Unbehaved

Shirin Eskandani got the call most opera singers spend their entire careers hoping for: the Metropolitan Opera wanted her to perform in Carmen. Her dream role, her dream opera house, the contract she'd imagined since she was eight years old. The moment she hung up the phone, the only thought in her mind was: "You're not good enough for this. You don't deserve this." That moment cracked open everyt...

We spend more time at work than we do with our families. So why do we tolerate things from our employers — broken trust, withholding information, being told everything's fine when it clearly isn't — that we'd never tolerate from a partner? In this episode of Unbehaved, Meghan French Dunbar sits down with bestselling author Minda Harts, bestselling author ofTalk to Me Nice and The Memo, to ask why...

Lindsay Scola on late diagnoses, medical gaslighting, and never taking "you're fine" for an answer Have you ever known something was wrong — in your body, your gut, your bones — and had someone else tell you that it's just fine? Lindsay Scola knew something was wrong at 16. She didn't get answers until she was 35. In the nearly two decades between those two moments, she worked at the highest level...

Deepa Purushothaman spent two decades at Deloitte, made partner in her early 30s, and was — by every external measure — successful. She was also living out of a suitcase three cities a week, constantly pushing herself, and beginning to get sick. It took 14 doctors before one of them finally asked her: "Is your job killing you?" This episode is what she's done with that question. We get into: What...

Stacey Lindsay, author of Being 40, on the Made-up Timelines and Harmful Stories We Carry and How to Finally Let It Rip Award-winning journalist Stacey Lindsay has spent her career asking the real questions most others shy away from—and in this conversation, she turned that same lens on the judgements about how life is supposed to go based on our age.  We talk about the invisible measuring stick w...

USA Today best-selling author Amina AlTai on Painful versus Purposeful Ambition You've been told that ambition is the answer—that if you just work harder, push further, and want it badly enough, you'll be happy. You'll be successful. But what if the ambition you've been chasing is actually eroding your quality of life? Making you sick, overly stressed, exhausted, and unhappy.  In the first episode...

If you’re constantly overextended, guilty when you rest, or exhausted by the pace of life — this is for you. In this Better Than This (now Unbehaved) Season 1 finale, Meghan French Dunbar reveals The Anti-Overwhelm Playbook: four simple, research-backed practices to help you de-stress, set boundaries, and flourish within imperfect systems. Drawing on stories from real women and thought leaders, Me...

How to tap into your inner wisdom to transform how you lead Intuition often gets dismissed as “soft” or “woo”—especially for women in business. Yet, it’s one of the skills some of the world’s most successful business leaders lean on most.  In this episode, Meghan reframes intuition as a bona fide leadership super power: a rapid-cognition system that helps you spot risk, improve decisions, and choo...

Are women better leaders than men? Many recent studies suggest the answer is yes. But in this episode, Meghan French Dunbar challenges that idea — and explains why exceptional leadership isn’t determined by gender identity. Meghan digs into the history, the research, and a surprising perspective that explores what really sets the most effective leaders apart. She shares stories of toxic bosses, ca...

Are you stuck in a “should” career — one that looks good on paper but leaves you unfulfilled? Or maybe you’ve even settled for work that makes you miserable but feel like it’s too late to change?    In this episode of Better Than This (now Unbehaved), Meghan French Dunbar shares stories and insights on how to build a career you actually love. You’ll hear real-life stories, including how Alison Bai...

Authentic leadership is proven to be better for your relationships, your team, your bottom line, and your well-being. Yet, leading authentically is easier said than done at work—especially for working women and other marginalized leaders who often feel pressure to change themselves to belong in a system built by and for others. So how do you tap into your authentic leadership anyway?  In this epis...

Perfectionism often masquerades as ambition, but it's frequently rooted in fear. In this episode of Better Than This (now Unbehaved), host Meghan French Dunbar delves into the journey of overcoming perfectionism and embracing failure. Through a personal story of public failure, research-backed insights, and three practical tools, you'll discover how to: Shift your mindset around risk and failure B...

How to Break the Cycle of Guilt and Rediscover What Makes You Come Alive In this episode of Better Than This (nowUnbehaved), Meghan French Dunbar explores why so many working women have become disconnected from their joy—and why reclaiming it is a beautiful act of resistance that can transform your work and life. Grounded in research from the Harvard Flourishing Program and positive psychology pio...

Why the traditional playbook for success is broken—and how to rewrite it so you can truly flourish.  Most of us were handed a definition of success—climb higher, achieve more, never stop—without questioning if it actually leads to a good life. In this episode of Better Than This (now Unbehaved), Meghan French Dunbar shares her personal story of achievement addiction, burnout, and rebuilding her li...

In this episode, host Meghan French Dunbar breaks down the hidden systemic barriers holding women back at work—from patriarchal norms to toxic leadership ideals. You’ll go behind the curtain of the modern workplace to uncover why stress, burnout, and depression are hitting women harder and begin exploring what we can do to fix it. It’s time to stop blaming ourselves and start calling out what most...

Stress. Overwhelm. Burnout. We’re told they’re all personal — a time management issue, a self-care problem, a “just push through” situation. But what if the problem isn’t you? What if it’s the system? In this kickoff episode of Better Than This (now Unbehaved), author, entrepreneur, and workplace instigator Meghan French Dunbar unpacks why the modern world of work feels so broken and explores how...