Workplace Confessions: Behind Closed Doors
Hosted by best friends Dawn and Elsa, the podcast blends decades of experience across very different industries. Dawn spent 25 years as an employment lawyer investigating workplace drama from the inside out. Elsa built a long career in the beauty industry as a brand educator, with a few TV cameos along the way. Together, they’re unapologetic extroverts who meet new people everywhere—and always want to know how they got their jobs, what they love about them, what they can’t stand, and what really goes on behind closed doors.
Equal parts informative and titillating, Workplace Confessions serves up all the tea while honoring the incredible, complicated, often messy work people are doing across industries and across the map.
Episodes
25 episodes
Meet a Midwife in Training
A home birth that was nearly “not allowed” in Iowa planted a seed that never stopped growing, and our anonymous guest follows that seed all the way into a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) apprenticeship. Along the way, she takes...
Meet a Lawyer Turned Healthcare Business Leader
One photo can change a life, and sometimes it rewires an entire career. This week, we sat down with an anonymous C-Suite executive who started out making holiday gifts with his mom. At 23, he was thrown into management at the Four S...
Meet a High School Math Teacher
You think you know what teachers do all day until you hear what happens after the bell rings, after the emails pile up, and after the policies change without anyone asking the people in the room. This week on Workplace Confessions: ...
Meet_a_Color_Expert
Your hair color is not just “light or dark” or “warm or cool.” It is a full system, and when it is wrong, you can feel it in your mirror, your closet, and your confidence. This week, we sit down with Renee Taglia, a Master Hair Colorist & E...
Meet a Courtroom Insider
Court is one of those workplaces everyone thinks they understands until you talk to someone who has actually sat inside it for 20 years. Our anonymous guest takes us from her early detour into teaching to a long career in the courthouse, includ...
Meet the Author of 'The Myth of the Fearless Leader'
Fear shows up in every career, even when your title says “leader.” We sit down with Dr. Tonya Jackman Hampton, Ph.D. PCC, an organizational development practitioner, executive coach, and former chief human resources officer whose career runs fr...
Meet a Mortgage Industry Expert Turned Entrepreneur
Mortgage is supposed to feel like math, paperwork, and a few signatures. What happens when it also feels like a daily test of character? We sit down with an anonymous mortgage expert whose working life runs from a paper route at 13 ...
Meet a GenX Expert Turned Author
Someone finally said the quiet part out loud: burnout can make you do weird things, like faking an emergency on Zoom just to escape a meeting. This week, we’re joined by La'Tonya ("LT") Rease Miles, author of "Smart Girl," adjunct f...
Meet a Chief Drama Slayer
Workplace investigations are supposed to reveal the truth, but most companies accidentally design a process that breeds silence, fear, and repeat drama. We’re joined by Patti Perez, a former employment lawyer turned HR leader and third-party in...
Meet a Bartender Turned Dominatrix
A bartender gets pneumonia, misses work, and the message lands hard: you can give everything to a job and still be treated as disposable. That turning point sends our guest, Lady Ruby Rebel, in an unexpected direction, toward a second career as...
Meet a Career Soldier Turned Event Planner
A scud missile flies over your base in broad daylight, the alarm never sounds, and you realize you might not have the extra 30 seconds you trained for. That’s one of the memories our anonymous guest shares, and it’s the kind that doesn’t fade j...
Meet a Paralegal Turned Workplace Investigator
Ever leapt through a gas station window to stop a drive-off? Our anonymous guest did—then broke barriers in the Army and now uncovers truth at work. Hear how ethics, grit, and empathy power real investigations. Listen now and tell us your wilde...
Meet a Best Selling Author
What happens when a natural hustler swaps a clinical career for a bold gamble on emotional intelligence and wins? We sat down with bestselling author Travis Bradberry, Ph.D., who went from mowing lawns and running a middle-school gu...
Meet a Scientist Turned Minister
What happens when a scientist-in-training follows a quiet tug into ministry and discovers his real work is showing up where life breaks open? We sit down with an anonymous pastor who talks candidly about standing at the edges of joy...
Meet a Bone Cleaner
In this revealing episode of Workplace Confessions Behind Closed Doors, our guest shares unforgettable stories from her career, including the impact of a toxic boss, the bizarre casino culture, and the emotional toll of waiting for justice in a...
Meet an Exotic Dancer Turned Dominatrix
In this episode, we sit down with Domina Katy Lynx to explore a career path that defies assumptions and reveals the power of reinvention. Katy shares how she moved from early success in real estate and mortgage lending to navigating financial u...
Meet an ER Nurse Practitioner
This episode of "Workplace Confessions Behind Closed Doors" features a nurse practitioner who shares candid stories and insights from her career in emergency medicine. The conversation covers the journey from a first job at Hoagie Yogi to worki...
Meet a Political Strategist
This interview takes the listener through the career journey of a political strategist. The discussion covers misconceptions about lobbying and political strategy, the roles and influence of staffers in government, the importance and challenges...
Meet a Gastroenterologist
In this engaging episode of Workplace Confession, the hosts interview a seasoned gastroenterologist who shares his journey from being a soccer referee to practicing medicine for over 14 years. The conversation explores the process of choosing a...
Meet a Civil Engineer
In this episode of Workplace Confessions Behind Closed Doors, hosts Elsa Barbi and Dawn Andrews welcome an anonymous engineer who takes listeners on a candid journey through his career. The conversation kicks off with stories of youthful...
Meet a Sex Therapist
The episode features a psychologist specializing in sexual health who traces their path from early childcare work to roles in hospitals and universities before shifting from child psychology to adult and college‑aged clients. Their current prac...
Meet a Leadership Coach for Women
This episode explores the importance of accessibility in coaching, emphasizing that coaching should not be limited to corporate environments but made available across various industries, trades, and to young people entering the workforce. The c...
Meet Your Co-host, Dawn
In this conversation, Dawn and Elsa discuss the goals and experiences of their podcast, which centers on honest confessions from guests. Dawn hopes listeners gain a deeper appreciation for the meaningful work that people do. They share personal...