Break Down. Wake Up‪.‬ Meg Mateer

Many of us were taught to hide our difficult experiences and emotions because it would indicate that we’re crazy, unsuccessful or broken. But what if, instead, these feelings are wakeup calls for positive change? In this talk , you’ll hear from Meg Mateer who shares stories from leaders who have embraced difficult feelings, grief, mental health challenges, addictions, and other forms of distress and used it to positively transform their lives. You’ll also learn about groundbreaking research t...

Season 1 of the Break Down. Wake Up. podcast is officially complete! In this episode, I take a look back on the last 31 episodes and give you a broad overview of what we've covered in this season. You'll also hear my personal story about how this project was born (hint: it has to do with my own breakdowns) and how global disruption actually helped put the project into the world. At the end of the episode, you'll get a perspective-shifting frame that will help you begin to see the wisdom withi...

How can our distress inspire activism, career shifts, and new businesses? In the latest episode, I highlight some of the biggest insights that have been inspired from the last 9 episodes. I also share my perspective on how these themes can help us solve personal, professional, and broader collective challenges.In the last nine episodes I interviewed a world famous thought leader, a serial entrepreneur, a psychology researcher, and a wellness and diversity equity and inclusion advocate w...

How involuntary family separation during her international migration awakened a complexity systems thinker to the illusion of safety in institutions and an even deeper need for people to listen to and understand contextNora Bateson has been working in complexity systems thinking for almost her entire career - focused on helping people and organizations contextualize complexity in order to solve challenging problems. So when she experienced the negative limitations of institutions that fo...

How her own professional struggle led an education leader to understand the link between trauma, learning and social injustice in the classroom. Miriam Rachel Freed spent the early part of her career working in education for underserved communities. She had tons of new ideas about how education could be reformed, but felt that none of it was being met with enthusiasm. She became the black sheep of the school system. On a personal journey, she reconnected with her own experience as a...

How can we use our distress as a catalyst to personal and professional growth?In this episode, you'll hear about the online group program where you can discover the wisdom within your distress and use it for sustainable insight and lasting transformation.I started this program becauseI realized that denying, suppressing and shoving down my pain was not workingI discovered that my distress could be a source of wisdom if I listened to itI saw that I was not alone - unconventional indeed - but n...