Advertise on podcast: Wired to Work with Jess Chapman

Why do we keep falling back into habits we know aren’t working for us? In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman talks with engineer, entrepreneur and manifestation coach Aparna Dubey about the patterns that keep us stuck, from overworking and constant busyness to distraction, multitasking and the belief that productivity equals worth. Aparna explains her approach to manifestation as more than simply wishing for an outcome. She discusses attention, repeated thoughts and behaviours, nervous-system familiarity and the role she believes they play in determining what we notice and how we act. She also shares practical techniques she uses with clients, including activity and energy audits, visualization, journaling, somatic work and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) tapping. In this episode: Why familiar patterns can be so difficult to changeHow busyness and overwork can become part of our identityWhy focus can feel uncomfortable when we’re accustomed to constant stimulationAparna’s four-part activity and energy audit for examining where your time actually goesPractical foundations for focus, including sleep, movement, nutrition and hydrationVisualization, mindset and behaviour changeWhat somatic practices and EFT tapping are and how Aparna uses themThe difference between changing your own patterns and recognizing when the environment itself needs to changeWhy awareness creates an opportunity to make a different choiceAbout Aparna Dubey Aparna is an engineer, serial entrepreneur and manifestation coach and the founder of The Logical Manifestor. Her work combines mindset, habit and somatic practices with her interpretation of neuroscience to help entrepreneurs work toward personal and business goals. Find her website at: https://thelogicalmanifestor.com/ Wired to Work explores the science behind how we think, lead and perform. 🎧 Listen to Wired to Work: https://wiredtowork.buzzsprout.com/ 📬 Join us on Substack: https://wiredtowork.substack.com/ Chapters: 00:00 — Why Your Nervous System Keeps You Stuck 00:37 — Meet Aparna Dubey: The Logical Manifestor 01:56 — Is Manifestation Really “Woo-Woo”? 03:04 — What Manifestation Actually Means to Aparna 05:09 — Why We Repeat Familiar Patterns 09:17 — When Being Busy Becomes Part of Your Identity 10:18 — Changing Habits Through Somatic Work & EFT 12:41 — Is It You—or Does Your Environment Need to Change? 13:14 — The Activity & Energy Audit 15:56 — How to Improve Focus at Work 16:29 — How Hydration Affects Focus & Decision-Making 17:50 — Sleep, Movement & Better Brain Performance 18:20 — Why Your Physical Environment Matters 19:11 — Stop Trying to Focus on Everything 19:59 — Journaling & Meditation for Mental Clarity 22:07 — What to Do When You’re Overwhelmed at Work 24:02 — What Is Somatic Work? 27:08 — What Is EFT Tapping and How Does It Work? 30:00 — Breaking the Link Between Busyness and Self-Worth 31:54 — Rewiring Old Patterns Through Repetition 32:18 — Aparna’s Advice for Creating Change 33:31 — Where to Find Aparna #neuroscience #leadership #performance

In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman sits down with organizational design and culture change expert Erin Stadler to challenge some of the assumptions we’ve built around workplace culture, growth and change. Because organizations are always changing. People join. People leave. Teams grow. Products evolve. Markets shift. And every one of those changes affects how an organization actually works. So instead of asking how we can better manage change, Erin asks a different question: how do we build organizations that are designed for it? Jess and Erin get into why company culture is about much more than a set of values, what happens to culture as organizations scale, why onboarding should be treated as a year-long experience, and how founders can unintentionally lose the very ways of working that made their company successful in the first place. They also explore change fatigue, the pressure to protect what’s already working, and why the ability to continually adapt may be one of the most important things a leader can build. As Erin puts it, business strategy tends to focus on markets, customers and financials. But there’s another strategic question we often leave out: How do we work? Because the thing you’re building isn’t just the product. It’s the organization capable of building what comes next. keywords culture change, organizational design, systems thinking, change management, leadership, onboarding, organizational behavior, culture shift, founder insights, adaptive organizations key  topics The distinction between values, behaviors, and principles in culture How to start building culture at the founder level The importance of behaviors and principles in organizational change Redesigning onboarding as a year-long experience Managing expectations and energy during change The role of systems thinking in organizational adaptability  sound bites "Workplaces that meet my preferences aren't always safe" "Behavior is the principle we make decisions on" "Managing change is like managing risk, not opportunity" Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Erin Stadler and the episode's focus 02:14 The importance of starting culture from scratch at the founder level 05:53 Key advice for founders on establishing culture early 07:19 The distinction between values and behaviors in culture design 11:30 The role of mindset and principles in organizational behaviors 16:46 Using psychoanalysis as a tool to understand organizational entity 20:20 The risk of scaling culture without clear principles 23:17 Redesigning onboarding as a year-long, co-created experience 30:32 The difference between managing change and creating opportunities 35:49 Shifting from change management to embracing uncertainty 41:32 The importance of framing and collective responsibility in change 47:27 Building a culture resilient to pivots and pivots as opportunities 52:09 Erin’s upcoming book on creating conditions for change

What happens when a brilliant employee is working in a system that fights the way their brain works? In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman sits down with entrepreneur and C-suite leader Remy Meraz for a candid conversation about neurodivergence, ADHD, dyslexia, masking, accountability, and what workplaces can do differently. Remy was diagnosed with ADHD in her 30s and later discovered she was dyslexic; experiences that helped make sense of years of frustration, exhaustion, and feeling like certain things that seemed easy for everyone else took far more effort for her. Together, Jess and Remy explore: What neurodivergence actually feels like at workWhy masking can be exhaustingHow ADHD can show up as both strength and frictionWhy accommodations don’t have to mean designing a different workplace for every personThey also tackle a question that often gets avoided: Where does workplace support end and personal accountability begin? Because neurodivergence isn’t an excuse to opt out of expectations. But expecting every person to think, communicate and perform in exactly the same way isn’t good leadership either. If you want to create workplaces with enough flexibility, clarity and humanity for different kinds of brains to succeed - this one's for you!  🎧 Listen to Wired to Work: https://wiredtowork.buzzsprout.com/ 📩 Join the Wired to Work Substack: https://wiredtowork.substack.com/ #WiredToWork #Neurodiversity #ADHD #Leadership #WorkplaceCulture #FutureOfWork #Neurodivergent #InclusiveLeadership

Burnout. Thriving. Boundaries. Grief. Menopause. These aren’t side conversations anymore. They’re shaping how people experience work — and what leaders need to understand about the humans inside their organizations. In this special season finale of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman revisits five conversations that challenged assumptions, introduced new ideas, and raised questions that stuck with her long after the recording ended. Featuring: • Dr. Jo Burrell on the alarming burnout crisis among HR professionals — and why resilience can’t compensate for an unhealthy workplace • Dr. Paul Zak on the neuroscience of thriving and what happens when we stop measuring how people say they feel and start looking at how they actually respond • Ange Crockwell on boundaries, trauma-informed workplaces, and why protecting your own capacity isn’t selfish • Dr. Ashlee Cunsolo on climate grief and the emotional impact of a changing world that people inevitably bring to work with them • Tina Pomroy on menopause, the brain, and why this stage of life needs a very different narrative If you’re thinking about leadership, workplace culture or simply what it means to be a human at work right now, these are the workplace conversations you can’t afford to ignore. 🎧 Explore Wired to Work: https://wiredtowork.buzzsprout.com/ 📩 Join the Wired to Work Substack: https://wiredtowork.substack.com/ #WiredToWork #FutureOfWork #Leadership #WorkplaceCulture #Burnout #Menopause #WorkplaceWellbeing

HR is supposed to support everyone else. But who is supporting HR? In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman sits down with clinical psychologist and Ultimate Resilience co-founder Dr. Jo Burrell to unpack some deeply concerning data about the mental health of HR professionals — and the workplace systems helping drive it. Dr. Burrell’s research found extraordinarily high levels of burnout, anxiety and depression among HR professionals, with many reporting that they feel poorly supported despite being the very people organizations turn to when everyone else is struggling. And that raises a bigger question: Have we mistaken asking people to cope with broken systems for resilience? Jess and Jo explore: Why HR has become the emotional shock absorber of modern workplacesWhat happens when leaders outsource every difficult people problem to HRWhy HR professionals are being asked to handle grief, trauma and mental health issues they were never trained to manageHow the “helper” identity can make it difficult for HR people to say noWhy resilience cannot compensate for an unhealthy workplaceThe problem with one-off wellness initiatives and “lunch and learn” solutionsWhy organizations need to address the source of stress — not just teach employees to tolerate more of itWhat HR professionals can do to protect their own wellbeing without emotionally shutting downBecause you can be the healthiest, most resilient person in the world — but if your workload is impossible and your workplace is toxic, eventually the environment wins. And if the people responsible for everyone else’s wellbeing are burning out themselves, that should concern every leader. 🎧 Listen to the full episode of Wired to Work: https://wiredtowork.buzzsprout.com 📩 Join the Wired to Work Substack for practical insights, tools and conversations about making work work better: https://wiredtowork.substack.com #WiredToWork #HR #Burnout #Leadership #WorkplaceCulture #MentalHealthAtWork #Resilience #FutureOfWork

What if creating a trauma-informed workplace actually led to higher performance—not lower expectations? Many leaders worry that supporting employees through difficult circumstances means compromising accountability. Angela Crockwell, Executive Director of Thrive, argues the opposite. In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman sits down with Angela to unpack what trauma-informed leadership really means, why every workplace—not just healthcare or social services—should be thinking about it, and how leaders can create psychologically safe environments while still expecting excellence. They explore: Why trauma is more common than most leaders realizeThe difference between being trauma-aware and trauma-informedHow to create psychological safety without becoming a therapistWhy strong boundaries are essential—not optionalHow curiosity can replace judgment in difficult conversationsWhy accountability and compassion can (and should) coexistPractical ways leaders can support people without lowering standardsWhether you lead a team of two or two thousand, this conversation will change the way you think about people, performance, and what it really means to create a healthy workplace. 🎧 Listen & Subscribe 🎙️ Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or on Buzzsprout: https://wiredtowork.buzzsprout.com 📬 Join the Wired to Work Substack community for exclusive leadership insights, behind-the-scenes content, and episode takeaways: https://substack.com/@wiredtowork

A stressful week is not the same as burnout. Stress usually has an end point. Burnout develops when overwhelm becomes chronic, recovery disappears, and your brain and body no longer have the capacity to keep up with what is being asked of them. In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman sits down with burnout and resilience coach Cherri Forsyth to explore how burnout develops, what it looks like before someone reaches a breaking point, and why pushing through is not the same as being resilient. They discuss: • The difference between temporary stress and chronic burnout • Why burnout can be difficult to recognize from the outside • The early signs leaders and colleagues should notice • How brain fog, exhaustion and detachment show up at work • Why rest and recovery are essential to performance • How workplace systems can contribute to burnout • Why self-care has to mean more than an occasional bubble bath • How leaders can support someone without trying to diagnose or fix them Burnout is not a personal failure. And it is not simply a matter of learning to cope better. Sometimes the person needs support. Sometimes the workload needs to change. Often, the system needs to be examined too. 🎧 Listen to the full episode of Wired to Work: https://wiredtowork.buzzsprout.com 📩 Join the Wired to Work Substack for practical insights, tools and conversations about making work work better: https://substack.com/@wiredtowork #Burnout #Stress #Leadership #WorkplaceWellbeing #MentalHealthAtWork #Resilience #WorkplaceCulture #WiredToWork

Most organizations invest heavily in workplace wellness and still end up with teams that feel flat, disengaged, and exhausted. The problem may not be the programme. It may be what we're aiming for. In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman sits down with behavioural neuroscientist Dr. Paul Zak to explore what actually helps people and teams thrive—and how leaders can measure it in real time. They discuss: • Why wellness may be too low a bar • What a thriving brain actually looks like • How psychological safety can be measured rather than surveyed • What neuroscience reveals about remote and in-person work • Why autonomy and a clear sense of purpose matter so much • How “train extensively, delegate generously” changes performance • Why traditional engagement surveys only tell part of the story After 30 years studying the neuroscience of human connection, trust, and performance, Dr. Zak offers a very different way to think about workplace wellbeing. Because the goal shouldn't be helping people just get through the week. It should be creating the conditions where they can actually thrive. 🎧 Watch or listen to Wired to Work with Jess Chapman wherever you get your podcasts: https://wiredtowork.buzzsprout.com 📩 Get practical insights on leadership, neuroscience, and making work better: https://wiredtowork.substack.com #WiredToWork #WorkplaceWellbeing #Leadership #Neuroscience #EmployeeEngagement #PsychologicalSafety #FutureOfWork

Most people are not at their best under pressure. Put a group of highly pressured people together, and unhealthy workplace behaviour can quickly become the norm. In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman is joined by leadership coach Kate Franklin to explore why workplace relationships become so difficult—and why a challenging boss is not necessarily a bad person. They discuss how stress changes the way we communicate, why relational skills matter just as much as technical expertise, and how leaders can create the conditions for trust, honesty and high performance. In this conversation: • Why poor workplace behaviour has become normalized • How pressure affects leaders and their teams • Why relationships are a critical part of performance • How to give honest feedback to your boss • The difference between intention and impact • Why complaints are more useful when turned into requests • How leaders can discover the impact they are having • Why caring about people and expecting strong results are not opposites • How much agency we really have to improve difficult workplace relationships Most difficult workplace relationships are not beyond repair. But improving them requires courage, curiosity and a willingness to remember that the person across from you is human too. 🎧 Listen to Wired to Work: https://wiredtowork.buzzsprout.com 📩 Get practical insights about leadership, neuroscience and making work better: https://wiredtowork.substack.com Follow Kate Franklin: LinkedIn: @Kate Franklin Instagram: @coachkatefranklin Subscribe for more honest conversations about leadership, workplace culture and how to make work work better for everyone. #Leadership #WorkplaceRelationships #WorkplaceCulture #ManagingUp #LeadershipDevelopment #EmployeeEngagement #WiredToWork

Your brain is changing all the time, whether you realize it or not. In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman breaks down one of the most important concepts in neuroscience: neuroplasticity. From habits and learning to performance and leadership, understanding how your brain forms and strengthens neural pathways can completely change the way you think about personal growth. You’ll learn: Why “use it or lose it” is literally true for your brainHow habits are created through repetitionWhy multitasking hurts learningThe surprising role emotion plays in memory and behaviourWhy practice—not just knowledge—is the key to lasting changeWhether you’re trying to build better habits, learn new skills, or help your team perform at their best, this episode explains the science in a way that’s practical and easy to apply. Subscribe for more conversations about neuroscience, leadership, workplace psychology, and making work work better. #Neuroplasticity #Habits #Neuroscience #Leadership #PersonalDevelopment #BrainScience #WiredToWork

In this special season finale, Jess Chapman looks back at the five conversations that challenged her thinking the most - and the ideas that every leader, HR professional, and workplace designer should be paying attention to. From the hidden burnout crisis facing HR professionals to what healthcare can teach us about designing better systems, this episode explores the themes that kept resurfacing all season: cognitive load, psychological safety, technology, boundaries, climate anxiety, menopause, and why the future of work has to be designed around humans, not just processes. Jess revisits powerful conversations with: • Dr. Jo Burrell on the growing burnout crisis in HR • Dr. Paul Zak on measuring whether people are actually thriving at work • Ange Crockwell on why boundaries are an act of leadership—not selfishness • Dr. Ashlee Cunsolo on climate grief and its impact on today’s workforce • Tina Pomroy on reframing menopause as an evolution rather than a decline If there’s one thread running through every conversation this season, it’s this: Work isn’t broken because people aren’t trying hard enough. It’s broken because we’ve spent too long designing systems without fully considering the humans inside them. Whether you’ve listened to every episode or you’re just discovering Wired to Work, this is the perfect place to catch up on the biggest ideas from the season, and to start thinking differently about what work could become. 🎧 Join the Wired to Work Substack: https://substack.com/@wiredtowork 🌐 Episode archive: https://wiredtowork.buzzsprout.com

Healthcare workers are asked to make high-stakes decisions in fast-moving, overloaded systems. But what happens when the systems around them make the work even harder? In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman sits down with Jennifer Woodland, experimental psychologist and Associate Professor at the University of New Brunswick, for a fascinating conversation about healthcare, burnout, cognitive load, technology, and the real-world messiness of clinical environments. They explore why healthcare work places such intense demands on the brain, how poorly designed systems and technology can add to stress, and why resilience can’t be treated as an individual problem when the system itself is creating overload. 🎧 Listen to the full episode of Wired to Work: https://wiredtowork.buzzsprout.com 📩 Join the Wired to Work Substack for leadership insights, practical tools, webinar invitations, and behind-the-scenes content: https://substack.com/@wiredtowork #healthcare #burnout #leadership #workplaceculture #healthcareworkers #cognitiveload #technology #ai #workplacepsychology #wiredtowork

Meditation still gets dismissed as “woo-woo” in a lot of workplaces. But the science tells a different story. In this Wired to Work summer repost, Jess is joined by Tina Pomroy and Roz Mugford for a practical conversation about meditation, mindfulness, and why slowing down may be one of the most useful tools we have for modern work. They explore how meditation can support focus, memory, emotional regulation, stress management, decision-making, and the ability to respond instead of react. This episode is for anyone who has ever said, “I can’t meditate,” “I don’t have time,” or “isn’t that a bit woo?” Because meditation doesn’t have to mean sitting cross-legged on a cushion for 30 minutes. It can start with one breath, one pause, one meeting, one mindful lunch, or one moment of noticing what’s happening before you react. 💬 Join the Wired to Work Substack community for exclusive content, behind-the-scenes conversations, bonus clips, and leadership insights: https://substack.com/@wiredtowork #leadership #meditation #mindfulness #workplacewellbeing #emotionalintelligence #stressmanagement #workplaceculture #neuroscience #wiredtowork

Most people aren’t afraid of feedback. They’re afraid of the awkwardness, defensiveness, tension, and fallout that often comes with it. In Part 2 of Jess Chapman’s feedback series, she shares the N.I.C.E.R. framework — a practical, brain-friendly approach for having difficult conversations without triggering defensiveness or damaging relationships. You’ll learn: • Why most feedback conversations fail • How to reduce threat responses and defensiveness • The five-step N.I.C.E.R. framework • How to address behaviour without attacking the person • What to do when someone doesn’t change after receiving feedback If you’ve ever put off a difficult conversation, this episode is for you. Want to go deeper? Join Jess live on June 24 at 12 PM EST for Fearless Feedback, a practical webinar on how to give feedback that actually lands. The webinar is free for Substack subscribers and will include real-world examples, tools, and opportunities to practice these skills. Sign up through the Wired to Work Substack for access. #leadership #feedback #communication #management #emotionalintelligence #leadershipdevelopment #workplaceculture #wiredtowork Chapters (00:00:00) - How to Get a Bad Person to Change Their Behavior(00:00:50) - How to Make Feedback More Annoying(00:06:29) - "I hear your intention" in the following conversation(00:07:27) - How to Manage Time in a Meeting(00:10:28) - Lesson 6 on Validating Intent and Talking to People(00:16:07) - E3CA: Working In The World of Work

Feedback is one of the most important tools a leader has. It’s also one of the most avoided. In this replay episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman explores why feedback conversations feel so difficult, what neuroscience tells us about our reactions to feedback, and how leaders can create conversations that help people grow instead of triggering defensiveness. You’ll learn: • why feedback activates the brain’s threat response • the hidden reason leaders avoid giving feedback • how to normalize feedback so it becomes part of everyday work • why mindset matters more than scripts • the difference between being direct and being harsh • how curiosity creates better outcomes than correction Jess also introduces the principles behind NeuroWorks’ NICER framework for feedback conversations and explains why the best feedback conversations feel more like exploration than evaluation. This episode is a perfect companion to Jess’s upcoming Fearless Feedback workshop on June 24. ️ Fearless Feedback is free for Patreon and Substack subscribers. Join the Wired to Work community: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wiredtowork Website & Podcast Hub: https://www.wiredtowork.castos.com Wired to Work with Jess Chapman. Watch or listen wherever you get your podcasts! https://lnkd.in/ezzK9CVZ #Leadership #Feedback #Neuroscience #Management #Communication #WorkplaceCulture #WiredToWork Chapters (00:00:00) - How to Have a Feedback Conversation(00:00:38) - Wired to Work: Feedback Episode 3(00:01:34) - The Need for More Feedback(00:03:57) - Why We Find Feedback So Difficult(00:07:16) - The New Normalization of Feedback(00:09:49) - As we normalize feedback conversations,(00:14:29) - How to Have a Good Feedback Conversation with Someone(00:20:04) - E3CA: Working in the World of Work