What If Burnout Isn't the Price of Caring This Much?

What If Burnout Isn't the Price of Caring This Much?

What does it actually take to stay in mission-driven work for the long haul - not three years, not five, but a whole career? In this conversation, I sit down with Kate, a workforce development strategist who's spent nearly two decades working across policy, philanthropy, and the private sector to build more equitable pathways into good jobs. We talk about translating complicated systems into human language, why certain skills will always matter more than what AI can do, and what it really means to build a legacy. Kate leads strategy for a national workforce development organization focused on getting young adults without a four-year degree into good careers. Her path started with two years in AmeriCorps' City Year program working in one of Boston's lowest-performing middle schools - an experience she credits with shaping both who she is and how she approaches the work today.  She's spent her career since translating complex policy and data into language that actually moves people, all while staying deeply intentional about sustainability and self-care in work that could easily consume her. What You'll Learn: ★ Why simplifying language builds more support for a cause than expertise ever will ★ What human skills AI can't replicate, and why they matter more as automation grows ★ How to build a sustainable career in mission-driven work without burning out ★ Why legacy isn't a someday thing, it's built in how you show up today Key Insights: Say the Quiet Part Out Loud Kate's biggest professional lesson: jargon doesn't convince anyone. Whether she's talking about economic mobility or "making America suck less for poor people," the plainer the language, the more people actually invest. The Skills AI Can't Touch As automation reshapes the labor market, Kate points to the deeply human skills - reading a room, gut-checking what feels wrong, navigating conflict - that her young adults are already building through real-world jobs, and why that's an underrated advantage. Sustainability Isn't Optional From her very first job, Kate built boundaries most people don't set until burnout forces them to - no weekend work, protected recharge time, real rest. It's made decades in hard, emotional work possible instead of unsustainable. Legacy Is a Daily Practice When asked what legacy means to her, Kate's answer wasn't about scale or recognition, it was generosity. With time, attention, and money, built one relationship at a time. Timestamps: 00:00 – Reconnecting and introducing Kate 04:00 – What Kate's focused on today 09:00 – Why simple language beats jargon 14:00 – AI, higher ed, and leveling the playing field 22:00 – Starting out in the 2008 recession and AmeriCorps 27:00 – Building a sustainable relationship with work 44:00 – What legacy means to Kate Resources and Links: Book a Clarity Consult: https://www.beldenstrategies.com/clarity [https://www.beldenstrategies.com/clarity] Subscribe to Big Deal Energy, the newsletter for folks navigating what's next: https://www.beldenstrategies.com/newsletter [https://www.beldenstrategies.com/newsletter] Connect with Kristin on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinbelden/?skipRedirect=true]: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinbelden/ Connect with Kate on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/katenaranjo/]: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katenaranjo/ If this conversation resonated, follow the show and leave a review - it helps more folks find these stories! #KindOfABigDeal #WomenInLeadership #CareerEvolution #WorkforceDevelopment #MissionDrivenWork #Nonprofit

When the Job, the Kids, and the Identity All Hit at Once

What happens when a promotion, a pregnancy, and a full identity reckoning all land in the same year? That's where Misty Avila was when this conversation was recorded. VP and Chief Strategy Officer at the James B. McClatchy Foundation. Interim executive director at the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative, brought on to stabilize it through a transition. And expecting her third daughter - right in the middle of realizing, by her own admission, that she didn't feel successful. Not despite the titles - while holding them. That daughter has since arrived. I can't wait for round two so we can hear what has evolved! What You'll Learn ⭐ Why Misty built her own "curriculum" instead of following a traditional path ⭐ What it means to lead a foundation designed to disappear ⭐ The moment she realized she didn't feel successful, even holding two major leadership roles at once ⭐ How motherhood is reshaping her sense of identity, in real time ⭐ Why funding local news by who it reaches matters more than what beat it covers Key Insights The Moment "Successful" Stopped Fitting VP title. Interim ED role. Third child on the way. Misty's own read on herself: not successful. She sits in that, without rushing to fix it. People Are Her Library Not a formal program. Not a degree. Misty's education came from travel, real skills, and real people - a philosophy that still shapes how she leads. A Foundation Built to Disappear The James B. McClatchy Foundation is on a Sunrise plan, intentionally spending down by 2030. Misty on what it takes to trust the work continues without owning it. Resources and Links Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinbelden/  or at https://www.BeldenStrategies.com Book a Clarity Consult: https://www.BeldenStrategies.com/clarityconsult Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: https://www.BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter Connect with Misty on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mistavila/ If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who needed to hear it - and consider leaving a review. It helps more women find these conversations. #careerchange #careerreinvention #womeninmidlife #motherhoodandcareer #philanthropy #localjournalism #centralvalley #womenleadership #legacy #over40 #kindofabigdeal #kristinbelden

What If the Voice You've Been Ignoring Is the One You Should Trust Most?

What does it actually look like to build a life around your truest gifts - not because someone gave you permission, but because you finally stopped waiting for it? Brett Blackburn has been doing exactly that for over 20 years. As a psychic intuitive, channel, Reiki master, and creator of Inspired Light, Brett helps people remove the blockages, limiting beliefs, and inherited programming that have been quietly running their lives, and replaces them with something clearer: access to their own inner knowing. She believes that when you clear what doesn't belong to you, you become your own ultimate guidance system. We talk about what it means to trust that voice before you have proof it's right, why so many women at midlife are finally willing to take action on what they've known all along, and what it looks like to build a business - and a life - that genuinely fits who you are. Plus Brett shares the one simple practice she recommends to anyone who wants to start reconnecting with themselves today. This one will stay with you. What You'll Learn ⭐ How to tell the difference between your intuition and your mental noise ⭐ Why listening is only the first step, and why action is the hardest part ⭐ What it actually means to build a life around your innate gifts ⭐ How to separate other people's energy from your own ⭐ Why midlife women are finally giving themselves permission to trust themselves ⭐ One simple daily practice to reconnect to your highest vibration Key Insights The Voice Has Always Been There Brett trusted her inner knowing from a young age - through a spiritual calling, a year in Europe, and a deliberate pivot away from the "responsible" path. Her lesson: that voice never led her astray. The question isn't whether it's there. It's whether you're willing to trust it. Listening, Trusting, Acting Most people actually receive the messages more than they think. What stops them is the second and third step: trusting what they heard, and then actually doing the thing. Brett calls this the real work, and the hardest part isn't hearing the voice. It's moving on it. Your Energy Has Boundaries. Start Treating It That Way. As an empath or highly sensitive person, absorbing other people's energy isn't inevitable - it's often a boundaries issue. Brett explains how keeping your energy in your own space (and everyone else's in theirs) is actually what allows you to connect more deeply, not less. Midlife Women Are Finally Giving Themselves Permission Brett is seeing a clear pattern in the women coming to her right now: after years of accumulating evidence that listening to themselves works, they're finally willing to act on it. Not because life got easier, but because they've run out of reasons to keep waiting. Legacy Is Who You Show Up As Every Day For Brett, legacy isn't what you leave behind. It's about fully, genuinely embodying your most authentic self and glowing that out into the world. Everything else follows from that. Timestamps 00:00 Intro: meet Brett — psychic intuitive, channel, and Reiki master 02:15 "Quick suit to psychic" — how Brett found her path 05:08 Trusting your inner knowing from a young age 07:22 It's not always a voice — the four clairs explained 09:12 Tracking your intuition: a practice for building trust 10:09 Building Inspired Light — the early days 13:07 What it feels like to build around your truest gifts 18:14 "Do I stay or do I go?" — how Brett helps people navigate stuck jobs 19:37 The client who got fired — and why it was the biggest blessing 23:26 Reiki as a gateway — and Brett's own formula 25:15 The season Brett is in now: family, balance, and new offerings 28:49 Parenting with intention — giving kids tools to come back to themselves 33:16 The Essentials Class: grounding, boundaries, and clearing energy 38:29 Separating other people's energy from yours 39:07 Energy, empaths, and why boundaries are the real answer 44:48 Awareness changes everything — even before you do anything else 47:46 What Brett is hearing from midlife women right now 50:09 Permission — the word that keeps coming up 54:25 The one daily practice Brett recommends 55:59 The legacy question Resources and Links Connect with Brett Blackburn and learn more about Inspired Light: https://beinspiredlight.com/ Find Brett's newest offering, The Essentials: https://go.beinspiredlight.com/theessentials Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinbelden/ or at https://www.BeldenStrategies.com Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: https://www.BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who needed to hear it - and consider leaving a review. It helps more women find these conversations. #intuition #innerknowing #womeninmidlife #psychicintuitive #energyhealing #reiki #selfpermission #midlifewomen #womenleadership #authenticself #over40 #kindofabigdeal #kristinbelden

You Don't Need 20 Years of Experience to Lead with Wisdom

What if the clearest leadership lessons don't come from decades in the corner office, but from paying close attention while you're still early in the climb? Savannah graduated into the pandemic with no real plan, found her way into chamber work almost by accident, and has spent the years since becoming the kind of person everyone in the room trusts - wise well beyond her years, with a steady presence that grounds people around her.  She's just stepped into an expanded role at the Sac Metro Chamber, where she's spent years helping build the very community and leadership programs that shaped her own path, including Leadership Sacramento, the program where she and Kristin first met. We talk about what it's like to build a career and a real sense of community when the ground keeps shifting under you, the leadership lessons she's collected from watching mentors up close, the power of reframing your story instead of just telling it, and what legacy means when you're still early enough in your career to be figuring it out in real time. What You'll Learn ⭐ Why you don't need decades of experience to lead with real wisdom ⭐ How to build community and confidence when everything around you keeps changing ⭐ Why reframing your story matters as much as the story itself ⭐ How watching leaders up close can shape your own leadership style faster than any class ⭐ What it means to be a thoughtful observer instead of always rushing to react ⭐ How to start defining legacy even when you don't have it all figured out yet Key Insights Wisdom Doesn't Require Decades Savannah graduated into the pandemic with no map for what came next. The uncertainty that could have stunted her actually accelerated her growth, forcing her to communicate, lead, and carry herself with a maturity people twice her age often haven't found yet. Watching Leaders Up Close Teaches What Classes Can't From her first director who made sure to give credit and create safe space to make mistakes, to chairs who modeled decisiveness and joy, Savannah has built her own leadership style by collecting small lessons from everyone around her. Reframing Your Story Changes How You Move Through the World Savannah has made it a practice to focus on the positive in everyday moments - not avoiding what's hard, but choosing what she carries forward from it. It's a habit she's still building, one rooted in genuine self-awareness rather than forced positivity. Being a Thoughtful Observer Is a Leadership Skill, Not a Weakness Savannah has learned to sit back, take things in, and form her own assessment before jumping in. Far from indecision, it's become one of her clearest leadership strengths. Legacy Can Start Before You Have It All Figured Out Savannah doesn't have her legacy mapped out yet, and she's at peace with that. For her, it starts simply: having a positive impact on the people and community around her, and trusting that the rest will reveal itself with time. Timestamps 00:00 Intro: meet Savannah and her new role at the Sac Metro Chamber 02:16 Stepping into an expanded leadership role 03:28 Finding her way into chamber work almost by accident 06:17 What she's learned about her own leadership by watching others 08:01 Sacramento's identity and why people show up for each other here 14:44 Graduating into a pandemic and what it cost her generation 22:38 Why you don't have to have it all figured out 23:35 From media and journalism to storytelling at the chamber 28:49 Reframing your story instead of just telling it 33:01 The leadership lessons she's collected from mentors 37:12 What four years of Leadership Sacramento cohorts have taught her 43:11 The question that wasn't on her résumé 46:10 The legacy question Resources and Links Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinbelden/ Or at https://www.beldenstrategies.com/ Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: https://www.beldenstrategies.com/newsletter Connect with Savannah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/savannah-fox/ If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who needed to hear it - and consider leaving a review. It helps more women find these conversations. #careerchange #womeninmidlife #leadership #youngprofessionals #womenleadership #careerreinvention #earlycareer #buildingcommunity #legacy #over40 #kindofabigdeal #kristinbelden

You Don't Need a Plan to Start Over. You Need Permission to Choose Yourself.

What does it actually take to build a life and a business that are actually yours, not just impressive on paper? Jen Baxter has rebuilt her career three times: eight years in health insurance, a job in book publishing that ended on a Zoom call, and now her own business helping nonfiction authors build their audience on Substack.  Along the way she's had to figure out what stability even means when the ground keeps shifting, how AI upended the copywriting world she'd just landed in, and why the version of herself she'd been performing for everyone else wasn't actually who she was. We talk about the pause that comes before every real reinvention, the martyr role she played for years without knowing it had a name, what it means to build something creatively instead of just profitably, and the identity work she didn't know she needed. If you've ever felt the quiet tug of "maybe there's something else," this conversation is for you. 🔗 Get clarity on your own next move: beldenstrategies.com/clarityconsult What You'll Learn ⭐ Why "stability" doesn't mean what it used to ⭐ How to recognize when you're playing a role nobody actually asked you to play ⭐ Why the pause before your next chapter is the work, not a delay from it ⭐ How to know when you're building a business that's actually yours versus one that's just familiar ⭐ Why creative fulfillment matters as much as the financial plan ⭐ How to do the identity work that actually changes what you're capable of building Key Insights Stability Isn't What It Used to Be After watching her company collapse on a Zoom call, Jen realized chasing a "stable" job might be riskier than building her own thing. The old rules about safety don't hold the way they used to. The Pause Isn't Empty. It's Where the Choosing Happens Jen didn't rush back into stability after either major life disruption. She let herself stop, even when stopping felt like falling behind, because moving forward without first asking what she actually wanted would have just rebuilt the same life again. The Martyr Role Often Gets Praised Right Into Place Jen spent years as the one who "had it handled" while caretaking for sick parents — a role she didn't choose so much as absorb, partly because the people around her kept thanking her for carrying it. Building a Business Creatively Matters as Much as Building It Profitably Jen realized she'd been setting up her work to protect the parts that feel creatively alive to her, not just the parts that are easiest to scale. That distinction, more than any strategy, is what makes the business sustainable for her. Timestamps  00:00 Intro: meet Jen, three careers and three reinventions in  03:12 The Zoom call layoff that changed everything  08:18 How AI upended the copywriting job market overnight  09:58 What "stability" even means anymore  13:00 The power of the pause  18:51 Bali: realizing it's a choice, not a sentence  21:09 The uncoiling — letting go of who you had to be  24:00 The martyr role nobody asked her to play  27:43 Learning to live — and build a business — creatively  36:07 What is your "enough"?  37:47 Oxford, writing, and the identity she almost missed  44:17 NLP, belief work, and the fear of being left behind  53:17 The legacy question Resources and Links Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinbelden/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinbelden/] Or at https://www.BeldenStrategies.com [https://www.BeldenStrategies.com] Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: https://www.BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter [https://www.BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter] Connect with Jen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenbaxter/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenbaxter/] Sign up for her Substack: https://jenbaxter.substack.com/ [https://jenbaxter.substack.com/] If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who needed to hear it, and consider leaving a review. It helps more women find these conversations! #careerchange #careerreinvention #womeninmidlife #permissiontochooseyourself #burnoutrecovery #creativeentrepreneurship #midlifecareerpivot #womenleadership #buildingyourownbusiness #substackstrategy #aiandwork #womeninbusiness #legacy #over40 #kindofabigdeal #kristinbelden