Your Favorite You

Melissa Parsons
  • 5.0 (150)
  • MENTAL HEALTH
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Welcome to Your Favorite You, a weekly podcast helping brilliant women like you with beautiful brains to create the life you've been dreaming of with intention so you can find your favorite version of you. Your host, Melissa Parsons, is a pediatrician turned life coach. She holds the titles of wife, mom, daughter, sister, and friend of many. She became a certified life coach after discovering that coaching held the secret to the universe, and knew she had to share this magic with everyone in her orbit. This podcast is for you if ... you're stuck in fear and perfectionism thinking that your value comes from what you do or what you don't do, rather than knowing that your value comes from who you are, and this is keeping you from dreaming and trying new things, or from remembering or doing what you used to love. Join Melissa on this journey to figuring out and remembering who you are; a journey to finding and becoming your favorite you. To learn more about Melissa, visit: https://www.melissaparsonscoaching.com/

  1. 3D AGO

    Ep 173: It Doesn't Have to Be This Way with Drs. Robin Beardsley, Risa Adams, and Elizabeth Parsons

    In this episode, I’m so excited to talk with three amazing physicians about their book, It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way: A Physician’s Guide to Radical Self-Care. Robin Beardsley, Risa Adams, and Elizabeth Parsons join me to explore what it looks like to get curious about yourself and the parts of you that help you function and succeed in your role. While this book is written by physicians for physicians, its insights reach beyond one profession. Many high-achieving women experience burnout, a loss of purpose, or a longing to feel more alive. If any of that resonates, this conversation offers a lens for understanding how different parts of ourselves can both help and hinder us–and how that knowledge can help you live as a favorite version of yourself. Click HERE to get the full show notes.

    54 min

  2. JAN 13

    Ep 172: Anticipatory Grief AND Joy with Dr. Tasha Faruqui

    In this episode, I have the absolute pleasure to speak with another one of my new friends whom I met at the Physician Coaching Summit earlier this month. Dr. Tasha Faruqui is a fellow pediatrician, public speaker, medical advocate, and author. She’s here today to talk about her beautiful book, Keep Your Head Up: A Mother’s Story of Chasing Joy in the Face of Grief, and how anticipatory grief shaped her journey as both a parent and a physician. We explore what it looks like to parent while navigating anticipatory grief, how Tasha learned to trust her intuition as a guide, and why her family stopped waiting for things to change before allowing joy.  Pursuing joy on purpose can help you hold grief and joy at the same time—and even anticipating joy can be just as meaningful as the moment itself. Inspired by her father, a doctor and surgeon to an underserved rural community, Dr. Tasha Faruqui joined the National Health Service Corps following her graduation from medical school. Her plan was to take over her father’s practice once her commitment was complete, but this was diverted when her second daughter, Soraya, was born with a rare, little-known genetic disorder that remains largely a mystery thirteen years later. Tasha’s focus then shifted to pediatrics, with particular attention to advocacy and support for parents of medically complex children and those with a limited life expectancy. Today, she regularly brings her dynamic message of fierce and loving hope to medical students at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, the top pediatric medical facility in the country, Make-A-Wish events, and her Instagram community (@thefaruqui5). Her debut memoir, Keep Your Head Up: A Mother’s Story of Chasing Joy in the Face of Grief, was published by Jossey-Bass in September 2025. Tasha was named a top doctor by Cincinnati Magazine in 2022, 2024, and 2025. Click HERE to get the full show notes.

    52 min

  3. JAN 6

    Ep 171: Exploring Sovereignty with Dr. Shideh Shafie

    I’m excited to be joined on the podcast by one of my dear friends and a fellow physician coach, Dr. Shideh Shafie. Shideh brings so much wisdom, humor, and honesty to this conversation, and I loved having the chance to explore how she lives with intention across medicine, parenting, work, and personal growth. Today, we dive into understanding the practice of sovereignty and how it differs from freedom. Sovereignty isn’t about being completely untethered from your life. It’s about choosing, with intention, where you focus your energy and attachments. We discuss how women often lose their sense of sovereignty through cultural conditioning and caregiving, and how reclaiming it doesn’t always require doing less. When you shift to making decisions with more awareness and self-trust, you create more space to become a favorite version of yourself. Dr. Shideh Shafie is a board-certified emergency physician and high-performance coach who helps leaders and high achievers live and lead without breaking. Through her work, she blends neuroscience, conscious leadership, and behavioral psychology to help people transform the way they experience stress, success, and connection. Click HERE to get the full show notes.

    47 min

  4. 12/30/2025

    Ep 170: Expanding Consciousness with Dr. Rashmi Schramm

    In this episode, I am thrilled to bring you a conversation with another incredible guest. I’m joined by Dr. Rashmi Schramm, a board-certified physician and coach who helps people connect with the highest version of themselves. After hearing her speak about expanding consciousness at the Physician Coaching Summit, I knew I wanted to invite her to share her approach to awareness and coming home to who we truly are beneath all the shoulds and expectations. We talk about why it’s so hard to expand your consciousness when your life is full of doing, and how even a little white space can open the door to deeper awareness. Rashmi explains what expanded consciousness actually means, how practices like meditation, yoga nidra, and even the therapeutic use of psychedelics can support it. More than anything, our conversation is a reminder that your favorite you has always been there, waiting for you to make enough room to finally meet her. Dr. Rashmi Schramm is a board certified family physician, an embodied performance coach, retreat host and meditation teacher. She is the host of the Inner Peace and Power podcast. Rashmi helps busy women to tap into their own inner peace and power so they can live more energetic and fulfilling lives. She offers group and private coaching programs in addition to hosting transformational in person retreats twice a year.  Click HERE to get the full show notes.

    42 min

  5. 12/23/2025

    Ep 169: Detached Attachment with Dr. Yolanda Bogaert

    In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Yolanda Bogaert, a physician and coach I met at the Physician Coaching Summit. Yolanda shares her journey through academic medicine, burnout, and an MS diagnosis, and how being a mom to a neurodivergent child has reshaped her understanding of identity and what it means to show up as your authentic self. We explore Yolanda’s philosophy of “detached attachment,” a way of parenting and healing rooted in letting go of outcomes and focusing on emotional co-regulation and safety. You’ll hear how she learned to support her autistic son from a place of compassion and how doing her own emotional work created the foundation for his growth and her own. Yolanda Bogaert, a clinical kidney doctor for over 20 years, was the Dr. Mom who tried to fix everything - until active multiple sclerosis and the complexities of raising her autistic son called her to redefine what strength and connection look like. She transformed her life using an intuitive wellness approach, and the detached-attachment model was born along with a blueprint to living your life fully without burnout. Today, she helps medical and professional moms move from overwhelm and guilt to clarity, energy, and a sustainable, shame-free self-love. A life that honors you, not just the roles you’ve had to carry. Click HERE to get the full show notes.

    58 min

  6. 12/16/2025

    Ep 168: Having Your Own Back - Wisdom from my fellow Physician Coaches

    "Having your own back" means choosing yourself, trusting yourself, and not abandoning yourself when things get hard or when other people disapprove. It means being on your own team, being your own advocate,and being your own best friend. "Having Our Own Backs" was the theme of this year’s Physician Coaches Summit at the Civana Resort and Spa. There were 32 physician coaches gathered together, and I'm still buzzing from the experience. To start the summit, we went around and shared how we have our own backs. What I heard was so powerful, so diverse, and so permission-giving that I knew I had to share it. In this episode, you’ll hear the wisdom of my fellow physician coaches–their words about what it means to have your own back. My hope is that you'll get curious about how you can have your own back, or if you don't yet, be inspired by what's possible when you decide to always back yourself up. Click HERE to get the full show notes.

    14 min

  7. 12/09/2025

    Ep 167: Finding Your Calm

    Becoming your favorite you includes knowing how to find your calm, especially in the hurricane of life. This is difficult for so many of the brilliant women I work with, not because calm isn't available, but because it’s not their usual territory. Does this sound like you? You’ve spent most of your life in motion; always doing, achieving, producing, and managing. Simply being may not be something you’ve had much practice with. Calm exists within you, but perhaps you're unsure what it looks like or how to access it. In this episode, I share what it means to find your calm and center, what it actually feels like in your body, and how to practice going there as often as possible. Because once you find it, everything—your stress, your decision-making, your creativity, your relationship with yourself and with others—can shift. Click HERE to get the full show notes.

    18 min

  8. 12/02/2025

    Ep 166: Obesity and GLP1 Medications with Dominique Williams, MD

    In this episode, you’ll hear a conversation with one of my beloved friends from residency, Dr. Dominique Williams. Dominique specializes in obesity medicine, and we talk about obesity as a chronic diagnosis, what GLP-1 medications are and how they function in the body, and the narratives so many of us carry around taking medication for obesity. You may remember my recent episode where I talked about my relationship with my body and my own biases against taking medication for my diagnosis of obesity. Today, Dominique and I revisit those biases and gently dismantle the idea that “willpower” should be enough to treat obesity. We talk about why oversimplified stories don’t serve us, and why a more nuanced, holistic approach that considers your history, health, and what you really need in partnership with a trusted clinician can make all the difference. Dr. Dominique Williams is double board-certified in Obesity Medicine and Pediatrics. She is a dedicated educator and clinician with more than 20 years of experience in person-centered care, holistic mentoring, and curriculum development. In addition to her clinical work, she has been a mentor to medical students and resident physicians and serves as Adjunct Faculty at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dominique has publications on the topics of nutrition, person-centered care, mentoring and medical education. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition from Case Western Reserve University, Doctor of Medicine from Wright State University School of Medicine, and Master of Public Health in Nutrition from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  Dominique currently serves as medical director at a global healthcare company. She resides in Columbus, Ohio with her husband of almost 20 years, Clement, and their teenage son, also named Clement, but don’t call him Junior. Her love languages are crocheting and quilting. Click HERE to get the full show notes.

    58 min
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5
out of 5
150 Ratings

About

Welcome to Your Favorite You, a weekly podcast helping brilliant women like you with beautiful brains to create the life you've been dreaming of with intention so you can find your favorite version of you. Your host, Melissa Parsons, is a pediatrician turned life coach. She holds the titles of wife, mom, daughter, sister, and friend of many. She became a certified life coach after discovering that coaching held the secret to the universe, and knew she had to share this magic with everyone in her orbit. This podcast is for you if ... you're stuck in fear and perfectionism thinking that your value comes from what you do or what you don't do, rather than knowing that your value comes from who you are, and this is keeping you from dreaming and trying new things, or from remembering or doing what you used to love. Join Melissa on this journey to figuring out and remembering who you are; a journey to finding and becoming your favorite you. To learn more about Melissa, visit: https://www.melissaparsonscoaching.com/

Information

  • Creator
    Melissa Parsons
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    176
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Your Favorite You
  • Show Website
    Your Favorite You

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