What Teachers and Fundraisers Can Teach Each Other About Burnout, Boundaries, and Being Human

Teachers and fundraisers may seem worlds apart—but underneath the surface, they're doing remarkably similar emotional work.

In this special podcast swap episode, Erin joins Betsy Burris, host of Teaching Through Emotions, for a wide-ranging conversation about the invisible emotional labor that comes with helping professions.

Together they explore burnout, people-pleasing, nervous system regulation, somatic awareness, the Enneagram, and why so many caring professionals end up sacrificing themselves in the name of serving others.

Whether you spend your days in classrooms, nonprofit organizations, hospitals, coaching practices, or any profession centered on helping people, this conversation offers a powerful reminder: the relationship you have with yourself shapes every relationship you have with others.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why teaching and fundraising attract many of the same kinds of people.
• How people-pleasing can become an unconscious survival strategy.
• The difference between compassion and self-abandonment.
• Why burnout is often rooted in emotional patterns—not just workload.
• How somatic awareness helps us access wisdom beyond our thinking minds.
• The hidden cost of tying your worth to your performance.
• Why learning to feel your emotions creates more capacity to support others.
• A simple 90-second daily practice to begin reconnecting with yourself.

Connect with Betsy Burris

If this conversation resonated with you, be sure to check out Teaching Through Emotions, where Betsy helps teachers understand the emotional and relational dynamics that shape life in the classroom. Even if you're not an educator, you'll find practical wisdom for navigating relationships, emotions, and leadership with greater awareness.

Stay Connected

If you're enjoying The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and join The Brave & Balanced Note, my free newsletter filled with practical tools for emotional mastery, fundraising, and sustainable leadership.

I'd also love to hear what stood out to you from this conversation. Leave a review, share this episode with a colleague, or send it to someone in a helping profession who needs the reminder that taking care of themselves isn't selfish—it's essential.

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