Business Blasphemy: Success, Ambition & Other Things Women Question After 40

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WELCOME BACK, BLASPHEMERS!

I was ready to pull the plug. After 116 episodes of calling out the smoke and mirrors of online entrepreneurship, the spark dimmed and I nearly ended the show. That's when the truth smacked me in the face: I wasn’t tired of the mic. I was tired of orbiting the same problem. The mission had outgrown the format. What started as unapologetic myth-busting now asks for something bigger: building women’s power, leadership, and legacy without apology.

This episode is the turning point. I share the burnout that nudged me toward a sunset, the quiet that delivered clarity, and the TEDx moment that lit a fire I could no longer defer. I get honest about why manipulative tactics thrive online, not just because of bad actors, but because so many of us were conditioned to outsource authority and doubt our own data. Instead of chasing hype cycles, we return to the source: strengthening self-trust, sharpening discernment, and designing strategy that protects agency. I talk candidly about choosing low-hanging fruit (operations, because it’s safe and in-demand) versus answering the call I’ve felt for decades: women’s leadership and thought leadership that move power, not just metrics.

The show remains Business Blasphemy, but the center of gravity shifts. Expect bold truths, practical tools, and real stories from ambitious women building on their own terms. We’ll call out harm when needed, without making harm the headline. We’ll focus on identity, choice, negotiation, structural security, and the kind of operational clarity that lets you take smart risks. The question guiding every topic is simple: does this choice increase your agency?

If you’re ready to stop playing for scraps and start building a legacy that looks like you, hit follow, share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a quick review to help others find the show. Your leadership starts here — unapologetic, unfiltered, and fully yours.

Love what you heard? Let’s stay connected!

Subscribe to Business Blasphemy for honest, provocative conversations about women in midlife, entrepreneurship, ambition, identity, and creating a next chapter that reflects who you've become, and not simply who you've always been.

Follow me on LinkedIn for more no-nonsense advice on leading with power and purpose.

And if you’re ready to dive even deeper, grab a copy of my book Bite-Sized Blasphemy and ignite your inner fire to do life and business your way.

The Business Blasphemy Podcast is sponsored by Purple Ember Consulting + Training and Sarah Khan Out Loud.

Business Blasphemy is hosted by TEDx speaker and leadership strategist Sarah Khan, explores success, ambition, identity, entrepreneurship, and the questions accomplished women start asking after 40.

Send me a direct message!

This week I dive deep into the deceptive evolution of modern marketing -- from nostalgic infomercials (my fave) to today's online schemes and shenanigans. I break down how the industry doesn't solve real problems anymore, but instead creates them in order to sell you a solution you didn't ask for.

You'll learn why business ecosystems matter more than trendy frameworks, why most "fixes" don't stick, and how to audit your OWN business with brutal clarity so you stop wasting time on bullsh*t bandaids. 

If you're tired of playing whack-a-mole with your business issues, buckle up.

Love what you heard? Let’s stay connected!

Subscribe to Business Blasphemy for honest, provocative conversations about women in midlife, entrepreneurship, ambition, identity, and creating a next chapter that reflects who you've become, and not simply who you've always been.

Follow me on LinkedIn for more no-nonsense advice on leading with power and purpose.

And if you’re ready to dive even deeper, grab a copy of my book Bite-Sized Blasphemy and ignite your inner fire to do life and business your way.

The Business Blasphemy Podcast is sponsored by Purple Ember Consulting + Training and Sarah Khan Out Loud.

Business Blasphemy is hosted by TEDx speaker and leadership strategist Sarah Khan, explores success, ambition, identity, entrepreneurship, and the questions accomplished women start asking after 40.

Send me a direct message!

You know the invisible scripts that shape how ambitious women are supposed to show up in business? This week I'm joined by Bri Seeley, success strategist and certified hypnotherapist to talk about how we over-identify with productivity, sacrifice joy for output, and sabotage ourselves without outdated beliefs.

From entrepreneurial midlife crisis to redefining ambition without burnout, we cover it all. Bri shares what she's had to sacrifice, how identity work changed her success trajectory, and why "doing less" isn't laziness -- it's strategy.

If you've ever felt like you have to earn your rest or prove your worth by checking off another box, this episode will shift something deep. And maybe even piss you off in the best way.

Guest Bio:

TEDx Speaker, Success Coach and award winning business woman Bri Seeley works with ambitious, high achievers to defy reality by bringing their most unrealistic goals to life without overworking, under living or sacrificing themselves for their audacious visions. Bri uses her signature DEFY process to help you design and create long-term and sustainable success – unapologetically.

You may have seen her winning awards for Entrepreneur of the Year, Business Coach of the Year, Business Woman of the Year and Los Angeles Mayor’s Small Business of the Year or on any number of press outlets such as Good Morning America, The TODAY Show, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Women’s Health and more. 

Connect with Bri:

• www.briseeley.com 
• https://www.instagram.com/briseeley/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/entrepreneur-coach-bri-seeley/
• https://www.facebook.com/BriSeeleyOfficial
• https://www.youtube.com/@briseeleytv
• TedX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA83nI3ve2M 

Love what you heard? Let’s stay connected!

Subscribe to Business Blasphemy for honest, provocative conversations about women in midlife, entrepreneurship, ambition, identity, and creating a next chapter that reflects who you've become, and not simply who you've always been.

Follow me on LinkedIn for more no-nonsense advice on leading with power and purpose.

And if you’re ready to dive even deeper, grab a copy of my book Bite-Sized Blasphemy and ignite your inner fire to do life and business your way.

The Business Blasphemy Podcast is sponsored by Purple Ember Consulting + Training and Sarah Khan Out Loud.

Business Blasphemy is hosted by TEDx speaker and leadership strategist Sarah Khan, explores success, ambition, identity, entrepreneurship, and the questions accomplished women start asking after 40.

Send me a direct message!

What if joy didn’t need justification? In this episode, I call out the sh*tty, toxic pressure to monetize every moment and be productive at all costs. From a simple Pilates practice to dancing alone in the kitchen, I shine a light on what we lose when everything becomes a performance — and why reclaiming your time, mediocrity, and autonomy is a radical act of self-leadership. If you’ve ever been made to feel like your hobbies need a purpose (or a paycheck), this episode is your permission slip to stop performing and start living. This isn’t about anti-capitalism. It’s about coming back to yourself.

Love what you heard? Let’s stay connected!

Subscribe to Business Blasphemy for honest, provocative conversations about women in midlife, entrepreneurship, ambition, identity, and creating a next chapter that reflects who you've become, and not simply who you've always been.

Follow me on LinkedIn for more no-nonsense advice on leading with power and purpose.

And if you’re ready to dive even deeper, grab a copy of my book Bite-Sized Blasphemy and ignite your inner fire to do life and business your way.

The Business Blasphemy Podcast is sponsored by Purple Ember Consulting + Training and Sarah Khan Out Loud.

Business Blasphemy is hosted by TEDx speaker and leadership strategist Sarah Khan, explores success, ambition, identity, entrepreneurship, and the questions accomplished women start asking after 40.

Send me a direct message!

Before you say yes to the next big opportunity, ask yourself: do I have the capacity to follow through? In this episode, I share the 5 critical capacity buckets every high-achieving woman must evaluate before committing to a decision and building success on her own TERMS — time, energy, resources, money, and support. I walk you through how skipping even one of these can turn bold moves into performative burnout. You’ll also hear about two powerful bonus capacities — cognitive and strategic — that reveal why you may still feel stuck even when everything looks “right” on paper.

This is your no-fluff, pragmatic guide to making clear, aligned, sustainable decisions in life and business on your own TERMS.

Love what you heard? Let’s stay connected!

Subscribe to Business Blasphemy for honest, provocative conversations about women in midlife, entrepreneurship, ambition, identity, and creating a next chapter that reflects who you've become, and not simply who you've always been.

Follow me on LinkedIn for more no-nonsense advice on leading with power and purpose.

And if you’re ready to dive even deeper, grab a copy of my book Bite-Sized Blasphemy and ignite your inner fire to do life and business your way.

The Business Blasphemy Podcast is sponsored by Purple Ember Consulting + Training and Sarah Khan Out Loud.

Business Blasphemy is hosted by TEDx speaker and leadership strategist Sarah Khan, explores success, ambition, identity, entrepreneurship, and the questions accomplished women start asking after 40.

Send me a direct message!

They don't want you to know this, but --- you don't need to fix your mindset to make the strategy that high ticket coach sold you work. You need a strategy that actually fits YOUR identity.

In this mini-rant of an episode, I dismantle the self-help industry's most profitable lie: that you're the problem.

I break down why most strategies fail ambitious women, and why personal growth should NEVER be a prerequisite for progress.

If you're tired of trying to become someone else just to succeed, this one's for you.

*****

Want to win your own signed copy of Bite-Sized Blasphemy: Unapologetic Wisdom for Building a Business That Actually Works? Click on the link at the top of the show notes (Send Us a Text). Be sure to include your name, email or Instagram handle, and where you're texting from. We'll draw from all entries on May 31 and announce on social!

Love what you heard? Let’s stay connected!

Subscribe to Business Blasphemy for honest, provocative conversations about women in midlife, entrepreneurship, ambition, identity, and creating a next chapter that reflects who you've become, and not simply who you've always been.

Follow me on LinkedIn for more no-nonsense advice on leading with power and purpose.

And if you’re ready to dive even deeper, grab a copy of my book Bite-Sized Blasphemy and ignite your inner fire to do life and business your way.

The Business Blasphemy Podcast is sponsored by Purple Ember Consulting + Training and Sarah Khan Out Loud.

Business Blasphemy is hosted by TEDx speaker and leadership strategist Sarah Khan, explores success, ambition, identity, entrepreneurship, and the questions accomplished women start asking after 40.

Send me a direct message!

This week I sit down with powerhouse Law prof, lawyer, and creative force, Joseline Hardrick to dismantle the myth that success always requires monetization. Together we explore why joy is its own form of wealth, how to resist the pressure to turn every skill into a hustle, and what business owners actually need to prioritize to build a life of meaning, especially in a world that monetizes everything.

We cover: 

• The trap of over-adaptation and why joy is a necessary form of self-preservation.
• Why "not everything has to make you money" needs to be a non-negotiable mindset shift.
• How to build your life around joy, not the other way around.
• The 5 forms of wealth beyond money every entrepreneur should protect.
• The real meaning of freedom, especially for women juggling caregiving and ambition.

Whether you're overwhelmed by hustle culture or finally ready to make your business feel like it's actually yours, this episode is your permission slip to start doing things differently.

Guest Bio:

Meet Joseline Jean-Louis Hardrick, the multitasking dynamo who’s rewriting the script for what it means to be a modern-day legal superstar. By day, she’s molding the minds of future attorneys as an Associate Professor at Cooley Law School, teaching Constitutional Law and Criminal Law. By night (and probably any other available time), she’s the founder and president of Diversity Access Pipeline, Inc., better known as Journey to Esquire ®, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting diversity and providing access to law students through scholarships, leadership programs, podcasts, and blogs and Lawyerish® a business that emperors every legal journey.

Connect with Joseline:

• joselinehardrick.com
• https://www.facebook.com/jhardrick/
• https://twitter.com/JJHardrick
• https://www.instagram.com/jjhardrick/
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdbU42gg7FDNrsUzLL0kUmQ
• Journey to Esquire Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@journeytoesq 
• Let Your Light Shine on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1h_eD1pKLj8V01ZJ5mo7PMIhNN8-8mCY 

Love what you heard? Let’s stay connected!

Subscribe to Business Blasphemy for honest, provocative conversations about women in midlife, entrepreneurship, ambition, identity, and creating a next chapter that reflects who you've become, and not simply who you've always been.

Follow me on LinkedIn for more no-nonsense advice on leading with power and purpose.

And if you’re ready to dive even deeper, grab a copy of my book Bite-Sized Blasphemy and ignite your inner fire to do life and business your way.

The Business Blasphemy Podcast is sponsored by Purple Ember Consulting + Training and Sarah Khan Out Loud.

Business Blasphemy is hosted by TEDx speaker and leadership strategist Sarah Khan, explores success, ambition, identity, entrepreneurship, and the questions accomplished women start asking after 40.

Send me a direct message!

In another raw and unfiltered episode, I call bullsh*t on the struggle narrative, the illusion of balance, and the weaponized performance of “empowerment.” If you’re a high-achieving woman who’s done everything right and still feels frustrated, invisible, or exhausted — this is your wake-up call.

Let's unpack why the current definition of success doesn’t work, how empowerment has been hijacked by hustle culture, and why balance is just another marketing scam. You’ll learn why exhaustion isn’t a failure, it’s a signal. And why redefining success, power, and ambition on your terms is the only way forward.

Whether you're a CEO, entrepreneur, or executive, this episode will help you reconnect with your truth and challenge the expectations that keep you over-performing and under-living.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why “balance” is a lie that keeps women blaming themselves
• How empowerment has been commodified into endurance
• The real reason success feels hollow (even when you’ve “won”)
• What happens when self-trust replaces sacrifice as your strategy
• 3 steps to reclaim clarity and redefine success for yourself

Love what you heard? Let’s stay connected!

Subscribe to Business Blasphemy for honest, provocative conversations about women in midlife, entrepreneurship, ambition, identity, and creating a next chapter that reflects who you've become, and not simply who you've always been.

Follow me on LinkedIn for more no-nonsense advice on leading with power and purpose.

And if you’re ready to dive even deeper, grab a copy of my book Bite-Sized Blasphemy and ignite your inner fire to do life and business your way.

The Business Blasphemy Podcast is sponsored by Purple Ember Consulting + Training and Sarah Khan Out Loud.

Business Blasphemy is hosted by TEDx speaker and leadership strategist Sarah Khan, explores success, ambition, identity, entrepreneurship, and the questions accomplished women start asking after 40.

Send me a direct message!

This episode is your official permission slip to stop waiting until you “hit a number” to start taking your money seriously. I’m joined by licensed advisor and wealth strategist Karla Ukman — who is very much Not Your Father's Advisor™ — to break down the difference between legit financial planning and the unregulated noise online.

We dig into:

• The real difference between financial advisors, planners, coaches, and CFOs
• Why unlicensed advice is not only wrong, it’s illegal
• How to build a money team (and stop expecting one person to do it all)
• What self-trust has to do with your financial future
• Why wealth isn’t a vibe — it’s a system

Karla’s perspective is grounded, generous, and deeply needed in a space full of people handing out advice they’re not trained (or allowed) to give. If you’ve been feeling confused, overwhelmed, or low-key gaslit by the online business world, this one’s for you.

Guest Bio:

Karla Ukman is "Not Your Father’s Advisor"™. For over a decade, she has dedicated herself to empowering women and marginalized communities to achieve their financial goals. Karla, a passionate financial education advocate, strives to widely spread financial literacy and empowerment. She's on a mission to share wealth-building tools and education—resources usually exclusive to other communities — to create generational change.

Connect with Karla:

• www.artemiswealth.net
• https://www.facebook.com/ArtemisWealthManagement
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlaukman/

Love what you heard? Let’s stay connected!

Subscribe to Business Blasphemy for honest, provocative conversations about women in midlife, entrepreneurship, ambition, identity, and creating a next chapter that reflects who you've become, and not simply who you've always been.

Follow me on LinkedIn for more no-nonsense advice on leading with power and purpose.

And if you’re ready to dive even deeper, grab a copy of my book Bite-Sized Blasphemy and ignite your inner fire to do life and business your way.

The Business Blasphemy Podcast is sponsored by Purple Ember Consulting + Training and Sarah Khan Out Loud.

Business Blasphemy is hosted by TEDx speaker and leadership strategist Sarah Khan, explores success, ambition, identity, entrepreneurship, and the questions accomplished women start asking after 40.

Send me a direct message!

In this no-holds-barred conversation, Sarah sits down with Natalie Bullen of Unapologetic Wealth to dismantle the myths about success, entrepreneurship, and identity. 

Together, they expose why most entrepreneurs are stuck chasing strategies instead of building real wealth, why belief — not tactics — determines success, and why trying to be liked is the fastest way to stay invisible. 

Natalie shares her rise from reluctant entrepreneur to authority and wealth strategist, the brutal truths about entrepreneurship nobody wants to admit, and how to finally stop living for validation. This is not just an episode — it’s a full masterclass in radical self-leadership and decisive action.

Guest Bio:

Natalie Bullen is a Wealth Identity and Authority Coach for high-earning entrepreneurs and affluent professionals. As the founder of Unapologetic Wealth, she helps ambitious women move beyond revenue milestones into true wealth, influence, and power. Her work challenges outdated financial narratives and equips first-generation wealth builders to think, decide, and live like the wealthy women they are becoming. 

Connect with Natalie:

• www.unapologeticwealth.com
• www.unapologeticwealth.com/cashmere-club
• https://www.facebook.com/Ladylyricist06

Love what you heard? Let’s stay connected!

Subscribe to Business Blasphemy for honest, provocative conversations about women in midlife, entrepreneurship, ambition, identity, and creating a next chapter that reflects who you've become, and not simply who you've always been.

Follow me on LinkedIn for more no-nonsense advice on leading with power and purpose.

And if you’re ready to dive even deeper, grab a copy of my book Bite-Sized Blasphemy and ignite your inner fire to do life and business your way.

The Business Blasphemy Podcast is sponsored by Purple Ember Consulting + Training and Sarah Khan Out Loud.

Business Blasphemy is hosted by TEDx speaker and leadership strategist Sarah Khan, explores success, ambition, identity, entrepreneurship, and the questions accomplished women start asking after 40.