The Self Trust Solution | Real Stories. Real Self-Trust.

Dawn Ledet, The Self Trust Coach
  • 5.0 (23)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

For entrepreneurs and leaders ready to grow their business, expand their impact, and build from overflow—not depletion. The Self Trust Solution Podcast features real conversations, tools and tips about the decisions, risks, and identity shifts behind sustainable growth. Season 3 shares powerful interviews, while Season 2 offers practical tools for clarity and follow-through. Start your next level with the Self-Trust Identity Map: theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map

  1. 23h ago

    You're Not Starting From Scratch: Shannon Russel on Reinvention and Second Act Success

    Read the full episode breakdown + show notes: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/career-reinvention-starting-from-experience She missed her son's first birthday on a shoot, and that was the moment the wheel started turning on a career she had wanted since she was five. This week I'm joined by Shannon Russell, business coach, speaker, host of the Second Act Success podcast, and author of Start Your Second Act: How to Change Careers, Launch a Business, and Create Your Best Life. After sixteen years producing television in New York and LA, Shannon walked away from the dream job, threw spaghetti at the wall for a year, ran a STEM education franchise for eight years, sold it at its peak, and went all in on coaching women through the same threshold. Underneath every pivot is the same quiet question: do I trust myself to choose what fits the life I'm actually living now? In This Episode, We Explore: • Identity Gap: The cage of holding onto "I am a television producer" past the point where the self-concept still fits the life you're living. • Do It For Data: Why Shannon's year of trying graduate school and a toxic nine-to-five wasn't wasted time, it was clinical evaluation that sharpened the next decision. • The I'm So Impressed List: Shannon's "you're not starting from scratch, you're starting from experience" reframe, and how to stop running a muted highlight reel of yourself. • Choice Before Evidence: She decided to leave before the path was clear, before family support arrived, before confidence felt available. The sequence of choice, then practice, then expression in real time. • Outsourcing Your Safety: The biggest fear Shannon sees in women considering a second act is not strategy or money, it is what other people will think. What it costs to let that be the deciding vote. • The Inner Room: Producing your own life instead of fitting yourself into a role someone else wrote for you. Episode Chapters:00:00 Welcome and Shannon's introduction01:00 The dream job and the moment the wheel started turning04:00 Fears, doubts, and leaving without family support06:00 The spaghetti year: grad school, a nine-to-five, and what didn't fit09:00 From television producer to STEM franchise owner12:00 Selling the business at its peak14:00 Going all in on coaching women through second acts17:00 The Pilates studio story and why research saves you22:00 What a second act actually means now23:00 Where self-trust shows up missing in this threshold Connect with Shannon Russel: Website: https://secondactsuccess.co Podcast: Second Act Success Podcast Book: Start Your Second Act: How to Change Careers, Launch a Business, and Create Your Best Life https://a.co/d/07JPD58T Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondactsuccess/ If today's conversation stirred something in you — I want you to take one next step before you close this episode. Take the Self-Trust Identity Map.Before strategy. Before motivation. Before more effort — you need to know where your identity is operating from. Because that is what determines everything that follows.It's free. It takes three minutes. And it will give you a precise read on where your identity is actually operating from right now — and exactly where to focus next.: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map And if you're a coach or expert who already knows what's in the way — if you're done operating from almost and ready to claim the authority that makes your business vision a reality — Claimed is my private six-month coaching container for exactly that. Not a curriculum. Not someone else's strategy. Identity-level work that changes the person leading the business.: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/claimed Have a self-trust story to share?: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/yourstory Subscribe and leave a review if this episode resonates — it helps more people find these conversations.

    27 min

  2. Jun 3

    She Took the "Smart" Advice. Then Worked Until 2 AM. Adri Kopp on Taking Advice: Adapt, Don't Adopt

    Read the full episode breakdown + show notes: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/advice-is-not-instruction What happens when you take advice from someone successful, but not from someone who has been where you actually want to go?In this episode, Dawn sits down with Adri Kopp, email strategist, copywriter, and co-creator of Inbox Academy, where she teaches freelancers how to build flexible, sustainable businesses by offering email as a high-value service. Adri knew early on she wanted to niche in email. A peer who was further along told her to stay general first. The advice sounded logical, the peer was successful, so Adri silenced her own knowing. The cost arrived as draining blog projects, 2 a.m. deadlines, and an identity she did not earn: "procrastinator."In This Episode, We Explore:• Adapting vs. Adopting Advice: why "has this person actually been where I want to go?" is the filter that changes which voices get a vote• Resistance Data and Energy Data: how Adri's procrastination was not a flaw but precise information about which work belonged to her• The Lobby vs. the Inner Room: what happens when a peer's voice gets louder than your own instinct, and how the business pays the interest• Identity Lag: from "I am a procrastinator" to "I am adaptable," and why the new identity has to be claimed before the strategy works• Right-Sizing the Mentor: as you grow, the temptation to defer to bigger names grows too, and self-trust has to scale with it• The U-Turn Permission: why following advice all the way to the end is not self-trust, it is obedienceEpisode Chapters:00:00 From zookeeper to copywriter: the first leap04:00 The peer advice that overrode her own instinct05:30 Draining work, late nights, and the "procrastinator" label07:00 Procrastination as data, not character09:30 Has this person been where you want to go?10:30 Six months to rebuild, then the business took off15:30 Scaling the business means scaling the self-trust21:00 Adapting the advice instead of adopting it whole26:30 Energy data and the pro-and-con list rewrite30:00 You are allowed to do a U-turnConnect with Adri Kopp:Instagram: @copybykoppWebsite: inboxacademy.coJoin the Conversation:This one is for the coach who took the "smart" advice from someone further along, widened her niche, said yes to the work that drains her, and is now privately calling herself a procrastinator at midnight. The label is wrong. The data underneath it is the most accurate read on your business you have right now.✨ If today's conversation stirred something in you — I want you to take one next step before you close this episode.Take the Self-Trust Identity Map.Before strategy. Before motivation. Before more effort — you need to know where your identity is operating from. Because that is what determines everything that follows.It's free. It takes three minutes. And it will give you a precise read on where your identity is actually operating from right now — and exactly where to focus next.👉: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-mapAnd if you're a coach or expert who already knows what's in the way — if you're done operating from almost and ready to claim the authority that makes your business vision a reality — Claimed is my private six-month coaching container for exactly that. Not a curriculum. Not someone else's strategy. Identity-level work that changes the person leading the business.👉: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/claimed📩 Have a self-trust story to share?: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/yourstory⭐ Subscribe and leave a review if this episode resonates — it helps more people find these conversations.

    34 min

  3. May 27

    From TV Producer to Entrepreneur: Amanda Furgiuele on Self-Trust, Debt, and Leading with Integrity

    Read the full episode breakdown + show notes: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/fake-it-till-you-make-it-identity-gap What does self-trust look like when no one is validating your decision — and you’re carrying it all quietly?In this Season 3 episode of The Self Trust Solution Podcast, Dawn Ledet sits down with Amanda Furgiuele — entrepreneur, strategist, podcaster, and co-author of The Pursuit of Badasserie — for an honest conversation about building self-trust before confidence, approval, or certainty arrive.Amanda shares her journey from working as a television producer to leaving that career to build her own business — without telling her family for years. She opens up about navigating ego, fear, and over $100,000 of debt, and how trusting herself through private struggle ultimately reshaped how she leads, decides, and defines success.This episode explores: What it means to choose alignment before approvalBuilding self-trust quietly, without external validationLeading through fear, ego, and financial pressureThe difference between image-based leadership and integrity-based leadershipHow self-trust evolves through failure, responsibility, and lived experienceIf you’re an entrepreneur or leader carrying decisions privately, navigating fear or financial pressure, or learning to trust yourself without applause — this conversation will meet you right where you are.⏱️ Episode Chapters00:00 – Welcome & introduction01:17 – Early career, rejection, and ego03:59 – Fear of failure and self-trust08:22 – Leaving a stable career12:14 – Family expectations and keeping it quiet15:51 – Debt, scarcity, and leadership pressure22:00 – Private struggle and integrity-based leadership30:15 – Trust, control, and letting go37:05 – Amanda’s current work and mission✨Connect with Amanda FiguerleGrab the Decisive CEO Filter: https://skilled-innovator-4590.kit.com/967b717209Visit the website: https://thepursuitofbadasserie.com/Connect with her on IG: @afconsultingteam and @thepursuitofbadasserie✨ Explore the Self-Trust Identity Map:https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map✨ Learn more about Claimed:https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/claimed📩 Have a self-trust story to share?https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/yourstory

    39 min

  4. May 20

    When Playing It Safe Isn’t Secure: Sarah Michelle Boes on Self-Trust, Fear, and Going All In

    Read the full episode breakdown + show notes: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/moving-goalpost-identity-gapWhat if security doesn’t come from playing it safe — but from trusting yourself to handle what comes next?In this Season 3 episode of The Self-Trust Solution Podcast, Dawn sits down with Sarah Michelle Boes, nurse practitioner, educator, and founder of a seven-figure healthcare education business that scaled rapidly once she trusted herself enough to go all in.Sarah shares the honest before-and-after of self-trust — including the year she kept a full-time teaching job while building her business, not because it was aligned, but because it felt “responsible.” Exhausted and afraid to leap, she eventually realized she was holding onto security that was costing her more than it gave.When she finally trusted herself enough to leave, everything shifted.In this conversation, we explore: How fear can disguise itself as responsibilityWhy real security comes from self-trust, not safetyWhat changed internally when Sarah went all in on herselfLeading and deciding in high-stakes environments like healthcareThe intersection of self-trust, mental health, motherhood, and meaningWhy you don’t need everything figured out before you beginThis episode is for entrepreneurs, leaders, and professionals who feel stretched thin, stuck between fear and possibility, and quietly wondering if the way they’re holding their life and work is sustainable.It’s a powerful reminder that self-trust doesn’t require certainty — it requires willingness.⏱️ Episode Chapters00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro01:24 Origin Story During COVID03:11 Rapid Launch and Validation05:57 Fear, Safety, and Quitting09:24 Success Discomfort and Mindset10:45 Delegation and Team Trust14:24 Community and Self Care18:00 Selling the Business and Meadow22:20 Redefining Success and Self Trust24:50 Breadcrumbs, Books, and Impact27:47 Closing Takeaways and Links🔗 Resources & Next Steps ✨Connect with Sarah Michelle Boes Tune into her Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/real-deal-nurse-practitioner-club/id1552285929 Connect with her on IG: https://www.instagram.com/sarahmichellenp/?hl=en Connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-michelle-287616232/ ✨ Explore the Self-Trust Identity Map: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map ✨ Learn more about Claimed: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/claimed 📩 Have a self-trust story to share? https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/yourstory

    29 min

  5. May 13

    How Self-Trust Replaced Perfectionism—and Changed Everything | Dr. Hany Demian

    Read the full episode breakdown + show notes: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/identity-lag-business-growth What happens when you stop waiting for the perfect plan—and start trusting the next right step?In this episode of The Self Trust Solution Podcast, Dawn Ledet sits down with Dr. Hany Demian, physician, entrepreneur, and regenerative medicine pioneer, for a powerful conversation about self-trust, leadership, and growth through discomfort.For four years, Dr. Demian wrestled with a decision he knew he needed to make—but didn’t yet trust himself to act on. When he finally did, everything changed. His business grew fivefold, his leadership sharpened, and his relationship with fear, stress, and uncertainty transformed.This conversation explores: What life and leadership look like before self-trustThe hidden cost of waiting for certaintyWhy perfectionism often disguises fearHow growth actually happens through discomfortWhy there is no “degree” for living your dreamsHow choosing conviction over comfort builds real momentumIf you’re an entrepreneur, leader, or high-achiever who feels stuck in overthinking, self-doubt, or waiting to feel “ready,” this episode will meet you exactly where you are—and invite you forward.🎧 Listen for practical insight, honest reflection, and a grounded reminder:You don’t get permission by waiting. You get permission by deciding.⏱️ Episode Chapters00:00 Introduction to Self-Trust00:14 Meet Dr. Hany Demian00:35 The Struggle Before Success01:48 The Turning Point04:05 Outside Perception vs. Internal Reality05:56 The Cost of Self-Doubt06:48 A Mentor’s Advice08:05 The Harvard Experience12:56 The Four Cs of Success15:10 Embracing Fear & Courage16:12 Growth Through Discomfort19:28 Adaptability & Leadership20:11 Comfort vs. Growth22:09 Self-Trust & Conviction24:08 Stepping Into Leadership29:22 Why There’s No Success Playbook32:16 Learning Through Action37:10 Final Thoughts & Encouragement🔗 Resources & Next Steps✨Connect with Dr. Hany Demian https://drdemian.com https://www.youtube.com/@drhanydemain https://www.instagram.com/drhanydemian/✨ Explore the Self-Trust Identity Map:https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map✨ Learn more about Claimed:https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/claimed📩 Have a self-trust story to share?https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/yourstory

    38 min

  6. May 6

    From Burnout to Calling: Mandi St. Germaine on Faith, Identity & Building MBS

    How do you rebuild your identity when burnout, doubt, and life’s pressures leave you questioning everything?Read the full episode breakdown + show notes: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/self-trust-calling-before-certaintyIn today’s episode, Mandi St. Germaine — co-founder of MBS | The Woman Beyond the Cape — shares her powerful journey of rediscovering her purpose, trusting God’s calling, and building a faith-rooted activewear brand that is helping women reclaim their identity. Before MBS, Mandi was navigating exhaustion, loss of self, and the weight of trying to be everything for everyone. Today, she leads a movement that blends faith, fashion, and truth — a brand imprinting Scripture inside every piece to remind women of who they are and Whose they are. In this conversation, Mandi opens up about: The burnout and identity loss that led to her awakeningThe moment she felt God calling her toward something differentThe doubts and fear that made her question if she was qualifiedHow MBS was born and why modest, affirmation-based activewear mattersWhat it took to trust her voice publicly and build a communityHer biggest season of surrender yetIf you’re navigating uncertainty, fear, or a tug toward something bigger, Mandi’s story will remind you that obedience doesn’t require confidence — only trust.✨ SUBSCRIBE for more real self-trust stories, practical tools, and leadership conversations.📌 Episode Chapters00:00 Introduction to Season Three + Guest Mandi St. Germaine01:23 Mandi’s Life Before MBS03:13 The Birth of MBS + Early Challenges04:20 Trusting the Calling + Overcoming Doubt08:03 Building the MBS Community24:19 What’s Next for Mandi📣 CONNECT WITH MANDIShop MBS | The Woman Beyond the Cape: https://mbsfit.co/Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mbs_my_best_self/ and https://www.instagram.com/mandi.saint/ 📣 CONNECT WITH DAWNDownload the Self-Trust Identity Map: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-mapWatch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/W86EcKvT_dM #SelfTrust #ChristianEntrepreneur #FaithAndBusiness #WomenFounders #IdentityInChrist #PurposeDrivenBusiness #ModestActivewear

    26 min

  7. Apr 29

    The Opportunity Switch: How to Trust Your Gut When No One Else Does

    Read the full episode breakdown + show notes: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/self-trust-before-the-evidenceWhat do you do when everyone tells you that your biggest career move is a "big mistake"? In this episode of The Self-Trust Solution, Dawn sits down with Debbie Biery, a nationally recognized real estate executive and success coach who helped scale eXp Realty from a tiny startup to a global powerhouse. But behind the massive achievements is a story of profound self-trust—the kind that is forged in childhood survival and tested in the boardroom. Debbie opens up about her "flash moments" of decision: leaving a stable, successful career for an unproven virtual startup and later, choosing to pause and recalibrate her life after facing burnout and illness.In this episode, we explore: Early Self-Reliance: How growing up on food stamps taught Debbie that "no one was going to save me".The "Unicorn" Risk: How to handle skeptical peers when your intuition is calling you toward an unproven path.Answering the Doubt: A powerful technique for neutralizing "what-if" questions by actually answering them.Strategic Rest: Why your brain is your greatest asset and why "unplugging" is required for the next level of clarity.The Evolution of Identity: Learning that failure is just "data" and how to be your own best cheerleader.⏱️ Episode Chapters 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 01:38 Early Self Trust Roots 05:06 Leaving Windermere for eXp 08:35 Handling Doubt and Noise 13:47 Committing to the Leap 16:16 Strategic Rest and Alignment 18:13 Burnout Hormones and Recovery 20:51 Pause Reflection and Data 25:35 Reframing Thoughts and Self Talk 28:10 Advice for Your Next Step 30:05 Connect and Closing Connect with Debbie Biery: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debbiebiery/?hl=en Free Resource: The Switch Starter Download Substack Join the Conversation:If you're standing at a threshold where your old identity no longer fits, this episode is your invitation to take that first "baby step" toward your next chapter. If today's conversation stirred something in you — I want you to take one next step before you close this episode. Take the Self-Trust Identity Map. Before strategy. Before motivation. Before more effort — you need to know where your identity is operating from. Because that is what determines everything that follows. It's free. It takes three minutes. And it will give you a precise read on where your identity is actually operating from right now — and exactly where to focus next. https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map 📩 Have a self-trust story to share?👉 https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/yourstory ⭐ Subscribe and leave a review if this episode resonates — it helps more people find these conversations.

    31 min

  8. Apr 22

    Bridging the Desire Gap: Building Relational Self-Trust with Dr. Laura Jurgens

    Does your confidence in the boardroom disappear in the bedroom?  Read the full episode breakdown + show notes: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/why-high-achievers-struggle-with-intimacy-self-trust In this episode of The Self-Trust Solution, Dawn sits down with Dr. Laura Jurgens—a dual-certified master relationship coach and host of the Desire Gap podcast—to explore the fascinating "throughline" between how we trust ourselves in business and how we show up in our most intimate relationships. Dr. Laura shares her vulnerable transition from the structured world of academia (where trust is built on external achievements) to the "wild west" of entrepreneurship and intimacy coaching. If you’ve ever felt like a "legitimate" expert in your field but an "amateur" in your personal life, this conversation is for you. In this episode, we dive into: The "System-Trust" Trap: Why being a high achiever doesn't always translate to internal confidence.Building Evidence: How Dr. Laura used hundreds of hours of practice to "borrow" her own future confidence.The Desire Gap: Why discrepancies in intimacy are rarely about "sex" and almost always about a self-relationship gap.Overcoming Thought Errors: How to handle the fear of not being "legitimate" enough to help others.The First Step to Healing: Why self-compassion is the only way to close the gap and end the cycle of shame.Connect with Dr. Laura Jurgens:@laura.jurgens.coachListen to the Desire Gap Podcast https://laurajurgens.com/podcast/ Visit Dr. Laura's Website https://laruajurgens.com Get her  5 Steps to start solving Desire Differences without Blame or Shame http://www.laurajurgens.com/libido Other Resources mentioned in this episode: The Inner Room Practice The Self-Trust Coach Website Chapter Timestamps 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 01:33 System-Trust vs. Self-Trust: The Early Gaps 05:47 How to Build Evidence Through Radical Practice 07:47 Leaving the PhD Life: The Identity Shift 10:10 The Transition Plan: Making the Leap 14:10 Understanding the "Desire Gap" in Relationships 17:38 Dealing with Imposter Syndrome and Thought Errors 22:24 "Borrowing" Confidence: How Coaches Hold Space 25:27 Why Business Trust is Different from Intimacy Trust 31:16 The #1 Step to Stop the Shame Cycle 33:45 Advice to the Version of You That Is Still Afraid 36:20 Wrap Up and Next Steps ✨ Explore your own self-trust journey: Start with the Self-Trust Identity Map👉 https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map 📩 Have a self-trust story to share?👉 https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/yourstory ⭐ Subscribe and leave a review if this episode resonates — it helps more people find these conversations.

    37 min
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About

For entrepreneurs and leaders ready to grow their business, expand their impact, and build from overflow—not depletion. The Self Trust Solution Podcast features real conversations, tools and tips about the decisions, risks, and identity shifts behind sustainable growth. Season 3 shares powerful interviews, while Season 2 offers practical tools for clarity and follow-through. Start your next level with the Self-Trust Identity Map: theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map

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