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Have you ever found yourself up at 10 pm rewriting things, fixing mistakes, or just doing it yourself… even though you’ve hired a team to help you? 

If you’ve been wondering why your team isn’t stepping up, this episode of Female Founder Unplugged is your wake-up call. Because truthfully? Your team isn’t the issue. But how you’re leading them... that might be.

In this episode, I’m breaking down what over-functioning really looks like, why it’s costing you freedom, and how to lead with clarity, trust, and intention.

✨ Episode Highlights

• 🚨 The truth about the “dream team” myth — and what no one tells you about hiring
• 📌 What over-functioning actually looks like (hint: it’s not just being busy)
• 📊 Why measuring tasks isn’t the same as creating accountability
• 💡 The real reason your team isn’t taking ownership — and how to fix it
• 🛠️ The four shifts that will create a culture of autonomy and results

We’re unpacking what better systems and clearer expectations can do for you and your business.

And if you’re ready for personalized support (if you’re still carrying the load and the clipboard), it’s time to make a shift. In a Spark Session, we’ll map out:

• Where you’re over-functioning
• What needs to be delegated
• How to create clarity and accountability that sticks

Just one hour and one clear path forward.

👉 Book your Spark Session now

Contact Cardinal Studios at:
cardinalstudio.co or [email protected]

Support the show

Our mission for Female Founder Unplugged is to impact 1000 female entrepreneurs every season, and we need your help to do that.

Please subscribe to the show, and share your favorite episodes with anyone you feel could benefit. We are growing a powerful community here, and everyone is welcome. Together, we can pave a path to giving more women a seat at the table, and providing opportunities for financial independence.

Send us a text

If you’ve ever cried in your car, snapped at your partner, or wondered why everything feels heavy even when things look “fine” on paper — this episode is for you. I'm digging into the real reason female founders avoid asking for help, and why that pattern quietly slows your growth, drains your energy, and caps your leadership.

✨ Episode Highlights

• 😣 Why even the most capable founders struggle to ask for help
• 🧠 The saboteur chatter that fuels the “I should be able to handle this” loop
• ⚠️ The real cost of doing everything yourself — on your business and your health
• 💡 Why asking for help is wisdom, not weakness
• 🔎 The 5 clarity questions to uncover where you’re overwhelmed or pretending things are “fine”
• 🧭 How protecting your time + energy shifts you back into true CEO mode

📄 Download: The CEO Clarity Worksheet

Get the 5 questions from today’s episode in a printable worksheet to help you identify exactly where you need support — and why you’ve been avoiding it.

Find it inside my Resource Library.

⚡ Book a Spark Session

If this episode hit close to home, a Spark Session might be your next step.
 One hour. One problem. Clear path forward.

Support the show

Our mission for Female Founder Unplugged is to impact 1000 female entrepreneurs every season, and we need your help to do that.

Please subscribe to the show, and share your favorite episodes with anyone you feel could benefit. We are growing a powerful community here, and everyone is welcome. Together, we can pave a path to giving more women a seat at the table, and providing opportunities for financial independence.

Send us a text

If you’re constantly chasing people down, repeating yourself, and wondering why things keep slipping through the cracks — this one’s for you.

Here’s the truth: your team isn’t lazy. They’re confused. What looks like a motivation problem is usually a clarity problem — and when clarity disappears, accountability goes with it.

✨ Episode Highlights

• The real reason “reminders” don’t work — and what to do instead.
• The three gaps that quietly erode accountability on small teams.
• Why being the safety net kills ownership (and what to do instead).
• How to create clear ownership and a feedback loop that sticks.
• The mindset shift from “babysitter” to boundaried leader.

Because accountability doesn’t start with effort — it starts with structure.

👉 Ready to fix the accountability gap on your team before Q1? Book a Spark Session — one hour to create clarity, follow-through systems, and a culture where accountability actually sticks.

Support the show

Our mission for Female Founder Unplugged is to impact 1000 female entrepreneurs every season, and we need your help to do that.

Please subscribe to the show, and share your favorite episodes with anyone you feel could benefit. We are growing a powerful community here, and everyone is welcome. Together, we can pave a path to giving more women a seat at the table, and providing opportunities for financial independence.

Send us a text

We wear “busy” like a badge of honour — but what’s it really costing us?

In this week’s episode of Female Founder Unplugged, I’m joined by Peggy Sullivan, author of Beyond Busyness: How to Achieve More by Doing Less. Peggy’s research and her own hard-won lessons reveal what she calls time poverty—that constant feeling of not having time for what really matters.

Together, we dig into why busyness has become the default mode for so many women leaders—and how to shift from autopilot to intentional action. 

✨ Episode Highlights

• The truth about “time poverty” and why so many founders fall into it
• Peggy’s 3-step Busy Busting Framework for creating more time and joy
• Why happiness isn’t a destination—it’s a leadership strategy
• The 4 core values that drive fulfillment and sustainable success
• How micro-habits can transform your productivity and peace

Because success isn’t about doing it all—it’s about doing what actually matters.

👉 Grab Peggy’s book, Beyond Busyness: How to Achieve More by Doing Less, and try her free Busy Barometer tool at peggysullivanspeaker.com.

Support the show

Our mission for Female Founder Unplugged is to impact 1000 female entrepreneurs every season, and we need your help to do that.

Please subscribe to the show, and share your favorite episodes with anyone you feel could benefit. We are growing a powerful community here, and everyone is welcome. Together, we can pave a path to giving more women a seat at the table, and providing opportunities for financial independence.

Send us a text

If you feel more like the Help Desk than the CEO, this one’s for you.

Somewhere between building your business and leading your team, you became the Chief Everything Officer — solving every problem, approving every decision, and holding everything together by sheer willpower. It’s not sustainable. And it’s not leadership.

⚡️ Episode Highlights

• 🚨 Why “firefighter mode” isn’t leadership — it’s survival
• 🧠 How over-functioning leaders create under-functioning teams
• 🤝 The truth about accountability (and why it starts with you)
• 🧭 The leadership shift from crutch → catalyst
• 💬 What it takes to let go without losing control

And if you’re ready for one-on-one help to step out of firefighter mode, book a Spark Session — one hour, one problem, one solution. Together, we’ll pinpoint where your boundaries are breaking down, so you can stop being the answer for everyone and start leading like the CEO again.

👉 Book your Spark Session

Support the show

Our mission for Female Founder Unplugged is to impact 1000 female entrepreneurs every season, and we need your help to do that.

Please subscribe to the show, and share your favorite episodes with anyone you feel could benefit. We are growing a powerful community here, and everyone is welcome. Together, we can pave a path to giving more women a seat at the table, and providing opportunities for financial independence.

Send us a text

It’s spooky season — but let’s be honest, nothing’s scarier than trying to make your first (or next) hire. You’re standing at the edge of freedom in your business… but all you can think about are the horror stories.

In this episode of Female Founder Unplugged, I’m breaking down how to take the fear out of hiring and bring clarity back into your leadership.

✨ Episode Highlights

• 🎯 The #1 mindset shift: Stop hiring for relief and start hiring for results.
• 👥 How to define the real gap before you post the job.
• 🧭 The 5-step framework I use with my clients to make confident, values-aligned hires.
• 💡 What to measure so you’ll know if your new hire is truly working out.
• 🔦 How to spot (and stop) your own leadership traps before they derail a new team member.

You don’t need a magic potion — just a clear plan. Tune in now and let’s make your next hire one that helps you actually sleep at night.

And if you’re ready for one-on-one help to map out your hiring plan, book a Spark Session — one hour, one problem, one solution. Let’s make your next hire the best one yet.

👉 Book your Spark Session

Support the show

Our mission for Female Founder Unplugged is to impact 1000 female entrepreneurs every season, and we need your help to do that.

Please subscribe to the show, and share your favorite episodes with anyone you feel could benefit. We are growing a powerful community here, and everyone is welcome. Together, we can pave a path to giving more women a seat at the table, and providing opportunities for financial independence.

Send us a text

What if your values were simple enough to live by—and strong enough to shape an industry?

In this episode, I sit down with Jennie Coleman, President & Co-Owner of Equifruit, to talk about fair-trade bananas, fearless leadership, and why “Don’t work with jerks” might be the most effective HR policy you’ll ever write.

✨ Episode Highlights

• 🍌 The bold vision behind global fair-trade banana domination
• ❤️ How Equifruit’s three core values—Compassion, Commitment to Change, and Creativity—drive every decision
• 🚫 What “Don’t Work with Jerks” really means (and how to enforce it with empathy)
• 🧩 Turning culture into action—from hiring to supplier partnerships
• 🌍 Leading with values even when you’re the smallest player in a giant industry

Because culture isn’t a poster on the wall—it’s the daily choice to lead with compassion and courage. And when your values are clear, you don’t just build a stronger team—you build a business you’re proud to lead.

Support the show

Our mission for Female Founder Unplugged is to impact 1000 female entrepreneurs every season, and we need your help to do that.

Please subscribe to the show, and share your favorite episodes with anyone you feel could benefit. We are growing a powerful community here, and everyone is welcome. Together, we can pave a path to giving more women a seat at the table, and providing opportunities for financial independence.

Send us a text

You’ve been told empathy makes you soft. That if you lead with compassion, someone will take advantage of you. But empathy is one of the sharpest tools in your leadership toolkit.

In this episode, I’m breaking down what real empathy looks like. I’ll walk you through my simple, five-step practice to start leading with empathy from the inside out.

✨ Episode Highlights

• 🔥 Why empathy isn’t soft—it’s strategic.
• 🧠 How to spot the “controller” saboteur that kills collaboration.
• 💬 What self-empathy really looks like (and why it has to come first).
• 💡 The 5-step empathy practice to start TODAY.
• ❤️ How empathy fuels performance, connection, and culture.

Because the truth is—you can’t lead others until you can lead yourself. And empathy is where that leadership starts.

If you’re ready to quiet the head trash, strengthen your self-awareness, and build the confidence to lead with calm and clarity, come join me in the Positive Intelligence Bootcamp — it’s where we do this work together in real time.

👉 Claim your spot here: https://www.highvoltageleadership.ca/positive-intelligence

And if you’re just getting started, grab my free Empathy Superpower Starter Kit inside the Resource Vault — your first step to practicing empathy from the inside out: https://go.highvoltageleadership.ca/resource-library

Support the show

Our mission for Female Founder Unplugged is to impact 1000 female entrepreneurs every season, and we need your help to do that.

Please subscribe to the show, and share your favorite episodes with anyone you feel could benefit. We are growing a powerful community here, and everyone is welcome. Together, we can pave a path to giving more women a seat at the table, and providing opportunities for financial independence.

Send us a text

You built your business for freedom. But if you’re the one everyone turns to when the school calls, the groceries are forgotten, or the cat’s sick, that “freedom” can disappear fast. 

Being the flexible one feels like strength. But over time, it becomes an expectation — and the cost is your focus, your energy, and your growth.

In this episode, I share the moment that made me realize bending for everyone else isn’t a badge of honour. It’s leadership fatigue in disguise. And more importantly — what to do about it.

Episode Highlights:

• 🐾 The story that opened my eyes to the hidden cost of being “the fixer”
• 🧠 Why invisible emotional labour is quietly sabotaging your growth
• ⏰ The truth about flexibility — and why it isn’t free
• 👩‍👧 How to delegate emotional labour at home and in business
• 🚫 Saying “no” like a CEO (without guilt)

Because you can’t scale a business while absorbing everyone else’s overflow. Real leadership isn’t about doing it all — it’s about building a business that works with your life, not against it.

Support the show

Our mission for Female Founder Unplugged is to impact 1000 female entrepreneurs every season, and we need your help to do that.

Please subscribe to the show, and share your favorite episodes with anyone you feel could benefit. We are growing a powerful community here, and everyone is welcome. Together, we can pave a path to giving more women a seat at the table, and providing opportunities for financial independence.

Send us a text

In this powerful conversation, reconciliation strategist Tanya Tourangeau of Tanya T Consulting joins me to share why reconciliation must be woven into the heart of your business. 

From building authentic relationships to preparing for the workforce and clients of the future, Tanya breaks down what meaningful reconciliation looks like—and why your business can’t afford to ignore it.

✨ Episode Highlights:

• 🌍 Why reconciliation is smart economics, not just a moral obligation
• 👩‍👧 Indigenous people as the youngest and fastest-growing population in Canada—and what that means for your workforce and clients
• 🤝 How reconciliation builds belonging across your team, clients, and investors
• 📝 Simple, no-cost steps you can take right now—without overthinking
• 🔄 The power of two-way mentorship and Two-Eyed Seeing in leadership
• ☂️ Why reconciliation should be the umbrella, with DEI as one arm beneath it

Because reconciliation isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s the path to building businesses that last, cultures that thrive, and leadership that actually works.

👉 Resources mentioned:

• Learn more about Tanya's work: Tanya T Consulting
• University of Alberta’s Indigenous Canada MOOC

Support the show

Our mission for Female Founder Unplugged is to impact 1000 female entrepreneurs every season, and we need your help to do that.

Please subscribe to the show, and share your favorite episodes with anyone you feel could benefit. We are growing a powerful community here, and everyone is welcome. Together, we can pave a path to giving more women a seat at the table, and providing opportunities for financial independence.