Fitting Out - Reclaiming Unprofessionalism - Looks Like Work, Season 3, Ep 15

Somewhere along the way, “professionalism” got warped into a performance.
A performance that tells us: Keep it buttoned up. Keep it neutral. Don’t bring your whole self—just the polished parts.

But what if the most powerful thing you could do at work wasn’t to conform… but to unmask?

In this episode, I sit down with Myriam Hadnes—facilitator, podcaster, and founder of Workshops Work—to explore what happens when we stop trying to fit in, and instead learn how to fit out.

Myriam grew up with one foot in Germany and the other in Israel, straddling cultural norms and expectations from day one. She talks about how being a sensitive kid—always scanning the room, feeling what wasn’t said—led her into the work of facilitation. Not because she planned it, but because life kept nudging her toward the role of connector.

What began as survival became service. And now, she’s making space for others to do the same—with fewer masks, fewer shoulds, and a whole lot more curiosity.

Inside this conversation:

• How our childhood selves shaped our careers in surprising ways

• Why exclusion hits the body before it hits the brain

• The very real grief of remote work and missing kitchen gossip

• Psychological safety across cultures, time zones, and company norms

• The tension between belonging and authenticity (shoutout Gabor Maté)

• The labor of pretending, and what happens when we finally stop

• The revolutionary act of being fully human at work

• How reclaiming “unprofessionalism” might just save your soul

Myriam asks a question that gets straight to the edge of fear and freedom:
👉 “What would you do if you were not afraid?”

This episode is for the space-holders, the bridge-builders, the ones who’ve made a life out of keeping the peace—often at the cost of their own voice.
And it’s a reminder that maybe the most professional thing you can do… is be human.

"I have this inner urge to include everyone, to listen to people, to not teach them and tell them, but help them develop their own thinking."

Listen to this episode on Spotify | Apple | Wherever you get your podcasts

Resources & Mentions:

1. Workshops.work - Myriam's boutique agency

2. "The Art of Gathering" by Priya Parker

3. Gabor Maté's work on belonging vs. authenticity

4. Book recommendations from this season of LLW

5. Catch up on previous seasons of Looks Like Work wherever you get your podcasts: Spotify | Apple | Podbean

6. Subscribe to the newsletter: chedva.substack.com

7. Check out The Curiosity Lab and CuriosityGPT