This Is Woman's Work with Nicole Kalil

Katrina McGhee, a certified master coach and author of Taking a Career Break for Dummies, shares her insights on the transformative power of planned sabbaticals. She reveals how taking intentional breaks can rejuvenate both personal and professional life, offering a radical alternative to hustle culture. Katrina discusses strategies for a successful sabbatical, including setting clear intentions and fully disconnecting from work. Her personal journey of traveling the world for 20 months underscores the potential for joy and fulfillment that comes with taking a step back.

Daphne Delvaux, founder of Delvaux Law and known as The Mamattorney, tackles the chaotic landscape of parental leave in the U.S. She reveals legal protections many are unaware of and how to navigate them effectively. Daphne discusses the outdated stigma that motherhood detracts from professional dedication and advocates for equitable parenting responsibilities. She offers practical advice for expecting parents on preparing for leave without jeopardizing their careers while calling for a societal shift to support all parents equally.

Feeling scattered, anxious, or like your brain’s been hijacked by push notifications and endless scrolling? You’re not alone.  This week, we’re diving into the digital chaos with anxiety and OCD specialist Jennie Ketcham Crooks, founder of the West Coast Anxiety Clinic, who’s helping us understand what our devices are doing to our minds… and what we can do to reclaim our focus, peace, and power. Jennie brings clinical expertise, research experience, and guest spots on everything from Oprah to The View — and offers a smart, practical path to digital detoxing that doesn’t involve tossing your phone in a lake or moving to a cabin in the woods. We unpack: How your phone is rewiring your brain (yes, really) Signs it’s time for a digital reset — and how to actually do it Why tech isn’t the enemy (but your habits might be) What boundaries actually work — and what makes them stick How to return to you — the you that exists offline This isn’t about demonizing tech. It’s about creating space — space to think clearly, feel deeply, and live intentionally. And if that’s not woman’s work, then what is? Connect with Jennie:  Website: https://westcoastanxiety.com/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/becomingjennie/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/jennie.ketcham Related Podcast Episodes: Digital Decluttering: How to Make Tech Your Assistant, Not Your Adversary with Amanda Jefferson | 312 Your Guide to a More Organized & Intentional Life with Shira Gill | 304 Women, Addiction and Recovery with Patti Clark | 324 Share the Love: If you found this episode insightful, please share it with a friend, tag us on social media, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform! 🔗 Subscribe & Review:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you know if your truth is really yours? In this episode of This Is Woman’s Work, we’re diving into the murky waters of brainwashing, mind control, and hyper-persuasion—because your thoughts might not be as independent as you think. We're talking psychological manipulation, eerie government-funded experiments, and the sneaky, modern ways we’re influenced every damn day—by our feeds, our leaders, even our well-meaning friends. Our guest is Harvard historian Rebecca Lemov, author of The Instability of Truth. She brings the receipts—tracing the roots of brainwashing, the science (and pseudoscience) behind behavioral control, and why we’re more persuadable than we’d like to admit. From Cold War experiments to TikTok trends, Rebecca helps us understand how easily truth can be distorted—and what to do about it. Because if you’ve ever reposted without thinking, felt weirdly pressured to agree, or just wondered, “wait, is that true?”—this episode is for you. Connect with Rebecca:  Book: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324075264  IG: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccalemov/  X: https://x.com/rlemov?lang=en  Related Podcast Episodes: How To Rewire Patterns That No Longer Serve You with Judy Wilkins-Smith | 323 Unmasking AI with Dr. Joy Buolamwini | 259 Pants On Fire (The Truth About Lying) with Lauren Handel Zander | 219 Share the Love: If you found this episode insightful, please share it with a friend, tag us on social media, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform! 🔗 Subscribe & Review:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maybe women aren’t bad at friendship — maybe we’ve just been handed a model that doesn’t actually work. One that expects perfection, constant connection, and a whole lot of emotional labor... without any room for evolution, conflict, or change. In this episode, we’re questioning that model and taking a deeper look at how friendship has changed — historically, culturally, and personally — with cultural historian Tiffany Watt Smith. Together, we explore how women have been portrayed as bad friends (by the media and by society), and how we’ve quietly been redefining friendship on our own terms. We talk about why friendship dips are normal, why disagreements aren’t deal-breakers, and why being a “bad friend” might actually be a sign that you’re showing up in a real, honest, human way. Because the goal isn’t friendship that looks perfect from the outside. It’s friendship that can bend, stretch, shift, and still hold. This conversation is part history lesson, part gut check, and all about rebuilding our relationships on something real. Connect with Tiffany:  Book: https://celadonbooks.com/book/bad-friend-tiffany-watt-smith/ Substack: https://thefuturefeeling.substack.com/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/tiffanywattsmith/  X: https://x.com/drtiffwattsmith?lang=en  Related Podcast Episodes: Normalize It: Breaking The Silence & Shame That Shape Women’s Lives with Dr. Jessica Zucker | 303 133 / Making Friends As An Adult with Danielle McCombs The Small And The Mighty with Sharon McMahon | 247 Share the Love: If you found this episode insightful, please share it with a friend, tag us on social media, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform! 🔗 Subscribe & Review:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Burnout isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the sneaky saboteur that turns high-achieving women into crispy, joy-depleted zombies. And yes, I’ve been there (ask 2022 me, she was a whole damn dumpster fire). Cait Donovan was the voice of reason I didn’t know I needed then—and she’s BACK. Cait Donovan is one of the few voices in the burnout space who doesn’t just talk the talk—she’s done the deep work, and now helps others do the same. She blends biobehavioral sciences with the ancient wisdom of Chinese Medicine to address burnout at the root, not just slap a self-care bandaid on it. Cait is the host of FRIED. The Burnout Podcast, an in-demand keynote speaker, and the author of The Bouncebackability Factor, and she’s been helping high performers get honest with themselves for years. Whether you’re on the edge, fully engulfed, or just tired of white-knuckling it through your calendar—this one’s for you. Because you deserve to feel lit up... not burned out. Connect with Cait:  Website: https://caitdonovan.com Podcast: https://friedtheburnoutpodcast.com Freebie: https://caitdonovan.com/freebie-web Related Podcast Episodes: 107 / Burnout with Cait Donovan The Ambition Trap with Amina AITai | 309 Perfectionist Burnout with Dr. Tiffany Moon | 306 Share the Love: If you found this episode insightful, please share it with a friend, tag us on social media, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform! 🔗 Subscribe & Review:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’ve ever been told to “fake it till you make it” or to “good things come to those who wait” and felt an overwhelming urge to roll your eyes… this one’s for you. In this episode, we’re calling BS on the workplace mantras that sound empowering but actually keep women small, silent, and spinning their wheels. Bonnie Hammer — Vice Chair of NBCUniversal, legendary executive behind hits like Suits and Mr. Robot, and author of 15 Lies Women Are Told At Work — joins us to break down the real cost of these so-called “truths.” From corporate clichés to career gaslighting, we talk about the lies that sound like wisdom, the advice that’s anything but helpful, and the power of rewriting the rules on your own terms. Because the workplace wasn’t built with women in mind — which means following the rules will only take you so far. And sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is unlearn everything you’ve been told. Connect with Bonnie:  Website: www.bonnie-hammer.com Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/15-Lies-Women-Are-Told-at-Work/Bonnie-Hammer/9781668027615 Related Podcast Episodes: The Broken Rung: When The Career Ladder Breaks For Women with Kweilin Ellingrud | 291 The Resilience Myth with Soraya Chemaly | 249 How To Know When It’s Time to Quit with Goli Kalkhoran | 266 Share the Love: If you found this episode insightful, please share it with a friend, tag us on social media, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform! 🔗 Subscribe & Review:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this insightful discussion, Naketa Ren Thigpen, a Balance and Relationship Advisor and author of *Selfish: Permission to Pause*, challenges the stigma around selfishness, especially for women. She explores the importance of intentional self-care, emphasizing that setting boundaries is vital for well-being. Naketa shares practical strategies for reclaiming joy and personal fulfillment, advocating that prioritizing oneself fuels generosity towards others. The conversation highlights the transformative power of being 'selfish' in nurturing personal desires.

Let’s be honest — teamwork is hard. Especially when people have different communication styles, priorities, and let’s just say it... egos. But emotionally intelligent teams don’t just magically fall into place — they’re intentionally built, brick by sweaty brick. Dr. Vanessa Druskat joins us to break it all down. She’s a globally recognized expert on team performance and emotional intelligence, and her new book, The Emotionally Intelligent Team, is basically the manual we all should’ve been handed before our first group project… or leadership role. Vanessa explains why individual emotional intelligence isn’t enough — and why it’s the team’s collective practices that matter most. We talk about what high-performing, collaborative teams actually do differently, how to create group norms that drive trust and accountability, and why "getting along" is way less important than knowing how to navigate conflict. No more crossing fingers and hoping for chemistry. Want a team that performs and actually likes working together? This one’s for you. Connect with Vanessa:  Website: Vanessadruskat.com    LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-druskat-aa7822/ Book: https://www.vanessadruskat.com/books-1 Related Podcast Episodes: How To Build Emotionally Mature Leaders with Dr. Christie Smith | 272 The Sixth Level Of Leadership with Dr. Stacy Feiner | 236 196 / Energizing Your Team Through Radical Empathy with Erin Diehl Share the Love: If you found this episode insightful, please share it with a friend, tag us on social media, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform! 🔗 Subscribe & Review:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Kathryn Valentine, the dynamic CEO of Worthmore Strategies, as she reshapes the conversation around negotiation, networking, and asserting 'no'. With her expertise in empowering women in the corporate world, she discusses how saying no is essential for personal and professional growth. Kathryn also shares a powerful list of 76 negotiable items that can redefine workplace interactions. She emphasizes authenticity and collaboration, urging women to embrace their worth and confidently navigate their careers. This dialogue is all about taking charge without apologies!