Jane Marie Chen: Why A Million Lives Saved Can't Fix What Is Broken Inside

About this episode

Jane Marie Chen discusses the emotional toll of high achievement and the importance of inner psychological safety despite her success in saving lives.

Aconic host Soon Yu sits down with Jane Marie Chen, entrepreneur, bestselling author of Like a Wave We Break , leadership coach, and co-founder of Embrace Innovations. Embrace created a life-saving infant warming blanket that has helped save over one million babies worldwide. Despite extraordinary success, Jane shares the truth few leaders talk about: even after saving a million babies, she still felt like a failure. In this powerful conversation, Jane opens up about resilience, leadership, mental health, and the hidden emotional toll of high achievement. She explores how cultural expectations, generational trauma, and self-criticism shaped her leadership—and why outward success alone cannot heal what’s broken inside. Soon and Jane dive into: -The difference between grit, endurance, and true resilience -Why psychological safety in teams starts with inner psychological safety -The pressure many Asian and AAPI leaders face around achievement and identity -How Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy helped Jane heal -Why self-respect must come before filial respect -Letting go of beta blockers and fear around public speaking This episode offers a deeply human perspective…

People in this episode

Host: Soon Yu

Guest: Jane Marie Chen

Topics covered

• resilience
• leadership
• mental health
• psychological safety
• cultural expectations
• personal growth

Keywords

• resilience
• leadership
• mental health
• psychological safety
• cultural expectations
• self-acceptance
• personal growth
• achievement
• Internal Family Systems therapy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Embrace Innovations

Books & works: Like a Wave We Break

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