Wired to Work with Jess Chapman

What can a 5,000-year-old approach to health teach us about the way we work today? Modern workplaces are designed for productivity, efficiency and performance. But somewhere along the way, have we forgotten how human beings actually function? In this episode of Wired to Work, host Jess Chapman welcomes Dr. Mona Warner, Ayurvedic Doctor, yoga therapist and founder of Janati Yoga School, to explore...

Why do we keep falling back into habits we know aren’t working for us? In this episode of Wired to Work , Jess Chapman talks with engineer, entrepreneur and manifestation coach Aparna Dubey about the patterns that keep us stuck, from overworking and constant busyness to distraction, multitasking and the belief that productivity equals worth. Aparna explains her approach to manifestation as more th...

In this episode of Wired to Work , Jess Chapman sits down with organizational design and culture change expert Erin Stadler to challenge some of the assumptions we’ve built around workplace culture, growth and change. Because organizations are always changing. People join. People leave. Teams grow. Products evolve. Markets shift. And every one of those changes affects how an organization actually...

What happens when a brilliant employee is working in a system that fights the way their brain works? In this episode of Wired to Work , Jess Chapman sits down with entrepreneur and C-suite leader Remy Meraz for a candid conversation about neurodivergence, ADHD, dyslexia, masking, accountability, and what workplaces can do differently. Remy was diagnosed with ADHD in her 30s and later discovered sh...

Burnout. Thriving. Boundaries. Grief. Menopause. These aren’t side conversations anymore. They’re shaping how people experience work — and what leaders need to understand about the humans inside their organizations. In this special season finale of Wired to Work , Jess Chapman revisits five conversations that challenged assumptions, introduced new ideas, and raised questions that stuck with her lo...

HR is supposed to support everyone else. But who is supporting HR? In this episode of Wired to Work , Jess Chapman sits down with clinical psychologist and Ultimate Resilience co-founder Dr. Jo Burrell to unpack some deeply concerning data about the mental health of HR professionals — and the workplace systems helping drive it. Dr. Burrell’s research found extraordinarily high levels of burnout, a...

What if creating a trauma-informed workplace actually led to higher performance—not lower expectations? Many leaders worry that supporting employees through difficult circumstances means compromising accountability. Angela Crockwell, Executive Director of Thrive, argues the opposite. In this episode of Wired to Work , Jess Chapman sits down with Angela to unpack what trauma-informed leadership rea...

A stressful week is not the same as burnout. Stress usually has an end point. Burnout develops when overwhelm becomes chronic, recovery disappears, and your brain and body no longer have the capacity to keep up with what is being asked of them. In this episode of Wired to Work , Jess Chapman sits down with burnout and resilience coach Cherri Forsyth to explore how burnout develops, what it looks l...

Most organizations invest heavily in workplace wellness and still end up with teams that feel flat, disengaged, and exhausted. The problem may not be the programme. It may be what we're aiming for. In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman sits down with behavioural neuroscientist Dr. Paul Zak to explore what actually helps people and teams thrive—and how leaders can measure it in real t...

Most people are not at their best under pressure. Put a group of highly pressured people together, and unhealthy workplace behaviour can quickly become the norm. In this episode of Wired to Work , Jess Chapman is joined by leadership coach Kate Franklin to explore why workplace relationships become so difficult—and why a challenging boss is not necessarily a bad person. They discuss how stress cha...

Your brain is changing all the time, whether you realize it or not. In this episode of Wired to Work , Jess Chapman breaks down one of the most important concepts in neuroscience: neuroplasticity . From habits and learning to performance and leadership, understanding how your brain forms and strengthens neural pathways can completely change the way you think about personal growth. You’ll learn: Wh...

In this special season finale, Jess Chapman looks back at the five conversations that challenged her thinking the most - and the ideas that every leader, HR professional, and workplace designer should be paying attention to. From the hidden burnout crisis facing HR professionals to what healthcare can teach us about designing better systems, this episode explores the themes that kept resurfacing a...

Healthcare workers are asked to make high-stakes decisions in fast-moving, overloaded systems. But what happens when the systems around them make the work even harder? In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman sits down with Jennifer Woodland, experimental psychologist and Associate Professor at the University of New Brunswick, for a fascinating conversation about healthcare, burnout, cogniti...

Meditation still gets dismissed as “woo-woo” in a lot of workplaces. But the science tells a different story. In this Wired to Work summer repost, Jess is joined by Tina Pomroy and Roz Mugford for a practical conversation about meditation, mindfulness, and why slowing down may be one of the most useful tools we have for modern work. They explore how meditation can support focus, memory, emotional...

Most people aren’t afraid of feedback. They’re afraid of the awkwardness, defensiveness, tension, and fallout that often comes with it. In Part 2 of Jess Chapman’s feedback series, she shares the N.I.C.E.R. framework — a practical, brain-friendly approach for having difficult conversations without triggering defensiveness or damaging relationships. You’ll learn: • Why most feedback conversations f...

Feedback is one of the most important tools a leader has. It’s also one of the most avoided. In this replay episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman explores why feedback conversations feel so difficult, what neuroscience tells us about our reactions to feedback, and how leaders can create conversations that help people grow instead of triggering defensiveness. You’ll learn: • why feedback activates...

Menopause is having a moment. There’s more conversation, more awareness, and more information than ever before. But when it comes to the workplace, many leaders still don’t understand what menopause actually looks like—or how it can affect performance, wellbeing, and day-to-day work. In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman speaks with counselor and researcher Tina Pomroy about the biologica...

Gen Z is entering the workforce with completely different expectations about stress, mental health, flexibility, and what a meaningful life should actually look like. And many workplaces aren’t ready for that shift. In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman sits down with Dr. Ashlee Cunsolo, Provost and Vice-President Academic at Acadia University, for a fascinating conversation about how uni...

In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman speaks with Dr. Jo Burrell, clinical psychologist and co-founder of Ultimate Resilience, about the mental health crisis facing HR professionals and why the people responsible for supporting everyone else at work often have too little support themselves. They discuss why HR has become the emotional shock absorber of the workplace, how the profession ha...

Most leaders know trauma-informed practice matters. What’s harder is knowing what it actually looks like on a Tuesday morning, in a real workplace, with real people. Angela Crockwell has been blazing that trail for years. As Executive Director of Thrive in St. John’s, an organization supporting people navigating exploitation, addiction, homelessness, and complex trauma, she’s built one of the most...

Most organisations pour money into wellbeing programmes and still end up with teams that are flat, disengaged, and just getting through the week. The problem isn't the programme. It's the target. Behavioural neuroscientist Dr. Paul Zak has spent 30 years studying what actually makes people - and teams - thrive. His research shows the brain has a measurable mechanism for the value it gets...

You’ve had the conversation. You were clear. Direct. Professional. …so why didn’t anything change? Because feedback isn’t about what you say. It’s about how the other person experiences it. And most people get that wrong. In Part 2 of this series, Jess Chapman breaks down the structure behind feedback that actually works, introducing the NISA framework. A simple, practical way to: • start conversa...

More than two thirds of people say they want more feedback. Fewer than a third feel they're actually getting it. What's getting in the way? Your brain (and your team's brain!) is wired to read feedback as a social threat. It can shake your sense of status, belonging, fairness, and certainty all at once.  And if you walk in carrying the wrong energy, your body language transmits it b...

Burnout is often treated like an individual problem, but what if the real issue is the system people are working inside? In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess speaks with Cherri Forsyth about what burnout actually looks like, how it builds over time, and why recovery, not just resilience, has to be part of the conversation. They explore the difference between acute stress and chronic burnout, the...

In this episode of Wired to Work , Jess Chapman sits down with strategic HR professional Meghan Morrison to unpack why workplace learning so often fails to create real change, and what it would take to make learning actually stick. They explore why sending someone to a workshop is not the same as helping them grow, why application matters more than attendance, and why learning has to be built into...