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Are you a woman leader navigating an uncertain career path? Join host Amy Wilkins on Thriving in the Messy Middle with her guest Alanna Fincke, a seasoned expert in resilience and organizational behavior. Amy invites Alanna to share her experiences of transitioning from magazine journalism to becoming a subject matter expert in resilience. They delve into Alanna’s unique journey, discussing how early shifts in the internet landscape required her to rethink her career strategy from the onset. The episode offers profound insights into bridging the gap between professional roles and personal passion, especially amid today’s constant change in the work environment.

Alanna emphasizes the importance of resilience as a learnable set of skills vital for thriving amidst uncertainty. She shares strategic methods like visualization and positive affirmations, unveiling her struggle with impostor syndrome and the significance of emotional regulation in leadership. Moreover, Alanna’s personal narrative of overcoming breast cancer provides a roadmap for navigating personal and professional challenges. This conversation highlights how leaders can model better stress management, create healthier, more resilient work environments, and find purpose in daily work to maintain personal well-being.

Key Takeaways
  • Resilience as a Skill: Resilience isn’t just about bouncing back but about advancing and thriving. It involves a set of teachable skills like emotion regulation and visualization.
  • Career Transitions: Navigating career changes, such as Alanna’s shift from magazine journalism into resilience expertise, underscores the importance of aligning professional paths with personal values.
  • Avoiding Manager Burnout: A significant pattern amongst leaders is burnout. Strategies for managing stress and modeling self-care can prevent the ‘manager crash.’
  • Purpose and Meaning: Purpose doesn’t have to be overwhelming; it can be as simple as recognizing the benefits of one’s current job or valuing team interactions.
  • Post-Traumatic Growth: Challenges can spur significant personal and professional growth, as evidenced by Alanna’s experience with cancer and resilience-building.
Alanna Fincke Quotes

Resilience is not just about pushing through with grit. It’s a set of skills that support us in thriving and moving forward.
Step into your power by silencing those inner critic voices and practicing visualization.
The core of resilience lies in emotion regulation, helping us manage stress effectively amid constant change.
Purpose doesn’t have to be monumental. Small connections to meaning can make a significant impact in challenging times.
You sometimes have to break down to break through; that’s where real growth happens.
And whatever the practices that work for you that keep you in that confidence zone, it is a practice. It’s not a one-and-done.

About Alanna Fincke

Alanna Fincke is a senior behavioral-health and workplace-wellbeing executive with 10+ years leading content and services that drive measurable engagement and outcomes at enterprise scale. An innovative, creative, and commercially minded partner, she collaborates across functions to drive growth.

As Executive Director of Content & Learning at meQuilibrium, she developed and led the enterprise content engine, translating CBT and performance psychology into digital journeys, live learning, and blended synchronous programs. She developed role-specific products for managers and teams—including manager skills and resources, team-based challenges, and live sessions—to build psychological safety, focus, emotional intelligence, change readiness, and more. She also integrated AI into in-product content (personalized member content, chatbot, product navigator) and into the content development process to speed production and improve the member experience. Her team’s innovation doubled monthly sessions, doubled engagement rate, and lifted average in-product time to ~7 minutes.

A board-certified coach, frequent speaker, and executive trainer, she not only designs high-impact interventions—she delivers them as a trusted customer partner, as well. Alanna is also a subject matter expert in resilience, performance, and mental health. She is a thought leader in the field of workplace performance. 

Alanna Fincke LinkedIn Profile

About Amy P Wilkins

Amy P Wilkins is a leadership coach, former media executive, and the founder of Choose Awe—a coaching practice devoted to helping women leaders navigate transitions with clarity, courage, and self-trust. After decades in senior leadership roles, Amy now empowers women to lead with purpose and thrive through the “messy middle” seasons of life and leadership.

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