Expansion with Desi Batista

Desi Batista

 You’re not lazy. You’re not missing a strategy. You’re actually really good at what you do. But your income has been stuck at the same number for longer than it should be, and you can’t figure out why.You’ve tried the new approach. Put in more effort. Maybe even made a big change. And you still keep ending up in the same place.That’s what this show is about.I’m Desi Batista. On Expansion, I talk to psychologists, entrepreneurs, coaches, and high performers about what’s really going on when capable women can’t seem to move past a certain point, and what it actually takes to break through it.If you’ve been stuck at the same income, the same role, or the same level in your business and you’re tired of hearing that you just need a better plan, this show will finally make sense of what’s actually in the way.

  1. Million Dollar Vision, Survival Mode Behavior: Why High-Achieving Women Stay Sick | Nikki Stewart

    4d ago

    Million Dollar Vision, Survival Mode Behavior: Why High-Achieving Women Stay Sick | Nikki Stewart

    Survival mode. Burnout. Toxic workplace. Suppressed depression. High-achieving women hide behind these words for years before someone names what's actually happening to them. Nikki Stewart is an ICF Identity and Alignment Coach who helps ambitious women move from success to fulfillment without apology. She had what she calls a millionaire vision with survival mode behavior. She didn't know it until a doctor sat her on a cold exam table and tried to put her on five prescriptions. She said no to the medicine. She quit the job making her sick. And she built the work she does now from what she learned about the gap between looking powerful and feeling powerful. In this conversation, we get into: What survival mode actually looks like in a successful woman's day to day Why suppressed depression and burnout get misdiagnosed as physical symptoms How toxic workplaces rewire your identity without you noticing The difference between success that looks good and success that feels right Why high-achievers normalize being sick and call it ambition What it takes to stop performing and start actually living If you've been told you're doing great while feeling like you're falling apart on the inside, this conversation is for you. Connect with Nikki: Website:   www.nikkistewartspeaks.com YouTube:   www.youtube.com/@NikkiStewartSpeaks Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/nikki_r_stewart LinkedIn:    https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkirstewart  Take the quiz at desibatista.com/quiz and find out exactly what's keeping you at your current level.  Connect with Desi Batista:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desibatista/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DesiBatista  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamdesibatista  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamdesibatista

    55 min
  2. Your Success Mindset Is Working Against You

    Jun 2

    Your Success Mindset Is Working Against You

    Your success mindset might actually be the thing slowing you down. Stay with me. You know the cycle. You start strong — new habits, new goals, new energy. Then around week three, it all just... stops. You go back to exactly who you were before. And you tell yourself you don't have enough discipline. That's not what's happening. Every behavior change is an identity update. Your brain has to literally rewrite its picture of who you are. That takes energy. It takes repetition. It takes time before the new thing stops feeling fake and starts feeling like you. And here's the part that changed everything for me: your nervous system can only run one major identity update at a time. When you try to become five new versions of yourself at once, your brain doesn't pick the best one. It picks none of them. And pulls you right back to who it already knows. That collapse you keep experiencing? That's not you failing. That's your old identity doing its job. In this video: Why your habits always fall apart at the same pointWhat that progress-and-collapse cycle is actually telling youHow identity updates really work and why most people get the timing wrongThe one shift that makes everything else easier without forcing itYou haven't failed at five things. You've been asking your brain to run five updates at the same time. Pick one. Let the root go deep. Watch what follows.  Take the quiz at desibatista.com/quiz and find out exactly what's keeping you at your current level.  Connect with Desi Batista:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desibatista/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DesiBatista  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamdesibatista  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamdesibatista

    8 min
  3. She Ran a $40M Business — Then Realized She Was Codependent | Rhonda Petit

    May 21

    She Ran a $40M Business — Then Realized She Was Codependent | Rhonda Petit

    Rhonda Petit was running a $40 million business with 12 employees, two kids at home, and a marriage that was unraveling. From the outside, she'd made it. Inside, she was performing — for everyone — and burning out trying to hold it all together. Then came the blowout. And after it, the identity shift that changed everything. In this episode, Rhonda introduces the two identities running most high-achieving women's lives: Ronnie Rescue — the fear-driven performer who fixes, controls, and seeks approval — and Sammy Sovereign, the connector who leads from love, sets real boundaries, and stops mistaking codependency for care. We talk about: • The hidden cost of being the woman who "handles it all" • Why codependency is enabling dressed up as kindness • The difference between operating from fear vs. operating from purpose • Her "40 moment" — when she finally stopped performing • The Terror Barrier and why most people pull back right before the shift • How leaders create (or destroy) psychological safety in their teams • The Three Cs of fulfillment: Create, Contribute, Connect If you've built the thing, hit the goals, and still feel like there's a version of you waiting underneath it all — start here. About Rhonda Petit: Author of The Spirit of Selling, sales leadership coach, and speaker working with HR leaders, business owners, and leader development teams on identity, fear, and human potential. 🔗 Rhonda's Links Website: rhondapetit.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@rhondapetit4845Book: The Spirit of Selling — https://amzn.to/3RUM6CP Take the quiz at desibatista.com/quiz and find out exactly what's keeping you at your current level.  Connect with Desi Batista:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desibatista/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DesiBatista  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamdesibatista  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamdesibatista

    1h 9m
  4. You're Saving A Dress For A Day That Isn't Coming | Lee Forrester

    May 14

    You're Saving A Dress For A Day That Isn't Coming | Lee Forrester

    You have a dress in your closet you're never going to wear. You know which one. You're saving it for a day that isn't coming. And you've been doing it for years. In this episode, reinvention strategist Lee Forrester names what most women won't say out loud: the life you're living isn't the life you want, and you've made peace with it. We cover: Why women lose themselves in roles and don't notice until the roles end  The "monkeys in your head" that talk you out of every new version of yourself  The codependency hiding inside marriages that look healthy from the outside  Why your closest friends sometimes resist your transformation, and what their silence is actually saying  The exact reason women sabotage the life they say they want when it shows up  What it takes to stop running your life based on the opinions of people who barely think about you If you've been quietly asking yourself "is this it for me" and haven't let yourself answer, this conversation is for you. Connect with Lee:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachingbylee/  Book: Speak! A Guide to Unleashing Every Woman's Voice — https://amzn.to/49viwtC LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachingbylee/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/COACHINGBYLEE  Take the quiz at desibatista.com/quiz and find out exactly what's keeping you at your current level.  Connect with Desi Batista:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desibatista/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DesiBatista  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamdesibatista  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamdesibatista

    32 min
  5. Why High Achievers Sabotage Their Own Success | Molly Sapp

    May 7

    Why High Achievers Sabotage Their Own Success | Molly Sapp

    What separates a six-figure earner from a seven-figure one isn't more strategy, more hustle, or a better offer. According to Molly Muret Sapp, it's the identity they're running on and most high achievers never stop long enough to look at it. In this conversation, Molly and I get into the invisible ceiling that keeps brilliant, capable women stuck at the same number no matter how hard they work. We talk about the early experiences that quietly become your financial blueprint, why doing more is often the exact thing keeping you from earning more, and what it actually looks like to do the deeper identity work that moves the needle. In this episode: Why your nervous system responds to growth as a threat and how that shows up in your revenueThe difference in how six-figure and seven-figure earners spend their time (it's not what you think)How limiting beliefs formed in childhood are still making your business decisions todayWhat identity work actually looks like in practice, beyond affirmations and journalingIf you've been doing everything right and still hitting the same ceiling, this episode is going to name what's been happening. Connect with Molly Muret Sapp:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollysappcoaching/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mollymuretsapp/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@molly.lee55 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/molly.sapp/  Take the quiz at desibatista.com/quiz and find out exactly what's keeping you at your current level.  Connect with Desi Batista:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desibatista/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DesiBatista  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamdesibatista  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamdesibatista

    50 min

About

 You’re not lazy. You’re not missing a strategy. You’re actually really good at what you do. But your income has been stuck at the same number for longer than it should be, and you can’t figure out why.You’ve tried the new approach. Put in more effort. Maybe even made a big change. And you still keep ending up in the same place.That’s what this show is about.I’m Desi Batista. On Expansion, I talk to psychologists, entrepreneurs, coaches, and high performers about what’s really going on when capable women can’t seem to move past a certain point, and what it actually takes to break through it.If you’ve been stuck at the same income, the same role, or the same level in your business and you’re tired of hearing that you just need a better plan, this show will finally make sense of what’s actually in the way.