Episode 9: What If Your Worth Isn’t Tied to Your Work? (with Emma Sharma)

What happens when achievement becomes part of your identity? In this episode of What Even Is This?, Jane Doerman and Jordan Johnstone sit down with leadership coach Emma Sharma to unpack a question many high-achieving women quietly wrestle with: What if your worth isn’t tied to your productivity? For working moms and ambitious professionals, the pressure to constantly perform can make rest feel uncomfortable—and contentment feel like settling. But what if the constant striving isn’t actually where our value comes from? Through an honest “question spiral,” Jane, Jordan, and Emma explore how achievement subtly becomes tied to identity, why it’s so difficult to believe we’re already enough, and what it might look like to lead, parent, and live from a place of authenticity instead of pressure. They also dive into how hustle culture impacts women, why stillness can feel so challenging, and how reconnecting with who we are beneath titles and to-do lists can reshape the way we show up in work, leadership, and family life. Plus, Emma joins the hosts for a rapid-fire round of Unqualified Advice, sharing everything from her definition of rest to the belief about success she wishes we’d all throw in the trash. If you’ve ever felt like you had to earn your worth through achievement, this conversation will resonate.   In This Episode: • Why achievement often becomes part of our identity • The hidden cost of always needing to “do” in order to feel valuable • Why contentment feels uncomfortable for ambitious women • How hustle culture shapes our view of success • What we might discover if we stopped striving—even briefly • Why authenticity starts with asking: What do I actually want? Connect With the Podcast Have a moment where you thought “What even is this?!” Send us your chaotic, messy, or hilarious life stories—they might be featured in a future episode. Email: [email protected] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewhatevenisthispodcast/ About the Show What Even Is This? is a podcast for women navigating adulthood in real time—working, parenting, believing, doubting, achieving, unraveling, and trying to make sense of it all. We’re not experts. We’re not pretending to have it together. We’re just asking the questions everyone else is thinking. Because life is messy, chaos is real, and sometimes the only honest response is: WHAT EVEN IS THIS?