The Hidden Cost of Broken Trust at Work, at Home, and With Yourself: The Seven Trust Languages

Trust is the hidden infrastructure underneath every relationship we have: at work, in our marriages, in our friendships, and with ourselves. In this episode of Mighty as a Mother, workplace trust expert and bestselling author Minda Harts walks us through her Seven Trust Languages framework and the real, hidden cost of broken trust for working mothers, including how to rebuild trust at work and at home, how to advocate for what you need, and why self-trust is where it all starts.

What if the thing quietly eroding your closest relationships isn't a trust problem at all, but a communication one?

That's the question Minda kept coming back to, and it reframed this entire conversation for us.

Minda Harts is the creator of the Seven Trust Languages and the author of Talk to Me Nice, The Memo, Right Within, and You Are More Than Magic. She's an adjunct professor at NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, the founder of The Memo LLC, and an award-winning filmmaker. LinkedIn named her its number one Top Voice in the Workplace, and Business Insider put her on its list of 100 People Transforming Business. She's helped teams at Nike, Google, Best Buy, and Zoom learn how to actually talk to one another.

We wanted her at our table because trust isn't just a boardroom strategy. It shows up in your Slack messages and your group texts, in the way you ask for help and the way you don't. Minda spent years as "the only" in the room, having panic attacks she couldn't name, before she found the language she was missing. That search became the seven trust languages, and in this episode we widen the lens all the way from the office to the whole of a woman's life.

Together we talk candidly about:

Why trust rarely breaks in one big act of betrayal, and how it actually erodes in the small, quiet moments we sweep under the rug The seven trust languages, and how to identify your primary, secondary, and tertiary The stories we invent when we don't have the full picture ("my manager must hate me"), and how one honest conversation can dismantle them How to ask your boss for what you need without torching the relationship Why "clear is kind," and how your tone can change everything even when the words are identical Bringing the trust languages home: keeping your word with your kids, your partner, and your closest friends The generational trust gap at work, and why boomers and Gen Z experience the same workplace so differently What to do when you don't feel safe enough to even start the conversation The single question every leader, partner, and friend should be asking: "What do you need from me?" How to rebuild trust once it's fractured, and why demonstration always beats a quick apology

You'll leave this one with language for things you've been feeling but couldn't name, and one small, doable thing you can do today to start repairing a relationship that matters to you.

Links & resources

Talk to Me Nice: The Seven Trust Languages for a Better Workplace by Minda Harts The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table by Minda Harts Minda's website: mindaharts.com Minda on Instagram: @mindaharts Minda on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mindaharts