This week’s guest is Sandy Wall, the founder of Pueblita Tortillas, a community-driven platform rooted in culture, connection, wellness, and storytelling.

In this episode, Wall shares how what started over five years ago during the pandemic-- selling homemade corn tortillas from her kitchen and creating space for community online--has evolved into a growing effort that brings people together through run clubs, wellness events, creative experiences, free community activities, and cultural initiatives across Southern California.

In the process, she and Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen cover how one can build a local social entrepreneurship effort in a way that serves others while also avoiding burnout from what happens when one does good work alongside the 9 to 5.

The two also share how purpose, a little “magic” and choosing good work that resonates with one’s identities can help one to make an impact.

This episode will be of special interest to all those who dream of creating a project of meaning that is uniquely theirs but also want some practical sense of how to get such an effort off the ground and keep it going over time.

Support the show

The Good Work Podcast is part of The Good Work Project.

To keep up with the pod and the project, follow Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen on Linked In or Instagram.

You also can sign up for the weekly Good Work Newsletter.

Episodes can be found here or on your favorite podcast platform. Don't forget to follow the podcast, and if you like what you hear, give us a review!

If you would like to suggest yourself or someone else to be a guest on the podcast, please fill out the form here.

Thanks for listening!

Please note: The content shared in this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute professional, financial, legal, or medical advice. Listeners should consult a qualified professional for advice tailored to their specific situation.

This week, Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen is joined by Chaundra Prehara, a licensed marriage and family therapist, certified relational life therapist, and an experienced group leader. Prehara's personal story and her expertise each bring so many lessons: for the increasingly large number of people considering a career as a therapist, but also for anyone seeking to do good work that is also good for them. There are some clear pivots in her educational and professional journey, which took her from a film major in undergrad to a range of corporate roles through to her current calling as a therapist. Yet, through it all, there are some common themes, like a focus on storytelling, self-connection, and having an impact when one may lean toward a quieter and more introverted way of being. Prehara also shares some key insights relevant to anyone who may sometimes have a sense of overwhelm or put too much pressure on themselves as they work to improve the world around them. There are also some insights from the relational approach for how to assess one's work environment to determine when a pivot might make sense, as well as how one can stay attuned to their own heart, relationality, and intrinsic worth in the spaces in which they live and work.

Support the show

The Good Work Podcast is part of The Good Work Project.

To keep up with the pod and the project, follow Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen on Linked In or Instagram.

You also can sign up for the weekly Good Work Newsletter.

Episodes can be found here or on your favorite podcast platform. Don't forget to follow the podcast, and if you like what you hear, give us a review!

If you would like to suggest yourself or someone else to be a guest on the podcast, please fill out the form here.

Thanks for listening!

Please note: The content shared in this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute professional, financial, legal, or medical advice. Listeners should consult a qualified professional for advice tailored to their specific situation.

Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen welcomes violence prevention expert Meg Stone, the executive director of IMPACT Boston and author of two books, The Cost of Fear and Don’t Fight Back. The two discuss Stone’s career path, starting with how she found her area of focus via her college women’s studies program, which introduced her to some inspiring practitioners via her courses and academic internships. She has held a host of roles in domestic violence and sexual assault advocacy, with a great deal of hands-on work in family court and shelters, in education, and in her current leadership role at IMPACT Boston. Stone describes building IMPACT’s self-defense classes into a broader set of trainings that help folks to be empowered even while under stress and across a range of situations. In the process, Stone reflects on stepping into leadership during organizational transition and the current and challenging nonprofit funding landscape. They also discuss some important practical insights for those seeking to start of pivot into nonprofit work, including the importance of valuing the underlying tasks and skills that make mission-driven work possible.

Support the show

The Good Work Podcast is part of The Good Work Project.

To keep up with the pod and the project, follow Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen on Linked In or Instagram.

You also can sign up for the weekly Good Work Newsletter.

Episodes can be found here or on your favorite podcast platform. Don't forget to follow the podcast, and if you like what you hear, give us a review!

If you would like to suggest yourself or someone else to be a guest on the podcast, please fill out the form here.

Thanks for listening!

Please note: The content shared in this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute professional, financial, legal, or medical advice. Listeners should consult a qualified professional for advice tailored to their specific situation.

This week's guest is Lynn Ward, Chief of Staff for Long Beach’s First District Councilmember. With areas of expertise that encompass public policy, community engagement and campaigns, crisis communications, as well as overseeing large projects, teams, and operations, Ward is the perfect person to speak with about what local government work really entails. She and Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen cover how meaningful work can be when we do it in the places we know best—our neighborhoods, communities, and cities. While no day is the same in this field, Ward shares a glimpse of her duties, which can include everything from administrative work—scheduling, briefings, agendas-- to interacting with city leads to take care of constituent casework like dealing with potholes and trash-- as well as community engagement in every setting imaginable. Listening to Ward explain the complexities of local government and the role of staff members is eye-opening and inspiring, including how local legislative leaders and their staff are making a difference on timely policy issues such as protecting tenants amidst ongoing gentrification, getting measures in place to mitigate pollution from goods movement, and more. Along the way, Ward shares her path into local government and how showing up consistently can help folks to find their way into their own unique professional path. The two also discuss that while work-life balance is always a challenge, it is something one can see progress in as they build their career. This is a conversation for anyone who wants to better understand how government works or who wants to imagine their own start or pivot into such a role.

Support the show

The Good Work Podcast is part of The Good Work Project.

To keep up with the pod and the project, follow Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen on Linked In or Instagram.

You also can sign up for the weekly Good Work Newsletter.

Episodes can be found here or on your favorite podcast platform. Don't forget to follow the podcast, and if you like what you hear, give us a review!

If you would like to suggest yourself or someone else to be a guest on the podcast, please fill out the form here.

Thanks for listening!

Please note: The content shared in this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute professional, financial, legal, or medical advice. Listeners should consult a qualified professional for advice tailored to their specific situation.

This is a special episode of the Good Work podcast! Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen hosts a joint meetup with Sam Bennett and her newsletter Bright Ideas for You from Sam.

Bennett is an author, keynote speaker, consultant, and creativity/productivity specialist. The two discuss her most recent award-winning book The 15-Minute Method, working through the many ways that this simple and meaningful practice can help students in college-- both in the classroom and beyond.

In particular, they discuss how spending 15 minutes every day on something that matters can reduce overwhelm and help folks to make steady progress on what they care about most. They also discuss the utility of the method for breaking big projects into manageable daily steps as well as for mastering repetitive fundamentals, overcoming perfectionism and anxiety, and building a baseline of preparation. They cover everything from term papers to performance rehearsals, and even how to venture into new social settings on campus. And of course, Bennett shares her well-earned wisdom with her trademark humor and clever storytelling.

As the new academic year begins, this is an episode you may want to share with the college students in your life. But we hope you don't mind us saying that you may also want to listen for yourself-- because who doesn't need to set aside time for restoration (journaling, walking, meditation) as well as for tasks and skill-building?

Download the one-pager full of 15-Minute Activities for College Students inspired by the book here: https://canva.link/1fea8o4hxxbzhpq

Support the show

The Good Work Podcast is part of The Good Work Project.

To keep up with the pod and the project, follow Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen on Linked In or Instagram.

You also can sign up for the weekly Good Work Newsletter.

Episodes can be found here or on your favorite podcast platform. Don't forget to follow the podcast, and if you like what you hear, give us a review!

If you would like to suggest yourself or someone else to be a guest on the podcast, please fill out the form here.

Thanks for listening!

Please note: The content shared in this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute professional, financial, legal, or medical advice. Listeners should consult a qualified professional for advice tailored to their specific situation.

Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen is joined this week by Georgie Miller, a London-based ADHD and mindset coach, neurodiversity consultant, and former employment lawyer.

Georgie describes splitting her work between coaching individuals and training organizations, and highlights how using tools like “workplace passports” can help to clarify preferred communication styles, support productivity, and enable sustainable performance. And importantly, these ideas don't just improve work for those who are neurodivergent, they help support all kinds of workers in today's post-COVID workplace.

The two discuss how identity, authenticity, and joy are key in making choices to pivot or go off the beaten path in one's career. Georgie has learned much of this first-hand as she has experienced her share of twists and turns, including an adult ADHD diagnosis, intense COVID-era legal work that resulted in burnout, and dealing with breast cancer in her early thirties. Georgie also explains how cancer treatment reshaped her approach to health, nervous system flexibility, and integrating accessible breathwork into daily work routines.

This is an eye opening and inspiring conversation that helps us to understand what good work really can be when one brings their full self to it.

For more on Georgie Miller, go to: https://neurodiversityinthecity.com/

Support the show

The Good Work Podcast is part of The Good Work Project.

To keep up with the pod and the project, follow Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen on Linked In or Instagram.

You also can sign up for the weekly Good Work Newsletter.

Episodes can be found here or on your favorite podcast platform. Don't forget to follow the podcast, and if you like what you hear, give us a review!

If you would like to suggest yourself or someone else to be a guest on the podcast, please fill out the form here.

Thanks for listening!

Please note: The content shared in this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute professional, financial, legal, or medical advice. Listeners should consult a qualified professional for advice tailored to their specific situation.

This week, Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen sits down with Eduardo Cisneros, who currently serves as the Deputy Mayor for Intergovernmental Affairs for the City of Los Angeles.

Cisneros has a remarkable career path, with time at The White House, the United States Department of Labor and United States Department of Health and Human Services; as well as in campaigns, at a local community health center and at SEIU, a major national labor organization. Each of these experiences prepared him for some fascinating and impactful work on some of the most salient policy issues of our time, including COVID-19, healthcare, the environment, and immigration.

The conversation also traces his path from some formative moments growing up in Huntington Park as the son of Mexican immigrants and coming of age at the same time as a toxic site known as “La Montaña” took shape in that same neighborhood. The two follow this thread through to his current role back in his hometown helping Los Angeles to navigate the intricate and complex context that is modern-day local, state, and national government.

The episode carries lessons for those seeking to become public servants, as well as inspiration for those seeking to excavate their own origin stories.

Support the show

The Good Work Podcast is part of The Good Work Project.

To keep up with the pod and the project, follow Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen on Linked In or Instagram.

You also can sign up for the weekly Good Work Newsletter.

Episodes can be found here or on your favorite podcast platform. Don't forget to follow the podcast, and if you like what you hear, give us a review!

If you would like to suggest yourself or someone else to be a guest on the podcast, please fill out the form here.

Thanks for listening!

Please note: The content shared in this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute professional, financial, legal, or medical advice. Listeners should consult a qualified professional for advice tailored to their specific situation.

This week’s guest is Dr. Tara Cousineau, a clinical psychologist, meditation teacher, coach, and author of The Perfectionist's Dilemma and The Kindness Cure.

Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen and Dr. Cousineau trace her career to an early childhood incident with a teacher and a guidance counselor, and discuss how these lessons came full circle and have in some ways continued to inspire her writing and counseling efforts.

Dr. Cousineau describes feeling like an outsider in graduate training while pursuing mindfulness and mind-body approaches.

She also explains research showing rising perfectionism and links high standards without self-care to burnout, compassion fatigue, and stress-related symptoms.

Practices she uses herself include emphasizing consistent “deposits” into the nervous system through non-negotiables, habit stacking, micro-breaks between sessions, and time outdoors.

Whether she is discussing neuroplasticity, the importance of mentoring, recounting early lessons from a teen hardware-store job, or emphasizing self-compassion as a key skill, there is much to learn from Dr. Cousineau in this Good Work episode.

Dr. Cousineau has a range of resources available for those interested in learning more, including her “Rewire Your Inner Critic” course, The Peaceful Perfectionist newsletter on Substack, her aforementioned books, and many free tools. Get more info at www.taracousineau.com.

Support the show

The Good Work Podcast is part of The Good Work Project.

To keep up with the pod and the project, follow Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen on Linked In or Instagram.

You also can sign up for the weekly Good Work Newsletter.

Episodes can be found here or on your favorite podcast platform. Don't forget to follow the podcast, and if you like what you hear, give us a review!

If you would like to suggest yourself or someone else to be a guest on the podcast, please fill out the form here.

Thanks for listening!

Please note: The content shared in this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute professional, financial, legal, or medical advice. Listeners should consult a qualified professional for advice tailored to their specific situation.