Welcome to Season 2 of Woman in Progress, the podcast for ambitious, mid-career women who want successful careers AND full lives.

Five years after launching this podcast at 35, I'm returning at 40 with a very different understanding of what progress actually means.

Since Season 1, I've experienced burnout, stepped back from leadership, rebuilt my confidence, returned to management, left a successful 15-year corporate career, and moved across the world to Dubai.

And through all of it, I've learned that progress doesn't always mean moving forward, achieving more, or becoming the person you once thought you were supposed to be.

Sometimes progress means changing your mind, choosing a different direction, or learning to have your own back when life doesn't go according to plan.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why I stopped recording Woman in Progress during one of the most difficult periods of my life, and what brought me back.

• How burnout changed my understanding of success, capability, and what it actually means to take care of yourself.

• Why taking a demotion, leaving a successful career, or starting over can sometimes represent progress rather than failure.

• What I've learned about making decisions without knowing whether everything will work out.

• How my definition of being a Woman in Progress has changed between 35 and 40.

Because progress isn't always about becoming better, achieving more, or finally arriving somewhere.

Sometimes it's about being willing to become different.

And you don't have to wait until everything falls into place to start enjoying the life you're building.

The goal isn't just to make a living. It's to make a life.

Follow Woman in Progress so you don't miss what's coming next.

KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING

Join the Intentional Ambition Collective

A community for ambitious, mid-career women who want to redefine success, rethink their relationship with work, and build fuller lives. Join me for monthly workshops, coaching conversations, and practical tools to help you get intentional about what you're actually ambitious for.

Join the Intentional Ambition Collective

Work With Me

Ready to change the way you work and live? Explore private 1:1 coaching.

Apply for 1:1 Coaching

Let's Connect

Read my Substack: Make a Life, Not Just a Living

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And I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want this next decade of my life to look like.

While there are plenty of things I could write about turning 40, the lessons I’ve learned, the decisions I’ve made, the things I wish I’d known sooner, I actually want to do something a little different.

I want to ask you for something.

I’d love your support in helping me build the next chapter of my life and business.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve made some pretty significant changes.

I left a 15-year career in the pharmaceutical industry. I moved from Canada to Dubai.

I’ve been building a coaching business, teaching fitness, writing, and recently relaunched my podcast, Woman in Progress.

I’ve essentially been figuring out what it means to build a life and career on my own terms.

And it’s been exciting, challenging, humbling, and sometimes really uncomfortable.

I’ve gone from spending much of my adult life working within established organizations to building something of my own.

And while I’ve spent years helping companies grow their businesses, building my own has given me a whole new appreciation for what that actually requires.

There are no guaranteed audiences. No established distribution channels. No company putting its resources behind your work.

You have to put yourself out there, repeatedly, and hope the people who need what you have to offer find you.

Which brings me to my birthday wish:

If you’ve ever found something I’ve shared useful, interesting, thought-provoking, or even just relatable, here are a few ways you can help me reach more people.

1. Engage with my content.

If something I share resonates with you, like it. Leave a comment. Save it. Share it.

And if you have something to add to the conversation, I’d genuinely love to hear it!

I don’t write because I think I have all the answers. I write because I’m interested in exploring the questions so many of us are navigating around work, ambition, identity, and what it means to build a successful life.

Your participation helps those conversations reach more people.

2. Share my work with someone who might need it.

Maybe you have a friend who is doing exceptionally well professionally but is absolutely exhausted.

Maybe you know someone who’s questioning whether the career she’s spent years building is still what she wants.

Or someone who’s ambitious, capable, successful, and increasingly wondering when she gets to enjoy the life she’s worked so hard for.

Send her something I’ve written.

Introduce her to my work.

You never know which conversation might help someone see her situation differently.

3. Subscribe to my podcast, Woman in Progress.

I’ve recently relaunched my podcast, and I’m excited about the conversations we’re going to have.

We’re talking about career ambition, identity, relationships, health, burnout, decisions, and the complicated business of figuring out what you actually want from your life.

If those conversations interest you, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

And if you’ve listened and enjoyed an episode, leave a rating or review where the platform allows it.

It makes a difference, particularly when a show is finding its audience.

4. Help me get in front of other audiences.

One of my goals for this next chapter is to do more speaking, facilitate more workshops, and have more conversations with communities of ambitious women.

If you host a podcast, organize events, run an employee resource group, lead a professional community, or know someone who does, I’d love an introduction.

My work is about helping high-achieving mid-career women stop letting work consume their lives so they can continue being successful professionally and actually enjoy the lives they’re working so hard to build.

I want to take that conversation into more rooms!

5. Tell people about my coaching.

If you know a woman who has built a successful career but feels like work has taken over her life, tell her about me.

She doesn’t necessarily want to quit her job.

She might love what she does.

She just wants to stop feeling like work takes everything out of her, leaving nothing for herself.

Helping women change that is the work I care deeply about doing.

And often, the reason someone finds a coach, a podcast, a book, or a piece of writing that genuinely helps them is because somebody else made an introduction.

Here’s what turning 40 means to me.

I’ve spent a lot of my life pursuing goals, achieving things, and figuring out what comes next.

And I still have ambitions. Lots of them.

But I’m increasingly interested in being deliberate about what I’m ambitious for.

I don’t want to spend this next decade simply collecting more accomplishments.

I want to build meaningful work, have interesting experiences, develop relationships, contribute to other people’s lives, and enjoy the process of creating something.

That’s what Make a Life, Not Just a Living means to me.

And part of building that life is learning to ask for what I want instead of assuming I have to figure everything out on my own.

So this year, I’m asking.

If you appreciate the work I’m putting into the world, I’d love your help getting it in front of more people.

A subscription. A share. A thoughtful comment. A recommendation. An introduction.

They’re small actions, but they can make a meaningful difference to someone building something.

And if you’ve already done any of those things, thank you. Truly.

I’m grateful you’re here.

Here’s to 40, and to making a life, not just a living!

- Sam

Subscribe now

Welcome to Season 2 of Woman in Progress, the podcast for ambitious, mid-career women who want successful careers AND full lives.

After 15 years in corporate, I've learned that success and fulfillment aren't necessarily the same thing. And sometimes, the life you've worked so hard to build isn't the life you want to keep living.

This season, we're questioning the rules we've been following, redefining what success looks like, and getting more intentional about how we work and live.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why success and fulfillment aren't always the same thing.

• What to expect from Season 2, including conversations about work, ambition, identity, burnout, relationships, and life outside work.

• Why questioning the life you've built doesn't mean you're having a midlife crisis.

• What it looks like to stop chasing what you're supposed to want and start figuring out what you actually want.

Because your career can be important to you without being the most important thing about you.

The goal isn't just to make a living. It's to make a life.

Follow Woman in Progress so you don't miss what's coming next.

KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING

Join the Intentional Ambition Collective

A community for ambitious, mid-career women who want to redefine success, rethink their relationship with work, and build fuller lives. Join me for monthly workshops, coaching conversations, and practical tools to help you get intentional about what you're actually ambitious for.

Join the Intentional Ambition Collective

Work With Me
Ready to change the way you work and live? Explore private 1:1 coaching.

Apply for 1:1 Coaching

Let's Connect

Read my Substack: Make a Life, Not Just a Living

Connect on LinkedIn

Connect on Instagram

The session was designed for founders who were struggling to make time for the activities that actually grow their businesses.

They were busy. They had a million things on their plates. They were working hard.

But some of the most important things weren’t getting done.

And as we worked through why that was happening, we uncovered something that I see all the time with the high-achieving women I coach in corporate careers.

Sometimes the work you’re avoiding is creating the very work you’re overwhelmed by.

Let me explain.

You’re not afraid of hard work

If anything, you’re probably doing too much of it.

You’re the person people can count on. You take pride in your work. You care about doing a good job.

You’ve spent years building your career, developing your expertise, and earning the trust of the people around you.

You’re not someone who shies away from responsibility.

In fact, that’s probably part of the problem.

When someone needs help, you make time.

When a deadline moves up, you figure it out.

When something isn’t done to your standards, you fix it.

When your workload gets overwhelming, you work a little longer.

And because you’re capable of handling so much, you keep handling it. Except lately, you’re exhausted.

Your workday doesn’t seem to have an end. Even when you’ve closed your laptop, you’re still thinking about what you need to do tomorrow.

You keep telling yourself that once this project is finished, once things settle down, once you get through this particularly busy period, you’ll have more time for yourself.

But that time never seems to come. So you start looking for ways to become more efficient.

A better system. A new planner. Another productivity hack.

And maybe some of those things will help.

But I want you to consider something else.

What if the solution to your workload isn’t becoming better at doing everything? What if it’s finally doing the things you’ve been avoiding?

The things you’re avoiding might surprise you

When I asked the founders in my masterclass what wasn’t working in their businesses, they had plenty of answers.

They weren’t doing enough outreach. They weren’t following up consistently. They weren’t making enough offers. But as we dug deeper, it became clear that knowing what to do and actually doing it were two very different things.

And the same thing happens at work.

Think about some of the things you might be putting off.

Having a conversation with your manager about your workload.

Telling someone you don’t have capacity to take on another project.

Giving a colleague feedback about work that isn’t meeting expectations.

Delegating something you’ve been doing yourself for years.

Letting someone be disappointed because you can’t accommodate their request.

Submitting work that’s good enough instead of spending another three hours perfecting it.

Leaving work at the time you said you would, even though there’s still something left on your list.

None of those things is particularly complicated in theory. You probably know how to do most of them.

So why aren’t you?

Sometimes it’s not the task you’re avoiding. It’s the feeling.

One of the foundational tools I use in my coaching practice is called the Model.

It helps us examine the relationship between five things:

• Circumstances: The facts of a situation.

• Thoughts: What we think or believe about those circumstances.

• Feelings: The emotions we experience.

• Actions: What we do or don’t do.

• Results: What happens as a consequence of those actions.

It’s useful because we often focus on changing our actions without understanding what’s influencing them.

Let’s walk through an example.

Your manager asks you to take on another project, but your workload is already full.

You think:

If I tell her I don’t have capacity, she’ll think I can’t handle my job.

That thought makes you feel anxious. So instead of having an uncomfortable conversation about priorities, you say yes. You figure you’ll make it work.

Maybe you work through lunch. Maybe you stay late. Maybe you sacrifice part of your weekend.

And now you’re even more overwhelmed than you were before. The result?

You’ve reinforced your belief that you have too much work and not enough time.

But look at what happened.

You didn’t necessarily say yes because you had capacity. You said yes because you wanted to avoid the discomfort of saying no. And now you’re paying for that decision with your time and energy.

The same pattern can show up in so many different ways.

You’re avoiding disappointing people, so you keep disappointing yourself

Let’s say you’ve made a commitment to finish work at 6 p.m. because you want to get back to exercising regularly and you’ve booked a class at 7pm.

At 5:45pm, a colleague messages asking for help with something. You could tell them you’ll look at it tomorrow.

But you start thinking:

They need my help.

It’ll only take a few minutes.

I don’t want to be difficult.

What if they think I’m not a team player?

So you respond. And what was supposed to take five minutes takes forty-five. Now you’re late leaving work. You’re tired. You miss your workout.

Again.

You’re disappointed, but you tell yourself you’ll try harder tomorrow. Except the problem wasn’t that you didn’t try hard enough. The problem was that you weren’t willing to experience the discomfort of letting someone wait.

And every time you avoid that discomfort, you make another decision about whose priorities matter more.

You’re avoiding criticism, so you keep perfecting everything

Maybe you’re working on a presentation.

It’s good. You’ve addressed the important points. The information is accurate. It does what it needs to do. But you keep tweaking it.

You rewrite the introduction.

You change the formatting.

You add another slide.

You review it one more time.

Why?

Maybe you’re thinking:

What if someone finds a mistake?

What if my boss doesn’t think it’s good enough?

What if people think I don’t know what I’m doing?

Those thoughts generate anxiety or insecurity. So you keep working.

Not necessarily because the presentation needs more work, but because continuing to work allows you to delay the moment when someone else gets to evaluate it.

And now something that could have taken two hours has taken five.

You’ve created more work in an attempt to avoid feeling uncomfortable.

The problem isn’t always that you don’t know what to do

I think this is an important distinction. Sometimes you genuinely need more information, a new skill, or a better strategy.

If you don’t know how to delegate effectively, learning how to do that is useful.

If you struggle to communicate with your manager, developing those skills matters.

But there’s a difference between identifying a specific gap you need to address and telling yourself you need more information because you’re uncomfortable taking action.

During the Q&A of my masterclass, someone asked a great question:

How do you distinguish between resistance and genuinely not being ready?

My response was to get specific.

If you think you need more information, what information do you actually need?

What skill do you need to develop?

What question needs answering?

And what action can you take to move forward?

Because there’s a big difference between actively learning something and endlessly telling yourself you’re not ready.

The same applies to changing how you work.

You can spend months reading about boundaries.

You can listen to podcasts about people pleasing.

You can save every Instagram post about burnout.

But eventually, you’re going to have to do something differently. And it’s probably going to feel uncomfortable.

You don’t need to eliminate the discomfort before taking action

This was one of the biggest lessons I wanted the founders to leave my session understanding.

We spend so much time trying to feel better before we act.

We tell ourselves we’ll have the conversation when we feel more confident.

We’ll set the boundary when we stop feeling guilty.

We’ll delegate when we feel comfortable letting go of control.

But what if you never feel completely comfortable?

What if guilt shows up every time you tell someone no?

What if you’re anxious the first ten times you have a conversation about your capacity?

What if allowing someone else to do something differently still makes you want to jump in and fix it?

You can feel uncomfortable and take action anyway.

You can feel guilty and maintain your boundary.

You can feel anxious and communicate your needs.

You can feel uncertain and make a decision.

You can feel disappointed in the outcome and still recognize that taking action was the right thing to do.

I sometimes tell my clients that you need to be willing to gag and go, a phrase I learned from my coach, Olivia Vizachero.

Not because I want you to force yourself through every difficult thing in your life, but because sometimes the only thing standing between you and meaningful change is an uncomfortable feeling you’re unwilling to experience.

Feelings aren’t instructions. You don’t have to obey every one of them.

But allowing discomfort is part of taking action.

You’re choosing discomfort either way

Here’s something I really want you to consider.

Avoiding the uncomfortable thing doesn’t mean you’re avoiding discomfort. You’re just choosing a different kind.

You can experience the discomfort of telling your boss you don’t have capacity.

Or you can experience the discomfort of working another weekend.

You can experience the discomfort of delegating something and allowing someone else to do it differently.

Or you can experience the exhaustion of doing everything yourself.

You can experience the discomfort of letting someone be disappointed.

Or you can experience the resentment of constantly putting your own needs last.

You can experience the discomfort of leaving work unfinished.

Or you can experience another evening where you don’t have time or energy for anything outside your job.

There is discomfort on both sides.

Which one are you willing to experience in service of the life you actually want?

Because if you keep choosing the discomfort you already know, you may keep getting the results you already have.

An exercise for your next workweek

I want you to think about one thing you’ve been avoiding at work.

Not ten things. Just one.

Maybe it’s a conversation.

A decision.

A boundary.

Something you’ve been meaning to delegate.

Something you know you need to stop doing.

Now ask yourself:

1. What am I actually avoiding?

Be specific about the action. Not “I need to set better boundaries.”

Maybe it’s “I need to tell my manager that if this new project is the priority, we need to agree on which existing deliverable moves.”

2. What am I afraid will happen if I do it?

Write down the thoughts that come up. Don’t filter them.

Maybe you’ll think someone will be disappointed.

Maybe you’ll worry about being perceived as incapable.

Maybe you’ll worry that you’re jeopardizing the career you’ve worked so hard to build.

3. What would I have to be willing to feel to take the action anyway?

Guilt?

Anxiety?

Uncertainty?

Embarrassment?

Disappointment?

Name the feeling. Then make a decision about whether you’re willing to experience it. And finally, take one action.

You don’t need to overhaul your entire working life overnight. But you do need to start creating evidence that you can do things differently.

Afterward, evaluate:

What worked?

What didn’t?

What will I do differently next time?

Because clarity isn’t always something you get before you act. Sometimes you create it by taking action, seeing what happens, and learning from the experience.

You worked hard to build your career. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice your life to sustain it.

I know how much your career matters to you. I know you don’t want to jeopardize everything you’ve worked for.

And I’m not suggesting that every difficult situation can be solved by setting a boundary or changing your thoughts.

Sometimes the expectations are genuinely unreasonable. Sometimes the environment needs to change. Sometimes leaving is the right decision.

But before assuming your only options are to keep working this way or walk away from your career, I want you to consider what might be possible if you started changing how you work.

Because you might discover that some of the things you thought were requirements of your job were actually expectations you placed on yourself.

And you might discover that some of the work you’re avoiding is exactly what would allow you to stop working so much.

You don’t need to care less about your career.

You need to become more intentional about what deserves your time, energy, and attention.

And sometimes that means being willing to do the uncomfortable thing now so you can stop paying for avoiding it later.

Ready to change the way you work?

We’ve talked about the work you’re avoiding.

But there’s another side to this conversation.

What about all the work you’re doing that you don’t actually need to be doing?

The responsibilities you’ve taken on.

The expectations you’ve created for yourself.

The time you spend overthinking, overpreparing, and managing other people’s reactions.

The work that follows you home, even after you’ve closed your laptop.

On November 7, I’m hosting a live workshop inside the Intentional Ambition Collective called The Way You Work Is the Problem.

We’re going to take a closer look at your actual workload, identify where you’re creating unnecessary work and stress, and examine the high-achiever habits that may be making your career harder than it needs to be.

You’ll start identifying what needs to change so you can continue succeeding professionally without sacrificing yourself in the process.

Because the goal isn’t just to make a living.

It’s to make a life.

Join the Intentional Ambition Collective and attend the November 7 workshop.

I’d love to have you there!

- Samantha

Subscribe now

My mom died four months ago and ever since then work feels incredibly difficult.

I’m slower than I used to be, I have less patience, things that would normally feel manageable now feel so incredibly overwhelming.

I’m starting to wonder whether I need to leave my leadership role because I simply don’t have the capacity for it anymore but the same time, I don’t know whether I actually hate my job or whether I’m just exhausted and grieving.

How can I tell the difference?

Read more

Woman in Progress is coming back for Season 2! 🎙️

I’ve been wanting to bring my podcast back for a long time, and I’m sooooo excited that it’s finally happening. And because there are a bajillion podcast studios in Dubai, I decided I’m going to record video to accompany the podcast, as well!

I just love podcasting. I love having the space to explore an idea, share what I’m thinking, tell stories, ask questions, and have conversations that don’t necessarily fit neatly into an Instagram caption or LinkedIn post. I love to yap and I love to do it in long form.

And if you’ve been reading my writing here or anywhere else on the world wide web for any length of time, you probably know that I have A LOT of thoughts.

About work. Ambition. Success. Identity. Relationships. The expectations we place on ourselves. The lives we think we’re supposed to want versus the ones we actually want to live.

And lately, I’ve had more ideas for podcast episodes than I know what to do with, which is so fun.

But there’s something else that makes bringing the podcast back particularly exciting.

I’m not the same woman I was when I first launched Woman in Progress in 2022.

I’ve changed careers, moved countries, questioned things I once believed about success, and made some pretty unconventional decisions about what I want my life to look like.

And as I approach my 40th birthday, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be a woman in progress at this stage of life.

Not someone who has everything figured out. Not someone who has arrived at some final, perfected version of herself.

But a woman who is still learning, growing, questioning, changing her mind, and making intentional decisions about who she wants to be and how she wants to live.

That’s really what this next season is about.

Woman in Progress is a podcast for ambitious women who are rethinking what it means to be successful, fulfilled, and happy.

We’ll explore the intersection of work, ambition, identity, personal growth, and the messy, sometimes uncomfortable process of creating a life that actually feels like your own.

Because I don’t believe we have to stop being ambitious to have fulfilling lives outside of work. But I also don’t believe that everything we’ve worked so hard to achieve has to define who we are or what we choose to do next.

I want this podcast to be a place where we can question the things we’ve been taught to want, challenge the expectations we’ve placed on ourselves, and consider what’s possible when we give ourselves permission to do things differently.

And while I have a growing list of topics I can’t wait to explore, I also want to hear from YOU. Especially if you’re a high-achieving, mid-career woman who has spent years building a successful career and is starting to wonder what else she wants from her life.

• What are you thinking about lately?

• What questions are you asking yourself about your career, your ambitions, your relationships, or the next chapter of your life?

• What are you struggling with that you wish more women were talking about?

• Are there things you feel like you’re supposed to have figured out by now, but don’t?

I would genuinely love to know.

Because as much as this podcast is an opportunity for me to express myself and share my ideas, I also want it to be a resource for you. A place where you can hear something that makes you think differently, feel less alone in what you’re navigating, or finally ask yourself a question you’ve been avoiding.

So please, leave a comment and tell me what you’d love to hear me talk about. No topic or question is off limits.

Season 2 of Woman in Progress is officially launching soon, and I can’t wait to share what I’ve been working on.

In the meantime, stay tuned. And if you haven’t already, subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen so you don’t miss the first episode.

Here’s to being women in progress.

xo Sam 🤍

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And lately I keep having the same thought:

What am I no longer willing to negotiate with myself about?

Not what should I accomplish before 40.

Not what do I need to fix.

Not even what do I want the next decade to look like.

But rather, what have I known for a very long time that I keep talking myself out of?

A few weeks ago, something happened with someone I care about that hurt me.

Nothing dramatic.

No betrayal. No big confrontation. Nothing that would make a particularly interesting story.

Just one of those interactions that left me sitting there wondering:

What happened?

Did I misunderstand something?

Did I do something?

Am I expecting too much?

Am I allowed to be upset? Confused? Hurt?

Should I reach out?

Should I give them the benefit of the doubt?

And I noticed how quickly my brain wanted to start explaining someone else’s behaviour away. And more importantly, as this is my pattern, to make it a ME issue.

Maybe they’re busy.

Maybe they’re dealing with something.

Maybe I shouldn’t take it personally.

Maybe I completely misunderstood the relationship this whole time.

Maybe I care more than they do and I just need to accept that it just wasn’t that deep.

Maybe I got it all wrong.

Some of those things could even be true.

But I’ve been thinking about how much of my life I’ve spent asking whether I am allowed to want more.

Not only from people.

From EVERYTHING.

Raise the floor

I recently finished The Science of Scaling by Dr. Benjamin Hardy and Blake Erickson. Great read, highly recommend! It’s a business book, but one concept from the book has been lingering in my mind ever since I heard it:

Raise the floor.

We spend a lot of time thinking about and talking about ceilings.

How successful could I become?

How much money could I make?

How much fitter could I get?

How big could the business get?

How incredible could the relationship be?

How good could life become?

But the floor is your baseline.

It’s what you are willing to accept as normal.

And I’m starting to wonder whether the biggest changes in my life right now are going to come not from reaching for a bigger ceiling, but from deciding that certain things are no longer allowed to be the floor.

I’m allowed to have preferences

When I first moved to Dubai, I took a job teaching fitness.

I had moved here believing I would be teaching in a particular kind of boutique environment, the kind of room I had spent years teaching in and loved leading back home in Toronto.

Instead, I ended up doing work that felt completely different.

I wasn’t challenged.

I wasn’t learning.

I wasn’t getting opportunities to do the kind of teaching I had come here believing I would do.

And slowly, it started affecting the way I saw myself.

I was constantly thinking:

Maybe I’m not actually that good.

Maybe I should just be grateful to have the job.

Maybe this is what I’m qualified for here.

Other people would have been thrilled to have the opportunity.

And that became part of the argument I used against myself.

Someone else would be happy with this.

Eventually I quit.

And one of the most important things I had to tell myself was embarrassingly simple:

I’m allowed to have preferences.

Something does not have to be terrible for me to not want it.

An opportunity doesn’t become right for me simply because someone else would be grateful for it.

Wanting more challenge doesn’t make me ungrateful.

Wanting to work in an environment where I’m learning, growing and becoming better doesn’t mean I think I’m above anyone.

It means I know what I want.

That shouldn’t require a defense.

Tbh, I think I’ve been doing this everywhere

With work.

With money.

With relationships.

With my business.

With myself.

I’ve always had this feeling that there is something very big I am supposed to do with my life. (And I don’t mean that in a mystical the universe has chosen me kind of way.)

I just know what I am capable of.

I know the amount of energy I have.

I know how much I care.

I know how ambitious I am.

I know how much I want to create.

I know I want my work to matter.

I want to build something significant.

I want to have an impact.

I want to make money. And lots of it.

I want to write a book.

I want to speak on big stages.

I want to build a business I’m wildly proud of.

I want incredible friendships.

I want deep love.

I want freedom.

I want a really fucking great life.

And if I’m being completely truthful, I think I have spent years trying to make those wants sound smaller.

Because wanting a lot can make people uncomfortable.

Being confident about what you’re capable of can sound arrogant.

Saying you think you are capable of greatness can sound like you’re saying other people aren’t.

Having big ambition can look like dissatisfaction.

Having preferences can look like entitlement.

So I learned how to soften it.

I learned how to say, “We’ll see” and “I’m not sure”.

I learned how to hedge.

I learned how to make my dreams sound a little more reasonable.

I learned how to adjust my POV when someone challenged or disagreed with my perspective.

I learned how to make sure everyone understood that I didn’t think I was better than them.

And somewhere along the way, I started confusing humility with self-erasure.

Your light doesn’t require mine to be dimmer

This might be the floor I most need to raise.

I don’t want to spend my 40s making myself smaller so other people never have to confront how they feel about themselves.

I don’t want to apologize for having big goals.

I don’t want to minimize what I want because somebody else thinks it is too much or not “realistic”.

I don’t want to stay in rooms where I am bored and uninspired because leaving might look ungrateful.

I don’t want to pretend I don’t care when I care enormously.

I don’t want to act like my business is a cute little side project when I want to build something important.

I don’t want relationships where I have to continually downgrade what I need in order to maintain access to someone.

And I don’t want to keep convincing myself that breadcrumbs are enough when I want to eat the whole damn meal.

That doesn’t mean everybody needs to match me.

It doesn’t mean everyone has to want the things I want.

It doesn’t mean someone else’s smaller, quieter, simpler life is less meaningful.

That’s the part I think I’m finally understanding.

Someone else’s light does not require mine to be dimmer.

Their choices don’t threaten mine.

And mine don’t have to threaten theirs.

The floor is not perfection

Raising the floor doesn’t mean I expect every person in my life to behave exactly the way I want. People get to be who they are. They get to communicate the way they communicate, make the choices they make, and show up however they choose.

But I get to decide what I want in my life.

I get to decide which relationships I continue investing in, which behaviors I am willing to live with, and what no longer works for me.

It doesn’t mean I leave every job the moment I’m frustrated.

Things don’t have to be terrible for me to decide they’re not enough.

They don’t have to be objectively bad for me to decide they no longer work for me.

Sometimes raising the floor is simply admitting to myself that something can be fine and still not be in alignment with the life I’ve decided I want.

I want deep relationships.

I want repair.

I want grace.

I want people to be human around me.

And most of all, I want to be allowed to be human too.

But grace and standards are not opposites.

Understanding someone’s bad behaviour doesn’t require me to accept it indefinitely.

Caring about someone doesn’t require me to chase them.

Being grateful for an opportunity doesn’t require me to stay in it.

Being humble doesn’t require me to pretend I don’t know what I’m capable of.

And wanting more doesn’t mean what I already have is worthless.

So what does raising the floor actually look like?

In my financial life, it means debt and financial insecurity are no longer things I am willing to casually carry.

In business, it means I stop treating the work that matters most as optional and secondary to things that are easier and more certain.

Professionally, it means I choose environments where I am challenged, valued and learning.

In friendship, it means raising my own floor too. Putting in the effort to build the kind of friendships I say I want, showing up for the people I love, and intentionally investing in the people I want to become my ride-or-dies, my forever people.

In love, it means I stop accepting scraps because some part of me is afraid there might not be anything better out there. I would rather hold out for the deep, mutual love I actually want than keep convincing myself that less should be enough.

Personally, it means I stop making myself smaller before anybody has even asked me to and showing up in the fullness of who I really am.

I’m realizing the work now is becoming the person who is willing to admit how much she wants.

40

There is something about turning 40 that makes this feel less like a New Year’s resolution and more like a reckoning.

I don’t feel old.

I don’t feel altogether behind (moreso behind where my high-achiever brain expects me to be, but I’m working on that!).

In truth, I feel like I’m just getting started. Forty feels like a launch pad for everything I want to build next.

I’ve changed countries.

Changed careers.

Started over.

Built new friendships.

Taken risks.

Failed at things.

Changed my mind.

Wanted things I wasn’t supposed to want.

Stopped wanting things I thought I was supposed to want.

And I think the next decade is asking something different of me.

Instead of it asking: How high can you reach?

What if it’s asking: How low are you still willing to go?

How much inconsistency will you explain away?

How much of yourself will you edit?

How long will you stay somewhere that doesn’t fit because leaving feels ungrateful?

How much of what you want will you minimize so nobody thinks you’re asking for too much?

How long will you keep negotiating against yourself?

I don’t want to do that anymore. I want to be fully self-expressed.

Big goals.

Big dreams.

Big energy.

Big LIFE.

And I don’t mean big in the way the internet often means it.

I don’t care about more followers, more stuff or status.

I mean a life that feels like the fullest expression of the person I know myself to be.

A life with work I care about.

People I love.

Money that creates freedom.

A strong, fit body I feel proud to live in.

A business that makes an impact.

Relationships where I feel chosen too and don’t require me to disappear in order to maintain them.

Experiences that transform me.

And enough room to keep becoming whoever the hell I’m going to become next.

I’m beginning to think raising the floor is how I get there.

Not by becoming harder or less forgiving. And definitely not by pretending I don’t care when something hurts. But by finally believing that what I want doesn’t need to be justified or softened to be more palatable.

I’m allowed to have preferences.

I’m allowed to want more.

I’m allowed to outgrow what once felt good enough.

I’m allowed to be disappointed and say ‘this doesn’t work for me anymore’.

I’m allowed to take up the full amount of space my life requires.

And perhaps most importantly: I don’t have to make myself smaller to prove that I don’t think I’m better than anyone else.

I can let other people be as big as they want to be.

And I can finally let myself be big, too.

- Samantha

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If this made you realize there are parts of your life or work you’ve been tolerating that no longer feel good enough, that’s exactly the kind of thing I help my clients work through.

I work 1:1 with high-achieving mid-career women who know something needs to change, but aren’t always sure what that change is yet.

We figure out what’s actually making work and life feel so heavy, what you want instead, and what needs to change so you can make a life, not just a living.

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Actually, it ended up being several awards.

Sales Rep of the Year.

Immunology Rep of the Year.

President’s Club (which came with an all expenses paid trip to Croatia for me and a +1!).

All based on my sales performance. Go me!

I smiled for the photos. Shook the hands. Collected my plaques.

And at some point later that night, in the middle of celebrations and yet another round of drinks, I remember thinking:

Is this it?

Not because I wasn’t proud.

I was.

These awards mattered to me.

For years, I’d worked incredibly hard to prove myself. I wanted to be seen as top talent. I wanted senior leadership to notice me. I wanted to move into a people management role.

And these awards felt like proof.

Proof that I was good enough.

Proof that people saw what I was capable of.

Proof that I was management material.

Proof that all of the extra effort had been worth something.

I had achieved exactly what I’d been working toward. Just as I knew I would.

I just thought it would feel different when I inevitably got there.

And then the world kept spinning

If I’m being honest, I think that’s the part I wasn’t prepared for.

You work toward something for years and, in your head, it becomes this enormous destination.

Then you get there.

People congratulate you.

Your name gets called.

You take the photo.

You celebrate.

And then...

Monday comes.

Nobody is still talking about your award three weeks later.

The new sales cycle starts.

The targets reset.

And because you performed so well in the last cycle, your targets get significantly higher. (My fellow sales people know this all too well).

Yesterday’s exceptional performance becomes today’s expectation. And what was once your ceiling, now becomes your floor.

Sooooo basically…..

What else you got?

I knew that was the nature of sales. I’d been in the game 8 years at that point.

But I don’t think I realized until then just how fleeting achievement could feel.

I’d spent so much time imagining what it would feel like and be like to get there.

Then I got there (and performed beyond what I could have even imagined in a single year!) and almost immediately, there was somewhere else to go.

So I did what high achievers are very good at doing: I started figuring out what came next.

Maybe you’ve had your own version of this?

Maybe yours wasn’t an award.

Maybe it was finally getting promoted to Director or VP.

Or hitting the salary you once thought would mean you’d made it.

Being hired by your dream company.

Getting the bonus.

Becoming a people leader.

Getting the office.

Going to Global.

Being invited into the room you spent years trying to get into.

And then you got there.

And it was...good. Fine. Okay?

Maybe even great!

But it didn’t fundamentally change how you felt.

You were still stressed.

Still thinking about work when you weren’t working.

Still looking toward the next thing.

Still wondering why a life that looked so successful from the outside didn’t feel quite as satisfying from the inside.

And that can be incredibly confusing. And frustrating if I’m being totally honest.

Because what are you supposed to do when you get the thing you said you wanted...

...and realize you still want something more?

This is where the guilt can creep in

Because nothing is necessarily wrong.

You have a good job.

You make good money.

You’ve built a career you’re proud of.

People respect you.

Maybe your younger self would be absolutely thrilled to know where you ended up.

So who are you to be dissatisfied?

Other people would kill to have your job. Your opportunities.

You worked so hard for this.

You should be grateful.

You should enjoy it.

You should stop looking for problems.

Maybe you’re just being unrealistic.

Maybe you’ll never be satisfied.

Maybe this is adulthood and you need to get over it.

So instead of getting curious about the feeling, you judge yourself for having it.

I know that feeling all too well.

When I had that moment at the NSM, I didn’t immediately decide my entire definition of success needed to change.

I didn’t dramatically quit my job.

I didn’t decide corporate life was a lie and move to a small remote island.

I told myself to enjoy the moment.

To appreciate what I’d accomplished.

And that I’d eventually start thinking about what came next.

For me, the next hill to climb was making the move from individual contributor to people leader. And in Big Pharma, that usually involves taking one of two paths:

1. Marketing or,

2. Training/Learning and Development

As a lifelong personal development junkie Training/L&D was a no brainer, and by then, I’d already started dabbling in coaching and fitness outside of work.

There was a part of me that wanted to believe I could eventually make a career out of both those things, but at that point, I wasn’t brave enough to bet on them yet.

Learning and development felt like the safer choice. A bridge.

I could stay in the corporate world I knew while getting closer to the work I was drawn to. I could teach, coach, facilitate AND develop people. I told myself I’d be building the skills and confidence I would need if I ever decided to do coaching full-time, so this move made sense.

It was smart. Strategic even (a nod to a boss that told me I wasn’t “strategic” enough. Cue eye roll).

Maybe this role would give me enough of what I was looking for that I wouldn’t need to leave corporate at all.

Because I sure as hell wasn’t ready to blow up the career I’d spent years building. Plus, the Big Pharma golden handcuffs are REAL.

Learning and development seemed like it could give me more of what I was looking for while still making sense on paper. And after 8 years in sales, there was so much I could learn which always appealed to me.

I could teach.

Develop people.

Coach.

Do work that felt more connected to the things I was becoming increasingly interested in.

Maybe this would be it. Maybe I just thought I wanted to be a coach but really L&D was my calling.

I didn’t know it at the time, but I would spend years doing some version of this mental gymnastics.

Trying to answer a growing question about my life by finding a different answer inside my career.

Maybe a different role.

Maybe leadership.

Maybe another company.

Maybe better boundaries.

Maybe if I could be successful without working myself into the ground, then it would feel different.

And to be clear, sometimes those changes really do matter.

A different boss can change your experience of work.

A role that’s better suited to you can change your experience of work.

More autonomy, better boundaries, meaningful projects, supportive leadership and fair compensation matter.

Sometimes the job really is the problem.

But sometimes you make those changes and the question is still there.

Is this it?

Maybe “Is this it?” isn’t a problem to get rid of

I think we treat dissatisfaction as evidence that something has gone wrong.

Especially when, objectively, our lives are good. Enviable. Fine.

We think we need a sufficiently terrible reason to question them.

Burnout.

A toxic workplace.

A layoff.

A horrible boss.

A health scare.

Some kind of crisis that gives us permission to say:

I don’t want to do this anymore.

But what if nothing terrible has happened?

What if you’ve simply changed? Or changed your mind?

What if the goals that made perfect sense at 25 don’t automatically get to decide what your life looks like at 35, 40 or 45?

What if you’re not ungrateful?

What if you’re just FINALLY paying attention?

Because there comes a point when “Can I do this?” stops being the most interesting question.

You’ve answered it.

You can.

You’ve built the career.

You’ve handled the pressure.

You’ve figured things out.

You’ve achieved things your younger self wanted desperately.

Maybe the question now is:

What do I actually want all of this success to be for?

Not what’s the next title?

Not how much more can I earn?

Not what would look impressive when I announce it on LinkedIn or slap it on my resume?

Not what am I capable of achieving if I push myself hard enough?

What do I want my life to actually feel like?

What do I want my days to contain?

Where else do I want to put my ambition?

Who am I when I’m not working?

What matters to me now that I don’t need another accomplishment to prove that I’m capable?

Those are much harder questions, obviously.

There isn’t a career ladder telling you which answer comes next.

Wanting more doesn’t have to mean blowing everything up

I think this is where a lot of career conversations lose people like us.

Because the story often becomes:

You realized your career wasn’t fulfilling, so you quit.

You followed your passion.

You started the business.

You moved across the world.

And, yes, I eventually did some of those things.

But that’s not what happened when I first started asking these questions.

It took years.

There were different roles.

Different companies.

Burnout.

Recovery.

Leadership.

Experiments outside of work.

Choices that moved me closer to what I wanted and choices that taught me what I didn’t.

I kept trying to understand what the feeling was telling me.

And I think that’s important.

Because “Is this it?” is a question, not an instruction.

It doesn’t automatically mean quit.

It doesn’t mean you chose the wrong career.

It doesn’t mean the last 15 years were a waste.

It doesn’t mean you need to sell everything and book a one-way ticket somewhere. Although you absolutely can!

And it doesn’t mean you need to become less ambitious.

It might simply mean the definition of success that got you here no longer aligns with the life you want now.

Achievement wasn’t the problem

I still love achieving things.

I enjoy having goals.

I like working hard at things that matter to me.

I like getting better.

I like seeing what I’m capable of.

I don’t think the answer is pretending we don’t care about success.

What changed for me was realizing that my career couldn’t be responsible for providing all of it.

My sense of accomplishment.

My identity.

My growth.

My purpose.

My validation.

My excitement.

My proof that I was doing life correctly.

That’s an enormous job to give a job.

And when work is the place where most of your ambition, energy and attention goes, it’s very easy for the rest of your life to become whatever fits around it.

Until one day you look at the career you’ve spent years building and realize:

I don’t necessarily want less from my career.

I want more from my life.

I wish I’d understood that distinction sooner.

Because wanting more from your life doesn’t make you ungrateful for the life you’ve built.

It doesn’t erase what you’ve accomplished.

And it doesn’t require you to know exactly what comes next.

Sometimes the first step isn’t making a change at all.

It’s allowing yourself to simply stop dismissing the question.

So if you’ve built a career you’re proud of and lately there’s been a quiet voice asking:

Is this really it?

Maybe you don’t need to silence it.

Maybe you need to get curious about what it’s trying to tell you.

- Samantha

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I work 1:1 with high-achieving mid-career women who know something about work isn’t working anymore, but aren’t sure what needs to change.

We’ll figure out what’s actually making work feel so heavy, what you want instead, and what needs to change so you can make a life, not just a living.

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The Air Canada employee reasonably suggested I move some of my items from my suitcase into my carry-on, but there was a minor problem: my carry-on was already completely full. I had:

• my personal laptop

• my work laptop

• both power cables

• my work iPad

• my work phone

• my personal cell phone

There was quite literally nowhere for anything else to go.

And I remember standing there thinking, “Why did I even bring my work laptop?!?!?”

I’d probably only open it a couple of times while I was away, but maybe not even at all. Yet there I was, paying to bring things to Mexico in an overweight suitcase because my carry-on was full of work stuff I didn’t actually need. UGH.

The funny thing is, I wouldn’t have considered myself someone who “worked” through her vacations. I wasn’t taking Teams calls from the beach. I wasn’t disappearing into my hotel room for hours on end to work. I just checked my email in the morning while I drank my coffee. Mayyyyyyybe I’d respond to something quickly or I’d forward something to someone if they needed it. I was just making sure I wasn’t missing anything important. 30 minutes tops.

What was the harm?

At least that’s what I told myself.

I thought staying connected made vacations easier.

For most of my career, I barely took vacation. I’d have at least 3 weeks of PTO sitting in Workday unused at the end of the year and then I’d tack it on to the company shutdown at Christmas. I would head down to Mexico for as long as I possibly could, but completely disconnecting from work made me super anxious.

What if I missed something?

What if an opportunity came up?

What if someone needed something from me?

What if I came back to so much work that I immediately regretted taking time off?

Checking email made me feel like I had some control, and especially early on in my career, I think I believed it said something good about me…

that I was diligent, committed, dependable, the kind of employee who stayed on top of things, and, most of all, a go-getter!

Except, now looking back, I realize there is something fundamentally flawed in my reasoning. Nobody was asking me to do this. My companies gave me vacation time. We had a holiday shutdown. Nobody expected me to be in Mexico monitoring my inbox. That was an expectation that I had completely created for myself, and I think that’s part of what we miss when we talk about burnout.

Burnout is a systemic workplace issue, but it can also be an employee issue.

I don’t want to turn this into an argument that burnout is all in your head, because it is well known (and documented) that the structure of a workplace is the main driver of employee burnout.

Sometimes you’re exhausted because you’re doing too much. Your workload is unreasonable, your calendar is relentless, you haven’t given yourself meaningful time off in months, you are just carrying too much at work and too much at home and you genuinely need to do less.

But then there’s the other kind of workload that I don’t think we talk about nearly as much.

Because what happens when you reduce everything you’re doing and your brain keeps reminding you about everything you should be doing?

You take the Saturday off, but you spend the day thinking:

• I should work out.

• I should clean the house.

• I should answer that message.

• I should get ahead for the next week.

• I should finally deal with that thing I’ve been putting off.

• I shouldn’t waste the whole day.

Or, you take the vacation, you actually close your laptop and yet you’re lying by the pool spending half the afternoon wondering what’s happening in your inbox.

Technically, you’ve reduce the workload, so why don’t you feel rested???

I think it’s because most of us are carrying two workloads.

Workload #1: What you’re actually doing

This is the obvious one:

• meetings

• presentations

• deadlines

• projects

• managing people

• emails

• housework

• family responsibilities

• appointments

• exercise

• life admin

These are all of the things that genuinely require your time and energy. Sometimes this list is simply too long, and when that’s true, there’s no amount of reframing that’s going to create more hours in your day. Something in that workload actually has to change and the burnout relief comes from literally doing less.

But then there’s the second workload…

Workload #2: What you’re mentally demanding of yourself

This encompasses everything you think you should be doing:

• I should respond faster.

• I should be more prepared.

• I should take more initiative.

• I should be doing more for my team.

• I should be further ahead.

• I should be more organized.

• I should exercise more.

• I should use my time better.

• I shouldn’t need this must-rest.

• I should be able to handle this.

Now, on their own, none of these sounds particularly exhausting, and that’s the crrux of the problem:

• Being prepared sounds responsible.

• Being helpful sounds generous.

• Taking initiative sounds ambitious.

• Doing excellent work sounds like doing excellent work.

But when you put 50 or 60 of these expectations together, suddenly you’re looking at an impossible standard you’ve unconsciously been trying to meet every single day on top of your actual workload.

And here’s the thing, a task doesn’t have to be on your calendar or To Do list to exhaust you. You can:

• Take something off your calendar and continue carrying it around in your head.

• Decline the event and spend 3 hours feeling guilty about doing so.

• Decide not to work on Sunday and spend Sunday worrying about everything waiting for you on Monday.

• Take a vacation and spend the vacation making sure work doesn’t notice you’re gone.

The behavior stopped, but the pressure didn’t.

This is what’s particularly sneaky for high-achievers.

My guess is, a lot of these expectations probably helped you become successful. Amiright?

You were rewarded for going above and beyond. People praised you for being dependable. Your boss knew she could give you something, and you would get it done. You were prepared, responsible, responsive, helpful, and proactive. Your work was excellent.

Eventually, these things can stop feeling like choices and start feeling like requirements for just being a good employee.

When someone tells you to just do less, it isn’t always as simple as deleting three things from your calendar. You may also have to question some of the rules you’ve built around what it means to be good at what you do, and that’s the part that’s uncomfortable.

You might intellectually know that you deserve rest, but when you try to rest, all you can think is:

I’m being lazy

I’m wasting time

I’m falling behind

I should be doing something useful

And my personal favorite: “I should be better at resting”

Now you’ve somehow managed to turn rest into another thing you’re not doing well enough!?!?!

Try this: The Role vs. Pressure Audit

If any of this sounds familiar, I’m going to go against the grain and tell you the place to start is not by optimizing your calendar.

Where I want you to start is to figure out what you’re actually carrying.

Take out a blank page and answer this question:

What are all the things I think I should be doing at work?

I mean all of them. Don’t filter the list based on whether you’re actually doing it, or if someone asked you to, or if it’s reasonable, or if you’re good at it, or if you have time for it, or if it’s genuinely required.

The point of this exercise is not to decide what stays or what goes yet. We’re making the invisible workload visible.

To get you started, maybe your list includes:

• I should respond to messages quickly.

• I should reach out to colleagues more.

• I should speak up more in meetings.

• I should volunteer for more projects.

• I should take more initiative.

• I should arrive early.

• I should stay late when everyone else is working.

• I shouldn’t take a full lunch.

• I should be available when my boss needs me.

• I should make sure my team is okay.

• I should anticipate problems before they happen.

• I shouldn’t need help.

• I should always be prepared.

Keep going, and then look at what you’ve written and start separating it into two categories.

ROLE

What does your job actually require?

What are you employed to do?

What are your real responsibilities, deliverables and explicit expectations?

And then:

PRESSURE

What have you decided you also need to do in order to be excellent at your job?

This should be a very different list.

Now, to be clear, I’m not saying everything in the second category is bad. Maybe you genuinely want to do some of those things. Maybe some help you progress. Maybe some reflect the kind of leader or colleague you consciously choose to be.

The point isn’t to cross out every expectation you’ve created for yourself.

The point is to stop treating every expectation as an unquestionable obligation.

Because you can’t meaningfully reduce your workload until you can see the full workload you’re carrying. If you get halfway through this exercise and you think THIS IS EXHAUSTING, pay attention to that. The exhaustion is data.

My hope is, through doing this exercise, that your realization isn’t simply “I have too much to do” but that it’s “I’ve turned far more things into obligations than my job actually requires.”

Eventually, I stopped packing the laptop

In full transparency, there wasn’t one dramatic moment where I suddenly developed perfect boundaries and never thought about work on vacation again. Far from it.

It happened gradually.

After that specific trip to Mexico, I stopped bringing my work laptop, but I still brought my work phone and my work iPad. That felt safer.

Eventually, the work laptop stayed at home too and then I got to the point where I could go on vacation, completely disconnect, come home, and still not turn on my laptop or my work phone right away.

I would turn them on the morning I was ACTUALLY back at work.

Not the night before, so I could get ahead, not to just quickly see what I’d missed when I was back at work. So yes, there were still emails waiting, there was still work to do, and people still needed things while I was gone.

But what I was slowly showing my brain was that while I was off, nothing catastrophic happened. Other people handled things, and whatever was waiting for me could wait until I was being paid to deal with it again.

The biggest change for me wasn’t that I learned how to take a better vacation. It was that I stopped believing that being a good employee required me to remain mentally and emotionally available to work even when I wasn’t working.

Maybe you do need a vacation. (Honestly, if you’re anything like my clients, you probably do!)

If you close your laptop and your mind immediately starts cycling through everything you should be doing, everything you’re behind on, everything you could be doing better, everything you could be optimizing and everything a successful person like you is supposed to be able to handle, time off can only solve part of the problem.

Burnout isn’t only about what you’re doing; it’s also about everything you’re mentally carrying.

Before you spend your next vacation trying to become better at relaxing, I want you to ask yourself one question:

Which part of my workload belongs to my role and which parts are coming from rules I’ve created about what it means to be excellent at my role?

You might be surprised by how much you’ve been carrying, and unlike my work laptop, you don’t have to pack all of it.

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- Sam

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That was the question I kept asking myself before I ended my 15-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, sold almost everything I owned, packed my life into seven suitcases and bought a one-way ticket to Dubai.

Because from the outside, things were going well.

I had a successful corporate career. I was making good money. I had spent years building a reputation and relationships in an industry I knew how to succeed in.

Outside of work, I had built a second career in fitness. I taught at a studio I loved, had a community that meant everything to me and was surrounded by people I genuinely didn’t want to leave.

I had a good life.

And that was what made leaving so hard to explain.

There was no dramatic moment where I woke up one morning, hated everything about my life and decided to burn it all down.

I just couldn’t stop wondering if the life I had worked so hard to build was still the life I wanted.

There was always a next thing

For most of my career, whenever that feeling showed up, I assumed it meant I needed something else within my career.

Maybe I needed a more challenging role.

Maybe I needed to move into Learning & Development.

Maybe I needed to become a sales leader.

Maybe I needed a different company.

Maybe the next achievement would be the one that made me feel like I’d finally arrived.

And to be fair, achievement had always worked for me.

I was the good student. I got the degrees. I built the career. I won the awards. I climbed the ladder.

So I kept doing what I knew how to do.

The problem was that the goalpost kept moving.

There was always one more thing I could achieve before I gave myself permission to seriously ask:

What do I actually want?

And that was a much scarier question.

Because what if I didn’t know?

What if wanting something different meant walking away from the income I’d worked so hard to earn?

What if I wasted 15 years of experience?

What would other people think?

And if I wasn’t the successful pharmaceutical leader I’d spent my adult life becoming, who was I?

It was much easier to choose the next logical step.

Until eventually, I didn’t.

From proving to choosing

Toward the end of my corporate career, I had one last thing I wanted to prove to myself.

I wanted to know that I could lead and succeed without sacrificing myself to do it.

At the end of that year, my team finished number one.

And instead of immediately wondering what came next, I realized something:

I didn’t need another title.

I didn’t need another promotion.

I didn’t need another achievement to prove that I was capable.

I’d spent 15 years doing that.

Maybe the next chapter wasn’t about proving anything.

Maybe it was about choosing.

So I started asking myself a different question:

If I stopped making decisions based on what made the most sense for my career, what would I actually want my life to look like?

Dubai had been sitting quietly on that list for years.

Previously, I’d imagined that maybe one day my corporate career would take me there.

This time, I stopped waiting for that to happen.

I had been teaching fitness alongside my corporate career for years, so I started looking at fitness opportunities in Dubai.

I found one.

I got an offer.

And I said yes.

A few months later, I got on the plane.

Not because I knew exactly how everything was going to work.

I didn’t.

And, spoiler alert, a lot of it didn’t work the way I thought it would.

But I’m learning that choosing your life isn’t about knowing exactly how the story ends before you’re willing to begin it.

Sometimes it’s just about being willing to pull the thread.

That’s what we’re doing here

In case we haven’t been properly introduced, I’m Samantha.

I’m a former pharmaceutical sales leader, a life coach for high-achieving mid-career women, a group fitness instructor with Barry’s and Echelon, a lover of lifting heavy, a podcast host and a Canadian living in Dubai.

And Make a Life, Not Just a Living is where I’m exploring what happens when the definition of success that got you here no longer fits the woman you’ve become.

We’ll talk about careers, identity, burnout, boredom, ambition, self-trust and the options that exist between staying miserable and blowing everything up you’ve worked hard to achieve.

I’m still figuring some of it out, too. Lots of it, if I’m being honest.

I’m a woman in progress.

My life isn’t the prescription.

But I do want it to be an example of what’s possible.

If you’ve found yourself quietly wondering Is this it?, I hope you subscribe and stay awhile.

And if you’re ready to explore what comes next with support, that’s the work I do with high-achieving mid-career women through private coaching.

You don’t need to know the answer yet.

You just need to be willing to pull the thread.

- Samantha

Subscribe now

• what it means to Jamie to "struggle strong" and the impetus for the movement she started

• how Jamie uses writing as both a creative and healing outlet

• her view on life as one long ongoing learning opportunity

• how looks can be deceiving and why it's important to her to share difficult and often hidden topics publicly

About Jamie Snow:

Jamie is a Personal Trainer by trade but likes to refer to herself as a Movement and Wellbeing Coach.

She believes that through intentional movement, breathing and self discovery work people can improve their overall quality of life. She came into her specific brand of practice from years of managing her own mental health journey as it coincided with the trial and error process that is being human, both inside and outside of the gym.

She is passionate about helping people help themselves through a lens of physical health and the never ending work that is personal development.

Jamie is a proud dog mom, a lover of wine and a (sunscreen wearing) sun worshipper.

Find Jamie on Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiesnow/
 
Connect with me:

Let’s chat! If you’re curious about what it looks like to coach with me, book a 1:1 consult -https://calendly.com/s-ushedo/consult

I'd love to hear from you! Instagram is one of my favorite places to hang out, so be sure to join my community, send me a message, and tag me in your #WomanInProgress moments! https://www.instagram.com/ushedocoaching/

Become an insider by subscribing to the Monday Memo, my exclusive online community where I share inspiration, words of wisdom, and mindset tools to help you set the tone for your week. Join now! eepurl.com/hSlIVj

Haven’t left a review yet? Tell us what you think of Woman In Progress here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/woman-in-progress/id1611094438

• What perfectionism is and how it might be showing up in your life

• The ways we justify our perfectionist tendencies to ourselves

• Subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways your behavior is actually perfectionism

• Why perfectionism isn’t serving you, even though it can feel like something to be proud of

• The ways perfectionism has held me back in different areas of my life

• How having a different perspective of failure is a powerful tool in overcoming perfectionism

Connect with me:

Let’s chat! If you’re curious about what it looks like to coach with me, book a 1:1 consult -https://calendly.com/s-ushedo/consult

I'd love to hear from you! Instagram is one of my favorite places to hang out, so be sure to join my community, send me a message, and tag me in your #WomanInProgress moments! https://www.instagram.com/ushedocoaching/

Become an insider by subscribing to the Monday Memo, my exclusive online community where I share inspiration, words of wisdom, and mindset tools to help you set the tone for your week. Join now! eepurl.com/hSlIVj

Haven’t left a review yet? Tell us what you think of Woman In Progress here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/woman-in-progress/id1611094438

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• What people-pleasing is and how it might be showing up in your life

• The psychology behind why we people please and the feelings driving us to abandon ourselves

• Subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways your behavior is actually people-pleasing

• How to cut the cord of external validation and approve of yourself 

If you’re the kind of person who feels the pressure to keep others happy or maybe you find yourself seeking approval more often than necessary, this episode is especially for you.


Connect with me:

Let’s chat! If you’re curious about what it looks like to coach with me, book a 1:1 consult -https://calendly.com/s-ushedo/consult

I'd love to hear from you! Instagram is one of my favorite places to hang out, so be sure to join my community, send me a message, and tag me in your #WomanInProgress moments! https://www.instagram.com/ushedocoaching/

Become an insider by subscribing to the Monday Memo, my exclusive online community where I share inspiration, words of wisdom, and mindset tools to help you set the tone for your week. Join now! eepurl.com/hSlIVj

Haven’t left a review yet? Tell us what you think of Woman In Progress here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/woman-in-progress/id1611094438

Tune in to this week's episode to learn:

• Why 'together we go far' is more than a tagline 

• The genesis of "Hot People Eat Food" and why Kara thinks the movement took off the way it did

• The work Kara has done to be authentic and show up as her real self on social media

• How showing up as who you are is simply a muscle that needs to be flexed consistently

• Kara's perspective on what it means to add value 

About Kara Lennon:

Kara's got it big - big beats, big hair and big personality. She spends her days connecting with humans through movement, education, conversation, collaboration and music. Kara is the creator of Elevate By K - a mobility focused, functional movement and interval training experience set to dope beats. Elevate was created to condition your mindset, elevate you to a higher state and power your vibe. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Health and Exercise Science from the University of Massachusetts. She is also an ex-SoulCycle Instructor, CPT, CFSC, CES, Precision Nutrition Level 1, Pre/Post-Natal Certified, Holistic Health Coach In-Training and mindset coach. As a seasoned instructor and leader, she spends her days teaching others to be their best both on and off the bike. You'll usually find her post-workout, shirtless with an iced coffee, galavanting through the city of San Diego.

Join Elevate by K: https://karalennon.com/

Find Kara on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karalennon/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@karalennon

Connect with me:

Let’s chat! If you’re curious about what it looks like to coach with me, book a 1:1 consult -https://calendly.com/s-ushedo/consult

I'd love to hear from you! Instagram is one of my favorite places to hang out, so be sure to join my community, send me a message, and tag me in your #WomanInProgress moments! https://www.instagram.com/ushedocoaching/

Become an insider by subscribing to the Monday Memo, my exclusive online community where I share inspiration, words of wisdom, and mindset tools to help you set the tone for your week. Join now! eepurl.com/hSlIVj

Haven’t left a review yet? Tell us what you think of Woman In Progress here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/woman-in-progress/id1611094438

Tune in to this week's episode to learn:

• Kara’s New York Moment while training to become a SoulCycle instructor

• How “the Q” catalyzed the evolution of Kara’s career as a fitness professional and group fitness instructor

• What she learned about herself after working with a Life Coach

• The power of people and connection in helping Kara show up in the lowest points of her life

About Kara Lennon:

 Kara's got it big - big beats, big hair, and big personality. She spends her days connecting with humans through movement, education, conversation, collaboration, and music. Kara is the creator of Elevate By K - a mobility-focused, functional movement and interval training experience set to dope beats. Elevate was created to condition your mindset, elevate you to a higher state and power your vibe. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Health and Exercise Science from the University of Massachusetts. She is also an ex-SoulCycle Instructor, CPT, CFSC, CES, Precision Nutrition Level 1, Pre/Post-Natal Certified, Holistic Health Coach In-Training, and mindset coach. As a seasoned instructor and leader, she spends her days teaching others to be their best both on and off the bike. You'll usually find her post-workout, shirtless with an iced coffee, galavanting through the city of San Diego.

 
Join Elevate by K: https://karalennon.com/

Find Kara on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karalennon/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@karalennon

Connect with me:

Let’s chat! If you’re curious about what it looks like to coach with me, book a 1:1 consult -https://calendly.com/s-ushedo/consult

I'd love to hear from you! Instagram is one of my favorite places to hang out, so be sure to join my community, send me a message, and tag me in your #WomanInProgress moments! https://www.instagram.com/ushedocoaching/

Become an insider by subscribing to the Monday Memo, my exclusive online community where I share inspiration, words of wisdom, and mindset tools to help you set the tone for your week. Join now! eepurl.com/hSlIVj

Haven’t left a review yet? Tell us what you think of Woman In Progress here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/woman-in-progress/id1611094438

In this episode you'll learn:

• What Quiet Quitting is (and what it isn't) and where the term came from

• The 3 reasons I believe Quiet Quitting is problematic

• Why Quiet Quitting doesn't work for high-achievers

• The process for getting clear on what matters most without burning out

Connect with me:

Let’s chat! If you’re curious about what it looks like to coach with me, book a 1:1 consult -https://calendly.com/s-ushedo/consult

I'd love to hear from you! Instagram is one of my favorite places to hang out, so be sure to join my community, send me a message, and tag me in your #WomanInProgress moments! https://www.instagram.com/ushedocoaching/

Become an insider by subscribing to the Monday Memo, my exclusive online community where I share inspiration, words of wisdom, and mindset tools to help you set the tone for your week. Join now! eepurl.com/hSlIVj

Haven’t left a review yet? Tell us what you think of Woman In Progress here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/woman-in-progress/id1611094438

Tune in to this week's episode to learn:

• why boundaries are important in friendships and how they make your connection stronger

• what Tiana believes is the role of a friend and why healthy friendships are built on healthy expectations

• why she thinks many women struggle to make and/or keep friends in their 30s (and beyond)

• Tiana's take on the importance of platonic love and dating your friends

About Tiana Pollari:
Tiana is a Certified Mindset Coach with a background in holistic nutrition and movement who works with women who want to level up, step into their power, and live their f*ck yes life. 

Her signature programs are designed to provide her clients with a 360 approach in that they focus on helping you uncover what you truly desire and the self-limiting beliefs and blocks that may be holding you back from achieving your goals and dream life. They also specialize in the integration of optimizing your nutrition, lifestyle, and movement to balance your hormones, lose weight and increase your performance.

Work with Tiana: Absolute Alignment Program

Find Tiana on Instagram: @tianapollari

Connect with me:

Let’s chat! If you’re curious about what it looks like to coach with me, book a 1:1 consult -https://calendly.com/s-ushedo/consult

I'd love to hear from you! Instagram is one of my favorite places to hang out, so be sure to join my community, send me a message, and tag me in your #WomanInProgress moments! https://www.instagram.com/ushedocoaching/

Become an insider by subscribing to the Monday Memo, my exclusive online community where I share inspiration, words of wisdom, and mindset tools to help you set the tone for your week. Join now! eepurl.com/hSlIVj

Haven’t left a review yet? Tell us what you think of Woman In Progress here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/woman-in-progress/id1611094438

Tune into this episode to discover:

• The reason behind the decision to take a Summer Hiatus and why it was a difficult decision

• Why sometimes it’s important to hit your breaking point in order to create powerful change

• How I’m using the concept of “Big Rocks” to help me stay focused on the things that matter and focusing on small, Daily Wellbeing Commitments to make success inevitable

 Connect with me:

Let’s chat! If you’re curious about what it looks like to coach with me, book a 1:1 consult -https://calendly.com/s-ushedo/consult

I'd love to hear from you! Instagram is one of my favorite places to hang out, so be sure to join my community, send me a message, and tag me in your #WomanInProgress moments! https://www.instagram.com/ushedocoaching/

Become an insider by subscribing to the Monday Memo, my exclusive online community where I share inspiration, words of wisdom, and mindset tools to help you set the tone for your week. Join now! eepurl.com/hSlIVj

Haven’t left a review yet? Tell us what you think of Woman In Progress here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/woman-in-progress/id1611094438

But don’t worry, we’ll be back in September with lots of amazing content, guest interviews and solo episodes with yours truly for you to consume.

In the meantime, I want you to stay in touch!

Join my weekly newsletter, the Monday Memo where I share inspiration, motivation and mindset tools to help you set the tone for your week. It’s the best way to be the first to know about upcoming trainings, live coaching opportunities and other announcements that I only share via email. If you’re not on the list, sign up here  eepurl.com/hSlIVj

Beyond that, there are 20 episodes chock full of goodness for you to consume and apply during the show’s brief hiatus, and we’ll be back before you know it. I’ll see you in September, sweet friends!

Connect with me:

Let’s chat! If you’re curious about what it looks like to coach with me, book a 1:1 consult -https://calendly.com/s-ushedo/consult

I'd love to hear from you! Instagram is one of my favourite places to hang out, so be sure to join my community, send me a message and tag me in your #WomanInProgress moments! https://www.instagram.com/ushedocoaching/

Haven’t left a review yet? Tell us what you think of Woman In Progress here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/woman-in-progress/id1611094438

Join me on today’s episode as I share my thoughts on the value of a coach and why I think EVERYONE should work with a coach in some way, shape or form in their lifetime.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• About a recent experience I had talking with a new coach I was curious about working with

• The top 10 reasons why I think coaching is so valuable

• Why I don’t think coaching is only for people who are struggling

• Why it’s so important to have someone in your life who sees you for who you most want to be and not just who you are now

Connect with me:

Let’s chat! If you’re curious about what it looks like to coach with me, book a 1:1 consult -https://calendly.com/s-ushedo/consult

I'd love to hear from you! Instagram is one of my favourite places to hang out, so be sure to join my community, send me a message and tag me in your #WomanInProgress moments! https://www.instagram.com/ushedocoaching/

Become an insider by subscribing to the Monday Memo, my exclusive online community where I share inspiration, words of wisdom and mindset tools to help you set the tone for your week. Join now! eepurl.com/hSlIVj

Haven’t left a review yet? Tell us what you think of Woman In Progress here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/woman-in-progress/id1611094438