What happens when you stop silencing yourself?

I had such a good conversation with She Heals The World about something I think so many of us are navigating — finding our way back to ourselves underneath all the roles, expectations, responsibilities and noise.

I’m a mom of two, I’ve spent over a decade in operational strategy and leadership in tech, and I’m also a coach. Somewhere along the way, I realized that the work I was doing professionally and the work I was doing personally were actually deeply connected — and that realization eventually led me to create my UNMUTE Method.

In this conversation, we talk about what it means to come back to yourself, trust your own voice, regulate your nervous system, take up space and stop waiting for permission to be who you actually are.

We also get into the messy parts of figuring it all out — because I definitely don't have life perfectly figured out, and honestly, I don't think any of us do.

This is your reminder that you don't necessarily need to become someone new.

You might just need to stop muting the woman you already are.

✨ In this episode, we talk about:
• My journey from tech leadership into coaching
• Why I created the UNMUTE Method
• Coming back to yourself when you've lost touch with what you actually want
• Nervous system regulation and why it matters
• Learning to trust yourself
• Finding your voice and expressing what you really feel
• Taking up space without apologizing for it
• The challenges that have shaped me along the way
• And why we're all just figuring it out as we go

If something in this conversation hits home, I'd love to hear from you. Come find me over on Instagram @laurencollcoaching or visit my website below.

🌐 laurencollcoaching.com

And a huge thank you to She Heals The World for having me.

🌐 shehealstheworld.com
📲 @shehealstheworld

#LaurenColl #Lo'sCouch #UNMUTED #UNMUTEMethod #SheHealsTheWorld #WomensCoaching #SelfTrust #NervousSystemRegulation

You're not broken—you've learned how to cope.

Have you ever found yourself reaching for food, scrolling your phone, saying "yes" when you wanted to say "no," or staying endlessly busy just to avoid sitting with your thoughts?

You're not alone.

In this episode of Lo's Couch, we're talking about the coping mechanisms we all develop to survive life's hardest moments—and how to recognize when those same habits are no longer helping us heal.

I'll share my own struggle with emotional eating, the question that's completely changed the way I think about my habits, and a simple framework to help you respond to yourself with more compassion and less shame.

If you've ever wondered why you keep falling into the same patterns, this episode is for you.

• Why coping mechanisms aren't character flaws
• The difference between coping and avoiding
• How your body often recognizes stress before your mind does
• Why willpower isn't enough to change old habits
• How to replace unhealthy coping strategies with healthier ones
• Why healing begins with curiosity instead of criticism
• 
  

The next time you catch yourself reaching for your go-to coping mechanism, pause and ask yourself:

"What am I actually needing right now?"

That one question might change everything.

🤍 Free Resource:

Download my Calm Reset Guide—five simple practices to help you move from overwhelm back to yourself.

If this episode encouraged you, share it with a friend who needs the reminder that they're not broken—they're coping.

And if you're enjoying Lo's Couch, leaving a rating and review helps more people find these conversations.

🌐 Website: ⁠⁠https://www.laurencollcoaching.com⁠⁠

📸 Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/itslaurencoll⁠⁠

🛋️ Lo's Couch Podcast Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/loscouchpodcast⁠⁠

Lo's Couch on YouTube:

⁠https://youtu.be/boMrRVLTVKE?si=eg_1HLgIBzXVCxjc

Have you ever fallen behind on something that mattered to you—and then started believing it said something about who you are?

Maybe it was your workout routine. Your creativity. Your faith. A friendship. A project you couldn't seem to finish.

What if the hardest part wasn't falling behind...

What if it was the story you started telling yourself because you did?

After missing three weeks of podcast episodes, I realized I wasn't just carrying a full calendar. I was carrying a story that quietly convinced me I wasn't the kind of person who follows through anymore.

In this episode, I'm sharing the unexpected lesson that came from a vase of wilted flowers, the psychology behind why our brains rush to make meaning when life gets messy, and the three questions that helped me interrupt shame before it became my identity.

If you've been waiting until you feel "ready" to come back to something you love, this conversation is for you.

Because maybe...

you don't have to earn your way back in.

• Why falling behind often becomes an identity instead of just an experience
• How shame quietly rewrites the story we tell ourselves
• The surprising lesson I learned from a vase of forgotten flowers
• Why our brains rush to create meaning—and why that first story isn't always the truest one
• The difference between character and capacity
• Three questions to help you interrupt shame and begin again
• Why coming back isn't something you earn—it's something you practice

The next time you catch yourself believing one hard season defines who you are, pause and ask yourself:

1. Am I actually failing... or am I carrying more than I realized?
2. What would I say to someone I love if she handed me this exact season?
3. If the story I'm telling myself isn't the whole truth... what story is more honest?

"The hardest part wasn't falling behind. The hardest part was believing what falling behind said about who I was."

Find one area of your life where you've quietly convinced yourself you've "fallen too far behind."

Instead of asking, "What's wrong with me?"

Ask the three questions from today's episode.

Then take one small step.

Water the flowers.

Send the text.

Open the notebook.

Begin again.

• Download THE CALM RESET
• Follow along on Instagram: www.instagram.com/loscouchpodcast
• Visit the website: www.laurencollcoaching.com

Would you share it with someone who's been carrying a little too much lately?

Sometimes the people we love don't need more advice.

They just need someone to remind them that one hard season doesn't get to tell the whole story of their life.

And if this episode resonated with you, leaving a rating or review helps more people find these conversations. It means more than you know.

What happens when you stop waiting to feel qualified and start trusting yourself instead?

This week on Lo's Couch, I'm joined by my friend and the co-founder of thinkii, an app designed to simplify the mental load by bringing all your lists into one place.

But this conversation isn't really about building an app.

It's about being a mom of two girls with a full-time corporate career and a big idea that wouldn't leave you alone.

For over a decade, Alysha built her career as an operations leader while quietly working behind the scenes to create a solution to a problem she experienced firsthand. Alongside her co-founder, she took a leap into entrepreneurship without a roadmap, or certainty about how it would all work out.

In this honest conversation, we talk about what it really looks like to bet on yourself, build something before you're ready, navigate career changes, and show your children what courage looks like in real time.

If you've ever had an idea that keeps tugging at you, this episode is your reminder that extraordinary things are often built by ordinary women who decide to start before they have all the answers.

✨ The story behind creating thinkii

✨ Balancing motherhood, corporate life, and entrepreneurship

✨ Building something without feeling fully qualified

✨ Investing in yourself before you know the outcome✨ The lessons entrepreneurship teaches

✨ The example she's hoping to set for her daughters

✨ Why waiting until you're "ready" might be holding you back

🌐 Website: https://www.thinkii.app

📱 App Store: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/thinkii-brain-dump-to-do/id6749024197

🤖 Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.thinkii.app

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkii.app

🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thinkii.app

💬 Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkiiapp/

If this conversation inspired you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a woman who needs this reminder:

You don't have to feel ready to start.

Because sometimes the bravest thing you can do is trust yourself enough to take the first step.

🌐 Website: ⁠https://www.laurencollcoaching.com⁠

📸 Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/itslaurencoll⁠

🛋️ Lo's Couch Podcast Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/loscouchpodcast⁠

Lo's Couch on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/boMrRVLTVKE?si=eg_1HLgIBzXVCxjc

And before you go, think about the question I ask every guest on Lo's Couch:

What's something you're scared to say out loud right now?

🤍 Lo

Have you ever looked at your life and thought:

"I know what I want... so why do I keep getting in my own way?"

This week on Lo's Couch, we're talking about the stories that quietly shape our lives—the ones we didn't consciously choose but somehow keep living from.

Inspired by Magnetic by Rochelle Fox, this conversation explores subconscious beliefs, nervous system patterns, and the survival strategies that can become identities long after the season that created them has ended.

I share the question from the book that stopped me in my tracks:

What am I gaining from staying the same?

We unpack why familiar pain can feel safer than unfamiliar possibility, how old stories influence our decisions, and why awareness is often the first step toward change.

I also share a deeply personal story about losing my brother when my youngest son was just ten weeks old—and how a survival strategy that helped me through grief quietly became part of the way I moved through the world for years afterward.

If you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, disconnected from yourself, or unsure why certain patterns keep repeating, this episode is for you.

✨ The question that changed how I think about personal growth

✨ Why survival strategies often become identities

✨ The hidden payoff behind the patterns we want to change

✨ How subconscious beliefs shape our choices

✨ A simple journaling prompt to uncover the story underneath your struggles

✨ Why awareness isn't failure—it's progress

Grab something warm, get comfortable, and come sit.

• Magnetic by Rochelle Fox
• Mindspo
• www.laurencollcoaching.com

Your Take Away:

I stopped speaking up because...

Write the first answer that comes up.

Don't edit it.

Don't make it sound healed.

Just tell the truth.

I cried at school drop-off this morning. Not because something went wrong — because someone finally saw what I'd been carrying for six years.

This episode is one of the most personal things I've ever recorded. I'm talking about my son Jackson, his Sensory Processing Disorder, the ADHD assessment we're in the middle of right now, and what it's actually like to parent a child who holds it together perfectly at school and completely falls apart the second he's home.

But this episode isn't just about him.

Somewhere in the middle of trying to understand my son, I started seeing myself. And if you're a woman who has ever wondered why life seems harder for you than it does for everyone around you — this one is for you.

We cover:→ The guilt mothers carry when they can't explain their child's struggles→ After-school restraint collapse — and why it's not bad behavior→ What it's like when two loving parents see completely different versions of the same child→ The question that cracked everything open: what if I wasn't failing?

If nobody has said this to you lately — you are not imagining it. You are not too much. You are not failing. You are paying attention.

Come sit.

📖 Sensory Processing Disorder — if you want to learn more, search for resources through STAR Institute for Sensory Processing (sensoryhealth.org)

📖 After-school restraint collapse — watch this quick YouTube video if this episode landed for you. You'll find a lot of validation there.

📖 ADHD for Smart Ass Women — or search "ADHD in women symptoms" and prepare to have your whole life reframed.

🛋️ Unmuted — the self-paced course for women who are really, really good at being okay and really, really tired of it.→ laurencollcoaching.com/unmuted

📲 Instagram — come find me and send a DM if this episode hit home.

→ @itslaurencoll

→ @loscouchpodcast

Share it with a mom who has been carrying something nobody else can see. Sometimes the most healing thing in the world is realizing: oh. It's not just me.

Leave a review if you feel moved to — it helps other women find this show.

Lo's Couch is a podcast for women who are done being okay and ready to become unmuted.

New episodes every Tuesday.

My son struck out tonight. Five pitches. Five swings. Five misses. And on the drive home, I realized he was doing exactly what so many of us do every single day — and it's quietly costing us everything.

In this episode, we talk about one of the sneakiest forms of self-abandonment: quitting on yourself too soon. Not because something isn't aligned — but because you got hurt. Because disappointment is uncomfortable. Because trying again means risking another strikeout.

I'm sharing the framework that changed how I talk to myself — the difference between an experience and an identity — and why the stories we tell ourselves in our most painful moments shape absolutely everything.

If you've been sitting on the sidelines because something didn't work, this one is for you.

Show Notes:

🎙️ In this episode:

• ​Why disappointment is such a defining moment
• ​The dangerous habit of turning one experience into an identity
• ​Why wounded people mistake fear for wisdom
• ​The framework for separating what happened from who you are
• ​A simple question to ask yourself before you quit

📩 Want more support between episodes?

Join The UNMUTED Letters — a weekly note on self-trust, self-abandonment, and coming back to yourself.

One quiet Saturday morning. A bedroom door that slowly creaks open. And a spiral that had absolutely nothing to do with cuddling.

You've become so good at needing so little that one hour of silence started feeling like the most you could possibly ask for.

This episode is about what happens when you reduce your needs so far down that a single peaceful morning carries the weight of everything you've never said. Not just about solitude. About what it costs to keep disappearing — quietly, slowly, one small "it's fine" at a time.

In this episode:

→ Why introverts need solitude to function — and what happens when they don't get it

→ The mental load: what it actually is and why you're probably carrying more of it than you realize

→ Why suppressing needs doesn't remove them — it just delays them until they come out as resentment

→ What Lo actually said to Andrew — and why it took so long to say it

→ Why clarity is kinder than resentment, even when it's awkward before caffeine

📷 INSTAGRAM

@itslaurencoll

@lotscouchpodcast

If this episode landed, share it with one woman who needs to hear it. That's how this show grows — woman to woman.

Lo's Couch is a podcast for women who have quietly lost themselves — and are finding their way back. New episodes every week.

You didn't go quiet because you're weak. You didn't go quiet because you have nothing to say.

You went quiet because you were taught — in a hundred small moments — that being fully expressed came with a cost.

This episode is about the real reasons women stop speaking. Not shyness. Not personality. Conditioning. And once you can see it clearly, you stop calling it a character flaw.

In this episode:

→ The "too much" message most women absorbed before they could name it

→ How caregiving teaches women to disappear — and why we reward it

→ Why silence isn't just psychological — it lives in your body

→ What it actually costs to keep performing okay

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📸 INSTAGRAM

@itslaurencoll

@lotscouchpodcast

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If this episode landed, share it with one woman who needs to hear it. That's how this show grows — woman to woman.

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Lo's Couch is a podcast for women who have quietly lost themselves — and are finding their way back. New episodes every week.

How many times have you said:

“I just don’t know…”

when deep down… you actually do?

In this episode of Lo’s Couch, we’re talking about overthinking, intuition, emotional avoidance, and the uncomfortable truth that many of us already know what needs to change — we’re just scared of what happens once we admit it out loud.

I’m sharing:

• why confusion can feel safer than honesty
• how overthinking keeps us stuck
• the moment my coach helped me realize my body was trying to warn me about someone
• what it looked like to admit I wasn’t happy in my corporate career

• and why saying the thing out loud changes everything

This conversation is for the women who feel stuck in their heads, disconnected from themselves, emotionally exhausted, or afraid to admit they want more.

Because maybe you’re not actually confused.

Maybe there’s just a part of you waiting for you to finally listen.

Come sit. 🤍

✨ LINKS

📲 Connect with me personally:
https://instagram.com/itslaurencoll

🎙️ Follow the podcast on Instagram:
https://instagram.com/loscouchpodcast

🤍 Looking for deeper support, coaching, or a space to reconnect with yourself?
Book a free connection call or explore coaching here:
https://www.laurencollcoaching.com

🎧 If this episode resonated with you, make sure to follow the podcast and share it with someone who might need this conversation too.