If morning routines actually worked the way Instagram says they do, every woman with a matcha and a journal would be wildly successful.

In this episode of In Her Era, I'm dismantling the romanticised, unrealistic idea of morning routines and replacing it with something that actually works: science-backed habits that prime your brain, biology, and energy for execution.

This isn’t about waking up at 4am, ice baths, or a 12-step wellness checklist.
It’s about reducing decision fatigue, stabilising energy, protecting focus, and setting your nervous system up to win the day — consistently.

I break down the needle-moving morning habits that take less than 30 minutes, why they work from a neuroscience and biological perspective, and how to adapt them to your life — whether you’re single, busy, a mother, building a business, or all of the above.

I also walk you through my own minimalist morning routine — not because you need to copy it, but to show how powerful simplicity becomes when habits are intentional.

If you want 2026 to be your most focused, energised, and successful year yet — this episode is one you'll want to dive into.

Because your morning doesn’t need to be aesthetic.It needs to make your life easier, your brain sharper, and your goals more inevitable.

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Follow Monique at ⁠⁠@itsmoniquetook⁠⁠

January motivation alone won’t carry you to December success. And it's why most women won't achieve their goals.

In this episode of In Her Era, I’m breaking down the exact goal-setting framework I use to actually follow through - one that’s been built from years of iteration, high-performance strategy, and neuroscience-backed behaviour change.

Because goals don’t fall apart due to a lack of desire.They fall apart because there’s no structure underneath them.

This episode walks you through my 3-step goal projection process - from categorising your life into clear buckets, to choosing focused priorities for the year, to breaking big goals into micro-actions that actually fit into real life.

You’ll learn how to stop spreading yourself thin, stop relying on willpower, and start building habits, routines, and environments that support the woman you’re becoming — even when motivation drops or life gets busy.

This is the first episode in a New Year series designed to help you build a high-performing year from the inside out - not by doing more, but by creating the systems that will sustain you to achieve those goals.

If you’re ready for 2026 to be the year you stop starting over… this episode sets the foundation.

🧾 LINKS & RECEIPTS

Follow Monique at @itsmoniquetook

Watch FULLY CHARGED - watch the FREE Masterclass to start your 2026 at an advantage

⭐ SUPPORT THE SHOW
Please Subscribe, Rate, and Review over on Apple Podcasts to help support the show! Share to your IG stories & follow along on instagram for all the updates

Before you dive into vision boards, big goals, or intentions for next year, there’s one step most people skip: reflecting on the year that was.

In this episode, I walk you through my Reflect & Project process - my strategy to close out your year so you start 2026 already running.

We cover:

• Why your brain loves goal-setting before you’ve achieved anything (dopamine alert!)

• How reflection rewires your brain to register wins and build real confidence

• The negativity bias that makes you forget your achievements - and how to counter it

• Vision boarding backed by neuroscience (not woo)

• Creating white space to invite opportunity and expansion

• My personal 2025 reflection: foundation, delusional belief, and shedding

Perfect for high-performing women who want to finish 2025 well and step into 2026 fully aligned, energised, and ready to become the woman you want to be

☁️ JOURNAL PROMPTS IN THE EPISODE:       What were some lessons you learnt,

What are you SO proud of this year

What habit or routine actually stuck?

What did you get better at without even realising?

What felt easier this year than last?

What drained you? What was challenging?      What do you want less of in 2026 and not take into the new year.

What no longer serves the woman you’re becoming?

FOLLOW: @itsmoniquetook

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In this episode, I’m sharing something really special…the 30 biggest lessons I’ve learned in 30 years. Some are fun, some are uncomfortable, some were quite expensive, and some literally changed the trajectory of my life.

I hope that even one of these lessons help impact your life in someway (and maybe save you a lot of trial and error mistakes like I had)

Some little things you’ll get out of this episode:

• How to stop living for others and make decisions that align with your future self
• Why small 1% shifts create more real change than massive once-off effort
• How to add to make the ordinary moments extraordinary
• The power of boundaries, choosing yourself, and not shrinking for other people’s opinions
• How to trust the process, let go of timelines, and continually reinvent yourself without guilt

Thank you so much for listening to this episode…it honestly means the world. If one of these lessons landed for you, I’d love to hear which one.

We’ve got one more episode before the Christmas break and my birthday (I'm 30 on the 28th of December), so make sure you’re following the show so you don’t miss it. I’ll see you next week for our final episode of the year. 💛

Connect with me:

Instagram: @itsmoniquetook

My most vulnerable (and emotional) episode to date.

I’m 30 at the end of this month, so I thought what better time to do a Q&A of all the things I learnt in my 20s. And you did not hold back with your questions

Today’s episode I brought on my younger sister - Emily Took - the one who has known me the longest, lived with me, and is brutally honest enough to call me out instantly.

This episode was the hardest one I’ve ever recorded, with topics that ranged from: relationships, painful lessons, mistakes, body image and self worth, friendships. Even discussing things i haven’t shared publicly (sorry parents!).

You asked the hard questions and I gave you everything (and yes I did cry)

So if you’ve ever wanted a real, unfiltered look into my life, my growth, and the lessons shaping my current era, this is it.

Where to Find Me:

Instagram: @itsmoniquetook

In this episode of In Her Era, I sit down with Maddie Webb, founder of Your Bliss, the Australian clean-perfume brand giving women something we’ve genuinely never had before, luxurious, long-lasting scents without the hidden hormonal disruptors so common in traditional fragrance.

We dive deep into the health journey that led Maddie here, from a decade of undiagnosed endometriosis and PCOS, to the moment a surgeon told her she had to rethink everything she was putting in and on her body. That single conversation sent her down the rabbit hole of low-tox living… except for one thing: perfume.

When Maddie discovered how unregulated the perfume industry is and how many endocrine-disrupting chemicals hide under the word “fragrance” she realised there was no alternative on the market that felt luxurious, long-lasting, or true to the confidence-boosting ritual perfume is for women. So she built one.

Together, we explore:

• How her decade-long struggle with endometriosis became the catalyst for creating a brand now helping thousands of women
• The shocking realities of the beauty industry and what “fragrance” actually means
• Why low-tox living doesn’t have to be perfect it just needs to be intentional
• The emotional and personal growth that came from building a business from scratch
• How she’s helping women reconnect with scent without sacrificing their health

This episode is full of honesty, education, woman-to-woman empowerment, and the reminder that your pain can become your purpose.

“Perfume isn’t just a smell. It’s who you become when you wear it.”

Connect with us:

Instagram: @itsmoniquetook

Instagram: @yourbliss_parfum

Instagram: @maddieelliseburton

Website: Your Bliss

This conversation is what I wish I had heard five years ago.

In this episode, I sit down with Jess Martin, business mentor, top-rated podcast host, and founder of a multi six-figure personal development brand for women in business. Jess is someone I’ve admired for a long time, and

We dive into the real reason why strategy alone isn’t enough. You can have the perfect goals, the five-year plan, and the vision board… but if your subconscious doesn’t believe you’re the kind of woman who can hold what you’re calling in, it will never stick.

Jess breaks down how our childhood programming shapes the way we feel about success, money, and growth, and how those old patterns quietly block the next level. We talk about safety around money, identity shifting, visualisation, and the science behind manifestation (not the fluffy version). Jess shares practical tools you can use every morning and night to reprogram your subconscious, calm your nervous system, and start embodying the woman you want to be.

This episode is for any high-achieving woman who knows she’s doing “all the right things” but still isn’t seeing the results she desires. If you feel like you’re ready to step into a bigger version of yourself in 2026, this conversation will give you the mindset, tools, and upgrades to get there.

What you’ll learn:

• Why strategy alone won’t work if your subconscious doesn’t believe you can have what you want
• Practical tools to reprogram your subconscious in the morning + at night
• How to use visualization and mental rehearsal properly (the science behind it)
• Patterns high-achieving women unknowingly repeat that sabotage growth

Connect with us:

Instagram: @itsmoniquetook

Instagram: @jessmartin__

Website: www.jessmartin.com.au

In this episode of In Her Era, we sit down with Jessica Tathem, founder of  iced&shaken, a boutique digital agency built on the belief that good marketing isn’t about chasing trends it’s about knowing which ones to own.

Together we dive deep into what it really means to show up online authentically, find confidence in your voice, and build a community that truly cares. Jess shares her journey from corporate marketing to founding her own agency, her powerful story of vulnerability during her recovery journey, and how that experience shaped her approach to connection, creativity, and community online.

This conversation goes beyond content calendars and algorithms it’s about redefining what “success” looks like in the digital space and learning to post with purpose, not pressure. Whether you’re a business owner, creator, or everyday woman sharing your story, this episode will help you reconnect with your why and make social media feel good again.

What you will learn

• How to detach your self-worth from likes, reach, and views
• Why building a community matters more than growing followers
• How to stay authentic without oversharing or burning out (Jess’s Personal Story)
• The truth about comparison, perfectionism, and confidence online
• Why your aesthetic should reflect your story not someone else’s

Connect with us:

Monique's Instagram: @itsmoniquetook

Jess's Instagram: @icedandshaken

Iced and Shaken Website

We’re evolving the outdated “glow up” trend - because let’s be real, high-achieving women are past the matching sets and green juices era. Welcome to your Hot Girl CEO Era the upgraded, masters level glow up for the woman who wants to look good, feels phenomenal in her body, and is smashing GOALS left right and center.

We dive into the three core pillars of the Hot Girl CEO, that help you not just “look like you have it together”… but actually live it, embody it, and sustain it. It’s CEO Energy, but hotter

What you will learn:

• Why the traditional “glow up” is outdated, and what successful women need instead
• How to embody Hot Girl CEO energy (beyond the aesthetics)
• The 3 categories that help you upgrade how you look, feel, and perform
• The Hot Girl CEO Toolkit - tangible habits and systems that support your biology, nervous system & success
• How to build a life you can hold, enjoy, and sustain

"This isn’t a glow up, this is your Hot Girl CEO Era. It’s not something you do, it’s who you become.”

Connect with us:

Instagram: @itsmoniquetook

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This is the gut health episode every woman needs to hear.

I’m joined by my own gut mentor, Dr. Brad Leech - PhD-qualified clinical nutritionist, researcher, and one of Australia’s leading experts in all things gut health.

If you’ve ever been confused by gut trends on TikTok or felt lost between “just take probiotics” and “do a parasite cleanse,” this episode will completely change the way you think about gut health.

We go deep into the myths, mistakes, and must-dos every high-performing woman needs to understand — from the truth about parasite cleanses and gluten, to how stress, joy, and nervous system health impact your digestion more than another supplement ever could.

Dr. Brad shares how he became one of Australia’s youngest herbalists, what led him to research leaky gut at a clinical level, and why “testing, not guessing” is the ultimate strategy for real gut healing.

This one is science-packed, trend-busting, and grounded in real, actionable strategy - exactly what the In Her Era girls deserve.

What you’ll learn:

• Why parasite cleanses might be doing more harm than good
• Why testing is so important for healing the gut
• Why joy and nervous system regulation are the missing links in gut health
• Gut trends decoded: what’s fact, what’s BS
• The real truth about gluten (and it’s opposite to what you think)

“Find what brings you joy, and your gut health will thank you.”

Connect with us:

Instagram: @itsmoniquetook

Instagram: @drbradleech

Dr Brad Leach Website: www.drbradleech.com