My Laptop Didn’t Come To Lunch, And Neither Did The Guilt

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Unleash Her: The Next Chapter Begins

What happens when the habit everyone applauds slowly empties you out? We open up about growing up with a self-sacrifice script, chasing a career while raising kids, and the silent resentment that builds when rest is always last on the list. The story moves from the 9-to-5-to-2 a.m. grind to a gentle, grounded reset: morning rituals that actually stick, boundaries that protect both family and focus, and one surprisingly luxurious act of self-care that cost nothing but time.

You’ll hear the honest timeline of burnout—how “doing it all” became doing too much—and why sustainable ambition asks for seasons, support, and clear limits. We talk about redefining progress beyond hours worked, trading performative productivity for presence, and learning to trust your value without midnight emails. There’s also a behind-the-scenes look at Unleash Her, the anthology featuring powerful stories from women who chose a different path, and how those voices helped build Still Roses and its mission to elevate women’s experiences.

If you’ve ever felt guilty for resting or felt praised for running on empty, this conversation offers a practical path back to yourself. Expect real-life tools: a simple morning routine, permission to drop or delegate, and language for setting expectations at work and at home. Plus, a listener giveaway for the first five who message us for a copy of the book. If this resonates, share it with a friend who needs the reminder, tap follow to stay close to the journey, and leave a review to help more women find their way back to time that truly feeds the soul.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
The concept of prioritizing myself was

(00:02):
incredibly hard for me to wrapmy head around.
I was raised in a household thatcelebrated self-sacrifice and
martyrdom.
Sacrifice for your children,sacrifice for your husband,
sacrifice to keep the peace, andsacrifice to keep everyone
happy.
But at what point does thispattern begin to build
resentment?
And at what point will yourneeds ever be met?
A terrible cycle permeated mylife, allowing task after task

(00:24):
to pile on me, an inevitablescreaming meltdown would take
place.
Good evening, everyone.
This is Still Roses Podcast.
This podcast was created forwomen by women to elevate
women's voices.
I am very excited to record theepisodes for the week.
As promised, in our my lastrecording, I'm actually going to
be reading to you some uh parts,some little chapters and

(00:47):
snippets from the anthologyseries that was published
earlier this year that I'mactually featured in.
So this is book two, UnleashHer.
The next chapter begins.
My section um is about the aboutme basically and how Steel Roses
came to be.
Um so I'm just gonna read acouple of paragraphs this week

(01:10):
and then I'll probably lookthrough the rest too, because to
be perfectly honest with you,beyond the fact that I'm in this
book, the people, the people,the other women that have
contributed to this book arereally truly amazing women and
they're sharing reallyphenomenal stories.
So I do encourage you to reallytake a look at it.
I'll include a link to the bookon Amazon in the episode

(01:32):
description for the week so thatway everyone can take a look.
So here we go.
The concept of prioritizingmyself was incredibly hard for
me to wrap my head around.
I was raised in a household thatcelebrated self-sacrifice and
martyrdom, sacrifice for yourchildren, sacrifice for your
husband, sacrifice to keep thepeace, and sacrifice to keep
everyone happy.
But at what point does thispattern begin to build

(01:54):
resentment?
And at what point will yourneeds ever be met?
A terrible cycle permeated mylife, allowing task after task
to pile on me until I wouldblow.
An inevitable screaming meltdownwould take place, then wash,
rinse, and repeat.
Now, that particular paragraphis actually referring to Jenny
2021, who was incredibly burntout from at that point about six

(02:20):
years of very, very difficultwork-life balance situations
that I put myself in.
I've talked about that before,how I would really just burn
them in midnight oil.
There was a really driving, avery fierce drive within me to
make sure my career wascontinuing to grow while my
children were growing up.

(02:40):
For me in that time, taking astep back, this is gonna sound
crazy to say out loud, buttaking a step back for my career
to care for my children morethan I did, or letting my career
go and and you know, pulling mykids up more than I did, um
would have felt like defeat.
So instead of letting one go,which you obviously couldn't let

(03:04):
your children go, so to let mycareer go instead, I just
smashed it into the evening.
So I would do my nine to five,my usual.
I would make sure from 5 to 9p.m.
I focused on my kids.
And then from 9 a.m.
to, I don't know, 2 or 3 a.m., Iwas logged in.
I was working, I was talking topeople on the phone.

(03:24):
I was making sure things gotdone.
I was making sure my clientsfelt supported.
And that fierce drive reallypushed me for about five or six
years before I started to crackand before I started to see the
problems, and before I startedto really feel that impact on my
mental health.
Present-day Jenny does not feelthis need to ferociously attack

(03:46):
my career.
Now, granted, I am further alongnow, um, a little over 18 years
in my industry.
And yes, that does put me in adifferent position at this
point.
I don't feel anymore the need toprove myself.
But that's not just because ofmy tenure.
It's also because of the peoplethat I work with.
They see the value in me withoutme even having to jump through

(04:09):
hoops, which I would jumpthrough hoops for any of them
because they're such wonderfulpeople, but I digress.
The point being, I did notprioritize myself and it took a
toll on me.
So what I've worked really hardto do over the past couple of
years was to make make sure thatI was taking time to just
prioritize myself and make sureI was prioritizing my needs.

(04:30):
Now, it's not going to be everyday.
There's no way that that's gonnahappen.
In some instances, it issomewhat there.
So you all know that everymorning I do get up early to
make sure that I'm fitting intime for myself.
Now, I'm not the only mom out ofworking mom out here that does
that.
I know a few in the area thatactually get up at five o'clock
in the morning as well toexercise and get that time in

(04:52):
for themselves.
Every single woman I talk todown here where I live says the
same thing, resounding.
I get up early so I can havetime for myself.
This seems to be the ticket.
This is like the golden ticketfor all of us.
Now, and you know, I'm the sameway.
That's my time.
If I want to have time tomyself, if I want to make sure I
have time for meditation,journaling, everything else that
I do, my savers, you know, themiracle morning, I do that in

(05:14):
the mornings.
And then I'm able to at 7 a.m.
start rolling with breakfast and8 p 8 a.m.
get the kids on the buses andthis and that.
It's it's an ongoing cycle, butit's something that's super
important.
Now, this past week, I didsomething very indulgent for
myself, which I never have doneever.
And I can say that with 100%accuracy.

(05:36):
Never done this before.
But I had off from work onFriday, and normal me would have
looked at this day as anopportunity to get ahead on
chores and tasks within thehouse.
I'm very grateful that I'm ableto have some hired support to

(05:57):
help with tasks and chores.
So it lightens the load quite abit.
The other parts that I still do,the groceries and that kind of
stuff, that'll need to get donetoo on Friday.
So I still had some tasks andmom things, mom tours, wife
tours that needed to get done.
And, you know, after, you know,participating in my kids'
Halloween events in the morningat school, it took a minute and

(06:20):
really thought to myself, youknow, okay, maybe you should run
to, you know, this, you know,big box club thing and get
groceries and this and that andsave money and go here and
there.
And then I paused and I lookedat the time, and instead of
doing all that, I opted to notdo any of that.
So I picked up some food formyself and I was able to sit

(06:44):
quietly in a beautiful settingand have just a very quiet lunch
alone.
Now that might be very hard forsome people.
And I will say, I did bring withme a book and my little journal
because, you know, I I thoughtif the desire hit me, I'd be

(07:04):
able to grab my book and read.
If the desire hit me, I couldgrab my book and write.
I just wanted to have my mylittle tools there.
I did not bring my laptop, whichguys, you don't know this about
me, but me not carrying a laptopwith me is actually pretty
significant.
But I didn't.
I did not do any of it, I didn'tdo that.
So I sat and tasted my food andI sipped on some tea.

(07:27):
And I very I just nibbled.
I really didn't.
It's not like I was eating, Ireally don't eat loads of food
in one setting anyway.
But I just, I just took time tobe quiet and appreciate the
moment and be in the moment.
And it was really interestingbecause it felt so freaking
luxurious.
And then it really hit me howmuch I need to be doing more of

(07:48):
that and how much I really needto make sure I'm taking time to
treat myself.
And I'm not talking shoes andthings and bags and not that I
don't love all that stuff.
I love fashion and clothes andall that, but I'm not talking
about acquiring physical thingsthat clutter.
I'm talking about acquiring timefor yourself that feeds your

(08:10):
soul.
And being able to do that formyself really set the most
beautiful tone for me.
And it's still carrying with meto today.
And it'll probably carry with meinto the week, which I hope so,
because everybody, the kids areoff from school this week.
I am working this week, and I amfrightened.
So on that note, thank you allfor hanging out with me.

(08:32):
I greatly appreciate all of you.
One thing before I let you guysgo, the book, I am including
links in the episodedescription.
So all this week you'll be ableto access, you know, purchasing
the book on Amazon.
However, for the first five ofyou that message me directly
requesting a copy of the book,if you provide me with your
mailing address, I will ship abook out to you.

(08:53):
I do actually have extra copieshere.
So I'm very excited to be ableto gift that to five people.
So the first five people thatmessage me, I will be able to
help you out.
You can find me on Instagram andI believe LinkedIn will be the
best ways to grab me.
So if you're interested in acopy of the book, I'm happy to
gift it to you.
Otherwise, there's also a linkin the episode description.
So thank you again for hangingout with me this week.

(09:15):
I greatly appreciate all of you,and I will catch you on the next
one.
Take care.