Who Does She Think She Is with Stephanie Llewellyn

So many of us carry things we haven't dealt with or haven't had the opportunity to work through, throughout our lives and they show up at the worst possible time, in areas we would never expect. For some, perfectionism is a badge of honor - a standard they hold themselves to. But what they may not realize is, that perfectionism is actually not helping... it can be hurting them. Entrepreneurs and business owners have watched the growth of their businesses come to a screeching halt because of perfectionism. Create the thing, start now, think about it, and refine it later. Join the conversation in this episode - what is stopping you?Follow me on Social Media:Instagram - @thecoolmomceoTikTok - @coolmomceoEmail - hello@stephaniellewellyn.com

There are a lot of things that can hinder our success. Some of those things are out of our control, but most of us know that... sometimes WE are the thing standing in our way. Self-awareness is one of the key traits of any successful person - I mean.. the ones with integrity and a functioning conscious anyway. When was the last time you talked to yourself? When was the last time you identified a familiar path that has held you back before that you are about to walk down once again and decided this time to stop... instead of moving forward? From my inspiring meeting with Jenna Kutcher in the CEO school Community to the lessons I've learned on my own over the past year... this is where we start.That's what this episode is about... let's call ourselves out right now... together.

When I launched my company one year ago, I knew I wanted to help other female business owners but I didn't know in what way exactly. Fast forward to today and it has evolved from a small Virtual Assistant business created just to make ends meet, into a thriving 6-figure business that focuses on helping women find their version of unconventional success. This episode is the beginning of a shift in the Who Does She Think She is Podcast and I can't wait to, not only bring you the unlikely stories of success from my guests, but also the tools and roadmap to help you create something of your own, you won't want to miss it!

Some kids grow up wanting to be a Nurse, a Doctor, Scientist or Teacher... but what about the kids who want to grow up to be a Singer, an Actress or Director? There has always been a kind of automatic eye roll that happens with a sarcastic, "Good Luck with that", attached to it. Patricia Mercado knows this feeling all too well but she is not the only one. In this episode Patricia and I talk about our childhood struggle with eating disorders, her journey to finding herself and the life of her dreams in New York City as an Actress, and how her daughter has given her the drive to overcome anything or anyone that stands in her way.

As adults, how many times have we run into real life situations where we wish we would have been taught how to navigate them. How to start a business, how to invest, how the hell do I do my taxes and what is a Roth IRA anyways? Right, we have all felt this way about something at one time or another. We feel like we missed out on a huge part of our education because it wasn't offered to us... Enter Emily Knight, Founder and Creator of Entreprenew. Entreprenew is a curriculum for High school students to learn real life skills, start a business, and enter the real world with a completely different perspective, power skills and a bigger vision for their lives. Listen now to hear about how Emily brought this idea to life, and how you, or your child, can be a part of it!

Have you ever had a crazy idea that you just went for, without overthinking about everything that could go wrong? Maybe you have a hobby or something that lights you up and from time to time you think to yourself..."I wish I could do this for a living" Well, Kristin Gambaccini has brought both of those scenarios to fruition and I am so excited for you to hear her story! Her bravery and belief in herself, the example she is setting for her 8 children, and her ability to be who she is in every situation (for better or worse according to her) while keeping her family first without sacrificing what brings her creative joy is beyond inspiring. From DIY Blogger with a $0 home renovation budget and a sense of humor to being a regular segmented guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show and having her own daytime show on the Armstrong cable network, Kristin is blazing an impressive rainbow colored trail, on a mission to build a home, a brand, and a life, that will foster creativity, support her family, give her dreams life and show her kids that they can do anything, as long as they have the belief in themselves and confidence in their ability to figure things out on their own. If you need a little motivation to get moving on your goals, this episode is for you!

Have you ever had that moment where you get hit with an ah-ha moment that either makes you second guess every single moment of your life or validates every moment of your life? You think to yourself, "Holy shit... nothing is wrong with me, afterall - I'm just... xyz, and it's not my weakness, it's actually my strength!" Yep, that's what I went through recently after I listened to an episode of The Goal Digger Podcast with ADHD entrepreneur, Tracy Otsuka. It was the first time I had heard a successful woman recount her experiences and struggles growing up, working a 9-5 job and starting her own business in a way that I, not only understood but, lived firsthand. My whole life I have wondered why I felt unmotivated, lazy and jealous of other students/employees who could just follow the damn rules. My internal dialog was always beating me down because I, like most, was raised in a society and educational system that tells us, if we aren't doing well in school we won't do well in life. I call BULLSHIT. According to 'In Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences' (1983) and its sequels, there are 8 (9 if you count spiritual) different types of intelligence, yet our schools historically focus on verbal-linguistic or mathematical-logical intelligences so... what about the rest of us? Bueller?....Beuller? To all of my fellow, former, D + C students... enough with the excuses they have given us, we are the ones who have the vision, we create the things, and start the companies... statistically speaking, the Valedictorians are just the ones who work for those companies. If you, or even your kid, have ever struggled in school, work or maybe wondered why things always seemed easier for "everyone else" this episode is for you.

This week we are switching it up a little bit with my producer, Brian Howie. If there is one person who knows what it means to not only live life unconventionally but to find success while doing it, it's him. From being a producer on VH1, MTV, and an Off-Broadway show to becoming an author, traveling the world with his live show, 'The Great Love Debate' and being named "America's #1 Dating Influencer" by Time Magazine... he has written quite a story and now, he is mentoring and teaching others the power of podcasting inside of his new entrepreneurial venture, PodPopuli. Tune in to hear his story, how our paths crossed and get inspired to take bold action with your life!

In the beginning, this Podcast started as a way to share the stories of unconventional success, overcoming the odds and how I, and my guests, made a choice to be vulnerable by pulling back the curtain on our struggles, mistakes, wins and everything in between. This week my guest, Michelle Marie King, is no exception to this theme. This episode highlights the struggles we feel as teenagers, how we walked through the pain to the other side and how we can do better for the next generation. Michelle Marie King, former Miss Colorado, philanthropist, entrepreneur and mental health advocate has a story that has moved me to tears on more than one occasion and continues to inspire me to pay it forward. If you love listening in on a raw conversation about being a woman, building a business from the ground up and creating a movement that has the potential to change the world... this episode is for you.

After fighting against her body for most of her life, her symptoms continued to worsen... so finally, after a life altering health scare, she decided it was time to try a different approach. Author Christine Rich joins me this week to talk about her new book, ‘Chronic’, living with Crohn’s Disease, the story behind it, disordered relationships we deal with internally and her journey to loving her chronic illness despite the challenges it placed in her path. It doesn’t matter if you have a chronic illness, chronic thoughts, behaviors or cycles that feel out of your control... or just need some perspective, this is an episode you won’t want to miss!

This week I'm joined by the one and only, Maria Cribbs and I'm warning you, this episode might make you a little uncomfortable - Maria and I were literally sweating through our shirts by the end but she and I have very similar views on speaking up and having the hard conversations. From the Rachel Hollis Controversy and racial climate in our country, how we, as white women can help amplify black voices to her marriage with her husband, former Cleveland Browns Wide Receiver, Josh Cribbs, their family, their daytime TV show 'Cribbs in the CLE', following your passion, staying humble and so much more!

As we were growing up, how many of us looked for external circumstances to provide us with happiness and fulfillment, all while feeling more alone and clueless than ever. What does it really take to identify the root cause of our habits and fears that hinder our success and happiness? How do we navigate the healing process and do we have to do it alone? This week I’m joined by Angela, founder and owner of The Focus Within. She tells us how she created a company designed to help others walk through the same pain and healing that she has walked through, simply by looking within herself.

In this episode we get an unfiltered behind the scenes look at what it was really like being a contestant on the ABC show, The Bachelor ... being "crowned" the winner and then cast as The Bachelorette a year later. Was it as glamorous and as exciting as they made it look on TV or were we actually witnessing a group of women, and men, being thrust into a traumatic experience where they had zero control of the narrative that was being created by the producers and fed to us every Monday night and then reinforced through the media. Jen Schefft Waterman is so genuine and one of the nicest humans I have ever met, yet, she was all but blacklisted by the media because of a Bachelor "upset" when she decided to end her season the way she did. Tune in to hear the answers to all of the questions you've asked from your couch while watching the show, I know I will never look at it the same way and I know most of you won't either.

Setting goals, and sticking to them, can be difficult for so many people. We rely on motivation and a myriad of external sources to dictate whether we are happy, successful, fulfilled... and the list goes on. In this Episode I’m joined by Chris VanVliet, a 4 time Emmy winning TV Host, Viral YouTuber, Entrepreneur and Host of the “Insight” Podcast. Chris has a passion for setting specific goals in every area of his life and his dedication to having a huge vision for his life is inspiring to say the least. Join us to talk shifting your mindset, growing your vision and what happens when you stop waiting and start doing.

We are always talking about change when it is out of our control... but what about the change we bring on ourselves? Have you ever had to make a decision or a choice that had the potential to change the trajectory of your whole life? What happens after the choice is made? There is an unspoken grieving process, a weight we carry, an uncertain feeling that comes in waves and leaves us wondering if we made the right choice, when we are the one who brought this on ourselves. In this episode, I'm sharing some of my most vulnerable stories about moments and seasons of my life where I had to deal with the ripple effect brought on by my own choices, the process I had to go through to get to the other side, and why you should feel confident to create changes in your life without fearing the unknown.

Change is inevitable...some of us love it, some hate it, but either way we all need to figure out how to get through it. In this episode I’m joined by my friend Peg Tipka who is a PCC (professional clinical counselor), certified hypno-analyst and registered art therapist. We talk through the importance of honoring our past selves, how to find your footing as you transition out of a relationship, job or traumatic experience, and finding comfort in knowing that you aren’t the only one who feels like you are the only one.

Almost everyone deals with being made to feel small or insignificant at some point in their lives... but as women we deal with it in some capacity almost on a daily basis. But what if you are experiencing it in a romantic relationship? In this episode, I'm answering a question someone in my community sent me last year about commanding respect and finding your inner voice as a young woman. Is it really about finding your inner voice and standing your ground? Or is this where we, as women, need to decide if it's even worth the fight.

In the name of not letting other people down, so many of us have gone down paths in our lives that we were never meant to take. But we all know you can only fake it for so long. In this episode I am joined by my friend, and fellow free spirit entrepreneur, Mary Laske Bell who has an incredible story with a message we all need to hear. We are all born with unique talents and interests... and sometimes they can go unnoticed, unappreciated or untapped... but maybe that's because, this whole time, you have been performing in the wrong arena. Let this be your permission slip to let go of dreams that were never really yours to begin with... and walk towards what sets your soul on fire.

At some point in our lives, most of us have to hustle in some way or another. As kids we hustle for superficial things, and the older we get the less it feels like “the hustle” and the more it just feels like “the struggle”. We create habits and get stuck in cycles that feel comfortable but constantly work against us, and for a lot of us we feel like there’s no way we can do better if we’ve never seen better first hand. But that’s not true, and in this episode, I share my personal experience with one of the lowest points of my life and the road to creating a new chapter for myself - and finding what I’d been “hustling” to find all along.  --

In this episode I am joined by two of my most hilarious and dearest friends, Ronda and Jazmine, who are both over 30 and navigating single life, dating, and writing a great story along the way. I really wanted to take a deep dive into the non-conventional side of Valentines Day and love, what it's like dating in 2021, and what we should really be searching for outside of our soulmates. I chose these two as my first guests on the show for a reason, they keep me laughing and really give great perspective on, not only this topic, but also how unique the dating experience is being two beautiful and strong black women compared to my personal experiences. This one will make you want to call your girlfriends and tell them how grateful you are for them - or if you're in a relationship you will feel grateful you're not swimming in the shallow dating pool we are currently wading in!   

A cheerleader, an actress and a witch walk into a bar, and they are all one person...me.  For a lot of us, growing up with a title or some sort of identity comes naturally. Athlete, Drama Club, Loner...and then as adults we work to earn titles in our careers and lives, but are we working for the love of the title. or the actual action of doing the thing? Well...I took it a little too far and created a habit of chasing titles, even if I hated the actual thing I was doing. I can't be the only one...right?

*Trigger Warning* In this episode we talk about my personal struggle with disordered eating, the things I did that helped me, and the assholes in our lives who aren’t helping anyone. So often we find ourselves focusing on our physical appearance...but I want to flip the script a little bit and talk about the mental side of things with some hard truths we all need to hear.     

For my very first episode I give you a little closer look at who I am and why I decided to start this podcast. If there’s anything I am an “expert” on, it would either be starting something before I feel ready - or taking a risk just to have a story to tell. Tune in to hear about my problems with authority, how I got over worrying about people being irritated by my oversharing, and why I think all stories are worth telling!    

A sneak peek at what's ahead...and what we'll be thinking!