SystemsCheck™: The Human Operating System for Ambition & Burnout

There's a version of burnout that nobody talks about — the kind that happens when you're already managing a body that doesn't follow the standard schedule. Destiny Davis, licensed professional counselor and certified rehabilitation counselor, built her entire practice around the people navigating chronic illness alongside high-performing careers. In this conversation, we talk about crip time, valu...

What happens when "I can handle it" becomes the reason you're burning out? In this episode of SystemsCheck , Naina talks with Brigid Carney, LPC—first responder therapist, former health insurance executive, and PhD candidate in first responder mental health—about the hidden costs of the mission-first mindset. Together, they explore why firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and other high perf...

There's a version of burnout that hides inside competence. As a licensed clinical social worker and former tech startup insider, I developed the SYSTEMS Framework™ — a 7-part burnout prevention model built from lived experience and clinical practice. This episode breaks down every component and how to actually implement it in your daily life. Instagram: @Peakworks_Counseling_Center Website: peakwo...

If you've ever looked up at the end of a workday and wondered what you actually accomplished — this episode is for you. Dr. Mickey Fitch-Collins, human skills facilitator at Learnit and former professional bass fisherman turned leadership expert, joins Systems Check to talk about why the middle layer of most organizations is quietly breaking — and what actually fixes it. Mickey hosts the Learnit L...

Charity O'Reilly is a trauma therapist, practice owner, and author who specializes in complex PTSD. But what makes her the right guest for this show isn't just her clinical credentials — it's that she burned out badly, rebuilt on her own terms, and now helps other high performers stop recreating the same cycles they thought they'd escaped. We're talking about the version of burnout nobody talks ab...

What does it really cost to build and maintain the systems that keep public health infrastructure running—and what does that reveal about sustainable performance? In this episode, Nischal Rana, an integrations engineer for the State of Connecticut, breaks down burnout in DevOps culture. We explore the go-go grind mentality that gets normalized from day one, why optimizing for your best days is a f...

Elizabeth Morrison — licensed counselor and neuro inclusive systems designer — breaks down why high-performing tech professionals burn out silently. We get into the structural conditions tech environments accidentally engineer against their own people, what functional depletion looks like before anyone quits, and the one thing any leader can do this week to start building a system that actually ho...

Selling high-stakes SaaS isn’t just about numbers—it’s about people, habits, and mindset. Mark Steinbach shares lessons from early sales missteps, key signals in complex deals, and mental routines that keep top performers sustainable. Discover how to navigate the pressures of high-stakes software sales without burning out and maintain peak performance in every deal.

High-pressure tech environments push high performers into constant urgency—and burnout. In this episode, Kishan Kunver shares how to break the burnout cycle, apply systems thinking to your personal performance, and implement practical strategies for sustainable productivity. Learn how to shift from reactive work to intentional, focused results and take control of your energy and time. Kishan Kunve...

In this episode, Naina sits down with Sarah LaFontaine, LMHC, to explore the deeper psychological roots of high achievement—especially when success is driven by unresolved trauma rather than true alignment. Sarah LaFontaine, LMHC, is a speaker, therapist, and CEO working at the intersection of mental health, performance, and modern relationships. She is a speaker with MindfulHQ, a therapist at Ris...

In this opening episode of Systems Check , we explore why burnout isn’t a mindset problem—and what’s actually happening in your nervous system when chronic stress takes over. We’ll break down the realities high performers in tech and other demanding careers face, including emotional resilience, communication challenges, boundaries, anxiety, depression, and the pressure to keep functioning no matte...