Episode 370: When High-Achieving Women Carry Too Much Alone with Meghan French Dunbar
APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | PANDORA | ANDROID
For high-achieving women, the belief that “I can handle it” can run deep. We’re taught to be capable, composed, productive, and to keep going no matter what. But what happens when being the person who can handle everything becomes the very thing driving you toward burnout?
Together, Erin and Meghan unpack chronic busyness, workplace vulnerability, trust, overwork, and the pressure to be an unbreakable leader. They explore how small shifts in the way we lead can create more sustainable work rhythms, healthier teams, and workplaces where people don’t have to pretend they’re fine.
When Work Becomes Your Identity
For high achievers, work can become deeply intertwined with identity and self-worth. Meghan shares the airplane story, miscarriage, and burnout experiences that forced her to confront the personal cost of being an “unbreakable” leader and recognize that success isn’t worth sacrificing yourself for.
The Myth of the Busy Season
Sometimes “I’m just in a busy season” is exactly that: a season. But what happens when the busy season never ends? Meghan explores how chronic busyness can become a system, shaping the way we work, lead, and live until overwhelm starts to feel normal.
Vulnerability Builds Trust
Vulnerability at work doesn’t mean oversharing or abandoning professionalism. Meghan explains how being honest about struggles can actually make leaders more trustworthy, strengthen relationships, and create psychological safety for teams to be more open, human, and connected.
Women Don’t Have to Do It All
High-achieving women are often expected to be endlessly capable: to lead the team, manage the household, solve the problem, and somehow make it all look effortless. Erin and Meghan unpack the pressure to do it all and why asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness or a burden on others.
Rethinking the Superhero Leader
Leadership doesn’t have to look like having all the answers and never showing cracks. Meghan explores what it looks like to lead with a healthier combination of decisiveness, empathy, compassion, listening, and vulnerability and how those qualities can create more sustainable and humane workplaces.
About the Guest
Meghan French Dunbar is a purpose-driven business leader, author, speaker, and former co-founder and CEO of Conscious Company Media, the first nationally distributed print magazine focused on purpose-driven business in the U.S. Over the course of her career, she has interviewed more than 1,000 leaders about what it takes to build businesses that create meaningful impact.
Her book, This Isn’t Working, explores why traditional approaches to work are failing people—and what it looks like to build careers, companies, and lives that actually lift people up.
Today, Meghan helps exceptional organizations develop narrative strategies that stand out, and she hosts Unbehaved, a podcast featuring leaders who are challenging the old rules of work and business.
Your Freebie
Confidence at work doesn’t mean pretending to have it all figured out. Download our Confident Leader’s Toolkit for a practical, four-step guide to crafting an intentional professional persona so you can lead with more clarity and confidence.
Whether you’re stepping into a new leadership role, navigating a high-stakes conversation, or simply looking to show up more intentionally, this toolkit will help you build a leadership presence that feels sustainable.