The Breen Time Podcast

Growth doesn't happen in isolation - it happens through connection.In this episode, Sabrina sits down with Doug Lawrence, founder of TalentC® and an international mentoring expert with over 30 years of experience helping individuals and organizations navigate change. Doug has spent his career studying the difference between advice and true mentoring - and why so many people feel stuck, disconnected, or unsupported when what they actually need is the right person walking alongside them. He's also the author of the Amazon #1 best seller You Are Not Alone: Mental Health Mentors Take the Journey With You.In this conversation, Sabrina and Doug talk about leadership as service, belonging as a driver of confidence, and why "doing it alone" might be one of the most persistent myths in personal development.In this episode, you'll hear:Why mentorship isn't a luxury - it's a basic human need, and what happens when people go without it.The real difference between giving advice and true mentoring - and why the two get confused so often.What Doug has learned about why people get stuck, and how guidance from the right person can change the direction of a life.Why leadership is best understood as a form of service, not authority.How belonging drives confidence - and why disconnection quietly undermines both.Why "doing it alone" is one of the biggest myths in personal development, and what it costs the people who believe it.If you've ever felt stuck, disconnected, or unsure of your next step, this episode will show you why support isn't weakness - it's how growth actually happens.Find out more about this week's guest: https://talentc.caBreen Time is hosted by Sabrina Brown - life coach and management consultant.New episodes every Monday - listen now wherever you get your podcasts.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebreentimepodcast/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/breentime/Website: https://shows.acast.com/the-breentime-podcastBrum Radio: https://www.instagram.com/brumradio/If this episode raised something for you, support is available: Counselling Directory: https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk Samaritans: https://www.samaritans.org Mind: https://www.mind.org.uk NHS Mental Health & Talking Therapies: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/talking-therapies-and-counselling/nhs-talking-therapies/

Boredom isn't a glitch to fix - it's a mental state your brain actually needs.In this episode, Sabrina explores why constant stimulation from phones, media, and notifications keeps the brain stuck reacting instead of thinking. When the noise finally stops, the brain's 'Default Mode Network' switches on - the system that helps us process experiences, form new ideas, and sharpen focus.We break down how modern habits have quietly trained us to avoid silence, why that erodes attention and creativity, and how small changes - like walking without your phone or simply sitting quietly - can rebuild mental stamina. The core argument: boredom works like mental training. The more you can tolerate it, the stronger your focus, patience, and clear thinking become.In this episode- Why boredom is a state the brain needs, not a problem to eliminate- How constant stimulation keeps us reacting instead of thinking- What the Default Mode Network is and why it switches on in the quiet- How modern habits trained us to avoid silence - and what that costs us- Why avoiding boredom weakens attention and creativity over time- Small, practical changes to rebuild your mental staminaKey takeaways- Boredom isn't wasted time - it's when the brain processes experiences and generates ideas.- Constant stimulation keeps the mind in reaction mode, leaving no room for deeper thinking.- The Default Mode Network only activates when the noise stops, so silence is productive.- Tolerating boredom is a trainable skill that strengthens focus, patience, and clarity.- Tiny changes - a phone-free walk, a few quiet minutes - start rebuilding attention.Try this week- Take one short walk with your phone left at home or in your pocket.- Sit quietly for five minutes without reaching for a screen.- Notice the urge to fill every gap with stimulation - and let one gap stay empty.Breen Time is hosted by Sabrina Brown - life coach and management consultant.New episodes every Monday - listen now wherever you get your podcasts.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebreentimepodcast/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/breentime/Website: https://shows.acast.com/the-breentime-podcastBrum Radio: https://www.instagram.com/brumradio/If this episode raised something for you, support is available: Counselling Directory: https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk Samaritans: https://www.samaritans.org Mind: https://www.mind.org.uk NHS Mental Health & Talking Therapies: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/talking-therapies-and-counselling/nhs-talking-therapies/

Your relationships aren't random. They're reflections. And the one you can't escape is the one you have with yourself.In this episode, Heather Melville — a Toxic Relationship Recovery Coach — joins Breen to unpack why the way you connect with others is shaped by the way you relate to yourself. Together they explore how unresolved emotional patterns quietly create toxic cycles in love, work, and life, and why real healing doesn't start by fixing other people — it starts by rebuilding self-trust, boundaries, and emotional responsibility. This is a practical, honest conversation about breaking the patterns you keep repeating and learning to choose differently.In this episode, you'll hear:Why your relationships are a mirror of the relationship you have with yourself, not a matter of luck.How self-abandonment shows up in everyday relationships — often without you noticing.Why people unconsciously repeat the same dynamics, and what keeps the cycle spinning.What it really means to take emotional responsibility instead of waiting for others to change.How rebuilding self-trust and boundaries changes the way you show up in love and at work.The difference between reacting on autopilot and consciously choosing your response.What genuine change looks like when you stop surviving relationships and start building them on clarity.How learning to respect yourself becomes the foundation for relationships rooted in peace, not fear.You can't outrun a pattern you haven't faced — the way out is in.Breen Time is hosted by Sabrina Brown - life coach and management consultant.New episodes every Monday on Brum Radio and wherever you get your podcasts.Instagram: @breentimepodcastLinkedIn: @breentimepodcastbreentimepodcast.comBrum Radio: brumradio.comGuest: healthyrelationships.infoIf this episode raised something for you, support is available:counselling-directory.org.ukSamaritans: samaritans.orgmind.org.ukNHS mental health & talking therapies: nhs.uk/mental-health

What keeps you going when life feels heavy?Kim Lengling is an author and podcast host whose work explores resilience, hope, and the everyday courage it takes to heal. Drawing from her own lived experience with PTSD, Kim brings a grounded, honest voice to conversations that help people feel less alone.In this episode, you'll hear:Why hope isn't something you wait for — it's something you practise, one small moment at a timeHow Kim's experience with PTSD shaped her understanding of what healing actually looks like in daily lifeWhy dramatic breakthroughs are rarely the turning point — and what quiet, incremental progress can teach us insteadHow storytelling creates connection and why feeling seen and heard is itself a form of healingThe role simple acts of kindness play in building resilience and restoring a sense of human connectionWhy perspective shifts — even tiny ones — can help you find your footing again when life feels overwhelmingWhat everyday courage looks like, and how to recognise it in yourself even when things feel hardHope isn't a destination you arrive at — it's the practice of choosing to take one more step.Breen Time is hosted by Sabrina Brown - life coach and management consultant.New episodes every Monday on Brum Radio and wherever you get your podcasts.Instagram: @breentimepodcastLinkedIn: @breentimepodcastbreentimepodcast.comBrum Radio: brumradio.comGuest website: kimlenglingauthor.comIf this episode raised something for you, support is available:counselling-directory.org.ukSamaritans: samaritans.orgmind.org.ukNHS mental health & talking therapies: nhs.uk/mental-health

Stress isn't coming from where you think it is - and managing it the old way won't fix it.Dr. Gary Sprouse is back! In Episode 32, "Stress Isn't What You Think!" (March 16), Sabrina and The Less Stress Doc challenged almost everything we've been told about stress - that it's a workload problem fixed by breathing more, doing less, or taking a holiday. The real source, he argued, isn't your circumstances; it's how you think about them, with guilt, worry, and regret doing more damage than your to-do list ever could.Now, in Part 2, we move from theory to application. Dr. Sprouse breaks down his practical tool: the Stress Reducer Loop Model. We unpack how stress actually builds in the mind, where people lose control, and - most importantly - where you can interrupt the cycle before guilt, worry, and regret take over.This episode is focused on real-world application, giving you a clear framework you can use immediately at work, at home, and under pressure. If you want less stress without lowering your standards, this is the next step.In this episodeWhy most of us misunderstand where our stress actually comes fromThe Stress Reducer Loop Model, explained step by stepHow stress builds in the mind — and the exact point where people lose controlWhere to interrupt the cycle before guilt, worry, and regret take holdHow to apply the framework on the spot — at work, at home, and under pressureHow to lower your stress without lowering your standardsKey takeawaysStress often originates somewhere different from where we assume, so the usual coping tactics miss the real source.The stress cycle has identifiable stages — and a specific moment where it can be interrupted.Catching the loop early, before guilt and worry compound, is what keeps stress from spiraling.Reducing stress doesn't require lowering your expectations of yourself.About the guestDr. Gary Sprouse - The Less Stress Doc - is a physician, author, and speaker who has spent decades helping people reduce stress and "spend more time in their Happy Place." He has a unique perspective on where the majority of human stress originates and has developed practical tools to address it.His book Highway to Your Happy Place: A Roadmap to Less Stress won a Gold Medal in the 2025 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY Awards). He is also co-author of the best-seller Mindset Matters with Jack Canfield.Links & resourcesWebsite: https://www.thelessstressdoc.comFree chapter of Highway to Your Happy Place (plus a bonus worry-less tool): https://www.thelessstressdoc.com/download-free-chapterConnect with Dr. SprouseFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lessstressdocInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lessstressdoc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-sprouse-13842a74/Breen Time is hosted by Sabrina Brown - life coach and management consultant.New episodes every Monday on Brum Radio and wherever you get your podcasts.Instagram: @breentimepodcastLinkedIn: @breentimepodcastbreentimepodcast.comBrum Radio: brumradio.com

You make hundreds of small wishes every day. Most of them go unnoticed - because you've been taught that wishing doesn't count as real work.What if that's exactly backwards?In this episode, Sabrina is joined by Brownell Landrum - TEDx speaker, author, inventor, and explorer of metaphysical mysteries. Brownell's work sits at the intersection of science and imagination: her book The Art & Science of Wishing investigates what actually happens - in the brain, in behaviour, in lived outcomes - when a person makes a deliberate wish. She's also the creator of the Cosmic Wishes universe, executive producer of the Life is a Trip podcast, and the author of more than a dozen books spanning fiction, nonfiction, and children's storytelling. In this conversation, she and Sabrina dig into the mechanics of belief, the neuroscience of intention, and why disciplined imagination might be one of the most underused tools in personal development.In this episode, you'll hear:Why wishing is better understood as a form of focused attention - and how that reframe changes what you do with your desires.What the science actually says about how intention shapes behaviour, and where the evidence is stronger than most people expect.How the stories we tell about ourselves function as a kind of internal operating system - and why changing the narrative is harder, and more powerful, than most self-help advice admits.The difference between wishful thinking and deliberate wishing - and why the gap between them comes down to one thing: disciplined action.Why belief isn't a passive state you either have or don't - and how you can actually build it incrementally.What imagination has in common with scientific method, and why treating your vision as a hypothesis rather than a fantasy shifts everything.How Brownell's exploration of metaphysical mysteries has shaped her view of possibility - and what she'd say to anyone who feels like their wishes are too big or too strange to take seriously.The most practical thing you can do might be the thing you've been taught to dismiss as daydreaming.Breen Time is hosted by Sabrina Brown - life coach and management consultant.New episodes every Monday on Brum Radio and wherever you get your podcasts.Instagram: @breentimepodcast LinkedIn: @breentimepodcast breentimepodcast.com Brum Radio: brumradio.comFind out more about this week's guest: brownelllandrum.com

Some losses don't arrive once. They keep arriving - and the question becomes whether you can still build something meaningful in the wake of them.This week, Sabrina sits down with Pamela S. Thibodeaux - award-winning author, life coach, and mentor based in Louisiana. Pam is the co-founder of the Bayou Writers Group and the voice behind Coaching in PJs, blending decades of writing about women's lived experience with a faith-rooted approach to coaching that's earned her the tagline "Inspirational with an Edge." In this conversation, she draws on her own story to talk about what it really takes to keep moving when grief isn't a single chapter but a recurring one.In this episode, you'll hear:Why our culture struggles to talk about grief that doesn't resolve, and what gets lost when we treat loss as something to "get through" rather than learn to carry.How Pam distinguishes between the future we thought we'd have and the future that's still available to us - and why mourning the first is part of claiming the second.The role faith plays as a working tool, not a slogan, when you're rebuilding a life you didn't plan for.Why personal responsibility becomes more important, not less, in seasons when circumstances would justify giving up.The disciplined daily practices that compound into resilience over months and years - and why repetition matters more than intensity.How to recognise when "retreat" is wisdom and when it's avoidance dressed up as self-care.Practical guidance on building a meaningful life from the inside out, even when the outside hasn't caught up yet.Grief teaches you that endings and beginnings often share the same address - and that walking forward isn't a betrayal of what you've lost.Hosted by Sabrina Brown — life coach, management consultant, and your weekly companion in the work of becoming.New episodes every Monday on Brum Radio and wherever you get your podcasts.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebreentimepodcast/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/breentime/Website: https://shows.acast.com/the-breentime-podcastBrum Radio: https://www.instagram.com/brumradio/Connect with Pamela: pamelathibodeaux.comIf this episode raised something for you, support is available:Counselling DirectorySamaritans MindNHS mental health & talking therapies

You can look like you've got it all together and still be quietly running on empty. This episode is for anyone whose composure has started to feel like a costume.This week Breen is joined by Tracy Doyle - entrepreneur, emotional wellness advocate, and author of Life Storms: Finding Your Clear Sky. After years of leading an award-winning business while privately burning out, Tracy developed the Aurora Method: a psychology-informed, mindfulness-based framework for healing emotional burnout and reconnecting with yourself and the people who matter most. Her story moves from childhood trauma and instability to reinvention, and her work is rooted in the belief that the patterns running our adult lives were usually written long before we noticed them.In this episode, you'll hear:Why high achievement so often coexists with emotional exhaustion, and how the two can quietly feed each other for years.How early life experiences shape the internal beliefs we carry into adulthood - and how those beliefs distort how we think, feel, and relate to others.The difference between stress and emotional burnout, and the subtle signs that you've crossed from one into the other.What it actually looks like to rebuild after years of holding it together for everyone else.Why reconnection has to start internally before it can happen in our relationships.Practical entry points into the Aurora Method, and how mindfulness becomes useful when life feels anything but calm.The reframe Tracy offers on storms: not as something to escape, but as the weather you learn to navigate on the way to your clear sky.Your clear sky isn't on the other side of the storm - it's on the other side of how you've been weathering it.Breen Time is hosted by Sabrina Brown - life coach and management consultant.New episodes every Monday - listen now wherever you get your podcasts.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebreentimepodcast/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/breentime/Website: https://shows.acast.com/the-breentime-podcastBrum Radio: https://www.instagram.com/brumradio/More from Tracy Doyle: https://www.tracydoyle.life Life Storms: Finding Your Clear Sky - available on Amazon.If this episode raised something for you, support is available:Counselling DirectorySamaritansMindNHS Mental Health & Talking Therapies