Happy New Year! As we start 2025, I have two interesting topics to share with you during this solo episode. First, why should you consider a Word of the Year Practice? In the first portion of the show, I share how to find your word of the year and the benefits of doing this.

Second, I reflect on the name of the podcast, Brave Women at Work, and the interesting juxtaposition the podcast name has between the male and female pieces of ourselves. During the show, I share the definitions of brave and courage, why being brave is accessible to all of us, and tips on taking bolder and braver action this year.

You don't want to miss this show! Take notes and learn how you can be brave personally and professionally.

Happy Holidays! Let me start by saying that I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your family and friends. As we end the year, I also wish you much love, health and happiness in the New Year.

This week, I am replaying one of my favorite episodes from Brave Women at Work. This week, I would love for you to learn (or re-learn) about the power of color with Heather Eck.

I met Heather via a podcast placement agency. The magic of podcasting is that you can make amazing connections simply by chatting with other podcasters and guests. When I met Heather, there was an immediate connection. I felt our conversation was magic, and I’m sure you will too!

After this podcast originally aired, Heather sent me my personal Spirit Portrait. You will learn more about that shortly. This piece of artwork sits proudly in my office and is a fond memory of our podcast and connection. In addition, I met another podcaster, coach and colleague because of the show.

See? You never know where connections and conversations can take you.

During my chat with Heather, we discussed:

• Heather’s journey from being an HR Manager to synesthesia artist
• What synesthesia even means
• How Heather helps women go from stuck to intention through her work
• What a Spirit Portrait is and how the process works
• Heather talks about her gift and what certain colors mean

As we get closer to the end of the year, we typically think about our New Year’s Resolutions. One resolution that ends up on many people’s lists is to get out of debt and save more money.

What we don’t often talk about is the powerful connection between our wealth and our health. Like my guest today, Krissina Wise, we may take our health for granted in the pursuit of wealth and not even know we are doing it.

Krisstina spent between $250,000 and $500,000 getting her health back after a major health scare while at the pinnacle of her career success and has made it her mission to help people not only have a love affair with their money, but also with taking care of themselves so they can lead fulfilling lives.

This conversation is power-packed, so get ready!

During my conversation with Krisstina, we chatted about:

1. The pivotal moment in which she almost lost her life.
2. What Krisstina needed to learn to get her life back on track.
3. What wealthywellthy means and why it is important.
4. Does wealthy have to mean having a lot in your bank account?
5. How do we find our financial sweet spot?
6. What does it take to be a millionaire?
7. What steps we can take to fall in our love with our money without sacrificing our health.

Ok, I have a secret. When the Matrix movies first came out with Keanu Reeves, I went to the movies to see them. And you know what happened? I fell asleep. They were so exciting and full of new technology and film effects, but I could not stay awake. I guess I did “get” them.

Well, my guest, Susanne Goldstein, not only gets them, but she also helps women wake up and break free from the prisons the world and their prior choices have put them in.

Susanne says that she watches the Matrix movies on New Year’s Eve. Who knows, now that I better understand the point behind the movies, I may watch them too. And this time, I won’t fall asleep. Fingers crossed!

During my conversation with Susanne, we chatted about:

1. The tools she uses with her clients, including metaphysics and energetics.
2. Why she loves the Matrix movies and watches them every year.
3. What an upgrade is and why we can have multiple upgrades throughout our lives and careers.
4. If upgrades are conscious and planned, subconscious or both.
5. What steps we can take to break free from our own version of the Matrix.

A quick note for you concerning today’s show: Susanne and I let the language rip, so listen to the show with your earbuds or other microphones and away from little ears.

What if stepping away from your career wasn’t a sign of failure but a powerful tool for growth? That’s the perspective Laura Nguyen brings to the table as she shares her journey of overcoming burnout through a planned break. 

Happy December! Can you believe that we are almost to the end of 2024? I cannot. Either way, I hope you have a wonderful end to your year filled with love, joy, health, and happiness.

Speaking about year-end, things get super hectic with all the planning, celebrations, over buying, gift wrapping, opening, and clean-up. I have had years when I get to the end of the year after the holidays and I’m happy I’ve survived. You feel me?

Being the superwoman at the holidays is simply a metaphor for how we can be in life with doing all the things. And as you know, it can lead to burnout. My guest today, Laura Nguyen, has a fresh take on this. And that fresh take starts with a question.

What if taking a planned break was ok? Even better, what if it was welcomed?

I’m going to let that sink in a minute. A planned career break. Yes, please!

During my conversation with Laura, we chatted about:

1. What drove Laura to take a planned career break. She also shares her burnout story.
2. Any fear related to taking a planned career break and what judgment or commentary she received from others as a result.
3. How this impacted her as a chronic self-achiever
4. What if you can’t take a career break because you are the primary breadwinner, a single parent, and more.
5. What happened during Laura’s career break and how she leveraged it to her advantage.
6. Her book, Career Break Compass: Navigating Your Path to a Balanced Life Through Intentional Time Off
7. Her Spark Community

In the earlier stages of my podcast, I often found guests on LinkedIn. Then, I found podcasts through public relations firms and placement agencies. Now, I find them through other podcasters, former guests, friends, and colleagues in the personal development space. I am so excited about the evolution of the show and plan to continue to bring you powerful guests, like my guest, Alicia Zielinski Straub, today.

Alicia and I met through former podcast guest, colleague, and somatic breathwork teacher, Nicole Smith Levay. Alicia and I have been on a breathwork journey together, and now we are taking a meditation and breathwork mentorship (certification together)! It has been wonderful to get to know Alicia, and I am happy to have her as a guest on the show.

During my conversation with Alicia, we chatted about:

1. Her experience many years ago with Hurricane Sandy, and how it cracked her wide open and started her healing journey.
2. Alicia’s vision for her life and how she suggests other women go about finding their own bigger vision for their life and career.
3. The idea of not knowing and how we can be as calm as possible in the middle of that phase of transformation.
4. How we soften into our hearts when we are on a healing or change journey.
5. The advice Alicia would have for any woman who is looking to tap into herself, find stillness, and get prepared for transformation.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “If I had a nickel every time someone did (fill in the blank), I’d be rich?” My guest, Andie Kramer, might say, “If I had a nickel for every story of workplace bias against women, I’d be rich.”

I feel incredibly fortunate to have Andie join me on Brave Women at Work to tackle such an important and timely topic. Reflecting on my own career, I can clearly see moments where I experienced bias—whether it was someone else taking credit for my ideas in a meeting or being passed over for a promotion in favor of a male colleague, despite having all the qualifications.

As I always say, this isn’t about man-bashing—I love the men in my life. But on this show, my goal is to help you take braver, bolder actions in your career. Sometimes that means addressing tough topics like breaking bias, understanding why women, especially women of color, face more challenges in their careers, and—most importantly—exploring what we can do to create a better future for our daughters.

In this episode, Andie and I dive into:

• What inspired Andie and her husband, Al, to focus on breaking gender bias in the workplace
• The types of bias that women encounter at work and how they manifest
• Practical steps we can take to break through bias and build thriving careers
• Andie and Al’s PATH program and how it helps address bias in organizations
• Why women sometimes struggle with other women in the workplace
• The crucial role men play in helping to eliminate workplace bias

Well, I’ve just met another sister from another mister in Jenny Mitchell. The other funny thing is that I have another dear friend named Jenny Mitchell, so this is going to get confusing. True story!

Jenny and I chat today about the concept of embracing our ambition and not stepping away or being afraid of it. Jenny and I had such a fun time during this conversation, and I am sure you are going to enjoy it as well.

During my conversation with Jenny, we chatted about:

1. What embracing ambition means to Jenny.
2. What prompted her to write her book, Embracing Ambition: Empowering Women to Step Out, Be Seen, & Lead.
3. How she built a unique experience for all participating authors in the book.
4. How we can lean into our ambition without burning out.

The great story behind Jenny’s company, Chavender.

Happy November! It’s starting to get cold outside here in Chicago. And guess what? I love it! Yes, I’m one of those people that loves fall and even cooler temperatures. I feel like I come alive when everything begins to hibernate. Maybe my clocks are off. Or maybe that’s just me.

Well, today, I have found another wonderful guest, Anne Shoemaker, who loves sports metaphors as much as I do. You may or may not know that one of my favorite movies is Rocky. I’m starting to date myself because the Rocky series of movies began in 1976. Wowzer! 1976.

Well, I’d like to share my favorite quote from the Rocky series to get us kicked off:

“The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place, and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done."

During my conversation with Anne, we chatted about:

1. Her time in sports and how it shaped and defined her.
2. How she learned to let go of all things feminine and her voice became a whisper in the wind.
3. She also shares some of her top tips and tools to level up professionally, including how we can save up to 150 minutes per day, how we can level up our game on LinkedIn, and the top questions to ask during our next performance review.
4. Anne also shares her career fulfillment score assessment and how she works to help women reach their professional goals.

If you have been a longtime Brave Women at Work listener, you know that I have a soft spot for discussing burnout. If you are joining the podcast for the first time or just a few episodes here and there, I personally experienced burnout in 2019 and have faced some health issues as a result.

I’ve said on the show and with my clients, that if I can help one woman prevent or recover from burnout, then I’ve done my job for the day. I don’t want any other women or men for that matter to go through this. It’s scary, lonely and in my case, even confusing. I didn’t know I was about to hit the wall of burnout until it already happened. I crashed into the wall and was forced to recover.

My guest today, Hannah Tackett, has had her own experience with burnout and is also passionate about helping women in this area. Hannah really “gets it”, and I feel fortunate we have met, and she was available for this show.

During our conversation, Hannah and I talked about:

1. What serene success means to Hannah
2. What the success traps are and when they go from helping to hurting us – what is the tipping point
3. Hannah’s PEACE Method as part of her Serene Success Program
4. How we protect our energy so we can continue to produce at a high level without falling apart physically, mentally, and emotionally