Ep.109 | Burnout Recovery & the Power of Play: When Work Stops Feeling Fun with Rita Cidre, Marketer & Educator
A lot of us learned young that we're worth exactly what we achieve...straight A's, gold stars, the next title, the next win. It's a hell of a drug, right up until it runs you into the ground.
That's exactly what happened to Rita Cidre, a marketer and educator (and Mariah's colleague over at Semrush Academy) who writes about preventing career burnout and swears by play as the way back. She's not preaching from the sidelines, either; she burned out hard at a job she genuinely loved, walked away, and spent a decade untangling what actually went wrong.
If you've ever tied your whole worth to your achievements, or lost track of the feeling that made work fun in the first place, this one's gonna hit. It's honest, it's funny, and we're all still figuring it out.
Let’s get to the episode! 😊
In this episode, we explore:
➡️ When the best job of your life becomes the one you have to quit
➡️ The Cinderella story we're all sold about loving our work
➡️ Why quitting to be your own boss didn't fix it for Rita (and sometimes made it worse)
➡️ Why being the honor-roll kid can set you up to crash later
➡️ Play as a mindset you can bring to almost anything
➡️ Learn the consultant mindset that helps overachievers stop taking work personally
➡️ How to study your own life for clues about what actually lights you up
Links & Resources Mentioned:
>> Rita’s website
>> Semrush
>> Buy us a coffee/support the podcast
About the Guest:
Rita Cidre is a marketing strategist, educator, and future of work thinker who has spent two decades leading marketing teams for brands like Zillow, NPR, TIME, and Qualtrics — and teaching at universities from Harvard to NYC to WU in Vienna. After experiencing burnout firsthand, she became obsessed with a single question: why do some people thrive creatively at work while others lose their spark? Today, as a podcaster, speaker, and Head of Customer Education and Community at Semrush, she helps ambitious professionals reconnect with the curiosity that makes work meaningful and fun.
Website: www.ritacidre.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rita-cidre
Thank you to this season’s sponsor; Adobe Acrobat.
Want an easy place to get access to this seasons information, resources, guests, and more? Check out Curiously Guided’s Season 6 PDF Space: https://go.curiouslyguided.com/s6e9
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Learn more about Curiously Guided:
Curiously Guided: the podcast for intentional business owners & curious minds. Where the outer work meets the inner work, so we can create a life, business, and career that feels deeply fulfilling & wildly aligned.
✨ Website: Curiouslyguided.com
✨ Instagram: Instagram.com/curiouslyguided
Connect with The hosts, Shay + Mariah:
👉 Shay: saleswithshay.com | @shayheyshay
👉 Mariah: mariahmagazine.com | @mariahmagazineco
