Functional Depression | Elevate Within Roundtable

Sandy Davis and Claudia Cuevas, LMFT, unpack functional depression, burnout, and the body's warning signs.

Functional depression. That's the term at the center of this week's Architecture of Reinvention Roundtable, where host Sandy Davis and co-host Claudia Cuevas, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, dig into the themes from Blake Schofield's episode.

Sandy and Claudia trace Blake's journey through 17 years of escalating physical symptoms, shingles at 28, a bulging disc, sciatic injections all while her career looked, on paper, like nothing but success. They unpack the question Blake asked herself that changed everything: are you willing to sacrifice your life for this career when they aren't willing to give you what you need?

Claudia explains functional depression: the high-functioning version that doesn't look like collapse, but like a perfectly run household and a closed-door cry in the car. They discuss why burnout is now showing up in women in their 30s instead of their 50s, and Claudia closes with a practical, repeatable gratitude exercise designed to shift an overworked brain from logical to creative.

What You Will Hear in This Episode

- Why the body sends physical warning signs long before the emotional ones surface.

- What functional depression actually looks like in high-achieving women.

- The moment Blake cried crossing the stage to accept her own award.

- Why burnout is now appearing in women in their 30s, not just their 50s.

- A practical A-through-Z gratitude exercise for any high achiever.

- Recognizing when a role no longer fits, and trusting that recognition.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Are you willing to sacrifice your life for this career when they aren't willing to give you what you need? And that question, why are you willing to sacrifice your life for this? was such an eye-opening truth because that is what I had been doing my whole career. I had continued to sacrifice my health. I had shingles at 28 years old. I had not so bad in my shoulders that the massage therapist couldn't get them out. By that last job in California, I had a bulging disc in my neck that I was dealing with literally ice in the middle of these appointments to deal with. I had horrible allergy problems. I had horrible back problems. I had had injections on my back for sciatic problems. Like I had all of these things, right? And I had consistently sacrificed my health for my job and for my responsibilities.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

Each week, I am joined by my co-host Claudia Cuevas, licensed marriage and family therapist, as we explore the stories, lessons, and emotional realities behind transformation. Because reinvention isn't just about changing our circumstances, it's about understanding yourself. It's about healing. It's about letting go of who you thought you had to be, so you can become who you were always meant to be. Whether you're navigating burnout, grief, identity shifts, career transitions, entrepreneurships, caregiving, or simply asking yourself what's next. You are not alone. So take a breath, pull up a chair, and join us at the table. This is Elevate Within. Hello and welcome back to Elevate Within. I'm your host, Sandy Davis.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

And I'm your co-host, Claudia Cuevas.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

This week we sat down with Blake Schofield for a powerful conversation about career transitions, self-trust, burnout, and the courage it takes to build the life that feels aligned from the inside out. Blake shared her journey of leaving a successful corporate career, navigating uncertainty, redefining success on her own terms, and helping others uncover the patterns, beliefs, and conditioning that kept them from disconnecting from themselves. She also spoke openly about the importance of listening to your inner knowing, honoring what no longer fits, and trusting yourself enough to move forward to what does. Today, Claudia and I are going to go deeper into some of the emotional and psychological themes behind Blake's story. Let's get into it. Claudia, what stood out to you about Blake's story the most?

SPEAKER_01 2:44

I think, I mean, first of all, just her comfort in being emotional, right?

SPEAKER_02 2:52

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

Like I'm I'm listening and I'm watching and I'm just like she is just so comfortable with being emotional. I'm not that comfortable with being emotional in public. Um, but she is so comfortable in owning that she's an emotional person. She felt free. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

I was a little envious of that. I was like, man, she is so free.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

She's so free. No. And I was like, as she was talking about, because you know, I could see her code switching a little bit when she would talk about like the, you know, and I did this and it's successful and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah like the corporate chalk and stuff. That I was like, there is no way she was that emotional. That she was living her authentic self, being that emotional while she was in that corporate sprace. No way. Right. And for her to be able to tap into it so easily and just own it. I really loved how she talked about like that her emotions now, she she is, she knows that that's the roadmap to m map for her, right? Like it's it's the um her compass, she said. Like it's her guiding post that I was like, that is just so so great. But it made me think of like, you know, not only her, but like, how much do we repress our emotions? Too much because we're not allowed to. Yes. And we've heard it, you know, we're gonna hear it later on about just, you know, I'm not allowed, I need to be a certain way. But for her, it was like constantly having to, you know, shut it down, put it away, compartmentalize it, because it doesn't align with being successful. And um her job.

SPEAKER_02 4:32

And she was very successful on paper, like every every job she was at, every position, every account she had. I mean, she persevered like there was no tomorrow. And I think, and it's toxic for me to say this, but I think she did that because she didn't have the emotion. It was just go, go, go, although she wasn't happy.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Again, she said every ride she took was the ride to burnout, right? Like that was one of her things that I was like, oh my gosh. Because again, it was I'm I'm gonna do this. I again, all those things that she was, right? All those things that made her successful is part of her personality. But she, you know, there was a lot of like type A and there was a lot of rigid thinking in order to get to the next thing. But the destination always for her was happiness, which is probably for a lot of us, right? Where I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna get it here, and then I'm gonna, if I, you know, if I make this bonus, if I I can buy the the Louis, I can get the next thing because that that should align with being successful, and therefore it should talk, it should be happy. I should be happy. And then every time she roadblock, emotional roadblock, right? Not happy, not doesn't feel good. I don't feel my authentic authentic self. I think early on she talked about that she thought she was going, she she knew from a very young age that she was very empathetic. We we now can see she was very attuned with her emotions. Like that's this is her now. I can imagine how like just a sweet girl she was and very kind and very empathetic. And so her thought was, I'm gonna be, you know, I'm gonna be a therapist, I'm gonna be a psychologist, and I'm gonna go in that route. And something happened that veered her away from her authentic self. It's not a bad thing because again, she now was able to learn all these other things. It was just a constant struggle for her because she wasn't living her purpose, right? Kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Yeah. And what a journey. You know, for most, for most women, I think, you know, she persevered and she took on challenges. You know, the accounts she had were like not performing well, and to get them to skyrocket, to um always be like the number one and number two in the country, you know, the sales team with limited resources. Right. I think for most women, we think that's the mountaintop. That's where we're supposed to be. And then she's crossing the stage to get an award and she breaks down because she's thinking about her kids. Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

The sacrifice and how she's not there.

SPEAKER_02 7:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

Right? The sacrifice. Yeah, because because again, I would have been like, what's wrong with that? That sounds cool. That sounds like who that sounds like success. Like, how can you not feel good about it? Or how can you not? And it's not that she didn't. It was again, I think that she was not truly being her authentic self, right? She had gotten conditioned, she went into this first corporation where she was, you know, performance was everything. You were only as good as your last, you know, L LMP, and you know, and then when she pivoted to the next company, and then she had to restructure, right? I really think that was the point where she started to, and I think she also said where she started to see, like, oh, like think like people can care about, like a you can have a balance. Yeah, could a company can care about you. What is that like, right? And again, it took her a really long time to make the ultimate pivot, which is this is, you know, I'm gonna become a coach and this is really what I want to help other women. She had to go through some of these things to now be able to like know what success is and know how to find it and find your purpose and really tap into your emotions and be okay with it.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

The burnout is real because even though she was highly successful, you know, um, with these accounts in her career, but you know, she suffered physically and um that's what's happening to a lot of women. So it looks great on paper. People just like, hey, what's wrong with that? Like you went on these wars. It's like I got this bulging disc in my neck, right? You know, I'm losing weight. Yep. Um, you know, you can't sleep. I know for me, I lost a ton of weight. Yep. Um, I couldn't really think. I had I thought it was brain fog, you know, it could have been pre-menopause, who knows? But I just was not happy.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

Yeah, oh yeah. And again, may and then it's maybe if I do this one other thing, maybe if I get this other account, maybe it's what it is. But really, you know what it really what you were talking about made me think of like, uh, you know, we've talked about anxiety and we talked about depression and we talked about that, but there is a part where it's called um functional depression. Is it what high?

SPEAKER_02 9:19

What is it? Is that is it just functioning depression or high functioning depression?

SPEAKER_01 9:23

It's functional depression that happens to high-functioning women or people, right?

SPEAKER_02 9:27

I was diagnosed with that, and I never even knew what that was. I was like, I remember the first time I heard, but she said hi, and I was just like, hmm, scored pretty good. Not even knowing what the hell it was. It was just like, I do get the gold star. I am high. I'm gonna be, if I'm gonna be depressed, I'm gonna be the best at it.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Top tier. Yeah, so it looks really different, and and I think we're gonna hear a lot of the women talk about what that looks like, and you, you know, it's sprinkled throughout all the the different um people that we're we're gonna be talking to. But like, you know, you can hear how high functioning it was, right? Or like I'm I put on the great face and then I sit down and I cry. I draw the whole drive home. I'm I'm driving, right? I'm driving and crying the whole way home. And then I pick it up and go. It that depression doesn't mean you stop working, doesn't mean you stop being successful, doesn't mean you um, you know, you're breaking down, not being able to get out of, you know, like the typical what you think of like depression. It is functioning. You are you feel very zombie-like, but you're able to do everything you have to do. You're very task-oriented, but you are constantly depleted. So emotionally is very hard to tap into, you know, being present for your loved ones is really hard. But you know, you do it, and then you're taking a shower and you're breaking down, crying, and then you're tapping that away, and then getting to back and going to the gym and getting everything done, and then let's go. So a lot of people are like, You were depressed? Like, I never even like it doesn't look like you were, and it was like you don't know what it was going on inside, right? And they're like throwing Tums in their in their mouth all the time because of like the gastritis.

SPEAKER_02 11:19

I kept a bottle of Tums in the tap drawer on my desk. That's how how bad it was. And one of the things I love about Blake is, you know, she had mentioned like it no longer fit her role, her career. It was just like, yeah, this isn't it. And kudos to her for recognizing it. Um, I feel bad that you know it took her a while. But like most women, it takes us a long time because we have high tolerance of like we're taught, like, hey, you gotta go through the bullshit, you gotta work hard. No one said this was gonna be like all, you know, fun and games or happy. Like you this is just what is expected, and you do it until you retire. And hopefully we're healthy enough to hope we're healthy enough, we're in retirement, just be like, yo, I'm I'm you know, I'm losing all functions here. You know, with Blake, you know, going through what she went through. Um, you going through what you went through, you know, with dealing with ovarian cancer and getting um pneumonia twice in a year, those are clear signs of burnout, you know, me with the panic attacks.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Yep. Yep. And and and her still, you know, it's not easy to pivot. It's not easy to leave everything, especially if you're being very successful. Like, why would you leave that? Like you're doing great. And she was in a really, you know, positive work environment. She, you know, which is probably why it took her that much longer, right? No, for her, for Blake in particular, it yeah, which is probably why it took a little bit longer for her to get out, because it was like, it's it's way better than where you were before, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:55

Even though we didn't align. The one company where they would call out the losers twice in a week. Oh, yeah. I think, I think, yes, she was successful in it, how she spoke about it, but it was also the anxiety of that. We always have to be on. We always have to perform where we're not even checking in what ourselves, or even you know, even we could be like sick or whatever, but it's like, no, I'm on. So everything nothing else matters. I'm sure.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

So she carried a book that was like this with all the answers because you all the answers.

SPEAKER_02 13:26

That was before chat, obviously.

unknown 13:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

Well, but it makes me think of like, you know, what is our what is our like physical book that we carry around with all the answers, right? Like this like metaphor that we use because we because we tend to, right? There's this thing that we carry around when we're trying to perform outside of our purpose or outside of like our authentic self, right? I mean, we wouldn't be having these conversations that we having if like, you know, we were in our purpose. And so, you know, we we carry these like pretend huge books with all the expectations and everything, all the shoulds and everything we should be doing with the answers in order to get through for the next thing because you know, I'll be happy eventually. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 14:11

Right. What I found brave was that she finally had a kumbaya moment for herself. And like, hey, this isn't working. Yeah, she was she broke down in her car looking at like her home when she was living in San Francisco, like, you know, all of this is perfect. And she just took a grenade and chucked it like no more. Because, you know, even though at the time, and I think for a lot of women, when we are scaling up in our careers, we think this is it. This is what I want. I'm going to be successful. We're not even asking ourselves, like, you know, is this really what I want? Yeah, we have like bulging discs or, you know, stomach issues, whatever have you. But we're not questioning, we're still on that drive.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Yeah. I think that part of that, the danger in that is that instead of saying, like, is this right for me? We end up saying, Well, what's wrong with me? Because this is the path. This is where we were expected to go. You're getting there. What why are you breaking down? What's how do I fix whatever is going on with me? Because this is the path, without ever questioning that our body is red flagging us, going, no, no, no, no, no, no, this is not the right. We're like, no, no, no, it must not be the road. It must be me.

SPEAKER_02 15:31

Yeah, I I didn't realize that until later. And I'm learning that women are now in their 30s, experiencing that burnout early. So hence the reason why we're putting this series together to educate all women. Like normally, typically you would hear about this when women in our 50s, right? Like the hormonal changes and the mom's going through it. But for women to be like that going in the 30s, um, that's a sounding of the alarm.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

Which I think is like so important that we're having these conversations now, because us at our age going through when we're going through, and the next generation going through it at a much younger age, like the saving grace and the thing that I'm really optimistic about is that they get to pivot and really align and really be in their authentic self for much longer time, right? And so the creativity, the differences they'll make, the innovation that will come from that is like, I'm so excited to see it. I'm sorry that you're going through it in your 30s. Like, I know it sucks, but like we're here. We're here, we're putting it out there, we're giving you the roadmap, we're giving you the support that you need because we can't wait to see what happens with you guys now with 20 years on us, right? Like there's it's happening in their 30s, like when they get to their 50s, like I can't even imagine all the good stuff that are gonna come from.

SPEAKER_02 16:59

Right. The great news is that Blake went back to she realized her life when she was going and no longer fit, right? And it's I don't know if it's the reinvention or just like, hey, I'm going back to my purpose. So now she coaches. So you know, that's like going back to that world of like the therapy and helping others. Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_01 17:20

She is in she's now in the helping profession, which the seven and eight she already knew she wanted to be at. Looks different in a different capacity, but it's still the helping profession and like God, the alignment. I mean, you could just tell when she was talking of how like deeply she felt it and how unapologetic she was about like if I if you you cry, I cry, we all cry, what's the problem?

SPEAKER_02 17:44

There's a song like that in there. Maybe this is old school. Yeah, they're I'm gonna find it. I'm I'm gonna say it on the next episode. There's a song. I I don't maybe it's a church song. Now, whoever this I know if my any of my family members be like, wow, you don't remember nothing from church, be like, not at the moment. So now we're laying on your couch, Claudia. So give the women some advice on what to do in this situation when we are feeling that burnout, identifying the burnout, which obviously be like, you know, happening to the body. But what practice can women do?

SPEAKER_01 18:21

Um, I think really a practice of gratitude, right? Um, we really have to become comfortable with being grateful, but not only practicing great gratitude, making sure we're not cloaking gratitude with validation, right? And so I recently had a conversation with someone, and and there was a lot of like, I practice gratitude all the time, and I don't, you know, and so, but it still feels I I I'm noticing that I'm only grateful when I'm being successful. And so then I'm grateful for this job and I'm grateful for the company that I have, and I'm like, well, you're just cloaking gratitude with validation, right? Gratitude is really about the small stuff, like really aligning with like, I'm grateful for, you know, food, the bird that passed by, like really being able to notice uh what's around you. I like to give people because it's hard. It's it's like, sure, I'm grateful. Like, no. So what I have them do is I have them on a notebook write A through Z down the line, and every day try to find something that starts with that letter.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

I'm already thinking about Z. I didn't even think about the other ones. I'm already thinking about the hardest letters because that's how my mind works. Be like, what would you see with the letter Z?

SPEAKER_01 19:40

Exactly. And so Is that ZQL? You can't why can't you be grateful for like getting a good night's sleep? First of all, right? But here's what the practice is. The practice is for you to notice the small stuff. It's easy to be grateful for your success. It's easy to be grateful for the bonus, it's easy to be suc grateful for, you know, like, you know, but when I have to start looking for like F, and so it makes you pay attention to your surroundings. You start noticing things that you didn't before, like a flower on your way, right? A pheasant that passed by and you're like, wow, pheasant all of a sudden, right? Like it makes you, it's this, you know, saying of like stop and smell the roses. Yeah. This is how you get to stop and smell the roses. I get it.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

It's also taking your foot off the pedal.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

Yes. Of the gas. You have to be in the present. Look at your surroundings, notice what you haven't noticed. I will, I promise you, people will be like, I have never noticed that there was like a dairy queen on this corner. Because I always stop at McDonald's. Like, there's just these things, right? Like that you're just like, I never noticed that like there was this beautiful like oak tree next to my house or like down the street from me, right? Or this lady that walks her, you know, Chihuahua every morning that I have, you know, it's like it's just those things. And so that will help you align, right? And then set the course for you to then be able to ask those questions of like, Am I shooting or am I wanting? Like, what am I doing today? You have to be able to slow down.

SPEAKER_02 21:21

Even in those high-functioning positions and jobs, you saying that that should be a practice will get our foot off the pedal a bit. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 21:29

Not only does it help us slow down, it literally will shift your brain from logical to creative, right? So it goes from the right to the left. Because in gratitude, it's a in order to practice gratitude, it's a different part of your brain that you're functioning. It's not in the logical brain. It is in the creative, in the, you know, really noticing things and being able to like be grateful and notice all this. So it shifts your brain. It it gives your brain your Logical brain, the I need to be successful, I'm using all my front and lobe, I'm making all kinds of decisions. It gives you want you want your brain to get a break, practice this exercise of gratitude. Because it will shift it. It's a great way if you're not feeling good about yourself either. It's a great way to shift out of, you know, that whole yucky kind of feeling of yourself because it can't do the can't be in both places at the same time. Before we'd meditate, before we do any other stuff, this exercise will be crucial to get you to those places.

SPEAKER_02 22:34

Wow. I never even thought about it like that. So that also helped with like anxiety. Because the only thing I I I had um someone tell me, like, hey Cindy, you need to have gratitude when you feel like you're burning out, you're having a long day, you know, just burning all cylinders. And I just found myself like, because normally I I bent in a car by myself as I'm sitting in the lovely Southern California traffic 405. Right. Or the 10 when I'm in my Ontario office. And I there was one time I was like, yeah, I did. I was hitting my head on on the wind on the uh steering wheel. I was like, I'm grateful I cursed nobody out today, or didn't lose it because those are those are times where you're just like, yo, I'm about to lose it, and you just lose that control. Does that help? Especially it does.

SPEAKER_01 23:21

It does. It it it you just run um you run the risk of the gratitude being cloaked with sarcasm. That's that's what I did wrong. That's what I did. I mean, it did it help? But no, right? It's so it was like kinda, but yeah. So that's why I want that's why I have them go A through Z. You don't get to control this. I gotta get you out of controlling now. Ah, that's it.

SPEAKER_02 23:50

That's it. It's it's the control. Yep. Most women, high functioning women, high achieving women, we need to be in control. Although we're not, but we need to be in control. And that gets because yeah, because I automatically went to Z.

SPEAKER_01 24:04

You're good. You get it? Yeah, so then go I don't I don't care how you fill the sheet, fill it. You have a whole day to do it. You have 24 hours, right? Or 12 hours or whatever your waking hours are, and you fill it however long it takes you. You don't have to start all over the next day. We get to start all over when we fill it. And so if you didn't get to fill it that first day, you st tomorrow. Why? Because then it becomes, okay, I'm gonna find Jay today, right? Yes. And I'm dri it's you know it's like that. Did you ever play when you were, you know, that alphabet game when you're driving that you have to look at the license plates and you have to go like, hey, and then like I see uh, you know, the Coke thing and I the license plate. Like all of a sudden, the 10-hour trip, it was like, oh, we're there already, because we're so focused on the task and the fun and creative and being like whatever all those things that make you be successful of like I'm competitive and I have the great, those are all gonna help you. You still gotta go through A through Z. That yeah, I'm gonna try that tomorrow.

SPEAKER_02 25:08

Not tonight, tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

I have my W later. It'll be wine. There you go. Yes. That's it. It could be W W, white wine, right? Red wine for R. Can you can you do two red or no? Yeah, that's cheating. We can. Well, it'd be cheating for me. Yeah. It'll be I like that exercise. I I like how you you brought it home for us. Like, hey, just just just try that.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

First, before we try all this other stuff, let's let let's let's become very clear of this practice. Because you will notice that you will then be able to be like, and then you see yourself out of it, right? And then you can like quiet your mind and you can then practice some meditation and you can then practice some other stuff. But like this part is probably the best thing to do for high achievers because it just will utilize all your strengths.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

Yeah, and mitigate some of the burnout, or we figure out how to pivot or get out of it, or you know, save ourselves so we're not damaging um our bodies. Because I know you mentioned before our bodies is the first thing to tell us something is wrong. So, ladies, if you are having the back pains, neck pains, Claudia, you you can run them all down and you ignore it.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

Yep, headaches, uh issues with your stomach, right? A lot sciatic pain, um, you know, like uh uh chest pains, a lot of shoulder pain. I'm talking to you ladies in our 50s, right? Yeah. Uh throwing out our backs all the time, getting sick. Listen, if you're getting more than like two colds a year, let alone, you know, you're getting some some type of like pneumonia or something, yeah, your body's telling you something.

SPEAKER_02 26:57

Yeah. And we don't start to recognize it until it's happening to us emotionally, which means the body was telling us first, like, hey, yeah. It's kind of like that check engine light. Yes. That we ignore on the car. We'd be like, it'd be all right. Like, I know my car, it'll be. And then it starts smoking, and you're like, oh dang. Right. You'd be like, and now it's just out of my I I don't drive with the check engine, but I have. I'd just be like, yeah, let me just get to this next destination, which that would equate to. So, ladies, once you having that emotional angst, think about the pains and the health issues you were having beforehand. Those are the clear signs of the burnout. Yep, yep. First signs. And then try the alphabet. Yes. A through Z. A through Z. And y'all can take ZQL for Z. I I was like, we don't have any zebras. So now I'm gonna be curious. Now all day tomorrow, I'm gonna be looking all around for something that starts with the letter Z.

SPEAKER_01 27:54

That is the challenge, is to find X, Y, Z. That is the challenge. You gotta put your, you gotta, you'll be surprised when you find it. You're gonna be like, I totally found it. I'm gonna let you know. And the gratitude is gonna be, I found it. Yeah. Absolutely. Under I.

SPEAKER_02 28:13

I found the object for Z. And then it takes your mind off of the work, work, go, go, go.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

Gives a break and gives your brain a break that we so need. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:28

Claudia. Look at you. Look at you. This is why you're the professional and I'm not. I'm the perfect patient for you. Can't wait to have more of these. Yes, yes. Um, this has been awesome. And uh for folks who listened to the round table first before uh watching Blake's episode, I highly suggest you go back and watch her episode. It is truly astounding. And um thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Till the next time, guys. Yes, I will see you next Friday. Okay. Bye. Take care. Bye. If this conversation resonated with you, you're not alone. That's exactly why this space exists. Elevate within is for the high-achieving women in the messy middle, the space between who you were and who you're becoming. The architecture of reinvention is an invitation to pause, to reflect, to heal, and to begin the process of unbecoming everything you were told you had to be, so you could become who you were always meant to be. Be sure to join us each Friday for our Architecture of Reinvention Roundtable discussions, where we continue these conversations and explore the deeper lessons, insights, tools, and reflections that emerge from each story. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube so you never miss an episode. For Apple Podcast listeners, I would be grateful if you leave a rating or review. It helps reach more women who may need this conversation right now. And if you'd like to go deeper, join us on Substack at Elevate Within. There, you'll find weekly essays and honest conversations about burnout, grief, reinvention, resilience, healing, and the messy middle. Free subscribers receive full access to all public content, while paid subscribers receive bonus essays, early access to upcoming series, behind-the-scenes recording, and opportunities to engage directly with the community. If you know of a woman who needs to hear this conversation today, please share it with her. You can find me on LinkedIn under Sandra Davis, on Substack at Elevate Within, and if you're in need of fractional COO work or would like to book a discovery call on how I can help, you can reach out to me at ElevateOpsAdvisory.com. You'll find all those links in the show notes. Until next time, keep elevating personally, professionally, and from within