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She had everything she was told would make her happy. So why did it feel like a cage?
Ashley Jordan built a life that looked perfect on paper. The dream house. The marriage. The career as an activist. A life that looked enviable from the outside. The result … feeling absolutely caged on the inside.
She walked away from it all. The marriage to a good man. The activist career. The friendships that couldn't handle her evolution. And she rebuilt everything from the inside out based on who she actually is, not who she was told to be.
This isn't a story about dramatic betrayal or abuse. It's about the quiet
suffocation of living a life that isn't yours. The terror of leaving safety for the unknown. The death of your ego when you stop performing goodness and start embodying truth.
This conversation captures the messy, beautiful journey of unbecoming. Of stripping away every mask to find the truest self underneath. Of walking away from a good man and a good career because good wasn't enough. Of losing friendships that couldn't survive her transformation. Of discovering that grief is actually love calling you home.
Ashley shares the raw truth about:
🔹 The moment she had to leave the activist group she founded because she no longer fit her own mission
🔹 Why 24 years of repressed grief cracked her open when her childhood sweetheart died
🔹 How closing her heart at 13 to avoid pain kept her caged for decades
🔹 The loneliness of not fitting anywhere while you're becoming who you really are
If you've ever felt like your life looks good on paper but still doesn’t “feel right,” this episode will shake something loose.
Listen to understand what’s possible when you choose yourself.
Connect with Genea:
Weekly Be the Wolf Call (no cost) – Wednesdays, 7:00 AM PST / 10:00 AM EST
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Connect with Ashley:
Website: ashjordan.com
Instagram: @msashjordan
Promotional Link: unhappy achiever.com
Ashley's Bio:
Ashley Jordan is the author of Unhappy Achiever: Rejecting the Good Girl Image and Reclaiming the Joy of
Inner Fulfillment. She writes and speaks for women who are done with the masks, the striving, and the
silence—and who are ready to reclaim their voices and rebuild their lives with truth, freedom, and love.
You might not like this one.
If you're someone who does a lot for other people, buckle in. Because Genea is about to challenge the story you've been telling yourself about why you give so much.
You think it's because you care. And yes, you do care. But the capital T truth? There's something deeper. Something you're avoiding by making everyone else feel better.
Genea shares her own pattern of over-giving.
Hours researching to help an ex-boyfriend’s health issues. Lying awake trying to solve clients' problems. Never taking time off because she "cared" so much about the company.
But all of it (yes all of it) was running from unresolved pain inside herself.
Here's what this episode reveals:
🔹 The invisible conflict that drives people-pleasing and over-giving
Warning: This episode asks you to look at uncomfortable truths. But on the other side is peace.
Connect with Genea:
Website: http://bethewolfnow.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/
What if the image you're projecting is “perfect,” but the identity underneath is even better?
Celeste Moore teaches people how to align their external presentation with their authentic self.
But she only learned how to do this after decades of performing identities that weren't hers.
From childhood trauma to toxic relationships to living a double life, Celeste survived by becoming whoever she thought she needed to be.
This episode is about the journey from performance to presence:
🔹 How sexual trauma at four years old created a lifelong pattern of pleasing and performing
Listen if you're ready to stop hiding behind the version of you that you created to stay safe and be accepted.
Connect with Genea:
Website: http://bethewolfnow.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/
Connect with Celeste:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CelesteMooreImage
Appointment Link: https://celestemooreimage.hbportal.co/public/67d0b12f7010
Instagram handle: https://www.instagram.com/celestemooreimage/
Celeste’s Bio
For a long time, I thought power came from looking the part.
So I styled myself to be accepted to earn money, to gain respect, to get a seat at tables where I was often
the only woman.
It worked... until it didn’t.
Because dressing for validation is still just survival.
It’s image without embodiment. And it leaves even the most accomplished women wondering why they
still feel invisible.
That was me until I stopped performing and started claiming.
I got radically honest about who I was becoming and built a presence that matched her.
Not who the world said I should be but the woman I actually am.
That transformation changed my life. And now it changes my clients’.
Today, I work with high-achieving entrepreneurs, public figures, and industry leaders ready to command
presence at their next level.
They’re not just after polish, they want precision. Alignment. Influence.
And that’s what I deliver.
I've styled TEDx speakers, luxury founders, celebrities and award-winning CEOs.
My work has been featured in Forbes, Fox News, The Wall Street Times, and on red carpets and stages
where every detail matters.
When New York Fashion Week calls, I’m there not to watch, but to lead.
And when clients are preparing for national press, high-stakes keynotes, or brand reinventions, I’m the one
they trust to make sure they’re seen for who they truly are.
Because when your image is in full alignment with your identity, you don’t just look the part.
You become undeniable.
The to-do list isn't the enemy. Your relationship with it is.
You know the pattern. Spin it in your brain. It feels like 500 things. But when you write it down. It’s only five things. And even when you finish, there's no relief. Just more tasks. More pressure. More proof that you'll never catch up.
Genea shares a story about being trapped in a closet as a child at night. Literally tied up. Waiting for light under the door. And what she discovered about freedom in that moment changes everything about how you approach your overwhelm today.
Here's what opens up in this episode:
🔹 The invisible conflict that makes your to-do list feel endless
🔹 What actually happens when you access freedom first, then work
🔹 Why your nervous system keeps you in perpetual doing mode
🔹 The practice that breaks the overwhelm cycle for good
Doing more will never set you free. But this episode will show you what actually does. Listen or watch now.
Connect with Genea:
What happens when you get the life everyone else wants and still feel empty?
Ed Reay moved to London to live with his girlfriend. He made more money than he ever had by multiples. Business class flights to Dubai. Five star hotels for weeks. Booking spontaneous trips to Amsterdam on New Year's Day just because he could. Industry leaders asking him to speak on their stages. Clients paying premium rates for his copywriting.
On paper, it was his best year ever. Internally, it was one of his worst. He kept chasing the next milestone, thinking that would finally make him feel successful. He joined masterminds to see what everyone else was doing so he could copy them. He was living outside of himself, trying to puppeteer his way through a life that looked perfect but felt hollow.
Genea and Ed go deep on:
🔹 The concept of "cliff top" and why achieving everything can feel worse than having nothing
🔹 How people pleasing and external validation became his identity
🔹 Why he couldn't access flow state no matter how much success he created
🔹 The moment he chose to lose and how that led to actually finding himself
Watch or listen now. This one will stay with you.
Connect with Genea:
Connect with Ed Reay
About Ed Reay
Ed Reay is a copywriter, business consultant, software founder, and coach who helps people identify where they’re stuck in business—and guide them through it.
He’s the founder of RuleBender.ai, an experimental AI-assisted ad technology to stop Facebook ad rejections in their tracks so advertisers can scale without interruption. He is the first person to solve the “Facebook ad ban black box.”
When he’s not optimizing his software, consulting with clients, or making Instagram videos, he’s breakdancing, practicing Japanese, and hosting events for his local community and inner circle of friends. His most notable event was hosting a 2000s Pop Music party.
Constantly evolving, Ed dives deep into esoteric knowledge and wisdom. Running through ancient tomes on spirituality, astrology, theology, and many ancient systems of thinking long forgotten today. He applies these learnings to his work with his clients, which is why he’s able to identify patterns and get businesses unstuck even after multiple failed attempts with other consultants.
What if joy could last … without worrying that it’ll end?
You've done the work. You've built the business, shown up for the relationships, pushed yourself to grow.
But there's this feeling you can't shake.
Like something bad is waiting on the other side of success.
Like the moment you finally relax, it's all going to fall apart.
Genea calls this the upside-down pattern.
It's when your nervous system learned early on that stepping into what you want comes with consequences (and not the good kind).
So now, even though you're working toward your goals, your subconscious is working just as hard to make sure you never actually get there. Or if you do, you lose it.
This episode unpacks:
🔹 The two-year-old moment that wired Genea's brain to expect punishment after joy
🔹 Why you might be using shame to complete the loop your body expects
🔹 The leadership training that forced her to choose her real desires over safety
🔹 What it actually takes to stop fearing the things that light you up
This isn't about working harder or wanting it more.
It's about unwinding the hidden fear that's been running the show since you were too young to understand what was happening.
Success isn't supposed to feel like this.
That's what Jeff Glauser kept thinking as he climbed the ladder, checked the boxes, and built the life that looked good from the outside. But inside? He was exhausted. Angry. Feeling like nothing he did was enough to “get him there.”.
From latchkey kid to sports journalist to film school to corporate burnout, Jeff's story is about the cost of chasing a definition of success that was never really his. It's also about what happens when you finally give yourself permission to rewrite it.
In this open and grounded conversation, you'll hear:
🔹 The pattern of being on the outskirts that followed him from childhood into every career move
🔹 Why making twice the money left him more miserable than he'd ever been
🔹 How imposter syndrome shows up when you're living someone else's version of your dream
🔹 What health, happiness, and peace feel like when you stop tying your worth to your income
This episode is for anyone who's ever wondered if they're doing it wrong because it doesn't feel right. Spoiler: you're not. You're just it right for someone else … not you.
Connect with Genea:
Website: http://bethewolfnow.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/
Connect with Jeff:
Website: https://brandscribed.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffglauser/
About Jeff:
Jeff Glauser is a seasoned storytelling strategist who helps established professionals — from authors and former athletes to corporate leaders — surface and share their most powerful comeback narratives. Whether it's coaching them on brand messaging, serving as a ghostwriter, or brokering their content to get it placed on the most appropriate platforms, Jeff is passionate about bringing powerful, legacy-leaving stories to life
Most people spend their whole lives changing everything except the thing that actually matters.
They switch environments. Learn new skills. Even shift their beliefs.
But the deeper patterns stay untouched.
Genea maps out the six levels of change and shows you exactly where transformation breaks down and where it finally takes root.
Here's what unfolds:
🔹 The neurological anchors that keep pulling you back to old patterns even in new places
🔹 The hidden beliefs running your life that were locked in before age 10
🔹 How your being "nice" or "strong" might be a survival strategy blocking the ease and joy you're working so hard to create
🔹 The one shift that ripples down into every other area of your life and helped Genea lose 45 pounds without obsessing or grinding
This episode is for you if you've done the work but you're still not feeling the freedom.
Connect with Genea:
[free guide] Grow Your Business and Love Doing it with the 3 secrets the business gurus NEVER talk about: http://bethewolfgift.com/
Website: http://bethewolfnow.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/
You don't need to know how. You just need to say yes.
Melissa Perlman didn't have construction experience, speak Spanish, or a detailed business plan when she moved to Tulum after 9/11.
She had a spark.
A vision.
And the courage to follow breadcrumbs instead of blueprints.
That spark became Amansala, one of Tulum's most iconic wellness destinations.
Genea and Melissa dive into:
🔹 The moment she negotiated her first hotel on a napkin with a man who couldn't write his own name
🔹 Why she chose to move forward after being forcibly removed from the property she'd rebuilt
🔹 How following the frequency of joy reveals opportunities that control never could
🔹 The practice of trusting small decisions so you can trust the big ones
In this conversation, Genea and Melissa explore what it means to build from joy, experience some big losses, but keep trusting yourself anyway.
Connect with Genea:
Website: http://bethewolfnow.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/
Connect with Melissa:
Website: https://www.amansala.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-glee-perlman/
About Melissa:
Melissa Perlman is the founder of Amansala, one of Tulum’s most iconic boutique hotels and wellness retreat destinations. A pioneer in experiential travel, she created Bikini Bootcamp, a signature program that has attracted celebrities, CEOs, and wellness seekers from around the world—and helped put Tulum on the global wellness map.
What began as a simple concept—a few beachside rooms and a vision for transformation—grew into a multimillion-dollar hospitality brand rooted in authenticity, community, and conscious living.
Melissa built her business from the ground up, navigating real estate challenges, local politics, legal battles, and the unique complexities of building in Mexico—all while staying true to her mission of creating spaces that inspire personal growth and connection. After being pushed out of her original location—a property she developed by hand—Melissa had to decide whether to walk away or rebuild. She chose to stay, and that decision became the turning point. She not only rebuilt Amansala stronger, but expanded its offerings, refined the brand, and emerged as a thought leader in the boutique wellness space.
Melissa brings a raw and honest perspective to entrepreneurship—sharing how to overcome setbacks, stay financially independent, build a loyal team, and scale without selling out. Today, Amansala continues to thrive under her leadership, with plans to expand globally.
You've been taught that being selfish is bad. That putting others first is virtuous.
That sacrifice is the path to love, respect, and success.
But here's the truth: that mindset is killing your business, your relationships, and your joy.
In this bold episode, Genea dismantles the "service to others" trap and reveals why putting yourself first is the most generous thing you can do.
In this episode, you'll hear:
🔹 The painful conditioning that turned you into a slave to everyone else's expectations
If you've ever felt exhausted from being "the strong one," this episode will help you see why breaking free from that pattern is the foundation of everything you want.
Listen now and start reclaiming your autonomy.
Connect with Genea:
[free guide] Grow Your Business and Love Doing it with the 3 secrets the business gurus NEVER talk about: http://bethewolfgift.com/
Website: http://bethewolfnow.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/
From the publisher's feed
Ready to stop hiding and playing small … and start living from the TRUTH of who you are?
Be the Wolf is for high-achievers who are tired of sacrificing for the sake of others, business, and finances.
They’ve done it “right” their whole life, and they’re still feeling stuck, exhausted, and unfulfilled.
If you struggle with burnout, people-pleasing, imposter syndrome, chronic self-doubt, or feeling invisible even though you constantly over-deliver… this show is for you.
What does it mean to ‘Be the Wolf?’
When Yellowstone Park removed the wolves to make the park "safe," the entire ecosystem collapsed. The wolves weren't the problem … they were essential.
The same is true for you. When you hide parts of yourself to stay safe or be liked, the system of YOU gets out of balance, stays stuck in survival mode, and eventually collapses.
Being the Wolf means operating from the wholeness of who you are … because that's when the ecosystem of YOU thrives.
Host Genea Barnes explores what it means to stop performing for approval and start showing up as your full 100% REAL self. Not just the parts you think are acceptable.
Through deep conversations about self-trust, relationships, worthiness, business, boundaries, money, reclaiming your voice, and learning to feel safe in your own skin, you'll discover how to expand your capacity for a life you actually want … without sacrificing joy, fulfillment, and the light of who you are.
Topics include:
This isn't about fixing yourself. It's about remembering who you are.
Because when you stop trying to cram yourself into someone else's tiny box of who you should be, everything changes. Your work and business thrive. Your relationships deepen. Your body relaxes. You finally feel the peace, safety, and freedom you've been chasing.
You weren't meant to hide … you weren’t meant to disappear. You were meant to live from the TRUTH of you.
Be the Wolf.
New episodes weekly. Real stories. Real transformation. Real freedom.
~ When you operate from the TRUTH of who you are, humanity evolves.~