This Is Woman's Work with Nicole Kalil

“Just stay positive” might be some of the most useless advice ever given when life is falling apart.

Because resilient optimism isn’t pretending everything is fine, ignoring reality, or slapping a silver lining on something that just plain sucks. It’s believing that even when we can’t control what happens, we still have agency over what we do next.

Michelle Gielan is a positive psychology researcher, bestselling author of Broadcasting Happiness, former CBS Morning News anchor, and author of Resilient Optimism: The Science of Sustaining a Positive Mindset in Tough Times. Her research explores how optimism impacts happiness, resilience, performance, productivity, and our ability to navigate stress, uncertainty, setbacks, and change.

In this episode, Michelle and Nicole unpack why optimism isn’t just a feeling — it’s a behavior.

We explore:

What resilient optimism is — and how it differs from toxic positivity

Why optimism is a behavior we can practice, not just a personality trait

How to hold two truths at once with a “yes, and” mindset

Why our brains naturally focus on threats and negative information

The five trainable behaviors of resilient optimists

How to recalibrate perspective without ignoring reality

Why strategic rest and recovery can improve performance

The impact of negative news, social media, and our information diet

Why relationships and social connection are critical to happiness and optimism

Optimism isn’t believing everything will work out exactly the way we want. It’s believing there’s still something worth doing before we know how the story ends.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Protect your loved ones without spying on them. Go to HeyPolo.com/work or use code WORK and get 70% off your first year

Connect with Michelle:

Book: https://www.resilientoptimism.com/

Substack: https://michellegielan.substack.com/

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellegielan/

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Work isn’t exactly working for women.

We have more opportunities, more impressive titles, more responsibility, and more ways to succeed than generations before us. And yet, a whole lot of successful women are exhausted, overwhelmed, underutilized, and wondering: Is this really as good as it gets?

Dr. Helen Krug von Nidda is an executive coach, licensed career counselor, Stanford University instructor, and author of Closing the Fulfillment Gap. She’s spent more than 20 years helping women navigate their careers and create work lives that actually fit who they are today — not who they were when they started climbing the damn ladder.

In this episode, Helen and Nicole unpack the “fulfillment gap” — the distance between what women expected successful careers to feel like and what they’re actually experiencing.

We explore:

Why women can be successful at work and still feel deeply unfulfilled

How autonomy, connection, and competence influence fulfillment

Why what fulfills women changes throughout different career and life stages

The MOVE framework for creating a more fulfilling career

How values can serve as breadcrumbs when the bigger vision isn’t clear

Why knowing what you don’t want can help clarify what you do

The surprising power of “weak ties” and expanding professional networks

Small career changes women can make now to start closing the fulfillment gap

Fulfillment isn’t something waiting at the top of the ladder, and it probably isn’t hiding inside the next promotion either. Women may not control every workplace, leader, system, or outcome — but they do have power over what they pursue, tolerate, change, and choose.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Protect your loved ones without spying on them. Go to HeyPolo.com/work or use code WORK and get 70% off your first year

Connect with Helen:

IG: https://www.instagram.com/with.dr.helen/

Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GT9YPC9C/

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkrugvonnidda/

Substack: https://substack.com/@withhelen https://www.with-helen.com/

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We love a comeback story. The recovery after the diagnosis. The victory after the struggle. The inspiring lesson wrapped up with a pretty bow and, preferably, some flattering lighting.

But what about when you’re still in it?

Allison Sweet Grant was barely 40, a mother of three, and just beginning her literary career when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her memoir, Lump: A Memoir in Ineloquent Reflections, tells the truth about breast cancer treatment and recovery without cleaning it up for public consumption. There’s fear and hope. Gratitude and anger. Humor and grief.

In this episode, Allison and Nicole talk about the messy emotional reality of a breast cancer diagnosis, chemotherapy and cancer recovery, including the pressure to stay positive, the complicated role of caregivers, and why gratitude doesn’t cancel out grief.

We explore:

Why gratitude, grief, fear, anger, humor, and hope can all exist at once

The pressure cancer patients can feel to stay positive or find the “silver lining”

How cancer affects spouses, children, caregivers, and the entire family

Why humor and sarcasm can be powerful coping mechanisms during difficult experiences

How the need to be liked or seen as a “good patient” can keep women from asking important questions

Why bringing an advocate to medical appointments can make a difference

How fear influences major healthcare decisions — and why Allison wishes she had paused more

The ongoing fear of cancer recurrence and what it means to live in the complicated space between patient and survivor

Because the truth doesn’t need to be positive, polished, perfect, or profound to be worth telling.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Protect your loved ones without spying on them. Go to HeyPolo.com/work or use code WORK and get 70% off your first year

Connect with Allison:

Website: https://www.allisonsweetgrant.com/

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Lump-Reflections-Allison-Sweet-Grant-ebook/dp/B0GL1H4FJL/

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Society doesn’t just tell girls who they’re supposed to be. It tells boys who they’re supposed to be too. Different rules, different consequences—but they’re still boxes asking our kids to perform who they’re supposed to be instead of discovering who they actually are.

In this episode of This Is Woman’s Work, Nicole Kalil welcomes back Dr. Shefali, world-renowned clinical psychologist, multiple New York Times bestselling author, founder of the Conscious Parenting Movement, and author of two new books, Raising Conscious Daughters and Raising Conscious Sons.

And while there’s plenty to say about raising confident girls, this conversation spends significant time on what boys need from parents in a culture sending them increasingly confusing messages about masculinity.

They explore:

What parents are getting wrong about raising boys today

What “integrated masculinity” looks like and why boys need healthier models of manhood

How parents can help boys navigate social media, pornography, the manosphere, and toxic masculinity

Why mentorship and positive male role models matter

What boys may be seeking through video games, online communities, and bro culture

How movement, purpose, contribution, and connection can support boys’ emotional health

How to help boys experience and express anger without shaming their emotions or allowing harmful behavior

How girls are still being taught to seek approval—even when it’s packaged as empowerment

Why parents need to examine their own emotional baggage and achievement expectations

Because raising kids who know who they are—and get to decide who they become—that’s the work of a parent.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Protect your loved ones without spying on them. Go to HeyPolo.com/work or use code WORK and get 40% off your first year

Connect with Dr. Shefali:

Website: https://www.drshefali.com/raisingconscious-daughters-sons/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/doctorshefali/?hl=en

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@doctorshefali

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@doctorshefali

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What if midlife isn’t the beginning of the decline, but the beginning of something entirely new?

We’ve been sold a pretty outdated life plan: learn, work, climb, achieve, retire. Preferably while raising children, maintaining friendships, exercising, drinking enough water, keeping our relationships interesting, remembering everyone’s birthdays, and figuring out what the fuck is happening to our hormones.

Yeah. That plan could use an update.

In this episode of This Is Woman’s Work, Nicole Kalil talks with Lynda Gratton, one of the world’s leading experts on the future of work, professor of management practice at London Business School, and author of Living the Hundred Year Life: How to Build a Career That Lasts and a Life You Love.

They explore:

Why the traditional learn-work-retire model no longer fits a 100-year life

How longer lifespans are changing careers, retirement, and the future of work

Why women have been living multi-stage careers long before workplaces caught up

The eight “threads” that help create a fulfilling, sustainable life and career

Why relationships, friendship, adventure, and calm are essential to avoiding burnout

Why calm may be one of the most neglected resources in women’s lives

How to create more calm without pretending we suddenly have hours of free time

The difference between the future self you hope for, expect, and fear

Why adventure doesn’t require blowing up your life or booking a trip around the world

Why you might want to take a little piece of retirement now instead of saving all of it for someday

So if you’re asking, “What’s next for me?” maybe you don’t need the entire answer yet. Maybe you get to keep weaving, experimenting, and choosing as you go.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Protect your loved ones without spying on them. Go to HeyPolo.com/work or use code WORK and get 40% off your first year

Connect with Lynda:

Website: https://www.livingthe100yearlife.com/

Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-100-Year-Life-build-career/dp/1399432966/ref=sr_1_1

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynda-gratton-3b179813/

Assessment: https://www.livingthe100yearlife.com/assessment

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Share the Love:

If you found this episode insightful, please share it with a friend, tag us on social media, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform!

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