITH JANICE:

• LinkedIn
• The Career Introvert
• Limits by Design
• Personal Website
• TEDx Talk

CONNECT WITH JESSI ON LINKEDIN >>> HERE!

Richard Bronson’s story starts on Wall Street, moves through Stratton Oakmont and federal prison, and eventually becomes a mission to help people coming out of incarceration rebuild their lives.

In this episode of At Work, Under Pressure, Jessi Beyer sits down with Richard Bronson, founder of Commissary Club and 70 Million Jobs, to talk about The Real Wolf of Wall Street, white-collar crime, guilt, prison, humility, reentry, fair-chance hiring, AI, employment barriers, and what it means to build something useful after losing almost everything.

Richard shares how he became a partner at Stratton Oakmont, why he knowingly stayed in a criminal environment, what prison taught him about humility, and how he later built technology to help people with criminal records access jobs. He also explains why employers need to stop treating fair-chance hiring as charity and start understanding it as a business case, especially when retention, loyalty, and workforce access are on the line.

In this episode, Jessi and Richard discuss:

• How Richard became involved with Stratton Oakmont and the culture behind The Wolf of Wall Street
• Why money, status, camaraderie, and ego can pull people into unethical environments
• What cognitive dissonance feels like when someone knows they are doing wrong
• How prison changed Richard’s life and gave him a dose of humility
• Why employment is one of the biggest barriers to successful reentry
• How fair-chance hiring shifted when employers saw the business case, not just the moral case
• How Commissary Club uses AI to help people navigate job applications, housing, benefits, and bureaucracy

This episode is for HR leaders, workforce development professionals, reentry organizations, criminal justice reform advocates, employers, founders, social impact leaders, and anyone interested in what second chances actually require.

Because redemption is not just about telling people to do better.

It is about removing the systems barriers that keep them stuck.

CONNECT WITH RICHARD

• [email protected]
• LinkedIn
• Website

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Trauma does not leave itself at the door when people come to work.

And calling a workplace “trauma-informed” is not enough if leaders do not know how to embody that in everyday practice.

In this episode of At Work, Under Pressure, Jessi Beyer sits down with Adriana Leigh of ALG Consulting to talk about trauma, trauma sensitivity, psychological safety, nervous system responses, accountability, workplace conflict, leadership behavior, and why trauma-sensitive work is not about lowering standards.

Adriana explains why she intentionally uses the language of trauma sensitivity, how trauma responses can show up as resistance, withdrawal, conflict, reactivity, or avoidance, and why leaders need to understand both the individual and structural sides of workplace safety. She also shares examples from high-pressure teams, healthcare environments, and international work where trauma-sensitive practices can change how people communicate, respond, and repair trust.

In this episode, Jessi and Adriana discuss:

• Why trauma is not just the event, but the nervous system’s response to it
• Why “trauma-informed” can become a checkbox instead of a real practice
• How trauma sensitivity builds on psychological safety
• Why trauma-sensitive leadership is not about lowering standards
• How ambiguity, unclear communication, and false urgency trigger reactivity
• What simple practices, like check-ins and clear agendas, can do for team safety
• Why trauma, mental health crises, and suicide risk show up at work whether leaders are ready or not

This episode is for executives, HR leaders, healthcare leaders, nonprofit leaders, DEI professionals, legal teams, investigators, facilitators, and anyone responsible for creating safer, more accountable workplaces.

Because trauma sensitivity is not softness.

It is precision, safety, accountability, and better leadership.

CONNECT WITH ADRIANA

• LinkedIn
• Website
• Trauma Sensitivity At Work: How To Lead Safe, Inclusive Teams
• World Health Organization survey on lifetime trauma prevalence

CONNECT WITH JESSI ON LINKEDIN >>> HERE!

When crisis hits, leaders do not magically become ready.

They either have the tools, relationships, and emotional discipline to respond, or they create a vacuum.

In this episode of At Work, Under Pressure, Jessi Beyer sits down with Dr. Leonard Marcus of Harvard’s National Preparedness Leadership Initiative to talk about crisis leadership, meta-leadership, emotional response, chain of command, swarm leadership, and what workplace leaders can learn from major disasters.

Lenny shares how his work studying Hurricane Katrina, COVID, the Boston Marathon bombings, emergency response, public safety, healthcare, and national preparedness shaped his understanding of what leaders need when pressure is highest.

In this episode, Jessi and Lenny discuss:

• What Hurricane Katrina taught Lenny about leadership vacuums in crisis
• Why people go to the “basement of the brain” when they perceive threat
• How leaders can regain agency by moving into concrete action
• What meta-leadership means and how to lead down, up, across, and beyond
• Why chain of command still matters while influencing beyond authority
• How emotional support after traumatic events helps responders keep doing the job
• Why leaders need trusted relationships before the crisis, not business cards during it

This episode is for executives, HR leaders, safety professionals, public safety leaders, healthcare leaders, emergency managers, and anyone responsible for guiding people through moments when stress, trauma, uncertainty, and urgency collide.

Because in a crisis, leadership is not just about being in charge.

It is about helping people get out of the basement, rebuild agency, and move together.

CONNECT WITH DR. MARCUS

• LinkedIn
• NPLI at Harvard
• You're It: Crisis, Change, and How To Lead When It Matters Most