Outsmart Burnout: The Podcast for High-Achieving Women with Dr. Zarya Rubin

Dr. Zarya Rubin, MD - Physician & Burnout Expert
  • 5.0 (24)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

You're smart, driven, and accomplished — but you're exhausted. Not the kind of tired that a good night's sleep fixes. The kind that makes you wonder how much longer you can keep going at this pace, and whether the life you've built is actually the life you want. Welcome to Outsmart Burnout. I'm your host, Dr. Zarya Rubin — a Harvard-educated physician, TEDx speaker, burnout expert, and recovering overachiever — this show is for high-achieving women who are done white-knuckling their way through life and ready to reclaim their passion, purpose, and joy. As a physician who burned out in medicine and found my way back to personal and professional success, I don't just study burnout - I've lived it. Each week, I invite expert guests to dive into the real conversations high-achieving women need most: the science of burnout and nervous system regulation, the identity shifts that midlife brings, the systems and patterns keeping you stuck, and the practical strategies to help you feel like yourself again. Remember, burnout is not your destiny, it's your wake-up call. Listen to my TEDx talk about burnout: https://bit.ly/TEDxBurnout Learn more and work with me: www.drzarya.com Follow along on Instagram: www.instagram.com/drzaryarubin Download your FREE Outsmart Burnout Toolkit: https://drzarya.myflodesk.com/outsmartburnouttoolkit For 1:1 burnout support, check out The Burnout Blueprint! https://drzarya.myflodesk.com/ New episodes drop every Wednesday. Leave us a comment, like, subscribe, download, and share an episode with a friend.

  1. 4d ago

    How to Be Enough: Worthiness, Achievement Addiction, and Burnout - with Dr. Mandy Lehto

    Summary Dr. Mandy Lehto was a Director at a global investment bank and a single mother who moved up the ranks fast. Then burnout caught up with her, and a workout that ended in a blackout became her tipping point. Today she is a Cambridge PhD, an executive coach to Fortune 500 leaders and the host of Enough, the Podcast. She tells Dr. Zarya what the early signs of burnout felt like, why she tried to overachieve her way to healing, and how surrender, community and inner child work changed her relationship with achievement. They also talk about why nobody Googles "how can I be enough," why pushing through is often exhaustion in disguise, and what people really talk about at a funeral. Key Takeaways When your old winning strategy stops working, doing more of it makes things worse. What Mandy needed was rest, which felt like weakness.Achievement is "the only addiction that we're publicly validated for."Healing can become one more thing to overachieve at: nutritionists, acupuncture, Reiki and meditation, all hoping for a fix.Burnout often traces back to childhood patterns about who you had to be to be accepted.Nobody Googles how to be enough. Enough is a felt sense that comes and goes like weather, even though your wholeness is permanent.At a funeral, nobody talks about CVs. Relationships are where Mandy now feels most grounded.Pushing through can look like strength, but it is often exhaustion. Staying with hard feelings long enough shows you what wisdom is there.Timestamps 00:02 – Introduction to Dr. Mandy Lehto 02:15 – From a funeral home flower shop to Cambridge and investment banking 05:22 – The pressure cooker and the first signs of burnout 10:47 – The workout that ended in a blackout 17:04 – Why "no pain, no gain" runs so deep 23:08 – The stages of burnout and healing at all costs 26:34 – Surrender, identity and the first green shoots 32:04 – Why nobody Googles "how can I be enough" 39:47 – What matters at a funeral 43:53 – Rapid Fire Round Guest Contact Website and quizzes: www.mandylehto.com Podcast: Enough, the Podcast (wherever you listen) Instagram: @mandylehto 7 Stages of Burnout - on FRIED, the Burnout Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mandy-lehto-the-7-realistic-phases-of-burnout/id1469939920?i=1000622922321 Connect with Dr. Zarya Rubin, founder of The Afterglow Collective: Website: www.theafterglowcollective.com IG: www.instagram.com/outsmartburnout Get your FREE Burnout to Becoming Roadmap: https://theafterglowcollective.myflodesk.com/essentialsix Book a FREE Consult with Dr. Zarya: https://calendly.com/drzarya/free-burnout-consult Reach out with questions or to book Dr. Zarya to speak at your next event: hello@drzarya.com Vote for Outsmart Burnout in the Signal Awards! https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/genre/self-improvement-self-help

  2. Oct 7

    From Scrubs to Screens: How Dr. Sophie Englehardt Rewrote Her Own Script and Chose Acting

    Dr. Sophie Engelhardt did everything medicine asked of her — years of rigorous training, a pathology residency, labwork and autopsies. Then, mid-residency, she walked away to become a professional actress. She and Dr. Zarya trace the whole arc: how medicine became "the exoskeleton" for her self-esteem, the unmitigated empathy she couldn't switch off, the three-month unpaid leave that let her test the life-changing decision before making it, and how she left with no burned bridges — and a brand new dream life. KEY TAKEAWAYS - Medicine can become "an exoskeleton for your self-esteem" — external achievement standing in for identity work never done. - Unmitigated empathy that won't switch off is a real, valid reason a career stops being sustainable, not a personal failing. - A structured trial — Sophie took three months of unpaid leave — can reveal how you actually feel before you make an irreversible choice. - Leaving doesn't require burning bridges: colleagues told her "the door is open," and she still felt no guilt about the work she did. - Chronic lateness and an inability to get out of bed weren't a personality trait — they were signs of a job that didn't fit, not proof something was wrong with her. - Her advice for anyone scared to leap: picture yourself at 80, looking back, grateful you did it. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Introduction to Dr. Sophie Engelhardt 01:56 – Choosing medicine and pathology in the European academic-track system 08:07 – "Medicine was the exoskeleton for my self-esteem" 21:10 – Landing the dream pathology job in Denmark 22:21 – When the cracks started showing — unmitigated empathy for patients 27:16 – Rediscovering performance through background acting work 37:04 – Balancing two full-time careers 39:47 – The three-month unpaid leave experiment 42:11 – How colleagues and family reacted to her leaving 53:19 – Rapid Fire Round GUEST CONTACT Instagram, Facebook, TikTok: search Dr. Sophie Engelhardt Casting/industry profiles: Filmmakers, Talenta, Spotlight, IMDb Currently co-writing "Ward B," a series on female health and medical inequities Connect with Dr. Zarya Rubin, founder of The Afterglow Collective: Website: www.outsmartburnout.com IG: www.instagram.com/outsmartburnout Get your FREE Burnout to Balance Toolkit: https://drzarya.myflodesk.com/burnouttoolkit Book a FREE Consult with Dr. Zarya: https://calendly.com/drzarya/free-burnout-consult Reach out with questions or to book Dr. Zarya for your next event: hello@drzarya.com

  3. Sep 30

    The Messy Middle: Why Capable Women Fall Apart in Midlife - with Natasha Ramlall

    Natasha Ramlall, embodied immigration coach and founder of Humanist Coaching, joins Dr. Zarya to unpack "identity rupture" — the disorienting collapse that hits hyper-capable women at midlife. After 25 years supporting immigrants and refugees, Natasha's own burnout, perimenopause, and a Hashimoto's diagnosis converged at once. They dig into why women blame themselves before they investigate, the collective dimension of burnout, and a simple somatic practice anyone can try today. KEY TAKEAWAYS - "Identity rupture" describes the internal transformation life transitions demand — not just the external logistics of a crisis. - Burnout, perimenopause, and autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto's often converge and mimic each other, making self-blame the default first response. - Our default setting is "there's something wrong with me" instead of "there's something wrong" — investigate before you internalize. - Burnout has a collective dimension, not just a personal one — widespread exhaustion reflects an overvalued, unsustainable masculine-coded pace of life. - Embodied integration means reconnecting to the body's felt sense alongside the mind's stories, not choosing one over the other. - A simple practice: place a book on your lower belly lying down — it should rise on the inhale, fall on the exhale. That's diaphragmatic breathing. - Self-trust doesn't come from making the "right" choices — it comes from knowing you can withstand whatever happens. TIMESTAMPS 00:06 – Introduction to Natasha Ramlall 01:46 – 25 years working with immigrants and refugees 07:43 – Natasha's own experience of burnout 16:12 – Blaming herself for two years before her Hashimoto's diagnosis 21:15 – The collective dimension of burnout 28:11 – What embodied integration actually means 33:07 – A practical belly-breathing exercise 41:07 – Identity rupture, explained 53:06 – Rapid Fire Round GUEST CONTACT Website: humanistcoaching.ca Free resource: guided audio resourcing practice (available via website) Special offer: introductory embodied integration coaching session, $44 CAD Connect with Dr. Zarya Rubin, founder of The Afterglow Collective: Website: www.outsmartburnout.com IG: www.instagram.com/outsmartburnout Get your FREE Burnout to Balance Toolkit: https://drzarya.myflodesk.com/burnouttoolkit Book a FREE Consult with Dr. Zarya: https://calendly.com/drzarya/free-burnout-consult Reach out with questions or to book Dr. Zarya for your next event: hello@drzarya.com

  4. Sep 23

    The Fertility Wake-Up Call: Why Stress Ages Your Ovaries with Dr. Miranda Naylor

    Board-certified functional physician Dr. Miranda Naylor joins Dr. Zarya to unpack why ovarian aging isn't just about egg count — it's a whole-body process shaped by stress, toxins, and nervous system dysregulation. We cover her own fertility journey through medical residency, why "normal" labs often aren't optimal, and the new AI-powered MenoTime test that estimates ovarian age. Miranda shares her RISE Method for helping women in high-demand life seasons reclaim their hormonal health. KEY TAKEAWAYS - Ovarian aging is a whole-cell process, not just egg count — toxins, stress, poor sleep, and even overtraining can accelerate it. - Fight-or-flight mode diverts resources away from reproduction — nervous system regulation is foundational, not optional. - Early warning signs precede missed periods: worse PMS, irritability, and chronic tension are the body's first flags. - Most lab "normal" ranges were built on broad, often male-based populations — not optimized for individual women. - MenoTime, a new AI/ML test, can estimate ovarian age and time to menopause using existing hormone markers. - Vitamin D and ferritin are simple, actionable labs every woman should track. - Environmental toxins — plastics and synthetic fragrance especially — quietly damage mitochondria and disrupt hormones. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Introduction to Dr. Miranda Naylor 01:29 – How residency and her own amenorrhea led her to functional medicine 06:35 – What actually drives ovarian aging 12:00 – The nervous system's role in fertility and hormones 14:25 – Early warning signs before a missed period 15:53 – Practical steps to protect ovarian and cellular health 20:31 – Inflammation and "inflammaging," explained 26:34 – The RISE Method breakdown 30:38 – Why "normal" labs aren't the same as optimal 39:55 – Rapid Fire Round GUEST CONTACT Website: drmirandanaylor.com (free hormone quiz available) Instagram: www.instagram.com/drmiranda Book a Clarity Call: available via her website Connect with Dr. Zarya Rubin, founder of The Afterglow Collective: Website: www.outsmartburnout.com IG: www.instagram.com/outsmartburnout Get your FREE Burnout to Balance Toolkit: https://drzarya.myflodesk.com/burnouttoolkit Book a FREE Consult with Dr. Zarya: https://calendly.com/drzarya/free-burnout-consult Reach out with questions or to book Dr. Zarya for your next event: hello@drzarya.com

  5. Sep 16

    Why Burnout Is a Nervous System Problem, Not a Willpower Problem - with Jill Clark

    Jill Clark is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California and a Master ART (Accelerated Resolution Therapy) certified clinician. She specializes in neurotherapy, trauma resolution, and nervous system recovery, working with high-performing women, first responders, and professionals who have done everything right and are still stuck. She is the CEO and Founder of The Resiliency Co., holds a state contract with CAL FIRE treating active-duty firefighters, and recently released her second book, The RESTORE Roadmap: What to Do When Insight Isn't Enough. KEY TAKEAWAYS - Burnout rarely walks in the door labeled "burnout" — it shows up as brain fog, insomnia, memory issues, and reactivity that clients describe one symptom at a time. - Talk therapy and CBT are effective for situational stress, but complex trauma lives in a loop the thinking brain can't fully resolve on its own. - Neurofeedback maps and retrains brain activity directly through a reward system, helping shift the brain out of chronic fight-or-flight or shutdown states. - ART uses bilateral stimulation (eye movement or tapping) to help the brain reconsolidate a traumatic memory — without requiring the client to retell the whole story. - The brain doesn't distinguish between imagination and reality, which is exactly why nervous-system-focused techniques (and unresolved trauma loops) work the way they do. - Jill's RESTORE framework: Regulate, Educate, Stabilize, Transform, Optimize, Reconnect, Embody. - "Most people put a Band-Aid on a gaping wound and expect it to shift." Real change means going after what's underneath the symptoms, not just managing them. TIMESTAMPS 01:37 What burnout actually looks like walking into Jill's office 04:49 Jill's origin story: 25 years in fitness, therapist in her 40s 09:28 What neurofeedback is and how it works 14:35 Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) explained 18:17 Inside Jill's work with CAL FIRE firefighters 22:43 Why over-intellectualizing works against nervous system healing 25:33 The RESTORE Roadmap and what each letter means 35:13 Rapid fire round 42:25 The first step if you feel stuck despite years of therapy GUEST CONTACT Website: resiliencyco.net Book: "The RESTORE Roadmap: What to Do When Insight Isn't Enough" — on Amazon Connect with Dr. Zarya Rubin, founder of The Afterglow Collective: Website: www.outsmartburnout.com IG: www.instagram.com/outsmartburnout Get your FREE Burnout to Balance Toolkit: https://drzarya.myflodesk.com/burnouttoolkit Book a FREE Consult with Dr. Zarya: https://calendly.com/drzarya/free-burnout-consult Reach out with questions or to book Dr. Zarya for your next event: hello@drzarya.com

  6. Sep 9

    Reconnect to Your Purpose - with Dr. Saidie Rodriguez

    GUEST BIO Dr. Sadie Rodriguez is a pediatric cardiac intensivist at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and an associate professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine. Her academic work focuses on clinician well-being, professional identity, and coaching-based interventions in healthcare, and she's the founder of Soul Shine, an integrative coaching practice that blends science with deeper meaning. Her heart lives in the human side of medicine — helping clinicians remember who they are beneath the rules, expectations, and relentless pace of healthcare. KEY TAKEAWAYS - Choosing your work on purpose, even briefly and privately, can be more empowering than simply enduring it — Sadie's practice of pausing at the ICU doors to ask "do I want to go in?" turned obligation into an active choice. - Gratitude isn't about bypassing hard emotions — anger and grief still need to be released first, through crying, music, or movement, before gratitude has room to land. - A simple mortality-awareness practice — treating an ordinary moment, like a cup of coffee, as if it might be your last — can restore presence without requiring any change to your actual circumstances. - Reframing "I have to" as "I get to" is a small, almost performative shift, but repeated often enough, it changes how burdensome daily obligations feel. - To start untangling identity from career, ask what your purpose would be if it had to be a verb, not a job title — something like "to connect," "to create," or "to love." - Self-worth often gets quietly outsourced to titles and roles; examining where you actually derive your sense of worth, belonging, and security is a useful place to start disentangling identity from career. TIMESTAMPS 03:24 Dr. Sadie's path into pediatric cardiac critical care 08:24 The gratitude shift: from frustrated over dishes to grateful for health 11:53 The "do you want to go in?" doorway practice 18:41 Gratitude as a practice, not a bypass 22:38 The "last cup of coffee" mortality exercise 26:50 Reframing "I have to" as "I get to" 27:19 Untangling identity from what you do 38:00 Rapid fire round 42:21 "Reconnecting to your purpose starts with... knowing yourself" GUEST CONTACT Free gift (10-minute self-trust activation): soulshine.global/podcastgift Practice: Soul Shine Coaching Connect with Dr. Zarya Rubin, founder of The Afterglow Collective: Website: www.outsmartburnout.com IG: www.instagram.com/outsmartburnout Get your FREE Burnout to Balance Toolkit: https://drzarya.myflodesk.com/burnouttoolkit Book a FREE Consult with Dr. Zarya: https://calendly.com/drzarya/free-burnout-consult Reach out with questions or to book Dr. Zarya for your next event: hello@drzarya.com

  7. Sep 2

    Is Burnout a Response to a Broken World? with Liz Moyer Benferhat

    Liz Moyer Benferhat spent nearly two decades in sustainable development, grassroots poverty work, and UN-affiliated policy research before noticing that the people doing the world's hardest, most heart-centered work were quietly burning out, with no real language for it. In 2018 she founded We Heal for All, a circle-based model blending neuroscience, storytelling, and embodied practice to help changemakers process the emotional weight of their work instead of suppressing it. Her debut book, When the World Hurts, argues that burnout among people who care deeply isn't a personal failing — it's an unprocessed, entirely rational response to what they're carrying. KEY TAKEAWAYS - Burnout isn't a personal failing — it can be a rational, intelligent response from the nervous system when someone won't slow down on their own. - Helpers and changemakers are often the last to recognize their own burnout because ambition, professional ego, and perfectionism can disguise it as commitment. - Regulating your nervous system (calming it) and processing an emotion (letting it move through fully) are related but different tools — both matter. - "Validate first before you fix": people, and emotions, generally need warm, attuned presence before they need advice or a solution. - Non-core emotions like anxiety and shame often function as blockers that keep people from feeling their actual core emotions underneath. - Culture change doesn't only happen through organizing or activism — it also happens through daily embodiment: how you spend your money, raise your kids, treat the cashier at the store. - Liz's circle model uses guidelines like no unsolicited advice and no crosstalk to create emotionally safe group space for processing collective pain together. TIMESTAMPS 02:36 Liz's origin story and the moment burnout became visible: "you are gray" 07:57 Why helpers are often the last to recognize their own burnout 18:34 Reframing burnout as a rational nervous system response 20:46 Processing vs. intellectualizing emotions 23:00 "Validate first before you fix" and the body brain / emotion brain / thinking brain 24:45 Core emotions vs. blocking emotions like shame and anxiety 30:21 Inside a We Heal for All circle 36:17 Her book, When the World Hurts 45:57 Rapid fire round 52:09 What she wants listeners to remember GUEST CONTACT Website: weHealforall.com Book: "When the World Hurts: Why the World's Pain Makes Sense and What You Can Do About It" (audiobook releasing this October) Connect with Dr. Zarya Rubin, founder of The Afterglow Collective: Website: www.outsmartburnout.com IG: www.instagram.com/outsmartburnout Get your FREE Burnout to Balance Toolkit: https://drzarya.myflodesk.com/burnouttoolkit Book a FREE Consult with Dr. Zarya: https://calendly.com/drzarya/free-burnout-consult Reach out with questions or to book Dr. Zarya for your next event: hello@drzarya.com

  8. Aug 28

    "Immiguilt" - Serena Arora on Shame, Shoulding and Reclaiming Your Worth as an Immigrant Daughter

    Serena Arora has spent over 25 years teaching Ayurveda and yoga therapy, yet she still burned out completely before writing Unbound, her memoir about recovery. She's dedicated much of her career to guiding transformation, both at her retreat center in Costa Rica and across the globe, helping women reconnect with their bodies through Ayurveda and yoga therapy — addressing burnout, seasonal shifts, and life transitions by teaching them to align with the body's natural rhythms rather than push against them. In this conversation, she introduces the concept of "immiguilt," her term for the inherited guilt she carried as an immigrant daughter, tracing it back three generations to her grandmother's escape from foot-binding in China. KEY TAKEAWAYS - Ayurveda's core principle is balance through opposites — if the body or mind runs cold, dry, hot, or scattered, the medicine is often its opposite quality. - The three doshas map surprisingly well onto burnout culture: Pitta energy ("steam") is driven and perfectionistic — exactly the profile society rewards with promotions and success, right up until it burns out. - "Ama" is Ayurveda's term for toxic buildup from anything not fully processed — undigested food, but also undigested emotional experience or trauma. - A useful daily filter for food, relationships, and habits: does this contribute to the fabric of my well-being, or deplete it? - Recovery from deep burnout isn't linear or fast — Serena's own recovery took roughly four years of rebuilding her nervous system before she felt like herself again. - "Immigilt" — Serena's term for the guilt carried by immigrant daughters across generations, even without a single traumatic event of their own to point to. - Simple, non-negotiable daily anchors, like hot water first thing and a bedtime before 10pm, can matter more than any single big intervention. TIMESTAMPS 04:15 Serena's roots in Ayurveda and how yoga therapy found her 10:07 What Ayurveda actually is: balance through opposites 17:23 "Ama": the toxic buildup of what we don't process 20:09 The three doshas — Vata, Pitta, and Kapha 25:54 Why Pitta energy is exactly what burnout culture rewards 30:44 Serena's own burnout, and the four years it took to recover 41:32 The story behind Unbound and the term "immigilt" 46:57 Rapid fire round 52:49 One thing to do tomorrow morning GUEST CONTACT Website: serenaarora.com Retreat: Costa Rica retreat this October — details on her website Connect with Dr. Zarya Rubin, founder of The Afterglow Collective: Website: www.outsmartburnout.com IG: www.instagram.com/outsmartburnout Get your FREE Burnout to Balance Toolkit: https://drzarya.myflodesk.com/burnouttoolkit Book a FREE Consult with Dr. Zarya: https://calendly.com/drzarya/free-burnout-consult Reach out with questions or to book Dr. Zarya for your next event: hello@drzarya.com

See All (57)

5
out of 5
24 Ratings

About

You're smart, driven, and accomplished — but you're exhausted. Not the kind of tired that a good night's sleep fixes. The kind that makes you wonder how much longer you can keep going at this pace, and whether the life you've built is actually the life you want. Welcome to Outsmart Burnout. I'm your host, Dr. Zarya Rubin — a Harvard-educated physician, TEDx speaker, burnout expert, and recovering overachiever — this show is for high-achieving women who are done white-knuckling their way through life and ready to reclaim their passion, purpose, and joy. As a physician who burned out in medicine and found my way back to personal and professional success, I don't just study burnout - I've lived it. Each week, I invite expert guests to dive into the real conversations high-achieving women need most: the science of burnout and nervous system regulation, the identity shifts that midlife brings, the systems and patterns keeping you stuck, and the practical strategies to help you feel like yourself again. Remember, burnout is not your destiny, it's your wake-up call. Listen to my TEDx talk about burnout: https://bit.ly/TEDxBurnout Learn more and work with me: www.drzarya.com Follow along on Instagram: www.instagram.com/drzaryarubin Download your FREE Outsmart Burnout Toolkit: https://drzarya.myflodesk.com/outsmartburnouttoolkit For 1:1 burnout support, check out The Burnout Blueprint! https://drzarya.myflodesk.com/ New episodes drop every Wednesday. Leave us a comment, like, subscribe, download, and share an episode with a friend.

Information

You Might Also Like