The Self Made Life Podcast

Where does your own health sit on your to-do list? If the honest answer is "somewhere under the kids' lunches, client calls, and the laundry," this episode is for you.

I'm sitting down with Dr. Jessica Day, chiropractor and owner of Blue Haven Wellness in Barrie, Ontario. Jess opened her clinic one month before her wedding, started with a team of three, and is now leading a multidisciplinary team of ten. She works with a lot of women, new parents, and newborns, which basically means people who take care of everyone but themselves.

We talk about what energy actually means, why so many of us are running on empty without noticing, and what it looks like to protect it while you grow a business you love. Jess also shares how she's growing without losing the culture that got her here, and why she's bringing on another chiropractor so her business can grow with her life instead of needing her in the room every time.

In this episode:

Connect with Dr. Jess: Instagram: @drjessiicadayy and @bluehavenwellness Website: bluehavenwellness.ca Book an appointment: https://bluehavenwellness.janeapp.com/

Wellness practice owner in a growth season? If your brand hasn't caught up to where your business is going, book a call with Monarch Design Co.: https://themonarchdesign.co/contact

Haunted house tour, entrepreneur edition 👻

Six things quietly haunting your business, and the real stories behind each one: the 2017 logo you hide from on proposals, the Monday inbox monster, scope creep, the "how's your little business going?" question at family dinners, tax season dread, and the outdated website sending dream clients to someone else.

Plus: the $30K tax surprise that became my maternity leave, and what changed when I redid my own brand and website.

Ready to close the gap between the business you've built and the brand that represents it? Book a discovery call at themonarchdesign.co/contact or DM @monarchdesignco.

You have about 10 seconds before someone decides whether they trust you online. Ashley breaks down the three brand signals buyers read before they ever read your copy (visual consistency, messaging that sounds like you, and authenticity over perfection) plus three things to do this week so people land on your page and feel like they already know you.

Book a free discovery call 

Bianca DiPietro has spent her career building other people's brands — first as a professor at Humber College (where she and Ashley actually taught together), then leading creative at HelloFresh Canada and Chefs Plate, and now running the design team at Jane App, the practice management software a huge number of Ashley's own health and wellness clients use every day.

But when it came to building her own personal brand, Bianca couldn't do it alone — so she came to Monarch.

In this episode, Ashley and Bianca get into how Bianca builds design teams that move fast without losing brand personality, the "safe" branding advice she actively ignores (hint: it involves the big dramatic rebrand reveal), and why even the most experienced creative in the room is often too close to see their own brand clearly. Plus: roller derby, donuts, and running lessons that made her a better leader.

In this episode:

Connect with Bianca on Instagram @biancadipietro or on her website www.createwithbianca.com

One hundred episodes. (Technically 101, because we started at zero. Overachievers. lol)

This one's a little different. No framework, no five steps. Just me, looking back at how The Self Made Life Podcast started, everything that's shifted since, and where the show is headed next.

Here's what most people don't know: I wasn't the host of Episode Zero. It wasn't my podcast. It wasn't even my idea. It was Sydney's, and she pulled in our friend Megan and me at the end of 2018. We had no idea what we were doing. We just pressed record.

In this episode, I share:

Plus, Sydney and Megan drop in with voice notes to share what they're up to now.

If you're in the middle of your own pivot, or your brand feels like it's holding you back, I'd love to chat. Book a discovery call at themonarchdesign.co/contact.

Tell me which episodes stuck with you: DM @monarchdesignco on Instagram or email [email protected].

Here's to the next 100.

What if you're not grieving wrong? What if nobody ever told you the truth about grief?

This week I'm joined by Ashley Quenneville, a certified grief coach, end-of-life doula, and the founder of Tranquil Waters. Ashley spent eight years trying to have a baby while losing seven people she loved. Then she lost her grandmother, her best friend, in hospice. That peaceful goodbye changed everything about how she saw death, and it became the reason she does this work.

We talk about:

If you've ever laughed at the wrong moment or wondered who you even are anymore, this one's for you.

Connect with Ashley: Instagram @tranquilwaterstransition Join Navigating the Waves: her 8-week virtual grief support group (DM her on Instagram)

If you're struggling: In Canada, call or text 9-8-8 for the Suicide Crisis Helpline. For perinatal mental health support, Postpartum Support International: 1-800-944-4773. If you're in immediate danger, call 911.

If your website looks fine but isn't converting, the problem probably started long before launch day.

Ashley Wyatt, founder of Monarch Design Co., breaks down the order of operations for building a brand that books: brand strategy and identity, then messaging and copy, then the website. She explains why skipping steps leads to expensive redos, why copy has to come before design, and how to phase the investment if doing it all at once isn't realistic.

In this episode:

🎧 Share this one with a friend who's about to build a website. It might save them from a very expensive mistake.

Book a discovery call: themonarchdesign.co/contact Instagram: @monarchdesignco

Mentioned in this episode:

If your website looks fine but isn't converting, the problem probably started long before launch day.

Ashley Wyatt, founder of Monarch Design Co., breaks down the order of operations for building a brand that books: brand strategy and identity, then messaging and copy, then the website. She explains why skipping steps leads to expensive redos, why copy has to come before design, and how to phase the investment if doing it all at once isn't realistic.

In this episode:

🎧 Share this one with a friend who's about to build a website. It might save them from a very expensive mistake.

Book a discovery call: themonarchdesign.co/contact Instagram: @monarchdesignco

Mentioned in this episode:

Elyse Berendson is back on the show, and she's in the middle of another pivot. We talk about starting over at 38, her new It Girl quiz, why women still feel uncomfortable talking about money, and how to build a business and brand that fits who you actually are instead of copying someone else's strategy.

Connect with Elyse: @elyseberendson | stan.store/elyseberendson

I recently sat down with my business coach Kelsey Kerslake on her show, The Aligned Business Podcast, and I'm resharing it here because it's honest in a way I don't always get to be.

We talk about rebuilding Monarch Design Co. after two babies, a job loss, and a fixer-upper renovation all hit at once and what it took to go from "98% not profitable" to booking out months in advance. I also open up about how I use an AI coach called Soul to work through the moments that don't fit neatly into a Tuesday coaching call: sick kid weeks, soccer field meltdowns, pricing conversations, the whole mess of running a business and a household at the same time.

The doors to The Art of Becoming, the program built around Sol, are open right now. Keep listening, I share exactly what it is and how to join partway through.