Shows / The Anxious Achiever
The Anxious Achiever
Host Morra Aarons-Mele is on a mission to reframe how we think about anxiety and mental health in the workplace. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S. We desperately need better models for leadership and a more holistic view of mental health. Our culture tells those of us who suffer from anxiety and depression that we can’t succeed, but we tell a different story — without sugarcoating the tough stuff. We feature stories from people who’ve been there and experts who…
Episodes
- The Anxious Achiever
A Recent Morehouse College Grad On How He - and Gen X - Handle Mental Health
Anthony Hunter is someone just setting out in what most of us consider to be adulthood: just graduating from college and joining the workforce full-time. But…
- The Anxious Achiever
Rep. Becca Balint Has Struggled with Anxiety and Depression. Now She’s Fighting for Mental Health Support and Policies.
Representative Becca Balint is a new member of Congress, joining this January after several years in the Vermont Senate. She didn’t start her career in…
- The Anxious Achiever
Is American Motherhood (and Work) Sustainable?
“I didn’t want to accept myself as someone who had mental health struggles. And having kids made me be like, oh no, this is a health issue that you absolutely…
- The Anxious Achiever
The Ritalin and Adderall Shortage and How It Impacts Work
Millions of Americans depend on prescription medication like Ritalin and Adderall each day to help them accomplish their tasks. Whether taking these…
- The Anxious Achiever
Hospitality Entrepreneur Chip Conley on Mental Health, Wisdom, and Generation Gaps
Chip Conley is an entrepreneur who has built a number of companies from the ground up, and also served as Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy at AirBnb…
- The Anxious Achiever
Do You Have Codependency Issues at Work?
Codependency is the existence of unhealthy relationship where one person fixates on taking care of or even controlling the other, forgetting their own needs…
- The Anxious Achiever
What Psychedelic Research Might Mean for Leadership and Work
We’ve seen an increasing number of headlines around the study and use of psychedelics like psilocybin, ketamine, MDMA and LSD. As research continues, many are…
- The Anxious Achiever
What A Divorce Taught This Leader About Facing His Fears
Those of us who put pressure on ourselves to achieve do it in all aspects of life - from school to work to family. That means that when our sense of self gets…
- The Anxious Achiever
Disrupting Yourself and Your Career
Disruption is the name of the game in so many businesses today, and that’s the case for many high performing individuals as well. But how do we think about…
- The Anxious Achiever
“I Had All My Money with SVB”: An Entrepreneur on Bank Failure and the Anxious Echo Chamber of Social Media
On March 10th, the FDIC announced the closure of Silicon Valley Bank, marking the second largest bank failure in U.S. history. If you were watching the minute…
- The Anxious Achiever
How This NBCUniversal Exec Publicly Dealt with Mental Illness (And Teamed Up With A Psychologist to Better His Workplace)
The film and television industry is incredibly pressure-filled, high stakes, and visible. That’s true for the actors and actresses - but there’s often just as…
- The Anxious Achiever
Are Women Punished For Being Emotional At Work?
The question of how and when to show certain emotions at work is evolving, and it’s subject to a lot of bias. There are still double standards around behavior…
- The Anxious Achiever
Recognizing and Working with Anxiety at the Negotiating Table
Have you ever had to go into conversation where you needed to advocate for yourself and really feel like you weren’t coming from a position of power? Learn how…
- The Anxious Achiever
Breaking the Stigma of Mental Health for Men in Business
You know that cliche phrase "leaving to spend more time with my family" that so many people us when they leave a job? For Lenny Mendoca, the phrase didn't have…
- The Anxious Achiever
Your Anxiety Needs a Product Manager
Meredith Arthur is a self-described recovering overthinker. She is chief of staff at TwoTwenty, a in-house incubator for new projects at Pinterest. She’s also…
- The Anxious Achiever
This Father and Son Transformed Their Relationship and Careers After Mental Health Challenges
Craig Kramer was someone with an impressive corporate career. His son, Peter Lee-Kramer, was on a track of academic and athletic success. Then mental health…
- The Anxious Achiever
Here’s How to Plan for Difficult Conversations
It might be a confrontation with a colleague who is constantly late to meetings. You might need to finally ask for that raise. Or it could be approaching a…
- The Anxious Achiever
What Athletes Teach Us About Mental Health
Most offices are rife with sports metaphors, from hitting the target to being a team player. There’s a lot we can learn from athletes and those who train them…
- The Anxious Achiever
Facing Loss Amid the Tyranny of Positivity
There are a lot of challenges in our lives that can help us achieve. And then there is the reality that there ARE going to be times that are traumatic, tragic…
- The Anxious Achiever
What Mental Health Leave Taught One Google Executive
People who end up in leadership positions at huge companies are usually overachievers: they’ve succeeded in school, internships, early career jobs, and as…
- The Anxious Achiever
Shopify’s Harley Finkelstein is an Anxious Achiever
Harley Finkelstein is president of Shopify, the e-commerce platform that has processed over 1 billion orders. For years, Harley’s anxiety troubled him but also…
- The Anxious Achiever
CVS Health’s Cara McNulty on Fighting Mental Health Stigma
Much about mental health care in this country is pretty broken. In her role at President of Behavioral Health and Executive Vice President at CVS Health, Cara…
- The Anxious Achiever
How to Channel Anxiety Into Positive Work Outcomes, According to Research
Work can be stressful and downright anxiety-inducing; but we also know that bit of anxiety that comes from bumping up against a deadline or having to give a…
- The Anxious Achiever
Managing With Intention Can Help Us Fight Toxic Work Environments, Burnout, and Anxiety
Being intentional about how we spend our time and how we treat others is sometimes easier said than done. But it’s an essential piece of how we keep workers…
- The Anxious Achiever
The Anxiety of Money, University, and Raising Mentally Healthy Kids
It’s the time of year when so many young adults and their parents are thinking about a major achievement in young life - getting into college. It’s easy for…
- The Anxious Achiever
Finding the Right Work Fit When You’re Neurodivergent
For all the negative stuff that social media and our online world can put out there - a lot of which we talk about in this show - there are also some pretty…
- The Anxious Achiever
Digging Deeper on Perfectionism
Many high performers go through their working lives struggling with perfectionism and not even realizing it - or not understanding why they have such a need to…
- The Anxious Achiever
Using Achievement - and Exercise - to Cope
Emi Nietfeld is one of those people who looks great on paper. Raised in tumultuous circumstances and facing mental health challenges in her early teens, she…
- The Anxious Achiever
Dealing with Grief While Dealing with Work
Grief is something we’ll all experience in our adult lives, and we all experience it differently. But it’s not something the modern workplace is really built…
- The Anxious Achiever
Why Giving Up Control at Work Can Improve Your Emotional Health
Aaron Dignan is founder of The Ready - an organizational transformation and coaching practice. He focuses on how to prioritize adaptivity and autonomy over…
- The Anxious Achiever
Surgeon General Announces Framework on Mental Health and Work
US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has never shied away from talking about emotions, and their impact on our health. On his own podcast he brings forth topics…
- The Anxious Achiever
Scary Mommy’s Founder on When Life Throws Curveballs
We’re told again and again in the business world that the way to be successful is to follow your passion and to be authentic. Jill Smokler, the founder of the…
- The Anxious Achiever
Why Difference is a Superpower with Christopher Lochhead
Many people who are neurodivergent have to figure out a way to succeed outside the rules and regulations of traditional institutions. Christopher Lochhead…
- The Anxious Achiever
Burnout and Mental Health: Perspectives from Human Resources
Every wonder what your manager or HR leader is really thinking? In this episode, host Morra Aarons-Mele speaks with Vice Media’s Chief People Officer Daisy…
- The Anxious Achiever
Gretchen Rubin on Expectations, Pillars of Habits, and Understanding Why You React the Way You Do
Before many others, podcast host and author Gretchen Rubin found a way to create her own brand, run a remote company, and think carefully about mental health…
- The Anxious Achiever
A CEO on Strengthening Leadership and Facing Childhood Trauma
Adam Baruh is CEO and founder of the consulting agency SuiteCentric. But he’s also on a mission to talk with servant leaders and normalize conversations around…
- The Anxious Achiever
Your Questions, Answered: How to Get What You Need at Work
We set out in every episode to share a story, reframe a perception, or even change your mind about mental health. But listeners are always writing in with…
- The Anxious Achiever
Questioning and Understanding Our Need to Achieve
One of the core tenets of this show is about examining our motivations to achieve (and even overachieve), especially because those needs can contribute to…
- The Anxious Achiever
The Hidden Mental Anguish of a Successful Tech Investor
Andy Johns has had a nearly two decade career as an investor - working on companies like Facebook and Twitter when they were in their early stages. Today, he’s…
- The Anxious Achiever
Lori Gottlieb on Writing as Therapy, the Mind-Body Connection, and What to Do When You Need Help
Lori Gottlieb found her life’s work later in life, but she then built her career around therapy and writing - helping herself and countless others along the…
- The Anxious Achiever
Changing Your Relationship With Email and Phones
Sometimes you just need a little extra inspiration to remind you how to draw the right boundaries and make sure you relationship with work remains healthy. In…
- The Anxious Achiever
Lessons in Mental Health and Leadership from History
Mental health seems to be all the rage in the corporate world today. But the reality is that great leaders, great creatives, and great innovators throughout…
- The Anxious Achiever
Why We Need to Understand Our Emotions Around Money
Even if you don’t suffer from more generalized anxiety, money is something that causes almost everyone some stress and strain. Buffie Purselle, an entrepreneur…
- The Anxious Achiever
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (And Work)
A lot of us still think of mental struggles as something to push through. Or we think we need to “cure” ourselves from anxiety and that will be that. But…
- The Anxious Achiever
Why Managing Is the Hardest Job She’s Ever Had
Building a positive, mentally healthy workplace isn’t a one-time feat. It requires work day in and day out - which makes managing an even harder job than it…
- The Anxious Achiever
Bonobos Cofounder on the Highs of Success and Lows of Mental Struggle
Andy Dunn is the cofounder of Bonobos, a innovative retail company he helped start out of business school in 2007. And while the company reached incredible…
- The Anxious Achiever
Managing Anxiety When the World Feels like a Scary Place
For many of us, anxiety is about the day to day - whether that’s from social interaction, managing all of our work, or a more serious disorder we might be…
- The Anxious Achiever
Imposter Syndrome, Work, and Mental Health
So many of us experience imposter syndrome - the idea that you feel like a fraud in your job; that you’re faking it until you make it and that any minute now…
- The Anxious Achiever
Miss America on the Suffering We Can’t Always See
So many people struggle with mental health issues in part because, unlike many physical ailments, you can’t always know that someone is suffering, or just how…
- The Anxious Achiever
Racial Trauma and Work: “I Hear From Broken-Hearted Women Several Times a Day”
Today’s guest is someone who experienced the racism in the corporate world. After years of constantly being triggered at work, she had enough, and walked away…
- The Anxious Achiever
Understanding “Good” Anxiety
Dr. Wendy Suzuki is a neuroscientist at NYU who studies neuroplasticity. She’s the author of “Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood…
- The Anxious Achiever
Does Negotiation Give You Anxiety? Here’s How To Approach It.
Preparing for and managing a negotiation can be hard for anyone, but for people who suffer from anxiety and tend toward rumination, it can feel near…
- The Anxious Achiever
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms On Mental Health In And Out of Office
A career in the public eye is not for the faint of heart. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms didn’t start out knowing she would enter a career in politics, but she…
- The Anxious Achiever
Learning Compassion for Your High-Achieving Self
What if we all were a little nicer to ourselves? In this episode, we hear from lawyer Mark Goldstein about his own journey with depression, OCD, and breaking…
- The Anxious Achiever
A Mini Meditation When You Need It
Hear mindfulness leader Sharon Salzberg walk you through a short meditation you can use at work or any time you feel anxious.
- The Anxious Achiever
A Career in Mindfulness, Mindfulness for Your Career
Meditation and mindfulness have become household concepts, especially in the wake of the global pandemic. But it wasn’t always that way. In this episode, we…
- The Anxious Achiever
Why Ambition Can Make You a “Terror” - And How to Fix It
When we get jobs that seem impressive to the outside world - and get sucked into a corporate, competitive culture - we don’t always end up displaying the best…
- The Anxious Achiever
On Being CEO - and Living with Bipolar Disorder
Many leaders succeed and thrive not just in spite of anxiety, depression, or other mental health struggles - but because of them. They make leaders more aware…
- The Anxious Achiever
Psychological Safety in Theory and In Practice
What does psychological safety at work mean for people with anxiety and other mental health challenges? Host Morra Aarons-Mele speaks with Amy Edmondson, a…
- The Anxious Achiever
Why the Workplace is Actually a Good Place to Heal
Host Morra Aarons-Mele speaks with Susan Schmitt, co-author of Healing at Work: A Guide to Using Career Conflicts to Overcome Your Past and Build the Future…