Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Burnout recovery isn’t just about resting more. It’s about finding the energy to live fully, set boundaries that protect your peace, and show up in ways that actually matter.

When the world feels chaotic, how do you stay committed to your healing? In this #FRIEDguides episode, Cait Donovan and Sarah Vosen dig into the challenges of burnout recovery when external stressors feel overwhelming. They talk about why carving out a space for yourself—one that isn’t flooded with nonstop news and social media noise—isn’t avoidance. It’s survival. Cait shares her own experiences with burnout and the turning point when she realized self-care wasn’t a luxury. It was a necessity.

The duo also get into the power of community, why individual healing creates a ripple effect, and how recognizing your own limits can actually make you more effective. There’s a sharp distinction between honoring hard emotions and getting stuck in them, and Cait and Sarah break down how to move through them without getting consumed.

If you’ve ever felt guilty for stepping back, this episode will change how you see it. Taking care of yourself isn’t checking out, but making sure you have the capacity to engage with the world in a way that’s sustainable, meaningful, and real.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Introduction

03:00 Coping Strategies for Burnout

05:01 Maintaining Balance and Center

06:02 Focusing on Self-Care

07:05 Community Support in Burnout Recovery

10:20 Personal Activism and Self-Care

14:15 Burnout Recovery as Activism

17:08 Finding Calm in Immediate Environment

20:00 Allowing Time for Emotions

Links

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0WGHqwQAVbZEY1qLC9XyZL?si=f5da7095baa444f2

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait

Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

​​Your brain craves creativity, and the arts might be the secret weapon against burnout. Genein Letford joins Cait Donovan to break down how music, movement, and self-expression fuel emotional resilience, sharpen thinking, and restore energy. Why does chronic stress shrink key areas of the brain? How can creative outlets like music and movement reverse the damage? And what’s the deal with brain capital, and why should you care?

From brain breaks to the magic of third places, Genein shares science-backed strategies to help your brain recover and thrive. Whether burnout has dulled your creativity or you’re looking for a fresh way to recharge, Genein and Cait’s discussion might just change how you think about art and your own well-being.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Introduction 

03:22 The Power of Music on the Brain

05:59 Brain Structures and Music

07:22 Music’s Impact on Emotional Intelligence

10:47 Burnout and Brain Health

15:54 Self-Awareness and Personal Preferences

17:21 Understanding Brain Capital

21:21 Rebuilding Brain Health Post-Burnout

25:03 Importance of Brain Breaks

29:00 Third Places for Social Connection

32:08 The 2-5-7 Strategy for Brain Health

38:39 Enhancing Focus Through the Arts

45:25 Social Connection and Neural Synchronization

Links

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait

Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Burnout happens when you give endlessly without allowing yourself to receive.

Cait Donovan and Sarah Vosen are back for #FRIEDguides to break down why high achievers and caregivers struggle to accept support, energy, and appreciation. If you dismiss compliments, downplay your needs, or feel guilty for resting, you’re not alone. The problem is that without refueling, burnout becomes inevitable.

The co-hosts introduce the idea of “receivership” and explain how learning to accept, rather than just give, creates balance. Through stories, metaphors, and practical exercises, they offer ways to expand your capacity to receive without guilt. If you want to keep showing up for others, you need to let yourself be fueled too!

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Introduction

00:57 The Problem with Being a Good Giver

01:52 The Importance of Receiving and Taking

02:25 Fueling Yourself Beyond Sleep

03:48 Secret Indulgence and Shame

05:05 Reframing Selfishness as “Self-Full”

07:21 Teaching the Body to Receive

10:03 The Flow of Energy and Physical Manifestations

12:49 Description of the Meditation

15:03 The Importance of Flow in Energy and Life

18:58 Susceptibility to Burnout Post-Recovery

19:45 Identifying and Expanding Your Capacity

21:04 Receiving to Sustain Generosity

22:39 Increasing Capacity to Receive with Gratitude

24:17 Closing

Links

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait

Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv

Meditation: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0WGHqwQAVbZEY1qLC9XyZL?si=f5da7095baa444f2

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It creeps in when we ignore the signs, stay stuck in routines that no longer serve us, and let fear call the shots. Anne Marie Anderson knows something about pushing past hesitation, and in this episode, she shares how audacity—taking bold, intentional action—can keep burnout from taking hold.

A three-time Emmy Award-winning broadcaster and author of “Cultivating Audacity,” Anderson walks through the barriers that keep people from making changes: fear, time, money, and that relentless inner critic. What happens when you stop letting those things dictate your decisions? How do you create space for what actually matters?

Anderson breaks it down with real-world strategies. She explains why disenchantment is a warning sign, how small acts of courage add up, and why building a strong front row of supporters makes all the difference. If you’ve ever felt stuck but weren’t sure what to do next, this episode is your push to start moving.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Introduction

02:26 Connection with Nicole Khalil and the Theme of Boldness

03:17 Anne Marie’s Background and Career Journey

05:13 Recognizing Early Signs of Burnout: Disenchantment

07:04 Taking Risks and Measuring Them

08:09 Overcoming Barriers: Fear, Time, Money, and Inner Critic

10:09 Making Friends with Fear

12:20 Urgent vs. Important: Managing Time

15:13 Flexibility in Planning and Adjusting

18:35 Financial Barriers and Money Management

22:30 Exploring Your Money Story

24:24 Inner Critic: Identifying and Managing It

31:30 Childhood Influences and Parental Expectations

34:05 Over-Engineering Children's Lives and Burnout

37:24 Cultivating Audacity: Small Steps to Big Changes

40:06 Building a Supportive Front Row

41:03 Closing

Links

Connect with Anne Marie Anderson:

https://annemarieanderson.com/

https://www.instagram.com/annemarieandersontv/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-marie-anderson-3557ab39/

https://annemarieanderson.com/freechapter1/

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait

Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Burnout recovery doesn’t happen all at once. Small steps add up, even when progress feels impossible.

Hey Fried fam! Ever looked back at an old journal entry or email and realized you were clearer on what you needed than you thought? In this episode, Sarah Vosen walks through a listener’s raw, unfiltered reflection from a time when burnout had them feeling stuck, exhausted, and unsure how to move forward.

What can you do when you know what you want but can’t see a way to get there? Sarah explores how small shifts, support, and patience can turn overwhelm into real progress. She shares insights from her own recovery and the power of recognizing the wins, even the tiny ones.

Burnout can make change feel impossible, but what if you’re already on your way? Tune in for an episode that will help you see the progress you’ve made and remind you that healing is within reach!

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Introduction

05:04 Reflecting on Burnout and Desires

08:28 Initial Steps in Burnout Recovery

09:45 Fajardo Method and Nervous System Healing

10:51 Working While Recovering

12:05 Moving and Major Life Changes

13:00 Current Work and Practice

14:09 Achievements and Progress

15:02 Enjoying Nature and Retreats

15:56 Family and Boundaries

17:01 Letting Go of Control

18:07 Physical Health Improvements

18:59 Reflecting on Progress

20:04 Writing Your Burnout Story

21:08 Self-Compassion and Validation

22:22 Burnout Web of Causation Guide

25:03 Encouragement and Support Options

Links

Join us on February 26 for "Understanding Where Your Burnout Came From," [https://bit.ly/burnoutweb25] a live, interactive workshop where we can take the first step to untangle your burnout knot—together.

We’ll be working through The Burnout Web of Causation, a tool designed to help you:

- See the bigger picture of what’s contributing to your burnout.

- Identify the stressors you can control—and the ones you can’t.

- Take practical steps to start cutting the threads of burnout, one by one.

REMEMBER: Burnout Recovery works better with support. 

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait

Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Burnout thrives in the spaces where people aren’t saying what they really mean.

In this episode, Cait Donovan is joined by Nahal Yousefian, a former head of HR at Netflix, to talk about why work culture fuels burnout and what needs to change. Nahal shares how burnout hit her hard—so hard she physically couldn’t move—and why that moment forced her to rethink everything.

Nahal pulls back the curtain on corporate dysfunction, from empty jargon to leadership that talks in circles. Why are companies obsessed with being “strategic” while refusing to make clear decisions? Why does psychological safety feel like a buzzword instead of a real priority? And what happens when employees finally get tired of playing along?

This episode cuts through the noise and makes the case for honest conversations, smarter work structures, and a workplace where well-being isn’t treated like an afterthought.

Quotes

• “The leader was talking about apples, the employees talking about oranges, and HR is in the middle trying to get them to see that they’re talking about two different things.” (16:16 | Nahal Yousefian) 
• “I think after 20 years in the business, which was last summer, I started to realize that with the coming up of AI and the sort of technology and the social media platforms and avenues, I think that I would be able to exact change faster coming out than being inside a corporation.” (10:11 | Nahal Yousefian) 
• “In a day and age where generations coming into the workplace are demanding authenticity, corporate jargon has gone even more on steroids than ever before.” (22:33| Nahal Yousefian)
• “If you look at the numbers, it’s a mathematical game where the number of managers who will judge you for asking questions versus the ones that won’t. We tend to go with the 80-20 rule. We know 20% of the managers are going to create a fair environment and I’m scared to ask questions, but 80% are okay. But because of that 20%, the employees reporting to the other 80% don’t do it either. So I think that’s the dynamic that we need to shift.” (28:44 | Nahal Yousefian) 
• “Following your heart is burnout prevention and burnout recovery. It’s one of the rare things that fits in both categories.” (58:32 | Cait Donovan)

Links

Connect with Nahal Yousefian:

www.thebarraisers.com

https://www.instagram.com/thebarraisers?igsh=Y3BhZTh4cTd4NW1k&utm_source=qr

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nahalyousefian/

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait

Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Burnout sneaks up slowly, leaving you drained and wondering what went wrong. Cait Donovan joins Nick Korte on Nerd Journey to talk about how chronic stress builds over time, why layoffs can be a breaking point or a relief, and what it really takes to recover. She breaks down burnout risk factors, the role of personal history and workplace culture, and why some people hit a wall while others find a way forward. 

How do you know when it’s time to make a change? What steps can you take to regain control? Cait shares strategies for protecting yourself, setting boundaries, and rethinking resilience in a way that actually works.

Quotes

• “Burnout has to be the end result of a long period of chronic stress. It’s like chronic, chronic stress.” (06:03 | Cait Donovan)
• “Sometimes we have to start with the really practical stuff and allow that to shift our emotional state rather than sitting and working through an emotion while the stressor is still alive for you. We have to shift the stressor so that you can work through the emotion and not the other way around.” (17:15 | Cait Donovan)
• “If you are in a situation that for some reason is toxic or sort of impossible to ignore, you can’t meditate your way out of it.” (26:51 | Cait Donovan)
• “I think that it’s wise to remember how much power and autonomy you do have in your life. When you are under chronic stress, we tend to end up under this illusion that we don’t have any control and that we don’t have enough autonomy. And if you’re feeling that way right now, I would challenge you to challenge that.” (50:28 | Cait Donovan)

Links

This episode was also published on Nick's show Nerd Journey - https://nerd-journey.com/chronic-stress-connecting-the-dots-between-layoffs-and-burnout-with-cait-donovan/

Nick's Layoff Resources Page (the most impactful conversations and advice from his show on burnout, including the one with Cait) - https://nerd-journey.com/layoffresources/

Nick's blog post that speaks to his love for podcasting and how the layoff resources page came to be  https://blog.thenetworknerd.com/2025/01/25/a-healthy-obsession-lessons-learned-from-300-episodes-of-the-nerd-journey-podcast/.

Previous episodes featuring Cait in which she shared her story of burning out and the transition into coaching and speaking

https://nerd-journey.com/across-the-patterns-of-burnout-with-cait-donovan-1-2/

https://nerd-journey.com/the-beautiful-right-turns-with-cait-donovan-2-2/

Some of the most impactful episodes featuring technologists sharing their stories of burnout:

https://nerd-journey.com/riding-the-burnout-wave-with-jonathan-f-2-2/

https://nerd-journey.com/countdown-to-burnout-with-tom-hollingsworth-3-3/

https://nerd-journey.com/management-and-the-hypergrowth-startup-with-andrew-miller-2-3/

https://nerd-journey.com/pause-and-step-outside-with-andrew-miller-3-3/

https://nerd-journey.com/burnout-and-recovery-with-josh-fidel/

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait

Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Burnout is more than feeling tired. It’s a challenge that affects every aspect of life, especially for healthcare professionals. In this episode, Dr. Jessi Gold shares her deeply personal experience navigating burnout as a psychiatrist during the pandemic, and offers a rare glimpse into the struggles even experts face. 

What can we do when the very systems designed to support us become the cause of our suffering? Dr. Gold and Cait Donovan explore the systemic issues in healthcare that perpetuate burnout, from overwork to the culture of self-neglect ingrained in medical training. They also discuss how small shifts—like embracing vulnerability and prioritizing self-care—can make a meaningful difference, even in a broken system.

How can we address burnout without blaming individuals for their struggles? Dr. Gold and Cait’s discussion invites you to rethink how we approach burnout, recovery, and the collective responsibility to create healthier environments.

Quotes

• “As a psychiatrist who is an expert in burnout, I have an extra added layer of fun to this story, which is that I see people all day and tell them they’re burnt out and don’t necessarily apply the same thing to myself.” (04:32 | Dr. Jessi Gold) 
• “It’s so hard to admit that something like work or systems at work could make you feel ill. I feel like it’s so much easier to be like, it just made me tired, but it didn’t actually hurt me in some way that needs to be replenished or fixed or whatever.” (14:21 | Dr. Jessi Gold)
• “Our culture is a culture of silence and shame. Most of us are struggling and don’t mention that we’re struggling. And if we knew other people were struggling, even a little bit, we would open up to them more and feel safer in our culture.” (42:42 | Dr. Jessi Gold)
• “If someone said this job is really, really hard emotionally, physically, every other thing that you can think of, and it will impact you, and you will burn out from it. And as a result, you need to take care of yourself in the process. I would have been like, ‘Oh, okay.’” (43:53 | Dr. Jessi Gold)
• “The second I started to burn out, that’s what went, right? Like, the second that I was not okay, like, to a more extreme extent, I was not treating patients the way that I would want them to be treated, right? As humans.” (50:42 | Dr. Jessi Gold)

Links

Connect with Dr. Jessi Gold:

https://www.drjessigold.com/

https://www.instagram.com/drjessigold/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessi-gold-md-ms-14844bb/

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait

Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

“Don’t shame your limitations.” Cait Donovan and Sarah Vosen share this piece of wisdom in this #FRIEDfam episode, weaving together lessons from their community and their own experiences to explore self-compassion and meaningful burnout recovery.

How often do we forget to listen to ourselves, honor our limitations, or simplify our approach to recovery? Cait and Sarah remind us that true healing comes with self-compassion, small steps, and leaning into support when we need it most.

Join Cait and Sarah to discover practical tips, heartfelt stories, and the collective wisdom that can guide your path to a more sustainable and fulfilling recovery.

Quotes

• “We’re going to start with one of my favorites that came from Chandra Dorsett. And she said four simple words. And these words, when I read them, punched me right in the gut. She said, ‘Don’t shame your limitations.’” (02:19 | Cait Donovan)
• “Stop trying to work so hard on getting better that it becomes a new source of stress, and learn to embrace the wayward journey of recovery.” (05:29 | Cait Donovan)
• “There is not one right way to do anything. There is a right way for you.” (18:03 | Sarah Vosen) 
• “My friend Lauren Baptiste said—and she’s been on the podcast before—she said, ‘Your drive for excellence isn’t keeping you excellent, it’s keeping you exhausted.” (24:28 | Cait Donovan)
• “This is a fellow burnout expert, Natalia Saman, who said, ‘The purpose of self-care is to reduce stress. If your nails look great, but you’re still buried under a pile of work, a pedicure wasn’t the self-care you needed. You needed boundaries.’” (25:37 | Cait Donovan)
• “Self-care is self-care if you feel cared for when you do it or after it’s done.” (27:14 | Sarah Vosen)

Links

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait

Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

“This isn’t some soft skill, or a ‘nice-to-have.’ It’s a must-have,” says Jennifer Moss, workplace strategist, co-founder of The Workplace Institute, and author of award-winning books on leadership. Her latest book, “Why Are We Here?,” discusses how we can use hope as an operational strategy at work, how employees can learn to bring their whole, best selves to work by meting out goals in small steps and celebrating each small win en route to the larger goal. Leaders, in turn, can learn to, rather than mitigate those efforts, be conduits to employees’ mental health, in part by being encouraging and being receptive to employee feedback.

This isn’t about drumming up toxic positivity but creating a safe and openly communicative environment, which is more easily said than done when employees feel, even subconsciously, that their freedoms are being taken away and that promises have been repeatedly broken. Jennifer and host Cait Donovan discuss how to foster trust between leaders and employees and how caring for oneself creates a feeling of safety—starting at a physical level—which is the first step in opening up lines of communication, and facilitating what Jennifer calls “a culture of positive gossip.” 

As many as seventy percent of employees report that their managers make or break their attitude toward their jobs. Join today’s episode of FRIED to learn how to introduce a hope-based strategy into your own work environment. 

Quotes

• “We can help our employees have quick wins every day, celebrate the smaller wins, recognize that we spend a lot of time lately only celebrating and rewarding and recognizing the big project end goals, not realizing that the day-to-day ennui, the day-to-day tedium is what is burning people out. And if we just made these goals more incremental — it’s actually how you support young kids, especially kids who are neurodivergent—you chunk out the goals and adults need those same inspirational ways of working, and that’s how we make hope a strategy.” (12:29 | Jennifer Moss)
• “That’s where we make hope a strategy and operationalize hope. It’s first recognizing that it isn’t some sort of soft skill or a “nice-to-have,’ it’s a ‘must-have,’ that it’s real. The military abides by this rule, and it can be operationalized on a day-to-day engagement in our work and in our employees’ tasks.”  (13:10 | Jennifer Moss)
• “You can be highly passionate about what you do, and highly driven and care about your organization and…highly engaged, but you can be similarly at the same stage of burnout. And if we can’t talk about those things, no one will know, and that’s when people quit, that’s when people hit the wall. It’s where everything just ends.” (24:33 | Jennifer Moss)
• “We are subconsciously rebelling because our freedoms are being taken away and we’re not necessarily aware of why we feel this dissonance.” (33:51 | Jennifer Moss)

Links

Connect with Jennifer Moss:

https://www.jennifer-moss.com/

https://www.instagram.com/betterworkinstitute/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenleighmoss/

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait

Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm