Make Some Noise with Andrea Owen

Heather Chauvin is back on the show, and honestly, every conversation with her feels like a masterclass in telling the truth. Heather is a leadership coach who helps successful women live, work, and parent on their own terms, and she practices every single thing she preaches, whether that's kayaking Alaska or snowboarding with her kids. In 2013, a stage 4 cancer diagnosis cracked her life wide open and pushed her to take a deeper stand for change, and she has been helping women do the same ever since. In this conversation, we go deep on identity, decision-making, self-trust, psychedelic therapy, and what it actually means to fight for your own aliveness in a world that is constantly pulling your attention outward. This one is meaty and I can’t wait for you to hear it! What you’ll hear in this episode:  Resentment is almost always a sign that you've crossed your own boundary, and it points you right back to what matters. Heather likes to say, you're not stuck, you're avoiding a decision–  and her one question cuts right through it. Self-trust is a practice, and you build it with small decisions, not big leaps. Aliveness requires a fight right now, and Heather makes the case that we can't afford to go numb. Psychedelic therapy is a declutter, not a fix, and she breaks down who she sees benefit most. Your human skills (emotional regulation, discernment, critical thinking), are never going out of style. Real self-care is free, and it probably starts with a conversation you've been avoiding. Heather is one of those people who tells the truth so cleanly that you have no choice but to look at your own life differently, and this conversation is no exception. If you've been white-knuckling your way through life wondering why nothing feels like enough, this episode is for you. Resources from this episode:Follow Andrea on Substack!Check out Andrea’s coaching HERE and HEREHeather’s episode on boundaries in her marriageHeather’s candid conversation with her son podcast episode  Heather Chauvin is a leadership coach who helps ‘successful’ women courageously and authentically live, work, and parent on their own terms. Heather started her career as a social worker helping adults understand children’s behavior. But it wasn’t until 2013 when a stage 4 cancer diagnosis pushed her to take a deeper stand for change, uncovering how cultural expectations sabotage our dreams. She has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Real Simple Magazine, Mind Body Green, Google, and more. When Heather isn’t working, you will find her living out what she teaches which may include kayaking Alaska, snowboarding, hiking, or anything else that challenges what she believes is possible for herself (and inviting her children along the journey). Life is full of opportunities. It’s time to feel alive. Book recommendations:I love a good personal development book, and you do too, right? I’ve compiled a list of book recommendations, as mentioned in past episodes. Check out these amazing book recommendations here. Happy reading! MSN is supported by:We love the sponsors that make our show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: andreaowen.com/sponsors/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, I'm back with Alanna Kaivalya, PhD, author of The Way of the Satisfied Woman and expert on mythology, feminine psychology, and spiritual empowerment. This is part two of our conversation, and it might be even better than the first. We picked up right where we left off, and Alanna came with receipts. She goes deep on the practical, embodied, sometimes uncomfortable work of actually stopping the self-abandonment cycle. Not just recognizing it, but interrupting it in real time. We talked about what it means to reclaim your energy from the people and systems that have been draining it, what happens in your relationships when you start saying no, and why so many of us are still waiting for permission we were never going to get. (Link to our first conversation is in the show notes.) What you'll hear about in this episode: The one practice Alanna teaches every woman first: tuning into your body's “sacred no” and how to use it as a real-time pattern interrupt before you abandon yourself again Why stopping your over-functioning will feel messy at first, and why that mess is the point, including the laundry that will pile up and why you should let it The feminine guilt trap: why women feel guilty not for what we've done, but for what someone else might feel, and how to tell the difference between genuine wrongdoing and simply inconveniencing people Why Alanna believes the “let them” philosophy is being used against us, and why she wants to make accountability sexy again instead What Alanna's own past relationship revealed about the danger of “masculine armor,” and what happens when a capable woman attracts a partner who uses her strength as permission to stop showing up Last, a reminder to follow me on Substack if you want to get my longer form writing I’ve been doing lately. I’ll be writing to unpack some pretty big topics, and would love to interact with listeners of the podcast over there 😀 Resources from this episode:Follow me on SubstackAlanna’s previous episode on the podcastAlanna’s websiteAlanna Kaivalya, PhD, is a bestselling author, educator, thought leader, and expert on mythology, spirituality, psychology, and women’s empowerment. The author of The Way of the Satisfied Woman, Sacred Sound, and Myths of the Asanas, she earned a doctorate in mythological studies with an emphasis in depth psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute and is the host of The Satisfied Woman podcast. She lives in Los Angeles. More information at TheSatisfiedWoman.com. Book recommendations:I love a good personal development book, and you do too, right? I’ve compiled a list of book recommendations, as mentioned in past episodes. Check out these amazing book recommendations here. Happy reading! MSN is supported by:We love the sponsors that make our show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: andreaowen.com/sponsors/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This solo episode from the archives comes from something one of my clients told me about, and it was the same thing I’ve heard from many women in this community.  My client went to a live event-- a personal development sort of conference/retreat. She went alone, and this particular client is, like many people, massively uncomfortable with vulnerability, but really wanted to change and grow, so she did the vulnerable thing by going alone to this event.  Everyone around her seemed to be having these massive breakthroughs, and she just... wasn't. I've been there and probably so have you. It's one of the most common and least-talked-about frustrations in personal growth. Today I'm getting into “comparisonitis”, specifically around your personal development journey, and why what you see other people experiencing has very little to do with what's actually available to you. What you'll take away from this episode: Comparing is normal and human and the goal isn't to stop, it's to notice it and get curious instead of staying stuck there Someone else's aha moment is happening through their lens, not yours. The same lesson can land as a 10 for them and a 2 for you, and that doesn't mean you're behind Sometimes you're just not ready and no amount of seminars will force a transformation before its time Most growth isn't seismic, it's small shifts, new tools, and slow perspective changes adding up over time There are seasons in this work. Transformation, healing, action, and rest. You don't have to be in overdrive all the time Stop measuring your journey against someone else's highlight reel and come back to what's actually in front of you. Listen to the episode as I talk more about what to do if you find yourself comparing your personal development journey to someone else’s.  Resources from this episode:Work with me 1:1 with Devotion, or open sessions  Book recommendations:I love a good personal development book, and you do too, right? I’ve compiled a list of book recommendations, as mentioned in past episodes. Check out these amazing book recommendations here. Happy reading! MSN is supported by:We love the sponsors that make our show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: andreaowen.com/sponsors/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Facebook showed me a memory this week and I had to share it with you. (See it here!) Ten years ago I wrote that. Word for word, I still mean every single sentence. I've been saying some version of this for my entire career–  write the thing, use your voice, stop waiting until you're brave enough or good enough or done caring what people think, because that day isn't coming and the regret of not starting is so much worse than the fear of beginning. The thing that’s different now, is the world. I mean, it was bad then in April of 2016, but we hadn’t even had DT’s first election into office yet. Today, women's voices have never been more needed or more threatened at the same time. The stories that get told shape what people believe is possible. The narratives that go unwritten leave a hole that no one else can fill, because no one else has your exact life, your exact perspective, your exact fingerprint on the page. This is why Shannon Kaiser and I created The Words You're Here to Write Masterclass. Not because the world needs more books. Because the world needs YOUR book. Your Substack, your essays, your voice. Your truth in whatever form it's asking to take. This is a 6-week live mentorship for women who are done waiting. You'll walk away with: ✓ A clearly defined and positioned writing project✓ A structural framework and 50+ pages of real written momentum✓ Cleared fears and roadblocks that have stalled the work✓ A publishing path and the confidence to use it✓ Freedom from the conditioning that taught you to stay silent✓ A community of women doing this work alongside you The program starts April 30th. Enrollment is open now. I've been saying this for ten years and I'll still be saying it in ten more. But I'd really love for you to not need me to say it anymore because you already did the thing. Resources from this episode:The Words You're Here to Write Masterclass Book recommendations:I love a good personal development book, and you do too, right? I’ve compiled a list of book recommendations, as mentioned in past episodes. Check out these amazing book recommendations here. Happy reading! MSN is supported by:We love the sponsors that make our show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: andreaowen.com/sponsors/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's my 51st birthday, and I'm doing what I do best, speaking from my heart. In this solo episode, I get straight to the three things I most want you to know at this stage of my life: the tools that actually accelerated my healing, what fourteen-plus years of sobriety has made possible, and why the last five years have been the most transformative (and most brutal), of my life. I also have an exciting announcement: registration is open for The Words You're Here to Write Masterclass, a six-week live mentorship program I've co-created with my friend and  bestselling author Shannon Kaiser. Whether you're thinking about a memoir, building a body of work, or just ready to finally write the thing you've been talking yourself out of–  this one's for you! What you’ll hear in this episode: Plant medicine, astrology, and writing don't create the truth, they surface it. Your nervous system has to be ready to hold a story before you can tell it. Sobriety didn't just mean abstaining from alcohol, it made everything else possible. Staying present for the hard stuff, instead of running from it, is what allowed me to move through it. Perimenopause, a second divorce, Chiron return, and this cultural moment hitting at the same time is no fucking joke. A dark night of the soul isn't failure, it means you said yes to becoming someone new. If you've been waiting for permission to feel the weight of what you're carrying and keep going anyway, consider this it. Happy birthday to me! 🎉 Resources from this episode: The Words You're Here to Write Masterclass Last year’s Birthday series, Coming Home to Yourself, episode 1 on Self-abandonment Book recommendations:I love a good personal development book, and you do too, right? I’ve compiled a list of book recommendations, as mentioned in past episodes. Check out these amazing book recommendations here. Happy reading! MSN is supported by:We love the sponsors that make our show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: andreaowen.com/sponsors/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices