What began as a creative distraction from an unfulfilling day job soon turned into so much more: a daily delight, a visibility boost, and ultimately, the launchpad for an entirely new chapter in her career.

In this conversation, author and fellow career coach, Yolanda Owens, shares how a passion project became the launchpad for speaking gigs, business opportunities, and even a PBS web series (!!). We talk about the quiet power of visibility, the writing process, and why sharing your voice is an act of both strategy + service.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re “good enough” to write—or how creativity can open unexpected doors—this episode will give you the encouragement you need.

💛 Join the Gathering Ground and become a Flourish Careers Insider: https://flourish.careers/community-membership

📕 Buy Yolanda's book: How to Score a Date with a Potential Employer

🔗 Connect with Yolanda on LinkedIn, Instagram, and her websites: https://www.instagram.com/careersensei/ | https://www.linkedin.com/in/yolandamowens/

https://www.careersenseiconsulting.com/ https://www.yolandamowens.com/

🎧 Related episodes

Should You Discuss Salary at Work Featuring Yolanda Owens: https://flourish.careers/should-you-discuss-salary-at-work-featuring-yolanda-owens/

Secrets from a Corporate Recruiter Featuring Yolanda Owens: https://flourish.careers/have-you-ever-wondered-what-secrets-a-corporate-recruiter-wishes-every-job-seeker-knew/

🖋️ For detailed show notes, visit the Flourish Careers Blog

This week I’m joined by Jena Dunay—founder of Recruit the Employer and host of Culture Uncovered and My Southern Godmother podcasts.

We dive into two big topics: how to really understand a company’s culture (beyond the buzzwords) and the most creative ways to land the interview. From bold questions to viral resumes, Jena shares practical strategies, inspiring stories, and her level-headed approach to job searching.

Tune in to learn how to spot a values-based culture, ask the right questions, do your pre-work, and stand out by being yourself.

Plus, don’t miss how to land a free resume template at the end!

💛 Join Flourish Careers Insider: https://course.flourish.careers/offers/s26qDEcs

🔗 Connect with Jena on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jenadunay

🌟 Recruit the Employer: http://www.recruittheemployer.com

🎙️ Culture Uncovered Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/culture-uncovered/id1781732178

🎧 My Southern Godmother podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-southern-godmother/id1765512671

🖋️ For detailed show notes, visit the Flourish Careers Blog

🌟 Stay in touch! Newsletter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Pinterest | Freebies + Shop

This week, The Flourish Careers Podcast turns 3(!!) and we’re kicking off Season 10 with reflection, celebration, and impactful mindset resets.

Here’s the thing—I used to think starting something new meant “starting over.” But what I’ve learned is that we never really start from scratch. Every skill, every experience, every connection we’ve built comes with us. It’s not starting over—it’s expanding into what’s next.⁠

If you’ve ever felt like you’re “starting over” when making a career shift, tune in for powerful shifts to carry with you into your next season of growth. 🌟

Thank you for being here—whether you’ve been with me since day one or just found the show. Your support is what makes this community possible, and I can’t wait to celebrate what’s ahead—together.

Blog: How to Reframe Your Story and The Myth of Starting Over: https://flourish.careers/how-to-reframe-your-story-the-myth-of-starting-over/

In Season Three-Month Planner sneak peek: https://course.flourish.careers/in-season-planner

🖋️ For detailed show notes, visit the Flourish Careers Blog

🌟 Meet the courageous women rewriting the rules of success: https://course.flourish.careers/Lessons-In-Letting-Go

💛 Stay in touch! Newsletter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Pinterest | Freebies + Shop

What happens when the host becomes the guest? In this final episode of our Brave Women at Work: Lessons in Letting Go series, we’re flipping the script. My dear friends (and co-authors) Jackie Cetera and Amy Quesenberry take the mic and interview me about my chapter in the book, “Blood, Sweat, and Careers.”

I won’t lie—I was nervous (still am). Sharing this story out loud is vulnerable. But like so many women in this book—and life—I’ve learned that letting go of old identities, relationships, expectations, and the weight of other people’s actions has been the hardest and most freeing work of my life.

We talk about:

• What led me to walk away from a "successful" corporate career
• How a health challenge became the wake-up call (and permission slip) I didn’t know I needed
• And why I chose to build a business rooted in heart

This entire season of The Flourish Careers Podcast serves as a reminder that letting go is not loss—it’s liberation. And sometimes, the bravest thing you can do is write your own story.

With all my heart, thank you. Thank you for listening, for supporting, and for walking this path with us. 💚

📗 Grab a copy of the book! Brave Women at Work: Lessons in Letting Go: https://amzn.to/43X5Dq6

💫 Check out Heather Eck's Spirit Portraits: https://heathereck.com/

🌟 Meet all the courageous women rewriting the rules of success: https://course.flourish.careers/Lessons-In-Letting-Go

🎧 Related Episodes: Special Edition: Brave Women, Bold Stories, A Celebration of Letting Go: https://flourish.careers/brave-women-letting-go/

🌟 Ready to Let Go? Fried to Flourishing career change experience offers career clarity, resume refresh, and job search coaching. Use code PODCAST for $50 off!

💛 Stay in touch! Newsletter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Pinterest | Freebies + Shop

🖋️ For detailed show notes, visit the Flourish Careers Blog

What if the dream job… stops feeling like a dream?

You’ve done all the “right” things—climbed the ladder, hit the milestones, made a real impact. From the outside, everything looks picture-perfect. But inside? You’re running on fumes.

LaRhonda Dingle Magras is a fierce advocate for women, girls, and human rights, dedicating her life to this mission. But at some point, the mission was costing her… her.

And she had to make a choice: keep sacrificing herself for the cause, or choose herself.

In this episode, we dive into LaRhonda’s story, shared in her chapter “Restore” from Brave Women at Work: Lessons in Letting Go. She takes us through what it was like to walk away from the job that once meant everything—even when it was terrifying. Even without a backup plan.

What followed? A season of deep healing. Faith. Forgiveness. And slowly finding her way back to joy. LaRhonda’s story is a beautiful, brave reminder that letting go isn’t giving up. It’s making space for something more meaningful. Something that honors you.

🌟 Connect with LaRhonda on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larhonda-s-dingle-magras/

📗 You can read LaRhonda's entire chapter in Brave Women at Work: Lessons in Letting Go, available now on Amazon https://amzn.to/43X5Dq6

🌟 Meet all the courageous women rewriting the rules of success: https://course.flourish.careers/Lessons-In-Letting-Go

🎧 Related Episodes: Special Edition: Brave Women, Bold Stories, A Celebration of Letting Go: https://flourish.careers/brave-women-letting-go/

🌟 Ready to Let Go? Fried to Flourishing career change experience offers career clarity, resume refresh, and job search coaching. Use code PODCAST for $50 off!

💛 Stay in touch! Newsletter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Pinterest | Freebies + Shop

🖋️ For detailed show notes, visit the Flourish Careers Blog

Marilyn Vetter is a beautiful example of what it means to lead with heart. She’s driven and accomplished, with an impressive career to show for it—but her path hasn’t always looked that way. For years, Marilyn was caught in the cycle of overwork and achievement addiction.

In her chapter, Chasing Contentment, from Brave Women at Work: Lessons in Letting Go, Marilyn reveals the moment she chose to leave the cycle behind and embrace a more fulfilling path forward.⁠ She discovered that real success isn’t found in titles or milestones—it’s in presence, peace, and purpose.⁠

Today, as CEO of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, Marilyn is living her values—restoring millions of acres of conservation habitat while showing her team that balance and boundaries matter just as much as results. She’s the kind of leader I always wished for, and her team is so lucky to have her! 🌟⁠

Marilyn's story is a meaningful reminder that you can achieve extraordinary things while living a life that feels grounded + joyful. I loved this conversation, and I can’t wait for you to hear Marilyn’s wisdom 💛

🌟 Connect with Marilyn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marilynvetter/ | Instagram: instagram.com/vetter_marilyn/

📗 You can read Marilyn's entire chapter in Brave Women at Work: Lessons in Letting Go, available now on Amazon https://amzn.to/43X5Dq6

🎧 Related Episodes: Special Edition: Brave Women, Bold Stories, A Celebration of Letting Go: https://flourish.careers/brave-women-letting-go/

🌟 Ready to Let Go? Fried to Flourishing career change experience offers career clarity, resume refresh, and job search coaching. Use code PODCAST for $50 off!

🌟 Meet all the courageous women rewriting the rules of success: https://course.flourish.careers/Lessons-In-Letting-Go

💛 Stay in touch! Newsletter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Pinterest | Freebies + Shop

🖋️For detailed show notes, visit the Flourish Careers Blog

Sometimes life presses pause on the path you thought you were on—and you're left to navigate what comes next. ✨

In this episode, we explore Dr. Susan E. Borrego's chapter "Letting Go of Being Let Go" from the best-selling book Brave Women at Work: Lessons in Letting Go. Sue speaks with grace and strength as she shares the raw truth of being pushed out of a successful leadership role—not for performance, but for politics—revealing the silence and grief that followed, and how she ultimately found her way back to herself. 💫

She opens up about the experience of letting go, rebuilding her sense of self, and choosing to lead with presence and purpose—no matter the circumstance. Sue's story is a beautiful reminder that our jobs don't define us—and sometimes, what feels like an ending is an invitation to step into something more aligned.

Our conversation ends where all great leadership should begin—rooted in love.

I'm so grateful to call Sue a friend and to share her wisdom, her grace, and her courage with you. 💛

🌟 Connect with Sue on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanborrego/

💛 Sue's Website: https://www.sueborrego.com/

🌟 Sue’s TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlRxqC0Sze4

📗 You can read Sue's entire chapter in Brave Women at Work: Lessons in Letting Go, available now on Amazon https://amzn.to/43X5Dq6

🌟 Meet all the courageous women rewriting the rules of success: https://course.flourish.careers/Lessons-In-Letting-Go

🎧 Related Episodes: Special Edition: Brave Women, Bold Stories, A Celebration of Letting Go: https://flourish.careers/brave-women-letting-go/

🌟 Ready to Let Go? Fried to Flourishing career change experience offers career clarity, resume refresh, and job search coaching. Use code PODCAST for $50 off!

💛 Stay in touch! Newsletter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Pinterest | Freebies + Shop

🖋️For detailed show notes, visit the Flourish Careers Blog

What if the biggest thing standing between you and the life you really want… is a story you’ve been holding onto for too long? A story that says, “You need to have it all figured out.” “Certainty is safer than possibility.” “You’re not ready.”

This week on The Flourish Careers Podcast, I’m talking with Dominique Luster—archivist, storyteller, and founder of The Luster Company, where she’s devoted to preserving and uplifting Black narratives.

As an archivist, Dominique’s work is all about collecting and preserving stories. In her chapter, “The Lies We Hold,” from Brave Women at Work: Lessons in Letting Go, she realized there were also stories she was holding about herself that were quietly keeping her stuck.

When faced with personal loss and the uncertainty of a changing world, Dominique reached a crossroads. The life she was living no longer fit the person she was becoming. And like any good archivist, she got curious. Her inspiration was Charity, her fifth great-grandmother, a woman who, against all odds, built a life, a business, and a lasting legacy.

This is a story about letting go of certainty. A story about creating a legacy. About choosing curiosity over perfection and trusting that with the right mindset, strategy, and a seed of faith… You can (and will) figure it out.

🌟 Connect with Dominique on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominiqueluster/ | and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelustercompany/

💛 Website, The Luster Company: https://www.thelustercompany.com/

📗 You can read Dominique's entire chapter in Brave Women at Work: Lessons in Letting Go, available now on Amazon https://amzn.to/43X5Dq6

🌟 Meet all the courageous women rewriting the rules of success: https://course.flourish.careers/Lessons-In-Letting-Go

🎧 Related Episodes: Special Edition: Brave Women, Bold Stories, A Celebration of Letting Go: https://flourish.careers/brave-women-letting-go/

💛 Stay in touch! Newsletter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Pinterest | Freebies + Shop

🖋️ For detailed show notes, visit the Flourish Careers Blog