In this episode of The Sarah Centrella Show, I sit down with Jay Abbasi, former Tesla leader, TEDx speaker, corporate resilience expert, and host of The Reframe & Reset Show, for a conversation that could not be more relevant right now.
Watch this episode on YouTube
We talk about burnout, uncertainty, leadership, emotional regulation, meditation, psychological safety, and what it actually takes to stay steady when everything around you feels like it keeps changing.
Jay shares the turning point that changed his life: losing his father unexpectedly to a heart attack on June 22, 2014. At the time, he was working in finance, newly married, raising a young daughter, going to grad school, carrying debt, gaining weight, and feeling completely disconnected from the life he wanted to live. That loss became the wake-up call that forced him to look at everything differently.
From there, Jay began studying personal development, meditation, mindfulness, and human behavior. Eventually, he left finance, joined SolarCity, rose through the ranks after the company was acquired by Tesla, and realized the same tools that helped him rebuild his own life were exactly what leaders and teams needed inside high-pressure corporate environments.
This conversation gets into the real stuff. Not the polished leadership advice that sounds good on paper, but what actually happens when people are burned out, overwhelmed, scared to be honest, afraid to speak up, or constantly reacting from stress.
Jay breaks down why resilience is not about pushing through forever. Real resilience requires rest, recovery, emotional awareness, and knowing how to recharge before you crash. We also talk about how meditation helps you separate yourself from your thoughts and emotions, so you can respond instead of react, especially when you are under pressure.
We also get into leadership, and why emotional safety is one of the biggest missing pieces inside companies right now. When people don’t feel safe telling the truth, sharing ideas, giving honest updates, or admitting they are struggling, the whole team suffers. But when leaders are willing to be honest, vulnerable, grounded, and clear, they create the kind of environment where people actually want to contribute.
If you are leading a team, navigating burnout, trying to stay grounded through uncertainty, or simply trying to become more aware of the way your thoughts and emotions are running your life, this conversation is for you.
In this episode, we talk about:
How Jay’s father’s sudden death became the wake-up call that changed his life
Why so many high performers burn out without realizing it
What meditation actually does for your mind and emotional regulation
Why you are not your thoughts, and why that realization is so powerful
How leaders can respond instead of react under pressure
Why resilience is not the same thing as constantly pushing through
The connection between rest, recovery, and high performance
What burnout can look like inside a team before it becomes obvious
Why psychological safety matters so much in leadership
How honesty, vulnerability, and emotional safety build real loyalty
What leaders can do right now to create a healthier team culture
This is such a powerful conversation for anyone working in corporate, leading a team, navigating change, or trying to stay grounded in a season of pressure and uncertainty.
About the Host: Sarah Centrella is a keynote speaker, executive mindset coach, and multi–bestselling author of four books, including Think It. | Book her to speak. Listen to her podcast | Follow on Insta Sarah Centrella
Book a private coaching session with me to get help, my proprietary tools and advice based on 15 years of coaching thousands of people around the world, on anything you are working through right now.
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