Work and Wellness

What if burnout isn't the price of success — but actually a sign you're doing it wrong?

In this episode I sit down with Alex Davids, founder of Next Evolution Performance and high performance coach to CEOs and executives across the globe, to challenge one of the most persistent myths in leadership culture. That working yourself into the ground is what it takes to get to the top.

Alex brings over 20 years of experience combining psychology, applied neuroscience and business strategy — and her message is clear. True high performers don't burn out. They learn to understand how their brain works, build recovery into their day, and operate in a way that is sustainable for the long haul. We get into the neuroscience of decision making under pressure, why your values and your behaviours are probably telling two very different stories, and the surprisingly simple tools that can completely change the way you perform and lead. This one is practical, science-backed and full of things you can do today.

KEY TOPICS
Why burnout is not a badge of honour — it's a sign your performance isn't actually sustainable
How AI is creating a brand new kind of burnout that nobody is talking about
The neuroscience of what happens to your brain under pressure — and the fastest way back
A simple values exercise using nothing but sticky notes and your bank account
Why the brain can only truly do deep work for four to five hours a day — and what to do about it
Three non-negotiables Alex gives every leader: breath, phone-free focus time, and real recovery breaks
The difference between control and choice — and why it changes everything

CONNECT WITH ALEX

Website: nextevolutionperformance.com

LinkedIn: Alexandra Davids

Free monthly webinars: 20 minutes of neuroscience and leadership content + 20 minutes live Q&A — recordings available. Join via the website.
John Demartini Values Process — a free online tool to help you identify your true values based on where you spend your time, money and energy. Find it at drdemartini.com

What if the success you've been chasing is sitting on the wrong mountain entirely?

In this episode I sit down with Cooper Chapman, former professional surfer, founder of The Good Human Factory and author of The One Percent Good Club, to talk about one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves — why do so many successful people still feel unhappy?

Cooper spent years ranked in the top hundred surfers in the world, doing what he loved, living what looked like a dream life from the outside. But internally, he was riding a rollercoaster that tied his entire sense of self-worth to his results. It wasn't until he shifted from chasing external achievement to living by his values that everything changed.

Since then he has delivered wellbeing programs to over 75,000 students, spoken at the United Nations, and built a free global gratitude community with over 5,000 members. His message is simple, practical and backed by science — and this episode is full of it

Key Topics
Why basing your identity and self-worth on achievement is a trap — and what to anchor to instead
The five values Cooper identifies as fundamental for good mental health
The treadmill of life — why mental health requires daily action, not just awareness
Why high performers are especially vulnerable to a dysregulated nervous system
The one habit Cooper says has had the biggest impact on his mental health
How to build deeper connection in a world that's wider but lonelier than ever
The simple, free foundations that will move the needle on your wellbeing before any gadget or hack will

About Cooper
Cooper Chapman is the founder of The Good Human Factory, a movement dedicated to improving mental health through simple, practical habits. A former professional surfer ranked in the top hundred in the world, Cooper's own mental health journey sparked a passion for making wellbeing accessible and actionable. He is the author of The One Percent Good Club, and has delivered wellbeing programs to over 75,000 students and more than 100 organisations including Apple, Telstra, Red Bull, Amazon and Westpac. He has spoken at the United Nations Climate Change Conference and hosts the Good Humans Podcast.

Connect with Cooper
Website: thegoodhumanfactory.com
Instagram: @thegoodhumanfactory
Book: The One Percent Good Club — available on Amazon or signed copies at thegoodhumanfactory.com.

What if everything you were told about getting promoted was actually setting you up to struggle?

In this episode, I'm sharing something a little different — no guest this week, just me and 10 things I wish someone had told me before I stepped into my first leadership role. I did a LinkedIn post on this recently and the response told me there was more to say. So this is me going deeper.

Because here's the truth: most people are promoted into leadership because they're great at their job. Not because they've been trained to lead. And those are two completely different things. What follows is usually a quiet kind of struggle — the replaying of conversations at night, the urge just to do it yourself, the desperate wanting to be liked — that nobody warned you about and that too few people talk about honestly.

This one is for every new leader trying to find their feet, every experienced leader who never got the foundation they deserved, and anyone sitting on the edge of a leadership role, wondering if they're ready.

Key Topics
Why becoming a leader is a complete career change — not just a promotion — and why businesses keep getting this wrong
The accidental counsellor problem: what to do when your team brings their personal struggles to work and why it's not your job to fix them
Hero mode and why swooping in to do the work yourself is actually undermining your team — not helping them
The trap of wanting to be liked and the shift from being liked to being respected
How to communicate decisions you don't fully agree with — or weren't given full context on — in a way that still motivates your team
Why leadership is the ultimate selfless act: giving credit down and taking accountability up
The case for fun — why injecting levity into your team isn't a nice-to-have, it's a performance strategy
What to do when you lay your head on the pillow replaying a conversation you're not proud of
Why repair matters more than perfection — and how to actually do it
The greatest gift of leadership: watching the people you led go on to do remarkable things

Keywords
leadership, new leaders, leadership lessons, first-time leader, management, team culture, difficult conversations, performance, coaching, wellbeing, professional development, career growth, workplace

What if staying exactly where you are is actually the biggest risk you're taking?In this episode, I sit down with Francesca Molina, founder and principal lawyer of Her Legal Edge, to talk about building a business on your own terms — even when the circumstances feel impossible. Francesca launched her legal practice as a single mum with a toddler still breastfeeding through the night, a three-month financial runway, and no partner to fall back on. She went from dreading every day to hitting her annual income target in two and a half months.But this episode goes well beyond business. We get into the shame women carry around wanting more — more money, more success, more freedom — and why that needs to stop. We talk about losing friends as you grow, learning to receive help without guilt, and what it actually means to choose a life that feels like yours. Francesca brings the kind of honest, unfiltered perspective that only comes from having genuinely lived it.This one will make you question whether the life you're tolerating is costing you more than the leap you've been avoiding.Key Topics
What separates intentional, proactive leaders from reactive ones and why it comes down to foundations, not personality
Why contracts aren't scary and the clients who refuse to sign one are usually the ones you don't want anyway
Francesca's leap: quitting her job and launching a firm within two weeks as a solo mum with a toddler and minimal runway
The short-term sacrifice mindset that helped her hit her annual income goal in two and a half months
Why outsourcing before you feel financially ready might be the smartest move you make
The AI contracts trap — why using ChatGPT or Claude for your legal documents could expose you to $20,000+ in liability (Australian law is not American law)
The moment a business stops being a hobby and what you need in place before that happens
About FrancescaFrancesca is the founder and principal lawyer of Her Legal Edge, a modern legal practice helping founders and business owners scale with confidence through strategic, practical and empowering legal support. Website: ⁠herlegaledge.com.au⁠Instagram: ⁠@herlegaledge⁠Book Mentioned: The Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie WareKeywordswomen in business, legal foundations, contracts, single mum entrepreneur, ambition, money mindset, receiving, female friendship, burnout, boundaries, business growth, legal templates, Australian business law

What if the exhaustion you're wearing as a badge of honour is actually the thing holding you back?
In this episode, I sit down with Shelley-Ann Pieterse, executive alignment coach, founder of Glimmer Coaching and former Managing Director at Accenture, to talk about one of the most important and least discussed distinctions in leadership — the difference between high performance and high functioning burnout. Because from the outside, they look identical.
Shelley spent over two decades at the top of one of the world's largest consulting firms before walking away to build something more sustainable. She brings the kind of hard-won, deeply personal perspective that only comes from having lived it. We get into the patterns she sees most in high-performing women, why ambition and wellbeing are not opposites, and what it actually looks like to lead with alignment rather than endurance.
This one will make you question whether you are truly performing or simply enduring.

Key Topics
The difference between high performance and high functioning burnout — and why they're so easy to confuse
Why exhaustion is not evidence of value and endurance is not the same as resilience
The patterns Shelley sees most in high performing women — perfectionism, hyper-independence and tying worth to achievement
What alignment actually looks and feel like in practice for a leader
A practical red, amber, green energy audit tool you can use this week
How to set realistic boundaries without losing your reputation for reliability
Why most people don't need a career change — they need a different relationship with themselves

About Shelley-Ann
Shelley-Ann Pieterse is an executive alignment coach and founder of Glimmer Coaching. She works with high-performing women and senior leaders to sustain success without sacrificing their wellbeing, drawing on more than 20 years of experience, including her time as Managing Director at Accenture.

Website: Glimmer Coaching
LinkedIn: Shelley-Ann Pieterse
Free self-awareness snapshot quiz available on her website

Keywordsleadership, burnout, high performance, wellbeing, boundaries, ambition, executive coaching, alignment, resilience, sustainable leadership