the bossbabe podcast

Ever wondered why every time you reach a new revenue level, the same exhaustion shows up — just dressed differently? In this conversation, Natalie sits down with Julie Santiago — founder of We Are The Women, former Wall Street operator, and one of the rare guests who can break down what high-functioning burnout actually looks like at the 7- and 8-figure mark. Julie walks through the three burnouts that shaped her career: the Wall Street year that put tumors on her ovary at 28, the coaching practice she rebuilt in a San Francisco apartment, and the post-motherhood collapse that brought her to her knees again. The takeaway isn't grit. It isn't quitting. It's something Julie calls evolution and it's the framework most high-achieving women never get taught. This isn't about hustle, balance, or finding your why. It's a brutally honest breakdown of what high-functioning burnout actually looks like at the 7- and 8-figure mark, why the same pattern that builds your success eventually breaks you, and how to evolve past the cycle so you stop ending up in the same place at every new level. Time Stamps: 00:59 The childhood imprint that built an 8-figure business and broke it 05:45 Wall Street, tumors at 28, and the body's verdict 13:10 The 2-path trap: why pushing through OR quitting both fail 20:45 Why clunkiness is a season change, not a failure to optimize 28:40 The match-my-salary moment her therapist shut down 33:22 Safety, surrender, and a new relationship to money 38:18 The metaphor that broke her thinking about money's source 43:30 Going all-in vs. knowing when to evolve Resources + Links: Pre-Order The Freedom-Based Business Method. Follow Julie on Instagram Learn more about We Are the Women Sign Up For Our Free Weekly Newsletter & Get Insights From Natalie Every Single Week On All Things Strategy, Motherhood, Business Growth + More.  Drop Us A Review On The Podcast + Send Us A Screenshot & We’ll Send You Natalie’s 7-Figure Operating System Completely FREE (value $1,997).

Organic content builds your brand. But ads? Ads build your bank. In this episode, Natalie sits down with Brooke Shelton — a former Meta insider who helped train the platform's ad AI and advised advertisers spending hundreds of millions of dollars on Meta. Brooke delivers a full tactical masterclass on running Meta ads with AI: the strategy most founders get wrong, how to build AI agents that create and manage your campaigns, and why the next 9 to 12 months are a rare window to master this before Meta automates it all away. You'll learn the one-campaign, one-ad-set rule that stops you competing against yourself in the ad auction, why creative (not audience targeting) is your only real advantage in 2026, and how Brooke runs her entire business on AI with zero team after 6X-ing her revenue. She also breaks down the difference between an assistant, an agent, and agentic AI, then gives a step-by-step walkthrough for building your very first AI agent today. If you've ever felt like ads are too technical, too expensive, or too overwhelming to touch, this episode is the reframe — and the operating system behind it. And if this conversation lights you up, Natalie and Brooke are taking it live and hands-on at their AI hackathon in New York City on June 10th. All the details are linked below. Time Stamps: 00:00 - From Meta's ads AI team to building her own business 06:30 - Why organic builds brand, but ads build bank 09:49 - The 9-month AI window before Meta does it all for you 14:27 - The one-campaign, one-ad-set rule most founders get wrong 18:14 - How to let AI run your entire ad account 21:58 - Why creative is your only real bid in 2026 26:11 - Can AI really build hundreds of ads? The 10/80/10 reality 29:32 - Assistant vs agent vs agentic AI, finally explained 34:19 - The full AI tool stack behind a zero-team business 41:53 - How to build your first AI agent today 46:53 - Inside the June hackathon with Natalie + Brooke Resources + Links: Join Natalie + Brooke At The Freedom AI Hackathon In NYC On June 10th: Spend One Day Building Your Entire AI-Powered Sales + Marketing Engine, Done With You In The Room Get Inside Brooke's AI Ads Coaching Membership At Atelier AI Natalie + Jamie Kern Lima At GodMothers: An Evening Of Connection, Wisdom + Community For Ambitious Women Join The Earn Your Happy Live Podcast Taping With Lori Harder: Be In The Room For A Live Recording With Natalie + Lori Harder (plus a Q&A session with Powerhouse Female Entrepreneurs) Pre-Order The Freedom-Based Business Method.

How To Recession-Proof Your Business In 2026

What does it actually take to build a 3M+ personal brand while running a $250M company? In this episode, Natalie sits down with Leila Hormozi - COO of Acquisition.com - to break down the playbook for personal brand: how Leila built one of the top personal brands without making it her full-time job, why deprioritizing content was the move that finally made her brand compound, and the practical content systems (including how she really uses AI) that let her ship without burning out. Expect specific numbers, a counter-discourse case for personal brand in the AI era, and a content "double dip" framework you can install this week. If you've ever wondered whether building a personal brand is even worth it in 2026, or you're a founder trying to figure out how to ship content without it taking over your life, this episode is the operating system. Time Stamps: 00:00 - The personal brand strategy that grew 3M+ followers  01:43 - Why content compounded after she stopped trying so hard 06:24 - The mentor's "ham and garlic" rule for packaging 09:35 - Why your niche is "one of one" — the anti-niching case 15:36 - The AI rule that separates real brands from AI slop 18:50 - Why personal brand is MORE valuable in the AI era 24:15 - Inside the first 100% AI-driven sale at Acquisition.com 29:17 - The doubling-constraint scaling lens for personal brand 35:51 - The newsletter she built without writing a single word Resources + Links: Follow Leila Hormozi On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leilahormozi  Leila's Letters Newsletter: leilahormozi.com Pre-Order The Freedom-Based Business Method. Sign Up For Our Free Weekly Newsletter & Get Insights From Natalie Every Single Week On All Things Strategy, Motherhood, Business Growth + More. Drop Us A Review On The Podcast + Send Us A Screenshot & We’ll Send You Natalie’s 7-Figure Operating System Completely FREE (value $1,997).

How She Built An 8-Figure Business Selling $24 Products