947: Elena Joy Thurston: Burnout, Belonging & Building Brave Leadership

When I decided to start inviting guests onto Shameless Leadership, I immediately knew I wanted my dear friend and speaking colleague Elena Joy to join me. The work Elena Joy does around inclusion always captivates me. She is smart, witty, and strategic in all the best ways - as you’ll hear in this conversation. She knows what needs to be done to get the work done. Her unflinching commitment to tackling tough conversations while upholding human dignity always blows me away. While her knowledge around inclusion and its connection to burnout is robust, her methods for tackling challenges where these areas intersect are approachable and welcoming. This is all to say, Elena Joy makes me want to be a better human, and I suspect she will have the same impact on you.  

In an official capacity, Elena Joy Thurston, she/her, is the CEO of LATITUDE, a boutique HR consultancy specializing in creating sustainable leadership pipelines through burnout prevention and emerging leader programs. A Mormon mom of four who lost her marriage, her church, and her community when she came out as a lesbian, her viral TEDx talk on surviving conversion therapy has attracted clients such as the Denver Broncos, Peloton, and Planned Parenthood. She is featured in the award-winning documentary CONVERSION, recently launched on AppleTV and Amazon. Elena Joy lives in Arizona with her four children and spends her spare time dreaming of her next fly-fishing trip.

Listen in to hear Elena share:

• How she saw the writing on the wall with DEI and made an intentional pivot in her work in order to continue to achieve her goals around inclusion in the workplace 

• The truth about the state of DEI - what has been taken from us and what we still have to work with, and what it all means in terms of sustainable leadership 

• How understanding our co-workers' identities opens the door to communication and decreases burnout

• What burnout looks like in 2025 and how it looks different for Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z

• How burnout is universal and individual at the same time

• The importance of creating positive emotional experiences to counter the feelings that trigger your burnout

• How to use the Release & Restore Method to shift your energy daily, weekly, monthly, yearly

Links Mentioned:

• Women Business Owners, join me for a free business-building workshop on July 16th, Focused & Fierce: Lead with Purpose and Build Your Business in a Noisy World: saradean.com/fierce

• Hire me to speak: saradean.com/speaking

• Coach with me: https://saradean.com/executive-coaching-services

• Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradeanspeaks

• Watch Shameless Leadership episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@saradeanspeaks

• Work with Elena Joy: https://latitudeleaders.com/

• Get Elena Joy’s Free Burnout Starter Kit: https://latitudeleaders.com/burnoutstarterkit

• Attend Elena Joy’s Free Office Hours: http://joyfulofficehours.com

• Latitude Leaders on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/latitude-leaders/

• Latitude Leaders on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latitudeleaders

• Elena Joy on on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenajoythurston/

• Elena Joy on Instragram https://www.instagram.com/elenajoyspeaks/

• Elena Joy’s TEDx talk on Youtube: https://youtu.be/rIhPZMC4UEg

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