Conscious Conversations with Amy Woodall and the Collective

Hosted by People Forward Network

Business Careers

Website RSS feed

Episodes

114

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

About the show

Real conversations for people who care deeply about becoming better humans from the inside out, at work, at home, and in the world.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 19, 202651 min

Stop Chasing Your Worth: Enoughness, Emotional Intelligence, and Embodied Leadership with Barbara Burgess

The hustle told you to earn your worth. But what if "enoughness" was never something you had to chase? Amy sits down with Barbara Burgess, consultant, speaker, author, executive coach, facilitator, and founder of Corluma, to explore the sacred tension between high achievement and inner peace. Through stories from her book, "enough.: finding peace in a world of distractions, hustle, and expectations," Barbara shares how embodiment, emotional intelligence, energetic boundaries, and self-compassion can help us stop outsourcing our worth to outcomes. Together, Amy and Barbara invite leaders to listen to the wisdom of the body, make room for curiosity instead of judgment, and remember that being human is not a leadership liability. It is the work. Additional Resources: Connect with Barbara on LinkedIn Get Barbara's book: enough.: finding peace in a world of distractions, hustle, and expectations Learn more about Corluma Consulting Take the Ego Assessment - enter your email in the pop-up to get started! Subscribe to Conscious Habit on YouTube! Join the "Conscious Conversations" Community! Sign Up for the Conscious Habit Newsletter Connect with Amy on LinkedIn Learn more about Conscious Habit Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn Learn more about PeopleForward Network Key Takeaways: Your body often knows before your mind does. Enoughness grows when hustle loses its grip. Emotional intelligence starts with honest self-awareness. Boundaries protect both energy and compassion. Leadership becomes human when curiosity replaces judgment.

August 5, 20267 min

Meditate on This: Letting Go of Control

The tighter you grip, the more life gives you to struggle against. Amy shares a powerful post-meditation insight about attachment, expectations, and the suffering we create when life refuses to follow our preferences. She explores how loosening our grip does not mean abandoning boundaries or desires. It means staying open to what else may be possible. Amy invites conscious leaders to stop swimming upstream, trust the flow of change, and remember that disappointment can coexist with faith. Because suffering may be optional, but change is not. Additional Resources: Take the Ego Assessment - enter your email in the pop-up to get started! Subscribe to Conscious Habit on YouTube! Join the "Conscious Conversations" Community! Sign Up for the Conscious Habit Newsletter Connect with Amy on LinkedIn Learn more about Conscious Habit Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn Learn more about PeopleForward Network Key Takeaways: Attachment turns unmet expectations into unnecessary suffering. Desire without rigidity creates space for new possibilities. Flexibility helps leaders navigate uncertainty with greater ease. Boundaries and acceptance can exist at the same time. Trusting change keeps you open to unexpected growth.

July 22, 202636 min

Not Sorry: Are You Carrying What Was Never Yours?

Owning your power sounds empowering until you realize it also means releasing what was never yours to carry. Amy and Ashley continue with a deeply honest conversation about permission, power, and the difference between responsibility and over-responsibility. Together, they explore what happens when high-achieving, people-first leaders build lives around control, survival, and fixing everything, then realize the real work is learning what is actually theirs to own. From childhood patterns and medical burnout to journaling, asking better questions, and receiving help, Amy and Ashlee unpack how power becomes clearer when we stop trying to prove our goodness and start trusting our relationship with ourselves. This episode is a grounding reminder that owning your power is not about carrying the whole world. It is about choosing your next honest step. Additional Resources: Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn Subscribe to Ashley's Substack Newsletter! Subscribe to Conscious Habit on YouTube! Join the "Conscious Conversations" Community! Connect with Amy on LinkedIn Learn more about Conscious Habit Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn Learn more about PeopleForward Network Key Takeaways: Owning power means releasing what is not yours. Over-responsibility can disguise itself as leadership. Power begins with awareness, choice, and small steps. Asking for help is a powerful act. Self-trust reveals where your true power lives.

July 15, 202649 min

Salary Negotiation Tips for Women Leaders with Keri-Lynne Shaw

Negotiation is not about becoming louder, tougher, or more forceful. It is about remembering your worth, doing your homework, and stepping into the driver's seat of your career. Amy sits down with Keri-Lynne (KL) Shaw, founder of The Salary Bump, to unpack the beliefs, fears, and money stories that keep people from asking for what they truly desire. From pay equity and networking to storytelling, promotions, exit packages, and the courage to advocate for yourself, KL shares practical tools for negotiating with confidence and clarity. This conversation is a powerful reminder that hoping is not a strategy, courage is an action, and no one is coming to rescue your career but you can absolutely learn how to lead it. Additional Resources: Connect with KL on LinkedIn Learn more about The Salary Bump Take the Ego Assessment - enter your email in the pop-up to get started! Subscribe to Conscious Habit on YouTube! Join the "Conscious Conversations" Community! Sign Up for the Conscious Habit Newsletter Connect with Amy on LinkedIn Learn more about Conscious Habit Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn Learn more about PeopleForward Network Key Takeaways: Negotiation begins with knowing your worth. Hoping is not a career strategy. Courage is an action, not a feeling. Networks shape opportunity, confidence, and career growth. Pay conversations require preparation, not panic.

July 1, 20266 min

Meditate on This: Bitch in the Attic | Replay

That voice in your head that says you're not doing enough, liked enough, giving enough, or perfect enough? Amy Woodall has a name for it: the bitch in the attic. Amy unpacks the ego, inner critic, and internal judge that can quietly run the show if we let it. She explores four common ego stories, the achiever, the need to be liked, the martyr, and the perfectionist, and how each one tries to convince us that worthiness must be earned. With her signature blend of honesty, humor, and grounded self-awareness, Amy reminds us that achievement, service, and growth can be beautiful, but they can't become the cake. The real work is noticing the story, reminding ourselves we're safe, and learning to love ourselves exactly as we are. Additional Resources: Take the Ego Assessment - enter your email in the pop-up to get started! Subscribe to Conscious Habit on YouTube! Join the "Conscious Conversations" Community! Sign Up for the Conscious Habit Newsletter Connect with Amy on LinkedIn Learn more about Conscious Habit Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn Learn more about PeopleForward Network Key Takeaways: Your ego protects you, but shouldn't lead. Worthiness cannot be earned through achievement. Likability is not proof of your value. Service becomes unhealthy when self-abandonment leads. Awareness is the first step toward freedom.

June 24, 202638 min

Not Sorry: How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome and Reclaim Your Power

You don't have to become more powerful. You may just need to remember the power that was already yours. Amy and Ashley explore the deeply human meaning of power. Not the loud, domineering kind, but the quiet inner knowing that helps us stop outsourcing our worth. Together, they unpack what happens when success, expectations, imposter syndrome, and old stories pull us away from ourselves. Ashley shares how she is reclaiming her own power through vulnerability, creativity, nature, breath, and writing, while Amy offers grounding insight into the daily practices that help us return to ourselves. This episode is a reminder for every people-first leader: you are not a problem to fix. You are a person invited to remember. Additional Resources: Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn Subscribe to Ashley's Substack Newsletter! Subscribe to Conscious Habit on YouTube! Join the "Conscious Conversations" Community! Connect with Amy on LinkedIn Learn more about Conscious Habit Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn Learn more about PeopleForward Network Key Takeaways: Power is remembered, not earned. Vulnerability becomes easier when power stays internal. Imposter syndrome signals forgotten self-trust. Daily practices protect your inner knowing. You are not a problem to fix.

June 17, 202644 min

From Burnout to Belonging: Rethinking Workplace Well-Being with Richard Safeer

A healthier workplace does not start with another wellness app. It starts with the culture your people live in every day. 🌿 Amy sits down with Dr. Richard Safeer, Chief Medical Director of Employee Health and Well-Being at Johns Hopkins Medicine and author of "A Cure for the Common Company", to unpack why wellbeing is not an individual assignment, it is a team sport. Together, they explore how leaders can move beyond check-the-box wellness programs and build environments where people feel supported, connected, and empowered to take care of themselves and each other. From mindfulness and mood contagion to peer support, leadership engagement, and the social forces that shape our daily choices, Richard offers a practical and deeply human look at what it takes to create a workplace where wellbeing actually sticks. This episode is a must-listen for people-first leaders ready to stop treating burnout as an individual problem and start building cultures that help people thrive. Additional Resources: Connect with Richard on LinkedIn Get Richard's book and more! Take the Ego Assessment - enter your email in the pop-up to get started! Subscribe to Conscious Habit on YouTube! Join the "Conscious Conversations" Community! Sign Up for the Conscious Habit Newsletter Connect with Amy on LinkedIn Learn more about Conscious Habit Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn Learn more about PeopleForward Network Key Takeaways: Wellbeing is a team sport at work. Culture shapes daily health choices. Leaders give permission through visible habits. Mindfulness can improve the whole team. Workplace wellness needs data and intention.

June 3, 20268 min

Meditate on This: Permission Slip to Be Human

When life starts hitting different, the invitation is not to hold it all together perfectly. It is to remember that you are human. 💙 Amy opens up about change fatigue, moving stress, falling out of rhythm with her own conscious habits, and the grace required to begin again. Through a heartfelt reflection and a powerful "permission slip," Amy reminds us that healing, ease, joy, messiness, and self-compassion are all allowed here. This episode is a gentle breath for anyone navigating transition, burnout, uncertainty, or the tender work of remembering who they are. Let this be your permission slip to feel, to rest, to laugh, to begin again, and to trust that this too shall pass. Additional Resources: Take the Ego Assessment - enter your email in the pop-up to get started! Subscribe to Conscious Habit on YouTube! Join the "Conscious Conversations" Community! Sign Up for the Conscious Habit Newsletter Connect with Amy on LinkedIn Learn more about Conscious Habit Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn Learn more about PeopleForward Network Key Takeaways: You are allowed to be fully human. Change fatigue asks for compassion, not shame. Conscious habits can always begin again. Ease is available when you stop gripping. Your true self is remembered, not earned.

May 27, 202637 min

Not Sorry: The Hidden Rules Keeping You Stuck

The rules you're living by might not be real, but they might be running your life. Amy and Ashley have a powerful conversation about permission, identity, and the invisible rulebooks that keep high achievers, people pleasers, and perfectionists stuck. Together, they unpack how self-imposed rules show up in careers, relationships, entrepreneurship, and the stories we tell ourselves about who we are allowed to become. From leaving behind old definitions of success to recognizing when busyness, people-pleasing, or perfectionism are actually protection mechanisms, Amy and Ashley challenge listeners to pause, question the rules, and start choosing action over overthinking. This episode is a call to stop living by scripts that no longer serve you and begin rewriting your life with more courage, clarity, and power. Additional Resources: Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn Subscribe to Ashley's Substack Newsletter! Subscribe to Conscious Habit on YouTube! Join the "Conscious Conversations" Community! Connect with Amy on LinkedIn Learn more about Conscious Habit Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn Learn more about PeopleForward Network Key Takeaways: The rules you follow may be self-created. Awareness can feel painful before it liberates. Overthinking often protects you from action. Your identity can keep you stuck. Action helps rewrite old internal scripts.

May 20, 202647 min

Why Success Still Feels Off: Understanding Your Unique Energy Blueprint with Mel McSherry

What happens when success looks good on paper, but feels completely wrong in your body? Amy sits down with human design guide Mel McSherry to explore what it really means to lead from alignment instead of exhaustion. Mel shares her own journey from high-performing burnout to deeper self-trust, and breaks down how human design helps us understand our natural pace, decision-making style, and energetic blueprint. Together, Amy and Mel unpack sustainable energy, emotional awareness, unlearning hustle culture, and why so many leaders are being called to move beyond the mind and reconnect with their whole human experience. ✨ This conversation is a must-listen for people-first leaders, business owners, and professionals who are tired of swimming against the current and ready to lead, live, and grow in a way that actually feels true. Additional Resources: Connect with Mel on LinkedIn Take the Ego Assessment - enter your email in the pop-up to get started! Subscribe to Conscious Habit on YouTube! Join the "Conscious Conversations" Community! Sign Up for the Conscious Habit Newsletter Connect with Amy on LinkedIn Learn more about Conscious Habit Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn Learn more about PeopleForward Network Key Takeaways: Human design reveals the why behind your how. Alignment creates sustainable energy and clearer decisions. Burnout often signals living beyond your natural pace. Your mind is not your decision-making authority. Self-trust helps leaders thrive through constant change.