Powrup

A Powrsuiter came to us with a familiar problem: she's scheduling one-on-ones, building rapport, sending proactive updates - and her manager's response is... nothing. Not hostility, just indifference. Turns out she’s probably missing one critical angle. Nat and Kristen dig into the direct conversation worth having - one that's about strategic alignment, not reassurance-seeking - and how to frame it. And if all else fails? We ...

Nat and Kristen get into why the most useful question in any meeting - the basic, obvious, 'dumb' one - is almost always the one nobody asks!

Turns out 70% of people are holding back in meetings, doing constant mental maths about whether it's worth it. They get into the blue collar vs white collar question thing, what psychological safety actually looks like in real life, and three questions worth keeping in your back pocket before...

Nat and Kristen take a quiz to find out what kind of follower they actually are (Nat's a recovering chaos-agent, Kristen's an eye-roller with a popcorn habit). They get into the five followership styles - passive, alienated, survivor, conformist, effective - and why almost everyone reckons they're the 'good' one, which obviously can't be true.

If you've ever saved your real opinion for after the meeting, worked yourself to the bone...

Nat and Kristen dig into the motivation gap that's showing up everywhere right now - teams low on initiative, leaders exhausted by it, and nobody quite sure why. They cover a few reasons people are checked out (spoiler: six years of economic chaos can do that), why change fatigue is different this time, and whether the generational blame game is actually useful.

Plus: why running faster is not the answer, and the case for doing abs...

Nat and Kristen get into why so many of us treat a meeting invite like a court summons - accepting on autopilot, turning up unprepared, and wondering why we feel busy but not strategic.

Turns out, saying yes to everything gets you a great reputation as a doer, and quietly sidelines you from the rooms where decisions actually happen. They cover the practical fixes too: how to graciously decline or clarify before you commit, why prep...

Nat and Kristen wrote their own obituaries - one involves a yacht, gin martinis, Michelle Obama, and a request for dramatic sobbing (guess who). The other is a manifesto. Both are surprisingly useful.

This episode is about using your obituary as a filter: for your values, your career, and whether you're actually living the life you want or just a very organised version of the default one. Plus: living funerals, why the robot (AI) m...

Turns out there's actual science behind why you do everything for everyone else before yourself. Nat and Kristen dig into the biology of why women are literally wired to put others first and how decades of conditioning piles on top to make self-prioritisation feels uncomfortable. They cover what finally pushes women to make a change, plus genuinely small ways to start reclaiming your time without a personality overhaul. Also: golf ...

Nat and Kristen dive into the professional version of the dating ick - that sudden, inexplicable cringe you get from colleagues and workplace behaviour. From performative cultural awareness and name-dropping to people who swan into meetings mid-phone-call just to look busy they share their personal lists of workplace annoyances (and admit some of them say more about themselves than anyone else). Weaponised busyness, auto-forwards w...

Nat and Kristen get into the underrated skill of reading a room - who actually holds the power (*cough* it's not always the most senior person), why where you sit says more than you think, and how to spot the silent dissenters before they tank your project offline.

They cover what to watch for in your next meeting: who opens, who dominates, who's performing for the boss, and what the micro-moments between people are actually tellin...

Nat and Kristen tackle the lost art of starting a conversation - why we've all gotten terrible at it (thanks, Zoom), and how to stop defaulting to ‘what do you do?’ at every networking event. From the situational observation trick to the ‘gift opener’ technique, they share practical openers for networking events, random everyday bumps, and those awkward meeting icebreakers that nobody wants to call icebreake...

Nat and Kristen get into why so many women find themselves giving, giving, giving - and getting very little back. They break down a ‘relationship bank account’ theory (deposits, withdrawals, and who's quietly draining your savings), why being the reliable, accommodating one can seriously backfire, and how culture plays a bigger role than you'd think. Plus - the sneaky ways you might accidentally be the withdrawer withou...

While we recharge, we're reaching into the vault for this one - and if you've ever silently fumed about your manager, it's for you. One in two people quit because of theirs, but here's the thing: this relationship is a two-way street and there's way more you can control than you think. Nat and Kristen get into how to crack your manager's communication code, stop making assumptions, and actually take control of the dynamic. Spoiler:...

We're taking a couple of weeks off (yes, we're actual humans!), so we're reaching into the vault for this one - and it's a goodie worth revisiting. 

Nat and Kristen unpack gravitas -  the ancient Roman virtue that's been wildly misunderstood, especially for women. What it actually is, what it definitely isn't, and why authenticity in your voice and message matters more than projecting 'main character energy'. Plus some pra...

Nat and Kristen are battling sinus colds AND the state of the world - turns out both are equally congestion-inducing. From their city's dodgy sewage situation to a looming fuel crisis, a lonely Gen Z kid, and powerful men making questionable decisions, they unpack why we've all gone a bit numb to the chaos.

They cover the spectrum of crisis responses (are you a checker, an avoider, an evangelist, or just fully paralysed?), why your...

Nat and Kristen count their meetings live on air (nine for Kristen. NINE.) and dive into why your calendar has become a problem. They cover why time wasted in unproductive meetings has doubled since the pandemic, why 70% of senior execs admit meetings are inefficient but keep booking them anyway, and what you can actually do about it - from auditing your recurring ‘ghost meetings’ that nobody needs anymore, to the magic...

Why are so many of us hanging around waiting for a shoulder tap, an invite, or someone to say ‘go ahead’? Nat and Kristen get into where permission-seeking comes from, why it's a learned behaviour rather than a personal failing, and what you can do about it - starting with the low-stakes stuff like just picking the restaurant. Also featuring: Simone Biles, a deeply uncomfortable rewatch of Nashville, and why your profes...

Nat and Kristen dig into why women speak up to 75% less the moment men enter the room - and no, it's not a confidence problem, but a room problem. They get into the research behind why it takes a supermajority of women on a board before they get equal airtime, and what's actually going on when women go quiet in spaces that weren't really designed for them.

But this one's as much for allies as it is for women - there's a brilliant t...

Nat and Kristen dig into the growing habit of self-diagnosing every uncomfortable feeling - from 'I'm nervous about this event' becoming 'I have social anxiety' to the ADHD label being casually dropped with zero diagnosis in sight. They're not here to dismiss real mental health struggles (big caveat, they make it very clear), but they do want to talk about what happens when discomfort gets a clinical name, kids get excused from exa...

Nat and Kristen do a deep dive on personality tests - yep, including the bird one from the 90s - before diving into the Business Chemistry assessment and its four archetypes: the Pioneer (40 browser tabs open, hates admin), the Guardian (actually reads the terms and conditions), the Driver (please just get to the point), and the Integrator (felt the tension in the room before anyone said a word). Turns out Nat and Kristen are compl...