As we turn the page to December, I’ve been reflecting on the themes we’ve explored all year on The Found Podcast: friendship, boundaries, calm, awareness, community, rest, and the inner work that fuels the outer work of leadership.

So it feels fitting that the last theme of 2025 is service—not the kind tied to algorithms or audience-building, but the kind rooted in the actual place you call home.

Three of my kids in 2016 at the groundbreaking ceremony for our new community daycare center.

When Ambition Meets Community

In my early days as a mom and founder, I was all in on community involvement. Economic development boards. Capital campaigns. Volunteer committees. Heart & Soul initiatives. I loved my town, and I wanted to help it grow. I wanted vibrant small businesses, busy sidewalks, events that brought people together.

And for a while, serving felt energizing. I was learning. I was contributing. I was part of something bigger.

But as my business took off, my kids grew, and the world shifted in 2020 and beyond, the weight of those commitments started to feel heavier. I found myself walking into meetings already frustrated—resentful before I even sat down.

That’s when I realized something important:
When your service no longer comes from an aligned place, it stops being service.

Why Burnout Happens (and Why It’s Not Your Fault)

Malcolm Gladwell describes three qualities that make work meaningful:

• Complexity — feeling mentally challenged and engaged
• Autonomy — having independence and agency
• Effort → Reward — seeing clear outcomes from your contributions

Looking back, the moments when I felt energized by community work had all three.
And the moments when I was drained had none.

It wasn’t that I didn’t care.
It was that the work was no longer structured in ways that made meaning possible.

Once I stepped back, something surprising happened:
Other women stepped in.
New energy flowed.
Fresh ideas surfaced.

Service didn’t fall apart. It evolved.

Service Doesn’t Have to Be Big to Be Meaningful

Many of us imagine that community involvement requires a lifelong board seat or a giant commitment. But the reality of 2025 is that most people don’t want or can’t hold year-round roles—and that’s okay.

Some of the most impactful service in my small town has been small, simple, and short-term:

• A group of women who decided to light up the park for Christmas
• A restaurant owner who started cookie and donut fundraisers for local families
• Parents who coach youth sports
• Women who knit blankets and hats for NICU babies
• A neighbor who planned concerts in the park because she loves live music

None of them changed the world.
But they changed their world.

And that matters.

From friend of the pod and former guest, Melissa Nelson.

Your Leadership Belongs—Right Where You Are

You might be in a season of rolling up your sleeves and taking action.
Or you might be in a season of amplifying others from the background.
Both are valuable. Both are leadership.

The question isn’t:
“How much can I give?”

The real question is:
“What can I give meaningfully, sustainably, and with heart—right now?”

A Prompt for December

Ask yourself:

• What need in my community has been tugging at me?
• What gifts or skills do I have that could meet that need?
• What already exists—and where is the gap?
• What’s one small thing I could contribute this month?

You don’t have to change the world.
You just have to change something that matters.

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Listen now to episode 230 of The Found Podcast with Molly Knuth, now streaming on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.