Notes on Resilience

Manya Chylinski

Notes on Resilience explores how human experience, including adversity, shapes leadership, innovation, and culture. Host Manya Chylinski talks with people whose work, research, or lived experience reveal how we adapt, care, and create after challenge—what these stories show about the systems we build, and what must evolve.    These conversations are rooted in a simple idea: the goal isn’t resilience for its own sake, the goal is well-being. Resilience is what makes recovery and growth possible.  The show serves as field research on how people and systems recover, rebuild, and move forward.

  1. 6D AGO

    166: Resilience Is Motion, Not Stillness, with Kenyada Meadows

    Send a text Balance isn’t the finish line. It's the pendulum that’s almost never centered, the butterfly that needs resistance to fly, and the swimmer who learns to win with water in his goggles. We sat down with coach, author, and financial services executive Kenyada Meadows to rethink resilience through values, emotional integrity, and the power of community. From a career on Wall Street to the Harvard Advanced Management Program, Kenyada traces a shift from “go it alone” leadership to a world where being world-class means belonging to a circle that challenges you, backs you, and understands the real costs of change. We dig into truths about identity at work—why your title can’t hold your worth—and how a strong sense of justice and family roots can steady you when corporate culture pushes conformity. We talk about trading camouflage for vulnerability, asking direct questions about how you’re showing up, and choosing which battles are worth your time when you zoom out five or fifty years.  Kenyada also shares what’s next for him: coaching at Executive Parent Company, his book The New Alpha, the Executive Dad podcast, and a forthcoming exploration of followership that flips the usual leadership script. Connect with Kenyada on LinkedIn. If you’re ready to lead with your whole self—and stop confusing motion with progress—this conversation offers clear language, practical steps, and a humane path forward. Listen and share it with someone who needs it. Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREE Support the show __________ Producer / Editor: Neel Panji Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity. Learn more: www.manyachylinski.com/services Subscribe to the newsletter: manyachylinski.com/notes Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us. #trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

    26 min

  2. FEB 25

    165: The Quiet Phase After Crisis

    Send a text When the headlines fade and the urgent meetings stop, most leaders exhale—and miss the most important phase of recovery.  We unpack the quiet phase, that deceptive calm where people finally feel the impact and disengagement takes root long before anyone speaks up or turns in a resignation letter.  Drawing on the Boston Marathon bombing as a case study, we examine why acute response looks strong while long-tail mental health support often becomes fragmented, time-limited, and hard to navigate. Adrenaline and purpose carry teams through the peak, then the delayed processing begins. In that space, silence is data. You’ll learn the subtle signs of drift—fewer ideas, cautious or reckless swings in risk-taking, quiet compliance, and loosening social ties—and why dashboards rarely catch them.  We also share a practical playbook for leaders: schedule follow-ups weeks and months out, normalize delayed reactions, keep resources easy to find, and stay visible without forcing disclosure. Presence beats performative support; continuity, not intensity, rebuilds confidence. This conversation offers concrete tools for managers, executives, and community leaders who want to retain talent and restore trust after disruption. If you lead people through crisis—organizational change, public incidents, or community shocks—use these cues to convert quiet from a risk into a bridge back to engagement. Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREE Support the show __________ Producer / Editor: Neel Panji Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity. Learn more: www.manyachylinski.com/services Subscribe to the newsletter: manyachylinski.com/notes Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us. #trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

    14 min

  3. FEB 18

    164: Leading Through Unrest, with Ayme Zemke

    Send a text When a crisis engulfs your community, the urge to go quiet can be powerful—and costly.  We sit down with Ayme Zemke, Chief Client Officer and Certified Crisis Communication Leader at Beehive Strategic Communication, to break down how leaders can speak with clarity, protect trust, and support employees without getting pulled into partisan crossfire. From the current turbulence in Minnesota’s Twin Cities to the universal dynamics of fear, fatigue, and confusion, Ayme shares a calm, values-first approach that keeps people grounded. We unpack the moments that shape a steady crisis communicator and why optimism, not spin, can be a strategic asset when emotions run hot. You’ll hear how to turn organizational values into decision rules, so they guide what you say and what you do. We explore why repetition is reassuring during stress, how to set a dependable update cadence, and the power of saying the same thing in different ways for different learners. The conversation also looks beyond the initial response to the often-missed phases of recovery and renewal. We discuss how to debrief thoughtfully, capture lessons while they’re fresh, and update playbooks so the next response is faster and more human. Along the way, Amy shares what it looks like when a community crisis tests your culture. If you lead people through uncertainty, this is a field guide to acting with care, speaking with purpose, and staying aligned when the noise gets loud. LinkedIn: Ayme Zemke Beehive Strategic Communications Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREE Support the show __________ Producer / Editor: Neel Panji Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity. Learn more: www.manyachylinski.com/services Subscribe to the newsletter: manyachylinski.com/notes Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us. #trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

    23 min

  4. FEB 11

    163: Resilience Is The Real Infrastructure, with Tony Crescenzo

    Send a text Pressure tests every organization, and Tony Crescenzo believes resilience isn’t a perk—it’s the infrastructure that keeps the mission alive.  We sit down with the Marine veteran turned CEO of Intelligent Waves and founder of Peak Neuro to unpack a practical, values‑driven approach to leadership that holds up under pressure. Tony draws a clear line between management and leadership, showing how minimizing deviation from the plan differs from inspiring people to make a vision real and their own.  Across the conversation, we get specific about what it takes to build resilient teams: start with “What do you need?”, focus on outcomes over style, and make values usable in daily decisions.  Tony frames values as the attributes of the perfect colleague, then ties them to performance, rewards, and behavior. His integrity metric is simple and memorable: the distance between what you say and what you do. By publishing his leadership philosophy and filtering choices through two lenses—what serves the customer and what serves the employee—he reduces fear, speeds decision‑making, and scales trust. Tony also opens up about his own PTSD and the science that changed his life. He explains how chronic stress impairs the prefrontal cortex and why resilience should be treated like cybersecurity or logistics: if it fails, the mission is compromised.  If you care about leadership, psychological safety, and building teams that bend rather than break, you’ll find clear principles and tactics you can use today.  Tony Crescenzo is the founder of Peak Neuro, LLC, a pioneering, AI-powered, neuroscience-based platform focused on enhancing cognitive resilience and performance, and the CEO of Intelligent Waves (IW), a leading IT integrator for the U.S. government. Peak Neuro Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREE Support the show __________ Producer / Editor: Neel Panji Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity. Learn more: www.manyachylinski.com/services Subscribe to the newsletter: manyachylinski.com/notes Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us. #trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

    30 min

  5. FEB 4

    162: Back To Functioning - Steadiness or Speed?

    Send a text What happens when the crisis is no longer in the news? We dig into that uneasy stretch when calendars fill back up and leaders feel the urge to get back to normal. And why that push can cause mistrust and leave people alone with their pain. Drawing from a survivor-informed lens, we unpack how disruption changes beliefs, expectations, and bodies. We walk through the invisible pressures that drive speed—boards, customers, metrics, our own fear of mishandling—and contrast them with what actually steadies a culture: naming reality, defining functioning, and setting a shared pace. You’ll hear clear, practical ways to reset priorities without sounding cold, including which deadlines to move, which meetings matter, and how to offer real flexibility. We also equip managers, the crucial translation layer, with simple check-in language and decision guardrails so care and accountability can live side by side. Instead of treating dips in capacity as moral failings, learn to read them as signals to adjust workloads and support.  This is steady leadership: Guiding people through a changed reality with clarity and care. If you’re feeling the pull to move fast, pause with us, rethink your defaults, and choose the kind of steadiness that protects both people and results.  Subscribe, share with a colleague who leads under pressure, and leave a review with one shift you’ll make this week. Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREE Support the show __________ Producer / Editor: Neel Panji Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity. Learn more: www.manyachylinski.com/services Subscribe to the newsletter: manyachylinski.com/notes Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us. #trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

    28 min

  6. JAN 28

    161: Resilience Without The Buzzwords, with Kemia Sarraf

    Send a text What if we stopped treating trauma like a forbidden topic and started treating it like a leadership skill set?  That’s the spark for a candid, practical conversation with physician and public health expert Kemia Sarraf on how to show up for others—and ourselves—when life overwhelms.  We unpack a core distinction that changes everything: traumatic stress exposure is inevitable; trauma is what happens inside us afterward. That gap is where agency lives. We talk about why two people can share the same moment and walk away affected in very different ways, and how good intentions can still cause harm when we rush to fix, offer platitudes, or go silent. The alternative is deceptively simple: presence over prescription. Admit uncertainty. Replace grand gestures with small, steady check-ins that actually land. The throughline is hopeful and actionable: capacity can be built, leaders can protect their teams without losing themselves, and organizations can reduce burnout, turnover, and moral injury with trauma‑responsive practices.  Kemia Sarraf is a doctor, public health expert, founder of Lodestar, and a thought leader on the impact of traumatic stress exposure on professionals and first responders. She also serves as adjunct faculty at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.  Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREE Support the show __________ Producer / Editor: Neel Panji Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity. Learn more: www.manyachylinski.com/services Subscribe to the newsletter: manyachylinski.com/notes Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us. #trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

    32 min
  7. 160: Resilience With Boundaries, with Kathryn McEwen

    JAN 21

    160: Resilience With Boundaries, with Kathryn McEwen

    Send a text What if compassion without boundaries is the very thing burning leaders out? We sit down with organizational psychologist and executive coach Kathryn McEwen to unpack resilience at work as a living system. Kathryn leads the Working with Resilience Consortium and helped develop the Resilience at Work Toolkit, and she brings stories that reveal why good intentions often backfire—and how to course-correct. We start with a reframing: resilience isn’t something you have or don’t. It’s a state shaped by resources like purpose, aligned values, strong relationships, and simple, consistent self-care.  Then we dig into the messy middle of leadership: when optimism energizes people versus when it reads as tone-deaf, how a leader’s mood sets the room, and why calibrating ambition to the team’s bandwidth preserves morale. If you’re leading through change, short on headcount, or trying to balance inclusion with consistency, this conversation offers practical language, mindset shifts, and boundary scripts you can use today.  Kathryn McEwen is a speaker, organisational psychologist, executive coach and mediator with more than 35 years of consulting experience across all industry sectors. She has special expertise in workplace resilience, having authored three books on the topic and led the development of the R@W Toolkit. Kathryn has a strong evidence-base to her work as she collaborates with the University of South Australia through lecturing, student placements, applied research and membership of advisory committees.  Website: Working with Resilience Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREE Support the show __________ Producer / Editor: Neel Panji Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity. Learn more: www.manyachylinski.com/services Subscribe to the newsletter: manyachylinski.com/notes Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us. #trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

    28 min
  8. 159: Stronger Together At Work, with Peter Turner

    JAN 14

    159: Stronger Together At Work, with Peter Turner

    Send a text Real care at work isn’t about saying yes to everything. It is about designing a culture where people can struggle together and still deliver.  We brought Pete Turner, partner and senior executive coach at 2B Limitless, to talk about how teams can be genuinely compassionate without "compassioning" themselves out of business. From the pains of fast growth pains to real-world HR dilemmas, Pete walks us through the tradeoffs leaders face and the choices that keep a company healthy enough to support people when life hits hard. We discuss the hidden pressures managers face and why these team members are often the most stressed layer of any organization. Pete shares two practical mindset flips that change everything under pressure: Move from telling to coaching.Shift from fixing weaknesses to amplifying strengths. These moves build autonomy, mastery, and belonging, which strengthen resilience and performance. We also address the stubborn knowing–doing gap—why we ignore good advice even when it’s obvious—and how to close it with small, repeatable habits that survive busy seasons. If you’re a leader trying to balance empathy and execution, or an individual seeking to build genuine resilience without burning out, this conversation offers practical tools, honest stories, and a path forward.  Pete Turner is a keynote speaker and partner, senior executive coach and keynote speaker for 2b Limitless an executive coaching and leadership development organization. He is the head of coach training and accreditation and the author and creator of the APC, one of the ICF’s most exciting and transformative coach education and certification programs.  He specializes in the behavioural economics of high-performing individuals, teams, and organizations. And his focus is to create 21st century learning experiences that are scientifically rigorous, inquiry-based, formally certified, interactive, and fun.  Learn more about Peter on LinkedIn. Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREE Support the show __________ Producer / Editor: Neel Panji Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity. Learn more: www.manyachylinski.com/services Subscribe to the newsletter: manyachylinski.com/notes Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us. #trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

    32 min
See All (166)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Notes on Resilience explores how human experience, including adversity, shapes leadership, innovation, and culture. Host Manya Chylinski talks with people whose work, research, or lived experience reveal how we adapt, care, and create after challenge—what these stories show about the systems we build, and what must evolve.    These conversations are rooted in a simple idea: the goal isn’t resilience for its own sake, the goal is well-being. Resilience is what makes recovery and growth possible.  The show serves as field research on how people and systems recover, rebuild, and move forward.

Information

  • Creator
    Manya Chylinski
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    166
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Notes on Resilience
  • Show Website
    Notes on Resilience