Ambitious Women

In this episode I interview Audrey Christiansen and we get down and dirty talking about how speaking our truth, no matter the consequences, is sometimes the very most important thing you can do. Audrey shares her journey through motherhood and postpartum depression, and how learning to speak her truth that it wasn’t enough, that she needed more, set her free. We talk about the pain and discomfort she navigated to find her purpose, start her art business, and build a supportive community. And we talk about one of her most recent experiences speaking her truth, and how that resulted in her getting fired from her job. We talk about why she had to speak up, why it mattered, and why it was worth risking her family’s financial security to do so. If you’ve ever felt a nagging truth inside that you’ve been scared to honor, a truth you’ve felt you have to hide, or a truth you’ve feared to speak out loud because of the potential consequences, this episode is for you.

ABOUT AUDREY

Audrey Christensen is a full time artist/ homeschooling momma who believes that art heals. She loves to empower people to go after what they are passionate about and loves to help build communities where that is possible. She’s an oversharer with a big heart who spends a ton of time writing, painting and finding adventures along the way.

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In this episode I interview Erica Reitman and we get down and dirty talking about the weight of other people's opinions...and what's at stake when we let that noise crowd out our truth. Erica shares her journey of shedding the need for approval and gaining the self-certainty to own a Zero F*cks mentality that has helped her grow her business empire. We talk about her decision to be intentionally polarizing in her business, and how sharing  her experiences with depression and not having children have caused her to lose followers in her business...but also a highly engaged community and the freedom to show up exactly who she is. As childfree women we talk about how other people have many opinions about this inherently personal decision, and how rejecting this social expectation helped us both to evict other people's opinions from our mental and emotional space. She also shares the her top suggestion for how to honor your truth, hone your confidence, and strengthen your self-trust. If you spend a lot of time worrying about what other people think about you, trying to control your image, worrying about being rejected for your truth, this episode is for you. 

ABOUT ERICA: 

Erica Reitman is a biz mentor for tell-it-like it is coaches who are ready to grow their online empires...especially while saying "fuck." In her past life, she was a successful interior designer, and her home has now appeared in two best selling design books. She's written for HGTV, Elle Decor, House Beautiful and the Huff Post. She's also been lucky enough to speak at conferences like the Alt Design Summit and SXSW. In 2019, after making world shifting changes in her own life, she got certified as a coach at Brooke Castillo's Life Coach School. In her first year she earned over six-figures, and her husband and their senior Basset Hound Gus were able to move to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She's now on a mission to help 1,000 women build their own online coaching businesses that turn heads, keep people talking and make all the basic bitches jealous. 

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In this episode I'm calling out the gold standard of goal-setting: SMART goals...and why they're not so smart for actual humans. First we explore my philosophy on goals, and how it's different than the way that most people think about their goals. Then we dive deep into poorly formed goals, and why I include SMART goals in this category. Lastly, I provide a 4 step goal setting process that works WITH human motivation and your humanity rather than against it. If you've struggled: with not hitting goals in the past; with being all in and then all out, losing your motivation or focus;  or have a love-hate relationship with goals (or stopped setting them altogether) this episode is for you. 

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In this episode I interview Holly Pendergast and we get down and dirty talking about our relationships with ourselves and our underlying motives for change. We dive deep into what's fueling our ambition, drive, and desires - whether it's coming from a place of love or loathing, and what part societal conditioning and expectations are driving our decisions. Holly shares her own journey to self-love, having lost 30 pounds by rejecting diet culture and instead went on the only diet we decided that one ever needs: the mind-drama diet. If you've been using pain, punishment, and self-denial to fuel your goals and desire for change, this episode is for you. We share the quickest and most direct to getting the change you desire -- without it feeling so terrible in the process. 

ABOUT HOLLY:

Holly Pendergast is a confidence and weight loss coach, certified with The Life Coach School. She helps her clients change their relationship with food and their bodies so they can stop emotional eating and better their relationship with themselves. By combining incredible mental and emotional wellness, and a positive and healthy relationship with food, it's simple and easy for her clients to keep weight off for good. She herself lost 30lbs and has kept it off using the same tools she uses to coach her clients. She's currently offering one-to-one coaching for people that want to stop obsessing about their body and food so they can feel peace, freedom, and confidence knowing they never have to worry about gaining the weight back.

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In this episode I interview Anne Dunaway and we get down and dirty talking about sustainability, at every level. We begin with talking about the need to balance our relentless drive with boundaries, focus and honoring our needs - to create sustainable ambition. Anne identifies the question that changed everything for her - that led her to leave the corporate hamster wheel to drive community change. She shares how her experience with food insecurity led her to use her agricultural knowledge and skills to tackle hunger, poverty, climate change. We explore how sustainability starts at the individual level, it strengthens communities. And she drops some truth bombs about the problematic shifts in agriculture, the myth of food scarcity, and how big agriculture chooses profits over people.

ABOUT ANNE: 

Anne Dunaway has built a unique perspective on sustainability as it applies to various operations including mountain recreation areas, agriculture and community outreach. As an active sustainable agriculture farmer and a passionate conservationist, Anne has experience in conservation and sustainable practices as they apply to large land areas and outdoor specific elements which impact our opportunities in sustainable practices. Anne received her Bachelor’s degree from Idaho State University in 2011. During her time there she participated heavily in the outdoor education center which sparked a passion for conservation that has lasted a lifetime. Anne began a sustainable agriculture farm and education company in 2019 Called Urban Prairie Agriculture. With the desire to grow strong local food systems and community gardens and experience in outdoor recreation, sustainability and transportation, Anne is committed to making an impact on our environmental impacts.

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In this episode we are talking about the need for self-belief and the only reason why it’s lacking. Most people know what and how to achieve their goals. The heart of what’s stopping you is lack of belief - belief that you can, that it’s possible, that you can grow and become the person who achieves the goal. “Actually I can” is the belief in possibility, in recognizing and honoring your self-efficacy. Just because you have doubts, just because you think you can’t doesn’t mean it’s true…and it doesn’t even mean there’s a problem. Instead, I explain how to wrangle this doubt and build the earth-shaking, unstoppable belief “Actually, I can…and I will.”

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In this episode I interview Molly Berger and we get down and dirty talking about wealth - and how the financial system is largely underrepresented. We dive deep on financial literacy, money shame, and gendered practices that wealth out of the hands of women, POC and LGBTQIA+. Molly shares her journey that led her to work in the financial industry, and her mission to put the “revolutionary in fiduciary.” She offers insights for how we can change our relationship with money and begin building wealth — and not when, but now. She tackles the far too common top belief that hurts rather than helps our financial security. And we plead the case for why the world needs more money in the bank accounts of underrepresented communities (pssst having money won’t turn you into a bad person). If you’re ready to drop money shame, financial struggle, and shitty money beliefs, this episode is for YOU.

ABOUT MOLLY: 

Molly Berger is a lifelong feminist, activist and change-agent, and passionate about helping marginalized communities with financial literacy. She specializes in working with women, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities, as well as, entrepreneurs, self-employed individuals and artists, and crafting comprehensive financial plans. She spent much of her career in nonprofit sector, followed by years with mission-driven startups and entrepreneurs, serving a variety of financial related roles. After earning degrees from Whittier College and then Claremont Graduate University and starting her career, Molly returned to her hometown of Denver CO and started her planning practice there. Her goal is to make financial planning an approachable, non-judgmental experience as she believes all of us deserve a financial plan regardless of income, assets or backgrounds.

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This episode is the last of three in a series of podcasts I’m calling “So you want to be a helper” (SYWTBAH). In the previous episodes we talked about selflessness (#51) and self denial (#53).  Here we dive into the full spectrum of giving and explore the less commonly known and practiced form of giving that doesn’t leave us burnt out, overwhelmed, depleted or resentful. I bust a harmful belief that traps us into unsustainable giving, built upon selflessness and self-denial.  I offer a checklist for evaluating your current giving style and steps to give without sacrificing yourself and your wellbeing in the process. I even tackle some of the most common objections I hear as a coach for changing our selfless giving habits. If you're a helper who prides herself in that role, but also struggles with people-pleasing, feelings of under-appreciation for all that you do and frustration of people's demands and entitlement, listening to this episode should be non-negotiable.

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In this episode I interview Tansy McNulty and we get down and dirty talking about finding the courage to tackle complex systemic issues. She shares her journey to the decision to start and lead 1 Million Madly Motivated Moms - a movement uniting Black Moms to fight and end police brutality by 2038. We talk about how she found the motivation to overcome her former people pleasing ways and fight for the safety of her children and her community, while maintaining mental health as priority #1. Tansy explains how she’s using her knowledge, skills, and experience to combat police violence, one powerful step at a time. If you’ve felt anger and wondered how to channel it into social change, this episode is for you.

ABOUT TANSY:

Tansy McNulty is a BoyMom, active duty military spouse and the Founder of 1M4 (AKA 1 Million Madly Motivated Moms). Tansy's background is in Supply Chain Management with expertise in Logistics & Procurement operations. But at her core, she's a problem solver who simply wants to save lives and create a more equitable justice system.

1M4 empowers Black Moms to end police brutality through legislative policy, financial assistance to impacted families, and encouraging the next generation of Black youth to pursue roles in criminal justice & politics.

Moms have given birth to the solutions for our community’s most pressing issues. So 1M4 seeks to protect & propel those solutions to reach their fullest potential.

This type of activism and organizing requires that Moms protect their greatest weapon in the fight... their mental health. 1M4 is here to give Moms a place to air their frustrations with recurring police violence, create solutions that have measurable impact, and prioritize their mental health to maintain peace of mind despite the chaos of inequality.

The African proverb holds true "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

1M4 is uniting Black Moms to do just that, go the distance in the fight for justice... Together.

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This episode is the second of three in a series of podcasts I’m calling “So you want to be a helper” (SYWTBAH). In the previous episode we talked about selflessness (#51) and the next episode is all about how to be an effective giver (#55). We're taking a deep dive into the all too common practice of self-denial which selflessness is built upon. It’s leaving us chronically stressed, burnt-out, overwhelmed and resentful. Self-denial is unsustainable - so I explain how we fall into this trap and how to GTFO quick. If you're a helper who prides herself in that role, but also struggles with people-pleasing, feelings of under-appreciation for all that you do and frustration of people's demands and entitlement, listening to this episode should be non-negotiable.

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