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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
146. I Am Safe Enough To Go Slow
Coming to you for another Musings style episode from the comfort of my bed on day one of my bleed as I watch the Washington rain outside and dream about ordering some hot Pho. 🌧️🍜🩸🛌 This is the first time it's rained since we've been here and I'm obsessed. I can't stop opening the window to smell the fresh rain. As always, this episode is a catch up of where I've been, what's going well, and what I'm struggling with. Plussss, I dive into my criminal history and why exploring Canada was such a big deal for me. 🚔🇨🇦
THE JUICY HIGHLIGHTS:
• Enjoying the rain from my window & dreaming about Pho
• Celebrating visiting Canada after thinking I never would
• Abandoning myself in hopes of belonging to others
• Triggered by people giving advice that doesn’t align with my coaching style
• Choose you, belong to you, && don’t abandon yourself like I did
THE EPISODE BREAKDOWN:
[1:01] It’s FINALLY raining in Washington 😍
[1:41] Forgetting our passports on our way to Canada
[2:51] Sea to sky scenic highway & gondola
[4:10] Being overzealous on our adventure day in Stanley Park
[7:06] I really think I was made to live in a treehouse in the middle of a forest
[7:36] Fearing I would never get to visit Canada because… 🚔
[8:34] Backstory on me being a convicted felon SMFH
[13:21] Celebrating my continued wellness success
[15:09] Belonging to myself without sacrificing pieces of me for others “safety”
[18:32] Recognizing when you're stuck in the muck & need to dig yourself out
[19:41] Loving my notes app for my wellness checklist 📝
[20:51] Feeling triggering by this…
[21:56] Safe enough to go slow 🫶🏻
[23:28] I am NOT the coach for you...
[24:48] Handling this trigger
FREE TRAINING {FROM INSIDE BECOMING HER}
As both a therapist and a life coach, I deeply understand that the real key to riches is knowing how to adjust and adapt to ultimately overcome resistance on your path to becoming her.
This audio activation will help you clarify your motivations. It'll help you embrace continuous growth and it will encourage you to let go of perfectionism so you can shift your perspective and take that radical responsibility for your life for the long haul.
📲 To get this free BTS training from the recent healing intensive, Her Reinvention, message me "becoming" on Instagram.
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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