Your biggest client is rude to you and your team. Everyone in the industry knows he's like this. And every meeting, you freeze — then spend the rest of the day furious at yourself for staying quiet.

In this episode, Hannah answers a listener who's been swallowing her opinions to protect a major account, with a boss who people-pleases too.

Here's what we want you to hear: your job is not to be agreeable. Your job is to be a partner. And a client spending serious money almost certainly wants a partner with a backbone — not someone who nods along while their strategy quietly fails.

We cover:

- The difference between a freeze response and a fawn (people-pleasing) response
- The line between rudeness and abuse
- Graded exposure therapy: the one-opinion goal for your next meeting
- Why you should forecast what could go right, not just pre-mortem what could go wrong
- How small acts of speaking up compound into a completely different professional identity

You don't need a new personality. You need one small, concrete win. That's it.

Timestamps:

01:05 - "I freeze and I people-please"
01:45 - When your boss is a people-pleaser too
02:05 - Freeze vs. fawn: which one is running you?
02:25 - Low psychological safety — the real workplace problem
02:55 - Where this pattern started
03:15 - Rudeness vs. abuse: when to escalate to HR
03:35 - "No client is worth that"
03:45 - The one goal for your next meeting
04:05 - Name the fear: losing the account? Looking small?
04:25 - Stress-testing the fear
04:55 - Prep your boss before you speak up
05:15 - Graded exposure therapy: small doses of discomfort
05:35 - Why small wins compound
05:45 - Pre-mortem vs. positive forecasting
06:05 - How this accelerates your career
06:15 - Reframe: you are the partner, not the appeaser
06:45 - Check your job spec — it's your permission slip
06:55 - Find someone who does this well
07:05 - Don't overcorrect

#DifficultClients #peoplepleasingrecovery #careeradvice #WorkplaceBoundaries #HannahHotline

🚨 Got a career challenge?

Submit your questions and frustrations to the Hannah Hotline!

Email: hello@hannahkissel.com

Gain Access to the free Career Confidence Course: https://www.hannahkissel.com/careerconfidence

Follow Hannah Kissel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahmaekissel/

Connect with Hannah Kissel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannahkissel/

Visit Hannah's website: www.hannahkissel.com

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Hannah Hotline is sponsored by dominiquejingles — where quirky, clever, and corporate branding is reimagined. A client says, 'We just want something different.' Dominique turns that into a jingle that sticks in your head all day.

DM Dominique on Instagram @dominiquejingles or email dominiqueenglish04@gmail.com.

You know LinkedIn could open doors. You also know that posting feels like walking onto a stage where everyone's waiting for you to trip. So you don't post. And the gap between the career you want and the career you have keeps growing.

In this episode, Hannah answers a listener who wants to build her expertise in public but is terrified of being judged, laughed at, or seen as stupid.

Here's what we want you to hear first: this is not imposter syndrome. We push back on that label hard. Being afraid to post is a skills gap, you haven't built the muscle yet. And muscles are built by repetition, not by waiting to feel ready.

We cover:

- Why LinkedIn feels more exposing than Instagram or TikTok
- The spotlight effect: the fear that everyone is watching you, when almost nobody is
- Why "I want to build my personal brand" is a goal that gets you nowhere, and the one question to ask instead
- What the fear of "looking stupid" is usually protecting you from (mine traced back to being bullied in high school)
- How Internal Family Systems therapy helps you name and soothe the part of you that's scared
- The ritual that actually works: a set day, a set time, a 30-minute cap, and a scheduled post
- Why you should start with once a week or even once a fortnight and not more

Hannah coached current and former LinkedIn employees through this exact fear. And felt it herself after posting. The price of admission is being embarrassed. The question is whether you want your career to move more than you want to avoid that feeling.

#HannahHotline #LinkedInTips #impostersyndrome #PersonalBrand #CareerAdvice #ThoughtLeadership #HannahKissel

Timestamps:

01:30 - Why LinkedIn feels scarier than Instagram or TikTok
02:15 - The spotlight effect: no one is thinking about you
03:00 - Why this isn't imposter syndrome, it's a skills gap
04:00 - Why I hate the term "personal brand"
05:00 - The one question to ask: why do you want this?
06:15 - The fear of looking stupid and the "silly little girl" part
07:30 - Internal Family Systems: naming the part that's scared
08:45 - The price of admission is being embarrassed
09:30 - LinkedIn is a tool, not a tribunal
10:15 - Build a ritual: Fridays at 3 pm is drafting time
11:30 - Start small — once a week, or even once a fortnight
12:15 - Cap your drafting time at 30–60 minutes
13:00 - Best posting times — and why you don't have to reply to every comment

🚨 Got a career challenge?
Submit your questions and frustrations to the Hannah Hotline!

Email: hello@hannahkissel.com

Gain Access to the free Career Confidence Course: https://www.hannahkissel.com/careerconfidence

Follow Hannah Kissel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahmaekissel/

Connect with Hannah Kissel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannahkissel/

Visit Hannah's website: www.hannahkissel.com

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Hannah Hotline is sponsored by dominiquejingles— where quirky, clever, and corporate branding is reimagined. A client says, 'We just want something different.' Dominique turns that into a jingle that sticks in your head all day.

DM Dominique on Instagram @dominiquejingles or email dominiqueenglish04@gmail.com.

Your CEO is messaging at 10PM. You're anxious. Your notifications are on. And nobody actually asked you to do any of this.

In this episode of Hannah Hotline, Hannah tackles a letter from "Anxious at 10 PM", a professional whose new CEO, a former management consultant, works late and on weekends, creating an unspoken pressure that's quietly taking over her evenings.

Hannah breaks down Nobel laureate Claudia Goldin's concept of "greedy jobs," explains what C-suite executives are actually doing when they message after hours, and gives you the exact script for a one-on-one conversation that will clear the air fast. If after-hours notifications are running your nervous system, this one's for you.

📩 Got a career dilemma? Email hello@hannahkissel.com to be featured on the podcast and in The Daily Telegraph.

Timestamps:

01:00 — The listener letter: new CEO, late-night Slacks & weekend emails
01:45 — Hannah's verdict: "This definitely seems like a you problem"
02:00 — What are greedy jobs? Claudia Goldin's research explained
02:45 — Why your ex-consultant CEO works like this (and what it means for you)
03:00 — The key question: is responding actually expected of you?
03:15 — The exact script for your next one-on-one with your CEO
04:00 — What C-suite executives are really doing when they message late
04:45 — How to manage the anxiety even after you get clarity
05:00 — Practical tools: notifications, app deletion, phone boundaries
05:30 — How to protect your team's culture when the CEO has none
05:45 — When late-night availability IS the expectation — knowing the difference
06:45 — Reassurance-seeking: why replying at 10 PM is making anxiety worse
07:15 — Breaking the pattern you've already accidentally created

#worklifereality #workboundaries #highperformers #corporatestories #workplaceculture #healthyboundaries #officedrama