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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
128. Depersonalizing Failure | RTWOS EP 3 with Topsie VandenBosch
Let’s dive into the transformative power of embracing failure and learning how to fail well. In this episode, you’ll find how depersonalizing your setbacks can lead to growth and how the importance of treating everything as valuable data can lead you to become the scientist of your own entrepreneurial journey. This is the Releasing The Wounds Of Success Series, Episode 3. ✨ The expert for this episode is a fellow therapist & mindset coach, Topsie VandenBosch. 👇🏻
CONNECT WITH TOPSIE
Topsie VandenBosch, LMSW is a Mindset & Emotional Intelligence Coach & Consultant for CEOs of small businesses & organizations. She helps business owners destroy negative thought patterns + unhelpful behaviors that affect how they run their businesses by teaching leaders how to master their mindset, manage their thoughts, and use emotional intelligence skills.
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THE JUICY HIGHLIGHTS:
🖤 Being unable to hold all the success you desire
🖤 Afraid to take a step back in your business
🖤 Depersonalizing failure & failing well
THE EPISODE BREAKDOWN:
[2:42] How Topsie became a mindset coach
[5:33] Am I cheap orrrr do I just want business advice from a friend?
[8:15] Depersonalizing your failures for personal growth
[13:28] Treating messy launches as data points for creating better systems
[18:01] External blame versus internal radical responsibility
[19:49] Fear of stepping back & an intentional mindset
[24:25] Be willing to stop a lot in life
[25:11] The value of sharing your journey & building a supportive network
[31:45] Becoming the scientist of your business to overcome the fear of failure
[38:01] The affirmation confirmation loop
[40:25] Yeah… I peed the bed last week
[42:29] Feeling discomfort & pain around failure
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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• The Passive Program Suite
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