It's Your Time

How do you find your purpose as a high achiever? You don't find it. You cultivate it. If you've built the career, hit the goals, and still wonder why it doesn't feel the way you thought it would, this episode is for you. I share why searching for your purpose keeps you stuck, how to start cultivating it by paying attention to what lights you up, and why the goal itself was never going to hand you the feeling you were chasing. Along the way we get into the permission slips so many of us pick up early and carry into our careers, why identity (more than strategy) decides whether you follow through, and what to do when you hit the number and think, "...huh." I also talk about equanimity, which is staying steady without feeling less, and why some of us get suspicious when things start to feel easy. At the end, four small things to try this week. In this episode  Why purpose is cultivated, not found The permission slips we pick up early and carry into our careers Why identity, more than strategy, decides your results What to do when hitting the goal doesn't feel the way you expected Equanimity: staying steady without feeling less Why some of us get suspicious when things feel easy, and how to tolerate ease Four small things to try this week   A question to sit with: What would I do, or let myself have, if I trusted that I already was who I needed to be? www.michellebourquecoaching.com/risereport   If this one helped, share it with a friend who needs to hear it, and leave a review so more women can find the show.  

Strength training for women isn't only about how you look. Estela Nascimento calls muscle an insurance policy, and she means it. Estela grew up in Brazil, lived in the U.S. and London, and now splits her time between Miami and the Cayman Islands. Her spine was fused when she was 15 because of scoliosis, and she says that, along with watching her mom's menopause hit overnight, shaped what she cares about today. She's now building ByEla, a company focused on helping women build strength, bone and brain power as they age, and she also has a full-time job. In this conversation, Michelle A. Bourque and Estela talk about why muscle works like a reserve for accidents, illness and recovery, why "lift heavy" really means "lift challenging," and the gap between knowing you should strength train and doing it. They also get into the bulky myth, what Estela says creatine does for the body beyond the gym, and how Peloton got her into strength training. (Michelle loves Peloton too.)   In this episode Why Estela calls muscle an insurance policy Training for how you feel, not only how you look "If you know, then why are you not doing it?" How Peloton got Estela into strength training Why "lift heavy" really means "lift challenging" The bulky myth: "Whoever got bulky from strength training? Tell me." What Estela says creatine is, and isn't Starting simple Learning your own body so you know what help to ask for   Timestamps (estimated) 00:00 Welcome and meet Estela Nascimento 01:50 Estela's story: Brazil, the U.S., London, and a spine fused at 15 05:15 Building ByEla alongside a full-time job 06:40 Training for how you feel, not only how you look 08:30 Why muscle is an insurance policy 11:00 Preparing for later, and the gap between knowing and doing 13:20 How Peloton got Estela into strength training 14:50 Why "lift heavy" really means "lift challenging" 17:10 "Whoever got bulky from strength training? Tell me." 18:15 Creatine, confidence and carrying your own bag 20:00 What creatine is (and isn't) 24:40 Starting simple 30:15 Learn your own body first 31:35 Where to find Estela 32:20 Michelle's closing thought ----------------------------------------------- About Estela Nascimento Estela was born and raised in Brazil, lived in the U.S. and London, and now splits her time between Miami and the Cayman Islands. She is the founder of ByEla, which helps women build strength, bone and brain power as they age, and she works a full-time job alongside it. Find her at www.byela.com and on Instagram at @byelahealth. Estela shares her own experience and views. This conversation is general information, not medical advice, so check in with your own doctor about what's right for your body. If this one made you think of a friend, send it to her. And if you enjoy the show, a rating and review on Apple Podcasts helps other women find it.    

Do what is needed, not just your best. Michelle A. Bourque talks mindset, coaching, and leadership with Ryan Jackson, who has used that line as his mantra for the last five years.  It's a small change in wording, and it points somewhere different. Not at the outcome, but at how you showed up and what you'd do differently next time. Ryan works in the vascular space. He's a husband, a dad of two girls, and he writes the Earned Access newsletter on Substack. He and Michelle share a mentor, which is how this conversation got started. They talk about how his definition of success has changed since he became a dad, what it means to be a recovering people pleaser, and why helping someone too fast can keep them from learning.  They also get into limiting beliefs, a story about Cliff, who showed up in overalls and beat everyone by ten hours, and what Ryan means when he says success leaves clues.   In this episode Why "do what is needed" is different from "do your best" How Ryan's definition of success has changed What a coach and the women he works with taught him about EQ Being a recovering people pleaser Why helping someone too fast can keep them from learning Confidence as knowing you'll figure it out Limiting beliefs and the story of Cliff Why you're defined by how you show up, not by any one outcome The stories we tell ourselves, and asking "is this real?" Giving back: learn it, earn it, return it   Timestamps :00:00 Welcome and meet Ryan Jackson 02:09 Ryan on family, work, and how it all crosses over 03:33 What a coach and the women he works with taught him about EQ 05:30 How Ryan's definition of success has changed 09:32 A recovering people pleaser, and why helping too fast keeps people from learning 10:34 Confidence, perfection, and getting it out there 11:30 Do what is needed, not just your best 13:20 Why Ryan writes a newsletter 14:44 Limiting beliefs and the story of Cliff 18:52 Success leaves clues 19:29 You're defined by how you show up, not by any one outcome 21:37 Trusting people to figure it out, and the stories we tell ourselves 24:26 Learn it, earn it, return it 25:46 Where to find Ryan, and Michelle's closing thoughts   Questions to sit with this week   Think of the last time you said "I did my best." Do you know what was actually needed? Where are you stepping in to help before someone has had a chance to figure it out? Where are you letting one outcome decide how you feel about yourself?   About Ryan Jackson Ryan Jackson works in the vascular space. He's a husband of 15 years, a dad of two girls, and a basketball coach who also coaches his daughters' teams. He writes the Earned Access newsletter on Substack. Find him on LinkedIn: CLICK HERE    If this one made you think of someone, send it to her. And if you enjoy the show, a rating and review on Apple Podcasts helps other women find it.  

Over-functioning can be hard to stop, even when you know you're doing too much. Michelle A. Bourque goes one layer deeper than episode 399 into the science underneath it. You can know you don't need to answer the text right away or jump in and fix the problem, and still feel a strong pull to do it. In this episode, Michelle talks about what may be happening in your nervous system, including hypervigilance and the fawn stress response, how early relationships and attachment can shape the strategies we learn, and how your brain's reward system can reinforce a loop of problem, fix, relief, repeat. Then she gets to the layer she thinks might be the biggest one: identity. What happens when being the capable one, the dependable one, the one everyone counts on, becomes part of how you know yourself? This isn't about doing less or caring less. Michelle talks about the difference between "I want to help" and "I can't tolerate not helping," why the behavior can look the same from the outside and feel completely different on the inside, and one small practice to try this week. In this episode Why knowing you're over-functioning doesn't always make it stop Hypervigilance and living on "yellow alert" Fawn, the fourth stress response How medical device sales can reward over-functioning Attachment, and the strategies we learn when they work The brain's reward loop: problem, jump in, fix it, relief, repeat Identity: "I'm the one people can count on" Where it shows up beyond work The difference between choosing it and feeling like you have to A one-second pause to try this week Timestamps (ESTIMATED) 00:00 Welcome back and what episode 399 left open 01:40 Why knowing you're doing too much isn't enough to stop 02:30 Hypervigilance and living on yellow alert 04:05 Fawn, the fourth stress response 05:50 Why awareness alone doesn't change the behavior 06:05 Attachment and the strategies we learn 08:15 The brain's reward loop 10:15 Identity: who am I if I'm not the one everyone counts on? 11:40 Where it shows up beyond work 12:30 This isn't about doing less 14:00 One thing to try this week 15:55 Closing Questions to sit with this week Where do you step in before anyone has asked you to? When you feel the urge to check, fix, or send one more text, what happens in your body if you don't? Is this something I'm choosing, or something I feel like I have to do? About Michelle Michelle A. Bourque is a Certified Life Coach and the host of It's Your Time. After more than 20 years in medical device sales, she coaches high-performing women through Michelle Bourque Coaching. If this one made you think of someone, send it to her. And if you enjoy the show, a rating and review on Apple Podcasts helps other women find it.

Work can matter a lot to you without becoming who you are. Michelle A. Bourque talks with Marisa Burnett about work and identity, self-worth, and learning to trust yourself as you decide what success looks like next.  If you're good at your job, it's easy for the job to start answering the question "who are you?" Marisa, who spent more than 20 years in sales and sales leadership, says she is still working out how to introduce herself without a title or an organization attached. They also talk about what it took for Marisa to step into leadership when the leadership team didn't look like her, why leadership is influence you're probably already using, and a simple reset she reaches for when she feels anxious about a conversation. Because it came up, they also get into how Marisa is using AI to save her energy for the work only she can do. In this episode How work and identity get tangled up Stepping into leadership when the leaders around you don't look like you Leadership is influence: taking inventory of where you already have it Noticing the quiet nudges that something needs to shift Separating your worth from your results Taking the time to decide what's next Using AI to save your energy for the work only you can do One belief about success Marisa is rewriting Upgrading the strategies that built you: "Is there a next iOS?" A gratitude reset for anxious moments   Timestamps (estimated) 00:00 Welcome and meet Marisa Burnett 01:50 Marisa's path: sales rep, district manager, and national training 08:45 Leading when the leadership team doesn't look like you 12:45 Leadership is influence (and you're already doing it) 17:10 Nudges, whispers, and the three-year move 20:45 Separating your worth from the number 23:45 Taking the time to choose what's next 28:55 Using AI to save your energy for the work only you can do 36:00 One belief about success Marisa is rewriting 37:20 Being the same person at home that you are at work 38:55 "Is there a next iOS?" Upgrading the strategies that built you 40:30 A gratitude reset 42:55 Where to find Marisa, and Michelle's closing thought   Questions to sit with this week Where am I already influencing people, whether or not it's in my job title? Can I be the same person at home that I am at work? What would I say if someone asked who I am without my title?  About Marisa Burnett: Marisa is a commercial leadership executive with more than 20 years of experience in medtech sales and sales leadership. She most recently served as director of US Commercial training at Medtronic, where she led commercial leadership development across multiple portfolios and trained more than 1,000 sales and clinical professionals. A proud Southerner and farm girl at heart, she now lives in Southern California and is a stepmom to three teenagers. She's passionate about authentic leadership and developing others. Find her on LinkedIn: CLICK HERE   If this one made you think of a friend, send it to her. And if you enjoy the show, a rating and review on Apple Podcasts helps other women find it.  

You can be ambitious, successful, and well paid without giving your whole life to your career. In this solo episode, Michelle A. Bourque talks about how work became the center of the calendar for so many high-performing women, and a better question to start with. If you're good at what you do, you care about your work, and you like succeeding, this one is for you. Michelle isn't here to talk you out of any of it. She's asking who decided your career gets the whole table. She starts with a funny story about putting dinner in the wrong car, then gets into something she's been seeing people talk about on LinkedIn: performance, success, and what happens when work is the thing everything else fits around. Think about your week. You know when your meetings are and what your customers, your boss, and your team need. Where does the workout go? Lunch with a friend? The doctor's appointment? Work goes on the calendar first, and everything else gets what's left. This isn't only a time management problem. It's more of a "what do I believe success requires from me?" problem. Overworking can work, which is why it sticks. So the question becomes: not "do I want to stop being successful?" but "do I want to keep being successful this way?" In this episode Why work becomes the center of the calendar The beliefs behind it: if I'm available, I'm valuable; if I take care of it myself, it gets done right Why "after this quarter" never arrives in sales and medical device Becoming very successful at a life you never consciously chose Choosing to work hard because it matters vs. working harder automatically to prove your value A different question to start with: what do I want my life to look like, and how do I want my career to fit into it? Timestamps (estimated)  00:00 The Jersey Mike's story 02:45 Success without giving your whole life to your career 04:00 When did work become the center of everything? 06:15 Not a time management problem 09:00 "After this quarter" and the scoreboard that resets 12:30 Becoming successful at a life you never consciously chose 16:30 You can want an extraordinary career and an extraordinary life 19:15 A different question to start with 22:00 Imagine this 25:30 What Performance Rewritten means, and one question for the next 5 to 10 years Questions to sit with this week Where am I automatically saying yes? What am I carrying that isn't mine? If I believed I could be wildly successful without giving my whole life to my career, what would I start doing differently? If this one made you think of a friend, send it to her. And if you enjoy the show, a rating and review on Apple Podcasts helps other women find it. Want to talk it through? Book a free 20-minute connection call with Michelle:Connection Call Get the free weekly RISE Report: Free RISE report More episodes: Click here

You'll focus on your health after the holidays. After this project. When work settles down. If that sounds familiar, this conversation about midlife women's health, hormones and behavior change with Kelly Killen is one you'll want to hear. Kelly is a board certified behavior analyst, certified wellness coach and menopause coach, licensed binge and emotional eating specialist, and former natural pro figure competitor. She's spent decades studying why knowing what to do usually isn't the problem. Doing it when life is busy and imperfect is. In this episode ✨ Why "now isn't a good time" is the story that keeps so many women stuck, and why real change happens in the middle of real life ✨ What Kelly calls "mucky movement": why 30, 40 or 50% is better than zero, and how to let go of all-or-nothing thinking ✨ Kelly's take on midlife nutrition: prioritizing protein, no "good" or "bad" foods, and why she says 80–90% of results come from what you eat ✨ How to advocate for yourself around hormones and bloodwork, and why a baseline bone density scan in your 40s and 50s matters ✨ Restaurant portions, "responsible nourishment," and who's really deciding how much we eat ✨ The First Annual KK Wellness Consulting Women's Wellness Conference, happening November 13–14 in Palm Beach The takeaway So many of us are disciplined and capable at work, and then put our own health at the bottom of the list. Kelly's point is simple: it isn't selfish to put yourself on the list. You don't need a perfect plan to start. You need ownership of one thing you can do differently today. A little mucky movement, as Kelly calls it. RISE Method connection This one is all about E, Empowered Self-Trust: taking ownership of your health and trusting yourself to start before everything lines up. Resources mentioned Atomic Habits by James Clear Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter  The First Annual KK Wellness Consulting Women's Wellness Conference: November 13–14, Palm Beach Convention Center, with keynote Dr. Kelly Casperson (details at kkwellnessconsulting.com) Connect with Kelly Killen KK Wellness Consulting: kkwellnessconsulting.com · Instagram: @kkwellnessconsulting Listen, share, review If this conversation got you thinking, share it with a friend who keeps waiting for the right time. And if you have 30 seconds, leave a rating and review. It helps more women find the show.   🎧 [Apple Podcasts] · [Spotify] · [YouTube] Timestamps (approximate) 00:00 Welcome and intro to Kelly Killen 03:00 Kelly's introduction and why she wrote her book 05:00 Victim mentality, accountability and comfort zones 09:00 Why "now isn't a good time" keeps women stuck 12:00 All-or-nothing thinking and why diets fail 15:00 The "sport of eating": midlife nutrition and protein 19:00 Alcohol, family meals and making change in real life 21:30 Hormones, primary care and advocating for yourself 25:00 Bone density, longevity testing and biological age 29:00 Restaurant portions and responsible nourishment 32:00 Peptides, GLP-1s and why coaching still matters 35:00 The first annual KK Wellness Consulting Women's Wellness Conference 40:00 Michelle's takeaways: one imperfect action  

Episode 402: More Than a Recipe — Family Legacy and Entrepreneurship with Katie Potter You don't have to hate what you have to know there's something more. That might be the most important thing Katie Potter's story teaches us — and it's a lesson that lands differently when you realize she left a 16-year career that she genuinely loved. About This Episode Katie Potter, owner of Newport Chowder Company, didn't build her business from a breaking point. She built it on weekends, with a family recipe, and a mother's legacy as her fuel. From spice packets sold right before Covid to a national co-packing partnership with Blount Fine Foods — Katie's story is a masterclass in trusting your gut, reinvesting in what matters, and building something that honors where you came from. In This Episode ✨ Why leaving something good takes a very specific kind of courage — and what finally made Katie jump ✨ How she built Newport Chowder Company for three years while still working full-time, producing 90 gallons of chowder on the weekends ✨ The mindset shift from corporate sales that changed how she scales: focus on one thing and hire experts at what you're not ✨ How she found her Director of Operations at Aldi's — and why he's on track to become a part-owner ✨ The financial discipline that made the business sustainable: never take the family's money, reinvest every dollar ✨ The ripple effect — how Muriel's legacy (and the risks she took in the 1960s) lives on in Newport Chowder Company today   Connect with Katie: 📩 [email protected] 🌐 newportchowdercompany.com 📱 @NewportChowderCompany The Big Takeaway Katie didn't need a burning platform to make her move. She needed proof of concept, a team she trusted, and the courage to see what was possible. That's the kind of self-trust that doesn't come from certainty — it comes from knowing you've done the work.   This one is all about E — Empowered Self-Trust. The kind that lets you bet on yourself before you have all the answers.  Take a listen today.   Timestamps 00:00 — Welcome + Introduction to Katie Potter and Newport Chowder Company 03:30 — Muriel's story: French nursery school, Muriel's restaurant, and three Chowder Hall of Fame wins 12:00 — How Newport Chowder Company was born: spice packets, pivoting through Covid, and 90 gallons a weekend 18:30 — What 14+ years in corporate sales taught Katie about building and leading 25:00 — July 1, 2022: the moment she made the leap and what finally made it click 31:00 — Building the team — finding Jose Coto at Aldi's and why relationship-first leadership is the secret 38:00 — Partnering with Blount Fine Foods and carrying Muriel's dream of going national 43:30 — What success looks like in this season + Katie's three rapid-fire answers  

What do Taylor Swift, binary code friendship bracelets, and 10,000 people walking into a mall in Indianapolis have in common? A CMO who said "yes, and" to a wild idea from her team — and watched it become one of the most talked-about brand activations of the year. This week I'm joined by Kelly Hiller, Chief Marketing Officer at Purdue University, and we get into everything. Kelly has spent 22 years at Purdue — not because she played it safe, but because she kept reimagining what the next chapter could look like. Including the day her predecessor resigned and she fired off an email that said: "You don't need to initiate a search. The solution is right here." She got the job. We talk about all of it — the career moves that felt risky, the moment she realized hard work alone has a ceiling, and what happens when you have to lead people you used to grab lunch with as peers. CONNECT with Kelly What You'll Take Away ✨ The real reason the hardest workers don't always get ahead — and the one thing that actually changes it ✨ Behind the scenes of the Taylor Swift STEM activation that welcomed 10,000+ people (for free) ✨ How to build a personal brand rooted in core values that actually hold up as your career evolves ✨ The exact way Kelly navigates the awkward shift of leading former peers — and why she says just address it head on ✨ A "make them jealous" AI adoption strategy that's actually getting her team on board ✨ What 22 years at one organization taught her about ambition, momentum, and paying it forward The One Thing I Want You to Take Away Reimagining what's possible isn't just a work strategy. It's a life practice. Whether it's your team, your personal brand, your career path, or how you show up as a leader — the women who keep moving forward are the ones who stay curious and keep asking: what if we tried something different here? This one is all about S — Success Strategy and E — Empowered Self-Trust in the RISE Method. Get the weekly RISE Report: www.michellebourquecoaching.com/risereport Timestamps 00:00 — Intro: What this conversation is really about 03:15 — Kelly's 22-year journey and the email that got her the CMO role 10:45 — The Taylor Swift STEM activation: binary code, elf cosmetics, and 10,000 people 20:00 — Personal branding: why your core values are the only foundation that lasts 27:30 — How to lead former peers (and actually address the awkward) 34:00 — AI on your team: the "make them jealous" strategy 42:00 — Why advocating for yourself is the career skill nobody teaches you  

You've built the career. You're doing all the right things. On paper, life looks pretty good. And yet — something on the inside still doesn't quite match what everything looks like on the outside. This milestone episode starts right there, and goes somewhere I could never have predicted when I recorded episode one from Marc's closet. What You'll Learn in This Episode ✨ Why changing your circumstances isn't the same as changing yourself — and the realization that shifted everything for me ✨ The difference between running from something and choosing to move toward it (this one is everything) ✨ What "Think. Feel. Do." really means — and the piece nobody talks about: can you actually receive it? ✨ How the compound effect creates a completely different life through small, consistent internal shifts ✨ The real reason high-achieving women stay stuck in performance mode even when everything looks fine ✨ What Performance Rewritten is, who it's for, and why episode 400 is the most excited I've ever been - www.michellebourquecoaching.com/performance The Takeaway Four hundred episodes later, the biggest thing I know is this: we take our brains with us. No new job, no new city, no new milestone will change how you feel on the inside if the inside work hasn't happened first. And when it does? The external world starts to catch up in ways you couldn't have imagined. RISE Method Connection This one is rooted in E — Empowered Self-Trust. It's about learning to lead from the inside out, and deciding that your worth isn't determined by what you accomplish next.      Timestamps 00:00 — Celebrating 400 episodes and what this milestone really means 03:00 — Where it all started: Marc's closet, the wine, and the original podcast 08:30 — What was really underneath the wine — and why I recognized her 14:00 — Why I thought leaving Medtronic was the answer (and what I found instead) 20:00 — The compound effect, the spirals of growth, and learning the same lesson again 27:00 — Think. Feel. Do. — and the capacity to actually receive more 34:00 — From beach visualization to living in Florida: how it actually happened 40:00 — Officially introducing Performance Rewritten - www.michellebourquecoaching.com/performance