Dr. Arianna Howard

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Dr. Arianna Howard Psychological Safety. Human Capacity. Compassion

Creating pyschologically safe spaces to work, learn, and lead. Published in Ohio School Boards

Your workplace culture is always telling a story. 🤎The question is: are we listening?Culture work means recognizing what...
10/16/2026

Your workplace culture is always telling a story. 🤎

The question is: are we listening?

Culture work means recognizing what’s working, protecting what matters, strengthening what has potential, and adjusting what needs attention.

What’s one thing about your workplace culture you believe deserves more attention? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Whew. Motherhood will humble you. 😂Today, I was teaching psychological safety while listening to my son cry downstairs b...
10/13/2026

Whew. Motherhood will humble you. 😂

Today, I was teaching psychological safety while listening to my son cry downstairs because his morning routine had been completely disrupted. I was struggling, y'all.

Then the feedback came in describing my voice as "so calm and soothing." If only they knew what was happening inside me!

It reminded me that we really don't know what people are carrying, even when they appear to be doing just fine.

Performance is not proof of capacity.

Ohio School Boards Association

Apparently, I have a lot to talk about this fall. 😂❤️On October 13, I’ll be joining OSBA's Coffee Chat to talk about wha...
10/08/2026

Apparently, I have a lot to talk about this fall. 😂❤️

On October 13, I’ll be joining OSBA's Coffee Chat to talk about what happens before workplace tension becomes conflict—and the small things we can do to protect trust.

I also created a FREE Reflection & Practice Guide to accompany my OSBA Journal article, The Hidden Cost of Leadership Fatigue, because sometimes we need more than a reminder to “take care of ourselves.” We need space to actually examine what we’re carrying.

And in November, I’ll be at the OSBA Capital Conference facilitating TWO sessions!

If you lead a team, lead meetings, support staff—or know someone who does—please share this with them. There might be something here they need. ❤️

☕ Coffee Chat: [LINK On My Page]
📖 Free guide: [http://thecompassioncollective.thinkific.com/]
📍 Capital Conference: [LINK On My Page]



Ohio School Boards Association

One of the things I appreciate about serving on the Reynoldsburg Education Foundation Board is getting to support the id...
10/07/2026

One of the things I appreciate about serving on the Reynoldsburg Education Foundation Board is getting to support the ideas educators have for their students-and helping put a little funding behind those ideas.❤️

Mini-grant season is officially open!

Reynoldsburg City Schools teachers can apply for $500 mini grants, with $7,500 available this year. If you're a Reynoldsburg educator with an idea you've been wanting to bring to life, this is for you. And if you know one, please share this with them!

Applications are open through November 13, 2026.



Reynoldsburg Education Foundation
@ - Debbie Dunlap

Y’all asked me to bring it back—and specifically asked for evenings and weekends. I heard you! 😂🙌🏾How to Give the Best P...
10/06/2026

Y’all asked me to bring it back—and specifically asked for evenings and weekends. I heard you! 😂🙌🏾

How to Give the Best PD Ever is back, with more opportunities to join.
This live 90-minute masterclass explores adult learning, engagement, psychological safety, and practical ways to design professional development that people actually remember and use.

If you facilitate, train, teach, lead meetings, or create learning experiences for adults, come learn with me.

Choose the date and time that works for you:
https://thecompassioncollective.thinkific.com/pages/how-to-give-the-best-pd-ever

Know somebody who needs this? Share this post or send it their way.

Y'all. I think I might actually be getting comfortable with networking. I went to a Columbus Chamber after-hours event a...
10/02/2026

Y'all. I think I might actually be getting comfortable with networking.

I went to a Columbus Chamber after-hours event at The Power Plant tonight, and this was the first event I've attended that was literally JUST networking. No speaker. No facilitated activity. No table discussion. Just walk up to people and…talk. And you know what? I was fine.

Once I realized everybody was there with the expectation that strangers were going to walk up and introduce themselves, something clicked. Ohhhh. I can do this. And I did.

What felt especially good was how natural it's becoming to talk about my work. I wasn't trying to remember the perfect elevator pitch. I wasn't trying to sound impressive. I was just talking about what I do. And people wanted to know more.

I also talked with several people who were newer in their businesses, and at one point I heard myself say, “We're in year nine.” YEAR NINE. Sometimes you're so busy building the thing that you forget to stop and acknowledge how long you've actually been building it.

But my favorite moment? I ran into a woman whose saw mother owned the daycare where I had my very first adult job. And now SHE owns a business. So there we were, both business owners, participating in the same Chamber program. Talk about full circle.

There were some awkward moments tonight, too. But I'm getting better at letting an awkward moment just be an awkward moment instead of bringing it home, replaying it 37 times, and creating an entire story about what somebody must have thought about me. Growth.

I think I'm realizing that networking isn't becoming easier because I've learned how to “network.” It's becoming easier because I'm more comfortable being myself in the room. And I genuinely enjoyed hearing about what other people are building. Every conversation doesn't have to turn into a client, referral, or opportunity to be worthwhile. Sometimes it's just nice to meet another human being who is also out here trying to build something.

Also, apparently nobody carries business cards anymore. Everybody just asked, “Are you on LinkedIn?” So if you're one of my new connections and you're reading this like, “Wait…I met her tonight!” HEYYYY! 👋🏾 Thank you for saying hello. Thank you for sharing what you're building with me. And thank you for helping make the room feel comfortable.

Look at us out here networking and carrying on. 🫶🏽💪🏽
🔥😌

Columbus Chamber of Commerce - Columbus Urban League, Power Plant (577 W Nationwide Blvd, Columbus, Ohio 43215)

I’m sitting here working on one of my online courses, and I keep thinking about how long this has been in my belly. Year...
09/30/2026

I’m sitting here working on one of my online courses, and I keep thinking about how long this has been in my belly. Years. I’ve wanted to do this for so long, and if I’m being transparent, I’ve also been afraid.

Maybe motherhood has made the metaphor even more real for me. You create this little thing that feels like an extension of you. You want to protect it. You want people to understand it. You want them to love it as much as you do. And putting your work into the world can feel a little like that.

A moment from yesterday left me emotionally raw, and today I found myself questioning my work a little more than usual. A lot of what I teach comes from lived experience. Observation. Intuition. Sitting with people. Paying attention to patterns. Trying things. Reflecting. Making meaning. And sometimes I get in my own head about whether that way of knowing is “enough.”

While I was working today, I had a Columbus Metropolitan Club event playing in the background with James Clear. He shared something about his process that really stayed with me. He talked about falling into the same traps everyone else does, thinking about those traps, figuring out what helps him get through them, and then realizing that other people might find value in what he learned. And I thought… That’s what I do.

I live it.
I notice it.
I wrestle with it.
I make meaning from it.
I create tools from it.

And then I share those tools with other people.
That little moment gave me exactly what I needed today. A reminder that there are many ways of knowing. And a reminder to keep going. So…back to building this course. ❤️

Columbus Chamber of Commerce Sophia Fifner James Clear

09/30/2026

I had another one of those little moments today where I realized I'm learning something about myself in real time.
I attended a Columbus Foundation Big Table event. The conversation centered on mental health and entrepreneurship. Obviously, right up my alley, right? When I walked in and saw tables set up for small-group conversations, I was both disappointed and relieved. Disappointed because I thought, "Aw man, I wanted us to have one big conversation." Relieved because I also thought, "Oh good. I don't have to network with this entire room!"
And that relief taught me something. I didn't stand up and introduce myself to everybody today. I didn't walk around trying to meet as many people as possible. I didn't leave with a bunch of business cards. But I did have a meaningful conversation.
At my table, another woman talked about caring and carrying. Immediately I thought about one of my meditative guides, What Are You Carrying? So I told her about it. She gave me her phone number and email address so I could send it to her. And somewhere in that moment I thought: Wait. This counts.
This is networking, too. I wasn't pitching. I wasn't performing. I was listening. And because I was listening, I recognized an opportunity to offer something that might actually help someone.
I'm learning that I don't have to become a different version of myself to get better at networking. I can be quieter. I can listen first. I can have one meaningful conversation instead of ten surface-level ones. I can honor my capacity. And I can still build relationships.
I also left today's conversation really grateful for the business my team and I are building. At The Big Table, we talked about mental health, entrepreneurship, employees, boundaries, and workplace culture. As I listened, I found myself reflecting on our own family-run company.
We're not perfect, but it is psychologically safe. For the people who work with me and for me. And because creating psychologically safe places to work, learn, and play is literally what I teach other organizations to do, that realization felt especially meaningful.
So maybe my takeaway from today is this: I don't need to perform connection to practice connection.
And maybe networking isn't always about becoming the loudest person in the room. Maybe sometimes it's about becoming comfortable enough to be yourself in the room, and trusting that the right conversations can begin there.
P.S. If you're carrying a lot right now, What Are You Carrying? is the meditative guide that came up in today's conversation. I created it as a space to slow down, notice what you're holding, and begin separating caring from carrying. You can check out a preview here:
🎧 https://vimeo.com/1229739835?fl=tl&fe=ec
The Columbus Foundation

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Columbus, OH
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