Fresh Rise Coaching, Grand Rapids, MI (2026)

01/14/2026

There’s a kind of work exhaustion that doesn’t come from being busy.

It comes from what you carry.

The tension you feel after a hard conversation.
The problems that don’t have clean solutions.
The pressure of deadlines that never stop coming.
The emotional weight of managing frustration, conflict, or disappointment, yours and others’.

This is Invisible Load in Complex Work.

It sticks with you because the work is relational.
Because the stakes matter.
Because you care.

And over time, that load adds up, even if nothing “big” goes wrong.

So if you feel tired in a way that rest doesn’t quite fix,
It may not be about time management or resilience.

It may be about learning:
• What isn’t yours to carry
• What is within your choice
• How to protect your energy without disengaging

You’re not weak for feeling this.
You’re responding to a complex system.

If this resonates, you’re not alone.

01/09/2026

There is secret work happening every single day in our workplaces.

It’s not in a job description.
It’s not captured on a performance dashboard.
And yet, without it, everything quietly falls apart.

Many organizations see this work is fluff, as extra, as not adding to ROI.
In my work, I am coaching women to become aware of this & do one of two things.
Stop doing it. No one will know what is causing a sudden seizing up of the work but frankly the women I coach weren't getting credit for it and it is taking up LOADS of mental energy and time OR
Bring it out into workplace awareness in a succinct, clear way. Begin to actually talk about the work that is happening in Anticipating, Planning, Integrating into Human Processes, Fixing on the Fly, and Emotionally Regulating. Adding metrics to the mental load takes time but it is the only way for it to become real to those who don't carry it.

Every organization needs a “Thanks for Being the Glue” award.

This is for the people who:
• notice the gaps before they become problems
• connect dots between systems, people, and solutions that aren’t obvious
• translate between tech, process, and human reality
• build relationships that make collaboration possible
• who motivate, inspire, and notice the unnoticed efforts
• streamline workflows without being asked
• take initiative to fix the small, daily frustrations that wear people down
• wrangle complexity and help bring clarity for everyone else

This work is subtle.
It’s relational.
It’s cognitive.
It’s emotional.
It's falling on women.
But it’s essential.

These “gap fillers” are often the same people who:
• hold teams together during change
• absorb friction so others can function
• keep morale steady without formal authority
• make systems usable instead of just functional

And yet, because this work is invisible, it often goes unrewarded, or worse, expected.

>>> Here’s the leadership opportunity

01/08/2026

No map. No purpose. No delivering outcomes.
When people are asked to simply show up and repeat the same tasks day after day, without
engaging their thinking,
without understanding the why,
and without seeing the bigger goal
their energy and investment depletes way quickly.

Because employees don’t actually work FOR employers.

They work for:
• meaning
• contribution
• clarity
• accomplishment
and a sense that they matter.

Even consistency-driven roles need purpose.

People need to understand:
→ Why does this work exist?
→ How does it support the larger mission?
→ What does excellence look like here?
→ Why does my reliability matter?

When that clarity is missing, it’s like asking people to operate on old batteries that can’t hold a charge.

They might still show up.
They might still “get it done.”
But the energy is thin, the engagement is low, and the spark is gone.

No, firing is not the answer. This fault lies with organizations. You can hire a new person and spend 1.5x their salary to onboard and train them or you can invest a small amount in the people who get it.

And here’s the leadership truth many organizations overlook:

You will not get:
efficiency
quality
innovation
trust built
or successful tech adoption
in a drought of energy.

Systems won't thrive when your People are cooked.

🌿 FRG Reflection for Leaders:
If your team feels flat, disengaged, or resistant to change, ask yourself:
Have we given them clear direction, or just more tasks?

Purpose is not a “nice to have.”
It’s the power source.
Get clear on what purpose matters.
Add it with intention in 2026.

01/06/2026

✨ One of the biggest reasons your best employees are burning out… and you may not even see it.

It’s not the workload alone.
It’s the hidden mental load required just to survive and succeed inside the system.

Think of it like this 👇
Your organization is running an invisible game of internal dodgeball every single day.

And your smartest, most loyal employees?
They’re the ones playing hardest.

They’re constantly:
• Staying alert
• Catching problems before they hit the ground
• Redirecting issues to the “right” people
• Navigating power dynamics
• Reading the room
• Building informal alliances
• Protecting themselves from missteps
• Choosing when it’s safe to speak up
• Deciding when not to push for improvement

All while still being expected to:
→ Hit deadlines
→ Deliver outcomes
→ Move their actual job responsibilities forward

🌿 This mental game is exhausting, and it’s rarely acknowledged.

The real drain often comes from:
• Lack of psychological safety to take initiative
• Unclear or inconsistent decision-making authority
• Relationship gaps that employees are quietly repairing
• Unspoken rules that must be learned the hard way
• Energy spent managing risk instead of creating value

✨ Here’s the hard truth:
Your best people aren’t burning out because they’re weak.
They’re burning out because they care, and they’re carrying more than you realize.

When organizations don’t see or address this invisible labor, they unintentionally:
• Reward survival skills over innovation
• Drain their strongest contributors first
• Mistake silence for engagement
• And confuse endurance with sustainability

🌱 FRG Reminder for Leaders:
Burnout is often a signal, not of poor performance, but of unseen effort.

If you want your best people to stay, grow, and lead:
👉 Reduce the mental dodgeball
👉 Create safety for initiative
👉 Clarify decision pathways
👉 And design systems that don’t rely on quiet heroics to function

Because thriving employees don’t win by playing harder, they win when the game itself gets healthier. https://www.freshrisegroup.com/

12/25/2025

Happy Holidays from my family to yours.
May today be filled with peace, joy, and connection. Our wellbeing depends on it so make it non-negotiable.

12/18/2025

📣There’s a truth most workplaces don’t say out loud:

A lot of us are doing a lot of hidden work…
We pour energy into:
• Helping everyone else
• Reacting to urgency
• Filling gaps no one else sees
• Mentoring people (formally or informally)
• Being the go-to problem solver

But, often times these things are not seen or known about. It’s time we assume it is happening and begin to ask better questions. ❓🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🏽‍♂️

In theory, issues that can’t be seen, don’t matter.
But in fact, we know that this invisible labor means some employees, often those in the middle are doing more than anyone realizes. If they stop, things fall apart more. Then, worse happens:
• Depletion
• Resentment or behavioral issues
• Lack of progress in the team
• Emotional overload

So, instead, our organizations need to begin to look for, recognize and pick up this invisible work.
There needs to be a clear mechanism for leaders and employees to safely name the hidden issues that are specifically getting in the way or slowing down deliverables.
We can pretend this invisible work shouldn’t be happening but employees actually can’t do their work when these problems exist.
🪫This is what burns people out. When there is no hope that an issue will be seen or heard, people leave or people quietly quit.

📣True leadership is instead about
> noticing the hidden work that impacts the system and the employees
> bringing it into the light to get tangible solutions that remove ongoing inefficiencies.
> asking employees what hidden problems exist and how they would solve them.
> create the safety for them to tell you

12/11/2025

✨ I want to share a real story from a client, one that I know will resonate with so many working parents.

Every day around 3 PM, she found herself exhausted from work, mentally depleted, and emotionally cooked.
Then her kids came home, each carrying the stress of their day, each with emotions needing space to land.
Before long, she was:
• A referee
• A therapist
• A scheduler
• And still trying to finish everything waiting on her list

And like many moms, she believed the problem was:
“I just need to handle it better.”
”I just need to ignore more.”

But together, we noticed something:
🕒 3 PM wasn’t just “after school.”
It was an emotional job transfer.
Switching from work mode → mom mode is not automatic.
It demands emotional bandwidth just to switch.
And she was already at depleted from the stress of work.

So, we made one strategic shift:
👉 She began intentionally taking 15–20 minutes at 2 PM for reflection, calm, and a nervous system reset before the kids arrived.

Then we got clear on something crucial:
✨ Who did she truly want to be with her kids:
• Present
• Calm
• Available
• Connected
• Able to respond, not react

Not tense.
Not overloaded.
Not emotionally overwhelmed about work.

And that one adjustment - just ONE - helped her step into motherhood the way she desired: not by “powering through”…but by preparing her nervous system and refocusing daily on what matters most.
Even the mom guilt is decreasing. 🤯

12/08/2025

One of my favorite clients and I built a 🪣 bucket analogy together, and honestly, it’s fitting for almost all of us to consider for ourselves.

We treat energy like it’s infinite, like we can push through and just “handle it.”

Try The Bucket Test:
Imagine you start each day with $100 of energy.
And in front of you are four buckets you can “spend it” on:

◾ Bucket 1. Your health, well-being, and self-care.
Your rest. Your nervous system. Your mental clarity.

◾ Bucket 2. Your family & meaningful relationships.
Connection, love, emotional presence.

◾ Bucket 3. The core responsibilities of your job.
The essentials. what actually needs to get done.

◾ Bucket 4. The frustration bucket.
👉 Broken systems
👉 Office politics
👉 Dysfunction
👉 Annoying or incompetent coworkers
👉 Being mad at what is outside of your control

Here’s the moment of honesty…
How much of your $100 is being poured into bucket #4?
$40? $60? $80? More?

Choose wisely.
Your energy is too expensive to waste on things that will never repay you.
The truth is:
Energy is a finite resource, just like time.
It can drain slowly or abruptly.
We control the pace of draining when we intentionally choose where to spend it.

11/26/2025

Ready for a truth bomb 💣?

Sometimes being the one who “always gets it done” actually prevents people from imagining you in a different kind of role.
You’re ALLOWED to want more,
not because you’re ungrateful,
but because
>you are WORTH reaching your potential
>AND you’ve EARNED opportunities for more growth.

11/25/2025

For so many female leaders, reliability = just more mental load.

Before 8am, your mid-level and exec leaders have:
>juggled the household schedule
>remembered school forms, pack lunches, pick up schedules, communicate it out + arrange dinner plans
>managed everyone’s emotions at home and at work way more than you realize.
>attended to relationships & the vibe of the office
>covered responsibilities for those who are absent
>heard their colleagues frustrations from yesterday

All while showing up for work like calm adults who only had work outcomes on their mind today.

Here’s the impact nobody sees though:

>Decision Fatigue
>Hypervigilance
>Self Blame
>Spread To Thin For Everyone

What can you do to support your female leaders?

>Offer and encourage flexibility when possible
>Acknowledge and recognize their wins directly with them.
>Share the wealth in delegating instead of piling more on your most reliable.
>Help streamline processes and internal politics to make things more efficient.

11/19/2025

Have you considered the cost to being so reliable.

➤ You show up early.
➤ You stay late.
➤ You notice what others forget.
➤ You fill the gaps without being asked.

You are trying so hard to do a great job. And yet, there is a sneaking suspicion that no one notices all of this work.

Because while it’s amazing, rare even, to be someone others can count on…
it slowly becomes invisible.

And even as you’re appreciated in theory, in practice, you start to feel unseen, taken for granted, and emotionally weighed down by all of the details to catch.

✨ Here’s the truth:
There’s nothing wrong with being dependable.
The problem is being indefinitely available and truly believing

You’re allowed to set limits without losing your value.
You’re allowed to say “I can’t hold this alone.”
You’re allowed to rest, without guilt.

⚡ Reliability shouldn’t cost you your peace.

💌 The next time you feel that familiar pull to fix, fill, or rescue, pause.
You’re already doing enough.

11/17/2025

🌿 Don’t you do it.

Don’t you say yes to one more thing today.

Umm… nope. ✋

☘ Not your fire.
☘ Not your emergency.
☘ Not your responsibility.

Protect your peace before you pick up someone else’s chaos. ⚡

Fresh Rise Coaching

01/14/2026

01/09/2026

01/08/2026

01/06/2026

12/25/2025

12/18/2025

12/11/2025

12/08/2025

11/26/2025

11/25/2025

11/19/2025

11/17/2025

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