A listener left me a voicemail asking what advice I would give someone who has a meaningful project, business, or content she wants to share with the world, but is afraid of being seen.The timing of her question could not have been better.That same week, I had been feeling discouraged about the growth of this podcast. I wanted more people to see what I was creating. She was afraid of being seen at all.But the more I thought about her question, the more I realized we might be struggling with two sides of the same thing, giving other people’s opinions and reactions more power than they deserve.In this episode, I talk about where my own fear of standing out came from, why being seen can feel unsafe, whose opinions are actually worth listening to, and what I learned from walking away from this podcast and eventually coming back.I don't know if I am in a position to give her any advice.But what I do know is to ask some good questions. What do you want to matter more? The thing you want to create, or what other people might think when you create it?CONNECT WITH THE SHOW:Website: ⁠https://1800goaldigger.com⁠Instagram: @1800goaldiggerVoice messages and stories: ⁠[email protected]⁠If this episode resonated with you, send it to one woman who needs to hear it. That is how this show grows.And if you have a question or story you want to share with me, leave me a private voicemail at 1800goaldigger.com. With your permission, your voice could become part of a future episode.@1800goaldigger, sharing the emotional truth underneath the glamour and celebration of success and growth.CHAPTERS:[00:00] Why I’ve Been Feeling Discouraged About This Podcast[01:35] A Listener Who Is Afraid of Being Seen[02:10] Why Are You Afraid of Being Seen?[03:20] Where I Learned That Standing Out Wasn’t Safe[05:20] I Still Struggle With Being Seen Too[06:05] The Real Problem Hidden in Her Question[07:35] Whose Opinion Are You Actually Afraid Of?[09:15] Why Mel Protected Her Business Idea[10:40] You Don’t Have to Eliminate the Fear Before You Begin[12:15] Stop Waiting Until You Feel Ready[13:05] What Happens If You Keep Yourself Hidden?[14:20] Which Discomfort Would You Rather Live With?[15:00] But What If It Isn’t Worth It?[16:05] Why I Came Back to This Podcast[17:40] What This Listener’s Voicemail Reminded Me[18:10] My One Piece of Advice

Mel Grauds never thought she was a gym person.She avoided gym class, did not grow up athletic, and spent years believing fitness simply was not for her. Then she became a personal trainer.In 2020, after burning out as a registered nurse, Mel walked away from a stable healthcare career in the middle of a pandemic and started what would eventually become Melrose Training. She had no clients, no following, no formal business training, and initially kept the decision almost entirely to herself.Six years later, Melrose has grown into a trusted women’s strength-training brand with a team of trainers and a wait list.In this conversation, Mel and I talk about reinvention, two very different experiences of burnout, the financial reality of building a business from zero, why she chose slow and sustainable growth over viral success, and what it took to let go of control as the company expanded.We also talk about the less visible sacrifices of entrepreneurship, including delaying motherhood, navigating serious pregnancy complications, and learning what it means to build a business that can survive without you at the center of everything.At its core, this is a conversation about becoming someone you once believed you were not.Because sometimes reinvention does not begin with confidence.Sometimes it begins with taking one small step before you feel ready.CHAPTERS:[00:00] From nursing to fitness founder[02:02] I was never a gym person[04:47] Loving nursing, but burning out[07:42] When working out became too much[10:51] Discovering strength training[14:26] Leaving nursing during the pandemic[17:47] The financial reality of starting a business[20:09] The first “real” client[21:24] Building confidence through cringe[23:58] When success created a new problem[27:10] Letting go of control and building a team[28:53] What entrepreneurship looks like behind the scenes[29:55] Why Mel never chased viral growth[31:48] Motherhood, pregnancy complications, and business[34:16] What nursing taught her about being a founder[35:49] Nurse burnout vs. founder burnout[37:12] The sacrifice women founders rarely talk about[39:23] What women should know about getting strong[40:28] The power of slow build[41:25] Reinventing yourself before you feel ready[42:46] Everything is figure-out-able[43:56] Where to findMelCONNECT WITH MEL:Website: https://melrosetraining.caInstagram: @melrosetraining @melgraudsCONNECT WITH THE SHOW:Website: ⁠https://1800goaldigger.com⁠Instagram: @1800goaldiggerVoice messages and stories: ⁠[email protected]⁠If this episode resonated with you, send it to one woman who needs to hear it. That is how this show grows.@1800goaldigger, sharing the emotional truth underneath the glamour and celebration of success and growth.

From the outside, Chelsea’s journey looks like an extraordinary climb: an astrophysics degree, more than twenty years in finance and strategic planning, a move across continents, a coaching business, a family she calls her anchor, and a life she says she is deeply in love with. But her story began with a young mother, an abusive home, and two years living in a women’s refuge.In this episode, Chelsea shares how watching the stars with her grandmother gave her a sense of wonder beyond the circumstances around her, why she describes growing up with very little rather than nothing, and what she learned from the women who helped her family find safety. She also opens up about the possibility of contacting the father she has never known, studying astrophysics to remain connected to her grandmother, moving from finance into coaching, and why she treats failure as feedback rather than a verdict.This is a conversation about self-belief, compassion, happiness, and what it means to keep looking up when life gives you every reason to look down.This conversation includes descriptions of domestic abuse and childhood instability. Please take care while listening. If you are in a situation that does not feel safe, reach out to a local support organization or someone you trust.CONNECT WITH CHELSEAWebsite: https://headforhappy.comInstagram: @headforhappyLinkedIn: Chelsea HughesBook: A book about happiness, currently in progressCONNECT WITH THE SHOWWebsite: https://1800goaldigger.comInstagram: @1800goaldiggerVoice messages and stories: [email protected] this episode resonated with you, send it to one woman who needs to hear it. That is how this show grows.@1800goaldigger, sharing the emotional truth underneath the glamour and celebration of success and growth.CHAPTERS[00:00] Where you start does not decide where you end[00:42] Who Chelsea is and the values that guide her[01:44] Looking at the stars with her grandmother[03:23] The final lesson her grandmother gave her[04:24] Growing up with very little, not nothing[07:18] What her mother taught her about equality[09:13] The strength of leaving an abusive home[10:21] The childhood incident she cannot remember[11:42] Whether she will contact her father[13:33] What living in a women’s refuge left behind[16:43] What she would tell the girl she used to be[19:04] “If it is not okay, it is not the end”[20:58] Studying astrophysics to stay connected to her grandmother[21:51] How astrophysics led to a career in finance[23:46] Realizing she had always been a helper[24:36] Leaving corporate life and becoming a coach[27:02] Why women do not need to be fixed[29:03] Coaching, therapy, and moving forward[31:09] Why failure is more useful as feedback[34:21] The stepfather who taught her to think differently[37:40] Building a family that feels like solid ground[39:22] Why she is writing a book about happiness[41:37] There is no single formula for happiness[42:41] What it means to be deeply in love with your life[43:51] The first step when you cannot see a way out[45:12] Connect with Chelsea

When I was younger, I never questioned whether I would become a mother. I assumed it was one of the natural stages of becoming an adult.Twenty years later, I am not a mother, and I am no longer certain that I ever will be.In this solo episode, I explore the question I still have not answered: do I want to raise a child now, or am I grieving the mother I always assumed I would become?I talk about waiting for my relationship, finances, career, and emotional life to feel settled; the fear of repeating patterns from my childhood; the realities of pregnancy in my 40s; and why adoption remains one of the futures I can imagine.This conversation is for the women who live between a definite yes and a definite no. The women who made careful choices, watched time pass, and are still trying to understand what they truly want.I do not have an inspiring conclusion to offer. The story is still open.Visit 1800goaldigger.com to leave me a private voicemail or share your story.@1800goaldigger explores ambition, identity, confidence, womanhood, and the emotional truth underneath the glamour and celebration of success and growth.

When a listener named Mel asked me how to future-proof ourselves in the age of AI and how I stay grounded beneath it all, I thought this was going to be an episode about technology.It wasn't.It became a conversation about fear, identity, and the pressure to keep up in a world that keeps changing.In this solo episode, I reflect on what working in enterprise technology has taught me about AI, why I don't have the same level of AI anxiety, and why I believe future-proofing has less to do with chasing every new tool and more to do with growing deeper roots.Because maybe AI isn't the story. Maybe you are.@1800goaldigger, sharing goal-digging ugly truth. Subscribe for new episodes every Monday.

From the outside, Tiffiny was the woman who had it all handled. A master's degree, a demanding consulting career, a marriage, a body she competed with on stage. On the inside, she was barely keeping her head above water, and the hardest part of her life was the one nobody could see.In this episode, Tiffiny shares the day at her kitchen table that changed everything, the months of knowing before leaving, what it took to rebuild after losing her marriage and her corporate career in the same stretch, and how she got clear on what she actually wanted instead of what she was raised to want. She also shares the exit strategy advice she gives any woman who does not feel safe, and the framework she now teaches other women: The Freedom Codes (@TheFreedomCodes).This conversation includes descriptions of domestic abuse. If you are in a situation that does not feel safe, please reach out to a local support organization or someone you trust.CONNECT WITH TIFFINYWebsite: https://www.tjfambro.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tiffinyj.fambro/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheFreedomCodesCONNECT WITH THE SHOWAll links: https://beacons.ai/1800goaldiggerInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/1800goaldiggerVoice DMs and stories: [email protected] this episode resonated with you, send it to one woman who needs to hear it. That is how this show grows.@1800goaldigger, sharing goal-digging ugly truth.CHAPTERS[00:00] The promise of milestones[00:42] Who Tiffiny was raised to be[02:12] The consulting years nobody could see inside[04:27] Fitness as the only joy[06:07] The marriage behind the image[08:46] The day at the kitchen table[12:50] Why leaving felt impossible[14:06] The divorce and what came after[16:56] Laid off and starting over[19:53] The routine that rebuilt her[21:13] Getting clear on what she actually wanted[26:06] The Freedom Codes: clarity, confidence, courage[31:16] Inside the Freedom Codes Collective[36:44] The exit strategy every woman should know[39:15] To the woman who almost didn't press play[40:08] One thing for her younger self#1800GoalDigger #TiffinyFambro #TheFreedomCodes #CareerRebuild #womenempowerment

I treated myself like a product to be sold. I did discovery on myself, but not compassionately.In this episode, I unpack what a senior marketer's offhand comment, that personal branding is a little bit contrived, forced me to confront. I talk about Misty, the alter ego I built out of everything I thought I was missing. Why performing is exhausting, because performing is not for the performer, it is for the audience. And the question I was never asking underneath all the positioning: who am I becoming?This is for the woman who has been optimizing the package while secretly wondering why she still does not feel seen.If it resonates, send it to one woman who needs it. Voice DM me @1800goaldigger on Instagram or email me 1:1 at [email protected]. Your voice could become part of a future episode.

What if everything you've been told about building your personal brand is the wrong place to start?Ali Leung spent her career building some of Canada's most recognizable brands, Unilever, Meta, Weight Watchers, and Shopify. She knows exactly what goes into making something that looks impressive from the outside. And somewhere along the way she realized that knowing how to build a brand taught her almost nothing about knowing herself.In this episode we get into why "build your personal brand" makes her cringe, why you are the product and not the packaging, and what it actually takes to build a presence that lasts. We talk about the honest feedback that changed how she leads, the season when her career looked impressive on the outside and didn't match on the inside, and how she rebuilt her confidence from the ground up.Her reframe is simple and a little provocative. Don't be yourself. Become yourself. This conversation is about what she means by that, and why the work is internal long before it ever shows up on the outside.1-800-GOAL-DIGGER, a space for honest conversation where I share the ugly truth that lives underneath all the glamour and celebration of success and growth.If this episode resonates with you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a woman who may need to hear this.Links and followFind Ali on LinkedIn under Alison LeungEverything from the show is at beacons.ai/1800goaldiggerVoice DM or follow on Instagram @1800goaldiggerEmail me 1:1 at [email protected]

This week I am not bringing you a polished episode. I am bringing you an update, told to the small circle of women who actually press play and stay.Two things happened. A woman called me brave, and it made me sad. My mentor watched me feel stupid, and told me the feeling was irrelevant. It took me a few days to realize they were the same story.This episode is about the difference between feelings that ask to be witnessed and feelings that do not deserve to drive, about bravery, grief, mentorship, self-trust, and the discernment it takes to keep becoming. The feeling is real. It is just not always relevant.#1800GoalDigger #FeelingsArentFacts #AmbitiousWomen #SelfTrust #PersonalGrowthForWomen #HonestConversations #SeasonTwo #InnerCircle

In October 2023, Nehal got a 5-minute phone call that ended 23 years of her professional career at one of Canada's top five banks. 6 months later, her 16-year marriage was over too. This is the story of what she did with the wreckage.For most of her life, Nehal did everything "right", the secure job, the marriage, the family that looked, from the outside, like the one everyone wanted. Then the career she tied her identity to disappeared, and followed that she finally heard what she'd been ignoring for years. What came next wasn't a breakdown. It was a total reset, and the start of Born to Rise and Glow.We talk about the signs she ignored, the cultural script of "men will be men," the moment her teenage daughter held a mirror up to her, and the unglamorous work of rebuilding a self at 45, faith, journaling, meditation, and learning to be authentically herself out loud.Nehal coaches women and youth through career transitions, the end of a relationship, and finding your footing as a parent in the middle of it all. Book a free 30-minute discovery call: https://mentaa.com (search for Nehal)This is the first guest episode of 1-800-GOAL-DIGGER, and it's exactly the kind of honest conversation this show exists for. If you're in your own journey of rebuild, this one's for you.Follow 1-800-GOAL-DIGGER so the next conversation finds you. Find me on all social @1800goaldigger. Send me a voice DM on Instagram with your questions or a personal story. With your permission, your voice could be part of a future episode.