The Labor Hidden in Plain Sight: Jay Asooli on Care, Power, and Protest

Host Faith Clarke sits down with burnout recovery specialist and relationship coach Jay Asooli to dig into what we often call “invisible labor”—and why Jay insists it’s more accurate to say invisibilized labor. Together, they explore the emotional, cognitive, and care work that keeps households, workplaces, and communities running—work that’s hidden in plain sight, disproportionately carried by women, non-men, and marginalized people.

Jay shares deeply personal reflections on being a family caregiver, the countless jobs rolled into that role, and how the systems around us deliberately minimize and erase this labor. She names the many categories of relational labor—repair initiation, resistance moderation, stress regulation, social hosting, educational labor—and how these patterns play out in both families and workplaces.

This is not just about naming the problem. Faith and Jay talk about how protest, grief, and awareness are radical acts of resistance, and how community care and co-creation are essential for building new ways of living and working.

If you’ve ever felt exhausted from carrying too much, unseen, or guilty for “not doing enough,” this conversation will remind you that you’re not alone—and that your labor deserves to be recognized, valued, and shared.

Discussed in This Episode:

• Why Jay calls it invisibilized labor instead of invisible labor
• How systemic oppression allocates and imposes unpaid care and emotional work
• The parallels between caregiving at home and “extra” labor in the workplace
• The hidden categories of relationship labor—from repair initiation to resistance moderation
• The role of protest, grief, and truth-telling in reclaiming our lives
• How community, curiosity, and co-created care can shift the weight

Connect with Jay Asooli: 

Website | Instagram

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