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Others Unlimited

Empathy training for research, collaboration, and citizenship.

08/31/2025

On the other side of the planet, two girls are making educational videos for their peers, and chose my TEDx talk as a subject. They are so cool, and I am so honored. 🤍

06/25/2025

Good news, quiet folks: empathy isn’t constant mutual oversharing.

Talking is great, but everyone isn’t great at it. And forcing an unwilling, uneasy, or unskillful talker into a big conversation can backfire in a thousand painful ways. (Ask us how we know.)

In some cases, quiet action is a more empathic choice than conversation.
(Think: sticky situations, hot tempers, neurodiversity, tender topics, time constraints, emotional exhaustion, privacy requests, trust issues, laryngitis…)

Sometimes the most helpful thing we can say is to do. In moments like that, instead of sharing, take a meaningful action–even in secret. Because it’s not always about communicating to someone, but honoring the connection enough to give them what they need.

02/19/2025

Last week, Karen's TEDx talk was featured on MSNBC's Morning Joe, in a piece on overcoming self-hatred. (To see the whole segment, find the link in our bio.)

Big love to everyone out there struggling to give yourself grace. 🤍

10/16/2024

As an artist and a business person, I savored the chance to explore how those parts of my work teach one another. Many thanks to Ezequiel Williams for opening up a special conversation. Enjoy!

Link in bio ✨️

05/21/2024

NEW STUFF! "No One Owes You An Apology" - the empathic guide to resilience.

Our second free guide in the series, this 24-page PDF is a 2-in-1, with a bold exploration of personal apologies, followed by a kind and practical toolkit for building emotional resilience. This candid discussion of responsibility offers strategies to gain perspective and resilience, and acknowledges that while we're all (probably) doing our best, our best isn’t always very good, and that’s going to have to be okay. For anyone struggling to move on from squabbles big and small, this guide is for you. Free because everybody needs it.

Link in bio. ✨️

04/08/2024

As an empathy trainer, I am often mistaken for a good person. So let me clarify: Empathy is amoral.

When we practice empathy, we make a decision to see and receive everything about another person’s experience. And while that reception doesn’t require us to celebrate what we find, it absolutely demands that we refrain from judgment.

When we practice with our friends and favorites, we might find it easy to resist the impulse to shame, blame, or critique them. But we may err on the other side–praising their choices, affirming their character, or assuring them that their position is good and right.

The trouble is, these positive judgments are just as corrosive to connection. When we cheer for certain behaviors, emotions, or decisions, we communicate to our people that these qualities are the conditions of our care. And they might be! (So please carry on, if you wish.)

But to know someone deeply, or to be known ourselves, we must be willing to see and accept the parts that may be hidden behind our public-facing selves. And any kind of judgment obstructs the view.

To be curious about another POV, we must be ready to receive the unknown, uncomfortable, or unpleasant. When we embrace what is “good” and reject what is “bad” we miss the chance to practice empathy.

We are not saying, by the way, that good and bad don’t exist. We’re saying they are too subjective to be relied on for measurement, as they distort our perceptions in an unhelpful way. So we resist judgment, or just delay it while we practice.

Because empathy is for everyone. No matter their past, politics, or preferences. If you don’t think so, tell us more. We’re here to understand.

(If this sounds like the kind of perspective your team could use, Others Unlimited might be a great partner for you. Say hi and let's talk about it.)

02/29/2024

Yesterday, 's and I spent the afternoon exploring Emotional Safety and Belonging with the team at , and we've got the grins to prove it.

Not to brag, but the work Steffon and I do takes courage. We take on heavy, tricky topics–intersectional bias, internalized shame, the wiggly lines between perception and perspective–and unpack them together in real live workplaces, in front of brilliant (and opinionated), caring (and complicated) humans.

Sometimes (a lot of the time), I get nervous about how it will go. Will people trust us with their honesty? Might we miss the culture clues? Will I make a cringy gaff? And what's funny about that is: it's not really on me or Steffon entirely. Yes, we have a responsibility to deliver a high-value experience (and to do so kinda masterfully, tbh), but even if we do our part–the client team can tank it.

If leaders don't show, or if teammates check out, the vibe is crushed. Because vibes are a living thing–which is, adorably, something we learned from our friends at Mother.

Mother's team values are called "starters." As in, the starter culture for sourdough or kombucha. They are a key combo of ingredients, brought to life over time in a harmonious environment. Wrong stuff, wrong time, wrong sitch–and your starter is dead.

Because Mother knows that, they asked Steffon and I to do our thing, the "Harmonious Environment" part in the starter metaphor. Our work helps keep the atmosphere one that supports life. And yesterday, we found it alive and kicking.

Big thanks to Mother leadership, as well as all custodians of the vibe, of whom there are many.

02/22/2024

This week, led the team at in exploring and experiencing belonging. We played games, asked questions, and found threads of connection with one another, some of which were deeper than we anticipated. The team opened up and found new bonds while examining their own internal twists and turns. Huge thanks to of , who guided us through the mechanics of identity and unconscious bias, and big cheers to the team at Mother LA, who has consistently blown us away with their courage and creativity. Cheers to kinships of all kinds.

02/19/2024

Still swimming in the joy of this weekend's Healing Together conference with . Pictured here are some shots from our breakout session on listening with empathy, and a sneak peek at the keynote sound check. We couldn't share shots of the participants due to the (totally real and absolutely bananas) stigma around mental health, but this group was the most beautiful, colorful, and loving bunch of folks we have ever had the honor of practicing with. We offer our biggest, most heartfelt thankyous to everyone we met, along with an oath to see you all again soon. 🤍🙏

02/15/2024

This weekend, Karen and the Others team are headed to Orlando, Florida, for the Healing Together conference, where she will be their keynote speaker this year. Organized by An Infinite Mind, this one-of-a-kind conference offers tools, support, and community for people living with dissociation and Dissociative Identity Disorder, as well as their loved ones. Stay tuned for updates!

02/05/2024

Heads up: You don’t practice like you play.

Musicians practice scales, but don’t perform them on stage. Athletes train with repetition and resistance that doesn’t happen the same way on the field.

When we practice empathy, we use tools that can feel clunky in the moment. Because moments are messy. It’s ok. That’s what we’re practicing for.

The tools single out skills that aren’t that simple in real life, to train specific ‘muscles’ in our minds. Practice makes our skills stronger. So when people problems happen, we’ve got backup.

Even so, real life won’t be what we practiced. Feelings will fail us, and we will make mistakes. It’s part of being a person.

Keep practicing, and what feels awkward now will feel awesome later. We promise.

For more tools and frameworks, or to download our free Feedback Guide at www.othersunlimited.com

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