This time around, I talk about cyclical burnout. I reflect on what I’ve learned about burnout over the years and how there’s always another opportunity to sidestep BS and get out of my own damn way. I’m also pulling back the curtain on what I’ve been up to lately, including my time at SXSW, what’s going on with the 33K Task List Project, and how I’ve been thinking through my creative vision for that project. I also share the challenges of business, schedule friction, and the existential arm-wrestling of it all lately. I can sum up this episode with one word: Surrender. Come along and listen as I surrender to the things I just plain can’t control and make my way back to a place of flow.

Selected link love + resources from the episode

• Connect with me  on social media: Twitter  | Instagram | Facebook
• Listener shout-outs go to: Christina Prevot Caufield, Kimberly Figueroa, and Dwayne Shirley. Thank YOU! It means so much to know you’ve found inspiration in what I am creating.
• SXSW
• Kishau Rogers on burning out on a cycle + honoring the power of quitting stuff
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While prepping for this interview and researching more about Sherry and her story, I was brought to tears. Seeing other women speak up courageously, empower others, and remain compassionate tends to have that effect on me.

For those of you who haven’t met her yet, Sherry is a retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer (or RCMP Officer) with 20 years of service. Since she retired and now in her second career, Sherry is a professional speaker and educator breaking down how she coped with and stood up to workplace bullying, sexual harassment, and violence. She's authored three books and presented at Tedx Winnipeg in 2015. She's also been part of the Senate committee hearings on sexual harassment and bullying in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

In this episode, Sherry shared her story as a RCMP Officer and the bullying and sexual harassment she experienced during her time of service. More importantly, especially if you’ve ever or are currently experiencing workplace bullying or harassment, she shares examples of self-preservation and how her coping skills have evolved over time. Like the #metoo movement is also helping us understand, we don’t always get it “right” initially, especially when it’s a messy, scary and unexpected situation. We talk about the role forgiveness has played in her journey and how it has impacted her. Sherry continues to inspire and motivate others to get out of their comfort zone and recognize the power that they have in their own voice - in the workplace and beyond. Of course, we talk about that, too.

Selected link love + resources from the episode

• Connect with Sherry on social media: Twitter  | LinkedIn | Email |  Website
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police
• Women Not Wanted: One Female Officer and Her Journey for Justice, Sherry Lee Benson-Podolchuk
• What is forgiveness? What if I can’t forgive? by Sherry Lee Benson-Podolchuk
• Arianna Huffington
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Her work in creative movement, as a teacher and bringing together a fusion-style of dance, has taken her all over the world. She intertwines her life and real-world experiences in her choreography to tell a story and also uses dance as a way to teach her students about music and life. During our conversation, Anna opens up about perseverance and being able to overcome some serious challenges. For her, those challenges revolved a lot around language. She grew up in Chile, and in her own words, had a bicultural childhood while working through dyslexia, being a sensitive child, and coping with bullying because she looked different than her Chilean peers. She describes what it took to grow into the teacher and dancer that she is today. She shares how she learned to say, “It doesn’t matter,” while balancing with her desire to be good.

Selected link love + resources from the episode

• Connect with Anna on social media: Email | Facebook | YouTube | Website
• No Me Importa Nada, Luz Casal
• Janet Ruhe-Schoen, Artist and Author (And, Anna’s mom!)
• OMI
• Anne of Green Gables
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• The Secret Garden
• Katy Moonan shared her experiences about being bilingual in Episode 12 of Le vital corps Salon
• Flamenco
• Modern Dance
• Flamenco Festival in Hudson Valley NY
• ToastMasters
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kishau is also the founder & CEO of Websmith, Inc. She has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, NFIB, JavaWorld, and other national publications. She is fiercely committed to STEM and using tech for social good. To further both of those aims, Kishau actively serves on advisory boards with institutions such as VCU School of Engineering, Think of Us and WAAW Foundation. She is also a recent recipient of the NAWBO Wells Fargo STEM Award and the Lyn McDermid Community Impact Award. [Swoon.]

Admittedly, I’m fan-girling over Kishau a bit, but did manage to pull it together. When uttered the words “making thinking sexy again,” I practically vibrated with excitement, gratitude, and inspiration. We talked in-depth about bringing critical thinking back. We also geeked out on machine learning, internal expectations, hating mediocrity, burning out, the complexity of hustle + push, and how she turned it around, plus the power of knowing when to quit.

Selected link love + resources from the episode

• Connect with Kishau on social media: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn
• WebSmith, Inc.
• BigThinking.io
• TimeStudy
• Think of Us
• U.S. White House Hackathon for Foster Care
• WAAW Foundation
• STEM
• SheHacks Africa
• Sherylle Bates
• Dr. Unoma Okorafor
• Oprah Winfrey
• Richard Branson
• SXSW
• Elizabeth Street Cafe in Austin, Texas
• Thank you to past guest Minda Harts. By connecting with Minda on Twitter, I’m meeting amazing women like Kishau. #grateful
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Galen’s also the daughter of the late and great, Kevin Ayers. Kevin was a pioneer singer and songwriter of the Canterbury psych rock scene in England. Galen talks about life as the daughter of such a free-wheelin’, creative father and a high-achieving mother. In young adulthood, she was the caregiver to her father and shares how that led her to writing and finding her own voice.  

We touch on wisdom, compassion, and how you can’t seem to have one without the other. We also chat about the need for taking recovery days as well as the epidemic of overwhelm and roles in today’s world.

In this episode, Galen tells me about her first well-being retreat on the island of Hydra. She will be joined by Vocologist and Vocal yoga expert, Heather Lyle. Super-cool!

Selected link love + resources from the episode

• Connect with Galen on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
• Retreat with Galen
• Girl On A Swing, Performed by Galen and Kevin Ayers
• Kevin Ayers on Wikipedia
• Monument, Galen’s Debut Album Coming This Spring!
• Friends of the Earth
• William James
• Heather Lyle
• Why Do Some People Hate Poetry by Adam Kirsch
• Franklin Planner
• Neti Pot
• Oscar Wilde
• Buddhism
• Leonard Cohen
• Marvel Comics
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dara has been a leader at various levels in the Emergency Medicine Education ecosystem for many years and works at NYU Langone Medical Center in NYC. Recently, she turned her focus to achieving gender equity in Emergency Medicine through a primarily online resource and podcast she founded called FemInEM. During our conversation Dara talks about the problems she is solving through FemInEM. (Note: Many of these problems are not exclusive to doctors, but are cultural and societal issues that she’s working on shifting.) Plus, we talk about how Dara became a doctor, likeability bias in the workplace, gender equity not only the workplace and at home, knowing what battles to choose versus what to let go, and carrying the mental load as a woman and a caregiver.

Selected link love + resources from the episode

• Connect with Dara on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Email
• FemInEM.org
• FemInEM Podcast
• FemINEM Speakers Bureau
• NYU Langone Medical Center
• Gloria Steinman
• Overwhelmed by Brigid Schulte
• SoulCycle
• Nirvana: A Getting Things Done App
• Remember the Milk: Task Management
• StrengthsFinder
• All In by Josh Levs
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Once you hear her speak - not only as a teacher, but as a wife, mother, and triathlete - I hope you’ll be inspired by her, too. Yes, we chat about her work in biochemistry. (Fear not, Teresa makes the information very accessible.) She shares following different paths, making her family a priority, overcoming analysis paralysis, intentionally choosing to suck at something, and optics.

Selected link love + resources from the episode

• Connect with Teresa on social media: LinkedIn
• Teresa On The Web
• Vassar College
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jennifer’s debut book, "Extraordinary PR, Ordinary Budget: A Strategy Guide" was released June 2017. She is the managing director of communications for PICO National Network, and the founder of Spotlight PR LLC, a boutique communications consultancy which provides strategic communications counsel and public relations coaching. She is one hard-working woman.

Not only do we talk about work pace, we talk about her work at PICO National Network, a faith-based community organization, and how she transitioned from working in politics to communications. She also talks about PICO’s Live Free Campaign, which addresses gun violence and mass incarceration in many cities across the United States.

Because much of what Jennifer does is mission-focused, advocative and so very humanizing, she always feels drawn to do more. When she was heading straight towards a major burnout, she had to assess what was happening and to turn everything around. Jennifer and I cover so much ground about what it’s like to achieve without overworking. I truly hope that you come away from this podcast with some clarity, inspiration, calm or a combo platter of all three. The episode is ready for your listening pleasure. Grab a cup of hot tea (or your favorite beverage of choice), get cozy, and press play.

Selected link love + resources from the episode

• Connect with Jennifer on social media:  Facebook | Twitter
• Jennifer Farmer’s Website
• PICO National Network
• PICO’s Live Free Campaign
• University of Rochester
• Senator Mark Mallory
• The Dave Ramsey Show
• Extraordinary PR, Ordinary Budget: A Strategy Guide
• Not For Bread Alone,  Konosuke Matsushita
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back in April, the idea for this podcast came to me while I was plunked at the airport. I was wondering about what some of the most stressful jobs for women were. Bam! I immediately thought of air traffic controllers. Enter Patti Wilson, who has been in the air traffic control industry for the past 29 years. She’s the Operations Manager at Northern California Terminal Radar Approach Control, and is currently in her second term as President of Professional Women Controllers. If that wasn’t enough, she’s also very involved in nonprofit work with Zonta International. She’s also a pistol deeply committed to pulling up a seat for more women at the aviation table. Patti brings both a breadth and depth of experience and wisdom to our conversation. She paints a picture of what being an air traffic controller is like (the good, the stressful and the invisible to us non-controller folks). She also talks about the difference between communication at work versus everyday conversations (like the risk of talking to people in bullet points and commands outside of work). We also cover staying humble, handling stress, and giving/receiving feedback.

You’re now cleared for listening takeoff. So, go ahead and switch to listening to this podcast on your favorite smartphone or listening device.

Selected link love + resources from the episode

• Connect with Patti on social media: Facebook
• Professional Women Controllers, Inc. | On Facebook
• Zonta International
• Federal Aviation Administration
• United States Air Force
• StrengthsFinder 2.0
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Although she’s an engineer and physicist by training, Kelly is an inveterate problem-solver and strategist at heart. Inspired by the strength and commitment of women doing the hard work of recovering from addiction at the Hoving Home, Kelly wanted to build them a path forward to sustained sobriety, independence, and economic stability. Having long admired the social business model, which uses enterprise to solve social issues, Kelly began Unshattered in 2013. 

In 2015, she experienced a very clear, but not easy to answer, calling out of her executive role in the technology industry to focus solely on what had been her passion project. In this episode, Kelly talks about how her entire perspective of addiction shifted after Emily, a fellow parishioner at her church, shared her family’s story of addiction. Kelly goes on to share how, with a newfound understanding and boatload of faith, she founded Unshattered. Witnessing broken lives transformed into ones of purpose, meaning and beauty, has influenced her own view of faith and the world in a profound way. Also, Kelly courageously opens up about some of her most intense self-care decisions and practices. Plus, we geek about personality tests and chat about playing to our strengths & style. I’ve found a sister, type-A soul in Kelly. When Craig finished editing this episode, he asked if I found my new BFF. Kelly’s story is beautiful. It’s one of hope, faith and deep understanding. 

Selected link love + resources from the episode

• Unshattered
• Connect with Kelly on social media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
• Unshattered.org
• Hovinghome.org
• Gettingthingsdone.com
• Article: There are only four jobs in the world
• StrengthsFinder
• Evernote.com
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.