You look successful on paper—career, kids, calendar full, but inside you feel strangely blank. You can answer who you are as “mom” and what you do at work, but if someone asks, “What do you want? What do you enjoy?” your mind goes quiet. If you’ve wondered, “Have I completely lost myself in work and motherhood?” this episode is for you.

Connect & work with Christina:
Speaking, workshops, consulting: Hello@ChristinaRunnels.com

Buy Boldly Both: A Mom's Guide to Balancing Career and Family Without Guilt

Follow on Facebook

👉 If you want a simple way to see your burnout on paper—energy, sleep, snapping, joy, start with the FREE Working Mom Burnout Check-In PDF

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Why high-achieving working moms often feel like they’ve lost themselves in their roles
• The quiet “Who am I, really?” moment when you’re asked what you want for the next few years
• How being everybody’s go‑to person buries your own desires and dreams
• 3 practical steps to reclaim your identity and ambition as a working mom:
  • Remember: who you are beyond “employee,” “leader,” and “mom”
  • Reconnect: with what actually gives you energy and joy in this season
  • Rebuild: your ambition with small, aligned steps that fit your real life

Episode roadmap

0:00 – Feeling like you’ve disappeared inside work and motherhood
2:30 – The moment someone asks, “What do you want?” and your mind goes blank
6:45 – Step 1: Remember – separating who you are from what you do
11:30 – Step 2: Reconnect – using an Energy List to notice what makes you feel like yourself
16:40 – Step 3: Rebuild – letting your ambition back in one small step at a time
22:00 – This week’s identity + ambition experiment + invitation to share your sentence via email

Visit www.ChristinaRunnels.com

You finally get a quiet moment—shower, car, parking lot and instead of feeling relief, you feel… nothing. Not excited, not inspired, just flat and tired in your bones. If you’ve wondered, “Is this just my life now?” this episode is for you.

Connect & work with Christina:

• Speaking, workshops, consulting: Hello@christinarunnels.com
• Buy Boldly Both: A Mom's Guide to Balancing Career and Family Without Guilt
• Follow on Facebook

👉 If you want a simple way to see your burnout on paper, monitoring your energy, sleep, snapping, joy, start with the FREE Working Mom Burnout Check-In PDF

In this episode you’ll hear:

• The subtle difference between being “tired” and being truly burned out
• Christina’s quiet burnout breaking point: “If life looks like this for 10 more years…”
• How over‑functioning at work and home numbs you out instead of fulfilling you
• Three gentle moves for burnout recovery in the life you already have:
  • Notice: telling the truth about how depleted you really are
  • Nurture: adding tiny, non‑performative care into your day
  • Negotiate: changing the terms of how you’re living (at work, at home, with yourself)

Episode roadmap

• 0:00 – “Flat and numb” hook in the shower/car/parking lot
• 3:54 – The quiet thought that changed everything: “I don’t know if I can do this for 10 more years”
• 6:29 – Notice: honest burnout check-in (using energy, sleep, irritability, joy)
• 7:58 – Nurture: 5-minute practices that don’t require a whole life overhaul
• 9:55 – Negotiate: small but real changes in workload and expectations
• 10:55 – This week’s recovery experiment + invitation to share your story via email

Visit www.ChristinaRunnels.com

Feeling like the reliable one for everyone at work, at school, at home, and also the most exhausted person in every room? This episode is for you.

Connect & work with Christina:

• Speaking, workshops, consulting: Hello@christinarunnels.com
• Buy Boldly Both: A Mom's Guide to Balancing Career and Family Without Guilt
• Follow on Facebook

Free burnout check-in (from Episode 1):
Start tracking how depleted you really are and how often you’re saying yes from empty.

👉 Get the Burnout Check-In PDF:

Free Working Mom Burnout Check-In PDF

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Why “You’re so reliable” can feel like both a compliment and a curse
• A real Tuesday: meeting request + Flock DM + text from school all at once
• How always being the “responsible one” becomes part of your identity
• Two questions to ask yourself before you say yes to anything
• Two simple scripts to say:
  • “Yes, but with truth” at work
  • “No, to protect who I am” at home, school, and with friends

Episode roadmap

• 0:00 – “You’re so reliable” hook
• 2:20 – The meeting + Slack + school text moment
• 7:52 – Question 1: “What part of me wants to say yes?”
• 7:57 – Question 2: “If I say yes, what am I saying no to?”
• 9:11 – Script 1: Yes, but with truth (work)
• 10:24 – Script 2: No, to protect who I am (home/school/friends)
• 11:32 – This week’s boundary experiment + Episode 8 teaser