How to Trust Yourself with Anna Holtzman

In this rich, heartfelt episode, Anna is joined by Ashley Olson, Founder and Executive Chef of Southern with a French Twist. Ashley creates intimate culinary experiences across Austin and the Hill Country — from luxury dinner parties to private jet catering — with a philosophy that blends Southern warmth with French finesse.

But this episode isn’t just about food. It’s about returning to the parts of yourself you left behind. It’s about trusting the unknown. It’s about community, creativity, and the radical act of showing up authentically in a world that often feels isolating.

Ashley shares the winding path that took her from corporate tech burnout to culinary school to building a business centered on connection and hospitality. She talks about shame-free childhood creativity, the vulnerability of letting herself be seen, and the courage of choosing a life without knowing where it will lead.

She also shares her passion for reimagining the culinary workplace — creating environments where chefs are cared for, nourished, and supported rather than burnt out and broken down.

In this episode, we explore:

• Ashley’s early love of baking and the creative breadcrumbs that led her back to herself

• Leaving the corporate grind to follow an intuition she couldn’t explain yet

• The role of safe containers — in life, in community, and at the table

• How COVID changed gathering culture and sparked Ashley’s business growth

• Why authenticity is terrifying (and necessary) for building anything meaningful

• Coming home to your own creative identity — and the business that emerges when you stop shape-shifting

• What makes Southern with a French Twist different from traditional private chefing

• The importance of bringing hospitality to both clients and the chefs behind the scenes

• Ashley’s dreams for the future: a movement around gathering, and a radically healthy culinary workplace

• The practical, grounded conversation she has with fear every single day

• How to recognize the “heat map” of fear and follow it toward creativity

This episode is a warm meal for anyone longing for creativity, connection, or permission to return to the truest parts of themselves.

Connect with Ashley

• Website: https://www.southernwithafrenchtwist.com/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chef.ashley.olson/

Connect with Anna

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anna_holtzman/

• Website: https://www.annaholtzman.com/

• Free workshop — Let Yourself Be Seen: https://www.annaholtzman.com/beseen

In this intimate and inspiring conversation, Anna talks with award-winning ceramic artist Hannie Goldgewicht, whose work blends wheel-thrown pottery with pine-needle basketry — a unique hybrid rooted in her Costa Rican upbringing, her travels throughout Latin America and beyond, and her lifelong devotion to handmade craft.

Hannie’s creative journey began in childhood, learning soldering and jewelry-making from her mother, experimenting with every medium imaginable, and eventually studying sculpture at the Universidad de Costa Rica with honors. She later traveled the world, apprenticed with master artists, and built a career that has earned her multiple Best in Show awards, features in American Craft Council Magazine, and an invitation to the prestigious Cheongju International Craft Biennale in Korea.

Alongside her husband and creative partner, artist and model-maker Leo Gotlibowski, Hannie has also created life-size sculptures for the Costa Rican Pre-Columbian Gold Museum — work that is now on permanent display.

In this episode, we explore:

• Hannie’s lifelong relationship with clay — and why ceramics remains her creative home

• The grounding, meditative, deeply human qualities of handmade craft

• How she balances being both an artist and a business owner

• The surprising ways creativity shows up in the business side of her work

• What it takes to stay committed through the “messy middle” — the long uncertain stretch all artists face

• How Hannie navigated doubts, pivots, and experimentation in her early career

• Her practices for returning to curiosity when inspiration feels far away

• The importance of patience, devotion, and staying close to the materials you love

This is a conversation about art, but it’s also a conversation about resilience, craft, and what it means to build a life anchored in creativity over the long term.

Connect with Hannie

• Website: https://www.hanniegold.com/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hanniegoldart

Connect with Anna

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anna_holtzman/

• Website: https://www.annaholtzman.com/

• Free workshop — Let Yourself Be Seen: https://www.annaholtzman.com/beseen

What if the reason you don’t feel confident… isn’t because you’re unqualified?

In this solo episode, I share a simple but powerful shift that came out of a recent Seen & Safe group session—one that challenges the common belief that we need to become experts before we can show up fully.

We often tell ourselves:

“I need more training.”

“I need more experience.”

“I need to feel ready first.”

But what if confidence doesn’t come from mastery?

What if it comes from something much more accessible?

In this episode, I explore the idea that confidence is built through proximity over time—not perfection—and how our nervous system plays a central role in whether something feels safe or threatening.

And yes… there’s also a slightly chaotic (and slightly gross) story about my cats adjusting to a new litter robot that somehow brings this whole concept to life.

If you’ve been circling something—public speaking, sharing your work, making a move in your business, or even just expressing yourself more honestly—this episode will help you understand what’s actually getting in the way, and how to move forward in a way that feels grounded and doable.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why feeling “unskilled” is often a nervous system response, not a true lack of ability

• The difference between mastery vs. familiarity—and why we confuse the two

• How fear convinces you to delay action in the name of “preparation”

• What actually builds confidence (hint: it’s not more studying)

• How to use graded exposure, self-soothing, and co-regulation to take your next step

• Why safe, supportive spaces can accelerate your growth in ways you can’t do alone

If you’re ready to stop waiting until you feel “ready” and start gently stepping into what’s calling you, you’re in the right place.

And if you’re looking for a space to practice this in real time, Seen & Safe is my small group coaching space for sensitive creatives, entrepreneurs, and humans in transition who want to build visibility with nervous system support.

You can learn more or reach out here:

🌐 www.annaholtzman.com/seenandsafe

📧 [email protected]

In this illuminating and refreshingly honest conversation, Anna sits down with Richelle Fredson, Book Proposal Coach, publishing aficionado, and former Director of Publicity & Book Marketing at Hay House. With 20+ years of industry experience — including roles in acquisitions, author development, and major launches — Richelle has helped thousands of authors turn their ideas into compelling proposals and land publishing deals.

Richelle has worked with powerhouse authors like Farnoosh Torabi, Chrissy King, Jennifer Racioppi, Terri Cole, Jen Winston, and more. But what makes her so unique is her commitment to transparency. She lifts the veil on an industry that often feels opaque, intimidating, and gatekept — and replaces fear with clarity and empowerment.

This conversation goes far beyond book deals. It’s about visibility, identity, confidence, and what happens inside someone when they decide to put their voice into the world in print.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why Richelle believes we need more books — especially from mission-driven leaders, creatives, and underrepresented voices

• Why the idea that “there are already enough books” is a myth that keeps people silent

• The most common fears aspiring authors face (imposter syndrome, pressure to have a perfect platform, fear of rejection) and how she helps them move through it

• How the publishing industry actually works — and what most people misunderstand about it

• Why a strong book proposal is not just a business document, but a clarity document

• The deeper emotional and identity transformation authors experience during the proposal and writing process

• How visibility wounds show up when someone starts writing a book — and what it takes to move through them with compassion

• Why writing a book is as much about personal evolution as it is about craft, platform, or sales

Whether you’re already writing, secretly dreaming, or just curious about the world of publishing, this episode gives you both the strategy and the soul of what it takes to bring a book to life.

Connect with Richelle Fredson

• Website: https://richellefredson.com/

• The Book Proposal Assembly: https://richellefredson.com/assembly/

• Podcast: Bound and Determined

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richellefredson/

Connect with Anna

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anna_holtzman/

• Website: https://www.annaholtzman.com/

• Free workshop — Let Yourself Be Seen: https://www.annaholtzman.com/beseen

What if the thing holding you back isn’t what you’ve been through… but what you’ve had to hide?

In this solo episode, I explore the physiology of shame—how the parts of ourselves we keep hidden don’t just stay tucked away, but actually shape how we move through the world.

From the outside, it might look like you’re doing fine. But internally, there can be a quiet contraction: a subtle bracing in your body, a holding back in your voice, a hesitation to take up space or go after what you want.

In this episode, I share why nearly all of us carry some version of a “shame story”—whether it’s about something we’ve done, something we haven’t done, who we are, or where we come from—and how that hidden tension can ripple into our work, relationships, and sense of self.

I also talk about the double bind many of us find ourselves in: feeling like we either have to hide these parts of ourselves… or reveal everything in order to be free.

But what if healing doesn’t require you to share your most vulnerable stories with the whole world?

What I’ve seen again and again—in my own life and in my work with clients—is that transformation often begins much more quietly: in a moment of being truly met.

In this episode, we explore:

• What shame actually does in the body (and why it feels like contraction)

• How hiding parts of yourself impacts confidence, self-expression, and decision-making

• The subtle ways shame shows up in high-functioning, high-achieving people

• The “double bind” of shame: hiding vs. overexposing

• Why you don’t need to tell everyone your story to heal

• What begins to shift when you feel safe enough to be seen, even by one person

I also share real examples of the kinds of transformations I’ve witnessed when clients begin to soften their relationship with shame—from stepping into leadership roles, to leaving toxic environments, to creating meaningful work and relationships from a more grounded, self-trusting place.

If you’ve ever felt like there’s a part of you that isn’t fully shareable… this episode is for you.

A gentle invitation:

As you listen, notice if there’s something in your life you’ve quietly decided isn’t safe to share.

You don’t have to reveal it to the world.

But what might it be like to let it be seen—just a little—in a space that feels safe enough?

If this episode resonated, you’re always welcome to reach out.

You can email me at [email protected] and simply say, “this resonated.”

That alone can be a first step.

https://linktr.ee/annaholtzman

https://www.instagram.com/anna_holtzman/

What happens when the thing you most want to share is also the thing that terrifies you most?

In this episode, Anna sits down with poet and author Mer Monson to talk about Mer’s debut poetry collection, For the Wounded, and the deeply human journey that brought it into the world. Together, they explore writing as a place of refuge, the connection between depression and expression, the fear of being seen, and the slow, tender process of creating from a place of truth rather than performance.

Mer shares how journaling became a lifeline early in life, how writing came alive for her during a cancer diagnosis, and how a season of grief, loss, and spiritual unraveling led to the poems in this collection. Anna and Mer also reflect on the coaching process they shared together, and on what it means to move toward visibility with self-compassion, support, and nervous-system safety.

This conversation is for anyone standing at the threshold between hiding and expression, especially if your desire to create feels inseparable from your fear.

In this episode, we explore:

• How Mer’s path through cancer, grief, and spiritual change led her more deeply into writing

• Why poetry asks to be experienced slowly, from “the neck down”

• The fear that can arise around sharing honest creative work

• How fear can disguise itself so well that you don’t even know what you really want

• The role of coaching, publishing support, and self-compassion in helping creative work come into form

• The connection between chronic pain, stress, visibility, and self-expression

• What it looks like to move at the pace your body actually needs

• Why expression can be part of aliveness, healing, and becoming more fully human

About Mer:

Mer Monson fell in love with writing during a cancer adventure in 2015, and has studied Method Writing since 2019. She is the author of For the Wounded, Reality Bathed in Hope and a featured author in Stories from the Muses. Her essays and poems have been published in Shark Reef, Adanna, Method Writers Speak, Exponent II, and Say More.

Her past adventures include time as a K–12 school counselor, adult educational counselor, Advanced BodyTalk practitioner, and Master Transformational Coach. She loves every flavor of flying and lives with her husband and three sons in the Rocky Mountains of Cedar Hills, Utah.

Find Mer here:

• Website: www.mermonson.com

• For the Wounded: available via Mer’s website, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble

• Substack: Mer Monson on Substack

Connect with Anna

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anna_holtzman/

• Website: https://www.annaholtzman.com/

• Free workshop — Let Yourself Be Seen: https://www.annaholtzman.com/beseen

What happens when the pressure to perform pulls you out of connection with yourself?

In this solo episode, Anna explores the subtle but powerful difference between performance and connection — and how getting stuck in performance mode can cut us off from our creativity, intuition, and leadership.

Drawing from her former career as a reality television editor, Anna shares a vivid behind-the-scenes story of what it was like to work creatively under intense pressure while being watched and judged in real time. Over the course of ten years in that environment, she discovered how easily the nervous system can spiral into self-conscious performance anxiety — and how that state disconnects us from the very flow we need in order to do our best work.

But she also discovered a surprisingly simple pathway back.

In this episode, Anna shares the strategy that repeatedly helped her return from performance mode into presence and creative flow: empathy.

Through storytelling and a short guided reflection, you’ll explore:

• The difference between performance mode and connection

• How self-consciousness disrupts creativity and intuition

• What performance anxiety feels like in the body

• Why empathy can regulate the nervous system and restore creative flow

• A simple exercise to reconnect with yourself when you feel stuck in self-judgment or being observed

Whether you're a leader, creative, entrepreneur, or someone who often feels “on display” in your work or life, this episode offers a compassionate way to come back to yourself.

Because your best work doesn’t come from performing.

It comes from being present and connected.

Try This Reflection

During the episode, Anna invites you to reflect on a moment when you felt pulled into performance mode — when you became overly aware of how you were being perceived.

Notice what happens when you bring empathy toward that version of yourself.

What changes in your breath, your muscles, and your energy when you shift from self-criticism to care?

Free Workshop: Let Yourself Be Seen

If this episode resonated with you and you want to explore what it means to move out of performance and into authentic expression, Anna’s free workshop Let Yourself Be Seen is a great next step.

In this workshop, you’ll explore the internal blocks that keep you hiding, performing, or second-guessing yourself — and begin practicing ways to show up with more clarity, creativity, and self-trust.

You can sign up or download the workshop here:

www.annaholtzman.com/beseen

Stay Connected

Anna loves hearing how these reflections land for listeners.

If you try the exercise from this episode or have thoughts you’d like to share, you can email:

[email protected]

In this episode, Anna talks with April Adams Pertuis, founder and CEO of LIGHTbeamers, visibility expert, and beloved guide for mission-driven women who want to speak with clarity, authenticity, and impact.

April has over 30 years of storytelling experience — from TV journalism to producing to building a global community of women learning to use their stories as tools for connection, community, and business growth. Her core belief is simple and transformative: everybody has a story — and that story is how people find you, trust you, and feel safe in your presence.

Together, Anna and April explore what it really means to share your voice with purpose, how to build visibility without feeling performative, and how your story becomes the bridge to deeper relationships and aligned opportunities.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why storytelling is a leadership skill — not a luxury

• Why “everybody has a voice” isn’t the same as “everybody feels safe using it”

• The fears that keep so many brilliant women quiet — and how to move through them

• How to tell your story without memorizing a script

• April’s storytelling framework that helps you show up authentically, even if speaking terrifies you

• How sharing your real lived experience builds connection, community, and deal flow

• Why your story is often the missing piece in your visibility strategy

• What happens when you let yourself shine a light — not just for others, but for yourself

This conversation is both grounding and emboldening — a reminder that your story is not a liability, but your greatest source of resonance and reach.

Connect with April Adams Pertuis

• Website: https://www.lightbeamers.com/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightbeamers/

• 365 Days of Story Prompts: https://www.lightbeamers.com/365

Connect with Anna

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anna_holtzman/

• Website: https://www.annaholtzman.com/

• Free workshop — Let Yourself Be Seen: https://www.annaholtzman.com/beseen

What does it actually mean to trust yourself?

On a podcast called How to Trust Yourself, it feels only fair to answer that question directly.

In this solo episode, I explore self-trust through a simple but powerful lens: trust is a relationship. And like any relationship, it’s built — and eroded — through everyday interactions.

Using examples from intimate partnerships (including my own marriage), I walk through the most common ways we unintentionally break trust with ourselves — especially under stress — and how to gently repair it.

Because here’s the truth: self-trust doesn’t collapse because you made one mistake. It erodes slowly through perfectionism, emotional avoidance, over-self-reliance, and rigid standards that leave no room for being human.

And the good news? It can be rebuilt the same way it’s built between two people — through honesty, attunement, and consistent check-ins.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why self-trust is a relationship, not a personality trait

• How stress quietly erodes trust between you and yourself

• The danger of rigid, perfectionistic standards for “earning” trust

• Why not sharing your real feelings (even with yourself) damages connection

• The importance of listening to your own emotions without trying to fix them

• How failing to initiate self-check-ins creates distance internally

• What self-attunement looks like in real life

• Why radical self-reliance can actually backfire

• Gentle, practical ways to begin rebuilding self-trust today

The Core Message

You don’t build trust with a partner by demanding perfection.

You build it by:

• Making space for humanity

• Listening

• Repairing when there’s a rupture

• Checking in consistently

• Allowing imperfection

The same is true with yourself.

If you’ve been hard on yourself lately…

If stress has made you reactive or self-critical…

If you’ve been walking on eggshells around your own mistakes…

This episode is an invitation to soften.

Self-trust isn’t about never messing up.

It’s about staying in relationship when you do.

Want Support Rebuilding Self-Trust?

If you’d like someone to walk alongside you as you repair and strengthen your self-trust, this is the work I do.

You can learn more at AnnaHoltzman.com

Email me directly at [email protected]

Or send me a voice note on Instagram at @Anna_Holtzman

If this episode resonated, share it with someone who’s been holding themselves to impossible standards lately.

And as always — I have so much faith in you.

See you next week.

In this episode, Anna sits down with Tracy Matthews, serial entrepreneur, Chief Visionary Officer of Creative Launchpad, and the creator of The Art of Reinvention. Tracy has spent her career helping creatives and founders build businesses that reflect who they truly are — not who they used to be.

In this episode, we explore:

• What The Art of Reinvention is — and why Tracy created itThe patterns she kept seeing in creatives at every level, why reinvention is inevitable, and how letting it be conscious (rather than forced) changes everything.
• How Tracy personally knows she’s on the cusp of a pivot
  The physical and emotional cues, the intuition nudges, the discomfort, the boredom, the misalignment — and what she’s learned about listening sooner rather than later.
• The “pre-pivot” stageHow this liminal phase shows up in her clients: the restlessness, the grief, the identity confusion, the craving for something bigger, and the exact moment when clarity starts to break through.
• The fears and barriers that keep people from reinventingTracy names the big ones she sees again and again:
• fear of losing what you’ve built
• fear of disappointing others
• fear of starting over
• fear of visibility
• fear of learning new ways of working
  She shares how she moves through these moments herself and how she supports her mentees to do the same.
• What’s on the other side of reinvention
  The relief, the renewed energy, the alignment, the creativity, the freedom — and also the truth that pivoting isn’t a magic cure. There are challenges, identity shifts, and growing pains even after you’ve said yes to your next evolution.
• Why reinvention is worth it
  Tracy talks about the deep satisfaction that comes from honoring your growth, trusting your inner voice, and letting yourself become the next version of you — even when you don’t have the whole map.

This episode is a love letter to the creative who’s standing at the edge of something new.

Connect with Tracy

• Website: https://creativesruletheworld.com
• IG: @iamtracymatthews and @creativesruletheworld
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamtracymatthews/
• Her mentorship program The Art of Reinvention: https://reinvent.tracymatthews.com/art-of-reinvention
• Her podcast: Creatives Rule the World

Connect with Anna

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anna_holtzman/
• Website: https://www.annaholtzman.com/
• Free workshop — Let Yourself Be Seen: https://www.annaholtzman.com/beseen