Queen’s Behind the Scenes

Today, I'm combining a few of my favorite things: women, race, and true crime.
And we're going there.
The Lindsay Clancy case has generated enormous conversation about motherhood, postpartum psychosis, mental illness, criminal responsibility, and the deaths of three children.
But that's not the conversation I want to have.
I'm not here to decide whether Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible. I'm interested in what happened around this case—particularly the extraordinary amount of compassion, curiosity, and complexity we've been willing to extend to Lindsay, and what happened when one Black juror saw the case differently than the other eleven.
It left me with a question I haven't been able to shake:
Who gets compassion?
Who gets to do something horrific and still have us ask, “What happened to her?” before we ask, “What's wrong with her?”
And would we be asking those same questions if the mother at the center of this case were Black?
In this episode, I'm talking about the Lindsay Clancy trial, the lone Black juror and the scrutiny that followed the mistrial, postpartum psychosis, the way Black women are often denied access to vulnerability, and why race can influence who we instinctively see as complicated, redeemable, broken—or simply bad.
And yes, somehow Michael Vick and the dogs make their way into this conversation too.
Because this isn't really an episode about Lindsay Clancy.
It's about us.
It's about the politics of empathy.
It's about our willingness to search for context for some people while allowing the worst thing another person has ever done to permanently define them.
And it's about something I think we should all interrogate:
Maybe the problem isn't that we've given Lindsay Clancy too much compassion. Maybe it's that we haven't learned to extend enough complexity to everyone else.
In this episode:
The Lindsay Clancy case and why I'm not interested in retrying it
Postpartum psychosis, mental illness, and criminal responsibility
The 11–1 jury split and the scrutiny of the lone Black juror
Why Black women don't always get access to vulnerability
The difference between compassion and access to complexity
What Michael Vick has to do with any of this
Why empathy may have more to do with identification than we'd like to admit
The question underneath the entire episode: Who gets to remain human after doing something we can't understand?
Next Week on Queens Behind the Scenes
Nobody Is Coming to Discover You.
There are a lot of incredibly talented women who believe that if they keep doing excellent work, eventually somebody will notice.
Somebody will recognize their talent.
Somebody will put their name in the room.
Somebody will give them the opportunity.
Somebody will discover them.
Queens, nobody is coming.
And that might actually be the most freeing thing you hear all week.Stay Connected
The P.O.I.S.E. Collective™ on SubstackFor deeper conversations, essays, tools and behind-the-scenes thinking about ambition, leadership and building a life that actually has room for you
P.O.I.S.E.™ Leadership EcosystemExplore P.O.I.S.E.™, coaching, speaking, workshops and more.
InstagramCome find me for the less-polished version of all of this, plus work, life, food, travel, clothes and whatever else I'm thinking about that day.@charise.beckett
Books + Tools
P.O.I.S.E.: The Blueprint for Escaping Burnout, Redefining Success, and Creating Your New Reality
Lead with clarity. Perform with purpose. Endure without burning out.
In The P.O.I.S.E. Method, Charise Beckett introduces a practical, research-informed framework for leaders who want consistent results and a healthy, high-trust culture. Built around five pillars: Precision, Optimization, Influence, Strategy, and Endurance. This audiobook shows you exactly how to align your goals, your team, and your systems so you can achieve sustainable success.
The P.O.I.S.E. Leadership Action Workbook: An Interactive Guide to Leading with Confidence, Clarity, and Resilience
Step into your leadership journey with The P.O.I.S.E. Leadership Action Workbook, the ultimate guide designed to help leaders, managers, and aspiring professionals develop the skills necessary to lead with clarity and precision. Created by Charise Beckett, a leadership coach with over 20 years of experience in corporate, non-profit, and entrepreneurial settings, this workbook provides a structured approach to becoming a more impactful and effective leader.

Today, I'm combining a few of my favorite things: women, race, and true crime.
And we're going there.
The Lindsay Clancy case has generated enormous conversation about motherhood, postpartum psychosis, mental illness, criminal responsibility, and the deaths of three children.
But that's not the conversation I want to have.
I'm not here to decide whether Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible. I'm interested in what happened around this case—particularly the extraordinary amount of compassion, curiosity, and complexity we've been willing to extend to Lindsay, and what happened when one Black juror saw the case differently than the other eleven.
It left me with a question I haven't been able to shake:
Who gets compassion?
Who gets to do something horrific and still have us ask, “What happened to her?” before we ask, “What's wrong with her?”
And would we be asking those same questions if the mother at the center of this case were Black?
In this episode, I'm talking about the Lindsay Clancy trial, the lone Black juror and the scrutiny that followed the mistrial, postpartum psychosis, the way Black women are often denied access to vulnerability, and why race can influence who we instinctively see as complicated, redeemable, broken—or simply bad.
And yes, somehow Michael Vick and the dogs make their way into this conversation too.
Because this isn't really an episode about Lindsay Clancy.
It's about us.
It's about the politics of empathy.
It's about our willingness to search for context for some people while allowing the worst thing another person has ever done to permanently define them.
And it's about something I think we should all interrogate:
Maybe the problem isn't that we've given Lindsay Clancy too much compassion. Maybe it's that we haven't learned to extend enough complexity to everyone else.
In this episode:
The Lindsay Clancy case and why I'm not interested in retrying it
Postpartum psychosis, mental illness, and criminal responsibility
The 11–1 jury split and the scrutiny of the lone Black juror
Why Black women don't always get access to vulnerability
The difference between compassion and access to complexity
What Michael Vick has to do with any of this
Why empathy may have more to do with identification than we'd like to admit
The question underneath the entire episode: Who gets to remain human after doing something we can't understand?
Next Week on Queens Behind the Scenes
Nobody Is Coming to Discover You.
There are a lot of incredibly talented women who believe that if they keep doing excellent work, eventually somebody will notice.
Somebody will recognize their talent.
Somebody will put their name in the room.
Somebody will give them the opportunity.
Somebody will discover them.
Queens, nobody is coming.
And that might actually be the most freeing thing you hear all week.
Stay Connected
The P.O.I.S.E. Collective™ on SubstackFor deeper conversations, essays, tools and behind-the-scenes thinking about ambition, leadership and building a life that actually has room for you.
P.O.I.S.E.™ Leadership EcosystemExplore P.O.I.S.E.™, coaching, speaking, workshops and more.
InstagramCome find me for the less-polished version of all of this, plus work, life, food, travel, clothes and whatever else I'm thinking about that day.@charise.beckett
Books + Tools
P.O.I.S.E.: The Blueprint for Escaping Burnout, Redefining Success, and Creating Your New Reality
Lead with clarity. Perform with purpose. Endure without burning out.
In The P.O.I.S.E. Method, Charise Beckett introduces a practical, research-informed framework for leaders who want consistent results and a healthy, high-trust culture. Built around five pillars: Precision, Optimization, Influence, Strategy, and Endurance. This audiobook shows you exactly how to align your goals, your team, and your systems so you can achieve sustainable success.
The P.O.I.S.E. Leadership Action Workbook: An Interactive Guide to Leading with Confidence, Clarity, and Resilience
Step into your leadership journey with The P.O.I.S.E. Leadership Action Workbook, the ultimate guide designed to help leaders, managers, and aspiring professionals develop the skills necessary to lead with clarity and precision. Created by Charise Beckett, a leadership coach with over 20 years of experience in corporate, non-profit, and entrepreneurial settings, this workbook provides a structured approach to becoming a more impactful and effective leader.
 

What happens when the life you worked so hard to build is actually...good?
You got the title. You built the career. You make the money. You created some security. Maybe you have the house, the family, the trips, the things an earlier version of you was working toward.
And then one day you find yourself asking:
Is this still what I want?
In this solo episode of Queens Behind the Scenes, I'm talking about something I've been wrestling with in real time: what happens when ambition starts to change.
This isn't about being ungrateful. It isn't about blowing up a successful life because the internet told you to "choose yourself." And it definitely isn't me pretending money suddenly doesn't matter. I like nice shit. We're staying grounded in reality.
This is about recognizing that the woman who created your definition of success 10, 15, or 20 years ago may not get to define it forever.
We get into the competence trap, golden handcuffs, why being good at something doesn't mean you have to do it forever, the difference between wanting MORE and wanting DIFFERENT, and why I'm becoming much more interested in building a life with room in it.
I also walk through six questions I'm using for my own Success Audit:
• What am I still actively choosing?• What am I just maintaining?• What am I doing simply because I'm good at it?• What would I want if nobody was impressed?• What am I curious about right now?• What do I want my random Tuesday to actually feel like?
Because maybe the next level isn't another achievement.
Maybe it's becoming much more precise about what deserves your ambition.
In this episode:
• Why getting what you wanted can create an entirely new kind of uncertainty• How our definitions of success become outdated• The uncomfortable downside of becoming extremely competent• Why money, security and lifestyle absolutely belong in conversations about reinvention• Wanting "different" instead of constantly pursuing "more"• Ambition, aging and realizing that "eventually" needs a date• Why reinvention doesn't require blowing up your current life• How experimentation can help you discover what's next• The six-question Success Audit• Why your ordinary Tuesday may tell you more about your dream life than your vacation does
One question to sit with after this episode:
If I wasn't trying to prove anything to anybody, what would I want now?
Stay Connected
The P.O.I.S.E. Collective™ on SubstackFor deeper conversations, essays, tools and behind-the-scenes thinking about ambition, leadership and building a life that actually has room for you.[SUBSTACK LINK]
P.O.I.S.E.™ Leadership EcosystemExplore P.O.I.S.E.™, coaching, speaking, workshops and more.
InstagramCome find me for the less-polished version of all of this, plus work, life, food, travel, clothes and whatever else I'm thinking about that day.@charise.beckett
Books + Tools
P.O.I.S.E.: The Blueprint for Escaping Burnout, Redefining Success, and Creating Your New Reality
Lead with clarity. Perform with purpose. Endure without burning out.
In The P.O.I.S.E. Method, Charise Beckett introduces a practical, research-informed framework for leaders who want consistent results and a healthy, high-trust culture. Built around five pillars: Precision, Optimization, Influence, Strategy, and Endurance. This audiobook shows you exactly how to align your goals, your team, and your systems so you can achieve sustainable success.
The P.O.I.S.E. Leadership Action Workbook: An Interactive Guide to Leading with Confidence, Clarity, and Resilience
Step into your leadership journey with The P.O.I.S.E. Leadership Action Workbook, the ultimate guide designed to help leaders, managers, and aspiring professionals develop the skills necessary to lead with clarity and precision. Created by Charise Beckett, a leadership coach with over 20 years of experience in corporate, non-profit, and entrepreneurial settings, this workbook provides a structured approach to becoming a more impactful and effective leader.
Next Week on Queens Behind the Scenes
Nobody Is Coming to Discover You.
Being excellent and being visible are two completely different skills.
Next week, we're talking about what it looks like to stop waiting for someone to notice your work, recognize your potential or magically figure out what you want.
Not performative personal branding. Not "grind harder." Not turning yourself into a walking billboard.
We're talking about making yourself discoverable: asking, pitching, building relationships, creating visibility and learning how to advocate for what you want.
Because your work may be excellent.
But your work does not have a mouth.
Subscribe or follow Queens Behind the Scenes so you don't miss it.

What happens when the life you worked so hard to build is actually...good?
You got the title. You built the career. You make the money. You created some security. Maybe you have the house, the family, the trips, the things an earlier version of you was working toward.
And then one day you find yourself asking:
Is this still what I want?
In this solo episode of Queens Behind the Scenes, I'm talking about something I've been wrestling with in real time: what happens when ambition starts to change.
This isn't about being ungrateful. It isn't about blowing up a successful life because the internet told you to "choose yourself." And it definitely isn't me pretending money suddenly doesn't matter. I like nice shit. We're staying grounded in reality.
This is about recognizing that the woman who created your definition of success 10, 15, or 20 years ago may not get to define it forever.
We get into the competence trap, golden handcuffs, why being good at something doesn't mean you have to do it forever, the difference between wanting MORE and wanting DIFFERENT, and why I'm becoming much more interested in building a life with room in it.
I also walk through six questions I'm using for my own Success Audit:
• What am I still actively choosing?• What am I just maintaining?• What am I doing simply because I'm good at it?• What would I want if nobody was impressed?• What am I curious about right now?• What do I want my random Tuesday to actually feel like?
Because maybe the next level isn't another achievement.
Maybe it's becoming much more precise about what deserves your ambition.
In this episode:
• Why getting what you wanted can create an entirely new kind of uncertainty• How our definitions of success become outdated• The uncomfortable downside of becoming extremely competent• Why money, security and lifestyle absolutely belong in conversations about reinvention• Wanting "different" instead of constantly pursuing "more"• Ambition, aging and realizing that "eventually" needs a date• Why reinvention doesn't require blowing up your current life• How experimentation can help you discover what's next• The six-question Success Audit• Why your ordinary Tuesday may tell you more about your dream life than your vacation does
One question to sit with after this episode:
If I wasn't trying to prove anything to anybody, what would I want now?
Stay Connected
The P.O.I.S.E. Collective™ on SubstackFor deeper conversations, essays, tools and behind-the-scenes thinking about ambition, leadership and building a life that actually has room for you.[SUBSTACK LINK]
P.O.I.S.E.™ Leadership EcosystemExplore P.O.I.S.E.™, coaching, speaking, workshops and more.
InstagramCome find me for the less-polished version of all of this, plus work, life, food, travel, clothes and whatever else I'm thinking about that day.@charise.beckett
Books + Tools
P.O.I.S.E.: The Blueprint for Escaping Burnout, Redefining Success, and Creating Your New Reality
Lead with clarity. Perform with purpose. Endure without burning out.
In The P.O.I.S.E. Method, Charise Beckett introduces a practical, research-informed framework for leaders who want consistent results and a healthy, high-trust culture. Built around five pillars: Precision, Optimization, Influence, Strategy, and Endurance. This audiobook shows you exactly how to align your goals, your team, and your systems so you can achieve sustainable success.
The P.O.I.S.E. Leadership Action Workbook: An Interactive Guide to Leading with Confidence, Clarity, and Resilience
Step into your leadership journey with The P.O.I.S.E. Leadership Action Workbook, the ultimate guide designed to help leaders, managers, and aspiring professionals develop the skills necessary to lead with clarity and precision. Created by Charise Beckett, a leadership coach with over 20 years of experience in corporate, non-profit, and entrepreneurial settings, this workbook provides a structured approach to becoming a more impactful and effective leader.
Next Week on Queens Behind the Scenes
Nobody Is Coming to Discover You.
Being excellent and being visible are two completely different skills.
Next week, we're talking about what it looks like to stop waiting for someone to notice your work, recognize your potential or magically figure out what you want.
Not performative personal branding. Not "grind harder." Not turning yourself into a walking billboard.
We're talking about making yourself discoverable: asking, pitching, building relationships, creating visibility and learning how to advocate for what you want.
Because your work may be excellent.
But your work does not have a mouth.
Subscribe or follow Queens Behind the Scenes so you don't miss it.

After some heavier conversations, we're doing a little palate cleanser this week. ✨
Join me at my vanity as we talk summer glow, the products I'm actually reaching for at 47, and the makeup, skincare, and little luxuries that are making me feel polished, confident, and put together this season.
No gatekeeping. No "you need 37 products" nonsense. Just a candid conversation about what I'm loving, what's worth the hype, and what helps me feel like the best version of myself this summer.
Because sometimes wellness looks like deep reflection... and sometimes it looks like bronzer, blush, SPF, and a good lip combo. 💄☀️
🎙️ A brand-new episode of Queens Behind the Scenes drops TONIGHT at 7 PM.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Meet me at the vanity. We're talking glow. ✨
 
Connect with Charise
🌐 P.O.I.S.E. Leadership Ecosystemhttps://www.have-poise.com
📖 P.O.I.S.E.: The Blueprint for Escaping Burnout and Creating Your New Reality
📘 P.O.I.S.E. Workbook
🎙️ Corporately Speaking PodcastJoin Charise Beckett and Mark Thompson for candid conversations about leadership, workplace culture, career growth, and navigating corporate life.
📱 Follow and connect with Charise on social media for leadership insights, executive coaching, and behind-the-scenes conversations that empower women to lead with confidence and authenticity.

After some heavier conversations, we're doing a little palate cleanser this week. ✨
Join me at my vanity as we talk summer glow, the products I'm actually reaching for at 47, and the makeup, skincare, and little luxuries that are making me feel polished, confident, and put together this season.
No gatekeeping. No "you need 37 products" nonsense. Just a candid conversation about what I'm loving, what's worth the hype, and what helps me feel like the best version of myself this summer.
Because sometimes wellness looks like deep reflection... and sometimes it looks like bronzer, blush, SPF, and a good lip combo. 💄☀️
🎙️ A brand-new episode of Queens Behind the Scenes drops TONIGHT at 7 PM.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Meet me at the vanity. We're talking glow. ✨
Connect with Charise
🌐 P.O.I.S.E. Leadership Ecosystemhttps://www.have-poise.com
📖 P.O.I.S.E.: The Blueprint for Escaping Burnout and Creating Your New Reality
📘 P.O.I.S.E. Workbook
🎙️ Corporately Speaking PodcastJoin Charise Beckett and Mark Thompson for candid conversations about leadership, workplace culture, career growth, and navigating corporate life.
📱 Follow and connect with Charise on social media for leadership insights, executive coaching, and behind-the-scenes conversations that empower women to lead with confidence and authenticity.

What does it mean when a woman says she's tired of being amazing?
Inspired by a powerful line from All Her Fault, this episode explores the hidden burden of competence, resilience, and high achievement. For many women—especially those who have spent their lives proving themselves—excellence becomes more than an accomplishment. It becomes an expectation.
In this episode, Charise Beckett examines the "competence tax"—the often-unspoken reality that the more capable you are, the more responsibility, pressure, and emotional labor people place on your shoulders. She shares personal reflections on success, leadership, family, ambition, and the societal expectations that come with being the one who always gets it done.
This is not a conversation about rejecting achievement. It's a conversation about understanding the cost of carrying so much for so long.
In This Episode:
• Why the line "I'm tired of being amazing" resonated with so many women• The hidden burden of being the strong one• How competence often attracts more responsibility• The pressure of maintaining excellence once you've achieved it• Black women, overachievement, and societal expectations• The difference between pride and pressure• Why success doesn't eliminate stress—it often changes its form• Giving yourself permission to be human without sacrificing ambition
Connect with Charise
🌐 P.O.I.S.E. Leadership Ecosystemhttps://www.have-poise.com
📖 P.O.I.S.E.: The Blueprint for Escaping Burnout and Creating Your New Reality
📘 P.O.I.S.E. Workbook
🎙️ Corporately Speaking PodcastJoin Charise Beckett and Mark Thompson for candid conversations about leadership, workplace culture, career growth, and navigating corporate life.
📱 Follow and connect with Charise on social media for leadership insights, executive coaching, and behind-the-scenes conversations that empower women to lead with confidence and authenticity.
If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, rate, and share Queens Behind the Scenes with a friend who may need the reminder that her worth is not determined by how much she carries.
Until next time, remember: you can be ambitious without being consumed, successful without being perfect, and strong without carrying everything alone.

What does it mean when a woman says she's tired of being amazing?
Inspired by a powerful line from All Her Fault, this episode explores the hidden burden of competence, resilience, and high achievement. For many women—especially those who have spent their lives proving themselves—excellence becomes more than an accomplishment. It becomes an expectation.
In this episode, Charise Beckett examines the "competence tax"—the often-unspoken reality that the more capable you are, the more responsibility, pressure, and emotional labor people place on your shoulders. She shares personal reflections on success, leadership, family, ambition, and the societal expectations that come with being the one who always gets it done.
This is not a conversation about rejecting achievement. It's a conversation about understanding the cost of carrying so much for so long.
In This Episode:
• Why the line "I'm tired of being amazing" resonated with so many women• The hidden burden of being the strong one• How competence often attracts more responsibility• The pressure of maintaining excellence once you've achieved it• Black women, overachievement, and societal expectations• The difference between pride and pressure• Why success doesn't eliminate stress—it often changes its form• Giving yourself permission to be human without sacrificing ambition
Connect with Charise
🌐 P.O.I.S.E. Leadership Ecosystemhttps://www.have-poise.com
📖 P.O.I.S.E.: The Blueprint for Escaping Burnout and Creating Your New Reality
📘 P.O.I.S.E. Workbook
🎙️ Corporately Speaking PodcastJoin Charise Beckett and Mark Thompson for candid conversations about leadership, workplace culture, career growth, and navigating corporate life.
📱 Follow and connect with Charise on social media for leadership insights, executive coaching, and behind-the-scenes conversations that empower women to lead with confidence and authenticity.
If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, rate, and share Queens Behind the Scenes with a friend who may need the reminder that her worth is not determined by how much she carries.
Until next time, remember: you can be ambitious without being consumed, successful without being perfect, and strong without carrying everything alone.

This week on Queens Behind the Scenes, I’m talking about something I think a lot of high-achieving women are quietly experiencing:
Healing changes your tolerance level.
The healthier you become emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, the harder it becomes to sit in chaos you once normalized. Suddenly dysfunction feels loud. Overexplaining feels exhausting. Burnout stops feeling impressive. And relationships, workplaces, habits, and environments that once felt “normal” start feeling heavy.
In this episode, I unpack the emotional side of healing that people don’t talk about enough. We get into burnout culture, social media “soft life” performances, therapy language online, emotionally exhausting friendships, boundaries, workplace dysfunction, reality TV chaos, and why peace can actually feel unfamiliar when survival has been your normal for too long.
This conversation is honest, funny, reflective, and very real.
If you’ve been feeling different lately… this episode might explain why.
Also be sure to check out Corporately Speaking, my book and workbook, P.O.I.S.E.: The Blueprint for Escaping Burnout, Redefining Success, and Creating Your New Reality, and additional leadership and wellness resources through P.O.I.S.E. Consulting. All links are below.
Don’t forget to subscribe, share with another queen, and join the conversation.
✨ Resources & Links
P.O.I.S.E.: The Blueprint for Escaping Burnout, Redefining Success, and Creating Your New RealityThe P.O.I.S.E. Leadership Action Workbook
More from me:
🎧 Listen to Corporately Speaking with Charise Beckett & Mark Thompsonon Corporately-Speaking

This week on Queens Behind the Scenes, I’m talking about something I think a lot of high-achieving women are quietly experiencing:
Healing changes your tolerance level.
The healthier you become emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, the harder it becomes to sit in chaos you once normalized. Suddenly dysfunction feels loud. Overexplaining feels exhausting. Burnout stops feeling impressive. And relationships, workplaces, habits, and environments that once felt “normal” start feeling heavy.
In this episode, I unpack the emotional side of healing that people don’t talk about enough. We get into burnout culture, social media “soft life” performances, therapy language online, emotionally exhausting friendships, boundaries, workplace dysfunction, reality TV chaos, and why peace can actually feel unfamiliar when survival has been your normal for too long.
This conversation is honest, funny, reflective, and very real.
If you’ve been feeling different lately… this episode might explain why.
Also be sure to check out Corporately Speaking, my book and workbook, P.O.I.S.E.: The Blueprint for Escaping Burnout, Redefining Success, and Creating Your New Reality, and additional leadership and wellness resources through P.O.I.S.E. Consulting. All links are below.
Don’t forget to subscribe, share with another queen, and join the conversation.
✨ Resources & Links
P.O.I.S.E.: The Blueprint for Escaping Burnout, Redefining Success, and Creating Your New RealityThe P.O.I.S.E. Leadership Action Workbook
More from me:
🎧 Listen to Corporately Speaking with Charise Beckett & Mark Thompsonon Corporately-Speaking