How Good Can It Get

Bree Johnson
  • 5.0 (16)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Semiweekly

How Good Can It Get is a podcast for ambitious leaders, founders, and creatives who are ready to move beyond burnout, hustle culture, and surface-level success. Hosted by Bree Johnson — former law firm executive turned leadership thinker and creator — this show explores what it really takes to heal work wounds, reclaim personal power, and build a life where success and fulfillment coexist. Through thoughtful conversations and solo reflections, each episode examines the intersection of work, wealth, worth, and well-being, offering grounded insights on leadership, identity, nervous system regulation, career transitions, and the hidden emotional costs of modern ambition. This is not productivity advice or performative self-help. It’s a deeper inquiry into how we work, why we strive, and what it means to lead with clarity, integrity, and self-trust. If you’re navigating burnout, redefining success, or questioning the systems you’ve been asked to perform within, this podcast offers a quieter, wiser path forward. Tune in weekly and subscribe to explore how good life — and leadership — can truly get.

  1. 20h ago

    Ep. 138 (BEST OF HGCG) How Human Centric Leadership Drives Profits with Rachel Anderson

    Two years ago, I recorded this conversation before I had fully articulated what Work Recovery really meant. Looking back now, I can hear so many of the ideas that have become central to my work today. This conversation isn't simply about leadership. It's about questioning the systems we've accepted as normal and asking what becomes possible when we build workplaces around humans instead of productivity metrics. This episode explores: why healthier workplaces begin with healthier leadership, not better perks the myth that people-first leadership comes at the expense of profits how culture is created through everyday decisions, not mission statements the importance of clear expectations over rigid control why one leader can change the experience of an entire team, even inside a broken system Rachel Anderson shares practical wisdom from her work helping organizations build human-centered cultures that improve both employee well-being and business results. Together, we explore what it looks like to lead with trust, redefine productivity, and create workplaces where people can genuinely thrive. If you've ever wondered whether work has to feel this heavy—or whether there's another way to lead—this conversation is a beautiful place to begin. Connect with Rachel Website: https://www.thehumancentricleader.com/ Instagram: @rachelandersonco Book: https://www.thehumancentricleader.com/book Connect with Bree Website: executiveunschool.com Instagram: @breejohnsonofficial

  2. Jul 15

    Ep. 137 BEST OF HGCG: The Power of Intuition & Mind-Body Connection with Brooke Herbert

    Two years ago, I recorded this conversation before I had language like Work Recovery.   Looking back, I can see the ideas that were quietly shaping everything I believe today.   This episode explores: why being told "it's just stress" can disconnect us from ourselves the relationship between chronic stress, trauma, and physical health learning to trust your body again intuition versus authority why healing rarely begins with another productivity hack   Brooke Herbert shares the story of spending years as a medical mystery before discovering the root causes of her illness. What emerged wasn't simply better health. It was a completely different relationship with herself.   If you've ever wondered whether your body is trying to tell you something your mind keeps ignoring, start here.   Connect with Brooke Instagram: @goldivyhealthco Podcast: Ivy Unleashed Connect with Bree Website: executiveunschool.com Instagram: @breejohnsonofficial

  3. Jul 8

    Ep. 136 (BEST OF HGCG) Put Me in a Box for the Last Time with Ina Coveney

    This week's episode is another special reshare from the vault—one that feels just as relevant today as it did when it first aired. Bree sits down with entrepreneur and business coach Ina Coveney to explore what happens when you're forced to rethink your career, your identity, and the stories you've been telling yourself about success. After being passed over for a promotion while on maternity leave, Ina made the difficult decision to leave corporate and build a business on her own terms. What follows is an honest conversation about entrepreneurship, resilience, and the invisible work of unlearning the need to earn approval. Along the way, Ina introduces a metaphor Bree still thinks about today: the two horses that pull every entrepreneur's chariot. One is the clients who keep us accountable. The other is the deeper purpose that carries us through the moments when motivation disappears. The conversation also explores the realities of being a working parent, from navigating guilt and societal expectations to recognizing that so much of the pressure we carry comes not from others—but from ourselves. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why leaving corporate often requires unlearning years of conditioning  The "two horses" that keep every entrepreneur moving: client accountability and a purpose that's bigger than yourself Why entrepreneurship doesn't eliminate pressure—it simply gives you the opportunity to choose which pressures are worth carrying How limiting beliefs about being liked can quietly keep us playing small in business and life Practical ways to set expectations, establish boundaries, and navigate the tension between building a business and being present at home Connect with Ina Instagram: @inacoveney Connect with Bree Website: executiveunschool.com Instagram: @breejohnsonofficial

  4. Jul 2

    Ep. 135 (BEST OF HGCG) Finding Yourself as a Whole Person with Christy Bowman - White

    This week's episode is a special reshare from the vault — and one of the most listened-to conversations in the show's history. Bree sits down with Christy Bowman-White, who went from middle school dropout and teenage parent to principal of a Distinguished School in Washington state... and then burned out completely. Christy's story centers on a metaphor that's stuck with Bree ever since this conversation was first recorded: the basket. For years, Christy poured everything — her time, her identity, her worth — into the basket labeled "career," while every other basket in her life sat empty. Then the Mack truck came. In this episode, Christy gets honest about self-abandonment, the moment she realized her core value of "excellence" was really just perfectionism in disguise, and why emotional intelligence belongs at the foundation of leadership, not on the side as a soft skill. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why so many high-achieving women hit the "I've made it" moment only to find the felt experience is the opposite of what they were promised The basket metaphor: what happens when every egg goes into one area of life, and how to start identifying which of your own baskets are empty How Stephen Covey's four quadrants can be used not just for time management, but as a map for where relationships, health, and sustainability actually live Why emotional intelligence — starting with self-awareness — is the real foundation of effective, people-centered leadership Connect with Christy Christy's Website Connect with Bree Website: executiveunschool.com Instagram: @breejohnsonofficial

  5. Jun 1

    Ep. 134 Who Wants a Summertime Siesta?

    Something big is coming. Bree is pulling back the curtain on what the How Good Can It Get? team has been quietly building behind the scenes — and it might be the most exciting thing this podcast has ever produced. New guests. New series. Conversations so good she almost cried in the recording booth. Tune in to hear what's on the way and why the wait is going to be very, very worth it. The best is genuinely yet to come. How good can it get? You're about to find out. The Upcoming Series You're Going to Want to Tell Everyone About Exit Wounds is coming. Real women. Real exits. Corporate roles, multimillion-dollar businesses, marriages, partnerships, friendships — and in one case, an entire country. These are the stories of what happens when a woman finally stops holding on to what no longer fits and starts building the life waiting for her on the other side. Bree has already started recording. Her words: "I almost feel like crying." While you wait for the new series, the archives are full of exactly what you need right now. Bree is curating the best of How Good Can It Get? all summer long — the most downloaded, most shared, most life-changing episodes from nearly 70 countries of listeners. You may have heard some of them before. But you are not the same person you were then. Connect with Bree Website: executiveunschool.com Instagram: @breejohnsonofficial

  6. May 25

    Ep. 133 Part 6 Work Isn't Working...How to Reclaim Joy

    We've regulated. We've rewired. Now it's time to take your agency back. In the final installment of the Work Isn't Working series, Bree introduces the third step of the Work Recovery Method: Reclaim. This episode is an honest look at the "good enough" zone so many high-achieving women quietly settle into, the victimhood cycle that keeps us pointing outward instead of turning the mirror around, and what actually becomes possible when you stop outsourcing your joy, your purpose, and your sense of self to circumstances you're waiting to change. Bree shares her own ongoing journey of shedding the shoulds, and offers a practical starting point for anyone who needs to begin reclaiming their life in small, powerful doses. What You'll Learn in This Episode What the "good enough" zone actually looks and feels like from the inside, and why it's so easy to stay there Why dissatisfaction at work so often points outward, and what that pattern is really protecting How life is a series of small identity deaths, and why that's something to move toward rather than away from What Bree has shed over the past seven years and what it has made possible for her Why reclaiming yourself rarely requires a dramatic pivot, and what it more often looks like in practice The Love List exercise: what it is, how to build yours, and why it's a reclamation tool, not a productivity hack Why joy is not a reward for finishing your work The Love List Exercise If big-picture reclamation feels too abstract for where you are right now, start here. Make a list of 20 or more things that bring you genuine joy, pleasure, and happiness. Go small and specific. The first bite of ice cream on a hot day. A new bird at the feeder. A dog jumping into your lap. A particular song. A particular light. The Work Recovery Method™: A Series Summary Regulate — Come back into your body. Create enough internal safety to think clearly. Rewire — Examine the agreements, beliefs, and conditioning running your life on autopilot. Choose differently. Reclaim — Stop outsourcing your agency, your joy, and your sense of self. Build from what is genuinely yours. This is an ongoing cycle, not a finish line. Two steps forward, one step back is still growth. Connect with Bree Website: executiveunschool.com Instagram: @breejohnsonofficial

  7. May 18

    Ep. 132 Part 5: Work Isn't Working...The Hardest Part REWIRE

    Most of the rules running your life were written before you were old enough to question them. In this episode, Bree introduces the second step of the Work Recovery Method — REWIRE — and breaks down the invisible operating system underneath all of our behavior: your ABCs (agreements, beliefs, and conditioning). If you've ever changed jobs and still ended up in the same cycle or pattern of dissatisfaction, this is the episode that explains why, and what to do about it. Key Takeaways Your ABCs (agreements, beliefs, conditioning) are the operating system underneath all of your behavior — including the patterns you wish you could change. Changing your external circumstances won't interrupt a pattern that lives at this level. The work has to happen from the inside Neuroscience confirms the brain can form new neural pathways at any age but the new path will feel like a dirt road before it feels like a highway Rewiring starts with one question: what outcome am I experiencing, and is it one I actually want? The more aware you become of what's driving you, the more agency you feel and agency is what makes life feel expansive rather than reactive Reflection Question Take a look at one recurring pattern in your work or relationships. What agreement, belief, or conditioning might be sitting underneath it? Is it something you chose, or something you inherited? Connect with Bree Insta: @breejohnsonofficial Website: www.executiveunschool.com Keywords: rewiring beliefs, work recovery method, agreements beliefs conditioning, burnout patterns, why the same job problems keep happening, invisible operating system, neural pathways rewiring, autopilot behavior, self-worth and work, burnout recovery tools, subconscious patterns women, how to break work cycles, ambitious women burnout, conscious living, executive burnout

  8. May 11

    Ep. 131 Part 4: Work Isn't Working, Now What? REGULATE

    Work Isn't Working, Now What? Part 4: Regulate When work stops working, the instinct is to think harder, plan faster, and do more. But what if the doing is exactly what's keeping you stuck? In part four of the Work Isn't Working series, Bree introduces the foundational step most high achievers skip entirely: regulation. Before strategy, before decisions, before any meaningful next step, your nervous system needs to feel safe enough to think clearly. This episode explores why dysregulated states produce reactive choices, what nervous system regulation actually looks and feels like in practice, and how flipping the cultural script from Have, Do, Be to Be, Do, Have changes everything about how you build the life you actually want. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why the mind-in-overdrive response to professional struggle works against you, not for you What happens in the brain during prolonged stress, and why "thinking your way out" has real physiological limits The difference between reactive decisions and grounded ones, and how to tell which you're making Bree's three personal regulation practices: no-headphone walks, hypnobreathwork, and meditation baths What makes any practice a true regulation practice, and why body-focused is the key distinction The Have, Do, Be sequence most of us inherited, and why reversing it to Be, Do, Have is where real momentum begins The Insight Worth Writing Down Most of us have been living a Have, Do, Be sequence: get the thing, do the work, then finally feel at peace. The sequence that actually creates abundance and joy runs the other way. You be first, grounded and connected to yourself. From there, you do with clarity and intention. And then you have more of what you've been working toward, built on a foundation that can hold it. Reflection Question Where in your life have you been making decisions from a dysregulated state? And what would one small regulating practice this week make possible? Connect with Bree Website: executiveunschool.com  Instagram: @breejohnsonofficial Next in the Series Part 5 of Work Isn't Working is coming next. Once you've regulated, a whole new question becomes available to you: what do you actually want? When you're not operating from chaos, that answer might surprise you. If this episode resonated, share it with a woman in your life who needs permission to slow down before she speeds up.

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About

How Good Can It Get is a podcast for ambitious leaders, founders, and creatives who are ready to move beyond burnout, hustle culture, and surface-level success. Hosted by Bree Johnson — former law firm executive turned leadership thinker and creator — this show explores what it really takes to heal work wounds, reclaim personal power, and build a life where success and fulfillment coexist. Through thoughtful conversations and solo reflections, each episode examines the intersection of work, wealth, worth, and well-being, offering grounded insights on leadership, identity, nervous system regulation, career transitions, and the hidden emotional costs of modern ambition. This is not productivity advice or performative self-help. It’s a deeper inquiry into how we work, why we strive, and what it means to lead with clarity, integrity, and self-trust. If you’re navigating burnout, redefining success, or questioning the systems you’ve been asked to perform within, this podcast offers a quieter, wiser path forward. Tune in weekly and subscribe to explore how good life — and leadership — can truly get.

Information

  • Creator
    Bree Johnson
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    138
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    How Good Can It Get

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