Gemma James on Turning Pain into Purpose | Why Sharing Your Story Heals You and Others

In this raw, permission-giving conversation, I sit down with Gemma James, creator and host of the Muse Yourself podcast, to talk about grief, reinvention, and the quiet courage it takes to be seen when every instinct tells you to hide.

After a catastrophic season that blew her life apart (loss, displacement, identity death) Gemma found an unexpected lifeline: a simple morning ritual of coffee and podcasts. One small, steady choice that helped her get out of bed every morning, and eventually inspired a platform that now does the same for thousands of women around the world.

This episode is about emotional alchemy. It’s about turning pain into purpose, fear into visibility, and stories into impact. We unpack why so many brilliant, soul-led women stay silent, and the comparison, perfectionism, and old safety patterns that come from an unconscious fear of being fully seen. And why, in a world flooded with AI and polish, your unedited human voice matters more than ever.

We talk micro-brave steps, why connection always beats perfection, and the real cost of staying small over time. You’ll hear how unfiltered storytelling builds trust, how listener messages become proof of impact, and why your story doesn’t need to be “big” to change a life.

If you’re an unapologetic woman in the making, one who is ready to lead, create aligned income, and make an impact, but still feeling blocked around visibility, this conversation is your nudge.

Because someone needs what you’re feeling called to say, just to get through the morning.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey you guys, what is up? And welcome back to the show. I am so excited and grateful to have you guys here. Welcome if you're new. I am very, very, very excited to share with you one of the most amazing women in my life who I have the pleasure to call not just a collaborator, but also a really, really good friend. She is absolutely magical. And I just know her story is going to change so many lives. And I am I am so proud to call this woman a friend. Welcome, Gemma James, you guys. She is the creator and host of the Muse Yourself podcast. So if you're not listening to her, you absolutely should be. I will leave all the links in the show notes. Gemma, how are you doing, girl? Oh

Warm Welcome And Guest Intro

SPEAKER_00 0:42

my god, what an introduction. I don't feel like it was enough. I don't even feel like it was enough.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Thank you so much for having me back. This is my second time on the show, I think.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Well, I think the first time we kind of co we'll collaborate. This is the first time you're officially on my show. I feel honored.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

I love that. I know I'm honored. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here and to get to get to know your listeners better.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Hey, I think they're I think they're gonna love you. I really do. I think your story is amazing, and I think every woman can benefit from from what you know you have to share, the magic that you have to share, which is exactly what we're talking about today. So let's, you know, before we dive in, tell a little bit of, you know, tell the audience a little bit about who you are, because might many of them might not have met you before.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

I mean, I don't think I can top the introduction that you've already given me, but I'll give it a go. So I my name is Gemma James, and as Maria just said, I'm the host of the Muse Yourself podcast, which is a podcast on self-love and starting over. And I I don't I can I feel like I can never condense it in a little intro because there's just so much and I love it so much. But basically, I interview it.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

It's a lot to condense, girl. That's a lot.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

I if I had to try and and condense it, I would say I interview the most incredible women, share the most incredible stories of blowing our lives up and of reinvention,

Gemma’s Mission: Self-Love And Starting Over

SPEAKER_01 2:12

of starting over, and of reaching that point where you finally realize that you want and deserve more. Yeah. And where you start living really unapologetically as yourself. And it's it's just the most incredible, amazing, inspiring place. And it's just my my favorite thing to create and and bring into the world. And yeah, you've been, I guess, I think three three times you've been on. I think so. I think your story is always so put your your episodes are always some of the most downloaded, so people love you as well. Yeah, so that's that's it in a nutshell.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

There's something to be said for blowing up your life, isn't there? There's a magic. I think every woman, it's like a rite of passage for all women. Blow up your life.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

100% agree. And I think so. There's well, there's there's kind of the two, there's choose it when we choose to blow up our lives, isn't there? And then there's also the when it's blown up for you and how you navigate that. I think they're the two different things, but yeah, I absolutely agree. I think every woman at some point needs to just blow up her life.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

You know I love your story. Your story gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. Okay. Now, you were struggling to share your story for a little bit. Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Yeah, I think like I'm not sure how familiar your listeners are with my story. I know we kind of went into it a little bit on the episode that we collaborated on a while back.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

Why don't you share a little bit about it? Because they might not be familiar with you know your story and and where it kind of started for you, right?

SPEAKER_01 3:59

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So we kind of go, but I'll keep it kind of short and sweet because I do go into it in more detail and on the other episode we did.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

But basically, go listen to her podcast if you want the whole story. Okay, go.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Um, yeah, basically to to rewind back to 2017, I was just about to turn 30 and my life was completely blown up for me. I have since blown it up many times through choice after that, but this particular instance, everything the universe stepped in and just yeah, pretty catastrophically blew blew everything up for me. I yeah, was about to turn 30. My husband at the time, he passed away unexpectedly. He became ill, he had cancer, but we didn't know that he was sick, so it all kind of happened really, really quickly. And he he passed away. And four weeks, it was four

Life Blown Up: Loss, Job, And Home

SPEAKER_01 4:55

weeks to the day later, I got laid off from my job and then ended up losing our home because everything, all of this had only kind of happened within the space of a few months. So I'd gone from being like two people income to suddenly no income, which is a bit of an adjustment to make. So, long story short, I ended up within the space of a few months having no husband, no job, and and having to pack up our home and find somewhere else to live. So yeah, the universe pretty pretty much gave me a full ego death at that point. So I pack up all of our stuff. I'm packing up the home. It was our first home together that we had lived in, and I didn't have any family nearby. All of my family lived in a different country. So I was very much trying to navigate this alone, and I found somewhere else to live. I moved in, I was starting to make some attempt at piecing my life back together, but still very much at this point in shock. Like what the fuck has happened. And I just remember I was in this phase of I'd moved into this new place. I didn't have a job yet or anything. I didn't really, it still very much felt like the world was spinning. And I would wake up every single morning in this place that didn't feel like home. I didn't want to be living there, and I would just wake up and think there's not really any reason to get out of bed today. Like, what is the point? And at this point, I had just really newly started listening to podcasts. It was still a really new thing for me. And I would make like a little deal with myself if you just all you have to do is just get up. You don't have to think about how you're gonna figure out the rest of the day. All you need to do is just get up, go to the kitchen. You can make a cup of coffee, and then you get to listen to your podcast, and that's all you need to do. You don't have to think about anything else today. Just can you take the steps to the kitchen, make a coffee, and then you, as your your reward, you can can listen to a podcast. And that became like my little anchor that would would get me up and yeah, take taking on whatever the day was gonna throw

Podcasts As A Lifeline And Anchor

SPEAKER_01 7:18

at me. I just knew that if I if I could take those steps in the morning, then you know, it was I'd figure the rest out. It didn't matter. And I just became so obsessed with hearing these stories of women on the podcast I was listening to sharing, you know, their their stories of overcoming struggles, whatever it was, whether it was grief or divorce or just anything. It didn't even have to be, I wasn't looking specifically for grief-related things. Just and yeah, and it literally became my lifeline. Like, I I don't think it's exaggerating to say like this see is what saved my life. Like these women sharing their stories and and just being able to listen to that and know like everything, it can be okay. Like there are so many incredible women who have come through the other side of bigger things than I can even imagine. And they're doing the most incredible things, building the most incredible lives. And yeah, I guess it that's the the full circle moment. We're like eight years later, and that was what inspired me to build Muse Yourself to kind of be that that platform for what that version of me needed at the time, and I think it just shows how important it is to come back to what you were saying about. Yeah, I've had definitely some struggles when it comes to having the courage to show up and and put the most vulnerable parts of yourself and your story out there. It's not easy, but I think if that story of mine illustrates anything, it's how important it is. Like you just never know who it is that your story is reaching. Like me at that point, I wasn't, you know, going reaching out to those women saying, Hey, your story is amazing. It's helping me get out of bed in the morning. Like, I didn't have capacity at that time to do that, but it was. That's what they were doing for me. And they didn't know that whenever they were putting their stories out there and showing up and recording podcasts or videos or whatever it was. And I'm sure those women had visibility struggles of their own. I'm sure they were trying to find the courage to show up, but it just so perfectly shows like you never know how far your story is going to reach and who isn't on the other side of it who really needs to hear it. And it just was such an incredible full circle moment recently. Actually, I got a message on my Substack from someone saying that they'd listened to an episode of the podcast, and it was the reason it was the thing that got them out the door that day. It's the thing that that got them outside.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

And wow, literally mirroring where you were before when you started.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

So I that just felt like the universe just kind of orchestrates in the most incredible, yeah, full circle moment. I don't take stuff like that lightly whenever someone takes the time to message me about listening to an episode of it because I just remember so clearly being that person. And it's just, yeah,

Why Sharing Your Story Matters

SPEAKER_01 10:30

I know I like I gush about the podcast a lot, but it it really is because it's I feel like it's my life's work now and what I was put here to do. And I'm just so passionate about getting to create the thing that I needed at that point. And I think it just ties in gorgeously with the work you're doing and and helping women show up and be visible and build that courage because when we put our stories out into the world, like we're literally we're changing the world.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

We are one woman at a time, we are changing the world because she changes and then she changes how she interacts, and then those interactions change. It it just creates a ripple effect of positive change. I truly believe that. I also believe that behind every blow up is a glow-up.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

So I love that. Every blow-up leads to a glow up. And put that on a hootie.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

I know. Call it the blow up club. Actually, no, that could be that could be taken differently. Let's let's let's hone in on because you know, your story, like I said, like I said in the beginning, it gives me goosebumps every time you share it. And, you know, going through it, you know, you were listening to these women, you were listening to these podcasts that were so supportive for you. And like you said, just giving you the one, the one treat, the one thing to focus on each day as you were starting to put one foot in front of the other. Yeah, knowing that you became that voice for so many women, right? Because your podcast has grown considerably in like a very short period of time, right? Did you was there like would you have believed that your story would have impacted other women to the point where you're now getting messages and and thank you notes from women saying, Hey, thanks for helping me get out of bed this morning? Like, did you was that something that was even possible for you when you started?

SPEAKER_01 12:21

No, absolutely not. No, it's incredible. And like I said, I don't take that lightly. Like, I think sometimes we think, oh, there's no point sending this message. Oh, what if this person thinks I'm weird, or you know, whatever. But if always send the message because there is no feeling like that. Like, get it, knowing that you something you've created has had that kind of an impact on someone. It's literally, and you know this too, I'm sure this, you know, with with your show, like this is what we put our heart and soul into. And knowing that it's being received and doing the job that that you put it out there to do, it's literally there is no feeling like that I, you know, the joy I get knowing that someone has listened to the show and it's created impact for someone. It's just like nothing else. It's my favorite thing I've ever brought into this world. And I feel like I don't want to ever do anything else.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

Do you ever have those days where you, you know, doubt creeps in and you think, you know, who's gonna listen to this? What's so special about my story? What's so special about what I got to say?

Growth, Listener Impact, And Gratitude

SPEAKER_00 13:35

And like, do you ever deal with those moments? And if so, like, how do you get yourself on the other side of that? Oh god.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Yeah, I we literally just before we started recording, I just actually said this to you, didn't I? That I was having a little like confidence crisis this morning. Because I've been my new episode is going out tomorrow. So I've just been doing some kind of final edits and all that stuff, and yeah, 100%. And I don't know anyone who doesn't. Like everyone's always looking at other people, thinking they're doing it better than we are. But I think uh one of the things I always try and remind myself is someone else is also looking at you that way. Like it's just yeah, it's it's so easy to just get caught up in looking at what everyone else is doing. And I think for me, I try and strip all that away because I was kind of saying to you earlier, like, I feel like everyone's else's podcast is so professionally produced now, and I'm just still trying because I travel a lot, so I'm trying to like still do mine on the road a lot. But it all comes back to at the end of the day, that stuff doesn't matter, it's the story that you're sharing, that is what's having the impact. Like no one is watching, like you can watch the fanciest YouTube video, right? It's in the go-we've all seen the gorgeous podcast studios and all of that stuff. At the end of the day, if what's coming out of that person's mouth isn't like isn't connecting, if it's not impactful, if it's not moving someone in some way, then what does it matter? What's it doing? I think the power is always in you, it's in your story, it's in the words coming out of your mouth and the way you're making someone feel, like all of the rest of it is just noise.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

It is, and you know what? I think, and this is something that's just kind of come into my mind, but I think actually, and and you know, for anybody listening who's kind of you know dealing with that same fear, and and I I know we deal with it every day, I deal with it, you deal with it, Gemma, like it's it's very real, right? But I think that you know, this age that we're going into now, you know, we've got AI making such a such a wave in the online space. And I think that the messier and the more authentic your podcast can be, or whatever your content is, you know, I think people will gravitate more to the less produced content out there, right?

SPEAKER_01 16:06

People want proof that it's being made by a human now.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Yeah. And don't get me wrong, I use AI for a lot of my writing. I'm not as good as I'm not as talented as a writer as I am a speaker. I could I could talk until the cows come home. I will never use AI for speaking. I

Doubt, Comparison, And Staying Human

SPEAKER_00 16:24

do use AI for a lot of other things, and it's very useful and it has its place. But but I think that's probably one of the reasons why I do keep my podcast so unedited is because this is who I am, this is me. Like we share our stories, we share our words, we share our tone, we share our our our our muckups, right? When we when we when we fumble for words like I'm doing right now. Like I think that's what makes it resonate so much more because I think we give women out there permission to just keep it messy, yeah. You know, because we get in our head trying to make it perfect, and the branding and the the templates and the logo and the yeah, like we get we and and it can delay things so much. I don't know about you, but I know I delayed for a year, I think.

SPEAKER_01 17:12

Oh yeah, yeah, just going back and forth. Yeah, it reminds me of another message I got recently, actually, where someone had said someone messaged me on Substack saying, I love listening to your show because it fit I can put it on in the background and it just feels like I've got a friend mattering away in the background to me. I'm like, that's exactly the vibe I'm going for.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

That's exactly what your episodes are. It literally feels like a friend speaking to you in the background. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

I feel the same way about yours. I mean, like that's exactly the kind of thing that AI is never gonna be able to replace. No, so yeah, we we we need to be sharing our stories, we need to be getting visible, we need to be doing the work and finding the courage and owning our stories and putting them out there because you just there has never been a point where it's been needed more.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

Can I do some questions? Can I throw some questions at you that the audience might find helpful? What do you have to say to the woman who's looking at her story and thinking, meh, it's not that great.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

Like there will be somewhat, whatever you have to share, there is an audience view. There is someone who needs to hear it. We never think our own stories are so impactful. We just never do. But there will be someone out there who can learn something from whatever it is that you have to share.

SPEAKER_00 18:35

That's amazing. That is I believe that a thousand, a thousand percent. And I say that all the time. I believe that if there's a message on our heart, it's there for a reason. It doesn't get put there by accident, means someone needs to hear it.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

Also, if you have a niggas to share something, if you have a story and you've got something like niggling in your mind, it's there for a reason. Like in the in the first place, it's being given to you. Like that story's been given to you, that feeling that you have of wanting to share it. I know you're currently trying to talk yourself out of it, but if you weren't meant to share it, that niggle wouldn't even be there in the first place.

SPEAKER_00 19:12

Yep, 100%. What do you think is the cost of not sharing?

SPEAKER_01 19:21

I just I heard something really inspiring in another podcast about this recently where they were talking about this, and it's like

Authenticity Over Polish In An AI Era

SPEAKER_01 19:32

who it's that cliche, isn't it? Of getting to the end of your life and thinking like about the life you could have lived. And I just think I don't ever want that to be me. I would rather chase everything, put everything out there, chase every dream, have everyone in my life say I'm utterly delusional, or because I talk a lot about what I want to grow my podcast to. I mean, I want it to be a global phenomenon. Yeah. And I know when I say that there are people who are gonna say, you know, you're deluded, or whatever. I'm like, I would rather have people calling me deluded and be chasing every dream, every niggle till I'm a hundred years old and get to that point and know that I never let anything go, I never give up, I never didn't try, and I would rather and and just know that I never settled versus oh I'm gonna play it safe because I'm worried, like you know, someone, someone might not like my stuff, someone might not like what I have to say. Yeah, so I'm gonna keep myself small and quiet to to what please other people, to to not trigger someone else. Like no one was no one was ever triggered by a mediocre person, and we're not here to be mediocre. So exactly.

SPEAKER_00 20:53

Oh, so well said. I love that. Oh my god, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 20:57

You need to do whatever you have inside of you, please put it out there because if yeah, if you take anything away from the story I shared earlier, just you never know who your words are reaching, like you can't see, and you just never know what impact they're making. So it and it's just I know I've we've worked together a bit in the past where I I've have had struggles. I'll admit, I've had struggles with the courage of showing up and getting visible online, and yeah, we've done some work together, which has really helped with that. So I think for anyone struggling, just know that it's normal. And can you think about where that's coming from? Where is the fear coming from? And think about working with someone or working through that in some way because it what's on the other side is just so worth it.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

Can you actually touch and you don't we don't have to get into the whole detail of it, but can you touch on what was the story? In your mind that was kind of keeping you stuck like afraid of being visible. Can you share a little bit?

SPEAKER_01 22:07

I mean, this is something I've always struggled with. Even before I started the podcast, I was or I worked in well, I my background is like journalism and marketing, but I also all always had a beauty business on the side. And even back when I was doing that, and when I would do, I would do like makeup on photo shoots and stuff, and I would always struggle. I would never even post my work online. I was a makeup artist

Your Story Is Enough

SPEAKER_01 22:30

who didn't even have an Instagram page because I would just never like I know it's ridiculous. So it's not this predates way before even having the podcast. But that was when I noted I hit a point last year, towards the end of last year, where the show has been doing really, really well. But it felt like it had hit a plateau of okay, this is where it's gonna stay if I don't finally do something about this. And I because I was putting things out there, but I was too scared to be the face of the brand and to show up in that way. And so it felt like it had hit this wall of all right, it's done well, but this is where it's it's gonna stay if I don't finally have the courage to really fully step into this and own it as my creation. Yeah. Um, so yeah, we we had a bit of a look back at where it was all coming from. And I'm not gonna lie, it's uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable doing that work. But I think for me it all came back to not growing up in an environment where it felt safe to be seen. Yeah. But I think that's true for so many of us. Like so many people will be able to relate to that, whether it's that you were bullied or you know, you had some kind of rivalry with your siblings where you felt like you had to be make yourself smaller, invisible, or you had you grew up in an abusive environment with parents, or you know, and it could be anything, but I feel like there are so many people who the struggle always goes back to childhood, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 24:03

Like we can do like we can blame everything in life on the parents, but it's yeah, just and it's very it's very much by divine design, so but yeah, it's true.

SPEAKER_01 24:16

But yeah, for me, it just I I didn't grow up in an environment where it it was safe to be visible, and that had uh shown itself through just just so many different ways in my like growing up and my adult life, and it just got to a point where I had to ask myself, is this something that you want to let stop you from stepping into your full potential and and seeing this thing through and and taking it where you're it's capable of going? Yeah, and just no.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

Amen to that. You also I've noticed like a big shift in your content where you know you've always done you are an incredible interviewer, by the way. Like you do the most amazing interviews. I love being on your show. It just I'm just so naturally nosy,

The Cost Of Staying Small

SPEAKER_00 25:03

so I you are all the right questions, but you also started now telling more of your story and doing more solo episodes, which was just a bit of a shift for you, right? Tell us a little bit about how that first felt and how you kind of moved through that experience.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

Yeah, yeah. So I had a session with another coach a few months ago who gave me a loving kick. Uh she just she point she pointed out lovingly um that I was, you know, full of shit and just talking about how I was. So I built this show, this foundation on helping women show up as their most unapologetic selves. And she was like before our session, she'd gone and looked up my podcast and everything, and she came back and she was like, What are you doing? Like, I I know your story, you've just told me your story, but when I go and look at your work and your show and even your podcast description, there is none of you in there. Like the most important parts of your story are missing. Yet you're you're helping do this for other women, but you're not even showing up as yourself. And it just really hit home. I mean, she was right. And following on from that, I then for the very first time showed up with the the unfiltered version. So I when I first launched the show, I did, of course, say, like, hey, this is you know my story, this is who I am, this is why I've started this show. But it was a very filtered, watered down version, I think, because it was so scary and so new for me. And so this episode I released a few months ago was really the it was the first time I'd ever even out loud told the whole story with without the filter. And yeah, it was it was difficult, but it felt right and it felt like the right time.

SPEAKER_02 26:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

And I also it felt like I'm I can't expect my audience to fully trust me.

SPEAKER_02 27:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

If I'm not giving them, you know, being fully open, if I'm saying, this is what I help you with, but yet I'm not willing to be fully open with myself and my story myself and and let them fully know all of me. It felt like finally saying, Here, I like we're we're building this trust. I want you in fully in my world. I want you to know me. I want you to know that you can trust me, and I want to build this world for us. So it was really Oh my god, it sounds like a marriage proposal.

SPEAKER_00 27:39

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

I know it was a real like shift and a real it was uncomfortable, but it had the most amazing response, and I feel like there has been a shift in the podcast since then.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

And I it really that was my favorite episode that you've ever done. I just I was listening to it and I was like, oh my god, I was like, there's like there she is. Like you were always there, it wasn't like you weren't, but now it's like okay, now she's like like she's arrived. Like it was awesome.

SPEAKER_01 28:05

And I think I was raised in an environment as well where you don't share your stories because it's

Visibility Fears And Childhood Roots

SPEAKER_01 28:10

seen as attention-seeking. And so many of us, I think, again can probably relate to that. Like we're supposed to be quiet if we're we're sharing our stories, if we're being loud, if we're talking about the things that have happened to us, and especially as women, we're not supposed to do that. We're supposed to be quiet, we're supposed to shrink ourselves and fit in and not make anyone else uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_00 28:31

And I think we're just supposed to always look like we're mate, like we handle it, like everything's fine. Like, I got it, I got it. Like, you know, we're there's this there's this underlying sort of conditioning that, you know, when we say we're struggling or we say something's hard, or we say that we're feeling something, you know, it's almost like a a badge of failure if we do that. And it's so the opposite. It really is. Like hands down, it is so the opposite to be able to name what you're going through, to name what you need, to name what you're feeling, to name what you're struggling with, and and and be open and honest about that, because I think when we do that, like you said, like you have no idea who's listening and who you're helping and how you're helping them and the impact that you're making on the other side of that. And that you are a walking testament to that. Like you do you you embody what you teach every single day, and it is an honor to have you in my circle, honestly. Oh my goodness, so grateful. I'm gonna end this on one last question. If you were given a mic, okay, and you were to to speak to an audience or just one woman or an audience of whatever resonates for you, who are just standing on the precipice. They want to share their gifts, they want to share their story, they want to share their magic, but they're just terrified to take that first step. What do you say to them?

SPEAKER_01 29:56

What do you want 90-year-old you to be able to look back on? What do you want to give her to be able to look back on? Like, do you want this life where you were so concerned about what everyone else thought of you? Because that's always the block. It's always about what other people are gonna think of us when we're scared of showing up. It's never about ourselves, it's always fear. Do you really are you gonna give a shit about any of those people when you look back when you're 90 years old? Like, what kind of a life do you want to have lived? Do you want to get to that point and ever be able to say to your to have to admit to yourself, I gave up. I gave up on me. Because I don't. Man, I love that. Thank you. I don't want 90-year-old Gemma to have to admit that she ever gave up on herself.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

I think it was Cher who said if it's not gonna matter in five years, it doesn't matter. Yeah, don't give it more than five minutes thought, right? Yeah, I love I love her. I want her dream, I want her on the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 30:53

Having said that, it is so important. Like this is is work we have to do. These fears are real, and so it is important to if you feel like you would benefit from working with someone because the work we did was so helpful. It's not something you can just wake up one morning and talk yourself out of. These are very like real learned fears and and learned behaviors, and that's not a joke, it's not something we can just, you know, read a self-help book and get over. It's a process,

Stepping Forward With Solo Storytelling

SPEAKER_01 31:22

and so just respect that, be kind to yourself, don't like beat yourself up about it because just know that this is something, it's not your fault. It's been something so ingrained in us that we had no control over, and just yeah, that was working working with someone has been what's helped me. It's not not been doing it on my own.

SPEAKER_00 31:42

It's hard to move through certain of the certain sticky parts on your own. And thank you. It was it was always a pleasure holding space for you, and and you're just you're just so magical even going through that process and and watching you evolve through it was just incredible. So thank you for that. I I I value that so much. Okay, cool. So now before because I want to be mindful of time, so before we before we end this episode, I know you've got something really juicy that you're offering your new subscribers. So why don't you tell the listeners a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_01 32:11

I do. So I would love to invite your listeners to come and join my inner circle. My we call it the Muse VIP list, and I'll leave the link, and I'm sure you can leave the link in the show notes for people, but for sure.museyourselfpodcast.com. If you head over there and join my VIP list, you're gonna get a free guided visualization that I've recorded, especially for you. And it's a really juicy, powerful becoming her visualization that is gonna help you just with starting to share those old identities that you're carrying around so you can really start to step into the most powerful, incredible, amazing era yet. So you're gonna get that completely free whenever you come over and join the VIP list. And I'm also, as a little bonus, gonna send you a playlist that I made for you. So you're gonna get the top five most popular, most downloaded podcast episodes of Muse Yourself. These are the episodes with the most incredible guest conversations, the most amazing women, the stories that people, you know, those episodes people tell you that they come back to, they replay over and over again, and they always take something new away. So I've made you a gorgeous little playlist with the top five of those episodes, and you're gonna get that for free as well whenever you come over and join us. So please head over to that link. I would love to have you all. Oh my god, can I sign up for this list? Absolutely. You're actually one of one of the episodes is your first episode.

SPEAKER_00 33:54

I was gonna ask, but I didn't want to be like, You're absolutely on there. Okay, no, honestly, that sounds so juicy. So juicy. I love that you made us a mixtape.

SPEAKER_01 34:05

I love how like retro and just heartwarming. I feel like that's a good one.

SPEAKER_00 34:09

I haven't had a mixtape in a long time. Can I quickly tell you my mixtape story? So the one time I got a mix, the last time I got a mixtape, I got it was this horrible breakup with this horrible guy who like totally broke my heart into a million pieces. And then three weeks after he broke my heart, he comes and drops off a mixtape for me at my workplace, thinking that he was gonna like worm his way back in. Wing you back. I saw the tape. I put it in the tape player, I never contacted him again, but I fully enjoyed listening to that mixtape. Let me tell you. Do you still have it? Oh my god, no. I don't even know where it is, what it looks like when I I ditched all my cassette tapes ages ago. But I should have kept it. That would have made a great story.

SPEAKER_01 34:54

Yeah, no one has ever made me a mixtape. I used to make them for myself. He was totally hoovering me.

SPEAKER_00 34:59

Like he was totally just trying to circle his way

Reframing “Attention-Seeking” And Strength

SPEAKER_00 35:02

back in and totally toxic. Totally toxic. But anyway.

SPEAKER_01 35:05

Pride for staying strong.

SPEAKER_00 35:07

I had I had some, I had some a some of a uh what's it called? I had some dignity in my 20s.

SPEAKER_01 35:15

Not much, but I had a little Oh, I had none, so you're already ahead of me if you had any.

SPEAKER_00 35:22

I think I had less dignity in my 40s than I did in my 20s. That's when my dignity was like out the window.

SPEAKER_01 35:31

I'm so excited for the 40s. They're only a couple of years away.

SPEAKER_00 35:35

Oh my god. Oh, you're you're gonna love it. Okay, so I cannot wait for people to sign up for this. This sounds so amazing. I'm gonna be signing up for it. Hi. Where else can people find you online?

SPEAKER_01 35:46

So the best place is the podcast. It's available. Muse yourself is available on any podcast platform. So head over there and listen and subscribe. You can also follow me on Instagram. It's at MuseYourselfpodcast. And I have a community over on Substack as well. I'll leave you the link that you can share if people are interested in coming to join me over there. I host my community over there. And all of the podcasts are, all of the podcast episodes are posted over there as well. So it's a great way to if you come over and join and it's free to join, it's a good way you can comment and join the conversation by leaving a comment on the episodes, or you can reach out and message me directly over there as well. So there's there's yeah, so many ways to to come and join the community, and I'd love to have you.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

Oh my god, that's amazing. Okay, so you guys, so first of all, Gemma, thank you so much for being here. Uh I anytime you want to come back, you have an open invitation to be here on the Femcast.

SPEAKER_01 36:49

You're my favorite person to record with.

SPEAKER_00 36:52

I love chatting with you. Our conversations are always like we could go on for literally. I think our first episode was almost two hours long, was it not?

SPEAKER_01 36:59

Yeah. And I don't I usually just try and like leave them as well. I don't like because I was thinking like, is this too long? Should I cut it down? But everything was so juicy. I was like, no, people can listen to it in like two or three sessions if they need to, but nothing. Listen to it in parts.

SPEAKER_00 37:13

Don't dissect it. Just listen to it in parts. It's literally like sitting in a car and having a cup of coffee and like on the couch with us. It's awesome. Okay. So thank you again so much for being here. Everybody, I will leave all of Gemma's links down below so you can access her VIP list, her Substack, her Instagram. Everything will be left up down below. You can always all also reach out to us on Instagram and send us a DM. Until next time, you guys, massive love.