Episode 3: That Doesn't Count

How many times have you explained away your own experience?

"It wasn't that bad."

"Other people have it worse."

"It doesn't really count."

In this episode of Please Mute Your Trauma, Tiffany explores why so many of us instinctively minimize our own stories—and what that habit may actually be teaching us.

Through stories from the military, human resources, and her own life, she explores how trauma isn't always defined by the size of the event, but by the lessons our nervous systems learn from it. From a seemingly insignificant question about a service dog to unexpectedly hiding from an unpredictable leader years later, Tiffany reveals how old experiences continue shaping the way we think, lead, connect, and show up at work.

This isn't an episode about living in the past.

It's about recognizing the invisible lessons we've been carrying—and asking whether they're still true.

If you've ever questioned your reactions, felt yourself becoming smaller, or wondered why certain moments seem to stay with you long after they've happened, this conversation is for you.

Because the goal isn't deciding whether your experience counts.

The real question is: What did it teach you?

We want to hear from you!

If you've ever sat through a meeting wondering whether anyone was listening, received a pizza party instead of support, or been told to "bring your whole self to work" only to discover there were terms and conditions attached, this episode is for you.

Learn more about the show and connect with Tiffany at:

www.pleasemuteyourtrauma.com

Because work becomes meaningful when dignity is protected.

Episode 2: Don't Be Air. Be Fire.

How much energy have you spent preparing for conversations that never happened?

Replaying interactions.

Anticipating conflict.

Trying to understand why someone doesn't like you.

In this deeply personal episode of Please Mute Your Trauma, Tiffany Collins shares the story of a recent doctoral residential that forced her to confront an uncomfortable truth: sometimes the greatest battles we're fighting aren't happening around us—they're happening within us.

After arriving emotionally prepared for a conflict that never came, one simple piece of advice shifted everything:

Don't be air. Be fire.

Together, we'll explore how trauma can teach us to become hypervigilant, why we often give our attention to people and problems that haven't earned it, and how reclaiming our focus is an act of dignity.

This episode is an invitation to stop replaying conversations that never happened, stop preparing for battles that may never come, and start investing your energy in the people, work, and purpose that truly deserve it.

Because meaningful work doesn't begin when everything around us changes.

Sometimes it begins when we choose to stop supplying oxygen to the things that are stealing our peace.

In This Episode:

• Why trauma prepares us for battles that never happen
• The hidden cost of hypervigilance
• How our attention shapes our experience at work
• The connection between dignity and self-worth
• What it really means to "be fire"

Reflection Question:
Where are you giving your energy to people, problems, or possibilities that haven't earned it?

Learn more about the podcast and join the conversation at www.pleasemuteyourtrauma.com.

Coming soon, you'll be able to share your own workplace stories and questions through the podcast voicemail feature—because some of the most meaningful conversations begin when we realize we're not carrying these experiences alone.

Because work becomes meaningful when dignity is protected.

We want to hear from you!

If you've ever sat through a meeting wondering whether anyone was listening, received a pizza party instead of support, or been told to "bring your whole self to work" only to discover there were terms and conditions attached, this episode is for you.

Learn more about the show and connect with Tiffany at:

www.pleasemuteyourtrauma.com

Because work becomes meaningful when dignity is protected.

In this first full episode of Please Mute Your Trauma, Tiffany Collins explores “the performance of being fine” at work: the way employees learn to smile, comply, stay quiet, and keep functioning even when they are exhausted, overwhelmed, or carrying far more than anyone can see.

Through humor, lived experience, and sharp workplace reflection, Tiffany unpacks the gap between what organizations say they value — people, authenticity, well-being, psychological safety — and what they often reward: emotional suppression, compliance, and silence.

This episode asks what happens when professionalism becomes performance, when “I’m fine” becomes a survival strategy, and when dignity is treated as something employees have to earn.

Because maybe the problem was never that people brought too much of themselves to work.

Maybe the problem is that work asked them to leave too much of themselves behind.

We want to hear from you!

If you've ever sat through a meeting wondering whether anyone was listening, received a pizza party instead of support, or been told to "bring your whole self to work" only to discover there were terms and conditions attached, this episode is for you.

Learn more about the show and connect with Tiffany at:

www.pleasemuteyourtrauma.com

Because work becomes meaningful when dignity is protected.