EPIC Women Leaders

Whether you’re staying in the cubicle because you want to, or whether you’re in the transition to an entrepreneur, cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset is important for both entrepreneurs and corporate employees. An entrepreneurial mindset is one that takes control of their own destiny and finds how you can be a leader in your own life instead of whatever external circumstances that come in your life. 

However, entrepreneurs can be some of the most passionate and driven people. But this can cause them to also be too obsessive with work and become out of balance which causes stress and burnout. 

Last episode, we spoke with Lydia Lee, founder of Screw the Cubicle on her experience with burnout as a corporate employee. This episode, she shares with us how she experienced burnout a second time. This time, it was during her entrepreneurial journey. Her second burnout happened during her 2nd year of entrepreneurship. 

Join us as Lydia shares the lessons she has learned from going through stress and burnout twice in her career journey.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THIS EPISODE:

• Hustling as an entrepreneur (6:15)
• Scarcity mentality (7:12)
• The difference between corporate and entrepreneurial burnout (7:58)
• Finding your zone of genius (11:50)
• Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone (13:20)
• Managing people is not an easy job (13:37)
• 90-Day Review (15:00)
• Simplifying our processes in business (16:29)
• Not everyone wants to leave the corporate world (18:22)
• Cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset (19:33)
• What is not aligned with your values (20:18)
• Values change over time (20:30)
• Turn our attention to what we can control (22:00)
• Having difficult and confrontational conversations (23:09)
• Importance of having someone in your corner (25:45)
• Working with a coach or mentor (27:00)
• What is your metric of success in your business? (28:50)
• Creating an aligned network of community (29:20)
• You don’t need to look at every transaction as a sale (30:10)
• The importance of questioning things (32:35)
• Don’t isolate your creativity (32:29)

RESOURCES:

• Essentialism 

GUEST BIO

Lydia Lee the Work Reinvention Coach at Screw The Cubicle. Since 2013, she's helped people transition out of their golden corporate handcuffs to building a meaningful business that’s intentionally designed from their strengths, values, and personality.

Currently based in the tropical island of Bali, Lydia’s jam is all about reinventing how we want to work so that we can live the lifestyles we want to have.

CONNECT WITH LYDIA LEE

Screw the Cubicle

Free Training - How To Launch A Business You Love

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CONNECT WITH KATHLEEN FAIR 

Kathleen Fair...

You have the right to have work that inspires and brings you joy. But knowing yourself  and knowing what it is you truly want isn’t something that can be done overnight. 

For many, living on autopilot on someone else’s dream and not knowing what they truly want is a surefire way to burnout. Burnout doesn’t just exhaust your mind and body, but it affects your passion as well. 

Join me as I speak with Lydia Lee, founder of Screw the Cubicle, as she recounts her struggle with burnout not once, but twice. In this episode, Lydia shares her experience with burnout while working in corporate and what steps she took to overcome it. 

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THIS EPISODE:

• Lydia’s burnout experience in corporate (4:41)
• Not taking vacation leaves  (7:06)
• Not caring for your well-being (8:04)
• Taking time off and asking for help (9:00)
• What are the self-imposed pressures you are putting on yourself? (10:00)
• Identity shift (11:00)
• Competition vs collaboration (13:11)
• Burnout vs depression (15:11)
• Knowing the factors that contribute to your unhappiness (16:54)
• You don’t need to share your dreams with everyone (20:30)
• The uncertainty of trying something new (22:00)
• Cultivating a community that lifts you up (22:50)
• Create a supportive community (23:15)
• The art of self-reflection (25:37)
• Creating mini-sabbaticals for yourself (28:20)
• Overcommitting and over scheduling leads to burnout (30:21)
• Fight or flight mode (31:40)
• Self-care, setting boundaries, and taking ownership (33:50)

CONNECT WITH LYDIA LEE

Screw the Cubicle

Free Training - How To Launch A Business You Love

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GUEST BIO

Lydia Lee's the Work Reinvention Coach at Screw The Cubicle. Since 2013, she's helped people transition out of their golden corporate handcuffs to building a meaningful business that’s intentionally designed from their strengths, values, and personality.

Currently based in the tropical island of Bali, Lydia’s jam is all about reinventing how we want to work so that we can live the lifestyles we want to have

CONNECT WITH KATHLEEN FAIR 

Kathleen Fair Global

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COVID has been a blessing in disguise in emphasizing the issue of burnout in the workplace. It has been a good wake-up call and a good push in showing people the importance of self-care and prioritizing mental health to avoid burnout. 

Creating boundaries at work and prioritizing mental health and wellbeing is a combination of the contribution of everyone in the workplace. It’s on the corporation to create the right structure to promote well being, it’s on the leader to make sure that they enforce those policies, and it’s on the individual to set their own strong boundaries. 

In this episode, we speak with Michelle Yu who shares with us her experience with burnout as she aggressively climbed the corporate ladder. After dealing with her burnout experience, she now sees mental health, self-care, rest, and asking for help as important aspects to living a fulfilling life.

Work can be meaningful, fulfilling and enjoyable and doesn’t have to lead to burnout. 

Life is short. So live it with purpose and know that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THIS EPISODE:

• Michelle’s burnout story (2:02)
• Busyness becoming a norm (2:48)
• Being productive vs being busy (3:20)
• Your performance can starts slipping without self-care (4:39)
• The moment of clarity (5:02)
• Listen to your body’s signs (5:25)
• Meditation (5:59)
• It’s okay to cry in the workplace (6:25)
• Having a strong support system (7:08)
• Being conscious of where burnout comes from (8:20)
• Mental health awareness in the workplace (8:48)
• See the giant signs but not following them (9:47)
• Not many employees fully utilise their employee assistance program (10:26)
• Setting your own boundaries (11:00)
• See the different angles of the situation to handle stress (12:52)
• Reframing how we see rest (13:07)
• Therapy is a helpful option (14:02)
• Breathe (15:14)
• You can’t help someone who isn’t ready to be helped (15:56)
• Two types of motivation (16:50)
• Everyone has imposter syndrome (17:51)
• Gain confidence by looking at how far you’ve come (19:27)

RESOURCES:

• Overcoming Burnout and Overwhelm
• Self Care Template
• Mindset: How You Can Fulfill Your Potential

CONNECT WITH MICHELLE YU

www.michellekyu.com 

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CONNECT WITH KATHLEEN FAIR 

Kathleen Fair Global

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GUEST BIO

Michelle Yu is a former HR executive turned Human Capital Consultant and Coach. She's worked for technology and venture capital/private equity firms, start-ups and Fortune 500 companies in Silicon Valley. She transitioned from the corporate world and now coaches ambitious

Juggling the responsibilities of a job and being a new mom may seem impossible. It is no easy feat to be able to find the balance between work and family responsibilities.

In this episode, we chat with Jessica McClain who shares her experiences of having a child and how she kept up with the demands of a newborn while juggling a full-time job. After feeling being pulled in different directions, she decided to quit her job and focus on her family. She could not survive when her job couldn’t provide the flexibility that she needed as a new mother. 

After spending 6 months to focus on her new child and using those 6 months for self-reflection, self-thought, and self-care, she was able to find what she truly wanted in life. Finding and making peace with your purpose as a working mom is essential to truly enjoy life.

Career progression isn’t one single track as we go through life. That progression can take different forms depending on what happens in our own internal world. But one thing that we should remember is that in order to be our best selves in every stage of our career and life, we must prioritize self-care.

Self-care is never selfish. Once we take care of ourselves, we can do a lot of things for others. When we fill our own cup, we can then give freely from the overflow.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THIS EPISODE:

• How do you define success and achievement? (4:30)
• Asking for help (7:48)
• Flexibility of working from home (9:22)
• Asking for what you want (12:19)
• Career progression and pivoting (12:59)
• Taking risks (13:20)
• Doing what’s best for you and your family (13:40)
• Career progression isn’t one track (13:57)
• Feeling trapped by our internal thoughts (14:17)
• Career progression is a zigzag road (15:15)
• Figuring out how you see yourself in the future (15:49)
• Tying ourselves to our jobs and achievements (17:00)
• Self-care is different for each person (18:00)
• Carving time out for yourself (18:23)
• Taking time to connect with team members (19:19)
• Having as much human connection as possible (20:00)
• How employers can support mental health of their employees (20:45)
• Having a strong network (23:59)
• Work is only a small part of who you are (25:15)
• The importance of exercising more (25:40)
• Taking time out for self care (26:16)
• The mom project (27:00)
• Self care is not selfish or lazy (29:55)

RESOURCES:

• The Mom Project

CONNECT WITH JESSICA MCCLAIN

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CONNECT WITH KATHLEEN FAIR 

Kathleen Fair Global

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GUEST BIO

Jessica is the Controller for Brand USA. Before that, Jessica spent 11 years in public accounting as an auditor. Jessica serves on the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Women's Initiatives Executive Committee, the AICPA Foundation Board of Trustees, and the AICPA Student Recruitment Committee. Jessica serves on the Board of Maryland 529. She is a member of the community service sorority Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Jessica has a bachelor's degree from Towson University and a master's degree from George Washington University. Jessica is a CPA, CISA, PMP, and CGFM.

Menopause is one of the most unspoken, and neglected contributors of burnout.

Menopausal women are more prone to depression, anxiety, and stress. This affects their professional and personal lives which results in a poor quality of life.

In this episode, we unpack the ways that women can mitigate the effects menopause, and what women in the C-Suite leadership positions can do to help ensure that they stay healthy. 

Through mindfulness practices and cultivating compassionate self-awareness, women can not only beat menopausal burnout but thrive through it.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THIS EPISODE:

• Menopause is not being talked about (4:35)
• Feeling trapped (8:29)
• Putting others before yourself (11:25)
• Carving your own path (13:30)
• Supporting others through your journey (14:18)
• Reconnecting to your family (15:46)
• Managing stress levels (16:54)
• Giving to ourselves before giving to others (17:00)
• Finding a way for women to thrive in this stage of life (18:29)
• Hormonal changes in menopause (18:57)
• Menopause making women more susceptible to stress (20:27)
• Strong foundations (21:50)
• Looking after our gut (22:50)
• Creating boundaries to manage stress (23:17)
• Learn to say no (24:04)
• Quieting the mind for better sleep (24:28)
• Eat, sleep, exercise to manage stress (25:05)
• Getting yourself out of the situation causing you anxiety and burnout (30:42)
• Finding a support group (31:11)
• Burnout can change us into people that we feel ashamed to be (32:40)
• Planning your exit (33:47)
• What are your values in life? What do you stand for? (33:59)
• Understanding where you want to be (34:55)
• Align your values with your life goals (35:30)
• Discover your strengths (36:29)
• Find your purpose and joy (38:21)
• Being kind to yourself (39:03)

CONNECT WITH Clarissa Kristjansson

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Thriving Through Menopause Podcast

CONNECT WITH KATHLEEN FAIR 

Kathleen Fair Global

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Burnout is still very much stigmatised and seen as not being able to cope. It can be confronting and scary. It is more about finding the courage to remove ourselves from that environment which is not always easy. But once you’ve taken that first step, you become closer to living a more fulfilling life. Life is short and the last thing you want is to be resentful because you did not take a risk. 

In this episode, Mara shares with us how she was living her days just waiting for 5 PM and how she found the courage to follow her passion with the help of her strong support system.

If you are finding your way out of burnout, particularly if you are leaving a job. Remember that at the end of the day, your job does not define who you are. You are worth so much more than a pay check. What’s important is to pursue vocations that align with your soul. 

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THIS EPISODE:

• Living for 5 PM or Fridays (8:45)
• Do your morals align with what you’re doing at your job? (10:03)
• It’s not all about the money (10:30)
• Moral dilemmas (11:03)
• The importance of having a support system (14:19)
• Having external support that can see you in a way that those closest to you might not (16:37)
• Doing something that aligns with your morals and values (18:33)
• You can’t see what life is beyond your own jaded walls (19:09)
• Being in the wild world of entrepreneurship (19:45)
• You are not in this life alone (20:55)
• Building a community (23:45)
• Finding your way out of burnout (27:31)
• Give yourself grace (28:15)
• Losing sight of ourselves during stress and anxiety (28:50)

RESOURCES:

• The Work Ethic Podcast by John Dengler (15:46)

CONNECT WITH MARA LATORRE

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CONNECT WITH KATHLEEN FAIR 

Kathleen Fair Global

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Burnout is one of the rock bottom consequences of our overly busy lives. 

Physician burnout not only harms the individual but harms their patients as well. Just like any other professional who experiences burnout, their personal relationships are usually the first to be affected. The negative effects of burnout spill over every aspect of your life - your personal relationship, your home, health, and work. The burnout of an individual affects not just themselves but everyone around them.

In this episode, Dr. Charmaine discusses the three-part strategy that Stanford has adopted to address burnout, namely: creating a culture of wellness, establishing efficiency of practice, and promoting personal resilience. The Stanford Model looks at burnout as not just the physician or individual’s problem, but the whole organization’s problem.

While there is no one-size-fits-all solution for burnout, listening without judgment is a great place to start.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THIS EPISODE:

• Transformation of mindset and physical self (08:27)
• Everyone’s journey into the abyss of burnout is unique (9:43)
• Being physically fit as the glue that holds yourself together (11:12)
• Moral injury (12:10)
• The importance of having a release (12:50)
• Your work is usually the last place that gets affected during burnout (13:48)
• What are the constructs of burnout? (16:01)
• The Stanford Model of Burnout (16:14)
• The efficiency of practice (16:45)
• The institutional wellness or the culture of wellness of the organization (18:17)
• The culture is set by the leadership (19:33)
• Everyone can have a bad day and how we can help improve their day (19:47)
• Personal resilience (20:17)
• The more passionate you are the greater level of burnout (24:24)
• Let’s not be judgemental (26:44)
• How leaders can look out for their team (30:57)

CONNECT WITH CHARMAINE GREGORY

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Fearless Freedom with Dr. G podcast

CONNECT WITH KATHLEEN FAIR 

Kathleen Fair Global

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One-third of the average person’s life is spent working and building a career. Work is a major part of our lives. In fact, so many of us make work the primary aspect of our lives and it’s safe to say that our job makes a huge impact on the quality of our lives.

In this episode, we unpack how to blaze your new path and build a lifestyle that you love. Monique shares her tips on how to work more effectively with your mind and make progress on things that matter the most.

As we spend most of our adult life working, we all have the right to work and live with joy. Your work should be something that makes you bigger and stronger and should be a source of fulfilment; you have a role in achieving that.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THIS EPISODE:

• Major symptoms of burnout (05:57)
• The importance of mindfulness practices (13:56)
• Blazing your new path (15:32)
• Naming burnout and keeping yourself replenished (18:29)
• Normalizing struggle and stress (20:35)
• Selective vulnerability (21:14)
• Making it okay for people to express their challenges (22:43)
• Having open and empathic conversations (23:27)
• How to support people to get to the place of safety when they’re in the midst of burnout (24:06)
• Taking personal responsibility (24:55)
• Embracing your role as a part of a society (25:44)
• Shame around burnout in the work culture (27:27)
• Recognizing the signals of burnout (31:00)
• Having an internal dashboard (31:46)
• Tips to refuel and replenish (32:36)
• Taking ownership of your career (34:55)

Click Here to download your Sustainable Career Self-Assessment 

CONNECT WITH MONIQUE VALCOUR

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CONNECT WITH KATHLEEN FAIR 

Kathleen Fair Global

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Burnout sometimes happens to the people who love their jobs so passionately that they lose sight of everything else. Nurses and healthcare professionals are some of the professionals who fit this description. 

It is innate for healthcare professionals and nurses to care for other people, sometimes putting the health, safety, and wellness of their patients before their own. When nurses are given support to be healthy, they are able to perform better and give patient-care at the highest level. 

In this episode, Tracy Churchill shares how leaders in the healthcare profession can have a healthy work environment - physically, mentally, and emotionally. 

Through the Homebound Huddle Practice - an end-of-day routine for teams at work, you can create an inviting and healthier work environment and increase your resilience.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THIS EPISODE:

• Self-care tip: Always have your next holiday booked (3:26)
• Burnout doesn’t just happen to those who don’t like their jobs (4:25)
• Who are most susceptible to burnout? (4:49)
• The one quality of doctors and nurses that cause them to be hard on themselves  (5:18)
• Burnout is usually associated with weaknesses (6:04)
• How to find resilience when you feel you have none (11:13)
• Who can you talk with to help you through burnout? (15:47)
• Prioritizing self-care and making your self-care plan attainable (16:49)
• Life is a marathon and not a sprint (18:53)
• Self-care tips and practices for nurses and healthcare professionals (20:24)
• The Homebound Huddle Practice (22:59)
• Friendships at work are an essential factor to preventing burnout (22:53)

The day-to-day choices you make determine whether you maintain vitality and optimal health or develop unhealthy habits.

Positive change does not happen overnight. 

The older we get, the more difficult it is to break our habits, and the key is to acknowledge that change takes time and is a long-term commitment.

In this episode, Cathy Carr shares her insights on the everyday changes we can make towards a happier, healthier body that is functioning optimally to improve our lives. 

These simple changes can create a huge impact in our health and happiness overall. 

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THIS EPISODE:

• Taking the leap towards change (8:03)
• Getting over the feeling of being trapped (8:33)
• Tips to make sure you never go back to a place of burnout (9:59)
• Importance of good lifestyle choices (11:36)
• Learn to say no (16:38)
• Learn to love yourself (17:30)
• Where to find self-love (18:14)
• How to know when to ask for help (19:36)
• Nutrition and the generation (27:10)

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome by James Wilson

CONNECT WITH CATHY CARR

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Email Cathy at [email protected]

Place of Chi

Place of Chi: Facebook Page

CONNECT WITH KATHLEEN FAIR 

Kathleen Fair Global

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