Inspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up Authentically

Ruth Hirshberg, MSW — Grounding with Ruth
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Inspired Questions is a podcast for women who are tired of performing, people-pleasing, and pretending they’re fine — and who are finally ready to reclaim their voice, soften their nervous system, and live with more authenticity and self-worth. Hosted by Ruth Hirshberg, MSW, self-worth and breathwork coach, each episode blends grounded conversations, honest storytelling, breathwork and meditation, and practical tools for navigating burnout, pressure, perfectionism, and the belief that you’re “not enough.” You’ll hear from women who’ve stopped shrinking and started showing up with presence. You’ll learn how to regulate your nervous system, rewrite old stories, set boundaries without guilt, and reconnect with your real self — not the version you’ve been performing. Whether it’s a guided meditation, an honest solo episode, or a conversation with a leader, therapist, or coach, Inspired Questions is your reminder that you’re not broken — you’re human, and you deserve to feel like enough. New episodes weekly.Connect with Ruth at groundingwithruth.com or @groundingwithruth. RSSVERIFY

  1. Sep 10

    Confidence Is Built in the Doing with Victoria Mae Cassell

    What if confidence isn’t something you have to find before you show up—but something you build by showing up? In this episode, I’m joined by Victoria Mae Cassell, a brand and marketing photographer who helps female entrepreneurs create content that looks and feels like them. Victoria and I get real about confidence, comparison, imposter syndrome and body image—including the things we assume about women who appear confident, the made-up hierarchies our brains create, and why nobody else is zooming in on our perceived flaws the way we are. We also talk about what happens when we stop focusing so much on how we’re being perceived and start noticing how we can help someone else feel seen. And near the end, I share the story of a plantable card Victoria wrote me after our photo shoot—and why I still keep it beside my computer. In this conversation, we explore: • Why confidence is built through doing, one rep at a time • The Wizard of Oz analogy for the confidence we see in other people • How comparison convinces us there isn’t room for our gifts • Walking into a room where you don’t know anyone • Body image and learning to see the joy in a photograph • Why we dismiss compliments but hold tightly to criticism • The small things we do that can have a lasting impact on someone else Confidence isn’t something you arrive at once and keep forever. But every time you show up, you’re also giving someone else permission to do the same. CONNECT WITH VICTORIA MAE CASSELL Website: https://www.victoriamae.ca/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriamaephoto/ CONNECT WITH RUTH Website: https://groundingwithruth.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/groundingwithruth/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Grounding-with-Ruth-61579052467890/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthhirshberg YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GroundingwithRuth Inspired Questions: https://rss.com/podcasts/inspired-questions/ If this conversation stayed with you, I’d love to hear what stood out. Was it the Wizard of Oz analogy, the conversation about body image, or the story of the plantable card? Leave a review on your favourite podcast platform and follow or subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode.

    Confidence Is Built in the Doing with Victoria Mae Cassell

  2. Aug 27

    Why Is Feeding Ourselves So Damn Complicated? with Melanya Kushla

    Why can the question “What are we having for dinner?” fill you with rage at the end of a long day? Food should be simple. We need it to live. And yet somehow it has become tangled up with health, body image, family, culture, pleasure, guilt, responsibility and a seemingly endless list of things we're told we should be doing. In this episode, I sit down with dietitian and eating behaviour specialist Melanya Kushla to talk about what it's actually like trying to feed ourselves in real life. We talk about why food decisions can feel so much harder at the end of the day, the all-or-nothing thinking so many of us carry around food, and practical ways to reduce some of the mental load. Melanya shares her “rule of three,” how creating your own menu of go-to meals can make the dreaded dinner question easier, and why frozen vegetables, canned vegetables and ordering dinner all count. This isn't a conversation about eating perfectly. It's about feeding yourself in a way that works for your body, your life and what you actually have available to you today. In This Episode Why “what's for dinner?” can feel so overwhelmingDecision fatigue and why food choices get harder later in the dayCreating a personal menu instead of deciding from infinite possibilitiesMelanya's “rule of three” for reducing mental loadThe food rules and “shoulds” we absorb from family, culture and diet cultureAll-or-nothing thinking around food and healthBody image and the messages women receive about what health is supposed to look likeHow the content you consume can affect how you feel about your bodyWhy frozen and canned vegetables absolutely countSimple backup meals for the nights when you have nothing leftMaking food choices based on what you need, how you feel and what's actually availableWhy feeding yourself matters more than feeding yourself perfectlyAbout Melanya Melanya Kushla, MS, RD, CHES is a dietitian and eating behaviour specialist who helps people living with fatigue, burnout, and chronic health challenges find ease around food again — no meal plans, no perfection required. She's the founder of Taste & Thrive, a virtual practice built on the idea that sustainable change comes from working with your body and your real life, not against them. Her approach draws on over a decade leading one of the largest teaching kitchen programs in the U.S., where she learned firsthand that lasting change happens through small, doable steps — not willpower. Connect with Melanya: Website: https://tasteandthrive.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tasteandthrive/ Connect with Ruth Website: https://groundingwithruth.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/groundingwithruth/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groundingwithruth/ If this episode made you think, laugh, feel seen or gave you something useful to take into your own life, follow Inspired Questions and leave a review on your favourite podcast platform. Reviews help more women find the show — and I genuinely love hearing what stayed with you.

    Why Is Feeding Ourselves So Damn Complicated? with Melanya Kushla

  3. Aug 20

    Every Story is Worth Writing with Sarah Hepburn

    Episode Description: In this episode, Ruth sits down with Sarah Hepburn, founder of Turning Pages Studio, to talk about burnout, habits, and the vulnerable work of putting your story on paper. Sarah shares her path from corporate burnout to interior design to ghostwriting, and how something as simple as a morning routine, a journal, or a walk can be the thing that keeps you from falling apart. They get into why fear isn't always the enemy of a good decision, what it's like to hold space for other people's stories without absorbing them as your own, and the question Sarah now asks herself in the middle of hard, emotional seasons of parenting: what do I want to remember about this time? Key Topics: Sarah's path from corporate burnout to interior design to ghostwriting and story workThe daily habits that help Sarah stay grounded — routine, journaling, walkingChoosing not to go back to work after maternity leave, and how fear played a role in that decisionWhy comparison lies to us about what other women are actually managingThe vulnerability of writing your story down, even if you never share itHow Sarah creates space to hold other people's stories without carrying them as her ownNavigating the emotional transition of kids growing up and leaving homeWhy everybody's story — even the quiet, everyday parts — is worth writingConnect with Sarah: Turning Pages Studio A Midlife Moment (Substack) Instagram Walking Forward: Using the Power of Habit to Navigate the Chaos of Life Connect with Ruth: groundingwithruth.com Instagram Clarity Call with Ruth

    Every Story is Worth Writing with Sarah Hepburn

  4. Jul 30

    Why a Day of Release and Renewal Is the Best Gift You Can Give Yourself

    This is a special one. I'm joined by my good friend and soon-to-be co-host, Jodie Heffren of Rooted Woodland, to announce something we've been building for over a year: Let Go and Let In, A Journey of Release and Renewal, happening October 24th in the Blue Mountains. We talk about what it actually feels like to let something go, how this day came together between us, and why we built it as a full arc, release and receive, rather than stopping at just letting go. Jodie brings her nursing background and I bring my years as a social worker, and together we've built a day designed to hold you through discomfort and send you home nourished, not emptied out. If you've been feeling stuck, overdue for a day that's just for you, or simply craving time in nature with other women who understand, this conversation is for you. Waitlist is open now. Waitlist members get first access to early bird pricing starting August 10th, before it opens to everyone else on August 12th. Space is intentionally limited to 12 women. Join the waitlist HERE Connect with Ruth: Instagram: @groundingwithruth Website: groundingwithruth.com Connect with Jodie: Instagram: @rootedwoodland Website: rootedwoodland.com Subscribe to Inspired Questions: New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so you never miss a conversation. Leave a Review: If this episode resonated with you, I'd be so grateful if you'd leave a review. It helps other women find these conversations when they need them most.

    Why a Day of Release and Renewal Is the Best Gift You Can Give Yourself

  5. Jul 23

    Scary Things, Big and Small

    Fear feels the same in your body whether you're admitting you're not okay to one person or standing on a stage in front of hundreds. In this solo episode, Ruth breaks down what fear actually feels like physically, why it's so hard to manage, and walks through the full spectrum of scary things, from the small (saying you're not okay) to the big (speaking publicly, hosting events). She shares real, practical ways to move through fear without waiting for it to disappear first. If you've ever needed permission to say the scary thing out loud, this episode is for you. Connect with Ruth: Website: groundingwithruth.com Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn: search Grounding with Ruth Clarity Call with Ruth: BOOK HERE Subscribe to Inspired Questions: New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so you never miss a conversation. Leave a Review: If this episode resonated with you, I'd be so grateful if you'd leave a review. It helps other women find these conversations when they need them most.

    Scary Things, Big and Small

  6. Jul 16

    Take the Mask Off: A Guided Meditation

    This is a guided meditation for the mask we wear even when no one else is watching. We usually talk about masks in relation to other people, but sometimes the hardest place to take it off is when we're completely alone. In this episode, Ruth guides you through breathwork and affirmations to practise meeting yourself without pretense, even for a few minutes. If you've ever felt unfamiliar with your own company, or scared of what's underneath the mask, this one is for you. You don't have to have it figured out to be worthy of your own patience. In this episode you'll experience: A grounding breath practice, an honest look at why being alone with ourselves can feel scary, and a set of affirmations to help you meet yourself exactly as you are. Connect with Ruth: Website: groundingwithruth.com Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn: search Grounding with Ruth Clarity Call with Ruth: BOOK HERE Subscribe to Inspired Questions: New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so you never miss a conversation. Apple PodcastsSpotifyOr wherever you listenLeave a Review: If this episode resonated with you, I'd be so grateful if you'd leave a review. It helps other women find these conversations when they need them most. Music credit: Music by Viacheslav Starostin from Pixabay

    Take the Mask Off: A Guided Meditation

  7. Jul 9

    Take the Mask Off: April Ratchford on Autism, Burnout, and Coming Home to Yourself

    In this episode I sit down with April Ratchford, occupational therapist and host of Adulting with Autism, a podcast reaching millions of downloads worldwide. April got into OT to become her son's advocate, discovered her own autism along the way, and has spent years since helping neurodivergent adults navigate the parts of adulthood nobody prepared them for. We talk about autistic burnout severe enough to land April on a ventilator, the exhausting reality of masking for women and men alike, why real self-care rarely looks like a bubble bath, and how perimenopause is finally uncovering diagnoses in women who've been masking their whole lives without knowing it. April's biggest lesson: you can't pour from an empty cup. Take care of you first. You don't owe anyone anything, and it's okay to just be you. Connect with April and Adulting with Autism: Website: adultingwithautism.com Instagram: @adulting_autism All her links: linktr.ee/adultingwithautism You can also hear me on April's show — we talked about burnout, people-pleasing, and the beliefs underneath both. LISTEN HERE Connect with Ruth Hirshberg: Website: groundingwithruth.com Instagram/Facebook: @groundingwithruth This summer, I'm giving away a free one-on-one session every Friday. Follow along on Instagram to find out how to enter.

    Take the Mask Off: April Ratchford on Autism, Burnout, and Coming Home to Yourself

  8. Jul 2

    The Four Phases, As a Practice Not Just a Story

    After last week's episode telling the story behind the Grounded Life Framework, this week I wanted to offer something different, not the story, but the actual experience. This is a guided meditation that walks you through all four phases, Clear the Ground (Regulate), Find the Roots (Uncover), Tend the Roots (Embody), Let It Grow (Sustain), using the metaphor of a garden. Wherever you're starting from today, exhausted, carrying an old belief, holding something tightly in your body, this is a few minutes to actually practice moving through it, rather than just hearing about it. If this resonates, I'm running a summer offer through August 31st. Book a Grounded with Ruth session, then add Your Grounded Meditation separately and use code SUMMER at checkout to get it included at no extra cost. You can find me at groundingwithruth.com, and on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn at Grounding with Ruth.

    The Four Phases, As a Practice Not Just a Story
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About

Inspired Questions is a podcast for women who are tired of performing, people-pleasing, and pretending they’re fine — and who are finally ready to reclaim their voice, soften their nervous system, and live with more authenticity and self-worth. Hosted by Ruth Hirshberg, MSW, self-worth and breathwork coach, each episode blends grounded conversations, honest storytelling, breathwork and meditation, and practical tools for navigating burnout, pressure, perfectionism, and the belief that you’re “not enough.” You’ll hear from women who’ve stopped shrinking and started showing up with presence. You’ll learn how to regulate your nervous system, rewrite old stories, set boundaries without guilt, and reconnect with your real self — not the version you’ve been performing. Whether it’s a guided meditation, an honest solo episode, or a conversation with a leader, therapist, or coach, Inspired Questions is your reminder that you’re not broken — you’re human, and you deserve to feel like enough. New episodes weekly.Connect with Ruth at groundingwithruth.com or @groundingwithruth. RSSVERIFY

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