We Are Women Unapologetically

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why am I doing more work without a promotion?” Or maybe you have wondered: “When did all of this become my job?” “Why did my responsibilities change but my title stayed the same?” “How do I know if this is career growth or quiet overload?” “What do I do when I am doing more work without more pay?” That is where role drift often begins. In this episode of We Are Women...

What truth are you avoiding, and what is it costing you? In this encore episode of We Are Women, Unapologetically , Jessica Cumming brings back a powerful conversation for anyone asking: How do I know when something no longer fits? How do I know when it is time to leave a job? Why do I feel confused when I already know what I need to do? How do I know if a friendship is draining me? What is the co...

In this 50th episode of We Are Women, Unapologetically , I’m reflecting on what change has taught me about clarity, capacity, leadership, burnout, discomfort, and starting over. This is not a highlight reel. It is an honest conversation about what happens when something in your life has changed, but you are still trying to carry everything the old way. Maybe you have been asking yourself why you f...

Summer can change the rhythm of work fast. PTO stacks up, vacations overlap, kids are out of school, approvals take longer, and suddenly every request starts to feel urgent. But every request does not deserve the same level of urgency. In this episode of We Are Women, Unapologetically, Jessica Cumming breaks down how to lead through the summer season without letting urgency run the work. This is a...

In this episode of  We Are Women Unapologetically , Jessica Cumming sits down with Mary Wilcox Smith, speaker, author, entrepreneur, and parent coach, for an honest conversation about intergenerational trauma, parenting, perfectionism, resilience, and healing. Mary shares her journey from building businesses across three continents to raising four daughters, navigating one child’s serious medical...

In this episode of We Are Women, Unapologetically, Jessica Cumming sits down with Dana Sherwin, healthcare consultant, speaker, and stem cell transplant survivor, for a powerful conversation about patient advocacy, healthcare communication, and learning how to take an active role in your own care. Dana shares her journey from healthcare leadership to navigating a blood cancer disorder, preparing f...

Reorgs don’t just impact teams. They impact the managers trying to hold everything together. In Part 4 of this leadership mini-series, Jessica Cumming dives into the emotional and operational reality managers face after organizational change. The pressure to keep morale up, maintain productivity, answer impossible questions, and absorb the fallout without falling apart yourself. This episode explo...

The announcement is over. The org chart is updated. But this is the phase leaders almost never get coached on. Thirty days after a reorg is when the real operational problems start showing up. Priorities get blurry. Decision-making slows down. Meetings multiply. Teams hesitate. And underneath all of it is one question nobody wants to say out loud:“Okay… now what?”In Part 3 of this 4-part leadershi...

Announcement week isn’t the whole reorg. It’s the spike. This is where everything intensifies. Questions increase. Rumors spread. Work either stalls or explodes into activity that looks productive but isn’t. And your team is looking to you for direction… while you’re still waiting for answers yourself. This is the moment most leaders get wrong. They either freeze and wait. Or they overwork and cre...

Something shifts before a reorg is ever announced. Meetings move. Priorities change. Conversations happen without context. And the people who usually have answers stop sharing them. This is the phase most leaders and managers struggle with, because you’re still expected to deliver, keep your team focused, and answer questions you don’t have answers to. In this episode, I break down how to lead dur...

Why don’t you trust yourself… even when you know what to do? In this episode of We Are Women, Unapologetically, Jessica Cumming sits down with psychotherapist, speaker, and mindset coach Elaine Belson to unpack the real reason so many high-achieving professionals struggle with imposter syndrome, people pleasing, and self-doubt. This isn’t about a lack of confidence. It’s about a breakdown in self-...

Episode Summary Thinking about a career pivot but not sure what comes next? In this episode of We Are Women, Unapologetically , I sit down with Gloria Bell to talk about career transitions, women in tech, transferable skills, and what it really takes to reinvent yourself professionally. If you’re feeling stuck, burned out, or ready for your next chapter, this conversation will help you get clear o...

You’ve worked hard, delivered results, stayed loyal, and still somehow… you’re being overlooked. In Episode 20 of We Are Women Unapologetically , Jessica Cumming breaks down the truth so many high-achieving women learn too late: hard work alone will not get you promoted . At a certain level, performance is expected. What actually creates more opportunities is visibility, advocacy, sponsorship, and...

Have you built a successful career but still feel stuck inside? If you’re navigating a career transition, burnout, or wondering what to do next, Dawn Butler shares how women can move beyond survival mode and start reinventing their lives with intention. In this episode of We Are Women Unapologetically , Jessica Cumming interviews Dawn Butler, a cybersecurity leader and podcast host with over 20 ye...

Chaos does not mean you are failing. Sometimes it means you are being challenged to lead differently. In this episode of We Are Women Unapologetically , Jessica sits down with Maartje van Krieken , a Dutch executive, fractional CEO/COO/CSO , and founder of Chaos Games Consulting , to explore what it really takes to lead through chaos . With more than 20 years driving complex, high-stakes initiativ...

Scope creep isn’t just a project management problem — it’s a leadership gap. In this episode of We Are Women Unapologetically , Jessica Cumming breaks down why high performers are often the ones quietly absorbing the cost of unclear agreements, shifting priorities, and undefined expectations. If you’ve ever said “yes” to something and immediately felt resentment… If your evenings are disappearing...

I’m joined by Orly Zeewy, author, brand strategist, and the woman who makes fuzzy clear. If you’ve ever felt like your work is valuable but your message is hard to explain, or your pricing still feels like a guess, this episode will land. We talk about how to identify your zone of genius, communicate it in a way people understand quickly, and charge like the expert you actually are. Orly breaks do...

You changed the chapter. The role. The schedule. Maybe even the whole direction of your life. And still, the pace feels familiar. The pressure feels familiar. The push through mindset shows up like it never left. In this solo episode of We Are Women, Unapologetically , I’m talking about the reason your new chapter can feel like your old one. Your brain is still running old default settings. Patter...

Some titles come with power. Others come with pressure. Tracy McDonald has held both. She’s served as a U.S. Secret Service agent, a counterterrorism instructor, a global fraud consultant, and a Foreign Service spouse. But the moments that shaped her most weren’t the ones on paper — they were the ones behind closed doors, in countries few Americans will ever step foot in, when she had to ask herse...

You make around 35,000 decisions a day. When you don’t trust yourself, every one of those decisions costs more energy than it should. In this solo episode, I break down the internal override that turns everyday choices into mental drain. We talk about how self-trust gets replaced by approval, how conditioning hides behind “being responsible,” and the micro-moves that help you rebuild trust in real...

In this episode, Jessica talks with Dr. Brandi Kelly, a licensed clinical social worker and former school superintendent who has spent over two decades in education. Brandi’s story starts with deep personal loss. She was in high school when her brother drowned, and that moment changed everything. Since then, she’s walked through grief, burnout, family challenges, and the pressure of leadership at...

Stop making other people’s comfort your responsibility. If you’ve been swallowing comments, smoothing tension, or staying quiet to keep the peace, it’s not “maturity”—it’s self-silencing. And over time, it chips away at your confidence, your self-trust, and even your nervous system’s ability to feel safe being seen. In this episode, Jessica Cumming breaks down what really happens when you finally...

What if burnout wasn’t the end but your invitation to begin again? In this powerful episode of We Are Women, Unapologetically , I sit down with Chris Coladonato , a former high-achieving corporate leader turned speaker, coach, and creator of the therapeutic coloring book Color Me, Unplugged . Together, we unpack what burnout really looks like for high performers and why so many of us don’t even re...

When a title changes, whether through a layoff, divorce, caregiving shift, empty nest, or a chapter you didn’t choose—it can shake your identity more than you expect. For many high-achieving women, roles become anchors. They give structure, direction, and meaning. So when a title ends, it’s easy to feel lost, irrelevant, or unsure of who you are without it. In this episode of We Are Women, Unapolo...

There comes a moment when the pressure you’re carrying at work stops feeling like “part of the job” and starts feeling like something deeper. Something heavier. Something you can’t quite name. In this episode of We Are Women, Unapologetically , I sit down with Dr. Sharalyn Payne for an unfiltered conversation about what it really feels like inside a toxic workplace. Not the polished HR version. No...