Workday Playdate

By Erin Diehl - Workday PlaydateBusiness Education How To Careers Management

Workday Playdate episodes

September 30Episode 371: Should I Quit My 9-to-5?
Should you quit your 9-to-5 and start a business or build your idea while you’re still employed?
For aspiring entrepreneurs, that question can feel HUGE. You’re craving more freedom, creativity, or control, but leaving a stable paycheck can feel like jumping off a financial cliff.
But what if you don’t have to choose between playing it safe and burning it all down?
In this episode of Workday Playdate, Erin shares a five-step approach for quitting your 9-to-5, starting a business, and making the leap into entrepreneurship with more clarity. Drawing from her own experience building improve it! while working a full-time recruiting job, Erin breaks down how to test your idea, understand your finances, involve your support system, and create a gradual path toward self-employment.
Instead of asking, “Should I quit my job?” Erin invites you to ask a better question: What can I build before I leave?
Inside This Episode:
The “Stay or Go” Gut Check: Use a simple gut check to understand whether you’re ready to leave your job or just ready for something to change.
Build Before You Bail: Why you don’t need to quit your 9-to-5 before you start building your business. Erin shares how she built improve it! while working full time.
Know Your Numbers: Get clear on your monthly expenses, income needs, and financial runway before making a career transition.
Bring Your People In: Why talking openly with your boss, partner, friends, or trusted supporters can make a big career decision feel less scary and more strategic.
Make the Leap Less Leap-y: Explore part-time work, freelancing, side hustles, and small business pilots as ways to test entrepreneurship before going all in.
Start Small, Learn Fast: You don’t need the perfect business plan. Build the smallest viable version, get feedback, and let the real-world data guide your next move.
What to Do Now:
Ask “What Can I Build Before I Leave?” Identify one small piece of your business or idea you can test while you still have the stability of your current job.
Do the Math: Calculate your monthly expenses, income target, and financial runway. A dream gets a lot less scary when you know your numbers.
Run a Tiny Experiment: Test your idea with a small offer, pilot, freelance project, or first customer. You don’t need to quit to find out if there’s demand.
Talk to Your People: Bring a trusted person into the conversation. You don’t have to make a major career decision alone or in secret!
Build Before You Bail: Remember: quitting your 9-to-5 isn’t the first step. Sometimes, it’s the next step after you’ve built enough evidence to make the leap.
Your Freebie
Take the quiz: What’s Your Leadership Style and Your Next Business Move?
Find out how your leadership style drives motivation, and walk away with 3 specific ideas you can start building into your business right away.
Workshop mentioned in the episode: Taking Initiative & Creative Risks
Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!
Leadership Playground online membership community
Erin’s website
Erin’s Instagram
Erin’s TikTok
Erin’s LinkedIn
improve it!’s website
improve it!’s Instagram
Connect with Erin Diehl
🌟 Learn more about Workday Playdate: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/podcast-page
🎤 Book Erin to speak: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/keynote-speaker
📚 Workshops & Team Experiences: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/experiential-training
💌 Learn more about Erin: https://www.itserindiehl.com/meet-erin
📱 For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.
Loved this episode?
If this conversation made you think differently about work, leadership, or building joyful teams, please follow Workday Playdate on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who could use more play in their workday.
24 min
September 23370: When High-Achieving Women Carry Too Much Alone with Meghan French Dunbar
For high-achieving women, that belief can run deep. We’re taught to be capable, composed, productive, and independent, and to keep going no matter what.
But what happens when “I can handle it” becomes burnout?
In this episode of Workday Playdate, Meghan French Dunbar joins Erin for a candid conversation about burnout, leadership, vulnerability, women at work, and what it really takes to build humane workplaces. Drawing from her experience as a founder, CEO, and mother, Meghan shares the personal wake-up calls that forced her to rethink what success and leadership actually mean.
Together, Erin and Meghan unpack chronic busyness, workplace vulnerability, trust, overwork, and the pressure to be an unbreakable leader. They explore how small shifts in the way we lead can create more sustainable work rhythms and teams.
Inside This Episode:
When Work Becomes Your Identity: Meghan shares the airplane story, miscarriage, and burnout experiences that forced her to confront the personal cost of being an “unbreakable” leader.

The Myth of the Busy Season: What happens when “I’m just in a busy season” becomes your permanent state? Meghan explains how chronic busyness can become a system—not just a season.

Vulnerability Builds Trust: Discover why being honest about struggles can actually make leaders more trustworthy and help teams feel safer opening up.

Women Don’t Have to Do It All: Erin and Meghan unpack the pressure high-achieving women face to be endlessly capable—and why asking for help doesn’t make you a burden.

Rethinking Leadership: Move beyond the superhero leader. Meghan explores a healthier blend of decisiveness, empathy, compassion, listening, and vulnerability.
What to Do Now:
Question Your “Busy Season”: Is this actually a season—or has chronic busyness become your normal? Identify one expectation or habit that’s keeping you stuck in overload.

Let Someone In: Share one honest thing with your team that you might normally keep hidden. Vulnerability doesn’t mean oversharing—it means letting people see the human behind the role.

Ask for Help: Identify one thing you’re carrying alone and invite someone in. Strong leadership isn’t about proving you can do everything yourself. It’s about creating a culture where no one has to.
About the Guest
Meghan French Dunbar is a purpose-driven business leader, author, speaker, and former co-founder and CEO of Conscious Company Media, the first nationally distributed print magazine focused on purpose-driven business in the U.S. Over the course of her career, she has interviewed more than 1,000 leaders about what it takes to build businesses that create meaningful impact.
Her book, This Isn’t Working, explores why traditional approaches to work are failing people—and what it looks like to build careers, companies, and lives that actually lift people up.
Today, Meghan helps exceptional organizations develop narrative strategies that stand out, and she hosts Unbehaved, a podcast featuring leaders who are challenging the old rules of work and business.
Your Freebie
Confidence at work doesn’t mean pretending to have it all figured out. Download our Confident Leader’s Toolkit for a practical, four-step guide to crafting an intentional professional persona so you can lead with more clarity and confidence.
Whether you’re stepping into a new leadership role, navigating a high-stakes conversation, or simply looking to show up more intentionally, this toolkit will help you build a leadership presence that feels sustainable.
Connect with Meghan French Dunbar
Meghan’s LinkedIn

Meghan’s website

Meghan’s book, This Isn’t Working

ZingTrain academy

ZingTrain books
Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!
Leadership Playground online membership community

Erin’s website

Erin’s Instagram

Erin’s TikTok

Erin’s LinkedIn

improve it!’s website

improve it!’s Instagram
Connect with Erin Diehl
🌟 Learn more about Workday Playdate: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/podcast-page
🎤 Book Erin to speak: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/keynote-speaker
📚 Workshops & Team Experiences: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/experiential-training
💌 Learn more about Erin: https://www.itserindiehl.com/meet-erin
📱 For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.
Loved this episode?
If this conversation made you think differently about work, leadership, or building joyful teams, please follow Workday Playdate on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who could use more play in their workday.
48 min
September 16369: The Leadership Skill Nobody Teaches: Stopping Before Burnout Hits with Brent Freeman
In this episode of Workday Playdate, Erin sits down with entrepreneur, speaker, and author Brent Freeman to unpack what happens when external success stops feeling like success. After building billion-dollar growth machines, Brent found himself burned out, disconnected, and asking a much bigger question: What if the life I’m building isn’t actually the life I want?
Brent shares how a “one-degree drift” away from yourself can quietly turn into burnout and how he began rebuilding his life around joy, presence, and intentionality. From canceling every meeting to watch a sunset to creating a daily “list of joy,” Brent explains the neuroscience, nervous system practices, and emotional alchemy tools behind his new book, The Alchemy of Joy. Whether you’re navigating burnout, chasing your next achievement, or simply want to feel more present in your own life, this conversation is a reminder that joy is something you can invest in right now.
Inside This Episode:
When Success Stops Feeling Successful: Brent opens up about the hollow feeling that came after building massive businesses and achieving the external markers of success he once thought would create fulfillment.

The One-Degree Drift: Learn how tiny, seemingly harmless choices can gradually move you away from your values, your joy, and yourself—and why noticing the drift early matters.

Burnout Beyond Hustle Culture: Brent explores how burnout can hide behind ambition, impact, productivity, and achievement, and why it’s not simply a matter of “working too hard.”

The Return on Joy (ROJ): Discover Brent’s framework for treating joy as an intentional investment with a compounding payoff in energy, fulfillment, presence, and quality of life.

The One-Minute Window: Learn a simple 60-second practice for interrupting autopilot, regulating your nervous system, and coming back to the present moment.
What to Do Now:
Make Your List of Joy: Write down 5–10 things that genuinely make you feel alive, energized, connected, or playful. Then ask yourself: When was the last time I made time for these?

Try the One-Minute Window: The next time you feel overwhelmed or triggered, stop for 60 seconds. Breathe. Notice what’s happening in your body. Let yourself come back to the present before deciding what to do next.

Invest in Your ROJ: Choose one small thing that brings you joy and intentionally put it on your calendar this week. Don’t wait until everything else is done. Consider it a daily investment in your return on joy.
About the Guest
Brent Freeman is a visionary entrepreneur, speaker, and author of The Alchemy of Joy. He founded Roozt.com, Stealth Venture Labs, NonnaLive, and Stealth Impact Lab, building businesses and social-impact initiatives that have generated billions in revenue and reached hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. After years of pursuing growth, impact, and achievement, Brent walked away from the hustle and grind to dedicate his work to helping people rediscover joy through neuroscience, inspiration, meditation, and subconscious training. Today, he speaks, teaches, and coaches around his philosophy of the “Return on Joy,” the idea that intentionally investing in joy can create a compounding return across every area of life.
Leadership Playground Info Session on September 29th
Learn more about Leadership Playground, our interactive cohort for high-potential managers, during our free info session on September 29, 2026. Register here!
Connect with Brent Freeman
Brent’s LinkedIn

Brent’s website

Brent’s book, The Alchemy of Joy

Brent’s meditations
Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!
Leadership Playground online membership community

Erin’s website

Erin’s Instagram

Erin’s TikTok

Erin’s LinkedIn

improve it!’s website

improve it!’s Instagram
Connect with Erin Diehl
🌟 Learn more about Workday Playdate: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/podcast-page
🎤 Book Erin to speak: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/keynote-speaker
📚 Workshops & Team Experiences: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/experiential-training
💌 Learn more about Erin: https://www.itserindiehl.com/meet-erin
📱 For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.
Loved this episode?
If this conversation made you think differently about work, leadership, or building joyful teams, please follow Workday Playdate on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who could use more play in their workday.
41 min
September 09368: Are We All Having an AI Identity Crisis? With Cassandra Worthy
In this episode of Workday Playdate, Erin talks with Cassandra Worthy—founder and CEO of Change Enthusiasm Global — about the emotional side of AI-driven change, and why “just adapt” isn’t exactly a strategy. As AI reshapes jobs, workflows, teams, and professional identities, Cassandra explains why people are experiencing a very real sense of loss, or what she calls “AI grief.”
Cassandra breaks down her Change Enthusiasm® framework (Signal, Opportunity, Choice) and explains how emotional awareness can help us navigate uncertainty with more agency. Whether you’re navigating AI at work, leading a team through transformation, or trying to make your next move with more clarity, this episode will help you start treating emotions as data.
Inside This Episode:
AI Grief Is Real: Discover why AI can trigger feelings of loss, mourning, fear, and identity disruption + why leaders shouldn’t rush people past those emotions.

Emotion Is Data, Not Weakness: Cassandra explains why difficult emotions are signals that can help us understand what’s happening beneath the surface during organizational change.

Build Your Signal Literacy: Learn how to recognize the physical and emotional cues that show up during change, and why getting better at reading those signals can help you move through uncertainty faster.

Turn Signals Into Opportunities: Cassandra walks through the second step of Change Enthusiasm® and shows how curiosity can help you move from “What is happening to me?” to “What are my options?”

Choose Your Response: Explore the final step (Choice) and how making an intentional decision can turn anxiety into anticipation and help you navigate change with greater agency.
What to Do Now:
Name the Signal: The next time you feel anxious, frustrated, angry, or discouraged at work, pause before trying to fix it. Ask: What is this emotion trying to tell me?

Get Curious About the Opportunity: Once you’ve identified the signal, brainstorm your options. What could you do, learn, ask, change, or try?

Make a Choice: Pick the response that feels most aligned with your values—not necessarily the one that eliminates all uncertainty. And if you’re stuck, talk it through with a trusted mentor, colleague, or friend.
About the Guest
Cassandra Worthy is the founder and CEO of Change Enthusiasm Global, a consulting and leadership development firm helping organizations build the emotional resilience to thrive through change. A former Fortune 100 innovation leader and chemical engineer, Cassandra spent years leading global teams through major corporate transformations before turning her own experiences with change into the Change Enthusiasm® framework. She is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, and trusted advisor to CEOs, HR leaders, and culture-shapers at organizations including Google, Microsoft, Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, and Kellogg. Through her work, she helps people move from simply going through change to growing through it.
Leadership Playground Free Info Session on 9/29
Looking for a scalable, engaging way to support your HiPo talent with leadership development? Join improve it! for a 25-minute information session to explore Leadership Playground, our experiential leadership development membership designed to extend learning beyond one-time workshops.
Discover how organizations are using live, improv-based learning to help HiPo managers strengthen communication, adaptability, confidence, and other essential skills. We'll walk through how the program works, what's included, and how it can complement your existing leadership development strategy.
Register here!
Connect with Cassandra Worthy
Cassandra’s LinkedIn

Cassandra’s personal website

Cassandra’s company website, Change Enthusiasm Global
Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!
Leadership Playground online membership community

Erin’s website

Erin’s Instagram

Erin’s TikTok

Erin’s LinkedIn

improve it!’s website

improve it!’s Instagram
Connect with Erin Diehl
🌟 Learn more about Workday Playdate: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/podcast-page
🎤 Book Erin to speak: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/keynote-speaker
📚 Workshops & Team Experiences: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/experiential-training
💌 Learn more about Erin: https://www.itserindiehl.com/meet-erin
📱 For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.
Loved this episode?
If this conversation made you think differently about work, leadership, or building joyful teams, please follow Workday Playdate on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who could use more play in their workday.
34 min
September 02367: Five Curiosity Practices that Took My Leadership to the Next Level
In this episode of Workday Playdate, Erin shares the story of how one question—“How do people actually do this?”—helped her go from improv workshop facilitator with zero keynote bookings to speaking on stages at Amazon, LinkedIn, and major association conferences. Along the way, she discovered that curiosity is a career-building practice.
Erin breaks down the five curiosity practices she used to build her speaking career from scratch and how she applied those same practices to help team member Cristy von create her first keynote. Whether you’re navigating a career pivot, developing your leadership skills, or wondering what your next move should be, this episode will help you stop waiting for the perfect plan and start pulling the thread.
Inside This Episode:
Curiosity Is a Practice, Not a Personality Trait: Discover why curiosity can be intentionally practiced and how asking better questions can fuel career growth, leadership, adaptability, and collaboration.

Study People Who’ve Already Done It: Erin shares why researching people who are already where you want to go can reveal the path, shortcuts, and questions you didn’t know to ask.

Learn Before You Hire: Before investing in a coach, mentor, or course, Erin explains how free content can help you do your homework, find the right fit, and make smarter career development decisions.

Borrow the Room Before You Build Your Own: From free speaking gigs to the “rubber chicken circuit,” Erin shares why small stages can become your curiosity lab for practicing, gathering feedback, and refining your skills.

Get Curious About the Community: You don’t have to figure everything out alone. Learn how finding the right professional community can expand your perspective, strengthen your network, and help you understand where you fit.
What to Do Now:
Name Your Next Move: Identify one career move, skill, opportunity, or goal you want to pursue next. Don’t worry about the whole plan yet. Start with the question: How do people actually do this?

Find the People Who Know: Identify two or three people who have already done the thing you want to do. Study their paths, content, and choices—and ask what you can learn from them.

Learn Before You Invest: If you’re considering a coach, mentor, course, or program, start with their free content. Get curious before you get out your credit card.
Your Freebie
The Confident Leader’s Toolkit: Want to show up as a more confident, authentic leader without feeling like you have to perform? Download this practical 4-step guide to craft an intentional professional persona, so you can lead with clarity, confidence, and presence without burning yourself out.
Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!
Leadership Playground online membership community

Erin’s website

Erin’s Instagram

Erin’s TikTok

Erin’s LinkedIn

improve it!’s website

improve it!’s Instagram
Connect with Erin Diehl
🌟 Learn more about Workday Playdate: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/podcast-page
🎤 Book Erin to speak: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/keynote-speaker
📚 Workshops & Team Experiences: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/experiential-training
💌 Learn more about Erin: https://www.itserindiehl.com/meet-erin
📱 For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.
Loved this episode?
If this conversation made you think differently about work, leadership, or building joyful teams, please follow Workday Playdate on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who could use more play in their workday.
24 min
August 26366: The Real Reason High Performers Burn Out Fast with Yana Carstens
In this episode of Workday Playdate, Erin sits down with Yana Carstens, an integrative executive coach, to explore why high performers often burn out faster than anyone else—and why the solution isn’t always to simply lighten the workload. Yana makes the case that burnout is often a reflection of our internal operating system: the beliefs, identities, and patterns that shape how we respond to pressure, achievement, and success.
If you've ever wondered why you can know you need better boundaries and still struggle to set them, this conversation is for you. Yana shares how somatic awareness, mindset recalibration, honest communication, and authentic connection can help you recognize the patterns driving exhaustion and create a more sustainable way to succeed.
Inside This Episode:
Burnout Is More Than a Workload Problem: Yana explains why burnout isn't always about having too much on your plate. For high performers, the deeper issue can be the internal wiring that tells us we need to be responsible, perfect, useful, or constantly achieving in order to feel worthy.

Your Body Is Giving You Data: Physical signals like neck tension, shoulder aches, and anxiety aren't just inconveniences to push through. Yana shares how these signals can act like a dashboard, revealing when we're operating from old patterns or beliefs that no longer serve us.

Your Strengths Can Become Your Blind Spots: Traits like responsibility, high standards, and a strong drive to help others can be powerful strengths—but they can also become “anchors” that keep us stuck. Yana explores how hyper-responsibility, perfectionism, and people-pleasing can quietly fuel burnout.

Recalibrate Your Internal Operating System: Instead of automatically reacting to stress, Yana offers practical ways to pause, notice what's happening internally, and question the beliefs driving our responses. She shares tools for shifting from autopilot into more intentional, values-aligned action.

Use Your Values as Your Wind: Yana uses the metaphor of a boat, anchors, and wind to explain the difference between disempowering beliefs that hold us back and core values that help us move forward. The goal isn't to eliminate stress, but to make sure we're navigating it in a direction that actually matters to us.
What to Do Now:
Notice Your Signals: The next time you feel tension, anxiety, irritation, or exhaustion, pause and ask what your body might be trying to tell you before you automatically push through.

Question the Belief: When you notice yourself overworking, people-pleasing, or striving for perfection, ask: “What am I believing I have to do or prove right now?”

Find Your North Star: Identify one core value that matters most to you right now, then consider whether your current habits, boundaries, and decisions are moving you toward it—or keeping you anchored.
About the Guest
Yana Carstens is an integrative executive coach who helps high-performing leaders understand the internal patterns that influence how they work, lead, and respond to stress. Through a combination of mindset work, somatic awareness, and practical coaching tools, Yana helps people recalibrate their internal operating systems so they can pursue meaningful success without sacrificing their well-being. Her work centers on helping leaders build greater self-awareness, healthier boundaries, authentic connection, and a more sustainable relationship with achievement.
Your Freebie
Networking doesn’t have to feel performative, transactional, or awkward. Download our Networking Without Feeling Weird toolkit for practical strategies to help you build genuine connections while staying confident, clear, and grounded.
Whether you’re walking into a conference, meeting new colleagues, or simply trying to expand your circle, this two-part resource will help you network in a way that actually feels like you.
Connect with Yana Carstens
Yana’s LinkedIn

Yana’s website
Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!
Leadership Playground online membership community

Erin’s website

Erin’s Instagram

Erin’s TikTok

Erin’s LinkedIn

improve it!’s website

improve it!’s Instagram
Connect with Erin Diehl
🌟 Learn more about Workday Playdate: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/podcast-page
🎤 Book Erin to speak: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/keynote-speaker
📚 Workshops & Team Experiences: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/experiential-training
💌 Learn more about Erin: https://www.itserindiehl.com/meet-erin
📱 For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.
Loved this episode?
If this conversation made you think differently about work, leadership, or building joyful teams, please follow Workday Playdate on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who could use more play in their workday.
48 min
August 19365: 74% of Working Moms Are Running on Empty. Now What?
“There is enough for everyone. Enough time, enough opportunity, enough resources, enough love, enough patience.” -Tiffany Sauder
In this episode of Workday Playdate, Erin sits down with Tiffany Sauder, founder of Life of And, for a conversation about working motherhood, burnout, ambition, and building a life that actually feels sustainable. Tiffany challenges the idea that women simply need to “do more” or “manage their time better” and offers a more practical approach: build better systems, make intentional tradeoffs, and stop treating every season like it has to hold everything.
Through her Life of And framework, Tiffany helps ambitious women navigate the tension between meaningful work and meaningful presence. From her “not now” list to her “size of your yes” method, she shares tools for making decisions that honor both your current season and the life you’re still building.
Inside This Episode:
Abundance Over Scarcity: Tiffany shares why her guiding word is abundance and how believing there is enough time, opportunity, energy, and love can change the way we approach career and family.

Burnout Is a Systems Problem: Discover why burnout isn’t simply about being busy. Tiffany explains how putting in significant effort without feeling meaningful progress can leave high-achieving women depleted—and what to change instead.

Every Yes Has a Hidden Cost: A “yes” doesn’t just take the time listed on the calendar. Learn how to account for prep, cleanup, transitions, logistics, and emotional energy before committing.

From “I Can’t” to “I Don’t Know How Yet”: Tiffany explains how changing the language we use with ourselves can shift us from limitation and guilt toward ownership, creativity, and problem-solving.

The Power of the “Not Now” List: You don’t have to abandon a dream just because it doesn’t fit your current season. Tiffany shares how parking an idea for later can create peace without closing the door on what matters to you.
What to Do Now:
Calculate the Real Size of One Yes: Pick one commitment on your calendar and calculate its true time cost, including preparation, transitions, cleanup, and emotional energy. Then ask: Is this still a yes?

Create a “Not Now” List: Identify one goal, dream, or interest you’ve been feeling guilty about not pursuing. Instead of abandoning it, give yourself permission to say, “Not now.” Decide when you’ll revisit it.

Find One Micro-Solution: Look at one recurring source of stress and ask: Can I outsource it, automate it, eliminate it, or approach it differently? You don’t have to redesign your whole life to create more margin.
About the Guest
Tiffany Sauder is the founder of Life of And, a platform dedicated to helping ambitious women navigate the intersection of career, leadership, motherhood, and caregiving without sacrificing their well-being. A wife and mom of four daughters, Tiffany brings both professional experience and lived experience to conversations about working motherhood.
Through the Life of And Podcast, Life of And Program, and live events, Tiffany gives women practical frameworks for making confident choices in demanding seasons of life. Her work helps ambitious women move beyond guilt and perfectionism and build lives where career and family, leadership and presence, and achievement and well-being can coexist.
Your Freebie
Networking doesn’t have to feel performative, transactional, or awkward. Download our Networking Without Feeling Weird toolkit for practical strategies to help you build genuine connections while staying confident, clear, and grounded.
Whether you’re walking into a conference, meeting new colleagues, or simply trying to expand your circle, this two-part resource will help you network in a way that actually feels like you.
Connect with Tiffany Sauder
Tiffany’s LinkedIn

The Life of And program
Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!
Leadership Playground online membership community

Erin’s website

Erin’s Instagram

Erin’s TikTok

Erin’s LinkedIn

improve it!’s website

improve it!’s Instagram
Connect with Erin Diehl
🌟 Learn more about Workday Playdate: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/podcast-page
🎤 Book Erin to speak: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/keynote-speaker
📚 Workshops & Team Experiences: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/experiential-training
💌 Learn more about Erin: https://www.itserindiehl.com/meet-erin
📱 For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.
Loved this episode?
If this conversation made you think differently about work, leadership, or building joyful teams, please follow Workday Playdate on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who could use more play in their workday.
47 min
August 12364: How One Conversation Changed My Career
"Your next opportunity probably won't come from your resume. It'll come from a conversation." – Erin Diehl
In this solo episode of Workday Playdate, Erin shares the true story of how one cold email, one coffee meeting, and one unexpected dinner led to improve it!'s very first paying client. If networking has ever felt awkward, transactional, or downright exhausting, this episode will completely reframe the way you build professional relationships.
Erin introduces her BREW IT networking framework: a simple, human-centered approach to creating meaningful connections that lead to real career opportunities. Whether you're job searching, growing your business, or simply looking to expand your professional network, you'll walk away with practical strategies to network authentically without feeling fake.
Inside This Episode:
Networking Starts With Showing Up: Erin shares how attending one Chicago networking event introduced her to a connection that would ultimately change the trajectory of her career.

The Coffee Matters More Than the Pitch: Career-changing relationships are built through curiosity, generosity, and genuine conversation.

The BREW IT Framework for Authentic Networking: Learn Erin's five-step process for building meaningful professional relationships: Be There, Reach Out, Earn the Relationship, Win Them Over with Who You Actually Are, and Invite the Next Scene.

Relationships Before Opportunities: Discover practical ways to build trust long before you ask for anything—including thoughtful follow-up, sharing someone's work, making introductions, and staying connected over time.

One Conversation Can Change Everything: The episode ends with a simple challenge designed to help you stop overthinking networking and start creating momentum with one meaningful conversation in the next 48 hours.
What to Do Now:
Start With One Person: Think of someone you'd genuinely love to learn from and send them a short, specific email asking for 20 minutes to connect.

Lead With Curiosity: During your conversation, focus on asking thoughtful questions instead of trying to impress. The best networking conversations feel like exchanges, not interviews.

Keep the Story Going: Follow up within 48 hours with a meaningful thank-you, a helpful resource, or an introduction. And don't forget to invite the next conversation! Real relationships are built one scene at a time.
Your Freebie
Networking doesn’t have to feel performative, transactional, or awkward. Download our Networking Without Feeling Weird toolkit for practical strategies to help you build genuine connections while staying confident, clear, and grounded.
Whether you’re walking into a conference, meeting new colleagues, or simply trying to expand your circle, this two-part resource will help you network in a way that actually feels like you.
Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!
Leadership Playground online membership community

Erin’s website

Erin’s Instagram

Erin’s TikTok

Erin’s LinkedIn

improve it!’s website

improve it!’s Instagram
Connect with Erin Diehl
🌟 Learn more about Workday Playdate: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/podcast-page
🎤 Book Erin to speak: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/keynote-speaker
📚 Workshops & Team Experiences: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/experiential-training
💌 Learn more about Erin: https://www.itserindiehl.com/meet-erin
📱 For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.
Loved this episode?
If this conversation made you think differently about work, leadership, or building joyful teams, please follow Workday Playdate on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who could use more play in their workday.
27 min
August 05363: Why Your Nervous System Runs the Meeting with Lani Gonzales
"The goal isn't to collect more gold stars. It's to create a life that's achingly beautiful." – Lani Gonzales
In this episode of Workday Playdate, Erin sits down with Lani Gonzales to explore why so many high achievers end up feeling exhausted, disconnected, and stuck chasing the next accomplishment. After leaving a successful legal career and walking more than 500 miles on the Camino de Santiago, Lani discovered that sustainable success is fueled by play.
If you've ever felt like your productivity comes at the expense of your wellbeing, this conversation is for you. Lani shares practical mindset shifts and nervous system strategies to help leaders, entrepreneurs, and ambitious professionals build confidence without burnout and create work that's deeply aligned with who they are.
Inside This Episode:
Movement Is More Than Exercise: Lani explains why movement, play, and curiosity are the fuel that makes sustainable performance possible.

High Achievement Isn't the Same as Fulfillment: Many ambitious professionals unknowingly operate from a place of proving their worth. Lani shares how shifting your internal motivation can create more confidence, creativity, and joy.

The Camino Teaches You How to Let Go: Walking 500 miles across Spain became more than a physical challenge—it became a lesson in releasing emotional baggage, embracing presence, and trusting the next step.

Confidence Starts in the Body: From nervous system regulation to simple physical practices, Lani explains how our bodies shape our ability to think clearly, show up authentically, and navigate high-pressure moments.

Stop Treating Life Like a Test: What if challenges weren't exams to pass, but opportunities to explore? Lani shares how curiosity creates resilience, reduces overthinking, and makes growth feel a whole lot lighter.
What to Do Now:
Find Your Fuel: Ask yourself whether you're chasing external validation or creating from genuine joy and purpose.

Move Before You Push: Incorporate small moments of movement, play, or breathwork into your workday to regulate your nervous system before tackling difficult tasks.

Focus on the Next Step: Instead of trying to solve the entire journey, bring your attention back to what's right in front of you and let momentum build from there.
About the Guest
Lani Gonzales is a speaker, coach, hypnotherapist, and former attorney who helps high achievers redefine success through movement, mindset, and nervous system regulation. Drawing from her own transformational journey—including walking the Camino de Santiago—Lani empowers leaders and entrepreneurs to replace burnout with curiosity, confidence, and sustainable joy. Through her coaching, speaking, and creative work, she helps people build lives and businesses that honor both their ambition and their humanity.
Your Freebie
Networking doesn’t have to feel performative, transactional, or awkward. Download our Networking Without Feeling Weird toolkit for practical strategies to help you build genuine connections while staying confident, clear, and grounded.
Whether you’re walking into a conference, meeting new colleagues, or simply trying to expand your circle, this two-part resource will help you network in a way that actually feels like you.
Connect with Lani Gonzales
Lani’s LinkedIn

Lani’s website

Lani’s Instagram
Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!
Leadership Playground online membership community

Erin’s website

Erin’s Instagram

Erin’s TikTok

Erin’s LinkedIn

improve it!’s website

improve it!’s Instagram
Connect with Erin Diehl
🌟 Learn more about Workday Playdate: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/podcast-page
🎤 Book Erin to speak: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/keynote-speaker
📚 Workshops & Team Experiences: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/experiential-training
💌 Learn more about Erin: https://www.itserindiehl.com/meet-erin
📱 For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.
Loved this episode?
If this conversation made you think differently about work, leadership, or building joyful teams, please follow Workday Playdate on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who could use more play in their workday.
47 min
July 29362: ADA at Work: What to Say in the Moment with Rachel Shaw
“The real failure of inclusion happens in the moments when someone hesitates.” – Rachel Shaw
In this episode of Workday Playdate, Erin sits down with Rachel Shaw to explore what it really takes to build inclusive workplaces that work in real time. In a world full of well-intentioned initiatives, Rachel makes the case that true inclusion is ultimately a human skill.
If you've ever wondered how leaders can create cultures where people feel genuinely seen, supported, and empowered, this conversation is for you. Rachel shares how organizations can move beyond compliance and build cultures rooted in empathy, accountability, and belonging.
Inside This Episode:
Inclusion Is a Live Skill, Not Just a Policy: Rachel explains why real inclusion happens in the everyday moments when people are under pressure, uncertain, or vulnerable. Policies matter, but the way leaders respond in real time matters even more.

Thinking Quickly on Your Feet Is a Leadership Advantage: Difficult conversations rarely come with a script. Rachel shares why curiosity, presence, and adaptability help leaders respond with confidence instead of defensiveness when challenges arise.

Empathy Changes the Outcome of Hard Conversations: Pausing, getting curious, and leading with empathy can transform tense situations into opportunities for trust and connection. Rachel discusses how a leader's response can either strengthen relationships or unintentionally damage them.

HR Has More Influence Than It Thinks: HR professionals are far more than administrators. Rachel explores how HR leaders can shape culture, drive accountability, and ensure organizational values show up in everyday decisions and behaviors.

Inclusive Culture Is Built Through Daily Choices: Belonging isn't created through one initiative or annual training. Rachel explains how mentorship, communication, benefits, and consistent leadership behaviors create cultures where people truly feel they matter.
What to Do Now:
Pause Before Responding: When faced with uncertainty or discomfort, give yourself a moment before reacting. Thoughtful responses build trust; rushed reactions often erode it.

Audit Your Daily Leadership Habits: Consider how your everyday behaviors—from meetings to feedback conversations—either reinforce or undermine belonging on your team.

Use Your Influence: Whether you're in HR, leadership, or an individual contributor role, identify one way you can advocate for a more inclusive and human-centered workplace this week.
About the Guest
Rachel Shaw is a speaker, consultant, and workplace inclusion strategist who helps organizations build cultures that are both legally sound and deeply human. With decades of experience advising leaders and HR professionals, Rachel specializes in disability inclusion, workplace culture, employee relations, and leadership effectiveness. She is the author of The Disabled Workforce: What the ADA Never Anticipated, where she explores the evolving realities of today's workforce and challenges organizations to rethink how they support employees. Through her work, Rachel empowers leaders to create workplaces grounded in empathy, accountability, and belonging.
Your Freebie
You’re calm, capable, and composed… until things take an unexpected turn (as they tend to do)! This is exactly why we created The Clarity Under Pressure Toolkit: What to Do in the First 5 Minutes of Any Uncertain Situation.
It’s your go-to guide for staying grounded when it matters most. Download it here.
Connect with Rachel Shaw
Rachel’s LinkedIn

Rachel’s media kit

Rachel’s HR website

Rachel’s personal website

Rachel’s book: The Disabled Workforce: What the ADA Never Anticipated
Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!
Leadership Playground online membership community

Erin’s website

Erin’s Instagram

Erin’s TikTok

Erin’s LinkedIn

improve it!’s website

improve it!’s Instagram
Connect with Erin Diehl
🌟 Learn more about Workday Playdate: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/podcast-page
🎤 Book Erin to speak: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/keynote-speaker
📚 Workshops & Team Experiences: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/experiential-training
💌 Learn more about Erin: https://www.itserindiehl.com/meet-erin
📱 For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.
Loved this episode?
If this conversation made you think differently about work, leadership, or building joyful teams, please follow Workday Playdate on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who could use more play in their workday.
41 min

About Workday Playdate

From the publisher's feed

TOP 1% GLOBAL PODCAST for People-First Leaders Formerly the "improve it! Podcast." #9 in BEST 100 SELF LEADERSHIP PODCASTS. I’m Erin Diehl, keynote speaker, business improv edutainer, and founder of…