You're the CEO of Your Health: Dr. Judy Wright on Burnout, Bias & Boundaries

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Dr. Judy Wright, physician and sustainable success expert, joins Becky and Faith for a candid conversation about self-advocacy in medical settings, the racial bias baked into the healthcare system, and the burnout that high-achieving women often don't recognize until it's severe.

Dr. Wright shares her own journey through medical school (including an undiagnosed learning difference), multiple rounds of burnout across academia, clinical medicine, and corporate work, and the practical, low-lift ways she teaches women to reclaim their time and energy.

Discover other conversations from the margins at YesAndOtherwise.com

Topics Discussed:

• (00:15) Intro: Dr. Judy Wright's background, the Power Balance and PACE framework
• (00:52) Becky's practice of refusing to be weighed at the doctor, and why
• (01:59) "You're the CEO of your health" — reclaiming power with your medical team
• (02:42) Dr. Wright's own story: a doctor who pushed weight-loss surgery instead of treating her migraine
• (07:18) Advocating for others vs. advocating for yourself; Dr. Wright's father's hospitalization
• (09:05) Faith on advocating for her autistic son vs. self-advocacy; the "God complex" trope
• (11:24) Why physicians come off rushed, and why that's still on the patient to navigate
• (13:21) Underrepresentation of Black doctors and racial bias in med-school clinical scoring
• (15:33) Dr. Wright's own struggles with standardized testing and an undiagnosed learning difference
• (18:xx) "A face you recognize that recognizes you back" — trust and representation in care
• (21:03) Faith's story of a doctor who truly listened about her son's care
• (22:38) Wanting to "know the story" — treating patients as whole people, not case files
• (23:50) Introducing stereotype threat (Claude Steele's research) and its link to burnout
• (26:06) Dr. Wright on feeling like her success was "luck," not skill
• (28:33) Burning out multiple times — academia, clinical medicine, and corporate — without having the language for it
• (32:31) Faith's "US 15 pounds" and unrecognized burnout in grad school
• (34:03) The PACE method: the power of intentional pauses (and Dr. Wright's cancer diagnosis as a turning point)
• (38:33) Self-care doesn't require a spa — small, cumulative pauses count
• (41:02) The "superwoman complex" and the guilt of claiming time for yourself
• (43:41) Overfunctioning vs. underfunctioning (quoting Dr. Shanika Walker Barnes)
• (44:10) Becky on gendered guilt: her husband's 20-minute showers vs. her own guilt
• (46:02) Helping high-achieving women believe they're allowed to slow down
• (49:xx) Auditing your calendar instead of assuming every meeting is mandatory
• (53:34) Where to find Dr. Wright, and closing questions: Yes, And, Otherwise

Resources Mentioned:

• Dr. Judy Wright: https://www.thepowerbalance.com/
• Dr. Wright Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/JudyWrightMD
• Dr. Wright LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judywrightmd/
• Claude Steele on stereotype threat: https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2016/11/claude-steele-explains-stereotype-threat
• Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes: https://www.drchanequa.com/

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