Shamelessly Ambitious I Helping Ambitious Women Prevent Burnout + Create Nervous System First Success in Business, Motherhood, & Life

203. The Grief of a Declining Business: Identity, Income & Starting Over with Megan Yelaney

Welcome to the Grief Series, a collection of conversations about the grief woven throughout our lives with some extraordinary women bringing their raw, vulnerable stories to the mic. I hope you see yourself somewhere in these stories. … This episode is for anyone who has watched a business they built go from printing money to something they barely recognize, and had to figure out who they are on the other side of that. My guest, Megan Yelaney, built her coaching business to insane heights during the golden era of 2018 to 2022, five-x-ed her income, lost her father-in-law && then her dad within fifteen months of each other, had a miscarriage, got pregnant, had twin boys, && came back to a business that just wasn't working anymore. She's one of the most honest people I've had in my corner, and she brought every bit of that honesty here. TOPICS WE EXPLORE The golden era of online coaching && what happened when it ended Watching your income decline && pretending everything is fine The imposter spiral when your numbers don't match your reputation Coming back postpartum to a business that tanked What she had to let die to rebuild with integrity Comparison, viral moments, && the benchmarks that rob you of joy Why unsexily consistent is the only thing that actually works Building back to 100K months in under 30 hours a week THE POINT The grief of a declining business isn't just about money, it's about watching an identity you built your whole entrepreneurial-life around stop fitting. The only way out is to stop comparing yourself to a version of you that was built on circumstances you can't recreate, && start building something that actually belongs to you now. ABOUT MEGAN Megan Yelaney is a business coach && strategist who helps online coaches && service providers find and message their distinctive edge, the specific combination of story, process, && approach that makes them unmistakably them. She's based in Babylon, New York, is a theater girly, && is mom to two-and-a-half-year-old twin boys. After a complete rebuild in 2024, she had an almost $200K cash quarter && she is just getting started. Find her on Instagram @meganyelaney && on her podcast Business Not as Usual. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Business Not as Usual (Megan’s podcast) Ash on Business Not as UsualWith Megan Shamelessly Ambitious Soundcheck (free curated episode playlists) Work with Ash Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

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202. The Grief of Motherhood: Ambition, Identity Crisis & the Versions We Leave Behind with Sophia Parra

Welcome to the Grief Series, a collection of conversations about the grief woven throughout our lives with some extraordinary women bringing their raw, vulnerable stories to the mic. I hope you see yourself somewhere in these stories. … This episode is for the woman who fought hard to build something she loved, then had a baby && came back to her desk crying because she hated all of it. My guest, Sophia Rose, is a marketing coach, strategist, and IVF mom based in London. She had a business she was deeply proud of, a husband who showed up, and a clear picture of the kind of mom she wanted to be. None of that prepared her for sitting at her to-do list a few months postpartum && feeling like she was wearing someone else's shirt. She brought all of that here, one year out, still in it, && more honest than most people ever let themselves be. TOPICS WE EXPLORE The identity crisis nobody warned her about (even though her friend tried) Coming back to a business she'd built from the ground up && feeling nothing The fog of postpartum grief Saying goodbye to breastfeeding without knowing it was the last time The duality of motherhood: joy && grief in the same breath How navigating loss reshapes your tolerance for things that don't matter The superpowers that come on the other side of falling apart What she wants women to know before they have their first baby THE POINT You don't graduate from the grief of motherhood. You just get better at walking through the doors it keeps opening. && if you can stop fighting it, it will change you in the best possible way. ABOUT SOPHIA Sophia Rose is a marketing coach, strategist, host of Marketing Unfiltered, and co-host of Relatable with the Roses alongside her husband Bradley, a Peloton cycling instructor. She helps business owners cut through the noise and market in a way that actually works, and she does it from London with her IVF son Grayson. Find her podcast Marketing Unfiltered && Relatable with the Roses. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Marketing Unfiltered (Sophia's marketing podcast) Relatable with the Roses (Sophia's podcast with husband Bradley Rose) Ash on Marketing Unfiltered - Breaking the Cycle of High-Functioning Burnout Shamelessly Ambitious Soundcheck (free curated episode playlists) Work with Ash Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

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201. The Grief of Losing Your Parents: Caregiving, Business & Keeping Life Moving with Cait Howard

Welcome to the Grief Series, a collection of conversations about the grief woven throughout our lives with some extraordinary women bringing their raw, vulnerable stories to the mic. I hope you see yourself somewhere in these stories. … This episode is for anyone who has ever had to keep showing up while watching someone they love disappear. My guest, Cait Howard, has experienced profound loss while building a business, raising three little girls, and navigating the many roles life has asked of her. Somehow, through all of it, she has kept moving forward. She brought so much honesty, wisdom, and heart to this conversation, and I think it’s one you’ll carry with you long after it ends. TOPICS WE EXPLORE Losing two parents in a short period of time Being a new mom && a caregiver at the same time The guilt of being pulled in every direction at once How subconscious work changed the way she moved through her mom's illness Big G grief && little G grief How she protects herself through the grief Navigating a business partnership with your husband through loss What she wishes someone had told her THE POINT Grief doesn't have an endpoint. It has seasons && the only way through it is to let it be your own. ABOUT CAIT Cait Howard is the founder of Amplify Boutique, a podcast launch and management agency, and co-host of the Podcasting Moms Conference. She helps women get their voices && messages into the world through podcasting… she does it from just outside Nashville with her husband && their three little girls. Find her on Instagram @heycaithoward and at amplifyboutique.com. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Amplify Boutique (Cait's podcast agency) Shamelessly Ambitious Soundcheck (free curated episode playlists) Work with Ash Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

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200. The Grief of Being Witnessed: What My Husband Really Thinks About Being Married to an Ambitious Woman with Jake McDonald

Welcome to the Grief Series, a collection of conversations about the grief woven throughout our lives with some extraordinary women && men bringing their raw, vulnerable stories to the mic. I hope you see yourself somewhere in these stories. --- This is episode 200 and I knew I had to make it count. I brought on my favorite person in the world, my husband Jake, for the most honest conversation we've ever had on record. We went into his grief around identity and purpose when I was the breadwinner, the resentment he carried for years, what it actually costs to be the supportive one, && what had to die in both of us for our marriage to become what it is today. This one is for every ambitious woman who has ever wondered what her partner is really carrying && every man who has never had the language to say it out loud. TOPICS WE EXPLORE Jake's identity crisis when I became the primary breadwinner The grief of losing your sense of purpose and provider identity Resentment he buried for years and what it actually looked like How my ambition triggered his comparison and jealousy What I had to stop doing for him to step into who he wanted to be Why slowing down in my business saved our marriage The hyper-independence that was costing me the partnership I wanted What Jake sees when nobody's watching What ambitious women get wrong about their husbands THE POINT Sometimes the grief inside a marriage is a man who doesn't know how to say he feels purposeless. Sometimes it's a woman who's so busy holding everything that she never leaves room to be held. Both of those things can be true at the same time && both of them can change. ABOUT JAKE Jake is my husband, my best friend, my baby daddy, && the person who knows me better than anyone in the world. He showed up to this conversation with zero prep && more honesty than most people manage in a lifetime of therapy. We've been together 16 years, married for 12, raised three kids, traveled the world full time, filed for bankruptcy, rebuilt, && somehow ended up in the best season of our marriage yet. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Jake's week-long mental health onsite in Tennessee Work with Ash Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

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199. Your Life Is What You Tolerate: The Mindset Shift That Changed My Summer

If you've been white-knuckling your way through a season and calling it productivity, this one is going to hit. Sometimes grief isn't about loss… sometimes it's about the story you've been telling yourself so many times it started to feel like fact. A few weeks into summer, I caught my own brain running a narrative I didn't even realize had taken over. I was ending every day feeling like everything was too much and the issue wasn’t my schedule but instead the stories I was telling myself. In this episode I'm sharing exactly what I shifted and how to do it yourself. TOPICS WE EXPLORE The mental load that doesn't show up on a calendar How I caught myself in a spiral I didn't even know I was in What my inner voice has been dictating in my life Why your structures and systems can be working and you can still feel like you're drowning The story your brain tells before you even open your eyes How to get back in the driver's seat when your mindset has taken over Why this is a practice && not a one-time fix THE POINT You have the life you're willing to put up with. The circumstances don't have to change, but the story does. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Ash's new website and brand relaunch Work with Ash (Studio Session, Deep Cuts, The Green Room, MIXTAPE waitlist) Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

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198. The Grief of Belonging: Friendship, Family & the Village That Never Showed Up with Emily Merrell

Welcome to the Grief Series, a collection of conversations about the grief woven throughout our lives with some extraordinary women bringing their raw, vulnerable stories to the mic. I hope you see yourself somewhere in these stories. … This episode is for anyone who has ever looked around and realized the people who were supposed to show up simply haven't. My guest, Emily Merrell, is a connector by nature, the founder of Second Degree Society, a business coach, and a two-time boy mom based in Denver, Colorado. She brought her whole, unfiltered heart to this conversation, and we both cried. We go deep into the grief of friendships that fall apart without explanation, the grandparent village that never materialized, and what it actually costs to need your mom and find that who she is now can't meet you there. TOPICS WE EXPLORE When your friends don't show up for your business The slow fade of a deep friendship and the loop that never closes Being ghosted by people who you thought were your friends How ambition triggers the people closest to you The grandparent grief nobody talks about Asking for help once and being let down Grieving your mom while she's still alive Building a village when the one you expected never arrived THE POINT Sometimes the hardest grief isn't the loss of someone. It's the slow realization that the village you were counting on was never coming, and you have to build it yourself. ABOUT EMILY Emily Merrell is the founder of Second Degree Society, a networking community that takes the awkward out of connection by handpicking who you meet. She's also a business coach passionate about helping people grow, scale, and open the right doors. She's based in Denver, Colorado, and is a two-time boy mom who turns human connection into both a superpower and a business. Find her on Instagram @emilyamerrell and at seconddegreesociety.com. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Second Degree Society Let Them by Mel Robbins Work with Ash Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

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197. The Grief of Reinvention: Divorce, Career Pivots & Becoming a New Version of Yourself with Delia Monk

Welcome to the Grief Series, a collection of conversations about the grief woven throughout our lives with some extraordinary women bringing their raw, vulnerable stories to the mic. I hope you see yourself somewhere in these stories. … This episode is for anyone who has ever walked away from something they built, a career, a marriage, an identity, and wondered what the hell comes next. My guest, Delia Monk, has done it more than once. She came to this conversation with the full story: leaving journalism, building a six-figure copywriting business she eventually had to grieve, navigating divorce as a single mom, and making one of the scariest leaps of her professional life. TOPICS WE EXPLORE Leaving the career you built your identity around When AI devalues your trade overnight The $12,000 rebrand that didn't save it Fear laced with excitement vs. fear laced with scarcity Cutting the rope and going all in Grieving the life you thought you'd have after divorce Giving up half your child's childhood The scrappy list: 100 ways to make money What opens up when you finally let go THE POINT Grief is the price of going all in. You can't grieve what you didn't love, and you can't become who you're meant to be without leaving someone behind. ABOUT DELIA Delia Monk helps people who are ready for their next chapter figure out what that actually looks like and how to talk about it. After years working in messaging and copywriting, she pivoted into transition and pivot coaching, helping women who feel unfulfilled or called toward something new discover what comes next and position it with clarity. She's British, based in Barcelona, and entirely worth finding. Find her on Instagram @delia.monk and at deliamonk.com. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE deliamonk.com The Mixermind (networking community mentioned by Ash) Work with Ash Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

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196. The Grief of Being Human: Marriage, Motherhood & All the Invisible Losses with Chrissy Powers

Welcome to the Grief Series, a collection of conversations about the grief woven throughout our lives with some extraordinary women bringing their raw, vulnerable stories to the mic. I hope you see yourself somewhere in these stories. … This episode is for anyone carrying grief that doesn't have an obvious name. My guest, Chrissy Powers, is a therapist, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy practitioner, and someone who has personally held space for me in some of my own deepest healing work. We talk about the grief that lives inside a marriage you're still in, the mourning of watching your children grow up, the loss that comes with deconstructing your religious upbringing, and what it actually takes to feel your way through grief instead of solving your way around it. TOPICS WE EXPLORE Complicated grief vs. the grief we're taught is acceptable Grieving inside a marriage you haven't left Watching a partner struggle and the ultimatum that protects your family The invisible loss of your children growing up Outgrowing a partner who isn't on the same healing path Raising emotionally literate sons in a culture that discourages it Deconstructing religious upbringing and what it costs Finding a guide, trusting your body, and reclaiming intuition THE POINT Grief isn't reserved for death. It lives inside the marriages we stay in, the children we watch grow, and the beliefs we outgrow, and the only way through any of it is to feel it instead of fix it. ABOUT CHRISSY Chrissy Powers is a licensed therapist and the founder of Paradigm Wellness Collective, a group practice in Southern California. She's trained in psychedelic somatic therapy and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, and has spent over 16 years in practice helping people heal through embodiment, vulnerability, and deep inner work. Her book, Woman Embodied: The Practice of Coming Home to Yourself, releases October 27th. Find her on Instagram @chrissyjpowers and at chrissypowers.com or email her @ chrissypowersmft@gmail.com. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Paradigm Wellness Collective paradigmwellnesscollective.com (find a practitioner) Woman Embodied: The Practice of Coming Home to Yourself (Chrissy's book, out October 27th) Work with Ash Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

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195. The Grief of Aging: Beauty, Ambition & Becoming a New Version of Yourself with Bryn Daylor

Welcome to the Grief series - a collection of conversations about the grief woven throughout our lives with some extraordinary women bringing their raw, vulnerable stories to the mic. I hope you see yourself somewhere in these stories. … This specific episode is for the women in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond who are entering a new season, physically, emotionally, and mentally. My guest, Bryn Daylor, brought her whole heart to this conversation and bared it all from her grief around physical changes, ambition shifts, and comparison as we age. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: The identity shift underneath every physical change Grieving the attention you used to get Aesthetic procedures, the pressure, the fear, and the nuance Losing reckless abandon Building ambition from belief instead of survival Starting a family later and doing the math on time How comparison kills your output What shamelessly ambitious looks like when you stop performing THE POINT: Aging is the grief that lives in the gap between who you were and who you're becoming, and the only way through it is to name it. ABOUT BRYN: Bryn Daylor helps women unmask themselves through creative expression so they can have the life and love they really want. She works with women to strip back layers of conditioning so that when they go to share themselves, whether through storytelling, writing a book, or putting a creative project into the world, they are doing it from the core of who they actually are. Find her on Instagram @bryndaylor and on her podcast, Seen. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Bryn's podcast: Seen Vanquish Vitiligo (product for vitiligo coverage) Work with Ash Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

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194. Ash Unplugged: The Rebrand, My Red Flags & Everything I Hate Right Now

Welcome to Ash Unplugged, the behind-the-scenes monthly episode where nothing is off the table and the real shit gets said. In this episode we’ll explore the full rebrand reveal, the complete list of things I hate right now, the red flags me and my husband built together, and how I’m actually running our summer successfully. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: The rebrand Everything I hate right now My red flags and what l’m doing about them How I’m structuring my summer to be present, but still successful in my business The guest series coming up. THE POINT: The things that make me successful are not just the pretty ones… it’s the walks at 6:30am, the plan that never waits until morning, the self-coaching loop I often use on myself, and the willingness to say exactly what I think, including the things I hate. MENTIONED: Rebrand team: Catie Cupples (copywriter), Christina at Gem Creative (designer), Katie at 26 & Then Some (naming strategist), Dallas (VIP strategy session) Work with me Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

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193. ADHD and Ambition: Why Your Fast Brain Is Your Greatest Business Asset

Women with ADHD have been told their intensity, their fast brains, and their emotional depth are dysfunctional…but I truly believe ambition and neurodivergence can coexist in the healthiest way. The traits we have been taught to suppress (the hyperfocus, the pattern recognition, the emotional intelligence) are the exact things that create momentum, innovation, and success. In this episode, we’ll explore what ADHD actually looks like in high-achieving women, how to build a life and business that works with your brain instead of against it, and why supporting your brain is not the same thing as trying to erase it. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: ADHD in high-achieving women (the obvious signs and the ones nobody talks about) Why intensity, sensitivity, and emotional depth are assets, not dysfunction How I got my formal diagnosis and why Using cycle syncing, intentional scheduling, and pressure as a tool Medication as one tool in the toolbox (not the whole toolbox) The link between ADHD and high-functioning burnout How to stop pathologizing the parts of you that make you, you THE POINT: There is a difference between intensity and dysfunction. The goal is to understand yourself so deeply that you can support yourself properly and use your most powerful traits as the assets they actually are. MENTIONED: Episode 192. Regulation Isn’t the Zen Bullshit You’ve Been Sold Fit with Coco: (My go-to workout) Work with Ash Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

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192. What Regulation Actually Means (It’s Not the Zen Bullshit You’ve Been Sold)

Regulation is not being calm, checking a million boxes, or looking a certain way on the outside. The real definition of regulation is developing self-trust, adaptability, and the ability to stay with yourself rather than disassociate emotionally when life gets hard. In this episode, we’ll explore how every emotion is a message, and every message draws the path forward to the success you’re after in your business, your relationships, and your life. Regulation is not something you can see on the outside, it’s all about what is happening on the inside. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: Why the aesthetic version of regulation is toxic What regulation actually is Why doing something because you should gives you zero results How to use our emotions as the messages they are The self-coaching loop and somatic framework I always use A permission slip to redefine regulation in a way that actually serves you THE POINT: Regulation is the speed with which you recover from the challenging parts of life. It’s self-trust, adaptability, and the ability to stay with yourself when things get hard (none of which you can see from the outside). MENTIONED: Episode 191: The Internet Made Hustle a Dirty Word Fit with Coco: Ash’s go-to workout Business Therapy: Ash’s one-on-one coaching Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

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191. The Internet Made Hustle a Dirty Word

This episode is for every high-achieving woman who feels exhausted trying to build a successful business, be present in her real life, and somehow make it all look effortless. We’re unpacking hustle culture, high-functioning burnout, soft living, invisible labor, and the shame women carry around ambition so you can stop questioning whether your drive is the problem and start defining success on your own terms again. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: Why hustle culture gets a bad name, and what we lose when we make drive something to apologize for The difference between high-functioning burnout and ambition What the women I work with are actually running behind the scenes vs. what their content says Redefining what rest looks like for high-achieving women The sick kid phone call that derailed a perfectly productive day and what the self-coaching loop looked like in real time Why shame about how you run your business is the thing that actually causes burnout Defining success on your own terms as a mom entrepreneur, without apologizing for the drive that got you here THE POINT: There is a difference between burnout and drive. One of the things that causes burnout is when we allow our ambition to become morally judged… by the internet, by other women, or by ourselves. Stop apologizing for your ambition. Hustle is not a dirty word. MENTIONED: Business Therapy: Ash’s one-on-one coaching Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

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190. I Quit Social Media for 8 Months (Here’s What Changed in My Business)

Eight months off social media. This episode is the behind-the-scenes of what that actually did… to my business, my relationships, my creativity, and my sense of self. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: What eight months offline actually looked like Remembering what I’m actually good at How I stopped letting the internet think for me Getting my time and energy back No longer being bingeable The painful friendship and family rifts that social media was fueling How I got more intentional about visibility without social THE POINT: Social media isn’t bad, it’s just bad for me. And the eight months I spent finding that out gave me back more than I expected… my creativity, my time, my relationships, and the parts of myself I’d handed over to the scroll. MENTIONED: The Digital Detox Diaries: the four-part series I ran on social media during my April return Episode 186: The AI Identity Crisis No One Is Talking About Episode 188: Stop Pretending Your Business Is Easy: The Truth About High-Functioning Entrepreneurs The Quick Fix: 90 minutes one-on-one + 2 weeks Voxer Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

189. The Shift Happening in Online Business And How I’m Adapting

This episode is the continuation of Episode 188, and if that one was about telling the truth about what it takes to be an entrepreneur, this one is about telling the truth about what’s happening in online business right now. The landscape has shifted. People aren’t committing to long-term offers the way they used to. The economy is doing what it’s doing. And I’ve been collecting data on my own business long enough to know: something has to give. So I’m pulling back the curtain on exactly what I’m changing, why I’m changing it, and the questions I asked myself to get there. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: What I’m noticing in online business right now The data I’ve been collecting on my own business and what it told me to do Why I’m not changing my offer, just how I deliver it How my own experience as a buyer in this economy informed my decision What client retention has looked like and why it matters more than new client volume right now The question every entrepreneur should be asking right now before making any big business move THE POINT: Most of the time, the answer isn’t to burn down your offer. It’s to ask whether there’s a different way to deliver it that meets your client where she actually is. That takes honesty… about the market, about your own experience as a buyer, and about what’s actually keeping people from saying yes. MENTIONED: Episode 188: Stop Pretending Your Business Is Easy: The Truth About High-Functioning Entrepreneurs Business Therapy: Ash’s one-on-one coaching The Quick Fix: 90 minutes one-on-one + 2 weeks Voxer The Regulated Woman: Being rebranded and expanded Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

188. The Most Dangerous Thing Ambitious Women Do In Their Business

There is a gap I see in almost every high-achieving woman I work with. What she shows the world. And what she actually tells me. This episode is my soapbox moment on why high-functioning entrepreneurs need to stop performing a version of their business that isn’t true… and what magic happens when they do. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: What it costs you to perform a version of your business that isn’t true Why hiding the hard parts doesn’t make them go away What I actually hear from clients vs. what their content says The shame seeds we plant when we live in the gap between truth and performance Why I won’t tell women to just “slow down” or why your pace isn’t a problem to fix Success loops and why your to-do list is probably working against you What I love about the version of me who figures out how to do it all THE POINT: The way you operate isn’t something to be ashamed of. If you’re hiding parts of your life because they don’t match the version of success you think you’re supposed to project, you’re missing the momentum that lives inside actually owning who you are. MENTIONED: Business Therapy with Ash Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

187. What I Actually Do When Everything Feels Like Too Much

Welcome to “From Where I’m Standing”, the monthly episode where I pull back the curtain on my actual life, my business in real time, and the stuff I’m learning the hard way so you don’t have to. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: Why I extended my social media return from one week to three The Digital Detox Diaries series and what I shared during my return to socials Regulation isn’t the zen aesthetic you’ve been sold A 5am panic spiral, three kids’ worth of unexpected expenses, and the three-step self-coaching loop that got me out in under three minutes Planning drives paralysis Action is what breeds confidence Cycle syncing as a business and life blueprint + a piece I wrote in my luteal phase Spring break, sports season, and building a village when family isn’t around Offer suite updates: business therapy, The Regulated Woman rebrand, and the Clarity Intensive becoming The Quick Fix THE POINT: Planning drives paralysis, six weeks of action will tell you more than six months of strategizing ever could. MENTIONED: Episode 186: The AI Identity Crisis No One Is Talking About Fit with Coco: Ash’s go-to workout The Sanctuary Holistic Wellness (@thesanctuaryholisticwellness): 10-day parasite and heavy metal detox The Quick Fix (formerly the Clarity Intensive): 90 minutes one-on-one + 2 weeks Voxer Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

186. The AI Identity Crisis No One Is Talking About

There’s a career and identity crisis happening right now, and almost nobody is naming the real cause. When you outsource your thinking, your creating, and your decision-making to AI, you’re not just losing time. You’re also losing the parts of yourself that made you good at what you do in the first place. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: The millennial career and identity crisis What overconsumption of tech and AI is actually doing to your ability to think, create, and trust yourself Ash’s own experience feeling herself disappear… and the daily writing practice she started to get back How AI is showing up in client work Where AI is actually useful (and how Ash uses it without losing herself in the process) The privacy risk nobody’s talking about Why Ash’s husband builds AI, and still agrees with her The medicine man with 375k followers, a fake product, and a lesson about what we’re willing to believe What taking back your mind actually looks like THE POINT: AI isn’t the enemy, but outsourcing your identity is. There’s a version of these tools that helps you pull out your own ideas, refine your own words, and move faster without disappearing. That’s the version worth using…the rest is worth questioning. MENTIONED: Entrepreneur School Podcast with Kelly Sinclair — Ash’s episode on social media and alignment Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

• Transcript

185. The Control Pattern Driving Your High-Functioning Burnout

Control is a belief your nervous system learned a long time ago… the belief that if you stay on top of everything, nothing bad will happen. The problem is that belief doesn’t know when to stop. And the cost of running it every single day is higher than most high-achieving women realize. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: What control actually is (and why it’s a nervous system pattern) Where the need to control comes from How control shows up in business How control shows up at home Why your nervous system is exhausted The one question that interrupts the control spiral How to train your brain toward safety Ash reads from her personal writing on vitiligo, control, and the thing she still hasn’t figured out how to stop trying to fix THE POINT: Every time you hand something off and it works out, every time you take a day off and your business is still there, every time you don’t pivot and the thing you were doing actually holds… you’re teaching your nervous system what’s true. That’s the work. MENTIONED: Episode 179 — Decision Fatigue Is the New Burnout (the middle school / false emergency story Ash references) Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

184. Why You’re Not Getting Sales: The Visibility Mistake Most Entrepreneurs Make

If you’ve been wondering why sales feel slow, why momentum feels off, why the content you’re putting out isn’t converting... the answer is probably not your copy. It’s probably not your offer. It’s probably not your messaging. It’s visibility. And it’s the first thing we let go of when life gets full. In this episode, we’re talking about one of the most fundamental (and most overlooked) pillars of sustainable business growth. And just maybe the thing that’s been running (or stalling) your results for months. If your business is feeling slow right now, this is your loving kick in the pants, and the permission slip to stop overhauling everything and start with the one thing that actually moves the needle. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: Why visibility is the last thing you should cut when life gets busy, and why it’s almost always the first thing to go The business lag truth: why what you’re experiencing in your sales right now is almost never about what you’re doing today The wellness parallel: how neglecting visibility is exactly like neglecting your body… you’ll pay the tab eventually What to do when your “full” season means you can’t maintain your old visibility rhythm (hint: adapt it, don’t drop it) The consistency compound effect, why coming back to something you’ve let go is always harder than staying in it at a lower level Real examples of what scaled-down visibility can look like when you’re in a full season Ash’s quarterly audit practice and how she uses it to catch visibility gaps before they cost her THE POINT: The question isn’t whether you can afford to prioritize visibility, it’s whether you can afford not to. MENTIONED: Episode 182 — Perfectionism in High-Achieving Women: Why Doing Less Gets Better Results (the episode Ash references throughout) Episode 183 — Luteal Phase Meditation (bonus episode) The Clarity Intensive: 90 minutes one-on-one with Ash + 2 weeks of Voxer support. Only 1 spot left for Q2. Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business. I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time. LINKS: Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts Fast-track your results → The Green Room Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com