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Shamelessly Ambitious I Helping Ambitious Women Prevent Burnout + Create Nervous System First Success in Business, Motherhood, & Life
Shamelessly Ambitious is an honest, grounding, and vulnerable podcast for ambitious, emotionally intelligent women who are done proving themselves, tired of living in constant high-functioning burnout, and craving a life and business that actually feel good.
Hosted by Ash McDonald—therapist, nervous-system-first business mentor, and speaker this show blends clinical expertise with lived experience to deliver nervous system tools, embodied strategies, and radical permission so you can expand your capacity, root into emotional steadiness, and build sustainable success that supports your whole life.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, stretched too thin, caught in productivity guilt, or stuck running on stress, this podcast meets you where you are—with therapeutic insights, embodied practices, and heartfelt stories that create real shifts. Whether you’re navigating motherhood, entrepreneurship, or the messy middle of redefining success, each episode helps you slow down, regulate, and return to a felt sense of safety in your body.
With over a decade of experience at the intersection of therapy and leadership, Ash pulls back the curtain on what really works—offering grounded guidance you can apply in real life.
What you’ll hear:
- Honest conversations about burnout recovery, nervous system regulation, and redefining success
- Somatic tools, meditations, and practices that build inner safety and capacity
- Stories of motherhood, mom-life, ambition, and the courage to create a life and business that feel rich and real
If you’re asking the following questions, you’re in the right place:
- How do I stop tying my worth to productivity?
- How do I know if I’m experiencing high-functioning burnout and what do I do about it?
- How do I balance motherhood and leadership without losing myself?
- How do I calm my body when I feel overwhelmed or overstimulated?
This is the podcast for when you’re ready to reclaim peace, expand what you can hold, and create success that doesn’t cost you yourself. Tune in and take the next step toward a regulated, rooted, and deeply fulfilling life.
Shamelessly Ambitious I Helping Ambitious Women Prevent Burnout + Create Nervous System First Success in Business, Motherhood, & Life
126. Hitting My Rock Bottom | RTWOS EP 1
Welcome to the Releasing the Wounds of Success series. I’m kicking off the series by sharing about my own wounds of success. We take it waaayy back to the life of younger Ashley and pinpointing where my desire to chase success even came from. I wasn’t always a high achiever & I didn’t used to apply myself whatsoever… Strap in because this is the kick off to an epic series.
THE JUICY HIGHLIGHTS:
🖤 Hitting rock bottom in jail while 6 months pregnant
🖤 Truly believing I was destined to be bad
🖤 Realizing my worth is not attached to my success
THE EPISODE BREAKDOWN:
[2:26] My “download” to create something magical
[4:09] Why therapy for your business is necessary
[4:55] The pursuit of success conundrum
[5:56] The “when I, then I” belief
[6:50] Explaining wounds of success
[7:40] What you can expect from this special edition series
[9:09] The ways that wounds of success tend to show up
[10:40] The ideology that we’re not enough
[13:46] Healing my wounds through raising a child who is very similar to me
[14:18] My young desperation for attention & validity
[14:44] My series of a lottttt of trouble & where it came from
[15:50] The program that changed everything for me & my behavior
[19:50] Deciding to show everyone how good I was but slipping into an anxious achiever
[21:11] Becoming obsessed with success & finding my self-worth through my work
[22:52] Hitting rock bottom in jail at 6 months pregnant
[29:48] Thinking I am destined to be bad & will never be enough
[31:00] Redefining what success was & where my self worth came from
[34:43] Finding a place of wholeness & releasing my wounds
[35:39] How you can get the exclusive backstage pass to this series
[36:15] Introducing… REDEFINE ✨My brand new mastermind!
GET YOUR BACKSTAGE PASS
Let’s separate the woman from the CEO & peel back the layers of high achievement to redefine success together.
REDEFINE MASTERMIND WAITLIST
Where tailored business strategies get a therapeutic edge — pairing emotional wellness with a customized approach that meets you where you’re at and takes you where you’re going.
MORE ABOUT ASH
I am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.
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• 1:1 Mentorship
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• The Passive Program Suite
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