Ownit! Powercast

As we continue our Summer of You series, we're exploring another important aspect of having a healthy relationship with yourself. Many of us spend a great deal of energy trying to make things work, hold things together, or find ways to create different outcomes in our lives and relationships. While those efforts often come from good intentions, they can sometimes leave us feeling exhausted, frustrated, and stuck. In this episode, we'll look at some common patterns that keep us spinning our wheels and why certain experiences can be so difficult to face head-on. We'll explore the fears, habits, and protective strategies that may be influencing our choices without us even realizing it, and how developing a healthier relationship with ourselves can change the way we navigate life's challenges. We don't always resist reality because we can't see it. Sometimes we resist reality because we know what accepting it would require. Get your FREE Boundaries Ebook here! If you're ready to find your voice, set healthy boundaries, and create more fulfilling relationships, this guide is your roadmap! PLUS receive Mary's weekly insights on confidence, boundaries, self-trust, and healthy relationships. Need more? Check out the Masterclass on Reclaiming Your Voice: https://www.findyourvoicecourse.com/beyond-words Hey! My signature course is live! I am so excited to also offer a free upgrade to the group coaching program. Be sure to click here to check it out: https://findyourvoicecourse.com/ Need coaching? Sign up here for your Power Hour, where you and I can get you started on your confidence journey! https://findyourvoicecourse.com/power-hour Top of Form Bottom of Form

In this episode, we continue the month's focus on choice by exploring how easily communication can become a way to manage discomfort instead of express truth. Many of us were taught that being clear means saying more, softening our message, or keeping others comfortable—but those habits often pull us further away from ourselves. This conversation invites you to look more closely at over-explaining and people-pleasing, not as communication issues, but as signals that detachment may be missing. Together, we unpack why emotional honesty feels so hard when we're afraid of reactions, and how learning to detach can help you stay calm, grounded, and connected to your truth. Rather than offering scripts or quick fixes, this episode focuses on awareness, self-trust, and the quiet power of choice, especially in the small moments where we usually override ourselves. Real communication happens when you remember you have a choice. Check Out this New Resource: Get Started Asking for What You Need! Identify the healthy ways to negotiate needs and build trust in your relationships. https://findyourvoicecourse.com/saywhatyouneed Get your FREE Boundaries Ebook here! If you're ready to find your voice, set healthy boundaries, and create more fulfilling relationships, this guide is your roadmap! Need more? Check out the Masterclass on Reclaiming Your Voice: https://www.findyourvoicecourse.com/beyond-words Hey! My signature course is live! I am so excited to also offer a free upgrade to the group coaching program. Be sure to click here to check it out: https://findyourvoicecourse.com/ Need coaching? Sign up here for your Power Hour, where you and I can get you started on your confidence journey! https://findyourvoicecourse.com/power-hour Top of Form Bottom of Form

In this episode, I'm joined by Lisa Johnson, co-founder of Been There Got Out, for an important conversation about coercive control and high-conflict divorce. Together, we explore the critical difference between typical divorce conflict — which usually de-escalates over time — and controlling behavior that escalates, creating ongoing fear, instability, and exhaustion. Lisa is a high-conflict divorce strategist and a certified domestic violence advocate who has successfully represented herself through scores of court appearances. Her case was published in the Connecticut Law Journal and is now being used as legal precedent...something that's incredibly rare for a self-represented litigant. Her live testimony also helped pass Jennifer's Law in Connecticut, making it the third state in the country to expand its legal definition of domestic violence to include coercive control: a form of abuse that so many people experience, but often struggle to name or be taken seriously around. Lisa and her partner, Chris, now coach people navigating high-conflict relationships, divorce, custody battles, and what many describe as co-parenting hell — helping them have the best possible outcome in family court and beyond. They also offer a weekly Legal Abuse Support Group for those dealing with narcissistic opponents in legal matters. Lisa explains how coercive control can include manipulation, financial abuse, and legal abuse, often carried out in quiet, passive ways that are easily misunderstood or minimized. The episode sheds light on why some individuals never "cool down," how the legal system can be used as a tool of control, and why patience and better communication are not enough in these situations. Domestic violence doesn't always leave bruises. It can look like creating fear through quiet control, financial strain, or legal pressure. Find out more about Lisa here: https://beentheregotout.com/ Get your FREE Boundaries Ebook here! If you're ready to find your voice, set healthy boundaries, and create more fulfilling relationships, this guide is your roadmap! Need more? Check out the Masterclass on Reclaiming Your Voice: https://www.findyourvoicecourse.com/beyond-words Hey! My signature course is live! I am so excited to also offer a free upgrade to the group coaching program. Be sure to click here to check it out: https://findyourvoicecourse.com/ Need coaching? Sign up here for your Power Hour, where you and I can get you started on your confidence journey! https://findyourvoicecourse.com/power-hour

As a new year begins, many people feel the pull to reset, and at the same time, notice how hard it is to protect their energy, time, and emotional space. In this episode, I explore why boundaries can feel especially tender right now, particularly when the world feels uncertain or overwhelming. We talk about how stress and fear impact our nervous systems, and why this context matters when we're trying to show up with clarity and self-respect. I share insights on recognizing when boundaries are being tested in subtle ways, how to respond without guilt or defensiveness, and why healthy boundaries don't damage relationships — they actually make them safer and more honest. This episode is an invitation to practice clarity with compassion, especially when it feels uncomfortable or new. Their repeated confusion about your boundary is rarely confusion. It's avoidance of accountability. Get your FREE Boundaries Ebook here! If you're ready to find your voice, set healthy boundaries, and create more fulfilling relationships, this guide is your roadmap! Need more? Check out the Masterclass on Reclaiming Your Voice: https://www.findyourvoicecourse.com/beyond-words Hey! My signature course is live! I am so excited to also offer a free upgrade to the group coaching program. Be sure to click here to check it out: https://findyourvoicecourse.com/ Need coaching? Sign up here for your Power Hour, where you and I can get you started on your confidence journey! https://findyourvoicecourse.com/power-hour

The holidays often come with unspoken expectations to overgive, overexplain, and override our own needs. In this episode, I introduce the concept of a Holiday Bill of Rights: compassionate reminder of what we are allowed to honor during a season that can easily pull us back into old roles and patterns. Rather than focusing on "doing more self-care," this episode centers on self-loyalty, emotional honesty, and boundaries that protect our nervous system, energy, and well-being. If the holidays tend to stir guilt, grief, or pressure to perform, this conversation offers language, permission, and relief. Three Key Takeaways 1. Boundaries are not about control, they're about self-respect. Honoring your limits doesn't require agreement or approval from others. Feeling guilt doesn't mean you're doing something wrong; it often means you're doing something different. 2. You're allowed to stop abandoning yourself for the sake of tradition. Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn't mean it still fits. Growth often requires renegotiating expectations, especially during the holidays. 3. Your nervous system matters more than appearances. Emotional safety, rest, and clarity are not luxuries. When you listen to your body and honor your needs, you create a more grounded and authentic holiday experience. Tradition should create connection, not obligation. If it costs you your peace, you're allowed to opt out. Get your FREE Boundaries Ebook here! If you're ready to find your voice, set healthy boundaries, and create more fulfilling relationships, this guide is your roadmap! Need more? Check out the Masterclass on Reclaiming Your Voice: https://www.findyourvoicecourse.com/beyond-words Hey! My signature course is live! I am so excited to also offer a free upgrade to the group coaching program. Be sure to click here to check it out: https://findyourvoicecourse.com/ Need coaching? Sign up here for your Power Hour, where you and I can get you started on your confidence journey! https://findyourvoicecourse.com/power-hour

This week, we're pulling a good one from the vault… Welcome to Episode 191 where we dig into how real self-care means following through on what we need to do to take care of ourselves. In this episode we dive deeper into the idea that TRUE self-care is when we make it real. When we follow through on both holding the line on our boundaries and taking responsibility for what we have promised ourselves we would take care of. Self-care involves following through with actions that nourish your physical, emotional, and mental well-being. We talked last week about some of the good things and not so good things to have in our life. If you haven't had a chance to listen to that yet you might want to do that first…and come join us back here when you're done so this episode will make more sense. When you commit to taking care of yourself, it means setting boundaries, saying no to things that drain you, prioritizing rest and relaxation, and making time for activities that bring you joy and fulfillment. Following through with these actions not only benefits your own well-being, but also supports your ability to be assertive and advocate for yourself in all areas of your life. Key Elements: · Explore the some of the consequences of not following through on self-care · Identify how taking care of ourselves is the best way to feel more confident. · Identify ways to make it easier to commit and follow through. You don't have to prove anything this holiday season – not your worth, not your patience, not your strength. Get your FREE Boundaries Ebook here! If you're ready to find your voice, set healthy boundaries, and create more fulfilling relationships, this guide is your roadmap! Need more? Check out the Masterclass on Reclaiming Your Voice: https://www.findyourvoicecourse.com/beyond-words Hey! My signature course is live! I am so excited to also offer a free upgrade to the group coaching program. Be sure to click here to check it out: https://findyourvoicecourse.com/ Need coaching? Sign up here for your Power Hour, where you and I can get you started on your confidence journey! https://findyourvoicecourse.com/power-hour

Boundaries aren't just about saying no - they're about finally seeing clearly. In this episode, I break down how boundary work forces us out of fantasy and into reality, and why this shift brings up grief, sadness, and confusion before it brings peace. We explore what detachment actually means (loving without carrying), why acceptance always asks us to grieve the illusions we've held onto, and how seeing the truth opens the path to emotional freedom, self-respect, and grounded decision-making. Three Things to Think About: 1. Why clarity feels uncomfortable before it feels freeing — and how boundaries shift you from potential to reality in ways you may not expect. 2. What healthy detachment really looks like — and why it's not distance, coldness, or giving up, but something far more grounded and compassionate. 3. How grief and acceptance quietly shape boundary work — and how these emotions help you stop carrying what was never yours to hold. Sometimes the hardest goodbye is to the version of someone you hoped they'd be. Get your FREE Boundaries Ebook here! If you're ready to find your voice, set healthy boundaries, and create more fulfilling relationships, this guide is your roadmap! Need more? Check out the Masterclass on Reclaiming Your Voice: https://www.findyourvoicecourse.com/beyond-words Hey! My signature course is live! I am so excited to also offer a free upgrade to the group coaching program. Be sure to click here to check it out: https://findyourvoicecourse.com/ Need coaching? Sign up here for your Power Hour, where you and I can get you started on your confidence journey! https://findyourvoicecourse.com/power-hour

Boundary work sounds empowering — and it is — but no one tells you how strange it feels at first. When you begin honoring your limits, your nervous system doesn't throw a party; it throws a fit. In this episode, we unpack why your body equates "familiar" with "safe," even when familiar has meant people-pleasing, over-giving, or pretending you're fine. You'll learn why this discomfort doesn't mean you're doing something wrong — it means you're finally doing something different. We'll also explore the family patterns that made boundaries feel like betrayal, and how learning to stay with that unease is how we begin to rewire safety from the inside out. This conversation isn't about blame — it's about awareness, compassion, and learning to calm your body while you practice a new kind of self-loyalty. Three Takeaways 1. The body often mistakes self-abandonment for safety — until we teach it something new. 2. Boundaries may feel "wrong" at first because they disrupt old emotional rules. 3. Learning to stay with the discomfort is how real confidence and self-trust begin to grow. Vulnerability isn't exposure; it's invitation. It's saying, 'This is who I am — can you meet me here?' Get your FREE Boundaries Ebook here! If you're ready to find your voice, set healthy boundaries, and create more fulfilling relationships, this guide is your roadmap! Need more? Check out the Masterclass on Reclaiming Your Voice: https://www.findyourvoicecourse.com/beyond-words Hey! My signature course is live! I am so excited to also offer a free upgrade to the group coaching program. Be sure to click here to check it out: https://findyourvoicecourse.com/ Need coaching? Sign up here for your Power Hour, where you and I can get you started on your confidence journey! https://findyourvoicecourse.com/power-hour