Right There With You

What if the answer you’ve been searching for is something you already know? We spend so much of our lives looking outside ourselves for answers. We follow the rules, check the boxes, make the choices that look good on paper, and sometimes ignore the quiet voice inside telling us something different. In this episode of Right There With You , Cass Cooper sits down with Lisa Caruso, founder and Chief...

What if the room you've spent years trying to get into was never the point? The cancellation of the 2026 Grace Hopper Celebration raises bigger questions about access, belonging, and what happens when the institutions we've relied on stop investing in us. But this conversation goes beyond one conference. It's about what happens when we spend so much time proving we belong that we forget to ask whe...

We have never been more connected to our devices, yet so many of us are struggling to feel connected to each other. We scroll, post, comment, network, and build personal brands, all in the name of community. But visibility is not belonging, engagement is not intimacy, and an audience is not the same thing as a community. Community has become another thing to build, brand, measure, and monetize. Bu...

The myth of having it all is keeping women exhausted, overextended, and chasing versions of success they may not even want. Women are expected to excel at work, show up for their families, maintain relationships, and somehow make it all look effortless. That expectation doesn’t create fulfillment. It creates an endless cycle of overcommitment, comparison, and burnout. In this episode of Right Ther...

AI is everywhere. So is the fear surrounding it. From concerns about job loss and layoffs to questions about whether AI can be trusted, leaders and employees are navigating a new kind of workplace uncertainty. But what happens when we stop letting fear, uncertainty, and doubt lead the conversation? In this episode of Right There With You , Cass Cooper sits down with Corey Kirkendoll, President and...

What happens when building a business starts to feel more like performing success than actually building something? Cass sits down with Nomiki Petrolla, product leader, startup founder, and advocate for expanding access to entrepreneurship for women in tech. With more than 15 years of experience in product strategy, design, and startup development, Nomiki brings a candid perspective on what it rea...

You’re Allowed to Rewrite Your Story What if the story you’ve been using to define success was never actually yours? In this conversation, Cass sits down with Miri Rodriguez, global executive, author, and thought leader in AI strategy, storytelling leadership, and ethical innovation, to unpack the narratives that shape how we work, lead, and define our lives. Miri shares how she learned to questio...

What If Your Value Isn’t Measured in Money? What happens when you spend years building a successful career, hit the markers you thought would make you feel accomplished—and then realize you don't actually want your life to be organized around the next title, promotion, or paycheck? In this episode of Right There With You , I'm joined by Jonathan Sims , a senior software engineer and founder of the...

We spend a lot of time trying to fix ourselves when things aren't working: work harder, become more visible, communicate better, prove our value, be more strategic. But sometimes the problem isn't our individual performance. It's the system around us. In this episode of Right There With You , I'm joined by Cassie Clayton , a systems thinker and strategic leader whose career spans technology, analy...

Ambition doesn't have to cost you your health, your family, or your humanity. Full Stop. You can have high standards. You can be deeply ambitious. You can want more. And you can still have boundaries. For too many high-performing people, exhaustion becomes evidence that they're doing enough. We say yes to everything, work longer, carry more, and quietly become the infrastructure holding everything...

What if clarity isn't what you're missing? What if you're waiting for something that can only come from taking action? In a world defined by AI transformation, layoffs, economic uncertainty, career shifts, and organizational disruption, waiting until you have the perfect plan can leave you standing still. But leadership doesn't require certainty. It requires the ability to assess what you know, ma...

Show Notes What if the thing holding you back isn't fear of failure—but the belief that you're not allowed to change? This week, I'm joined by mindset coach, entrepreneur, and host of the Side Hustle of Growth podcast, Christian James ("Your Girl CJ") , for a conversation about building a life that actually fits who you're becoming. We talk about why women are often taught to stay in one lane, how...

This wasn't the episode I planned to record. I sat down ready to teach about work-life rhythm, burnout, and sustainable ambition. Then I got an email saying I didn't get the job I genuinely wanted. Instead of teaching the framework, I decided to live it out loud. In this deeply personal solo episode, I share what it felt like to make it to the final interview, hear "no," and realize I wasn't griev...

What if quiet quitting isn't really about quitting at all? In this episode of Right There With You , Cass sits down with Christine Bongard , CEO and Co-Founder of the Women in Transformation (WIT) Network , to explore why so many high performers are quietly disengaging at work. As layoffs, AI, and constant pressure reshape the workplace, burnout and disengagement are becoming more common—but they'...

What if the problem isn't that you need better boundaries? What if you're exhausted because everyone around you has adapted to your overfunctioning? In this episode of Right There With You , Cass sits down with executive coach and leadership strategist Kelly Nagel to explore why so many high performers become the emotional infrastructure for everyone around them. Together, they unpack the invisibl...

You're Not Broken. You're Burnt Out. You don't need another planner. Another productivity app. Another morning routine. If you've been trying to optimize your way out of burnout, this episode is for you. Cass sits down with burnout educator and Human Design guide Mel McSherry to unpack why so many high achievers mistake exhaustion for success, and why the answer isn't becoming more disciplined. It...

There comes a point where performing for approval becomes more exhausting than simply being yourself. Cass Cooper sits down with filmmaker and creator Aysia Mitchell to explore what happens when you stop optimizing yourself for algorithms, employers, audiences, and strangers—and start creating from a place of honesty instead. Together they unpack the invisible pressure to be more marketable, more...

What happens when the life you worked so hard to build no longer fits the future you want? In this solo episode, Cass shares a realization that took years to fully understand: burnout got her attention, but it wasn't the whole story. Just weeks after buying her first home, accepting a new leadership role, and checking every box she thought success required, the world shut down. What she felt wasn'...

What if the life you're meant to build doesn't look anything like the one you planned? In this episode of Right There With You , Cass sits down with leadership expert, entrepreneur, and founder of It's Not That Serious , Carrie Hunter, for an honest conversation about burnout, reinvention, and why success is rarely a straight line. After spending years building a successful career in technology an...

What if your exhaustion is not a personal failure — but evidence that the pace was never sustainable to begin with? In this episode of Right There With You , Cass Cooper sits down with theologian, storyteller, and community advocate Ciara Jones for an honest conversation about burnout, nervous system exhaustion, identity, and the pressure Black women often feel to survive at impossible speeds. Tog...

Hosted by Cass Cooper What if work-life balance was never actually possible? In the premiere episode of Season 3 of Right There With You , Cass Cooper unpacks the pressure of trying to “balance” life inside systems that reward exhaustion, over-functioning, and constant productivity. This episode explores: why burnout is often a systems issue, not a personal failure the difference between balance a...

A leadership podcast that breaks down burnout, work-life rhythm, and the hidden systems shaping how we work and live. Hosted by Cass Cooper, The Chaos Whisperer™, each episode diagnoses real challenges and gives you the clarity to lead through them.

It’s the end of 2025 and 2026 is “coming in hot,” so Ciarra and Cass take a breath and do what we all say we’re going to do… but rarely actually do: look back at the year with honesty. They unpack the messy mix of grief and growth, the pressure Black women carry to be “perfect,” and how burnout shows up in the body (including Ciarra’s vocal nodules). From hustle identity to community care, they ex...

What if God was never a punisher—and hell was never the point? In this powerful episode of Right There With You , hosts Cass Cooper and Ciarra Jones sit down with public theologians Tamice Spencer-Helms ( Faith Unleavened ) and Brian Recker ( Hell Bent ) to explore how fear, whiteness, and Christian supremacy have shaped American Christianity and the spiritual lives of millions. Together, they unp...

In this episode of Right There With You , Cass and Ciarra tackle the uncomfortable truth: the male gaze is not ministry. From pulpits to platforms, patriarchal theology has long defined what holiness looks like—especially for women and queer folks. Together, they explore how deconstruction, feminism, and faith intersect when the church’s obsession with purity, power, and performance collides with...