Mindfulness coach and professional development consultant Amanda Muhammad knows what burnout looks like from the inside, and she built a company to help organizations do something about it.
In this episode of Ronderings, Ron sits down with Amanda, founder of Mako Mindfulness, to explore workplace stress management, psychological safety, and what it genuinely takes to build a culture where people can show up at their best.
Amanda grew up in Kansas City in a family rooted in movement and faith. Her father ran a karate dojo, her mother became a certified yoga instructor, and a purple yoga mat from TJ Maxx is where her own practice began. She studied HR and organizational leadership, planned the corporate climb, but every workplace she moved through told the same story: people were quietly burning out, and no one was talking about it.
When she finally decided to make the leap into entrepreneurship, she didn't announce it. She quit her job, told nobody, and spent a full year building Mako Mindfulness in the trenches before her family even knew she'd left. What carried her through was a daily faith practice and a prayer book she kept re-reading from the start. Every time she hit the halfway point, a new contract landed.
Ron and Amanda dig into the gap between what organizations say about well-being and what their policies actually create, and why generational tension gets worse when leaders stop thinking beyond their immediate needs. They also get personal about why making your life bigger than your job might be the most underrated thing a leader can do.
Tune in to hear what Amanda's story says about what conscious leadership actually demands.
Chapters:
π± 02:41 Amanda Muhammad's Story: From Kansas City to Conscious Leadership
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04:06 A Yoga Class, a Purple Mat, and a Practice That Stuck
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10:20 Leaving Corporate, Telling Nobody, and Trusting the Leap
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23:04 What Mako Mindfulness Actually Does
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27:05 Collective Care vs Self Care: What Organizations Get Wrong
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31:52 The Leadership Mirror Check
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32:52 Generational Tension at Work and Who Has to Move First
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35:08 The Future of Work and the Gig Economy
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40:23 Art, Play, and Why Amanda Goes to Museums to Do Her Emails
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51:35 Making Your Life Bigger Than Your Job
Links:
LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/in/amandamuhammad
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn or visit Mako Mindfulness to learn more about her work in stress management, psychological safety, and professional development for schools and organizations.
Episode 86
