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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
137. Self-Sacrifice & The Need To Belong
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A few months ago I did some "story extraction calls" with a close colleague where I laid my real, raw && oh so vulnerable life story all out on the table and had her help me decide what to do with it. Her name is Katie Quesada and she is an *incredible* story teller. So I knew when I made the decision to use my personal story to create a sense of belonging for others, I wanted her perspective of it.
I've always been intrigued by "belonging." Our innate desire to belong, the pieces of ourselves we'll sacrifice for it, and how I can use my story to cultivate deep connection and belonging for those who feel like they never have. 😞❤️🩹 During the extraction process, I was asked a question that struck me to my core and sparked many conversations with myself and others around belonging... Find out what that question was in this episode where I also navigate how I'm cultivating belonging outside of myself for others, but also cultivating belonging for myself without shapeshifting pieces of myself into someone who I'm not.
THE JUICY HIGHLIGHTS:
• The true definition of "belonging" and how it affects all parts of life
• Feeling incredibly disconnected to {slowly} creating my community
• Paying for friends??? 👀
• Carving out time to be intentional with relationships
• Resetting to remember who I am & what I'm leaving for others
• Getting radical about belonging to yourself first
THE EPISODE BREAKDOWN:
[0:42] The BTS of my "story extraction calls"
[1:35] The real definition of belonging & what it predicts within our lives
[3:40] Creating a sense of belonging for ourselves AND others
[5:08] How did I go from feeling disconnected to creating community
[7:58] The vulnerable ask to four women to go deeper in our friendships
[10:06] The life-altering question Katie asked me
[11:42] Chosen versus given exclusion
[12:13] What Katie said to me that left me feeling so seen
[13:03] Leaving after creating connections because I choose myself first
[14:08] Where are you staying stuck just so you can belong?
[14:40] People's thoughts and opinions on my life decisions
[15:25] Resetting to remember that I need to belong to me first
[16:47] The magic that gets to exist when you belong to you
[17:20] Announcement about my new membership!
Are you loving it? Send Ash a text!
MORE ABOUT ASH
I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business.
I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time.
LINKS:
- Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts
- Fast-track your results → The Green Room
- Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions
- Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape
- Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck
- Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat
- Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com