Motivation N'at

NC Bulger Solutions

Motivation N’at is hosted by Natalie Bulger and features guests from all walks of life — each bringing their own stories, experiences, and insights to the table. Together, we dive into everything from relationships and sobriety to mental health challenges and the lasting impact of growing up too soon. On Motivation N’at, we take on life’s tougher conversations and explore how the lessons we’ve learned can shape what comes next — all in the spirit of turning life’s hot mess moments into high potential.

  1. 5d ago

    Suicide Prevention: Peer-Led Support After a Suicide Attempt | Guest - Jeremy Carter

    This episode contains an open conversation about suicide and self-harm. If you're currently navigating this, it's okay to pause, skip, or come back when you're ready. If you need support, call or text 988. Free, confidential support is available 24/7. Surviving a suicide attempt is isolating. Add a stigma that keeps people silent and a system too overwhelmed to support them, and you're left with a gap that many survivors fall through. Jeremy Carter is a social worker who fell through that exact gap after his own attempt, and built Still Here PGH, a peer-led support group for people who have attempted suicide or struggle with suicidal thoughts, because nothing like it existed yet. Topics we cover: Surviving a suicide attempt and what came after Why peer-led support for suicidal thoughts didn't exist in Allegheny County until he built it What to say to someone suicidal, and what not to say Recognizing numbness as a warning sign, not an absence of feeling Why the system failed him even as a social worker who knew how it was supposed to work If you've ever wondered what to say to someone who's struggling or what to seek if you’re feeling this way yourself, this conversation gives you a place to start. MOTIVATION N'AT — Hot Mess to High Potential™ The podcast where real life gets talked about, hosted by Natalie Bulger. New episodes every Sunday. 🌐 Still Here PGH: stillherepgh.org 📲 Follow Natalie: Instagram: @Sincerely__Natalie YouTube: @motivation-nat-pod

    Suicide Prevention: Peer-Led Support After a Suicide Attempt | Guest - Jeremy Carter

  2. Jul 12

    The Real Work of Enterprise Risk Management | Guest - Charles Tapp II

    During his time as CFO, Charles Tapp II spun up the Enterprise Risk Management program at Veterans Benefits Administration which paved the way for me to do the same in Veterans Health Administration a year or two later. The dual effort was making its way to major impact when Charles and I both decided to step away, leaving the programs in the hands of our amazingly talented staff. Now we can talk candidly about what it actually takes to embed risk management into a multi-layered and complex corporate system. Charles walks through how his team turned risk registers into real budget decisions, including how a risk-informed approach helped VBA secure millions in PACT Act startup funding by identifying HR as a critical risk area before the legislation even passed. We also cover the difference between risk in the Department of Defense, federal civil service, and private industry; how black swan events like COVID reshaped risk appetite across government; and why it took a full year just to establish a shared risk vocabulary before any real progress could happen. This conversation is for anyone trying to wrap their head around instituting a risk-informed culture inside an organization that's resistant to change, whether that's a federal agency, a nonprofit board, or other institution. In this episode: The critical components of a starter enterprise risk management programTurning overwhelming risk registers into risk-informed budget decisionsThe PACT Act, VBA's HR pipeline, and $302 million in startup fundingBlack swan risk: what COVID taught federal agencies about risk appetiteRisk management differences across DoD, federal civil service, and private industryWhy things like shared language and escalation channels have to come first Connect with Charles Tapp:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlestapp2/ Further reading: Federal News Network: VBA Steps Up Veteran Outreach to Complete 300,000 Pending PACT Act Benefits Claims — https://federalnewsnetwork.com/veterans-affairs/2024/05/vba-steps-up-veteran-outreach-to-complete-300000-pending-pact-act-benefits-claims/VA News: World-Class Veterans Benefits Banking Program — https://news.va.gov/110704/world-class-veterans-benefits-banking-program/ MOTIVATION N'AT — Hot Mess to High Potential™ The podcast where real life gets talked about, hosted by Natalie Bulger. New episodes every Sunday. 📲 Follow Natalie: Instagram: instagram.com/@Sincerely__Natalie YouTube: youtube.com/@motivation-nat-pod

    The Real Work of Enterprise Risk Management | Guest - Charles Tapp II

  3. Jul 5

    What I've Learned In the Year Since I Left My Job

    A year ago, I left a job that had shaped seven years of who I was, and I thought the hardest part was already behind me. It wasn't. This is what a year of hosting more than 50 conversations with over 40 guests on the Motivation N'at Podcast has taught me about myself. Josh, my husband, was the very first guest on Motivation N'at when this show launched. A year later, he's back to interview me for the season two premiere. We get into: What actually changed in the year since I left federal governmentHow hosting a podcast pushed me outside my comfort zone in ways I didn't expectWhat I learned about my own healing by listening to other people's storiesAll of the other things I'm building beyond this podcast because.... bills If you've ever wondered whether leaving something familiar actually leads anywhere, this conversation won't hand you an answer. But it might help you ask the question more honestly. MOTIVATION N'AT — Hot Mess to High Potential™ The podcast where real life gets talked about, hosted by Natalie Bulger. New episodes every Sunday. 📲 Follow Natalie:Instagram: @Sincerely__NatalieYouTube: @motivation-nat-pod

    What I've Learned In the Year Since I Left My Job

  4. Jun 28

    You Can't Automate Your Way Out of a Bad Process | Guest - Shannon Gregg, PhD

    If one more person tells you the answer is a new system, a new tool, or a new platform, you might lose your mind. Because you've watched the stack grow and the problems stay, and nobody seems to want to talk about what's actually broken underneath it. Dr. Shannon Gregg is the president of Cloud Adoption Solutions and holds a PhD in CRM user adoption. She has spent her career inside the gap between what technology promises and what organizations actually need, and she doesn't let either side off the hook. We get into: — Why simplifying your tech stack is harder than building it out, and why it matters more — The difference between waterfall and agile development, and what actually happens when you skip the human in the middle — Where AI gives buyers false confidence and what a responsible seller does about it — How over-customization quietly breaks the systems you paid to fix — Why the process has to come before the platform, every time If you've been handed another solution before anyone finished diagnosing the problem, this conversation might make you feel a little less alone when it comes to what to do next. MOTIVATION N'AT — Hot Mess to High Potential® The podcast where real life gets talked about, hosted by Natalie Bulger. New episodes every Sunday. 📩 Connect with Shannon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonjgregg/ 🌐 Cloud Adoption Solutions: https://cloudadoption.solutions/ 📖 It's About Time: How to Do More of What Matters in the Time You Have - https://www.amazon.com/Its-About-Time-More-Matters/dp/1945605014 📖 Sales Ops Design Shop: Grow Revenue without Adding Sales Headcount - https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Ops-Design-Shop-Headcount-ebook/dp/B0D8KC3GZZ?ref_=ast_author_mpb Life Sciences Sales Lab Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-sciences-sales-lab/id1853940547 📲 Follow Natalie:Instagram: @Sincerely__NatalieYouTube: @motivation-nat-pod

    You Can't Automate Your Way Out of a Bad Process | Guest - Shannon Gregg, PhD

  5. Jun 21

    Motherhood Doesn't Kill Careers. It Changes Them. | Guest - Samantha Swan

    Motherhood didn't break Samantha's career, but instead, it taught her everything the rulebook missed. It's something all of us, parents or not, should take some time to think about.This week I sat down with Samantha Swan, a senior manager in healthcare strategic planning and a mom of two, who has lived the tension between ambition and motherhood in real time and brought her insights and honesty to this conversation.We get into:— Why the old career rules stop working the moment life changes— The working mom identity crisis nobody prepares you for— What it actually looks like to return to work after maternity leave— How to stop juggling everything equally and start knowing which balls are glass— Why "you can have it all" is true — just not all at once— What parenthood actually adds to your leadership skills that hiring managers keep missingParent, non-parent, early career, mid-career... if you've ever felt like the rules stopped fitting, pull up a chair and take a listen.___________________________________MOTIVATION N'AT — Hot Mess to High Potential®The podcast where real life gets talked about, hosted by Natalie Bulger. New episodes every Sunday.___________________________________Connect with Samantha Swan on LinkedInFollow Natalie:Instagram: @sincerely__natalieYouTube: @motivation-nat-pod

    Motherhood Doesn't Kill Careers. It Changes Them. | Guest - Samantha Swan

  6. Jun 14

    Music That Means Something | Guest - Sean Martin of The Quarantined

    "I hear chains rattling above me when I sleep." That's how Sean Martin described the psych ward he ended up in after his Humvee exploded overseas. Survival can look like a lot of different things. So can the road back. Sean's road back was a journey back into his love of music and combining it with renewed intent. The Quarantined is his grunge/punk/metal project, and it tackles addiction, trauma, and what he calls the illusion of normalcy. Things we touch on in our conversation:🔹 The transition out of the military, the inpatient psych ward, and the years before he got real help🔹 How music became the way Sean processes trauma and PTSD, not just a creative outlet🔹 The cannabinoid system, and why Sean is so vocal about alternative treatments for veterans with PTSD🔹 Aversion to Normalcy, his 2025 album with over a million streams, and what it means to build an identity around not fitting in🔹 Perspective and gratitude... the two things he says got him through the worst moments of his life This episode touches on suicide, trauma, and mental health. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available by call or text at 988. ___________________________________ MOTIVATION N'AT — Hot Mess to High Potential® The podcast where real life gets talked about, hosted by Natalie Bulger. New episodes every Sunday. ___________________________________ 🎵 Stream Aversion to Normalcy everywhere: https://too.fm/kdmjayj 🛒 Buy The Quarantined's full discography: https://thequarantined.bandcamp.com 🌐 Website: https://www.thequarantined.com 📩 Connect with Sean: TheQuarantinedtv@gmail.com 📲 Follow me: Instagram: @Sincerely__Natalie YouTube: @motivation-nat-pod

    Music That Means Something | Guest - Sean Martin of The Quarantined

  7. Jun 7

    Nobody Trained Us for This Kind of Chaos

    Guest: Alana Cheeks-Lomax | Co-Founder & CEO, Untold Impact What Does It Really Mean to Lead Through Chaos?The chaos leaders are feeling right now often isn't accidental. The workforce is shifting, the table is changing, and most leaders are navigating the noise without ever really having been prepared for what this looks like. On this episode of Motivation N'at, Natalie Bulger sits down with Alana Cheeks-Lomax — Co-Founder and CEO of Untold Impact, former Global Head of Inclusion & Diversity at Cash App, and diversity executive at Microsoft — for a conversation about leadership burnout, generational workforce shifts, the DEI rollback, the AI reckoning, and what it actually takes to stay grounded when everything around you is on fire. Alana brings over 15 years of experience at the intersection of business strategy, people operations, and social impact. She is also the host of the Office Hours Black Girl podcast, now in its third season and recently picked up by a national distributor. Key TakeawaysLeadership burnout is real and widespread — leaders have been managing compounding crises since 2020, and many are overwhelmed and afraid to make mistakes.Staying grounded in your core values is the most important leadership tool right now — returning to what you founded your work on is what keeps you from second-guessing every decision.The workforce is experiencing a multi-generational identity shift — younger generations are uncoupling their identity from their job title, and companies that don't adapt will lose talent fast.Accountability is the leadership norm most overdue for a reset — fear of being wrong makes it harder to hold the mirror, and that ripples across the entire organization.High performance and high quality are not the same thing — fast output is not automatically good output, and leaders need to be intentional about the difference.Connect with Alana Cheeks-Lomax🌐 Website: www.alanacheekslomax.com💼 LinkedIn: Alana Cheeks-Lomax📸 Instagram: @acheekslomax🎙️ Podcast: @OfficeHoursBlackGirlPodcast🏢 Untold Impact: @untoldimpact_ Follow Natalie & Motivation N'at📸 Instagram: @Sincerely__Natalie🎙️ YouTube: @motivation-nat-pod MOTIVATION N'AT — Hot Mess to High Potential®The podcast where real life gets talked about, hosted by Natalie Bulger. New episodes every Sunday.

    Nobody Trained Us for This Kind of Chaos

  8. May 31

    Stop Kicking Yourself: Careers Change | Guest - Lis Doggett

    Your career has been telling you something for a while now. The question is whether you're listening. Lis Doggett, career coach and founder of Hanai Career Solutions, joined me for this honest discussion which handed out some tough pills to swallow. We get into: 🔷 Why burnout isn't about how many hours you're working 🔷 The difference between running from a job and moving toward something 🔷 How to know when leaving is the answer — and when it isn't 🔷 What it actually means to separate your mission from your job title 🔷 The sunk cost trap that keeps people stuck longer than they should be 🔷 Why your next chapter doesn't erase what you built in the last one If you've ever stayed somewhere past the point of it making sense, OR left before you were ready, OR just quietly wondered what you're actually building toward, then you might want to stick it out through this whole episode. 📩 Want Lis's free Burnout Prevention Weekly Planning Sheet? Email hello@hanaicareers.com to grab it. 🌐 Lis's website: www.hanaicareers.com 📱 Instagram: @lisdoggett 💼 LinkedIn: lisdoggett 📘 Facebook: @hanaicareers 📲 Follow me: Instagram: @Sincerely__Natalie MOTIVATION N'AT — Hot Mess to High Potential® The podcast where real life gets talked about, hosted by Natalie Bulger. New episodes every Sunday.

    Stop Kicking Yourself: Careers Change | Guest - Lis Doggett
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About

Motivation N’at is hosted by Natalie Bulger and features guests from all walks of life — each bringing their own stories, experiences, and insights to the table. Together, we dive into everything from relationships and sobriety to mental health challenges and the lasting impact of growing up too soon. On Motivation N’at, we take on life’s tougher conversations and explore how the lessons we’ve learned can shape what comes next — all in the spirit of turning life’s hot mess moments into high potential.

Information

  • Creator
    NC Bulger Solutions
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    56
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © NC Bulger Solutions
  • Show Website
    Motivation N'at