Career Reset: Women, career & leadership

Tess Osborn

Career Reset is a narrative podcast hosted by Tess Osborn that explores the complex, often hidden journeys of women navigating career transitions and leadership challenges. It offers an intimate look at the emotional toll and triumphs of redefining professional identity, providing listeners with both comfort and actionable insight. The show blends personal storytelling with expert analysis to create a supportive space for those ready to pivot their lives. Tess delves into themes such as overcoming imposter syndrome, negotiating salaries, building confidence in male-dominated industries, and finding work-life balance. Episodes cover topics like career change strategies, leadership development, workplace dynamics, and entrepreneurial mindsets. Listeners will find guidance on networking skills, managing burnout, setting boundaries, and creating meaningful careers aligned with personal values. The series also examines the nuances of mentorship, sponsorship, and breaking glass ceilings in corporate America. This podcast is ideal for ambitious women seeking clarity, resilience, and practical tools to advance their professional goals. Tess’s warm, empathetic voice creates a safe environment for honest conversations about fear, failure, and success. Released regularly, each episode provides a refreshing perspective on modern work culture and personal growth. Join the community of empowered professionals by following Career Reset today. Topics: career reset podcast, women in business, leadership development, career transition help, work life balance tips, female entrepreneurs, overcoming imposter syndrome, job search advice, professional growth, workplace wellness, negotiation skills, burnout recovery, confidence coaching, corporate ladder climbing, mentorship for women, entrepreneurial mindset, networking strategies, career pivoting #WomenInLeadership #CareerChange #ProfessionalGrowth #WorkplaceWellness #FemaleEntrepreneurs #LeadershipSkills #JobSearchTips #ConfidenceBuilding #BusinessStrategy #MentalHealthAtWork #NetworkingAdvice #CorporateLife #PersonalDevelopment #Empowerment

Episodes

  1. 5h ago

    How to Handle Rejection from Dream Companies with Grace | Career Reset

    This episode of Career Reset, hosted by Tess Osborn, offers a compassionate and strategic guide for women navigating the emotional aftermath of rejection from dream companies. It addresses the specific pain of 'the almost'—the grief felt when you imagined landing a role that ultimately didn't work out—and provides actionable frameworks to reframe rejection not as personal failure, but as valuable data and strategic divestment. This content is designed for ambitious professionals who feel stuck in self-interrogation after an interview, helping them shift from fear-based rumination to growth-oriented learning. Tess breaks down the psychology behind why silence feels louder than rejection letters and introduces the concept of viewing your career as a portfolio rather than a ladder. By treating missed opportunities like underperforming assets, listeners can detach their self-worth from external validation and focus on long-term strategy. The episode explores how to handle the initial sting with grace, emphasizing that apologizing for disappointment is unnecessary and that hope is a valid, powerful force. Concrete takeaways include questions to ask yourself instead of dissecting every mistake, such as focusing on what you learned about company culture or knowledge gaps, turning each interaction into a field test for resilience. The narrative encourages listeners to release guilt associated with hoping hard for a job and to channel that energy into small, manageable actions. Instead of trying to fix everything at once, the advice centers on momentum built in inches: updating one LinkedIn section, sending one email, or reconnecting with friends who affirm your brilliance. This approach helps rebuild confidence without overwhelming the listener, reminding them that they are starting from experience, not scratch. The episode serves as a vital resource for anyone seeking to maintain professional momentum while protecting their mental health during the job search process. If you are ready to transform rejection into resilience and find grace in the journey, listen to this full episode for Tess’s complete insights. Support the show and access additional resources by visiting the link provided below. More from Career Reset: https://humanitymedia.org/career-reset Topics: career rejection advice, handling job interview rejection, women in leadership resilience, career portfolio mindset, overcoming imposter syndrome, professional development tips, job search mental health, career reset podcast, graceful rejection recovery, ambitious career growth, interview feedback analysis, workplace emotional intelligence #CareerReset #JobSearchTips #WomenInBusiness #RejectionIsData #LeadershipDevelopment #CareerGrowth #MentalHealthAtWork #InterviewPrep #ProfessionalResilience #AmbitiousWomen #CareerStrategy #SelfWorth Transcript: https://cdn.humanitymedia.org/transcripts/career-reset/2026-09-06.txt

  2. 1d ago

    The Exhaustion of Pretending Enthusiasm at Boring Tasks | Career Reset

    This episode of Career Reset explores the hidden emotional toll of 'faking enthusiasm' in the modern workplace, offering a practical guide to reclaiming your energy and authenticity. Host Cherie Donnellan identifies the specific bone-deep fatigue that comes from performing passion for boring, repetitive tasks like data entry, status updates, or reconciling expenses. This is not just about boredom; it is about the cognitive dissonance and emotional labor required to bridge the gap between how you feel and what corporate culture expects you to show. If you are feeling drained, hollowed out, or disconnected from your true self despite appearing high-performing, this episode provides the validation and tools you need to stop pretending. The conversation dives deep into the concept of 'emotional tax,' explaining how suppressing your true reactions to honor workplace norms leads to cumulative burnout over time. Through the story of Sarah, a brilliant strategist who burned out not from work but from the performance of compliance, listeners learn to distinguish between caring about their career and performing care for trivial tasks. The episode argues that indifference can be a superpower when applied to filler work, allowing professionals to complete necessary duties efficiently without investing their soul or identity in the outcome. By detaching your self-worth from your level of engagement with mundane responsibilities, you free up mental space for creativity, rest, and strategic thinking. Cherie offers actionable strategies for setting boundaries around emotional labor, including auditing your week to identify 'hotspots' where you fake excitement, such as in meetings or internal emails. She encourages listeners to give themselves permission to be bored, to drop the exclamation points, and to slow down their typing to reflect their actual energy levels. This shift from performance to presence is framed as an act of self-respect that also gives colleagues permission to drop their own masks. The episode connects this practice to the foundational belief that you are enough, regardless of your productivity or enthusiasm for trivial tasks, helping listeners break the cycle of seeking validation through performative busyness. If you are ready to stop screaming into a pillow made of corporate jargon and start working in alignment with your authentic self, listen now. Join Cherie Donnellan as she guides you through the exhaustion of pretending and shows you how to reclaim your voice. Support the show and access more resources on career advancement and modern work by visiting the link in the show notes. Your worth is not tied to your ability to fake it till you make it. More from Career Reset: https://humanitymedia.org/career-reset Topics: workplace burnout, emotional labor at work, fake enthusiasm, career authenticity, corporate performance, job satisfaction, professional boundaries, quiet quitting vs quiet thriving, mental health at work, productivity mindset, workplace culture, career reset podcast, emotional exhaustion, authentic leadership #careerreset #burnoutprevention #worklifebalance #authenticity #emotionalintelligence #corporatelife #mentalhealthmatters #careergrowth #boundaries #selfcare #professionals #mindsetshift Transcript: https://cdn.humanitymedia.org/transcripts/career-reset/2026-09-05.txt

  3. 2d ago

    When Your Boss Is Incompetent (Your Secret Growth Hack) | Career Reset

    This episode of Career Reset explores the counterintuitive strategy of treating an incompetent boss not as a career-ender, but as a secret growth hack for future entrepreneurs. Host Jamie-Lee Oconnor argues that when leadership is flawed, employees are forced to develop high-level skills in project management, crisis negotiation, and upward management that traditional corporate structures rarely teach. This guide is specifically designed for ambitious professionals who feel invisible, overworked, and resentful due to systemic dysfunction, offering a roadmap to transform daily frustration into professional leverage. The narrative delves deep into the psychological shift required to stop being the 'shock absorber' for organizational chaos. Instead of trying to fix your boss or burn out trying to save the ship, you learn to detach operationally while protecting your reputation. Key takeaways include setting hard boundaries, documenting failures to create a paper trail, and allowing small consequences to happen so the system adapts. The episode emphasizes that every bad decision made by leadership is a free lesson in what *not* to do when you eventually start your own business. By viewing your current role as a paid training ground, you accumulate valuable data on operational failures, client management, and team dynamics that becomes your competitive advantage. Finally, the discussion focuses on the practical steps to build your own asset while still employed. You are encouraged to use company resources to learn software, study markets, and build vendor relationships that belong to you. The goal is to channel energy away from doom-scrolling or fixing others' mistakes and toward side projects, whether that’s a blog, a podcast, or a product launch. The episode concludes with advice on quitting with intention—leaving only when you have savings, a clear narrative, and a vision ready to execute. It’s a call to action for resilient individuals to outgrow their environment rather than be defined by it, turning workplace toxicity into the blueprint for sustainable entrepreneurial success. More from Career Reset: https://humanitymedia.org/career-reset Topics: incompetent boss, career growth hacks, entrepreneurship mindset, managing up, workplace boundaries, corporate ladder escape, professional development, side hustle ideas, leadership lessons, burnout recovery, business strategy, career transition tips, operational excellence, self-improvement #careerset #entrepreneurlife #bossfromhell #growthmindset #businessstrategy #careeradvice #worklifebalance #startupjourney #leadershipskills #professionalgrowth #sidehustle #resilience Transcript: https://cdn.humanitymedia.org/transcripts/career-reset/2026-09-04.txt

About

Career Reset is a narrative podcast hosted by Tess Osborn that explores the complex, often hidden journeys of women navigating career transitions and leadership challenges. It offers an intimate look at the emotional toll and triumphs of redefining professional identity, providing listeners with both comfort and actionable insight. The show blends personal storytelling with expert analysis to create a supportive space for those ready to pivot their lives. Tess delves into themes such as overcoming imposter syndrome, negotiating salaries, building confidence in male-dominated industries, and finding work-life balance. Episodes cover topics like career change strategies, leadership development, workplace dynamics, and entrepreneurial mindsets. Listeners will find guidance on networking skills, managing burnout, setting boundaries, and creating meaningful careers aligned with personal values. The series also examines the nuances of mentorship, sponsorship, and breaking glass ceilings in corporate America. This podcast is ideal for ambitious women seeking clarity, resilience, and practical tools to advance their professional goals. Tess’s warm, empathetic voice creates a safe environment for honest conversations about fear, failure, and success. Released regularly, each episode provides a refreshing perspective on modern work culture and personal growth. Join the community of empowered professionals by following Career Reset today. Topics: career reset podcast, women in business, leadership development, career transition help, work life balance tips, female entrepreneurs, overcoming imposter syndrome, job search advice, professional growth, workplace wellness, negotiation skills, burnout recovery, confidence coaching, corporate ladder climbing, mentorship for women, entrepreneurial mindset, networking strategies, career pivoting #WomenInLeadership #CareerChange #ProfessionalGrowth #WorkplaceWellness #FemaleEntrepreneurs #LeadershipSkills #JobSearchTips #ConfidenceBuilding #BusinessStrategy #MentalHealthAtWork #NetworkingAdvice #CorporateLife #PersonalDevelopment #Empowerment