Unpolished

It can be really hard to be all the things. The idea of having it all is great—but we can’t have it all in every moment and we need to acknowledge the realities of the tradeoffs we make in our choices. Mom life is just really hard, and it’s time we talked about it. We all feel different degrees of insecurities about being mothers, and these feelings of judgment are our projections of our own insecurities as we seek validation for the decisions we make. There are parallels between this and the early stages of an entrepreneurial journey. Once we have the gift of hindsight, things tend to magically look a lot rosier and the hard parts of these memories truly tend to fade. Sometimes our best isn’t that awesome, but it has to be enough for that moment. There will always be hindsight, so even in those moments when it seems like too much, one day we’ll be able to reflect and see how it fits into the bigger picture. How does Mom guilt show up in your life? We want to hear your story. After listening to this

What makes your soul come alive? What did you love doing as a child and how does that show up in your life today? When we start to clear away the clutter of who we think we should be and live as ourselves, there’s so much power and strength because there isn’t as much room for fear. The outcomes matter less because the feelings we’re after are felt simply by being who we are and standing in our truth. We’re going to experience both ends of the spectrum (the high-highs and the low-lows) and we need to get comfortable knowing that neither one lasts, so it’s important to let go of trying to hold onto it or trying to resist it. It’s also important for us to feel the full range of emotions, and not only just the positive ones. Our challenge to you this week is to feel the feelings—pick one good and one negative experience and truly feel it. Also become aware of what makes your soul alive so you can find ways to sneak more of it into your life. Let us know in the comments what this process is like for you! A

“People get caught up in not starting something because they don’t think it’s going to be successful. That’s the biggest failure of all—to not even start. Nothing is a failure if it’s leading you to something else or helping you grow.” In this episode of the Unpolished Journey, we talk to fellow podcaster Monica Packer of About Progress. Monica Packer is a podcaster, writer, and recovering perfectionist.  She is a wife and mother of four young children, living in the San Francisco East Bay. Monica is passionate about empowering women to find, develop, and own their own gifts by refusing to be held back by their fears of imperfection.    We talk about the messy and stressful process of jumping in and starting something new, what Monica learned about herself from starting a blog and then a podcast, and why it’s important to do and try things in order to discover what our gifts are. In her work, Monica has found that everyone wants to know what their gifts are, but the purpose is the process of discovering w

This episode almost never saw the light of day—it’s a deeply personal conversation that dives into the complicated emotions that come up on the self-awareness journey. We acknowledge that part of the entrepreneurial path is digging deep into yourself and confronting parts of you that may feel uncomfortable, yet the only option to breakthrough is to simply get curious and see what you can learn. We talk about imposter syndrome, the real me vs. the not real me, what our fear is trying to teach us, and where doubt arises from. Investing in a solid foundation is where we want to focus and acknowledging the need to accept and live in gray areas is how we can move forward. We’d love to hear from you—what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far on your journey? After listening to this episode, come join our growing community on Facebook or Instagram. We would love to hear your story, support you in your struggles, and celebrate your success. You can learn more about us and the businesses we’re building here:

We continue our conversation from previous episodes on the idea of “unfolding” and look at how truly surrendering to this process and noticing how all the little pieces fall into place helps take the pressure off. While this perspective is empowering, it’s certainly not our natural inclination and is a choice we have to continue to make over time by training our brain. We share specific examples from our lives as to how this is showing up for us and explore how even the small or frustrating parts of our experiences are still part of this unfolding process. If we do the work and let go of the outcomes, it’s a much more fulfilling approach. Our challenge to you this week is to simply put something out there and be curious about what it will teach you. What’s one thing that’s inspired you or you’ve been contemplating? Go do that thing and let us know how it feels. After listening to this episode, come join our growing community on Facebook or Instagram. We would love to hear your story, support you in your s

This episode begins with a conversation on the need to surrender and how it can actually be a good way to pause and enjoy what is right in front of us. We talk about how to approach this from a place of empowerment and remind each other that we can even be frustrated about things we are grateful for. Changing our perspectives is one of the most powerful things we can do, but changing how our brains automatically respond to things is a hard (but worthy) task to take on. We end the conversation with a discussion on the culture of busyness we find ourselves in and talk about how we don’t have to wait to have something in our lives that will make us happy but actually enjoy this moment. We challenge each other to be open to possibility instead of finding reasons to say we can’t do things. So join us in our challenge...what would happen if you focused on saying “yes, AND” instead of “yes, BUT” to things that appear in your life? After listening to this episode, come join our growing community on Facebook or In

“It felt so much better to give it a try then to keep suppressing what was inside of me. . . We are so capable, more capable than we even know. Be brave and just go for it.” In our second installment of the Unpolished Journey, we have an inspiring conversation with Emily Chipman, founder of Doliray Swimwear. As a wife and mama of four young girls, Emily was looking for a creative outlet and found it in quite the unconventional place that originally felt impossible. She talks to us about how she didn’t ever think she could be capable of doing something like this until she learned to shift her mindset and began to talk about her dream as if it were her reality. Emily shares the lessons she’s learned as she navigated the unfamiliar world of manufacturing and how a combination of bravery, determination, and the willingness to be repeatedly embarrassed is how she approaches her entrepreneurial journey. We also discuss how she manages everything going on in her life to make time for what needs to get done, how sh

We continue our discussion around being stuck in the mud and the discomfort of transitions. The struggle of the extreme highs and lows we’re experiencing is a challenge we constantly battle. We talk about how our primitive brains want to keep us safe, how we get to decide what is true is for us, and the importance of celebrating the process. We want to spark more conversations on the reality of this process, so people have more examples of what this journey is like (and particularly the incredibly challenging early stages). So share with us: what does the entrepreneurial experience feel like for you? Shine a light on the reality of your process so we can all learn from and support each other. After listening to this episode, come join our growing community on Facebook or Instagram. We would love to hear your story, support you in your struggles, and celebrate your success. You can learn more about us and the businesses we’re building here: Sarah Carpenter Candelera Coaching http://www.candeleracoaching.

“There’s a lot of pressure to do things a certain way, and I’m doing my best to not let that prevent me from doing things the way I want to do it.” In our first installment of The Unpolished Journey, we’re excited to chat with Harper Spero, a business coach and consultant from New York City. We talk about her journey from the corporate world to the entrepreneur world, her evolution as a coach, the fears she faced in building her business, and how she balances a chronic health illness with solopreneur life. Harper shares what she’s learned through taking risks, why being yourself is so hard but so important, and why getting clear on who your people are is so key to finding success. To learn more about Harper and her business, you can check out www.harperspero.com. For our fantastic Unpolished listeners, Harper is offering 10% off any of her Breakthrough Sessions with the promo code UNPOLISHED: http://www.harperspero.com/breakthroughsessions/ Are you interested in sharing your Unpolished Journey with us? We

It’s no fun feeling like you’re stuck in the mud, but that’s the point of the entrepreneurial journey we find ourselves on. We dive deep into the muck in this episode and explore all the ways we’re experiencing this in our lives. We look at how the hard parts are connected to the good parts much like when an acorn falls from a tree and has to be buried in the mud before it can sprout new life. We also discuss our daily battle with social media, and how we can find ways to better manage our time and use it as a vehicle for our expressing our authenticity instead of becoming attached to the likes and engagement (or lack thereof!) After listening to this episode, come join our growing community on Facebook or Instagram. We would love to hear your story, support you in your struggles, and celebrate your success. You can learn more about us and the businesses we’re building here: Sarah Carpenter Candelera Coaching http://www.candeleracoaching.com/ Stacy Weinstein/ Hello Healing https://www.stacyweinstein.com/

Have you ever thought that you can be grateful for something and appreciate what it offers to your life, even if you really don’t like that thing (like taxes or a corporate job)? This nugget of wisdom comes out of a discussion around a joy hangover Stacy experienced for the first time. We talk about what this looks like in each of our lives and how it relates to: The human tendency to categorize things as black and white Why zebras don’t get ulcers (great book if you haven’t read it: https://www.amazon.com/Why-Zebras-Dont-Ulcers-Third/dp/0805073698) The undercurrent of anxiety from being a human and processing so much information each day The need to live from a conscious place as technology and the modern world we live in makes it much harder to live by instinct and default The importance of paying attention to signs and listening for feedback Giving the hard stuff a purpose After listening to this episode, come join our growing community on Facebook or Instagram. We would love to hear your st

What happens when working doesn’t feel like work? Is it a sign that you’re not actually being productive? Or does it mean that you’re actually accomplishing a step on the path to your larger goal(s)? In this episode we talk about: How to feel productive and accomplished when you’re doing something that doesn’t feel like work The idea of gamification to create milestones that make you feel progress in your business How to structure and label your time to acknowledge what’s contributing to your overall goals Why it’s important to ask yourself what feels right in this moment The need to train your brain to get out of "should" mode The need to balance doing the things that are energizing to fuel you to do the things you don’t love (like folding laundry!) Getting curious about what money we’re leaving on the table by not investing Training our brain to have an abundance mindset After listening to this episode, come join our growing community on Facebook or Instagram. We would love to hear your st

Why is it that we are often our own worst enemies? It can be so hard to acknowledge our own strengths and is often why we all tend to seek validation from others. In this episode, we talk about how this applies to Sarah’s current calling to try something new in her business and how she has a choice to listen to the calling or the insecurities it triggers. We discuss how uncomfortable it can be to acknowledge and own our gifts and why this leads us to self-sabotage our efforts. We also talk about how all of our decisions are rooted in either fear or love and how our choices can be clouded by our fear of expectations not being met. After listening to this episode, come join our growing community on Facebook or Instagram. We would love to hear your story, support you in your struggles, and celebrate your success. You can learn more about us and the businesses we’re building here: Sarah Carpenter Candelera Coaching http://www.candeleracoaching.com/ Stacy Weinstein/ Hello Healing https://www.stacyweinstein.co

Have you ever noticed how decluttering the physical space of your home can create fresh space in your life to invite in something new? Sarah shares an update on the impact of her big purge and we discuss how timing and fuel are the key ingredients to make something like this actually work. When we address what we need in each moment, our lives can feel so much different. Stacy shares her experience owning her needs on a recent business trip and how the idea of unfolding is resonating with her. We talk about the difference between letting something unfold vs. being lazy and how important it is to recognize what our sun, soil, and water are in our lives as we let things feel easy and simply wait for them to bloom as they are meant to. After listening to this episode, come join our growing community on Facebook or Instagram. We would love to hear your story, support you in your struggles, and celebrate your success. You can learn more about us and the businesses we’re building here: Sarah Carpenter Candelera

This week is all about the nagging, negative voice in our ears called the Inner Critic. It tends to get louder when we start stepping into something new and it likes to find sneaky ways to distract and dissuade us with fear and that not-good-enough feeling. We talk about finding ways to take the pressure off and ways to work with the fear. We also discuss how we’ve found that setting intentions and taking action is often the open door that fear enters through. We end with a helpful exercise to combat this that involves finding the learning in the worst case scenario. After listening to this episode, come join our growing community on Facebook or Instagram. We would love to hear your story, support you in your struggles, and celebrate your success. You can learn more about us and the businesses we’re building here: Sarah Carpenter Candelera Coaching http://www.candeleracoaching.com/ Stacy Weinstein/ Hello Healing https://www.stacyweinstein.com/ Feel free to reach out to us anytime at hello@unpolished.comm

Have you ever noticed a connection between the amount of clutter in your life and the level of chaos you feel? This episode dives into the energy of clutter as we talk about the massive purge Sarah is about to take on in her life. We talk about the art of decluttering, how we hold on to ideas and things far past their usefulness, why letting go of mental clutter is so much harder, and more. Sarah offers a new perspective on how we can relate to other people triggering negative emotions and the learning opportunities found within these uncomfortable moments. Books referenced: Mari Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: https://konmari.com/products/books/ Tosha Silver, Outrageous Openness:  https://toshasilver.com/products/outrageous-openness After listening to this episode, come join our growing community on Facebook or Instagram. We would love to hear your story, support you in your struggles, and celebrate your success. You can learn more about us and the businesses we’re building here: Sarah

What does it mean to truly belong to yourself? This episode focuses on the core theme of Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown. Sarah shares a personal story of how she experienced this herself and discusses the interesting dance of sharing opinions on social media. When you can stand in your truth no matter what anyone else thinks, there’s a ripple effect of how grounded and powerful this can make you feel. Giving yourself permission to be who you are looks different when your mind vs. your heart internalizes this. Stacy shares her challenges switching between different personas in her life and how frustrating it can be to witness people following along with cultural ideals they don’t believe in but just do it because everyone else does. We discuss how it’s important to be conscious of how our decisions affect us—sometimes it’s not worth being in the wilderness for something. But we do have to find a way to be willing to stand alone and also setting firm boundaries for what works for us. Braving the Wi

Have you ever had the experience of your soul nodding “heck yes!”? That feeling is what this conversation is all about. Sarah shares an update on her experience hosting a recent workshop and how she did NOT have a vulnerability hangover this time. Her experience was radically different because she felt more confident in her authenticity and was coming from a place of giving the gifts she could give instead of from the need to perform. We talk about how shifting our mindset can take the pressure off and when looking for external validation can sometimes be a useful thing. The bulk of the conversation stems from the difference between following people who inspire us vs. people we admire and the importance of filling our lives with things that resonate with who we are and the person we want to be. For us, Brene Brown and Brooke Castillo are examples of who we have on repeat on the soundtrack of our lives. And we want to know who’s on yours! After listening to this episode, come join our growing community on

We talk a lot about vulnerability on this podcast, and in this episode, we explore the idea of authenticity through two different analogies we’ve both come across. Sarah shares the metaphor of how we present ourselves to the world is like a room that we get to decorate however we want. It’s scary to present the room exactly as you want it, showcasing every detail that represents you, but having the courage to be exactly who we are is where we can find deeper joy. When we think about how this applies to building our businesses, we want the right people to be drawn to our rooms. Yet sometimes we catch ourselves feeling like we need to do things a certain way that doesn’t feel authentic. We acknowledge that we have the power to change how our room looks, and sometimes it’s important to pause and redecorate based on how we’ve personally grown and evolved. Stacy also shares an analogy she heard at a yoga class about how we are mirrors that reflect ourselves in what we see in others. Authenticity is about being

What if we looked at every experience as an opportunity to learn something? When it comes to building our businesses, we’ve found that this approach really helps us stay open to possibilities and find even the smallest ways to move forward. This episode starts off with Stacy sharing insights that she learned from a recent round of giving free coaching calls and how the idea of practicing confidence is more about getting out of our own way and letting it come through. We explore the idea that lessons can be learned from even the most toxic situations we find ourselves in, as well as the beauty of what hindsight can teach us. The conversation then goes into the importance of looking for signs in our life to help us along our journey, in whatever spiritual or religious way that has meaning to you. We end the episode pondering the idea that we are all meant to be someone who truly changes the world—it just may look very different from person to person—and we look at small ways we can explore this in our daily