Episodes

I know very few women who don’t struggle with saying ‘no’ – especially in a professional environment. It’s often instinctual for us to want to say and do the right thing so that we can preserve our reputations, do good work, and make the people around us happy. But when does the tendency to always say yes bring us farther away from our goals? The more we say yes on autopilot, the more we risk frustration, burnout, and feeling like we’re not embodying our full authenticity by speaking and sharin...

Self-confidence can be one of the most important, and also one of the most elusive feelings that we pursue in our lives and our careers. We all want to feel strong, powerful, and at ease each day in our jobs. We’ve tried the power poses and the tips and tricks around building confidence, and while these confidence hacks might give us a temporary boost, we are often left back at square one, feeling like we haven’t made much progress. So what’s missing here? Why is it such a struggle to cultivate...

Life can be hard, and it’s nearly impossible for our careers not to feel the strain of the challenges that so often arise in our personal lives. But the amazing thing is – we can choose how we want to move through personal challenges that impact our careers, and we can decide to focus our energy and efforts on finding professional success and fulfillment despite our struggles. And if you want a playbook on how to do this, Rachel’s story has you covered. Rachel tells the story of building a suc...

If I had to boil women’s empowerment down to just one thing, it would be mindset. In my view, mindset is the swiss army knife of any career challenge – because when your mindset is right, you can find the solution to virtually any problem. Today’s guest, Tasha Thomas, talks all about how mindset how propelled her through her career, starting out as an intern and now propelling her to the leadership position that she holds today. She talks about everything from building confidence to how to kno...

In today’s BONUS episode, I talk about why it is perfectly OK not to be the loudest, boldest, or most talkative person in the room. In fact - your introversion can serve you well in the workplace - you just need to learn to harness it! In this episode, I explain how to begin tapping into your unique introvert superpowers.

This week I chat with Nicole Martins all about her career journey in the legal field. Nicole opens up about how some of her personal struggles impacted the course of her career, and we talk about how she remained strong and focused throughout her professional journey, even as she encountered major roadblocks and barriers. You’ll also hear us talk about: How to manage personal challenges that spill over into work Getting through work while grieving the loss of parents Seeing that career and f...

Join the facebook group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/theartofspeakingup/ This week’s episode is a solo episode, where I explore the emergence of my inner critic both in my career and in my creation of this very podcast. As part of this exploration, I unpack the ways in which internalized misogyny has hardened my inner critic and caused me to direct a very viscous kind of hatred inwards, towards myself. I share what I’ve been learning from this experience, how I plan to dismantle my inner ...

This week I chatted with Regina Romeo about her career in HR and everything she’s learned along the way about salary negotiation. Regina and I talked about the mental side of negotiation in addition to the tools and tactics of salary negotiation. In this conversation we cover: How to prepare to negotiate salary How to collect information prior to discussing salary so that you are prepared and informed Why it’s normal to be nervous or stressed to negotiate salary How to frame salary negotiati...

This week, I’m talking with a childhood best friend of mine and landscape architect, Alexia Friend. In this episode, Alexia shares all about how she learned to manage her workload without sacrificing her dedication to her work and while still being a top performer at the architecture firm that she works at. In this episode we chat about: Pushing back against too much work Work like balance Time management How to communicate with maturity and leadership How to strategically push back with yo...

This week I chatted with career coach Meg Duffy about the work she does helping women make career transitions. Meg specializes in helping women build and grow careers in tech, and supports her clients on a practical and an emotional level as they chart the next steps in their careers. In this conversation we hit on: How to break down big career transitions into smaller steps How impostor syndrome, fear, and anxiety can make career growth challenging and how to build confidence over time How t...

Today I’m chatting with licensed therapist, Risha London Nathan, about her work as a therapist and how she supports female clients through some of the professional challenges that they encounter. Risha share advice and practical insights based on her years of training and experience, and in this episode we talk about: Why it can be difficult to ask for what we need and assert boundaries How fear of not being good enough can manifest professionally The importance self-acceptance and acknowledg...

This week I chatted with Helen Foster about toxic masculinity in the workplace. Our conversation was recorded back in September in the midst of the Brett Kavanaugh hearing, so toxic masculinity was thick in the air around us and fueled this conversation on a very important topic. In this conversation we talk about: What toxic male behavior in the workplace can look like How it can make us feel What to do if you are dealing with a toxic male coworker or work culture Why disrespectful coworke...

In this solo episode, I talk about why it can be so hard for us to be ourselves at work. We often contort our personalities or expend large amounts of energy trying to be the perfect persona at work, and we blame ourselves and turn self-critical when we fail to live up to this standard. In this episode I talk about why it’s not just okay to be and feel awkward and different at work – but why letting ALL aspects of your personality shine is critical to becoming the most powerful version of yours...

This week, I talk with women’s empowerment coach Lainey Crawford about moving through feelings of shyness and letting more of yourself show at work. Like myself, Lainey knows like what it is like to get stuck in silence and struggle to bring one’s ideas and uniqueness to the world around us. In this episode we talk about: How shyness and feelings of smallness can manifest in work and life Techniques for moving through them Feminine styles of leadership and communication How to get comfortabl...

Samantha Siffring is a business coach who works with working moms who are growing their online businesses. Overwhelm and mental drama is an area she is deeply familiar with, and in this conversation, Samantha shares the tools and tactics that she uses with herself and with clients to help manage feelings of overwhelm, and to prevent overwhelm from spiraling into even deeper overwhelm and even panic (as it so often does for many of us) In this conversation we talk about: The ‘mental drama’ side...

CEO turned life coach Brenda Baird unpacks why we feel anxiety, stress, and unhappiness at work. She talks about how our internal monologue can make difficult situations feel even harder for us, and how our fears and insecurities can catabolize challenges into stress and anxiety. We also cover: What burnout looks like and why it happens How fear and our insecurities can amplify stress and anxiety How self-sabotage can show up at work Inner critics and how they impact our work Why we seek ex...

Whether it’s a frustrating project, a co-worker you don’t get along with, or just mental exhaustion – this conversation with Courtney dives into why we find ourselves feeling agitated and on edge some days at work. Courtney Clifford is a facilitator, coach, kundalini yoga & meditation teacher based in NYC. She is the founder of TRUE, a transformative experiential development company that generates increased inner awareness through a blend of yogic science, practical energetic philosophy and tec...

This episode is all about pursuing your career goals without hesitation. Britt’s story of landing a coveted tech role without an engineering degree or prior experience is proof that opportunities that might seem out of reach are often more attainable than we might think. In this episode, Britt and I chat about: How Britt landed a role in tech without an engineering degree or any prior tech experience How Britt ramped up and built confidence in her new role, despite being less experienced than...

We need more female leaders in Corporate America, which means that as women, dreaming big for ourselves is not just fun, but actually critical to closing the corporate gender gap. In this episode, Jess discusses what it means to be ambitious and why it’s so important for ambitious women to not sell themselves short in terms of what they want for their careers. She discusses: Why it can feel scary and even uncomfortable to want something big for yourself Why we sometimes don’t allow ourselves ...

~~ Want to submit a listener question to be answered on the show? DM @theartofspeakingup on Instagram or email jessica@theartofspeakingup.com ~~ In this conversation, Carrie covers some of the key tenets behind achieving happiness and productivity in work and in life. Carrie and I chatted about: Why our brains can get stuck in negative mode, and how to reorient our thinking towards the positive How to build confidence when we’re feeling low Why criticism can sting so much and leave more of a...

~~ Want to submit a listener question to be answered on the show? DM @theartofspeakingup on Instagram or email jessica@theartofspeakingup.com ~~ Job searching can be tough. It is time consuming, at times discouraging, and can often put our self-esteem to the test. This is why I was so excited to sit down and chat with job-search coach Shea O’Dell Scott – not just about the process itself, but about the difficult feelings that job searching and interviewing can often elicit. Shea has built a su...

Once upon a time, before smartphones were the norm, my employer gave me a Blackberry phone so that I could check email on the go. Did you know that Blackberries have a tiny little light that blinks red every time an email comes in? And remember, this was my work phone, so in my case - the little light blinked red every time a work email came in. My job was high-pressure, rapid-fire, and very demanding - which meant that the red blinky light blinked often, and with a distinct aura of urgency. ...

I remember getting feedback early on in my career that told me that I needed to learn to be more assertive. I also remember being confused and uncomfortable around the idea of assertiveness. What exactly did this mean? How and when was I supposed to do it? And most importantly, why did it feel so foreign and uncomfortable for me? Assertiveness is a complex, multi-layered topic – especially for many women. In this conversation with Kourtney, we dive deep into a very important piece of the assert...

Speaking in front of groups can be not only challenging – but for many of us, it can be extremely anxiety inducing. I know how frustrating and debilitating it can be to feel deeply uncomfortable at the thought of getting up in front of groups – I’ve been there! In this episode, I chat all about the fear of public speaking with Olivia Mitchell. Olivia is a speaking coach who believes that even the shyest and most afraid person can get more comfortable with this over time. If you’re anything li...