The Soulful Leader Podcast

218: This Leadership Issue That’s Keeping You Stuck, and How to Change It – NOW

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 10:28:18 +0000

You’re the reliable one. If something needs to get done, you’re the to do it. Which not only means there’s no space for you, or your dreams -it unwittingly stifles the people around you.

If you’ve ever watched someone struggle and thought, “Let me just do it for you,” you already know this tension that lives at the heart of leadership. It can feel unbearable because our culture equates busyness with worth

This week’s podcast starts with a deceptively simple story from Zorba the Greek that addresses this leadership issue head on: a boy watches a butterfly struggle to break free of its cocoon, can't bear the discomfort of watching it struggle, and “helps” it out early… only to watch it die because its wings never fully formed.

If you've ever rescued someone too soon — or rescued yourself out of your own growth — this episode will change how you think about rest, struggle, and what it actually means to hold space.

In a culture built on ‘go, do, and succeed’ and busyness equals worth, giving someone (including ourselves) the space feels unbearable. Sharing a strategic insight, Stephanie and Maren go deeply into something that we often feel the need to push though – the true success rhythm: struggle and rest.

Today you’ll find:

Why rescuing people too early actually robs them of their own strength
Why you are (literally, atomically) mostly space — and why that matters for your life
Why scrolling, cleaning, and “staying busy” are NOT rest
Why 20 minutes of true stillness can equal 4 hours of sleep
A simple practice to catch yourself before you disengage from your own growth

TRANSCRIPT

YouTube Video

REFERENCES:

01:08 The Boy and the Cocoon, and it's from Zorba the Greek.

26:50 Inner Mastery

Love this episode? Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts—it helps other soulful leaders find us!

Have a question or topic suggestion? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out through our website or social media.

📬 Connect With Us
Website: http://www.TheSoulfulLeaderPodcast.com
Main Website: http://www.tslp.life

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217: The Soulful Path to Real Wealth: A Conversation with Dawn Boutilier

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 10:52:03 +0000

Today, one of our very own superfans, Dawn Boutilier, shares how she built a business that checks all the boxes – passion, flow, joy, income, and mostly – deep meaning. Her work has not only changed her personally, it’s changed her family and her community. Dawn was one of our first listeners and has worked with us in multiple capacities over the years and it was an absolute honor to speak with her.

In our revealing conversation, the three of us talk openly about creating wealth, community and entrepreneurship WITH the intelligence of life that is woven through everything – and the huge difference that we make by choosing this little used business path.

This episode may open a doorway for you into a radically different understanding of work and its relationship to your life mission, the deep why that lives in your soul. It may also bring new insights to something that you already feel blooming within:

You are here for a reason.
Work does not have to be something you tolerate until you can finally retire.
What you do is not separate from who you are.
True wealth is not how much money you have.
And life is not something you accomplish alone.

Dawn's story is powerful and we’re so grateful she came on to share her insights with all our listeners.

Did her story open something in you? We’d love to hear about it! Send us a note at support@tslp.life then share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find this work.

TRANSCRIPT

YouTube Video

REFERENCES:

10:15 Episodes that help break the asking for help taboo

Ep 212 Running on Fumes Isn’t Strength

Ep 165 Right Person Wrong Job

Ep 151 Mindset Shifts to Transform Your Business

E 145 Breaking the Leadership Mold

Ep 119 Burdens to Blessings

Ep 96 The Freedom to Choose

31:24 Co-Creation Circle (one year mastermind with Stephanie & Maren)

33:36 Show me your farmstand (farmstand finder)

36:32 Dawn Boutilier on facebook, dawnmurphy2003@hotmail.com

Love this episode? Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts—it helps other soulful leaders find us!

Have a question or topic suggestion? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out through our website or social media.

📬 Connect With Us
Website: http://www.TheSoulfulLeaderPodcast.com
Main Website: http://www.tslp.life

Find us on:

YouTube: @soulfulleaders
LinkedIn: The Soulful Leaders
Facebook: The Soulful Leaders

216: Your Need to Control Is Holding You Hostage

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 10:49:26 +0000

Control equals competence, right? That’s the common belief. In reality, control is tight shoulders, a busy mind, and a simmering irritation when other people don’t do it “the right way.”

This week, Stephanie and Maren take a candid look at how the need to manage everything is actually a leadership trap. As always, they don’t leave you hanging – they tell engaging stories, bring wisdom with laughter and share a grounding, usable practice.

In this episode they

pull apart everything from boundaries and emotional regulation to what it means to stay in your lane
tell the truth about how trying to fix others always backfires
connect the dots between stress and the body, including tension and digestion issues, and why your nervous system cannot “digest” other’s problems
flip the script on courage showing how it’s actually a result and dive into cultivating the skill of serenity (yep, it’s a skill) to protect your energy

Instead of struggling to control everything or waiting to feel brave, listen in and hear real stories about DIY gone wrong, procrastination, and the fear of being seen, plus a more compassionate way to meet those inner layers as they come up.

If you want more peace, stronger self-leadership, and cleaner boundaries at work and at home, come listen, then subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find this work.

TRANSCRIPT

YouTube Video

REFERENCES:

1:02 The Serenity Prayer – two versions

Original (short) version “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

ACA version (Adult Children of Alcoholics) “God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know that one is me.”

4:40 Byron Katie's “three businesses” teaching

13:20 Roger James Hamilton's courage/clarity-confidence-commitment

22:35 Marianne Williamson quote “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

Love this episode? Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts—it helps other soulful leaders find us!

Have a question or topic suggestion? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out through our website or social media.

📬 Connect With Us
Website: http://www.TheSoulfulLeaderPodcast.com
Main Website: http://www.tslp.life

Find us on:

YouTube: @soulfulleaders
LinkedIn: The Soulful Leaders
Facebook: The Soulful Leaders

215: Your Next Job Doesn’t Exist Yet

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 10:10:32 +0000

The world is changing faster than the plans you were taught to trust.

That’s why the question “What’s next?” feels both urgent and impossible.

Careers peter out, industries disappear, and AI is reshaping the job market – the old strategy of lining up a safe, logical path has not only stopped delivering the expected security, it barely functions at all.

It’s most likely that your next job doesn’t even exist yet.

This week, Stephanie and Maren talk honestly about the anxiety this is bringing up and share options and alternative ways of thinking. Questions like “What if what you’re really meant to do doesn’t even exist yet?” are at the heart of their conversation which changes the whole conversation – it would mean you’re ahead of the game, not behind.

Today’s podcast covers:

Why outer preparation alone (money, credentials, a tidy plan) isn’t enough for real resilience
What actually helps you navigate uncertainty
How “best practices” usually backfire and create bigger problems
Symptoms versus root causes in bodies, relationships, and systems
Why unlearning industrial-era beliefs helps to rebuild our creator mindset (and why that’s essential)
A simple, effective and powerful practice for clarity

If you are ready for clarity without forcing an answer, this conversation will hit home

Subscribe and share it with a friend who’s in transition Please also leave a review so more people can find the Soulful Leader Podcast.

If you were to stop chasing best practices and start aligning with what's actually yours to do – what would you do? We’d love to hear.

TRANSCRIPT

YouTube Video

REFERENCES:

11:02 Buckminster Fuller

Love this episode? Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts—it helps other soulful leaders find us!

Have a question or topic suggestion? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out through our website or social media.

📬 Connect With Us
Website: http://www.TheSoulfulLeaderPodcast.com
Main Website: http://www.tslp.life

Find us on:

YouTube: @soulfulleaders
LinkedIn: The Soulful Leaders
Facebook: The Soulful Leaders

214: Stop the Dream Killers

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 11:00:38 +0000

You had a dream once. Maybe you still do — buried under “being realistic,” other people's opinions, and the quiet voice that says “who do you think you are?”

In this episode, Stephanie and Maren share their own stories about dream killers — both the external ones (threatened bosses or co-workers, well meaning parents, etc) and the internal ones (our own fears and doubts, the stories we tell ourselves).

If you've ever talked yourself out of something big, felt pressured by someone else's success, or quietly put a lid on your own potential to stay comfortable — this one's for you.

There’s a truth you may not realize: you cannot have a longing that doesn't already exist in your future. Your dream is there for a reason. The challenge is continuing to choose it.

That’s what today’s episode will help you do – find the support you need to claim your dream and stop the dream killers.

🙌 If this episode stirred something in you — a dream you've been sitting on, a longing you've been dismissing — we want to hear about it.

📨 Share your answer with us at support@tslp.life or find us on social media @SoulfulLeaders

✍️ Here’s a great question to consider this week: If no one in your life would ever know what you chose, what would you choose?

Content note: This episode includes open conversations about self-doubt, playing small, and the emotional weight of going after your dreams. Approached with warmth, humor, and a whole lot of heart.*

TRANSCRIPT

YouTube Video

RESOURCES:

– 11:01 The Two Wolves parable — classic Cherokee story

– 11:49 “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light and not our darkness that most frightens us.” ~Marianne Williamson from A Return to Love

– 16:20 “Is it true?” from Byron Katie's “The Work”: thework.com

Love this episode? Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts—it helps other soulful leaders find us!

Have a question or topic suggestion? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out through our website or social media.

📬 Connect With Us
Website: http://www.TheSoulfulLeaderPodcast.com
Main Website: http://www.tslp.life

Find us on:

YouTube: @soulfulleaders
LinkedIn: The Soulful Leaders
Facebook: The Soulful Leaders

213: The Pattern You Can’t Escape (Until Now)

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 11:04:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered, why does this keep happening?

Does it sometimes feel like you keep falling into the same hole?

This week, Stephanie and Maren get real about what it means to lead from a higher place when life (or the people in it) comes at you hard.

Using the powerful Buddhist parable of the “Autobiography in Five Short Chapters,” they unpack why high-functioning people so often ‘fall into the same holes’ (destructive patterns) in life – and why it’s not a character flaw, it's actually just an unexamined habit.

You'll walk away with a fresh lens on shame, confidence, surprise, and what it actually means to build true wealth from the inside out.

If you've ever held it together on the outside while quietly unraveling on the inside, this episode is for you.

Key Takeaways

SHAME = Should Have Already Mastered Everything. The moment you start with “I should have…” you've entered the shame cycle — and it keeps you stuck in the hole.
Swap “need to” for “get to.” This one word shift moves you from hard, contracted energy into curiosity and possibility — and it changes everything.
Falling in the hole isn't punishment — it's an invitation. Each time you fall, you're being offered the next level of growth. The hole is the reward, not the consequence.
Your reticular activating system is always listening. What you focus on, you find more of. Deliberately training your brain toward delight, gratitude, and possibility is a practice — and it works.
True wealth is what you have when the money's gone. Your character, your gifts, your relationships — that's the foundation that holds when everything else shakes.

If this episode stirred something in you, we'd love to hear about it. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts — it helps more soulful leaders find their way to this conversation.

And if you're ready to stop white-knuckling your way through life and start working with it instead of against it, get on the waitlist for our Co-Creation Circle at tslp.life/co-creation-circle.

Content note: This episode includes a candid discussion about family conflict, shame cycles, and navigating serious life challenges (illness, loss, grief). Shared with care and compassion.

TRANSCRIPT

YouTube Video

REFERENCES:

2:50 “Autobiography in Five Short Chapters” — a Buddhist parable link

14:26 Daniel Goodenough TheHuPersonProject.com

17:22 Roger Hamilton/Wealth Dynamics https://www.wealthdynamics.com/

19:24 Truck quote: if you lose your money, you've lost nothing. If you lose your health, you've lost something. If you lose your character, you've lost everything

24:50 Reticular Activating System Ep 103: Success: Straight Line or Meandering Road

28:24 Book of Delights by Ross Gay amazon link (affiliate)

Love this episode? Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts—it helps other soulful leaders find us!

Have a question or topic suggestion? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out through our website or social media.

📬 Connect With Us
Website: http://www.TheSoulfulLeaderPodcast.com
Main Website: http://www.tslp.life

Find us on:

YouTube: @soulfulleaders
LinkedIn: The Soulful Leaders
Facebook: The Soulful Leaders

212: Running on Fumes Isn’t Strength

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 10:19:14 +0000

You're doing all the things. Checking every box. Pushing through. And yet the mountain in front of you still looms.

You’ve been told that needing support is a weakness, so you keep going- running on fumes.

In this episode, Stephanie and Maren get real about what happens when achievers hit empty — and why the instinct to push through ‘one more thing’ is actually flawed conditioning, not real wisdom. Drawing on bodywork truths, real-life business coaching moments, and a surprisingly powerful metaphor about gas tanks, they explore the empowerment of being able to stop, soften, and ask for help.

If you’re living the ‘I-need-to-just-get-through-this-one-thing’ life, or haven’t yet recognized that asking for help just might be the most powerful thing you do (for you AND those around you), today’s podcast is for you.

In This Episode

Why “less is more” is more than a meme — and how to actually live it
Reframing how you approach struggle with a clear, helpful analogy
What happens in a conversation when one person softens first
Maren's honest moment of vulnerability with her business coach — and what it unlocked
Stephanie's 15-minute rule for getting unstuck without draining yourself
Why the silo mentality is keeping all of us stuck
The belief system shift you need *before* you can ask for help

Does this sound like someone you love? Do them a favor and share it with them while you’re thinking about it.

TRANSCRIPT

YouTube Video

Love this episode? Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts—it helps other soulful leaders find us!

Have a question or topic suggestion? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out through our website or social media.

📬 Connect With Us
Website: http://www.TheSoulfulLeaderPodcast.com
Main Website: http://www.tslp.life

Find us on:

YouTube: @soulfulleaders
LinkedIn: The Soulful Leaders
Facebook: The Soulful Leaders

211: The 3am Wake-Up Call

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:04:40 +0000

Do you ever wake up at 3 a.m. wondering what it’s all for? Thinking there must be something more?

Maybe you've checked all the boxes.

Career? Thriving.

Family? Taken care of.

Life on paper? Pretty great.

So why are you waking up in the middle of the night with that gnawing feeling that something is… off?

In this episode, Stephanie and Maren get real about those middle-of-the-night moments when the big existential questions show up uninvited —Why am I here? What is this all for? Is this really it? — and what it actually means when they do.

Spoiler: nothing is wrong with you. In fact, something very right is happening.

This conversation explores the difference between outer success and inner success, why even the most accomplished people can still feel deeply empty, and how to change the narrative.

If you've ever secretly questioned what it’s all for, this episode is for you.

In This Episode

Why waking up in the middle of the night with existential questions is actually a gift
Three ways to work with the 3 a.m. angst
The difference between suffering and suffering over your suffering
Why highly successful people still feel that “fingernails on a chalkboard” emptiness
Waking up at the end of your life, the cost of delaying finding real meaning
A simple question to sit with this week: What would it mean to be internally successful?

Ready to stop sleepwalking and start living your life mission? Join our community at tslp.life — a growing movement of people choosing to live from the inside out.

TRANSCRIPT

YouTube Video

REFERENCES:

7:33 Ep 196 Pick Your Hard

Love this episode? Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts—it helps other soulful leaders find us!

Have a question or topic suggestion? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out through our website or social media.

📬 Connect With Us
Website: http://www.TheSoulfulLeaderPodcast.com
Main Website: http://www.tslp.life

Find us on:

YouTube: @soulfulleaders
LinkedIn: The Soulful Leaders
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210: From Emptiness to Fulfillment

Tue, 19 May 2026 11:22:39 +0000

You’re spinning in place. You’ve done this already and your success is feeling hollow.

👉🏻 Maybe you've built the business, or climbed the mountain.
👉🏻 Maybe you've checked every box society told you to check.
👉🏻 Maybe it’s just a quiet, persistent whisper telling you “there’s more, there’s something else…”

In this episode, Stephanie and Maren explore what happens when the formula society teaches you stops working — and why so many amazing achievers find themselves spinning in place, wondering why success feels hollow. If you've ever felt like you're running on autopilot, doing all the right things but feeling strangely disconnected from your own life, this one is for you.

This isn't about blowing up your life.

It's about getting curious enough to ask better questions — and brave enough to sit in the uncertainty long enough to hear the answers.

Included in today’s episode:

The man who built his business three times — and why his energy completely collapsed when asked if he'd do it again
Why we’re are trained to *do* yet never taught how to *be*
The Spiral Dynamics framework (developed by Clare Graves, expanded by Ken Wilber) and why the “apex achiever” is only the halfway point of human development
Byron Katie's powerful question: Is it true?
How stuck energy in the mind and emotions eventually shows up as physical pain — and what Chinese medicine teaches us about flow
The Hopi wisdom: “Push off from the shore and find the flow”
Why questioning your internal narrative is the most radical (and most avoided) act of self-leadership

Loved This Episode?

If this resonated with you, the best thing you can do is share it with someone who needs to hear it — that friend who keeps telling you they feel like something's missing. They'll thank you for it.

And if you haven't already, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps more soulful leaders find their way to this conversation.

TRANSCRIPT

Watch on YouTube

REFERENCES:

8:08 Byron Katie The work
13:10 Spiral Dynamics
19:27 Your Body Doesn’t Lie – John Diamond
19:33 You Can Heal Your Life – Louise Hay

Love this episode? Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts—it helps other soulful leaders find us!

Have a question or topic suggestion? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out through our website or social media.

📬 Connect With Us
Website: http://www.TheSoulfulLeaderPodcast.com
Main Website: http://www.tslp.life

Find us on:

YouTube: @soulfulleaders
LinkedIn: The Soulful Leaders
Facebook: The Soulful Leaders

209: Why ‘Holding On’ Is Holding You Back

Tue, 05 May 2026 10:38:59 +0000

You've worked hard to build the life you have. So why does it feel like something's missing — or worse, like you're stuck?

Here's the uncomfortable truth: the very things you're gripping tightest might be exactly what's keeping you from the life you actually want.

In this episode, Stephanie and Maren go down the rabbit hole with Alice in Wonderland to uncover her secret of letting go and explore the powerful (and often misunderstood) relationship between trust and surrender.

Inspired by a clip from renowned Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön, they unpack the difference between surrender and weakness and explore the metaphor of Alice falling down the rabbit hole -with curiosity instead of terror- to show what it could look like to stop white-knuckling your way through change and start trusting the process.

The life you're dreaming of is not about doing more or climbing another mountain, it's actually about going inward and making space and embracing curiosity. It’s about discovery.

Key Takeaways

Surrender isn't weakness — it's courage. Real surrender means trusting and that trust has to be built. It's a practice, not a personality trait.
Your resistance to change is normal. Just like a caterpillar literally dissolves before becoming a butterfly, your inner immune system will fight transformation. That discomfort doesn't mean you're failing — it means you're becoming.
The thoughts that fill your head aren't you. Write them down — I'm too old, I don't have time, it's too late — and look at them. What you witness loses its grip.
Scrolling, snacking, and staying busy are false escapes. They give you the feeling of relief without building the actual capacity to sit with discomfort. The real practice is learning to be uncomfortable — consciously and on purpose.
Stillness is not the same as doing nothing. Listening inward, tracking what your body is telling you, asking what is this asking of me? — that IS the work. And it changes everything in your outer world.

We'd love to hear where you are with this. Are you in the free fall right now? Grabbing for every branch on the way down? Or have you found your wings?

Find us on Facebook and LinkedIn (links below) — and come tell us your story.

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who needs it — and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

TRANSCRIPT

YouTube Video

REFERENCES:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnObGF4WQkE

23:21 Pick Your Hard

26:29 Inner Mastery

Love this episode? Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts—it helps other soulful leaders find us!

Have a question or topic suggestion? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out through our website or social media.

📬 Connect With Us
Website: http://www.TheSoulfulLeaderPodcast.com
Main Website: http://www.tslp.life

Find us on:

YouTube: @soulfulleaders
LinkedIn: The Soulful Leaders
Facebook: The Soulful Leaders