What if being “the understanding one” is actually helping a dysfunctional system stay dysfunctional?

In this solo episode, Gen gets into the uncomfortable side of empathy, boundaries and leadership — not just at work, but inside families, relationships, friendships and communities too.

We talk about why culture is shaped by what we tolerate, how reliable people become responsible for everyone else, why “that’s just how they are” is such a dangerous sentence, and how empathy can quietly turn into enabling when accountability disappears.

Plus: why therapy language isn’t a substitute for conflict skills, how systems train behaviour, and five questions to help you audit the culture you’re participating in.

Soft leadership doesn’t mean spineless leadership. Sometimes compassion sounds like: “I understand. And this still needs to change.”

Follow Gen everywhere at @withgenevieve and join the WithGen Instagram channel for more conversations about psychology, mindset, boundaries and becoming a little more yourself.

Website: www.withgenevieve.com

Leadership looks glamorous, until it isn’t.

In this episode, I sit down with leadership consultant and multipreneur ⁠Felix Schorre⁠ to unpack what leadership actually means in 2026.

We talk about:

• Why ego-driven leadership is holding us back

• The moment leadership stops being status and becomes responsibility

• Presence as the most underrated leadership skill

• Taking hard decisions without becoming harsh

• Female energy, emotional intelligence & balance in power

• Why real change starts in your microcosm, and not at Davos

This is a grounded, honest conversation about self-leadership, power, and responsibility in a world that feels increasingly loud and reactive.

Because leadership starts with you, while it’s not about you.

⁠🔗 Connect with Felix Schorre⁠

Leadership consulting & conscious leadership development

Instagram & ⁠LinkedIn⁠: just search Felix Schorre

🔗 Connect with me

Find me everywhere at @withgenevieve

⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠LinkedIn⁠ | ⁠Threads⁠ | ⁠YouTube⁠ | ⁠Substack⁠

✨ Curious about the creative side of what I build?

Keep an eye out on www.withgenevieve.com - you'll find my 12-week program there and my new book "Keep Going, But Softer". Have a great one!

If this episode resonates, share it with a leader who needs to hear it.

What if your independence, perfectionism, people-pleasing or constant need to stay busy aren’t actually personality traits?

In this solo episode, I explore the survival strategies we build as children, and how easily we mistake them for who we are. I talk about becoming the responsible one, learning to earn love through caretaking, and why the patterns that once kept us safe can become incredibly heavy in adulthood.

We dive into attachment, confirmation bias, neuroplasticity, co-regulation and collective healing... but in normal human language, promise. Because healing isn’t about shaming the person you became. It’s about understanding what that version of you was trying to protect.

Maybe you’re not broken, difficult or too much. Maybe you simply became very good at surviving a situation that no longer exists.

And maybe healing is gently telling those old protective parts:

"You can rest now. I've got it from here."

Follow me around:

Insta | LinkedIn | Threads | Medium | Twitter (haha) | Website

You didn’t choose your childhood. But you can choose what happens next.

In this deeply honest conversation, I sit down with systemic business coach Jonathan Bouter to explore how the patterns we learned as children quietly shape our relationships, self-worth, business, and everyday lives. From family systems and generational trauma to nervous system regulation, reparenting, and the inner child, we unpack why so many of us keep repeating the same cycles. And, more importantly, how to break them.

We share our own stories of healing, the survival mechanisms that once protected us, and the practical shifts that helped us build healthier relationships with ourselves and the people around us. This isn’t about blaming your parents or chasing perfection. It’s about understanding where your patterns came from, taking responsibility for your healing, and learning that you are worthy of love, even on the days you don’t believe it yourself.

If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking “Why do I keep doing this?” or “Why does this trigger me so much?”, this episode is for you.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why survival patterns aren’t personality traits

• The role of your inner child in adult relationships
• Self-worth, shame, and learning to receive love

• Breaking unhealthy cycles without blaming yourself
• Practical ways to start healing today

💛 If this conversation resonates with you, I’d love to stay connected. Join my free Instagram Broadcast Channel, where I share extra reflections, mindset insights, behind-the-scenes thoughts, and little reminders that help you keep growing between episodes.

Take one thing from this conversation. Practice it this week. Your future self (and your inner child) will thank you.

Jonathan's website:

https://freedommotivates.nl/

More from me:

Insta | Medium | Substack

The Most Productive Thing You Might Do Is Play

Why Your Brain Needs Play More Than Another Productivity Hack

When was the last time you did something for absolutely no reason? Not because it would make you money. Not because it would become content. Not because you’d get better at it. Just because you wanted to.

Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, many of us stopped playing. We turned hobbies into side hustles, rest into optimization, and joy into something that had to justify itself.

In this solo episode, I explore what neuroscience says about play, why it matters for emotional health, creativity and relationships, and what researchers like Jaak Panksepp discovered about the role of play in the brain. We also talk about ADHD, nervous systems, perfectionism, and why doing something “unproductive” might actually make you feel more alive.

This isn’t an episode about becoming more productive. It’s about remembering that you’re a human being before you’re a productive one.

If you’ve been feeling exhausted, disconnected from yourself, or like everything in your life needs a purpose, I hope this conversation gives you permission to play again.

💜 If this episode resonates with you, share it with someone who might need permission to stop optimizing every minute of their life.

Follow me around on socials:

Instagram | Medium | LinkedIn | Threads | Twitter (because I refuse to call it X) | Type WithGenevieve and I'm basically anywhere.

What if the answer to feeling behind isn’t working harder, but doing less of what never mattered in the first place?

In this episode, I’m joined by Anne Rajoo for an honest conversation about productivity, burnout and the pressure to keep proving that we are doing enough.

Anne shares how motherhood, entrepreneurship and the sudden loss of her mother forced her to reconsider the way she was living.

Because what is the point of saving your entire life for retirement when tomorrow was never promised?

We talk about peaceful productivity, the belief that rest must be earned and why procrastination is not always a discipline problem. Sometimes your brain is not avoiding the work because you are lazy. Sometimes it simply has nothing left to give.

We also explore:

• Why working harder does not always createbetter results
• Why rest and recovery are part of productivity
• The importance of play, creativity and doing things without monetising them
• Planning around your energy instead of constantly overriding it
• Working in seasons rather than demanding endless consistency
• Creating space for yourself while caring for children, family or a business
• Why you may need to plan your rest before you feel entitled to take it

This conversation was recorded two days after my grandfather passed away. He was one of my closest friends, and I cared for him for several years. In the final years of his life, sitting beside him taught me something I am still learning now: being present is not time wasted.

You do not have to do everything. And you do not have to completely exhaust yourself before you are allowed to stop.

Follow Gen around:

Join me on Instagram: @withgenevieve | Threads | The Free Community | Medium

Check Anne out:

Website | Instagram

We spend so much of our lives chasing more time.

One more free evening. One more weekend. One more holiday. We tell ourselves that then we’ll finally feel calmer, more present, more like ourselves.

But what if the problem isn’t time?

In this solo episode, I explore why so many of us are overwhelmed even when our calendars aren’t full, how our nervous systems measure load instead of hours, and why creating space is about so much more than productivity or time management.

We’ll talk about the psychology behind silence, why being busy can become part of our identity, and the surprising reason your best ideas often show up when you stop trying so hard.

If you’ve been feeling stretched thin, constantly “on,” or like you’re running without remembering why, this conversation is for you.

Because maybe what you’re looking for isn’t more time. Maybe it’s space.

Follow me around on socials:

Insta | Threads | Medium | BlueSky | Substack

Some people discover health because they want abs. Others discover it because life finally asks them to slow down.

In this episode, I’m joined by Tiffany and Tim from the Made It Past Midnight podcast for an honest conversation about what health really looks like. We talk about mental health, movement, therapy, gut health, routines, burnout, weight loss, anxiety, depression, parenting, podcasting, and why becoming healthier doesn’t have to turn you into someone who only talks about protein shakes.

We also explore something I think many of us forget: you can be doing all the “healthy” things and still struggle mentally. Healing isn’t about perfection. It’s about learning how to stop abandoning yourself, one small choice at a time.

Whether you’re rebuilding after burnout, trying to take better care of yourself, or simply wondering why your old routines no longer work, this conversation is for you.

🖤 If you’re craving honest conversations and meaningful connections, come join one of my upcoming With Genevieve networking sessions at withgenevieve.com.

📖 And if this episode resonates, keep an eye out for my upcoming book, Keep Going, But Softer, a collection of reflections for overthinkers, recovering overachievers, and anyone learning that survival mode isn’t a personality trait.

Connect with Tiffany & Tim:🎙️ Made It Past Midnight

Find me:📸 @withgenevieve

If you enjoyed this episode, I’d love it if you followed the podcast, left a review, or shared it with someone who could use the reminder that health isn’t one perfect checklist. It’s something we build, one small habit at a time. 🖤

This episode started as one about heartbreak. It became something much bigger.

Because grief isn’t just about losing someone you love. It’s about losing a future you imagined. A friendship you thought would last forever. A career that shaped your identity. A version of yourself that no longer fits. Or someone whose absence changes the way your entire world feels.

After recently losing my grandfather, I found myself asking different questions about grief than I ever had before. Why does it feel so disorienting? Why do we keep expecting people to text us, call us, or walk through the front door long after they’re gone? Why can leaving a job or a friendship hurt just as deeply as the end of a relationship?

In this episode, we explore the psychology behind grief, attachment, familiarity, identity, and the incredible way our brains slowly adapt to a world that no longer looks the way we expected.

If you’re grieving someone (or something) I hope this episode makes you feel a little less alone.

🖤 If it resonates with you, share it with someone who might need it today.

Follow me around on socials:

Insta | Threads | Medium | Free Facebook community | TikTok | Substack

Some conversations don’t stay on one topic.

They wander through identity, friendship, community, mental health, entrepreneurship, queer joy, Dutch directness, chosen family, and somehow end with a little boy asking if trans people were abducted by aliens.

This is one of those conversations.

In this episode, I’m joined by one of my dearest friends, Val: massage therapist, founder of Peaks and Valleys Wellness, queer entrepreneur, and one of the safest humans I know.

Together, we talk about what it means to build spaces where people truly belong, why no one person should be your entire world, the importance of community, and how embracing who you really are can quietly inspire everyone around you to do the same.

Val also shares her deeply personal transition story; from writing a female main character years before understanding why, to surviving a stroke that completely changed her perspective on life.

It’s funny. It’s vulnerable. It’s chaotic in the most ADHD way possible. And above all, it’s a conversation about becoming more yourself.

If you’ve ever struggled to fit in, wondered where your people are, or simply needed a reminder that you’re allowed to take up space exactly as you are…

This episode is for you.

🖤 If it resonates, send it to someone who needs to hear it today.

Follow Valeria:

Click here for insta | Here for Threads

Follow me:

Insta | Threads | website | Medium | Or on Twitter (I refuse to call it the other one) as a... protest lol