Ambition Without Compromise

By Monique R. Shields

Ambition Without Compromise is the space where powerhouse women of color — with a special heart for Black mothers and future mothers — come to redefine success on their own terms.

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FAQs about Ambition Without Compromise:

How many episodes does Ambition Without Compromise have?

The podcast currently has 62 episodes available.

Ambition Without Compromise episodes:

June 04, 2025 61 | Unpacking Uncertainty And Taking Risks
Text Monique directly! Share thoughts, feels or feedback!
In this week's episode, Monique tackles the complex relationship between risk and ambition, especially for women of color. Through compelling stories she illustrates the emotional turmoil that can accompany the pursuit of dreams and the importance of acknowledging and processing those feelings. She also emphasizes the power of self-awareness and creativity in overcoming fear and finding clarity in uncertain times.
Join in to discover how to redefine your understanding of risk and unlock your true potential.
GEMS DROPPED
“We will use the past to try to predict the future. Right. Because this is the thing with the women that I work with, they're not just saying, ‘well, I'm scared of taking risks, so I don't even consider it’. You keep approaching the idea of taking those risks, but it's kind of torturing you because you keep approaching it, and then you keep hitting a wall. Everything feels too scary and so you're like, well, let me kind of think through my past–right? So there's this formula, and it feels like an airtight formula, and that's where we kind of get trapped, because if one or two of those variables feel off, you’re like ‘ooh, the risk of failure is now high’. That automatically shuts us down.”
“Where do you have space to actually stop and feel? You typically don't. And things are often happening fast. So you're trying to react, you're trying to think. You haven't gotten yourself any space, any room to feel what you're actually feeling. And that is what's keeping you trapped in that merry go round. There's no creativity available to you in that space because you're just trapped in cyclical, fear based thinking.”
“I challenge you, if you're sitting with this kind of indecision, this fear around risk and this story, to take a moment and see if you can, which I know you can, embrace the belief that I am someone who takes incredible risk and finds success. I am the great I am. I am someone who takes incredible risks and finds great success. What would it be like to embrace that? What are your earliest memories where that is true?”
“You cannot access creativity if the conditions that you have created for yourself to be creative have not been set.”
“Sometimes the way that we protect our imaginations is with our creativity, right? That's where it all flows from by allowing what is arising in us that is keeping us stuck…allowing it to flow through us and to inform us about any limitations that we're placing on ourselves, any lies that we're telling ourselves, any old stories that are coming up and distorting how we believe, how we believe we can exist and what we believe that we can have. That's another way of protecting our imaginations.”
STAY IN TOUCH
Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].
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37min
May 21, 2025 60 | Too Busy to Dream: When the Work That Made You Successful Starts Holding You Back
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What if the version of leadership that got you here is the very thing keeping you stuck? It’s time to grow and expand—not so you can carry more, but so you can finally live out your dream without the weight that’s been holding you back.
Join Monique as she speaks directly to high-achieving women like you—navigating the tension between your professional obligations and your personal ambitions. This isn’t about finding another tactic or quick fix. It’s about shifting your identity, cultivating an abundant mindset, and setting boundaries that protect your time and energy.
When you do that, you’ll start to reclaim your vision and attract the kind of opportunities that truly align with who you are becoming. Monique’s insights and strategies are here to help you break free from what’s no longer working and step boldly into the future you know is waiting for you.
GEMS DROPPED
“You've always known that where you're at right now is a stepping stone place. And it may have given you really specific important things, but it's not meant to be your forever place, and you know that.”
“Because you're on this hamster wheel every day, it diminishes your vision, and it shrinks your capacity to exist as bigger.”
“Growing your skills to the point where you can now possess the dream. That's not actually how it works. You have to grow, expand yourself so that you begin to live out the dream. You begin to attract the dream. It begins to build within you and around you because you're operating that way.”
“I honestly don't care who it is that is listening to my voice right now. If you're my girl and you're considering becoming better and expanding in your leadership, delegation is going to be a thing for you. Because we, as women, are actually socialized against delegation. We are socialized to show up for everybody in every way, for everything and so becoming better at delegating is absolutely something that we need to do. But here's the problem, getting better at delegating or delegate more is not the advice you need. What you need is the space to occupy a more abundant boss mindset.”
“This being too busy to connect with our dreams-the solving for the busyness, it does have to happen first. Like, you cannot, you're not going to connect with an authentic dream from a place that feels rushed and constrained and overwhelmed and tight. Like, that's not the place that you want to be dreaming from. So we do have to solve for this first. But what I'm trying to say is that the solve starts at the identity level. The solve does not start at the tactics and the tricks.”
“This is not about becoming better at carrying all these things that are just too much. It's about showing up in a way that protects you from more and more of the nonsense, and shifts you into a being that attracts the dream.”
EPISODES MENTIONED
Ep 15: Learning To Dream First
Ep 3: What Are You Playing For?
STAY IN TOUCH
Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

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31min
May 07, 2025 59 | You Don’t Need More Time — You Need a New Identity
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👆🏾 TEXT ME for more on CLAIMED™ - Group Coaching Experience For Black Mothers in Leadership

Feeling overwhelmed by your ambitions? It's time for a mindset shift!
Join Monique as she dives into the struggles many ambitious women face as they juggle multiple responsibilities and aspirations. She explores the metaphor of spinning plates and overflowing buckets to illustrate the challenge of managing multiple identities—mother, partner, professional, and more—while yearning for growth.
In our latest episode, Monique discusses how to transform your self-concept and embrace a 10x growth approach. Press play to learn more.
GEMS DROPPED
“You cannot do all the hard things. You don't need to do all the hard things. There is a human limit on your life, okay? There are human limitations, and we can push past many of those limitations. I understand the capacity of my woman. Like, a lot of y'all, you know you're built differently. I get that…But we also cannot disregard our very human, physical, spiritual, emotional existence, and try to step past it and think that there will be no consequences, because there will.”
“Let's be clear, the capitalist society that we are enshrouded in that surrounds all of this, that drives a lot of the unnecessary pressures that we place on ourselves.and these patterns, rhythms and the pace that we are all pushed into. We can never, never erase that context from the conversation. But what I want to speak about today is where you still have some agency and power. You still have quite a bit of agency and power to shift, to make a 10x choice, to make a shift where you're not just doing a few things differently or trying to double your output in your doing, but that you get to become, that you shift the being of it all.”
“The environment, the relationships, the structure, the guidance--those things allow for a new self concept to emerge. It is one of the most powerful things that we can create space for in our lives. Because again, the situation that you are thinking about with what's the next phase of my career and how am I going to hold all of these things and what's going to happen with this or that? Like, those aren't the questions. The topic is not the topic. You are the topic. Okay. Who you consider yourself to be, how you self conceptualize, that is the topic at hand. That is how we can shift from 2x possibility, that's going to keep us overrun in old identities to a 10x possibility because we've allowed ourselves to fundamentally change, to allow ourselves to fundamentally shift.”
STAY IN TOUCH
Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].
...more
41min
April 23, 2025 58 | What Got Me Here: The Real ROI (And Real Costs) Of My Self-Investment Journey
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In this deeply personal episode, Monique shares the behind-the-scenes story of her biggest self-investments—from surprise trips and $15K coaching programs to community spaces that changed everything. She walks us through the fears, mindset shifts, and identity upgrades that come with choosing yourself.
As busy ambitious women, we don't have time to piece together every self-help book and DIY our way to transformation. You don’t have to do this alone. Monique is spilling all the tea as she discusses the financial aspects of her investments, the importance of mentorship, and the invaluable lessons learned along the way.
This conversation is your reminder that betting on yourself isn’t just bold—it’s necessary.
GEMS DROPPED
“I want to be a solution to isolation. Self-investment is one less thing that you need to figure out and DIY—to let someone else hold you. This is how I have been held and continue to find ways to make sure that I am held, and I'm making sure that I take my skills and offer it to y'all.”
“I have a firm belief that if you are not willing to invest in the thing that you are offering to other people—then what are you doing in that profession?"
“The networks we were building a decade ago may not serve the vision we’re trying to live out now. It's a lot more efficient and it's a lot more effective to be in community with, in council with someone or some group that gets it, that is trying to do the same or very similar things that you are trying to do.”
“I know many of y'all listening are good students. You're like, ‘I can learn anything. You can put me in front of a stack of books, baby, and I will read the research papers. I will watch all the videos and the documentaries. I know how to learn things’. It is not the same thing as forming a whole new self -concept. That requires relationship, that requires a new environment, it requires challenging limiting beliefs and somebody that can help you see your blind spots. If you want to do that with speed and not isolated, it's available to you.”
STAY IN TOUCH
Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].
...more
45min
April 09, 2025 57 | The Less I Do The More I Get Done: Finding Rest As We Work
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Are you feeling overwhelmed and overworked? In our latest episode, Monique explores the transformative power of rest and how it can revolutionize your productivity.
Drawing inspiration from a recent gathering of high-achieving Black women, she addresses the overwhelming exhaustion that often accompanies leadership roles, motherhood, and societal pressures. Monique also introduces seven actionable steps to help us combat overwhelm and create meaningful space in our lives. From fostering community support to establishing clear priorities and making time visible, she provides a roadmap for reclaiming control over our schedules.
Tune in now to discover how rest can be your greatest ally in achieving your goals!
GEMS DROPPED
"We point to time management just because it is a buzz phrase for when things start to feel out of whack, when your focus is too scattered and spread. You look back over a day or a month and think: I was busy and I know I got some things done, but what just happened? And why do I feel like nothing is getting done although I'm doing all of the things? What this actually ends up boiling down to is less about time management and more about the courage to actually stop everything. An aggressive stop can feel impossible. It can feel indulgent.”
"With growth comes breaking. When something new is born, something else has to die. And taking account of that and anticipating it ahead of time, before you're too broken to pull yourself back together. That's a tough practice."
“For my women of color and moms, the courage to stop everything feels like we're taking something away from someone else. To stop for ourselves feels like theft. To rest can feel spoiled, privileged, or entitled—but that belief is cultural conditioning. We’ve been trained to demonize the part of us that wants to rest, that needs a break. If you're not producing, then who are you? What are you worth? That lie holds us back. What I've discovered is the less I do, the more I get done. And I want to offer that to you today. The less you do, the more you can get done. ”
“Stopping for yourself is not selfish—it’s strategy. Build a practice that includes rest, not as a reward, but as part of the process."
“When we give ourselves away, we give our energy and our time away for other people to control, for other people to tell us what we can and should do with our time and our energy. There's a cost. And you're probably suffering that cost if this is the existence that you're in right now where you're not creating aggressive space for yourself.”
“Whether you work for yourself or you work for someone else, it's incredibly important to create sacred space for yourself and to do so as aggressively as you possibly can and to hold it firm. Do not let others in. Not only can you not let other people onto your calendar, you can't let your little productivity self in either. Focus on what you need and what those priorities are and let it flow.”
STAY IN TOUCH
Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].
...more
53min
March 26, 2025 56 | Creating Space For Motherhood As A Leader
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Motherhood is a transformative journey that ambitious women in leadership find themselves contemplating. For many, the thought of becoming a mother can evoke feelings of fear and uncertainty. How will this new role affect my professional impact? Will I lose my sense of self? These are common concerns, and in this episode, Monique addresses them head-on, offering insights and encouragement for those navigating this complex decision.
Join in as she candidly shares her own experiences and the profound changes that come with stepping into this new identity. And the importance of defining what motherhood means to you, identifying the resources you need to thrive, and embracing the support of your community.
📢As a special note, Monique is opening her coaching waitlist for March 2025. You can sign up through her website to receive updates and secure a spot for transformative one-on-one coaching.
MENTIONED
53 | The Safety Shift: Trusting Yourself in Times of Transformation
52 | Making The Scary Identity Leap
26 | When Achievement Is No Longer The Goal
15 | Learning To Dream First (CEO Series)
GEMS DROPPED
"The version of yourself that exists today, obviously she has evolved, she has grown and learned things over time. You're not the same woman today that you were a decade ago. That's part of what living an expansive and ambitious life will bring. You have to constantly be open to change, but there's a deeper thing that happens when we become responsible for other human lives.. It's a starker shift. So being afraid of what's going to change for you makes a lot of sense.”
“The version of you that you're about to get introduced to through motherhood, you can't really anticipate what she's gonna look like. You don't know who you're about to encounter and that is scary because you're like, can I count on her to still push forward my goals?”
“Take a moment to ask yourself the why behind the concern for becoming a parent for you in particular. This is really, really important. It's actually pretty critical to understand what is driving that fear for you.”
“As a leader, part of what I know my clients will get caught up in is hiding their motherhood identity or trying to minimize it. Trying to make themselves as low maintenance as possible. We need to release this low maintenance identity. This is the time, if there were ever a time, babes, for you to step into your high maintenance era. Becoming a mother, while leading big things is the time… I want you to give yourself full permission to embrace your want, to embrace your need, and to let the team know.”
STAY IN TOUCH
Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

...more
36min
March 12, 2025 55 | When You Do The Most But Expect The Least: Letting Go Of Shrinking Yourself
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This week's episode dives into self-love and transformation! Join Monique as she discusses the importance of recognizing your worth and embracing your true self.
Inspired by a profound coaching conversation with a client, she explores the concept of being "low maintenance" and its detrimental effects on women, particularly women of color. Monique unpacks the societal pressures that lead us to minimize our needs and accomplishments, urging us to embrace our bigness and the unique contributions we bring to the world.
This episode is a call to action for all women to acknowledge our worth, celebrate our achievements, and demand the support we deserve. Press play to start your journey to break free from the limitations of self-doubt and step into your full power.
📢As a special note, Monique is opening her coaching waitlist for February 2025. You can sign up through her website to receive updates and secure a spot for transformative one-on-one coaching.
GEMS DROPPED
“An interesting gift of having a strong reflection practice is that the reflection teaches you a lot around what did and didn't work right. What did I learn? What do I need to let go of? What were some of the strengths and the weaknesses of that season? What were the lessons? And now I get to take stock of what in me has changed and what that means for my future. It's not like the analytical sort of assessing and processing, it's something that has the fundamental elements of who I am.”
“The concept of being low maintenance, it's really a special designation that's reserved only for women. It was designed to keep women mentally busy with this impossible sort of dance and not having needs. And so what we're supposed to do is to be small.”
“I think, hopefully, prayerfully, at some point, we have the opportunity to one day catch wind that something is off. Like, how am I supposed to be small and need nothing, yet bear all this fruit, create all of these things and be the vessel for such huge transformation in the world? There's a discrepancy.”
“There are some baseline needs that we all have…ways that we can be more specific, to be more precise about how our bigness functions. When it comes to this level of acceptance and understanding about ourselves, about fundamentally who we are and what we have to offer baseline level, can't nobody take that. Nobody is going to shame you. And it just becomes an opportunity to exist more restfully, more peacefully. And is one of the greatest manifestations, I think, of self love.”
"We are making outsized contributions in the places and spaces that we care about, and we are not treating ourselves in accordance with that contribution. We think others deserve more than we do because there's this distortion that exists in who we actually are."
“We all deserve to have our distorted mirrors absolutely demolished and to see ourselves, in our true radiance and all of our unique nooks and crannies and ways of being as beautiful and worthy of support and love, especially from ourselves.”
STAY IN TOUCH
Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].
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25min
February 26, 2025 54 | The Giver, The Grinder & The Pleaser: Rethinking Success
Text Monique directly! Share thoughts, feels or feedback!
Is the pursuit of success weighing you down? In this episode, Monique uncovers how ambition can sometimes come at the cost of our deepest dreams.
Listen in as she shares compelling stories of women balancing leadership, motherhood, and personal fulfillment. Through the lens of the 'Giver,' the 'Grinder,' and the 'Pleaser,' she reveals how these identities shape our paths—both fueling and restricting us.
Tune in to learn how to break free from outdated roles, redefine success on your terms, and step into a future of authentic fulfillment.
📢As a special note, Monique is opening her coaching waitlist for March 2025. You can sign up through her website to receive updates and secure a spot for transformative one-on-one coaching.
MENTIONED
53 | The Safety Shift: Trusting Yourself in Times of Transformation
52 | Making The Scary Identity Leap
26 | When Achievement Is No Longer The Goal
15 | Learning To Dream First (CEO Series)
GEMS DROPPED
"Everything that you are doing could be mission oriented. Everything that you are doing could be impact driven. And then the thing that is not getting done is the thing that you desire most deeply. So the thing that you wanted most is the thing that is also being put at risk."
"When you're in a perpetual state of grind over years and years and years and years, your whole identity begins to form around that. And it's really, really challenging to see how it's possible to set that down and to still succeed. How to be any other way even when you know what is at stake."
"We think that just because this is the version or form of winning that I've ever, always known that that is what winning is. That is what that looks like for me. That is what's possible for me. With the strengths that I have, with the weaknesses that I have, with the perspective that I have, the background that I have, that is how I must win. But, no, that is just how you happen to have won for this period of time. Winning can look different."
“The ways that we need to be must evolve if we want our successes to evolve, if we want to elevate ourselves. We constantly talk about elevating our voices and elevating, expanding our impact, those things don't elevate and expand, not truly, unless we do.”
STAY IN TOUCH
Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].
...more
37min
February 12, 2025 53 | The Safety Shift: Trusting Yourself in Times of Transformation
Text Monique directly! Share thoughts, feels or feedback!
In today's fast-paced world, the pressure to conform to a certain image of success can be overwhelming. Many of us are familiar with the archetype of the "4am CEO," a figure that embodies relentless ambition and productivity. But what happens when this pursuit of success starts to overshadow our true selves?
In this week's episode, Monique dives into the journey of identity evolution and the fears that accompany significant life changes. Building on her previous discussions about identity leaps, she reflects on the critical moments when we find ourselves on the brink of transformation, yet held back by fears surrounding safety and acceptance.
Join in as Monique guides us through the transformative process of letting go, embracing new identities, and ultimately finding peace in the pursuit of our authentic self.
📢As a special note, Monique is opening her coaching waitlist for February 2025. You can sign up through her website to receive updates and secure a spot for transformative one-on-one coaching.
MENTIONED
52 | Making The Scary Identity Leap
GEMS DROPPED
“We have identity needs. Safety at the identity level is very different than safety at the practical, tangible level. Safety, in terms of our heart’s needs, it operates very differently. And I think these are driving forces that are deeper and can be far stronger if we turn our attention to them and actually start to get real with what is trying to stretch and come from us.”
“I'm tired of money being this primary driver. I'm beyond that. I know I'm in a system that requires money to sustain us, but I don't want that to be the thing that is driving all of my decisions anymore. I want to do the things that have been deemed frivolous. I want to spend more time in my garden. I want to spend more time cooking. I want to experience a season that lets that version of myself come to be. I want to get to know this version of myself where money is no longer the core driver. Like, what a privilege that would be. How incredible would that be? It's a shame that that's a privilege. It shouldn't be a privilege.”
“If you change, the world around you changes which means the relationships around you have to change. They can embrace it, you can figure out how to move forward together, you might have a rough patch or a season, but there's also the risk that that relationship is now lost or some of the core fundamentals that kept you connected before, are null and void at this point.”
“If I'm evolving into a whole new world, there’s a version of myself where I'm not going to be your savior anymore because I'm relaxing into my own needs. I'm leaning into my own creative expression and like minded, equally yoked community, partnership, friendship…the version of me that was required to uphold the nature of our past relationship, she's not going to be here. That undercurrent is a huge part of what will hold us back from evolving into the next version or the next stage of identity that is calling. I cannot overstate how deep that runs, how real that is for us.”
STAY IN TOUCH
Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to ambition@
...more
38min
January 29, 2025 52 | Making The Scary Identity Leap
Text Monique directly! Share thoughts, feels or feedback!
Are you standing at the edge of a new chapter, feeling the pull of transformation, yet held back by invisible barriers?
Join Monique as she uncovers the secrets to navigating identity shifts and breaking free from the self-doubt that keeps us stuck. Explore the thought-provoking questions that often paralyze progress, like 'Am I truly capable?' and 'Is this the right moment?' Through fresh insights and actionable strategies, Monique helps you reframe those doubts into empowering questions that inspire clarity, courage, and momentum on your journey of becoming.
📢As a special note, Monique is opening her coaching waitlist for February 2025. You can sign up through her website to receive updates and secure a spot for transformative one-on-one coaching.
GEMS DROPPED
"You're it. You're the one we've been waiting on to usher forward this next thing that has been placed on your heart, in your mind and your imagination to create in the world. Who is going to come through and tell you you're ready, tell you you're the right person for the job? No one. No one is going to come through and affirm that for you.”
“Am I the right person? Any version of this question is an absolute trap, and we have to let the question go. It's not about how do I get to that answer. It's the question in and of itself that is not useful.”
“If we can equip ourselves to move through this blockade phase or protective barriers phase, and we can slide that barrier to the left. Slide the ’am I’ person question barrier to the right and then get into, ‘well, what is the identity that I am sitting in today that is no longer serving me, that is keeping me stuck on the road, that is keeping me boxed in with these barriers?’ This is when we start getting into more useful questions.”
“However you believe timing takes place, whatever right timing means for you, that's what it will be. No one else can tell you if it's the right time to pursue the thing that you need to pursue now. I think a better question is, ‘am I willing to make the sacrifices or to make the investments that are required right now in order for me to step into this new version of myself?’ ”
“We've got to get more precise. We've got to get more practical. We've got to get more tangible and real. These questions have to be useful to actually help us arrive at what we're trying to arrive at. We need questions that force decision making.”
“If it's yours, you can do it. You can set the timeline. You can set the look and the feel- the vibe and the pace. You get to set it. Just give yourself permission to stop asking questions that limit you, that keep you stuck and that keep you spinning around an old identity that's trying to hold on to you and keep you safe. And free yourself with questions that actually move you forward, that spark creativity, that spark your inner problem solver, that give you something to grab onto so that you can grab onto the next thing and the next thing and start that journey forward.”
STAY IN TOUCH
Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].
...more
34min

FAQs about Ambition Without Compromise:

How many episodes does Ambition Without Compromise have?

The podcast currently has 62 episodes available.