If you’ve been pushing through workplace burnout, ignoring your body’s signals, or believing that rest is something you have to “earn,” this episode is going to heal your soul! As Black women, we carry generational stories of overwork, perfectionism, and being “the strong one.” But what if the most revolutionary thing we could do for ourselves is to sit our ass down?In this powerful conversation with burnout coach and former teacher turned CEO, Keonna Knight, we explore the truth about rest, resilience, and why Black women deserve lives rooted in ease, joy, and abundance.In this episode, we discuss...✨ The top 4 burnout signs to look out for ✨ How generational trauma and identity shape our relationship with rest✨ Why saying your sacred no can be a radical act of self-love✨ The connection between self-worth, rest, and ease in our careers and businesses✨ How play, joy, and community are essential tools for healing burnout✨ Why rest is not just personal, it’s strategic, cultural, and transformational🍵 About Keonna Knight, Courage & Burnout CoachKeonna Knight, M.Ed., is a courage coach and burnout expert with 6+ years of experience creating unique wellness events for Black Women. This former East Oakland educator turned CEO has created transformative experiences for over 1,500 Black women and visionary leaders to stop over-functioning and start living lives rooted in rest and wellness. Her credentials: a trained therapist, yoga + mindfulness instructor, and successful business owner who gets 9 hours of sleep each night, anchors every offering in God, and loves sharing belly laughs and Thai food with people who feel like home.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healwithkeonna Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@healwithkeonna LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keonnaknight/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@healwithkeonna ✨ Explore More: The Come Home Rest RetreatKeonna is hosting Come Home: A Rest Retreat for Black Women in Richmond, VA (October 10–13, 2025). It’s a transformational Christ-centered experience designed to help you reset and reclaim your rest.💌 Learn more and secure your spot: https://goodbyeburnout.org/restretreat🤎Join the Career Love CommunityIf this episode resonated with you, the Career Love Community is your next step to Black Woman Bliss. It’s where high-performing, purpose-driven Black women come together to create careers, businesses, and lifestyles filled with clarity, confidence and ease. As a member, you’ll get:✅ Live group coaching sessions every month✅ Business and career strategy trainings✅ Monthly work groups to learn and grow✅ Access to a supportive sisterhood of Black women who understand your journeyStart free or upgrade for deeper access and walk boldly into your Black Woman Bliss Era.👉🏾 Join the Career Love Community Today: https://www.mercedesswan.com/join🤎 Stay ConnectedFollow me on TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn for more career and business gems:TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mercedes.swan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdswanYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFeD9kqBQ53Lg17SaTh1bSQ💌 Email: [email protected] this episode spoke, I would so appreciate it if you subscribe, share, and leave a review. It helps The Career Love Podcast reach and empower more Black women. Read the Transcripts: https://www.mercedesswan.com/blog/burnout-in-black-women-sis-sit-yo-ass-down

If you’ve been wondering how to stop playing small in your career or business, this episode of The Career Love Podcast is your personal invitation to take up space.I’m pulling up with real talk on the shifts I’ve been making in my own business — and the truth about how unworthiness can keep us chasing smaller dreams than the ones we’re actually called to. This IS a pep talk, sis but I’m also giving you real strategies, mindset shifts, and permission to stop shrinking your vision and start walking boldly in it.In this episode, we’ll cover:💖 Why ignoring your intuition is costing you big opportunities💖 How unworthiness hides in career decisions and business choices💖 The truth about staying in toxic jobs (and how to break the cycle)💖 My personal journey from playing small to embracing a bigger vision💖 Practical steps you can take today to walk fully in your worth

ACCESS TRANSCRIPTS: https://www.mercedesswan.com/blog/how-to-stop-playing-small-and-start-feeling-worthy💖 JOIN THE CAREER LOVE COMMUNITYIf you loved this conversation, SIS, the true transformation is waiting for you inside the Career Love Community — my space for Black women ready to create aligned careers, businesses, and lifestyles. As a member, you’ll get access to live group coaching, powerful trainings, monthly work groups, and a network of women who get it. Whether you join free or as a paid member, you’ll walk away with the strategy, support, and sisterhood to stop playing small and step into your Black Woman Bliss Era.👉 Start your journey here: https://www.mercedesswan.com/join✨ RESERVE YOUR SEAT FOR THE BLACK WOMAN BLISS WEBINARThis episode ain't everything! In the upcoming Black Woman Bliss Webinar, we’ll go deeper into exactly how to stop playing small and instead build the career, business, and life you’ve been dreaming about. You’ll walk away with a clear vision, actionable steps, and the confidence to claim what’s already yours.💌 Seats are free, but space is limited. Save your spot now: https://www.mercedesswan.com/bliss

🤎 Stay Connected:

Follow me on TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn for more career and business gems

TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@mercedes.swan⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdswan ⁠

Schedule a Clarity Chat: https://calendly.com/mercedesswan/info

Subscribe & leave a review! If this episode resonated with you, let me know! Your support helps The Career Love Podcast reach and empower more Black women.

Share this with a sister who needs to hear it!

Ready to step into your Black Woman Bliss Era by building a career or business you love? Reach out at ⁠[email protected]

We’re on some HR level #@%$!

In this unfiltered episode, I’m joined by HR’s Agent of Chaos, Francis “Tank” Rhodes and the hot mess that is Human Resources is catching some strays.

From SHRM scandals and toxic leadership to performative DEI and overworked HR teams, we’re naming names (disrespectfully), spilling tea, and calling out the systems that keep workplaces unsafe and inequitable for Black folks.

BASICALLY, BABES, we’re talking about everything wrong with HR.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever been side-eyed by HR, wants in on finding solutions to HR’s biggest issues, or just needs to understand what the helly is actually going on behind the scenes.

Topics we cover:

• Why HR is not your friend”… and what you actually need
• The real reason DEI was set up to fail
• SHRM, HR elitism, and our villain origin stories
• How HR professionals can reclaim integrity and lead with empathy
• Why your work bestie might be your biggest opp (we said what we said!)

Tank is a real one, and this convo was hilarious and raw. So, go ahead, boo… hit the play button.

ACCESS TRANSCRIPTS:

https://www.mercedesswan.com/blog/hr-is-not-your-friend

🤎 Work with Tank as your HR Consultant

Tank is an HR Manager & consultant with seven years of experience in HR Ops, including Talent Acquisition, Performance Management, Employee Relations, Leadership, Benefits Administration, LOA, Compliance, & Inclusion.

Work with Tank: https://beacons.ai/hrsagentofchaos

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hrsagentofchaos/about

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hrsagentofchaos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhodes19/

🤎 Ready to join the Career Love Community?

This safe, powerful space was created by and for Black women navigating big goals in career, life, and business. With coaching, training, and sisterhood built in, your about to achieve all your big goals. Learn more & join us now: ⁠https://www.mercedesswan.com

🤎 Stay Connected:

Follow me on TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn for more career and business gems

TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@mercedes.swan⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdswan ⁠

Schedule a Clarity Chat: https://calendly.com/mercedesswan/info

Subscribe & leave a review! If this episode resonated with you, let me know! Your support helps The Career Love Podcast reach and empower more Black women.

Share this with a sister who needs to hear it!

Ready to step into your Black Woman Bliss Era by building a career or business you love? Reach out at ⁠[email protected]

This episode of the Career Love Podcast is a love letter to the creative, so done with corporate, legacy-building Black woman in this community.

Today, I’m joined by the incredible Nicole Palmer—bestselling author, editor-in-chief, and co-founder of Delnic Media. We talk about what it means to navigate corporate America as a Black woman, how we’re building our digital empires to experience true freedom, and why it’s time to rethink what financial security, the stories we tell ourselves, and how we define success!

In this episode, Nicole leaves it ALL on the table (which we built ourselves) and we discuss...

• How positioning yourself as THE talent gives you career freedom
• How we can reclaim our creativity and stories by becoming a Black Woman in publishing and editing
• The difference between hustle culture and dream building
• What it really means to “play the game” in corporate space
• If you've ever questioned your path or considered if you can actually get PAID to be creative, this one’s for you.

📖 Get Nicole’s Book & Get Connected:

Loved Nicole’s insight? Go grab her book Playing the Game While Black: Womaning in Corporate America and follow her journey at delnicmedia.com. You can also subscribe to her podcast Black Womaning in Corporate America too!

Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolespalmer

Learn more about me: https://nicolespalmer.com

Work with me: https://calendly.com/delnicmedia

Buy my book: https://delnicmedia.com/playing-the-game-while-black-womaning-in-corporate-america/

Listen to my podcast: https://youtu.be/olZK-qm_yxg

Learn about my company Delnic Media: http://delnicmedia.com/

🤎Ready to join the Career Love Community?

Ready to find your way out of the corporate chaos and into your own Black Woman Bliss Era? Join the Career Love Community— a space for Black women to rediscover their brilliance, build careers and businesses they love, and support one another along the way. Learn more and join us at ⁠⁠https://www.mercedesswan.com/join⁠⁠

🤎 Stay Connected:

Follow me on TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn for more career gems

TikTok: ⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@mercedes.swan⁠⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdswan ⁠⁠

Subscribe & leave a review! If this episode resonated with you, let me know! Your support helps The Career Love Podcast reach and empowers more Black women to transform their lives.

Share this with a sister in professional love who needs to hear it!

💌 Ready to step into your Black Woman Bliss Era by building a career or business you love? Reach out at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠

📃 Want the transcripts? Head to my website:

https://www.mercedesswan.com/blog/black-women-in-publishing-and-editing

Join me as I hang out with the fabulous Amanda Henry of Living In The Abundance, who is a Tech Queen, senior learning & development pro by day, and financial freedom advocate by night! We’re spilling the tea on all things career growth, financial independence, and owning your worth as a Black woman in tech.

We dive into Amanda’s inspiring journey from Verizon to tech sales enablement, how she’s using her 9-to-5 to build wealth, and the power of self-advocacy in corporate spaces.

And sis, we had some good laughs about navigating toxic work environments with Basic Bob AND creating your FAFO fund (we said what we said!)

📖Get Amanda’s Book & Get Connected:

The Financial Abundance Blueprint: A Black Woman's Guide to Achieve Financial Literacy, Build a Successful Career, and Break Boundaries

Set to release April 8th 2025 (Pre-Orders are Available)

Pre-Order Now

To learn more about Amanda, visit www.AmandaJHenry.com or follow @LivingInTheAbundance on social media: TikTok; Instagram; Threads, LinkedIn.

🤎Ready to join the Career Love Community?

This safe, powerful space was created by and for Black women navigating big goals in career, life, and business. With coaching, training, and sisterhood built in, you’ll never walk this journey alone. Learn more & join us now: ⁠https://www.mercedesswan.com/join⁠

🤎 Stay Connected:

Follow me on TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn for more career gems

TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@mercedes.swan⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdswan ⁠

Subscribe & leave a review! If this episode resonated with you, let me know! Your support helps The Career Love Podcast reach and empower more Black women.

Share this with a sis who needs to hear it!

Ready to step into your Black Woman Bliss Era by building a career or business you love? Reach out at ⁠[email protected]

Link to Transcripts: https://www.mercedesswan.com/blog/become-a-black-women-in-tech

Sis, you ever feel like your 9 to 5 just ain’t it? Well, you’re not alone. In this episode of The Career Love Podcast, I’m sharing my personal story of leaving my full-time job in Diversity Equity and Inclusion to become a solo entrepreneur.

From HR for Millennials to building my Career Love brand and entering my Black Woman Bliss Era, I'm walking you through the mindset shifts, planning, and purpose that led me to quit my job with purpose and clarity.

You’ll hear about:

• Why corporate America was never built for us (and what that means for Black women)
• How I planned my exit with intention and a financial strategy
• What it means to build a business that supports your lifestyle and legacy
• The power of flexibility, freedom, and flow (yes, I’m sleeping *and* thriving)
• My dreams of full-time RV travel with my fiancé and our furbabies
• Finding your Black Woman Brilliance and how it guides your next career or business move

I hope this episode inspires you to reclaim the vision you have for your life and build a life and business you truly love.

If you’ve been thinking, “Girl, I want out too,” then this episode was made for you.

Transcripts: https://www.mercedesswan.com/blog/i-quit-my-job-full-time-entreprenuer

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✨ Want to join the Career Love Community?

This safe, powerful space was created by and for Black women navigating big goals in career, life, and business. With coaching, training, and sisterhood built in, you’ll never walk this journey alone. Learn more & join us now: https://www.mercedesswan.com/join

----

Connect with Me:

🎥 Follow me on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mercedes.swan

💼 ⁠Connect on LinkedIn⁠: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdswan

💌 Email me: [email protected]

Welcome to The Career Love Podcast, Sis! In this powerful first episode, I’m sitting down with my ride-or-die since kindergarten and structural engineer, Destinee Wheeler, to talk about what it really means to be a Black woman in STEM. With Black women representing only 2% of STEM professionals, the journey into and to success in this field is challenging but deeply rewarding.

Join me in this heart-to-heart to talk about Destinee’s journey, the importance of mentorship, betting on oneself, and navigating white male-dominated spaces! In the Career Love Podcast, we keep it warm, but we also get real about the struggles Black women face in career growth, dealing with discrimination, and why sometimes you have to leave to truly thrive.

If you’ve ever thought about a STEM career—or just need a reminder that you deserve to bet on yourself—this episode is for you!

Tune in to learn more about...

🤎 The challenges that Black women face when entering STEM careers and the challenge real stats on Black women in STEM and why representation is so low

🤎 Destinee’s journey and challenges to become a structural engineer & bridge designer

🤎 The mentorship gap Black women face in STEM

🤎 Why betting on yourself & leaving the wrong job can change your career

🤎 The emotional & financial realities of being a Black woman in a male-dominated industry

🤎 How to transition into STEM—even if you’re starting later in life

ACCESS TRANSCRIPTS: https://www.mercedesswan.com/blog/black-women-in-stem

Resources Mentioned:

• Connect with Destinee Wheeler on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/destinee-wheeler-e-i-6828a5114/
• Watch the FREE Black Woman Bliss Webinar to learn more about pursuing your purpose at work: https://www.mercedesswan.com/bliss
• Looking to join a community of ambitious Black women to grow with? Join the Career Love Community: https://www.mercedesswan.com/join
• Want to work with me 1:1 to advance your Career or Business: https://calendly.com/mercedesswan/info

Stay Connected:

Follow me on TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn for more career gems

Subscribe & leave a review! If this episode resonated with you, let me know! Your support helps The Career Love Podcast reach and empower more Black women.

Share this with a sis who needs to hear it!

Ready to step into your Black Woman Bliss Era by building a career or business you love? Reach out at [email protected]

Welcome to the Career Love Podcast, Sis!

This is a space where Black women just like you are inspired to step boldly into their Black Woman Bliss Era—building careers, businesses, and lifestyles we absolutely love.

I’m your host, Mercedes Swan, also known as The Career Love Coach. As a diversity, equity, and inclusion practitioner, certified HR professional, and unapologetic Career Coach for Black women, I’m here to help you navigate the workplace, embrace your Black woman brilliance in business, and design the abundant life you deserve.

Each episode is filled with lessons, wins, and real talk to help you succeed in your career and business, shift your mindset, build confidence, take bold action and create wealth.

We’ll explore topics like discovering your purpose, living a passion-filled life, and growth—both personally and professionally. You can expect strategies and actionable guidance on everything from stepping into your purpose-driven job search with clarity and productivity tools to launching profitable side hustles and thriving as a Black woman in business.

The Career Love Podcast is my love letter to the 9.2 million Black women shaping the workforce and changing the world. And because Black women are the blueprint, I’m here to remind you that you are seen, heard, valued, and destined for greatness.

So, if you’re ready to unlock your purpose, build your dream life, and step into your professional power, give that subscribe button some love and leap into the first episode!

Your Black Woman Bliss Era starts today!

Website: www.mercedesswan.com

Contact: [email protected]