Designed Pause Podcast

deidrangreen
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

Designed Pause is a space for high achieving corporate professionals who want permission to pause — not out of exhaustion, but out of intention. I’m Deidra Green, a former senior leader who has taken two intentional career breaks to create clarity, alignment, and exposure to new options. Each pause helped me design my life more intentionally — leading to entrepreneurship, senior leadership, and now a new chapter focused on thoughtful transition. This podcast is for women who are: Successful on paper but quietly questioning what’s next Considering a career break, sabbatical, or pivot Looking for planning tools, frameworks, and real-life examples Ready to listen to their own voice and design life on their terms Here, I document my own Designed Pause while sharing the tools, mentors, and mindset shifts that help make pauses intentional — not reckless. This isn’t about quitting your life. It’s about designing it. ✨ New podcasts weekly ✨ Subscribe to walk this season with me

  1. 6h ago

    Same Skills. Different Life.

    If you're wondering whether now is the right time for a career break or career pause, this episode is for you. High-achieving professionals — directors, VPs, senior managers — have built programs from nothing, led teams through constant change, and been held responsible for outcomes they didn't even control. So why does planning a career pause feel harder than any of that? In this episode, I break down how to plan a career break using the same skills you already use at work — and why the confidence you have professionally is exactly what you need to plan your own pause. We cover: How to know if you're ready for a career pause Why planning a sabbatical or career break feels scarier than planning at work — and how to get past it How to bring structure to a career break decision instead of just sitting in fear The framework I used to plan my own career pause with clarity, not anxiety If you're ready to plan your career pause with the same rigor you bring to everything else, the Designed Pause Decision Kit walks you through it step by step. Or book a free Pause Clarity Call to talk it through with me first — both live at designedpause.com. Designed Pause is a podcast for corporate professionals planning an intentional career break. | designedpause.com

  2. 3d ago

    Four Books That Changed How I Think About Money, Identity, and Fear

    The thing standing between most high-achieving women and a career pause isn’t information. It’s the internal work. The self-sabotage. The scarcity mindset. The fear of what people will think. The way we overcomplicate decisions until we can’t make any of them. These four books helped me work through all of it. In this episode I share what I was going through when I read each one, what shifted, and why I think they belong on your list if you’re in the middle of this kind of decision. The Mountain Is You by Brianna Wiest — for when you’re getting in your own way The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel — for when money fear is making your decisions The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga — for when you’re afraid of what people will think The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz — for when you’re overcomplicating everything   The Mountain Is You: https://amzn.to/3Tq31xX The Psychology of Money: https://amzn.to/4aTEWpo The Courage to Be Disliked: https://amzn.to/4wNS1Jk The Four Agreements: https://amzn.to/4wKLUFr   Download the free Designed Pause journaling prompts: www.designedpause.com

  3. Jul 15

    What Is Designed Pause — And Is It For You?

    If you found this video, something stopped you. Maybe it’s the word pause. Maybe it’s the word designed. Maybe you’ve been quietly wondering whether the career you’ve built is actually the life you want. This episode answers the question: What is Designed Pause — and is it for you? I walk you through the brand story, who this is for, what a designed pause actually is, and every tool I’ve built to help high-achieving corporate professionals move from stuck to decided. We cover: The brand story — why I built Designed Pause and what my two pauses taught me Who this is for — and who it isn’t The three types of pauses and which one might be right for you The Free Journaling Prompts — where it starts The Designed Pause Decision Kit — the foundation Do the Math: The Pause Runway Calculator — the financial reality check The Fast Track AI Prompts — for the woman who wants to use AI The Pause Clarity Call — 60 minutes, free, no pitch   Start here — everything lives at designedpause.com

  4. Jul 8

    Your Dreams Are Not a Coincidence: A Conversation with Kat Kibben

    Kat Kibben quit their job on a Thursday. By Monday they had given their notice. No fallback plan. No slow walk. Just a decision made in the middle of caregiving for their mother, after a manager told them they had no talent. What followed was eight years of building Three Ears Media, three years of van life across the country, two books, and a top surgery that taught them something they hadn't expected: their business could run without them. This conversation is one of the most honest ones I have had on Designed Pause. We talk about what it actually means to bounce back — not winning all the time, but keep going no matter what. We cover: Growing up with a military mom who moved 13 times before Kat turned 18 and what that taught them about work The toxic manager moment that pushed them out of corporate for good What van life actually looks like from the inside — and the lesson about community it forced them to learn Why resilience in entrepreneurship means something completely different than it does in corporate Taking four weeks off for top surgery and opening the laptop eight days later to find zero emails waiting Why your dreams are not a coincidence — they are for you Keep Up with Kat:  https://threeearsmedia.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrinakibben/ https://www.youtube.com/@ThreeEarsMedia/featured https://www.instagram.com/KatrinaKibben Designed Pause Decision Kit: www.designedpause.com

  5. Jul 1

    You’ve Been Collecting Inspiration: Here is Why You’re Still Stuck

    You have a folder. Maybe it doesn't have a label. But it's there. Career break posts. Sabbatical stories. Financial independence threads. Women who walked away and figured it out. You've been saving them for months. Maybe years. And you are still in the same place. This episode is about why inspiration without a framework doesn't move you forward — it just gives you something to do with the anxiety. And what to do instead. We cover: What the inspiration spiral actually looks like from the inside Why research without structure feeds anxiety instead of resolving it What shifted when I stopped consuming and started answering questions The four questions that actually move you from stuck to decided Download the free Designed Pause journaling prompts: www.designedpause.com

  6. Jun 24

    Nobody Regrets Being Too Real

    I lost someone recently. Someone close to me. And I’ve been sitting with something ever since — not just grief, but gratitude. Gratitude that when it happened, I was fully present. That my pause made it possible to show up the way I wanted to. Today I want to talk about what losing someone teaches you about the life you’re living. This episode covers six things: Grief and joy can exist at the same time — and you don’t have to choose Getting your affairs in order — and helping the people you love do the same What you have been putting off — and I’m not talking about the laundry What you will regret — and what to do about it while you still can The pain you’re carrying alone — and why someone you know would help you carry it Why it is never too late to learn something new What happens when you stop letting other people’s perception of you change how you show up   “What to Know Before I Go” workbook on Amazon: https://amzn.to/43L9CFk   Download the free Designed Pause journaling prompts: https://stan.store/designedpause/p/get-my-free-journaling-prompts-now-qlomu3h9

  7. Jun 17

    5 Ways to Use a Career Break to Get Ahead

    Stuck behind a desk wondering if a career pause means falling behind? In this episode, I'm breaking down 5 ways to come back from your pause more valuable than when you left. In this episode: Why a hybrid pause is the right time for skill-building (and when it's not) Remote contract, freelance, and fractional work — how to start without recreating your old workload Online certifications that actually signal intention (not just badge-collecting) Why I invested time in learning AI tools, and how to start with Claude or ChatGPT Writing and thought leadership as a way to stay visible during your pause The most overlooked (and free) option: mentorship and relationship-building You don't need to do all five. Pick one or two aligned with where you're headed, and go deep. If you're ready to get clear on what kind of pause makes sense for you — how long, what type, and what your financial reality looks like — the Designed Pause Decision Kit walks you through it with a clear framework. 👉Designed Pause Decision Kit Link: https://stan.store/designedpause/p/get-my-designed-pause-decision-kit-now-copy Use code PAUSEPOD for 50% off I'm Deidra Green, and this is Designed Pause. Slow down on purpose.

  8. Jun 10

    Open Palmed: A Conversation with Sandy Diaz Haley

    Sandy Diaz Haley did not leave corporate on a whim. She left when the timing was right, the cushion was there, and nothing on the corporate side excited her anymore. And even then — it was the hardest she has ever worked. Sandy is the founder of SDH Communications and the creator of the Badass Collective, a community of 3,000 plus communications and PR professionals that started as a happy hour after an unexpected layoff and grew into something she never planned. In this episode we talk about building something accidentally and intentionally at the same time, what corporate trauma actually looks like and how long it takes to feel it lift, why listening is the foundation of all good communication — including the communication you have with yourself, the job interview that confirmed she was exactly where she was supposed to be, and what she whispered to her daughter at camp drop-off that says everything about how she moves through the world. Her advice for anyone still in corporate: don't be impulsive, take your inventory, and choose your hard. Both paths are difficult. The question is which one you can make peace with. Connect with Sandy and SDH Communications: https://www.sdhcommunications.com/ The Badass Collective: https://wearetbcollective.com/ Get the Designed Pause Decision Kit — 50% off with code PAUSEPOD: https://stan.store/designedpause/p/get-my-designed-pause-decision-kit-now-copy Free journaling prompts: designedpause.com

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Designed Pause is a space for high achieving corporate professionals who want permission to pause — not out of exhaustion, but out of intention. I’m Deidra Green, a former senior leader who has taken two intentional career breaks to create clarity, alignment, and exposure to new options. Each pause helped me design my life more intentionally — leading to entrepreneurship, senior leadership, and now a new chapter focused on thoughtful transition. This podcast is for women who are: Successful on paper but quietly questioning what’s next Considering a career break, sabbatical, or pivot Looking for planning tools, frameworks, and real-life examples Ready to listen to their own voice and design life on their terms Here, I document my own Designed Pause while sharing the tools, mentors, and mindset shifts that help make pauses intentional — not reckless. This isn’t about quitting your life. It’s about designing it. ✨ New podcasts weekly ✨ Subscribe to walk this season with me

Information

  • Creator
    deidrangreen
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    27
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Designed Pause Podcast