May 27, 2026
What Happens When We’re Forced to Slow Down?
Wisdom Revisited with Wellness Entrepreneur Kate Reed
Three years after first sharing her wisdom to “slow down” on The Main Thing Podcast, Kate Reed returns for a deeply personal conversation. Together, she and Skip explore entrepreneurship, burnout, recovery, mindfulness, and what changed after a traumatic brain injury forced her life into a different rhythm.
Kate opens up about leaving a longtime career to build Wonder and Grow full time, learning healthier boundaries around work and family, protecting friendship inside business partnership, and navigating the difficult road of concussion recovery.
In this wisdom conversation, they explore what happens when slowing down moves from good advice to absolute necessity.
Why This Episode Matters
This conversation speaks directly to anyone navigating stress, burnout, overwork, recovery, midlife transition, or the quiet feeling that life is asking them to live differently. Kate’s story is a reminder that healing is not weakness, rest is not failure, and meaningful living often begins when we stop forcing ourselves to move so fast.
A Bit More About Our Wise Guest - Kate Reed
Kate Reed took the entrepreneurial leap and left her 9-5 job to focus on her start-up “Wonder and Grow.” Today, she focuses full-time on providing coaching and consulting services as mindfulness guide with multiple certifications.
Kate is a certified teacher, experienced in yoga, along with various modes of meditation and mindfulness. She helps groups and individual clients build mindfulness practices and connect with nature to overcome stress, anxiety and burnout.
In addition to being a wellness entrepreneur and innovator, Kate is also a wife and mother of two teenage children. She joined us from her home in Elkins, West Virginia.
Wisdom Awaits You in This New Episode
- Entrepreneurship and the hidden inner-work it requires
- Protecting friendship inside business partnership
- Recovery after a traumatic brain injury
- Brain fog, memory disruption, and forced rest
- Why nature became essential to healing
Wisdom Resources & Links
- Wonder & Grow website
- Connect with Kate on LinkedIn
- Episode 87 of this show - Kate’s prior appearance from 2023
Credits
Editor + Technical Advisor Bob Hotchkiss
Brand + Strategy Advisor Andy Malinoski
PR + Partnerships Advisor Rachel Bell
Marketing, Social Media and Graphic Design Chloe Lineberg
Brand Designer Emma Malinoski
Episode Chapters & Timestamps
[00:01:59] – Leaving the 9-to-5 for Wonder
and Grow
Kate reflects on stepping away from Leadership West Virginia to
pursue more meaningful work full time.
[00:07:21] – The Inner Work of
Entrepreneurship
Why building a business required more emotional and spiritual work
than Kate expected.
[00:10:45] – Starting a Business With Your
Best Friend
Kate shares the challenges—and surprising strength—of building
Wonder and Grow alongside Valerie Hart.
[00:12:25] – The Snowboarding
Accident
A joyful family pastime suddenly turns into a life-altering
concussion and brain injury.
[00:15:01] – Memory Loss, Brain Fog, and
Forced Rest
Kate describes the emotional and physical realities of concussion
recovery and the struggle to truly slow down.
[00:17:40] – Healing Through Nature,
Stillness, and Care
How gentleness, neuroplasticity, mindfulness, and time outdoors
became part of the healing process.
[00:20:19] – When Memory Is Part of Your
Identity
Kate opens up about the fear of losing a defining part of
herself—and Skip shares his own experience with traumatic brain
injury.
[00:22:26] – Grace, Softening, and
Hope
A conversation about caregiving, encouragement, and how
relationships adapt after brain injury.
[00:24:11] – Wisdom Revisited: Slow Down and
Soften
Kate revisits her original wisdom and reveals how this season of
life has deepened and expanded it.
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