Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Burnout recovery takes more than bubble baths and boundary scripts. It asks you to let yourself receive.

To celebrate 300 episodes of FRIED, Cait Donovan and Sarah Vosen are getting real about what it took to get here… emotionally, financially, and logistically. What do you do when your mission is to serve others, but you’re maxed out behind the scenes? How do you keep showing up with integrity when your inbox is full of amazing guest pitches you don’t have the capacity to accept?

Cait opens up about the guilt that still shows up when she says no, and the tension between wanting to help everyone and needing to protect her own energy. She and Sarah talk about money, sustainability, and the shift from giving endlessly to allowing themselves to receive in equal measure.

They also unveil a new tool made just for you: the FRIED Episode Finder, a searchable archive that helps you find exactly what you need without scrolling through 300 titles. Type in a keyword, a name, a question, and it serves up the episodes that match. (Burnout recovery with a little delegation joy? Yes, please!)

This milestone episode is full of gratitude, behind-the-scenes truth, and hard-earned wisdom for anyone working to stay well while helping others do the same.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 300 Episodes of FRIED!

02:14 Behind the Scenes

05:09 Boundaries, Guilt, and Saying No

06:44 The Real Cost of Podcasting

10:00 Learning to Receive

13:05 Using ChatGPT to Set Boundaries

15:09 Pricing Your Work Without Apology

17:00 Burnout Recovery Is a Long Game

19:13 Listener Impact and Gratitude

23:58 Introducing the FRIED Episode Finder

28:32 Delegation Joy Is Real

30:26 Send Us Your Questions

Links

Looking for the right episode? Use the free FRIED Episode Finder to search by keyword and find the support you need, fast: bit.ly/friedfinder

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait

Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Stress resilience isn’t a mindset trick. It’s built on your biology, your history, and whether or not you actually use the support available to you.

This week on #straightfromcait, Cait Donovan challenges the idea that self-awareness is where resilience begins. What if your stress response was shaped long before you ever had a chance to influence it? Cait walks through how genetics and early experiences, like trauma or family dynamics, lay the groundwork for how your body handles stress. Some people’s systems are just wired differently, and that wiring matters.

Cait breaks down the difference between reacting to stress and being truly resilient. Real resilience means facing your reality as it is, staying connected to what you care about, and adjusting when things go sideways. Are you living in a way that actually supports your nervous system, or are you just white-knuckling it through your day?

Cait also spotlights two powerful but often overlooked tools: leaning into your natural strengths and asking for help. Not just once, but consistently and without guilt. These choices expand your capacity and give you a better shot at bouncing back when life gets hard.

Self-awareness still plays a role, but it works best when it’s used to build a life that fits you, not a version of you that’s always running on empty.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 What Stress Resilience Really Means

01:20 How Genetics Shape Stress Response

01:55 The Role of Upbringing and Trauma

04:09 Three Core Traits of Resilience

06:01 Skills, Support, and Expanding Resources

07:49 Why Using Resources Matters

09:02 Self-Awareness as a Tool, Not a Starting Point

11:01 Signs Your Resilience Is Holding Up

11:22 Three Ways to Improve Resilience

12:25 Realignment and Radical Honesty

Links

Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait

Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Burnout doesn’t always look like falling apart. Sometimes it looks like holding everything together, until your body makes it clear you can’t keep going this way.

Cait Donovan is joined by her longtime friend Sarah Swanberg, a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine and co-founder of Indigo Wellness Group. They talk about what burnout really feels like for women moving through major life phases such as fertility, postpartum, perimenopause, and why so many of us miss the signs until we’re deep in it.

Sarah shares how she left a high-pressure career in visual effects and followed a quiet sense of curiosity into acupuncture, eventually building a multi-practitioner wellness practice that supports both patients and providers. What does it take to build something sustainable? How do you know when it’s time to change course, and how do you do it without losing yourself?

This episode digs into the deeper patterns behind burnout, from the pressure to “do it all” to the fear of asking for help. Cait and Sarah offer a grounded, honest look at what it really means to care for yourself, your work, and your future.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Introduction

02:00 Sarah’s Career Shift from Visual Effects to Acupuncture

08:00 Spotting Burnout and Rethinking Success

10:00 Letting Go of the Sunk Cost Fallacy

14:00 Burnout, Perimenopause, and the Role of Yin

20:00 Restorative Practices and Sustainable Living

24:00 Building a Collaborative Wellness Practice

34:00 Overcoming Fear and Asking for Help

40:00 Resourcing Yourself for a Resilient Life

Links

Connect with Sarah Swanberg:

https://sarahswanberg.com

https://instagram.com/sarah.theacudoc

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahwswanberg/

https://sarahswanberg.com/free-download

Connect with Cait:

Initial Call with Cait: bit.ly/callcait

Initial Call with Sarah: bit.ly/callsarahv

Burnout Recovery works better with support. UNFRIED is our small group (5 people max!) coaching program to help guide you through your recovery. Apply now! [http://bit.ly/unfried]

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm