Unlearning in Progress

Angela Cope & Jaime Waterfield

A podcast for women rising - not just in title, but in self. ​ Unlearning in Progress is a podcast for women who did everything “right” - earned the titles, checked the boxes, read the books, took the trainings, and did what they were told. But there’s now a feeling that they can’t shake and are now left wondering, “So why doesn’t this feel like success?” ​ Hosted by two recovering perfectionists and corporate veterans, Jaime Waterfield and Angela Cope unpack the parts of leadership no one puts on LinkedIn: the doubts behind the confidence, the burnout behind the ambition, the growth that doesn’t come with a promotion, and the exploration of self.  ​ Each episode explores what it looks like to rise, not just in title, but in self. Through real talk, lived experience, and lessons learned the hard way. Jaime and Angela are on a mission to keep learning, growing, and teaching others how to lead with more self-trust, less performance pressure, and zero apology for wanting a career and a life. ​ If you’re an aspiring or emerging leader who wants to succeed without losing yourself in the process, you’re in the right place. ​

  1. 9月21日

    Starting Over Doesn't Mean Starting From Scratch

    Career Series | Part 9 What do you do when the path you planned suddenly disappears? Jaime and Angela sit down with product-development strategist, entrepreneur, and mentor Cydney Mar, whose 45+ year career has been shaped by resilience, reinvention, and a belief that we never truly start from zero. After a life-changing accident ended her career as a Canadian National figure skater, Cydney rebuilt around design, eventually selling her collections on live television across eight countries and generating more than $300 million in global sales. Decades later, a near-death illness forced another unexpected pivot, leading her to found Cydney Mar Wellness and a proudly Indigenous-owned consulting practice that now mentors product founders around the world. But this conversation isn't about titles or accomplishments. It's about how we navigate the moments when life takes an unexpected turn, how we recognize the value of the skills we've already earned, and why starting over doesn't mean starting from scratch. Together, we explore: • Recognizing the experience and strengths you already have • Moving forward when the path you planned disappears • Turning setbacks into opportunities for growth • The power of reflection, journaling, and asking for help • Building your next chapter with the skills you've carried all along Whether you're considering a career change, navigating a setback, or wondering what's next, Cydney offers a powerful reminder that every chapter of your life has prepared you for the one you're about to write. Connect with Cydney: https://www.cydneymarwellness.com/ https://www.facebook.com/cydneymarwellness/ https://www.instagram.com/cydneymarwellness

  2. 9月14日

    Failure Is What I Did, Not Who I Am

    Career Series | Part 8 What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't failure itself, but what you've been taught to believe about failure? In this episode of the Career Series, we sit down with Rachel Franco, founder of Fail Smarter, to explore how our relationship with failure shapes our careers, confidence, decisions, and willingness to pursue meaningful change. Drawing from her work in innovation enablement, leadership development, and organizational transformation, Rachel shares what she observed time and again: people often leave workshops, coaching sessions, and planning meetings energized and equipped with new skills, but when it's time to take a risk, try something new, or admit something isn't working, fear takes over. Together, we unpack why so many of us see failure as something to avoid at all costs, how those beliefs become embedded through our experiences and workplaces, and what it means to build a healthier, more productive relationship with failure. Rachel also shares the principles behind her Fail Smarter Framework, a practical approach that helps individuals and teams move beyond blame, reflect more intentionally, capture lessons learned, and turn setbacks into opportunities for growth and innovation. One of the most powerful ideas from the conversation: "Failure is what I did, not who I am." Whether you're considering a career pivot, pursuing a dream you've been putting off, recovering from a setback, or simply trying to build more resilience, this episode offers a refreshing perspective: failure isn't something to fear. When approached thoughtfully, it becomes one of our greatest sources of learning, courage, and forward momentum. In This Episode We Discuss: Why fear of failure keeps us stuckHow our beliefs about failure are formedThe difference between failure and identityPsychological safety and smart risk-takingRachel's Fail Smarter FrameworkTurning reflection into learning and actionCareer pivots, experimentation, and self-trustHow to recover more quickly and confidently when things don't go as planned Connect with Rachel: https://www.fail-smarter.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelfranco/

  3. 8月24日

    When Survival Patterns Become Career Strengths: Knowing When to Let Go

    Career Series | Part 6 You’re driven, capable, and the person people can count on. But you feel stressed, burned out, disconnected, or just generally off. In this episode of our Career Series, Jaime and Angela sit down with Lauren Golen, founder and strategic advisor, to explore the survival patterns and identities we carry into our career. From people-pleasing and perfectionism to control, overfunctioning, pushing through, and feeling like everything depends on us. These patterns aren’t necessarily weaknesses. In fact, they may be part of the reason you’ve been so successful. They can make you dependable, ambitious, hardworking, and someone who always gets the job done. But when those same patterns begin driving how you work, lead, and make career decisions, success can start to come at a cost. Lauren shares how to recognize when an old survival identity is still “running the show,” why feeling off or burned out at work may be telling us something deeper, and how we can begin letting go of the versions of ourselves we no longer need. We also explore the role of intuition in our careers: how to reconnect with your body when you’ve spent years pushing through what you feel, how to rebuild trust in yourself, and what it means to move toward your next chapter before you have the entire plan figured out. In this conversation: How survival identities like people-pleasing, control, and “if I don’t do it, it won’t get done” can fuel career success, until they start costing usWhy Lauren asks women to thank the identity they’re ready to let go of and how separating who you are from who you learned to be creates space for something newWhat it means to move from the constant hum of striving, proving, and earning your seat to leading from freedom, trust, and creative expressionHow to “feel into the vision in the dark” by trusting your intuition and taking the next step in your career even when you can’t see where it will lead If you’ve been successful in your career but lately find yourself feeling burned out, stuck, stressed, or simply like something is off, this conversation is an invitation to look beneath the job itself and ask a different question: What patterns are you still carrying and who could you become if you finally let them go? Connect with Lauren https://www.instagram.com/laurengolen/ https://substack.com/@laurengolen

  4. 8月10日

    The Job Changed, But You Didn’t: The Patterns that Follow Us

    Career Series | Part 5 You can change jobs, change companies, earn the promotion, or step into an entirely different chapter, and still find yourself facing the same patterns. In this episode of Unlearning in Progress, Angela and Jaime sit down with executive coach Michelle Scott to explore why career alignment isn’t only about changing what’s happening around us. Sometimes, the most important shift is the one happening within us. Michelle shares her own experience with burnout, first in the corporate world and later as a stay-at-home mom, and the realization that changing her circumstances didn’t change the patterns she carried with her. As she puts it, without doing the inner work, the pushing simply followed her into a new role. Together, they explore what it actually means to feel aligned in your career, why white space and true rest matter, how to recognize the subtle nudges telling you something needs to change, and why solving career dissatisfaction requires looking at both the external realities of work and our internal beliefs, habits, and expectations. In this conversation: * Why changing jobs doesn’t always solve what feels wrong * How our patterns can follow us from one role to the next * What career alignment actually looks and feels like * Why white space is necessary, not indulgent * How to recognize the “nudge” before it becomes a steamroller * The relationship between inner work and practical career strategy * How slowing down can help you hear your own intuition again If you’ve been wondering whether you need a new job, a new career, or simply a different way of showing up in the one you already have, this conversation might help you ask a different question. Connect with Michelle: https://michellescottcoaching.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-scott-coaching/ https://www.facebook.com/michellescottcoaching/ https://www.instagram.com/coachmichellescott/

  5. 8月3日

    Beyond the Dream Job: Finding Purpose in Your Next Chapter

    Career Series | Part 4 Over the last few episodes, we've explored career crossroads, the factors that influence career growth, and how to identify work that energizes you. In this episode, we bring those concepts to life through the story of Amy Peterson, co-founder and CEO of Rebel Nell.   Amy spent years pursuing a childhood dream of working in professional baseball. After building a successful career with the Detroit Tigers, she found herself wrestling with an internal tug toward something different, one that became increasingly difficult to ignore.  Together, we explore what it feels like when your passions evolve, how to distinguish between running away from something and being called toward something new, and why passion is often what sustains us through the hardest parts of building a career or business. Amy shares her experience navigating uncertainty, identity shifts, and the decision to pursue work that felt deeply aligned with what mattered most to her.  Whether you're questioning your next move or simply feeling pulled toward something you can't quite explain, this conversation offers a thoughtful framework for understanding what that tug might be trying to tell you.  In This Episode, We Discuss: What happens when a long-held career path no longer feels aligned  How to evaluate the "internal tug" toward something new  The difference between escaping a situation and following a calling  Why passion is essential when taking a career risk  The reality that passions can evolve throughout different seasons of life  Amy's advice for anyone considering a major career shift Learn more about Rebel Nell:  Rebel Nell Instagram (@rebelnell)

  6. 7月27日

    Beyond Job Titles: Finding What Energizes You

    Career Series | Part 3 You've updated your résumé. Scrolled through job postings. Considered a promotion, a pivot, or even a completely different path. But what if the answer isn't found in a job title at all? In Part 3 of our Career Series, Jaime introduces the Career Alignment Matrix, a practical framework designed to help you identify the work that energizes you, the growth you're excited to pursue, the responsibilities you've outgrown, and the tasks that consistently drain your energy. Through a live coaching conversation, Angela works through the exercise in real time, uncovering patterns that offer new clarity about what she wants from the next chapter of her career.  Together, they explore why career decisions become easier when you stop focusing on titles and start paying attention to the environments, activities, and experiences that bring out your best work.  If you've ever found yourself wondering,"What's next for me?" this conversation is for you. In this episode: Why career clarity often comes from patterns, not perfectly mapped-out plans How to identify what energizes you and what consistently drains you The difference between growth you choose and growth you feel pressured into pursuing Why being good at something doesn't mean you should keep doing it foreverHow work environments and team culture influence career alignmentA practical framework for designing your next career move with greater intention Whether you're considering a promotion, exploring a career pivot, or simply feeling disconnected from your current work, this episode offers a different way to think about what's next: not by chasing titles, but by finding what energizes you.

簡介

A podcast for women rising - not just in title, but in self. ​ Unlearning in Progress is a podcast for women who did everything “right” - earned the titles, checked the boxes, read the books, took the trainings, and did what they were told. But there’s now a feeling that they can’t shake and are now left wondering, “So why doesn’t this feel like success?” ​ Hosted by two recovering perfectionists and corporate veterans, Jaime Waterfield and Angela Cope unpack the parts of leadership no one puts on LinkedIn: the doubts behind the confidence, the burnout behind the ambition, the growth that doesn’t come with a promotion, and the exploration of self.  ​ Each episode explores what it looks like to rise, not just in title, but in self. Through real talk, lived experience, and lessons learned the hard way. Jaime and Angela are on a mission to keep learning, growing, and teaching others how to lead with more self-trust, less performance pressure, and zero apology for wanting a career and a life. ​ If you’re an aspiring or emerging leader who wants to succeed without losing yourself in the process, you’re in the right place. ​