Re-Imagine Success Podcast

Numbing : Boundary or Blackout? | Re-Imagine Success with Nabeela Elsayed Have you ever caught yourself saying "I don't have time for this," "I'm indifferent, you decide," or "I can't talk about this right now" — and called it a boundary? What if it wasn't? In this episode, I'm talking about one of the most misunderstood symptoms of burnout — numbness. It's dangerous precisely because it disguises...

What if your hardest moments weren’t setbacks — but preparation? In this powerful conversation, Nabeela Elsayed sits down with Bobby Herrera, author of The Gift of Struggle, to unpack how adversity shapes purpose, leadership, and character. Bobby shares the unforgettable story of a stranger’s kindness on a basketball bus that changed the trajectory of his life — and how that single act led him to...

Chester Elton: From Workaholic to Gratitude Guru "I want my husband back. This isn't who you are." Sometimes the most important career advice comes from the people who love us most. In this powerful conversation, Nabeela sits down with Chester Elton—bestselling author, executive coach, and the "Apostle of Appreciation"—to explore his journey from competitive workaholic to gratitude expert, and why...

Welcome to Re-Imagine Success: Why This Movement Matters Now "My trauma response was not fight or flight—it was work or flight." In this inaugural episode, Nabeela introduces the Re-Imagine Success movement and shares her deeply personal journey from C-suite executive to recovering workaholic. Recorded from a hotel room in Atlanta, this raw, unfiltered conversation sets the stage for a podcast tha...

Parental Burnout Explored: A Psychiatrist's Take on the Crisis Is parenting work? Should it be compensated? And how do you know if you've crossed from normal exhaustion into dangerous burnout territory? In this essential conversation, Nabeela sits down with Dr. Samya Mushtaq—psychiatrist, mental health advocate, and author of The Middle Path—for an uncensored discussion about the parental burnout...

Parenting: The Sacred Act We're Failing to Support "How do you do it all?" It's the question every working parent gets asked, and it's really a white flag—a quiet cry for help from parents drowning under impossible expectations. In this deeply personal episode, Nabeela unpacks the alarming findings from the US Surgeon General's "Parents Under Pressure" report and shares her own journey through two...

Whose Voice is Steering Your Life? What if some of the voices shaping your biggest decisions aren't even real? In this eye-opening episode, Nabeela shares three powerful client stories about "phantom voices"—the imaginary opinions that keep us stuck, second-guessing, and living for approval that doesn't even exist. Learn the simple 2-question framework that separates whispers from wisdom and helps...

Burnout or Just Exhaustion? How to Tell the Difference "Burnout is what happens when you try to avoid being human for too long." - Michael Gungor In this critical episode, Nabeela explores one of the most important questions facing modern professionals: How do you know if you're just tired or dealing with something more serious? Sparked by a conversation with a client experiencing heavy fogginess...

“Executive presence isn’t about commanding a room in someone else’s style — it’s about owning your presence and letting it work for you.” The Lesson I Didn’t See Coming in Laguna Beach Early in my career I found myself in Laguna Beach, California, sitting in a small executive presence training called The Power of Your Presence . I wasn’t even supposed to be there- I was literally there by chance b...

"If the thought of preparing drains you, imagine doing the job every day." -Nabeela Elsayed This is the third article in my Career Transitions and Decisions Series. In the previous articles, we laid the groundwork with two foundational steps: first, zooming out to gain a big-picture overview of your life and career landscape and second, turning inward for a deep dive into introspection so you coul...

Get full access to Re-Imagine Success at reimaginesuccess.substack.com/subscribe

Any type of success that is not sustainable is just a delayed failure. - Nabeela Elsayed This article is part two of a three-part career advice series. If you missed last week’s article, you can find it here. In this week’s article, we are going to focus on step two, which is all about the process of introspection in a career transition or major life decision. Have you ever created a plan for your...

“Fear is the price of admission to a meaningful life. But preparation? That’s your power.” - Nabeela Elsayed This week’s article was inspired by a question I got in our community chat: Noha asked what is by far one of the most common questions I get from most professionals today: Should I stay or should I go? What steps should someone take to prepare for a career transition? How do you manage the...

“You can’t ignore or outrun a wave. You either ride it or it knocks you flat.” -Nabeela Elsayed Back when I worked at IKEA, the founder, Ingvar Kamprad, famously made a bold declaration: “People are not going to buy furniture sitting on the toilet.” He meant it. He didn’t believe people wanted to sit on the toilet and shop for a couch. And because of that belief, for years, he resisted IKEA’s evol...

“We’re told to take care of ourselves, but rewarded for burning out quietly. That’s not a culture of wellbeing. That’s a contradiction we’ve normalized.”— Nabeela Elsayed When I started at IKEA, I didn’t know how to log off. I had come from a traditional American corporate culture where success was synonymous with self-sacrifice. First one in. Last one out. Inbox always open. Vacation days unused....

“You can’t reclaim what you won’t admit you’ve lost.”— Nabeela Elsayed I’ve travelled to 48 countries and counting. Travel has always been more than leisure for me; it’s a spiritual act. A reminder that we are, in fact, travelers through this temporary life. From South America to the South Pacific and everything in between, travelling has always been my way of stirring the soul and awakening the s...

“Leadership today isn’t about balance, it’s about staying upright in motion. It’s about knowing when to pivot, when to pause, and when to push forward.” — Nabeela Elsayed If you're a leader in the workplace today, chances are, you're tired. Not just tired in the “I need more sleep” way, but tired in the deeper, more complicated way, like your nervous system has been in a tug-of-war for too long. L...

"You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." — C.S. Lewis A Sacred Phrase, A Deeper Ache I recently coached a client who used a phrase that reached deeper than the normal language of burnout. Like me, she’s Lebanese, and her parents immigrated to Canada to offer her and her siblings a better future. And like many of us who carry the hopes of a generation on our backs, she did everythi...

“The ground will keep shifting. What matters is not how still it stays, but how well we build to move with it.” — Nabeela Elsayed One of the hardest days in my career came when IKEA announced it would be laying off 7,500 people worldwide. I was leading the retail and digital transformation office in Malmö at the time. It was a period of immense pressure, responsibility, and emotion. In an unconven...

“Overworking isn’t just ineffective, it’s altering our brains.” Growing up in the 90s, there was this famous commercial that aired on repeat, it was part of a campaign by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. If you’re an ‘80s or ‘90s baby, you probably have the tagline stuck in your head. This is drugs… this is your brain on drugs… any questions? The scene opens with a pan of hot oil. A voice...

“Some failures sting. Some scar. Some set us free. The work is in knowing which is which.” - Nabeela Elsayed I was recently coaching someone who struggled with communicating upward. They expressed to me that when it came to leading and managing their team, they had confidence, they could connect, they could motivate- but when they were put in a room with someone more senior, they froze. The indivi...

Disclaimer: I must start by stating that nothing I write on these pages will justify this conversation or honour this person’s story. I hope the words do my friends’ experience even a sliver of justice. I recently met a former colleague for coffee. I arrived early, and shortly after, a car pulled up beside me. I kept waiting, not recognizing her in the car next to me. Then my phone buzzed with a t...

"In a world full of noise, witnessing someone’s humanity is a radical act of hope." - Nabeela Elsayed This week was busy, the busy that can stir up my anxiousness, but can be equally exciting. Big weeks filled with meetings, events, speaking engagements, and connecting with many people always leave me buzzing and I’ve learned that whenever I have a full week like this, I need to give myself a day...

“The opposite of patriarchy isn’t matriarchy—it’s partnership.” — Gloria Steinem The Coffee Shop Confession That Echoes Everywhere “I look at my girls and they are flourishing, but my son is struggling.” These were the words of a dear friend I recently caught up with. She has four adult children, three girls and one boy, and coffee in hand, she quietly confessed the weight on her heart—her son, in...

“A mentor talks with you. A sponsor talks about you.”— Sylvia Ann Hewlett (Note: The name of the individual in this story has been changed to protect their privacy, but their story is very real) The Power of a Well-Timed Door Opening I met Mary a few years ago. She was ambitious, compassionate, and excellent at following through, but above all, she was deeply human. Her wisdom was direct and well-...