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

Ashley McDonald, Therapist & Nervous System First Business Mentor
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated weekly

Shamelessly Ambitious is an honest, grounding, and vulnerable podcast for ambitious, emotionally intelligent women who are done proving themselves, tired of living in constant high-functioning burnout, and craving a life and business that actually feel good. Hosted by Ash McDonald—therapist, nervous-system-first business mentor, and speaker this show blends clinical expertise with lived experience to deliver nervous system tools, embodied strategies, and radical permission so you can expand your capacity, root into emotional steadiness, and build sustainable success that supports your whole life. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, stretched too thin, caught in productivity guilt, or stuck running on stress, this podcast meets you where you are—with therapeutic insights, embodied practices, and heartfelt stories that create real shifts. Whether you’re navigating motherhood, entrepreneurship, or the messy middle of redefining success, each episode helps you slow down, regulate, and return to a felt sense of safety in your body. With over a decade of experience at the intersection of therapy and leadership, Ash pulls back the curtain on what really works—offering grounded guidance you can apply in real life. What you’ll hear: Honest conversations about burnout recovery, nervous system regulation, and redefining successSomatic tools, meditations, and practices that build inner safety and capacityStories of motherhood, mom-life, ambition, and the courage to create a life and business that feel rich and realIf you’re asking the following questions, you’re in the right place: How do I stop tying my worth to productivity?How do I know if I’m experiencing high-functioning burnout and what do I do about it?How do I balance motherhood and leadership without losing myself?How do I calm my body when I feel overwhelmed or overstimulated?This is the podcast for when you’re ready to reclaim peace, expand what you can hold, and create success that doesn’t cost you yourself. Tune in and take the next step toward a regulated, rooted, and deeply fulfilling life.

  1. 2 days ago

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

    Welcome to the Grief Series, a collection of conversations about the grief woven throughout our lives with some extraordinary women bringing their raw, vulnerable stories to the mic. I hope you see yourself somewhere in these stories. … This episode is for anyone who has ever walked away from something they built, a career, a marriage, an identity, and wondered what the hell comes next. My guest, Delia Monk, has done it more than once. She came to this conversation with the full story: leaving journalism, building a six-figure copywriting business she eventually had to grieve, navigating divorce as a single mom, and making one of the scariest leaps of her professional life. TOPICS WE EXPLORE Leaving the career you built your identity aroundWhen AI devalues your trade overnightThe $12,000 rebrand that didn't save itFear laced with excitement vs. fear laced with scarcityCutting the rope and going all inGrieving the life you thought you'd have after divorceGiving up half your child's childhoodThe scrappy list: 100 ways to make moneyWhat opens up when you finally let goTHE POINT Grief is the price of going all in. You can't grieve what you didn't love, and you can't become who you're meant to be without leaving someone behind. ABOUT DELIA Delia Monk helps people who are ready for their next chapter figure out what that actually looks like and how to talk about it. After years working in messaging and copywriting, she pivoted into transition and pivot coaching, helping women who feel unfulfilled or called toward something new discover what comes next and position it with clarity. She's British, based in Barcelona, and entirely worth finding. Find her on Instagram @delia.monk and at deliamonk.com. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE deliamonk.comThe Mixermind (networking community mentioned by Ash)Work with AshAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I 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 Ash

    51 min

  2. 23 Jun

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

    Welcome to the Grief Series, a collection of conversations about the grief woven throughout our lives with some extraordinary women bringing their raw, vulnerable stories to the mic. I hope you see yourself somewhere in these stories. … This episode is for anyone carrying grief that doesn't have an obvious name. My guest, Chrissy Powers, is a therapist, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy practitioner, and someone who has personally held space for me in some of my own deepest healing work. We talk about the grief that lives inside a marriage you're still in, the mourning of watching your children grow up, the loss that comes with deconstructing your religious upbringing, and what it actually takes to feel your way through grief instead of solving your way around it. TOPICS WE EXPLORE Complicated grief vs. the grief we're taught is acceptableGrieving inside a marriage you haven't leftWatching a partner struggle and the ultimatum that protects your familyThe invisible loss of your children growing upOutgrowing a partner who isn't on the same healing pathRaising emotionally literate sons in a culture that discourages itDeconstructing religious upbringing and what it costsFinding a guide, trusting your body, and reclaiming intuitionTHE POINT Grief isn't reserved for death. It lives inside the marriages we stay in, the children we watch grow, and the beliefs we outgrow, and the only way through any of it is to feel it instead of fix it. ABOUT CHRISSY Chrissy Powers is a licensed therapist and the founder of Paradigm Wellness Collective, a group practice in Southern California. She's trained in psychedelic somatic therapy and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, and has spent over 16 years in practice helping people heal through embodiment, vulnerability, and deep inner work. Her book, Woman Embodied: The Practice of Coming Home to Yourself, releases October 27th. Find her on Instagram @chrissyjpowers and at chrissypowers.com or email her @ chrissypowersmft@gmail.com.  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Paradigm Wellness Collectiveparadigmwellnesscollective.com (find a practitioner)Woman Embodied: The Practice of Coming Home to Yourself (Chrissy's book, out October 27th)Work with AshAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I 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 Ash

    51 min

  3. 16 Jun

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

    Welcome to the Grief series - a collection of conversations about the grief woven throughout our lives with some extraordinary women bringing their raw, vulnerable stories to the mic. I hope you see yourself somewhere in these stories. … This specific episode is for the women in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond who are entering a new season, physically, emotionally, and mentally. My guest, Bryn Daylor, brought her whole heart to this conversation and bared it all from her grief around physical changes, ambition shifts, and comparison as we age.  TOPICS WE EXPLORE: The identity shift underneath every physical changeGrieving the attention you used to getAesthetic procedures, the pressure, the fear, and the nuanceLosing reckless abandonBuilding ambition from belief instead of survivalStarting a family later and doing the math on timeHow comparison kills your outputWhat shamelessly ambitious looks like when you stop performingTHE POINT: Aging is the grief that lives in the gap between who you were and who you're becoming, and the only way through it is to name it.  ABOUT BRYN: Bryn Daylor helps women unmask themselves through creative expression so they can have the life and love they really want. She works with women to strip back layers of conditioning so that when they go to share themselves, whether through storytelling, writing a book, or putting a creative project into the world, they are doing it from the core of who they actually are. Find her on Instagram @bryndaylor and on her podcast, Seen. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Bryn's podcast: SeenVanquish Vitiligo (product for vitiligo coverage)Work with AshAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I 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 Ash

    1hr 1min

  4. 9 Jun

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

    Welcome to Ash Unplugged, the behind-the-scenes monthly episode where nothing is off the table and the real shit gets said. In this episode we’ll explore the full rebrand reveal, the complete list of things I hate right now, the red flags me and my husband built together, and how I’m actually running our summer successfully. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: The rebrandEverything I hate right nowMy red flags and what l’m doing about themHow I’m structuring my summer to be present, but still successful in my businessThe guest series coming up. THE POINT: The things that make me successful are not just the pretty ones… it’s the walks at 6:30am, the plan that never waits until morning, the self-coaching loop I often use on myself, and the willingness to say exactly what I think, including the things I hate. MENTIONED: Rebrand team: Catie Cupples (copywriter), Christina at Gem Creative (designer), Katie at 26 & Then Some (naming strategist), Dallas (VIP strategy session)Work with meAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I 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 Ash

    36 min

  5. 2 Jun

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

    Women with ADHD have been told their intensity, their fast brains, and their emotional depth are dysfunctional…but I truly believe ambition and neurodivergence can coexist in the healthiest way. The traits we have been taught to suppress (the hyperfocus, the pattern recognition, the emotional intelligence) are the exact things that create momentum, innovation, and success. In this episode, we’ll explore what ADHD actually looks like in high-achieving women, how to build a life and business that works with your brain instead of against it, and why supporting your brain is not the same thing as trying to erase it. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: ADHD in high-achieving women (the obvious signs and the ones nobody talks about)Why intensity, sensitivity, and emotional depth are assets, not dysfunctionHow I got my formal diagnosis and whyUsing cycle syncing, intentional scheduling, and pressure as a toolMedication as one tool in the toolbox (not the whole toolbox)The link between ADHD and high-functioning burnoutHow to stop pathologizing the parts of you that make you, youTHE POINT: There is a difference between intensity and dysfunction. The goal is to understand yourself so deeply that you can support yourself properly and use your most powerful traits as the assets they actually are. MENTIONED: Episode 192. Regulation Isn’t the Zen B******t You’ve Been SoldFit with Coco: (My go-to workout)Work with AshAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I 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 Ash

    17 min

  6. 26 May

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

    Regulation is not being calm, checking a million boxes, or looking a certain way on the outside. The real definition of regulation is developing self-trust, adaptability, and the ability to stay with yourself rather than disassociate emotionally when life gets hard. In this episode, we’ll explore how every emotion is a message, and every message draws the path forward to the success you’re after in your business, your relationships, and your life. Regulation is not something you can see on the outside, it’s all about what is happening on the inside.  TOPICS WE EXPLORE: Why the aesthetic version of regulation is toxicWhat regulation actually isWhy doing something because you should gives you zero results How to use our emotions as the messages they are The self-coaching loop and somatic framework I always useA permission slip to redefine regulation in a way that actually serves youTHE POINT: Regulation is the speed with which you recover from the challenging parts of life. It’s self-trust, adaptability, and the ability to stay with yourself when things get hard (none of which you can see from the outside).  MENTIONED: Episode 191: The Internet Made Hustle a Dirty WordFit with Coco: Ash’s go-to workoutBusiness Therapy: Ash’s one-on-one coachingAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I 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 Ash

    15 min

  7. 19 May

    191. The Internet Made Hustle a Dirty Word

    This episode is for every high-achieving woman who feels exhausted trying to build a successful business, be present in her real life, and somehow make it all look effortless. We’re unpacking hustle culture, high-functioning burnout, soft living, invisible labor, and the shame women carry around ambition so you can stop questioning whether your drive is the problem and start defining success on your own terms again. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: Why hustle culture gets a bad name, and what we lose when we make drive something to apologize forThe difference between high-functioning burnout and ambitionWhat the women I work with are actually running behind the scenes vs. what their content saysRedefining what rest looks like for high-achieving womenThe sick kid phone call that derailed a perfectly productive day and what the self-coaching loop looked like in real timeWhy shame about how you run your business is the thing that actually causes burnoutDefining success on your own terms as a mom entrepreneur, without apologizing for the drive that got you hereTHE POINT: There is a difference between burnout and drive. One of the things that causes burnout is when we allow our ambition to become morally judged… by the internet, by other women, or by ourselves. Stop apologizing for your ambition. Hustle is not a dirty word. MENTIONED: Business Therapy: Ash’s one-on-one coachingAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I 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)

    23 min

  8. 12 May

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

    Eight months off social media. This episode is the behind-the-scenes of what that actually did… to my business, my relationships, my creativity, and my sense of self. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: What eight months offline actually looked 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 ASH I 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 Ash

    20 min
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Shamelessly Ambitious is an honest, grounding, and vulnerable podcast for ambitious, emotionally intelligent women who are done proving themselves, tired of living in constant high-functioning burnout, and craving a life and business that actually feel good. Hosted by Ash McDonald—therapist, nervous-system-first business mentor, and speaker this show blends clinical expertise with lived experience to deliver nervous system tools, embodied strategies, and radical permission so you can expand your capacity, root into emotional steadiness, and build sustainable success that supports your whole life. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, stretched too thin, caught in productivity guilt, or stuck running on stress, this podcast meets you where you are—with therapeutic insights, embodied practices, and heartfelt stories that create real shifts. Whether you’re navigating motherhood, entrepreneurship, or the messy middle of redefining success, each episode helps you slow down, regulate, and return to a felt sense of safety in your body. With over a decade of experience at the intersection of therapy and leadership, Ash pulls back the curtain on what really works—offering grounded guidance you can apply in real life. What you’ll hear: Honest conversations about burnout recovery, nervous system regulation, and redefining successSomatic tools, meditations, and practices that build inner safety and capacityStories of motherhood, mom-life, ambition, and the courage to create a life and business that feel rich and realIf you’re asking the following questions, you’re in the right place: How do I stop tying my worth to productivity?How do I know if I’m experiencing high-functioning burnout and what do I do about it?How do I balance motherhood and leadership without losing myself?How do I calm my body when I feel overwhelmed or overstimulated?This is the podcast for when you’re ready to reclaim peace, expand what you can hold, and create success that doesn’t cost you yourself. Tune in and take the next step toward a regulated, rooted, and deeply fulfilling life.

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