Anna Burgess Yang

Most companies fail women who have experienced pregnancy loss We need to do better.

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.

When my daughter was stillborn, I had to recover from labor and delivery - even though I had no baby to bring home.

Pregnancy loss deserves more time, support, and empathy at work.

There's no shortcut to authenticity AI-generated content isn't fooling anyone.

Sure, AI can help you brainstorm social posts and other content.

But when it takes over your LinkedIn comments or cold emails, PEOPLE CAN TELL. And not in a good way.

I played by all the rules.

Hustle, hustle, hustle. Long hours. Keep my opinions to myself.

I finally asked myself, "What else is out there?"

Recalibrated my thinking.

Which led to a total career pivot. I'm a lot happier having more control over my work.

Boundary setting 101: Scripts that saved our sanity (medical edition) What to say and how to respond to people.

Setting boundaries during a medical crisis can feel hard, especially when people want to help.

But it’s also one of the kindest things you can do for yourself.

These simple scripts help make it easier.

Working at the beach A summer office.

This academic used to think work and life needed to be kept separate.

But over time, working on the beach helped her build her own version of worklife.

A bad apple will drag the entire team down.

*Everything* will take longer because of friction and people won't feel good about the work.

Career pivots are possible.

You don't have to do what you've been doing.

You can find something that will make you happy.

I'm proof of that.

Don't stop looking.

When managers favor certain employees, it creates selective memory.

𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 employees can do no wrong.

And everyone else has to fight to make their voices heard.

I've gotten to a point where work doesn't occur between certain hours of the day and I'm okay with that.

When I was burned out, I couldn't do my best work.

I felt like I was always underwater.

Continuing to spin my wheels with no control over anything.

I went out on my own as a way to heal myself.

Ever known people who claim to be 𝙨𝙤 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙮 but never get anything done?

Word spreads... you treat employees like crap and they'll tell a 𝙡𝙤𝙩 of other people.

Don't expect bad experiences to stay contained.

You can have a flexible schedule and maintain your boundaries by clearly communicating your availability and when people can expect a response.

Even if some specific hard skills are different, a lot of soft skills are easily transferable from one industry to the next.

Practice saying "no."

First on something small.

Then on bigger things.

Leading in the AI era: Embracing asynchronous work with trust What if trust, not time, is the true currency of work?

Asynchronous practices aren’t just about convenience. They’re about leadership, systems, and care. And trust.

Trust AND flexibility will enable sustainable work in an AI-driven world.

For a long time, other people controlled the narrative of my career.

A lot of this was driven by external forces: society told me to work hard, hustle, climb to the top, etc.

It wasn't coming from within.

Don't let other people tell your story.

Major career changes are scary.

But making brave decisions can bring us more joy.

People talk about burnout, but unless you've experienced it, I don't think people realize what it takes to recover.

Getting a new job doesn't "fix" burnout.

Interviewing for jobs is stressful but so if accepting an offer because you never *really* know what you're in for with your new role.

It's always a leap of faith that the actual work matches your perception during the interview process.

Offering to work for free attracts the wrong kind of people: people who don't value your work in the first place.

My approach to coffee: Why risk the morning without it? ☕

Also helps that I wake up earlier than the rest of my family so I can consume my coffee in peace.

If you'd asked me a few years ago if I saw myself as self-employed, I would have said "Absolutely not."

I liked the stability of my 9-5 and I worked hard.

But sometimes we reach that fork and decide to take the road less traveled.

I used to be a perfectionist.

I spent hours on everything, trying to make it perfect.

But perfectionism gets in the way of enjoying things and can slow you down in your career or freelance life.

What's your "quit song"?

That song you played on repeat when you finally quit your job and realized you were free.

I'll go: "You Don't Own Me" by Leslie Gore.

Employees are humans. Not widgets.

Any time the company puts itself first and people last, it's a power move - and undermines the employee's contributions.

Isn't that a pretty big business risk to take?

I will 100% drag if I don't enjoy the work I'm doing.

Can we enjoy 𝙖𝙡𝙡 work 𝙖𝙡𝙡 the time? Of course not.

But if you're 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 dragging, it's such a waste.

"Improve yourself by 1% every day!!"

(Or some similar advice)

Instead, I say: evolve.

Be in constant change.

It's always an evolution. Not a climb up a single ladder.

The world constantly changes.

Technology changes.

People change.

The way we work changes.

People who don't continue to learn and grow as things around them change will find themselves out of touch.

Imposter syndrome can be driven by the people around you.

Are they supportive of the fact that you're new at something?

Or do they expect you to pick up and run with something right out of the chute?