The Zhen Podcast

The Career You Were Meant For Has Been There The Whole Time | Randi Benator

Most people did not choose their career. They fell into it. Someone suggested it. It paid well enough. It made sense at the time. And now they are ten or twenty years in wondering how they got here and whether it is too late to do something that actually fits. Randi Benator is a career and life transition coach and the author of Awaken to Your Calling: A Guide to Discovering Your Career Path and Life Direction. She has spent years helping people answer the question that nobody teaches you how to answer — what am I actually supposed to be doing with my life? And what she will tell you is that the answer is almost never a lightning bolt moment. It is a process. And it is more accessible than most people think. This is not an episode about quitting your job tomorrow. It is an episode about getting honest about what is not working — sometimes taking a leap is the way to go for someone depending on their circumstances and sometimes the building the bridge is the best way. If you have ever felt like you are living someone else's life — this one is for you. Connect with Randi Benator:  🌐 careerandlifetransitions.com  📖 careerandlifetransitions.com/book.html  📞 415-924-4944 In this episode: 🔥 Why most people are stuck in unfulfilling careers — and the real reason they stay 🔥 The myth of a single calling — why your purpose is allowed to evolve across life stages 🔥 How to balance active pursuit and receptive patience when building something new 🔥 The common pitfalls that keep people from following what actually lights them up 🔥 sometimes taking a leap is the way to go for someone depending on their circumstances and sometimes the building the bridge is the best way. 🔥 Real life stories of career pivots that defied every societal expectation 🔥 How to get clear on your interests, talents, and what you are actually built for 🔥 How to manage the fear — the money, the seniority, the what will people think 🔥 Why mid life is not too late — it is actually the perfect time 🔥 What self awareness has to do with finding work that actually feels like yours Timestamps: 00:00 — Meet Randi Benator — career and life transition coach 02:22 — Why everyone needs to find their real path and the cost of settling 04:24 — Matching your work to your authentic self — what that actually means 08:48 — The evolving calling — why your purpose changes and that is completely okay 12:28 — Why so many people stay stuck in careers that never fit them 15:17 — Recognizing the signs that you need a major career shift 17:14 — Navigating fear, finances, and timing when changing careers 33:58 — The balance between taking action and trusting the process 41:36 — sometimes taking a leap is the way to go for someone depending on their circumstances and sometimes the building the bridge is the best way. If anything in this episode brought something up for you — support is available: 📞 Mental health and crisis support — call or text 988 📞 Substance use support — 1-800-662-4357 💬 Crisis Text Line — text HOME to 741741 The Zhen Podcast is mental wellness for people who are done being told to just think positive. Real conversations. Real healing. No filter. New episodes every week — follow so you never miss one. 🖤

Why Life Transitions Feel So Overwhelming — And The Ancient Practice That Actually Helps | Eva Orbuch

Every major change in your life — the move, the breakup, the job loss, the identity shift — comes with a grief that nobody prepares you for. Not because something went wrong. Because something ended. And most people have never been taught how to actually close a chapter before they are forced to open the next one. Eva Orbuch spent years as a community organizer before becoming a life coach who specializes in exactly this — the space between who you were and who you are becoming. And what she has discovered is that the people who navigate transitions the best are not the ones who push through fastest. They are the ones who pause long enough to mark the moment. Rituals are not spiritual bypassing. They are not woo. They are one of the oldest and most neurologically effective tools humans have for processing change. And in a world that moves faster every year — the deliberate pause is not a luxury. It is a survival skill. This episode is for anyone in the middle of a transition right now who feels unmoored, overwhelmed, or like they cannot find their footing. Eva explains exactly what is happening in your nervous system — and what actually helps. Connect with Eva Orbuch:  Website: https://www.evaorbuch.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evaorbuch_coaching_consulting/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Eva-Orbuch-Coaching-and-Consulting/100086610301601/ In this episode: 🔥 The deep connection between childhood patterns and how you handle adult transitions 🔥 How to design personalized rituals that actually help you heal and move forward 🔥 The role of mindfulness and daily self meetings in navigating change 🔥 How to recognize and release old stories that are keeping you stuck 🔥 Practical rituals for everyday life and major life shifts 🔥 What your body is trying to tell you when you feel overwhelmed — and how to listen 🔥 Why slowing down is not falling behind — it is how you actually move forward 🔥 How to turn grief and loss into acknowledgment and acceptance 🔥 Building a sense of home within yourself when everything outside is changing 🔥 The transformative power of symbolic acts — visualization, burning old stories, ritualized farewells 🔥 Why time feels faster as you age — and what to do about it Timestamps: 00:00 — Meet Eva Orbuch — life coach and transitions expert 02:45 — From community organizer to life coach — the full story 04:10 — Navigating change with mindfulness and intentionality 06:50 — Childhood relocation patterns and how they show up in adult transitions 09:30 — Recognizing courage and grief in the middle of change 12:15 — Building a sense of home and attaching rituals to everyday life 16:49 — What your nervous system is doing during overwhelm and how rituals calm the chaos 19:10 — Defining and designing meaningful rituals for personal change 22:17 — Visual tools for controlling time and planning — the nesting dolls analogy 24:00 — Daily self meetings as a ritual to reconnect with yourself 27:09 — Processing professional transitions with creative ceremonies 31:20 — Why time feels faster as we age — perception and memory theories 33:17 — Reflections on youth, education, and life lessons 37:19 — Embracing the present moment and future possibilities 39:06 — Letting go of regret and the stories of what could have been 42:11 — Physical symbols and visualization to release old narratives 44:48 — Guided ritual — driving through life's milestones and releasing baggage 49:10 — Post ritual insights — feeling liberated and ready to move forward 50:00 — Practical tips for integrating rituals into daily life and major transitions 51:09 — How to work with Eva Orbuch If anything in this episode brought something up for you — support is available: 📞 Mental health and crisis support — call or text 988 📞 Substance use support — 1-800-662-4357 💬 Crisis Text Line — text HOME to 741741

You've Been Talking About Your Trauma For Years. Here's Why It's Still Not Healing. | Brad Galvin

If you have been in therapy for years and still feel stuck — this episode is going to make a lot of things click. Brad Galvin is an EMDR certified therapist who has spent over two decades helping people heal from trauma, addiction, and the childhood wounds that quietly run adult life. And what he will tell you in the first ten minutes of this conversation is something most therapists never say out loud — talking about your trauma is not always enough. And for a lot of people it is actually keeping them stuck. EMDR works differently. It does not ask you to relive your pain. It asks your brain to process it in a way that talking never reaches. And when you combine it with Internal Family Systems — the idea that you are not one person but many parts all trying to protect you — something shifts that years of traditional therapy could not move. This episode is for anyone who has done the work and still feels like something deeper is untouched. Brad explains exactly what that something is — and what actually reaches it. Connect with Brad Galvin: 🌐 brieftherapyworks.com 📞 206-339-4546 📧 brad@brieftherapyworks.com [brad@brieftherapyworks.com] In this episode: — What EMDR actually is and why bilateral stimulation works when nothing else does — Internal Family Systems — the parts of you still trying to protect a version of yourself that no longer needs protecting — Why talk therapy falls short for trauma and what it is missing — How trauma lives in the body and the brain and how EMDR rewires both — The nervous system in fight flight freeze and how EMDR calms the chaos — The real root of addiction and why it has nothing to do with the substance — The connection between childhood longing and adult self destruction — How to start healing even if you do not have access to therapy right now — Why trusting your therapist is part of the medicine not just the method — How traumatic memories become empowering stories on the other side of EMDR Timestamps: 00:00 — Meet Brad Galvin — EMDR therapist and inner parts guide 02:00 — What EMDR actually is and how eye movements process trauma 03:24 — Internal Family Systems — the parts inside you still running the show 04:23 — EMDR vs somatic work vs hypnotherapy vs ketamine 05:16 — Why the therapeutic relationship is part of the healing 06:14 — Attachment focused EMDR and the resources already inside you 07:42 — Why healing takes time and why that is not a failure 09:33 — What talk therapy misses and how to use it more effectively 10:32 — How EMDR calms the amygdala — the brain's trauma alarm system 14:51 — How to know which therapy is right for you 17:31 — The roots of addiction — what is really driving the behavior 21:39 — How traumatic memories transform into empowering stories 25:16 — Fight flight freeze and how to heal in the present 28:45 — Gambling addiction — how it works and how EMDR addresses it 34:52 — Childhood longing and how it shows up in adult life 40:52 — Practical tools for healing when therapy is not accessible 46:31 — Trusting your own inner wisdom — the path back to yourself

Lorie Eber: She Quit Law At The Top To Become A Health Coach. What She Found Out Will Change Your View Forever.

What if everything you thought you knew about dieting, willpower, and starting over was wrong? Lorie Eber spent years as a high powered attorney — successful by every external measure — and walked away from all of it to become a health and wellness coach. Not because she failed. Because she finally got honest about what was actually making her unhappy. And what she discovered on the other side changed everything she thought she knew about food, habits, emotional eating, and what it actually takes to transform your life at any age. This is not a weight loss episode. This is an episode about what is really driving the behavior underneath the weight. The emotional triggers. The habits that formed so slowly you didn't notice them until they were running your life. The career that looked impressive from the outside while quietly costing you everything on the inside. Lorie has been where a lot of people are sitting right now — stuck, successful on paper, and completely disconnected from what actually feels good. This conversation is for anyone who has ever wondered if it's too late to start over. It is not. Lorie is proof. In this episode: — Why diets fail and why it has absolutely nothing to do with your willpower — How Lorie walked away from a high powered legal career and what that decision actually cost her before it freed her — The emotional triggers behind overeating that nobody talks about — and how to identify yours — Why real food and mindful eating are not trends — they are the only sustainable strategy — How to navigate junk food in your home when not everyone is on the same page — The role of movement and portion control in a health journey that actually lasts — The mental and emotional layers underneath emotional eating that no diet will ever address — How to make a major life or career change without drowning in regret afterward — Why self compassion is not soft — it is the actual mechanism of change — How to find genuine purpose in every phase of life including the ones that feel like detours Connect with Lorie Eber: https://lorieeberwellnesscoaching.com/ https://www.instagram.com/lorieeber/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7CeLbLNKnAva9szHp3Jx3A https://x.com/EberLorie The Zhen Podcast is mental wellness and personal growth for people who are done with the filtered version. Real conversations. Real healing. No fluff. Follow so you never miss an episode. 🖤

You Keep Failing At Change And Discipline Has Nothing To Do With It I Joanna ZajuszI

If you've ever tried to break a habit and failed — not because you weren't trying hard enough, but because something deeper kept pulling you back — this episode is going to make a lot of things click. Joanna Zajusz is a hypnotherapist and transformational coach who left a burnout career in sales, had what she calls a full spiritual download, and completely rebuilt her life around helping people rewire their minds. She calls her approach "positively rebellious" — and once she explains it, you'll understand exactly why. This is not the hypnotherapy you've seen on stage. This is the quiet, targeted, surprisingly logical version that works on the part of your brain where habits actually live. We talk about overeating, sugar addiction, emotional cravings, Yo-Yo dieting, and why most people keep failing at change — not because they lack discipline, but because they're trying to fix a deep problem with a surface solution. If you've been stuck in the same loop for years, this one is worth your full attention. In this episode: — What "positively rebellious" actually means and why rebellion is the starting point for real change — How Joanna went from burned out in sales to hypnotherapist — including the moment that changed everything — The real difference between hypnotherapy and stage hypnosis (they are nothing alike) — Why you never lose control during a session — and what's actually happening in your brain — How hypnotherapy rewired one client's overeating habit in a single session — The truth about quitting sugar — and why one session is sometimes all it takes — Why Yo-Yo dieting is a mind problem, not a food problem — How to find a hypnotherapist you can actually trust — The difference between a quick fix and a change that actually sticks Timestamps: 00:00 — Meet Joanna: the hypnotherapist who calls herself a rebel 00:21 — What "Positively Rebellious" means and why it matters 00:33 — How rebellion against your own programming becomes a catalyst for change 01:24 — From real estate burnout to healing arts — Joanna's full story 02:24 — The spiritual download that shifted everything 03:04 — How hypnotherapy actually works — no, not like that 04:54 — Stage hypnosis vs. real hypnotherapy: setting the record straight 07:45 — Do you lose control during a session? The honest answer 09:02 — What the relaxed hypnotic state actually feels like 10:49 — Real example: how hypnosis rewired one client's overeating for good 12:38 — Cravings, emotional eating, and the tools that actually work 13:39 — Is quitting sugar through hypnosis always permanent? 14:05 — Why skill-building and emotional awareness matter more than willpower 15:33 — How awareness becomes action — and why most people skip this step 16:50 — The extremes of dieting and how to stop the emotional rollercoaster 18:14 — How to sit with discomfort without reaching for food 19:39 — Slowly reducing addictive foods without feeling deprived Connect with Joanna Zajusz: https://positivelyrebellious.com/