Jessica King: Trauma at Work, Overhelping & Why Being Capable Can Become a Trap

Send us Fan MailA throwaway workplace comment — “the boss’s shiny new toy” — cracks open a much bigger truth: many of us are not chasing excellence, we are chasing safety.In this episode of Women Like Me Stories & Business, Julie Fairhurst sits down with Jessica King, a licensed social worker, speaker, and founder of Elder Care Collaborative, for a powerful conversation about trauma, identity, burnout, workplace patterns, and the hidden cost of always being capable.Jessica shares how trauma adaptations often get rewarded at work: hypervigilance that looks like leadership, people pleasing that passes as teamwork, emotional suppression disguised as professionalism, and overworking that earns applause until your nervous system finally taps out.We talk about Jessica’s own turning point after a job loss during COVID triggered an identity crisis and panic attack, and we name the kind of exhaustion that sleep cannot fix. This conversation also explores blame as part of grief, “pathological hope” for an apology that may never come, and how forgiveness can bring peace without excusing harm or tolerating unprofessional behavior.Jessica also shares the powerful “rock” metaphor for generational trauma and offers practical tools for boundaries, overhelping, and overexplaining. Then we shift to her work with Elder Care Collaborative, where she supports families with elder care navigation, Medicare education, advocacy, and care coordination, especially women in the sandwich generation who are balancing careers, children, and aging parents.If you have ever been praised for being strong, dependable, productive, or endlessly helpful while quietly falling apart inside, this episode will speak directly to you.Subscribe to Women Like Me Stories & Business for more conversations about healing, resilience, business, caregiving, leadership, and the stories that help women rise.Connect with Jessica:www.eldercarecollaborativepa.carehttps://www.facebook.com/eldercarecollaborative/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-king-msw-lsw-4ba724187/If this conversation stirred something in you… good. That’s where change begins.Make sure you’re subscribed, share this with someone who needs it, and if you’re ready to tell your story, step into your voice, or build a life that actually feels like yours… You’re in the right place.I’m Julie Fairhurst, and this is where stories turn into power.Go to my website if you would like to be a guest on the Women Like Me Stories & Business in the toolbar click Let's PodcastJulie's Website