Here’s a fun party trick no one asked for: I can sense someone else’s disappointment before they’ve even said a word—and immediately start over-functioning to fix it. Is it emotional intuition? Trauma response? Answer: a fun mixture of both.

Let’s get one thing straight: I didn’t start showing up authentically at work because I had some sort of epiphany during a team-building ropes course. I started because I was tired. Burnout wasn’t just a buzzword—it was my personality. And I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep smiling through being overloaded and clenching my jaw like it was holding my life together (because, in a way, it was).