Episode Ep 103 October 11, 2026 45 min 55s

How people pleasing could ruin your sustainability career with Liv Cropper, Yellow Bench Coaching

From Straight Talking Sustainability Emma Burlow

In this episode, Emma Burlow talks with Liv Cropper, transformational coach and host of the podcast Rooted: The Human Side of Sustainability Leadership.

Liv Cropper shares how she moved from 25 years in financial services into coaching sustainability leaders, why she nearly quit a postgraduate sustainability course, and what happens when sustainability work becomes too closely tied to your identity.

In this episode

Moving into sustainability without a traditional science or environmental background
Why transferable skills such as stakeholder management and problem-solving matter
The pressure to collect qualifications and prove your expertise
How perfectionism, people-pleasing and overwork can shape a sustainability career
The emotional cost of being placed on a “sustainability pedestal”
Climate purism, personal choices and the pressure to “walk the talk”
Why disillusionment can follow when your whole identity is invested in work that cannot be solved by one person
How coaching can help sustainability leaders reconnect with their values, strengths and identity outside work
Finding practical, enjoyable and affordable ways to live your values

Key moments

Liv Cropper explains her transition from financial services into coaching after burnout, bereavement and redundancy at 01:25.
Her sustainability career covered operational emissions, Scope 1 and Scope 2, then Scope 3, financed emissions, policy and target-setting at 03:41.
Liv Cropper describes entering sustainability as a generalist rather than a science specialist at 05:18.
She talks about nearly giving up during her postgraduate certificate in Sustainable Business at 10:27.
The idea behind Rooted, focusing on “the human side of sustainability leadership,” comes up at 13:24.
Liv Cropper explains why looking inward is difficult, slow work rather than a quick fix at 15:09.
The conversation turns to perfectionism, people-pleasing and overwork at 17:48.
Liv Cropper describes how sustainability work can intensify existing patterns of overwork when it adds a powerful sense of purpose at 19:23.
The pressure to be a perfect sustainability role model, including around travel, comes into focus at 24:10.
Liv Cropper explains how losing hope can become a turning point in disillusionment at 36:06.
Coaching may reveal that the problem isn’t the sustainability profession itself, but the beliefs and patterns someone brings to their work at 37:38.
The episode closes with a reminder to find sustainability choices that feel possible, enjoyable and affordable at 41:59.