From Unclear to Purpose- Kristin's Lessons from Ashley Iduda's Journey

In this episode of Happiness Unscripted, host Kristin DeSouza reflects on the inspiring journey of Ashley Iduda, who transitioned from a stay-at-home mom about to embark on a teaching career to her unscripted life filled with podcasting, makeup workshops, and coaching programs. Ashley's story emphasizes trusting oneself and taking the first step without seeing the entire path ahead. Kristin reflects on how her conversation with Ashley highlighted how embracing imperfections allows for authentic living and deeper fulfillment. By sharing her own experience, Ashley encouraged listeners to pursue their passions courageously and authentically.

00:00 Intro

00:54 Reflections from Ashley - First Steps

02:09 You can handle the challenge

03:13 You don't need to have it all figured out to begin

06:59 An Unexpected Outcome - Giving others permission to be themselves

09:56 Kristin's Self Reflection

12:47 Kristin's Wrap Up

15:08 Closing

15:55 Outro

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Hey there friends! Just a friendly reminder that this podcast is all about sharing ideas and having fun conversations. I'm not an expert in this subject over here - just a curious person exploring topics I find interesting. So please don't take anything said here as professional advice. When in doubt, chat with the real pros who know their stuff. Thanks for listening and hope you join us for the next episode! Now, let's dive in and get happy!

Transcript

Kristin - Host.. 0:06

Hello, welcome to Happiness Unscripted, where we are on a mission to embrace happiness. I'm your host, Kristin DeSouza. If you're ready to explore the real unscripted journey to deeper happiness and joy in life, then so glad you found us through this podcast. I'm inviting you to join me as we look within ourselves to find a path towards a life we each passionately embrace and love with us. Hear real stories from people who've made meaningful changes in their lives to find greater fulfillment alongside wisdom from experts across a range of fields to help inspire and inform your journey. So let's get started. What are some first steps that you can take? And, here, I think she was talking about taking the first step without seeing the full path. Ashley shared with us that, she has a word for herself, for this year. for 2025 was trust She described how this was her anchor through six months of, launching her podcast and building this new business. And Ashley explained. He will show us what steps to take, but he's not going to lay the blueprint. He is not going to show you everything. He's going to show you one little glimpse.' End quote. Ashley talks to us about when she thinks back on everything she was nervous about or didn't know how it would work out through this year of her podcasting and business launching journey, things that felt like they were the end of the world. They just worked out. I think all of us can look back and find evidence of you've handled a challenge in life that was thrown at you and you've figured things out. You've made it through those worst days. And so then trust is taking the first step without seeing what step 10 or 50 or a hundred will be. It's believing that you'll figure things out as you go, believing that you're capable of figuring things out as you go and choosing. To have faith in the possibility, uh, more so than, um, having fear about failure and then releasing the need to control every single outcome. So. Let's talk about jumping in without perfection. Ashley's podcast journey embodies, uh, a very freeing principle of, uh, happiness, in my opinion. Uh, that you don't need to have it all figured out to begin something if she didn't wake up one day deciding I'm gonna start a podcast. Uh. She tells us about how she was actually about to start a teaching job that she'd spent time preparing for when she felt God say, made for more. And so then she had to find the courage to turn down this job that was kind of on the plan, on the path that. She could see that seemed obvious. Uh, instead she saw, she found a podcasting course, and I love that she said she almost didn't show up for the first day of training, because she had no idea what she was gonna talk about. Uh, and she shared a vulnerable moment that she told her husband. I feel like I'm made to do this, but I don't even know what it is. And, in listening to her story, she then tells us how she just jumped into it. She talks about how she didn't have a plan, uh, she didn't know every detail and she. So she definitely didn't show up with perfection. Uh, she just trusted God and said, I'm gonna do the thing because you're telling me to do the thing. And from a secular perspective, I'm not saying that we all have to, hear God telling us to have faith and to go do the thing. But I think it's just such a great example of jumping in and doing something that you're not sure you're ready for yet. So if we wait for perfect timing or complete clarity, or to have mastered all the skills to figure out how to guarantee success, uh, to feel ready, you know, how will we ever start anything? Uh, Ashley shared with us that six months later, she's in season three of her podcast. She's launched a makeup workshop and she's developing a coaching program. She shared with us that she's empowered dozens of women through her podcasting platform and her other platforms with her makeup and building her coaching, and she says that none of this would exist if she'd waited for perfect. So I think that's, yeah, that's just such a resonating moment that I think can probably feel in yourself that, envisioning how good it must feel to be able to have looked back through all those scary steps and say, you know, the plan wasn't perfect. I didn't do everything perfectly, but wow. Like what an amazing seen experience and growth that I've had and how that's positively impacted others. So what about when your path serves others? Ashley shared with us that an unexpected outcome has been the impact on others through her podcast. She described how she thought success would look like. Her inbox filling with messages from listeners saying the episodes changed their lives. And instead what's happened most is she says, has been even better. Her podcast guests have been transformed by the opportunity to have a place to share their stories. Uh, she says, I've had my actual guests come on. And then inbox me and be like, thank you so much for seeing me, like thank you for giving me a chance to have my voice be heard. I think this illustrates something profound about authentic living and uh, something that I think can help you, can help us. Move beyond it feeling like maybe, are we being selfish? You know, when you pursue your calling, when you let yourself be authentic, you're helping to give others permission to do the same. By being the imperfect version of yourself and being vulnerable in your journey. Creating that creates space for honest conversation and you know, through her conversation with us and through. Her podcast, she's empowering women to share their stories, uh, and model that it's okay to be in process, uh, to, that you can create a community around authentic growth and inspire others to take steps that are very brave and scary for them. And. That's how I think happiness can develop unscripted, not by following a formula, but by listening to yourself and by being willing to be authentic. Uh, and then I think we'll each be able to see how living authentically creates space for others around us to do the same thing. Okay, so I'll wrap up here with a bit of a personal of my own reflection. As I've listened to it a few times. I had several questions that kept surfacing for me, so I want to offer them up to you all here on Happiness Unscripted as well. What if the life you're meant to live doesn't require more perfection, but simply more honesty with yourself and, uh, those around you. What if your happiness depends not on achieving more, but just accepting yourself more fully and. Embracing who you are as opposed to kind of striving and reaching all the time. And what if the courage to say I'm not okay is actually the beginning point of becoming more Okay. And really, okay. More Okay. Than you've ever been. And lastly, what if we're each already enough, like right now to begin whatever it is we want it, if that's, it's okay to just begin. Those questions challenge a lot of how I've approached life at various times. And like Ashley, I spent years trying to have everything figured out. Uh, I realized that I always wanted approval, uh, believing I needed to achieve or earned my worth. Uh, but in reflecting on her story and reflecting on, my own journey so far and the growth that I've gone through, um, along with stories I've heard about the women, she's empowering that all comes together to just reinforce and remind me that happiness is unscripted. It doesn't follow a blueprint, uh, and it emerges when we have the courage to discover and live our own unique life and accepting that we are gonna be do it imperfectly, but we can be authentic and courageous with just one trust filled step at a time. Okay, so I talked longer than I thought I would on this, but I think it's just such, so many interesting points to take away from what Ashley shared with us. Uh, I think Ashley's journey from, what she describes as a lost identity to now really embracing authentic purpose, teaches us that transformation doesn't have to have all the answers. It simply requires the courage to be honest about our struggles. Her message that we're worthy simply by existing, that we can choose truth about ourselves over lies each day, and that jumping into life as our imperfect selves is so much better than waiting until we think we have perfection, and I think the story Ashley shared is really a beautiful roadmap for anyone seeking deeper fulfillment and joy. With that, I will thank you for joining me in reflecting on Ashley's really inspiring journey. I'll share that next time, on happiness unscripted, we're going to continue to explore and consider what the path to authentic living looks like for each of us and what might be some tools or some new awakening that could help us get there. So until then, I invite you to consider what would change in your life if you chose to believe you're already enough. What is the first step you might take if you decided to do something imperfectly? And lastly, remember, your journey towards happiness doesn't have to be scripted. It just needs to be yours. Well, that's a wrap on this episode of Happiness Unscripted. I'm so grateful you chose to spend this time with me today exploring what it means to build a life we truly love. Your journey matters. The path to happiness isn't always linear, but it's always worth walking. Remember, this path isn't about perfection. It's about progress, self-compassion, and the courage to keep walking towards your goals. I want you to know that your presence here means everything to me before you go. Take a moment to think about one small thing from today's conversation that gives you joy. Where you can put into practice this week, then please share it in the comment section to inspire others. If you found value in what we discussed, please share this episode with someone who might need to hear it or leave us a great review to help others find their way here too. Please follow Happiness Unscripted on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe so you get updates on the next episode release. I'm Kristin DeSouza and I can't wait to continue our journey towards Happiness Unscripted. Let's get happy.