Natalie Holder

Holder says that as a plaintiffs' lawyer many of her clients were on antidepressants and that workplace harm spills into personal relationships.

“I sadly remember my days of representing plaintiffs where many of my clients were on antidepressants”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 14:20

Holder says clients who avoid calling their experiences trauma tend to repeat the same mistakes at different organizations.

“I have seen making the same mistakes in different organizations, all because they were afraid to call what they experienced trauma”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 8:04

Holder defines workplace trauma as any harmful, distressing experience with deep impact that a person keeps reliving after the incident.

“a workplace trauma is anything that has occurred that is harmful, distressing, and really has deep-seated impact on you”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 3:14

Holder reflects that she rejected the attention her viral culture-repair video received and should have embraced it.

“Had I been honest with myself, I would have leaned into it as opposed to reject it”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 47:47

Holder cites Gallup as finding that almost 70% of people leave jobs due to poor leadership, more than leave over pay.

“according to Gallup, almost 70% of people leave due to, you know, poor leadership”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 9:19

Holder argues leaders have a duty to invest in team members they keep, regardless of whether they like them.

“if you have someone on your team, whether you like them or not, you have a duty to make sure that they're not left out of any sort of mechanisms”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 36:24

Holder cites Stanford research as finding that advancement goes to those who connect with senior leaders rather than those with the best ideas.

“It's the person who is able to connect with the senior leader in the organization. And so that is the person who gets more airtime”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 35:16

Holder argues one board member should be an employment lawyer or HR professional because they understand how law and policy play out at work.

“I do believe you should have an employment lawyer or someone from human resources as that last part of your board of directors”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 25:25

Holder recommends that individuals have a personal board of directors to protect their interests, as corporations do for shareholders.

“If you don't have a personal board of directors, Who's protecting your interests?”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 23:22

Holder says a peer support program proposed before January 6 was rejected because leaders disliked the official pitching it.

“Not only did they kill the messenger, but they killed the message, which is something that sadly happens in organizations, right?”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 20:21

Holder recounts that she left the U.S. Capitol Police after January 6 to find a safer environment for her family.

“I remember when I was leaving U.S. Capitol Police, it was after January 6th, and I knew that I needed an environment that was more safe for my family”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 16:56

Holder argues pivots are scary mostly when people have not examined why they are leaving and what they are going into.

“pivots are mostly scary when we haven't really done our homework around why we're leaving and what we're going into”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 16:03

Holder opposes leaving a job abruptly without a plan, likening it to a detrimental fall.

“I'm a big believer in not just simply getting up and leaving just because you're done, disgusted over nonsense endured”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 8:49

Holder says she landed her second law firm job through networking on New York City Bar Association committees.

“actually that is how I landed at my next firm because of the networking that I did”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 40:47

Holder describes satisficing as a form of bargaining in which professionals tolerate disrespect because a job is good enough for now.

“I might not be respected. I might find that I'm not invited to meetings. I might find that I'm being paid less than someone else on the team. But it's good enough for now”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 32:47

Holder argues that workplace trauma need not be dramatic and can consist of tacit exclusion.

“sometimes it really is just that very tacit experience of exclusion that makes us feel As though this is something that has been deeply rooted”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 2:56

Holder says she interviewed more than 200 professionals across industries for her book.

“I spoke to over 200 professionals from a number of different industries, from law to finance to the arts”

Notes from the Edge: How Do You Know When Work Becomes Trauma? Toxic Work Culture with Natalie Holder (Oct 2, 2026) · Listen from 3:30