Episodes on Work
This week marks the sixth anniversary of this podcast and my 25th year in San Francisco!
So, to celebrate, I put myself on the hot seat to answer all the questions reflecting on it.
And who better to interview me than a friend, podcaster emeritus, and someone who loves San Francisco as much as I do - Diane Sanfilippo!
Diane and I go behind the scenes and share:
Lessons learned from podcasting and how we’ve evolved from it
How podcasting aligns with my (and our) Human Designs
What brought us to the San Francisco Bay Area
What we love about San Francisco and why we still love it so much
Things we haven’t yet done in San Francisco that we still want to do
In this episode, I’m joined by Sandy Yang. Sandy first joined me in Episode 194, the first episode in the Human Design Authority series, where she shared what it’s like to have an Emotional Authority.
Sandy is an Energy Healer and Brain Rewiring Coach.
You’ll hear:
Sandy explain what’s energy healing and brain rewiring
Personal and client experiences of both practices in work
How Energy Healing and Brain Rewiring complement Human Design
Recent observations we’ve made with Human Design, both in ourselves and with others, regarding Profile Lines, Defined and Undefined Centers, and more!
Knowing how we might be wasting it is important if health and Human Design are about abundance and energy alignment.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
What are energy leaks?
Two energy leaks that we all have around technology and social media
My personal experiences with these leaks and what steps I’m taking to address them
Returning to the show for the fifth time is business design and capacity-building strategist Nadia Gabrielle.
Nadia is the creator of Service Design School, several classes and workshops, and she works one-on-one with clients in a capacity.
In this episode, we’re celebrating the fourth anniversary of @ProjectorsInvited, Nadia’s wildly successful, popular, feel-good, and funny Instagram account!
You’ll hear us answer questions from our audiences on:
How to use your Human Design to find your niche
How to deal with being ghosted
How to create Projector invitations
What to do when you're constantly giving and giving but you're not being recognized
…and so much more!
While these questions were asked in the context of business, we know that everything's connected, and much of what we discuss falls into capacity building and personal development in business and in life!
If you’re a Projector or have a Projector in your life, be sure you’re following @ProjectorsInvited!
Joining me in this episode is returning guest Anna Lois Davies. Anna is a Human Design Guide and business consultant for soul-led women. She helps them find clarity on who they are and what their magic is, then, using Human Design, helps them energetically align with it
Anna first joined me back in Episode 236, where she discussed having an Ego Authority.
This time Anna joins me for a collaborative conversation on a variety of topics, including:
The nuances of Human Design and how it’s influenced how we curate our businesses in big and small ways
Why coaches need coaches
Why, as a fellow Human Design guide, her Aligned Business Blueprint has been an integral resource for my business
In this episode, I’m joined by Kaitlin Meek. Kaitlin is a Strategic Partnerships Manager at Culture Amp, responsible for building relationships with new business channels. I met Kaitlin last year when she hired me to deliver a Human Design workshop to her team.
You’ll hear Kaitlin and I discuss:
How she introduced Culture Amp to Human Design and build interest and excitement for it
How learning about her 2/4 Projector design transformed how she’s increased her productivity and success at work
How she’s able to work with her Strategy (Waiting for the Invitation) and still be successful in a revenue-producing role
And we reflect on the question, “Can you be self-actualized at work?”
In this episode, I’m joined by returning guest Nadia Gabrielle.
Nadia helps clients design business strategies and up-leveling subconscious capacity.
She uses her professional background to fill the much-needed gap between business, strategy, design, and technology with well-being and personal development.
She founded @projectorsinvited, the creator of Service Design School, various workshops and classes, and works one-on-one with clients.
Nadia shares:
Why capacity is critical for success in business, work, and life
The importance of strategy and business design
How to bring it all together in a way that is supportive of our unique Human Design
Nadia also announces a new offering coming soon, and she shares a special time-sensitive offer to work with her exclusively to up-level your capacity.
In this episode, I’m joined by Saskia Seeling, a soul business consultant and yoga + meditation teacher for new and aspiring solopreneurs, helping them create a business where they can easily share their magic.
You’ll hear Saskia share:
How she was introduced to Human Design and how she incorporates it into her business and client work
How her Self-Projected Authority led her journey from a career in Finance to her soul business and her world travels from Aotearoa to Germany, where she’s now based.
How she alchemizes yoga and meditation with business to provide a niched service
How she works with the 3/5 Profile Lines
How she uses breathwork and meditation techniques as a grounding business strategy
How to write and work with affirmations
At some point in our lives, we’ve all experienced dreaded feelings of burnout. Be it from long periods of chronic stress from work, relationships, family, a pandemic, or anything that weighs heavy on us.
If you’ve ever experienced this, you’re definitely are not alone.
In this episode, I share my most intense moments of burnout from different periods in my life, and how I managed to relight the spark to keep on going!
Episode Highlights:
What burnout is
Signs, symptoms, and contributions to burnout
Times in my life I’ve been burnout and what it was like
Four steps to really addressing burnout
Do you love your work right now? How is it affecting you physically? Mentally? Emotionally?
Continuing on with the discussion of work-life balance, is there such a thing as “too much” work if you love what you do?
Join me in this solo episode as I explore this topic, as well as hear me discuss:
How to approach your work if you don’t love what you do?
The difference reframing your mindset and finding little joys on the job can make
How I was able to turn things around in my day job and make it enjoyable once again
Work-life balance is an argument of the ages, but is there a universal solution to it? Listen in as I go through the varying definitions of balance, differing perspectives, and an alternative approach to bringing harmony into your daily life.
By the end of the episode, I’ll walk you through different questions to ask yourself, all of which will hopefully lead you to figure out what work-life balance can look like for you.
Episode Highlights:
Defining and perspectives of balance
Assessing priorities and boundaries
Questions to ask to determine what work-life balance can look like for you
This pandemic has had me asking myself many times over, ”How can I look at this situation differently?” What is normal now is uncertainty. This is one of the big battles that we’re facing at this time. We’re uncertain of what will happen to our jobs, our businesses, our families, and basically our entire lives. And all this uncertainty is causing us stress.
But what if we "think differently?" What could happen if we let go of all the mental, emotional and physical burdens that stress brings? Easier said than done, I know, but how about, instead of accepting stress as a part of the new normal, let’s take a different approach and learn ways to reframe it in a positive way.
In this episode, I share my personal experiences with stress in the first few months of the quarantine and how I’ve dealt with it.
You’ll hear me discuss:
Work stress
Facing the possibility of being laid off
Dealing with uncertainties
My personal experiences in feeling unbalanced, out of control, and defeated
How I took a different approach
If you’ve suddenly found yourself working from home and it’s been a tougher transition than expected, this episode is for you.
Returning to the show is my friend, colleague, and former manager, Terri Quinn. Terri last joined me in Episode 121: Understanding Your Priorities & Establishing Boundaries in the Workplace, which was recorded weeks before we were quarantined.
In this episode, we expand on our conversation of priorities and boundaries. Drawing on her past 15 years of experience, Terri shares her best practices for being a remote worker, as well as being a remote people manager.
You’ll hear us discuss:
How to maintain balance when working with teams across global time zones
The importance of over communication for virtual teams
How to establish teamwork and unity when managing virtual teams
The impact that a manager has on a direct report’s health and well-being
And so much more
Studies have shown that clutter is a major source of stress. So how can you alleviate it? Get rid of the clutter! Perhaps you’ve already started the process while sheltering-in-place, but if you haven’t now might be a great time to get started!
Joining me in this episode is Carly Adams of the Tidy Revival. Carly is a Professional Organizer based in Sacramento, CA. She helps her clients get organized in their homes & businesses by working alongside them, or virtually through personalized action plans. Whether that’s helping clients declutter, create a Pinterest-perfect pantry, or helping busy parents re-examine the flow of their kitchen or utility closet - Carly is a self-proclaimed “organizational nerd” that loves to geek out to her clients’ benefit.
You’ll hear us discuss:
The Tidy Revival story
Her top tips of how to start decluttering when it feels so overwhelming
What to do when emotions take over
7 tips for decluttering any space
I started decluttering my home back at the beginning of the year and with each space that I cleared, it felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders, leaving me with a lightness I haven’t felt in a long time.
I truly believe that decluttering has helped make sheltering-in-place for a prolonged period of time feel comfortable because my home is now a space that I enjoy being in.
Are you unexpectedly now working from home?
Do you find yourself still in your pj’s at 6 pm?
With aches and pains from sitting all day without a dedicated ergonomic workspace?
And feeling frazzled by the disruption of your normal routine?
If so, this episode is for you! Drawing from the past eight years of full-time working from home, I’m sharing eight tips to help ease the surprisingly challenging transition of going from office to remote worker.
If today was your last day on earth, are you happy?
Whether you go into an office or work from home, you likely spend the majority of your time “at work” with colleagues. So if you’re not happy at your work, chances are, you’re not happy in life, which is not a healthy way to live.
And when you peel back the layers, many times it can be attributed to a misalignment between your priorities and your work, a lack of boundaries, and/or poor communication.
The good news is, these things are all fixable!
Joining me in this episode is my colleague and former manager, Terri Quinn. Terri started her career in the tech industry 25 years ago and was one of the early pioneers of the TME (Technical Marketing Engineer) role.
You’ll hear Terri share what it was like starting her career as a young wife and mother in a male-dominated, fast-paced, highly-demanding industry. She discusses how it taught her the importance of knowing what your priorities are (because not everyone does) and owning them without guilt.
You’ll also hear us discuss how to establish boundaries in the workplace by:
Understanding your priorities and using them as a guide in setting boundaries
Recognizing your power within and asking for what you want
Self-marketing yourself with effective communication
This episode is a mirror of the discussions that Terri and I had every day for the three years that she was my manager. While always supportive, she constantly challenged my way of thinking. Her influence had a profound impact on how I approach my work and my attitude towards it, which has changed my outlook and how I communicate with others beyond the job.
Joining me in Episode 116 is Sarah Morgan of xosarah.com. Sarah is an Emmy-Award winning digital strategist who’s been blogging and building websites since age 13.
After escaping her corporate design job, she made it her mission to help business owners grow their online presence without overwhelm + indecision slowing them down.
In this episode, Sarah tells her story of how she escaped her corporate job as a graphic designer in a newsroom by doing freelance work and eventually building a thriving business where she now helps other business owners grow their online presence without overwhelm and indecision slowing them down.
You’ll hear Sarah share:
Her route from a corporate job to profitable solopreneur
How she battled burnout and feeling disconnected to her work
What it was like working with a coach then bringing mindfulness into her business and personal life
Her best productivity tips and what her daily routine is like to manage her time and energy
She even shares a bit of what it was like teaching aerial silk and how it helped her find a balance between her mind, body, and work!
If I were, to sum up, the last year, it would be “the year of burnout.” During that time, I’ve come to surmise that burnout is simply the misappropriation of energy and time.
In this episode, I take you behind the scenes and share with you what burnout looked like for me - the bad and ugly parts of it (hint: it’s probably not much different what it looks like for you), what steps I took to bring myself out of it and what lessons I took away from the experience.
We’ve reached 100! In this milestone episode, we take a trip down memory lane as I revisit the most popular episode from every tenth one, as determined by you and your listenership!
Featured are episodes:
008: How to Break-up with Sugar
013: How to Effectively Work From Home and Find Time for Fitness with Jolene Peixoto
030: Secrets to A Successful 21-Day Sugar Detox
036: How Did You Come to Form Your Beliefs?
047: What Happens When You Stop Obsessing About Food with Katie Garces
053: Defining Clean Eating and How to Put It Into Practice
068: Keto Quick Start: A Beginner’s Guide to A Whole Foods Ketogenic Diet with Diane Sanfilippo
072: My Journey And Pursuit For Beautiful Skin For Life
084: Beyond the Pill: Post Birth Control Syndrome and Women's Hormonal Health with Dr. Jolene Brighten
092: Minding Your Health When Your Mind Is On Work
I also share how it took me two years to get over my debilitating perfectionism to finally start this show and what I’ve learned and how it’s been vital to my own healing journey.
In this episode, I’m joined by Barb Vogel and Nikki Price, co-founders of inner-ēco, a mission-based company that makes food-based probiotics.
You’ll hear them:
Share their story of how the company came to be
Why they believe in bringing real food with clean ingredients to families of all sizes (pets included!)
The benefits of food-based probiotics
How they’re a mission-based company committed to helping free enslaved people around the world.
How they maintain their health and other life responsibilities as successful businesswomen
So you want to live a cleaner lifestyle but it’s overwhelming and you don’t know quite where to start. That’s where Emily Popson comes in.
Emily is the founder of the Pop of Health community and the creator of The Non Tox Box™, a series of stylishly curated and impactful boxes, with products to help you reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals in items that you use every day.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
How the Pop of Health Community and The Non Tox Box™ came to be
How Emily runs these businesses as side hustles to her full-time job as a woman in tech
The role exposure to toxins played in both of our early development and the emotional challenges we experienced from it
A behind-the-scenes glimpse into how Emily curates each The Non Tox Box™ and a preview into the next soon-to-be-released bundle!
This week marks the second anniversary of The Live FAB Life Podcast!
In this episode, I discuss having an epiphany, with the help of some friends, on my unique position to help women in tech bring health and wellness to the forefront of their careers and lives.
You'll hear me share my work experience of working in startups to large corporate environments, the different stressors I experienced and how being micro-managed directly impacted my health and how I learned to reframe and deal with the situation for the better.
What role does finances play in making healthcare decisions? How much of a factor is it in your overall stress load? What’s your mindset around money?
Finances are at the center of our health and wellness yet one that we may be difficult to address and easily avoided.
Joining me to have a frank discussion on financial wellness is Bre Bauer. Bre is a self-proclaimed “Budget Nerd”, who spent years in a cycle of accumulating consumer debt and then working her tail off to pay it off.
It wasn’t until she changed her awareness and behaviors around her money mindset and spending habits that she was truly able to become and remain debt-free.
In this episode, we discuss:
Mistakes and misconceptions around money and finances
What budgeting means and what it doesn’t mean
The importance of building awareness around your spending habits
How to budget with a variable income
How to build a healthy money mindset
And a whole lot more!
How do you know you’re on the brink of burnout? Or maybe you’re already there. And if you are, what do you do about it?
In this solo episode I take you behind the scenes of how I found myself on the edge of burnout and how I pressed paused to rest and reset.
You’ll hear me share:
How I define self-care
What does pressing pause mean
How I was able to that and reset
Are you a Type A person who's always-on-the-go, crossing off *our* (because I’m one of ‘em 🙋🏻♀️) to-do lists and attached to your phone, tablet, or laptop - or maybe even all three at once?
Then when you start to shows signs of stress, like breakouts, fatigue and other health issues and you’re asked, “How’s your stress levels?” you might not even realize that you're stressed...#amright? 👀
So we’re told that we have to slow down and take it easy, but neither comes naturally to us. In fact, it’s a learned behavior that we have to constantly and actively work on. 💆🏻♀️
In this episode, I'm sharing ten simple ways to slow down for Type-A people!
I don’t know about you, but whenever I’m on business travel, I find it challenging to keep up with my workouts and my way of eating and many of the clients that I’ve worked with have struggled with this too.
So this week I’m joined by Jessica Sutera. Jess is a Director of Corporate Communications, who’s job is in a completely different part of the country from where she lives - so she’s become quite the pro at business travel. In this episode she shares her best practical tips on how to stay healthy while on business travel.
In this
In this episode, I discuss how to align your work with your core values and why this is vital to your health.
If you’re a woman who in the corporate world, and you work from home, this episode is for you!
In this episode I’m joined by my friend, Jolene Peixoto. Jolene is a 15-year veteran of the high-tech industry, working in business-to-business public relations and social media. Outside of her 'day job,' she is passionate for all things fitness, and spent five years also working as as a barre instructor in addition to her highly demanding corporate job.
You'll hear us chat about what it’s like to work from home - the pros and cons of it (and yes, there are cons to working from home), how we get past those challenges, the importance of setting boundaries and communicating effectively, and how to find the time to fit in fitness, and Jo even gives us some insight on what it was like to work as a barre instructor!
This was a really fun episode for me because it’s really just two women having a conversation about some things that we find challenging and sharing what worked for us to overcome them.
Returning to the show is friend and frequent guest Nadia Gabrielle.
You may have heard past episodes with Nadia on all things Projectors, having a Self-Projected Authority, Subconscious Capacity Building, Service Design, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear two Projectors deeply recognizing each other as we discuss why expanding into products is supportive for service providers to manage their energy and avoid burnout.
Nadia has just opened the doors to her latest offering, Product Design School, so we discuss:
What is Product Design and how it differs from Service Design?
When should a business owner expand into Products?
Nadia’s “winter of discontent,” how it affected her health, and how her sustainable product offering afforded her the time and space to take care of herself and heal
How she partners Human Design with solid business strategies
My personal experience as a student in Service Design School and working with Nadia in a one-in-one capacity on my own subconscious capacity building and how I’m expanding into products