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The Joyful Rebellion

The Joyful Rebellion: Trauma-Informed & Truly Human

Published about 1 month ago • 2 min read

Welcome to The Joyful Rebellion!

Because setting boundaries, resting well, and building healthier systems is radical.

🧪What's New In the Lab

What a month September was! I had a mix of professional and personal travel that will have a lasting impact. From a legal epidemiology workshop in New Mexico, to the 2025 Public Health Law Conference in Seattle, to a Mastermind Retreat with *the* Rachel Rodgers of HelloSeven, I am ending the month feeling inspired, connected, and just a touch exhausted.

But I also got to check one more state off of my travel list - Alaska. October 3 is National Smile Day, and checking this bucket list item off definitely brought a smile to my face!

✍🏽 The Better Boundaries Brief

This week’s post: What We Carry: Creating Trauma-Informed Workplaces that Care

What is a trauma-informed workplace? It's a workplace that:

  • Understands the widespread experience of trauma and the ways that it can manifest. Everything from a car accident, to the loss of a loved one, to a physical or psychological injury can cause trauma.
  • Recognizes the symptoms of trauma in individuals, teams, or within the organization as a whole.
  • Responds by integrating an understanding of trauma into policies, procedures, and practices. This could look like on-site counseling, paid mental health days, no meeting days, as a few examples.
  • Prevents retraumatization by creating a safe and supportive environment that allows people to manage their trauma in a way that works for them, without judgement, and without triggers.

Get your own Trauma-Informed Support Map, a self-reflection worksheet designed to help you explore how trauma shows up in your work life, and what boundaries, supports, and practices can help you feel safer and more grounded. Use it privately or as a prompt for meaningful conversations with your team.

🎧 Work Is Third: Podcast Spotlight

From Overwork to Enough: Making Time for Mind and Body with Dr. Brittany Peters

In this heartfelt conversation, Dr. Brittany Peters, behavioral health expert, licensed clinician, and educator, brings wisdom, humor, and deep vulnerability to the Work is Third podcast. We explore the socialization of productivity culture, the survival strategies that many high-achieving women carry into adulthood, and the importance of rewriting our personal “policies and procedures” to include rest, joy, and boundaries.

📊Data That Matters

Link: U.S. workers adjust to the changing nature of employment: Highlights from the 2024 Work in America™ survey​

Stress isn’t just an individual problem, it’s also a workplace design issue. When psychological safety is low, stress levels rise dramatically, harming employee health, eroding trust, and limiting creativity. Building trauma-informed workplaces means addressing these conditions, not just asking workers to cope.

💬Quote of the Week

"Trauma-informed workplaces offer a sanctuary of safety and support, a place where people can bring their whole selves and be valued for who they are." ~Sandra L. Bloom, M.D., CTIPP Board Chair, and Founder of Creating PRESENCE​

Why this resonates: It re-frames workplaces as communities of care, where belonging and value are not earned through performance but honored as human dignity.

📓 Journal Prompt

Where in my work life do I feel most safe to speak up, make mistakes, or show up authentically? Where do I feel least safe—and what boundary could help shift that?

🌞 Affirmation of the Week

I have enough. I do enough. I am enough.

🎶 The Rebellion Has a Soundtrack

Don’t forget—The Joyful Rebellion now has a Spotify playlist! It’s a genre-defying soundtrack for rebels, rest-seekers, and boundary-builders featuring selections from Work is Third guests.

🤝🏽Let’s Work Together

I help mission-driven organizations build better boundaries, reduce burnout, and create cultures of care. From keynote speaking to strategy workshops, I bring warmth, depth, and a deep belief that change is possible.

📬 Have a story to share or a collaboration idea? Hit reply—I’d love to hear it.

7901 4th St. N STE 300, St. Petersburg, FL 33702
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The Joyful Rebellion

Helping rebels ditch hustle culture and build joy that lasts.

I’m a podcaster, entrepreneur, and joyful rebel sharing real talk on what it takes to thrive. The Joyful Rebellion is my weekly(ish) newsletter full of stories, insights, and little sparks of defiance for leaders and changemakers who are ready to work differently and live better.

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