Beyond Achievement: Jane Chen on Redefining Success

In this episode of A Trauma Survivor Thriver’s Podcast, host Lorilee Binstock speaks with Jane Chen, social entrepreneur, inventor, and co-founder of Embrace Global, the organization behind a low-cost infant incubator that has saved more than one million premature babies around the world.

While Jane’s humanitarian work earned global recognition, from presidents to the World Economic Forum, behind her achievements was a woman quietly unraveling. Burned out and battling the scars of childhood trauma, Jane faced the collapse of her identity when her company nearly fell apart.

In her deeply personal memoir, Like a Wave We Break: A Memoir of Falling Apart and Finding Myself, Jane shares her transformative healing journey, from confronting her father’s violence to exploring somatic therapy, Internal Family Systems, psychedelics, and working directly with Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score.

Jane and Lorilee dive into how overachievement can mask trauma, why talk therapy alone isn’t enough, and how redefining success through self-compassion, presence, and surrender led Jane to a more authentic life.

If you’ve ever struggled with burnout, identity, or the relentless drive to prove your worth, this conversation will remind you that our greatest breaking points can lead to our most profound breakthroughs.