Executive Unschool Publication
Welcome. You've found your people. We explore the work you do, the wealth you build, and the wellbeing you deserve, without asking you to blow up the life you've worked so hard to create.
Executive Unschool publishes essays, written to start a better conversation. It’s a publication for ambitious women who have lost interest in optimizing a life that doesn't feel like their own.
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WORK ⁘ WEALTH ⁘ WELLBEING ⁘
A Work Recovery Lesson: Leading with Self-Compassion After Big Moments
After a high-stakes moment, it’s easy to spiral into self-criticism. This reflection offers a different approach: evaluating your performance through pride, self-compassion, and growth—so you can lead, improve, and move forward without burning yourself out.
Ep. 127 Stop building a life. And Start living it.
In the US, we are conditioned to be obsessed with building a life we get to live at some point in the future. Other cultures — older, wiser cultures — are focused on living their life."
— Bree Johnson
"C'est la vie" — that's life. It's your c'est la vie spring restart.
How good can it get? depends on how willing you are to let the heavy stuff go and make space for what's trying to grow.
This spring, try something with me:
Stop editing yourself. Stop looking backwards on what didn't work in Q1.
Stop apologizing for needing a fresh start.
The season is literally designed for a restart. And you deserve it.
Momentum Isn’t Enough: Why Self-Awareness Determines Your Next Chapter
You can build momentum, set goals, and still find yourself repeating the same patterns. This reflection explores why self-awareness—not willpower—is the missing piece, and how deeper self-understanding helps you create aligned, sustainable growth.
EP 126 C’est la vie this spring
Spring isn't just a season change—it's an invitation. Q1 has been rough for many of us. Work let us down. The world felt heavy. We carried burdens that weren't ours to carry. But what if you could give yourself permission to let it all go and start fresh? C’est La Vie…
From Burnout to Momentum: Rebuilding Energy Without Hustle
After a season of burnout or stagnation, momentum doesn’t come from pushing harder—it comes from alignment. This reflection explores how seasonal shifts, nervous system regulation, and intentional visioning can help you rebuild energy in a sustainable way.
Stop Shrinking: Why Owning Your Authority Matters More Than Ever
Even experienced leaders often soften their ideas to maintain belonging. But that instinct comes at a cost. This reflection explores why women silence themselves, how it impacts confidence and leadership, and what it means to fully own your authority.
Ep. 125 Is it me? Or is business 'unusual'?
Business is unusual and it's not just you that sees it. The work machine is operating exactly as designed. In this episode, Bree challenges the belief that burnout, exhaustion, and disillusionment are personal failures, revealing instead how modern work systems are built on extraction.
This conversation reframes the “rat race” and our pervasive work hard until retirement conditioning — and invites a different way of living and working.
Women Are Being Asked to Fix a Problem They Didn't Create
A new phenomenological study published in the Open Journal of Leadership asks a better question about women in the workplace: not just why the gender gap exists, but how women themselves have come to internalize responsibility for closing it.
What actually holds when everything is shaking
When institutions, careers, and systems feel unpredictable, our nervous systems search for certainty that may no longer exist. This reflection explores why connection, care, and love—not productivity—may be the most reliable compass during uncertain times.
Ep 124 Winter ‘26, Lesson Four: What really matters when systems crumble
As traditional measures of value like productivity and income become less stable, expanding our definition of what matters—community, service, and relationships—may be essential for navigating the years ahead.
I was blasted for choosing peace. Here’s my response.
When the world feels chaotic, choosing rest can look like disengagement—but it’s actually how sustainable leaders endure. This reflection explores why recovery isn’t selfish, how nervous system regulation supports long-term impact, and why replenishment is essential for changemakers.
Why pushing through isn’t working
Chronic work stress isn’t just exhausting—it’s physically harmful. Research shows most professionals experience significant stress each year, and many develop health issues as a result. Here’s why micro-recoveries may be the most effective way to offset modern work’s impact on your nervous system.
Ep 123 Winter ‘26, Lesson Three: Community, Service & the truth I learned
This episode explores how authentic community is not an audience, not followers, and not transactional relationships. Instead, it is a two-way exchange grounded in service, mutual learning, and shared humanity.
Work Recovery: The Midweek Reset Your Nervous System Needs
Hustle culture teaches us to push through stress without pause. Work recovery offers a different path. A reflection on midweek resets, nervous system regulation, and one simple tool—pause before reacting—that can help you reclaim clarity, calm, and capacity.
Ep 122 Wandering the wild mess: Self trust & starting over with guest heather morgan
This episode dives into the emotional realities of identity deconstruction, nervous system recovery, breaking behavioral loops, and the micro-decisions that build confidence and self-trust over time.
Choosing Courage Over Comfort in Uncertain Times
Courage isn’t the absence of fear — it’s alignment in the presence of it. This reflection explores what it means to choose integrity over approval, regulate your nervous system for bravery, and build confidence brick by brick when visibility feels risky.
Ep 121 winter ‘26, Lesson two: Courage isn’t fearlessness
In this episode, Bree shares personal stories—from speaking out about work harm and community care, to navigating self-doubt and obstacles on the TEDxDuluth stage—to show how courage is built through action, not perfection.
What It Really Means to Lead With Integrity in Uncertain Times
Leadership isn’t your mission statement — it’s your behavior when it’s inconvenient. This reflection explores what it means to stop shrinking, speak with integrity, and live your values publicly, even when it costs you followers, clients, or comfort.
Ep 120 Winter ‘26, Lesson One: Finding my voice
After years of compartmentalizing herself to “protect” her growing business, Bree reflects on what it cost her—and her community—to edit her voice, soften her truth, and outsource her authenticity in the name of success.
She opens up about leaving the employment law firm she co-founded, building Executive Unschool from a place of rupture and realignment, and choosing healing over hustle.