Circle Back Club

"Work across so many sectors trains us to treat real-world human problems like abstract strategy exercises." — Aparna Rae

IN THIS EPISODE

Are you tired of staring at a 50-slide strategy deck that feels entirely disconnected from the real world? In this episode, host Aparna Rae is joined by innovation researcher, knowledge architect, and equity designer Dr. Pierce Otlhogile-Gordon to explore the "sense-making trap" of white-col...

"Brands are for products. People are defined by stories. And when they tell those stories in powerful ways, there is nothing more magnetic."

IN THIS EPISODE

If you have ever felt dirty trying to "build a personal brand" on LinkedIn, or cringed at the pressure of corporate self-promotion, this episode is your antidote.

Aparna is joined by Amanda Hirsch, former Editorial Director of PBS.org and CEO of Mighty Forces - a storytelling comp...

"No billionaire can pull off theft in broad daylight without the help of everyday professional class workers who choose to stay silent or act out of outright complicity."

IN THIS EPISODE We like to think that modern organizations are deeply objective, metrics-driven spaces. But what happens when objective data rubs up against the financial and personal goals of senior leadership? Let's say it plainly: the evidence typically loses.

In...

"The room isn’t empty because we stopped wanting to learn. It’s empty because we’ve made it harder to feed the hunger."

IN THIS EPISODE

Have you noticed that your interest in webinars, certificates, and professional cohorts has completely plummeted over the last couple of years?

You are not alone.

Sign-ups are down, virtual attendance is dropping, and the energy in professional learning spaces feels hollow.

In thi...

"Dignity isn't a perk. It's not a leadership style. It is the foundation for safety, collective action, and honest work."

IN THIS EPISODE In our Season 1 finale, Aparna and Lars lay down the ultimate baseline for what it actually means to be human in modern work structures. For months, we have built a meticulous structural, historical, and embodied case for why contemporary white-collar systems make us feel so profoundly small. In t...

IN THIS EPISODE

"The institution isn't failing in spite of us. It's failing because we keep it going the way it is."

In this deeply personal and reflective solo episode, Aparna and Lars hold up a mirror to the white-collar workforce. Diving into the works of sociologist Musa al-Gharbi (We Have Never Been Woke) and cultural theorist Catherine Liu (Virtue Hoarders), they break down two uncomfortable frameworks: Symbolic Capitalism and...

We’ve all seen the emails that start with "Now more than ever, we need to talk about wellness." But whose problem is it really?

IN THIS EPISODE

Lars and Aparna are joined by Hebba Youssef, Chief People Officer at Workweek and founder of the "I Hate It Here" newsletter. We’re digging into the $60 billion workplace wellness industry to ask: Are meditation apps and sound baths actually helping, or are they just cheap bandaid...

Corporate professionalism is often a tool used to isolate us from our coworkers and the world. It’s time to bridge the gap.

IN THIS EPISODE

Aparna and Lars are joined by tech veteran Glenn Block and organizer Abdo Mohamed to dismantle the insistent "professionalism" that prevents us from building meaningful solidarity. We explore the concept of Cross-Class Solidarity - the radical idea that whether you make $60k or $600k, we ha...

The Myth of Self-Advocacy: Beyond the Girl Boss Industrial Complex

We did everything the playbook told us to do—the salary negotiations, the networking, the "leaning in." Why are we still hitting a wall?

IN THIS EPISODE Aparna and Lars are joined by technologist and community builder Hala Saleh to dismantle the myth of self-advocacy. We look back at the era of the "Girl Boss" and the "Queen Bee" to ask: Is individual advancemen...

We’ve been taught to treat our bodies as mere vehicles that carry our brains to the next meeting, but our soma is actually our most reliable intelligence system.

IN THIS EPISODE Aparna and Lars are joined by master somatic coach Giulio Brunini to discuss the profound consequences of overriding our physical signals for the sake of corporate performance. We dive into why "restless toes" and autoimmune flares are often the body&r...

We’ve rebranded workplace depression as "burnout" and personal failure, but the data shows the harm is actually by design.

IN THIS EPISODE

Aparna and Lars are joined by organizational psychologist Dr. Nicole DeKay to go where most U.S. workplace conversations are afraid to go: Psychosocial Hazards. While countries like Australia and New Zealand legally regulate things like "intrusive surveillance," "overload," and "poor change ...

We’re all exhausted trying to meet a standard of perfection that wasn't even designed for human beings.

IN THIS EPISODE

Aparna and Lars are joined by organizational consultant Valarie Williams to dismantle the "Ideal Worker" myth. A set of persistent corporate beliefs that the perfect employee has no life, no caregiving responsibilities, and zero physical or mental health needs. We dive into the "Anxious Achiever" phenomenon, t...

We all sign a contract letter when we enter the office, but most of the rules are never actually written down.

Explore the hidden unwritten rules of the office with Aparna, Lars, and Leilani Lewis. We break down the "psychological contracts" that demand your silence and performative loyalty. Learn how to reclaim your dignity and rebuild collective power at work.

IN THIS EPISODE Aparna and Lars are joined by arts leader and organizati...

Fear of losing it all

The Invisible Tax of White-Collar Security

We often trade our silence and our values for the promise of a steady paycheck, but we have to ask if the thing we are protecting is actually protecting us back.

IN THIS EPISODE

Aparna and Lars sit down with Dr. Dalya Perez to name the heavy, invisible cost of staying "inside the lines" of corporate America. We dig into why white-collar security often feels like a "deal"...

Who Built This?

The History of Modern Corporate Culture.

If you’ve ever felt like a replaceable cog in a machine that values spreadsheets over people, it’s because the system was redesigned to feel exactly that way.

IN THIS EPISODE Aparna and Lars sit down with finance veteran Bachul Koul to trace how we moved from small, community-rooted businesses to a world where "shareholder primacy" is the only law that matters. We ...

You're not burned out because you're weak — you're burned out because the system was designed this way. This isn't a self-help episode. It's a reality check — and the beginning of something better.

IN THIS EPISODE

You already know something is wrong. Maybe it's the Sunday dread, or the way your stomach drops when your boss Slacks you at 9pm, or the creeping feeling that you've given everything to a job that could disappea...

The Circle Back Club envisions a future of work grounded in community, wellbeing, dignity, and care instead of endless financial growth and burnout. When you join the Circle Back Club, you’re joining a community committed to challenging the status quo. We’re circling back and asking the tough questions, like: “what if it didn’t have to be this way?”

CONNECT WITH US

Aparna on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.c...