Designed Pause Podcast

If you're wondering whether now is the right time for a career break or career pause, this episode is for you.
High-achieving professionals — directors, VPs, senior managers — have built programs from nothing, led teams through constant change, and been held responsible for outcomes they didn't even control. So why does planning a career pause feel harder than any of that?
In this episode, I break down how to plan a career break using the same skills you already use at work — and why the confidence you have professionally is exactly what you need to plan your own pause.
We cover:
How to know if you're ready for a career pause
Why planning a sabbatical or career break feels scarier than planning at work — and how to get past it
How to bring structure to a career break decision instead of just sitting in fear
The framework I used to plan my own career pause with clarity, not anxiety
If you're ready to plan your career pause with the same rigor you bring to everything else, the Designed Pause Decision Kit walks you through it step by step. Or book a free Pause Clarity Call to talk it through with me first — both live at designedpause.com.
Designed Pause is a podcast for corporate professionals planning an intentional career break. | designedpause.com

The thing standing between most high-achieving women and a career pause isn’t information. It’s the internal work. The self-sabotage. The scarcity mindset. The fear of what people will think. The way we overcomplicate decisions until we can’t make any of them.
These four books helped me work through all of it.
In this episode I share what I was going through when I read each one, what shifted, and why I think they belong on your list if you’re in the middle of this kind of decision.
The Mountain Is You by Brianna Wiest — for when you’re getting in your own way
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel — for when money fear is making your decisions
The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga — for when you’re afraid of what people will think
The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz — for when you’re overcomplicating everything
 
The Mountain Is You: https://amzn.to/3Tq31xX
The Psychology of Money: https://amzn.to/4aTEWpo
The Courage to Be Disliked: https://amzn.to/4wNS1Jk
The Four Agreements: https://amzn.to/4wKLUFr
 
Download the free Designed Pause journaling prompts: www.designedpause.com

If you found this video, something stopped you. Maybe it’s the word pause. Maybe it’s the word designed. Maybe you’ve been quietly wondering whether the career you’ve built is actually the life you want.
This episode answers the question: What is Designed Pause — and is it for you?
I walk you through the brand story, who this is for, what a designed pause actually is, and every tool I’ve built to help high-achieving corporate professionals move from stuck to decided.
We cover:
The brand story — why I built Designed Pause and what my two pauses taught me
Who this is for — and who it isn’t
The three types of pauses and which one might be right for you
The Free Journaling Prompts — where it starts
The Designed Pause Decision Kit — the foundation
Do the Math: The Pause Runway Calculator — the financial reality check
The Fast Track AI Prompts — for the woman who wants to use AI
The Pause Clarity Call — 60 minutes, free, no pitch
 
Start here — everything lives at designedpause.com

Kat Kibben quit their job on a Thursday. By Monday they had given their notice. No fallback plan. No slow walk. Just a decision made in the middle of caregiving for their mother, after a manager told them they had no talent.
What followed was eight years of building Three Ears Media, three years of van life across the country, two books, and a top surgery that taught them something they hadn't expected: their business could run without them.
This conversation is one of the most honest ones I have had on Designed Pause. We talk about what it actually means to bounce back — not winning all the time, but keep going no matter what.
We cover:
Growing up with a military mom who moved 13 times before Kat turned 18 and what that taught them about work
The toxic manager moment that pushed them out of corporate for good
What van life actually looks like from the inside — and the lesson about community it forced them to learn
Why resilience in entrepreneurship means something completely different than it does in corporate
Taking four weeks off for top surgery and opening the laptop eight days later to find zero emails waiting
Why your dreams are not a coincidence — they are for you
Keep Up with Kat: 
https://threeearsmedia.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrinakibben/
https://www.youtube.com/@ThreeEarsMedia/featured
https://www.instagram.com/KatrinaKibben
Designed Pause Decision Kit: www.designedpause.com

You have a folder. Maybe it doesn't have a label. But it's there. Career break posts. Sabbatical stories. Financial independence threads. Women who walked away and figured it out.
You've been saving them for months. Maybe years. And you are still in the same place.
This episode is about why inspiration without a framework doesn't move you forward — it just gives you something to do with the anxiety. And what to do instead.
We cover:
What the inspiration spiral actually looks like from the inside
Why research without structure feeds anxiety instead of resolving it
What shifted when I stopped consuming and started answering questions
The four questions that actually move you from stuck to decided
Download the free Designed Pause journaling prompts: www.designedpause.com
 

I lost someone recently. Someone close to me. And I’ve been sitting with something ever since — not just grief, but gratitude. Gratitude that when it happened, I was fully present. That my pause made it possible to show up the way I wanted to.
Today I want to talk about what losing someone teaches you about the life you’re living.
This episode covers six things:
Grief and joy can exist at the same time — and you don’t have to choose
Getting your affairs in order — and helping the people you love do the same
What you have been putting off — and I’m not talking about the laundry
What you will regret — and what to do about it while you still can
The pain you’re carrying alone — and why someone you know would help you carry it
Why it is never too late to learn something new
What happens when you stop letting other people’s perception of you change how you show up
 
“What to Know Before I Go” workbook on Amazon: https://amzn.to/43L9CFk
 
Download the free Designed Pause journaling prompts: https://stan.store/designedpause/p/get-my-free-journaling-prompts-now-qlomu3h9

Stuck behind a desk wondering if a career pause means falling behind? In this episode, I'm breaking down 5 ways to come back from your pause more valuable than when you left.
In this episode:
Why a hybrid pause is the right time for skill-building (and when it's not)
Remote contract, freelance, and fractional work — how to start without recreating your old workload
Online certifications that actually signal intention (not just badge-collecting)
Why I invested time in learning AI tools, and how to start with Claude or ChatGPT
Writing and thought leadership as a way to stay visible during your pause
The most overlooked (and free) option: mentorship and relationship-building
You don't need to do all five. Pick one or two aligned with where you're headed, and go deep.
If you're ready to get clear on what kind of pause makes sense for you — how long, what type, and what your financial reality looks like — the Designed Pause Decision Kit walks you through it with a clear framework.
👉Designed Pause Decision Kit Link: https://stan.store/designedpause/p/get-my-designed-pause-decision-kit-now-copyUse code PAUSEPOD for 50% off
I'm Deidra Green, and this is Designed Pause. Slow down on purpose.

Sandy Diaz Haley did not leave corporate on a whim. She left when the timing was right, the cushion was there, and nothing on the corporate side excited her anymore. And even then — it was the hardest she has ever worked.
Sandy is the founder of SDH Communications and the creator of the Badass Collective, a community of 3,000 plus communications and PR professionals that started as a happy hour after an unexpected layoff and grew into something she never planned.
In this episode we talk about building something accidentally and intentionally at the same time, what corporate trauma actually looks like and how long it takes to feel it lift, why listening is the foundation of all good communication — including the communication you have with yourself, the job interview that confirmed she was exactly where she was supposed to be, and what she whispered to her daughter at camp drop-off that says everything about how she moves through the world.
Her advice for anyone still in corporate: don't be impulsive, take your inventory, and choose your hard. Both paths are difficult. The question is which one you can make peace with.
Connect with Sandy and SDH Communications: https://www.sdhcommunications.com/
The Badass Collective: https://wearetbcollective.com/
Get the Designed Pause Decision Kit — 50% off with code PAUSEPOD: https://stan.store/designedpause/p/get-my-designed-pause-decision-kit-now-copy
Free journaling prompts: designedpause.com

Kalilah Wright founded Mess in a Bottle in 2016 with less than $500, during one of the hardest seasons of her personal life. What followed was nearly a decade of building something remarkable — national television, major brand partnerships, and close to $10 million in revenue.
And then life changed. The stakes got higher. The hustle that worked at 32 looked different at 42. And Khalilah found herself at a crossroads that a lot of entrepreneurs recognize but rarely talk about out loud.
This episode is that conversation.
We talk about betting on yourself when everything around you is a mess, using skills you already have in ways you never expected, what it means to protect what you have built when you have more to lose, running toward everything at once and not being attached to how it lands, and what she is building next.
Kalilah also shares the resource that has shaped how she thinks about her next chapter — The 12 Week Year by Brian Moran — and drops some breaking news about what is coming up for her.
This one is real. No polish. No highlight reel. Just an honest conversation about what it looks like to keep building when the road changes underneath you.
Check out Mess in a Bottle: https://www.messinabottle.com/
The 12 Week Year by Brian Moran: https://amzn.to/4vfuobE
Get the Designed Pause Decision Kit — 50% off with code PAUSEPOD: https://stan.store/designedpause/p/get-my-designed-pause-decision-kit-now-copy
designedpause.com

Bernadette Smith has been an entrepreneur for 22 years. She didn't leave corporate to start over — she never went in. And what she built instead is a masterclass in following purpose over comfort, even when it means burning it all down and starting again.
In this conversation, Bernadette and I talk about:
How a Supreme Court ruling on the steps of the Massachusetts State House launched her first business
What it actually felt like to walk away from six-figure weddings in New York City at the height of her success
The abundance mindset work that got her through her hardest season — and why it's still a daily practice
How Inclusive 360 was born directly from imposter syndrome
What self-love actually has to do with professional freedom
How she designed a life led by her two core values: freedom and optimism
Get Inclusive 360 by Bernadette Smith: https://amzn.to/4dRfiDo
You're a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero: https://amzn.to/4dzXlI6
You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero: https://amzn.to/499yf1o
The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu: https://amzn.to/3RQ0v37
Five Things Newsletter by Bernadette Smith: https://amzn.to/3RQ0v37
Get the Designed Pause Decision Kit — 50% off with code PAUSEPOD