Congruent

What would it take to wake up every day in a life you don’t want to escape?

Jaden Hummel sits down with Erika Drolet, an entrepreneur, author, surfer and runner who has spent the last decade building a life on her own terms, and rebuilding it more than once. She sold her first company at 24, left on a one-way ticket, and started choosing only what was truly hers. Since then she has built a house in El Salvador on her own, launched experiences that sold out before they existed, written a book, and made movement the foundation of her creativity and confidence.

Erika is honest about what it means to build your dreams. A life can look incredible from the outside and still stop fitting on the inside. In this conversation she shares how she knows it’s time to change, why freedom is worth more to her than any salary, and the harder, lonelier parts of the dream life nobody posts about.

In this episode:

— How she juggles ten projects without burning out, and the daily focus practice that keeps it all moving
— Why movement is her one non-negotiable, and how sport fuels clarity and creativity
— Why women underestimate themselves, and how small physical wins become proof that you can do hard things
— The high achiever’s summit problem, and where real satisfaction actually lives
— Why the cost of giving up your freedom is “billions”
— Leaving a life that looked perfect, emptying the backpack, and keeping only what’s truly yours
— How to get off the fence when you want everything at once
— Building her dream house alone, and what it taught her about doing life with others

If you’ve ever looked at your life and wondered how you could make it even more fulfilling and yours, this episode is for you.

Connect with Erika
Instagram: @erika_drolet

Connect with Jaden
Instagram: @jadenbhummel

What if the energy you bring to your work matters as much as the work itself?

On this episode of Congruent, Jaden Hummel talks with Tara Middleton. Tara is a professionally trained chef, an entrepreneur, an educator, and the founder of Source to Fork. Her classical culinary training and experience in professional kitchens taught her technique, timing, and precision. A trip to India taught her the ingredient no culinary school mentions: the energy of the person doing the cooking.

In India, Tara watched women make simple meals with a kind of peace, joy, and presence she had never seen in a professional kitchen. That changed how she understood food. It also changed how she understood her work. What you make carries the energy you were in when you made it.

Jaden and Tara follow that idea out of the kitchen and into business. Energy shapes how a meal tastes, and it shapes how your work lands. Magnetism comes from being congruent. Sharing your gifts is a form of generosity. Taking a risk feels different when you know you're doing what you're here to do.

Tara also talks about the difference between eating "healthy" and actually nourishing yourself. She explains why your body's needs won't look like anyone else's, and she shares a three-breath practice that shifts your energy before you start cooking. You can use the same practice before a sales call, a launch, or a big decision.

In this episode:

— Why you are an ingredient in everything you create
— How Tara went from professional chef to founder of Source to Fork
— What Tara's experience in India taught her about food, presence, and joy
— The three-breath practice for shifting your energy before you begin
— Bringing curiosity to the kitchen, the grocery store, and your business
— The difference between "healthy" and truly nourishing
— Listening to your body's signals instead of trying to fix it
— How energy and congruence create magnetism in business
— Why sharing your gifts is an act of generosity
— Taking aligned risks as an entrepreneur
— Treating failure as information and a reason to pivot
— The simple first step to changing your relationship with food

Tara's invitation: get curious before you get critical. Notice how you feel, what your body is asking for, and what energy you're bringing into the room.

You don't need another rule. You need to start listening.

Energy • Alignment • Congruence • Nourishment • Food • Entrepreneurship • Intuition • Magnetism • Embodiment • Self-trust

Follow Tara & learn more about Source to Fork
https://www.instagram.com/taramiddleton_/

Work with Jaden Hummel

Join Open Field, the ongoing coaching advisory for soul-led founders
https://www.jadenhummel.com/open-field-coaching

Follow Jaden on IG
https://www.instagram.com/jadenbhummel/

Choose What You Actually Want

What if the thing keeping you stuck isn't a lack of discipline, motivation, or productivity—but simply that you haven't decided what you actually want yet?

In this episode of Congruent, Jaden Hummel explores the idea of priority motivation: the understanding that whatever matters most to you will ultimately shape the choices you make.

We can have competing desires at the same time. One part of us wants to grow, expand, make more money, build a bigger business, or put ourselves out there. Another part wants safety, comfort, stability, or simply to keep things exactly as they are.

The problem isn't necessarily having both desires. It's staying caught between them.

Jaden shares how she experienced this tension in her own business—first choosing to focus on strengthening the foundation and allowing the business to grow gradually while she prioritized personal growth, and later intentionally choosing bigger collaborations and expansion. The difference was not that one season was more ambitious than the other. It was that she was choosing what she actually wanted in each season.

She also explores why getting honest about your priorities can eliminate so much of the guilt and frustration we experience when our actions don't match our desires.

Because you don't have to want to 10X your income. You don't have to want to be on a bigger stage. You don't have to constantly be expanding.

You just have to be honest about what you want—and then let that choice guide your actions.

In this episode, Jaden talks about:

• What ambivalence is and why competing desires can keep us stuck
• How your primary motivation shapes what you actually do
• The tension between safety and expansion
• Why we sometimes want a bigger life while simultaneously wanting to stay comfortable
• How to stop feeling guilty about not pursuing something you aren't actually choosing right now
• Jaden's own experience of intentionally prioritizing personal growth over rapid business expansion
• Why your priorities can change from one season of life to another
• The importance of choosing rather than constantly questioning your choices
• Using your deeper vision as a North Star for decision-making
• Why congruence isn't always about doing more—it can also mean choosing rest, saying no, or staying exactly where you are
• How to recognize whether your current choices actually reflect what you want

The question to take with you this week:

What is the most important thing you're working toward right now?

Do you want safety and stability? Do you want rest and enjoyment? Do you want growth and expansion?

There isn't a right answer. The invitation is simply to choose honestly—and then stand behind that choice.

Work with Jaden Hummel

Join Open Field, the ongoing coaching advisory for soul-led founders
https://www.jadenhummel.com/open-field-coaching

Follow Jaden on IG
https://www.instagram.com/jadenbhummel/

Changing your mind is part of building an authentic brand.

In this episode of Congruent, Jaden Hummel sits down with entrepreneur, thought leader, and personal branding expert Amy Mashburn to talk about identity, reinvention, visibility, and what it really means to choose yourself.

Amy has spent more than a decade building businesses online. She's navigated sobriety, motherhood, personal branding, and major career pivots, and through every season she's practiced something that's harder than it sounds: you are allowed to become someone new.

Jaden and Amy talk about the grief of outgrowing an old identity, and why stepping into a version of yourself you haven't met yet can feel uncomfortable. Amy shares how sobriety became one of her first experiences of choosing herself over other people's expectations, and how that same practice has carried through motherhood, business, and her career.

They also get into what it's like to build a personal brand online. When thousands of people can have opinions about you without knowing you, how do you stay grounded? How do you handle criticism, misunderstanding, and the pressure to stay consistent with things you said years ago? Amy's answer: let people have their opinions and keep choosing yourself.

Then the business side. Why you don't have to share everything online to build something successful, the difference between being an influencer and being a business owner, why experimenting beats waiting for the perfect blueprint, and how to build a business around the life you actually want.

In this episode:

— Why changing your mind can feel like an identity crisis
— The grief that comes with outgrowing an old version of yourself
— Choosing yourself over belonging and other people's expectations
— Handling criticism and misunderstanding as you become more visible
— Why you don't have to process your life in real time on social media
— Building a personal brand vs. building a business
— Experimenting instead of waiting for the perfect strategy
— Learning to trust yourself after years of looking outward for answers
— The role of coaches, mentors, and people who ask better questions
— Designing a business around your real life and capacity
— Building wealth without sacrificing your family, time, or nervous system
— Giving yourself permission to be bad at something before you're good at it
— The freedom of realizing you're allowed to mess up in public

One of the most powerful ideas in this conversation is that the next version of you may not feel familiar at first. Alignment doesn't always feel comfortable. Sometimes becoming who you want to be means doing things that feel completely foreign. And sometimes the biggest act of congruence is deciding you no longer need to convince everyone else that you're allowed to change.

Reinvention • Identity • Personal branding • Sobriety • Entrepreneurship • Self-trust • Visibility • Building a business you love

Follow Amy on IG & learn more about her work
https://www.instagram.com/amymashburnofficial/

Work with Jaden Hummel

Join Open Field, the ongoing coaching advisory for soul-led founders
https://www.jadenhummel.com/open-field-coaching

Follow Jaden on IG
https://www.instagram.com/jadenbhummel/

Social media can feel incredibly complicated. But it doesn’t have to be.

How often should you post? Which hooks are working? How many followers do you need? Reels, carousels, or talking-head videos? What does the algorithm want

In this episode of Congruent, Jaden Hummel sits down with social media strategist and founder of Rise to Evolve Content, Anastasia Petrou, to talk about what actually creates a successful personal brand, and why it has far less to do with vanity metrics than most of us have been led to believe.

Anastasia helps clients move past the overwhelm of endless templates, viral hooks, AI-generated content, and algorithm advice by getting clear on something more fundamental: who you are, why you're showing up, and what you want your brand to do.

Jaden and Anastasia explore the intersection of alignment, authenticity, strategy, and visibility, and why your energy behind your work matters just as much as the content you put online.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

— Why followers, likes, and views aren't the whole story when it comes to a successful brand
— The difference between vanity metrics and meaningful data
— Why more followers doesn't always mean a more successful business
— How to use AI without letting it replace your voice, creativity, or point of view
— Why knowing your intention on social media changes everything
— How sharing your story can be an act of generosity
— Why the best content starts with being genuinely excited about what you do
— Anastasia's journey from personal training to network marketing to building her own social media business
— The role self-trust plays in taking the next entrepreneurial leap
— How to build an Instagram profile that tells people who you are, who you help, and what to expect from you
— Why your bio, pinned posts, and overall profile should work together like a landing page
— How often you actually need to post, and why two intentional posts a week can beat posting constantly and disappearing six months later
— How to build a content plan around your actual goals: growth, connection, or conversion
— How to take yourself out of the equation and focus on the person you're serving

One of the biggest takeaways from this conversation is that your personal brand doesn't mean you have to become someone you’re not. You don't need to chase every trend. And you don't need to create content just because someone on the internet told you to.

To have a magnetic brand is to build a presence that communicates what's already true and makes it easier for the right people to find you.

Personal branding • Social media strategy • Instagram • Authenticity • Content creation • Entrepreneurship • Visibility • AI and content • Messaging • Consistency • Brand strategy • Alignment • Business growth

Follow Anastasia on IG & learn more about her work: https://www.instagram.com/risetoevolvewithana/

Work with Jaden Hummel

Join Open Field, the ongoing coaching advisory for soul-led founders
https://www.jadenhummel.com/open-field-coaching

Follow Jaden on IG
https://www.instagram.com/jadenbhummel/

What does it actually mean to live congruently?

In the first episode of Congruent, Jaden Hummel explores the idea that alignment isn't about identifying everything that's wrong with your life. It's about continually asking a much more useful question: Does the life I'm building actually feel true to me?

Jaden shares the personal experiences that taught her this lesson—from flipping houses and building a successful window-washing business to working in real estate and ultimately realizing that external success means very little when you're not excited about the life you're creating.

Because sometimes the thing that looks like the obvious path isn't your path at all.

In this episode, Jaden explores:

• Why bigger goals and deeper fulfillment don't have to be opposing forces
• The difference between creating a successful life and creating a life you actually want
• How she learned that money and accomplishment can't compensate for feeling disconnected from yourself
• Why the “easier” or more logical option isn't always the most congruent one
• What happened when one client chose her actual vision over the business model that seemed easier
• How another client's decision to make music and write her book transformed both her creativity and her business
• Why doing things your own way can create opportunities you couldn't have planned for
• How to recognize the places where you're overriding your own desires
• Why congruence requires listening to the quieter voice underneath fear, judgment, and conventional wisdom

Jaden also shares a simple challenge for the week ahead:

How excited are you about what you're building?

If the answer isn't what you want it to be, don't immediately assume you need to work harder. Ask yourself where you might be abandoning what you actually want—and what would happen if you listened to yourself instead.

Sometimes living congruently means making a tiny shift.

Sometimes it means making a completely different choice.

Either way, it starts with listening.

In this episode:
Living congruently • Purpose • Business alignment • Intuition • Personal growth • Success • Entrepreneurship • Fulfillment • Building a life you love

Work with Jaden Hummel

Join Open Field, the ongoing coaching advisory for soul-led founders
https://www.jadenhummel.com/open-field-coaching

Follow Jaden on IG
https://www.instagram.com/jadenbhummel/

Weekly clarity and inspiration for entrepreneurs who are here to live at the edge of their purpose and potential.

On Congruent, Jaden Hummel explores what it looks like to build a business and life you truly love. Through conversations with founders and solo episodes, you’ll get fresh perspectives on business, energetic alignment, high-stakes decision-making, and what it means to unearth your best work and most meaningful life.

Jaden believes congruence is where our best ideas and actions take shape. And making decisions from that place is what opens up a life far beyond what we thought was possible.

Come to expand your thinking, stay inspired, and leave with an aha moment you can immediately put into action.

Subscribe and join Jaden each week.

It's time to make the end of this year the best four months of your life and business. Join me in this short episode to connect to your vision and get clear on your bold action.

Tag me on IG with your bold action: https://www.instagram.com/jadenbhummel

Join JYNL (free for a limited time): https://www.jadenhummel.com/jumpstart

Join Exponential Alignment, BOOK YOUR FREE CALL: https://www.jadenhummel.com/ea2024

Taxes are not scary. You can make them fun. You can write off your life and make your money work for you. Learn how in this episode with Barbara Schreihans of @yourtaxcoach.

If you're an entrepreneur (whether you're just starting out or have already scaled to millions), you have to pay your taxes. The choice is yours: you can be afraid or you can join the savvy business owners who have learned to make taxes work for them.

In this episode, we cover...

• The tax code (what it is & how it was written)
• How to know if your accountant is working for you or the IRS (red flags and green flags to look out for)
• Best tax advice for brand new biz owners & seasoned entrepreneurs
• When to start developing a tax strategy
• Barbara's story & how her aligned business came to be 

Don't wait another minute, dive in now!

Connect/work with Barbara - 
IG: https://www.instagram.com/yourtaxcoach/
Website: www.Barbaraschreihans.com

WORK WITH JADEN

Join Jumpstart Your Next Level (free for a limited time)! https://www.jadenhummel.com/jumpstart

Join Exponential Alignment by booking a FREE call: https://www.jadenhummel.com/ea2024

Inquire about 1:1 coaching or VIP retreat: https://calendly.com/jadenhummel/exploration-call

Stay connected on IG: https://www.instagram.com/jadenbhummel/

If you run a purpose-based business, you know that it takes more than just perfecting a business strategy and showing up daily. It requires an elite level of personal mastery (or at least it feels that way). AND it is the most rewarding thing you will ever do.

Today on the podcast, I'm sharing the 5 most important lessons I've learned from my business. Tune in to find out what they are.

And don't stop here...

Join Jumpstart Your Next Level (free for a limited time)! https://www.jadenhummel.com/jumpstart

Join Exponential Alignment by booking a FREE call: https://www.jadenhummel.com/ea2024

Inquire about 1:1 coaching or VIP retreat: https://calendly.com/jadenhummel/exploration-call

Stay connected on IG: https://www.instagram.com/jadenbhummel/