How Good Can It Get

I really wish someone had told me this earlier in my career: working harder isn't necessarily what moves you forward.
For so many of us, especially women, we inherited a simple formula. Keep your head down, do great work, and eventually someone will notice. But as Giselle Marcus and I talk about in this conversation, career growth has an invisible side that many of us were never taught.
It's relationships. It's being known for what you do. It's having people who will speak your name when you're not in the room. And it's investing in people before you need something from them.
Listening back, I have a different reframe for this conversation. It's less about "networking" and more about refusing to build your career alone.
This episode explores:
Why excellent work alone doesn't always move your career forward
How to build meaningful relationships instead of collecting connections
Practical ways to network without pretending to be someone you're not
What makes mentorship and professional relationships genuinely reciprocal
How curiosity and connection can help us become more inclusive leaders
Giselle Marcus brings decades of experience in leadership, operations, networking, mentorship, and relationship building to this conversation. She shares practical ideas for building a network that actually supports you, from following up intentionally to making thoughtful asks and staying connected over time.
If you've ever wondered why your hard work doesn't always seem to speak for itself, or if the idea of networking makes you want to hide in the corner, start here. You don't have to become more performative. You might just need to stop trying to do it all alone.
Connect with Giselle
Website: gisellemarcus.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giselemarcus/
https://www.instagram.com/gisele_marcus/
Connect with Bree
Website: executiveunschool.com
Instagram: @breejohnsonofficial

Some of the most powerful work we can do isn't changing what's happening around us. It's changing the story we're living inside.
Kyle Smith and I recorded this conversation a year and a half ago, and that idea has stayed with me. So many of the patterns I see in my clients come back to the stories we quietly repeat about who we are, what we're capable of, what we're allowed to want, and whether we've earned rest. Over time, those stories can become an identity without us ever stopping to ask whether they're still true.
In this conversation, Kyle shares how breathwork and story work can help us notice the patterns running our lives, get curious about the stories underneath them, and begin making different choices. We talk about self-leadership, mental fitness, the words we use with ourselves, and what happens when we stop letting old stories make decisions for us.
This episode explores:
the connection between breath, the body, and the stories we carry
how to identify the "gorilla" story that's creating the most friction in your life
a four-step practice for bringing difficult stories out of your head and into conscious awareness
why soft language like "I should," "I might," and "I probably will" can undermine our trust in our own decisions
the relationship between self-leadership, autonomy, and making clearer choices
Kyle also shares a question I keep coming back to: What story have you been repeating that no longer deserves authority over your life?
 
Connect with Guest Kyle Smith
Website: http://www.clarityconsultant.ca/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dapperdudekyle/
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@dapperdudekyle
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kylesmithtrainer
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dapperdudekyle
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarity-consultant/
Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/limitless-life-with-kyle-smith
Connect with Host Bree Johnson
Insta: @breejohnsonofficial
Website: www.executiveunschool.com

When this conversation was first recorded almost 2 years ago, I thought we were talking about career pivots. Listening back now, I realize we were talking about identity. About the quiet moment when you start wondering whether the life you've built is actually one you chose.
This episode explores:
why so many of us confuse achievement with alignment
the hidden "rulebook" that shapes our career decisions without us realizing it
how sunk cost keeps us staying in jobs long after they've stopped serving us
the importance of learning to trust your own inner knowing over external validation
why building a business doesn't automatically heal work wounds
Drea Katan shares her journey from Fortune 50 engineer and operations manager to entrepreneur after years of anxiety, burnout, and realizing she'd built a career around proving her worth instead of honoring what she truly wanted. Together, we explore the courage it takes to question long-held definitions of success, navigate career transitions with intention, and create work that supports the life you actually want to live.
If you've ever wondered whether you're chasing someone else's definition of success—or felt like you've stayed too long simply because you've already invested so much—this conversation is a beautiful place to begin.
Connect with Drea
Connect with Guest Drea Kattan
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/dreakattan/
Free OBM Consult: https://calendly.com/alynergy/obm-connection
5 Types of Hires Guide: http://subscribepage.io/types-of-hires-for-online-coaches
Connect with Bree
Website: executiveunschool.com
Instagram: @breejohnsonofficial
LinkedIn: Bree Johnson

Two years ago, I recorded this conversation before I'd fully connected the dots between visibility, work, and opportunity.
Looking back, I realize this episode isn't really about LinkedIn. It's about something much bigger: the courage to let people see your work before you know exactly where it will lead. Whether you're building a business, growing your career, or simply wondering what's next, your reputation is one of the few things you get to shape intentionally.
This episode explores:
why building a personal brand isn't just for entrepreneurs
how visibility creates opportunities long before you're actively looking for them
why consistency matters more than going viral
practical ways to start showing up, even if posting feels intimidating
why your network is one of your greatest career assets
LinkedIn strategist Caroline Pennington shares practical advice for creating a presence that reflects who you are and what you know. Together, we unpack why so many professionals treat LinkedIn as a digital résumé instead of the relationship-building platform it has become, and how a few small, consistent actions can open doors you never expected.
If you've ever wondered whether sharing your ideas is actually worth it, or if you've been waiting until you feel "ready" to become more visible, this conversation is a great place to start.
Connect with Caroline
Website: femininefounder.com
Instagram: @cpennington55
LinkedIn: Caroline Pennington
Connect with Bree
Website: executiveunschool.com
Instagram: @breejohnsonofficial

Two years ago, I recorded this conversation before I had fully articulated what Work Recovery really meant.
Looking back now, I can hear so many of the ideas that have become central to my work today. This conversation isn't simply about leadership. It's about questioning the systems we've accepted as normal and asking what becomes possible when we build workplaces around humans instead of productivity metrics.
This episode explores:
why healthier workplaces begin with healthier leadership, not better perks
the myth that people-first leadership comes at the expense of profits
how culture is created through everyday decisions, not mission statements
the importance of clear expectations over rigid control
why one leader can change the experience of an entire team, even inside a broken system
Rachel Anderson shares practical wisdom from her work helping organizations build human-centered cultures that improve both employee well-being and business results. Together, we explore what it looks like to lead with trust, redefine productivity, and create workplaces where people can genuinely thrive.
If you've ever wondered whether work has to feel this heavy—or whether there's another way to lead—this conversation is a beautiful place to begin.
Connect with Rachel
Website: https://www.thehumancentricleader.com/
Instagram: @rachelandersonco
Book: https://www.thehumancentricleader.com/book
Connect with Bree
Website: executiveunschool.com
Instagram: @breejohnsonofficial

Two years ago, I recorded this conversation before I had language like Work Recovery.
 
Looking back, I can see the ideas that were quietly shaping everything I believe today.
 
This episode explores:
why being told "it's just stress" can disconnect us from ourselves
the relationship between chronic stress, trauma, and physical health
learning to trust your body again
intuition versus authority
why healing rarely begins with another productivity hack
 
Brooke Herbert shares the story of spending years as a medical mystery before discovering the root causes of her illness. What emerged wasn't simply better health. It was a completely different relationship with herself.
 
If you've ever wondered whether your body is trying to tell you something your mind keeps ignoring, start here.
 
Connect with Brooke
Instagram: @goldivyhealthco
Podcast: Ivy Unleashed
Connect with Bree
Website: executiveunschool.com
Instagram: @breejohnsonofficial

This week's episode is another special reshare from the vault—one that feels just as relevant today as it did when it first aired. Bree sits down with entrepreneur and business coach Ina Coveney to explore what happens when you're forced to rethink your career, your identity, and the stories you've been telling yourself about success.
After being passed over for a promotion while on maternity leave, Ina made the difficult decision to leave corporate and build a business on her own terms. What follows is an honest conversation about entrepreneurship, resilience, and the invisible work of unlearning the need to earn approval. Along the way, Ina introduces a metaphor Bree still thinks about today: the two horses that pull every entrepreneur's chariot. One is the clients who keep us accountable. The other is the deeper purpose that carries us through the moments when motivation disappears.
The conversation also explores the realities of being a working parent, from navigating guilt and societal expectations to recognizing that so much of the pressure we carry comes not from others—but from ourselves.
What You'll Learn in This Episode
Why leaving corporate often requires unlearning years of conditioning 
The "two horses" that keep every entrepreneur moving: client accountability and a purpose that's bigger than yourself
Why entrepreneurship doesn't eliminate pressure—it simply gives you the opportunity to choose which pressures are worth carrying
How limiting beliefs about being liked can quietly keep us playing small in business and life
Practical ways to set expectations, establish boundaries, and navigate the tension between building a business and being present at home
Connect with Ina
Instagram: @inacoveney
Connect with Bree
Website: executiveunschool.com
Instagram: @breejohnsonofficial

This week's episode is a special reshare from the vault — and one of the most listened-to conversations in the show's history. Bree sits down with Christy Bowman-White, who went from middle school dropout and teenage parent to principal of a Distinguished School in Washington state... and then burned out completely.
Christy's story centers on a metaphor that's stuck with Bree ever since this conversation was first recorded: the basket. For years, Christy poured everything — her time, her identity, her worth — into the basket labeled "career," while every other basket in her life sat empty. Then the Mack truck came. In this episode, Christy gets honest about self-abandonment, the moment she realized her core value of "excellence" was really just perfectionism in disguise, and why emotional intelligence belongs at the foundation of leadership, not on the side as a soft skill.
What You'll Learn in This Episode
Why so many high-achieving women hit the "I've made it" moment only to find the felt experience is the opposite of what they were promised
The basket metaphor: what happens when every egg goes into one area of life, and how to start identifying which of your own baskets are empty
How Stephen Covey's four quadrants can be used not just for time management, but as a map for where relationships, health, and sustainability actually live
Why emotional intelligence — starting with self-awareness — is the real foundation of effective, people-centered leadership
Connect with Christy
Christy's Website
Connect with Bree
Website: executiveunschool.com
Instagram: @breejohnsonofficial

Something big is coming. Bree is pulling back the curtain on what the How Good Can It Get? team has been quietly building behind the scenes — and it might be the most exciting thing this podcast has ever produced.
New guests. New series. Conversations so good she almost cried in the recording booth. Tune in to hear what's on the way and why the wait is going to be very, very worth it. The best is genuinely yet to come. How good can it get? You're about to find out.
The Upcoming Series You're Going to Want to Tell Everyone About
Exit Wounds is coming. Real women. Real exits. Corporate roles, multimillion-dollar businesses, marriages, partnerships, friendships — and in one case, an entire country. These are the stories of what happens when a woman finally stops holding on to what no longer fits and starts building the life waiting for her on the other side.
Bree has already started recording. Her words: "I almost feel like crying."
While you wait for the new series, the archives are full of exactly what you need right now. Bree is curating the best of How Good Can It Get? all summer long — the most downloaded, most shared, most life-changing episodes from nearly 70 countries of listeners. You may have heard some of them before. But you are not the same person you were then.
Connect with Bree
Website: executiveunschool.com
Instagram: @breejohnsonofficial

We've regulated. We've rewired. Now it's time to take your agency back. In the final installment of the Work Isn't Working series, Bree introduces the third step of the Work Recovery Method: Reclaim.
This episode is an honest look at the "good enough" zone so many high-achieving women quietly settle into, the victimhood cycle that keeps us pointing outward instead of turning the mirror around, and what actually becomes possible when you stop outsourcing your joy, your purpose, and your sense of self to circumstances you're waiting to change. Bree shares her own ongoing journey of shedding the shoulds, and offers a practical starting point for anyone who needs to begin reclaiming their life in small, powerful doses.
What You'll Learn in This Episode
What the "good enough" zone actually looks and feels like from the inside, and why it's so easy to stay there
Why dissatisfaction at work so often points outward, and what that pattern is really protecting
How life is a series of small identity deaths, and why that's something to move toward rather than away from
What Bree has shed over the past seven years and what it has made possible for her
Why reclaiming yourself rarely requires a dramatic pivot, and what it more often looks like in practice
The Love List exercise: what it is, how to build yours, and why it's a reclamation tool, not a productivity hack
Why joy is not a reward for finishing your work
The Love List Exercise
If big-picture reclamation feels too abstract for where you are right now, start here.
Make a list of 20 or more things that bring you genuine joy, pleasure, and happiness. Go small and specific. The first bite of ice cream on a hot day. A new bird at the feeder. A dog jumping into your lap. A particular song. A particular light.
The Work Recovery Method™: A Series Summary
Regulate — Come back into your body. Create enough internal safety to think clearly.
Rewire — Examine the agreements, beliefs, and conditioning running your life on autopilot. Choose differently.
Reclaim — Stop outsourcing your agency, your joy, and your sense of self. Build from what is genuinely yours.
This is an ongoing cycle, not a finish line. Two steps forward, one step back is still growth.
Connect with Bree
Website: executiveunschool.com
Instagram: @breejohnsonofficial