What if your team isn't lacking initiative—what if they've been trained to stop thinking?

Your employees have ideas. They have opinions. They're capable of solving problems. So why do so many team meetings end with everyone waiting for the boss to tell them what to do?

In this episode of Work Besties Who Podcast, Jess and Claude welcome Dr. Katie Trowbridge, award-winning educator, leadership strategist, CEO of Curiosity to Create, and author of Lead Boldly, Think Deeply.

Dr. Katie challenges one of the biggest assumptions in modern leadership: that managing people means providing all the answers.

Together, we explore what happens when leaders unintentionally reward compliance instead of curiosity, why psychological safety matters, and how simple changes in leadership behavior can help employees think independently and take ownership.

We also get personal about difficult managers, awkwardly silent team meetings, the reality of giving feedback, and why a great Work Bestie sometimes needs to tell you when you're being ridiculous.

You'll walk away with:

• A new perspective on why employees stop speaking up
• Practical ways to build trust and encourage independent thinking
• A smarter approach to team meetings and employee feedback
• Strategies for navigating leaders who shut down your ideas
• A reminder that leadership isn't about creating more followers—it's about helping people grow

Our favorite question from this conversation:

Are you the kind of leader you'd want to be led by?

Whether you're managing a team, building your career, or simply trying to survive another corporate meeting, this conversation will make you rethink what great leadership really looks like.

Connect with Dr. Katie Trowbridge:
https://curiositytocreate.org
https://katietrowbridge.com

Connect with your Work Besties:
@workbestieswhopodcast

Corporate employees by day, entrepreneurs by night, and work besties for life.

Keep supporting each other!

#Leadership #CareerDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture

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If your title disappeared tomorrow, would anyone still listen to you?

Leadership is easy to claim when the org chart says people have to listen. The real test is how people experience you when they do not have to.

In this episode, Jess and Claude break down five everyday moments that reveal what kind of leader you really are: how you respond when someone makes a mistake, when someone disagrees with you, when a quieter voice needs room, when everything is going wrong, and when someone else deserves the win.

They also share three questions to ask yourself before reacting in a difficult workplace moment:

• What am I feeling?
• What might they be experiencing?
• What does this moment need from me?

Because emotional intelligence does not mean avoiding hard conversations. Great leadership can include accountability, constructive feedback and difficult decisions — while still creating psychological safety, trust and respect.

Whether you are already managing a team, moving into leadership or simply trying to be a better coworker, leadership is happening in the little moments long before anyone gives you the title.

#Leadership #EmotionalIntelligence #LeadershipDevelopment

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We almost didn’t have an episode this week.

Then at Jess's birthday dinner — two people telling the exact same story in completely different ways — reminded us just how much the way you tell your story matters.

Because storytelling at work isn’t just for interviews or presentations. You’re telling stories every time you explain your impact, talk about how you’ve grown, show how you’ve stepped up as a leader, or simply introduce yourself to someone new.

In this episode, we break down the career stories everyone should have ready:

• Your Impact Story — what changed because you were there
• Your Growth Story — what changed in you or your team
• Your Leadership Story — when you started leading before anyone gave you the title
• Your “Meet Me” Story — the memorable story that helps people get to know the human behind the job title

Plus, Jess and Claude prove the point by telling their own Work Bestie origin story very differently — before somehow ending up with Jess the accountant and Claude the butcher.

Because whether you think you’re a storyteller or not, you’re already telling stories.

The question is: what do you want people to remember?

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You did the work. You have the data. You know the answer. So why does someone else say almost the exact same thing five minutes later—and suddenly everyone remembers it?

That’s not always an expertise problem. Sometimes, it’s a visibility problem.

Jess and Claude sit down with actress, director, keynote speaker, and storytelling expert Sabine Kvenberg to talk about what actually makes someone memorable in a room—and whether presence, confidence, and storytelling can be learned.

Sabine shares why confidence is a learned skill, how introverts can build presence without becoming louder, and her SET framework for stronger storytelling: Story, Emotion, and Tie. We also explore the confidence-competence loop, why great storytelling isn’t about making every moment dramatic, and how the way you deliver an idea can be just as important as the idea itself.

Plus, we get into AI: how to use it to strengthen your communication without letting it flatten your voice into something generic—and why AI can learn how you sound, but it still can’t know or replace your lived story.

In this episode:
• Why being right isn’t always enough to be remembered
• How confidence and stage presence can be developed
• Why introverts can be powerful storytellers
• Sabine’s SET storytelling framework
• How storytelling improves workplace visibility
• The difference between sharing information and creating something memorable
• How to use AI without losing your authentic voice
• What makes someone truly memorable in a room

Learn more about Sabine Kvenberg and her book Gumption at SabineKvenberg.com.

Because your story doesn’t need to be louder. It needs to be yours.

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What if the thing that made you feel different is actually one of your greatest strengths?

In this episode of Work Besties Who Podcast, Jess and Claude sit down with storyteller, writer and advocate Thomas R. Wilson to explore how owning your story can help you build confidence, embrace creativity and feel more seen.

Thomas shares how storytelling became a source of connection and belonging in his own life—and why creativity isn’t reserved for writers, artists or performers. Sometimes it’s problem-solving. Sometimes it’s finding your voice. And sometimes it’s simply creating something because it brings you joy.

Together, they talk about perfectionism, learning to trust compliments, strength-based thinking, finding your people and why sharing your story doesn’t mean sharing every part of yourself.

Because confidence doesn’t always come before you tell your story.

Sometimes telling—and owning—your story is how you build it.

IN THIS EPISODE:
• How storytelling can help us feel less alone
• Why creativity belongs to everyone
• Creating something just for yourself
• Why perfectionism can become a defense mechanism
• Learning to see your strengths differently
• Strength-based vs. deficit-based thinking
• How community helps us find our voice
• Why owning your story doesn’t mean oversharing
• How knowing your worth, strengths and power builds confidence

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
How can owning your story help you build confidence?

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September on Work Besties Who is all about storytelling and visibility: finding your voice, owning your story, communicating your value, and allowing yourself to be seen—not only for the work you produce, but for the person you are and the perspective you bring.

And because storytelling is one of Jess’s greatest strengths, there was only one way she could begin the month: by telling the story of someone who is an enormous part of her own.

In this special solo episode, Jess shares an ode to her cohost, friend, and work bestie for life, Claude.

Jess reflects on the difference between being noticed and being truly seen—and how Claude’s intelligence, honesty, loyalty, grounded confidence, and unwavering belief have helped Jess recognize the power of her own voice.

Because being noticed is when someone knows what you accomplished. Being seen is when someone understands the courage, doubt, preparation, resilience, and heart behind it.

This episode is both a love letter to Claude and an invitation for all of us to consider the people who have helped shape our stories, made us braver, and reminded us of what we struggled to see in ourselves.

The right work bestie doesn’t give you your voice. She reminds you that you had one all along.

Who is a huge part of your story? Send them this episode—and then tell them why they matter. Don’t make them guess. Don’t wait.

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What happens when being the reliable one slowly turns into being responsible for…everything?

This week, Jess and Claude sit down with author, speaker, and creator of The Yes Test Method, Paula Mathias, to talk about how women become the unofficial “office mom” — taking the notes, ordering the snacks, planning the celebrations, fixing the problem — and why being good at something doesn’t automatically make it your job.

Paula shares the workplace experience that made her realize how often she was making herself smaller, why an automatic “yes” can quietly create resentment and burnout, and the three questions she now uses before taking something on:

Is it Yours? Is it Essential? Is it Sustainable?

We also get into why setting boundaries can actually increase respect, how to push back or manage up without simply bringing your boss a problem, what happens when these same patterns follow us home, and how to know when the answer should actually be YES — especially when an opportunity scares you.

Plus: Can you retire as the office mom without becoming the office villain?

Spoiler: one person’s no might just be another person’s yes.

In this episode:

• How women accidentally become the “office mom”
• The hidden cost of the automatic yes
• Paula’s Yours–Essential–Sustainable Yes Test
• Why being capable doesn’t mean you should do it
• Setting boundaries without damaging relationships
• How to manage up when something shouldn’t be on your plate
• Saying yes to stretch opportunities even when imposter syndrome shows up
• Why your no may create an opportunity for someone else

Learn more about Paula and The Yes Test Method at PaulaMathias.com

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What if the voice telling you “you’re not ready” isn’t telling you the truth — it’s trying to keep you safe?

In this episode, Jess and Claude sit down with psychologist, talent agent and self-sabotage expert Dr. Albert Bramante to unpack the mental roadblocks that can keep talented people playing small.

Albert explains why self-sabotage can actually be a protective mechanism, how fear of failure AND fear of success can hold us back, and why procrastination may have more to do with fear than time management. We also get into perfectionism, the inner critic, rejection, and what happens when our brains turn one “no” into an entire story about our worth.

Plus, Albert shares practical ways to start changing the pattern — including turning your to-do list into scheduled action, reframing failure as feedback, questioning the stories your inner critic tells you, and creating a “Happy File” to remind yourself of the wins you tend to forget.

Because before anyone else can validate your value, you have to learn how to see it yourself.

In this episode:

• Why self-sabotage can be a form of self-protection
• Fear of failure vs. fear of success
• The surprising connection between procrastination and fear
• Healthy striving vs. perfectionism
• How to challenge your inner critic
• Why “no” can mean “not today” instead of “never”
• How to create your own Happy File
• Why owning your worth has to start with you

Share this episode with the work bestie who needs the reminder: you don’t have to feel completely ready before you take the next step.

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