Marry Your Talent, Not Your Title (Part 1) | Black Womaning in Corporate America®

Nicole S. Palmer talks with guest Lynnae Brown, a consultant and strategist specializing in workforce navigation to help people make work sustainable. Brown shares her background training people in mental health recovery to work in social services, and explains her concept “Marry Your Talent, Not Your Title,” warning that titles can’t capture full value and that layoffs for profit make tying identity to a role risky. She recounts leaving a decade-long position after pandemic burnout, concerns about returning in-person with vulnerable populations, and receiving student loan forgiveness, then consulting nationally before grant cancellations disrupted the field. The conversation also distinguishes self-accommodation from self-advocacy and touches on the long recovery from toxic workplaces, teeing up a deeper discussion in part two.

00:00 Podcast Welcome

00:44 Meet Lanay Brown

02:21 Marry Talent Not Title

02:37 Origin in Social Services

05:36 Titles Worth and Layoffs

06:47 Burnout Turning Point

08:23 COVID Work Shift

10:40 Leaving After Loan Forgiveness

11:22 Consulting Then Funding Cuts

12:28 From Social Work to Corporate

12:47 Trauma Informed Management

13:29 Self Accommodate vs Advocate

14:44 Code Switching Survival

17:37 Healing After Toxic Jobs

21:07 Abusive Relationship Mindset

22:17 Exit Strategy Playlist

24:06 Part Two Teaser and Wrap

Nicole S. Palmer continues her conversation with Crystle Johnson, founder of Kinory® and creator of Underbelonging: the hidden experience of being included in corporate spaces without ever feeling fully seen.

Crystle defines Underbelonging and explains why so many Black women spend their careers shrinking themselves, overperforming, and carefully calibrating how they show up at work. Together, Nicole and Crystle examine how Underbelonging manifests in corporate America, including within DEI roles, where practitioners are often caught between executives and employees without meaningful decision-making authority.

The conversation explores why organizations must move beyond performative commitments toward greater clarity and accountability, and how Kinory is creating spaces where Black women can experience genuine belonging through community dinners, workshops, retreats, and courageous conversations.

00:00 Podcast Welcome

00:41 Part Two Intro

01:46 Defining Underbelonging

03:04 Why It Resonates

04:41 Origins Through Kinory

07:19 Taking Up Space

09:42 Kamala As Case Study

12:15 DEI Caught In Middle

15:58 Corporate Honesty

17:26 What Comes Next

19:05 Protecting The Work

21:32 Make Your Own Table

23:58 Where To Find Crystle

25:53 Retreat And Resources

27:47 Closing And Outro

To learn more about Crystle:

Visit Kinory: https://kinory.co/

Follow Her on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/crystlejohnson

Connect With Her on Instragram: https://instagram.com/kinory.co

Find Her on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@kinory.co

Burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It happens one compromise, one expectation, and one “I’ll just push through” at a time.

In this episode of Black Womaning in Corporate America®, founder of Kinory® Crystle Johnson joins host Nicole S. Palmer for an unfiltered conversation about burnout, belonging, and the moment she realized her job was something she did—not who she was.

From corporate leadership to building a global community for Black women in Mexico, this conversation explores identity, rest, and the courage to imagine a different future.

Whether you’re questioning your next career move or simply trying to remember who you were before work consumed so much of your life, this episode is a reminder that your value has never been defined by your title.

00:00 Welcome

00:44 Meet Crystle Johnson

02:13 An Origin Story of Belonging

04:47 Why Kinory Exists

05:44 The Courage to Center Black Women

08:45 Recognizing Burnout

09:50 FMLA, Recovery & Finding Mexico

13:49 Your Job Is Not Your Identity

17:03 The Truth About Corporate DEI

20:06 Racism, Visibility & Obsession

22:45 Building Kinory in Mérida

25:32 Casa Kinory & A New Vision

28:14 Why Every Exit Needs a Plan

30:25 Don't Leave Your Benefits Behind

33:46 Coming Next Week...

34:17 Outro