
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


In this episode of Resilience Brilliance, Jena Taylor sits down with John Kennedy, a neuroplastician with decades of experience improving performance in high pressure organizations. Before studying the brain, John worked as a project rescue specialist, helping major organizations improve efficiency, simplify processes, and complete complex projects under tight timelines.
John explains how stress, cognitive load, unclear objectives, and constant pressure affect the brain’s ability to process information, make decisions, communicate clearly, and follow through. He also shares why performance issues are often not about motivation or discipline, but about overloaded mental systems and inefficient processes.
Drawing from his work with the Marine Corps, Special Operations Command, and business teams, John breaks down how leaders can help teams reduce overwhelm, improve focus, and create better performance outcomes.
In this conversation, you’ll learn:
• Why stress reduces cognitive performance and decision making
• How unclear goals increase team overwhelm
• The difference between disengagement and cognitive overload
• Why multitasking is really task switching
• How leaders can spot early signs of team brain load
• The role of neuroplasticity in improving performance
• Why shared purpose and clear processes help teams perform under pressure
• What attendees can expect from John’s November 12 Business Performance Reset summit session
Key quote from John Kennedy:
“What you repeat, you become.”
About the Summit:
John Kennedy will be speaking at the November 12 Business Performance Reset summit, where he will share practical insights on neuroplasticity, cognitive load, stress, and performance.
Register for Business Performance Reset Summit
Chapters
Register for the Business Performance Reset
Connect with John Kennedy, Neuroplastician and Master Brain Coach
Connect with Jena Taylor, Executive Resilience Strategist
Keywords:
stress and team performance, stress and decision making, cognitive load, cognitive overload, workplace stress, team performance, neuroplasticity, John Kennedy neuroplastician, leadership performance, employee performance, brain performance, mental processing speed, workplace burnout, employee overwhelm, decision making under stress, leadership capacity, sustainable performance, Resilience Brilliance, Jena Taylor
What if the “safe” life you built is keeping you stuck?
In this episode of Resilience Brilliance, Jena Taylor sits down with Kimberley Day, an award-winning publisher, author, book and business coach, and former financial advisor, to talk about breaking free from the golden handcuffs of a career, paycheck, title, or identity that no longer fits.
Kim shares her powerful story of navigating breast cancer, divorce, job loss, career reinvention, and entrepreneurship, and how those life-changing moments forced her to rethink what safety, success, and freedom really mean.
After being publicly let go from a job she thought was secure, Kim decided: she would never again allow someone else to be fully in control of her economy. That moment became the catalyst for building a business around books, coaching, authority, and impact.
In this conversation, we explore how adversity changes our capacity, why fear and action can exist at the same time, and why you do not need to see the whole staircase before taking the first step.
Kim also shares her Book to Buyer ATM model, a simple framework for using a book to attract the right audience, build trust through teaching and training, and monetize your expertise through coaching, group programs, memberships, or offers.
Chapters
Key takeaways:
Free Resource from Kimberley Day:
Download Kim’s guide to unlocking the golden handcuffs: [INSERT LINK]
Connect with Kimberley Day:
Get the Guide to Unlock Golden Handcuffs
Instagram
LinkedIn
Facebook
Books:
Niche & Grow Rich
Financial Fitness Playbook
Write & Grow Rich
Learn more from Jena Taylor:
Website
Monthly resilience training:
For individuals
For organizations
Subscribe to Resilience Brilliance and share.
Be real. Be resilient. Reclaim your life.™
Keywords: golden handcuffs, career reinvention, resilience podcast, entrepreneurship after adversity, women entrepreneurs, book coaching, business coaching, personal transformation, overcoming adversity, leaving a corporate job, betting on yourself, Kimberley Day, Jena Taylor, Resilience Brilliance
In this episode of the Resilience Brilliance Podcast, host Jena Taylor sits down with Dr. Stephanie Duguid, leadership culture strategist, keynote speaker, podcaster, and bestselling author of Exponentially Elevate Your Leadership Impact, for a powerful conversation about high achiever burnout, workplace culture, grief, resilience, psychological safety and leadership.
Stephanie shares how the sudden death of her mother at 61 profoundly changed her life and shaped the way she leads. Her mother modeled something simple: see the person first. Stephanie carried that lesson into more than 30 years in education and organizational leadership, discovering that people perform differently when they feel seen, valued, trusted, and supported.
Jena and Stephanie also tackle a problem happening inside workplaces everywhere: we keep piling more work onto the people who are best at getting things done.
High achievers often have a greater capacity to perform—but that does not mean their capacity is unlimited. When everything becomes a priority, people don't feel safe speaking up, and leaders continue rewarding competence with more work, burnout and disengagement can become the predictable result.
In this episode, you'll discover:
✔ Why high achievers are especially vulnerable to burnout
✔ How workplace culture drives exhaustion, disengagement, and overload
✔ Why psychological safety helps employees speak up before breaking down
✔ How grief can shape resilience, purpose, and leadership
✔ How leaders can build cultures rooted in communication, trust, and real support
✔ How leaders can create cultures where people don't have to sacrifice themselves to perform
Stephanie also shares the extraordinary story of her mother's continuing legacy—from handwritten notes preserved for decades to family recipes unexpectedly returned more than 20 years later—and how those experiences became part of Stephanie's commitment to serving others.
Because resilience isn't about carrying everything yourself.
Chapters
Dr. Stephanie:
Recipe book
Leadership book
FREE RESILIENCE TRAINING
For individuals
For organizations
Jena offers a free live Resilience Reset training each month with practical tools to help you reduce overwhelm, strengthen resilience, rebuild capacity, and reclaim your life.
Subscribe to Resilience Brilliance and share.
Be real. Be resilient. Reclaim your life.™
What can the Serenity Prayer teach us about resilience, addiction, acceptance, and finding peace when life feels out of control?
In this episode of the Resilience Brilliance Podcast, host Jena Taylor talks with author Roberto C. Mayer about his journey from computer science and technology to studying and writing about the deeper meaning of the Serenity Prayer.
Roberto’s exploration of serenity began through a deeply personal experience: loving and supporting a family member struggling with addiction. Through mutual support groups, he discovered the power of community, self-awareness, acceptance, and learning to distinguish between what we can change and what we cannot.
What can the Serenity Prayer teach us about resilience, addiction, acceptance, and finding peace when life feels out of control?
In this episode of the Resilience Brilliance Podcast, host Jena Taylor talks with author Roberto C. Mayer about his journey from computer science and technology to studying and writing about the deeper meaning of the Serenity Prayer.
Roberto’s exploration of serenity began through a deeply personal experience: loving and supporting a family member struggling with addiction. Through mutual support groups, he discovered the power of community, self-awareness, acceptance, and learning to distinguish between what we can change and what we cannot.
Takeaways
In this episode, you’ll discover:
• Why loving someone with addiction can feel so isolating
• How mutual support can help families affected by addiction
• The deeper meaning behind the Serenity Prayer
• How to separate what you can control from what you cannot
• Why acceptance does not mean giving up
• The role self-awareness plays in resilience
• How protecting your capacity helps you navigate difficult seasons
• Why living on “automatic mode” can drain your energy and direction
• How difficult experiences can become tools for future resilience
• Why remembering “this too shall pass” can change how you experience adversity
Chapters
Guest links:
Website
Book- Portuguese version; English in production
FREE RESILIENCE TRAINING
Jena offers a free live Resilience Reset training each month with practical tools to help you reduce overwhelm, strengthen resilience, rebuild capacity, and reclaim your life.
For individuals
For organizations
Stop letting an overloaded to-do list run your life—the Capacity Playbook helps you protect your energy, prioritize what matters, and make every day count. Grab your Capacity Playbook
Subscribe to Resilience Brilliance and share
Be real. Be resilient. Reclaim your life.™
In this episode of the Resilience Brilliance Podcast, host Jena Taylor interviews Dr. Harvey Loomstein, a neuropsychologist and expert in energy and functional medicine. They explore his personal health journey, the gut-brain connection, and approaches to chronic conditions. Dr. Harvey discusses gut health, plastics, nutrition and hydration, and how lifestyle choices, including diet and stress management, may affect health.
Takeaways
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
✔ The gut-brain connection and why gut health may influence brain health
✔ Neuroplasticity and brain injury recovery
✔ Why sleep is essential for restoration and recovery
✔ The relationship between stress, cortisol, and the body
✔ Nutrition, minerals, hydration, and healthy aging
✔ Dr. Harvey’s experience using pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF)
✔ Why chronic inflammation matters
✔ The importance of movement and hydration
✔ How emotional regulation can help interrupt the stress response
✔ Simple habits that may support brain and whole-body health
✔ Why Dr. Harvey believes the body should be treated as an interconnected system
One of the simplest takeaways from the conversation? Don’t underestimate the basics: sleep, hydration, movement, nutrition, stress management, and paying attention to what your body is telling you.
And yes...drink your water. 💧
ABOUT RESILIENCE BRILLIANCE
Hosted by resilience strategist Jena Taylor, Resilience Brilliance explores what it takes to overcome adversity, rebuild after life knocks you sideways, and reclaim your life.
FREE RESILIENCE TRAINING
For individuals
For organizations
Jena offers a free live Resilience Reset training each month with practical tools to help you reduce overwhelm, strengthen resilience, rebuild capacity, and reclaim your life.
Subscribe to Resilience Brilliance and share.
Be real. Be resilient. Reclaim your life.™
Dr. Loomstein:
Website
DISCLAIMER
This episode is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Some views and health claims discussed by the guest reflect his professional opinions and experience and may not represent established medical consensus. Always consult an appropriately qualified healthcare professional regarding your individual health needs.
#BrainHealth #GutHealth #GutBrainConnection #HealthyAging #Neuroplasticity #Resilience #SleepHealth #StressManagement #FunctionalMedicine #ResilienceBrilliance #drharveyloomstein
Traditional planners ask, “What do you need to get done?” But the better question is, “What do you actually have the capacity to carry, create, sustain, & overcome?”
In this episode, Jena Taylor introduces the Resilience Brilliance Capacity Playbook, a practical guide to sustainable performance for high achievers, leaders, entrepreneurs, consultants, speakers, & purpose-driven professionals who are building something meaningful while carrying a lot.
This is not another productivity planner built to help you squeeze more into an already full life. The Capacity Playbook is built around one core principle: Capacity comes before performance.
Jena walks through the Capacity First Method, a 5-step framework designed to help you assess your current capacity, identify what is draining you, protect your energy and boundaries, rebuild resilience, & align your goals, business, revenue, leadership, & lifestyle around what is actually sustainable.
Inside this episode, you’ll learn:
The Resilience Brilliance Capacity Playbook includes annual vision prompts, business strategy pages, quarterly planning, monthly CEO dashboards, weekly leadership rhythms, daily CEO pages, capacity audits, revenue planning, pipeline reviews, recovery planning, reflection prompts, resilience tools, and decision filters.
If you are tired of planners that only ask what you need to do, but never ask what your goals require from your body, energy, relationships, recovery, & real life, this episode is for you.
Get the Capacity Playbook
Register for webinar
For HR professionals, people leaders, executives, & organizations, register for the free lunch & learn
00:00 Introduction to the Capacity Playbook
02:23 Why traditional planning is not enough
04:47 Who the Capacity Playbook is for
08:31 The Capacity First Method
09:26 Step 1: Assess your current capacity
10:07 Step 2: Identify what is draining you
12:08 Step 3: Protect boundaries and recovery
14:34 Step 4: Rebuild capacity & resilience
16:08 Step 5: Align goals, work, & lifestyle
17:00 Annual vision & identity shift
20:00 Business strategy with capacity built in
23:00 Revenue without self-abandonment
26:00 Quarterly, monthly, weekly, & daily rhythms
29:00 Monthly CEO dashboard and capacity audit
32:00 Burnout risk check
35:00 Recovery as part of the strategy
38:00 Weekly and daily CEO pages
43:00 Capacity as an organizational performance strategy
47:00 What changes when you use the playbook
51:00 Next steps
55:00 Capacity is the source of performance
#sustainable performance #burnout #JenaTaylor #capacitymanagement
Burnout is often misunderstood as a motivation problem. In this episode, resilience strategist Jena Taylor explains why burnout is actually a capacity problem. Learn how physical, mental, emotional, and relational capacity affect performance, why high achievers often miss burnout warning signs, and practical resilience strategies to rebuild capacity, prevent burnout, and sustain performance at work and in life.
In this episode:
✔ Why burnout often affects passionate, high-performing people
✔ The difference between motivation and capacity
✔ What capacity really means
✔ The hidden drains affecting performance and wellbeing
✔ Five warning signs of depleted capacity
✔ Why vacations don't always fix burnout
✔ How decision fatigue impacts performance
✔ Why high performers often miss burnout warning signs
✔ The connection between resilience, engagement, and sustainable performance
✔ Three practical steps to begin rebuilding capacity today
✔ Why leaders and HR professionals must address capacity before performance
Key Takeaways
You can't outperform exhaustion.
Burnout is not a motivation problem. It is a capacity problem.
When physical, mental, emotional, and relational reserves are depleted, performance eventually declines. Real resilience is not about pushing harder. It's about protecting, rebuilding, and sustaining capacity over time.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
00:30 The biggest myth about burnout
02:20 Jena's personal burnout story
03:15 Why resilience is about capacity, not pushing harder
03:45 What capacity really means
04:45 Why vacations don't always solve burnout
05:10 Five warning signs of depleted capacity
05:25 Decision fatigue
05:55 Irritability and emotional overload
06:10 Brain fog and cognitive fatigue
07:35 Poor sleep and exhaustion
08:00 Feeling overwhelmed by simple tasks
08:30 Why high performers miss burnout warning signs
09:50 You can't outperform exhaustion
10:00 Three steps to rebuild capacity
10:20 Recognize
11:10 Reframe
11:40 Reset
12:05 Why leaders and HR professionals should care
12:40 The business cost of burnout
13:15 Capacity before performance
13:45 Free resources and next steps
14:25 Gallup's $1.9 trillion disengagement problem
15:00 Final thoughts
Resources
🌸 Free What’s Draining Your Capacity assessment
🌸 Free Monthly HR Lunch & Learn
You Can't Outperform Exhaustion: How to Strengthen Engagement and Sustainable Performance in Today's Workplace
LinkedIn - Jena Taylor
Instagram - Resilience Brilliance
Facebook - Jennifer L. Taylor
Keywords
burnout, burnout recovery, resilience, employee engagement, leadership development, HR leadership, sustainable performance, workplace wellbeing, stress management, burnout prevention, capacity building, Jena Taylor
Many survivors of narcissistic abuse struggle with self-doubt, people-pleasing, burnout, anxiety, and repeating painful relationship patterns. In this powerful conversation, resilience strategist Jennifer (Jena) Taylor sits down with trauma-informed results coach Alexa Sasha Marshall to explore what narcissistic abuse really looks like, how it impacts your nervous system, and what it takes to heal.
Alexa shares her deeply personal story of surviving a suicide attempt, navigating a difficult relationship with her mother, and discovering the transformative power of boundaries, self-expression, and self-worth.
Together, they discuss:
✔ Signs of narcissistic abuse
✔ Gaslighting and emotional manipulation
✔ Why people repeat unhealthy relationship patterns
✔ How trauma impacts the nervous system
✔ The importance of boundaries
✔ Healing through self-expression and play
✔ Emotional resilience and personal growth
✔ Reclaiming your authentic self
✔ Breaking generational cycles
✔ Self-actualization and recovery
If you've ever felt trapped in a toxic relationship, struggled with people-pleasing, or wondered why the same challenges keep showing up in your life, this conversation offers practical insights and hope.
Timestamps
Resources
Alex Sasha
Rebuilding When Your Relationship Ends
The Comfort Trap
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
The Body Keeps the Score
Gabor Mate's YouTube
Free Breath work videos on YouTube
🌸 Join Jena’s FREE live Resilience Reset training:
https://pages.resiliencebrilliance.co/webinar
Free cheat sheet
https://resiliencebrilliance.co/resilience-skills-cheat-sheet
keywords:
narcissistic abuse recovery, gaslighting, emotionally immature parents, boundaries, Narcissistic abuse, Healing from narcissistic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationships, Trauma recovery, Boundaries, Healing childhood trauma, Self-worth, emotional healing, personal growth, trauma-informed coaching
What happens when disaster hits your business—a cyberattack, fire, flood, or even sudden growth?
Most companies aren’t prepared.
In this episode of Resilience Brilliance, Jena sits down with business resilience expert Keith Erwood to discuss how organizations can prepare for disruption, protect revenue, and build systems that hold up under pressure.
This conversation goes beyond theory. You’ll learn why waiting until something breaks is often the costliest mistake a business can make—and what practical resilience actually looks like.
Watch this episode if:• You lead a business or team and want to protect revenue
• You’ve never created a business continuity plan
• You think “it won’t happen to me” ⚠️
• You want to scale without chaos
• You oversee operations, IT, or risk management
✔ Why most companies are dangerously unprepared
✔ The biggest mistakes businesses make with disaster planning
✔ How to recover operations faster after disruption
✔ The difference between resilience and endurance
✔ Why leaders fail under pressure—and how to prepare
✔ Practical ways to protect revenue, people, and systems
✔ Hidden risks that could impact your business right now
Resilience isn’t about reacting after something breaks.
It’s about preparing before it happens—so your business keeps moving no matter what.
00:00 – Why business resilience matters
02:12 – Keith’s journey from EMT to resilience expert
04:22 – The mistake that could destroy a business
09:49 – What business continuity really means
15:02 – Building a resilience plan in 6 weeks
19:19 – Why technology alone won’t save you
24:24 – What resilience means for organizations
26:03 – When success becomes a disruption
28:44 – The truth about insurance coverage
39:40 – Why people ignore risk until it’s too late
48:31 – Training leaders for crisis situations
52:47 – Keith’s free resilience community + resources
55:37 – New resilience software reveal 👀
59:27 – Reducing recovery time from hours to seconds
Connect with Keith Erwood
Website
LinkedIn
Instagram: @protect_er
Get Keith’s free book:
Text “BOOK” to 925-339-8886
🌸 Ready to reclaim your life?
Join the free Resilience Reset training:
Resilience Reset Webinar
🌸 Connect with Jena
LinkedIn
Facebook
Instagram
Resilience Brilliance
Keywords:
business resilience, business continuity planning, disaster recovery, organizational resilience, crisis management, IT disaster recovery, leadership in crisis, operational risk, business disruption planning, revenue protection strategies
What does it really take to heal from trauma, betrayal, and addiction?
In this episode of Resilience Brilliance, Jena sits down with Helen Valentino—ex-army nurse, entrepreneur, and holistic healer—to share a journey most people never talk about.
From childhood trauma to addiction and rebuilding from nothing, Helen reveals how she turned pain into purpose—and how forgiveness became the turning point that set her free.
This is real resilience.
If you’ve felt overwhelmed, stuck, or off, this conversation will meet you where you are.
Takeaways✔ How trauma impacts identity, relationships, & self-worth
✔ The truth about forgiveness
✔ Breaking patterns of betrayal
✔ The link between trauma & addiction
✔ What real healing looks like
✔ Rebuilding after everything falls apart
✔ Why resilience is about capacity—not pushing through
Forgiveness isn’t about them.
It’s about freeing yourself.
Timestamps00:00 – Welcome
01:54 – Meet Helen Valentino
02:48 – Childhood trauma and abuse
08:42 – Coping patterns and isolation
14:38 – Perfectionism and self-worth
18:35 – Therapy and relationships
22:23 – Business and betrayal
29:00 – Repeating patterns
32:26 – Forgiveness as medicine
35:18 – Loneliness and community
39:40 – Forgiving her parents
42:01 – What forgiveness means
47:37 – Lessons from pain
49:37 – Grief and self-talk
50:39 – Rewiring thoughts
51:34 – Life happens for us
55:40 – Sobriety journey
59:08 – Cacao and healing
01:04:27 – Mushrooms and transformation
01:07:46 – Turning pain into purpose
01:09:22 – Nature and healing
01:10:45 – Final wisdom
01:12:16 – Connect with Helen
01:15:28 – Closing
Resources
Women who love too much
No bad parts
Little Soul and the Sun
Connect-Helen
website
WhatsApp: +44 7971 798462
🌸 Ready to Reclaim Your Life?
Free live training
Free resilience skills cheat sheet
🌸 Connect with Jena
website
healing from trauma, emotional healing, resilience after trauma, forgiveness and healing, trauma recovery, overcoming adversity, addiction recovery story, childhood trauma healing, personal growth journey, resilience podcast, how to rebuild your life, mental health and healing, burnout and recovery
From the publisher's feed
Resilience Brilliance™ Podcast
Resilience Brilliance is for high-achieving women and leaders navigating burnout, pressure, and life transitions.
This podcast delivers…
If you’ve been pushing through exhaustion, overwhelm, or adversity—this is where you reset, rebuild, and reclaim your life.
Hosted by Jena Taylor—brain injury survivor, resilience strategist, and marketing expert—this show blends lived experience with science-backed tools from experts in neuroplasticity, trauma recovery, psychology, and performance.
Each episode brings you:
This isn’t about pushing harder.
It’s about building resilience that actually holds up in real life.
Tune in for honest conversations, actionable strategies, and a new way to rise—without losing yourself in the process.
🌸💗 Be real. Be resilient. Reclaim your life.™