What Does Kindness Look Like When We Make Space for Feelings No One Dares to Talk About?


Have you ever been around someone who makes you feel like you could say anything and it would be okay? Romaine Waller is one of those people. She's the woman who says hi first at the grocery store, the friend whose confidence is "a vault," and the leader who reminds her clinical research teams that at the end of every piece of paper is a patient. In this conversation, Romaine shares why kindness currency is unlimited, how she stays kind and direct at the same time in a highly regulated corporate world, and what it takes to become a safe, judgment free person for the people in your life. She also gives us a first peek at an idea she calls FIND T-squared, the Feeling Inside No one Dares To Talk about, and why naming those buried feelings matters.

In this episode:

  • Why Romaine always says hi first at the grocery store, and the lesson from her mother that shaped everything: "It doesn't cost you anything to be nice"
  • Kindness currency is unlimited. You never run out, and it costs you nothing to spend it
  • "At the end of everything we do is a patient." Keeping compassion at the center of data driven clinical research, and remembering there's a human on the other end of every email
  • Kindness isn't soft, it's a strategy: how curiosity and listening open the door with teams set in their ways
  • What it means to be a vault friend, and how to become a safer, judgment free person for others
  • A first look at FIND T-squared: the Feeling Inside No one Dares To Talk about
  • Romaine's challenge to dig deeper: are your relationships authentic and meaningful, or surface level and exhausting?

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About Romaine

Romaine Waller is a U.S. Army veteran, an operations and strategy leader in clinical research and clinical systems, and a self-described connector of people. She holds a steadfast belief that knowledge and information become truly transformative only when shared, and that the most powerful technology in any room is still human compassion. Her CliftonStrengths of Positivity, Developer, Connectedness, Belief, and Maximizer are basically a fancy way of saying she's going to hype you up, help you grow, and refuse to leave potential on the table. Whether she's leading teams or mentoring the next generation of leaders, Romaine is proof that kindness isn't soft, it's a strategy.

Connect with Romaine

A note before you listen: this conversation includes references to childhood sexual abuse and trauma. Please take care of yourself as you listen. EJ and Tarah Kerwin were

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