What if anxiety isn't a flaw to fix, but a signal you've stopped listening to yourself?
In this episode of Surviving Roots, Cari Fund sits down with mental health educator and author Genny Rumancik — founder of The EQ School and the voice behind a 170,000-strong community — to unpack what emotional intelligence actually looks like in real life.
They get into the moment at a Portland airport that changed how Genny understood conflict, the "eldest daughter" wound and the cost of holding everything for everyone, why self-awareness is a daily practice and not a personality trait, and how to set boundaries from a grounded place instead of a reactive one. Genny also shares why the goal isn't to make hard feelings disappear as fast as possible — it's to learn to be present with them so they can move through you.
Whether you're on your first step or your millionth, this conversation is a permission slip to slow down and come home to yourself.
Genny's debut book, The Wisdom of Feeling: Finding Clarity, Courage, and Connection Through Emotional Intelligence (Tarcher), is out now.
🎧 Topics: emotional intelligence, self-awareness, anxiety, boundaries, the mother wound, eldest daughter syndrome, breaking generational cycles, nervous system regulation, healing.
✨ Connect:
Follow Cari: @cari.fund | www.cari.fund
Follow Genny: @theeqschool | theeqschool.co
📖 Buy the book, The Wisdom of Feeling: https://amzn.to/4fP7W4H
📓 Grab my FREE guide: www.cari.fund
📓 $9 Estrangement Survival Mini Guide: https://cari-fund.myshopify.com/
