Podcast Summary: Gather At The Well – Is Your Workplace Actually Toxic? Self-Study, Burnout + the Courage to Stay or Go

Podcast: We Are For Good Podcast – The Podcast for Nonprofits
Host: Lindsay (The Teaching Well)
Guests: Elandria Jackson Charles, Lindsey Fuller, Naomi Hattaway
Release Date: December 2, 2025

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode is a deeply reflective and practical exploration of workplace well-being, the difference between discomfort and toxicity, the internal and external roots of burnout, and the hard but hopeful questions around whether to stay in a challenging work environment or make the leap to something new. The conversation centers especially on the nonprofit and social impact sectors, where passion for the mission often collides with systemic dysfunction or personal depletion. Through stories, tangible tools, and somatic practices, the hosts and guests model what it means to “gather at the well”—to nurture wellness, connection, and clarity for nonprofit professionals and everyday changemakers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: Why This Conversation (00:03–04:45)

• The nonprofit sector is rife with burnout, moral injury, and questions about organizational versus individual responsibility.
• Lindsay frames the episode as a dialogue distinguishing between discomfort that can lead to growth and structural harm that leads to depletion or trauma.
• Highlight: “I don't want to have to heal from employment. I don't. I no longer consent to that.” (A/Lindsay, 02:24)

2. Self-Study as the First Step: Tuning Inward (07:07–13:15)

• Self-study isn’t just reflection; it’s a tool to design recovery and catch misalignment early.
• Naomi shares how her own journey through early menopause heightened her awareness that emotional stress manifests physiologically.
  • “My burnout…looks like overdoing and overcompensating. For some people it means pulling way back…mine means do even more.” (C/Naomi, 09:13)
• Alandria advocates for a daily inquiry: “As soon as you open your eyes…ask yourself, what is the best fuel to support my dreams today?” (B/Alandria, 10:25)
• Lindsay introduces a practice: “Notice, externalize, mindfully act.”

3. Recognizing Burnout in Real Life (13:15–16:06)

• Burnout isn’t a permanent state; it comes in seasons—sometimes linked to major life stages (postpartum, menopause, caretaking, late diagnoses).
• Naomi: “There's another stage…where your parents or those that cared for you are aging…that can desperately impact the way you show up for work.” (C/Naomi, 14:55)
• The “sandwich generation" phenomenon—caring for both children and aging parents—adds unique stress.

4. Reclaiming Agency & Structuring Well-Being (17:53–23:31)

• Both guests offer strategies:
  • Block out calendar time intentionally (“Don’t try to schedule a 9am with me.” – B/Alandria, 18:07).
  • Rethink how meetings are conducted (walking meetings, less video, shorter blocks).
  • Name and fiercely protect breaks (“My incredible executive assistant renamed my lunch as self-care in parentheses…and I felt so vulnerable.” – A/Lindsay, 19:51)
• Naomi shares: Naming open days as “empty days” instead of “CEO day” or “out of office” transformed her rest: “Just the naming of it as what it needs to be is so powerful.” (C/Naomi, 22:12)

5. Somatic Practices for Perspective & Regulation (23:31–25:46)

• Lindsay leads a “zoom out” body-mind practice to create space for clarity before big decisions.

6. External Factors: Decoding the Workplace (28:38–34:18)

• Naomi distinguishes misalignment, dysfunction, toxicity:
  • Misalignment: “Feels like confusion…competing priorities. Fixable if core values are shared.”
  • Dysfunction: “Broken systems. Structure is the problem, but intent is still good. Burnout is likely, but culture isn’t actively harmful.”
  • Toxicity: “Active harm—power abuse, manipulation, gaslighting, silencing dissent. Creates trauma, hypervigilance, crisis exits.” (C/Naomi, 28:38)
• Alandria’s systemic vs. self framework:
  • Systemic: “You feel you’ll experience harm if you bring your full self. Values touted but not lived. Toxicity is permitted or rewarded.”
  • Self: “Constant energy depletion, sacrificing other areas of your life, inability to rest or sleep.” (B/Alandria, 31:59)

7. The Myth of Consulting as the Cure (34:18–38:50)

• The guests push back on the notion that self-employment is an easy fix for organizational toxicity.
• Naomi: “If you’re not willing to address your internal challenges…all you’re going to do is set that same stuff up in your own business.” (C/Naomi, 35:46)
• Alandria: “Being out on your own exacerbates some of the things. You can literally end up replicating…the toxicity.” (B/Alandria, 38:23)
• Advice: Before leaving, engage in self-inquiry, talk to a coach or therapist, and—when possible—exercise your power by providing clear feedback to your organization.

8. Discernment: Stay or Go Checklist (39:11–41:10)

• Naomi’s Questions:
  • What is it costing to stay?
  • Why are you staying? (Commitment, guilt, exhaustion, mission-attachment)
  • Can the situation change? Do you have the power to impact it?
  • Who benefits from your staying, or might benefit from your leaving?
• Alandria’s Questions:
  • What is your gut, truly, telling you?
  • Can this space actually hold your brilliance?
  • Which version of yourself (the one who stays or leaves) would you be most proud of?

9. Practices & Affirmations for Clarity (41:10–43:54)

• Lindsay’s “Visual Confirmation Practice”: T-chart method on “What’s pulling me to leave?” vs. “What’s calling me to stay?”
• Affirmations:
  • Lindsay: “I trust my body to tell the truth before my burnout does.” (A/Lindsay, 43:54)
  • Naomi: “Leaving can be my best leadership. I can honor what is and still choose what’s next.” (C/Naomi, 43:55)
  • Alandria: “I was made to walk in peace and clarity. Stepping away makes room for my brilliance.” (B/Alandria, 44:03)

10. Closing with Critical Hope (44:11–45:45)

• Alandria: “If it’s not good, then God’s not done yet. Period.” (B/Alandria, 44:39)
• Naomi: Hope is remembering “I don’t have to do it all. Someone else has done some of the parts already, or is planning to.” (C/Naomi, 44:59)
• Lindsay: Hope that “we have self-determination, and our spirits are such powerful compasses inside us…when we grow our capacity to tune in and listen, a path emerges.” (A/Lindsay, 45:39)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Self study is not something you do once and you figure out. It’s something we have to continuously engage in.” – Lindsay (A), 14:14
• “If you’re not willing to address your internal challenges…all you’re going to do is set that same stuff up in your own business.” – Naomi (C), 35:45
• “Can this space hold the full scope of your brilliance? And which version of you would be most proud—the one who stays or the one who leaves?” – Alandria (B), 40:44
• “Hope isn’t naive...it is choosing to believe that repair and rest are still possible, even in the mess.” – Lindsay (A), 44:11

Timestamps of Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamps | |------------------------------------------------|---------------| | Welcome, episode framing, guest introductions | 00:03–02:27 | | Settling + somatic breathing practice | 02:28–04:45 | | Self-study – practices & stories | 07:07–13:15 | | Burnout’s seasons & role of life stages | 13:15–16:06 | | Calendar, routine, and boundary strategies | 17:53–23:31 | | Somatic “zoom out” body practice | 23:31–25:46 | | Breaking down misalignment, dysfunction, toxic | 28:38–34:18 | | Consulting/freelancing – myth or solution? | 34:18–38:50 | | Discernment checklist – stay or go? | 39:11–41:10 | | Affirmations, reflection practices | 41:10–43:54 | | Critical hope – closing round | 44:11–45:45 |

Summary Flow & Usefulness

This episode is a must-listen for nonprofit professionals, educators, changemakers, and anyone reckoning with workplace harm or personal depletion. It reframes “burnout” not as an individual flaw, but as a phenomenon with personal and systemic roots—one requiring both self-study and collective action. The conversation is practical, validating, vulnerable, and aspirational. Listeners walk away with concrete practices, profound questions to aid discernment, somatic exercises, and most importantly, a sense that critical hope—and a better way of working—is both necessary and possible.

Useful Links:

• weareforgood.com
• theteachingwell.org
• Connect with Naomi Hattaway and Alandria Jackson Charles on LinkedIn for further resources and coaching.