FRIED. The Burnout Podcast

byCait Donovan, Top Burnout Expert for Corporate and Nonprofit Organizations

BusinessEducationSelf-ImprovementHealthFitnessMental

FRIED: The Burnout Podcast by BurnBOLD™ BurnBOLD™ is the powerhouse matchup of burnout experts Cait Donovan and Sarah Vosen. Together, they host FRIED as part of their mission to #endburnoutculture — with deep, real, and sometimes hilariously practical advice (yes, like #peewhenyouneedtopee). Each week, you’ll hear raw stories, powerful coaching sessions, and practical strategies to help you drop the shame, blame, guilt, and judgment so you can heal from burnout and rebuild your life. Cait works globally as a keynote speaker and workshop leader, helping organizations and associations create burnout-proof cultures. Sarah guides individuals through burnout recovery using her signature UNFRIED...

Episodes(40 episodes)

Redefining Productivity: Why Rigor Turns Into Burnout, with Dr. Natalie Nixon

Creativity expert Dr. Natalie Nixon has spent 25 years studying what activities happen right before your best ideas, and they aren't what you think. They include: staring out a window, folding laundry, taking a walk, admiring a flower. In this episode, she and host Cait Donovan dig into why rigor curdles into rigidity, why that's the exact moment burnout takes hold, and why doing less better might be the most radical productivity advice either of them has ever given. Plus: the neuroscience of daydreaming, the business case for collaboration you actually hate, and the real reason Cait almost didn't take...

Published: Jul 26, 2026Duration: 50m 53s

The Brain on Burnout: New Science, A Correction, and Why You're Not as Far Gone as You Think

Cait opens with something rare: a public correction. She has been telling audiences for years that the hippocampus shrinks during burnout. New research says it doesn't. And that changes a lot. In this solo episode, Cait walks through a landmark August 2025 review of 17 MRI studies to give you the most current picture of what burnout actually does to your brain. The result is not what you might expect. It's more specific, more vindicating, and more hopeful.Key Topics Covered• How burnout is neurologically distinct from depression and PTSD• What actually happens to the a...

Published: Jul 19, 2026Duration: 22m 19s

Moral Injury Is Costing You Your Best People - a Harvard Trained Neurologist Explains with Dr. Zarya Rubin

Dr. Zarya Rubin spent twelve years as a neurologist before realizing the career she'd sacrificed everything for no longer matched who she'd become. What she figured out on the way out is exactly what most corporate and nonprofit leaders are missing right now.In this episode, Cait and Dr. Zarya break down three concepts every HR and people leader needs in their vocabulary:Moral injury — the gap between what someone signed up to do and what the system actually lets them do. Healthcare workers have a name for it. Your top performers are living it wi...

Published: Jul 12, 2026Duration: 52m 18s

Your Boss's Burnout Is Burning You Out Too.

There's a story from the 1840s that is going to make you furious. And then it's going to make you look at burnout solutions very differently.Stress spreads like a nasty bug. We have the data. We know what interventions work. We have the results. And we are still not doing what needs to be done.Let's talk about why.Want to bring this work into your organization?Book Cait for a keynote, workshop, or training at caitdonovan.comFollow Cait:InstagramLinkedIn

Published: Jun 28, 2026Duration: 12m 34s

Your Workplace Is a Soap Opera. Here's How to Rewrite the Script with Robyn Hatcher

Burnout does not start with overwork. It starts with miscommunication. Robyn Hatcher, keynote speaker and former soap opera writer for All My Children and One Life to Live, joins Cait to break down why every company has a show bible and what happens when the cast stops reading from the same one. This is an episode about the drama no one is writing on purpose and the silence that is writing it for them.Key Topics CoveredThe show bible as an organizational framework for understanding culture, values, and expectationsHow workplace drama is written by silence...

Published: Jun 21, 2026Duration: 52m 43s

Burnout Recovery Is Surging: What Leaders Need to Know Right Now

Burnout searches just hit 24.8 million per month, and searches for burnout recovery grew 1,000 percent year over year (for those not great at math, that's 10x more searches for burnout recovery this year as compared to last year). Cait digs into a recent Inc. magazine article by Lucia Auerbach to unpack what those numbers really mean and why the conversation is far from over. Spoiler: Gen Z is not the problem, and the fix is not a wellness app.Key Topics Covered• The Inc. magazine data: 24.8 million monthly burnout searches and what 1,000% growth in burnout recovery searches...

Published: Jun 14, 2026Duration: 12m 9s

350 Episodes In: The Burnout Story I Haven't Told in a While, a #straightfromcait episode

EPISODE SUMMARYCait Donovan has spent the last seven years building one of the most rigorous, nuanced frameworks for understanding burnout in the world. In episode 350, she finally tells the full story of how she got there -- and it turns out it started long before she knew burnout was a thing. From a failed organic chemistry test at Boston University to an acupuncture practice in Poland with a six-month waitlist, from a 2016 article that named everything to years of peer-reviewed research and a second graduate degree, this episode is the origin story FRIED has been building...

Published: Jun 7, 2026Duration: 29m 36s

The 4 Behaviors of A Toxic Workplace a #straightfromcait episode

Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/UffD0Ec0SX4Cait Donovan, host of FRIED. The Burnout Podcast breaks down a 2018 peer-reviewed study on toxic workplaces and what it actually proves about the relationship between organizational dysfunction and burnout — and she has opinions. If you've been told to breathe through it, journal harder, or just be more resilient, this episode is here to tell you that the research says otherwise. This one's short, sharp, and direct.Key Topics CoveredThe study: An Empirical Study Analyzing Job Productivity in Toxic Wo...

Published: May 31, 2026Duration: 8m 49s

Toxic or Just a Bad Fit? How to Tell the Difference at Work with Leanne Elliott of Truth, Lies, & Work

Your workplace might not be toxic. It might just be missing the biology lesson that explains why everyone keeps behaving badly.Work burnout is rarely one person's failure, and this conversation makes that case clearly. Occupational psychologist and Truth, Lies, and Work co-host Leanne Elliott joins Cait to untangle what actually makes a toxic work environment, and what we keep getting wrong when we try to fix it. Before culture initiatives and values workshops, there are psychosocial risk factors: the concrete, measurable conditions that quietly drive stress and erode workplace culture and wellbeing. Cait...

Published: May 24, 2026Duration: 55m 1s

We’re Expecting the Wrong Things From Leaders And It’s Causing Leadership Burnout: A #straightfromcait episode.

If you're a leader who's exhausted, this one's for you. Cait Donovan, host of FRIED: The Burnout Podcast has spent over a decade coaching leaders through burnout — and the pattern is clear: expectations have skyrocketed, but support hasn't followed. In this episode, she draws on real stories, her upcoming book *The Match Move*, and 10+ years of field research to break down exactly what belongs on a leader's plate and what doesn't.Key Topics Covered- Why leaders are burning out at unprecedented rates and why it's not their fault- The growing gap be...

Published: May 17, 2026Duration: 12m 2s

Burned Out and Managing Multiple Generations? What Leaders Get Wrong About Generational Conflict at Work with Kristin Scroggin

Workplace burnout makes a lot more sense when you stop blaming generations for the survival strategies they were trained to carry.Kristin Scroggin, founder of genWHY Communications and a leading voice on generational communication in the workplace, joins Cait for a candid conversation about workplace burnout, generational conflict, and what happens when the career you worked so hard to build starts taking more than it gives back.This conversation gets to the uncomfortable heart of burnout at work: success can look impressive from the outside and still feel impossible...

Published: May 10, 2026Duration: 58m 38s

Why Giving Your Best Employees More Autonomy Sometimes Backfires (And What to Do Instead) A #straightfromcait Episode

Autonomy can be the silent mismatch that drains a team long before anyone names burnout.Leadership and autonomy are often treated as simple: give people more freedom and they will do better work. Cait Donovan offers a more useful frame. Autonomy works when it matches the person, the role, and the responsibility in front of them. When there is an autonomy mismatch at work, the result can look like poor performance, low employee engagement, or workplace stress that has gone unnamed for too long.This episode looks at autonomy...

Published: May 3, 2026Duration: 11m 47s

The Career Structure That's Actually Burnout-Proof (And Why More Execs Are Moving to It) with Ilana Golan

Portfolio careers may be one of the smartest paths to financial stability in the future of work. In this episode, Cait Donovan talks with Ilana Golan about why the old career model feels less secure than it once did and why more people are questioning the idea that one company or one title can carry their whole professional identity. As the future of work keeps shifting, this conversation offers a grounded look at what it takes to build resilience, authority, and choice.Cait and Ilana unpack the deeper tension underneath career change, especially for...

Published: Apr 26, 2026Duration: 1h 2m 17s

The Leadership Skill Nobody Taught You (That Predicts Everything)

Your body has been warning you about burnout, bad hires, and misalignment long before your brain caught up.This episode looks at leadership burnout through the lens of interoception, or your ability to notice and respond to signals from your own body. Cait Donovan explains why leadership burnout often feels sudden even though stress has been building for a long time, and why many leaders miss the early signs until they hit a wall.The conversation connects workplace burnout, self-trust, and emotional regulation in a way that feels both...

Published: Apr 19, 2026Duration: 19m 41s

Psychological Safety First: The Foundation of Thriving Teams with Aoife O'Brien

Talent does not disappear on its own; it erodes when people feel unsafe, unseen and mismatched to the work meant to bring out their best.Aoife O’Brien joins Cait Donovan for a thoughtful conversation about what helps people thrive at work and what quietly pulls them under. At the center is psychological safety and the way it shapes workplace culture from the inside out. When people do not trust the environment around them, how can they speak honestly, share ideas, or stay fully invested in the work?They al...

Published: Apr 12, 2026Duration: 1h 1m 34s

Why Your Culture Initiatives Keep Failing — And What Actually Works with Chris Pineda

When leadership turns into a transaction, culture starts to starve. Workplace culture is at the center of this conversation as Cait Donovan sits down with organizational psychology expert Chris Pineda about leadership development, psychological safety at work, and the deeper forces that shape how people relate, respond, and grow inside organizations. Chris makes the case that organizational health is built through trust, purpose, and accountability, not just policies, titles, or polished values statements. He looks at how leaders influence employee experience every day and why organizational design has more impact on culture than many t...

Published: Apr 5, 2026Duration: 54m 40s

Nobody Is Neutral at Work: How Every Behavior Either Builds or Burns Your Culture a #straightfromcait episode

Burnout rarely begins with the job alone because the habits that once kept you safe may be the very ones quietly wearing you down at work.Cait Donovan takes a clear-eyed look at burnout at work and the way workplace culture can either reinforce it or help interrupt it. This conversation explores how perfectionism, people pleasing, and unclear personal values can fuel employee burnout long before someone fully realizes what is happening. Cait connects personal coping strategies to the broader systems people work inside, offering a thoughtful perspective on culture and burnout without reducing th...

Published: Mar 29, 2026Duration: 23m 37s

Burnout Doesn't Wait for a Good Time: Building Resilience Into Your Leadership with Dr. Rachel Goldman

Burnout recovery begins with one honest moment of self-awareness and the willingness to make a single small shift that your exhausted brain can actually sustain.Burnout at work often builds quietly until one day you realize the pace, pressure, and expectations are no longer sustainable. In this conversation, Cait Donovan speaks with clinical psychologist Dr. Rachel Goldman about burnout at work and the subtle signals people ignore before they reach their breaking point. Many people assume recovery requires a massive life overhaul. Dr. Rachel explains why small shifts can interrupt workplace burnout patterns, support...

Published: Mar 22, 2026Duration: 49m 37s

Why Companies Are Afraid to Talk About Workplace Wellness (And What That Silence Is Costing Them) a #straightfromcait episode

Why does workplace wellness still feel risky for leaders even when the data proves it works?Burnout at work is widely acknowledged as a growing challenge, yet many organizations still hesitate to address it openly. Cait Donovan examines the tension beneath that hesitation and the complicated reality leaders face when they try to tackle employee burnout. Most leaders want healthier teams and stronger workplace culture, but conversations about workplace wellbeing can raise fears of blame, backlash, or initiatives that promise more than they deliver. In a crowded industry where trust is fragile, even well-intentioned...

Published: Mar 15, 2026Duration: 22m 58s

Suzy Welch: When Your Values and Your Job Stop Matching, Performance Tanks

Burnout might be the cost of living someone else’s values instead of your own.Cait sits down with Suzy Welch, creator of the Values Bridge and author of Becoming You, to explore why so much burnout at work stems from misalignment rather than effort. Cait shares the realization that shifted her path: she built thriving one-on-one practices and helped thousands, yet still felt drained because her core drive for broad impact did not match the intimate service model she was operating in. How often do we mistake competence for alignment? How often do we...

Published: Mar 8, 2026Duration: 47m 3s