Meet Tyneeta Canonge

We were lucky to catch up with Tyneeta Canonge recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tyneeta, thrilled to have you on the platform as I think our readers can really benefit from your insights and experiences. In particular, we’d love to hear about how you think about burnout, avoiding or overcoming burnout, etc.

I Almost Died. Twice.
The first time, it was my body that gave out. The second time, it was my spirit.
In 2017, I was brimming with pride as I prepared to celebrate my son’s high school graduation. As a school administrator and single mother, I saw this milestone as a capstone—an outward symbol of years of sacrifice, love, and leadership. My son was achieving something I had helped so many other young people reach, and now it was his turn. With so much to look forward to, I didn’t make time to investigate the growing concerns I had about my health.

Despite constant fatigue and lightheadedness, I kept going hard. I worked 12-hour days, answered late-night emails, attended every athletic tournament, senior celebration, and meeting. The warning signs were unmistakable: relentless cravings for ice, persistent dizziness, nagging leg cramps. I even began walking close to walls in case I fainted—at least that way, I’d reduce the risk of hitting my head. Each night, I’d crash into bed, hoping rest would get me through the next day.
Loved ones urged me to see a doctor, and eventually, I gave in. The diagnosis? Severe anemia. I needed an immediate blood transfusion. In retrospect, my response was ridiculous: “I don’t have time for this. I’m busy.” Even when my doctor warned, “If you experience heart attack or stroke symptoms, call 911 immediately,” I had never been hospitalized, so the urgency felt like an overreaction. I brushed it off.

Two days later, I was in the ER with chest pains and terrifying heart palpitations. A blood transfusion saved my life.
The forced medical leave that followed was a reckoning. I had to confront why I had dismissed my own pain and pushed myself so close to the edge. But I was alive—and that, at least, gave me the opportunity to start again.
Armed with stronger boundaries and a renewed commitment to self-care, I accepted a new leadership role in Minneapolis. This time, I believed I could lead differently. My body was healing—but soon, I would find that my emotional well-being was unraveling.

Living far from family, juggling a high-stakes leadership position, and navigating graduate school during the turbulent year of 2020 was overwhelming. As national conversations about equity intensified, the pressure inside schools and systems mounted. It took a toll on my mental health.
After a while, I couldn’t get off the couch. Social interactions drained me. Depression set in, worsened by the unrelenting pressure to “perform leadership” while battling internal exhaustion and anxiety. As one of the few Black women in leadership in predominantly white institutions, I was navigating layers of psychological isolation.

Eventually, I listened to my body and spirit—and stepped away. That decision saved my life. Again.
Today, I work at a pace that supports my well-being. As the founder of WE Consulting, my equity-focused leadership firm, I guide others in building lives and careers that center humanity, sustainability, and purpose. Through research-based frameworks, reflective practice, and identity-conscious coaching strategies, I help leaders confront the physiological, psychological, and institutional effects of leading on empty. Together, we explore how to lead from a place of wholeness using a restorative leadership model.

But here’s the truth: I have to live this to teach it. I’ve designed a business that honors my humanity and supports others in doing the same. My schedule, my work, and my mission reflect a belief that we all deserve to lead well—and live well.

This vision is rooted in three core values:

Ubuntu, the African philosophy that reminds us “I am because we are.” It centers interdependence and community as the foundation of leadership.

Emergent Strategy, shaped by practitioners like adrienne maree brown, Sage Crump, and Mia Herndon. This framework calls us to “move at the speed of trust,” gather the right people, and co-create futures aligned with justice and liberation.

Humanizing and amplifying people of the global majority—because our leadership is essential, not optional.

This is what I know now: I am no longer a martyr. Proactive wellness systems are necessary for sustainable leadership. Holding fast to courageous boundaries is an act of liberation. Grind culture will take everything if you let it. Practicing restorative leadership gives me my life back.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I help leaders thrive—without burning out.
I’m a Leadership Empowerment Expert, DEI Consultant, and advocate for equity, joy, and connection in workspaces that often forget we’re human first.

After nearly 30 years in education and leadership, I founded WE Consulting, a firm dedicated to helping professionals level up their leadership with an equity lens. I work with emerging and seasoned leaders, through coaching, strategic consulting, and immersive retreats, to create cultures of belonging where people don’t have to grind themselves into the ground to be effective.

What makes my work exciting? It’s rooted in legacy, liberation, and lived experience. I come from a family who took part in the civil rights movement in New Orleans and I carry that spirit of radical care and communal responsibility into everything I do. I earned my master’s in School Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, but my greatest education has come from working with real people in real spaces and helping them navigate identity, burnout, power, and purpose.

The most special part of what I do is helping people lead in ways that feel aligned with their humanity. I focus on strategy and the psychological, physiological, and professional impacts of people of the global majority being leaders in dominant culture spaces. I love that my work expands keynote speeches, identity-conscious coaching sessions and signature retreats. I’ve always been afraid to be boring, so multiple offerings help me keeplife interesting. I aim to offer a vision of leadership that is bold, brilliant, and deeply sustainable.

I’m also the host of the Ordinary Leaders Podcast, where I share real stories, lessons, and laughter from the frontlines of everyday leadership life.

Something that I’m always excited about is my Level Up Leadership Lab New Orleans. It’s coming back January 7–11, 2026. I get to take people to my hometown for a leadership development experience rooted in the rhythm and resistance of one of the most iconic cities in the world. If you’re tired of surface-level DEI sessions and ready to be transformed by a leadership laboratory that centers equity, culture, and real-world application, you’ll want to be there.

You can learn more or apply at: https://www.wecoachingandconsulting.com/levelupnola

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The most important skill I’ve developed along my journey is how to be connected to and grounded in my body. There is so much information inside of us. When our nervous system is regulated, we are ready to make clear, proactive decisions, we can communicate effectively, connect with and care for others more authentically, be more creative and true to ourselves. We are in touch with ourselves as higher beings.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

A book that has been instrumental in my growth and development is My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts by Resmaa Menakem.

The exercises for healing trauma stored in our bodies are invaluable. This book is helpful to anyone who wants to develop a leadership practice grounded in wholeness and embodiment.

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