When the Waves Wash Away: Redefining Resilience from the Inside Out

When the Waves Wash Away: Redefining Resilience from the Inside Out

From Magnolia Talks by Asian Women Coaching Collective (AWCC)

February 27, 2026 · 37 min

About this episode

Jane Chen discusses her journey of redefining resilience and identity after personal and professional challenges.

What happens when the company you built to save lives almost breaks you in the process? In this episode, Mo Fong sits down with Jane Chen — New York Times bestselling author of Like a Wave We Break , co-founder of Embrace (whose portable incubator has helped save over a million babies), TED speaker, and Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. Jane shares how losing everything she thought defined her forced her onto a healing journey that completely changed her understanding of resilience, identity, and leadership. Together, they explore why high achievers tie their self-worth to productivity, how to listen to the wisdom of your body and emotions, the power of Inner Family Systems (parts work) for self-compassion, and what surfing taught Jane about surrendering control. If you've ever pushed past exhaustion and called it resilience, this conversation will challenge everything you thought you knew.

People in this episode

Host: Mo Fong

Guest: Jane Chen

Topics covered

  • resilience
  • identity
  • leadership
  • self-compassion
  • high achievers
  • productivity

Keywords

  • resilience
  • identity
  • leadership
  • self-worth
  • productivity
  • Inner Family Systems
  • self-compassion
  • healing journey
  • high achievers
  • surrendering control

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Embrace, World Economic Forum

Books & works: Like a Wave We Break

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