370: When High-Achieving Women Carry Too Much Alone with Meghan French Dunbar

For high-achieving women, that belief can run deep. We’re taught to be capable, composed, productive, and independent, and to keep going no matter what.

But what happens when “I can handle it” becomes burnout?

In this episode of Workday Playdate, Meghan French Dunbar joins Erin for a candid conversation about burnout, leadership, vulnerability, women at work, and what it really takes to build humane workplaces. Drawing from her experience as a founder, CEO, and mother, Meghan shares the personal wake-up calls that forced her to rethink what success and leadership actually mean.

Together, Erin and Meghan unpack chronic busyness, workplace vulnerability, trust, overwork, and the pressure to be an unbreakable leader. They explore how small shifts in the way we lead can create more sustainable work rhythms and teams.

Inside This Episode:

• When Work Becomes Your Identity: Meghan shares the airplane story, miscarriage, and burnout experiences that forced her to confront the personal cost of being an “unbreakable” leader.
• The Myth of the Busy Season: What happens when “I’m just in a busy season” becomes your permanent state? Meghan explains how chronic busyness can become a system—not just a season.
• Vulnerability Builds Trust: Discover why being honest about struggles can actually make leaders more trustworthy and help teams feel safer opening up.
• Women Don’t Have to Do It All: Erin and Meghan unpack the pressure high-achieving women face to be endlessly capable—and why asking for help doesn’t make you a burden.
• Rethinking Leadership: Move beyond the superhero leader. Meghan explores a healthier blend of decisiveness, empathy, compassion, listening, and vulnerability.

What to Do Now:

1. Question Your “Busy Season”: Is this actually a season—or has chronic busyness become your normal? Identify one expectation or habit that’s keeping you stuck in overload.
2. Let Someone In: Share one honest thing with your team that you might normally keep hidden. Vulnerability doesn’t mean oversharing—it means letting people see the human behind the role.
3. Ask for Help: Identify one thing you’re carrying alone and invite someone in. Strong leadership isn’t about proving you can do everything yourself. It’s about creating a culture where no one has to.

About the Guest

Meghan French Dunbar is a purpose-driven business leader, author, speaker, and former co-founder and CEO of Conscious Company Media, the first nationally distributed print magazine focused on purpose-driven business in the U.S. Over the course of her career, she has interviewed more than 1,000 leaders about what it takes to build businesses that create meaningful impact.

Her book, This Isn’t Working, explores why traditional approaches to work are failing people—and what it looks like to build careers, companies, and lives that actually lift people up.

Today, Meghan helps exceptional organizations develop narrative strategies that stand out, and she hosts Unbehaved, a podcast featuring leaders who are challenging the old rules of work and business.

Your Freebie

Confidence at work doesn’t mean pretending to have it all figured out. Download our Confident Leader’s Toolkit for a practical, four-step guide to crafting an intentional professional persona so you can lead with more clarity and confidence.

Whether you’re stepping into a new leadership role, navigating a high-stakes conversation, or simply looking to show up more intentionally, this toolkit will help you build a leadership presence that feels sustainable.

Connect with Meghan French Dunbar

• Meghan’s LinkedIn
• Meghan’s website
• Meghan’s book, This Isn’t Working
• ZingTrain academy
• ZingTrain books

Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!

• Leadership Playground online membership community
• Erin’s website
• Erin’s Instagram
• Erin’s TikTok
• Erin’s LinkedIn
• improve it!’s website
• improve it!’s Instagram

Connect with Erin Diehl

🌟 Learn more about Workday Playdate: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/podcast-page
🎤 Book Erin to speak: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/keynote-speaker
📚 Workshops & Team Experiences: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/experiential-training
💌 Learn more about Erin: https://www.itserindiehl.com/meet-erin
📱 For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.

If this conversation made you think differently about work, leadership, or building joyful teams, please follow Workday Playdate on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who could use more play in their workday.