The Heartfelt Way

Leadership, Burnout, and Creating Rhythms That Restore

Early childhood leaders carry invisible pressure every day. Learn how to avoid burnout through rhythms and sustainable leadership with Chanie Wilschanski. Behind every staffing call, difficult conversation and licensing visit, early childhood leaders carry an immense emotional weight that’s often invisible. In this episode, Rhonda Meyers sits down with leadership coach, speaker and author Chanie Wilschanski to talk about burnout, relational leadership and the rhythms that help leaders stay grounded. Chanie shares how years of caregiving and high-achievement led her to confront the exhaustion so many leaders normalize. [00:08:24] "Leaders are not addicted to control. You are allergic to collapse. You are terrified of what will collapse if you stop."  Things started to change when Chanie’s business mentor asked her: What if you don’t need to protect your energy; what if you can create it? She realized that leaders normalize the exhaustion they feel because they’ve decided that it’s the cost of success.   Rhonda and Chanie discuss practical ways leaders can create rhythms of connection, gratitude and communication that strengthen teams and outperform traditional “standards” many schools set: [00:23:55] “Your standards have to be able to be pressure-tested and not renegotiated in real time when things are tiring and overwhelming.” This conversation is a reminder to leaders that building a sustainable culture while avoiding burnout is possible with the right perspective and support. Resources mentioned in this episode “This Can’t Be Normal” [https://thiscantbenormal.com/] by Chanie Wilschanski *Email cw@chanie.me after purchasing the book for bonus training on the top five rhythms to install in your school Schools of Excellence podcast [https://schoolsofexcellence.com/podcast/] “Finding Your Way Through Conflict” [https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Your-Way-Through-Conflict/dp/1631984942] by Chris Amirault and Christine Snyder

You Matter Too: A Message for Mothers

Rhonda reflects on the beauty of motherhood, its emotional labor and the longing to feel seen. Mothers notice things. They’re always scanning the room’s emotions, ready if someone’s in need. In this solo episode, Rhonda reflects on the tension many mothers experience between trying to care for everyone around them and desiring to feel seen.  Drawing from her own experiences as a mother and grandmother, she shares honest stories about balancing work, family, overwhelm, and the pressure to “do enough.” [00:17:38] “Your children do not need a burned-out version of you to prove [you] love [them].” Rhonda reminds listeners that children remember connection, emotional safety and presence more than extravagance or perfection.

Guiding Young Children through Grief and Loss

Learn tools for responding to children’s grief and loss with Heidi Friedel. It takes a quiet kind of courage to accompany a child who’s grieving. We adults just want to make their pain go away. But we can’t.  So, the work of just being with them starts. It’s hard, important work. In this conversation, Heidi Friedel joins Rhonda Meyers to talk about how grief and loss show up in young children and what they need from the adults in their lives in those moments. Children experience grief beyond the death of a loved one. It can come from the loss of a caregiver, a routine or even a beloved object. Rhonda explains that because many children don’t have the language to express what they’re feeling yet, their grief can show up in unexpected ways. [00:15:07] “Grief doesn't always show up like sadness. Loss doesn't always show up like sadness. It sometimes shows up as defiance. It sometimes shows up as [behavioral] regression.” Guiding children through loss means choosing to be present, connected and communicative. Heidi urges adults to use clear and honest language, acknowledge the child’s feelings and avoid trying to fix their grief. [00:23:00] “When we deal with any kind of loss, . . . we have to make sure that we're present and that we don't shut ourselves down.” This conversation is a reminder that when children are grieving, they’re asking if they’re safe to feel the way they’re feeling.

Better Together: The Power of Strong Teaching Team

Co-teacher alignment changes outcomes for kids. Rhonda and her guests speak about what a strong teaching team looks like and how to cultivate it. When a strong teaching team is in action, you can feel it.  It’s in the care with which the kids put away toys, how things are labeled and in the teachers’ attunement to the other’s needs. Rhonda sits down with Brittany Reaume and Geanene Chalut in this episode to talk about the importance of co-teacher alignment, how it happens and the impact it has on children. Brittany and Miss G. (Geanene) worked as co-teachers at Heartfelt Impressions, and they emphasize that being in lockstep is essential. [00:00:00] Miss G.: “The big word is consistency. [Kids] need to have the same two teachers in that room that know them and that they’re not hearing [different] things from the other teacher.” Rhonda adds that consistency is vital for the teachers, too. Co-teachers learn to anticipate and read each other and step up when the other is feeling stretched. That relationship happens through intentionality. Brittany recalls meeting Miss G. for dinner early on to talk about their needs and ideas for the classroom.  [00:00:00] Brittany: “It was really fun and very comforting knowing that we could bounce ideas off each other and not be like, ‘No, that’s a dumb idea. Don’t do that.’” If you’re a teacher who feels isolated or is struggling to be in lockstep with your teammate, this episode is for you.

Choosing Joy Amidst Challenges

Joy is possible even in the hardest moments. Carissa Orr shares how educators can cultivate it through curiosity and care. This work is heavy sometimes. In the middle of behaviors, breakdowns and things happening in our personal lives, joy can feel impossible some days. In this episode, Carissa Orr joins me to talk about what it really looks like to find joy when things are hard. She shares stories from her early days in the classroom and the challenges that tested her resilience.  Through it all, she learned that you have to create joy; waiting for it isn’t practical enough. We talk about how our brains are wired to focus on what’s difficult and how we can intentionally shift that focus.  Carissa shares a great example. She bought a car in a shade of green she never really saw before. But once she bought it, she saw it everywhere.  [00:16:48] “What we focus on, we get more of.” The same is true with joy. We can retrain our brains to stay curious, even in the hardest moments. This conversation is a reminder that joy doesn’t come from the absence of difficulty. [00:42:10] “We just need to remember that we do what matters, even when it’s messy. And we gotta keep showing up and staying curious and find a tribe.”