Lots to Unpack There

Send us Fan Mail If you could wake up tomorrow with four new skill sets that instantly made your day-to-day life easier, what would you choose and why? We start there and end up somewhere surprisingly personal: how competence, comfort, and confidence shape the decisions we make as busy women balancing work, family, and everything in between. Along the way we debate the dream lineup, from mechanic...

Send us Fan Mail A long gap between recordings can look like silence from the outside, but from the inside it often looks like errands, work fires, and a calendar with zero breathing room. We’re back to catch up, and the catch-up quickly turns into something bigger: how do you live inside a season where you’re always choosing what to be behind on, and how do you do it without drowning in guilt? On...

Send us Fan Mail AI is everywhere right now, but the hardest part isn’t learning new tools. It’s deciding what you actually want them for, what you never want them to touch, and how to stay clear eyed when the incentives behind the tech don’t match your values. We start with a very modern question: what happens when you ask your own AI assistant to grade how well you use AI? From there we get into...

Send us Fan Mail Jess and Lisa reflect on Season One, exploring the themes, growth, and insights gathered through 20 episodes of genuine conversation. • Time management, bravery, parenting, confidence, productivity, and authenticity emerged as key topics • Started the podcast in a period of heaviness, now feeling stronger and more supported in carrying life's burdens • Discussed how vision bo...

Send us Fan Mail Jess and Lisa explore the changing nature of social connections and unpack their contrasting approaches to building relationships. • Beginning with a discussion about the decline of casual social gatherings like potlucks • Reflecting on how the pandemic accelerated our disconnection from casual adult socializing • Examining how parents now prioritize child-centered activities over...

Send us Fan Mail We celebrate a major professional milestone - Jess receives the Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential from the International Coaching Federation, representing 500 hours of coaching practice (and a whole bunch of other things). This achievement marks a significant step in professional development, moving from Associate Certified Coach (ACC) to the widely recognized "go...

Send us Fan Mail Music creates powerful emotional connections and serves as a unique memory trigger, sometimes functioning as a sixth sense for those who experience it as a full-body phenomenon. • Music can transport us back to specific memories and moments in our lives • For some people, music is physically overwhelming and makes multitasking impossible • Using music strategically to alter moods...

Send us Fan Mail Jess and Lisa unpack the phenomenon of professional loneliness, particularly how increasing responsibility and leadership roles can lead to fewer safe spaces for vulnerability and authentic connection. • Professional loneliness manifests differently than social loneliness • Leaders often lack peers who understand their unique challenges • Creating space for emotions at work is vit...

Send us Fan Mail Jess and Lisa explore the disorienting experience of losing track of time and unpack the complex interplay between confidence, uncertainty, and knowing what you truly want. • Lisa shares about losing an entire Tuesday after her daily routines were disrupted from being laid off • Jess recounts a frustrating Girl Scout meeting mishap when leaders moved locations without informing pa...

Send us Fan Mail Jess and Lisa explore life's big questions about identity, personal growth, and whether our younger selves would be proud of who we've become. This thoughtful conversation weaves through personal turning points and the wisdom that comes from seeing life as a series of chapters. • Reflecting on how our 14-year-old selves would view our adult lives • Finding peace with lif...

Send us Fan Mail Jess and Lisa confront the psychology behind feeling indebted to employers who provide remote work accommodations, questioning whether workplace flexibility should come with the burden of overperformance. • Judgment versus curiosity: how these mindsets are mutually exclusive and impact our perspectives • The concept of remote work exemptions and the psychology of feeling indebted...

Send us Fan Mail We discuss strategies for surviving beach vacations with pale children, including the "reverse beach day" approach of going to the beach after 3pm when UV rays are less intense. We share our upcoming childcare swap plans and navigate the anxiety and excitement that comes with watching each other's children. • The "reverse beach day" strategy: doing indoor...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever found yourself drawn to something that seems utterly unproductive yet feels essential to your wellbeing? That's exactly what we explore in this heartfelt conversation that begins with home projects but quickly delves into the deeper spaces of what truly nourishes our souls. Lisa kicks things off sharing her triumph of finally renovating her mailbox after months...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever felt simultaneously overwhelmed with work yet creatively restless? That bizarre contradiction sits at the heart of this week's conversation as Jess unpacks her experience of being caught in a sprint toward professional goals while feeling the creative itch that comes from a backlog of unprocessed insights. We dive into the fascinating concept of mental libraries...

Send us Fan Mail Jess and Lisa explore the emotional complexity of ending coaching relationships and how setting firm boundaries enables us to become the people we want to be in both personal and professional contexts. • Jess shares the bittersweet experience of a coaching client ending their relationship after achieving their goals • Coaching creates intimate spaces where clients can share vulner...

Send us Fan Mail Jess and Lisa explore the emotional rollercoaster of major life transitions, focusing on Lisa's recent layoff experience and her struggle between constant action and creating space for strategic thinking. • Lisa describes feeling like a "passenger" in her own emotional journey after being laid off • The pull between taking immediate action and allowing space for cla...

Send us Fan Mail Jess and Lisa dive deep into the mysterious ways our professional identities shape our personal interactions, revealing surprising insights about hidden assumptions and unexplored potential. Jess shares her puzzling tendency to apologize when canceling subscriptions or requesting refunds—despite not considering herself a people-pleaser in other contexts. This "subscription gu...

Send us Fan Mail Navigating the complex emotional terrain of sharing layoff news with professional connections reveals stark differences in how people respond based on relationship closeness. • Close colleagues often react with validating support and even anger on your behalf • Acquaintances typically offer polite sympathy but little more, which can trigger insecurity  • Most people's muted r...

Send us Fan Mail When a door closes, what if it's not just a setback but an opportunity for liberation? This week, Lisa shares her raw, unfiltered response to being laid off—and it's not what you might expect. Rather than devastation, she describes feeling "relief bordering on giddiness" as constraints and frustrations suddenly lifted from her professional life. After 18 years...

Send us Fan Mail Jess and Lisa dive into a profound discussion about the concept of belonging and how it relates to our sense of self and our place in various communities. • Sharing the ups and downs of family life including the inevitable sharing of germs • Exploring the relationship between productivity and waste, suggesting productivity increases when waste decreases • Challenging traditional v...

Send us Fan Mail Thursday is the best day of the week. At least according to Jess, who had her perspective permanently shifted by a high school biology teacher's grocery store metaphor 25 years ago. But why do certain random moments stick with us so powerfully? How do offhand comments from adults shape children's entire worldviews? This episode dives deep into how our perspectives form a...

Send us Fan Mail What You’ll Hear:   Bravery in the Everyday – How courage isn’t just for big leaps but also for the small, uncomfortable moments we push through.  Owning Your Story – The power of reflecting on where you’ve been and how it shapes where you’re going.  The Ripple Effect of Validation – Why being seen and heard is one of the greatest gifts we can give—and receive.  The Impact of Ment...

Send us Fan Mail What You’ll Hear:   The Power of Self-Perception – How what we say about ourselves influences how others see us—and how we see ourselves.  Breaking the Burnout Cycle – Why pushing through exhaustion leads to the “capability trap” and what to do instead.  Nature’s Reset Button – How a simple walk in the sun can shift motivation and mindset.  Owning Your Narrative – The surprising i...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we explore what it really means to show up authentically in both personal and professional life. From navigating resilience in the face of frustration to redefining what it means to be supportive in relationships, this conversation is a deep dive into self-awareness, values, and growth. What You’ll Hear: 🔹 Resilience in real time – How discomfort and struggle can...

Send us Fan Mail Life has a way of throwing curveballs, and in this episode, Jess and Lisa get real about the stressors piling up in their worlds—from illness and unpredictable weather to the pressures of work, family, and everything in between. With humor and honesty, they unpack the emotional weight of their responsibilities and explore how stress manifests in their lives. What You’ll Hear in Th...