Episode 165 Walking Away from the Myth of the Superwoman with guest Dr. Nikia Smith
About this episode
Erin Vandeven and Dr. Nikia Smith discuss the impact of the Superwoman myth on burnout among high-achieving women.
What happens when being “strong” stops working? In this deeply affirming and practical conversation, Erin is joined by Dr. Nikia Smith — practicing anesthesiologist, wellness coach, and founder of She Is Fire Forged — to explore how the Superwoman myth quietly fuels burnout, especially for high-achieving women and women in healthcare. Together, they unpack how resilience, people-pleasing, and productivity can become liabilities rather than strengths — and why rest is not something to earn, but something to prioritize before everything else. This episode is for anyone who: feels exhausted despite “doing everything right” has built a good life but still feels depleted or disconnected has been praised for being strong, capable, and reliable — at great personal cost 🧠 In This Episode, You’ll Hear About: • The hidden cost of the Superwoman identity Dr. Smith explains how being “the strong one” often masks chronic exhaustion, emotional suppression, and self-abandonment — particularly for women of color and women in caregiving professions. • Burnout doesn’t always look like collapse You can love your job, love your life, and still be burned out. Burnout often builds slowly — like a…
More episodes of Medium Lady Talks: Burnout Recovery for Millennials and Mothers
- Episode 173 Is Guilt Driving the AI Gender Gap?
- Episode 172: Scared and Curious: What Even Is AI and Why I Can't Look Away
- Episode 171: I Have No Idea What I'm Doing But I'm Here Anyway
- Episode 170: Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel - An Almost-Spring Check-in
- Episode 169: Tiny Experiments for March - The Tally Project
- Episode 168: The Micro Rituals Saving Me This Winter
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Medium Lady Talks: Burnout Recovery for Millennials and Mothers podcast page.