The Everyday Awesome Project

Polly Mertens & Samantha Pruitt
  • 5.0 (6)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

The Everyday Awesome Podcast is your mega dose of multivitamins for building your mental muscles, physical body and an empowered life. Your hosts Polly and Sam are on your dream team; lifelong coaches in business, health & fitness and human potential. They are on fire to ignite change in the lives they touch. Subscribe now to your weekly jam session where we walk you through actionable tools, game changing insights and inspiring stories to light the path towards YOUR awesome life.   The Everyday Awesome Project is a movement. We invite you to join our mission to connect and inspire humans to live their full potential and reconnect to themselves and others. Through our coaching programs, live experiences and weekly podcast we explore what is possible for everyday humans.  Their motto is  "Every day is a new opportunity to find your AWESOME!"

  1. 5d ago

    145: Body Positivity (Sam Solo)

    If you’ve ever looked in the mirror and felt like your body was a problem to solve, this one is for you. I’m Sam Pruitt, and I’m going straight at the tension so many of us live with: wanting confidence and health while still feeling trapped by appearance-based standards we never agreed to in the first place.  We unpack what body positivity actually is (a social movement and a personal mindset) and why it matters for mental health, physical health, and everyday self-care. Then I bring in body neutrality, the practical approach that shifts your focus from what your body looks like to what it can do. When you stop letting your appearance dictate your life experience, you get your energy back and you can start building respect that lasts longer than a “good body image day.”  I also share my own long road from self-judgment to self-investment, including an autoimmune illness at 30, learning to relate to my aging body with gratitude, and the reality that old habits can still show up. The biggest turning points come through performance and recovery: completing an Ironman at 56, breaking my back, rebuilding, and then hiking the 253-mile John Muir Trail solo with 35 pounds on my back. That experience made it crystal clear that your body is home, and body mind integration is where real freedom lives.  If this resonates, listen through to the end and then tell me where you’re starting from: body positivity, body neutrality, or just trying to make peace. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find the conversation. Send us Fan Mail Follow Coach Polly @getbusythriving and Coach Sam @thesamanthapruitt  Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/everydayawesomeproject Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everydayawesomeproject Linktree for ALL THE THINGS: https://linktr.ee/everydayawesomeproject Website/About Us: https://everydayawesomeproject.com/about-us/

  2. Sep 24

    144: Polly's Pre-TMB

    Something wild happens when you say yes to a challenge that’s bigger than your usual routine. We’re talking about the Tour du Mont Blanc, a roughly 100 mile alpine trek through France, Italy, and Switzerland, done over 10 days of steep climbs, long descents, and nonstop awe. But the miles are just the surface. What we really explore is why we’re drawn to these “grand adventures” and how they become a mirror for self leadership, identity, and the way we choose to live.  We get specific about what it takes to prepare for a multi day hiking trip: building aerobic fitness, doing strength training, practicing back to back long days, and learning to value recovery as much as effort. We also unpack the mindset shifts that make the experience feel expansive instead of punishing, from reframing nervousness as excitement to taking inventory of the personal “resume” you forget you have when doubt shows up. If you’re balancing work, family, business, or a packed calendar, this conversation makes endurance training and resilience feel doable and human.  Then we go deeper into intention: wonder, bliss, presence, authenticity, and the surrender experiment of letting the trip show you what it’s here to show you. We talk about wanderlust as a real calling, the growth that comes from solo travel, and why your inner compass doesn’t get quieter just because you ignore it. If you’ve been craving a fresh season, a new dream, or a bolder version of yourself, this one will hit. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave us a review. What’s calling you right now? Send us Fan Mail Follow Coach Polly @getbusythriving and Coach Sam @thesamanthapruitt  Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/everydayawesomeproject Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everydayawesomeproject Linktree for ALL THE THINGS: https://linktr.ee/everydayawesomeproject Website/About Us: https://everydayawesomeproject.com/about-us/

  3. Sep 17

    143: Energy Medicine

    The moment you stop thinking of the body as a machine and start seeing it as an energetic system, a lot of “mysteries” get practical fast. We dig into energy medicine as curious students, not as self-proclaimed gurus, and we talk through what it actually looks like in the real world: acupuncture, Reiki, qigong, breathwork, and the many ways modern clinics already use energy-based inputs like ultrasound, laser therapy, electrical stimulation, and red light therapy. We also zoom in on the biology bridge that makes this conversation click for a lot of people: mitochondria. When your cellular energy systems struggle, everything can start to feel harder, from recovery and mood to focus and long-term resilience. From there we explore coherence and resonance, including heart-brain coherence, why animals and nature can feel instantly regulating, and how “holding the space” shows up in coaching, leadership, and even medical settings where trust is not just emotional, it’s physiological. You’ll hear how to think about “blocked” energy in a grounded way, how to choose an energy healer with discernment (and what red flags to avoid), and why we keep coming back to one core idea: the most powerful form of energy medicine is learning to work with your own system. We close with a self-healing meditation practice drawn from Jill Blakeway’s book Energy Medicine so you can try a simple recalibration for yourself. If this sparked curiosity, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s exploring holistic healing and integrative medicine, and leave us a review. What’s one signal your body has been trying to get you to notice? Send us Fan Mail Follow Coach Polly @getbusythriving and Coach Sam @thesamanthapruitt  Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/everydayawesomeproject Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everydayawesomeproject Linktree for ALL THE THINGS: https://linktr.ee/everydayawesomeproject Website/About Us: https://everydayawesomeproject.com/about-us/

  4. Sep 10

    142 : Codependency: Breaking the Pattern of Overgiving in Relationships

    If you’ve ever felt anxious when someone you love is struggling, then caught yourself trying to fix it fast, this conversation lands with a thud. We’re naming the pattern behind the “I’m just being helpful” reflex: codependency, a learned set of survival behaviors where our self-worth and emotional state get tied to someone else’s approval, needs, or crisis. And we connect it to attachment style and the nervous system, because you can’t always think your way out of something your body still reads as danger. We start with clear definitions of attachment and codependency, then move into what codependent patterns look like in real life: people pleasing, overgiving, overfunctioning at work, rescuing in leadership, and the parenting version of emotional bubble wrap. We also talk about why resentment is such a reliable signal and how “forgiveness” can sometimes be fear-based tolerating, not love-based relating. Along the way, we use Internal Family Systems ideas to explain why a protective part can keep running the show even when you’re self-aware. To help you shift, we offer tools you can use immediately: noticing the grip in your body, practicing a pause before you advise or rescue, changing your language from “helping” to “offering,” and having conversations that create new agreements in your relationships. If you want healthier boundaries, secure attachment, and relationships that feel lighter without going cold, hit play, then subscribe, share this with a friend who over-carries, and leave us a review. What’s one place you’re ready to stop managing and start relating? Send us Fan Mail Follow Coach Polly @getbusythriving and Coach Sam @thesamanthapruitt  Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/everydayawesomeproject Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everydayawesomeproject Linktree for ALL THE THINGS: https://linktr.ee/everydayawesomeproject Website/About Us: https://everydayawesomeproject.com/about-us/

  5. Sep 3

    141 : 4 Things Keeping You Stuck: Avoiding Decisions and Hidden Payoffs

    Stuck can look like a weight-loss plateau, a job you keep complaining about, a relationship you keep “thinking about,” or a health pattern you keep normalizing. We get real about what’s actually happening underneath that frozen feeling and why it so often comes down to one thing: a decision that wants to be made, paired with a nervous system that doesn’t feel safe making it. We break the problem into four practical buckets we see constantly in coaching: your emotional state and the story driving it, your nervous system capacity, the hidden payoff you’re not admitting, and the environment that keeps cueing the same identity on repeat. Along the way, we share vivid examples, including how changing your setting can unlock new thoughts, why trying to fix everything at once collapses your capacity, and how “payoffs” like certainty, safety, and belonging can quietly run the show even when you swear you want change. Then we move into how to get unstuck across three planes: physical, mental, and spiritual. We talk about using movement and breath to shift state fast, asking better questions to reopen possibility, and surrendering the outcome to something bigger than your fear-based mind. If you’ve been circling the same intersection for months or years, this is your nudge to stop looping and start choosing. If this helps, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s been stuck, and leave a review so more people can find the work. What’s one area where you’re ready to choose differently? Send us Fan Mail Follow Coach Polly @getbusythriving and Coach Sam @thesamanthapruitt  Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/everydayawesomeproject Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everydayawesomeproject Linktree for ALL THE THINGS: https://linktr.ee/everydayawesomeproject Website/About Us: https://everydayawesomeproject.com/about-us/

  6. Aug 27

    140: My Post John Muir Trail Debrief; Leaving My Identity in the Wilderness

    Twenty days alone in the Sierra Nevada changes the math on what you think you need. Sam Pruitt returns fresh off a solo John Muir Trail thru-hike: 250+ miles, roughly 70,000 feet of elevation gain, two off-trail resupplies, and a 35 lb pack she carried without sharing a single piece of gear. We talk through the real logistics of wilderness backpacking: permits, water sources, navigation with FarOut and a paper map, high altitude from day one, and the river crossings that can turn from “just water” into a serious safety decision when you’re by yourself. But the most compelling part is what happens inside the silence. Sam went out there to honor her brother Mark, carrying and spreading some of his ashes, and she lets us into the grief process that rose up, moved through, and eventually loosened its grip. With no podcasts, no constant inputs, and very little social interaction, she describes a kind of detox from modern identity: fewer roles, fewer labels, fewer decisions, and more access to an internal compass that feels steady and true. We also get practical about gear and morale, because comfort matters when your “job” is hiking, setting up camp, filtering water, eating, and recovering every day. From camp routines to nutrition, sleep challenges, and the tiny luxuries that kept her grounded, this conversation is equal parts adventure story and mindset training. If solitude scares you, we share a way in: micro-dose silence now, then build toward your own version of a pilgrimage. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review if the message lands. What would your RX nature look like? Send us Fan Mail Follow Coach Polly @getbusythriving and Coach Sam @thesamanthapruitt  Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/everydayawesomeproject Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everydayawesomeproject Linktree for ALL THE THINGS: https://linktr.ee/everydayawesomeproject Website/About Us: https://everydayawesomeproject.com/about-us/

  7. Aug 20

    139 : The Microbiome Is Crazy Cool | Why You Need to Pay Attention for Mind Body Spirit

    I’m heading into the wilderness for a 20-day solo hike across the Sierra Nevada on the John Muir Trail, and before I disappear into miles of granite and sky, I want to share what’s been getting loud inside me: integration. Not the buzzword version, but the real work of becoming a cohesive, functioning whole when your mind has opinions, your body has needs, and your spirit keeps asking bigger questions. We start by defining personal integration in plain language, then get practical about why it matters for mental health, motivation, and joy. When your inner parts work together, life feels like flow. When they fight, you get the familiar mix of overthinking, emotional pain, and that sense that the world is steering your fate. I break the “whole human” down into three elemental pieces: the mental mind with its stories and logic, the physical body with its messy miracle of systems, and the spiritual or soul layer that reaches for meaning and purpose. To make it memorable, I use a puzzle metaphor: border pieces for the mind, the complicated center for the body, and the earth-and-sky background for spirit. Then I share a simple set of steps toward alignment: wake up, build awareness, hold space, remove obstacles, and practice compassion and self-acceptance over the long haul. If you’re craving less suffering and more steadiness, press play, then subscribe, share, and leave a review. What’s one part of you that needs to be heard right now? Send us Fan Mail Follow Coach Polly @getbusythriving and Coach Sam @thesamanthapruitt  Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/everydayawesomeproject Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everydayawesomeproject Linktree for ALL THE THINGS: https://linktr.ee/everydayawesomeproject Website/About Us: https://everydayawesomeproject.com/about-us/

  8. Aug 13

    138 : Microbiome 102 | Game Changing Gut Essentials for A Better Body & Energy

    Your gut can be the quiet reason you feel energized and steady or inflamed, foggy, and stuck in cravings. Today Sam Pruitt goes solo to finish Gut Microbiome 102, pulling key insights from Cynthia Thurlow’s work on the menopause gut and adding real-world guidance you can use whether you are in perimenopause, menopause, or simply trying to feel better in your body. We walk through what a “healthy microbiome” actually means and why diversity is the priority, then get practical about nutrition. You will hear clear targets for protein intake to support hormones, neurotransmitters, lean muscle, and blood sugar stability, plus a grounded look at fats that help and oils that can sabotage gut health. We also unpack carbohydrates without fear, separating whole-food complex carbs from processed simple carbs so you can make choices based on your goals and your body’s tolerance. From there we get into the gut microbiome essentials that change the game: fiber (including the 30 plant varieties per week goal), probiotics from fermented foods, and prebiotics that feed beneficial bacteria and lead to short-chain fatty acids like butyrate. We also talk signaling molecules and polyphenols, hydration, foods to avoid (think processed sugar, seed oils, alcohol, and unnecessary antibiotic exposure), and the lifestyle multipliers that matter just as much: meal timing for digestive rest, exercise for motility and diversity, deep sleep for hormone regulation, and stress reduction to keep cortisol from driving inflammation. If you want a simple, science-informed gut health roadmap that connects food, metabolism, and hormones, press play, then subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show. Send us Fan Mail Follow Coach Polly @getbusythriving and Coach Sam @thesamanthapruitt  Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/everydayawesomeproject Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everydayawesomeproject Linktree for ALL THE THINGS: https://linktr.ee/everydayawesomeproject Website/About Us: https://everydayawesomeproject.com/about-us/

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About

The Everyday Awesome Podcast is your mega dose of multivitamins for building your mental muscles, physical body and an empowered life. Your hosts Polly and Sam are on your dream team; lifelong coaches in business, health & fitness and human potential. They are on fire to ignite change in the lives they touch. Subscribe now to your weekly jam session where we walk you through actionable tools, game changing insights and inspiring stories to light the path towards YOUR awesome life.   The Everyday Awesome Project is a movement. We invite you to join our mission to connect and inspire humans to live their full potential and reconnect to themselves and others. Through our coaching programs, live experiences and weekly podcast we explore what is possible for everyday humans.  Their motto is  "Every day is a new opportunity to find your AWESOME!"

Information

  • Creator
    Polly Mertens & Samantha Pruitt
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    149
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Everyday Awesome Project
  • Show Website
    The Everyday Awesome Project