The Empowered with Ash Podcast

🎙️ This Week’s Guest: Tara De Leon

Tara De Leon is a weight-neutral trainer who helps her clients build healthy habits — not chase smaller body sizes. From being named the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s Trainer of the Year (2024) to becoming a best-selling author of Hot Mess to Hot Mom, Tara has built an incredible career rooted in empowerment, authenticity, and joy.

She’s now helping other trainers do the same — creating programs that emphasize confidence, sustainability, and a more balanced approach to fitness.

In this episode, Tara brings humor, vulnerability, and real talk to the pod. You’ll leave feeling seen, inspired, and empowered to embrace health in a way that truly supports your life — not controls it.

✨ Connect with Tara:
Instagram: @tara_de_leon_fitness
🎧 Listen to her podcast Wellness Rebranded on any streaming platform
📖 Grab her book Hot Mess to Hot Mom on Amazon

🎙 This week’s guest: my business bestie, Gena Taylor!

Gena is the owner of A Stronger Tomorrow LLC, and she’s a food freedom, fitness, and body confidence coach who specializes in helping perfectionist women heal food guilt and build a body they love — without obsession or restrictive habits.

In this episode, Gena gets vulnerable as she opens up about her past eating disorders — from restricting food so much that she didn’t have the energy to walk up and down the stairs or even get dressed, to overindulging and gaining 50 pounds in a month.

She shares it all — and how she’s worked hard to get to a place where she now lives “Fit Without Obsession,” treating her body and mind with love, grace, and kindness. 💛

✨ Hope you enjoy this powerful, vulnerable and heartfelt conversation!

⚠️ Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussions of eating disorders.

You can find Gena on instagram at @thefitbean_

If the thought of eating chicken, rice, and broccoli makes you want to gag—but you’re trying to lose fat—this episode is for you!

I’ve worked with dozens of clients, and every single one of them lost fat while following a diet tailored to their own preferences. In this episode, I’m busting the myth that there’s a one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition on your fat loss journey.

I’ll walk you through how to create a diet you actually enjoy while still achieving fat loss. By the end of this episode, you’ll see that you don't have to eat rice cakes just because your favorite fitness influencer told you to and you indeed can still enjoy your favorite chocolate chip cookie. 😉

Hope you enjoy!

This week, my amazing client Bre joins me on the pod to dive into her journey over the past few years working together. From a time where the gym and food consumed her every thought… to now living in true freedom — rooted in self-healing, balance, and peace.

Bre holds nothing back. She opens up about her initial hesitation to get help, struggles with body image, perfectionism, and all the messy and rewarding moments in between.

This episode will leave you feeling INSPIRED, SEEN, and FIRED UP to keep going on your journey. I hope you love listening as much as I did recording.

OH — and don’t forget to DM @breezibree on Instagram to bring her podcast back 😉 #doitanyway (you’ll know why after this epi)

In this episode, I talk you through how to cultivate a positive relationship with social media and curate your feeds to inspire and empower you rather than drain your energy or trigger a menty b during your lunch break. If you're someone who finds yourself stuck in the comparison trap, frequently doom scrolling OR feeling overwhelmed or put down when you check your social media feeds...this episode is for you!

Today, the lovely Raeven Blair joins me on the pod! Raeven is a friend and fellow fitness/nutrition coach. She gets raw and vulnerable on the pod sharing her story with us. From overcoming an eating disorder to experiencing homelessness to battles with mental health. Raeven shares with us how each adversity has shaped her outlook on life... which is to simply be grateful and control what you can. You'll leave this episode feeling inspired and fired up to chase after your goals and use gratitude as your secret weapon to success just like Raeven. 

TRIGGER WARNING: this episode contains talk about eating disorders and suicide.  

You can find Raeven on Instagram and Tik Tok @raevenblairfit

In this week's episode, the lovely Lydia Rose joins me on the pod to chat all about skin care!! What viral tik toks are myth vs fact? How important is sunscreen? and what do we need to be doing to have glowing healthy skin?? Lydia answers all these questions and MORE. Such a fun episode and so informative.

You can find Lydia on instagram and tiktok at @theegeminiglow and at glow studios in Ashburn, VA

https://linktr.ee/theegeminiglow?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=e17eae5f-0c15-47f4-ac0c-bd0f3cc44779

In this week's episode, I talk about how confidence is NOT just a mindset... it is so much more multifaceted. As someone who has been insecure and uncomfortable in her body at her largest and her leanest... in my healing journey I have learned what confidence TRULY IS beyond the aesthetics. From how you take care of your body, to building self trust, to stepping in to an identity that actually serves you. Give this a listen to learn how to start cultivating confidence within yourself and your body. 

Jamie Renee is back on the pod! We talk about our experiences transitioning off hormonal birth control after a DECADE of being on it. Jamie, who is now a functional health practitioner, educates us on what happens to your body when you are on hormonal birth control for long periods of time, how to support your body when transitioning off of it and how to navigate life and your menstraul cycle post hormonal birth control. The purpose of this conversation is to educate you and empower you to understand your body on a deeper level while also sharing our lived experiences. 

KNOW YOUR FLOW: https://flourish-for-life-coaching-f4l.kit.com/3487b37f16 

You can find Jamie on Instagram at @Jamiereneefit AND at https://flourishforlifecoaching.com/

In this week's episode, Dr. Shirlea North joins me on the pod! She is the CEO and founder of NorthStar Physical Therapy, LLC. Shirlea teaches us about the importance of pelvic and lymphatic health in every stage of life as a woman. From intimacy with your partner, to prenatal/ post partum health, all the way to experiencing menopause and postmenopause..we cover it all! You will learn from this podcast that your pelvis is quite literally the keystone of the body and has a huge impact in to your overall health and well-being. 

You can connect with Shirlea at

Website: www.northstardpt.com 

Instagram: @drshirleanorth 

Facebook: NorthStar Physical Therapy 

Podcast: NorthStar Physical Therapy