Dr. Pamela Brewer welcomes Janette Burke to M.E.S.H. for a candid, practical, and deeply human conversation about caregiving, identity, disability, work, and the emotional cost of caring for an aging parent. Janette is a women’s leadership mentor, speaker, podcast host, mental health advocate, and online TV host whose life changed dramatically when caregiving became central to her daily reality. Together, Dr. Brewer and Janette explore what it means to become “a mother to your mother,” how caregiving reshapes time, health, business, friendship, and independence, and why caregivers need support, structure, and permission to care for themselves too.

🌟 Topics Covered:
The daily reality of family caregiving
Caring for an aging parent while managing work
How caregiving can change identity and independence
How caregiving affects sleep, health, and social life
Why caregivers often put their own needs last
The guilt and loneliness caregivers may carry

Key takeaways:
Caregiving is love, labor, planning, and emotional endurance all at once.
Caregivers often need support long before they feel comfortable asking for it.
Self-care is not separate from caregiving; it helps make caregiving sustainable.
Losing flexibility, social time, sleep, and independence can affect emotional health.
A caregiver’s body, schedule, and relationships need attention too.
Small supports, like help with cleaning or transportation, can make a meaningful difference.
Caregiving requires flexibility, but it also requires boundaries and realistic expectations.
Naming the strain honestly can be the first step toward getting help.

Learn more about our guest:
Guest: Janette Burke
Website: www.janetteburke.com
Online TV: Janette’s TV
Social media: DM Janette Burke or Janette’s TV on social platforms
Email: [email protected]
Phone/Text: 416-802-0655
Work mentioned: Janette is a women’s leadership mentor, speaker, podcast host, mental health advocate, online TV host, correspondent, red carpet event host, MC speaker and brand ambassador