June 25, 2025 • 30 mins
This week’s “How She Finds Purpose” insight comes from Dr. Lynise Green. She says –
“Figure out a way to just take a beat, take a pause, and really just see yourself. Where are you in your life? How do you fit into your life? And I think, again, that comes back to that being aligned with your values and your purpose. Because I think when we lose that alignment, that's when we lose ourselves in in our own story.”
Dr. Lynise Green is a wellness leadership consultant who helps high-achieving women reclaim the parts of themselves they’ve put on pause while trying to keep everything else going. For years, she was the go-to person—juggling career, family, and everyone’s needs but her own.
On the outside, she had it all together. On the inside, she was burnt out and deeply disconnected from herself.
In this episode, she opens up about her career in engineering, repeated cycles of burnout, and how those hard lessons helped shape the purposeful work she does today.
Here are 3 reasons why you should listen to this episode:
-
You’ll hear what burnout can really look like—even when everything seems fine from the outside.
-
You’ll discover how to spot early warning signs that you’re slipping out of alignment with your purpose—before it turns into a full-blown crisis.
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You’ll walk away with a clear reminder that there is a different way to lead and live—one that honors both your ambition and your well-being.
Connect with Lynise at: https://wellwithl.com
Would you prefer to watch or listen to the podcast on YouTube?
Head on over to https://www.youtube.com/@leadershippurposepodcast
Want to connect? Connect with Dr. Robin on
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinlowensphd/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robinlowensphd
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robinlowensphd/
Email: Robin@LeadershipPurposePodcast.com
Thank you for listening! Rate, review, & follow on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast player. Talk to you soon!
This episode was produced by Lynda, Podcast Manager for GenX Creative Entrepreneurs at https://www.ljscreativeservices.co.nz
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Welcome to the Leadership Purpose with Doctor Robin podcast.
I'm your host, Robin l Owens, PhD. I'm a college
professor. And when I'm not doing that, I am teaching others
how to find and stay in alignment with their true purpose.
And this is where we talk with women who've made bold career
transitions in search for more meaning and purpose in
(00:24):
their work. So if you're feeling that pull toward more meaning and purpose in
your work or just curious about what's possible when you
pursue purpose over position, then these
conversations are here to encourage, inspire,
and guide you. Okay. Let's get started.
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Leadership
(00:47):
Purpose with Doctor. Robin podcast. I'm so glad you're
here and take time to listen into the podcast. And because you've been
such a faithful listener of the podcast, we've got ranked in the top
5% of all podcasts globally
according to Listen Notes. So thank you for listening. And help
us keep it going. Rate, review, subscribe. I know
(01:09):
you hear those words all the time, but it really makes a difference. So we'd
appreciate that. Alright. Now, today,
I can't wait to get to our guest. I mean, I'm usually excited about our
guest, but this one I'm especially excited about because her
story, I think, will speak directly to you. Alright.
So now today, I'm talking with doctor Lynise Green,
(01:33):
and I can't wait for her to tell you about the story, but let me
tell you a little bit about this. She helps high achieving women
reclaim the parts of themselves they put on pause
while navigating the pressure to do it all and to do it
perfectly. I mean, how many of us can relate to that? And
for years, she poured herself into her career, her family, and everyone
(01:55):
else who needed her. She was the reliable one, the strong
one, the she's got it one. And on
the outside, she was thriving, leading teams, creating programs,
mentoring students, and doing all that with a
smile. But on the inside, she was running on empty,
quietly burned out, overextended,
(02:17):
and deeply aware that something had to change.
And her wake up came in the quiet moments of
exhaustion. She couldn't shake. She just couldn't shake
that, and she realized that she had lost herself trying to
keep everything and everyone together.
So now stay tuned to the episode to hear how that turned out.
(02:41):
Welcome, doctor Lynise Green. Thank you. Wow.
You say that. It it it brings back it makes me wanna
cry. I've wondered about that, if hearing it
would have an impact on you. It does. It brings back
a flood of memories and emotions. Just
yeah. Wow. That was powerful. Thank you for that great
(03:03):
introduction. You're welcome. And I mean, now that we opened up
sort of that, do you wanna say more about that, or you wanna hold on
for a little bit later to talk about that? I'm happy to share, yeah, a
little bit more about it. So yeah. And I know we will get into
this a little bit, but definitely the work that I do is
absolutely born out of my own experience
(03:26):
and just learning how to
navigate, I would almost say, a series of burnouts over, you
know, a period of time and noticing that there were so many
other people, women, who were going through the same thing and didn't
know how to get themselves out of the cycle. So that
brought me to where I am now. Yeah. Yeah. Now you are a
(03:48):
doctor. Tell us about what type of doctor you are.
Yep. So, I have a doctorate in naturopathy. So think,
holistic medicine. So naturopathy is a pretty big
umbrella of all things holistic medicine. So you study
nutrition, you study herbs, so I'm a master herbalist.
(04:09):
You study all different types of holistic modalities, which is really
wonderful because you have a lot to draw on. And then postgraduate,
I'm a foodie, so I kinda went down like the I'm really gonna get
into nutrition. And then I ended up doing some other work
with stress management, but yeah, naturopathy, it's a, it's a big
umbrella. And then you just kind of have to find your way for what really
(04:31):
works for you. Okay. That's fascinating. Now the were
you a doctor at the time you had the moment I talked about in your
introduction, or did that come after that? I probably
I probably just gotten the doctorate degree
right around that time. So, you know, everything was
still kind of theory for me. You know, I had done the work and read
(04:54):
the books and wrote papers and all that kind of stuff, which was probably
which led me to the first burnout because I was studying for the
doctorate, working a full time job. I was a single
mom at the time, helping to take care of my
aging grandparents. So it was just a whole
lot happening. And yeah. So, again, it
(05:17):
was theory for me at the time, and it really took
some years, some years of just my own personal trial and
error trying to figure it out and, you know, finding
what worked and what didn't work before I could really feel like I came up
with a system, like a framework that I could really implement.
I got a lot of well meaning and very bad advice
(05:40):
along the way that I look back and just go, wow. That
okay. Someone really, really told me that. I had one person,
and like I said, I've been through cycles of this. I had one a
boss actually, you know, tell me one time that
my overwhelm was an indication that I had not mastered my
job yet. Right. That's the same look I had. I was
(06:03):
like, wow. Okay. And this and and
what made it so awful is this was a female boss.
Wow. Yeah. That one really, really hurt.
That one really hurt. So So let's go back there. Let's
because I wanna chronicle your journey a little bit. I know we can't do the
whole twenty seven years or what it what I don't know the the number of
(06:25):
years. Right. But we can'tbut I just want to kind of do the
defining moments because I'm imagining there might be a
listener who's anywhere along the journey in her own
career, and so hopefully she can get some inspiration as you
just share your journey. So you were talking about and when you said you
were doing all those things at the time you were doing your doctorate, any one
(06:46):
of those things could cause burnout. Absolutely. Yeah. That
was quite a bit. In there, you mentioned you were you were working
at a job. What kind of work were you doing at that time?
So prior to that, my first degree is in mechanical engineering.
So I was a senior program
manager for a large scale software development
(07:09):
project for the Department of Defense. I'm working for a pretty
big defense contractor at the time. So that was
that was really, I think, the first time, and this was so long
ago, that I really experienced burnout. And I say I was for
once in my life, ahead of the curve on something because it
was burnout before burnout was a thing. We were working,
(07:31):
you know, regular, expected, sixty hour weeks
just working on a big project. And as a salaried
employee, it's sort of like, yes. That's what you're supposed to do. You don't work
forty hours like everyone else, and you're in management. So, you know,
okay. That's what I'm supposed to do. And so that's what I did, and
it was interesting. I came home one evening from
(07:53):
work and, you know, picked up my my daughter and, you
know, mom's gonna take a little little break. I'm just gonna sit here for a
minute. I'll get dinner altogether. Oh, man. I woke
up, like, several hours later with, you know, my very patient
daughter kind of looking at me like, when are we gonna eat? And
just thinking, okay. Something's not not
(08:15):
right here. And and at the time, I was also I remember doing
an aerobic. I like aerobic classes. I was doing, like, a step aerobic
class, and I kept feeling like I would do the class. And
I'm working out hard, so I expect to be a little tired, but I
wasn't recovering, like, every other day. And it was
getting worse to the point where I actually had to stop going, and I just
(08:37):
couldn't figure out, like, what is happening right now. And
finally, you know, had sense enough to go to my doctor, like, what's going
on? And, you know, they did all the tests and adrenal stuff, and she was
like, yeah. You need some time off. And and then
many of the cycles, that was what I got was manage
your time better, get some rest, you know, you
(09:00):
just need some time off. But I just there were just
signs that I just didn't know to pay attention to. So it was the
fatigue. It was just
at the time, I really loved being an engineer and a program manager, and
I I was the joy was gone. Like, it was just
the joy was gone. It was really just, like, eating at my
(09:22):
soul. It just it was just really draining me internally.
Mentally, I like to think, you know, I'm a pretty sharp crayon in the box,
and I just mental fatigue. I just couldn't I couldn't
focus. I couldn't concentrate. So there were these signs. I just didn't
know at the time what the signs were and what they were telling
me, and nobody else seemed to know either. And
(09:45):
so, you know, I went through that first bout and went on short
short term disability actually for about six months, six months of
doing nothing. Everybody feels great. So I thought, okay, that's the
answer. And I came back and hit the ground running. And then,
you know, as I say, life gets to lifing. And
several years later, I found myself going through the through the
(10:08):
same thing. And I think the second time, it was more the
emotional components of it that really just
sort of took me down. And and yeah. So it
was a lot of a lot of learning on the job, so to speak, and
just really learning to listen to myself
and figure out what was happening. Yeah.
(10:29):
Yeah. Okay. So we're still kind of tracing your career journey just for
context, so to speak. All right. So now at what point in this
journey did you decide with all the work and that you're doing and you kind
of figured out some ways to kind of get back to yourself, like,
that six month time off, at what point did you decide to go and get
your doctorate? So the first burnout
(10:51):
episode happened probably short
as I was working as I was finishing up the doctorate. So all of that
was going on at the same time. That was the first, like, identifiable
moment that I can remember. My like I said, I was working on
the doctorate, working a job, single mom. My
grandmother, had been diagnosed with cancer, so I was helping my
(11:15):
mom take care of her. So just, you know, the perfect storm
of life happening. That was the first time. So I got the
doctorate, eventually left the corporate world
thinking that might help, you know, right, as well. Left
the corporate world and opened my own business. So yeah. Okay. And
so the next time, like I said, the circumstances
(11:37):
were different. I think the signs were similar though, but the circumstances were
different. So the next time I was a business owner, I
was married at the time, not in a good marriage, but
married at the time. So there was, again, a lot of
emotional stress, a lot of mental stress, the stress of, you
know, being responsible for your own finances, and
(11:59):
then all of those things came. But a lot of the symptoms were the same.
It was the fatigue that it didn't matter. I I
thankfully, I sleep well. Kinda like whatever's going on in my world, I
sleep well. But the sleep wasn't restorative, so I would just
be tired. You know, eight, nine hours of sleep, I was
still just fatigued under I say it was like being a duck on the water.
(12:22):
So you're sorta, like, looking great on the top and paddling underneath
just really hard. So the fatigue was still there. The
mental exhaustion was still there. And then the emotional
weight, the joy was gone again. And so that was
the next time. And so, you know, then it was, you know,
leave the business, get a divorce, because that's supposed to fix it
(12:44):
too. And it didn't. But fortunately, during that time
owning the business, we my ex husband and I, we owned a wellness center
together. So I was working with a lot of other women.
I'd started doing a lot of teaching. I'm an educator at heart, and I had
started doing a lot of teaching on nutrition and
stress and burnout. And that's where it all started to
(13:07):
really come together, honestly, as I was really working
more with clients and helping them
and seeing our similarities, that's really where
where it started to come together. Like, oh, I, I
really understand what's underlying things now. Yeah. So
from the corporate job, owning my own business,
(13:29):
back into the corporate world again, yeah, it's been
a journey. Yeah. Okay. So after when you went
back into corporate, what kind of role? What kind of work was it? Was it
back into engineering or was it? No. Thankfully, look, I say
thankfully, but no, because yeah, it was something, like I said, about the
engineering and, and I'll make the point about that too. But the engineering,
(13:52):
other than just being exhausting work, I realized that it
wasn't feeding me as a person. The
the work itself is important, absolutely what was going on.
But I found that the exhaustion
that that level of exhaustion that I was feeling from that was because the
work didn't align with my
(14:13):
values, my purpose, the things I was passionate about, and
that was exhausting. So when I went back into
corporate work, I actually started still doing program management so
I could lean on the skills, but I was managing corporate wellness
programs. Oh. So that was, you know, more in line. I could
use the skill set from the engineering, but I was
(14:35):
something that I was super passionate about. So that
really made a difference. And that's part of, you know, one of the things when
I'm working with people is, in fact, one of the first things
is understanding, like, what's your purpose, what's your passion,
what are your values? And are you able to live
them, not just put them on paper as words, but are you able to bring
(14:58):
them to life in the work that you do? Does that work
feed that feed your passion and feed your values?
And if it doesn't, either let's figure out how you can bring that to
work, you know, or you might have some other decisions to make. That's not for
me to say. But yeah. So I went back into to corporate
wellness. I've never actually gone back into engineering since. So
(15:20):
Okay. And so in between there, there was the business that you and your
husband at at the time shared. Was that the wellness business?
Yes. Mhmm. Okay. So engineering, wellness
business, wellness in corporate. Wellness. Mhmm. Okay.
And then what happened in the transition next? So
I still do corporate wellness consulting. So, yes,
(15:42):
I'm still doing that, which is which is a thing. Right? And and that's probably
another one of those things I have to manage. I still live in that
space. But even even then, as I have continued to
get more in touch with, I'm gonna say, you know,
and stay in touch with my values and and my
passion and my purpose, I I find even
(16:04):
more so that I want to do more education because
corporate wellness is still working in corporate America. And
as a program manager, I think the thing that I struggle with is
that I don't I don't get to work one on one with people. I'm managing
the program. So I'm developing strategy and, you know, making sure,
you know, my coaches and my RDNs who are working with the people are, you
(16:27):
know, doing the things that they need to do and working with clients, but I
don't get to be the one to help people with their transformations.
And I miss I miss that part. So even though I still
have, you know, corporate clients and I do corporate education and all that
kind of thing, I had to find a way to
continue to stay connected with what really
(16:49):
energized me. And so how did you find a way to stay
connected to what energizes you? So, like I said, I'm an
educator at heart. And so and still
having to find that balance, I started well, and and as I
was doing more workshops, so I would do, you know, corporate
workshops as part of, you know, part of the work. And so that did give
(17:10):
me that little bit of, you know, I could get in front of people and
I could talk to them and kinda watch them have their moments.
And as I was doing more of the workshops and more of the training, people
were like, I need a little bit more of your time. I need I need
a little bit more of you to help me and not in the
group. And so things just kinda grew from there. And so, you know,
(17:31):
I'm still in that world where I say I'm I'm living the parallel
life of still, you know, working with corporate clients, but now
I get to still do that education
piece in groups and then working with individuals as
well to help them make those transformations or make
those changes. Yeah. And so are you doing that with your
(17:53):
business now with your current business? Okay. Mhmm. Yep.
Absolutely. Absolutely. So Yeah. So now tell
everybody what your current biz you said a little bit, but tell us the name
and a little bit about it in case they wanna hear about it, and then
we'll, we'll say more about your journey. Yeah, absolutely. So,
so right now, in the current business, it's called Well With Health.
(18:13):
I help high achieving women and I, you know, I like to
say I can help anybody, but women women, you know, they're
they're my my people. So I help them learn how to
lead with well-being. Again, through my own
experience, I I just I'm a firm believer that you can do
what you love to do. And and and with leadership, you know, if
(18:35):
it's, mid level management, your c suite, your lead
in your home, you know, we're we're leaders in so many different
areas, particularly as women. We lead so many things.
But I I've I'm a firm believer that you don't have to sacrifice
your health and your well-being and your joy in order
to do the things you love to do and to do them well.
(18:59):
So as a a wellness leadership consultant,
I work with high performing women and really help
them learn how to develop personalized
strategies, tap into their, their personal energy
so that they can, you know, do what they love and still
be happy and be energized, and bring all those things, you
(19:22):
know, to bear for themselves at work and at home. Yeah.
Yeah. That's important work. And of course, I would say that, but
because I work with high achieving women and I see the need. So I believe
that's really important work. And I love how over the your career
journey, you kind of put the pieces together and made it so it works.
So it's true to you and it energizes you. So now where you
(19:44):
are in your journey, would you say you have purpose in your work in
life? I do. Yeah. It I think initially I probably
stumbled into the purpose of it because, again, in the
beginning, I was really sharing tools and resources
and strategies from my own experience of
pulling myself back from burnout. And, you know, as I went through
(20:06):
different cycles, I got better at it. And so that information,
you know, got continued to get better. And as I
continued really to learn more about myself and, of
course, studying understanding, you know, my triggers and really,
really paying attention to myself, I eventually was able
to create an actionable framework that I can use
(20:29):
to help women get into these better spaces. So,
originally, yeah, I think I kinda stumbled into the purpose, but
now I am very clear that this this is
what I was supposed to do because it even
when it's a long day, it feels
so good. You know? It just it you know? It
(20:53):
just it just lights you up inside. So and
I'm I'm clear that, yeah, this is it. This is my compelling why,
why I'm here. Yes. And I see and hear the energy and
passion come through even as you're talking about it. Yeah.
And of course, I can appreciate that. Yeah. And can resonate with it. All
right. So now, you know, the podcast is leadership purpose. I
(21:16):
imagine the listener as a high achieving woman, and
I'll tell you my definition of high achieving and maybe we're on the
same, but just so you know and people who are listening will know my definition
of high achieving, but let me say before I talk about them being high
achieving, they're at a place in their career journey where they're
successful but unfulfilled. And something seems to
(21:38):
be missing, although everything looks good on the outside, like what you were saying
about the duck. It looks good. They can't complain because people
even are impressed with them. They applaud them for their work,
and so they feel like everything but something's missing. Can't
quite put their finger on it. So this is the the woman that the
podcast speaks to now. She wants more meaning and purpose
(22:00):
and impact in her work. Alright, so now let me describe what I
call my definition of high achieving. Okay. With that going on,
she's also ambitious, responsible,
good at good at a few things. Sounds familiar.
Yep. I thought so. And she's the one in her
professional life. People come to her for advice or just want to talk to
(22:23):
her whether it's directly related to her role or not. She's the
one. Yep. And in her personal life,
family, neighborhood, community, whatever the thing is, if they're having an
event or something, she's the one that they come to whether she knows anything
about it or not. She's that. That's what I mean by high achieving.
And so she's created this career that, like you
(22:45):
say and I say, checks all the boxes, got the promotions, did all
the things, but just something inside of her yearning for more.
Yeah. She's looking for purpose. And so my my work has to do with
helping people find what that is. Yeah. But from your point of view,
knowing the woman I just described from either your professional
(23:05):
life or your personal life, what's something you can share with
her as she continues on her journey and is trying to figure it
out? Yeah. I think the one thing that really
resonates when you share that description and that definition
is that the women that you speak to, the women that
I work with, like you said, it, it on the surface, it
(23:27):
looks like they have it all together, but somewhere, somewhere
along the way, and and I say I'll speak in the first
person because I feel like you were describing me, but
somewhere along the way, we lose ourselves.
I think as, as women, we are, we are wired to
nurture. We are wired to give. It's who we are. It's the way we showed
(23:49):
up on the planet. And that's a wonderful thing. I think somewhere
along the way, we forget to give to ourselves
and we give to everyone else and everything else.
And we always make sure everybody around us is, like, really
good. Work, home, church, friends, you know,
everybody is really good. And like I said, we we lose
(24:11):
ourselves. And in general, we're not really good at asking
for help. I find that very true with a lot of women.
And so, you know, we just sort of sit quietly and smolder
because we know what we're experiencing. And, you know, we kinda
have our little flag up. Like, doesn't someone see me? I need I need
but we won't raise the flag and say, hey. I need some help over
(24:34):
here. No sort of leaves the vocabulary. And
so then we we get to this place, I feel like, where
and this is where I was before I really had to really,
you know, begin to make some shifts that I lived, I want to say in
this space of like disillusionment. Like, I'm, I'm just not sure
how this is all happening. I had the degree, I had, you know,
(24:57):
the job, I was making the money. I had the house, I had the car,
like everything on paper looks good, but it's not
making any sense. It doesn't feel right. And I think I just
sat in that for a while. And I think a lot of women do. We
just sit, like, in complete disbelief. How can this be? Everything
looks like it's supposed to make sense. And I think when we come to
(25:18):
that recognition that it's us that's
not in our own picture. I used to tell people I couldn't I can
remember a time when I was, you know, kinda living in that space
where I didn't feel like I could make room for myself
in my own life because there was so I was
filled my life up with so many other people and so much stuff. Like, I
(25:41):
didn't have room for myself, so I had to start making room
for myself. So that's, I think, the thing that I would I
would share with your listeners is is figure out a
way to just take a beat, take a pause, and
really just see yourself. Where are you in your
life? How do you fit into your life? And I think,
(26:03):
again, that comes back to that being aligned with your
values and your purpose, because I think when we lose
that alignment, that's when we lose ourselves in, in our own story.
Yes. Well, thank you for sharing that because I'm thinking
lots of people are saying that's me and you're speaking directly to
me. So that's wonderful. And, you've been very
(26:26):
generous with your time, and I know it's a little later in the day for
you than it is for me. But before we tell people how they can get
in touch with you, is there anything that I didn't get to ask
you that bubbles up in your mind right now that you wanna share,
or if there's something that's saying, oh, I just wanna say one more thing. If
not, it's okay, but I just wanna give you the opportunity in case there is
(26:47):
something, and then we can tell people how they can reach you. Yeah.
So I think, in parting, I think the one thing
that I would share, maybe two things quick, that
I would share with your listeners again is there's a
different way. There is a different way to get
through life. There's a different way to do what you're
(27:09):
doing and enjoy it and live it and love it
and still hold on to yourself. I've done
it. I've I've been through it. I know what it feels like, the
exhaustion and the pressure. And but there's
another way to do this that really honors your
well-being as well as your aspirations,
(27:31):
and that it's available to you. It's it it it's
available. You you have what you need. You have what you need in
there. You might just need some help teasing it out a little bit,
but but there's definitely another way. And and the other thing I would
say, you know, I I have this framework and, you know, I can help
people, but I have to still live it every day.
(27:53):
You know? Just because I have gone through it and I figured it out for
myself and I have this framework that I I really have to
practice what I preach every single day because I'm not exempt.
You know, my busy life my my life is still life and, you know, I'm
still busy and it is still full. So,
you know, I'm I'm not speaking from, you know, speaking from
(28:16):
the pulpit, so to speak. You know, I I am in the trenches right there,
still doing it every day, still working the strategies and and
all of those things. So but you can do it. That's what I want them
to know. You can do it. There's another way, and I promise you, you can
you can do this differently. Yes. Thank you for sharing that. I
mean, no better words to leave them with, you can do
(28:37):
it. Okay. One more thing. I meant to ask you,
where can people be in touch with you and hear more about what you're doing?
Yeah. Absolutely. So, you can find me online at
wellwithl, so just the
letter l, dot com. All my background information
is there. You can access online courses,
(28:59):
coaching available that I have. I have some freebies
available for you. And if, you know, you're
ready to start exploring, maybe a little bit, you can schedule a
free one on one consultation, and we can just kind of talk and see where
you are. You ready to dive in? I'm ready to dive in with you. So,
yep, wellwithl.com. That's where they can find me. Great.
(29:21):
Wellwithl.com. Thank you. Again, Dr. Lynise
Green, you've been so generous with your time. Thank you for sharing your
insights, hard won wisdom, and now
bringing the sense of joy and presence to us and helping everybody know
what's possible for them. Thank you for being here. Thank you.
Thank you. Okay, everyone. I'd love to hear your
(29:43):
response to this episode. What's one takeaway or one nugget
that got your attention? You can follow me on social media. I'm on all the
channels, but I spend most of my time on LinkedIn. So
follow me on LinkedIn and send me a message. Let me know what
you're thinking. Robin L. OwensPhD, at Robin
L. Owens PhD. And until next
(30:05):
time, this is Dr. Robin. Thank you for tuning in
to this episode of the Leadership Purpose with Dr. Robin
podcast. If you enjoyed it, head on over and rate
and subscribe so you never miss an episode. New
episodes drop every week, and I can't wait to hang out with
you again soon. Meanwhile, this
(30:28):
is Dr Robin signing off. See you next
time.
Welcome to the Leadership Purpose with Doctor Robin podcast.
I'm your host, Robin l Owens, PhD. I'm a college
professor. And when I'm not doing that, I am teaching others
how to find and stay in alignment with their true purpose.
And this is where we talk with women who've made bold career
transitions in search for more meaning and purpose in
(00:24):
their work. So if you're feeling that pull toward more meaning and purpose in
your work or just curious about what's possible when you
pursue purpose over position, then these
conversations are here to encourage, inspire,
and guide you. Okay. Let's get started.
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Leadership
(00:47):
Purpose with Doctor. Robin podcast. I'm so glad you're
here and take time to listen into the podcast. And because you've been
such a faithful listener of the podcast, we've got ranked in the top
5% of all podcasts globally
according to Listen Notes. So thank you for listening. And help
us keep it going. Rate, review, subscribe. I know
(01:09):
you hear those words all the time, but it really makes a difference. So we'd
appreciate that. Alright. Now, today,
I can't wait to get to our guest. I mean, I'm usually excited about our
guest, but this one I'm especially excited about because her
story, I think, will speak directly to you. Alright.
So now today, I'm talking with doctor Lynise Green,
(01:33):
and I can't wait for her to tell you about the story, but let me
tell you a little bit about this. She helps high achieving women
reclaim the parts of themselves they put on pause
while navigating the pressure to do it all and to do it
perfectly. I mean, how many of us can relate to that? And
for years, she poured herself into her career, her family, and everyone
(01:55):
else who needed her. She was the reliable one, the strong
one, the she's got it one. And on
the outside, she was thriving, leading teams, creating programs,
mentoring students, and doing all that with a
smile. But on the inside, she was running on empty,
quietly burned out, overextended,
(02:17):
and deeply aware that something had to change.
And her wake up came in the quiet moments of
exhaustion. She couldn't shake. She just couldn't shake
that, and she realized that she had lost herself trying to
keep everything and everyone together.
So now stay tuned to the episode to hear how that turned out.
(02:41):
Welcome, doctor Lynise Green. Thank you. Wow.
You say that. It it it brings back it makes me wanna
cry. I've wondered about that, if hearing it
would have an impact on you. It does. It brings back
a flood of memories and emotions. Just
yeah. Wow. That was powerful. Thank you for that great
(03:03):
introduction. You're welcome. And I mean, now that we opened up
sort of that, do you wanna say more about that, or you wanna hold on
for a little bit later to talk about that? I'm happy to share, yeah, a
little bit more about it. So yeah. And I know we will get into
this a little bit, but definitely the work that I do is
absolutely born out of my own experience
(03:26):
and just learning how to
navigate, I would almost say, a series of burnouts over, you
know, a period of time and noticing that there were so many
other people, women, who were going through the same thing and didn't
know how to get themselves out of the cycle. So that
brought me to where I am now. Yeah. Yeah. Now you are a
(03:48):
doctor. Tell us about what type of doctor you are.
Yep. So, I have a doctorate in naturopathy. So think,
holistic medicine. So naturopathy is a pretty big
umbrella of all things holistic medicine. So you study
nutrition, you study herbs, so I'm a master herbalist.
(04:09):
You study all different types of holistic modalities, which is really
wonderful because you have a lot to draw on. And then postgraduate,
I'm a foodie, so I kinda went down like the I'm really gonna get
into nutrition. And then I ended up doing some other work
with stress management, but yeah, naturopathy, it's a, it's a big
umbrella. And then you just kind of have to find your way for what really
(04:31):
works for you. Okay. That's fascinating. Now the were
you a doctor at the time you had the moment I talked about in your
introduction, or did that come after that? I probably
I probably just gotten the doctorate degree
right around that time. So, you know, everything was
still kind of theory for me. You know, I had done the work and read
(04:54):
the books and wrote papers and all that kind of stuff, which was probably
which led me to the first burnout because I was studying for the
doctorate, working a full time job. I was a single
mom at the time, helping to take care of my
aging grandparents. So it was just a whole
lot happening. And yeah. So, again, it
(05:17):
was theory for me at the time, and it really took
some years, some years of just my own personal trial and
error trying to figure it out and, you know, finding
what worked and what didn't work before I could really feel like I came up
with a system, like a framework that I could really implement.
I got a lot of well meaning and very bad advice
(05:40):
along the way that I look back and just go, wow. That
okay. Someone really, really told me that. I had one person,
and like I said, I've been through cycles of this. I had one a
boss actually, you know, tell me one time that
my overwhelm was an indication that I had not mastered my
job yet. Right. That's the same look I had. I was
(06:03):
like, wow. Okay. And this and and
what made it so awful is this was a female boss.
Wow. Yeah. That one really, really hurt.
That one really hurt. So So let's go back there. Let's
because I wanna chronicle your journey a little bit. I know we can't do the
whole twenty seven years or what it what I don't know the the number of
(06:25):
years. Right. But we can'tbut I just want to kind of do the
defining moments because I'm imagining there might be a
listener who's anywhere along the journey in her own
career, and so hopefully she can get some inspiration as you
just share your journey. So you were talking about and when you said you
were doing all those things at the time you were doing your doctorate, any one
(06:46):
of those things could cause burnout. Absolutely. Yeah. That
was quite a bit. In there, you mentioned you were you were working
at a job. What kind of work were you doing at that time?
So prior to that, my first degree is in mechanical engineering.
So I was a senior program
manager for a large scale software development
(07:09):
project for the Department of Defense. I'm working for a pretty
big defense contractor at the time. So that was
that was really, I think, the first time, and this was so long
ago, that I really experienced burnout. And I say I was for
once in my life, ahead of the curve on something because it
was burnout before burnout was a thing. We were working,
(07:31):
you know, regular, expected, sixty hour weeks
just working on a big project. And as a salaried
employee, it's sort of like, yes. That's what you're supposed to do. You don't work
forty hours like everyone else, and you're in management. So, you know,
okay. That's what I'm supposed to do. And so that's what I did, and
it was interesting. I came home one evening from
(07:53):
work and, you know, picked up my my daughter and, you
know, mom's gonna take a little little break. I'm just gonna sit here for a
minute. I'll get dinner altogether. Oh, man. I woke
up, like, several hours later with, you know, my very patient
daughter kind of looking at me like, when are we gonna eat? And
just thinking, okay. Something's not not
(08:15):
right here. And and at the time, I was also I remember doing
an aerobic. I like aerobic classes. I was doing, like, a step aerobic
class, and I kept feeling like I would do the class. And
I'm working out hard, so I expect to be a little tired, but I
wasn't recovering, like, every other day. And it was
getting worse to the point where I actually had to stop going, and I just
(08:37):
couldn't figure out, like, what is happening right now. And
finally, you know, had sense enough to go to my doctor, like, what's going
on? And, you know, they did all the tests and adrenal stuff, and she was
like, yeah. You need some time off. And and then
many of the cycles, that was what I got was manage
your time better, get some rest, you know, you
(09:00):
just need some time off. But I just there were just
signs that I just didn't know to pay attention to. So it was the
fatigue. It was just
at the time, I really loved being an engineer and a program manager, and
I I was the joy was gone. Like, it was just
the joy was gone. It was really just, like, eating at my
(09:22):
soul. It just it was just really draining me internally.
Mentally, I like to think, you know, I'm a pretty sharp crayon in the box,
and I just mental fatigue. I just couldn't I couldn't
focus. I couldn't concentrate. So there were these signs. I just didn't
know at the time what the signs were and what they were telling
me, and nobody else seemed to know either. And
(09:45):
so, you know, I went through that first bout and went on short
short term disability actually for about six months, six months of
doing nothing. Everybody feels great. So I thought, okay, that's the
answer. And I came back and hit the ground running. And then,
you know, as I say, life gets to lifing. And
several years later, I found myself going through the through the
(10:08):
same thing. And I think the second time, it was more the
emotional components of it that really just
sort of took me down. And and yeah. So it
was a lot of a lot of learning on the job, so to speak, and
just really learning to listen to myself
and figure out what was happening. Yeah.
(10:29):
Yeah. Okay. So we're still kind of tracing your career journey just for
context, so to speak. All right. So now at what point in this
journey did you decide with all the work and that you're doing and you kind
of figured out some ways to kind of get back to yourself, like,
that six month time off, at what point did you decide to go and get
your doctorate? So the first burnout
(10:51):
episode happened probably short
as I was working as I was finishing up the doctorate. So all of that
was going on at the same time. That was the first, like, identifiable
moment that I can remember. My like I said, I was working on
the doctorate, working a job, single mom. My
grandmother, had been diagnosed with cancer, so I was helping my
(11:15):
mom take care of her. So just, you know, the perfect storm
of life happening. That was the first time. So I got the
doctorate, eventually left the corporate world
thinking that might help, you know, right, as well. Left
the corporate world and opened my own business. So yeah. Okay. And
so the next time, like I said, the circumstances
(11:37):
were different. I think the signs were similar though, but the circumstances were
different. So the next time I was a business owner, I
was married at the time, not in a good marriage, but
married at the time. So there was, again, a lot of
emotional stress, a lot of mental stress, the stress of, you
know, being responsible for your own finances, and
(11:59):
then all of those things came. But a lot of the symptoms were the same.
It was the fatigue that it didn't matter. I I
thankfully, I sleep well. Kinda like whatever's going on in my world, I
sleep well. But the sleep wasn't restorative, so I would just
be tired. You know, eight, nine hours of sleep, I was
still just fatigued under I say it was like being a duck on the water.
(12:22):
So you're sorta, like, looking great on the top and paddling underneath
just really hard. So the fatigue was still there. The
mental exhaustion was still there. And then the emotional
weight, the joy was gone again. And so that was
the next time. And so, you know, then it was, you know,
leave the business, get a divorce, because that's supposed to fix it
(12:44):
too. And it didn't. But fortunately, during that time
owning the business, we my ex husband and I, we owned a wellness center
together. So I was working with a lot of other women.
I'd started doing a lot of teaching. I'm an educator at heart, and I had
started doing a lot of teaching on nutrition and
stress and burnout. And that's where it all started to
(13:07):
really come together, honestly, as I was really working
more with clients and helping them
and seeing our similarities, that's really where
where it started to come together. Like, oh, I, I
really understand what's underlying things now. Yeah. So
from the corporate job, owning my own business,
(13:29):
back into the corporate world again, yeah, it's been
a journey. Yeah. Okay. So after when you went
back into corporate, what kind of role? What kind of work was it? Was it
back into engineering or was it? No. Thankfully, look, I say
thankfully, but no, because yeah, it was something, like I said, about the
engineering and, and I'll make the point about that too. But the engineering,
(13:52):
other than just being exhausting work, I realized that it
wasn't feeding me as a person. The
the work itself is important, absolutely what was going on.
But I found that the exhaustion
that that level of exhaustion that I was feeling from that was because the
work didn't align with my
(14:13):
values, my purpose, the things I was passionate about, and
that was exhausting. So when I went back into
corporate work, I actually started still doing program management so
I could lean on the skills, but I was managing corporate wellness
programs. Oh. So that was, you know, more in line. I could
use the skill set from the engineering, but I was
(14:35):
something that I was super passionate about. So that
really made a difference. And that's part of, you know, one of the things when
I'm working with people is, in fact, one of the first things
is understanding, like, what's your purpose, what's your passion,
what are your values? And are you able to live
them, not just put them on paper as words, but are you able to bring
(14:58):
them to life in the work that you do? Does that work
feed that feed your passion and feed your values?
And if it doesn't, either let's figure out how you can bring that to
work, you know, or you might have some other decisions to make. That's not for
me to say. But yeah. So I went back into to corporate
wellness. I've never actually gone back into engineering since. So
(15:20):
Okay. And so in between there, there was the business that you and your
husband at at the time shared. Was that the wellness business?
Yes. Mhmm. Okay. So engineering, wellness
business, wellness in corporate. Wellness. Mhmm. Okay.
And then what happened in the transition next? So
I still do corporate wellness consulting. So, yes,
(15:42):
I'm still doing that, which is which is a thing. Right? And and that's probably
another one of those things I have to manage. I still live in that
space. But even even then, as I have continued to
get more in touch with, I'm gonna say, you know,
and stay in touch with my values and and my
passion and my purpose, I I find even
(16:04):
more so that I want to do more education because
corporate wellness is still working in corporate America. And
as a program manager, I think the thing that I struggle with is
that I don't I don't get to work one on one with people. I'm managing
the program. So I'm developing strategy and, you know, making sure,
you know, my coaches and my RDNs who are working with the people are, you
(16:27):
know, doing the things that they need to do and working with clients, but I
don't get to be the one to help people with their transformations.
And I miss I miss that part. So even though I still
have, you know, corporate clients and I do corporate education and all that
kind of thing, I had to find a way to
continue to stay connected with what really
(16:49):
energized me. And so how did you find a way to stay
connected to what energizes you? So, like I said, I'm an
educator at heart. And so and still
having to find that balance, I started well, and and as I
was doing more workshops, so I would do, you know, corporate
workshops as part of, you know, part of the work. And so that did give
(17:10):
me that little bit of, you know, I could get in front of people and
I could talk to them and kinda watch them have their moments.
And as I was doing more of the workshops and more of the training, people
were like, I need a little bit more of your time. I need I need
a little bit more of you to help me and not in the
group. And so things just kinda grew from there. And so, you know,
(17:31):
I'm still in that world where I say I'm I'm living the parallel
life of still, you know, working with corporate clients, but now
I get to still do that education
piece in groups and then working with individuals as
well to help them make those transformations or make
those changes. Yeah. And so are you doing that with your
(17:53):
business now with your current business? Okay. Mhmm. Yep.
Absolutely. Absolutely. So Yeah. So now tell
everybody what your current biz you said a little bit, but tell us the name
and a little bit about it in case they wanna hear about it, and then
we'll, we'll say more about your journey. Yeah, absolutely. So,
so right now, in the current business, it's called Well With Health.
(18:13):
I help high achieving women and I, you know, I like to
say I can help anybody, but women women, you know, they're
they're my my people. So I help them learn how to
lead with well-being. Again, through my own
experience, I I just I'm a firm believer that you can do
what you love to do. And and and with leadership, you know, if
(18:35):
it's, mid level management, your c suite, your lead
in your home, you know, we're we're leaders in so many different
areas, particularly as women. We lead so many things.
But I I've I'm a firm believer that you don't have to sacrifice
your health and your well-being and your joy in order
to do the things you love to do and to do them well.
(18:59):
So as a a wellness leadership consultant,
I work with high performing women and really help
them learn how to develop personalized
strategies, tap into their, their personal energy
so that they can, you know, do what they love and still
be happy and be energized, and bring all those things, you
(19:22):
know, to bear for themselves at work and at home. Yeah.
Yeah. That's important work. And of course, I would say that, but
because I work with high achieving women and I see the need. So I believe
that's really important work. And I love how over the your career
journey, you kind of put the pieces together and made it so it works.
So it's true to you and it energizes you. So now where you
(19:44):
are in your journey, would you say you have purpose in your work in
life? I do. Yeah. It I think initially I probably
stumbled into the purpose of it because, again, in the
beginning, I was really sharing tools and resources
and strategies from my own experience of
pulling myself back from burnout. And, you know, as I went through
(20:06):
different cycles, I got better at it. And so that information,
you know, got continued to get better. And as I
continued really to learn more about myself and, of
course, studying understanding, you know, my triggers and really,
really paying attention to myself, I eventually was able
to create an actionable framework that I can use
(20:29):
to help women get into these better spaces. So,
originally, yeah, I think I kinda stumbled into the purpose, but
now I am very clear that this this is
what I was supposed to do because it even
when it's a long day, it feels
so good. You know? It just it you know? It
(20:53):
just it just lights you up inside. So and
I'm I'm clear that, yeah, this is it. This is my compelling why,
why I'm here. Yes. And I see and hear the energy and
passion come through even as you're talking about it. Yeah.
And of course, I can appreciate that. Yeah. And can resonate with it. All
right. So now, you know, the podcast is leadership purpose. I
(21:16):
imagine the listener as a high achieving woman, and
I'll tell you my definition of high achieving and maybe we're on the
same, but just so you know and people who are listening will know my definition
of high achieving, but let me say before I talk about them being high
achieving, they're at a place in their career journey where they're
successful but unfulfilled. And something seems to
(21:38):
be missing, although everything looks good on the outside, like what you were saying
about the duck. It looks good. They can't complain because people
even are impressed with them. They applaud them for their work,
and so they feel like everything but something's missing. Can't
quite put their finger on it. So this is the the woman that the
podcast speaks to now. She wants more meaning and purpose
(22:00):
and impact in her work. Alright, so now let me describe what I
call my definition of high achieving. Okay. With that going on,
she's also ambitious, responsible,
good at good at a few things. Sounds familiar.
Yep. I thought so. And she's the one in her
professional life. People come to her for advice or just want to talk to
(22:23):
her whether it's directly related to her role or not. She's the
one. Yep. And in her personal life,
family, neighborhood, community, whatever the thing is, if they're having an
event or something, she's the one that they come to whether she knows anything
about it or not. She's that. That's what I mean by high achieving.
And so she's created this career that, like you
(22:45):
say and I say, checks all the boxes, got the promotions, did all
the things, but just something inside of her yearning for more.
Yeah. She's looking for purpose. And so my my work has to do with
helping people find what that is. Yeah. But from your point of view,
knowing the woman I just described from either your professional
(23:05):
life or your personal life, what's something you can share with
her as she continues on her journey and is trying to figure it
out? Yeah. I think the one thing that really
resonates when you share that description and that definition
is that the women that you speak to, the women that
I work with, like you said, it, it on the surface, it
(23:27):
looks like they have it all together, but somewhere, somewhere
along the way, and and I say I'll speak in the first
person because I feel like you were describing me, but
somewhere along the way, we lose ourselves.
I think as, as women, we are, we are wired to
nurture. We are wired to give. It's who we are. It's the way we showed
(23:49):
up on the planet. And that's a wonderful thing. I think somewhere
along the way, we forget to give to ourselves
and we give to everyone else and everything else.
And we always make sure everybody around us is, like, really
good. Work, home, church, friends, you know,
everybody is really good. And like I said, we we lose
(24:11):
ourselves. And in general, we're not really good at asking
for help. I find that very true with a lot of women.
And so, you know, we just sort of sit quietly and smolder
because we know what we're experiencing. And, you know, we kinda
have our little flag up. Like, doesn't someone see me? I need I need
but we won't raise the flag and say, hey. I need some help over
(24:34):
here. No sort of leaves the vocabulary. And
so then we we get to this place, I feel like, where
and this is where I was before I really had to really,
you know, begin to make some shifts that I lived, I want to say in
this space of like disillusionment. Like, I'm, I'm just not sure
how this is all happening. I had the degree, I had, you know,
(24:57):
the job, I was making the money. I had the house, I had the car,
like everything on paper looks good, but it's not
making any sense. It doesn't feel right. And I think I just
sat in that for a while. And I think a lot of women do. We
just sit, like, in complete disbelief. How can this be? Everything
looks like it's supposed to make sense. And I think when we come to
(25:18):
that recognition that it's us that's
not in our own picture. I used to tell people I couldn't I can
remember a time when I was, you know, kinda living in that space
where I didn't feel like I could make room for myself
in my own life because there was so I was
filled my life up with so many other people and so much stuff. Like, I
(25:41):
didn't have room for myself, so I had to start making room
for myself. So that's, I think, the thing that I would I
would share with your listeners is is figure out a
way to just take a beat, take a pause, and
really just see yourself. Where are you in your
life? How do you fit into your life? And I think,
(26:03):
again, that comes back to that being aligned with your
values and your purpose, because I think when we lose
that alignment, that's when we lose ourselves in, in our own story.
Yes. Well, thank you for sharing that because I'm thinking
lots of people are saying that's me and you're speaking directly to
me. So that's wonderful. And, you've been very
(26:26):
generous with your time, and I know it's a little later in the day for
you than it is for me. But before we tell people how they can get
in touch with you, is there anything that I didn't get to ask
you that bubbles up in your mind right now that you wanna share,
or if there's something that's saying, oh, I just wanna say one more thing. If
not, it's okay, but I just wanna give you the opportunity in case there is
(26:47):
something, and then we can tell people how they can reach you. Yeah.
So I think, in parting, I think the one thing
that I would share, maybe two things quick, that
I would share with your listeners again is there's a
different way. There is a different way to get
through life. There's a different way to do what you're
(27:09):
doing and enjoy it and live it and love it
and still hold on to yourself. I've done
it. I've I've been through it. I know what it feels like, the
exhaustion and the pressure. And but there's
another way to do this that really honors your
well-being as well as your aspirations,
(27:31):
and that it's available to you. It's it it it's
available. You you have what you need. You have what you need in
there. You might just need some help teasing it out a little bit,
but but there's definitely another way. And and the other thing I would
say, you know, I I have this framework and, you know, I can help
people, but I have to still live it every day.
(27:53):
You know? Just because I have gone through it and I figured it out for
myself and I have this framework that I I really have to
practice what I preach every single day because I'm not exempt.
You know, my busy life my my life is still life and, you know, I'm
still busy and it is still full. So,
you know, I'm I'm not speaking from, you know, speaking from
(28:16):
the pulpit, so to speak. You know, I I am in the trenches right there,
still doing it every day, still working the strategies and and
all of those things. So but you can do it. That's what I want them
to know. You can do it. There's another way, and I promise you, you can
you can do this differently. Yes. Thank you for sharing that. I
mean, no better words to leave them with, you can do
(28:37):
it. Okay. One more thing. I meant to ask you,
where can people be in touch with you and hear more about what you're doing?
Yeah. Absolutely. So, you can find me online at
wellwithl, so just the
letter l, dot com. All my background information
is there. You can access online courses,
(28:59):
coaching available that I have. I have some freebies
available for you. And if, you know, you're
ready to start exploring, maybe a little bit, you can schedule a
free one on one consultation, and we can just kind of talk and see where
you are. You ready to dive in? I'm ready to dive in with you. So,
yep, wellwithl.com. That's where they can find me. Great.
(29:21):
Wellwithl.com. Thank you. Again, Dr. Lynise
Green, you've been so generous with your time. Thank you for sharing your
insights, hard won wisdom, and now
bringing the sense of joy and presence to us and helping everybody know
what's possible for them. Thank you for being here. Thank you.
Thank you. Okay, everyone. I'd love to hear your
(29:43):
response to this episode. What's one takeaway or one nugget
that got your attention? You can follow me on social media. I'm on all the
channels, but I spend most of my time on LinkedIn. So
follow me on LinkedIn and send me a message. Let me know what
you're thinking. Robin L. OwensPhD, at Robin
L. Owens PhD. And until next
(30:05):
time, this is Dr. Robin. Thank you for tuning in
to this episode of the Leadership Purpose with Dr. Robin
podcast. If you enjoyed it, head on over and rate
and subscribe so you never miss an episode. New
episodes drop every week, and I can't wait to hang out with
you again soon. Meanwhile, this
(30:28):
is Dr Robin signing off. See you next
time.
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