Women on Work

We always go deep and heavy on Women on Work, so we decided to give you a few minutes of light and mindfulness to start your week. 

For this month’s Mindful Moment, we are joined by Anisha Desai Fraser – an acupuncturist, qi gong energy healer, and yoga teacher.

Get in touch with Anisha on Instagram.

Anxiety comes in many shapes and forms, but often finds itself manifesting inside of the mind of many women. While the stigma of therapy has been reduced, it’s still hard for women to find the space they need while balancing the various demands on their shoulders. With a plethora of options to address anxiety be it medication, exercise, deep breathing or whatever it takes short of committing a crime, sometimes the best salve is to just talk to other women.

As sufferers of anxiety, it can often be viewed as a debility, but if channeled or embraced can it become our superpower? Alysia and Liz are joined by their "Original Listener" and Producer, Sabrina Hill to have a multi-generational conversation about anxiety, how it impacts how we see ourselves, but also explore how it has been used as their personal superpowers as they continue in their careers.

Whether it’s shared aloud or an internal thought, misunderstandings and conflict can arise in the best of teams… even podcast co-hosts! Liz and Alysia experienced one such moment recently and learned a lot about each other and came through the difficult conversation unscathed. Listen in as they admit to each other how dangerous the stories we tell ourselves can be, how important it is to show your invisible work, and ultimately, the importance of making time to connect and not just go through the motions day in and day out. 

Pregnancy loss can occur during any stage of pregnancy, however, when most people make it through their first trimester breathe a sigh of relief and begin to share the exciting news with family and the workplace. But what happens when your excitement turns to grief when tragedy strikes, and your maternity leave turns into bereavement leave? How do you navigate these conversations in a work environment?

In this week’s episode, Alysia and Liz connect with returning guest Lindsey Bryant as she shares her deeply emotional experience with the unexpected loss of her baby, Carter, at 35 weeks in utero and the responsibility that is thrust upon the bereaved when it comes to soothing the discomfort of others. Instead of seeking comfort, Alysia and Liz allow the tears to flow and sit with Lindsey to hear about her experience and understand how even in the event of child loss, you are still parents, and acknowledge the life lost too soon and their presence in the world. 

In loving memory of Carter Shea Bryant. (aka Smalls). Check out https://stillparents.net/ to learn more.

As a woman progresses throughout her life, many accomplishments and successes will grace them along the way. However, many women struggle with the confidence to celebrate our successes, share progress, or highlight wins without being immediately concerned about how they will come across when doing so. Will I be seen as bragging? Will I look like a brown noser? Will this impact me negatively with my team members or my leadership, and how I’m seen?

At the heart of the matter, it always comes down to the mental gymnastics we play when it comes to how we present ourselves in the workplace. But why is demonstrating our value or allowing our ego to drive us a bad thing? How can we approach moments and use them to showcase ourselves in ways we find to be authentic and value focused? Alysia and Liz break down the conversation of ego versus value and determine there is value in ego.

As working moms, the to-do lists never seem to end. Beyond the activities we participate in, we have the long list of expectations heaped on us to fulfill – endlessly loving and present parent, dutiful partner, productive employee, etc. But what if instead of focusing on what everyone wants from us, we instead turn inward and start living the life we want to live? Join Liz and Alysia as they talk to Katherine Wintsch – CEO of the Mom Complex, author, featured guest on The Today Show, contributor to the NY Times, Wall Street Journal and many others – about learning to love ourselves and starting to slay your inner dragon of self-doubt.

Great Resources to Check Out:

https://www.slaylikeamother.com/

https://momcomplex.com/

Instagram: @slaylikeamother

We always go deep and heavy on Women on Work, so we decided to give you a few minutes of light and mindfulness to start your week. 

For this month’s Mindful Moment, we are joined by Monica Gonzalez – a sustainability leader, yoga and meditation teacher, and holistic life practitioner.

Get in touch with Monica on Instagram

Sex is not an open discussion on our society, left to hushed and hurried conversations and one-hour seminars in grade school. As a result, porn becomes sex education for many and ingrains a view of sex and women that permeates and influences every part of their life. In this impactful conversation, Liz and Alysia talk to Cindy Gallop – Founder and CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn – on how the ubiquity of porn and our inability to talk about sex openly creates a view of women as submissive in the workplace, the connection between sexual values and sexual harassment, and an argument for bringing sexual discussions out of the shadows in corporate America. 

Great Resources to Check Out: 

www.makelovenotporn.tv

https://www.ted.com/talks/cindy_gallop_make_love_not_porn

Instagram: 

@makelovenotporn

@cindygallop

Leading with empathy is the new trend in management. Supporting your employees’ and providing them the opportunity to succeed is top-of-mind for many organizations. But how do you navigate compassionate management with still delivering business results? Liz and Alysia talk about how to balance being an empathetic leader with holding your team accountable to results and learning to be more comfortable in the gray area of leadership.

The journey of self-discovery is one many of us find ourselves on. But that adventure looks different for each of us, and sometimes the result can have profound impact on our lives and our work. Liz and Alysia talk to Jeffrey Lorenson – contract and procurement advisor, LGBTQ ally - on finding the courage to be your authentic self, transitioning at work, and what companies and co-workers can do to create space for everyone to show up as their true selves in the workplace. 

Great Resources to Check out:

Houston Montrose Center

Transgender Education Network of Texas

Lambda Legal

The Trevor Project

Human Rights Campaign