Messy & Magnificent with Karlee Fain

Karlee Fain
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Welcome to Messy & Magnificent with Karlee Fain - The place high-achievers with big heart and broad vision come to root and rise - one doable strategy at a time.  This show is equal parts inspiring stories and practical tools you can use this week to boslter your time, energy, and expertise. 

  1. 6D AGO

    The Midnight Leadership Trilogy | Part 2: The Weight You Don’t Have to Carry into the New Year

    🌟 Click to Send Karlee a Text - We Want To Hear Your Thoughts About This Episode 🌟 What if the heaviness you're carrying isn't actually responsibility? Sometimes we mistake obligation for commitment, or we confuse what kept us safe with what will carry us forward. But underneath that sense of duty, there's often another truth…  Some of the things you're carrying were never meant to be carried this long. And they're certainly not meant to be carried into what's next. This week, Karlee continues The Midnight Leadership Trilogy with Part 2, exploring the weight you don't need to take with you into the new year. Counter to dropping your priorities or having to choose between what matters most, this is about recognizing when you're carrying something in an outdated way that no longer serves you. In this episode, you'll hear a story about a soft but clear message of letting go. You'll discover why the identity that built your success isn't always the one that carries you forward, and why your brain already knows how to release what's complete. If you're ready to set down what no longer fits so there's room for what's trying to arrive, then this is the episode for you. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: (1:59) The founder who realized her old identity couldn't carry her forward(4:46) A pervasive myth: “If I don't hold everything, it will fall apart.”(6:50) The season of integration and the discomfort it brings(11:26) Synaptic pruning: how your brain already knows how to let go(16:18) Creating space for the future that awaits Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Episode 196- The Midnight Leadership Trilogy | Part 1:  The Thing You’ve Known All Along REGISTER: The Heroic Leadership Journey People Mentioned in this Episode: Dr. Maria Sirois Use the “Text Karlee” option above to send your Audio Comments and Questions to us. Connect With Karlee:  Website LinkedIn Instagram Messy and Magnificent is produced by the folx at Ginni Media.

    20 min

  2. 12/14/2025

    The Midnight Leadership Trilogy | Part 1: The Thing You’ve Known All Along

    🌟 Click to Send Karlee a Text - We Want To Hear Your Thoughts About This Episode 🌟 Does your inner season feel disconnected from what's on your calendar?  The gap between what looks right on paper and what feels right in your body isn't confusion. That's wisdom trying to get your attention. It's a cue to pause and listen. Because the truth you've been avoiding,  the quiet knowing that something needs to shift, is exactly what will guide you forward. This is the bridge between what was and what's next, and it’s where transformation begins. This week, Karlee launches The Midnight Leadership Trilogy, a three-part mini-series for leaders, caregivers, and vision holders who are in the middle of their own story. This isn't about performing leadership the way you were taught. It's about the quiet, steady questions that make a life and career worth living. In this episode, you’ll learn why your body keeps an inner calendar and how to identify what season you're truly in. You’ll find out what becomes possible when you stop performing the season you think you should be in and start honoring the one you're actually living.  If you're ready to name the truth you've been carrying — the thing you've perhaps known all along — then this is the episode for you. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: (4:05) Asking yourself the deep questions(7:51) What the tug of inner knowing feels like(8:50) Determining what season you’re actually living(11:55) Why clarity comes from naming truth, not pushing forward(13:20) What's up next: The Heroic Leadership Journey and Part 2  Resources Mentioned in this Episode: REGISTER: The Heroic Leadership Journey Use the “Text Karlee” option above to send your Audio Comments and Questions to us. Connect With Karlee:  Website LinkedIn Instagram Messy and Magnificent is produced by the folx at Ginni Media.

    17 min

  3. 11/30/2025

    The Steady Center Series | Part 3: What We Bring to the Dark

    🌟 Click to Send Karlee a Text - We Want To Hear Your Thoughts About This Episode 🌟 Here's a question we don’t tend to ask ourselves: What if the dark isn't something to escape? What if chaos, disintegration, and incoherence are just natural parts of living? Like soil in the earth where things regenerate and new life takes root. Instead of asking "How fast can I get out of this hard time?" What if we started asking, "What am I bringing to the dark?" That question hands the power back to you. It makes you the protagonist of your own story again, even when things feel out of your control. This week, Karlee concludes the 3-part series, Staying Steady. This is the final conversation she co-taught with Dr. Maria Sirois, where truth and tending mature into transformation. You'll hear Maria share the raw truth about a dark year, and why reflecting on the ancient myth of Persephone has helped her reframe the experience. In this episode, you’ll learn why dark moments aren't punishment but part of the work. You'll learn how to become the narrator of your own story, and three practical ways to stay steady when your eyes are still adjusting to what's now true. You’ll also learn the value of inviting mercy, humor, and presence into difficult seasons. If you’re ready to stop exhausting yourself trying to avoid what's uncomfortable and instead bring the best of yourself to the darkness, then this is the episode for you. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: (08:56) Permission to stop pretending the dark is easy(09:45) Ask yourself: "What am I bringing to the dark?"(10:13) How Persephone inhabits the underworld with purpose(11:21) What steadiness really means when your eyes are adjusting(15:19) Acts of bravery in times of chaos Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Episode 193: The Steady Center Series | Part One: Fairy Wings in a Wild World Episode 194: The Steady Center Series | Part 2: Regeneration Begins Where Depletion Is Named REPLAY: Staying Steady in Chaotic Times with Karlee Fain and Maria Sirois REGISTER: The Heroic Leadership Journey People Mentioned in this Episode: Dr. Maria Sirois Use the “Text Karlee” option above to send your Audio Comments and Questions to us. Connect With Karlee:  Website LinkedIn Instagram

    24 min

  4. 11/16/2025

    The Steady Center Series | Part 2: Regeneration Begins Where Depletion Is Named

    🌟 Click to Send Karlee a Text - We Want To Hear Your Thoughts About This Episode 🌟 If you woke up tired today, not from a crisis, but just from living, this one's for you. Because here's the thing: most of us don't break down because we're weak. We get worn out because we've been strong for too darn long. You know how to show up. You know how to push through. But do you know how to notice the person inside the body doing all of that? That's where regeneration comes in. And no, we're not talking about self-care Instagram posts or bubble baths (though those are nice). We're talking about what happens when your life and your work start giving back to you as much as you're giving to them. This week, Karlee rolls out Part 2 of the Staying Steady series, based on the course she co-taught with Dr. Maria Sirois. Together, they explore what it means to tend to what matters when the good and the difficult collide, and why work that lasts begins with honest tending, not heroic pushing. In this episode, you'll hear why fear multiplies itself and where to find "high safety" when things feel overwhelming. You'll discover the bold question about breaking the rules of complacency that can shift everything, and why narrowing the lens when overwhelm takes hold makes things feel possible.  If you’re ready to stop leaking energy and create space for life to give back to you, then this is the episode for you. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: (06:36) Understanding fear as a multiplier(08:17) Three practical approaches for regenerative leadership(15:05) What rules of complacency did you break just to be here?(17:44) Chunking down: One act of care that's available right now(18:44) Why strong people get worn out (and what to do about it) Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Episode 193: The Steady Center Series | Part One: Fairy Wings in a Wild World REPLAY: Staying Steady in Chaotic Times with Karlee Fain and Maria Sirois REGISTER: The Heroic Leadership Journey People Mentioned in this Episode: Dr. Maria SiroisMark Nepo Use the “Text Karlee” option above to send your Audio Comments and Questions to us. Connect With Karlee:  Website LinkedIn Instagram Messy and Magnificent is produced by the folx at Ginni Media.

    25 min

  5. 11/02/2025

    The Steady Center Series | Part One: Fairy Wings in a Wild World

    🌟 Click to Send Karlee a Text - We Want To Hear Your Thoughts About This Episode 🌟 We cannot transform what we won’t touch. It takes real valor to tell the truth about what’s not working,  especially when life feels both brutal and beautiful all at once. For leaders, caregivers, and high achievers, it can seem absurd to care so fiercely about the world and still need to answer emails, load the dishwasher, or fold laundry. Yet this is the paradox of modern leadership: holding what’s enormous and what’s ordinary in the same pair of hands. This week, Karlee launches a new three-part series, The Steady Center, for anyone determined to lead with courage and care in chaotic times. Together with her longtime friend and colleague, Dr. Maria Sirois, she explores how to stay steady when life wobbles. You’ll learn how to name what’s not working, find your footing between apathy and overdrive, and rediscover the quiet valor that steadiness requires, because honesty is the soil every kind of regeneration grows from. If you’re ready to stop spinning your wheels alone and begin cultivating steadiness from the inside out, this conversation will remind you: honesty and tenderness are your most courageous starting points. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: (05:41) Telling the truth about what’s not working(07:32) Nurturing honesty as the soil where steadiness grows(10:55) Why small, tender acts matter more than we realize(14:46) The two ends of the spectrum: apathy and overdrive(17:01) How to find your steady center between both extremes Resources Mentioned in this Episode: REPLAY: Staying Steady in Chaotic Times with Karlee Fain and Maria Sirois REGISTER: The Heroic Leadership Journey *For book links: https://bookshop.org/shop/harriettsbookshop  People Mentioned in this Episode: Maria Sirois Use the “Text Karlee” option above to send your Audio Comments and Questions to us. Connect With Karlee:  Website LinkedIn Instagram Messy and Magnificent is produced by the folx at Ginni Media.

    23 min

  6. 10/19/2025

    The End of Overgiving | You Are Not the Whole Ecosystem

    🌟 Click to Send Karlee a Text - We Want To Hear Your Thoughts About This Episode 🌟 If your brain still whispers, “If I don’t do it, it won’t get done,” you’re not alone. High-achievers and caregivers alike have been conditioned to believe that love means carrying it all — every project, every person, every crisis. But what if that belief is quietly depleting the very ecosystem you’re meant to thrive in? This week, Karlee invites us to explore what happens when we stop trying to be everything for everyone. She blends modern neuroscience and ancient wisdom to reveal how reciprocity — giving and receiving — restores balance in our lives. In this episode, you’ll hear how over-functioning crept into our culture, why our brains are wired for mutual care, and three gentle practices that make it safe to be supported again. Plus, Karlee shares her first-ever public poem, “Root Among Roots,” a heartfelt reminder that we were never meant to hold the whole mountain alone. If you’re ready to stop over-functioning and start belonging again, this is your invitation back to an ecosystem that holds you, too. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: (8:21) The poem that started it all: Root Among Roots.(12:45) What neuroscience reveals about giving and reciprocity.(18:30) Why asking for help isn’t weakness — it’s biology.(22:12) Three practical ways to restore balance and receive support.(28:40) How to practice boundaries that breathe — and still belong. Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Poem: Root Among Roots by Karlee Fain Join Karlee for free on Substack Study: Inagaki TK, Bryne Haltom KE, Suzuki S, Jevtic I, Hornstein E, Bower JE, Eisenberger NI. The Neurobiology of Giving Versus Receiving Support: The Role of Stress-Related and Social Reward-Related Neural Activity. Psychosom Med. 2016 May;78(4):443-53. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000302. PMID: 26867078; PMCID: PMC4851591. Retreat: Better Boundaries, Finally at Kripalu (Oct. 31 – Nov. 2) People Mentioned in this Episode: Dr. Tristen Inagaki Mary Oliver Adrienne Marie Brown Dr. Maria Sirois Use the “Text Karlee” option above to send your Audio Comments and Questions to us. Connect With Karlee:  Website LinkedIn Instagram Messy and Magnificent is produced by the folx at Ginni Media.

    27 min

  7. 10/05/2025

    Steady On| The “Unproductive” Habits That Make You a Braver Leader

    🌟 Click to Send Karlee a Text - We Want To Hear Your Thoughts About This Episode 🌟 The world tells us progress is measured in speed, output, and proof. Yet some of the most powerful shifts happen in the smallest, quietest moments—a breath you actually notice, a slow stir of the pot, a walk with no destination.  What if the habits that seem “unproductive” are the very ones that make you steadier, clearer, and braver in your leadership? This week, Karlee unpacks the paradox of modern leadership: the more responsibility you carry, the more essential it is to slow down. She shares meaningful research on the link between boredom and creativity that demonstrates the healing effects of nature, proving that even just 30 seconds of steadiness in your day matters. In this episode, you’ll learn how to use simple pauses as fuel. You’ll explore why reclaiming slowness actually sharpens your decisions and deepens your impact. And, you’ll hear a true client story of how one small nourishing and practical exercise transformed their health and work life.  If you’re ready to replace burnout with steadiness and lead with clarity, calm, and courage, this episode is for you. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: (3:12) Why wise leadership often begins with practices that don’t show up on a spreadsheet(10:18) How boredom activates the brain’s default mode network and sparks creativity(14:09) Why just 30 seconds of calm steadies your body and mind(18:02) A nurse’s story: one simple habit that restored energy and improved patient care(20:47) A practical question to anchor steadiness in your daily life Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Study: Mann, Sandi and Cadman, Rebekah (2014) Does Being Bored Make Us More Creative? Creativity Research Journal, 26 (2). pp. 165-173. ISSN 1040-0419  Study: Hunter MR, Gillespie BW and Chen SY-P (2019) Urban Nature Experiences Reduce Stress in the Context of Daily Life Based on Salivary Biomarkers. Front. Psychol. 10:722. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00722 JOIN US October 14, 7pm EST: Leadership Circle: Staying Steady in a Chaotic Moment: Showing Up Bravely — Even When You Don’t Have All the Answers. People Mentioned in this Episode: Dr. Maria Sirois Suzy Banks Baum Mary Oliver Albert Einstein Maya Angelou Use the “Text Karlee” option above to send your Audio Comments and Questions to us. Connect With Karlee:  Website LinkedIn Instagram Messy and Magnificent is produced by the folx at Ginni Media.

    24 min

  8. 09/21/2025

    Success Beyond the Spreadsheet| Redefining What Counts

    🌟 Click to Send Karlee a Text - We Want To Hear Your Thoughts About This Episode 🌟 The air is getting cooler, the light is waning earlier each night, and yet…the drumbeat to “finish strong” grows louder. The pressure to do more is palpable, to push harder and squeeze just a little extra out of yourself before the year ends.  But that call to “finish strong”, well… by year's end, it leaves us feeling weaker. And if your inner life is running on fumes, is that really success? What if real strength felt less like exhaustion and more like steadiness? Less about overextending and more about aligning? This week, Karlee explains that finishing strong isn’t about how much you can wring out of your calendar.  Instead of driving yourself into the ground, what if you finished the year steady, replenished, and proud of the care you extended along the way? In this episode, you’ll hear why redefining success right now could change not just your calendar, but your nervous system and the well-being of everyone you lead. From honoring the natural rhythm of seasonal shifts to recognizing the hidden costs of emotional bankruptcy, this is your roadmap to finish the year steady, nourished, and genuinely strong. If you’re ready to measure success by both your solvency and your soul so you can finish the year grounded, joyful, and proud of how you led, then this is the episode for you. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: (03:11) The brilliance of seasonal shifts,  and why hustle culture gets it wrong(06:22) When did “success” become synonymous with exhaustion?(10:45) How neglecting your inner life impacts your team and home(16:09) The Money & Meaning practice: a reset you can do right now(17:45) One small, anchored step to hold for the next two weeks Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Episode 189: Putting the Self in Success: How to shape your goals around what gives you joy and meaning. Join us at the Kripalu Center, October 31- November 2:  Better Boundaries| A Gateway to Authentic Living People Mentioned in this Episode: Dr. Maria Sirois Parker Palmer Linda Hogan Use the “Text Karlee” option above to send your Audio Comments and Questions to us. Connect With Karlee:  Website LinkedIn Instagram Messy and Magnificent is produced by the folx at Ginni Media.

    21 min
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5
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44 Ratings

About

Welcome to Messy & Magnificent with Karlee Fain - The place high-achievers with big heart and broad vision come to root and rise - one doable strategy at a time.  This show is equal parts inspiring stories and practical tools you can use this week to boslter your time, energy, and expertise. 

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