PODCAST · business
This Wasn't My Plan
by Ashlee Hayes
This Wasn’t My Plan is the career podcast for high-achievers who’ve checked all the boxes (and done all the right things!) but still feel something’s missing. Hosted by Career Strategist and Performance Consultant and Advisor, RX Ashlee, it’s your no-BS roadmap to redefining success on your terms. Whether you’re pivoting, scaling your business, or ready for work that works for you, this show delivers sharp strategy, smart scripts, and real talk. No fluff, no filler, just focused guidance to help you lead, own your voice, and win with intention.
Episodes
-
Confidence Isn't What You're Missing
Episode 47: Confidence Isn't What You're Missing I want to talk about two words I hear women in leadership use interchangeably ALL THE TIME. Confidence and self-trust. Because they're not the same thing. And I think understanding the difference can completely change how you make decisions…
more -
Hema Dey: Being Great at What You Do Isn't Enough Anymore
Guest Episode 13: Hema Dey: Being Great at What You Do Isn't Enough Anymore What happens when you've spent decades building your expertise, but the way people discover and evaluate businesses changes almost overnight? In this episode of This Wasn't My Plan, I sit down with Hema Dey, founder and…
more -
I Went for a Race. I Came Home With Clarity.
Episode 46: I Went for a Race. I Came Home With Clarity. What happens when you step outside your routine, challenge yourself physically, and spend an entire weekend with people you love? For Ashlee, it meant coming home with more clarity than she expected. In this solo episode of *This Wasn't My...
-
Leah Rosser: Translating Your Ideas into Execution
Episode 12: Leah Rosser: Translating Your Ideas into Execution Ashlee sits down with Leah Rosser, founder of Out of the Box Ops, to explore her unexpected path from classroom teacher to fractional COO and why growing businesses often have a clarity, ownership, and execution problem. After eight...
-
Your Behavior Under Pressure Is Your Leadership Brand
Episode 45: Your Behavior Under Pressure Is Your Leadership Brand Who are you when the pressure rises? It's easy to describe yourself as collaborative, supportive, calm, empowering, or a strong communicator when everything is going according to plan. But your leadership reputation is built in the...
-
Kalebe Easley: You Can't Expect What You Don't Model
Guest Episode 11: Kalebe Easley: You Can't Expect What You Don't Model Ashlee sits down with Kalebe Easley, youth sports performance coach and founder of Prime Evolution Fitness and Sports Performance, to discuss the unexpected path from his dream of playing professional football to coaching…
more -
Lisa Larter: Decisiveness is a Leadership Responsibility
Guest Episode 10: Lisa Larter: Decisiveness is a Leadership Responsibility. In this episode, Ashlee sits down with business strategist and entrepreneur Lisa Larter to talk about the decisions, opportunities, and unexpected turns that shaped a career she could not have fully planned. From growing…
more -
Confidence Is Calm
Episode 44: Confidence Is Calm In this episode, Ashlee challenges the way we typically think about confidence. After a mentor told her that confidence is calm, she began questioning whether moving fast, overexplaining, overperforming, and always having the answer are actually signs of confidence…
more -
Bree Jeong: Betting on Yourself
Guest Episode 9: Bree Jeong: Betting on Yourself In this episode, Ashlee sits down with longtime friend Bree Jeong, a hairstylist and hair extension specialist, who shares how she went from working eight to ten hour days without eating or taking breaks to rebuilding her business, and her nervous...
-
The Most Expensive Problem in Your Business
Episode 43: The Most Expensive Problem in Your Business In this episode, Ashlee breaks down the single most costly and least visible problem inside most organizations — communication ambiguity. She explains why it does not show up on a spreadsheet, why even the smartest leaders create it without...
-
The Longer You Wait, the Harder the Conversation Gets
Episode 42: The Longer You Wait, the Harder the Conversation Gets In this episode, Ashlee breaks down one of the most common and costly communication mistakes leaders make — waiting too long to say what needs to be said. She explains why most conversations are not actually difficult because of…
more -
Getting It Done: How Ranarda Jones Built a 35-Person Medicare Consulting Firm Without a Clear Plan
Guest Episode 8: Getting It Done: How Ranarda Jones Built a 35-Person Medicare Consulting Firm Without a Plan In this episode, Ashlee welcomes Ranarda Jones — co-founder and CEO of PSyn, Inc., managed care consultant, Medicare expert, and accidental entrepreneur with 35-plus employees — for one…
more -
Communication Under Pressure Is a Trainable Skill
Episode 41: Communication Under Pressure Is a Trainable Skill In this episode, Ashlee blends her clinical background with her leadership communication expertise for the first time — breaking down the science behind why we struggle to communicate under pressure, what is actually happening inside…
more -
From Red Carpets to Healing Rooms: How Ilona Varo Found Her Calling
Guest Episode 7: From Red Carpets to Healing Rooms: How Ilona Varo Found Her Calling Ashlee welcomes Ilona Varo — licensed marriage and family therapist, psychotherapist, and founder of her private practice and coaching company — for a conversation about identity, resistance, and leading yourself...
-
The Fastest Way to Lose Credibility as a Leader
Episode 40: The Fastest Way to Lose Credibility as a Leader In this episode, Ashlee celebrates hitting episode 40 and dives straight into one of her core values as a communication expert: the fastest way a leader loses credibility isn't a big scandal, it's the quiet, repeated habit of saying…
more -
Burnout to Blueprint: How Dr. Jen Bourgeois Built a Business by Healing Herself First
Guest Episode 6: Burnout to Blueprint: How Dr. Jen Bourgeois Built a Business by Healing Herself First In this episode, Ashlee welcomes Dr. Jen Bourgeois — pharmacist, nervous system expert, and founder of Peacefully Rich Coaching and Consulting — for a deeply honest conversation about burnout,...
-
How I Make Big Life Altering Decisions
Episode 39: How I Make Big Life Altering Decisions In this episode, Ashlee shares the behavioral based system she has built — not from theory or inspiration, but from real experience — for making big, high stakes decisions with confidence. Inspired by two clients navigating major career…
more -
When Fear Means You’re Going the Right Way with Dr. Brooke Stubbs
Guest Episode 5: When Fear Means You’re Going the Right Way with Dr. Brooke Stubbs In this episode, Ashlee sits down with longtime friend Dr. Brooke Stubbs, founder of Rooted Femme, a women's concierge medicine practice in Austin, TX. Brooke opens up about the dermatology residency she didn't…
more -
Most Leaders Talk Too Much
Episode 38: Most Leaders Talk Too Much In this episode, Ashlee calls out one of the most common and costly communication habits in leadership — over talking. She breaks down why saying more does not create more clarity, what communication dilution actually costs your team, and how the strongest...
-
When Success No Longer Fits: Dr. Deepti Gandhi on Reinvention, Perimenopause, & What's Next
Guest Episode 4: When Success No Longer Fits: Dr. Deepti Gandhi on Reinvention, Midlife & What's Next There comes a moment for many high-achieving women when the life they've worked so hard to build no longer feels aligned. In this episode, Ashlee sits down with Dr. Deepti Gandhi—physician,...
-
Learning How to Give Feedback That Builds Trust
Episode 37: Learning How to Give Feedback That Builds Trust In this episode, Ashlee breaks down one of the most underrated and undertaught leadership skills — how to give feedback that actually builds trust instead of destroying it. She explains why avoidance is not kindness, why delayed feedback...
-
From the Lakers to Bestseller Lists: How Jake Kelfer Turned Books Into a Business
Guest Episode 3: From the Lakers to Bestseller Lists: How Jake Kelfer Turned Books Into a Business Ashlee talks with Jake Kelfer, founder of Big Idea to Bestseller, about what it really takes to write a book, build a business around your expertise, and stop waiting until you feel "qualified…
more -
The #1 Way to Build Trust on Your Team Is NOT with More Time
Episode 36: The #1 Way to Build Trust on Your Team Is NOT with More Time In this episode, Ashlee challenges one of the biggest myths in leadership, that trust just takes time. Inspired by a conversation with a client who had been waiting a decade for her team to trust each other, Ashlee breaks…
more -
Dress for the Leader You're Becoming: How Amanda Weil Uses Style to Transform Confidence & Presence
Guest Episode 2: Dress for the Leader You're Becoming: How Amanda Weil Uses Style to Transform Confidence and Presence In this episode, Ashlee welcomes Amanda Weil - stylist, soul coach, and founder of Amanda Weil Style, for a conversation that goes far beyond clothing. Together, they explore how...
-
How the Best Leaders Speak Under Pressure
Episode 35: How the Best Leaders Speak Under Pressure In this episode, Ashlee breaks down one of her most important topics — how leaders communicate when the stakes are high. She explains why pressure does not create communication breakdowns, it only exposes them, and what leaders must do to stay...
-
Say Less, Mean More: How Chris Cozzolino Built a LinkedIn Marketing Empire Through Communication
Guest Episode 1: Say Less, Mean More: How Chris Cozzolino Built a LinkedIn Marketing Empire Through Communication In the very first guest episode of This Wasn't My Plan, Ashlee sits down with entrepreneur Chris Cozzolino, founder of Uptown Creation, to explore the communication principles behind...
-
High-Performing Teams Recap Everything
Episode 34: High Performing Teams Recap Everything In this episode, Ashlee breaks down one of the most underrated communication habits in leadership — the recap. She explains why the absence of closing loops is responsible for more organizational dysfunction than most leaders realize, and why…
more -
Why Decisions Stall (And What It Is Costing You!)
Episode 33: Why Decisions Stall (And What It Is Costing You!) In this episode, Ashlee breaks down why most organizations think they have a people and productivity problem — when what they actually have is a decision-making problem. She explains how a leader's inability to make confident, clear...
-
The Leader Who Cannot Communicate Cannot Scale
Episode 32: The Leader Who Cannot Communicate Cannot Scale In this episode, Ashlee breaks down why most companies don't hit a growth ceiling because of talent — they hit a communication ceiling. She explains why the communication habits that built the business stop working as it grows, and what...
-
Ownership: The Most Misunderstood Word on Teams
Episode 31: Ownership — The Most Misunderstood Word on Teams In this episode, Ashlee breaks down why ownership is one of the most overused and least defined words in business today. She explains what ownership actually requires operationally, why high-achieving teams confuse it with...
-
The Cost of Poor Communication in Leadership
Episode 30: The Cost of Poor Communication in Leadership In this episode, Ashlee makes the business case for why communication is not a soft skill — it's an operational expense. She breaks down exactly what poor communication costs organizations, why burnout is rarely a workload problem, and what...
-
Understanding Why Team Alignment Is Not the Same as Team Agreement
Episode 29: Alignment Isn't Agreement In this episode, Ashlee breaks down one of the most misunderstood concepts in leadership — alignment. She explains why teams stall when they confuse alignment with consensus, and what leaders must do differently to create the clarity, ownership, and…
more -
Why Teams Don’t Have a Talent Problem...They Have a Clarity Problem
Episode 28: Why Teams Don't Have a Talent Problem… They Have a Clarity Problem In this episode, Ashlee breaks down the most misdiagnosed problem in modern organizations — and it's not disengagement, poor culture, or lack of talent. It's unclear communication stacked on top of unclear…
more -
How RX Ashlee Defines Leadership
Episode 27: How RX Ashlee Defines Leadership In this episode, Ashlee plants a flag around what leadership actually means inside RX Ashlee, and it's not the corporate, title-driven, or performative version. She breaks down why leadership has been wildly overcomplicated, who it's really for, and…
more -
Communication is THE Leader's Work
Episode 26: Communication is THE Leader's Work In this episode, Ashlee makes the case for why communication isn't a soft skill to revisit later — it's the core discipline that determines whether teams move forward or stay stuck. She breaks down exactly where clarity breaks down, why it happens…
more -
Why This Show Exists
Original Air Date: 2/6/26 This episode is about what happens when your plan falls apart, and you stop treating that as a problem to fix. It’s about the quiet, unglamorous moments where identity shifts, careers reroute, and life asks you to grow up faster than expected. And what becomes possible...
-
Redefining Success
Original Air Date: 1/30/26 If you’ve done everything “right” and it still doesn’t feel right… listen to this. Season Two opens with a reset. Not because something broke. Not because I’m burned out. But because the version of success I was chasing no longer fits the life I’m living. And if you’re...
-
Your Career Identity: Understanding Who You Are and Where You Belong
Original Air Date: 12/22/25 Your Career Identity: Understanding Who You Are and Where You Belong Season One Finale of This Wasn’t My Plan In the final episode of Season One, Ashlee closes the year with a conversation every high-achiever needs but rarely makes space for: career identity. If you’ve...
-
The Bridge: Why All Businesses Need an Integrator
Original Air Date: 12/15/25 If you’ve ever worked inside a business—big or small—and thought, “Why does everything feel so chaotic?” or “Why are we always reacting instead of leading?” this episode is going to make everything click. Today we’re talking about the most overlooked role in...
-
If You Feel Behind, This Episode Is For You
Original Air Date: 12/8/25 If you’ve been walking around with that quiet pressure in your chest, the “I should be further along by now” pressure, this episode is for you. Today, we’re talking to the part of you that’s tired, overstretched, and holding yourself to timelines that don’t match who…
more -
What I’m Letting Go Of Before 2026
Original Air Date: 12/1/25 In this episode, Ashlee opens up about the powerful internal shift she experienced throughout 2025 — a year marked by releasing identities, roles, habits, and patterns that no longer fit. For the first time in nearly two decades, she stepped entirely out of the…
more -
You Know Your Value, Now Let People See It
Original Air Date: 11/24/25 You Know What You Bring to the Table, Now Let People See It. Last week, we talked about creating your personal brand—the foundation, the clarity, and the message behind what you stand for. This week, we’re talking about what comes next: how to grow your personal brand...
-
You Already Have a Personal Brand, Are You Owning It?
Original Air Date: 11/17/25 Episode #20: You Already Have a Personal Brand, Are You Owning It? 🎙️ This Wasn’t My Plan with RX Ashlee Your personal brand isn’t about going viral or building a perfectly curated feed—it’s about clarity. It’s about knowing who you are, what you stand for, and how…
more -
What Coaching 3rd and 4th Grade Girls Taught Me About Leadership
Original Air Date: 11/10/25 Podcast Episode #19: Coaching My Daughter’s Flag Football Team — Leadership, Lessons, and Letting Go When you say yes to something outside your comfort zone, you rarely realize how much it will change you. In this episode, Ashlee shares the story of what started as a...
-
How to Support Someone Who is Going Through a Career Pivot
Original Air Date: 11/2/25 Podcast #18: How to Support Someone Who is Going Through a Career Pivot When someone you love is questioning their career, it can be hard to know what to say or what not to say. Maybe it’s your best friend who’s been talking about leaving her job for years but still...
-
How to Quit Being So Vague During Interviews
Original Air Date: 10/27/25 Episode #17: How to Quit Being So Vague During Interviews If you’ve ever left an interview thinking, “Did I even answer their question?” — this one’s for you. Being vague is one of the sneakiest ways candidates sabotage themselves in interviews. It doesn’t happen…
more -
Why You Need to Stop Talking Yourself Out of Your Dreams
Original Air Date: 10/20/25 Episode #16: Stop Talking Yourself Out of Your Dreams Have you ever felt like the words get stuck in your brain, and by the time fear sets in, you’ve already talked yourself out of your dream? You’re not alone. One of my Career by Design students put it perfectly: “I’m...
-
Confidently You: The Book, The Why, and What’s In It For You
Original Air Date: 10/13/25 Episode #15: Confidently You — The Why, What’s Inside, and How It Will Change How You Speak Up Confidence doesn’t just appear when you need it most—it’s built through repetition, preparation, and giving yourself permission to take up space. In this special episode, I’m...
-
5 Tips to Keep Your Sanity When You are Looking for a New Job
Original Air Date: 10/6/25 🎙️ Episode #14: 5 Tips to Keep Your Sanity When You are Looking for a New Job Job hunting isn’t just about résumés and applications, it’s emotional work. One day you’re optimistic, the next you’re doubting everything. And if you’re not careful, the process will drain...
-
The #1 Tip to Win Any Interview
Original Air Date: 9/29/25 If you’ve ever walked out of an interview thinking, “I rambled too much…” this episode is for you. After coaching over 2,000 clients, training 8,000+ students in my interview prep course, and helping negotiate more than $20M in offers, I can tell you with full…
more
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
This Wasn’t My Plan is the career podcast for high-achievers who’ve checked all the boxes (and done all the right things!) but still feel something’s missing. Hosted by Career Strategist and Performance Consultant and Advisor, RX Ashlee, it’s your no-BS roadmap to redefining success on your terms. Whether you’re pivoting, scaling your business, or ready for work that works for you, this show delivers sharp strategy, smart scripts, and real talk. No fluff, no filler, just focused guidance to help you lead, own your voice, and win with intention.
HOSTED BY
Ashlee Hayes
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does This Wasn't My Plan have?
This Wasn't My Plan currently has 60 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is This Wasn't My Plan about?
This Wasn’t My Plan is the career podcast for high-achievers who’ve checked all the boxes (and done all the right things!) but still feel something’s missing. Hosted by Career Strategist and Performance Consultant and Advisor, RX Ashlee, it’s your no-BS roadmap to redefining success on your terms....
How often does This Wasn't My Plan release new episodes?
This Wasn't My Plan has 60 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to This Wasn't My Plan?
You can listen to This Wasn't My Plan on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts This Wasn't My Plan?
This Wasn't My Plan is created and hosted by Ashlee Hayes.
URL copied to clipboard!