Shows
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenSelf-Confidence & Leadership: From Climbing Mountains to MotherhoodThoughts or comments? Send us a text!We reframe self-doubt, motherhood, and messy life moments as a training ground for leadership, confidence, and authentic growth. Simone shares the REAL method and a mindset reset that turns “I could never” into clear choices and courageous action.• redefining “shrinking violet” as resilience and strength• reframing caregiving and domestic labor as leadership skills• Simone’s vulnerable turning points and Kilimanjaro mindset• competing vs supporting women and the social media trap• readiness myths, imposter syndrome, and action bias• adoption, family culture, and transferable skills• control alt dele...
2026-02-0545 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenFrom People Pleasing To Personal Power: Healing Weight, Shame, And IdentityThoughts or comments? Send us a text!What if your body story isn’t about willpower, but about identity you’ve outgrown? We sit down with intuitive healer and coach Tara Wiscow, who lost 220 pounds and discovered the scale can’t measure self worth. Her three “flashbulb” moments—an early family secret, a heartbreaking park accident with her son, and a profound encounter with her higher self after her sister’s passing—reveal how abandonment, belonging, and grief shape the way we eat, the way we love, and the way we show up.We get honest about wei...
2026-01-2959 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenCan You Change the Intensity of Your Emotions?Thoughts or comments? Send us a text!Some days the world feels impossibly heavy, and personal hurts pile on until sleep won’t come. We walk through a grounded path to emotional change that doesn’t deny pain: naming exactly what you feel, reaching for the next gentler emotion, and using micro-actions that shift your state in minutes. Drawing on therapy practice and the emotional guidance scale popularized by Abraham Hicks, we show how specificity lowers the body’s alarm and opens space for wiser choices.We talk candidly about moments of unfair treatment and the fa...
2026-01-2617 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenThe Cost of Silence: Self-Forgiveness through Honesty and GraceThoughts or comments? Send us a text!What if the story you’re afraid to tell is the very thing that sets you free? We sit down with author and transformational mentor Julie Heaton to explore how shame, silence, and people-pleasing quietly script our lives—and how courage, honest words, and kind boundaries write a new one. Julie shares her journey from a teenage adoption and decades of secrecy to reunion, deep repair, and the everyday practices that rebuilt her inner voice.Together we unpack how unprocessed emotion turns into physical stress, why approval-chasing leads to b...
2026-01-2249 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenFrom Shame To Strategy: Rethinking How Women Relate To MoneyThoughts or comments? Send us a text!Money can feel like a second language—especially when the words you learned were “Don’t talk about it” or “We can’t afford that.” We sit down with nationally recognized wealth advisor and Everyone’s Talkin' Money podcast host Shari Rash to decode the different ways men and women talk about money, why that mismatch fuels shame, and how to build a plan that fits your actual life. From first money memories to the phrases we use with our kids, we trace how language shapes confidence, choices, and long-term wealth.
2026-01-1549 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenAnger, Resilience, And Raising HumansThoughts or comments? Send us a text!What if anger wasn’t the problem to solve but a message to translate? We dig into the real mechanics of emotional regulation, from the childhood patterns that prime our reactions to the nervous system tools that bring us back to center. Licensed therapist and host Mary Rothwell welcomes mental health coach Davina Hehn for a candid, story-rich conversation about raising resilient kids while keeping a strong partnership intact.We start by reframing anger as a secondary emotion—often covering disappointment, fear, or loneliness—and share how suppression masque...
2026-01-081h 09
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenThe Grief of Blindness and the Role of Grit and GratitudeThoughts or comments? Send us a text!What if healing isn’t something you finish, but a way you move while you’re still hurting? That question anchors our conversation with author, speaker, and coach Laura Bratton, who was diagnosed at nine with a rare retinal disease and lost her vision over her teen years. The timeline was uncertain, the grief relentless, and the pressure to “stay positive” intense. Laura shares how permission to grieve—given by a college counselor—reframed everything: you can mourn a non-death loss and still take the next step forward.We unpack a...
2026-01-0141 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenShame, Anxiety, And Women With ADHDThoughts or comments? Send us a text!Ever told yourself “just do the thing” while doomscrolling and calling it laziness? We go beneath that loop to decode how ADHD shows up in women: inattentive traits, time blindness, “out of sight, out of mind,” and the quiet ways socialization teaches us to mask chaos until it becomes shame. Licensed therapist Mary Rothwell sits down with ADHD life coach and educator Jorie Houlihan, who was diagnosed at 49, to map the territory from dismissal to validation and the skills that make daily life work.Jorie explains the brain basics—d...
2025-12-301h 00
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenFrom Chaos To Calm: Attachment, Trauma, And Choosing Healthy LoveThoughts or comments? Send us a text!Ever notice how a quiet room can make your heart race when you’re used to slammed doors and sharp words? We dig into why peace can feel unsafe if you grew up around chaos and how that early conditioning shapes what your nervous system calls “normal.” With Dr. Rebecca Payne, a California-based psychologist who specializes in anxiety and relationships, we translate attachment theory into everyday language and practical steps you can use right away.We break down secure, anxious, and avoidant attachment without the jargon, then connect the do...
2025-12-2328 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenExpect The Expected: Navigating Hurtful Family DynamicsThoughts or comments? Send us a text!Holiday gatherings can feel like a pressure cooker when old dynamics collide with high hopes. We open up about the quiet bargain many of us make—if we do more, maybe they’ll hurt us less—and why that bargain drains joy. Instead, we walk through a practical, compassionate shift: expect the expected. When someone’s track record reliably brings criticism or dismissal, predicting a different outcome sets us up for pain. Grounding our plans in reality doesn’t make us cold; it makes us kinder to ourselves and more present fo...
2025-12-2207 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenDating After Divorce: How to Trust Yourself to Move OnThoughts or comments? Send us a text!The hardest part of divorce isn’t signing papers; it’s deciding who you want to be next. Mary sits down with divorce recovery coach Leah Mazur to trace a path from abandonment wounds and serial monogamy to boundaries, standards, and a calmer nervous system. Together we break the old script that says your worth depends on being chosen, and replace it with a practical roadmap for choosing yourself: slowing down, noticing red flags without making excuses, and building a full, satisfying life where partnership is a bonus, not a requ...
2025-12-1848 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenReinventing Midlife: Sobriety, Solo Travel, And Self-TrustThoughts or comments? Send us a text!What if the anxiety you feel is the exact compass you need? That’s the spark behind this conversation with Tina Coleman—a woman who turned a career-ending car accident, profound grief, and a tangle of old coping habits into a bold new chapter of sobriety, solo travel, and life abroad after 50. We get honest about what midlife actually looks like when you stop apologizing and start experimenting.We dive into the messy middle: how alcohol can sneak in as self-medication, why letting go of anger can be a ph...
2025-12-1641 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenFrom Resolutions To Meaning: Rethinking The Holiday SeasonThoughts or comments? Send us a text!We share a candid year-end reflection on editing, expectations, and why resolutions often miss the point. The focus shifts to simpler holidays, learning from loss, and investing time in memories, relationships, and small practices that bring meaning.• reframing failure as learning and space gained• choosing simpler traditions and shared time over gifts• noticing negative bias and balancing it with gratitude• replacing pressure with small, intentional choices• using the CALM method to reduce stress and find meaning• investing in hobbies and relationships for lasting joy
2025-12-1511 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenSomatic Therapies: Trauma, Attachment and Family SystemsThoughts or comments? Send us a text!Confrontation doesn’t have to be a fight; it can be the moment everything gets clearer. That idea becomes our entry point into a grounded, hope-filled conversation with trauma therapist Carolyn Kobylinski, LPC-S, who believes therapy should make you feel different. We trace her path through bipolar II, eating disorder recovery, caregiver grief, and the hard-won wisdom that comes from rebuilding life after it breaks. With warmth and candor, we name what most people only hint at: trust can be betrayed in therapy; labels like “bipolar” get tossed around carelessly; and no...
2025-12-1150 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenDigital Minimalism For Sanity, Focus, And Real-Life ConnectionThoughts or comments? Send us a text!What if the quiet you crave is on the other side of a few simple phone boundaries? We sit down with strategist and community builder Kelsey Green to unpack digital minimalism as a values-first way to use technology without letting it use you. From the rise of anxiety and scattered attention to the illusion of connection on social media, we get honest about how the constant scroll erodes presence, creativity, and relationships—and how to take your focus back.Kelsey shares what her Screen-Free Sunday challenge reveals about co...
2025-12-0952 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenBreak Free from Anxiety and People-PleasingThoughts or comments? Send us a text!What if the real path to power isn’t armor, but undressing the layers that never belonged to you in the first place? Mary sits down with Nedjma Belaid—modern priestess, mentor, former pharmacist, and clinical hypnotherapist—to trace the journey from people pleasing and anxiety to a grounded, luminous self that doesn’t bend for approval. Their conversation pulls no punches: they name the “good girl” programming, the swing into rebel isolation, and the quiet cost of building a life around other people’s comfort.Nejma shares how she steppe...
2025-12-0441 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenNavigating High-Conflict DivorceThoughts or comments? Send us a text!What happens when divorce stops being a private rupture and becomes a public war? We sit down with Lisa Johnson—co-founder of Been There Got Out, high-conflict divorce strategist, and certified domestic violence advocate—to unpack the real mechanics of legal abuse, coercive control, and the quiet power of strategic communication that stands up in court. Lisa shares how her own journey—from a shocking double life reveal to 100+ court appearances across two states—culminated in a rare pro se victory published as state case law, along with testimony that helped p...
2025-12-0253 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenCALM For The Holidays: Reclaim Joy This SeasonThoughts or comments? Send us a text!The holiday lights flip on and suddenly your pulse spikes. Between crowded calendars, complicated family dynamics, and the ache of people we miss, the season can feel less like a spark of joy and more like a storm front. We built this mini to offer a calmer way through: a clear, compassionate framework called C.A.L.M.—Centering, Anchors, Logistics, and Meaning—that helps you make choices you actually feel good about.We start with centering so you can move from reflex to intention. Simple grounding practices and...
2025-12-0120 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenFrom Summits To Valleys: Grit, Grief, And Finding StrengthThoughts or comments? Send us a text!What if the view you want is earned one painful step, one quiet choice, and one stubborn breath at a time? We sit down with author and endurance athlete Dianette Wells to trace the arc from a spontaneous Mount Whitney climb to seven summits, multi-day eco challenges, and the mindset that makes impossible goals workable. The conversation is raw and practical: how teams win by protecting their slowest moments, why fueling and hydration are non-negotiable, and how to switch off the inner critic without losing your edge.Dianette...
2025-11-2739 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenFrom IVF To Empowerment: Rewriting The Path To ParenthoodThoughts or comments? Send us a text!What if the story you were handed about motherhood—find a partner, marry, then try for kids—was never the only way? We sit down with author and coach Cheri Bergeron to unpack how she pursued a corporate career, watched the clock get louder, and then chose a different path: IVF with donor eggs, navigating loss, and ultimately becoming a single mother by choice. The conversation is raw and generous, tracing the moments that broke her heart, the legal fight that tested her rights, and the decisions that rebuilt her life...
2025-11-2536 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenNo More People-Pleasing: Why We Stop Being "Nice" and Start Being AuthenticThoughts or comments? Send us a text!What if the sudden urge to stop performing isn’t a phase, but a feature of a changing brain? We dive into the science and lived experience of “aging out of pretending,” exploring how midlife hormone shifts and synaptic pruning reshape the mental load of people pleasing. The result isn’t rudeness; it’s a recalibration of energy, attention, and honesty that can feel terrifying at first and liberating over time.We connect the dots between social conditioning—especially the training to read the room—and the decision fatigue that m...
2025-11-2418 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenChoose Yourself, Expand Your LifeThoughts or comments? Send us a text!What if shrinking isn’t your personality—it’s your programming? We sit down with author Candice Shepherd to unpack the hidden codes that keep so many of us stuck in people pleasing, perfectionism, and pretending to be fine. From the moment her marriage hit a crossroads to the day she chose her truth over approval, Candice maps a path that is brave, messy, and deeply human.We explore how the nervous system reacts before the mind can catch up, why a slammed cupboard can send you straight into f...
2025-11-2043 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenTurning Tragedy and Trauma into Purpose: Step Into Your MiracleThoughts or comments? Send us a text!What if the life you built—career, identity, confidence—vanished overnight? Mary sits down with Shannon Michelle, a former LA interior designer whose world changed after a near-fatal motorcycle crash and, later, a breast cancer diagnosis. The story that follows isn’t about superhuman grit; it’s about ordinary presence practiced relentlessly, and the surprising ways community, faith, and tiny decisions can carry us through the unthinkable.Shannon takes us into the ICU, the months-long coma, and the slow work of relearning everything from walking to using a phone. S...
2025-11-1837 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenIntentional Holidays: Traditions, Boundaries, And What Really MattersThoughts or comments? Send us a text!The calendar is racing, the daylight is fading, and the pressure to do it all is loud. After returning from a trip to visit a 99‑year‑old father‑in‑law, we sit down for a short, heartfelt reflection on how to navigate the holiday rush with intention. If your plans include hosting, caregiving, tight timelines, or all of the above, this conversation offers simple, human ways to slow down and reclaim what matters.We unpack the pull to recreate every tradition and every recipe “the way it’s always been...
2025-11-1706 min
No Shrinking Violets Podcast for WomenEnergy & Wealth: Abundance Beyond DollarsThoughts or comments? Send us a text!What if prosperity isn’t a number, but the safety and support you can count on? Mary sits down with holistic wealth coach, writer, and speaker Morgan Blackman to rethink money through the lens of energy, values, and community. We move past the spreadsheet to explore how gratitude, alignment, and resourcefulness create options—often without a dollar changing hands.Morgan shares how childhood money dynamics and cultural narratives shape our nervous systems, why many women develop hyper‑independence around finances, and how trust and teamwork can transform that armor...
2025-11-1353 min