Career Building: What Does Being Trauma Wise Mean? | Your Trauma Wise Career Guide Ep 28

What if your healing journey has already given you some of the most valuable professional skills most people spend years trying to develop?

Welcome to Your Trauma Wise Career Guide, where we explore how trauma survivors can build authentic, sustainable careers that honor both their ambitions and their healing needs.

In this episode, we're breaking down what it really means to be trauma-wise in your career building—and why it's completely different from traditional career advice.

🎯 WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
✨ The difference between being trauma-informed and trauma WISE in your career
✨ Why your nervous system is actually part of your career strategy
✨ The three core pillars of trauma wise career building
✨ How to recognize trauma-developed skills as professional strengths
✨ Practical ways to start building a career that works WITH you, not against you

⏱️ EPISODE TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Opening: Your healing journey as professional development
0:07 - Introduction to trauma-wise career building
0:45 - What trauma-wise actually means
2:30 - How it's different from traditional career advice
4:15 - The Three Pillars of Trauma Wise Career Building
7:00 - What this looks like in real life
9:00 - Personal reflection and vulnerable sharing
10:00 - Three practical steps you can take this week
11:30 - Closing thoughts on trauma wisdom as your edge
12:30 - Call to action and free resource

🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS:
→ Being trauma-wise means working WITH your nervous system, not against it
→ Your healing has developed real professional skills (emotional intelligence, pattern recognition, crisis management)
→ Safety isn't optional—it's foundational for sustainable success
→ Your timeline is yours, and that's not settling, that's wisdom
→ Authentic advancement honors both your ambitions AND your healing needs

💬 LET'S CONNECT:
What's one trauma-developed skill you're ready to own as a professional strength? Drop it in the comments below—I read every single one!
https://linktr.ee/resilient_career_academy

🎧 SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE:
New episodes drop every Tuesday, where we dive deep into trauma-informed career development, boundary setting, nervous system regulation at work, professional confidence-building, and creating careers that support your healing journey.

Hit subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode of Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide!

When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your career journey:

1. Free trauma-informed career development resources from my website! Visit https://www.cyndibennettconsulting.com for always up-to-date tips.
2. Ready to build a fulfilling career with trauma-informed support? Join The Resilient Career Academy Learning Community, where trauma survivors support each other, share resources, and develop career resilience in a safe, understanding environment
3. Ready for personalized trauma-informed career coaching? Explore my range of virtual coaching packages designed for different stages of your career journey. Visit my website to find the right support for where you are now. [Visit my website: https://www.cyndibennettconsulting.com/1-on-1-coaching]

DISCLOSURE: Some links I share might contain resources that you might find helpful. Whenever possible I use referral links, which means if you click any of the links in this video or description and make a purchase we may receive a small commission or other compensation at no cost to you.

Transcript

Career Building: What Does Being Trauma-Wise Mean? | Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide Ep 28

Cyndi Bennett: [00:00:00] What if I told you that your healing journey has already given you some of the most valuable professional skills most people spend years trying to develop?

Cyndi: Did you know that trauma impacts how we navigate our careers, but most career advice ignores this reality? Imagine feeling confident and safe at work while honoring your healing journey. Welcome to Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide, the podcast that reimagines career development for trauma survivors. I'm your host, Cyndi Bennett, a trauma survivor, turned trauma informed, career coach and founder of the Resilient Career Academy. If you're navigating your career while honoring your healing journey, you are in the right place.

Cyndi Bennett: Hey there, and welcome to Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide. I'm so glad you're here. Today, we're talking about something that might feel revolutionary to you: [00:01:00] being trauma-wise in your career building. Not trauma-informed. Not trauma-aware. But trauma-wise.

Because here's what I know to be true. Your trauma recovery hasn't just been about healing. It's been about gaining wisdom that can transform how you show up professionally, if you know how to work with it, instead of against it.

So let's dive into what being trauma-wise really means and why it changes everything about career development.

First, let's get clear on what we're actually talking about. Being trauma-wise means understanding that your nervous system is part of your career strategy. This isn't about ignoring your trauma responses or powering through them. It's about working with your nervous system to build a career that supports your [00:02:00] regulation, rather than constantly threatening it.

Number two, your healing has developed real professional skills. That emotional intelligence you've worked so hard to develop, that's a leadership superpower. Your ability to recognize patterns, that's strategic thinking. Your hyper-vigilance you've been trying to fix, when channeled appropriately, that's sophisticated risk assessment.

Number three, safety isn't optional. It's foundational. Traditional career advice often pushes you to get uncomfortable or fake it till you make it. But when you're trauma-wise, you know that sustainable success requires building from a foundation of safety, not despite the lack of it.

Number four, your timeline is yours. Trauma recovery isn't linear and neither is trauma-wise career building. There's no [00:03:00] "should" about where you are or how fast you're moving.

Let me paint a picture of the difference between traditional career development and trauma-wise career development .

Traditional career advice says Network as much as possible, show up to every event. Build visibility.

Trauma-wise career building says build authentic relationships that energize rather than drain you. Choose networking strategies that honor your capacity and nervous system needs.

Traditional advice says, push through discomfort. That's where growth happens.

Trauma-wise building says, distinguish between growth edges and trauma triggers. One helps you expand, the other retraumatizes you.

Traditional advice says, fake confidence until you feel it.

Trauma-wise building says, [00:04:00] build genuine confidence by recognizing your actual competence, including the skills your trauma recovery has given you.

You see the difference? One approach expects you to override your needs and responses. The other works with who you are and what you've survived.

Being trauma-wise rests on three core pillars.

Pillar one. Regulation before growth. You can't build a sustainable career from a dysregulated nervous system. This means sometimes the most career advancing thing you can do is care for your regulation first. Rest isn't lazy. Boundaries aren't selfish. Taking time to ground yourself before a big meeting isn't unprofessional, it's strategic.

Pillar number two, wholeness not [00:05:00] performance. You don't have to perform a version of yourself that leaves parts of your experience at the door. Being trauma-wise means you get to bring your whole self, however that looks like for you, to your professional life in ways that feel authentic and safe. Whether that means integrating your healing wisdom into your career identity, honoring the different parts of yourself, or simply not having to pretend your experiences didn't shape who you are. Your therapy work has taught you things about resilience, emotional intelligence, and human behavior that are genuinely valuable in a professional context. And you get to decide how and when to bring that wisdom forward.

And pillar number three, authentic advancement. Trauma-wise career building isn't about climbing someone else's ladder. It's [00:06:00] about defining success on your own terms, terms that honor both your ambitions and your healing needs. This might mean a different timeline than your colleagues. It might mean choosing roles that align with your values over roles that just look impressive. And that's not settling, that's wisdom.

So what does being trauma-wise actually look like day to day? It looks like recognizing when workplace stress is activating old trauma patterns and having tools to work with that instead of pushing through.

It looks like setting boundaries with colleagues without the guilt spiral because you understand that protecting your energy is protecting your capacity to do great work.

It looks like being able to articulate your value in ways that include, not hide, the perspective you've gained from your experiences.

It looks like [00:07:00] choosing job opportunities based on whether they support your continued healing, not just whether they boost your resume.

It looks like building professional relationships where you can be authentically you, not performing a version of yourself that exhausts you.

And here's what it doesn't look like. It doesn't look like using your trauma as an excuse. It doesn't look like staying small because you're afraid. It doesn't look like settling for less than you deserve. Being trauma-wise means you're strategic about how you grow, not whether you grow.

For years, I thought my trauma history was something I needed to overcome to be successful professionally. I tried to separate my healing work from my career development. I pushed myself using the same strategies everyone else used. Even when they left me [00:08:00] dysregulated and depleted.

And you know what happened? I burned out. Hard.

It wasn't until I started approaching my career from a trauma-wise perspective that everything shifted. When I stopped fighting my nervous system and started working with it. When I recognized my trauma developed skills as actual strengths. When I built career strategies that honored my healing timeline instead of ignoring it. That's when real sustainable success became possible.

And that's what I want for you too.

 So how do you start being more trauma-wise in your own career building? Here are three things you can do this week.

Cyndi Bennett: One. Notice your nervous system at work. Start paying attention to what activates you and what helps you feel grounded. You can't work with your nervous system if you're not aware of what it's [00:09:00] telling you.

Number two, identify one trauma-developed skill. Maybe it's your emotional awareness. Maybe it's your ability to read a room. Maybe it's your crisis management skills. Name it. Own it. That's a professional asset.

Number three, set one boundary that honors your capacity. This could be as simple as not checking email after a certain time or saying no to one commitment that would overextend you. Practice treating your energy as a resource to be protected, not an inconvenience to be ignored.

Being trauma-wise doesn't mean your trauma defines you. It means your wisdom does.

It means you've learned things through your healing journey that make you not just a survivor, but someone with profound insight into resilience, human behavior, [00:10:00] and what it really takes to thrive.

Your career path might look different than someone who hasn't done the healing work you've done. And that's not a disadvantage. That's your edge.

So wherever you are in your journey, whether you're just surviving your workday, building confidence, or ready to create systemic change, know this, your trauma-wise approach is your superpower, not your limitation.

If today's episode resonated with you, I'd love to hear about it. Send me a DM on Instagram or LinkedIn and tell me what's one trauma developed skill you're ready to own as a professional strength.

And if you're ready to dive deeper into building a trauma-wise career, head to our show notes for the link to schedule a free discovery call with me to explore where you are in your career and where you would like to go.

Thanks for being here. I'll see you in the next episode.

Cyndi: You're not walking this path [00:11:00] alone. Every step you take toward a trauma-wise career is an act of courage, and I'm here cheering you on. If today's episode resonated with you, share it with another survivor who needs to hear this message. Together we're rewriting the rules of career success. Keep rising, keep healing, keep building.