Episode 2: Don't Be Air. Be Fire.

How much energy have you spent preparing for conversations that never happened?

Replaying interactions.

Anticipating conflict.

Trying to understand why someone doesn't like you.

In this deeply personal episode of Please Mute Your Trauma, Tiffany Collins shares the story of a recent doctoral residential that forced her to confront an uncomfortable truth: sometimes the greatest battles we're fighting aren't happening around us—they're happening within us.

After arriving emotionally prepared for a conflict that never came, one simple piece of advice shifted everything:

Don't be air. Be fire.

Together, we'll explore how trauma can teach us to become hypervigilant, why we often give our attention to people and problems that haven't earned it, and how reclaiming our focus is an act of dignity.

This episode is an invitation to stop replaying conversations that never happened, stop preparing for battles that may never come, and start investing your energy in the people, work, and purpose that truly deserve it.

Because meaningful work doesn't begin when everything around us changes.

Sometimes it begins when we choose to stop supplying oxygen to the things that are stealing our peace.

In This Episode:

• Why trauma prepares us for battles that never happen
• The hidden cost of hypervigilance
• How our attention shapes our experience at work
• The connection between dignity and self-worth
• What it really means to "be fire"

Reflection Question:
Where are you giving your energy to people, problems, or possibilities that haven't earned it?

Learn more about the podcast and join the conversation at www.pleasemuteyourtrauma.com.

Coming soon, you'll be able to share your own workplace stories and questions through the podcast voicemail feature—because some of the most meaningful conversations begin when we realize we're not carrying these experiences alone.

Because work becomes meaningful when dignity is protected.

We want to hear from you!

If you've ever sat through a meeting wondering whether anyone was listening, received a pizza party instead of support, or been told to "bring your whole self to work" only to discover there were terms and conditions attached, this episode is for you.

Learn more about the show and connect with Tiffany at:

www.pleasemuteyourtrauma.com

Because work becomes meaningful when dignity is protected.

In this first full episode of Please Mute Your Trauma, Tiffany Collins explores “the performance of being fine” at work: the way employees learn to smile, comply, stay quiet, and keep functioning even when they are exhausted, overwhelmed, or carrying far more than anyone can see.

Through humor, lived experience, and sharp workplace reflection, Tiffany unpacks the gap between what organizations say they value — people, authenticity, well-being, psychological safety — and what they often reward: emotional suppression, compliance, and silence.

This episode asks what happens when professionalism becomes performance, when “I’m fine” becomes a survival strategy, and when dignity is treated as something employees have to earn.

Because maybe the problem was never that people brought too much of themselves to work.

Maybe the problem is that work asked them to leave too much of themselves behind.

We want to hear from you!

If you've ever sat through a meeting wondering whether anyone was listening, received a pizza party instead of support, or been told to "bring your whole self to work" only to discover there were terms and conditions attached, this episode is for you.

Learn more about the show and connect with Tiffany at:

www.pleasemuteyourtrauma.com

Because work becomes meaningful when dignity is protected.

Why I Couldn't Stop Asking Questions

Why do some workplace experiences stay with us long after we've left the building?

Why can one manager's words echo in our minds years later?

Why do some jobs leave us feeling more alive… while others leave us questioning our worth?

In this opening episode, I share the question that has quietly followed me through the Navy, human resources, leadership, government, and now doctoral research—a question that ultimately led to the creation of Please Mute Your Trauma.

This isn't a story about having all the answers.

It's about becoming curious enough to ask better questions.

Together, we'll begin exploring workplace trauma, dignity, meaningful work, leadership, and the human experiences that shape who we become—both inside and outside of work.

If you've ever driven home replaying the same conversation...

Wondered why certain workplace experiences still affect you...

Or questioned whether you were carrying something you never had the words to explain...

You're in the right place.

Pull up a chair.

We've been saving you a seat.

We have a lot to talk about.

Work becomes meaningful when dignity is protected.

We want to hear from you!

If you've ever sat through a meeting wondering whether anyone was listening, received a pizza party instead of support, or been told to "bring your whole self to work" only to discover there were terms and conditions attached, this episode is for you.

Learn more about the show and connect with Tiffany at:

www.pleasemuteyourtrauma.com

Because work becomes meaningful when dignity is protected.