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About This Episode
Nonprofit work runs on people who give everything. That's exactly the problem.
In this special Pause episode, Jon sits down with three We Are For Good community members: operations leader Nionne James, generational healing expert Dr. Jasmine Escalera, and Impact Up Atlanta host Jeremy Haselwood. They get real about burnout, where the "give until it hurts" mindset comes from, and why community is the antidote. 🩵
In this episode, you'll hear:
The simple self-check Nionne uses to catch exhaustion before it wins
Why so many high achievers inherit their definition of success, and how to rewrite it on your own terms
How walking into one room can give you the confidence to walk into the next
You'll walk away with small, doable ways to pause, without the guilt.
Episode Highlights:
(3:11) Nionne's story: three decades of holding it all together
(7:41) Small changes for leaders feeling burnout right now
(9:33) The martyr myth and inherited ideas of success
(13:11) Breaking the cycle while building a nonprofit
(16:08) Why Jeremy keeps convening Impact Up Atlanta
(19:36) Making the choice to walk in the room worth it
(22:01) One good thing: three ways to pause
(24:42) How to pause with the We Are For Good community
Meet the Panel
Nionne James is the founder of The Neon Lighthouse, which builds operational infrastructure for small nonprofits so executive directors and "chief everything officers" can lead without burning out. A first-generation Caribbean American, Nionne has worked in the nonprofit sector for more than 30 years, including 17 years as senior operational leader at AIDS Free World, where she built operations from the ground up. She launched The Neon Lighthouse to help leaders get support before burnout forces a change.
Dr. Jasmine Escalera is the founder of the Institute for Generational Healing, a nonprofit that helps people understand and heal inherited emotional and survival patterns, especially within communities of color. She is a global media spokesperson for workforce development and a LinkedIn Top Voice. Raised in Brooklyn, Dr. Escalera was the first in her family to graduate high school and college, and she is building the Institute for Generational Healing in public, sharing the behind-the-scenes journey of starting a nonprofit from scratch.
Jeremy Haselwood has been a digital fundraising consultant and trainer for more than 20 years. He runs Ampla Marketing, a digital marketing consultancy serving nonprofits, and hosts The Jeremy Haselwood Show podcast. For about two years, Jeremy has hosted We Are For Good's Impact Up meetups in Atlanta, and this year he helped bring Impact Up to Johannesburg, South Africa.
Powerful Quotes
"It takes community to do good in this world. No matter what your inner voice is telling you, you don't have to do everything, and you don't have to do it alone." - Nionne
"Nothing can happen unless we are full, whole, happy, and really able to take care of ourselves first." - Jasmine
"We work in these nonprofit organizations, and we are supposed to be the martyr." - Jasmine
"Care enough about the work to step away from it." - Jeremy
"Our bodies send out flare alarms. And we learn to ignore them, and we even glorify that exhaustion instead of listening to it." - Nionne
"We inherit ways of thinking about success." - Jasmine
"If you burn out and you let the exhaustion win, you're no good for anyone." - Nionne
"The work is going to be there. It's never ending. So don't try to outpace the work." - Jeremy
"Operations is a thing that's invisible when it's working." - Nionne
"Where did I learn this? Who taught it to me? And does it jive with the life I want to create?" - Jasmine
"It's incredibly powerful to be the one to take that on and to say it truly ends with me." - Jasmine
"If you're hosting an event, you have a responsibility for connecting the room." - Jeremy
Resources Mentioned
The Neon Lighthouse: Nionne's consultancy building operational infrastructure for small nonprofits
Institute for Generational Healing: Dr. Escalera's nonprofit focused on healing inherited emotional and survival patterns
The Jeremy Haselwood Show: Jeremy's podcast
Ampla Marketing: Jeremy's digital marketing and fundraising consultancy for nonprofits
ImpactUp: We Are For Good's community meetups, now in 50+ cities worldwide, with a virtual option
We Are For Good Pause livestream: conversation on naming what you feel, rest as a leadership practice, and the practical side of pause
Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this episode, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com
