

Shameless Leadership
Sara Dean
Welcome to Shameless Leadership! This show is for women, transgender people, non-binary folks, and allies who are committed to advancing their leadership and the leadership of those around them. In this space, we believe everyone deserves to feel seen, heard, valued, and supported. Our mission is to help you foster these feelings within your own circles of influence to build trust, psychological safety, and a culture of belonging.In each episode, we dive into essential topics impacting women in leadership - everything from shutting down your inner critic and imposter syndrome to overcoming perfectionism to using your voice in new ways to advocate for yourself, your ideas, and other folks carrying marginalized identities. You'll hear practical tips, effective strategies, and inspiring stories that will not only enhance your leadership skills but also broaden your perspective to become a more confident, thoughtful, and empathetic leader.Our stories come from people carrying identities who are often underrepresented, underestimated, and excluded. By sharing their experiences, we aim to provide you with invaluable lessons that will transform your leadership journey. We are thrilled to have you join this community of Shameless Leaders who are actively creating a world where everyone, regardless of gender, can intentionally lead through a more curious, compassionate, and inclusive lens.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 20, 2016 • 55min
16: Craig Ballantyne - The Perfect Day Formula
Craig Ballantyne is a Productivity and Success transformation coach, an author and a Fitness expert. His new book is called The Perfect Day Formula. He also created the successful Turbulence Training fitness program.
Craig has been my business coach since before my son was born. He gets more done in a day that anyone I know. He keeps things simple and sets himself up for success each day. He’s our first male guest on the show, but once I started reading his book, The Perfect Day Formula, I knew so much of it was relevant to Moms and I had to bring Craig on to share the formula!
In this show, Craig shares the following:
How Craig built his systems
The why behind the book and the freedom it can afford
What led up the the 3C’s
You can only control how you respond to things, not the things
Reactive people always struggle - can you relate to Craig’s description?
Reactive people never plan ahead and only respond to other people’s emergencies
Proactive people start the day off right because they started preparing for it yesterday
Why you should brain dump as often as you brush your teeth
How 5 minutes of clear thinking can change your life
Planning and preparing is what gets you ahead
Getting a small victory first thing in the morning is critical to having a great day
You don’t have to get up early to have the Perfect Day
Why setting up your own rules for each day sets you up for success
You make time for things you have a rule for
Everyone has interruptions to their schedule and problems accomplishing things
Control what you can control and don’t worry about the rest
Ways to reward yourself without just using sugar, caffeine and alcohol
How Sara completely gave up caffeine
The difference between a purity day and a regular day
The #1 thing you can do to own your day, each and every day!
Get the book on Amazon - The Perfect Day Formula
PerfectDayFormula.com - get the kit to assist you in creating your vision
You can read his daily blog at earlytorise.com
shamelessmom.com/review - If you found this episode meaningful, leave a review
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook - Shameless Mom Academy
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Apr 18, 2016 • 20min
15: 3 Tips to Quitting Sugar
I got a lot of feedback from episode 3 when we talked about “having bad days with food”. There is no such thing! What you eat does not define who you are or what kind of person you are. If you haven’t listened to episode 3 you should pop on over and listen. To kind of tie in with episode 3 we are going to talk about sugar and cravings. I am going to give you some tips and tools to fight back against those sugar cravings! A lot of people believe that they eat lots of sugar because they have no willpower. This is wrong! It is not about willpower. If you have had sugar recently or eat it frequently then you will crave that sugar. So let’s talk about some less challenging ways to get rid of those sugar cravings.
We are going to talk about:
“Pro pros” aka protein and produce—don’t give that junk food room in your diet!
Blood sugar break down—You want a slower breakdown of sugar so you can feel fuller longer
Crowding out vs quitting—quitting can sometimes make your cravings stronger!
Produce = more energy
The key to making sane choices—eating lots of protein or produce for your first meal of the day. (Hangry isn’t pretty on anyone)
Bulk up your meals—Using greens and veggies is a fantastic way to pump your meal up
Chop that stuff up! — nobody likes to see the stem of your spinach hanging out of your mouth while you are talking
Links Mentioned:
If you love the show, it would mean so much if you would leave us a review in iTunes. To make it easier, click here: Shamelessmom.com/review Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apr 13, 2016 • 39min
14: Jen Briggs - Diving Into A New Business/A New Marriage/StepMomLand
Every mom remembers what it was like to be a teenager right? And we all remember that predictability and teenagers is nonexistent. Imagine starting out motherhood with teenagers! Jen Briggs, a dear friend of mine who is a business and life coach has done just that! As you can imagine it’s probably not easy to maneuver into a family that was once three and is now four. Step mothers also get a bad rap in our society. Which by the way not all step mothers are evil. With her new marriage, kids, new business and recent move she is going to tell us how she makes it all work.
Jenn shares with us:
Trying to “fit” in—it’s hard not to take things personal when you are trying hard to please someone else
“Thirty Days of Yes” —you have to listen to this!
Outside therapy—sometimes it’s good to get an outside perspective. Sometimes just talking out loud can really help!
Make time to care for yourself—make dates for exercising and friends or things that will give you enough space to take care of yourself
Prioritize the things that make you happy and give you the most—what are your values?
Emotional intelligence—make better connections!
Links Mentioned:
Headspace app
www.facebook.com/heyjenbriggs
www.twitter.com/heyjenbriggs
www.instagram.com/heyjenbriggs
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Apr 11, 2016 • 23min
13: How to Be a Better Stalker & Fan Girl
I am an amazing stalker and I totally own that! I’m not a creeper, because there is a difference! I try to use my stalking powers for good and that’s what we are talking about today. My stalking comes out of my desire to connect with certain people and figuring out how to create those connection opportunities! This is going to be fun, so join us!
There are lots of really great reasons to engage your stalking skills:
To get to know people to expand my inner circle
To make your inner circle more powerful
To take a leap that will get you to the next level
To hang out with people that are more successful than you
You want to change and shift your inner circle
You get to make authentic connections with people out of your “league”
I had the desire to do this at one point in my life when I joined a mastermind. I went to my first meeting without a website or any sort of online business. Even though it was scary, I was surrounded by people that were very successful in online business. This helped me more than anything I could have done alone in my business.
Ask yourself: What can I learn about them so that I can start learning from them?
How do you start stalking?
Lead with a compliment.
Find common ground upon which to build a relationship.
If you have nothing else to offer to them, be their supporter, their cheerleader.
Make sure they know you are deliberate in wanting to have a relationship.
I was able to use these tips to connect with someone this past week that I look up to! I was able to make contact with Lewis Howes at an event.. I was very intentional about trying to connect with him, and I happened to connect 3 different times, so hopefully this will lead to more connections at some of his events in the future. At the same event, I was able to meet several other people that I admire, and I will be having them on the podcast. Even though they were out of my league, I still put myself out there and made the connection.
One of them was Jill Coleman - My guru for having a healthy relationship with food - check her out at www.jillcoleman.com
This isn’t super comfortable for me, but I approached my stalking at this event with no shame in my game, and it paid off! Don’t be afraid to be a stalker!
Don't forget to check us out at www.shamelessmom.com.
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Apr 6, 2016 • 1h 3min
12: Maria Ross: How to Own Your Mommy Independence
I’m sure all moms can agree that life turns fast pace when you become a mom. It’s hard to slow down when you are trying to keep up with your kids, your house, being a wife, just everyday life. Sometimes you have to slow it down a bit. Learn how to balance everything in life but especially time with family.
Maria Ross, our guest on the show today is going to share with us some tidbits that she uses to balance between life and business. Maria is a brand strategist, author, actress, owner of Red Slice and speaker. She has received several praises for her book: “Branding Basics for Small Business”. And her second book called “Rebooting my Brain” is a really good read, especially if you have ever been through a health scare. She suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm and this book is a memoir on her amazing recovery. Maria is an inspiration and this episode is definitely worth the listen!
Maria shares with us:
You have to slow down sometimes—not everything is going to be perfect
The days are long but the years are short
Go to a lactation specialist if you need help—there is nothing wrong with asking for a little help!
Make sure to set work hours and then set time to spend time with family
Don’t try to cram everything into a small amount of time—you won’t be 100% trust me
Momentum comes to a screeching halt when you have kids—but the detox is actually good for business ideas!
If you are going to be “selfish”, exercise is a great thing to be selfish about—show your kids that exercise is important
Links Mentioned:
www.redslice.com
twitter: @redslice
email: maria [at] red-slice[dot]com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apr 4, 2016 • 22min
11: 3 Tips to Add Exercise to Your Morning Routine
Let’s face it, fitting exercise into our busy mommy lives can be a struggle sometimes. Today we are going to be talking about ways to make exercise part of your morning routine. The reason I say “part” of your morning routine is because when you have kids you just don’t know how your day is going to go! Obviously things happen, like your kid has a fever all night, so your workout is probably not going to happen first thing in the morning. But exercising can really help with certain struggles we may have with our kids and ourselves.
Today we will talk about:
How I have found exercising helps me mentally—and how it can help you
Working out in the morning helps make healthier decisions
Exercising is not punishment!!!
Key elements to making exercise part of your morning routine and the whole family
Get up earlier, make exercise part of your identity and think of exercise as a gift not a punishment!
Interruptions are not good…try to the best of your ability not to have interruptions during exercising
Length of your workout doesn’t always doesn’t necessarily mean long and drawn out—don’t be ashamed of starting small
Visit the website to listen to all the episodes!
www.shamelessmom.com
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Mar 30, 2016 • 32min
10: Susie Lane Interview: How to Run a Business Mostly from Your Home
Today on the show we have a good friend of mine, Susie Lane. Susie is a mom, chef and has had her own business, The Kitchen Door since 2005. The Kitchen door is a Seattle based business that provides meal solutions for busy families. We are going to talk about Susie’s challenges and victories on running her business mostly from home and how to build your legacy with passion.
We will talk today about:
How did Susie manage running her business from home and the hospital…
Her personal goal for her business—very important goal!
Quantity vs quality
Go out and get the book Live your Life from the Front Seat by Jessica Butts
What exactly is a calendar situation?
Be thankful for having a job but be passionate too
Links Mentioned:
www.kitchendoormeals.com
www.amazon.com
www.jessicabutts.com
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Mar 28, 2016 • 32min
09: How to Take a Flying Leap
Let’s talk about taking a flying leap! So many times we don’t make certain decisions or do certain things because we think we can’t. We are going to talk about ways to get to that place to take a leap and how to take a flying leap and make it work.
Today we are going to talk about:
Scariest place is at the start line!
Focus on progress not perfection
How do you schedule time to take a leap?
How do you make your leap part of your identity?
Stalking…
Do it!
Links Mentioned:
www.youtube.com/my120poundlife
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Mar 28, 2016 • 22min
Bonus: Our New (Shameless) Name
Welcome! Launch has been incredible! I have gotten so many messages, and I have been overwhelmed with support for this launch!
So, let’s talk about the obvious. We have a new name. I got an email about trademarks and copyrights, etc. related to the podcast. So, this sent me into a major panic, because I never intended to do anything wrong. It turns out I had to change the name of the podcast because I was infringing on someone’s trademark. So this has turned into a wild ride already!
I learned a few things about myself through this situation:
I’m not ok with being bullied and talked down to
Written communication can be challenging to interpret tone
We all handle stress differently
I get completely stressed out when I feel like I did something wrong
Sometimes I am too quick to give in to pressure
I am not a very good self-advocate under stress
I could really embrace the word “shameless” in talking about my podcast
This happened so something better can come out of it
Shameless speaks to owning where you are and being ok with it
I hate having messes on my plate
I think this little bump is going to work out for the good
It’s easy to be advocates for everyone but ourselves sometimes
Pivoting doesn’t mean you are backing down
I’m excited about this change moving forward
Until next time, do something shameless! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mar 23, 2016 • 38min
08: Lori Kennedy Interview: Can You Have Work-Life Balance?
Today on the show we are going to be talking with Laurie Kennedy. Laurie is a Toronto based nutritionist, health and wellness business expert, online strategist and mother of two. She works with health practitioners, healers, coaches and fitness professionals who want to start up their purpose driven businesses. Laurie does not mess around!Laurie makes it all work beautifully, even though it’s not always so beautiful. We are going to talk about the challenges of having kids, the challenges of working with her husband (he is business partner), and dirty moments like when she broke down in a hotel shower on Mother’s Day and the magic of 5 am. Laurie shares with us:
When things don’t go your way you just need to laugh and don’t take everything so seriously
Messiest moment she has ever had—Mother’s day: just to be left alone for 24 hours. This is when she realized that she needed to take care of herself and get her alone time more often so that she didn’t feel this way again.
Spending an extra day on a business trip is not necessarily a good thing. You may get more things done but you should know how you will handle it emotionally.
Husband time challenge—different work spaces and don’t bring the work home.
The word selfish is the word self with ish
5 am is Laurie’s self-time—she needs the 90 minutes to herself or sometimes spend a whole night and day at a hotel to recharge
It’s really nice to not be on someone else’s schedule sometimes
Set up a morning routine before the world starts and if you need help get child support! Even if it’s 2 hours a week! This can help you keep from feeling trapped.
Her legacy is to help women know that you don’t have to do things if you don’t want to just because
Links Mentioned:www.theselfishmomacademy.comwww.facebook.com/lauriekennedy www.facebook.com/lauriekennedyrhn www.lauriekennedyrhn.comwww.thatwellbusiness.com You visit our website at http://selfishmomacademy.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices


