Designed Pause Podcast
Designed Pause is a space for high achieving corporate professionals who want permission to pause — not out of exhaustion, but out of intention. I’m Deidra Green, a former senior leader who has taken two intentional career breaks to create clarity, alignment, and exposure to new options. Each pause helped me design my life more intentionally — leading to entrepreneurship, senior leadership, and now a new chapter focused on thoughtful transition. This podcast is for women who are: Successful on paper but quietly questioning what’s next Considering a career break, sabbatical, or pivot Looking for planning tools, frameworks, and real-life examples Ready to listen to their own voice and design life on their terms Here, I document my own Designed Pause while sharing the tools, mentors, and mindset shifts that help make pauses intentional — not reckless. This isn’t about quitting your life. It’s about designing it. ✨ New podcasts weekly ✨ Subscribe to walk this season with me
Listen on:
Episodes
Jan 27, 2026
Jan 27, 2026
7 min
Taking a career break after senior leadership is not a decision I made lightly — and it’s not the first time I’ve done it. My name is Deidra Green, and this is my second intentional career pause. The first time I stepped away from corporate life was over ten years ago, and that pause led me to one of the most transformative chapters of my life — starting an esthetics business, gaining clarity about what I wanted, and ultimately landing my corporate dream job.
Over the next five years, I grew from field trainer to Vice President, all because I took the time to pause, listen to my own voice, and move with intention. In this foundational episode of Designed Pause, I share:
• Why I chose to take another career break after senior leadership
• What an intentional career pause actually looks like
• How listening to your own voice can create clarity and new options
• Why you’re not tired — you’re uninspired or misaligned.
This podcast is for corporate Black women who are successful on paper but quietly questioning what’s next. Not because something is wrong — but because alignment matters. During this pause, I’ll be traveling between the United States and Saint Lucia, doing remote contract work, and documenting what it looks like to intentionally design your life in real time.
If you’re considering a career break, a sabbatical, or simply want exposure to new options, you’re in the right place.
✨ Subscribe for conversations about intentional planning, career clarity, and designing your life
💬 Comment where you are in your own pause — questioning, planning, or already transitioning
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