Beyond the balance

Jessica Perez

Beyond The balance is your no-BS, heart-forward podcast for working and entrepreneurial moms who are tired of burnout, guilt, and feeling torn between career, family, and self. Hosted like a conversation with your business bestie, this show delivers honest stories, tough-love truths, and actionable takeaways to help you reclaim confidence, set boundaries, and design a life that actually works for you. From imposter syndrome to redefining success on your own terms, every episode reminds you that you’re not alone - and that your dreams still matter. This is a place where purpose, passion and podcasting come together. Subscribe, exhale, and get ready to pursue purpose, courage, and zero apologies.

  1. 8h ago

    Beyond the balance- Episode 31 Teri Ann Hourihan & Angela Harrolle Mohan

    In This Episode We Talk About Jessica gets dozens of political texts. Almost none of them respond when you want to dig deeper. This is the first candidate who ever answered her back, so she did something she has never done on this show: she gave two women running for Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Arizona the mic. Teri Ann Hourihan and Angela Harrolle Mohan are running as independents, not left, not right, with no PAC money and no party script. They get into healthcare, childcare, housing, schools, and whether a regular mom can really move the needle. This is a conversation and an education, not an endorsement. Hear them out, then decide for yourself. Key Takeaways ✨ You can make real change without ever holding office. Angela passed three pieces of legislation as a private citizen. ✨ Conviction over comfort. “I would rather lose than lose my integrity.” ✨ Less complaining, more action. Your voice is not noise, it counts, especially one week before you vote. Who This Episode Is For This episode is for the mom who is tired of being handed a label and told to pick a side. For the Arizona family doing the childcare and housing math at the kitchen table. For anyone who wants to hear people out and then make up her own mind. A Note from Jessica This is not an endorsement. It is a conversation. I believe in hearing everyone out and letting them stand for what they believe. Listen, learn, and vote your own conscience. Connect with Jessica Perez Instagram: instagram.com/jessicaperez1123 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jessica-perez-consulting Connect with Teri Ann Hourihan & Angela Harrolle Mohan Website: teriann4azgov.org Resources to learn more: Vote411 (League of Women Voters voter guide): vote411.orgBallotpedia (candidates and what’s on your ballot): ballotpedia.org Arizona Secretary of State (register, check status, elections): azsos.govArizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission (candidate debates): azcleanelections.gov/debateFollow & Support the Podcast ⭐  Follow the show ⭐  Leave a 5-star review ⭐  Share this episode with a mom who needs it #Beyondthebalance

    Beyond the balance- Episode 31 Teri Ann Hourihan & Angela Harrolle Mohan

  2. Oct 13

    Beyond the balance- Episode 30 (Sam Allen)

    In This Episode We Talk About Sam Allen and I met in financial services and spent a year trying to get this conversation on the calendar, which is its own working-mom punchline. She went from a town of 300 people and a dream of being the next Katie Couric to EVP of Marketing at Merit Financial Advisors. In this one we skip the highlight reel and get honest about the hardest season of working motherhood: the chronic illness, the sleep deprivation, pumping in meetings, and the postpartum wave no one warned her about. We also laugh, a lot, about bringing a laptop to the hospital, surprise pregnancies with impeccable timing, and why the best thing you can do for yourself might be to burn the baby schedule book. If you have ever felt like the world was not built for working moms, you are going to feel seen. Key Takeaways ✨  Protect your mornings. Guard your focus time before the day grabs it, and save the draining tasks for when your energy is already low. ✨  Outsource what drains you. Knowing what you’re not good at is a strength, not a confession. ✨  Burn the schedule books. Car-seat naps count. Grace beats perfection, especially in the fourth trimester. ✨  Build the village on purpose. The women who cheer you on and remind you to refill your cup are not a luxury, they’re how you last. ✨  Choose presence over FOMO. When you know who you are, saying no to the room gets a whole lot easier. Who This Episode Is For This episode is for the working mom running on three hours of sleep who still showed up. For the first-time mom white-knuckling the baby schedule. For the achiever who needs to hear that the hardest job she’ll ever have is not a sign she’s failing. If you’ve ever whispered “is it just me?”, it isn’t. This one’s for you. Free Download for This Episode 🎁  The Focus-Time Reset — Comment "reset" and I'll get it over Connect with Jessica Perez Instagram:  https://instagram.com/jessicaperezandbeyond LinkedIn:  https://linkedin.com/in/jessica-perez-consulting Connect with Samantha Allen LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/in/samantha-allen  Follow & Support the Podcast If this episode resonated with you: ⭐  Follow the show ⭐  Leave a 5-star review ⭐  Share this episode with a mom who needs it Share This Episode Tag Jessica when you listen and share your biggest takeaway.  #Beyondthebalance

    Beyond the balance- Episode 30 (Sam Allen)

  3. Oct 7

    Beyond the balance- Episode 29 (China Allen)

    In This Episode We Talk About China Allen walked into COVID almost 300 pounds, in a marriage she describes as abusive, and at the height of a corporate career she had built from a $25,000 recruiting job she took at nineteen. Then she did the thing most of us talk ourselves out of: she changed everything at once. In 30 days she filed for separation, left a seven-year career, and booked weight loss surgery. This episode is a real look at what it actually takes to stop abandoning yourself. China and Jessica get into the cost of being a working mom in a male-dominated industry, raising two sons on the autism spectrum, and why the fear of losing herself finally outweighed the fear of starting over. It is bold, it is tender, and it will make you look hard at the decisions you keep putting off. Key Takeaways ✨ You do not have to lose yourself to be a good mom. Your kids are part of you, not all of you. ✨ Burnout and tolerating are not the same as trying. Sometimes the bravest move is burning it down and starting again. ✨ Confidence is not a personality. It is a skill you rebuild, on a stage, in a boardroom, or in your own mirror. ✨ The load is real. Moms still carry the majority of it, even when both partners work. ✨ You can be unapologetically feminine and formidable in the same breath. Who This Episode Is For This episode is for the mom who already knows what she needs to do and keeps finding reasons not to. For the woman quietly carrying most of the load and wondering if she is the only one. And for every mom raising a child the world was not built for, who needs to hear she is not alone in it. Connect with Jessica Perez Instagram: https://instagram.com/jessicaperezandbeyond LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jessica-perez-consulting Connect with China Allen Instagram: https://instagram.com/china.internationalmsusa26 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chinaallen/ Website: https://www.keyconsultingaz.com/ Follow & Support the Podcast ⭐ Follow the show ⭐ Leave a 5-star review ⭐ Share this episode with a mom who needs it #Beyondthebalance

    Beyond the balance- Episode 29 (China Allen)

  4. Sep 30

    Beyond the balance- Episode 28 (Maryam Houston)

    In This Episode We Talk About What does it actually look like to build a serious career and a full family life without burning yourself to the ground? Maryam Houston joins Jessica to talk about the parts of working motherhood nobody puts on a highlight reel: the decision fatigue, the “defend for yourself” dinner nights, the outsourcing that saved her sanity, and the boundaries she wishes she had set a decade sooner. It is equal parts strategy session and reality check, with a few tools you will want to steal before the episode ends. Key Takeaways ✨  Boundaries are not selfish. They protect the version of you that can go the distance. ✨  Outsourcing is a strategy, not a splurge. Hand off what drains you and buy back your capacity. ✨  AI is a mom tool, not just a work tool. From dinner to journaling, it can carry real weight. ✨  Your ADHD brain is pointing at something. Follow the pull toward your zone of excellence. ✨  Sometimes you have to leave the room to become who you are meant to be. Who This Episode Is For This episode is for the mom who is good at everything and quietly running on empty. For the one who says yes before she checks her own capacity, who carries the invisible load, and who is ready to stop giving herself away and start setting boundaries that stick. Connect with Jessica Perez Instagram:  https://instagram.com/jessicaperez1123 LinkedIn:  https://linkedin.com/in/jessica-perez-consulting Connect with Maryam Houston LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryam-houston/ Follow & Support the Podcast ⭐  Follow the show ⭐  Leave a 5-star review ⭐  Share this episode with a mom who needs it #Beyondthebalance

    Beyond the balance- Episode 28 (Maryam Houston)

  5. Sep 22

    Beyond the balance- Episode 27 (Maddison Koper)

    In This Episode We Talk About: This week I'm sitting down with Maddison Koper, ESQ. the attorney and founder of Sunshine Law Firm who decided she'd be a lawyer at 13 and never looked back. We get into the legal groundwork most new business owners skip, the exact steps she tells every client to take before they build a website or spend a single dollar on branding, and why waiting to protect your name can cost you everything you've made. Then the conversation turns personal. Maddison opens up about the year business went quiet: a new baby, a body running on no sleep, and the sudden loss of the family dog, all colliding at once. This is a conversation about building something the right way the first time, and about what happens when life forces you to stop chasing and start attracting instead. Key Takeaways:✨ Your business name means nothing legally until you've searched it and filed it with the USPTO ✨ A newborn and grief will slow your business down, and that is not the same thing as failing ✨ You don't chase the right clients or the right season, you attract them by staying vibrant Who This Episode Is ForThis episode is for: →  The mom building a business on the side who keeps telling herself the LLC and trademark can wait →  The woman whose business went quiet after a hard season and thinks that means she's falling behind →  Anyone who has ever felt like being multi-passionate meant she couldn't be taken seriously Connect with Jessica PerezInstagram https://instagram.com/jessicaperez1123 LinkedIn https://linkedin.com/in/jessica-perez-consulting Connect with Maddison Koper & Sunshine Law Firm Instagram https://instagram.com/sunshinelawfirm LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddison-koper-esq-a1085b129 Website https://sunshinelawfirm.net Follow & Support the Podcast ⭐  Follow the show ⭐  Leave a 5-star review ⭐  Share this episode with a mom who needs it #Beyondthebalance

  6. Sep 9

    Beyond the balance- Episode 26 (Shannon Spotswood)

    In This Episode We Talk About Shannon Spotswood didn't climb a straight ladder to become CEO of RFG Advisory. She left investment banking and a hedge fund that grew to over thirty billion dollars, walked away from Wall Street entirely to build a luxury children's clothing brand out of a garage with a friend (the one Gwyneth Paltrow made famous), and then walked back into finance to help build one of the fastest growing RIA platforms in the country. This episode is a real look at the power of the pivot, what decisive leadership actually looks like under pressure, and how she has raised three kids while never once standing still. Key Takeaways ✨  The pivot is not a failure. It's a strategy. ✨  Decisiveness is a skill you build under pressure, not a personality trait you're born with. ✨  “Be where your feet are” beats chasing balance every single time. ✨  Flexibility isn't a perk you hand out. It's how you keep your best women in the room. Who This Episode Is For This episode is for the mom who thinks she has to pick one lane and stay in it forever. For the woman in the boardroom quietly wondering if she's allowed to want more than one career. For every working mom who has wondered if walking away from something great means she failed. Shannon is proof it means the opposite. Connect with Jessica Perez Instagram:  https://instagram.com/jessicaperez1123 LinkedIn:  https://linkedin.com/in/jessica-perez-consulting Connect with Shannon Spotswood LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonspotswood/ Website:  https://rfgadvisory.com Follow & Support the Podcast ⭐  Follow the show ⭐  Leave a 5-star review ⭐  Share this episode with a mom who needs it #Beyondthebalance

    Beyond the balance- Episode 26 (Shannon Spotswood)

  7. Jul 28

    Beyond the balance- Episode 25 (Torie Happe)

    In This Episode We Talk About What happens when you build a family exactly the way you want it and the whole world has an opinion about it? I sat down with my friend Torie Happe, VP of Business Development at Jump, the AI operating system taking over financial services, for a conversation that goes way beyond the boardroom. Torie and I met on the conference circuit, and I have watched her move with the fastest-growing companies in our industry while raising her son on her own terms. In this episode we get into the one-and-done decision and the guilt strangers love to hand you, the day her water broke at 21 weeks (with a Chick-fil-A craving she still hasn't let go of), and the real systems she and her husband use to keep their marriage, their careers, and their kid all standing. If you have ever felt pressure to have more, be more, or perform perfect, this one is going to hit different. Key Takeaways ✨ The size of your family is nobody's business but yours. ✨ Send the email. The CEO might actually write you back and change your whole career. ✨ Spend, save, give. Teaching kids to earn beats handing them everything. ✨ You are doing better than you think. Some days winning is just, he woke up breathing. ✨ Be a villager if you want a village. Community is built, not found. Who This Episode Is For This episode is for the mom who chose one and is tired of defending it. For the woman who built a career she refuses to lose herself in. For anyone carrying the weight of the perfect Pinterest mom and ready to set it down. If you have ever let a stranger's opinion make you second-guess your own family, this one is for you. CONNECT WITH JESSICA PEREZ Instagram: https://instagram.com/jessicaperez1123 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jessica-perez-consulting CONNECT WITH TORIE HAPPE LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/torie-happe FOLLOW & SUPPORT THE PODCAST ⭐ Follow the show so you never miss an episode ⭐ Leave a 5-star review ⭐ Share this episode with a mom who needs it #BeyondtheBalance

    Beyond the balance- Episode 25 (Torie Happe)

  8. Jul 21

    Beyond the balance- Episode 24 (Iyana Harris)

    In This Episode We Talk About She rode the bus to college with her baby in a car seat. Twenty years later, she walked away from the firm that changed her life to build her own. In this episode I sit down with my girl Iyana Harris, Co-Founder of Catalyst, and we go deep on what it really takes to bet on yourself. Iyana grew up in Phoenix as a first generation American with a single mom, no car, and no roadmap. She became a mom at 19, earned her degree with her son sitting beside her in lecture halls, and spent 18 years climbing from a customer service desk to VP of Business Development before leaving corporate to co-found her own consulting firm. We talk about the false safety of a W2, the circle of trust every woman needs, why she plans from A all the way to Z, and the season she is in now: the one where she finally puts herself first. This one is honest, bold, and exactly the reality check you need if you have been sitting on a dream waiting for it to feel safe. It never will. Do it anyway. Key Takeaways ✨ The W2 paycheck is a false sense of security. Your loyalty has to be to you. ✨ Ask yourself: is this a five minute problem or a five year problem? Spend your stress accordingly. ✨ If you are in the room, you are supposed to be there. What is meant for you is meant for you. ✨ Betting on yourself does not mean being reckless. Iyana hired a coach, saved money, and planned from A to Z before she jumped. ✨ Everything you want is on the other side of fear. Ask for help. Vulnerability is earned wisdom, not weakness. Who This Episode Is For This episode is for the mom who has been carrying everyone else since she was young and is wondering when it gets to be her turn. For the woman with a steady paycheck and a restless spirit who knows she was built for more. And for every mama who needs to hear that starting over, starting late, or starting scared still counts as starting. Connect with Jessica Perez Instagram: https://instagram.com/jessicaperez1123 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jessica-perez-consulting Connect with Iyana Harris LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iyanaharris Website: https://startwithcatalyst.com Follow & Support the Podcast ⭐ Follow the show ⭐ Leave a 5 star review ⭐ Share this episode with a mom who needs it #BeyondtheBalance

    Beyond the balance- Episode 24 (Iyana Harris)
See All (31)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Beyond The balance is your no-BS, heart-forward podcast for working and entrepreneurial moms who are tired of burnout, guilt, and feeling torn between career, family, and self. Hosted like a conversation with your business bestie, this show delivers honest stories, tough-love truths, and actionable takeaways to help you reclaim confidence, set boundaries, and design a life that actually works for you. From imposter syndrome to redefining success on your own terms, every episode reminds you that you’re not alone - and that your dreams still matter. This is a place where purpose, passion and podcasting come together. Subscribe, exhale, and get ready to pursue purpose, courage, and zero apologies.

Information

  • Creator
    Jessica Perez
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    31
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Jessica Perez