The Resilience Lab

Every leader eventually meets a “Debra”—the teammate who delivers results but creates drama and leaves a trail of frustrated team members in her wake. She’s smart, capable, maybe even indispensable. But her behavior slowly erodes trust, morale, and momentum.

In this episode of The Resilience Lab, Rex Miller unpacks a real story of a leader wrestling with a Debra on his team. You’ll hear how toxic talent hides behind competence, why managers struggle to confront it, and what really happens when behavior issues go unaddressed.

If you’ve ever felt trapped between protecting performance and preserving culture, this episode will show you why ignoring a Debra isn’t an option—and how naming the problem is the first step toward resilience.

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What does it truly mean to design your life—not just your workspace? In this episode of The Resilience Lab, Rex Miller chats with Dianne Kimiko, founder of Kimiko Designs and Kimiko Green, on the deck of the Tarkett showroom during NeoCon Design Days—Chicago trains rumbling by in the background.

Dianne’s journey takes us from choosing furniture over funeral homes early in her career to building a design practice grounded in curiosity, sustainability, and resilience. She explains how asking “why” can transform projects, how saying “no” became one of her most powerful leadership tools, and why 17 billion pounds of office furniture ending up in landfills annually is both a challenge and an opportunity.

Whether you’re reevaluating your career, your workplace, or how to make more sustainable choices, Dianne’s perspective will open your eyes to what’s possible when design goes beyond spaces to shape the way we live and lead.

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Forget rehearsed soundbites. This is the kind of conversation where you lean in, lose track of time, and walk away seeing the world differently. Recorded on an iPhone in the lively chaos of Design Days at the MillerKnoll Showroom, Rex Miller and Ryan Anderson dive into an unscripted exchange about what the future of work really looks like when you zoom out — and then in.

As MillerKnoll’s VP of Global Research and Insights, Ryan gathers input, research, and conversations from across the globe, spotting patterns others miss. He likens this moment to standing before a Monet — the colors, textures, and brushstrokes of the human experience of work are blurring old certainties and reshaping how we see the workplace.

Listen for how Ryan is seeing the office anew — as a counterbalance to digital overload, a stage for unplanned human moments, and a canvas for building belonging. You’ll hear the questions he’s asking leaders to help them rethink not just the space, but the purpose it serves.

Monet’s work transformed the way people understood art, forcing viewers to step closer, look differently, and rethink what was possible on a canvas. Today, we’re at a similar inflection point — one where the way we see, design, and experience the workplace is ready to be reimagined through entirely new eyes.

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Every industry has its stars — the ones who know the game, hit the numbers, and climb the ladder. But what happens when you realize the ladder’s leaning against the wrong wall? That’s the moment Sid Meadows faced when he walked away from a secure, high-profile career in the contract furniture world to start over on his own terms.

In this conversation, recorded live at NeoCon in the Sandow Podcast booth, Sid shares his “Jerry Maguire moment” — the leap from chasing deals to chasing meaning. He opens up about the fear, the freedom, and the surprising lessons learned from building his own path. From redefining success to mentoring the next generation, Sid’s story is a masterclass in trusting your gut and holding fast to your values.

If you work in facilities, corporate real estate, design, or workplace strategy, this is more than a career conversation. It’s an invitation to ask yourself the same question Sid did: What am I really here to do? And am I brave enough to do it?

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In Moneyball, the owner of the Boston Red Sox tells Billy Beane, “The first one through the wall always gets bloody.” That’s where Kay Sargent stands today. As Director of Workplace at HOK and author of Designing Neuro-Inclusive Workplaces, she’s breaking through a wall our industry has quietly built — the unspoken assumptions about how spaces should work for people who think, sense, and process the world differently.

Neurodiversity in the workplace isn’t tidy. It’s complex, it’s personal, and it sparks strong opinions. Kay steps into that complexity with eight years of research, a career of leadership, and the lived experience of raising five children, some of whom navigate the world differently. She’s not just adding to the conversation — she’s creating a new category of it, one that challenges the safe, performative gestures and invites real, sometimes uncomfortable, change.

In this episode, you’ll hear how designing for the edges benefits everyone in the middle, why “one size misfits all,” and how even small, intentional changes can transform a person’s ability to thrive. If you’re in facilities, corporate real estate, design, or workplace strategy, this is more than a professional conversation — it’s a chance to rethink the spaces you influence, the people you serve, and the courage it takes to go first.

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What if the key to living with meaning and energy in the high-pressure, ever-changing world of the workplace wasn’t about landing the perfect role, but about mastering a rhythm? A blend of purpose, relationships, and resilience. In this candid, unscripted conversation recorded during Design Days and NeoCon, Love What You Do host Doug Shapiro and Rex Miller delve into how to cultivate a passion for your work that transcends the pursuit of the ideal job.

Doug shares how “grace” — given to others, received from others, and offered to yourself — can transform your life, your office, and your culture. You’ll hear how JSI turns listening into a recipe for success, why clarity beats cleverness in defining purpose, and how to sustain joy in a world of constant change.

Whether you’re navigating return-to-office debates, leading through uncertainty, or trying to reignite your own passion for the work, this episode will leave you with practical ways to lead with presence, build trust, and create a workplace where people truly love what they do.

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What if your team isn’t a team at all?

Why do some leadership groups thrive in crisis while others implode under pressure?

What if the real dysfunction isn’t bad behavior—but broken structure and buried stories?

In this episode of The Resilience Lab, Rex Miller shares a behind-the-scenes look at a two-day offsite with a senior leadership team facing seismic organizational change. Through real-life moments of breakthrough, Rex unpacks why trust breaks down, how hidden assumptions drive division, and what it actually takes to move from a workgroup to a high-performing team. If you’re a manager, team leader, or part of a hybrid workforce, you’ll walk away with practical insights and a new lens on team dynamics.

Subscribe, share, and leave a comment—your feedback fuels our mission to explore what resilience really looks like in today’s workplace.

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If you’re struggling with return-to-office resistance, disengaged employees, or rising mental health challenges—you’re not alone. But what if the key to transformation isn’t strategy or pressure... but empathy, presence, and lived experience?

In this memorable episode, Rosalyn Van-Jackson—a senior leader in one of Oklahoma’s largest school districts—describes how she transformed her own trauma into the basis for systemic change. With an ACEs score of 7 and a childhood filled with abuse and suicidal thoughts, Rosalyn offers a level of insight, courage, and compassion that few leaders can match.

Post-pandemic, she guided her 2,500-employee organization through one of the most practical and human-centered transformations you’ll hear about. She reimagined everything: childcare, mental health supports, wraparound services, and what it truly means to value each employee—from bus drivers to teachers.

Her story is not only inspiring—it’s a masterclass in leading through disruption, rebuilding trust, and creating environments where people can heal and perform.

Rosalyn’s life gave her the tools. Her leadership shows us the way.

Content warning: This episode includes discussion of childhood abuse and suicidal ideation.

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Forget the pressure to find your purpose like it’s buried treasure. In this solo episode of The Resilience Lab, Rex Miller dismantles the myth that your purpose must be crystal clear from the start. Drawing from ancient wisdom, brain science, and decades of coaching, Rex offers a refreshing framework: start with your “who,” practice your “how,” and let your “why” emerge naturally. If you've ever felt stuck, anxious, or like you’re chasing someone else’s mission, this episode will help you reframe purpose as a path, not a brand.

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What if the purpose you’ve been searching for is already inside you—buried beneath life’s traumas, systems, and setbacks? In this powerful episode of The Resilience Lab, Dr. Rachel Fox shares her extraordinary journey from single mom and caregiver to doctoral graduate and purpose coach. With unflinching honesty, she recounts her fight to save her daughter’s life against an indifferent medical system, the emotional toll of advocacy, and the persistence it takes to rise through broken systems.

Rachel introduces Paraclete, a program she created to equip others to find their voice, become advocates, and build resilience from within. Whether you’re a caregiver, a leader navigating workplace change, or someone staring down a life you didn’t choose—this conversation will awaken something in you. It’s about reclaiming agency, discovering the calling you’ve always carried, and standing your ground when the system says no.

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