Be Freaking Awesome Podcast

Angela Belford & Sami Kinnison

Tired of surface-level conversations and sugar-coated advice? You’re in the right place. Be Freaking Awesome is not your average personal growth podcast. Hosted by Angela and Sami, an insightful mother-daughter duo with a gift for keeping it real, this is the space where authenticity, emotional intelligence, and radical self-awareness come together. We’re not here just to inspire you. We’re here to equip you with tools, stories, and soul-level truths that will help you grow in the real world, not some Pinterest-perfect version of it. Each week, we open up the real stuff: the messy middles, the limiting beliefs, the grief we never processed, the boundaries we were never taught to hold, and the dreams we’re still afraid to say out loud. From navigating burnout and setting healthy boundaries to healing your relationship with money and learning how to sit with hard emotions, we go deep and we do it with compassion, humor, and zero judgment. This show is especially for the big-feeling, high-achieving, people-pleasing, growth-obsessed folks who are ready to stop pretending they’ve got it all together and actually start living aligned. If you've ever said, “I know there’s more for me,” or “I’m tired of carrying all this alone,” this podcast was made for you. We bring two generations of experience, two distinct but complementary perspectives, and one shared mission: to help you stop settling, start healing, and live a freaking awesome life. You’ll hear from a mix of powerful guests including trauma-informed financial coaches, creatives who turned pain into purpose, and business leaders with heart. We also share solo and co-hosted episodes where we dive into our own struggles and triumphs from the therapy room to the boardroom to our own kitchen table. We’re not into quick fixes or perfectionism. We’re into progress, emotional regulation, nervous system safety, redefining success, and showing up with more courage, joy, and clarity than you ever thought possible. No matter where you are on your journey, whether you’re starting over, in transition, building something bold, or just feeling a little lost, we’re here to remind you that you are not broken, you are not too much, and you are capable of far more than you’ve been led to believe. Take a breath. Hit play. And get ready to do the deep work of becoming who you were always meant to be. This is your space to grow, heal, laugh, cry, question, and transform. Because life’s too short to settle for anything less than freaking awesome.

  1. 5d ago

    EP225 The ABCs of Grandparenting Without Shame

    Send us Fan Mail This episode is technically about grandparenting. But it is really about something most of us deal with every day: how to correct someone you love without making them feel like something is wrong with them. That shows up in how you give feedback at work, how you argue with a partner, how you talk to yourself when you mess something up. And yes, how you talk to a kid when they are driving you absolutely crazy. Sami and Angela use grandparenting as the lens because it is where the stakes feel especially clear: you love these kids completely, you only get so many reps, and the patterns you absorbed from your own upbringing have a way of showing up without permission. Their conversation centers on the difference between guilt (I did something wrong) and shame (there is something wrong with me), a distinction borrowed from Brene Brown that is one of the most practically useful frameworks in the episode. Once you have it, you will start noticing it everywhere. In this episode, they dig into: Why shame shows up in grandparenting even when no one intends itHow telling a child to "be careful" all the time might be quietly building their anxietyThe difference between correcting a behavior and attacking an identityAngela's ABCs (and Sami's three Rs) for interacting with grandkids without shameWhy repair matters just as much as getting it right in the first placeSami and Angela get personal here. Angela talks about the very real capacity limits of grandparenting (and why "I love my grandkids but send them home" is not a character flaw). Sami talks about what it is like to watch a grandparent say something she also says, and realize the two are not that different. They walk through the backpack metaphor, the sleeping-grandchild test, and why knowing better is not the same as saying you did it wrong. If you grew up hearing "be careful" constantly and have spent your adult life with an anxiety you cannot fully explain, this one might give you a word for it. You do not need a grandchild, or even a child, to walk away from this one with something real. Press play. The kid who grew up being told to be careful might need to hear this one. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Brene Brown's work on shame vs. guilt (brenebrown.com)The motivational triad (avoid pain, seek pleasure, be efficient) -- referenced in discussionSupport the show Sign up at bfreakingawesome.com to get the latest news, insights, and episodes straight to your inbox. Follow Be Freaking Awesome on Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, and Instagram. Let us know what questions you want to be answered and discussed by emailing us at podcast@bfreakingawesome.com.

    37 min
  2. Jun 2

    EP224 Guilt That Helps and Guilt That Haunts

    Send us Fan Mail You know that feeling where you did something wrong and instead of fixing it, you just... keep feeling bad about it? Like feeling bad is the apology, the penance, and the plan all rolled into one? Yeah. That's not guilt doing its job. That's guilt overstaying its welcome, and there's a difference. In this episode, Sami and Angela get real about guilt: what it's actually for, what it looks like when it goes sideways, and how to tell the difference between guilt that's moving you toward repair and guilt that's just becoming your whole personality. They dig into mom guilt, survivor guilt, the guilt you pick up on behalf of other people for things you had nothing to do with, and the sneaky habit of dumping your guilt on the very person you wronged and asking them to make you feel better about it. In this episode, we dig into: Why guilt is only useful if it's pushing you to do somethingThe difference between guilt (I did something wrong) and shame (I am something wrong)How to offer a real repair without making the other person comfort you in the processWhat to do with guilt when the relationship can't be repairedHow to feel your feelings fully without turning them into everyone else's burdenSami shares why she rarely experiences mom guilt and what Angela modeled that made that possible. Angela gets honest about her own anxious attachment history, the time she raged at her husband over a text message misunderstanding, and the friend with a hard medical diagnosis who taught her something important about allowing someone to offer a sincere apology. These are real stories, not tidy examples. The takeaway from this one is simple but not easy: guilt is an emotion, which means it's designed to move you. When it motivates repair, it's working. When it just sits there and collects weight, it's a drain on you and everyone around you. You don't have to be perfect. You do have to be willing to do something about it. Press play. This one is going to resonate. Mentioned in this episode: Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown: brenebrown.com/book/atlas-of-the-heart/ Next week's episode: Guilt vs. Shame (part two of this arc) Support the show Sign up at bfreakingawesome.com to get the latest news, insights, and episodes straight to your inbox. Follow Be Freaking Awesome on Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, and Instagram. Let us know what questions you want to be answered and discussed by emailing us at podcast@bfreakingawesome.com.

    31 min
  3. May 26

    EP223 Learning to Sit with Disappointment (Even When You're Not Ready)

    Send us Fan Mail Nobody talks about disappointment long enough to actually help you with it. Most advice amounts to "lower your expectations" — which, as a life strategy, sounds a lot like choosing to feel nothing. This week's episode is a follow-up to EP211 (you asked for it, literally — thank you), and we're going deeper. Sami admits she does not want to talk about this one. Angela shares that she's spent most of her life trying to outrun it, and that the bus metaphor she uses to describe finally sitting with disappointment might be the most accurate description of what this emotion actually feels like to live with. We also get into something that doesn't get said enough out loud: disappointment, when it gets weaponized, is one of the least effective persuasion tools that exists — and most people doing it don't even realize that's what they're doing. In this episode, we dig into: Why "just lower your expectations" is terrible advice and what actually helpsThe difference between expectations that shrink your life and ones that protect your relationshipsWhat it looks like when disappointment gets used as a control tactic (and why it never works long-term)A real moment from the first Family Business Forum where disappointment and perspective collided in the same afternoonA practical reset you can use when big feelings show up right before you have to perform Sami walks through what she's learned about season-appropriate expectations, using her own experience of going to the beach with three small kids and actually not being disappointed about it. Angela gets honest about a relationship situation where the disappointment she keeps sitting with hasn't resolved itself neatly, and what she's learning about the difference between communicating a need and weaponizing a feeling. If you've been using disappointment to try to get someone to do something different, this episode might be a little uncomfortable. That's okay. If you've been on the receiving end of someone else's disappointment and you're exhausted by it, there's something here for you too. Mostly this episode is permission to feel the thing without letting it run the show. Hit play. The disappointment will still be there when you're done, but you'll have a few more things to do with it. Mentioned in this episode: EP211 — When You Get What You Wanted and It's Not What You Expected (the episode that started this conversation)EP80 — Feeling your feelings and emotional cyclesEP98 — More on emotional cycles and processing hard emotionsThe TV show Shrinking (the 15-minute timer for feelings — look it up, it's a great scene)Connect with us: bfreakingawesome.comInstagram: @bfreakingawesomeSupport the show Sign up at bfreakingawesome.com to get the latest news, insights, and episodes straight to your inbox. Follow Be Freaking Awesome on Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, and Instagram. Let us know what questions you want to be answered and discussed by emailing us at podcast@bfreakingawesome.com.

    38 min
  4. May 19

    EP222 The Invisible Edge Book Launch

    Send us Fan Mail Most people who write a book are terrified when it comes out. Angela was, too the first time. And the second time, she was more settled but still working through it. This time? Something is genuinely different. And that difference is kind of the whole point of the book itself. The Invisible Edge is Angela's third book, and it is a leadership fable five fictional business owners, one executive coach, and a mastermind that slowly unpacks the hidden beliefs each of them has been carrying since long before they ran a company. The premise sounds familiar if you have been around this podcast for a while: the seven core limiting beliefs, the nervous system, the idea that what fuels your success might also be what quietly makes that success unsustainable. But the format is completely different -- it is a story, not a framework, and it was designed to make the Traveling Light concepts feel more like something you can inhabit rather than something you have to study. In this episode, we dig into: What it actually feels like to release a book from a nervous system that is no longer activatedWhy Angela thought she would never be type-A driven again after doing the belief work -- and what happened insteadThe two and a half years these characters spent wandering around in her head before hitting the pageHow the five fictional businesses each serve as a metaphor for one of the seven core limiting beliefsWhat changed between Be Freaking Awesome, Traveling Light, and this one -- and why it matters for readers of all threeSami and Angela also get into the rabbit-trail energy that makes this podcast what it is (yes, they fact-checked whether car ozone sensors are real mid-episode -- they are), the story of a family that passed Traveling Light between three generations, and what Angela is building toward as she looks ahead to book four and the ten-year anniversary of Be Freaking Awesome. If you have ever wondered what it looks like to actually integrate the internal work -- not just learn it, not just teach it, but live inside it -- this episode is a really good window into that. Angela is not performing calm. She is calm. And the difference is worth hearing. Press play right now. Not because it is a book launch, but because this is one of those conversations that will make you think about your own check engine light -- and whether you have just been driving around with it on. Mentioned in this episode: The Invisible Edge by Angela Belford -- bfreakingawesome.com/the-invisible-edge-preorder and on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart.com, and Target.com (paperback and hardcover available)Traveling Light by Angela Belford -- amazon.com/dp/0999186221Be Freaking Awesome by Angela Belford -- available on AmazonAngela Belford -- angelabelford.comRelated episodes: EP95 -- Limiting Beliefs and the Nervous System Toolbox: The foundational episode for understanding the seven core beliefs that every character in The Invisible Edge is working through.EP144 -- How Thoughts Create Feelings: Angela breaks down the belief replacement framework that becomes the teaching methodology in the book.EP207 -- The Inner Critic: The book's characters are all navigating some version of the inner critic -- this episode is the deep-dive companion.EP178 -- Workaholism and Core Beliefs: Angela and guest Moyra Gorski explore how "I have what it takes" gets weaponized as workaholism -- directly relevant to the subtitle of The Invisible Edge.Support the show Sign up at bfreakingawesome.com to get the latest news, insights, and episodes straight to your inbox. Follow Be Freaking Awesome on Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, and Instagram. Let us know what questions you want to be answered and discussed by emailing us at podcast@bfreakingawesome.com.

    27 min
  5. May 12

    EP221 Letting Go is the Bravest Thing You Can Do

    Send us Fan Mail There's a season in life where everything you've been leaning on just... isn't there anymore. The neighbor moves. The sister takes a second job. The husband travels. The parents are across the ocean. And you're standing in the middle of what feels like a very loud, very clear message that you are on your own. What do you do with that? Angela and I have been circling this topic from a few different directions over the past several months, through disappointment, expectations, friendships, and this week it all converged in one conversation. Stoicism, Mel Robbins' Let Them Theory, Tara Brach's Radical Acceptance. Three different sources, same essential truth: there is a kind of freedom that only becomes available when you stop spending energy trying to control what you were never going to be able to control anyway. And the equally important flip side, that accepting what someone else does is not the same as condoning it. In this episode, we dig into: Why acceptance takes more courage than fighting, and why it's not the same as giving upThe "let them / let me" two-step, and why skipping the second part is where things go sidewaysHow stoicism has been quietly showing up in Angela's life for years, especially after a trip to AthensThe connection between forgiving someone and not drinking poison yourselfHow to set limits on someone without needing to be furious to do itSami shares the Christmas story (yes, that Christmas story, two separate years, no gift, being sent to find it herself) and what finally shifted when she stopped trying to orchestrate a different outcome. Angela gets into the roots of stoicism, Marcus Aurelius, Ryan Holiday, and why the ancient philosophers weren't telling us to feel nothing, they were telling us to stop white-knuckling every wave. The image we kept coming back to: you don't get less battered in the storm by having a smaller boat. You get a bigger one. You can influence people. You can guide them, persuade them, set limits with them, and reach agreements with them. What you cannot do is control what they do. And the most exhausting part of trying is that it doesn't work — and it costs you, every single time. This episode is permission to put that particular weight down. Not because it doesn't matter. Because you matter more. Press play. Especially if you've been white-knuckling something lately and you're starting to suspect it's wearing you out. Mentioned in this episode: The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins: https://www.melrobbins.com/book/the-let-them-theory/Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach: https://www.tarabrach.com/books/radical-acceptance/The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan HolidayThe Daily Stoic by Ryan HolidayCourage is Calling by Ryan HolidaySupport the show Sign up at bfreakingawesome.com to get the latest news, insights, and episodes straight to your inbox. Follow Be Freaking Awesome on Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, and Instagram. Let us know what questions you want to be answered and discussed by emailing us at podcast@bfreakingawesome.com.

    27 min
  6. May 5

    EP220 When You Finally Decide to Go to Therapy, Here's What to Know First

    Send us Fan Mail You've thought about it. Maybe more than once. Maybe every time things get heavy and you tell yourself "I should really talk to someone." But then life picks back up and you don't. This episode is for you. Sami and Angela dig into the part nobody really talks about when it comes to therapy: how do you actually find a good one? Not just "any therapist," but one who works the way your brain works, who fits your situation, and who you can afford. They've both been in therapy. They've had mediocre experiences and transformative ones. And they have some very specific thoughts about what makes the difference, starting with what's on a therapist's website. In this episode, they get into: Why Cognitive Behavioral Therapy alone may leave you feeling like nothing really changedWhat Emotionally Focused Therapy and the Gottman Method actually are, and why Angela thinks they're rock-solid scienceHow to use a therapist's practice as a resource even if you don't share them with a friend or partnerReal options for making therapy affordable, including income-qualified practices and university student therapistsThe tiny baby step they're inviting you to take this week (it does not involve calling anyone)Angela shares her own history with the U of A counseling center—one great experience, one mediocre one—and explains exactly what she looks for on a therapist's website before she'd ever recommend them. Sami makes the case that therapists, like coaches, operate from a place of collaboration, not competition. There are so many people who need support and so few ways to get it that a good therapist will help you find a fit even if that fit isn't them. If you've been sitting on the idea of therapy, this episode gives you permission to start small. You don't have to call. You don't have to book. You just have to look. That's the whole invitation. And sometimes that one tiny step is the one that actually changes everything. Press play. Seriously. Mentioned in this episode: Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT): https://iceeft.comThe Gottman Method: https://gottman.comFind a Gottman-trained therapist: https://gottmanreferralnetwork.comFind an EFT therapist: https://directory.iceeft.comUniversity of Arkansas Counseling & Psychological Services: https://uacaps.uark.eduSupport the show Sign up at bfreakingawesome.com to get the latest news, insights, and episodes straight to your inbox. Follow Be Freaking Awesome on Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, and Instagram. Let us know what questions you want to be answered and discussed by emailing us at podcast@bfreakingawesome.com.

    41 min
  7. Apr 28

    EP219 The Answer To All Your Problems is Simpler Than You Think

    Send us Fan Mail You have a problem. Maybe a big one. And you keep staring at it like if you think hard enough, the answer will finally show up. But here's what nobody tells you: most problems aren't actually complicated. They're just missing one of three things. This week, Sami and Angela break down a surprisingly simple framework that cuts through the overwhelm and gets you to the actual question you should be asking. Whether you're drowning in logistics, exhausted from carrying everything alone, or watching your bank account and your to-do list fight for your attention, the answer is almost always one of three things: money, time, or community. In this episode, we dig into: A practical framework for diagnosing what your problem actually needsWhy building community isn't a nice-to-have, it's a literal survival strategyPermission to spend money on a problem when money is actually the answerHow to be more intentional with each resource so you're not running on emptyWhat to do when two values you hold (hello, community and saving money) pull in opposite directionsAngela tells the story of the day Sami called her in a panic, pregnant with her second baby, toddler underfoot, husband out of town, and closing on a house in 21 days. The framework wasn't just helpful in that moment. It was the thing that made the chaos manageable. And Sami shares how she and her husband have started running real-time decisions through it, like choosing to go out to dinner with their kids' friends' family even when they'd committed to tightening up the budget, because they know how their own flowchart goes. They also get real about the things this framework doesn't fix, such as the privilege required to access money or community, the seasons of life when none of the three resources feel available, and the role of energy as a quiet fourth variable nobody talks about. This isn't a tidy episode. It's an honest one. If you've been spinning on a problem lately, this episode is going to reframe the whole thing. Press play. Support the show Sign up at bfreakingawesome.com to get the latest news, insights, and episodes straight to your inbox. Follow Be Freaking Awesome on Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, and Instagram. Let us know what questions you want to be answered and discussed by emailing us at podcast@bfreakingawesome.com.

    28 min
  8. Apr 21

    EP218 When Your Brain Goes Negative Before You Even Have a Reason

    Send us Fan Mail You didn't do anything wrong. Your brain just got there first. That's the thing about automatic negative thoughts: they don't wait for evidence. They don't ask permission. Something happens, and before you've had a single conscious thought about it, your brain has already decided: of course this went sideways. Nobody ever comes through. Something is wrong with me. And then you feel bad about feeling bad, which is its own whole thing. In this episode, Sami and Angela wrap up an accidental three-part series on how your brain actually works, following conversations on metacognition and cognitive distortions, by landing on the concept that ties it all together. We dig into: What an automatic negative thought actually is (and why it's not the same as pessimism)Where these thoughts come from and what seeds themWhy "just choose a better thought" is not as easy as it sounds (and what to do instead)How to recognize when your brain is jumping to a conclusion that isn't yoursWhat it actually looks like to interrupt the pattern without judging yourself for having itAngela breaks down how these thoughts grow from deeper core beliefs, the weed whacker vs. the root analogy is going to stick with you. Sami brings her factory metaphor to explain why the machine itself shapes the output, and why understanding that changes everything. They also talk about the spotlight effect, a story about a speaker who got a standing ovation and still thought she bombed, and the one thing that actually interrupts an automatic negative thought in someone else. You're going to walk away with language for something you've probably experienced a hundred times and never had a name for. That's half the work. Once you can call it out, you're already ahead of it. Press play. Your brain is not broken. It's just been running the same loop for a while, and this episode is a good place to start changing that. Mentioned in this episode: The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk - besselvanderkolk.comAtlas of the Heart by Brene Brown - brenebrown.com/book/atlas-of-the-heartBe Freaking Awesome by Angela Belford - bfreakingawesome.comLoving What Is by Byron Katie (The Work / four questions) -- thework.comSupport the show Sign up at bfreakingawesome.com to get the latest news, insights, and episodes straight to your inbox. Follow Be Freaking Awesome on Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, and Instagram. Let us know what questions you want to be answered and discussed by emailing us at podcast@bfreakingawesome.com.

    30 min
4.5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Tired of surface-level conversations and sugar-coated advice? You’re in the right place. Be Freaking Awesome is not your average personal growth podcast. Hosted by Angela and Sami, an insightful mother-daughter duo with a gift for keeping it real, this is the space where authenticity, emotional intelligence, and radical self-awareness come together. We’re not here just to inspire you. We’re here to equip you with tools, stories, and soul-level truths that will help you grow in the real world, not some Pinterest-perfect version of it. Each week, we open up the real stuff: the messy middles, the limiting beliefs, the grief we never processed, the boundaries we were never taught to hold, and the dreams we’re still afraid to say out loud. From navigating burnout and setting healthy boundaries to healing your relationship with money and learning how to sit with hard emotions, we go deep and we do it with compassion, humor, and zero judgment. This show is especially for the big-feeling, high-achieving, people-pleasing, growth-obsessed folks who are ready to stop pretending they’ve got it all together and actually start living aligned. If you've ever said, “I know there’s more for me,” or “I’m tired of carrying all this alone,” this podcast was made for you. We bring two generations of experience, two distinct but complementary perspectives, and one shared mission: to help you stop settling, start healing, and live a freaking awesome life. You’ll hear from a mix of powerful guests including trauma-informed financial coaches, creatives who turned pain into purpose, and business leaders with heart. We also share solo and co-hosted episodes where we dive into our own struggles and triumphs from the therapy room to the boardroom to our own kitchen table. We’re not into quick fixes or perfectionism. We’re into progress, emotional regulation, nervous system safety, redefining success, and showing up with more courage, joy, and clarity than you ever thought possible. No matter where you are on your journey, whether you’re starting over, in transition, building something bold, or just feeling a little lost, we’re here to remind you that you are not broken, you are not too much, and you are capable of far more than you’ve been led to believe. Take a breath. Hit play. And get ready to do the deep work of becoming who you were always meant to be. This is your space to grow, heal, laugh, cry, question, and transform. Because life’s too short to settle for anything less than freaking awesome.

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