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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
143. A Life & Business Above the Standard
If you tuned in to episode 141, I shared a very personal & vulnerable story about a time I didn’t belong. A huge reason why I felt compelled to share that was because of the sense of belonging that comes with my new membership, the Above The Standard Collective.
Another urge you get inside the membership is to stop simply showing up for life & settling to instead start living intentionally and create magic in the day to day. If you were radically honest with yourself, how often are you just showing up in life and not existing to your fullest potential? You get to change that narrative.
THE JUICY HIGHLIGHTS:
• How I discovered what my legacy was
• My constant aim has been to help people live above the standard
• Creating a space where you don't simply exist, rather get to become
• How I live intentionally everyday & create magic in the mundane
• Becoming her & existing to my fullest and greatest potential
THE EPISODE BREAKDOWN:
[0:52] My personal reinvention has been taking place for years
[1:55] The ups & downs of my life that have led me to live out my purpose
[4:22] The former membership & how the new one is different
[4:36] What actually creates sustainability in a business (it’s the CEO)
[5:45] Giggling at my Freudian slips saying sex instead of success 🫦
[6:15] My greatest focus over the last 14 years is helping those live a life above the standard
[7:15] Majorly fumbling over my words HELLOOO luteal phase 😮💨
[7:45] This membership is not just recurring revenue for me… it’s my LEGACY
[8:38] The Collective is not just a space that you exist in, it’s a space you become in
[9:01] How do I live above the standard on the daily? My risk & repeat effect… 🔄
[11:00] What happens when you stop being the victim of your circumstances
[12:42] How different might your life look if you stop simply showing up and truly intentionally show up? 👀
[12:57] The two questions I ask myself when I’m feeling blase or mundane in my life
[17:03] Reciprocation is the name of the game for healing
[19:16] Recently having an existential crisis with the word “ambition” 🫣
[21:00] I believe this is the most profound thing we can do as women
[21:20] What’s standing between you and creating the life you want
[22:14] The beauty & magic that you’ll find inside this space 🪄
[25:13] The doors are only open once this year?! 😱
[26:30] An energy healer told me I was put on this earth to do this…
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.
LIVE OFFERINGS
• 1:1 Mentorship
FREE & LOW TICKET OFFERS
• The Passive Program Suite
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• The website has all the current news