Just because Trash Talk is the podcast where clichés go to die doesn’t mean Erica and Erin hate all of them.

This is the episode where they examine cliches they actually live by. From “clear is kind” to “baffle them with bullshit," Erin and Erica get honest about cliches that stick for them, as well as where they backfire.

Don’t forget to leave a review and call the hotline to share your favorite or most cringe-worthy cliches:

719-819-2175

Links & Resources

Follow Erica Breuer: LinkedIn

Follow Erin Thomas: LinkedIn

Visit Trash Talk Website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2451264

“Community is everything,” they say. But what if that “everything” is actually a drain on your time, energy, and sanity?

Erica and Erin sit down with Dr. Kalpana Sundar, health and wealth strategist for MedSpa and healthcare entrepreneurs, to untangle the truth behind one of the most overused platitudes in business. Kalpana brings data and a hefty dose of reality on how to build community that lifts you up (without demanding your soul in the process).

Your turn: tell us the cliche that makes you roll your eyes- or secretly nod in agreement. Call the hotline at 719-819-2175 and don’t forget a review!

Show Notes & Links

Dr. Sundar's Website: drkalpanasundar.com

Beauty Unbound: Breaking Free and Living Unapologetically on Amazon https://a.co/d/2wSA6Vw

The Unbound Broadcast https://www.youtube.com/@DrKalpana.Unbound

Book a Synergy Session w/ Dr. Sundar https://www.drkalpanasundar.com/synergysession/

Erica and Erin dig into the viral #maincharacterenergy phenomenon, weighing its appeal, its dark side, and what it really means to claim agency in your own life. Together, they ask the question that underlies it all: just who decides who gets to be the main character anyway?

Reviews help, but your weird, wild, or painfully familiar cliches are the real gold.

Share them via our hotline:

719-819-2175

Links & resources

Narcissism and Agency https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702617725537

Cornell Study https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.19037

Read Erin's article in Marketing, Media, & Money https://pattyfarmer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/M3-Mag-Q3-2025-AUGUST-Final.pdf

Oh and watch Dinner in America https://www.dinnerinamerica.com/

What does it actually take to hear your inner voice when your brain- and life- doesn’t work like a Zen meditation retreat?

In this episode, Erica and Erin dismantle the quiet-whisper mantra, why stillness isn’t universally accessible, and how this advice quietly reinforces control (and yes, capitalism).

Have a story about when someone hit you with “Your soul speaks in whispers, not shouts”?

Leave a message on the Trash Talk hotline at (719) 819-2175- we might feature it on a future episode.

And don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review ;)

Links

The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis
https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-problem-of-pain-c-s-lewis/7945663?ean=9780060652968&next=t

Life First Speaks to You in a Whisper, Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-first-speaks-to-you-in-a-whisper/id1264843400?i=1000485694852

Associative Thinking and Insight
Where Do Eureka Moments Come From?: https://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/where-do-eureka-moments-come-from?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Dopamine in Creativity

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26783754/

This week, Erica and Erin take on the cult of productivity with guest Nick Power, marketer, creator, and professional chaos enthusiast.

Nick shares how he first heard the phrase (hint: it didn’t go well), and how it still haunts the way we talk about work and worth. They also get into what counts as success, how “results-only” thinking dulls creativity, and what might actually be worth measuring instead.

Don’t forget to leave us a review and call the hotline to share your favorite or most cringe-worthy cliches:

719-819-2175

Links & resources

Nick Power on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickcpower/

Nick’s Very Cool, Fun Merch

https://uncapitalized-goods.printify.me/

Show notes

“You can’t pour from an empty cup”...but what if your cup isn’t empty?

From misreading your cup to questioning learned helplessness, Erica and Erin go beyond individual self-care and discuss the messy (mostly) terrifying context of today’s world—shrinking rights, disappearing resources, and structural chaos–and how we might think about cups in a way that generates some much-needed hope.

Don’t forget to leave us a review and call the hotline to share your favorite or most cringe-worthy cliches:

719-819-2175

Links & Resources

Arley Nevar’s amazing LinkedIn post

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/arleynevar_i-had-an-interaction-in-the-dms-this-week-activity-7376639338253619200-zupb?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAWXISsBrgKoYLsfVHpibEEVDt026Lp2JOQ

Follow Arley Nevar on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/arleynevar/

Two of the most recycled pieces of advice—“Get out of your comfort zone” and “Stay in your lane”—sound helpful on the surface. Push yourself! Focus! Hustle! Specialize!

When these concepts collide, the absurdity becomes obvious.

Erin and Erica analyze two cliches that seem at odds, but that also define a new reality in the tension that lives between them.

Don’t forget to leave us a review or call the hotline to share your favorite (or most cringe-worthy) cliches:

719-819-2175

Show Notes & Links Selective Attention

https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/neuroscience/selective-attention

The Neuroscience of the Flow State

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.645498/full

Cognitive Load During Problem Solving

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1207/s15516709cog1202_4

What does “work hard, play hard” really mean and why won’t it die?

In this episode of Trash Talk, Erica and Erin sit down with Meghan French Dunbar, author and co-founder of Conscious Company Media, to unpack the cultural myth of “work hard, play hard.”

Drawing on Meghan’s new book, “This isn’t Working,” this conversation explores how play has been commodified, as well as why, despite our best efforts, hustle culture from decades ago still sneaks into modern work.

Don’t forget to leave us a review and call the hotline to share your favorite or most cringe-worthy cliches:

719-819-2175

Show Notes & Links

Buy Megan’s Book, “This Isn’t Working”

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/meghan-french-dunbar/this-isnt-working/9781541704862/

Visit Megan’s Website https://www.meghanfrenchdunbar.com/

Subscript to Megan’s podcast, “Better Than This”

https://www.meghanfrenchdunbar.com/betterthanthis

Follow Erica Breuer: LinkedIn
Follow Erin Thomas: LinkedIn
Visit the Trash Talk Website: Buzzsprout

Citations

John Morison, Religious Improvement of the Poorer Classes, London: Fisher, Son & Jackson, 1827, p. 277.

The Normal Instructor and Teachers’ World, Vol. 32, 1923, p. 92.

Quoted in The Rotarian, Vol. 77, No. 3, Sept. 1950, p. 35.