Kindness Isn’t A Soft Skill, It’s A Power Move

Kindness Isn’t A Soft Skill, It’s A Power Move

From Pork Pond Gazette by Mike Rathbun

April 2, 2026 · 36 min

About this episode

The episode discusses how kindness and compassion can empower individuals and transform relationships, featuring insights from guest Angie Hawkins.

Send us Fan Mail Ever feel like you’re sprinting through life in the wrong shoes? We sat down with inner glow coach and author Angie Hawkins to unpack how compassion, boundaries, and vulnerable honesty can move you from chasing approval to living with grounded confidence. Angie’s memoir, Running in Slippers , becomes a vivid metaphor for growth: sometimes playful, sometimes painful, always real. She opens up about the childhood patterns that fuel people pleasing and perfectionism, then shares how an emotional rock bottom led her to rebuild from the inside out. We dig into the difference between forgiveness and self-compassion, especially when “forgive and forget” feels like erasing harm. Angie explains why starting with kindness toward yourself can reduce reactivity, reveal the grief under anger, and allow you to see others’ behavior without excusing it. From there, we get practical: what compassionate boundaries sound like, how to check your tone without watering down your line, and why your emotional safety is non-negotiable. You’ll hear a powerful workplace story where shifting to empathy uncovered hidden fear and transformed a tense relationship—proof that clarity plus care…

People in this episode

Host: Mike Rathbun

Guest: Angie Hawkins

Topics covered

  • kindness
  • empathy
  • self-compassion
  • leadership
  • boundaries
  • personal growth

Keywords

  • kindness
  • empathy
  • self-compassion
  • leadership
  • boundaries
  • personal growth
  • emotional safety

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Running in Slippers

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