Beyond Burnout Weekly

Empty bed in the emergency room with a green gown on the bed,  hospital computer screen in in the bed ground and a privacy curtain

Get Out Now!

“Your mom has to leave.” One phone call can send a caregiver scrambling to find a new home for a loved one while managing paperwork, medical needs, and a job. What looks like a performance problem may be a caregiving crisis unfolding in real time.

Chef Maria Kemp
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Sunset over bridge in ‎⁨Delaware River⁩ in ⁨Philadelphia⁩

Stop Being Mean To Me!

Sometimes the person you're trying to help becomes the very one who hurts you the most. Caregiving can mean absorbing anger, hurtful words, and behaviors no one else sees, then showing up at work as if nothing happened.

Chef Maria Kemp
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Chef Maria Kemp speaker announcement for 2026 SHRM NC Annual State Conference, September 23-25, 2026

It Had To Happen

Sometimes what feels like a wrong turn is quietly positioning us exactly where we're supposed to be. One missed email, one unexpected phone call, and one literal wrong turn reminded me how the hardest chapters of our lives can lead us straight to our purpose.

Chef Maria Kemp
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Papa Kemp’s favorite jacket hanging over his booth at Saladworks, with his hats, personalized seat, and favorite meal arranged at the table for his celebration of life.

Has It Really Been That Long?

Three years after Papa Kemp’s passing and nearly one year into this newsletter, I’m looking back at how quickly time passes, how this work has evolved, and why helping employers recognize the caregivers already in their workforce matters so much.

Chef Maria Kemp
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Chef Maria Kemp smiling with her father, Papa Kemp, outside his retirement community during her caregiving journey.

Can You Care For Someone You Haven't Forgiven?

Sometimes the person you're caring for is also the person who hurt you. What happens when decades of unresolved pain collide with the responsibility of caregiving? Let's talk about the emotional weight caregivers often carry but rarely say out loud.

Chef Maria Kemp
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Three-year-old girl wearing an Oscar the Grouch birthday hat sits behind a Sesame Street-themed birthday cake with her face resting in her hands.

It's the Same Thing

When most people hear the word caregiver, they picture someone caring for an aging parent. But caregiving shows up in far more ways than we realize. And sometimes, the assumptions we make keep us from seeing what's really happening behind the scenes.

Chef Maria Kemp
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Papa Kemp, wearing a wide-brimmed brown hat, sits at a table in front of a MacBook watching a video featuring his daughter, Chef Maria

It's Not Fair

Sometimes life asks us to hold two truths at once. We can be deeply grateful for where the journey has taken us and still wish the people who helped shape us were here to see who we became.

Chef Maria Kemp
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Chef Maria Kemp appears on the Nasdaq Tower in Times Square as one of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center Milestone Circles graduates.

Turn the Volume OFF

Even good things carry stress. Sometimes the first sign you're carrying too much isn't exhaustion. It's when everything around you suddenly seems louder.

Chef Maria Kemp
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Black Honda with driver's side window down with door locked

Good Things Come In 3.5's

Three unexpected milestones reminded me how far the caregiving journey has brought me. Then one rain-soaked car became a not-so-subtle reminder that even high achievers need to stop, breathe, and pay attention.

Chef Maria Kemp
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Papa Kemp pushes a shopping cart toward an ALDI store on a bright blue-sky day, capturing a simple caregiving moment.

The Rolling Stop

A Mother's Day traffic stop revealed more than a rolling stop at a stop sign. It exposed the emotional cost of constantly pushing forward and the difference between slowing down and truly resting.

Chef Maria Kemp
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Chef Maria embraces her mother, "Little Mama," from behind as they smile together during a joyful moment at a nursing home in 2012, reflecting the love and bond that shaped Maria's caregiving journey.

Before “Caregiver Advocate" There Was Her

Before there was a keynote stage or a caregiver advocacy platform, there was Little Mama. The story behind the work I do today starts here.

Chef Maria Kemp
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A wooden patio table under string lights overlooks a calm lake at dusk. A small plate with desserts and a blue drinking glass sit on the table, with trees, docks, and still water in the background.

Relax Your Face

Your face isn't the only place holding tension. What if the assumptions we make at work are causing us to solve the wrong problems instead of the real ones?

Chef Maria Kemp
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