Being Disliked, Being Misunderstood, and Boundaries That Protect Your One Precious Life with Catherine Zack

Being Disliked, Being Misunderstood, and Boundaries That Protect Your One Precious Life with Catherine Zack

What happens when the version of you everyone depends on is the very version you’re trying to outgrow? In this episode of 10,000 Tabs, Kim sits down with writer, teacher, and former attorney Catherine Zack [https://www.catherinezack.com/] to explore the hidden cost of being the dependable one—the woman who anticipates everyone’s needs, keeps things running smoothly, and quietly carries far more than anyone realizes. Together, they unpack the lifelong conditioning many women experience around being “good,” agreeable, emotionally available, and endlessly accommodating and how those patterns can slowly disconnect us from ourselves. Catherine shares her transition from practicing law into yoga, and meditation, but this conversation goes far beyond career pivots. It’s about what happens when your identity has been built around being liked, understood, useful, and needed—and the uncomfortable reality that growth often requires disappointing people. This episode is an invitation to ask: What would change if you stopped managing everyone else’s experience of you? On this episode Catherine and Kim discuss: * The hidden emotional labor behind being the “good girl” * Why highly capable women often become over-responsible for everyone around them * The relationship between caretaking, perfectionism, and burnout * How people-pleasing shows up in work, leadership, and relationships * The discomfort of setting boundaries that other people may not understand * Why being misunderstood is part of growth * How women can begin separating their worth from how useful they are to others   About The Show 10,000 Tabs is a podcast about career change, reinvention, and what happens when life no longer fits the way it used to. Each episode explores the moments when something shifts—when the version of life or work that once made sense no longer fits, and the next chapter hasn’t fully revealed itself yet. Through candid conversations with founders, creatives, leaders, and everyday people, the show explores how we make meaning, find clarity, and move forward anyway.   Mentions & Links * Catherine Zack's Website [https://www.catherinezack.com/] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/cathzack] * The 40 Portal Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-40-portal/id1871903842] & Website [https://www.the40portal.com/%20] * Village Yoga [https://www.villageyoga.co/] * Kim Wensel Website [http://kimwensel.com] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/kimwensel] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlywensel/]

The Myth of Feeling Ready with Clara Artschwager

When you come from an academic family, "dating coach" definitely wasn't on the bingo card as a potential career. Even so, she's always been meant for it.  The "she" we're talking about is Clara Artschwager [https://www.ithinkilikeyou.co/], a coach, writer, mother, former start-up marketer, and much more. And the conversations she's most interested in having today sound like... * What does the next half of life look like? * What do I want it to look like?  * And how can I give myself aaaaaallll the space to not know yet? Kim and Clara cover these points and the pressure many high-achieving women feel to prove themselves—to be smart enough, accomplished enough, and thoughtful enough to deserve the life they actually want. In this episode, they discuss: * What's underneath the constant striving and cycle of proving ourselves * How often we make decisions because of the disappointment we're anticipating * What it takes to fully claim a version of ourselves that no longer fits other people’s expectations * How career pivots and life transitions can force deeper self-awareness * What happens when you know what you want but haven’t fully claimed it yet   About The Show 10,000 Tabs is a podcast about career change, reinvention, and what happens when life no longer fits the way it used to. Each episode explores the moments when something shifts—when the version of life or work that once made sense no longer fits, and the next chapter hasn’t fully revealed itself yet. Through candid conversations with founders, creatives, leaders, and everyday people, the show explores how we make meaning, find clarity, and move forward anyway. Mentions & Links * Clara Artschwager Website [https://www.ithinkilikeyou.co/]| Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ithinkilikeyou.co] | Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/6yvjYwt9hgz47Ze4b1njUx] * Kim Wensel Website [http://kimwensel.com] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/kimwensel] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlywensel/]

I've Lived Six Different Lives with Kloé Mallard

What happens when the thing you built your identity around suddenly disappears? In this episode of 10,000 Tabs, Kim sits down with performer, creative, event planner, and storyteller Kloé Mallard [https://www.linkedin.com/in/klo%C3%A9-klowiththefro/] for a conversation about identity, reinvention, grief, and learning how to rebuild yourself after life changes direction unexpectedly. At just 30 years old, Kloé says she feels like she’s already lived six different lives. From studying music in Chicago to performing on cruise ships around the world, losing her voice and falling into depression, rebuilding her life through school and corporate work, and now stepping into a caregiving role for her mother, this conversation explores what it means to keep evolving when every version of your life asks something different of you. Together, Kim and Khloé talk about the pressure to perform, the emotional complexity of outgrowing old identities, and the reality that many workplaces don’t actually want our “full authentic selves”—despite what modern work culture claims. This episode is about adaptation, self-worth, creativity, survival, and the quiet fear so many people carry: Do other people think I’m doing this right?   Kim and Kloé discuss: * Losing the identity you built your life around * Grief, depression, and rebuilding after sudden loss * What performing on a cruise ship was really like * Starting over in corporate America * Why adaptability is both a survival skill and a superpower * Whether it's really possible to bring your “full authentic self” to work * Code-switching, reading the room, and learning how to navigate different environments * Finding ways to stay creative inside of conventional structures About The Show 10,000 Tabs is a podcast about career change, reinvention, and what happens when life no longer fits the way it used to. Each episode explores the moments when something shifts—when the version of life or work that once made sense no longer fits, and the next chapter hasn’t fully revealed itself yet. Through candid conversations with founders, creatives, leaders, and everyday people, the show explores how we make meaning, find clarity, and move forward anyway. Mentions & Links * Kloé Mallard LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/klo%C3%A9-klowiththefro/] * Kim Wensel Website [http://kimwensel.com] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/kimwensel] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlywensel/]

I Shared My Dreams; She Said I Was In The Wrong Room with Tanyika Fraser

What if the people who seem “good at change” became that way because life kept asking them to begin again? In this episode of 10,000 Tabs, Kim sits down with strategy leader and former fashion designer, Tanyika Fraser [https://www.oceanicstrategies.com.au/], for a conversation about reinvention, resilience, and proving people wrong. Together, they explore the hidden strengths many multi-hyphenate women develop through nonlinear careers: adaptability, self-direction, intuition, and the ability to rebuild after disappointment. On this episode Tanyika and Kim discuss: * Being defined by your work and where motherhood fits into your introduction (if at all) * Why self-trust will be always be stronger than certainty * How to recognize the situations and patterns that lead you to burnout * The reason ideas are never coincidental  * If the struggle to choose is really a superpower * How to recognize when you’ve outgrown a room, role, or version of yourself * Why movement—not certainty—is what creates clarity   About The Show 10,000 Tabs is a podcast about career change, reinvention, and what happens when life no longer fits the way it used to. Each episode explores the moments when something shifts—when the version of life or work that once made sense no longer fits, and the next chapter hasn’t fully revealed itself yet. Through candid conversations with founders, creatives, leaders, and everyday people, the show explores how we make meaning, find clarity, and move forward anyway. Mentions & Links * Tanyika Fraser Website [https://www.oceanicstrategies.com.au/] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanyikafraser/] * Kim Wensel Website [http://kimwensel.com] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/kimwensel] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlywensel/]

I Was Lying To Myself

Most public conversations about change are retrospective. This one is coming to you in real time. On the last episode, Kim announced her latest offer, an opportunity to join her for an intimate in-person gathering in the fall. This episode walks back on that offer. Instead of saying "everything happens for a reason" or pushing through because "anything worth having is worth working for," Kim shares her deeply personal decision making process, including: * the hesitation * conflicting desires * how to feel about sunk costs * treading through embarrassment * relief that comes from making the right, hard decision Why turn around and release this the same week? Why not wait to see how registration goes? Kim shares answers to those questions and more, offering a rare glimpse into the messy middle that we miss when consuming stories from the other side.   About The Show 10,000 Tabs is a podcast about career change, reinvention, and what happens when life no longer fits the way it used to. Each episode explores the moments when something shifts—when the version of life or work that once made sense no longer fits, and the next chapter hasn’t fully revealed itself yet. Through candid conversations with founders, creatives, leaders, and everyday people, the show explores how we make meaning, find clarity, and move forward anyway.   Mentions & Links * Dear Writer by Maggie Smith [https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Writer-Practical-Advice-Creative/dp/1982170840] * Why Bother? by Sean Thomas Dougherty [https://www.boaeditions.org/blogs/main/poem-of-the-week-august-27-2018?srsltid=AfmBOop19oXcXKixoRToYrxRJu_Bu5VVy1fF334OHU1pLQ9Nr6RtwQ2V] * Kim Wensel Website [http://kimwensel.com] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/kimwensel] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlywensel/]