Shamelessly Ambitious I Helping Ambitious Women Prevent Burnout + Create Nervous System First Success in Business, Motherhood

Ashley McDonald, Therapist & Nervous System First Business Mentor
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Shamelessly Ambitious is an honest, grounding, and vulnerable podcast for ambitious, emotionally intelligent women who are done proving themselves, tired of living in constant high-functioning burnout, and craving a life and business that actually feel good. Hosted by Ash McDonald—therapist, nervous-system-first business mentor, and speaker this show blends clinical expertise with lived experience to deliver nervous system tools, embodied strategies, and radical permission so you can expand your capacity, root into emotional steadiness, and build sustainable success that supports your whole life. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, stretched too thin, caught in productivity guilt, or stuck running on stress, this podcast meets you where you are—with therapeutic insights, embodied practices, and heartfelt stories that create real shifts. Whether you’re navigating motherhood, entrepreneurship, or the messy middle of redefining success, each episode helps you slow down, regulate, and return to a felt sense of safety in your body. With over a decade of experience at the intersection of therapy and leadership, Ash pulls back the curtain on what really works—offering grounded guidance you can apply in real life. What you’ll hear: Honest conversations about burnout recovery, nervous system regulation, and redefining successSomatic tools, meditations, and practices that build inner safety and capacityStories of motherhood, mom-life, ambition, and the courage to create a life and business that feel rich and realIf you’re asking the following questions, you’re in the right place: How do I stop tying my worth to productivity?How do I know if I’m experiencing high-functioning burnout and what do I do about it?How do I balance motherhood and leadership without losing myself?How do I calm my body when I feel overwhelmed or overstimulated?This is the podcast for when you’re ready to reclaim peace, expand what you can hold, and create success that doesn’t cost you yourself. Tune in and take the next step toward a regulated, rooted, and deeply fulfilling life.

  1. 8H AGO

    173. Why High-Functioning Women Feel Exhausted: Hormones, Stress, and Undereating with Leisha Drews (The Energy Is Everything Series | Part 6)

    High-functioning. Capable. Reliable. The one who always figures it out. And somehow… still exhausted. In the final episode of the Energy Is Everything series, Ash sits down with hormone and functional health expert Leisha Drews… her long-time, deeply trusted go-to for both her own health and her kids’. This conversation pulls back the curtain on why so many high-achieving women feel depleted, anxious, wired-but-tired, and burned out (even when they’re “doing all the right things.”) TOPICS WE EXPLORE: • Why high-functioning women often believe “the rules don’t apply to me” until the body forces a reckoning • How undernourishment shows up as fatigue, anxiety, sleep issues, PMS, blood sugar crashes, and burnout • The direct link between chronic stress, cortisol, and hormone imbalance • How stress steals progesterone and contributes to estrogen dominance • Why supplements can’t out-supplement a chronically stressed, under-fed lifestyle • The all-or-nothing cycle of restriction, control, and eventual burnout • The power of “better than nothing” when perfection keeps you stuck • Why nourishment + nervous system safety changes everything POINT OF THE EPISODE: When your body doesn’t feel safe, fed, or supported, it will always pull the emergency brake. True energy comes from nourishment, regulation, and compassion… not more discipline, restriction, or self-pressure. Or, as Ash puts it: eat more and love yourself. MENTIONED: • The Nourish Tracker: Leisha’s AI-based food and cycle-aware tracking tool designed to reduce overwhelm and support hormone balance. Use code ASH for $20 off or click here • Simply Nourished Cycles Podcast Training: a 20-minute audio training on hormone health, stress, and nourishment • The Happily Hormonal Podcast: Leisha’s podcast with hundreds of episodes and a “start here” guide for specific symptoms This episode is the reminder so many high-capacity women di Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before. LINKS: Become the Regulated Woman Get emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth). Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7 Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip) Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com Work with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship) ...

    49 min

  2. FEB 3

    172. Marketing Without Burning Out: Building an Energy Aligned Strategy with Kaitlyn David (The Energy Is Everything Series | Part 5)

    Ash is joined by brand and marketing strategist Kaitlyn David for a real, refreshing conversation about building a marketing strategy that actually fits your life (kids, pivots, puppy chaos and all) without lighting yourself on fire in the process. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: • The hidden cost of go go go marketing and why it eventually stops working • How your environment impacts your nervous system and your business • Why September can be its own kind of energetic chaos for moms • The difference between aligned marketing and fix it forcing energy • Recognizing when you're launching from pressure instead of desire • What happens when your body starts paying the bills for overdoing it • How to hold steady through uncertainty without spiraling • Rituals and reminders that help you stay grounded when you dont know whats next • Why core values create guardrails that protect your energy and your brand • Using human design to build a marketing strategy that actually fits you • Permission for fluidity without using it as an excuse • The difference between discomfort that helps you grow and misalignment that drains you POINT OF THE EPISODE: Marketing should not cost you your health, your presence, or your peace. When you build a strategy around your real capacity, your values, and your actual energy, you stop forcing results and start creating sustainable momentum that you can maintain in real life. MENTIONED: • Kaitlyn David website • Instagram: Flourish with Kaitlyn Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before. LINKS: Become the Regulated Woman Get emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth). Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7 Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip) Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com Work with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship) ...

    43 min

  3. JAN 29

    171. Money is Energy: How to Tap Into the Flow of Wealth [Bonus Episode]

    A sneak peek behind the scenes of The Regulated Woman, dropped right in the middle of the Energy Is Everything series because money is, in fact, energy. In this bonus, we’re reframing wealth as something neutral, dynamic, and always in motion and exploring the small energetic shifts that make money feel safer to receive, spend, and circulate through your life. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: • Money as neutral energy, not a moral measure • How your thoughts and emotions shape your relationship with money • The river metaphor: where you’re gripping, hoarding, or damming the flow • Why “high vibration” isn’t the goal, gratitude and trust are • Spending with intention as an energetic investment • Receiving without guilt, shame, or resistance • How to build safety with money so it feels welcomed with you • Practicing neutrality to remove the emotional charge and create more space • Opening more “channels” for wealth through micro shifts and awareness POINT OF THE EPISODE: Money is always moving and your relationship with it determines how easily it can flow into and through your life. When you shift from fear and tight control into trust, gratitude, and neutrality, you create safety for wealth to circulate and expand. MENTIONED: • The Regulated Woman (this episode is a sneak peek behind the scenes) • Exercise: list the emotions you associate with money and imagine neutrality • Visualization: money arriving from unexpected places and noticing what your body does Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before. LINKS: Become the Regulated Woman Get emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth). Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7 Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip) Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com Work with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship) ...

    14 min

  4. JAN 27

    170. Beyond the Algorithm: Using Human-First AI to Protect Your Energy in Business with Kelly Sinclair (The Energy Is Everything Series | Part 4)

    In this conversation, Kelly Sinclair (self-proclaimed “accidental tech nerd”) pulls back the curtain on what happens when your business strategy doesn’t match your actual energy — and how human-first AI can become a tool for regulation, clarity, and sustainable visibility (without feeding the algorithm or burning yourself out). We talk about grief, hustle conditioning, generator energy, and the shift from performative marketing to strategic visibility — plus the 10-minute-a-day habit that helps you build momentum one simple action at a time. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: The difference between performative visibility vs. strategic visibilityHow human design can change the way you make decisions in businessUsing AI as an interactive tool for momentumWhy “trying harder” is often the biggest energetic leakHow unprocessed grief and suppressed emotions eventually show up in your workProtecting your energy by getting off the content hamster wheelThe 10-minute-a-day visibility habit (and why consistency matters more than intensity)Building trust in business in an AI-saturated world“AI to help you human better” — the integrity-first approach to using AIPOINT OF THE EPISODE: AI isn’t here to help you do more faster, it’s here to help you protect your energy so you can show up more intentionally, build trust, and take strategic action without living in urgency. Visibility doesn’t require burnout, and momentum doesn’t require the algorithm. MENTIONED: Kelly’s 90-Day Visibility Sprint Starter Kit (30+ strategic visibility moves + tracking tools)Kelly’s websiteInstagramKelly’s podcast: Entrepreneur SchoolAre you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before. LINKS: Become the Regulated Woman Get emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth). Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7 Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip) Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com Work with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship) ...

    45 min

  5. JAN 20

    169. Human Design & Energetic Hygiene: Micro-Shifts to Heal Hidden Energy Leaks with Danielle Laura (The Energy Is Everything Series | Part 3)

    We’re continuing The Energy Is Everything Series and today I’m sitting down with my friend Danielle Laura, an energy mastery teacher and Human Design guide for conscious leaders who are here to use their gifts to make the world better… without sacrificing themselves in the process. In this episode we talk about energetic hygiene, the hidden places energy leaks show up (even in “self-care”), and why the solution isn’t more rest. We also get into Human Design as a roadmap for regulation. This one is for the woman who keeps pouring into a cup that has a hole in the bottom… and is ready to stop leaking her life force. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: Why rest doesn’t restore energy when you’re never fully presentHidden energy leaks inside productivity and self-careOvergiving, access, and energetic boundariesHuman Design as a tool for understanding energetic alignmentNot-self themes and how they signal burnout earlyMicro-shifts that rebuild safety and presenceEnergetic hygiene as a daily practice, not a lifestyle overhaulPOINT OF THE EPISODE: Energy isn’t lost in one big moment, it leaks slowly through small, unexamined patterns. When you learn how to recognize those leaks and respond with simple, embodied shifts, regulation becomes sustainable instead of exhausting. MENTIONED: • Danielle’s website • Danielle on Socials: Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, Podcast, TikTok, Substack • Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before. LINKS: Become the Regulated Woman Get emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth). Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7 Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip) Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com Work with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship) ...

    43 min

  6. JAN 15

    168. [Bonus Episode] When Ambition Outgrows You: Identity, Marriage, and Learning to Lean

    This bonus episode is an unfiltered reflection on what happens when the identity that once fueled your ambition no longer fits. I share openly about the messy middle of personal evolution, the quiet unraveling that followed slowing down in my business, and the unexpected ways that space reshaped my marriage, my sense of self, and my relationship with support. This is not a story of resolution or arrival. It’s a story of transition, grief, surrender, and learning how to lean when hyper-independence has been your survival strategy for decades. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: When ambition outgrows the identity that built itHyper-independence and the fear of relying on othersSlowing down without knowing what comes nextHow space in business can create space in marriageLetting go of being the provider as a core identityGrief, friendship loss, and the death of former selvesLearning how to be held without shamePOINT OF THE EPISODE: Sometimes growth doesn’t look like expansion… it looks like stopping. This episode is a reminder that ambition can evolve, identity can soften, and allowing support may be the most energetically expansive thing you ever do. MENTIONED: The Energy Is Everything series (6 Episodes)Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before. LINKS: Become the Regulated Woman Get emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth). Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7 Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip) Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com Work with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship) ...

    17 min

  7. JAN 13

    167. The Energetics of Being Seen: Healing the Visibility Wound with Renee Bowen (The Energy Is Everything Series | Part 2)

    Today we’re continuing The Energy Is Everything Series with a conversation that hits a nerve for so many high-achieving women: visibility, identity, and the energetic cost of hiding. I’m joined by Renee Bowen — photographer, trauma-informed coach, and the kind of woman who makes you feel seen just by being in the room with her. We talk about what it really means to be “seen” (and why that can feel terrifying), how motherhood can blur your identity until you can’t find yourself anymore, and how neutrality is the bridge between being reactive and becoming sovereign. This episode is for the woman who feels exhausted not because she’s doing too much… but because she’s doing too much of what isn’t true. TOPICS WE EXPLORE: • Why “not being seen” is one of the biggest energy leaks • The visibility wound: where it starts and how it shows up • Identity outside of motherhood, roles, and performance • The cost of living for the male gaze (and how to unwind it) • How anxiety, trauma, and nervous system dysregulation shape your choices • Being called “selfish” when you stop martyring yourself • What it means to get neutral — and why it changes everything • Removing sensory charge (sound/color/story) to access objectivity • Social media as energetic input (and how fast it drains you) • Reclaiming self-trust without outsourcing your healing POINT OF THE EPISODE: When you’re hiding (even subtly, even “for good reasons”) you’re leaking energy. Healing the visibility wound isn’t about being louder online… it’s about becoming safe enough in your body to be honest, to take up space, and to live as you without needing permission. MENTIONED: • Renee’s website • Renee on Instagram • Renee’s podcast: Tried and True with a Dash of Woo • Free hypnosis for anxiety  If this episode lit something up inside you, if you felt called out, softened, or seen...  that’s not random. That’s your body telling the truth. And this series is your invitation to listen. Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before. LINKS: Become the Regulated Woman Get emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth). Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7 Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip) Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com Work with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship) ...

    47 min

  8. JAN 6

    166. Reverse Engineering the Life You Want & Reclaiming Your Energy & Identity with Heather Chauvin (The Energy Is Everything Series | Part 1)

    Welcome to the very first episode of The Energy Is Everything Series — a six-part conversation series all about protecting your energy, expanding your capacity, and building a life and business that actually feel sustainable in your body. In this opening episode, I’m joined by the brilliant and wildly honest Heather Chauvin for a raw, grounded conversation about identity fatigue, impossible standards, and the invisible ways women are bleeding energy in the name of success, motherhood, and safety. This is not a “do more, try harder” conversation. It’s about reverse engineering the life you want by starting with how you want to feel, and letting that guide your choices, boundaries, and identity… even when it disrupts everything you’ve been taught. TOPICS & TANGENTS: • Why energy is the real currency behind success • Reverse engineering your life from how you want to feel • Identity fatigue and the cost of impossible standards • Survival mode vs. aliveness • How women enable their own exhaustion to stay safe • The hidden energy leaks in motherhood and ambition • Co-regulation, support, and learning how to be held • Why balance is a myth rooted in perfectionism • Emotional repair as a daily practice • Letting go of performative strength • Choosing embodiment over hustle • Reclaiming feminine power without bypassing reality POINT OF THE STORY: You don’t need to become someone new to create the life you want… you need to stop abandoning yourself to maintain an identity that’s draining you. When you reverse engineer your choices from how you want to feel, your energy returns, your boundaries clarify, and your life begins to align without force. MENTIONED: Dying to Be a Good Mother- BookFollow Heather ChauvinInstagramEmotionally Uncomfortable PodcastThis episode sets the tone for the entire Energy Is Everything Series. If you’ve been exhausted, over-functioning, or quietly wondering why success doesn’t feel the way you thought it would, then this conversation is your invitation Are you loving it? Send Ash a text! MORE ABOUT ASH I am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before. LINKS: Become the Regulated Woman Get emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth). Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7 Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip) Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com Work with me 1:1 Therapeutic Mentorship Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship) ...

    55 min
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Shamelessly Ambitious is an honest, grounding, and vulnerable podcast for ambitious, emotionally intelligent women who are done proving themselves, tired of living in constant high-functioning burnout, and craving a life and business that actually feel good. Hosted by Ash McDonald—therapist, nervous-system-first business mentor, and speaker this show blends clinical expertise with lived experience to deliver nervous system tools, embodied strategies, and radical permission so you can expand your capacity, root into emotional steadiness, and build sustainable success that supports your whole life. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, stretched too thin, caught in productivity guilt, or stuck running on stress, this podcast meets you where you are—with therapeutic insights, embodied practices, and heartfelt stories that create real shifts. Whether you’re navigating motherhood, entrepreneurship, or the messy middle of redefining success, each episode helps you slow down, regulate, and return to a felt sense of safety in your body. With over a decade of experience at the intersection of therapy and leadership, Ash pulls back the curtain on what really works—offering grounded guidance you can apply in real life. What you’ll hear: Honest conversations about burnout recovery, nervous system regulation, and redefining successSomatic tools, meditations, and practices that build inner safety and capacityStories of motherhood, mom-life, ambition, and the courage to create a life and business that feel rich and realIf you’re asking the following questions, you’re in the right place: How do I stop tying my worth to productivity?How do I know if I’m experiencing high-functioning burnout and what do I do about it?How do I balance motherhood and leadership without losing myself?How do I calm my body when I feel overwhelmed or overstimulated?This is the podcast for when you’re ready to reclaim peace, expand what you can hold, and create success that doesn’t cost you yourself. Tune in and take the next step toward a regulated, rooted, and deeply fulfilling life.

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