Episode 45. Belonging Over Fitting In: Cassandra Burnett on Grief, Joy & Building Safe Spaces for Women
Litigation attorney turned entrepreneur Cassandra Burnett joins Joy Makers to talk belonging, grief, people-pleasing, and the joy practices that keep her grounded. On founding Lizzie’s Love Cakes, the Hey Girl Women’s Conference, and The Aunties podcast — plus why pausing is the bravest thing you can do.
Episode Summary
What happens when you stop trying to fit in and start letting yourself belong?
This week on Joy Makers, I sat down with Cassandra Burnett — litigation attorney turned entrepreneur, community builder, and the founder behind Lizzie’s Love Cakes, the Hey Girl Women’s Conference, and the Hey Girl Fund nonprofit. She also hosts The Aunties podcast.
Cassandra has spent years being “the one” in professional rooms — and that experience shaped a deep calling to build spaces where women can drop the titles, lower the guard, and quit the comparison game.
We get into the hard, beautiful stuff: how losing her mother and then her father set off what she calls a “great untethering” — the unraveling that finally freed her from people-pleasing and reconnected her to who she actually is. She shares how grief deepened her marriage, why she stopped apologizing for being multi-passionate, and how she learned to tell a healthy space from one that’s quietly draining her.
We also talk about rest as a calling (not a reward), capacity over hustle, and the daily joy practices — devotional time, movement, community, affirmations — that keep her tethered now.
If you’ve been running on empty, performing belonging instead of feeling it, or wondering whether the pause you keep craving is allowed — this one’s for you.
What You’ll Take Away
Why belonging beats fitting in — and how to tell the difference
How to stop apologizing for being multi-passionate
The link between people-pleasing and losing yourself
What grief can teach you about identity, marriage, and joy
Why pausing protects your peace, capacity, purpose, and rest
Simple daily joy practices you can actually keep
How gratitude rewires your brain (and why Cassandra leans on it)
Timestamps
00:00 — Podcast Welcome
00:33 — Meet Cassandra Burnett
02:24 — Why Safe Spaces Matter
06:28 — Belonging Over Fitting In
08:12 — Stop Apologizing for Being Multi-Passionate
09:27 — Losing Yourself to People-Pleasing
12:28 — Grief and the Great Untethering
14:50 — Marriage Through Major Change
21:51 — The Joy of Grief
24:01 — Motherhood Identity Shift
26:14 — Go Find Yourself
28:32 — Choosing to Pause
30:16 — Capacity Over Hustle
32:51 — Rest as a Calling
35:54 — Set-Apart Identity
37:17 — Brave Faith and Joy
39:11 — Feel It and Release
40:50 — Daily Joy Practices
46:18 — How Gratitude Rewires the Brain
48:06 — The Perfect Three Hours
50:47 — Connect and Closing
About Cassandra Burnett
Cassandra is a litigation attorney turned entrepreneur and community builder. She founded Lizzie’s Love Cakes in honor of her late mother, created the Hey Girl Women’s Conference and the Hey Girl Fund nonprofit, and produces The Aunties podcast. Through monthly baking workshops, she brings women together to bake, connect, and honor their ancestors.
Connect with Cassandra:
https://heygirlconference.com/
https://www.instagram.com/cassandraburnett_/
Connect with Nichole:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholemhoward/
@IamNicholemch on Insta and TikTok! - https://www.instagram.com/iamnicholemch/
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