There's the version of yourself you've been told to be and then there's the one who shows up when the recording keeps going because the conversation is too good to stop. This week, Thea, Audrey, and Lana couldn't stop yapping, and what unfolds is a raw examination of the work that doesn't show up in your business plans: discernment, friendship dynamics, and the discipline of knowing which race you're actually running.

This conversation is what happened when we realized we weren't done processing, and hit record again. Audrey shares her journey of being labeled "too much" and why she's finally done apologizing for taking up space. Lana dissects the difference between friends who project their bench onto your Olympic aspirations. And Thea reminds us that agility (not rigid planning!) is the only framework that serves the most demanding lives.

What emerges a conversation about frameworks: how to schedule your life first, how to recognize when advice is actually projection, and why the most important work you'll do in 2026 will very likely be the discernment no one sees.

LISTEN IN FOR...

1. The "too much" narrative women inherit and why reclaiming it is an act of sovereignty.
2. Audrey's "green broke" revelation: what happens when structure collapses and you have to rebuild from authenticity instead of achievement.
3. The Olympic team metaphor: understanding friendship dynamics when some people want to jog around the track and others are training for gold.
4. Why verbal processing is simply how some of us think.
5. The projection problem: how to recognize when you're giving advice to yourself instead of trying on someone else's limitations.
6. Agility as the antidote to rigid planning and why asking "what do I really want right now?" is the most strategic question you can ask in the new year.
7. The work that moves the needle: discernment, rest, and friendship.
8. Why scheduling your life first is the litmus test for whether you're creating the life of your dreams or just checking boxes.
9. Eldest daughter energy, second child chaos, and birth order baggage we're all still unpacking.
10. The courage to protect your time and energy without apology (because it's okay to let people find their own team).

TL;DR (MINUTE BY MINUTE)

1. 00:00 The episode that wasn't supposed to happen: why conversation deserves more than a hard stop.
2. 02:30 The open seat invitation: this is a group chat, not a lecture series.
3. 03:50 "Green broke" and barely broke: Audrey's sweatshirt and the second child who learned to boss herself around.
4. 04:30 When structure collapses: the bro energy that got her far, and the authenticity that got her further.
5. 07:00 "You're too much": unpacking the narrative women are handed and why it's time to hand it back.
6. 12:15 The Olympic team vs. running the track: why your friends need to know which race you're in.
7. 18:40 Verbal processing and why apologizing for how you think is exhausting.
8. 24:00 The projection trap: recognizing when advice comes from your own story.
9. 29:30 Agility over rigidity: why flexibility is the most strategic advantage you need.
10. 35:00 The work that matters: discernment, rest, friendship and the boring priorities that actually move the needle.
11. 41:00 Scheduling your life first: the radical act of prioritizing what you think will "wait."
12. 47:00 Knowing their goals before giving advice: the considerate work of meeting people where they are.
13. 50:30 The answer that doesn't look like the answer: tedious, boring, and utterly essential.

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE

1. Your turn: What resonated? Which conversation do you need to have? Tag our host Thea @thea.does.all.the.things and let's keep this conversation going.
2. Download the playbook: Did you miss this?! Thea dropped her entire strategy framework last week free, comprehensive, and proven. Stop whining, start implementing. Get THE PLAYBOOK now.
3. Request a seat at the table: Want us to sit down with someone? Know a woman who's doing the work and deserves the conversation? Slide into the DMs or shoot us an email at [email protected] - because we're drafting the group chat of 2026.
4. You're in the conversation now: Subscribe to the podcast, share this episode with the friend who needs to hear it, and keep showing up. This is where driven women talk about the discernment, the friendships, the agility, and the audacity it takes to refuse to settle.
5. Thea Larsen: @thea.does.all.the.things
6. Audrey Hall: @audreyetta
7. Lana Wilkes: @small.town.preachers.wife

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