Episode Reflection: Stress is often framed as something to eliminate, outrun, or endure. But what if that framing itself is part of the problem? In this conversation, I was curious about whether our cultural relationship with stress leaves room for something more humane — and more sustainable.

Amy Leneker shares how her own experience with burnout led her to question the false choice between stress or joy. Drawing on research and lived experience, she reframes joy not as a reward for surviving stress, but as a practical strategy for buffering against it. We explore why delaying joy only deepens burnout, how uncertainty (“suspense”) quietly erodes our nervous systems, and why resilience can become harmful when it’s misunderstood.

What stayed with me most is the idea that stress and joy are not opposites, but companions in a resilient dance. The invitation here isn’t to do less caring, less striving, or less meaningful work — but to notice where small interludes of joy might restore what stress slowly depletes.

About the Guest

Amy Leneker is an author, speaker, and recovering workaholic turned joy specialist. She is the author of Cheers to Monday, where she explores the intersection of stress, joy, and resilience in modern work and life.

Links & Resources

*Amy Leneker’s website: https://www.amyleneker.com

*Cheers to Monday: https://www.amyleneker.com/book#order

*Amy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyleneker/

About Thought Echoes

Thought Echoes is a monthly podcast hosted by Beth Bonness, featuring conversations with authors, thinkers, and creatives exploring the nature of our thoughts — how they shape our lives, our work, and the meaning we make from experience.

Thought Echoes Newsletter

If you enjoy conversations that explore the nature of our thoughts and the meaning we make from experience, you can subscribe to the Thought Echoes newsletter for deeper reflections:

👉 https://bethbonness.com/newsletter

Thank you for listening — until next time, keep exploring the echoes that shape your world.

Listen as author, translator, folklorist, and certified kimono consultant, Hiroko Yoda shares insights from her latest book, 8 Million Ways to Happiness. It’s for people looking for meaning in the modern world but not wanting to lock themselves into any specific faith -- but rather -- encourages us to focus on the limitless ways we can show gratitude every day.

Episode Reflection: Respect is often treated as something external — something we give, earn, or lose. In this conversation, I was curious about what happens when respect begins closer to home.

Marcy Syms reframes respect as a daily practice rather than a status or personality trait. We explore how self-respect shapes boundaries, how unspoken expectations quietly erode trust, and why respectful leadership depends more on attention than authority.

What stayed with me is the idea that respect isn’t loud or performative. It shows up in how we listen, how we disagree, and how we care for ourselves and others — especially when things feel tense or uncertain.

About the Guest

Marcy Syms is an author, executive coach, and leadership expert focused on respectful leadership and healthy workplace cultures. She is the author of Leading with Respect, where she explores how respect — for ourselves and others — can transform relationships, teams, and organizations.

Links & Resources

Marcy Syms’ website: https://marcysyms.com

Leading with Respect: https://marcysyms.com/book

Marcy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcysyms/

About Thought Echoes

Thought Echoes is a monthly podcast hosted by Beth Bonness, featuring conversations with authors, thinkers, and creatives exploring the nature of our thoughts — how they shape our lives, our work, and the meaning we make from experience.

These are not how-to conversations, but reflective ones — meant to linger, echo, and invite curiosity rather than certainty.

Thought Echoes Newsletter

If you enjoy conversations that explore the nature of our thoughts and the meaning we make from experience, you can subscribe to the Thought Echoes newsletter for deeper reflections:

👉 https://bethbonness.com/newsletter

Thank you for listening — and for staying with the echoes that shape your world.

Listen as psychologist Josh Davis, PhD, and executive coach Greg Prosmushkin, authors of: The Difference That Makes All the Difference, share their tools for creating fast, lasting change using a scientifically-backed exploration of Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP).

Listen as Céline Santini, a passionate ambassador of transformation & author of: Kintsugi: Finding Strength in Imperfection, shares her insights about using Japanese art therapy & modern psychology as a way to uncover the hidden beauty within our fractures.

Listen as Maggie Jackson explains the 3 types of attention and delves into the misnomer of multi-tasking and all of the unintended consequences that affect our memory, learning, and our ability to discern what is most important. Maggie highlights the importance of taking a break from all our devices and carving out “slow time” as a way to un-train our brains from a life full of constant distractions.

Episode Reflection: Letting go doesn’t mean abandoning responsibility or ceasing to care; it means recognizing when our clinging is rooted in fear rather than purpose. In this conversation, Bob Rosen invites listeners to take stock of the stories and attachments that shape how they think, feel, and act — from the attachment to perfection that silently fuels anxiety to the attachment to self that keeps us isolated rather than connected. 

What stood out most in our dialogue is the idea that attachments are not just psychological habits — they often operate as invisible tensions that sap energy, narrow perspective, and limit fulfillment. Letting go is not about erasing desire; it’s about discerning which desires enrich life and which diminish it.

About the Guest

Bob Rosen, Ph.D. is a psychologist, global leadership advisor, and bestselling author. In Detach: Ditch Your Baggage to Live a More Fulfilling Life, he explores ten common attachments — like control, perfection, and fear — that shape experience in profound ways, and offers a framework for transforming them into healthy aspirations. 

Links & Resources

Bob Rosen’s site: https://www.bobrosen.com

Detach: Ditch Your Baggage to Live a More Fulfilling Life: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Detach/Bob-Rosen/9781637746455

Bob Rosen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobrosen/

Thought Echoes Newsletter

If you enjoy conversations that explore the nature of our thoughts and the meaning we make from experience, you can subscribe to the Thought Echoes newsletter for deeper reflections:
👉 https://bethbonness.com/newsletter

Thank you for listening — and for staying with echoes that shape your world.

How do you define success?

Learn more in this episode with Anne-Laure Le Cunff, neuroscientist, founder of Ness Labs, and author of tiny experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World. Listen as we explore redefining success  -- not by outcomes, but through curiosity and experimentation and how her work invites us to notice the scripts we live by and gently rewrite, one tiny experiment at a time.

In this episode I chat with Hrund Gunnesteinstdóttir, author of InnSæi: Heal, revive and reset with the Icelandic art of intuition. Listen as we explore how to tune into our intuition, see the big picture, and navigate uncertainty. And it all starts -- with paying attention to what we pay attention to.

Episode Reflection: Delve into the power of words, the magic of poetry, and the messy beauty of being human.

In this conversation, Katie Prince shares how learning to trust intuition — in writing and in life — often requires releasing the need for immediate answers. We talk about the tension between control and surrender, and how listening deeply can become a form of courage rather than passivity.

What stayed with me is the reminder that meaning often reveals itself after we take a step — not before. The invitation here isn’t to force certainty, but to remain open to what wants to emerge when we make space.

About the Guest

Katie Prince is the author of Tell This to the Universe. Her work explores intuition, creativity, and the art of listening — to ourselves, to language, and to the unseen currents shaping our lives.

Links & Resources

*Katie Prince website: https://www.katieprince.com

*Tell This to the Universe: https://www.katieprince.com/books

About Thought Echoes

Thought Echoes is a monthly podcast hosted by Beth Bonness, featuring conversations with authors, thinkers, and creatives exploring the nature of our thoughts — how they shape our lives, our work, and the meaning we make from experience.

These are not how-to conversations, but reflective ones — meant to linger, echo, and invite curiosity rather than certainty.

Thought Echoes Newsletter

If you enjoy conversations that explore the nature of our thoughts and the meaning we make from experience, you can subscribe to the Thought Echoes newsletter for deeper reflections:

👉 https://bethbonness.com/newsletter

Thank you for listening — and for staying with the echoes that shape your world.