Big Meaningful Life

Sally Mahamdeh
  • 5.0 (7)
  • MENTAL HEALTH
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Welcome to Big Meaningful Life. Hi, I’m Sally Mahamdeh, an Emotional Intelligence-certified coach and trainer. Are you someone who holds yourself to high standards, strives for ambitious goals, and feels deeply empathetic toward others? If so, you might be a Sensitive Striver—just like me. The driving question behind this podcast is simple yet profound: How can you care deeply, achieve greatly, and truly enjoy the life you’re building? Join me as we explore the answers with inspiring guests—coaches, psychologists, and neuroscientists—who share practical tools and transformative insights. Your journey to a big, meaningful life—free from overwhelm—starts now.

  1. 49. Who are you when the title is gone? —with Michelle Strydom

    5D AGO

    49. Who are you when the title is gone? —with Michelle Strydom

    In this episode of Big Meaningful Life, I sit down with Michelle Strydom to explore a transition many high-performing professionals quietly experience but rarely talk about: what happens when a successful career suddenly changes. For many ambitious professionals, work is more than a job. It becomes a source of identity, confidence, and stability. So when a role shifts unexpectedly—through layoffs, restructuring, or life circumstances—it can shake far more than a professional plan. In our conversation, Michelle shares her perspective after navigating major career transitions herself and supporting leaders going through similar moments. Together, we explore what it really takes to rebuild clarity, confidence, and direction when the path you thought you were on suddenly changes. This episode is a reminder that professional disruption is not always the end of something—it can also be the beginning of a deeper, more intentional chapter. 5 reflections you’ll walk away with: Why career transitions can feel deeply personal, even when they are driven by organizational decisions.How identity and self-worth often become intertwined with titles, roles, and external validation.What high-performing professionals frequently misunderstand about resilience during times of uncertainty.Why slowing down and creating space for reflection can be more powerful than rushing into the next opportunity.How periods of disruption can open the door to a more aligned definition of success and leadership.Career changes can challenge how we see ourselves. But they can also reveal who we are beyond our roles. So here’s the question I invite you to sit with: If your title disappeared tomorrow, what parts of you would remain unchanged? Connect with Michelle Strydom: michelle@thesmggroup.net https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-strydom/ - Book your discovery call. Connect with me on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-mahamdeh-emotional-intelligence/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sally_mahamdeh/ Join the newsletter here. Send me an email with ideas for future episodes: sally@hayatti.co Music Credit:This episode features ''Je n'y suis jamais allé'' by Yann Tiersen.

    42 min
  2. 48. You got the title. Now earn the influence. —with Wendy Chin

    MAR 2

    48. You got the title. Now earn the influence. —with Wendy Chin

    In this episode of Big Meaningful Life, I sit down with Wendy Chin, a global HR leader and executive coach, to talk about what happens after you reach senior levels — when the title is there, performance is strong, yet something starts to stall. We explore why so many high performers feel overlooked, stretched, or quietly disengaged once they reach director level and beyond. Wendy shares what she sees behind closed doors in promotion and succession discussions, and why success at this stage requires a different relationship with influence, identity, and visibility. This conversation goes beyond career tactics. It touches on energy, family, inner authority, and the often-unspoken cost of trying to “do it all” without redefining what success means right now. 5 reflections you’ll walk away with Why strong performance can stop being enough as careers progress — and what replaces it.How identity and self-worth become entangled with roles, titles, and recognition.Why influence at senior levels is less about authority and more about relationships and perception.How inner work quietly reshapes leadership presence at work and at home.Why redefining success for the current season can release pressure without lowering ambition.Working harder isn’t always the next step.Sometimes, reframing success is. So here’s the question I invite you to sit with: If you stopped chasing the definition of success that got you here, what might feel right for you now? Connect with Wendy Chin: https://www.pinnaclehr.ie/executive-coaching https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-chin-pinnaclehr/ - Book your discovery call. Connect with me on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-mahamdeh-emotional-intelligence/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sally_mahamdeh/ Join the newsletter here. Send me an email with ideas for future episodes: sally@hayatti.co Music Credit:This episode features ''Je n'y suis jamais allé'' by Yann Tiersen.

    37 min
  3. 47. When work comes home: the cost of ignoring our limits

    FEB 16

    47. When work comes home: the cost of ignoring our limits

    In this episode, I talk about something very real — and deeply personal.Something many high-achieving, caring parents experience, but rarely say out loud. I share a moment with my daughter that shook me and forced me to look honestly at exhaustion, boundaries, and the invisible cost of pushing through when the body is already saying no. Not to justify what happened, and not to drown in guilt — but to take responsibility and understand what led there. This episode is an invitation to look upstream. To explore why impatience shows up at home after long days, why guilt pulls us in two directions, and why emotional intelligence in parenting has far more to do with how we care for ourselves before we walk through the door than how hard we try in the moment. 5 reflections you’ll walk away with Why snapping at the people we love is often a sign of unaddressed exhaustion — not a lack of love or values.How living between work guilt and family guilt quietly erodes emotional availability.Why ignoring physical and emotional limits doesn’t disappear — it shows up in our closest relationships.What accountability and repair teach children far more effectively than perfection.How prevention starts earlier in the day, long before the breaking point arrives.We don’t fail our children when we make mistakes.We fail them when we don’t repair — and when we don’t change what led us there. So here’s the question I invite you to sit with: What would shift in your relationships if you treated your own limits as signals to respect, rather than obstacles to push through? - Book your discovery call. Connect with me on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallymahamdeh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sally_mahamdeh/ Join the newsletter here. Send me an email with ideas for future episodes: sally@hayatti.co Music Credit:This episode features ''Je n'y suis jamais allé'' by Yann Tiersen.

    15 min
  4. 46. Why your mindset isn't enough to protect your wellbeing with Lina Sha

    FEB 2

    46. Why your mindset isn't enough to protect your wellbeing with Lina Sha

    In this episode of Big Meaningful Life, I sit down with Lina Sha, a dear friend and an executive coach with a rare integrative background spanning big tech, coaching, and clinical naturopathy. Our conversation explores what happens when performance, leadership, and wellbeing are treated as separate topics — and why that separation is no longer sustainable. We talk about psychosomatic leadership, the limits of mindset work alone, and what leaders often miss when pressure becomes the norm. Lina shares her journey from years in big tech to integrative mental health, motherhood, and clinical practice, offering a grounded perspective on why sustainable performance starts in the body — not just the mind. 5 reflections you’ll walk away with Why awareness alone isn’t enough when pressure exceeds biological capacity.How high achievers often miss early mind–body warning signs — even when they’re self-aware.Why leadership development must include the body, not just behavior and mindset.How chronic pressure quietly shapes culture, performance, and relationships.What sustainable leadership looks like when health is treated as a foundation, not a benefit.Burnout doesn’t usually come from one breaking point — it comes from ignoring signals for too long. So here’s the question I invite you to sit with: What signals might your body already be sending — and what would change if you listened earlier? Connect with Lina Sha: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lina-sha-56789826/ - Book your discovery call. Connect with me on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallymahamdeh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sally_mahamdeh/ Join the newsletter here. Send me an email with ideas for future episodes: sally@hayatti.co Music Credit:This episode features ''Je n'y suis jamais allé'' by Yann Tiersen.

    44 min
  5. 45. Why your mind worries — and what it needs instead

    JAN 19

    45. Why your mind worries — and what it needs instead

    In this episode, I wanted to start the year gently.Not with pressure to fix yourself or push harder — but with a deeper, more compassionate look at anxiety and worry. At the beginning of my pregnancy, and in many coaching conversations, I noticed how loud anxiety can become when life feels uncertain. New beginnings don’t always bring clarity. Often, they bring questions, responsibility, and a quiet sense of pressure we don’t talk about enough. In this episode, I explore why anxiety shows up, what often sits beneath it at a deeper level, and why taking care of yourself doesn’t make you weaker — it actually strengthens your capacity to face life. We talk about trust, safety, self-care, and how anxiety may be less of an enemy and more of a signal asking for support. 5 reflections you’ll walk away with A new way to understand anxiety — not as failure, but as a form of intelligence shaped by care and responsibility.Why worry often feels productive, even when it quietly drains the system.How trust (in life, in yourself, and in others) influences the intensity of anxiety.Why self-care isn’t optional when anxiety is present, but foundational to emotional intelligence.What it really takes to help the nervous system soften — without forcing positivity or control.Anxiety isn’t asking you to fight harder.It may be asking you to feel safer. So here’s the question I invite you to sit with:What would change if you stopped seeing anxiety as something to eliminate — and started listening to what it’s been trying to protect? -Book your discovery call. Connect with me on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallymahamdeh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sally_mahamdeh/ Join the newsletter here. Send me an email with ideas for future episodes: sally@hayatti.co Music Credit:This episode features ''Je n'y suis jamais allé'' by Yann Tiersen.

    11 min
  6. 44. Where to start if your professional life is lacking meaning with Shawn Brumfield

    JAN 5

    44. Where to start if your professional life is lacking meaning with Shawn Brumfield

    In this episode of Big Meaningful Life, I sit down with Shawn Brumfield to explore mental fitness and positive intelligence — and what it really means to perform, grow, and stay aligned without burning out. We talk about the quiet emptiness many high achievers feel even when everything looks “right” on the outside, how small shifts in thinking can unlock motivation and resilience, and why mental fitness isn’t about being positive all the time — but about learning to respond instead of react. This conversation weaves together lived experience, coaching insights, and practical perspectives on how to build a life and career fueled by clarity, purpose, and inner steadiness. 5 reflections you’ll walk away with: A clearer understanding of what mental fitness really is — beyond motivation or “good vibes.”Why burnout isn’t always about workload, but often about misalignment.How tiny shifts in curiosity and attention can create lasting momentum.The difference between the voice of wisdom and the voice driven by fear or pressure.What it looks like to pursue meaningful goals without relying on brute force or constant stress.A question to sit with: If performance could be fueled by clarity and alignment instead of pressure, what would you start doing differently this week? Connect with Shawn Brumfield: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-brumfield/ - Book your discovery call. Connect with me on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallymahamdeh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sally_mahamdeh/ Join the newsletter here. Send me an email with ideas for future episodes: sally@hayatti.co Music Credit:This episode features ''Je n'y suis jamais allé'' by Yann Tiersen.

    41 min
  7. 43. Defining success on your own terms with Billy Keels

    12/15/2025

    43. Defining success on your own terms with Billy Keels

    In this episode, I sit down with Billy Keels — someone I deeply admire for the way he has built a life rooted in ambition and family. Our conversation moves through the many chapters of his story: growing up with limited resources, rising through corporate leadership, building multiple businesses, facing personal and professional challenges, and ultimately choosing a life designed around freedom, presence, and intentionality. What inspires me most is how openly Billy shares the moments that broke him open and the mindset shifts that helped him rebuild on his own terms. Together, we explore what it really looks like to redefine success — especially for men in high-pressure roles who feel responsible for everyone and everything around them. 5 reflections you’ll walk away with: How financial autonomy can shift your entire sense of agency — not just your income.Why asking for what you need at work isn't a risk, but a skill most high achievers never learned.The hidden cost of doing everything alone, and what happens when you finally allow support.Why resilience is built through adversity — not avoided by perfection.What it truly means to design a career around your values instead of your fears.Billy’s story is a powerful reminder that freedom isn’t something you wait for — it’s something you create, one honest decision at a time. If you removed the pressure to be everything for everyone, what kind of life would you finally give yourself permission to build? Connect with Billy Keels: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billykeels/ https://www.instagram.com/billykeels/ https://www.billykeels.com/ - Book your discovery call. Connect with me on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallymahamdeh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sally_mahamdeh/ Join the newsletter here. Send me an email with ideas for future episodes: sally@hayatti.co Music Credit:This episode features ''Je n'y suis jamais allé'' by Yann Tiersen.

    51 min
  8. 42. When their success hurts: what do we do about it?

    12/01/2025

    42. When their success hurts: what do we do about it?

    In this episode of Big Meaningful Life, I open up a conversation most of us avoid: jealousy — the emotion we’re taught to hide, suppress, and feel ashamed of. I share why this emotion matters, what it reveals about our deepest desires, and how we can transform it into clarity and direction instead of silence and self-judgment. This conversation comes from real coaching sessions and my own lived experience, and I hope it invites you to soften, reflect, and reclaim jealousy as a powerful form of emotional intelligence.  5 reflections you’ll walk away with A different way to understand jealousy — not as a flaw, but as information about what matters most to you.Why naming an emotion reduces its intensity and expands emotional capacity.How to transform comparison into clarity and action instead of shame and withdrawal.Why jealousy often points toward direction, desire, and identity, not insecurity.How emotional honesty can dissolve isolation and strengthen connection.Jealousy isn’t proof that you’re behind. It’s proof that you’re awake — and paying attention.So here’s a question: If jealousy is pointing to something you deeply want, what might it be trying to show you about who you’re becoming next? Book your discovery call. Connect with me on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-mahamdeh-emotional-intelligence/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sally_mahamdeh/ Join the newsletter here. Send me an email with ideas for future episodes: sally@hayatti.co Music Credit:This episode features ''Je n'y suis jamais allé'' by Yann Tiersen.

    11 min
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About

Welcome to Big Meaningful Life. Hi, I’m Sally Mahamdeh, an Emotional Intelligence-certified coach and trainer. Are you someone who holds yourself to high standards, strives for ambitious goals, and feels deeply empathetic toward others? If so, you might be a Sensitive Striver—just like me. The driving question behind this podcast is simple yet profound: How can you care deeply, achieve greatly, and truly enjoy the life you’re building? Join me as we explore the answers with inspiring guests—coaches, psychologists, and neuroscientists—who share practical tools and transformative insights. Your journey to a big, meaningful life—free from overwhelm—starts now.

Information

  • Creator
    Sally Mahamdeh
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    50
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2024 Sally Mahamdeh
  • Show Website
    Big Meaningful Life