Bossed Up

Job searching in the current “white collar recession” can be truly daunting. Today, I’m joined by Dr. Kyle Elliott, a career coach and mental health expert who helps people “own their fabulousness” and elevate their careers. We cover some of our favorite tactics for focusing on what you can control during this tumultuous time so you can propel yourself into the next job opportunity without losing...

What can your workplace do to celebrate holidays like Women’s History Month the “right” way? Whether you’re proud of how your organization shows support for marginalized groups in the workplace or feel like it could be doing more, my conversation with DEI educator and Ampersand Workspace founder Veronique Porter is just as (if not more) relevant today as when it first aired in May of 2023.  Veroni...

How can you reclaim your power in a job that’s just “good enough”? It turns out The Perfect Job isn’t nearly as common as the LinkedIn posts would have us believe. Most of us spend our working hours in a job that’s okay but far from perfect. The good news is that you can thrive in a just-okay career if you embrace the art of “leading yourself.”  In this episode, I sit down with Elizabeth Lotardo t...

Feel like you’re the only one keeping your friendships going? Recently, I received a letter from a listener about an extremely relatable issue: how to build or rebuild stronger friendships when it seems to be increasingly difficult to do so. You’ve probably experienced some shifts in friend frequency and intensity throughout your adult years. Making plans and finding the right people to share plat...

How do you get what you need from the people in charge? It’s not just people managers who need to be good at influencing conversations; anyone who interacts with a supervisor or even a more dominant personality benefits from learning how to manage up. That’s what I’m covering today with Melody Wilding, the author of a new book, “Managing Up: How to Get What You Need From the People in Charge.” The...

You’ve heard of paid family leave—but what about paid prenatal leave?  Today’s episode highlights good news for women, workers, and families in the Empire State. As of January 1, 2025, New York enacted a first-of-its-kind new benefit that provides 20 hours of paid prenatal leave benefits to all pregnant private-sector workers. Learn more about this groundbreaking new law and what it could mean for...

What do you know about matrescence? Most people will agree that everything changes with parenthood, and that’s what this term covers: the process of becoming a mother. Yet, despite shared private understanding and a large body of recent research on all the physiological and mental effects, many policies and medical processes continue to ignore what mothers have always known. Lucy Jones is a journa...

Today’s episode marks my return from maternity leave, and a lot has happened in the world since I was last behind the mic! I’m kicking off my return with a recap of the past few months and sharing my future vision for the Bossed Up podcast. Tune in to hear my thoughts on election 2024,  transitioning from one child to two, and how the many hats I wear will impact the conversations we cover here in...

How can positive psychology help curb burnout? We’re a bunch of overachievers here in the Bossed Up community, and burnout is a pretty common thread between us. Burnout is painful, frustrating, and—as my guest on this episode explains—more avoidable than we might think if we’re willing to work on “working happier.” Stella Grizont was named the world’s leading happiness expert by TIME Magazine. She...

When did you first experience imposter syndrome? So many people resonate with feeling like frauds who sweet-talked their way into their positions and could be found out, socially ostracized, and fired at any moment.  Imposter syndrome or impostorism is often seen as a women’s issue, and I am always quick to stress this isn’t the case—it’s a human issue. A recent report provides some new numbers th...

Why is it so hard to remember that we deserve to be heard? Staying silent in our professional lives can feel like the safe choice, but it can have unintended consequences on our overall career trajectory.  In this episode, Elaine Lin Hering shares what her research, experience in mediation and conflict management, and new book "Unlearning Silence" have to say about why so many of us—especially wom...

We need to talk about the impact of the childcare crisis on the workforce! Some people may wonder why this topic matters beyond its impact on families of young children. The truth is, this issue has wide-reaching ramifications for the nation’s economy as a whole, and that deserves our attention whether we have children or not. In this episode, I share what the research and statistics reveal about...

How much do you know about menopause? Though it’s as natural as puberty and affects almost everyone with a uterus, this life stage has long been a taboo subject in polite society. In recent years, though, the conversation has gotten a lot louder.  Dr. Jen Gunter has been a leader in this conversation as an obstetrician and gynecologist with more than three decades of experience. Dr. Jen is the aut...

What would change if you decentered your career from your identity? Decentering your work from your identity might seem a counterintuitive topic for a podcast about career development, but burnout and disillusionment are running rampant these days, so it’s not too surprising this concept is getting a lot of airtime.  Our work should be important and provide us with purpose, but it shouldn’t become...

How can you support the young adult in your life as they embark on the first steps of their career? Gen Z is coming of age in a strange new world, and that can make it tricky to figure out how to help them. My guest on this episode, Beth Hendler-Grunt, founded Next Great Step to help ease this transition. Using approaches grounded in psychology and her own background in sales, Beth and her team su...

How do you deal with a mistake or criticism at work? If you find yourself starting to spiral into anxiety, overthinking everything you’ve ever done that might have caused the current situation, you’re far from alone. We’re all human, and, unfortunately, that means when we screw up or receive less than glowing feedback at work, we have a tendency to take it personally.  In this episode, I explore h...

Do you struggle with imposter syndrome, limiting beliefs, or self-sabotage? How can you rewire your subconscious to start seeing actual progress on your goals?  Thais Gibson is a PhD-holding counselor, researcher, and the founder of the Personal Development School. She has answers to why so many of us find that our resolutions prove ineffective and our goals remain unmet despite our best efforts....

Where do you draw the line between work and play when it comes to office friendships? It’s hard to make friends as adults, so it’s no wonder we get excited when we discover a coworker we genuinely click with.  Lots of research supports the benefits of workplace friendships. These relationships are key to job success, and employees with work friends are more likely to get engaged and innovate, be m...

How do you ensure you get what you need when you’re called to work in the nonprofit sector? Working for a nonprofit differs in many ways from the corporate world, but there’s no reason your passion and your dream career trajectory can’t go hand in hand. In this episode, I share my conversation with Jenny Mitchell, the chief visionary officer of Chavender, an organization that coaches mid-level to...

How do you motivate yourself to start your job search? There are a lot of Bossed Up episodes about the job search process, but they all assume that you’ve already gotten started—and that can be the hardest part! When your current job no longer fulfills you, the first step is always to turn your analysis paralysis into forward momentum. In this episode, I share some tips to spark that motivation an...

How do you create a practical plan for taking a career break? We talk a lot on this podcast about high achievers, burnout, and work/life balance because we’re driven professionals striving to live our most fulfilling lives while also leveling up our careers. Chances are, the thought of taking a lengthy break from work has crossed your mind, but you might have been as skeptical as I was until I spo...

Caregivers: when’s the last time you didn’t feel stressed out? In August, the U.S. Surgeon General released an advisory, titled “Parents Under Pressure,” that identified parental mental health as an urgent public health issue. Nearly half of parent participants in the surveys confirm that “their stress is completely overwhelming.”  The wellbeing of these adults is worrisome on its own, and researc...

How can managers navigate the ever-changing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging landscape? While most people grasp the overall intention of DEIB—fair and equitable treatment for all workers—the specifics are nuanced and easily misunderstood, and they can be difficult to implement, especially in the face of recent pushback. Alida Miranda-Wolff is a DEIB practitioner, author, and podcast hos...

How will the various abortion bans across the U.S. affect HR policies?  When Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, federal protections on abortion ceased, and states were suddenly free to make independent decisions about this essential healthcare issue. The new laws range from full allowance to complete bans and criminal charges for those who circumvent them. So how are employers and HR teams naviga...

Men comprise over 90% of the CEOs in the U.S.—so how do we help them become allies in the vital pursuit of workplace equality? Rather than dismissing the defensiveness that sometimes arises in men who believe promoting more women to power means taking theirs away, Wendy Wallbridge uses her platform to change the narrative. She teaches tech companies how to create cultures of belonging and strategi...