Five Questions You Need in Your Burnout Toolkit
In my TEDx Talk I recounted a time when I was so exhausted, a co-worker asked me how I was doing and it made me cry. Her question, or maybe just the timing of the ask, forced me to admit the quiet truth I was denying. After an extended sprint of burning the proverbial candle […]
How to Ask for What You Need
You’re the one everyone calls in a crisis. The one who holds it together when everything falls apart. The one with the answers, the steady voice, the capable hands. You’re the problem solver, the fixer, the advice giver, and the first one to show up for everyone else when the chips are down. But when […]
Why Growth Feels Like Grief
Growth is a tricky thing. One on hand, you’re doing all of this work to unlearn old patterns and behaviors, ditch “good girl” conditioning, and finally move from surviving to thriving. You’ve read books by Brene Brown, listen to all the podcasts, booked your therapy appoints, and even hired a coach like me. The proof […]
How to Claim Your Authentic Authority
You have the credentials and the experience. The expertise flows out of you because you’ve spent years learning, researching, and deepening what you know. But when it’s time to step into that expertise, you hedge. You doubt yourself. You soften the edges of what you actually know. Maybe you’re in an environment that doesn’t honor […]
The Cost of Being “Good”
Be nice. Be quiet. Don’t make waves. Keep the peace. If those phrases sound familiar, you didn’t stumble into people-pleasing. You were trained for it. And the training started early — in classrooms, at dinner tables, in the way adults responded when you were agreeable versus when you were honest. “Good girl” conditioning teaches you […]
The Curious Case of Black Women and Venture Capital
Black women are one of the fastest-growing groups of entrepreneurs in the United States. And yet, when it comes to raising the capital needed to sustain and scale those businesses? The numbers tell a very different story. By 2020, fewer than 100 Black female entrepreneurs had raised more than $1 million in venture funding. For […]
The Questions You’re Avoiding Are the Answers You Need
There’s a question in the back of your mind that you keep pushing away. Maybe it’s about your career. Or your relationship. Or your future. You stay busy enough that you don’t have to answer it. But it’s still there. Why We Avoid Hard Questions We avoid questions when we already know the answer will […]
You Don’t Know How to Receive (and It Shows)
Is this you? ?? Someone offers you a compliment and you deflect. A colleague asks if you need help and you say you’re fine. You give constantly to others, but when it’s time to receive? You freeze. If so, (**pats couch**) come sit. We need to chat. For a high-achiever, receiving probably feels more uncomfortable […]
Why High-Achievers Struggle to Own Their Authority (And What to Do About It)
A client said something in a session recently that I’ve heard countless times before: “I don’t know how to talk about what I’ve accomplished without feeling like I’m bragging.” For context: she’s brilliant. Gets results. Consistently delivers. But when I asked her to walk me through her recent wins, she speed-bumped right over them. “What […]
You Can’t Reward Conformity and Call It Authenticity
For years, companies have been touting how much they value authenticity. It’s been a corporate buzzword for at least a decade (“storytelling” took its place, but that’s another post for another day). Before current events in our political landscape, these organizations were clamoring to have diversity statements on their websites, schedule mandatory inclusion trainings, and […]
When Success Feels Hollow: What Leaders Need to Know
You’ve worked hard to get here. The promotion came through. The title changed. People congratulate you. But when you’re alone with your thoughts, something feels off. You expected to feel proud. Instead, you feel empty. If that’s you, you’re not alone. And you’re not broken. You’ve just discovered something most high-achievers eventually learn: achievement and […]
Leadership Lessons from “The Greatest Night in Pop”
My Gen-X heart could not have been happier watching The Greatest Night in Pop documentary on Netflix! As a kid, I loved cracking open a cassette tape or CD and reading the lyrics and liner notes of the album. I loved shows like Pop Up Video on VH1, where I got to learn all kinds […]