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

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 likeRemembering what I’m actually good atHow I stopped letting the internet think for meGetting  my time and energy backNo longer being bingeableThe painful friendship and family rifts that social media was fuelingHow I got more intentional about visibility without socialTHE 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 returnEpisode 186: The AI Identity Crisis No One Is Talking AboutEpisode 188: Stop Pretending Your Business Is Easy: The Truth About High-Functioning EntrepreneursThe Quick Fix: 90 minutes one-on-one + 2 weeks VoxerAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

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 nowThe data I’ve been collecting on my own business and what it told me to doWhy I’m not changing my offer, just how I deliver itHow my own experience as a buyer in this economy informed my decisionWhat client retention has looked like and why it matters more than new client volume right nowThe question every entrepreneur should be asking right now before making any big business moveTHE 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 EntrepreneursBusiness Therapy: Ash’s one-on-one coachingThe Quick Fix: 90 minutes one-on-one + 2 weeks VoxerThe Regulated Woman: Being rebranded and expanded Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

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 trueWhy hiding the hard parts doesn’t make them go awayWhat I actually hear from clients vs. what their content saysThe shame seeds we plant when we live in the gap between truth and performanceWhy I won’t tell women to just “slow down” or why your pace isn’t a problem to fixSuccess loops and why your to-do list is probably working against youWhat I love about the version of me who figures out how to do it allTHE 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 AshAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

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 threeThe Digital Detox Diaries series and what I shared during my return to socialsRegulation isn’t the zen aesthetic you’ve been soldA 5am panic spiral, three kids’ worth of unexpected expenses, and the three-step self-coaching loop that got me out in under three minutesPlanning drives paralysisAction is what breeds confidenceCycle syncing as a business and life blueprint + a piece I wrote in my luteal phaseSpring break, sports season, and building a village when family isn’t aroundOffer suite updates: business therapy, The Regulated Woman rebrand, and the Clarity Intensive becoming The Quick FixTHE 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 AboutFit with Coco: Ash’s go-to workoutThe Sanctuary Holistic Wellness (@thesanctuaryholisticwellness): 10-day parasite and heavy metal detoxThe Quick Fix (formerly the Clarity Intensive): 90 minutes one-on-one + 2 weeks VoxerAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

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 crisisWhat overconsumption of tech and AI is actually doing to your ability to think, create, and trust yourselfAsh’s own experience feeling herself disappear… and the daily writing practice she started to get backHow AI is showing up in client workWhere AI is actually useful (and how Ash uses it without losing herself in the process)The privacy risk nobody’s talking aboutWhy Ash’s husband builds AI, and still agrees with herThe medicine man with 375k followers, a fake product, and a lesson about what we’re willing to believeWhat taking back your mind actually looks likeTHE 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 alignmentAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

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 fromHow control shows up in businessHow control shows up at homeWhy your nervous system is exhaustedThe one question that interrupts the control spiralHow to train your brain toward safetyAsh reads from her personal writing on vitiligo, control, and the thing she still hasn’t figured out how to stop trying to fixTHE 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 ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

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 goThe business lag truth: why what you’re experiencing in your sales right now is almost never about what you’re doing todayThe wellness parallel: how neglecting visibility is exactly like neglecting your body… you’ll pay the tab eventuallyWhat 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 levelReal examples of what scaled-down visibility can look like when you’re in a full seasonAsh’s quarterly audit practice and how she uses it to catch visibility gaps before they cost herTHE 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 ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

This bonus episode is the final guided meditation from inside The Regulated Woman that teaches you how to use your cycle as a blueprint for your energy, capacity, and nervous system support.This meditation is designed for your luteal phase... a season that can feel tender, emotional, and sometimes overwhelming… but is also deeply wise.While this phase often gets labeled as “hard,” it’s actually an invitation: to slow down, to soften, to listen, and to meet yourself with a level of compassion that most of us were never taught to offer.TOPICS WE EXPLORE:• The luteal phase as a time of emotional depth and reflection • Releasing the pressure to be “on” or productive • Understanding emotions as guidance • Nervous system support through stillness and breath • Practicing self-compassion instead of self-judgment • Slowing down without guilt or resistance • Using visualization to create safety and self-love • Affirmations that support rest, trust, and emotional acceptance • Reframing sensitivity as wisdom and direction • Honoring your body’s rhythm instead of pushing against itPOINT OF THE EPISODE:The luteal phase isn’t something to fix, it’s something to honor. When you stop resisting your emotions and start meeting yourself with compassion, this phase becomes a powerful space for insight, healing, and deep self-trust.MENTIONED:• Her Rhythms: a program inside The Regulated Woman • Episode 174: [Bonus Episode] Menstrual Phase Meditation • Episode 177: [Bonus Episode] Follicular Phase Meditation • Episode 180: [Bonus Episode] Ovulation Phase MeditationAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

In this episode, we're going deep on perfectionism…so you can actually work with it rather than against. If you've ever tried to "just do less" and found yourself either paralyzed or doing everything again two days later, this one's for you. This is about high-functioning burnout recovery, breaking the all-or-nothing cycle, and learning to use experimentation (not willpower) to finally find your middle ground. You’ll also hear Ash's own experiment: how she went from working around the clock to working in set hours, and what her brain told her would happen vs. what actually did. TOPICS WE EXPLORE:Why perfectionism and control are soul sistersThe all-or-nothing pendulum that keeps high-achieving women cycling between burnout and paralysis (and why "just half-ass it" is actually not a safe option for your nervous system)Young achievers and the wounds underneath: how being celebrated for performance as a kid shows up in your business todayThe experiment reframe: why your brain can get on board with testing a theory when it absolutely cannot get on board with letting things be "good enough"How capacity-based planning and quarterly reflection can be your permission slip to do less without everything falling apartThe external perfectionism trap: why stress-cleaning your house or perfecting your Canva graphic won't fix what's swirling on the insideWhat actually happens when you work within limits, and why the evidence that doing less gets better results is already there, waiting for you to look for itWhy each new season of life requires a new strategy (hello, three kids in approximately one million sports 🙃)THE POINT:You're a high-functioning woman whose nervous system learned that going hard was the only way to stay safe and now you need to become someone who has proof that she can do less and still be okay.MENTIONED:The Clarity Intensive: 90 minutes one-on-one with Ash + 2 weeks of Voxer support. Only 2 spots left for Q2.Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

You finally have the thing you worked so hard for… so why does it feel scarier now than when you started?In this solo episode, Ash gets personal about what February taught her, from a soul-recharging trip to Costa Rica to a full business rebrand in motion, and lands on a truth that's been showing up over and over again with her clients: success doesn't always set us free. Sometimes it shrinks us.Because it's easier to be bold when you have nothing to lose. But what happens when you've built something real? When the stakes are higher and your nervous system starts treating your dream like a threat?This is the conversation around the Golden Cage, and why staying brave once you have something to lose might be the most important work of your next level.TOPICS WE EXPLORE:Why achievement can make high-achieving women play it safeThe Golden Cage concept — how success can quietly become a cageWhy your nervous system doesn't care that you're successfulHow identity attachment to your business invites you to shrinkThe difference between real risk and perceived ego threatWhy it's easier to dream when you have nothing to protectThe Upper Limit Problem and how self-sabotage shows up at your next levelWhy remembering to be a beginner is the key to staying boldHow loosening your grip on identity creates space to evolveAsh's personal February reflections — Costa Rica, big business shifts, and calling in braveryPOINT OF THE EPISODE:The higher you climb, the more your nervous system has to protect, and that's exactly when most women start playing smaller. The next level of success isn't just about building more. It's about staying brave, staying curious, and remembering that tenacious beginner energy that got you here in the first place. Separate real risk from ego threat, loosen your grip on who you've been, and give yourself permission to evolve.MENTIONED:The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks: a must-read on upper limits and self-sabotageLeisha Drews on the Happily Hormonal Podcast: Ash joined Leisha to talk high-functioning burnout, why your body adapts to Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

This bonus episode is another guided meditation from inside The Regulated Woman. (See Episode 174 and Episode 177 for the previous phase meditations.)This one is designed specifically for your ovulatory phase… your season of peak energy, confidence, charisma, and connection.Instead of a traditional seated meditation, this is a walking meditation, created to match the naturally elevated, outward-facing energy of ovulation. During this phase, your vitality is higher, your communication is clearer, and your presence is magnetic. This practice helps you harness that energy while staying grounded, steady, and fully connected to yourself.Strap on your tennis shoes, step outside (or hop on a treadmill), and let your movement mirror the power already rising within you.TOPICS WE EXPLORE: • Matching meditation style to your cycle (movement vs. stillness) • Grounding high energy so it feels powerful, not scattered • Walking as a tool for nervous system regulation • Affirmations that anchor strength, opportunity, and self-trustPOINT OF THE EPISODE:Ovulation isn’t about pushing harder… it’s about embodying what’s already there. This walking meditation helps you channel your natural vitality, confidence, and social strength in a grounded way so you can show up powerfully without disconnecting from yourself.MENTIONED:•Her Rhythms — a program inside The Regulated Woman • Episode 174: [Bonus Episode] Menstrual Phase Meditation • Episode 177: [Bonus Episode] Follicular Phase MeditationAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, reactive, exhausted, or stuck in “high-functioning burnout”… this episode is going to hit home.Because what if you’re not actually burned out from doing too much, but from deciding too much?In this solo episode, Ash breaks down why decision fatigue is quietly becoming the new burnout for high-achieving women and entrepreneurs. From constant micro-decisions to false emergencies in business, parenting, and money… this conversation reframes overwhelm through the lens of nervous system regulation, mental load, and delayed business feedback.If your brain feels like it’s in emergency mode 24/7, this is your reminder: most things are not urgent, and your business today is responding to seeds planted months ago.TOPICS WE EXPLORE:• What high-functioning burnout actually looks like• Why decision fatigue is draining more than your schedule• The mental spiral of constant micro-decisions• False emergencies and anxiety-driven course correction• How emergency-mode thinking dysregulates your nervous system• Why most business problems aren’t actual emergencies• The lag between marketing efforts and revenue results• Delayed feedback in business growth• Why reacting emotionally creates instability• The importance of regulation before decision-making• Ash’s 3R self-coaching loop: Regulate, Reflect, Rewire• The difference between real danger and perceived urgency• How over-deciding creates unnecessary stress in motherhood and businessPOINT OF THE EPISODE:Most high-functioning burnout isn’t about doing too much, it’s about carrying too many unresolved decisions and treating everything like an emergency. When you learn to regulate before reacting, zoom out instead of spiraling, and remember that business growth has delayed feedback, you stop compounding instability and start creating steadiness.MENTIONED:• Becoming a Regulated Woman as a leadership advantage• Ash on the Entrepreneur School podcast with Kelly Sinclair: a conversation on socAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

If you’ve been feeling like the old version of you doesn’t fit anymore (but the new version hasn’t fully landed yet) this episode is for you.Ash records a powerful riff on identity reconstruction: the messy, stretchy middle that happens when you’ve outgrown the version of you that worked… the one you secretly miss… the one you keep trying to force yourself back into.This is a conversation about evolution, self-rejection, the nervous system’s need for certainty, and why confidence isn’t something you “find”...  it’s something you rebuild through action, curiosity, and willingness to be the scientist of your own life again.TOPICS WE EXPLORE:• What it feels like when you’ve outgrown an old identity (and why it feels like loss)• The trap of romanticizing the “productive version” of you• Why trying to go backward creates self-rejection (even if it’s subconscious)• Identity shifts after children, big life transitions, and major seasons of growth• The “2-year-old vs 1-year-old” metaphor that will change how you see evolution• What happens when you stop having someone else’s blueprint to follow• The discomfort of not knowing who you’re becoming (and why it’s normal)• Why confidence only comes through action... not overthinking• Inactivity as a sneaky form of self-protection (and what it costs)• Beginner mindset, experimentation, and becoming the scientist of your life• The myth that you need the map to move forward• Releasing control as part of becoming who you actually are nowPOINT OF THE EPISODE:You can’t be who you used to be…because you aren’t her anymore. And the more you try to force yourself back into a previous identity, the more you reject the version of you that’s emerging. Identity reconstruction isn’t about “fixing” yourself. It’s about accepting who you are now, letting evolution be messy, and rebuilding confidence through curiosity, action, and play.MENTIONED:• Ash on the Hot Talks podcast with Danielle Laura: a conversation on over-functioning as a trauma response, control as a nervous system adaptation, toxic “healing addictioAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

This bonus episode is another guided meditation for your follicular phase… the season of new beginnings, curiosity, and forward momentum. This is the phase where energy starts to rise again, ideas feel lighter, and creativity begins to bloom.This meditation invites you to reconnect with your inner spring, soften into possibility, and allow inspiration to flow without pressure to act or decide anything yet.TOPICS WE EXPLORE:• The follicular phase as a time of renewal and fresh energy• Releasing residue from the menstrual phase• Connecting to creativity without urgency or pressure• Visualizing your inner spring and natural momentum• Allowing ideas to arise without forcing outcomes• Affirmations that support openness, trust, and inspiration• Using breath and imagery to support nervous system expansion• Honoring your natural rhythm instead of rushing aheadPOINT OF THE EPISODE:The follicular phase is about possibility. This meditation helps you reconnect with your creative energy, trust your natural timing, and open yourself to new ideas without needing to act on them yet.MENTIONED:• Her Rhythms: a program inside The Regulated Woman• Episode 174: [Bonus Episode] Menstrual Phase MeditationAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

If you’ve been feeling like business, motherhood, leadership — life — suddenly feels heavier than it used to, this episode puts words to what so many women are quietly carrying.In this deeply reflective solo episode, Ash shares what came up after a simple but powerful question from a friend: If you had to rebuild your business from scratch today, what would you do differently? What unfolds is an honest conversation about pace, urgency, decision fatigue, invisible labor, and why more tools haven’t actually made things feel easier.TOPICS WE EXPLORE:• What’s actually making everything feel so heavy right now• Why more tools, AI, and optimization haven’t reduced exhaustion• Society’s addiction to urgency and chaos• The hidden cost of moving at an inhumane pace• Input overload and constant information consumption• Decision fatigue in business, motherhood, and daily life• Why women gained opportunity but didn’t lose responsibility• The invisible labor women continue to carry• Why slowness has become performative instead of restorative• The difference between discipline and self-abandonment• How burnout disguises itself as ambition• What sustainability really looks like in this season of entrepreneurshipPOINT OF THE EPISODE:If you were rebuilding today, speed wouldn’t be the goal — sustainability would. This episode is an invitation to question the pace you’re moving at, notice what it’s costing you, and redefine success in a way that honors your capacity, your body, and the season of life you’re actually in.MENTIONED:• Stepping away from social media as nervous system protection• Creating intentional starts and intentional endings to the workday• Reducing unnecessary decisions through simple systems• Rebuilding business around how days feel, not just outcomesAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

Ash returns with a deeply personal solo episode… a January recap with lots of life updates, personal mishaps and celebrations. From moving into a new home, navigating sickness, shifting work rhythms, and questioning the “do it all” narrative, this episode is an honest reflection on what women hold, what we’re quietly carrying, and what happens when we finally slow down enough to notice it.TOPICS WE EXPLORE:• January as a season of fullness, slowness, and wintering• Moving homes and creating a space that supports real life• Letting go of rigid timelines for goals and planning• What happens when sickness forces everything to pause• The invisible labor women carry inside families and partnerships• Questioning the “we can do it all” version of feminism• Slowing down in business and what it gives back to relationships• The grief and complexity of giving more than you receive• Redefining productivity, success, and enough• Being a woman in midlife, in transition, in truth• Choosing presence, humor, and honesty over performancePOINT OF THE EPISODE:So much of what feels heavy isn’t because you’re doing something wrong, it’s because you’re carrying too much without talking about it. This episode is an invitation to tell the truth about the emotional weight women hold, to soften the pressure to do it all, and to remember that being human counts.MENTIONED:• Upcoming bonus cycle phase meditations (follicular, ovulation, luteal)• Her Rhythms inside The Regulated Woman• Fit With Coco workouts• MixerMind and Ash’s role as a pod leader• “The Human Advantage” training Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

This bonus episode is a gentle invitation to slow down and turn inward. Ash shares the menstrual phase meditation from inside The Regulated Woman. This meditation is designed for your inner winter (the phase of rest, release, and renewal) offering a place to land when your body is asking you to pause instead of push.TOPICS WE EXPLORE:• Using your menstrual phase as a time for rest and restoration• Releasing pressure, guilt, and the need to be productive• Connecting with your inner winter and natural rhythm• How stillness supports clarity, intuition, and nervous system repair• Giving your body permission to slow down without explanation• Why honoring this phase protects and expands your energy• Creating safety in your body through breath and visualizationPOINT OF THE EPISODE:Your menstrual phase is not a problem to push through… it’s a powerful reset. When you honor this phase with rest and intention, you conserve energy, build self-trust, and support your body in doing exactly what it’s designed to do.MENTIONED:• Her Rhythms (inside The Regulated Woman)Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

High-functioning. Capable. Reliable. The one who always figures it out.And somehow… still exhausted.In the final episode of the Energy Is Everything series, Ash sits down with hormone and functional health expert Leisha Drews… her long-time, deeply trusted go-to for both her own health and her kids’. This conversation pulls back the curtain on why so many high-achieving women feel depleted, anxious, wired-but-tired, and burned out (even when they’re “doing all the right things.”)TOPICS WE EXPLORE:• Why high-functioning women often believe “the rules don’t apply to me” until the body forces a reckoning• How undernourishment shows up as fatigue, anxiety, sleep issues, PMS, blood sugar crashes, and burnout• The direct link between chronic stress, cortisol, and hormone imbalance• How stress steals progesterone and contributes to estrogen dominance• Why supplements can’t out-supplement a chronically stressed, under-fed lifestyle• The all-or-nothing cycle of restriction, control, and eventual burnout• The power of “better than nothing” when perfection keeps you stuck• Why nourishment + nervous system safety changes everythingPOINT OF THE EPISODE:When your body doesn’t feel safe, fed, or supported, it will always pull the emergency brake. True energy comes from nourishment, regulation, and compassion… not more discipline, restriction, or self-pressure.Or, as Ash puts it: eat more and love yourself.MENTIONED:• The Nourish Tracker: Leisha’s AI-based food and cycle-aware tracking tool designed to reduce overwhelm and support hormone balance. Use code ASH for $20 off or click here• Simply Nourished Cycles Podcast Training: a 20-minute audio training on hormone health, stress, and nourishment• The Happily Hormonal Podcast: Leisha’s podcast with hundreds of episodes and a “start here” guide for specific symptomsThis episode is the reminder so many high-capacity women didn’t know they needed, and the perfect cAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

Ash is joined by brand and marketing strategist Kaitlyn David for a real, refreshing conversation about building a marketing strategy that actually fits your life (kids, pivots, puppy chaos and all) without lighting yourself on fire in the process.TOPICS WE EXPLORE:• The hidden cost of go go go marketing and why it eventually stops working• How your environment impacts your nervous system and your business• Why September can be its own kind of energetic chaos for moms• The difference between aligned marketing and fix it forcing energy• Recognizing when you're launching from pressure instead of desire• What happens when your body starts paying the bills for overdoing it• How to hold steady through uncertainty without spiraling• Rituals and reminders that help you stay grounded when you dont know whats next• Why core values create guardrails that protect your energy and your brand• Using human design to build a marketing strategy that actually fits you• Permission for fluidity without using it as an excuse• The difference between discomfort that helps you grow and misalignment that drains youPOINT OF THE EPISODE:Marketing should not cost you your health, your presence, or your peace. When you build a strategy around your real capacity, your values, and your actual energy, you stop forcing results and start creating sustainable momentum that you can maintain in real life.MENTIONED:• Kaitlyn David website• Instagram: Flourish with KaitlynAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

A sneak peek behind the scenes of The Regulated Woman, dropped right in the middle of the Energy Is Everything series because money is, in fact, energy. In this bonus, we’re reframing wealth as something neutral, dynamic, and always in motion and exploring the small energetic shifts that make money feel safer to receive, spend, and circulate through your life.TOPICS WE EXPLORE: • Money as neutral energy, not a moral measure • How your thoughts and emotions shape your relationship with money • The river metaphor: where you’re gripping, hoarding, or damming the flow • Why “high vibration” isn’t the goal, gratitude and trust are • Spending with intention as an energetic investment • Receiving without guilt, shame, or resistance • How to build safety with money so it feels welcomed with you • Practicing neutrality to remove the emotional charge and create more space • Opening more “channels” for wealth through micro shifts and awarenessPOINT OF THE EPISODE:Money is always moving and your relationship with it determines how easily it can flow into and through your life. When you shift from fear and tight control into trust, gratitude, and neutrality, you create safety for wealth to circulate and expand.MENTIONED: • The Regulated Woman (this episode is a sneak peek behind the scenes) • Exercise: list the emotions you associate with money and imagine neutrality • Visualization: money arriving from unexpected places and noticing what your body doesAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

In this conversation, Kelly Sinclair (self-proclaimed “accidental tech nerd”) pulls back the curtain on what happens when your business strategy doesn’t match your actual energy — and how human-first AI can become a tool for regulation, clarity, and sustainable visibility (without feeding the algorithm or burning yourself out).We talk about grief, hustle conditioning, generator energy, and the shift from performative marketing to strategic visibility — plus the 10-minute-a-day habit that helps you build momentum one simple action at a time.TOPICS WE EXPLORE:The difference between performative visibility vs. strategic visibilityHow human design can change the way you make decisions in businessUsing AI as an interactive tool for momentumWhy “trying harder” is often the biggest energetic leakHow unprocessed grief and suppressed emotions eventually show up in your workProtecting your energy by getting off the content hamster wheelThe 10-minute-a-day visibility habit (and why consistency matters more than intensity)Building trust in business in an AI-saturated world“AI to help you human better” — the integrity-first approach to using AIPOINT OF THE EPISODE: AI isn’t here to help you do more faster, it’s here to help you protect your energy so you can show up more intentionally, build trust, and take strategic action without living in urgency. Visibility doesn’t require burnout, and momentum doesn’t require the algorithm.MENTIONED:Kelly’s 90-Day Visibility Sprint Starter Kit (30+ strategic visibility moves + tracking tools)Kelly’s websiteInstagramKelly’s podcast: Entrepreneur SchoolAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

We’re continuing The Energy Is Everything Series and today I’m sitting down with my friend Danielle Laura, an energy mastery teacher and Human Design guide for conscious leaders who are here to use their gifts to make the world better… without sacrificing themselves in the process.In this episode we talk about energetic hygiene, the hidden places energy leaks show up (even in “self-care”), and why the solution isn’t more rest. We also get into Human Design as a roadmap for regulation.This one is for the woman who keeps pouring into a cup that has a hole in the bottom… and is ready to stop leaking her life force.TOPICS WE EXPLORE:Why rest doesn’t restore energy when you’re never fully presentHidden energy leaks inside productivity and self-careOvergiving, access, and energetic boundariesHuman Design as a tool for understanding energetic alignmentNot-self themes and how they signal burnout earlyMicro-shifts that rebuild safety and presenceEnergetic hygiene as a daily practice, not a lifestyle overhaulPOINT OF THE EPISODE:Energy isn’t lost in one big moment, it leaks slowly through small, unexamined patterns. When you learn how to recognize those leaks and respond with simple, embodied shifts, regulation becomes sustainable instead of exhausting.MENTIONED:• Danielle’s website• Danielle on Socials: Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, Podcast, TikTok, Substack• Get your Human Design chartAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

This bonus episode is an unfiltered reflection on what happens when the identity that once fueled your ambition no longer fits. I share openly about the messy middle of personal evolution, the quiet unraveling that followed slowing down in my business, and the unexpected ways that space reshaped my marriage, my sense of self, and my relationship with support.This is not a story of resolution or arrival. It’s a story of transition, grief, surrender, and learning how to lean when hyper-independence has been your survival strategy for decades.TOPICS WE EXPLORE:When ambition outgrows the identity that built itHyper-independence and the fear of relying on othersSlowing down without knowing what comes nextHow space in business can create space in marriageLetting go of being the provider as a core identityGrief, friendship loss, and the death of former selvesLearning how to be held without shamePOINT OF THE EPISODE:Sometimes growth doesn’t look like expansion… it looks like stopping. This episode is a reminder that ambition can evolve, identity can soften, and allowing support may be the most energetically expansive thing you ever do.MENTIONED:The Energy Is Everything series (6 Episodes)Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

Today we’re continuing The Energy Is Everything Series with a conversation that hits a nerve for so many high-achieving women: visibility, identity, and the energetic cost of hiding.I’m joined by Renee Bowen — photographer, trauma-informed coach, and the kind of woman who makes you feel seen just by being in the room with her. We talk about what it really means to be “seen” (and why that can feel terrifying), how motherhood can blur your identity until you can’t find yourself anymore, and how neutrality is the bridge between being reactive and becoming sovereign.This episode is for the woman who feels exhausted not because she’s doing too much… but because she’s doing too much of what isn’t true.TOPICS WE EXPLORE:• Why “not being seen” is one of the biggest energy leaks• The visibility wound: where it starts and how it shows up• Identity outside of motherhood, roles, and performance• The cost of living for the male gaze (and how to unwind it)• How anxiety, trauma, and nervous system dysregulation shape your choices• Being called “selfish” when you stop martyring yourself• What it means to get neutral — and why it changes everything• Removing sensory charge (sound/color/story) to access objectivity• Social media as energetic input (and how fast it drains you)• Reclaiming self-trust without outsourcing your healingPOINT OF THE EPISODE:When you’re hiding (even subtly, even “for good reasons”) you’re leaking energy. Healing the visibility wound isn’t about being louder online… it’s about becoming safe enough in your body to be honest, to take up space, and to live as you without needing permission.MENTIONED:• Renee’s website• Renee on Instagram• Renee’s podcast: Tried and True with a Dash of Woo• Free hypnosis for anxiety If this episode lit something up inside you, if you felt called out, softened, or seen...  that’s not random. That’s your body telling the truth. And this series is your invitation to listen.Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

Welcome to the very first episode of The Energy Is Everything Series — a six-part conversation series all about protecting your energy, expanding your capacity, and building a life and business that actually feel sustainable in your body.In this opening episode, I’m joined by the brilliant and wildly honest Heather Chauvin for a raw, grounded conversation about identity fatigue, impossible standards, and the invisible ways women are bleeding energy in the name of success, motherhood, and safety.This is not a “do more, try harder” conversation. It’s about reverse engineering the life you want by starting with how you want to feel, and letting that guide your choices, boundaries, and identity… even when it disrupts everything you’ve been taught.TOPICS & TANGENTS: • Why energy is the real currency behind success • Reverse engineering your life from how you want to feel • Identity fatigue and the cost of impossible standards • Survival mode vs. aliveness • How women enable their own exhaustion to stay safe • The hidden energy leaks in motherhood and ambition • Co-regulation, support, and learning how to be held • Why balance is a myth rooted in perfectionism • Emotional repair as a daily practice • Letting go of performative strength • Choosing embodiment over hustle • Reclaiming feminine power without bypassing realityPOINT OF THE STORY: You don’t need to become someone new to create the life you want… you need to stop abandoning yourself to maintain an identity that’s draining you. When you reverse engineer your choices from how you want to feel, your energy returns, your boundaries clarify, and your life begins to align without force.MENTIONED:Dying to Be a Good Mother- BookFollow Heather ChauvinInstagramEmotionally Uncomfortable PodcastThis episode sets the tone for the entire Energy Is Everything Series. If you’ve been exhausted, over-functioning, or quietly wondering why success doesn’t feel the way you thought it would, then this conversation is your invitation to start living differently.More Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

Happy New Year, my love. This bonus episode is a gentle but honest conversation about what so many of us unconsciously bring into a new year: intensity, pressure, and the belief that healing only counts if it hurts.In this episode, I’m naming something I’ve lived, witnessed, and had to unlearn myself… the tendency to create struggle in the name of growth. The idea that if it’s not hard, painful, or dramatic, it must not be real healing. I want to offer you a different path as we step into 2026.This is an invitation to choose integration over resolution, embodiment over force, and safety over intensity. Healing doesn’t have to break you to work.TOPICS & TANGENTS:• New Year energy and the addiction to intensity• Masochistic healing and why we believe struggle equals worthiness• The nervous system’s attachment to pain as proof• Why healing doesn’t only “count” if it hurts• Integration as the most powerful form of healing• Embodiment over endless learning and fixing• Self trust as the real root of transformation• Daily micro healing versus massive emotional overhauls• Seasonal wisdom and honoring winter energy• Slowing down without falling behind• Why burnout often comes from trying to heal “correctly”• Letting safety, not force, lead your growthPOINT OF THE STORY:Healing isn’t meant to be punishing. The real work isn’t in how much you can endure, but in how deeply you can integrate what you already know. Transformation happens when your body feels safe enough to embody change… not when you push yourself to the edge trying to prove you’re worthy.MENTIONED:• Episode 164: My 2026 Planning Process (Structure That Creates Freedom)If you’re feeling the urge to sprint into this year, let this episode be your permission slip to slow down. You can’t rush what’s already meant for you. Integration is where the magic lives.Happy New Year 🤍Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

In this final episode of 2025, I’m sharing exactly how I plan for a new year in a way that feels grounded, supportive, and sustainable. This isn’t hustle planning or rigid goal setting. It’s the process I use to create structure that actually frees me.I walk you through my full end of year reflection ritual, how I set intentions across every area of my life, and why regulation, capacity, and self trust matter more than forcing motivation. If you want 2026 to feel different, this episode will show you how to plan in a way your nervous system can actually hold.TOPICS & TANGENTS: • My full end of year planning process from reflection to strategy • Monthly reviews and why I track the year as it’s happening • Celebrating what actually worked instead of rushing past it • Setting intentions for life, not just business • Script style intention setting and nervous system safety • Why structure creates freedom, not restriction • The difference between ease and avoidance • Planning with ADHD and limited capacity • Breaking goals into 15 minute or less tasks • Working backwards to avoid all or nothing burnout • Why consistency beats intensity every time • Taking things off your plate before adding morePOINT OF THE STORY:Ease doesn’t come from doing less or avoiding effort. It comes from resourcing yourself before, during, and after the work. When your plans honor your capacity, structure becomes the thing that creates freedom instead of pressure.MENTIONED: • Episode 160: How I Plan Profit Without Burning Out • End of year reflection and intention setting practices • Nervous system regulation and capacity based planningIf you’ve been craving more ease, more clarity, and more support heading into 2026, this episode is your invitation to slow down, reflect honestly, and build a plan that actually serves you.Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

This episode is a behind-the-scenes look at what really happens when success comes faster than your nervous system knows how to hold.I’m sharing the full story of what unfolded after a wildly intuitive, expansive year in business and how unworthiness, perfectionism, and fear quietly took over once things felt “too easy.” What followed was burnout, over-efforting, identity collapse, and ultimately a five-month sabbatical that changed everything.We’re talking about the nervous system science behind becoming the woman you desire to be… not through force or mindset hacks, but through safety, practice, and embodiment. Why “acting as if” actually works, how success can feel threatening to the body, and why breaking was the doorway to everything I was trying to create.This is about becoming her from the inside out.TOPICS & TANGENTS: • What happens when success outpaces nervous system capacity • The hidden unworthiness that follows “too easy” wins • Perfectionism as protection, not discipline • Why success can feel unsafe to the body • The be–do–have model vs. chasing outcomes • Acting as if through nervous system rehearsal, not pretending • Identity, safety, and practicing your future before it arrives • Why abundance requires regulation, not effort • Micro decisions that rewire who you’re becomingPOINT OF THE STORY: You don’t become her by achieving more. You become her by teaching your body it’s safe to be who you already are.MENTIONED: • Microdosing as a nervous-system support for neuroplasticity and regulation • Golden Rule — including Superflow and Soul Gummies • Code ASH10 for 10% offIf you’re setting goals for the next season of your life and wondering why they feel heavy instead of exciting, this episode is your reminder: becoming her starts with safety, not pressure.Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

In this bonus episode, I’m sharing a behind-the-scenes audio from The Regulated Woman private podcast. It is one of my favorite micro-tools for releasing stress that gets trapped in the body throughout the day.We’re talking about emotional residue... the irritation, disappointment, pressure, or overwhelm your body absorbs when you don’t have time (or space) to fully process what you feel. Even when your mind has moved on, your nervous system might still be holding the weight.This episode walks you through a simple, 60-second somatic release you can use in real lifeTOPICS & TANGENTS: • What emotional residue is and why it drains your energy • How stress and emotion live in the body, not just the mind • Why “pushing through” costs more than you think • A simple three-step somatic release you can use anytime • How incomplete stress responses keep you exhausted • Reclaiming mental, emotional, and physical energy without effortPOINT OF THE STORY: You’re tired because your body is holding too much. But there’s a way to change this because when you allow stress responses to complete, you get your energy back.MENTIONED: • My conversation with Alison Hardy on Six Figure Secrets — a raw discussion on success, burnout, and redefining what “enough” actually feels likeIf this episode lands for you and you want more support like this — short, effective, body-based tools you can actually use — The Regulated Woman might be exactly what your nervous system has been asking for.Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

Sometimes the plan for the episode… totally sucks. In this conversation, I scrap my original idea mid-recording and bring you into what’s actually alive in my world right now: parenting an 11-year-old, navigating big emotions, asking scary questions, and coming back (over and over) to my values as a mom.We talk about what it means to hold space for your kids’ real struggles, why “because I said so” isn’t a value, and how to stay in the room when your child is wrestling with belonging, insecurity, and the very human fear of not being liked. It’s an honest peek into how I’m fumbling, regulating, repairing, and choosing relationship on purpose.TOPICS & TANGENTS:Life updates: Colorado snow, moving (again), and starting 2026 in a new homeParenting an 11-year-old: hormones, friendship dynamics, and fitting inThe conversation no parent wants to have: asking your child directly about self-harmWhy kids need us to ask the hard questions out loudCreating safety: therapy for boys, emotional literacy, and modeling vulnerabilityWhy “because I said so” is not a parenting valueMutual respect, consequences, and holding boundaries after a big emotional momentCuriosity as a parenting tool: better questions than “How was your day?”When your child’s biggest fear mirrors your own (and what to do with that)Remembering: you can’t be the parent you want to be from a dysregulated statePOINT OF THE STORY:You will never feel “ready” or fully qualified for the version of parenting you’re in, it’s all first-time territory. But when the plan falls apart, coming back to your core values, staying curious, and being brave enough to ask the hard questions builds the kind of relationship where your kids actually bring you their real life.Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

What if your business could feel steady instead of like a monthly rollercoaster? In this episode I walk you through my nervous-system-first profit planning, and how I map the year, choose what to sell (and when), and protect my creativity, energy, and peace while hitting my numbers. Today I’m sharing the exact quarterly profit planning process I use to grow my business and protect my nervous system. No more feast-or-famine energy. No more “I have to hit X this month or everything is falling apart.”We talk about why month-to-month planning keeps you dysregulated, how quarterly goals create actual ease, and the system I swear by — from mapping my annual intention down to quarterly numbers, to creating a 100-idea money list, to filtering everything through desire, capacity, and season.TOPICS & TANGENTS: • Why month-to-month planning spikes anxiety • The quarterly structure that keeps your business steady • How I map my annual goal into spacious quarterly targets • The 100-idea money list (possibility = regulation) • Desire, capacity & season: my simple decision-making filter • Building a business runway so you’re not creating from panic • Planning in a way your body can actually holdPOINT OF THE STORY:Strategy only works if your nervous system can hold it. Sustainable profit isn’t about perfect months… it’s about rhythm, regulation, and a plan that supports the life you actually want.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:Episode 158. The Money Myth That’s Draining Your Energy (start there for the energetics)The Surrender Retreat & therapeutic integration: recalibrate your relationship to success, safety, and expansion.Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

Today, I’m pulling back the curtain on what happens after a retreat, when life gets lifey and the work has to live in your body, your kitchen, your calendar, and your conversations. I’m joined by my dear friend and longtime client, Em, a single mom to twin girls, homeschooler, full-time student, and retired Marine officer, who shares how somatic work, breathwork, and real integration reshaped her capacity, boundaries, and motherhood.TOPICS & TANGENTS• From intellectualizing to embodiment: why “thinking about healing” kept Em stuck• Hypervigilance, military conditioning, and the nervous system after a high-tempo life• Somatic tools that moved the needle: breathwork, pacing, and structured downtime• Motherhood in real life: anger as a wise signal, mess-friendly kitchens, laughing more• “All-access pass” no more: boundaries that protect energy, home, and kids• Capacity vs. control: living by rhythms instead of wrangling every minute• Integration that actually sticks: what to do before and after a retreat• Generational impact: modeling regulation so kids don’t carry adult emotionsPOINT OF THE STORYLife won’t stop life-ing. Capacity isn’t about doing more—it’s about holding more with less tension. When you center yourself (not everyone else), the whole house gets healthier.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE• Surrender Retreat (Tulum) — an immersive recalibration of success, safety, and self through somatic practices, ceremony, and integration (details in show notes) • The Regulated Woman — private podcast & library for ongoing, nervous-system-first supportAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

Today we’re naming a sneaky belief a lot of high-achievers carry: “If I just had more money, everything would feel easier.” I’ve lived that hustle. Many of my clients do too. Here’s the truth I’ve seen over and over… money doesn’t fix what’s unregulated; it amplifies it. The work is learning to hold “more” from a regulated, values-led place so the revenue magnifies your wholeness.TOPICS & TANGENTS: • The myth: more money will finally make you calm, safe, present, or secure • Why money is a mirror for your nervous system, patterns, and unmet needs • Earning from anxiety vs receiving from regulation: same revenue, totally different reality • Capacity vs compulsion: wanting more without over-functioning for it • How to find the root desire beneath “more money” and feel it now • Focus as a force multiplier: what you water grows • Redefining success so profit supports your life, not replaces itPOINT OF THE STORY:Money doesn’t fix dysregulation, it magnifies whatever is already there. Build the inner steadiness first so more amplifies peace, presence, and power.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:• The Regulated Woman: nervous-system-first support to grow with steadiness rather than speed • Surrender Retreat in Tulum: an immersive recalibration of success, safety, and self for women ready to expand capacity without the frantic. Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

Hi sister friend. Back at it again... and today, we’re slowing all the way down. Because somewhere between instant coffee, instant Amazon deliveries, and instant validation, we forgot that most things worth building take time.This one’s your permission slip to take the long way, to build something that lasts, to stop chasing the dopamine hit of “fast results,” and to start measuring success by how alive and at peace you feel, not by how fast it happens.Real success, I mean the sustainable, fulfilling, nervous-system-safe kind... is slow. It’s mornings where you show up with zero proof it’s working. It’s boring consistency. It’s quiet trust. Let’s talk about that.TOPICS & TANGENTS:• How social media rewired our brains for instant gratification• Why we mistake impatience for failure• The hidden cost of “I need it now” energy• Why most people quit before the results land (it’s not lack of strategy, it’s lack of stamina)• The difference between capacity and compulsion• What it means to practice active faith instead of frantic action • Building a pace you can hold for years... not just a season • Success measured in peace, presence, and patiencePOINT OF THE STORY:Patience isn’t passive. It’s power. It’s self-trust in motion, the willingness to stay with what’s working long enough for it to work for you.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:• My chat with Sophia Parra on Marketing Unfiltered — all about high-functioning burnout, what happened when I tried to be “more professional,” and how I rebuilt my business with nervous-system-led marketing. • The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt — a must-read on how tech reshaped our brains and attention spans. • If Only I Had a Bigger Kitchen — reflections on simplicity, home, and redefining “enough.” • The Regulated Woman — my signature mentorship for women ready to grow slow, steady, and sustainably.POINT TO REMEMBER:The kind of success that lasts? It’s unsexy consistency. The mornings you show up without proof. The long road that makes you come alive.Take the long way. You’ll actually enjoy the view.Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

Hello, my love. Today’s episode might ruffle some feathers… and honestly, I’m okay with that. Because this one matters. We’re diving into AI therapy — the rise of chatbots, self-coaching apps, and those “instant healing” tools everyone’s whispering about, and the blurry line between support and self-abandonment.If you’ve ever found yourself venting to ChatGPT or journaling through a chatbot, this conversation is for you. I’m not here to tell you to ditch it altogether (you know I love innovation), but I am here to help you use it wisely, without accidentally outsourcing your intuition or your healing to a robot.Let’s talk privacy, psychology, and the sneaky ways convenience can replace connection.TOPICS & TANGENTS: • The real risk of “AI therapy”,  and why it’s not a safe replacement for human support • What no one’s talking about: data, privacy, and how your most vulnerable moments aren’t protected • The sneaky comfort of being validated vs. the power of being challenged • Why AI is designed to agree with you, and how that can keep you stuck • How to use AI intentionally: as a reflection tool, not a therapist • Safe prompts for emotional processing (without crossing the line) • How to build self-trust in the age of algorithms • The difference between feeling better fast and feeling fullySAFE WAYS TO USE AI FOR SELF-REFLECTION: “Help me name what I’m feeling right now.” “Ask me five questions that could help me unpack this emotion.” “Give me three ideas to regulate my nervous system right now.” “Reflect back what I just said as if you were my most compassionate inner voice.”(These are bridges — not replacements — for the real work.)POINT OF THE STORY:AI can be a tool, but not your teacher. It can mirror you, but it cannot meet you. Healing happens in relationship… to self, to others, to truth. Let technology support you, not replace you.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: • Episode with Nadine Nethery on creating emotionally safe group spaces • My favorite journaling and self-reflection practicesAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

What if your superpower of “I’ve got it” is the very thing keeping you exhausted? In this episode, I unpack the quiet trap high-achieving women fall into: mistaking capacity for compulsion. We talk about why saying yes feels safer than slowing down, how your body always pays the bill, and the simple filter I use to ensure I don’t lose sight of my defined version of success.TOPICS & TANGENTS:• Capacity vs. compulsion: why “I can” isn’t the same as “I should”• The hidden cost of being capable: energetic and emotional price tags• “Your body pays the bills”: what over-functioning does to your nervous system• Discernment as a regulation skill: pause, ask, and act with intention• My success filter: will this bring me closer to or further from peace• Breaking the “helpful one” identity without burning everything down• Micro-habits that create exhale moments instead of more adrenaline• Real-talk examples from retreats, pods, and everyday lifePOINT OF THE STORY:Strength is not carrying it all. Strength is knowing when to set it down. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should, and trust me… and your nervous system knows the difference.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:• Mixermind (the curated, connection-first visibility community I’m part of)• Bonus for my community: join via my link and you’ll get a 1:1 visibility strategy session with me on how to use Mixer Mind intentionally and map your 2026 visibility plan• My chat with Katie Grimes on her podcast Anything for Love — we dove into cycle syncing, rest, and turning your hormones into your biggest business advantage. It’s such a good one to queue up after this episode.Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

Hi friend. If last week had you wondering “okay, but how do you run a business without the apps?”...  This is the step-by-step guide. I audited where my sales actually came from, rebuilt my visibility around what works (and feels good), and let the rest go. Spoiler: less than 20% of my revenue traced back to social media and I was spending about 80% of my energy there. No more.This episode lays out the exact mix I’m using now: podcasting, email, collaborations, real relationships, and a curated community that keeps high-quality opportunities flowing without the scroll.TOPICS & TANGENTS: • The audit that shattered “I need social to sell” • What replaced the feed: podcasting and a weekly email with teeth • Borrowed trust: podcast guesting, bundles, and cross-promos that convert • Speaking, workshops, and warm intros over cold DMs • In-person networking that actually gives you energy • A curated connection hub (the “mixer mind”) and why I became a facilitator • How I think about “platforms” now, and why consistency > virality • Building a visibility flywheel you can sustain for yearsPOINT OF THE STORY:Visibility isn’t a platform, it’s a trust engine. Audit where your best clients really come from, double down there, and let your strategy serve your values, not the algorithm.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: • Visibility audit (track sources for every sale) • Podcast guesting, bundles, and email swaps • The Mixer Mind — a curated connection community with peer pods, panels, and mix-and-mingles→ I believe in this space so deeply that I became a certified facilitator→ Join the FREE Mixer Mind event- Where’s The Money In 2026? → Join through my affiliate link and receive a one-on-one call with me to personalize your visibility strategy and get the most out of the Mixer Mind. • Speaking + guest workshops as authority buildersAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

Hi friend. I wanted to drop in with a little surprise… something special outside our regular Tuesday episodes. This bonus meditation is one of the most-loved practices inside The Regulated Woman,  my signature program designed to help you live, lead, and create from a regulated nervous system.This short guided practice will help you seal your energy leaks, call your power back, and ground yourself when you’re feeling scattered or drained. Because sometimes it’s not what we’re doing that exhausts us, it’s where we’ve left our energy behind.Take a few quiet minutes, pop in your earbuds, and let this be your moment to come home to yourself.TOPICS & TANGENTS: • Why we feel “tired for no reason”: energetic leaks and emotional residue • How to recognize where your energy is escaping (overthinking, pleasing, proving) • The visualization: golden light, energetic recall, and sealing your field • Gentle somatic grounding through breath and body awareness • Returning to wholeness: protecting your peace without closing your heartPOINT OF THE STORY: Your energy is sacred. Every time you bring it back to yourself, you strengthen your capacity for presence, peace, and power.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: • The Regulated Woman — my signature program for nervous system-first living → Includes a full Regulation Library of meditations, visualizations, and breathwork sessions → Available as a Self-Paced Experience or Live Experience with monthly therapeutic calls • Practices also inside The Regulated Woman: – Midday reset for overwhelm – Meditation for when you feel rushed – Walking meditations for calling in support, safety, and abundanceAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

Hello hello, my love. Reporting live from my social free era with coffee in one hand and a board game under the other. On my 38th birthday, August 28, I broke up with social media for at least one year. Two months in and I do not miss it even a little. Not the scrolling, not the performative selfies, not even the dopamine glitter.This episode is the tea and the receipts. Why I left, how I did it without burning my business to the ground, and what has shifted in my brain, my rhythms, and our home now that my thumbs are not living on an app. Let’s talk about presence, peace, and how good life gets when you are not trying to be everywhere at once.TOPICS & TANGENTS: • The birthday decision and what “off” really looks like for me • Parenting with integrity: saying no to my son’s social media and holding myself to the same standard • The book that shifted everything: how attention, intuition, and coping get rewired • Addiction, dissociation, and why “I have to for business” kept me stuck • Comparison fatigue: kitchens, lifestyles, and wanting what you never wanted • Friendship fallout and the highlight-reel problem • Presence over performative living: documenting less, remembering more • Business without socials: remembering companies existed long before apps • What I’m doing instead and how I’m staying visible without a feedPOINT OF THE STORY:Social media can offer connection and sales, but if it steals your peace, energy, and presence, the cost is too high. Choose the life you want to be inside of, not the one that looks good from the outside.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: • The Anxious Generation by Jonathan HaidtAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

If there’s one thing that’s quietly changed everything for me, my nervous system, my relationships, my business, it’s what I’m sharing in this episode.This part-three conversation wraps up our relaunch mini-series with the simplest, most unexpected reframe that turned my constant striving into something softer, steadier, and so much more peaceful.It’s a way of seeing yourself and your life that makes room for ease, curiosity, and joy again. The kind of shift that asks you to see things a little differently.TOPICS & TANGENTS:• Why “being the expert” kept me stressed, tight, and over-strategized• Curiosity vs. threat: the nervous system science behind beginner energy• Re-entering life post-sabbatical and feeling that old buzz again (hi, cortisol)• Rebuilding business rhythms by asking what feels good to try• Marriage and motherhood with fresh eyes, more surprise, presence, and ease• Escaping information overwhelm (goodbye, social media) and returning to what’s true• Filtering everything through a beginner’s mind to make life easier, not smaller• Where this podcast is headed: the self beneath the successPOINT OF THE STORY:You can’t white-knuckle your way into regulation, but I can promise you that the beginner’s mind invites safety, play, and possibility, so your system can soften and your life can expand.RELAUNCH GIVEAWAY (10/29 – 10/31):Free Access to The Energy Advantage (Mini - less than 15 minutes!) Training where I reveal the exact framework I used to double my energy, work less frantically, and actually end my days with something left in the tank.Here’s how to get instant access:Leave a review for Shamelessly Ambitious on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.Screenshot your review.Upload it using this short form.Once you do, you’ll get immediate access to the mini-webinar — From constant exhaustion to overflowing energy: the fastest way high-achieving women can reclaim their capacity in 2025.Rooting for you, your way, always 🖤Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

Even after I slowed down, healed, lost 40 pounds, and felt like a brand-new human, the old patterns still tiptoed back in. Not the dramatic face-down-on-the-floor kind of burnout, just the sneaky version that makes you pause and say, “Oh, interesting… you again?” It was enough to make me curious.This part-two debrief is me pulling back the curtain on why urgency creeps in even after rest, how cortisol becomes our go-to fuel source, and the small, doable resets that actually change the pattern without blowing up your entire life. Think of it as the gentle, real-life guide to breaking the burnout cycle… and all the tiny daily shifts that we all need.TOPICS & TANGENTS:• When old patterns creep back after rest • Cortisol addiction and why stress starts to feel like energy • How “busy” becomes an identity we get praised for • Childhood wiring: control, chaos, and early responsibility • Relational fawning: regulating everyone but yourself • The urgency we learn young (and why I still watch our mornings) • Tiny resets that help: the 90-second nothing timer, sense grounding, and vagus-nerve hums • Values vs. ideals: hearing your life tell the truth • The Somatic Wealth Framework: Regulate, Reflect, RewirePOINT OF THE STORY:You can’t out-sabbatical a nervous system pattern. The shift isn’t a life overhaul; it’s honest values + tiny, embodied resets repeated today.RELAUNCH GIVEAWAY (10/29 – 10/31): Free Access to The Energy Advantage (Mini - less than 15 minutes!) Training where I reveal the exact framework I used to double my energy, work less frantically, and actually end my days with something left in the tank.Here’s how to get instant access:Leave a review for Shamelessly Ambitious on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.Screenshot your review.Upload it using this short form.Once you do, you’ll get immediate access to the mini-webinar, From constant exhaustion to overflowing energy: the fastest way high-achieving women can reclaim their capacity in 2025.Rooting for you, your way, always 🖤Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

What was meant to be a little pause turned into almost a year and a half off the mic.August 2024 to October 2025.Time is fake, apparently.In this catch-up episode, I share where I’ve been, why I chose life (again and again) over momentum, and how I rebuilt my days around values that actually feel like mine, even when it meant letting go of things that once defined me.If you’ve ever felt torn between who you’re “supposed” to be and the life you actually want, this one’s a full-blown compass reset.TOPICS & TANGENTS: • The unexpected 18-month break and why returning mattered • Worldschooling adventures from Washington to Brazil • Building community and life in Colorado • Choosing what fits instead of chasing balance • Values vs. ideals: letting your real life show what matters • Perfectionism as a sneaky burnout driver • Stepping away from social media and finding peacePOINT OF THE STORY: Regulation isn’t about perfect calm. It’s about choosing what matters when it costs you something, over and over again. When your values get honest, your life gets simpler.🎁 RELAUNCH GIVEAWAY (10/29–10/31): Get free access to The Energy Advantage mini training (under 15 minutes!), where I share the exact framework I used to double my energy, work less frantically, and actually end my days with something left in the tank.How to get instant access: 1️⃣ Leave a review for Shamelessly Ambitious on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 2️⃣ Screenshot your review 3️⃣ Upload it using the short form Once you do, you’ll get immediate access to:From Constant Exhaustion to Overflowing Energy, The Fastest Way High-Achieving Women Can Reclaim Their Capacity in 2025Rooting for you, your way, always 🖤Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

A real, unfiltered look behind the scenes of what it takes to build a life and business that actually feel good. Shamelessly Ambitious is where ambition meets regulation. Honest conversations, nervous system truths, and the messy, beautiful reality of being a woman who holds it all: the family, the business, the vision. Sometimes it’s deep, sometimes it’s messy, but it’s always real.Rooting for you, your way, always 🖤LINKS:— Become the Regulated Woman — Get emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth). — Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7 — Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip) — Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 — Therapeutic Mentorship — Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

Welcome to the final episode... at least for a little while. Tune in to hear the journey that led me to this choice, including the challenges of balancing work and life, and the realization that sometimes, even the things we love need to take a backseat. 🎙️🚗 Exciting — I’ve recently reclaimed full control over my content and emails which has felt really good. I've been opening up space and pulling back on some things to pour my energy into a mastermind I’ve been secretly crafting BTS.As I prepare for a personal milestone — my 37th birthday — I reflect on the lessons learned from my sabbatical and how I’ve shifted away from the "revenue rat race." In this episode I chat about the dangers of scaling without sustainability and why doing more to make more isn’t always the answer. Instead, we ought to be simplifying and focusing on what truly matters. Those beyond profit moments. 🎂🌳🌊🌅🥾👨‍👩‍👧‍👦💋🍦THE JUICY HIGHLIGHTS:• The importance of spaciousness and intentionality in work and life• How reclaiming control over my content has allowed me to focus on what truly matters• The dangers of scaling without considering mental wellness and sustainability• My special BIRTHDAY SALE {August 28-31}• Living for the moments beyond profitTHE EPISODE BREAKDOWN:[0:40] My impromptu break from the podcast[2:04] When we say things like this out loud we start to operate from a "lack of"[3:09] Taking back pieces of my business that I was previously outsourcing[4:13] My birthday plans with my bestie 🎂[5:55] Learning about myself & my business during my sabbatical[11:15] Doing more to make more [14:30] This mastermind will soon be my only offer 😲[17:10] The Beyond Profit mastermind [24:58] Living more the beyond profit moments & building a business that supports that✉️ JOIN THE EMAIL LIST HEREJoin the email list at the footer of the page to get in on the juice of my birthday sale! 🎂 I’ll be completely OOO hiking & camping in the middle of Arizona so you won’t see this marketed anywhere! Besides, the email list gets all the tea anyways.📲 MESSAGE ME "BEYOND PROFIT"MAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

I am doing things a littttttle bit differently this week, but I’m super excited about it! ➡️ I’m bringing you the BTS, original audio clip from the exclusive ATS Musings chat. I thought about rerecording it but as I listened back, I thought, “this is where the real magic is.” 🪄🌈Here is my backstage pass to a recent conversation I had with a client, how I coached her through, and why it’s so important that we avoid making business harder than it needs to be. This audio is going to help you feel a little less stuck in trying to find the “perfect” business strategy. 🎟️💻🤓THE JUICY HIGHLIGHTS:• Embracing the chaos of business and motherhood• Realizing that there's no such thing as "nailing it"• Homeschooling and honoring the individuality of my kids• The trap of comparison and why it’s so dangerous• Shifting focus from perfection to purposeTHE EPISODE BREAKDOWN:[2:21] Kicking off the call with a client and the desire for a solid plan[2:46] Laughing at the idea of "knowing what you're doing"[4:52] My thoughts on homeschooling: preserving innocence and honoring uniqueness[5:26] The overwhelming differences in my three kids' learning styles[6:10] Reflecting on the challenges of the traditional school system[6:58] The dangers of comparison in business and motherhood[9:31] How is your business serving you?[10:51] Who determined what "success" means? This is why success isn't just about money...[11:38] Applying these principles to marriage, motherhood && life[12:18] Finding peace in the simple, joyful moments with my kids[12:35] The importance of focusing on thoughts, actions, and resultsFREE TRAINING {FROM INSIDE BECOMING HER}As both a therapist and a life coach, I deeply understand that the real key to riches is knowing how to adjust and adapt to ultimately overcome resistance on your path to becoming her.This audio activation will help you clarify your motivations. It'll help you embrace continuous growth and it will encourage you to let go of perfectionism so you can shift your perspective and take that radical responsibility for your life for the long haul.📲 To get this free BTS training from the recent healing intensive, Her Reinvention, message me "becoAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

Coming to you for another Musings style episode from the comfort of my bed on day one of my bleed as I watch the Washington rain outside and dream about ordering some hot Pho. 🌧️🍜🩸🛌 This is the first time it's rained since we've been here and I'm obsessed. I can't stop opening the window to smell the fresh rain. As always, this episode is a catch up of where I've been, what's going well, and what I'm struggling with. Plussss, I dive into my criminal history and why exploring Canada was such a big deal for me. 🚔🇨🇦THE JUICY HIGHLIGHTS:• Enjoying the rain from my window & dreaming about Pho• Celebrating visiting Canada after thinking I never would• Abandoning myself in hopes of belonging to others• Triggered by people giving advice that doesn’t align with my coaching style• Choose you, belong to you, && don’t abandon yourself like I didTHE EPISODE BREAKDOWN:[1:01] It’s FINALLY raining in Washington 😍[1:41] Forgetting our passports on our way to Canada[2:51] Sea to sky scenic highway & gondola[4:10] Being overzealous on our adventure day in Stanley Park[7:06] I really think I was made to live in a treehouse in the middle of a forest[7:36] Fearing I would never get to visit Canada because… 🚔[8:34] Backstory on me being a convicted felon SMFH[13:21] Celebrating my continued wellness success[15:09] Belonging to myself without sacrificing pieces of me for others “safety”[18:32] Recognizing when you're stuck in the muck & need to dig yourself out[19:41] Loving my notes app for my wellness checklist 📝[20:51] Feeling triggering by this…[21:56] Safe enough to go slow 🫶🏻[23:28] I am NOT the coach for you... [24:48] Handling this triggerFREE TRAINING {FROM INSIDE BECOMING HER}As both a therapist and a life coach, I deeply understand that the real key to riches is knowing how to adjust and adapt to ultimately overcome resistance on your path to becoming her.This audio activation will help you clarify your motivations. It'll help you embrace continuous growth and it will encourage you to let go of perfectionism so you can shift your perspective and take that radical responsibility for your life for the long haul.Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

I'm taking my healing journey to a whole new level. This summer has been dedicated to healing childhood wounds, creating moments to comfort little Ashley, and reparent myself for the years I was forced into "leaping" when I wasn't ready due to my trauma. ❤️‍🩹🥹 THE JUICY HIGHLIGHTS:• Finally uncovering the piece of hurt from my childhood• What creating experiential healing practices looks like• Exploring some things that little me missed out on• Supporting my nervous system dysregulation• BTS of the next three months of intensives {Above the Standard Collective is open! {Doors close TOMORROW}THE EPISODE BREAKDOWN:[0:36] Doors for ATS close tomorrow! 🫣 [2:05] Healing is never over... it's a forever journey  [4:19] Why I'm putting a massive emphasis on healing my inner child [6:50] When you experience trauma, you experience this "leap" [9:39] Creating experiential practices to sit with younger me [11:38] Exploring things I missed out on [14:01] Facing nervous system dysregulation head on  [15:45] This is the work we get to do & why I created ATS  ABOVE THE STANDARD COLLECTIVE – DOORS CLOSE TOMORROWPsychology-backed life coaching in an intimate community where you and your wildest dreams are celebrated with no take backs. Experience true inner healing, break free from anything that’s holding you back, and become the woman who can hold everything she desires in this life.FREE TRAINING {FROM INSIDE BECOMING HER}The key to a rich life is living like you already it. So much easier said than done. && as both a therapist and a life coach, I deeply understand that the real key to riches is knowing how to adjust and adapt to ultimately overcome resistance on your path to becoming her.This audio activation will help you clarify your motivations. It'll help you embrace continuous growth and it will encourage you to let go of perfectionism so you can shift your perspective and take that radical responsibility for your life for the long haul.📲 To get thiAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

I'm so excited to be coming to you from my serene backyard in the woods of Issaquah, Washington.  Hear the tea BTS of Her Reinvention, what my daily thought pattern work is, and my challenges & adjustments of maintaining boundaries. &&& the freaking Above the Standard Collective is OPEN! I could cry. It feels like such a long time coming. 🥹 GTG, I think I just saw another bear.THE JUICY HIGHLIGHTS:• Barefoot in the backyard... keeping an eye out for bears 🐻• Wrapping up Her Reinvention with 39 amazing women• Daily thought pattern work 🧠• Struggling with boundaries 📲• The Above the Standard Collective is open! {Doors close July 31}THE EPISODE BREAKDOWN:[0:48] Barefoot in my backyard & obsessing over Washington[3:46] Hiking & keeping an eye out for f*cking BEARS 🐻[5:06] What's going really well: Her Reinvention[5:44] My daily thought pattern works[6:32] What's really affecting your behavior and results[13:53] How you can get a free training from Her Reinvention [15:36] My favorite hack: The ATS Collective [22:05] Currently struggling with: Communication Boundaries [30:09] Don't forget to join the ATS Collective because doors close on July 31 FREE TRAINING {FROM INSIDE BECOMING HER}The key to a rich life is living like you already it. So much easier said than done. && as both a therapist and a life coach, I deeply understand that the real key to riches is knowing how to adjust and adapt to ultimately overcome resistance on your path to becoming her.This audio activation will help you clarify your motivations. It'll help you embrace continuous growth and it will encourage you to let go of perfectionism so you can shift your perspective and take that radical responsibility for your life for the long haul.📲 To get this free BTS training from the recent healing intensive, Her Reinvention, message me "becoming" on Instagram. It's completely free.Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

If you tuned in to episode 141, I shared a very personal & vulnerable story about a time I didn’t belong. A huge reason why I felt compelled to share that was because of the sense of belonging that comes with my new membership, the Above The Standard Collective.Another urge you get inside the membership is to stop simply showing up for life & settling to instead start living intentionally and create magic in the day to day. If you were radically honest with yourself, how often are you just showing up in life and not existing to your fullest potential? You get to change that narrative.THE JUICY HIGHLIGHTS:• How I discovered what my legacy was • My constant aim has been to help people live above the standard• Creating a space where you don't simply exist, rather get to become• How I live intentionally everyday & create magic in the mundane• Becoming her & existing to my fullest and greatest potentialTHE EPISODE BREAKDOWN:[0:52] My personal reinvention has been taking place for years[1:55] The ups & downs of my life that have led me to live out my purpose[4:22] The former membership & how the new one is different[4:36] What actually creates sustainability in a business (it’s the CEO)[5:45] Giggling at my Freudian slips saying sex instead of success 🫦 [6:15] My greatest focus over the last 14 years is helping those live a life above the standard[7:15] Majorly fumbling over my words HELLOOO luteal phase 😮‍💨[7:45] This membership is not just recurring revenue for me… it’s my LEGACY[8:38] The Collective is not just a space that you exist in, it’s a space you become in[9:01] How do I live above the standard on the daily? My risk & repeat effect… 🔄[11:00] What happens when you stop being the victim of your circumstances[12:42] How different might your life look if you stop simply showing up and truly intentionally show up? 👀 [12:57] The two questions I ask myself when I’m feeling blase or mundane in my life[17:03] Reciprocation is the name of the game for healing[19:16] Recently having an existential crisis with the word “ambition” 🫣[21:00] I believe this is the most profound thing weAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)

This week's musings is brought to you riverside. I wish you could see & smell how fresh it is here. We are currently in Livingston, MT which is just outside of Bozeman. I am walking through the city alongside the Yellowstone River. 🗻 We're actually leaving today so I don't feel like I can fully check Montana off the list as we only stayed for two days, but we're off again and heading to Spokane, WA. Ya girl is ecstatic. 🚙🚦🌄I'm also giving away the real tea in today's episode. I promised to always keep it real with what's going well & what's not going so well ⏤ today I'm opening up about something I really fucked up recently in my business that brought some negative feelings to the surface. I'm also sharing something I'm SO freaking excited for that will be LIVE July 14-19. Are you ready to step into her? 👀✨🫦 Details below!THE JUICY HIGHLIGHTS:• My last adventure walk in Livingston, MT before we hit the road• Trying to catch some {affordable} vibes in Coeur d'Alene, ID• Currently obsessed with being a bookworm 📕• Selling myself short & giving too much away with a recent offer• Having a massive wakeup call and breaking free from my prior urge to settle • Introducing: HER REINVENTION 🥹THE EPISODE BREAKDOWN:[0:45] Coming to you from the cutest Airbnb of all time[2:06] Getting back in the car to leave Montana today ⏤ We are WA bound! [2:52] Hiking sourdough trail... are you freaking kidding me? 🥖🚶🏻‍♀️ [3:42] Still giving into my desires for more... ICE CREAM 🍦[4:52] Catching a vibe in Coeur d'Alene but it's damn expensive! [5:45] We are in the highs & lows of traveling annnndd bickering 😭  [7:19] My current obsession & I'm hooked 📕 [8:07] How do you instill the love for reading in your kids? 😅  [10:36] What I'm struggling with [10:42] Quick pause to listen to the Yellowstone River 🥰 [11:17] The thing I fucked up in my business [12:38] The new Business Breakthrough offer & selling it out[15:53] Am I a fraud? Imposter syndrome is kicking in[16:33] Charging too little for massive over-delivery [17:49] The amazing feedback I received 🥹🥲[19:56] Deciding BTS how I want to modify the BuAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASHI am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.LINKS:Become the Regulated WomanGet emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.comWork with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)