Welcome to Unplugged. The behind-the-scenes, nothing-is-off-the-table monthly episode of Shamelessly Ambitious where I say the things I actually think.

This one covers a lot of ground. The rebrand I have been working on for months (including brand new names for every offer in my suite). The list of things I currently hate, which started as a voice memo on a drive and turned into something I needed to share out loud. The red flags my husband and I built together (my son immediately called it a trap). And how summer is actually running in our house.

Grab something cold. Let’s get into it.

The Rebrand: What’s Happening and Why

I have been in a full rebrand since April. Not a tear-it-all-down situation, more of an up-level. A refine. A finally-make-it-feel-like-me.

The catalyst was a few things coming together at once. I left social media, which meant my marketing strategy needed to shift. The world has changed enough that SEO actually matters now (wild, I know). And honestly, I just wanted my website to feel like me, not like the therapist-shaped version of me that grad school trained me to project.

So I pulled together a team of extraordinary women and got to work.

My copywriter, Katie Couples, came in and actually captured my voice. Not a polished, professional approximation of it. The real thing. Curse words and all. I’ve worked with good copywriters before, but they always made me sound a little softer, a little more neutral, a little more like what a therapist is supposed to sound like. Katie did not do that.

My designer, Christina at Gem Creative, brought the aesthetic to life. The nostalgia I’m always chasing. That 90s, early 2000s energy. Punk rock meets feminine meets absolutely delicious. I am obsessed.

And then there’s the naming strategist, Katie at 26 & Then Some. I did not know this job existed. She came in, understood the whole vision, and sealed the envelope on everything. The names she landed on are so good I want to tell everyone.

So here’s the concept. Think of Shamelessly Ambitious as my band. Every offer in my suite now has a name that fits the music world:

• Unplugged (this episode series, the behind-the-scenes monthly update)
• Deep Cuts (my Business Therapy one-on-one coaching)
• Studio Sessions (the 90-minute intensive plus two weeks of Voxer support)
• The Green Room (VIP days, returning after a couple years on pause)
• The Mixtape (formerly The Regulated Woman, my only DIY offer, completely expanded and re-recorded)

I am targeting a July 1st launch. And yes, I feel a little paralyzed in the meantime (it’s hard to sell a house nobody can see yet), but I am so close and so excited.

The VIP Days Are Back (And the In-Person Option Is Everything)

The Green Room is the offer I’m maybe most excited to bring back. VIP days went on pause for a couple of years, and I’ve been wanting to revive them.

The virtual version is six hours together: two three-hour sessions, plus two 90-minute calls (one before, one after), plus support in between.

But the in-person version. Oh, the in-person version.

You show up to an Airbnb. If you come to me, we’re in Colorado. If I come to you or we go somewhere, we figure it out. We start at 9am and we work together all day, go to lunch, go to dinner, stay the night, wake up, keep going. It’s not just strategic support. It’s me actively working in your business with you. Chef’s kiss. My favorite thing I offer and I cannot wait to do more of them.

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“Sometimes you just need somebody to say the quiet parts out loud.”

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Everything I Currently Hate (A List)

I started this as a voice memo on a drive and it became something I needed to say out loud. Because I think sometimes we need someone to just go first.

Grocery prices. I have a $2,000 to $3,000 monthly food budget and I hate every second of it. I have adult eaters. My seven-year-old eats three servings of everything. I need four pounds of ground beef for one meal and we still don’t have leftovers. I want to get it down to $1,800 this summer. We’ll see.

Limited school options. All three of my kids are changing schools this year based on their own preferences. I support their autonomy. I hate that everything feels subpar unless you’re paying $45,000 a year, and even then I’m not sure I want them in that environment anyway.

One-way strategies. Every time a new client comes to me with “but so-and-so said this is the only way,” I want to shred things. There are a million ways. That’s the whole point of being an entrepreneur.

Lazy people. I complain. I absolutely complain. But I solve my own problems. If I’m complaining about something, I hear that complaint and then I do something about it. What I can’t stand is the complaining without the doing.

Social comparison. One of the biggest reasons I left social media. I’m not immune to it. Nobody is. And I hate what it does to my brain when I let it in.

Last-minute sports schedules. My middle son’s team won the playoffs. Two days later we still don’t know what time the next game is or where it is. It is also my older son’s birthday that day. I cannot plan anything. If women ran this, I’m just saying.

Being social during my luteal phase. I hate it. That’s all.

Small talk, cruises, and tech issues. I’m loud and I’m fast and I go straight to the real conversation. If you want to talk about the weather, find someone else. Cruises are terrible (longtime listeners know). Tech issues make me want to throw things.

My Actual Red Flags (My Husband Helped, My Son Called It a Trap)

I asked my husband to help me name my flaws. My oldest sat up from the couch and immediately said: “That’s a trap. Don’t answer that.”

We answered it anyway.

I thrive under pressure, which means I take on too much and pile more on the more stressed I get. It’s a vicious cycle.

My standards are incredibly high, for everyone but especially for myself. My inner language is tough. I’m working on it.

I get personal too quickly. I hate small talk, so I skip it entirely and go straight to the real stuff. Some people love it. Some people are not ready.

I talk a lot and very fast. I listen to Voxer on 4x speed. I cannot listen to myself on 2x because I already talk too fast. This is my life.

I over-exaggerate. I actually won an award for this in high school. I haven’t slept in ten years. I’ve been dealing with this tech issue for a week. (It’s been 15 minutes.)

I speak confidently about things I don’t always have full facts on. I’m usually right. I don’t always check my sources. My husband hates this.

I’m impulsive, addicted to adrenaline, a clean freak, easily offended, and I take things personally. I’m also highly outspoken, which means people either love me or they don’t. That’s always been true.

How Summer Is Actually Running in Our House

I’m recording at 6:30am while walking around the neighborhood because I’m getting the bulk of my work done before 8:30am so I can actually be present during the day. It’s working. The birds are chirping, it’s 65 degrees in Colorado because Colorado mornings are perfect, and this is what ambition looks like for me right now.

We spent the first full week of summer making a plan together as a family. Bucket list on a poster board. Calendar on the wall. Screen rules the kids helped create (which means they actually follow them).

The screen rules, since everyone always wants to know:

• Up to three hours of screens per day
• Not before 10am, not after 7pm
• Must complete 45 minutes of movement, 30 minutes of brain activity, daily chores, plus one extra task first

They feel the freedom of knowing they get it every day, so they’re not hoarding it. My son will use an hour in the morning and then forget about it because his friends showed up. It’s going better than I expected.

What makes me successful in summer is the same thing that makes me successful always: I have a plan. I always know my two to three morning priorities and my one to two daytime tasks. I don’t wake up wondering what to do. I don’t wing the meals. And I use the self-coaching loop on myself constantly, because I am not immune to my own brain telling me everything is falling apart.

It’s not falling apart. It’s summer. And Colorado summers are worth protecting.

What’s Coming Next

Starting next episode, I’m running a guest series on grief. Not the kind you expect.

We’re talking about grieving the aging process, divorce and reinvention, deconstructing religion, building a business while grieving the loss of a parent, the identity shift of becoming a mom CEO, grief in friendships, grief in aging parents. Honest, candid, real conversations with women I love and respect.

And the 200th episode features my husband. Who has watched me build this business, grieve the things I’ve grieved, navigate everything. He’s been on once before and it was a hit. I cannot wait to hear the real real from his perspective.

The rebrand drops July 1st. The guest series starts next week. And I will be right here, walking around my neighborhood at 6:30am, saying the quiet parts out loud.

🎧 This is Episode 194 of the Shamelessly Ambitious Podcast. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

xx, Ash

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