This episode is one of my rawest yet. A few weeks ago, I got news that shook me: my contract was ending. It wasn’t the first time in recent months I’d faced uncertainty, but this time there was no soft landing. The weight of it all sent me spiraling into self-doubt, questioning my path, my podcast, and even my worth.

I open up about:

• Facing the inner critic when life feels like déjà vu disappointment

• The pressure of birthdays and the stories we carry into each new year

• What a recent medicine journey revealed about the boxes of shame, blame, and pain I’ve buried deep

• Why this podcast is shifting from scripted to truly unfiltered — because my voice matters, even with filler words and messy emotions

If you’ve ever felt like you’re stuck in cycles of fear, shame, or “not enough,” this is for you. My hope is that by sharing my story as it is — unpolished, vulnerable, and in-progress — someone else will feel less alone.

Some Takeaways:

• It's okay to feel uncertain about your path.
• The inner critic can be loud and overwhelming.
• Sharing your story can help others feel less alone.
• Authenticity is more important than perfection.
• It's important to confront and accept all parts of yourself.
• You don't have to follow societal expectations in your creative journey.
• Vulnerability can lead to deeper connections with others.
• Your experiences are valid and deserve to be shared.
• Embracing your voice is a powerful act of self-acceptance.
• Personal growth often comes from facing difficult emotions.

From here forward, expect more of me showing up raw and real. Because healing doesn’t have to be perfect to be powerful.

In this episode, I give the "TEA"... I delve into the transformative world of dating apps and their profound impact on modern relationships. Join me and two colleagues and friends, as we explore how these digital platforms are reshaping the way we connect, love, and navigate romance. Featuring candid insights from men who share their experiences and challenges, we uncover the realities of swiping right in today's fast-paced dating scene. From the thrill of instant connections to the complexities of digital courtship, discover how dating apps are influencing the dynamics of love and relationships in the 21st century.

This is a longer episode — because this story needs space.

In this raw and personal deep dive, I’m pulling back the curtain on my hormone journey: the weight gain, insomnia, anxiety, chin hair, mood swings, PMDD… all of it. And I’m walking you through the exact 3-month hormone reset I’m implementing with the support of bioidentical progesterone and high-dose vitamin D3 + K2.

We’re talking:

• The symptoms I couldn’t ignore

• What my labs revealed (and what that really means)

• Why this is NOT a diet, detox, or hustle

• The full protocol I’m following for sleep, mood, and metabolic healing

• What I’m tracking weekly — and how you can follow along

This episode is for the woman who’s ready to stop fighting her body and start supporting it with intention.

💾 Grab the free downloads I mentioned: Mini Hormone Reset PDF including:

• 3-Month Progress Tracker
• Cycle Tracking Graphic

📺 And for the first time - you can watch this episode on YouTube! Just hit this link: Youtube.

This is healing in real-time. No filters. No quick fixes. Just honest, hormonal rebalance.

What if you didn’t have to split yourself to survive? In this episode, I’m sharing the honest, behind-the-scenes reality of holding a full-time job while building Amber-Lea Speaks - and what it means to live integrated, not overextended. This isn’t about balance or hustle. It’s about wholeness. About being the same woman in every room you walk into.

✨ Read the original Substack post:
amberleaspeaks.substack.com/p/when-your-purpose-doesnt-pay-the

🌿 Learn more + join the waitlist for The Collective:
www.amberleaspeaks.com/thecollective

This episode is different.

No script. No plan. Just me, my mic, and a moment I never thought I’d get to share.

A year ago, I could barely get out of bed. I was surviving in silence, disconnected from community, barely holding on. I was on anxiety meds that numbed me into sleep. Living in an empty apartment that matched how I felt inside. Alone. Exhausted. Afraid to hope.

But something - the tiniest ember - kept burning.

And today, I’m recording from that same couch, not because I have it all figured out, but because I know what it feels like to think your fire’s gone out... and to still hear a whisper that says, “There’s more for you.”

So I’m asking the question that found its way to me this week:
Why not you?

Why not you for healing?
Why not you for joy?
Why not you for a life that actually feels like yours?

This isn’t a pep talk or a perfect plan.
It’s a reminder - tender and true - that your ember still burns.
That you’re not too far gone.
That you do deserve to feel fully alive again.

And maybe, just maybe, this episode will find you right when you need it most.

🎧 Unpolished Truths is my corner of the internet for real, raw reflections on healing, self-trust, identity, and becoming.
If this episode speaks to you, please:
→ Share it with someone you love
→ Subscribe for weekly drops
→ Tag me @amberleaspeaks on Insta and let me know what landed

We’re just getting started.
And I’m so glad you’re here.

There comes a moment—sometimes slow, sometimes sudden...when the version of God you were handed no longer holds up. When the fear, the rules, the performance... just don’t fit anymore.

In this quiet reflection, I speak to the sacred unraveling. The grief of leaving a faith that once gave you comfort, and the strange hope of meeting the Divine again - this time, on your own terms.

This isn’t about answers. It’s about asking better questions. About making peace with doubt, and finding a spirituality rooted in love, not fear.

If you’ve ever whispered, “I don’t know what I believe anymore,” this one is for you. You’re not alone.

If you’ve ever believed creativity wasn’t for you - that you weren’t the “artsy” one, or that making things was a luxury reserved for other people, this mini-episode is for you.

In this short episode, I unpack the quiet lie so many of us absorbed: that creativity must be perfect, productive, or profitable to matter. But the truth is, creativity is a birthright. A healing act. A rebellion against the systems that told us our expression had to earn its place.

Your joy is reason enough. Your voice is valid. Your story is art.

Let this be your reminder: creativity isn’t just for them. It’s for you. It’s for us.

If you’re walking through a season that feels like loss, like silence, like everything is falling apart - you’re not alone. And this isn’t the end of your story.

In this tender voice note, I reflect on what it means to live through hard seasons without letting them define you. To hold space for grief, yes, but also to stay open to what’s still possible. To the softness. To the return. To the quiet kind of hope that sneaks in when you least expect it.

This episode is a reminder: pain doesn’t get the final word. You do.

Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is pause. Not push. Not perform. But pause.

In this short reflection, I explore what it means to create space, for your grief, your healing, your becoming. So many of us were taught to fill every silence, solve every problem, stay busy enough to avoid the ache underneath. But what if space is the medicine? What if making room for the in-between is where your truth has been waiting all along?

This is a quiet moment for your spirit. A permission slip to exhale. To remember: you don’t need to have it all figured out to be worthy of rest, gentleness, or grace.

Take a deep breath. Let this whisper find you.

This one’s for the woman standing between who she was and who she’s becoming.
The woman who no longer fits into old versions of herself: old roles, old rhythms, old expectations, but hasn’t quite figured out what comes next.

This is the messy middle.

In this episode of Unpolished Truths, I talk about what it feels like to outgrow the person you once were… while still not knowing who you’re becoming. It’s that blurry space where nothing feels certain, where the urge to rush into reinvention is loud, but the wisdom to stay soft is louder.

We don’t talk enough about this part.
The part where the mask doesn’t fit anymore, but the truth still feels too raw to name.
Where everything you once performed with ease now feels like someone else’s life.

I share a bit of my own story of identity unraveling and how I’ve learned, over and over again, that becoming isn’t always loud or confident. Sometimes, it looks like stillness. Sometimes, it looks like exhaustion. Sometimes, it looks like grace you didn’t think you deserved.

This episode is a reminder that you don’t have to define what’s next.
You just have to keep listening.
Keep showing up.
And let yourself be rewritten gently, without shame.

If you’re in the middle of your own shift...this one’s for you.
You’re not lost.
You’re in transition.
And that’s sacred, too.