HER Extraordinary LIFE By Design

Hosted by Leslie Gaudet

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232

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Oct 2026

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About the show

Welcome to HER Extraordinary LIFE By Design Podcast, where women come to be inspired, challenged, encouraged, and reminded that an extraordinary life isn’t something you arrive at one day. It’s something you continue to shape, one decision, one season, and one extraordinary day at a time. Hosted by Leslie Gaudet, Self-Care Strategist, Creator of The YES Reset Method™, International Best-Selling Author, and coach to high-performing women, HER Extraordinary LIFE By Design brings you thoughtful solo episodes and meaningful conversations with extraordinary women across generations, professions, cultures, and life experiences. Some episodes will meet you inside the ordinary moments that can quietly shape your day and your life: the decision you keep revisiting, the conversation you’re still carrying, the YES that changed more than you expected, the mental load nobody else can see, the open space that still doesn’t feel restful, or the question you’ve been asking yourself when nobody else is around. Other episodes invite you into conversations with women who’ve built, led, created, changed direction, overcome challenges, questioned what success means, made an impact, reinvented themselves, and designed lives that reflect who they’re becoming. Together, these conversations explore the many parts of an extraordinary life: leadership, self-trust, decision-making, emotional wellness, energy, relationships, health, wealth, purpose, career, business, legacy, personal growth, and the choices women make as their lives continue to evolve. You’ll hear personal stories, lived experience, honest perspectives, meaningful questions, practical wisdom, and ideas that may help you see something in your own life a little differently. Because designing an extraordinary life isn’t about following someone else’s blueprint. It’s about becoming more intentional about the life that’s yours. Subscribe to HER Extraordinary LIFE By Design Podcast and join women around the world who are continuing to grow, lead, evolve, and create extraordinary lives by design.

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60 recent

October 25, 202642 min

Maria Aponte: Against All Odds — When Resilience Becomes a Choice

What happens when resilience stops being about simply getting through what happened and starts becoming a choice about what comes next? In this conversation, Leslie sits down with Maria Aponte to talk about strength, healing, agency, and the way difficult experiences can shape the life we go on to build. Maria shares the journey behind Against All Odds, the moment her perspective began to shift from life happening to her toward life happening for her, and why sharing her story became a way of helping other people feel less alone in theirs. If you’ve ever wondered what it means to carry your story differently, this conversation will give you a lot to reflect on. ******************************************************************** Connect with me: https://linktr.ee/herextraordinarylifebydesign leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.com  Email: ⁠leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.co ***************************************************************** Want support with what’s next? If you have one specific decision, one YES, or one place where you want clarity around your time and energy, book a YES Reset Strategy Call with me today: https://bit.ly/4haAiXo  If you’re looking for deeper, ongoing support around your time, energy, capacity, and decision-making, schedule an Exploratory Call to learn more about the Resilience & Energy Mastery Experience here: https://bit.ly/3UzKdNr ***************************************************************** Here’s how you can connect with Maria T. Aponte Website: mariataponte.com Socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maria.t.aponte/  TikTok: @mariaaponteloveyourlife YouTube: @mariataponte Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/isabelle.albertcedeno  Facebook (page): Against All Odds / Love Your Life LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-aponte-mta1105/  Pinterest: maria11aponte Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 24, 202635 min

When Your Life Changes but Your Definition of Success Doesn’t

You can finish work early, have dinner with your family, take an afternoon for yourself—and still get to the end of the week thinking: “I didn’t get enough done.” What happens when your life starts changing, but the way you measure success doesn’t? In this conversation, I’m looking at the invisible scorecard we can keep using long after our priorities have changed—the one that counts what we finished, produced, earned, or moved forward, while some of the things we say matter most barely register at all. Because if you’re building a life with more freedom, more choice, more presence, or simply more room to actually live, those things have to count somewhere too. Maybe the question isn’t whether you’re doing enough. Maybe it’s: What matters to you now that your old definition of success still doesn’t know how to count? ******************************************************************** Connect with me: ⁠https://linktr.ee/herextraordinarylifebydesign⁠ leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.com  Email: ⁠leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.co ******************************************************************** Want support with what’s next?  YES Reset Strategy Call: If you have one specific decision, one YES, or one place where you want clarity around your time and energy, book a YES Reset Strategy Call with me today: https://bit.ly/4haAiXo   Exploratory Call: If you’re looking for deeper, ongoing support around your time, energy, capacity, and decision-making, schedule an Exploratory Call to learn more about the Resilience & Energy Mastery Experience: https://bit.ly/3UzKdNr Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 18, 202645 min

Dr. Angela Zeng: Eastern Wisdom, Western Science, and the Art of Building Resilience on Purpose

Join Leslie Gaudet and Dr. Angela Zeng, medical scientist, TEDx speaker, author, and founder and CEO of Karviva Wellness Beverages, for a rich and deeply meaningful conversation about what resilience truly looks like when you stop confusing it with endurance — and start building it with intention, wisdom, and balance. Angela's story is extraordinary in every sense of the word. Raised in a family with generations of Traditional Chinese Medicine wisdom, she went on to earn a PhD in Pathology and conduct postdoctoral research at Northwestern University — before making a bold and purposeful leap into entrepreneurship that would eventually bridge two worlds, Eastern healing wisdom and Western medical science, in a way nobody else had quite done before. In this episode, Angela opens up about the curiosity that sparked her lifelong mission — beginning at age five in an herbal shop — and what it truly required of her to leave a corporate career and leap into entrepreneurship as an immigrant woman in a space that was not always designed with her in mind. You will also hear what she learned from bridging Traditional Chinese Medicine with Western medical science, why she believes food and daily lifestyle choices are foundational to resilience, and what she most wants every woman listening to remember about her own capacity to keep going. If you have ever wondered whether there is a wiser, more sustainable way to move through life's hardest chapters — this conversation is going to stay with you. ******************************************************************** Connect with me: https://linktr.ee/herextraordinarylifebydesign leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.com  Email: ⁠leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.co ***************************************************************** Want support with what’s next? If you have one specific decision, one YES, or one place where you want clarity around your time and energy, book a YES Reset Strategy Call with me today: https://bit.ly/4haAiXo  If you’re looking for deeper, ongoing support around your time, energy, capacity, and decision-making, schedule an Exploratory Call to learn more about the Resilience & Energy Mastery Experience here: https://bit.ly/3UzKdNr ***************************************************************** Here’s how you can connect with Dr. Angela Zeng https://karviva.com https://www.instagram.com/karvivawellness/ https://www.tiktok.com/@karvivawellness Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 17, 202622 min

When You Get Time Back, Why Do You Fill It With More Work?

The meeting gets canceled. Someone else handles dinner. The task you finally delegated is no longer yours. And before the relief has even settled, you’re already asking, “Okay, what else can I get done?” In this episode, I’m looking at what happens after support actually works. Because sometimes capacity comes back and productivity claims it before we’ve even noticed there was another possibility. The hour gets another task. The opening gets filled. The space we worked so hard to create never really becomes ours. And that raises a different question: What did you think the support was for? If you’re building a life with more freedom in it, at some point some of that freedom has to actually become part of your life — not just another resource the work gets to use. ******************************************************************** Connect with me: ⁠https://linktr.ee/herextraordinarylifebydesign⁠ leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.com  Email: ⁠leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.co ******************************************************************** Want support with what’s next?  YES Reset Strategy Call: If you have one specific decision, one YES, or one place where you want clarity around your time and energy, book a YES Reset Strategy Call with me today: https://bit.ly/4haAiXo   Exploratory Call: If you’re looking for deeper, ongoing support around your time, energy, capacity, and decision-making, schedule an Exploratory Call to learn more about the Resilience & Energy Mastery Experience: https://bit.ly/3UzKdNr   Take The Energy Cost Audit: Have you ever made something fit so quickly that you never stopped to ask what had to move? The Energy Cost Audit begins with one real YES from your own life and helps you see what became negotiable, what the trade has been costing, and where you keep placing yourself in the equation. At the end, your answers come together in your Energy Cost Mirror so you can see the pattern more clearly. Begin The Energy Cost Audit here: https://audit.herextraordinarylifebydesign.co/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 11, 202634 min

Lorraine Ansell: Making the Invisible Visible — A Story of Pain, Purpose, and Intentional Resilience

Join Leslie Gaudet and Lorraine Ansell, writer, speaker, advocate, and author of The Surrender Agenda, for a deeply honest and quietly powerful conversation about what it truly looks like to design a life that thrives — not in spite of chronic pain, but alongside it.  Lorraine came from a corporate marketing background before hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome entered her life and rewrote everything she thought she knew about herself. Rather than letting her diagnosis define or silence her, she chose to do something remarkable with it — she wrote a book, built a platform, and became a voice for every person living with an invisible condition who has ever felt unseen, misunderstood, or simply too tired to explain.  If you have ever been navigating something hard and invisible and wondered if there is a way to not just get through it but actually build something meaningful from it — this conversation is going to stay with you.  ******************************************************************** Connect with me: https://linktr.ee/herextraordinarylifebydesign leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.com Email: ⁠leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.co ***************************************************************** Want support with what’s next? If you have one specific decision, one YES, or one place where you want clarity around your time and energy, book a YES Reset Strategy Call with me today: https://bit.ly/4haAiXo   If you’re looking for deeper, ongoing support around your time, energy, capacity, and decision-making, schedule an Exploratory Call to learn more about the Resilience & Energy Mastery Experience here: https://bit.ly/3UzKdNr ******************************************************************** Here’s how you can connect with Lorraine Ansell.  https://www.lorraineansellauthor.com https://www.instagram.com/livinglavoiceart/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 10, 202629 min

Why Does the Harder Choice Still Feel More Responsible?

Have you ever noticed that the option asking more of your time, energy, or effort can still feel like the more responsible choice? In this episode, I explore why that happens, how some of the rules we use to make decisions can stay with us long after the season that created them has changed, and what it can cost when we keep making today’s choices by yesterday’s rules. I talk about the difference between a choice that is genuinely worth the effort and one that simply feels more legitimate because it’s harder, why money is often easier to measure than time or energy, and how everyday decisions can quietly shape the life you’re trying to build. If you’re creating more freedom, more space, or a different way of living but still find yourself leaning toward the option that asks more of you, this conversation is for you. ******************************************************************** Connect with me: ⁠https://linktr.ee/herextraordinarylifebydesign⁠ leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.com  Email: ⁠leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.co ******************************************************************** Want support with what’s next?  YES Reset Strategy Call: If you have one specific decision, one YES, or one place where you want clarity around your time and energy, book a YES Reset Strategy Call with me today: https://bit.ly/4haAiXo   Exploratory Call: If you’re looking for deeper, ongoing support around your time, energy, capacity, and decision-making, schedule an Exploratory Call to learn more about the Resilience & Energy Mastery Experience: https://bit.ly/3UzKdNr   Take The Energy Cost Audit: Have you ever made something fit so quickly that you never stopped to ask what had to move? The Energy Cost Audit begins with one real YES from your own life and helps you see what became negotiable, what the trade has been costing, and where you keep placing yourself in the equation. At the end, your answers come together in your Energy Cost Mirror so you can see the pattern more clearly. Begin The Energy Cost Audit here: https://audit.herextraordinarylifebydesign.co/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 4, 202642 min

Randi Roberts: What Happens When the Career You Built No Longer Fits the Woman You've Become

Join Leslie Gaudet and Randi Roberts, Executive and Career-Life Coach, for an honest and deeply relatable conversation about what it truly means to do the inner work — and why that work is the foundation of every bold, purposeful career pivot.  Randi spent decades building a successful career before reaching a moment that so many high-achieving women know all too well — everything looked right on paper, but something essential was missing. Rather than pushing through, she chose to pause, do the hard inner work, and make some courageous choices that led her to a completely different and deeply fulfilling second act. Today she guides other professionals through that same journey.  In this episode, Randi opens up about what that inner work actually looked like, why success and fulfillment so often come apart even at the highest levels of achievement, and what it truly takes to rebuild a career around who you actually are — not just who the world expects you to be.   If you’ve ever achieved everything you set out to achieve and still felt like something was missing — this conversation is going to feel like someone finally put words to it.  ******************************************************************** Connect with me: https://linktr.ee/herextraordinarylifebydesign leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.com Email: ⁠leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.co ***************************************************************** Want support with what’s next? If you have one specific decision, one YES, or one place where you want clarity around your time and energy, book a YES Reset Strategy Call with me today: https://bit.ly/4haAiXo   If you’re looking for deeper, ongoing support around your time, energy, capacity, and decision-making, schedule an Exploratory Call to learn more about the Resilience & Energy Mastery Experience here: https://bit.ly/3UzKdNr ******************************************************************** Here’s how you can connect with Randi Roberts.  www.randirobertscoaching.com https://www.youtube.com/@fulfillingcareerhappylife Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 3, 202625 min

How to Move Forward When You’ve Outgrown What Used to Work

If you’re going through a life transition, career change, personal reinvention, or season of uncertainty, you may be asking yourself what comes next. In this episode, I explore a different way of thinking about resilience: not simply bouncing back or returning to who you were, but deciding what you want to create after something has changed. We talk about outgrowing what once worked, sitting with uncertainty when you don’t have all the answers, and recognizing that sometimes there’s nothing broken that needs fixing. You may simply be ready for a new chapter. Because the woman making the decision today may not be the same woman who made the last one. If you’ve been feeling like you’ve outgrown a part of your life, career, identity, or direction — even if nothing is technically wrong — this conversation is for you. ******************************************************************** Connect with me: ⁠https://linktr.ee/herextraordinarylifebydesign⁠ leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.com  Email: ⁠leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.co ******************************************************************** Want support with what’s next?  YES Reset Strategy Call: If you have one specific decision, one YES, or one place where you want clarity around your time and energy, book a YES Reset Strategy Call with me today: https://bit.ly/4haAiXo   Exploratory Call: If you’re looking for deeper, ongoing support around your time, energy, capacity, and decision-making, schedule an Exploratory Call to learn more about the Resilience & Energy Mastery Experience: https://bit.ly/3UzKdNr   Take The Energy Cost Audit: Have you ever made something fit so quickly that you never stopped to ask what had to move? The Energy Cost Audit begins with one real YES from your own life and helps you see what became negotiable, what the trade has been costing, and where you keep placing yourself in the equation. At the end, your answers come together in your Energy Cost Mirror so you can see the pattern more clearly. Begin The Energy Cost Audit here: https://audit.herextraordinarylifebydesign.co/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 27, 202631 min

Dr. Stacy Haynes: Guiding Children, Changing Lives, and Protecting Your Peace in the Process

Join Leslie Gaudet and Dr. Stacy Haynes, Licensed Professional Counselor, educator, five-time author, nonprofit founder, and ministry leader, for a warm, grounding, and genuinely eye-opening conversation about what it truly means to protect your mental and emotional peace while pouring into the lives of everyone around you. With over 25 years of experience in mental health, Dr. Stacy has spent her career at the intersection of family wellness, emotional development, and faith — seeing families in therapy, training clinical supervisors, supporting neurodivergent youth through Little Hands Community Promise, and speaking at women's conferences across the country. Her award-winning book Powerful Peaceful Parenting and her faith-centered brand Madewellbygod are just two expressions of a mission that has always been about one thing — helping people live and lead from a place of wholeness. If you have been so focused on guiding everyone else that you forgot to check in with yourself — this conversation is for you. ******************************************************************** Connect with me: https://linktr.ee/herextraordinarylifebydesign leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.com Email: ⁠leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.co ***************************************************************** Want support with what’s next? If you have one specific decision, one YES, or one place where you want clarity around your time and energy, book a YES Reset Strategy Call with me today: https://bit.ly/4haAiXo   If you’re looking for deeper, ongoing support around your time, energy, capacity, and decision-making, schedule an Exploratory Call to learn more about the Resilience & Energy Mastery Experience here: https://bit.ly/3UzKdNr ***************************************************************** Here’s how you can connect with Dr. Stacy Haynes https://www.drstacyhayneslpc.com/ https://www.instagram.com/drstacyhayneslpc/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 26, 202629 min

Why You Still Feel Drained Even When There’s Space in Your Day

Why can you have space on your calendar and still feel completely drained? In this episode, I talk about the difference between having open time and actually experiencing that time as your own. I also share something I’ve been noticing in my own life: even when I’m not actively working, part of me can still be mentally and emotionally tethered to what "might" need me next. The laptop is open. Someone might call. There’s work waiting. My business needs attention. The time looks free, but somehow it doesn’t feel free, and sometimes exhaustion isn’t only coming from what you did. It may also be coming from how long you stayed available, mentally tethered, or claimed by everything and everyone that might need you. We often focus on how much we get done in a day. But how often do we stop to think about how much of our days are actually experienced as our own? If you’ve been feeling mentally tired, emotionally drained, or exhausted even when your calendar isn’t full, this conversation may help you look at your mental load, emotional energy, time management, boundaries, work-life balance, and available time a little differently. ******************************************************************** Connect with me: ⁠https://linktr.ee/herextraordinarylifebydesign⁠ leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.com  Email: ⁠leslie@herextraordinarylifebydesign.co ******************************************************************** Want support with what’s next?  YES Reset Strategy Call: If you have one specific decision, one YES, or one place where you want clarity around your time and energy, book a YES Reset Strategy Call with me today: https://bit.ly/4haAiXo   Exploratory Call: If you’re looking for deeper, ongoing support around your time, energy, capacity, and decision-making, schedule an Exploratory Call to learn more about the Resilience & Energy Mastery Experience: https://bit.ly/3UzKdNr   Take The Energy Cost Audit: Have you ever made something fit so quickly that you never stopped to ask what had to move? The Energy Cost Audit begins with one real YES from your own life and helps you see what became negotiable, what the trade has been costing, and where you keep placing yourself in the equation. At the end, your answers come together in your Energy Cost Mirror so you can see the pattern more clearly. Begin The Energy Cost Audit here: https://bit.ly/46JX42p Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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