Carole Hopson is a Boeing 737 captain for United Airlines and the author of ‘A Pair of Wings,’ a historical fiction novel about Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman to get her pilot license. After a successful twenty-year career working for iconic brands like the National Football League, Foot Locker and L’Oréal, Carole quit her job to pursue her lifelong dream of flying planes. 

On today’s episode, Carole tells the story of how she turned her childhood dream into a second-act career. She outlines the five-step plan she created for making a major career pivot, and shares tips on how to balance work with family responsibilities. She also discusses her next big dream – to send 100 Black women to flight school by 2035 – and how she’s going to make it happen.

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If you liked this episode, your next listen should be this one: Redefine Your Relationship to Work with Writer Jennifer Romolini

When Dr. Uché Blackstock was a student at Harvard Medical School, she didn’t learn about racial health disparities or the history of racial violence that mark the field of medicine. It wasn’t until years later, while working in an urgent care in Brooklyn, that Dr. Blackstock was moved to investigate the history of healthcare in America. Now, as a health equity advocate and author of the New York Times bestseller ‘LEGACY: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine,’ Dr. Blackstock is on a mission to dismantle racism in healthcare.

On this week’s episode, Dr. Blackstock speaks to the alarming racial disparities in the American healthcare system and the historic roots of these inequities. Together, Dr. Blackstock and Leah reckon with the past and discuss how we can work towards a more equitable future. She also tips on advocating for yourself as a patient the next time you’re at the doctor.

If you liked this episode, your next listen should be this one: How to Forgive Better with Philosopher Myisha Cherry

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When Chelsea Jackson Roberts was 24, she lost her best friend to gun violence. That’s when Chelsea’s yoga practice became about something much more than exercise; it became a tool for coping with grief and, eventually, rediscovering joy. Today, as a Peloton yoga and meditation instructor, Chelsea teaches others how to tap into a deeper, more emotionally supportive yoga practice.

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Chelsea shares how yoga and meditation keep her grounded in an unpredictable world. She reflects on how, as a teacher, she creates a supportive class environment where everyone feels welcome, no matter their skill level. Later, Chelsea opens up about her pregnancy journey, sharing how yoga helped her navigate loss and become the parent she strives to be. 

If you liked this episode, your next listen should be this one: Can’t Meditate? Just Breathe with JP Crimi

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When Leah and her husband decided to start a family, she found herself facing a daunting question: could she balance the career she’d worked so hard to build with the life she dreamed of creating at home? Would becoming a parent mean sacrificing her professional goals, or could she find a way to thrive in both worlds?

In this special episode of Everyday Better, Leah brings her most pressing questions about balancing kids and career to three of her LinkedIn colleagues and fellow mothers: Jessi Hempel, host of the Hello Monday podcast, Courtney Coupe, Head of Original Programming and Alyssa Merwin, Vice President of Global Sales Solutions. In their conversation, the women get honest about the joys and challenges of being a working mother. They each share how becoming a parent changed their relationship to and definition of ambition, as well as reflect on how companies can better support working parents.

This episode is for anyone who has both caretaking and career ambitions, anyone who feels curious about the existential questions embedded in the choice to become a parent and everyone who wants to show up as a more empathetic and supportive colleague to the working parents in their life.

The research is clear: how satisfied you feel at work impacts the quality of your relationships at home, and the quality of your relationships at home impacts the way you show up at work. 

That’s why Dr. Alexandra Solomon wants you to think more deeply about the work-related arguments you have with your partner. Are you really fighting about how many hours you or your partner work, or are you feeling shortchanged for quality time?

Dr. Alexandra is a professor, podcast host and psychologist. She teaches the internationally-renowned undergraduate course ‘Marriage 101’ at Northwestern University, a class about the fundamentals of thriving relationships.

In this week’s episode, Alexandra explains why, as a couples therapist, she has turned her focus towards the intersection between work and relationships. She explores how burnout or stress at work can harm our relationships and how conflict at home or our emotional baggage can impact our productivity at work. Along with Leah and a special guest, they examine what happens when people with different orientations towards ambition become partners.

If you liked this episode, your next listen should be this one: Navigating Conflict: The Gottman's Roadmap to Better Connections

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What does 'success' mean to you?

Jennifer Romolini is a writer, author and podcaster. Her second book is ‘Ambition Monster,’ a memoir about the connection between workaholism and childhood trauma. In it, she traces the evolution of her voracious ambition and reckons with the price she paid to obtain career success.

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Jennifer joins Leah to discuss how her relationship to work has evolved since she entered the workforce as a teenager. A self-described ‘workaholic,’ Jennifer also reflects on how she learned to redefine success and ambition for herself. Later, she shares strategies for how to manage your time so you can prioritize what matters most.

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Everyday Better is kicking off 2025 with a month’s worth of conversations designed to help you reset for the year ahead. Each week, you’ll learn about research-backed techniques to improve your mental, physical, work and relational well-being. No matter what your goals are this year, our 2025 Reset Series will equip you with the tools you need to make measurable, lasting changes in your life.

In our productivity-obsessed world, getting a good night’s rest is probably low on your to-do list. But what would change if you made sleep a priority this year?

Today’s guest Dr. Rebecca Robbins has a clear answer: prioritizing sleep will help you achieve your goals because sleep and performance are linked. Dr. Robbins is a sleep scientist and Assistant Professor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. 

In this conversation, Dr. Robbins debunks some of the most pervasive myths about sleep, including the belief that eight hours is the magic number, that we can catch up on sleep over the weekend and that falling asleep should only take you a few minutes. She also explains the science behind sleep and shares actionable tips for getting a better night’s rest that you can try out yourself tonight.

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Happy New Year! To kick off 2025, Everyday Better is bringing you a month’s worth of conversations designed to help you reset for the year ahead. Each week, you’ll learn about research-backed techniques to improve your mental, physical, work and relational well-being. No matter what your goals are this year, our 2025 Reset Series will equip you with the tools you need to make measurable, lasting change in your life.

Today’s guest is here to help you reset your relationship to stress. Dr. Aditi Nerurkar is a Harvard physician and expert in stress and burnout. Her first book is The Five Resets: Rewire Your Brain For Less Stress and More Resilience. 

In this conversation, Dr. Nerurkar walks through five powerful strategies for resetting your baseline stress level and preventing burnout. She explains the difference between stress and anxiety, as well as what happens in the brain and body when we experience stress. She also addresses why it’s so hard to build new habits and shares tips for creating boundaries with your phone.

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Meik Wiking is the founder and CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen. He’s also the author of several books including The Little Book of Hygge and My Hygge Home. 

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Meik joins Leah to discuss ‘hygge’ – a Danish word that loosely translates to “coziness.” Meik shares how he and other Danes prepare for winter each year by creating ultra-cozy indoor environments to support well-being. He also explains why hygge and happiness are interconnected and why simple pleasures are the key to happiness.

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Each winter, life slows down. It’s dark and cold, yet the season offers an opportunity for rest. This week’s episode of Everyday Better honors the beginning of winter with Katherine May, author of Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times.

In Wintering, Katherine shares the story of navigating a personal ‘winter’ – a challenging period of time during which she retreated into herself in order to cope with everything happening around her. Drawing on research about how Northern cultures weather their own harsh winters, Wintering is a balm for weary souls everywhere.

In this episode, Leah and Katherine discuss the art of slowing down and how to embrace the metaphorical seasons we all go through in life. 

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