From Sunday Scaries to Mondays on Fire: Building a Culture of Confidence feat. Lynnea Brumbaugh

In this episode of *Taking Back Monday*, Alyssa Nolte sits down with Lynnea Brumbaugh, the creator of the *Mondays on Fire* program, to explore how leaders can turn dreaded Mondays into empowering experiences. Lynnea shares how somatic awareness—using movement, breathwork, and mindfulness—can help you reset your mindset and build a culture of confidence in the workplace. From reducing decision fatigue to unlocking creativity, Lynnea’s approach focuses on making Mondays more than just the start of the week—they become an opportunity to ignite progress. If you’re a leader looking to inspire your team and transform your work culture, this episode is for you.

Key Takeaways:

• Somatic Practices Improve Decision-Making: Incorporating breathwork and movement into your routine helps clear mental blocks, making Mondays more productive and focused.
• Culture Change Starts with Leaders: Leaders who prioritize their own growth can influence team dynamics, fostering a more confident and cohesive culture.
• Commitment Over Quick Fixes: Real change takes time—consistent effort over a year yields the best results, helping teams overcome the “dip” and achieve sustainable growth.

It's time to say "goodbye" to the Sunday Scaries.

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Transcript

Alyssa Nolte: 0:00

Hey everyone. Welcome back to taking back Monday. I am so excited that you decided to join us and say goodbye to the Sunday scaries and hello to much more meaningful work. And I have a great guest for you today. Linnea is going to tell you all about her experiences and how she sets Monday on fire and we'll get more into that in a second. But I wanted to welcome you to the show. Welcome

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 0:21

hi, thank you so much, Alyssa. It is really good to be here.

Alyssa Nolte: 0:25

I am so excited. You were actually a recommendation. We were introduced by a mutual connection that we have. I appeared on her podcast and we were talking about the concept of taking back Monday and she goes, I have someone you have to meet. You have to meet this person. She has something called Mondays on fire. And I immediately set up a little straighter and I was like, Oh my God, a kindred spirit.

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 0:46

I felt exactly the same way when Midori, she texted me and said, Oh my gosh, Linnae, I think you have to meet this one. And I went.

Alyssa Nolte: 0:54

Right. Cause the idea of, of taking back Monday and setting your Mondays on fire, you know, I think it's something that when you hear that, you're like, yeah, I want to do that. I want to be a part of that. But like, how do we actually get to the point where Monday means more than the worst day of the week?

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 1:11

Yes, exactly. That question is the impetus of exactly what I do in my program. So, um, in my extended program, a core function of it is a training that I do on Monday mornings for 45 minutes called Mondays on Fire. And that practice is designed literally. I used to say, Oh, this is to help you combat the Sunday scaries. So the idea is that we come in to the zoom space and do skillful breathing and movement. We start with a little bit of dance, and then we do skillful breathing and movement and a checking into the body about what it is that we're nervous about. What are the decisions that we need to make? Where's the inaction? Like, whatever it is that's, that's up and make meaningful decisions based on our body somatic awareness. So that's how the people who are in my program really set their Mondays on fire.

Alyssa Nolte: 2:11

So you mentioned like you get on a zoom on a Monday morning for 45 minutes and do some like breathing and movement and dancing. Talk to me about how you build kind of a cohort culture of that psychological safety. Because I got to be honest, if you asked me to get up on a Monday and dance on a zoom, I'd be like, this lady is crazy. What is she like? Like, how do you set that mindset so that people come into it? With the right idea of what's going to happen.

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 2:34

That is an excellent question and I'm extremely intentional about that. Psychological safety is literally the most important. Um, I know the thing that I emanate as the most important part of life, whether I'm working with my kids, whether I'm working with clients, my students, everybody, um, that, that foundation of psychological safety is super important. And I think that's why once people are in the program. They know that I've got their back. So, so thank you for asking that question. First of all, and then the answer is the dancing part is totally optional. So I always say, I'm going to start the thing five minutes early. I'm going to be there dancing. You can join me if you want to. And you, obviously you can be off camera. So, uh, so those people who like it, who've been coming for a while too. who get the benefit of it. They're more likely to show up and start dancing if they want to. And anybody else who doesn't want to, doesn't have to. So that's the first thing that the dancing part is totally optional. And also I'm, I'm foolish and, and fun. And so people, uh, people will engage. Cause if I'm doing that foolish thing, then other people might feel a little more safe to do it as well. Um, and then the next thing. And the next thing is that I, I teach the, the breathing and movement. And I, as I'm teaching them what to do, I'm explaining biologically and in terms of the, the actual biology of your systems, why this is important and why it matters so that there's a learning about how our systems work as we're also breathing and working with the systems. Um, so that I think also provides a kind of psychological safety because Nobody wants to just do weird stuff without understanding what the benefit is.

Alyssa Nolte: 4:28

Well, I think bringing that value proposition into the conversation, right. My immediate response is okay. I work with a lot of people who are in a corporate environment. We are a revenue driven operation as is every single business. What is the bottom line or profitability implication for what you're doing? How do you, and, and doing the movement and the breathing and the exercises and really thinking through Monday's on fire. How does that help me as a leader do what I need to do, which is drive revenue?

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 4:54

That is a fantastic question. And the short answer is it saves time. Um, that in that, I know it doesn't seem like it would necessarily, but that investment in oxygenating the body. Um, checking in, deciding what it is that I am indecisive about, doing that in an environment where that's normalized. Okay, so what's up for you right now? What are the decisions that you want to make? That, what is the thing that is, uh, that, that you may not even have thought about it until just now, but this is the thing that needs to be, have some action on. And so doing that intentionally. means that going into the fire of Monday is yes. I know what the thing is. I've, I've cleared it out. And now I feel both energized and relaxed. Exactly.

Alyssa Nolte: 5:52

talked about and I want to touch in just a little bit tighter on That so i'm a ceo of a software company. We are trying to build a really cool software. We're really excited about it there's parts of this process that i'm just like throwing my hands up. I'm like, I'm so frustrated by this. And it was taking away what I was really good at, which is creating and building something and problem solving. And so I was spending all this time on something I really didn't want to do. And it was taking up my creative energy for what I needed to be doing. And finally, my husband was like, I am, I'm done with hearing you talk about this. Go take the dog for a walk. And, like, made me leave the house because I had just been, like, ranting in the kitchen for 45 minutes. And he recognized that I was in a state of fight in my flight or flight, my fight or flight response. Like, he's like, you aren't, you're not going to move on from this. You're not going to settle down and you're not going to do what you need to do. You need to take a timeout, essentially. And of course, I was pretty pissed at him. I'm like, you don't tell me what to do. And then I got back from the walk and I was like, that was probably the right thing to do. So thank you. Thank you for doing that. But the idea of it saves time, because think about how much time I've probably wasted just sitting there fuming about a situation that was out of my control anyway. And how much time I could have been doing what I need to do, which is my job as the CEO is to build something cool and to find people to buy it. Right?

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 7:11

Yes. And nobody comes into this world trained to understand that our bodies can help us. to release what we can't control, focus on what we can't control. Everybody sort of imagines that that's just a thing that we know in our minds. And

Alyssa Nolte: 7:28

Like it's instinctual, but it's

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 7:30

it's not. it's not the, um, the taken in taking it into the body. Taking the dog for a walk is brilliant. Um, and kudos to you for taking the coaching from your husband because that is hard to do. Like

Alyssa Nolte: 7:45

in the moment I was like, don't, don't tell me what to do.

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 7:48

What? I'm the one. I'm the decision maker. Um,

Alyssa Nolte: 7:52

I'm the one here. Yeah, but it was the right choice.

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 7:54

It was. Yep.

Alyssa Nolte: 7:55

So if I'm, if I'm a leader, right. I have a team of people and it's important to me. That, you know, I'm really trying to help my team take back Monday. And it's my personal belief that taking back Monday is the responsibility of the leader. You have the power to create a great culture that people want to be a part of. You have the power to do things for your team, to drive them in the right direction. And if you set the vision correctly, if you communicate well, if you hold people accountable, accountable in the right way, if you motivate them and inspire them, and if you develop great trust with your team. That you can turn the Sunday Scaries into a thing of the past. How can we actually start to do that, though, when it comes to kind of that somatic system? How as I a leader, how can I take my team out of somatic fight or flight?

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 8:41

Um, the, that is a fantastic question. And my answer of course is like, come do my program because they, and, and, and I realized that that is literally, I, I created the program because I know how transformational these practices were for me when I began to do them. And I was. Just like driven to try to make organizations better. Um, 'cause I know that the people who are struggling, um, like with their bosses. I hear, I hear that. And then I also hear the struggles of the bosses and the, uh, it doesn't have to be so hard. Like that's what my main message is. This, these things that seem so insurmountable are not when we co regulate. So, um, so whether or not you take my program, doing some kind of breathing and movement practice that has intentionality and mindfulness to it. The research based data is 10 minutes a day. And so that's what I work with, with my clients. I say, okay, so you've experienced what it feels like. This feels better. You know, which, which one of these exercises works for you. Now we're going to build up to at least 10 minutes a day because that's where transformational Shifts happen. And when the leaders experience the ability to ground the body quickly, um, expand the heart intelligence to neutrality. And what I mean by that is we all have, um, the, the true heart intelligence is not about emotionality. The true heart intelligence holds our emotionality. Like it's, it's this huge field that says, We are neutral in our loving compassion with each other and everybody makes mistakes. We know what that feels like. So we cultivate that through grounding the body and then in that space where the heart is not reactive anymore, creative solutions arise. So whatever practice it is that you do, um, do it mindfully for 10 minutes a day and

Alyssa Nolte: 10:54

idea of like, give me ten minutes a day and I'll reduce an hour's worth of friction a day, right?

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 10:59

over and over the course of your career, you're going to reduce. Tons of friction and produce way more like, um, the idea of personal growth and organizational growth. They are tied together when leaders do their personal growth work, they bring that into the relationships. And we know that that's what drives great culture and great culture drives great results.

Alyssa Nolte: 11:29

Yeah, I, I'm sitting here thinking like, okay, how do I start getting our team to really think about that and opening up our, our sessions each week with that idea. You mentioned that you really started to see success and change as you, you started to do these movements. Let's talk about your origin story. How did you get into this? What were the things that happened to you? The triggers that set you on this path?

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 11:52

Yeah, that is a great question. Um, and Every time that I touch into it, I'm not really sure exactly where to start. So I'll just start like literally at the origin. So, uh, before I was 25, I almost died three times. So I know I had a childhood cancer. I was assaulted in college and then my ovary ruptured when I was 25 years old, of all things. So, so I, this was before the days when we understood how trauma works. So I was a young adult walking around with a tremendous amount of trauma inside my body. And, and, And as, um, as I grew into getting my PhD, getting married, adopting a couple of kids internationally, like all of that was, as we now know, it was running underneath the surface. And when the second international adoption, which, um, which was an eight year old boy from Russia,

Alyssa Nolte: 12:43

Mm hmm.

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 12:44

determined to solve world peace. I adopted one from China, one from Russia. Note to self, that's not going to solve world peace. Um, but it will drive you.

Alyssa Nolte: 12:53

It's worth a shot though.

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 12:55

so wanted to do that. I was a very idealistic young woman. Um, so, but, but what it did do is created enough stress in my own personal life that I had, as my friend said, you've painted yourself into a corner where you have no choice but to grow. And I had no choice, but to find ways outside of the structures that I had created for myself. And that was when, thank God, I had a beautiful therapist who had started doing some energy training. And this was, again, right before the science on trauma really came out. So I felt like I was just doing this weird booze secret stuff. I'm a professor. I'm not going to tell anybody I'm doing this. But

Alyssa Nolte: 13:37

You're having a little, as they would call it now, a little woo woo,

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 13:40

Yeah. And I was a private woo woo person. There's no way that I was going to talk about this because I like to be taken seriously. I like evidence, like, but I could not deny that these practices made my entire body feel better and that I was a healing person in ways that were not, I couldn't verbalize them yet. So then, uh, fast forward to the trauma research came out and these practices started becoming a little bit more normalized. And that's when I systematized what I had learned.

Alyssa Nolte: 14:15

That's amazing. So tell us a little bit about some of the people that you work with. How, how do they come to you and what can they expect when they join a Mondays on Fire

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 14:25

Oh, thank you. So, um, so the people come with, to me to work with me most of the time are executives and executive teams. And the Monday's on fire is one part. It's not the whole thing. of a three part program that I call the Executive Operating System. So, so when people come to me, it's because they are aware that there is the, um, that the team and the organization could be better. Like they're, they're, it's very subtle. Most of my clients right now are local, although it's, it's a Zoom practice and I do have clients all over the country, um, that I have usually met in networking groups online. So, um, so most of my clients, however, are local that I have met through local networking, and it comes because I share what I do, and people go, zing, I need some of that, and then we have a conversation, and then I explain the program, and then they jump in.

Alyssa Nolte: 15:25

It almost takes someone who's maybe a little bit on the path of self actualization, right? Like they've already started on that path. They just want to get there a little bit faster. Let's say I'm a leader. I want to start doing this. My team is not so sure. How do I convince them or, or make it a safe process for them or, or convince them that this is the right path for us to take when they're maybe non believers?

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 15:48

is such a fantastic question. And my answer to that is most of the time I start working with the leader. So I have a, a, like a program that is just for the leader. And then what happens after they start coming and they experience what it is, and they inevitably like want their team to come on board, it goes in two different directions. Either Um, I start to bring on the other people and the dearest example of that is a, um, a grandfather grandson, um, co owned company and the grandson came on board and then and then the, um, And then another leadership person came on board, and then the grandfather came on board, and it's so dear. It's so dear because, uh, generationally, there's a lot of difference in how accepting people are about this, and the grandfather is just right there. So, so either that kind of thing happens. Or in another case, um, the, the person, the principal of an accounting firm, uh, that is, is my client. She just jumped into my certification program and she's taking it to her company in the way that works for her. So she is doing this and I'm helping her develop these principles in ways that will work within her culture.

Alyssa Nolte: 17:11

I love that too, because it's really important to recognize that That your culture is going to be a part of your, it's either going to be an accelerator for what you're trying to do, or it's going to be a hurdle for what you're trying to do. And you have to understand that and then be able to develop strategies that, that take advantage of the acceleration and, and overcome the hurdles.

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 17:31

exactly. Yes. Yes. Um, and as long as the executive is. is bought in as long as as long as somebody is on that path towards, um, yeah, something like self actualization. Then, uh, it just becomes easier because we don't work against and we always work with. This

Alyssa Nolte: 17:55

Yeah. Mm hmm. Well, tell us a little bit more about the types of people who you see are successful in this program. Like, I'm sure, like, with every program, you have people who drop off, right, who, who quit mid program or who are excited initially, but they can't really sustain that, that perseverance, that motivation. How do you keep people engaged when it's, I'm sure it's not an instant process, like, I'm not going to come to one event and then be solved, right? So how do you keep people engaged? How do you keep

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 18:23

is so interesting. Um, I, I really, I tell people in the conversations that I like to work with people for a year for the 12 month program and not for the 90 day program for exactly that reason. And the vast majority of people do. And what happens is that, yes, people become involved in their lives. They have vacations, the kids graduate, somebody gets sick, whatever. But in the course of the year long program, we're always coming back. Um, and so I really don't, I I don't have anybody who just drops away and disappears because that is a long term investment. And because part of the program is also having personal coaching sessions with me. When I see somebody hasn't been around for a while, I'm reaching out and saying, make sure you're on my calendar because we want to make sure that you are, you're getting the support that you want. So it's a highly personal program. And that's how I'm managing that right now.

Alyssa Nolte: 19:19

Yeah, it's, the reason I was bringing it up, I'm reading a book right now, um, by Seth Godin called The Dip. And it's about, have you, have you read that

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 19:26

I know the concept. I have not read

Alyssa Nolte: 19:28

Yeah. Yeah. So the, the general concept is everything has a dip and the best people in the world, the most talented, the people who you look up to and say, wow, she or he is incredible. They aren't necessarily the best in the world because they are naturally talented, although most of them are. They are the best in the world because they said no to other things in their life and prioritized the thing that they could be the best in the world at. But there's this concept of, before you can see that success, you're going to have the natural excitement of, you know, this is a new thing that I'm doing. And then all of a sudden there's going to be a dip before you see success. And if you can get through the dip, then you're going to find success. You're going to find that acceleration someday.

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 20:06

Oh my gosh.

Alyssa Nolte: 20:07

aren't willing to go through the dip, you shouldn't even start.

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 20:10

I am so going to use that example when I'm talking with people now, because what I say is like, the reason I want to work with people over time is that that's where I see results. And now I, I can definitely use the dip as the example as to why that's important, because it's just true. And I know that from working with people over time. And so I, I just like, stay right with the conversation to see the benefits of the, of the year long investment.

Alyssa Nolte: 20:36

Yeah. Because there's gonna be a dip. It's gonna happen. Where you wanna quit. But you, if you can, if you can push through the dip, then you can be the best in the world. It's the people who don't push through that never

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 20:46

Mhm. That is true. That is. I love that. Thank you for bringing that up.

Alyssa Nolte: 20:50

Of course, it's, it's a, it's a book that I've been talking about to a lot of people. So, um, so Linnea, tell us who in your mind is taking back Monday.

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 20:58

Well, I'm actually I was thinking about this and like the person that I that I mentioned earlier, the principal of the accounting firm. Her name is Elizabeth Farmer. She has been a client of mine since. my beta program and she took it. It changed everything about her life and she was totally on fire. She took a break from the program and when she came back, she entered my certification program and she like, she's in a, this is an accounting firm.

Alyssa Nolte: 21:28

I'm married to an accountant, so I know, I know all about

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 21:30

Super duper busy. She has made the dedicated choice. She, she gets like every session on her calendar and she tries to make sure that she comes to every training. She takes the notes. She knows what she wants to bring to her people. She's doing her own beta testing. She sends me the videos that she makes for her people so I can check them out. We brainstorm to make sure that Like, how can we get more buy in? Do the internal marketing? Like, how can we make allow your people to see what you and I already know is the value? And she is rocking it a year from today. Her entire workplace is going to be a vastly different place. It already is because she's done her inner work and her people have noticed that and they have appreciated her for it. So they know there's something there. And now we're working to translate that into it. like culture wide norms of this super healthy behavior.

Alyssa Nolte: 22:33

So one thing I want to cut back to before we close out the episode, It just occurred to me as you were talking that they, they've recognized that she's done the inner work and that they've appreciated it. Think about how much time we as organizations spend on process and software and tools and procedures and yet we call people the heart of our organization. We spend no time on our people and our internal process and our internal organization. And yet people are the heart of our organization except we spend all of our time on process.

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 23:05

Yes. Wow. Mic drop.

Alyssa Nolte: 23:09

Mic drop. We're going to move on

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 23:10

it. I love it.

Alyssa Nolte: 23:12

So Linnae, if someone really wants to set their Mondays on fire, how can they connect with you?

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 23:17

Oh, thank you for asking. So my, um, I really appreciate you asking that question because I, I, um, set up a special, uh, button on my website just for, uh, for listeners of this podcast. I had this course available anyway, and I wanted to make it front and center. So the website is mondaysonfire. com and in the top right hand corner, there's a big yellow button. It says your 30 minute confidence course. And if you press that, you will like be like, you can get free enrollment into, uh, this, uh, several modules of me doing some of the basic training that I do for the Mondays on Fire. It's not the whole program, but it's some of the very cool, um, and yes, cutting edge and weird looking stuff that I do. Um, and, uh, so that is available for you guys.

Alyssa Nolte: 24:10

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining us on Taking Back Monday. I can't wait to continue to follow your journey and see how you do.

Lynnea Brumbaugh: 24:16

Thank you, Alyssa. Thank you for this opportunity. I really appreciate it.