In this episode of Risky Conversations, I reveal a subtle but costly pattern I see over and over again with my highest-achieving clients—something I call “the Coverage Trap.”

You know that feeling: you work nights and weekends, you hold everything together when your teammates are out, you quietly make miracles happen…and your reward is, “Great, keep it up.”

No promotion, no extra resources, no real recognition. Just more of the same.

In this conversation, I break down why this happens, how it quietly sabotages your career growth, and what you can start doing differently right now—without complaining, over-explaining, or becoming someone you’re not.

I’ll walk you through:

• The Tuesday status update scenario where you think you’re proving your readiness for a promotion, but you’re actually signaling “all good, nothing needs to change.”
• The hidden cost of believing “competence should speak for itself” as a woman, minority, or marginalized leader.
• Why the real gap between you and your next promotion is not working harder—it’s translation: turning the value you’re already delivering into language decision makers can act on.
• What you can expect on Friday, September 18th: The Over-functioning Woman's Negotiation Workshop, which you can register to attend for free here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/338KqIokT9qGadSyouHnfw#/registration

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

• Recognize the “coverage trap” and the subtle ways over-functioning keeps you stuck at the status quo
• Shift from quiet competence to clear articulation of your impact, future vision, and specific asks
• Use leadership-focused language that aligns your work with where the organization is headed—and makes it easier for decision makers to say “yes” to your promotion and raise

If you’ve ever watched a less competent but more outspoken colleague get the promotion you wanted, this episode is for you.

Let’s stop unintentionally sabotaging your own growth by being “too good” at quietly covering—and start translating your value into the recognition, support, and advancement you’ve already earned.

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• Email me at jamie@jamieleecoach.com

In this episode, I sit down with my friend Alexis Morin, founder and principal of Soul Work Coaching, for a deep, tender, and surprisingly practical conversation about money, justice, spirituality, and leadership.

Alexis co-founded and led a national nonprofit, Students for Education Reform, through her 20s, earned a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary, won the Interreligious Engagement Prize for her thesis on “spiritual but not religious” folks, and has been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list twice.

Today, she blends executive coaching, spiritual care, interreligious theology, and community organizing to support nonprofit leaders and people in career transition who feel called to do work that actually aligns with their values.

We talk about:

• What it’s really like to grow a student group into a national nonprofit — and how idealism collides with the brutal realities of inequality and philanthropy
• The moment a Buddhist coach lobbed a “good grenade” into Alexis’s worldview by asking: “What would it feel like if you really believed the universe was benevolent?”
• Why capitalism functions like the dominant religion of our time, and how that shapes our sense of worth, success, and safety
• How fundraising can be a spiritual practice and civic act, not just “begging rich people for money”
• Why grassroots fundraising and small gifts can build more real power than a handful of billionaire checks
• How Alexis now helps nonprofit leaders and changemakers do “soul work”: interrogating their ideas about justice, money, and calling so they can make aligned decisions about leadership, transitions, and career

I also share some of my own story — from being a first-gen, lower-middle-class student navigating elite spaces, to getting seriously ill and having to confront what I am without my income or productivity. We connect this to the paradox that often, letting go of our tight grip on money and status is what finally frees us to ask for more, lead more boldly, and show up more fully.

If you’ve ever wrestled with questions like:

• How do I fundraise or get paid well without betraying my values?
• How do I hold onto hope and agency in a world that feels increasingly unequal and unjust?
• Can spirituality and ambition actually coexist?

…this conversation is for you.

Learn more about Alexis and her work:

• Website: AlexisMorin.me
• Instagram: @alexisrmorin (personal and business all-in-one, delightfully unhinged at times, in the best way)

Text me your thoughts on this episode!

Enjoy the show?

• Don't miss an episode, listen and subscribe via Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
• Leave me a review in Apple Podcasts.

Connect with me

• Book a free hour-long consultation with me. You'll leave with your custom blueprint to confidence, and we'll ensure it's a slam-dunk fit for you before you commit to working with me 1:1.
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Email me at jamie@jamieleecoach.com

Ever feel stuck or trapped in your work or life?

My guest Irina F. Cozma, PhD is an organizational psychologist and executive coach who has repeatedly generated bold options for herself in moments when most people would have resigned with a defeated “it is what it is.”

In this conversation, we talk about surviving a micromanaging boss, why that experience became one of the biggest gifts of Irina’s career, and how her journey across four different countries shaped her belief that you always have at least one more option available to you — especially when you feel stuck.

We also get honest about the messy, embodied side of being human: physical pain, hormones, fatigue, and those days when you just want to feel sorry for yourself (I have plenty of those myself). Irina shares how possibility thinking still applies on those days—without pretending everything is fine.

What you'll learn:

• Why surviving a micromanaging boss changed how Irina coaches: she now validates how bad it can really be, stops over‑indexing on “you can always fix it,” and helps clients build parallel options instead of staying stuck trying to change someone who doesn’t want to change.
• How possibility thinking works in practice:understanding all your options (including the ones you don’t like), choosing consciously, and then making peace with—and committing to—your choice so you don’t feel like you’re in a psychological jail.
• How your values and strengths become anchors on hard days: Irina shows how clarity on core values like freedom and fairness, and strengths like persistenceand speed, lets you take action even when you’re in pain, exhausted, or full of self‑doubt.
• Irina’s “possibility thinker” framework: inner, relational, and process possibilities—practical tools that help you expand what you see as possible so you never again feel like you’re truly starting from zero.
• How Irina’s international moves (Romania → Spain → Moldova → U.S.) shaped her worldview: why she now sees “country” as just one small variable, and how clarity about what you want can make even “risky” moves feel obvious rather than terrifying.

Featured in this episode:

• Irina's Possibility Thinkers Assessment: https://irinacozma.com/assessment
• Connect with Irina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/irinacozma/
• Jamie's 1:1 coaching for smart women who hate office politics: https://www.jamieleecoach.com/apply
• Connect with Jamie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leejieunjamie/

Text me your thoughts on this episode!

Enjoy the show?

• Don't miss an episode, listen and subscribe via Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
• Leave me a review in Apple Podcasts.

Connect with me

• Book a free hour-long consultation with me. You'll leave with your custom blueprint to confidence, and we'll ensure it's a slam-dunk fit for you before you commit to working with me 1:1.
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Email me at jamie@jamieleecoach.com