1. Welcome to Hard at Work

Welcome to the Hard at Work podcast — where we say the quiet part out loud about today's workplaces. I'm your host, Ellen Whitlock Baker, a leadership coach, speaker, and 20-year survivor of everything from toxic jobs to leadership burnout. In this very first episode, I share why I created Hard at Work: to challenge outdated workplace norms, explore how the system fails so many of us, and help you advocate for yourself without guilt or burnout. You'll hear a bit of my story, why work nearly broke me, and how we can start making change — for ourselves and each other. If you’ve ever been called "too much" or felt like the problem is you (spoiler: it’s not), you're in the right place.