EP 61: Finding Hope — The Power of Starting Over with Gretchen Schoser

What if your greatest breakdown became the foundation for your most powerful breakthrough?

This week, we’re joined by Gretchen Schoser — suicide survivor, mental health advocate, and co-host of the award-winning podcast Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads — for a raw and deeply inspiring conversation about resilience, healing, and the messy beauty of starting over.

At 61, Gretchen launched a new career and a new company, blending technical know-how with lived experience to support others in their mental health journey. In this episode, she gets real about the signs we often ignore (in ourselves and others), why laughter can be just as therapeutic as therapy, and how storytelling helps us feel less alone.

Whether you’ve faced your own battles or want to show up better for someone who has, this episode reminds us:
✨ It’s never too late to rewrite your story
✨ Self-care is a survival tool — not a luxury
✨ Owning your reality is where healing begins

🔑 Topics include:
• Recognizing signs of mental health struggles
• Setting boundaries and prioritizing self-care
• Podcasting as a path to healing
• Reinventing life after 60
• Why finding joy is an act of resilience

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Work Besties! Theme Song Written by Ralph Lentini @therallyband

Jess and Claude break down what affirmations really are (and aren’t), how to use them without the cringe, and why positive self-talk can meaningfully shift your mood, confidence, and boundaries—at work and beyond. From overcoming negative thought loops to writing affirmations that actually sound like you, this episode gives you practical language and everyday practices to support your emotional well-being and productivity.

What You’ll Learn

• What affirmations are—and how to make them feel authentic
• How positive self-talk rewires unhelpful narratives at work and at home
• Ways to use affirmations to set boundaries and prioritize self-care
• Simple, repeatable scripts to reduce stress and anxiety
• How sharing affirmations with your work bestie reinforces healthier beliefs

Chapters

• 00:00 The Power of Self-Affirmation
• 01:12 Understanding Affirmations
• 03:24 Personal Experiences with Affirmations
• 06:08 Affirmations in the Workplace
• 08:19 Leveraging Support from Others
• 10:30 Practical Affirmations for Daily Life
• 12:53 Creating Your Own Affirmations

Quick Takeaways

• Affirmations are short, intentional phrases that reframe negative thoughts.
• They can be written, spoken, or silently repeated—do what fits your life.
• Personalization matters: make them sound like you.
• Use them to set boundaries, reduce stress, and build confidence at work.
• Consistency turns affirmations into mindset shifts.

Try These (and Tweak Them to Fit You)

• “I can handle this one step at a time.”
• “My boundaries protect my energy and my impact.”
• “I am proud of the progress I’m making—even if it’s not perfect.”
• “I speak to myself the way I speak to someone I love.”
• “I trust myself to choose what I need today.”

If this episode helped, follow, rate, and review Work Besties Who Podcast. Share your go-to affirmation with us on Instagram @workbestieswhopodcast and tag your work bestie!

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You can watch the full episode on Youtube
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Please rate, comment and provide suggestions for upcoming episodes

Work Besties! Theme Song Written by Ralph Lentini @therallyband

In this episode, we’re joined by Jen Hardy and Irina Alexander of MotivAction and co-hosts of the Life by Choice podcast to talk about one of the most overlooked truths in burnout: It’s not just internal — it’s relational.

Jen and Irina open up about their personal experiences with burnout, compassion fatigue, and the emotional toll of always saying “yes.” They share their transformative journey toward healing, highlight the importance of emotional literacy, and offer practical tools like their CARES framework to support resilience and self-awareness.

You’ll walk away with:

• A new lens on burnout (it shows up in how we communicate)
• Tools to strengthen your emotional vocabulary
• Strategies to pause before saying yes
• The courage to have more vulnerable, honest conversations at work and beyond

Takeaways:

• Burnout can manifest in many ways, including silence or over-commitment
• Communication style shifts under pressure
• Emotional literacy helps us process burnout, not just survive it
• The CARES model provides actionable healing tools
• Healing happens in connection — not isolation

🎙️ Sound Bites:

• "I had compassion fatigue."
• "Guilt and shame live in silence."

🔗 Resources:

• Learn more about MotivAction https://motivaction.academy/
• Listen to the Life by Choice Podcast https://www.youtube.com/@Life-By-Choice

🎧 Subscribe, share, and send this to a work bestie who might need a moment of real talk.

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You can watch the full episode on Youtube
Follow us on IG , TikTok, Threads and LinkedIn
Please rate, comment and provide suggestions for upcoming episodes

Work Besties! Theme Song Written by Ralph Lentini @therallyband