November 16, 2025

293: Intentional Imbalance: A New Way to Think About Having It All with Amanda Goetz

57 minutes

What if the version of ambition you've been chasing is actually holding you back? In this episode, Amanda Goetz breaks down the difference between toxic grit and intentional ambition—revealing that hustle should be a season, not your identity, and that real ambition means knowing why you're pushing. She walks through the self-worth iceberg: the invisible layers of societal pressure, generational patterns, and personal trauma that trigger disproportionate reactions, showing you how to get curious about what's actually driving your behavior.

Amanda Goetz is a 2x founder, 4x chief marketing officer, and was a single mom to three small children before finding love again. She spent two decades building and growing consumer-facing brands before shifting to writing, teaching, and coaching ambitious working parents on how to balance success and life. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Illinois and, after hustling the streets of New York City for over a decade, is now testing out every sunscreen in the world on her children in Miami.

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TIMESTAMPS

2:21 Amanda’s Story

9:13 Defining Toxic Grit

14:28 Healthy vs. Unhealthy Ambition

15:47 The Self-Worth Iceberg

21:33 Processing Tools That Work

25:53 Understanding Burnout

31:24 When Characters Grow Toxic

38:11 The Perfect Day Exercise