Chat with Just Rest

The holidays pile a second job on top of your first one. For many women, it's the season in which burnout peaks. In this season 2 opener, we get honest about why holiday pressure is a systemic setup, not a personal failing, and share practical ways to scale back, protect your energy, and handle the one person in your life who wants everything to stay the same. Read more. [blog link]

My guest is Samantha Gregory, a wellness consultant, femtech founder, and self-devotion architect who helps high-achieving women break up with burnout. We each share our own holiday burnout story, then dig into the "shoulds" of tradition and the real cost of saying yes year after year. You'll leave with simple ideas you can use right away, from shortening your visit to asking for the gift you actually want.

Connect with Nicole and Samantha:

Samantha Gregory

• Self-Care Oasis Newsletter and Pocast on Substack : blyss.substack.com
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/samanthagregory
• Website: samanthagregory.com

Nicole Havelka

• Podcast: justrestpod.com
• Just Rest Newsletter: defythetrend.substack.com
• Burnout recovery coaching: defythetrend.com/burnout-recovery-coaching
• Setting Holiday Boundaries workbook and sticker set: defythetrend.com/setting-holiday-boundaries
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-havelka-35762022/
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/just-rest.bsky.social

Samantha's Worldchanger Organization: CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), a child advocacy program for kids in the foster care system: https://advochild.org/

Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction to Holiday Setting Holiday Boundaries Episode

00:01:11 Introducing Guest Samantha Gregory

00:02:29 Pausing for a Deep Breath

00:03:29 Holiday Burnout Stories and Experiences

00:05:55 The Pressure of Holiday Expectations

00:08:44 Shifting Holiday Traditions and Practices

00:11:35 Setting Boundaries and Redefining Holidays

00:14:41 The Cost of Holiday Expectations

00:17:02 Understanding the System Behind Holiday Pressures

00:20:19 Navigating Family Dynamics and Traditions

00:23:09 Creating New Holiday Experiences

00:24:10 Reduce Holiday Stress by Paring Down

00:28:26 Navigating Holiday Expectations

00:28:33 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

00:33:48 Simplifying Holiday Traditions

00:39:46 Creating Personal Holiday Experiences

00:40:25 Rest and Self-Care During the Holidays

00:44:42 Final Guest Questions: Rest and Liberation

00:51:24 Setting Holiday Boundaries for a Meaningful Season

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A proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective.

Chat with Just Rest

Rest Rebels, we've come a long way in just 10 months! In this solo episode, I celebrate how the Just Rest community has grown from zero to more than 1,200 downloads, and I share the real reason I want more people to find us. I want burned out change makers to get support for burnout recovery right when they need it, not two years later. I also invite you to help us grow in season 2, and I give you a sneak peek at the conversations coming your way, starting October 16. Head to the blog post for the full celebration, my season 2 goals, and learn about the guest lineup!

Chapters

00:00:00 Welcome to Just Rest Podcast

00:01:53 Celebrating 10 Months of Just Rest

00:06:23 Meaningful Moments and Community Impact

00:09:22 The Burned Out Ones: Why I Want This Podcast to Grow

00:11:37 Goals for Season Two

00:19:41 Teasers for Season 2 Just Rest

00:26:10 Moment of Gratitude

CONNECT WITH NICOLE HAVELKA:

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Chat with Just Rest

What happens when two restless creatives sit down to talk about big leaps, burnout, and why rest might be the fiercest protest of all?

In this episode, I'm sharing my very first Substack Live, a conversation with my friend and fellow podcaster Kevin Chung of Standout Creatives. It's a little unpolished (it was my first live, and only Kevin's second), but it's full of honest, energizing talk about creative burnout and how rest and resistance feed your creativity.

Kevin and his wife recently left Miami for San Juan, Costa Rica, chasing a life more aligned with nature and creativity. Our conversation ranges from downsizing to improv, from the myth of the starving artist to Theater of the Oppressed, and from capitalism's obsession with hustle to the radical idea that rest is what fuels resistance.

And around the 5-minute mark, I blurted out my own scary, thrilling dream for the year ahead: living nomadically. It was the first time I'd said it publicly. (Spoiler: I'm doing it now!)

In this episode, we talk about:

• What creative burnout looks like and how to recover from it
• The myth of the starving artist, and why it keeps creatives depleted
• Art and rest as resistance
• How listening to your body protects your creativity
• Improv and Theater of the Oppressed as creative and liberatory practices
• Downsizing, big moves, and building a more intentional life
• Kevin's move from Miami to Costa Rica, and my plan to live nomadically

Links from the show:

Was it Chance? Podcast with Alan Seales and Healther Vickery featuring Historian Tad Stormer.

Theater of the Oppressed by Augusto Boal

Make Art Make Money: Lessons from Jim Henson for Fueling Your Creative Life by Elizabeth Hyde Stevens

Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey

About my conversation partner

Kevin Chung helps creative people finish what matters: the book, the business, or the life they actually want, through creative thinking, mindset shifts, and marketing advice. He hosts The Standout Creatives, Standout Reinventions, and Standout Authors, and he recently left the United States to live out his creative dreams in Costa Rica.

Connect with Kevin: The Standout Creatives newsletter and podcast

Rest with me

If you want a place to rest so your creative juices can flow again, become a paid Substack subscriber to Just Rest. You'll get my full reflections on living nomadically, tips for preventing and recovering from burnout, and more opportunities to rest.

You are worthy of rest!

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Running your own business is rewarding, but let’s be honest—it can also be exhausting, overwhelming, and sometimes downright soul-sucking. In this episode, I got to guest on the Gratitude Geek podcast with three powerhouse solopreneurs — Deb Davis, Di Hilstad and Gratitude Geek host, Kandas Rodarte. We talked about survival-level self-care strategies for women over 40. From setting boundaries and asking for help to creating your personal “Survivor’s Toolkit,” we cover practical, real-world ways to protect your energy, thrive in your work or business, and still find time to breathe. Whether you’re facing burnout, health challenges, or just want to reclaim your calendar, this episode is packed with actionable tips to help you survive — and even enjoy — entrepreneurship.

This encore presentation of the Gratitude Geek episode is part of my summer playlist series, where I'm re-sharing some of my favorite conversations from guesting on other podcasts this past year. I'm so grateful to Kandas for creating a space where I could share my hard-won lessons about self-care and share my toolkit with you.

00:00 Introduction to Self-Care for Solopreneurs

00:49 Introducing Self-Care for Solopreneurs guests

04:20 Mortality and Self-Care

07:32 Self-care Toolkit for Solopreneurs

10:22 Being Intentional, Setting Boundaries

20:09 Pause before your body tells you to

28:47 Giving or being taken advantage of?

36:49 Comfort sharing story, setting boundaries

40:51 Lightening Round Questions

47:06 Conclusion: Spill the Tea on Setting Boundaries

Links

• Deb: https://upage.in/deb
• Di: http://instagram.com/dihils
• Energy Mapping: https://designingyour.life/insights/find-your-flow-with-energy-maps/
• Full Show Notes: https://kandasrodarte.com/287

Meet the Host of Gratitude Geek

Kandas Rodarte is a business coach, podcaster, and internet marketing pioneer who has been helping women solopreneurs over 40 grow businesses that fit their lives for decades. Living with metastatic breast cancer since 2014, she understands firsthand the importance of self-care, boundaries, and working smart—less hustle, more impact.

Meet the Guests

Deb Davis is an accomplished headshot photographer and author, known for her stress-free sessions and expert expression coaching. She serves as President of Professional Photographers of Michigan (2024–2025) and is an elite Associate with the Peter Hurley Photography Group. Deb helps professionals over 40 show up fully, inside and out, using photography as a tool to highlight confidence and authenticity. Her personal journey as a breast cancer survivor has reshaped her approach to self-care and legacy, making her a relatable guide for solopreneurs navigating life and work simultaneously.

Dianna “Di” Hilstad is a bold, creative entrepreneur and solopreneur coach who helps women build businesses that feel authentic. Known for blending strategy with sass, Di has reinvented herself multiple times, including navigating breast cancer, a hysterectomy, and a broken ankle. She champions asking for help, setting boundaries, and thinking outside the box, making her insights invaluable for women balancing health, life, and business.

Connect with Guest Host

• Gratitude Geek Email list here: http://kandasrodarte.com/subscribe
• Help finance the show: http://kandasrodarte.com/support
• Affiliate Disclosure: Some links in the show notes may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the show!

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Listening back to this conversation with Amy Stone a year after we recorded it, what struck me most is how much of my story is really a story about frustration. Not frustration as a problem to fix, but frustration as the thing that has prompted almost every pivot I've made — from journalism to ministry, from church administration to yoga teacher training, and finally to founding Defy the Trend. Amy has a gift for drawing out the best nuggets from a person’s story, and in this episode she pulls the thread through nearly all of mine, landing me right where I am today: an imperfectly adulting burnout recovery coach and sustainability strategist who believes rest is liberation.

This episode is part of my summer playlist series, where I'm re-sharing some of my favorite conversations from guesting on other podcasts this past year. I'm so grateful to Amy for creating a space where I could go deep on faith, burnout, and the "both/and" mindset that changed everything for me.

What we talked about in this episode:

• My career journey from journalist to minister to burnout recovery coach
• The inside story of church administration — institutional resistance, advocating for change, and where that frustration led me
• How burnout showed up in ministry, and why yoga became a lifeline and a "both/and" practice
• Leaning on spiritual practice to move through tough, high-pressure decisions
• Leaving the church as a disgruntled teen, and finding my way back to faith and community decades later
• Real talk on salaries and sustainability in faith-based work
• The moment mid-yoga-practice when "either/or" cracked open into "both/and" — and how that became the seed of Defy the Trend
• Where my work, my podcast, and this "both/and" philosophy stand today

Chapters:

00:00 Intro to The Art of Imperfect Adulting

00:53 Amy's Into to Nicole's Journey

03:50 Warm-up: Words of Kindness

05:50 Frustration that Lead to a Pivot

09:11 Cause of Frustration

10:45 Navigating Resistance in Innovation

12:30 Hiring in the Church

20:36 Structural Support for Innovation

21:48 Religion: A hot button and good case study

29:45 Nicole's Quarter Life Crisis of Faith

36:40 What Working for the Church is Like

41:41 Yoga in Nicole's Path

46:23 Yoga and Ministry: Both/And

52:40 Life as a Burnout Recovery Coach

54:35 Nicole's Podcast Journey

56:26 Fun Questions

59:23 Graititude

Connect with Amy Stone, Host, The Art of Imperfect Adulting):

• Website: https://www.imperfectadulting.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartof_imperfect_adulting
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@imperfectadulting
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@imperfectadulting
• Support the show: https://imperfect-adulting.captivate.fm/support

CONNECT WITH NICOLE HAVELKA:

• Newsletter: https://defythetrend.substack.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-havelka-35762022/
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/just-rest.bsky.social
• Work with Nicole: https://defythetrend.com/contact/
• Leave a Voice Memo: http://speakpipe.com/justrest

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This is my summer playlist of podcasts where I guested this past year. I was honestly challenged by coaches Kim Romain and Louise Neil on the Empowered and Embodied Show to reflect more thoughtfully on what has shifted for me as I’ve worked on preventing and recovering from burnout in my own life. This is a side of the conversation you’d rarely get when I’m the one asking the questions.

Two things really stood out:

• The discussion about “proving myself” and what energy have I replaced that with?
• And the conversation about what success looks like for you? I’m not going to spoil what Louise says is her answer, but please listen because it is really good.

We also dive into:

• How burnout shows up differently for each of us, and why it’s not just an individual problem but a collective one
• The pressure to constantly prove our worth through productivity and “being the best”
• Why the word can’t disempowers us, and how to reclaim choice in our lives and work
• The surprising overlaps between burnout, perimenopause, and values misalignment
• Practical ways to create compassionate workplaces, embrace rest, and focus on impact instead of output

If you’ve ever felt buried under the weight of doing it all, this conversation will remind you that rest is not only possible, it’s essential, powerful, and deeply radical.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Empowerment and Embodied Show Encore
05:54 "Proving Yourself" Energy
11:56 The Challenge of Being Present
14:20 Defining Success for Ourselves
22:15 The Ripple Effect of Slowing Down
23:36 Different Causes of Burnout
31:30 Perimenopause Contributing to Burnout
39:05 The Joy of Making Your Own Choices
42:51 What is my work to do?
45:55 Nicole's Conclusion & More Great Pods

Join a circle of changemakers committed to leading with purpose, presence and ease inside Kim's Rising Visionaries mentorship program and check out her new podcast, Questioning our Conditioning. Reclaim your career and confidence during midlife through Louise's Rise & Redefine program.

Rising Visionaries: https://kimromain.com/rising-visionaries
Rise and Redefine program: https://louiseneil.com/services/rise-and-redefine

Questioning our Conditioning podcast

On Substack: https://thekimromain.substack.com/p/why-i-started-questioning-our-conditioning

On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thekimromain

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This is my summer playlist of podcasts where I guested this past year. I am really excited to share this podcast with you because it shows a different side of me that rarely gets out in public. (DIdya know I trained to be a film and theater critic in college?) I was invited on Media/Lit where all media gets treated as great works of literature with hosts Randy Allain and Kris Ingersol. I was overjoyed to invite these generous hosts to watch and discuss one of my all-time favorite movies, Contact (1997). You get to hear why this movie was formative in my journey and how it still resonates with me today.

We cover everything from interstellar transmissions to a killer performance from Jodie Foster. We compare this piece of media to other important cultural texts, and most importantly, we explore the intersection of science and faith. As always, the panel wraps up the chat with an extra credit section in which we pick our “Bardo Buddies” and take home a prop from the film

Want to get in touch? Visit our⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ &⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ page! Follow us on YouTube:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠@MediaLitPodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@media.lit.pod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Bluesky:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠@media-lit.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and Twitter:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@MediaLitPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Also, hit us with your questions, comments, and episode requests at ⁠⁠⁠media.slash.lit@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠.

Chapters

00:00 Nicole's Excitement to be on Media/Lit
01:09 Welcome to Media/Lit (encore)
03:39 Burnout Recovery Coaching in Challenging Times
04:59 Introduction to Contact (1997)
11:32 Insights on Rewatching Contact's Famous Intro
17:46 Personal Connections to the Movie
28:20 Gender Representation in the Film
33:40 The Role of Science and Faith in the Narrative
37:19 Contact as Literature: CGI Corner
43:27 Themes of the Film
55:18 Pop Culture References and their Impact
59:43 Contact Comparatives
01:08:09 Favorite Performance in the Film
01:20:40 Favorite Scenes
01:30:10 Most Quotable Line
01:46:15 Who is your Bardo Buddy?
01:52:21 What prop would you take?
02:00:22 Closing
02:06:07 Nicole's Final Thoughts on Media/Lit

CONNECT WITH RANDY, KRIS & MEDIA/LIT:

Website: https://mediaslashlit.weebly.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MediaLitPodcast

Instagram: @media.lit.pod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Bluesky:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠@media-lit.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Twitter:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@MediaLitPod

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This is my summer playlist of podcasts where I guested this past year. I am so excited to share this provocative conversation I had with Artist and Activist Stephanie Graham on her podcast, nosey AF.

We talk about what it actually takes to stop running on empty. I share how I went from being a self-described "recovering grind culture addict" to building a whole business around helping high-achievers and everyday radicals reclaim their time and energy. I get to introduce you to the Calm Calendar Club, a program built around planning your life in a way that actually honors your energy — not just squeezes more out of it. If you've ever felt like you're dropping the ball, this conversation will remind you: you're not dropping balls, you're just carrying too many.

What We Talk About

Okay, so pull up a chair — this one goes places.

1. How Nicole went from overachiever to burnout recovery coach (and what growing up in Omaha, Nebraska had to do with it)
2. Why hustle culture is literally designed for you to fail — and why that's not your fault
3. Burnout in ministry and why being "on call 24/7" is just not human
4. What COVID quietly taught us about the power of saying no
5. The seven types of rest from Sacred Rest by Sandra Dalton-Smith — sleep is just ONE of them
6. How planning your calendar with your values first changes everything
7. Why ADHD and neurodivergent folks need planning systems that actually work for their brains
8. The Calm Calendar Club: what it is, how it works, and who it's for
9. Why "you're not failing the system — you're just trying to do too much"
10. The radical act of rest as resistance, especially for Black women (shoutout to Tricia Hersey's Rest Is Resistance)
11. Doing your part in activism and community work — without burning yourself all the way down

Things We Mentioned

Calm Calendar Club: defythetrend.com/calm-calendar

Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey (affiliate link)

Sacred Rest by Sandra Dalton-Smith (the seven types of rest: physical, mental, sensory, creative, social, emotional, and spiritual) (affiliate link)

Artist Admin Hour — Stephanie's weekly co-working session for artists tackling the admin work that makes the work work → artistadminhour.com

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Summer Playlist

02:11 Welcome to noseyAF

03:16 My Grind Culture Story

09:35 Burnout is Common in Ministry

16:32 The Impact of COVID on Volunteerism and Community Engagement

19:26 Involving more people as volunteers

24:57 Cultural Attitudes Towards Busyness and Rest

27:02 Reducing your judgement of laziness

33:04 Understanding the Time Management Challenge

36:03 Creating Accessible Planning Solutions

39:44 Time Management for Self-Care

42:30 The System is Designed for Failure

50:44 Engaging with the World Without Burnout

01:06:09 Ask Nicole Anything

Connect with Stephanie

• Website: noseyaf.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephaniegraham?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
• Substack: https://substack.com/@noseyaf
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniegraham/

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