Right There With You

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...

Divorce doesn’t just cost money—it costs peace, time, and sometimes, your sense of self. In this solo episode, Cass shares how she spent three years and $60,000 leaving her marriage—and why she would pay it again. Through data, lived experience, and quiet truth-telling, she unpacks what divorce taught her about boundaries, burnout, and the real price of peace. ✨ Sacred Descent Prompt: Have you ev...

In this punchy, needed conversation, Cass and Ciarra name what’s happening to families when SNAP benefits are paused or cut: systemic policy violence . We reframe how we talk about “violence” in the context of food access, connect the dots between shutdown economics and hungry kids, and call out the gap between faith-in-words and care-in-action. We also offer practical ways to show up right now—mu...

Weddings, work, and the “soft life.” Cass and Ciarra unpack why your partner may be the most consequential career decision you’ll ever make—and how to choose love that amplifies, not extracts. They dig into emotional labor in cis-hetero dynamics, what’s different in many queer partnerships, and the realities of going from solo to building a business with your person. Then they redefine success bey...

Cass and Ciarra sit down with an HR professional to unpack what HR really does — and what it doesn’t. They explore how to navigate toxic culture, when to go to HR, and how to advocate for yourself without losing your peace. This episode digs into the myths of HR, the reality of workplace power, and the importance of humanizing leadership. From FMLA and ADA to conflict resolution and emotional boun...

Welcome to Episode Two. Cass and Ciarra unpack the tension between Brené Brown’s vulnerability and Audre Lorde’s survival. They explore how empathy culture so often misses the mark for Black women and what real well-being at work looks like when safety isn’t guaranteed. 🌿 Find Cass & Ciarra Online ✨ Instagram: @RightThereWithYouPod ✨ Patreon: patreon.com/thecommunitygarden ✨ Cass: iamcassc...

Cass and Ciarra open Season Two by tackling burnout, corporate culture, and what it means for Black women to thrive at work. From soft skills as strategy to AI literacy and career pivots as superpowers, this episode blends healing 🌱 and strategy—reminding us that joy and authenticity are resistance. ✨ Instagram: @RightThereWithYouPod ✨ Patreon: patreon.com/thecommunitygarden ✨ Cass: iamcasscoo...

This season, we’re centering Black women and work — corporate work, creative work, emotional work, and the sacred act of finding rhythm in the middle of it all. 🌿 Cass and Ciarra dive into the realities of Black women thriving in systems not built for us , unpacking the weight of burnout, rising layoffs, and the illusion of DEI progress. Together, they explore how to navigate career, identity, an...

Grief, Growth & the Sacred Detour Like most things in life, we started this episode headed in one direction… and then life, in all its realness, rerouted us. This was supposed to be part one of a convo on heteronormativity (don’t worry—we still owe y’all that part two). But grief had other plans. The kind of grief that shows up uninvited and remakes you from the inside out. The kind that asks...

This week, Cass and Ciarra sit down for an unfiltered conversation on heteronormativity , gender identity , and what it means to build intimacy and relationships outside of the boxes we were handed. From first crushes to unlearning shame, they explore how societal expectations around sexuality , gender performance , and “normal” love stories often leave people disconnected from themselves and each...

This one’s for the ones holding it all together… and quietly falling apart. In this powerful episode of Right There With You , Cass and Ciarra dig into the real story behind burnout—how it's not just about being tired, but about being overextended in systems that were never meant for us. Drawing from Cass’s keynote on intersectional burnout and women’s mental health, they unpack the emotional, cul...

Hey beautiful humans ✨ We’ve been holding this one close, recording in May, and now it’s time to share it with you. This week on Right There With You , we’re joined by our soul friend and truth-teller Lyndsey Hoffman for an episode we’re calling “Rewriting the Narrative.” Together, we talk about the stories we’ve inherited—about gender, faith, identity, silence, and survival—and what happens when...

We’re getting our hands in the dirt this week—literally and spiritually. Our newest episode of Right There With You is called: “What’s Blooming, What’s Dying: Garden Lessons for Life, Spirit & Sacred Cycles.” In this one, Ciarra (your wise auntie in the garden) and Cass (budding dirt experimenter with many questions 😂) talk about how gardening mirrors our own journeys: 🌱 Why blooming doesn’t...

🎙️ Perfect Praise: Black Girl Church Recovery & Spiritual Reclamation is live now! This episode is about the sacred, messy, sometimes painful process of reclaiming your spirit outside of church walls. We get real about shame, queerness, belonging, and what it means to build a spiritual life rooted in truth—not tradition. 📝 For our paid Patreon members (saplings, seedlings, and gardeners alike...

Episode Two is live! 🎙️✨ This one’s tender, bold, and rooted in truth. In this heart-to-heart, we (Cass & Ciarra) dig into the fertile, messy, and magical ground of self-identity , relationships , and what it means to be a Black woman navigating a world shaped by misogynoir and constant expectation. 🖤 We talk about: 🌬️ The pressure to perform (especially in self-employment) 💔 The grief that...

In this first episode, we invite you into the heart of our friendship and the vision behind this series. We talk about what it means to build something from love and transformation—especially as two Black women navigating healing, growth, and the layers of showing up as our whole selves. 🎙️ This is where we begin: raw, honest, and rooted. 🌿 We hope this episode makes you feel seen. Less alone. Mo...