The smile, the accolades, the calendar packed with purpose on paper it looks like fulfillment.

Michelle opens up about choosing a “safe” career in teaching for the security and steady validation it promised, only to discover that safety without self-connection can turn into a quiet numbness.

We explore how routine, compliance, and external praise can mask deeper wounds, and why so many high-achieving women mistake being needed for being known.

Together we walk through the hidden costs of autopilot in education: policies that push us to betray our values, the exhaustion of always performing “put together,” and the way unprocessed trauma reappears as overwork, rigidity, or disengagement. Michelle shares the pivotal question that changed everything, "What am I unwilling to feel" and offers a path back to presence through self-inquiry, boundaries, and compassion.

This is practical, honest talk about how to see students clearly by first seeing ourselves.

We honor the teachers who saw Michelle when home felt unsafe, and we translate their quiet genius into everyday moves: naming strengths precisely, being curious about behavior, and creating classrooms where dignity leads. If you’re an educator, leader, or high achiever who feels strangely empty despite all the gold stars, this conversation is a mirror and a map.

Subscribe, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review to help more educators find their way back to connected, values-aligned work.

Message from Dr. Michelle Chanda Singh

I’m Dr. Michelle Chanda Singh, born in Jamaica, raised in a traditional Indian household where I never quite fit the mold. For over 40 years, I chased every expectation family, culture, society, collecting degrees, titles, and accolades. I had purpose and security, yet something was missing. I was achieving, not thriving.

As an award-winning global educator, Michelle finally realized that fulfillment doesn’t come from perfection, it comes from alignment. Today, she help high-achieving, culturally diverse women educators recognize how disengagement quietly steals their joy. Together, we break those patterns so you can redefine success on your own terms and lead with purpose, from fulfillment, not sacrifice.

That’s why I created this podcast, to tell my story honestly and unfiltered. The truths I buried, the patterns I tolerated, the lessons that set me free. But this isn’t just about me, it’s about you. Through these stories, you’ll see reflections of your own journey and uncover what’s been holding you back.

Join me as I disrupts disengagement, break the cycle of busyness, and learn to lead and live from a place of true joy and wholeness. It’s time to reclaim your power and thrive, not just survive.

What if the praise you chase is the very thing keeping you empty?

Michelle opens up about the quiet loop many high achievers know too well: join to feel accepted, deliver at full speed, collect the applause, then crash into overwhelm and numbness. When slowing down triggers cold shoulders or silence, old stories about worth flare up and disengagement becomes the only shield that feels safe.

We explore why quick fixes feel so good at first. Validation masquerades as love, busy calendars look like belonging, and a mountain of tasks feels like purpose. But when output becomes identity, the cost is steep: burnout, resentment, and the painful sense that your value disappears the moment you set a boundary.

Michelle names the root causes beneath the rush for approval unmet needs for safety, acceptance, and real connection and shows how to swap performance for alignment without abandoning your drive.

You’ll learn simple, honest tools to break the cycle: an audit for your yeses, boundary scripts that protect capacity, and reflective practices that help you catch stress before it flattens your joy. We talk about building communities that honor your humanity over your utility, asking for reciprocity upfront, and defining appreciation as more than another task. The result isn’t louder applause; it’s steadier peace and contributions that actually last.

If you’ve ever felt used by your own ambition or loved only when you’re useful this conversation offers relief and a path forward. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with one quick fix you’re ready to retire.

Your worth isn’t up for debate; let your choices reflect it.

Message from Dr. Michelle Chanda Singh

I’m Dr. Michelle Chanda Singh, born in Jamaica, raised in a traditional Indian household where I never quite fit the mold. For over 40 years, I chased every expectation family, culture, society, collecting degrees, titles, and accolades. I had purpose and security, yet something was missing. I was achieving, not thriving.

As an award-winning global educator, Michelle finally realized that fulfillment doesn’t come from perfection, it comes from alignment. Today, she help high-achieving, culturally diverse women educators recognize how disengagement quietly steals their joy. Together, we break those patterns so you can redefine success on your own terms and lead with purpose, from fulfillment, not sacrifice.

That’s why I created this podcast, to tell my story honestly and unfiltered. The truths I buried, the patterns I tolerated, the lessons that set me free. But this isn’t just about me, it’s about you. Through these stories, you’ll see reflections of your own journey and uncover what’s been holding you back.

Join me as I disrupts disengagement, break the cycle of busyness, and learn to lead and live from a place of true joy and wholeness. It’s time to reclaim your power and thrive, not just survive.

What happens when the checklist is complete but your heart goes quiet?

Michelle tells a story many high-achieving women will recognize: a college romance that felt safe and whole, a pregnancy that drew in outside voices, and a split-second of silence that echoed like a choice. That moment nudged her into survival mode, degrees, accolades, relentless productivity and a life that looked perfect while feeling numb.

We walk through the years where achievement became armor: early alarms, packed classrooms, validation on repeat, and a home that ran on logistics instead of presence. Michelle names the trade-offs with care, not blame. She chose the image of a two-parent household and the comfort of social approval over her own happiness, not because love was missing, but because numbness made it hard to be honest. Gratitude turned into a script that kept the truth offstage: if you have a career, a house, and a family, how dare you want more?

The turning point is both tender and practical. With time, support, and hard conversations, she learned to see her patterns, guarding, over-functioning, letting silence decide and to rebuild trust from the inside out. Intuition becomes the throughline: a quiet guide she once ignored, now a daily compass.

If you’ve ever felt “fine” but frozen, you’ll hear steps you can try today: notice where your energy drains, name one real feeling, keep one honest boundary, and let small truths shift your choices.

This is a story about reclaiming joy without abandoning responsibility, about loving your people while also choosing yourself, and about how curiosity can thaw years of numbness. Press play for a grounded, compassionate take on relationships, identity, and the courage to feel again.

If it resonates, follow the show, leave a review, and share it with a friend who needs a gentle nudge toward their own voice.

Message from Dr. Michelle Chanda Singh

I’m Dr. Michelle Chanda Singh, born in Jamaica, raised in a traditional Indian household where I never quite fit the mold. For over 40 years, I chased every expectation family, culture, society, collecting degrees, titles, and accolades. I had purpose and security, yet something was missing. I was achieving, not thriving.

As an award-winning global educator, Michelle finally realized that fulfillment doesn’t come from perfection, it comes from alignment. Today, she help high-achieving, culturally diverse women educators recognize how disengagement quietly steals their joy. Together, we break those patterns so you can redefine success on your own terms and lead with purpose, from fulfillment, not sacrifice.

That’s why I created this podcast, to tell my story honestly and unfiltered. The truths I buried, the patterns I tolerated, the lessons that set me free. But this isn’t just about me, it’s about you. Through these stories, you’ll see reflections of your own journey and uncover what’s been holding you back.

Join me as I disrupts disengagement, break the cycle of busyness, and learn to lead and live from a place of true joy and wholeness. It’s time to reclaim your power and thrive, not just survive.