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Season 1 · Episode 03  —  Ritia Karati · NetApp

You Can’t Skip the Song

Content note: This episode discusses burnout, anxiety, panic attacks and racism. Please listen with care. If you need to talk, free-call or text 1737 (NZ) any time.
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Fifteen years in tech sales, often the only woman in the room. On the physical signs of stress, the exhausting “prove yourself first” tax, and a road-trip-on-shuffle metaphor for work — where you’re not allowed to skip a single song.

Boundaries (“your emergency is not my emergency”), perspective as a tool, and a sharp reframe of imposter syndrome as something that can mask real bias.

Read the article about this episode

In this conversation

  • Coming in “hot,” and slowly building firmer boundaries.
  • Burnout that shows up on her skin before she clocks it in her head.
  • The room that doesn’t hear you — and “be an ally, not a translator.”
  • The Bunnings tax, and being asked to “wait for your partner.”
  • Distractions over grounding, and the discipline of touching grass.
  • Perspective — “no one’s going to die. It’s not that deep.”

Moments worth holding onto

“Your emergency is not my emergency.”— Ritia Karati
“Be an ally, not a translator.”— Ritia Karati
“Asking for help isn’t a weakness. It’s the first step to getting better.”— Ritia Karati