This Is Woman's Work with Nicole Kalil

Resilience has become a buzzword in today’s culture, thrown around by influencers, coaches, and even bootcamp instructors, all insisting we need to “push through” no matter the cost. But is resilience always the healthiest path forward? Does mental toughness, positivity, and grit serve us in the ways we think—or is there more nuance to uncover?

In this episode, Nicole connects with Soraya Chemaly, activist and author of The Resilience Myth: New Thinking on Grit, Strength, and Growth after Trauma. Together, they challenge conventional ideas about resilience and explore a new way of thinking—one that shifts from individual grit to collective care and community connection. Soraya’s previous book, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger, was widely acclaimed and named one of the Best Books of 2018 by the Washington Post, NPR, and Psychology Today.

This conversation offers insight into what really matters: kindness, compassion, belonging, and care—for ourselves and each other. It’s time to rethink resilience as more than just strength in isolation and embrace what it looks like to thrive, together.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Become a Fora Advisor today at Foratravel.com/WOMAN - and make sure to tell them we sent you!

Elevate your summer wardrobe: Go to Quince.com/tiww for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!

Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free!

Families are better when they’re working together… go to myskylight.com/WOMANSWORK for $30 off your Skylight Calendar.

Start your risk-free Greenlight trial today at Greenlight.com/TIWW. Don't wait to teach your kids real-world money skills!

Connect With Our Guest: Soraya Chemaly

Website: https://www.sorayachemaly.com/ 

Book: https://www.sorayachemaly.com/books 

Simon & Schuster: https://www.simonandschuster.com/ 

Related Podcast Episodes:


How to Ask for Help with Dr. Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer


Stress Less and Fear(Less) with Rebecca Heiss

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!
🔗 Subscribe & Review:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve been taught that success means pushing harder, doing more, and staying productive at all costs. But what if the real secret to sustainable success isn’t grinding harder — it’s learning how to pace yourself?

In this episode, Nicole sits down with award-winning journalist and author Elizabeth Svoboda to unpack the science, psychology, and strategy behind pacing. From elite athletes to ambitious women juggling careers, relationships, and impossible expectations, this conversation explores why burnout isn’t proof of dedication — it’s often proof that something needs to change.

Elizabeth shares how elite performers actually use rest, recovery, flexibility, and energy management to stay at the top of their game for the long haul. Together, Nicole and Elizabeth challenge hustle culture, perfectionism, and the toxic belief that women should operate at 110% all the time.

They discuss:


Why ambitious women tend to swing between overworking and complete exhaustion


The surprising pacing lessons we can learn from Olympic athletes


How burnout impacts confidence, relationships, health, and creativity


The concept of “rigid flexibility” and why structure alone doesn’t work


Why rest should match effort — not just be treated as a reward


How to recognize your personal energy rhythms and work with them instead of against them


The connection between pacing, longevity, and sustainable success


Why slowing down can actually make you more effective, focused, and fulfilled

Because constantly running yourself into the ground isn’t strength — it’s just a socially rewarded form of self-destruction.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Become a Fora Advisor today at Foratravel.com/WOMAN - and make sure to tell them we sent you!

Elevate your summer wardrobe: Go to Quince.com/tiww for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!

Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free!

Families are better when they’re working together… go to myskylight.com/WOMANSWORK for $30 off your Skylight Calendar.

Start your risk-free Greenlight trial today at Greenlight.com/TIWW. Don't wait to teach your kids real-world money skills!

Connect with Elizabeth:

Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Art-of-Pacing/Elizabeth-Svoboda/9781668022412 

Website: https://www.elizabethsvoboda.com 

IG: https://www.instagram.com/svobodster/ 

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

Newsletter: https://elizabeth-svoboda.beehiiv.com 

Related Podcast Episodes:

Burnout 2.0: BurnBOLD with Cait Donovan | 331

How To Take A Sabbatical with Katrina McGhee | 336 

How Our Dysregulated Nervous Systems Are Impacting Us with Victoria Albina | 244

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!

🔗 Subscribe & Review:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Easing the mental load, minimizing the to-do list, letting go of the things that don’t really matter is a constant work in progress for me – but when I’m in the throes of it all, I often think “there’s got to be a better way”.

I’ve invited Sam Bennett, creativity/productivity specialist, to join us to share her 15-minute method with all of us. Sam is the author of the bestselling book Get It Done as well as Start Right Where You Are: How Little Changes Can Make a Big Difference for Overwhelmed Procrastinators, Frustrated Overachievers, and Recovering Perfectionists. Her latest book is called The 15-Minute Method: The Surprisingly Simple Art of Getting It Done. Having spent most of her life working as a professional actor and improvisor, Sam brings a quick wit to her writing and her work as a top instructor on LinkedIn Learning with over a million “learners” worldwide. 

It will all get narrowed down to those very few things that matter most at the end, so what are we waiting for? Someone else to decide what truly matters for us? A point in time where things all of a sudden get easy and simple?

No, we get to decide. And like so many things worth doing, we start small, one step at a time, 15 minutes devoted to what matters most to you. 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Become a Fora Advisor today at Foratravel.com/WOMAN - and make sure to tell them we sent you!

Elevate your summer wardrobe: Go to Quince.com/tiww for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!

Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free!

Families are better when they’re working together… go to myskylight.com/WOMANSWORK for $30 off your Skylight Calendar.

Start your risk-free Greenlight trial today at Greenlight.com/TIWW. Don't wait to teach your kids real-world money skills!

Connect with Sam:

Website:  www.TheRealSamBennett.com  

Book: https://www.amazon.com/15-Minute-Method-Surprisingly-Simple-Getting/dp/1608689069 

FB: https://www.facebook.com/TheRealSamBennett  

IG: https://www.instagram.com/therealsambennett  

X: https://twitter.com/realsambennett  

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

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

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!

🔗 Subscribe & Review:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why do so many women immediately question themselves the moment they set a boundary, speak directly, or stop over-explaining? In this unfiltered and unhinged episode, Nicole Kalil digs into the exhausting mental spiral behind asking “Am I being a bitch?” — and why that question might actually be proof that women have been conditioned to prioritize likability over self-respect.

Nicole unpacks the difference between being cruel and simply refusing to shrink yourself to make other people comfortable. From boundary-setting and ambition to people-pleasing and over-functioning, this episode challenges the outdated expectation that women must always be agreeable, accommodating, and “nice.”

In This Episode, Nicole Talks About:


Why women disproportionately question whether they’re “too much”


The difference between being powerful and being unkind


How guilt shows up when women stop over-giving


Why boundaries trigger discomfort — and why that’s not your problem


The danger of outsourcing self-worth to other people’s opinions


How to stop confusing honesty with cruelty


Better questions to ask instead of “Am I being a bitch?”

Thank you to our sponsors!

Become a Fora Advisor today at Foratravel.com/WOMAN - and make sure to tell them we sent you!

Elevate your summer wardrobe: Go to Quince.com/tiww for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!

Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free!

Families are better when they’re working together… go to myskylight.com/WOMANSWORK for $30 off your Skylight Calendar.

Start your risk-free Greenlight trial today at Greenlight.com/TIWW. Don't wait to teach your kids real-world money skills!

Connect with Nicole:

Subscribe to Nicole’s Substack: https://nicolekalil.substack.com/ 

Related Podcast Episode:

On Sabbaticals, Reinvention, and Getting Older | Unfiltered & Unhinged

When a One-Star Review Means You’ve Officially Arrived | Unfiltered & Unhinged

Am I Being a B**ch? (…or Just Finally in My Power) with Megan Walrod | 349

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!

🔗 Subscribe & Review:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Women are constantly told to trust their bodies… right up until their bodies start telling them something medicine can’t immediately explain.

In this powerful and deeply validating conversation, Nicole sits down with Amy Kurtz — certified health coach, patient advocate, speaker, and author of But You Look Fine: Trapped in the Hell Between Sick and Well and How to Break Free — to unpack the emotional aftermath of chronic illness, medical gaslighting, invisible symptoms, and the complicated grief that comes from losing trust in your own body.

Amy shares her experience navigating late-stage Lyme disease, seeing 36 doctors before getting answers, and what she calls “medical trauma brain” — the hypervigilance, anxiety, and identity loss that can remain long after physical symptoms improve. Together, Nicole and Amy explore why so many women feel dismissed in healthcare settings, how chronic illness reshapes relationships and self-trust, and why healing is about far more than just getting a diagnosis.

This episode is for every woman who has ever walked out of a doctor’s office feeling unheard, minimized, or crazy — and for every person who’s ever been told, “But you look fine.”

We explore:


How chronic illness and invisible symptoms impact identity and self-trust


The concept of “medical trauma brain” and illness after the illness


Why healing isn’t linear — physically or emotionally


Practical nervous system regulation tools for anxiety and hypervigilance


How to support loved ones dealing with chronic illness or perimenopause


The connection between women’s health, appearance, and societal expectations


Why rebuilding agency over your body is essential to healing

This conversation is equal parts rage, relief, validation, and empowerment — the kind that makes you feel less alone and more equipped to trust yourself again.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Become a Fora Advisor today at Foratravel.com/WOMAN - and make sure to tell them we sent you!

Elevate your summer wardrobe: Go to Quince.com/tiww for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!

Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free!

Families are better when they’re working together… go to myskylight.com/WOMANSWORK for $30 off your Skylight Calendar.

Start your risk-free Greenlight trial today at Greenlight.com/TIWW. Don't wait to teach your kids real-world money skills!

Connect with Amy:

Book: https://www.amazon.com/But-You-Look-Fine-Trapped-ebook/dp/B0FPC9TV2P    

Website: https://amykurtz.com/ 

IG: https://www.instagram.com/_amykurtz/ 

Publisher: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/amy-kurtz/but-you-look-fine/9781538775301/

Related Podcast Episodes

The Biology Of Trauma - And How To Heal It with Dr. Aimie Apigian | 346

Don’t Let Your Doctor Kill You: The New Hormone Solution with Dr. Erika Schwartz | 305

ADHD in Women, Nervous System Regulation & Getting Out of Fight-or-Flight with Jenna Free | 396

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!

🔗 Subscribe & Review:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices