This Will Get Loud Podcast

May you be well.May you be happy.May you be free from suffering. Get full access to This Will Get Loud Substack at thiswillgetloudmag.substack.com/subscribe

Somewhere along the way, many of us learned to manage our joy.To soften it.To make it more appropriate.Less obvious.Less… enthusiastic.But dogs never got that memo.Pick up a leash and a dog will celebrate like you just announced the arrival of spring. Tail wagging, spinning, full-body delight. No hesitation. No self-editing. Just pure, embodied joy.In this episode of This Will Get Loud, we explore what dogs instinctively understand about enthusiasm and why so many spiritual traditions quietly agree with them.From the Psalms calling people to praise through dancing, to Jewish teachings about simcha (joy) as a spiritual responsibility, to Islamic traditions of embodied gratitude, to Zen’s invitation to experience a moment fully without commentary—these paths point to something surprisingly unified.Joy isn’t frivolous.Joy is a form of attention.Joy is participation in the sacredness of the moment.And yet many of us - especially as adults, especially as parents - learn to brace ourselves even when something good happens. We mute our excitement as a way of protecting ourselves from disappointment.Dogs don’t do that.They don’t dilute joy just because it might not last.They don’t edit their delight to appear composed.They simply let the moment be good.This episode is an invitation to notice how deeply interconnected our spiritual traditions actually are—and how often the wisdom they offer shows up in the most ordinary places.Sometimes in prayer.Sometimes in scripture.And sometimes in a dog losing their mind because you picked up a leash. Get full access to This Will Get Loud Substack at thiswillgetloudmag.substack.com/subscribe

I interviewed Lyndsay Dowd this week on This Will Get Loud, and she said something that lodged itself in my chest:“Trust is your currency.”I lead inside a high-volume fertility clinic.We live in numbers.Consult targets.Cycle starts.Cancellation rates.Conversion.Performance.There is nothing abstract about our KPIs. Families are waiting on the other side of them.So when someone says “lead with heart,” I feel a reflex rise in me.Yes, but.Yes, but we have quotas.Yes, but patients are counting on us.Yes, but this is medicine. This is serious.And yet.I have also worked in environments where you wake up at 2am wondering if you sent the right email.Where your shoulders live somewhere near your ears.Where performance is driven by fear instead of belief.Those places don’t outperform.They exhaust.Lyndsay talks about the difference between a leader who walks in like the new sheriff in town and one who goes on a listening tour.One demands loyalty.The other earns trust.The irony? The second one wins.Every time.Performance vs. HeartbeatIn healthcare, especially fertility, we talk constantly about performance culture.But here’s what I’m noticing:When someone feels psychologically safe…When they feel seen…When they are celebrated publicly for doing something well…They don’t slack.They lean in.One of Lyndsay’s stories stuck with me: a leader who left Post-it notes on desks after great calls.Not a bonus.Not a policy change.A Post-it.And it changed the room.Because people want to be seen.I think about that a lot lately.Not just as a manager.As a woman.As someone approaching 50.As someone who has worn a lot of identities over the years and is asking quietly, What’s mine now?Reinvention Is Not RecklessLyndsay was fired at 50.She thought her career was over.Instead, she built Heartbeat for Hire.She talks about career security vs. job security.You don’t own your job.You can own your voice.That one hit.Because I think many of us — especially women — were taught to be grateful, steady, responsible.Do the job well.Don’t rattle the cage.Keep the peace.But there comes a point where you realize:You can do that… and still shrink.Reinvention isn’t blowing up your life.It’s remembering yourself inside it.The Dinner Table TestHere’s the line that might haunt me most:“When you become a leader, you become the topic of someone’s dinner conversation.”Oof.What are they saying?* Do they feel respected?* Micromanaged?* Ignored?* Inspired?At home, my kids talk about teachers this way.At work, our staff talk about physicians this way.In corporate life, employees talk about executives this way.Leadership is not theoretical.It echoes.The ShiftThis year, I’ve been letting the Ohio part of me back out.Talking to the barista.Complimenting the grocery clerk.Celebrating someone’s LinkedIn win without irony.It feels small.It is not small.Culture is not built in keynote speeches.It is built in tone.In micro-behaviors.In whether someone feels like headcount or heartbeat.We still need performance.We still need metrics.We still need discipline.But fear is not a growth strategy.Trust is.And trust, apparently, is earned one Post-it at a time.If you’ve worked for a leader who changed your trajectory - what did they do?And if you’re leading right now…What would your team say about you at dinner tonight?To learn more about Lyndsay or to work with her, you can book a call with her here. Get full access to This Will Get Loud Substack at thiswillgetloudmag.substack.com/subscribe

What if the problem isn’t you… but the career you built to survive instead of to belong?In this episode of This Will Get Loud, Sara sits down with author and career guide Kendra Court to talk about the quiet panic many mid-career women feel but rarely say out loud: Is this really it?Together, they unpack the idea of the “career trap” how so many of us followed the rules, climbed the ladder, did everything right… only to wake up decades later feeling stuck, misaligned, or burned out by work that no longer fits who we are now.Kendra shares her clarity-to-change approach, blending practical strategy with inner wisdom, values, and yes, a little woo. They talk about:* Why fulfillment changes as we move through motherhood, midlife, and identity shifts* The difference between prestige and alignment* How saying no can actually create space for the right opportunity* Why chasing jobs to be “chosen” drains us, and what it looks like to reclaim agency instead* How to think about bridge jobs, values, and sustainable work without abandoning yourselfThis conversation is for anyone who has ever thought:“I should be grateful… so why does this feel wrong?”“I’ve invested too much time and money to change now.”“I want work that fits the life I actually have.”If your career feels like a rock in your shoe and you’ve been trying to ignore it, this episode offers language, permission, and a softer, braver way forward.🎧 Listen in if you’re ready to stop forcing what no longer fits and start listening to what’s asking for your attention.***If you’re interested in learning more about the work Kendra does or you would like to hire her to help find the work you were meant to do, you can visit her website here. Get full access to This Will Get Loud Substack at thiswillgetloudmag.substack.com/subscribe

Burnout, parenting, and the quiet grace of starting over. After approaching the holidays burned out and getting sick, I reflect on morning as a spiritual reset, motherhood, and what it means to begin again without apology. Get full access to This Will Get Loud Substack at thiswillgetloudmag.substack.com/subscribe

Begin Where You AreDogs don’t wake up wondering if they’re behind.They don’t replay yesterday.They don’t pre-audit their worth.They don’t delay peace until they’re “ready.”They open their eyes.They accept the day.They begin.This episode isn’t about fixing yourself.It’s about noticing where you already are and letting that be enough to start from.We talk about:• why urgency is not the same as movement• how presence works before clarity arrives• what dogs understand instinctively that we keep talking ourselves out of• releasing the fantasy of a better starting pointYou don’t need a cleaner past.You don’t need a more organized future.You don’t need permission.You’re already standing at the door.🎧 Begin Where You Are is an episode of This Might Get Loud.Listen when your nervous system needs fewer instructions and more truth. Get full access to This Will Get Loud Substack at thiswillgetloudmag.substack.com/subscribe