Shows
Inspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up AuthenticallyGrounding Meditation: Ten Minutes at a TimeThis short meditation is for moments when everything feels like a lot — when your mind is busy and your body is asking for a pause.
Rather than trying to fix anything, this practice offers something simpler: a chance to come back to where you are, notice what’s here, and let your system settle. It’s built around the idea of taking things ten minutes at a time, without pressure to solve the whole day.
This meditation may be supportive if you’re:
feeling anxious or overwhelmed
carrying a quiet sense of “neve...
2026-01-2907 minInspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up AuthenticallyWhat Dogs Teach Us About Patience and Progress: A Conversation with Emma BerumenDog struggles can feel surprisingly personal — and oddly isolating. In this episode, Ruth sits down with Emma Berumen, the founder behind Snout App (built from her own experience supporting her dog Luna through separation anxiety). They talk about what it’s like when your dog’s stress becomes your stress, why “quick fixes” often leave us feeling worse, and how real progress usually comes from small, repeatable steps… plus a lot of self-forgiveness.
This episode is for you if you:
love your dog deeply, but feel overwhelmed by behaviour struggles
have tried plans that didn’t...
2026-01-2242 minInspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up AuthenticallyA Different Way to Enter a New YearJanuary often comes with a lot of noise—about who we should be, what we should fix, and how quickly we should change. In this solo episode, I share my complicated relationship with the New Year, why resolutions have never really worked for me, and what I’m choosing instead.
This conversation is about loosening the grip of expectation and finding a way into the year that feels more honest, more spacious, and more supportive of real life.
This episode is for you if:
You feel resistant to New Year’s pressure or “fresh st...
2026-01-0808 minInspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up AuthenticallyGrounding Meditation: Presence Over PerformanceIf you listened to my recent conversation with Anjali, you heard us talk about what happens when we stop performing and start being present. How much energy goes into managing insecurity and trying to be “enough” — and how things shift when we let that go.
This 9-minute meditation is about stepping out of performance and into presence. About loosening the grip of the “not good enough” voice and reconnecting with the part of you that doesn’t need to prove anything.
In this episode, we’ll:
Use breath to settle the nervous system
Notice...
2025-12-1809 minInspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up AuthenticallyPresence Over Performance: Finding Your Authentic Voice with Anjali HandaIn this episode, I sit down with leadership coach Anjali Handa to talk about something so many of us struggle with - showing up authentically instead of performing. We dive into the exhausting cycle of editing ourselves, the stories we tell ourselves about not being good enough, and what shifts when we finally give ourselves permission to take up space and be heard.
Anjali shares her journey from being a quiet, insecure kid who learned to fly under the radar, to becoming a coach who helps female founders and leaders step into their powerful presence. We talk...
2025-12-1157 minInspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up AuthenticallyGrounding Meditation: Permission to StruggleIf you listened to my recent conversation with Shulamit Ber Levtov, you heard us talk about something that doesn't get said enough: there's nothing wrong with you when you're struggling. You're having a normal response to systems that weren't designed to support you.
This 9-minute meditation is about giving yourself permission to struggle without carrying shame about it. Permission to be exactly where you are, feeling exactly what you're feeling, without needing to fix it or hide it or push through it.
In this episode, we'll:
Use breath work to settle your nervous system
...
2025-12-0409 minInspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up AuthenticallyThe Entrepreneur’s Therapist: Caring for Your Mental Health in a Relentless World: Shulamit Ber LevtovIn this enlightening conversation, Ruth sits down with Shulamit Ber Levtov, known as The Entrepreneurs' Therapist, for a deep dive into the critical intersection of mental health and entrepreneurship. This isn't your typical "self-care will fix everything" conversation - it's a raw, honest exploration of why running a business takes such a toll on our mental health, and why that's not actually our fault.
Shulamit brings over 30 years of entrepreneurial experience combined with her expertise as a licensed trauma therapist to challenge some of our most deeply held beliefs about struggle, success, and what it means to...
2025-11-2753 minInspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up AuthenticallyGrounding Meditation: Enough as You Are — A Guided Rest from PerfectionismIn this guided meditation, we explore the impossible pressure of showing up at 100% everywhere, all the time - and why that's complete bullshit.
If you've been carrying the weight of perfectionism, feeling like whatever you're offering isn't enough, or struggling with the voice that says your worth is tied to your productivity, this meditation is for you.
What You'll Experience:
A gentle body scan that honours your current capacity instead of trying to fix or change anything
Breathwork focused on releasing the performance pressure and guilt about having limits
Permission to show up authentically...
2025-11-2013 minInspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up AuthenticallyEnough Is Enough: Choosing Rest Over PerfectionIn this solo episode, Ruth challenges the impossible standard that we have to show up at 100% in every area of our lives, every day, or we're somehow failing. She shares her personal experience of managing a Crohn's flare while building her business, and how she's learning to redefine what it means to "show up." This episode is for anyone who's exhausted from trying to be perfect everywhere and is ready to embrace a more authentic way of being present in their life.
What You'll Learn:
Why the "100% everywhere" standard is setting you up for failure
How...
2025-11-1308 minInspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up AuthenticallyGrounding Meditation: What Does Calm Feel Like?Welcome to the first meditation episode of Inspired Questions!
This podcast is all about questions - the ones that help us understand ourselves better, challenge our beliefs, and guide us back to who we really are. Today's meditation explores the question: What does it feel like to be grounded in your body when your nervous system is calm?
This isn't a question you answer with your mind - it's one you experience in your body.
In this 10-minute guided meditation, you'll:
Reconnect with your body through a gentle body scan
Use breath...
2025-11-0610 minInspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up AuthenticallyYou Can't Pour From an Empty Cup: A Conversation with Heather LillicoIn this episode, Ruth sits down with Heather Lillico, Neuroscience Coach, Meditation & Yoga Teacher, and founder of Cultivating Calm. They explore why surface-level wellness strategies often fall short and discuss the critical importance of nervous system work—especially for those who spend their lives holding space for others.
If you've ever felt like you're doing all the "right" things (eating well, meditating, exercising) but still feel exhausted and overwhelmed, this conversation will resonate deeply. Heather and Ruth discuss how our beliefs shape our well-being, why self-care isn't optional for coaches and helpers, and what it actually takes to...
2025-10-3056 minInspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up AuthenticallyStop Trying to Be Excellent at EverythingSometimes doing the bare minimum isn't failing - it's brilliant prioritization.
In this episode, I'm getting real about what it means to do the bare minimum when life gets busy, and why that's not only okay, but sometimes the smartest thing you can do. I'm recording this with very little time to spare because most of my energy this week has been focused on preparing for a free workshop, and that's exactly the point.
In this episode, we talk about:
Why "bare minimum" isn't a bad thing when you do it well
The difference...
2025-10-0207 minInspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up AuthenticallyFrom Solo Mic to Shared Voices: Why I'm Bringing Back InterviewsRuth explains the origin and evolution of Inspired Questions — why she started it, why she shifted to mostly solo episodes during serious health and life challenges, and what she learned about trusting her voice.
She shares why she’s ready to return to interviews, her plan to balance one interview and one solo episode per month, and how she may streamline her signature questions to allow more natural conversation.
Ruth invites women with honest stories to be guests and encourages listeners to connect via Instagram or her website to share feedback or apply.
Inst...
2025-09-1810 minInspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up AuthenticallyMini Episode - Change is Coming: Reflecting on Gratefulness and MotivationHey guys, welcome to Inspired Questions. I'm your host, Ruth Hirshberg, and today is a mini-episode featuring just me. We are going to talk about the question change that is coming up. I have finished releasing the episodes with the old questions and recorded a few with the new list. Only two questions are leaving us, but they'll come back. It's not that they aren't worthy, but there's so much to cover.
For this episode, I want to talk about those two questions, what I've learned from all the wonderful guests, and share the two new questions...
2024-10-0115 minInspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up AuthenticallyExciting Update: Shifting to a Bi-Weekly ScheduleHey guys, it's Ruth here. I hope that you are all having a good week, weekend, all of those things. As you have guessed, there is no episode this week. It's just me here chatting with you, and I wanted to give a little bit of an explanation of why.
I have made the decision, I'm continuing with the podcast. Let's just put that out there. I love it. I'm really enjoying it. But I have decided to switch from publishing episodes weekly to bi-weekly. So instead of every week, I will be doing it every other...
2024-09-1005 minInspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up AuthenticallyA Heartfelt Pause: No Episode this WeekHey everyone, it's Ruth here. I'm taking a brief pause from our regular schedule of Inspired Questions this week. Unfortunately, I don't have a new episode ready for tomorrow, but we'll be back on Tuesday, July 16th with an exciting interview featuring the incredible Sarah Rogers, a poet and clothing designer.
In this update, I share a personal and heartfelt reason for the delay. Last week, we had to say goodbye to our beloved dog, Rommy. He was 15 and a half years old, and losing him has been incredibly tough. If you're an animal lover, you can...
2024-07-0806 min