Evoke Greatness Podcast
Do you have an insatiable hunger for growth and knowledge?
Are you interested in hearing the stories of how successful people have navigated their journey towards greatness…all while stumbling through valuable lessons along the way?
My name is Sonnie and I am the host of Evoke Greatness, the weekly podcast driven by my curious nature and fascination with the champion mindset. I am a HUGE book nerd and a wee bit of a "control enthusiast" with an obsession for motivational coffee cups.
On this podcast, we share the ups and the downs, the highs and lows and all the lessons learned in between. It's my most sincere hope you hear something in one or maybe many of these episodes that resonates with you and reminds you that you’re not in this alone.
I believe that a rising tide raises all ships and I invite you along in this journey to Evoke Greatness!
Evoke Greatness Podcast
How to Rise, Lead & Heal After Workplace Toxicity with Kaitlyn Rios (Part 2)
🎧 Episode 177: How to Rise, Lead & Heal After Workplace Toxicity with Kaitlyn Rios (Part 2)
In Part 2 of this heartfelt and transformative conversation, Faced With Grace founder Kaitlyn Rios returns to explore the role of mental wellness in overcoming workplace adversity, why asking for help can be the scariest step, and how to build a future of healthier, more inclusive workplace cultures.
We talk openly about the stigma surrounding mental health, the shame that often keeps women silent, and why advocacy, both for yourself and for others, is non-negotiable. Kaitlyn also shares her long-term vision for equipping the next generation of female leaders with the tools, awareness, and confidence to recognize and avoid toxic environments before they begin their careers.
If you’ve ever felt unseen, unheard, or unsupported at work, this conversation will challenge and inspire you to take action, starting with yourself.
We explore:
- Why asking for help is often the hardest and most pivotal step
- The hidden cost of ignoring mental health at work
- How generational stigma still impacts conversations around therapy and wellness
- Practical ways leaders can create safe spaces for vulnerability without becoming a therapist
- The Grit and Grace Collective: Kaitlyn’s vision for mentoring young women before they enter the workforce
- How to be a “luminous leader” and make a difference where you are right now
- Why leaving a toxic job isn’t always the only solution
- Kaitlyn’s most surprising lesson since launching Faced With Grace
- The one piece of wisdom she would share if it were her last day on earth
🔑 Key takeaways:
- You are not alone in your struggles, support exists if you’re willing to reach for it
- Mental wellness is as critical as physical health and should be addressed openly
- Leaders have the power to reduce stigma by creating space for honest conversations
- Preparation and self-awareness can help the next generation avoid toxicity altogether
- Advocacy for yourself is not selfish, it’s essential
đź’ˇ Quotes to remember:
- “Never stop advocating for yourself, because you matter.”
- “If your gut says something isn’t right, it probably isn’t.”
- “Your journey with mental wellness doesn’t end, it evolves.”
đź“š Resources mentioned:
✨ Learn more about Faced With Grace: www.facedwithgrace.org
📧 Email Kaitlyn: connect@facedwithgrace.org
🎟️ Register for the August 25th Virtual Speaker Summit: Event Page
📲 Connect with Kaitlyn:
LinkedIn – Kaitlyn Rios
A rising tide raises all ships, and I invite you along on this journey to Evoke Greatness!
Check out my website: www.evokegreatness.com
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonnie-linebarger-899b9a52/
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https://www.tiktok.com/@evoke.greatness
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The part where I think many women get stuck is telling themselves the lie that this microaggression and that microaggression didn't mean anything Right. If something is happening or something's being said or something's being done that doesn't sit right with your gut, it probably isn't right, and I think it's so, so easy for us to ignore that, and I think that you know that's. That's a very easy place to get tripped up and stuck in terms of not being able to move forward and make change happen. If we keep telling ourselves that life like this is nothing, don't worry about it, it's not a big deal, you're never going to make that change happen, internally or externally.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Evoke Greatness, the podcast for bold leaders and big dreamers who refuse to settle. I'm your host, sunny. I started in scrubs over 20 years ago doing the gritty, unseen work and climbed my way to CEO. Every rung of that ladder taught me something worth passing on lessons in leadership, resilience and what it really takes to rise. Lessons in leadership, resilience and what it really takes to rise. You'll hear raw conversations, unfiltered truths and the kind of wisdom that ignites something deeper in you your courage, your conviction, your calling. This show will help you think bigger, lead better and show up bolder in every part of your life. This is your place to grow. Let's rise together.
Speaker 2:What's the hardest step in escaping workplace toxicity? It's asking for help and it just might save your life. In part two of how to Rise, lead and Heal After Workplace Toxicity, caitlin opens up about the mental health impact of toxic work environments, the generational stigma that keeps women silent and her bold plan to equip the next generation to spot red flags before they enter the workforce. She leaves us with one piece of advice every woman needs to hear. Let's hop into part two. In your experience with this, what have you seen, or maybe where have you seen people get stuck the most in this, where it's like they don't feel, because they're a certain area or kind of navigating the progression of this, that they feel the most stuck or it's maybe the scariest step.
Speaker 1:You know, I think it's the scariest step probably is just asking for help in the first place. The part where I think many women get stuck is telling themselves the lie that this microaggression and that microaggression didn't mean anything. Right, If something is happening or something's being said or something's being done that doesn't sit right with your gut, it probably isn't right, and I think it's so, so easy for us to ignore that gut. It probably isn't right and I think it's so easy for us to ignore that, and I think that you know that's a very easy place to get tripped up and stuck in terms of not being able to move forward and make change happen. If we keep telling ourselves that lie like this is nothing, don't worry about it, it's not a big deal. You're never going to make that change happen, internally or externally.
Speaker 2:What role does mental wellness play in the recovery and growth process for the women that you support? It's huge.
Speaker 1:I cannot recommend doing talk therapy enough. It has changed my life immensely. I recommend it to any of my clients for sure I can only do so much. I am not a licensed therapist or counselor. Sure, I can only do so much. I am not a licensed therapist or counselor.
Speaker 1:But you know, I do believe that my mental health played a huge role in why I experienced some of the things I did as well. And so I think it's a little bit of a double-edged sword, not to say or diminish the toxicity that I definitely experienced. But had I been in a mentally healthier place, could I have handled it differently? Sure, I definitely could have. There was a lot of undiagnosed anxiety, depression going on when I was in that low place, and it's just so important, it's so important to address that in yourself, to recognize it, to just accept the fact that it's happening. In the first place, I think there was a lot of denial happening for me, like I'm young, I'm hungry, I'm ready to work hard and I don't have anything going on. It's fine, I'm fine. But yet I was ready to run my car off the road. My extra small scrubs were hanging off my body because I was so skinny, like there were so many different physiological signs that pointed to mental illness that I had no idea were really part of the problem.
Speaker 2:What I've seen a lot is people talking a whole lot more about, like, the health impacts they're having, but I don't see the mental side of things being discussed enough. And I think there's a delta there, right, because we're quick to say I've shared. You know that I same thing, very ambitious and okay, let's just keep growing and let's just keep at it. And all of a sudden my hair started falling out and having all you know and it's like okay, well, it's just stress and we want to just say it's just, it's just. And then we just continue inside of that environment and, of course, like that then compounds on everything else going on. But why do you think it is that folks are willing to talk about health issues but we're not willing to talk about our physical health issues but not our mental health issues?
Speaker 1:You know, I think it's a very generational thing that is slowly beginning to shift. I mean, I look at just my generation versus my parents. Right, I noticed some changes happening with my mom. She's gone through a divorce, she went through all the ups and downs associated with that and there was a time, many years after the divorce, where I'm like you know, mom, I think you should get back into therapy, like I didn't just tell some things different. And she's like oh, you know, that's still a little taboo for my generation.
Speaker 1:And it was surprising to hear that because to me, I talk about it all the time. First of all, like I, it's just not taboo anymore, but I think there's this stigma around it, for whatever reason, um, that if we are quote, unquote mentally ill which I don't really love that term, but you know it is what it is Um then certainly we are unfit or unable or not apt for a challenge or the job or the role or the career, and so we avoid that label and we avoid dealing with the issues there and do ourselves a disservice in the process. But I think the more we talk about it, the less that stigma is around and pervasive to people. And you know, it just becomes just like talking about how I had a cold a couple weeks ago. You know what I mean. It's just not as big of a deal, even though it's a huge deal, and we should definitely be addressing it and talking about it and seeking help for it all the time.
Speaker 2:I think there's almost a like a shh with many things.
Speaker 2:I think there is also this underlying shame about it, and if we've learned nothing over the course of the last, let's say, five-ish years, it's that untreated mental health in varying levels. I think we've pushed it down for many years and not wanted to talk about it and not wanted to deal with it, and I think we've seen what happens, and so I appreciate and I value the fact that over the course of the last five years, it has become something that we've not had a choice but to talk more about and bring more awareness around, because I think probably just like your mission is like people should feel heard and seen and that they're not alone, and that's that's that biggest piece is. People can feel like I'm suffering and I must be the only one that feels this way. What do you say to those people who feel like gosh? I don't know that anyone else feels this way. It's. Maybe it's just maybe, maybe it's it's caused by me. They want to revert inward because it's just the sense of isolation.
Speaker 1:Well, first and foremost, you are certainly not alone. Mental health is well. Mental illness and suicide even are, like some of the leading causes of death in America. So, like you are definitely not alone, right? But I think that it's so important to recognize while this is something that's happening inside of each one of us, so it's easy to turn that mirror on ourselves and say this is a me problem.
Speaker 1:This is not a problem that you are fault for. You should feel no shame over it. It is no different than any other medical diagnosis you've been given right. If I had scoliosis, I wouldn't think it was my fault or my problem or that I'm creating an issue in the world. It just is what it is. It's the way God made you. It's something that we have to face and deal with and treat and address and speak with medical professionals about. You know the shame around it is such a sad thing to me because it's and it truly is just like any other medical diagnosis. Obviously we go about it differently because it's much more abstract and subjective and individual, but at the end of the day, we need to start looking at it, I think, more clinically, and that makes it a little bit more palatable. It's such an important thing to be talking about, though. Thank you so much for raising awareness around this and talking about this today. About, though. Thank you so much for raising awareness around this and talking about this today.
Speaker 2:I know. I love that you're willing to share your story because I think that people don't. You know, we recognize that something needs to change, but then it's really hard to show up from a place of vulnerability and openness to say, hey, this was my lived experience, and not only did you say this is my lived experience, and I want others to not have to go through the same thing or recognize signs along the way where they can hang a right before it gets too bad or hang a left before it gets too bad. But then you decided to really empower yourself and those around you by creating Face with Grace, and so I love that you're just so open and willing to share this, and I love to be a platform to be able to share your story.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Thank you, and I think you know something to be said too is that your journey with mental wellness doesn't really ever end right. I've. I have bounced back from a very low place and I've had some dips since then. Right, it's never a perfect science, and so I want to encourage your listeners that if if you've dipped low and come back high and then dip low again, like I don't think that's uncommon and I think that's something we also need to be talking about is that it's like once you figure out what your perfect, you know medical treatment concoction may be, or therapy concoction or whatever it is that helps you the most.
Speaker 1:It may not be a perfect science, always right, there may have to be ebb and flow that you anticipate and just be willing to try new things with that to help yourself get back to a healthy place.
Speaker 1:You know, I think that's one of the things that, especially in the workplace, when we're struggling with mental wellness, it's a hard thing to go to your boss and say I'm having a really tough time today because my mental health isn't in check right, like that. It almost feels like an inconvenience at times, and so I again encourage people to not view that as an inconvenience, first and foremost because it's not. It's not something you can help. You can't help it when you get a cold. You can't help it when you're having a day off, the day that's just mentally off. But again, to talk about it with your boss, your leadership, whatever it may be, and the more you bring it to light, the more they realize who you are and what you're dealing with. And so the whole thing, because you're talking about it and you're making it something that's just conversational instead of taboo.
Speaker 2:Well, and I think, when you're willing to be a leader who shows up in a way where you're empathetic to situations, right, because life, life happens and it doesn't always happen at the most convenient time and it's not always the pretty kind of messy.
Speaker 2:And I had a call with someone this week and I just said, hey, how are you doing? And she said I'm okay. And I said how are you really? How are you really? Because I don't think that initial answer is what it is, and so we got to talk about it a little bit more. But I think when we're not willing, we want to just explore surface conversations. I think that's when we keep things at the surface, when we're willing to allow someone the safe space to say I'm not okay right now, and we provide the environment and we provide the support. But if we're not asking, wholeheartedly, asking like we really actually care about the person, then we shouldn't expect people to be able to feel safe enough to tell us how they're really doing. So true.
Speaker 1:Yeah, as a leader of people, I always wanted you know to give my team that safe place, and I always told them I'm like you know what. You are a human being and way more happens outside of these four walls than I can see, and so you know I'm here, I'm a listening ear. If you need to talk, let me know what's going on in life so that again I can accommodate the way I'm leading you better and show up for you better. So important as leaders that we just offer that space. We don't have to become therapists, right? I don't think that's an expectation we should hold for ourselves, but just be a listener. Be a listener and be open to hearing hard things.
Speaker 2:Well, tell me about the long-term vision. How does, faced with Grace, plan to influence future generations of female leaders?
Speaker 1:So we are very much still in our growth phase. We've only been going for now about six months, but I really look forward to the day when we can start building out our Grit and Grace Collective. That will be a mentorship program for young women who have yet to enter the workforce. You know they may be in high school or college and just about to go out and get their first big girl job, and I want to be able to meet with young women like that and teach them about these red flags of toxic workplaces and teach them what healthy culture looks like and how it can feel, but alternatively, teach them what an unhealthy culture feels and looks like so that they can recognize those things very early on. They can ask those really hard questions in interviews, just be really prepared. So again, hopefully we are really breaking the chains and that we can cultivate healthy cultures for the future of workplaces, for women everywhere.
Speaker 2:It's almost like providing people those things that we didn't have in place. Oftentimes we're put into roles and it's a little bit like a baptism by fire and we navigate it right and we get better and we're stronger and wiser and more resilient. But wow, if you could have had a little bit of insight into what that future you know, especially navigating your first job like that's a really important step, and so to have the knowledge of those things and the ways in which to deal with them are the things to identify questions to ask in the interview process ahead of time, before you ever actually have to experience them. It's like you're putting tools in their tool belt before they even have to use them Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a really exciting part of our mission and, you know, I think it goes to just getting to know yourself really well too. I think that's something that isn't really taught in classrooms. And, you know, it took going through all those really hard experiences to take a really deep look at myself and realize, okay, what are my values, what are my, what is at the core of me, that I don't want to sacrifice and that I will not negotiate any further. And you know, if I could have known those things and really felt just rooted in those going into those first really difficult jobs, it would have made a world of difference. So I hope I can do that for young women day soon.
Speaker 2:What's been the most surprising lesson you've learned since launching this mission-driven work?
Speaker 1:Nothing happens as fast as you want it to. No, I mean, I think that I wouldn't say it's surprising. I knew this would be a hurdle that I would face. You know, honestly, just getting women who are ready to open up and receive the help has been one of the hardest struggles. Like I said, I don't think it was an unexpected lesson I would learn, but it was more, it's been more prevalent than I thought it might be.
Speaker 1:And so you know again, I just encourage women who feel like any of this resonated just let's have a conversation. Even if it's one phone call, like that's okay. You know, I think that it just helps us to kind of get a pulse on where we're at and know again that we're not alone, we're not crazy, and that what you're experiencing is real and there are ways to navigate it really healthily and ways. You know again, just because you're used to a toxic workplace right, doesn't mean you have to leave. I think that's a common misconception.
Speaker 1:But when I have these conversations with women it's like, well, I can't just quit my job. I'm like I'm not asking you to. That's not always the right path and I think that sometimes that's the healthiest choice, right? Sometimes we're in so deep and it's so dark that really we just need to get you out of there. But for some women it's teaching them again that well, how can I be a guiding light to people, how can I be that luminous leader, how can I make a difference where I'm at today to change not only my inner mental health and inner psyche around this situation, but help others feel seen and heard and appreciated and guided differently than what they're receiving within their organization?
Speaker 2:How can listeners get involved, whether they want to seek support and have that call to. Just you know, maybe it's like they're dipping their toe into the water of exploring this, or maybe they want to offer mentorship or contribute to your cause because they've gone through some experience where they've got those valuable lessons and they have got the same commitments and mission that you do.
Speaker 1:Love that idea, so the best way you can reach out is through our email at connect at facedwithgraceorg, and then anything that you want to learn more about we have also on our website at wwwfacedwithgraceorg.
Speaker 2:And you have an upcoming event. Do you want to share the details around that?
Speaker 1:Sure, yes, I'm so excited and we have our very first fundraiser coming up the end of August, on the 25th, we are hosting a full day virtual speaker summit, bringing together powerhouse thought leaders and just motivational speakers to cultivate a day of empowerment and, you know, just hopefully breeding this true sense of what Face with Grace stands for. I know each one of the speakers personally and, trust me, you do not want to miss hearing all of them. They're just wonderful humans with excellent messages to share.
Speaker 2:Well, we will make sure to put all of that in the show notes and links to be able to join as we wrap up. A question that I always love to ask everybody is if it were your last day on earth, and of all the lessons, everything you've learned so far, you had one piece of wisdom to impart with others, what would it be? Man?
Speaker 1:what a question. Never stop advocating for yourself, because you matter Perfect.
Speaker 2:That reminds me of the quote plant trees under whose shade you may never sit. I love that. It's that idea of that mentorship, that advocacy for others, that you're planting the seeds, so I love that. Well, I know you shared some of the website links anywhere else that people can go to follow you or learn more about you.
Speaker 1:So we're on all the major social platforms LinkedIn, facebook, tiktok, instagram. And then I meant to mention too, if anyone's interested in the event, they can find that on our event page on the website.
Speaker 2:Perfect, and we will put links to everything in the show notes so you can directly access that and then it'll take you straight to her website. Caitlin, thank you so much for coming on and spending time and, most of all, thank you for standing up and being the advocate for so many others who may be experiencing what you've gone through, but you're shedding light on it and you're offering light of hope as to how they can navigate difficult situations.
Speaker 1:Thank you, I really appreciate those kind words.
Speaker 2:If today's episode challenged you, moved you or lit a fire in your soul, don't keep it to yourself. Share it with somebody who's ready to rise. Could I ask you to take 30 seconds to leave a review? It's the best way to say thank you and help this show reach more bold leaders like you, because this isn't just a podcast, it's a movement. We're not here to play small. We're here to lead loud, one bold and unapologetic step at a time. Until next time, stay bold, stay grounded and make moves that make mediocre uncomfortable.
