The Well with Mandy Balak

Hosted by Mandy Balak

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Episodes

164

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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EN-CA

About the show

For the high achiever who's tired of chasing "enough." You're ambitious. You're driven. But behind the success, you're stretched thin—running on fumes, saying yes to everything, and wondering how long you can keep this pace. Welcome to The Well—a podcast for leaders, entrepreneurs, and visionaries who are done with burnout and ready to build a life and business they don't need to escape from. Hosted by Mandy Balak, author of Chasing Enough and executive leadership coach for high-achievers, this show is your pause in the push. Each week, you'll get raw, practical conversations and simple strategies that help you: 🌊 Reclaim your time and energy. 🌊 Trade chaos for clarity. 🌊 Align ambition with well-being. 🌊 Lead yourself—and others—without burning out. Because your business, your leadership, and your relationships will only ever be as strong as your own capacity. If you're ready to stop muscling through and start leading from a place of clarity, presence, and ease—this podcast is for you. Dive deeper with Mandy: mandybalak.com/about IG: @thewell___ @mandybalak

Listen to episodes

60 recent

May 15, 202136 min

#82 Kindness Drives Change with Kristina Del Corro

In this episode, special guest and ACE Member, Kristina Del Corro shares her secrets to build a stronger emotional vocabulary, ask better questions, and how to cultivate kinder energy outputs for a more fulfilling life. You'll learn how to ask better questions, dig deeper and connect with yourself and others in a meaningful way. Try ACE as a member free for 7 days: http://hello.theacecollective.com/getstarted FREE RESOURCE The RESET is your first step toward a brighter, lighter, more fulfilled you. This proven methodology will help you make moves towards the life you want. Get started free: mandybalak.com/reset SIGNATURE PROGRAM If you know you're ready to reclaim your time, get out of your own way and create the life you deserve I invite you to join my Signature 6 Week Program: RECLAIM Find out more here: mandybalak.com/reclaim WORK TOGETHER To inquire about private coaching, mentorship and consulting please submit an application at mandybalak.com/apply GET TO KNOW ME You can learn more about my story at mandybalak.com/about Connect with Mandy on Instagram: @mandybalak If you found value in today's episode, it would mean a lot to leave a rating, review or share with a friend you feel would benefit.

February 5, 2019Episode 1558 min

Janeen Brown on Getting Out of Your Own Way

Janeen Brown, serial entrepreneur, has scaled not only one, but three businesses in only two years. She left her job in 2017 to make the deep dive into entrepreneurship with her businesses, Balloon Haus, Jeluxxe Lifestyle Solutions Inc, and EmpowHERto and has since expanded to the U.S. market. Janeen talks about her journey and drives home that to do anything, you need to get out of your own way and just do it. Try ACE as a member free for 7 days: http://hello.theacecollective.com/getstarted FREE RESOURCE The RESET is your first step toward a brighter, lighter, more fulfilled you. This proven methodology will help you make moves towards the life you want. Get started free: mandybalak.com/reset SIGNATURE PROGRAM If you know you're ready to reclaim your time, get out of your own way and create the life you deserve I invite you to join my Signature 6 Week Program: RECLAIM Find out more here: mandybalak.com/reclaim WORK TOGETHER To inquire about private coaching, mentorship and consulting please submit an application at mandybalak.com/apply GET TO KNOW ME You can learn more about my story at mandybalak.com/about Connect with Mandy on Instagram: @mandybalak If you found value in today's episode, it would mean a lot to leave a rating, review or share with a friend you feel would benefit.

November 26, 202056 min

Your Rite of Passage with Madeleine Shaw

This week, our Expert Collective guest is Madeleine Shaw, Co-founder and retired Creative Director of Aisle (formerly Lunapads), a Vancouver-based B Corp dedicated to being the Best Place on Earth to Have Your Period. She started making cloth pads and period underwear in the early 90s and has since enjoyed over 300 disposable-free periods. ⁠ She is also the Founder of G Day, a rite of passage event series for tween girls, and Nestworks, a non-profit startup that integrates coworking and kids. She is currently working on her first book, The Greater Good: Social Entrepreneurship for Everyday People Who Want to Change the World, and enjoys yoga, gardening, and freestyle knitting in her spare time.⁠ In this interview, Madeleine shares her wisdom on identity, creating space for the 'nudges', and how having a strong vision will help you navigate discomfort. ⁠ You're not going to want to miss this conversation, Madeleine is full of wisdom to help you navigate these times of change with grace.⁠ Try ACE as a member free for 7 days: http://hello.theacecollective.com/getstarted This recording is from one of our weekly ACE Expert Collective Lunch sessions where our community attends live. If you'd like to watch the replay of the presentation and join our member community you can visit www.theacecollective.com/ace-community-membership to join. FREE RESOURCE The RESET is your first step toward a brighter, lighter, more fulfilled you. This proven methodology will help you make moves towards the life you want. Get started free: mandybalak.com/reset SIGNATURE PROGRAM If you know you're ready to reclaim your time, get out of your own way and create the life you deserve I invite you to join my Signature 6 Week Program: RECLAIM Find out more here: mandybalak.com/reclaim WORK TOGETHER To inquire about private coaching, mentorship and consulting please submit an application at mandybalak.com/apply GET TO KNOW ME You can learn more about my story at mandybalak.com/about Connect with Mandy on Instagram: @mandybalak If you found value in today's episode, it would mean a lot to leave a rating, review or share with a friend you feel would benefit.

August 5, 2026Episode 16227 min

#167: Success, redefined

Everyone is leaving something they built. Jobs, cities, marriages, careers they spent twenty years on. If that's you, or you're circling it, start here. Because a pivot doesn't work if you pack the old pattern in the suitcase, and the question under every reinvention is the same: how do you make a change without rebuilding the same life with different wallpaper? In this first episode of the new season, Mandy shares the pattern underneath her own burnout cycles, why the finish line keeps moving, the four things to know before you redesign your life, and the part nobody models: what it looks like to keep your ambition without paying for it with your life. You'll leave with the Success Audit: three questions to find out who actually wrote your definition of success. If you're ready to stop chasing and start choosing, this one is for you. Subscribe to The Well for one grounded conversation each week. What's inside: The pattern that follows you into every pivot, and why you can't out-plan it Why the finish line keeps moving, and the done list practice for high achievers Old metrics, new life: what happens when you measure a new season with an old scoreboard Why your definition of success is running your leadership, whether you've defined it or not The two stories we're sold about ambition, and the middle path Mandy is living instead Choosing beats chasing: what deciding on purpose looks like in a real week The Success Audit: three questions to take on a walk this week Lines from this episode: "You don't escape the pattern. You just give it a new address." "I called it commitment. My body called it burnout." "Everyone was getting the last of me, and I was getting the last of me." "Behind by what scoreboard? Who wrote it?" "Take your ambition back. It was never the problem." The Success Audit: Write your current definition of success. The real one, not the dinner party version. Ask: who wrote this? Rewrite one line. What's one measure of success you're retiring, and what replaces it? Links: Pre-order Chasing Enough: mandybalak.com/book Join The Well Newsletter: mandybalak.com/newsletter Take the Armor Pattern Quiz: mandybalak.com/quiz Work with Mandy: mandybalak.com/coaching

September 16, 2025Episode 16618 min

#166 Stop Falling Off Plan: Why Grey Wins Every Time

High achievers love the extremes. All or nothing. Perfect or pointless. That mindset might have fueled your success… but it's also what's burning you out and keeping you stuck in a perfectionist loop. In this episode, Mandy shares why the real transformation doesn't happen in black and white — it happens in the grey. Grey isn't failure. Grey is adaptation. And when you learn to live in the grey, you stop sabotaging and start sustaining. You'll learn: Why perfectionism creates hidden energy leaks that cost you time, energy, and presence. Real-life examples of what "grey" looks like (workouts, meals, leadership). The Minimums → Standards → Sprints framework to keep moving forward no matter your season or energy level. Because success isn't about doing it all. It's about creating a rhythm you can actually sustain. READY TO GO DEEPER? Book a 1:1 Personal Strategy Session If you're craving more ease, clarity, and wholeness in your leadership—this is your next move. 👉 Apply to Work Together FREE RESOURCE 🔥 Get the free guide: 5 Shifts Every High-Performer Needs to Lead with Clarity, Not Chaos Take Back Your Time, Energy & Sanity — Without Losing Your Edge ➡️ Download the Free Leadership Realignment Map GET TO KNOW ME Learn more about my story: mandybalak.com Connect with me on Instagram: @mandybalak If this episode landed, I'd love for you to leave a review or share it with a friend who needs this reminder. Join 10K+ leaders in The Well Resourced™ Learn how to take back your time, lead well, and live fully. 📰 Sign up here → The Well Newsletter

August 4, 2025Episode 16120 min

#161 5 Steps to Have the Conversation You're Avoiding (The One That Will Set You Free)

What if the thing draining your energy isn't more work—but the truth you're not saying? In this episode, Mandy dives into the kind of conversation most leaders avoid—the one that feels uncomfortable, risky, or too vulnerable to name. But here's the truth: the longer you avoid it, the heavier it becomes. This is your reminder that avoidance isn't keeping you safe—it's keeping you stuck. Whether it's with a team member, a partner, or yourself… the conversation you don't want to have is often the exact one that unlocks your freedom, power, and clarity. If you're leading while tiptoeing around truth—this episode is for you. You'll learn how to: Spot the signs of unspoken misalignment (before it explodes) Regulate your nervous system before you open your mouth Approach hard conversations with clarity, not control Anchor in your values—not your reactivity Reclaim power by releasing what you've been tolerating This is leadership that's less about performance—and more about presence. Because clarity is kind. And you deserve to lead with both courage and heart. READY TO GO DEEPER? Book a 1:1 Personal Strategy Session If you're craving more ease, clarity, and wholeness in your leadership—this is your next move. 👉 Apply to Work Together FREE RESOURCE 🔥 3 Steps to Break Free from Burnout and Thrive Ditch the overwhelm and reclaim your energy. Discover how to reset, refocus, and start thriving—in just 3 simple steps. ➡️ Download the Free Burnout Guide GET TO KNOW ME Learn more about my story: https://mandybalak.com/about Connect with me on Instagram: @mandybalak If this episode landed, I'd love for you to leave a review or share it with a friend who needs this reminder. Join 10K+ leaders in The Well Resourced™ Learn how to take back your time, lead well, and live fully. 📰 Sign up here → The Well Newsletter

November 9, 2023Episode 1351 hr 3 min

#135 Intuitive Eating & The Language of Nutrition with Sarah Remmer

In this episode we dive into the impact of diet culture, raising intuitive eaters and challenging the language and labels we use when it comes to food, body size and nutrition. Sarah Remmer is an award-winning registered dietitian with almost 20 years of experience, a mom of 3 and the proud founder and President of The Centre for Family Nutrition, a Canada-wide nutrition counselling practice that specializes in child and family nutrition. She's also a published and award-winning author, speaker, and narrator, and spends a lot of her time creating nutrition content and nourishing recipes for parents, health professionals, brands and organizations. She works behind the scenes with value-aligned organizations, commodity groups, and brands as an expert, nutrition mastermind, content creator and culture-changer, as well as a front-facing, proud advocate and spokesperson. Her passion is teaching parents how to confidently feed their families and raise children who reject diet culture and grow to have a positive relationship with food and their bodies. Find out more about Sarah: Website: https://www.sarahremmer.com/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/sarahremmer/ FREE RESOURCE The RESET is your first step toward a brighter, lighter, more fulfilled you. This proven methodology will help you make moves towards the life you want. Get started free: mandybalak.com/reset SIGNATURE PROGRAM If you know you're ready to reclaim your time, get out of your own way and create the life you deserve I invite you to join my Signature 6 Week Program: RECLAIM Find out more here: mandybalak.com/reclaim WORK TOGETHER To inquire about private coaching, mentorship and consulting please submit an application at mandybalak.com/apply GET TO KNOW ME You can learn more about my story at mandybalak.com/about Connect with Mandy on Instagram: @ mandybalak If you found value in today's episode, it would mean a lot to leave a rating, review or share with a friend you feel would benefit.

November 1, 2023Episode 1341 hr 2 min

#134 The Pleasure of Business with Robin Joy Hilton

In this episode we dive into the cost that burnout and running on empty is having on our ability to experience joy and pleasure and how to prioritize more pleasurable moments in life, business and in relationships. Robin Hilton (she/her) is a Pleasure-Based Online Business Strategist. Her lifelong passion is in supporting women to be their most authentic selves, to let their guard down so they can shine brightly and confidently in all areas of their lives but most importantly in their capacity to experience the joys of embodiment and sexual pleasure. Robin is known for making esoteric practice feel accessible and enjoyable for everyone, creating welcoming environments for self-development, holding impeccable space, and skillfully guiding her clients and students toward inviting pleasure as a foundation for running their businesses and sharing their very important work with the world. Robin supports online business owners with strategic & systems support, launch strategy, and messaging alchemy. Her work bridges her expertise as a sex coach & yoga studio owner with the wisdom she's gathered through running an online business for over 17 years. Nothing thrills Robin more than to create opportunities for women to find clarity around how they want to FEEL when it comes to growing their body of work and sharing it with the world. Robin lives in a small community situated on the territories of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda, and the homeland of the Métis/Michif Nation. Her home & studio are on Treaty 4 lands. Robin enjoys the simple pleasures of life: walks on the prairie, sipping a hot cup of tea, & pleasure-filled days at home working on her ever-expanding work. You can learn more at: https://robinjoy.ca FREE RESOURCE The RESET is your first step toward a brighter, lighter, more fulfilled you. This proven methodology will help you make moves towards the life you want. Get started free: mandybalak.com/reset SIGNATURE PROGRAM If you know you're ready to reclaim your time, get out of your own way and create the life you deserve I invite you to join my Signature 6 Week Program: RECLAIM Find out more here: mandybalak.com/reclaim WORK TOGETHER To inquire about private coaching, mentorship and consulting please submit an application at mandybalak.com/apply GET TO KNOW ME You can learn more about my story at mandybalak.com/about Connect with Mandy on Instagram: @ mandybalak If you found value in today's episode, it would mean a lot to leave a rating, review or share with a friend you feel would benefit.

October 27, 2023Episode 1331 hr 1 min

#133 Choosing the Dream and Committing to the Process with Laurie Kellough

Laurie Kellough is a brand and business strategist, an A+ conversationalist, and a lover of country music, all things western, and of course the Calgary Stampede. Laurie's lifelong passion for business began at the tender age of six when she asked her mom for a "Business Woman's Package" for Christmas. From there she curated her very own store in the family living room with a price tag on everything from the chesterfield to the piano. Little did she know that she was crafting customer experiences and journey mapping long before these concepts became industry buzzwords. After earning a marketing degree from the University of Lethbridge she had her sights on a career in fashion, music, or sports marketing, but she unexpectedly found herself immersed in the world banking. Surprisingly, she discovered that helping people achieve their dreams and attain financial freedom was genuinely quite exhilarating. After that she joined one of the world's largest advertising agencies and then onto one of Canada's top workplaces. She had the opportunity to work on groundbreaking campaigns and solve complex industry challenges, all while building meaningful relationships with her leaders, teams, clients, and business owners across Alberta and beyond. 4 years ago this past June Laurie decided to channel her 6 year old self and make the leap to entrepreneurship as a marketing consultant. Although it's been challenging, and there have been a few tears and all nighters along the way, she's never felt more confident or happy pursuing this dream. To connect with Laurie visit lauriekellough.com or say hi on Instagram @kellough_co FREE RESOURCE The RESET is your first step toward a brighter, lighter, more fulfilled you. This proven methodology will help you make moves towards the life you want. Get started free: mandybalak.com/reset SIGNATURE PROGRAM If you know you're ready to reclaim your time, get out of your own way and create the life you deserve I invite you to join my Signature 6 Week Program: RECLAIM Find out more here: mandybalak.com/reclaim WORK TOGETHER To inquire about private coaching, mentorship and consulting please submit an application at mandybalak.com/apply GET TO KNOW ME You can learn more about my story at mandybalak.com/about Connect with Mandy on Instagram: @ mandybalak If you found value in today's episode, it would mean a lot to leave a rating, review or share with a friend you feel would benefit.

July 13, 202249 min

#123 Learning Through Integration with Devon Brooks

In this episode, we discuss the power of graciousness, compassion and self-inquiry and the role it plays in becoming a heart-driven leader. Devon shares the many aids and tools she's collected in her emotional, mental and spiritual toolbox from books to meditation and psychedelics and how it's not how many tools you have but how you integrate them that counts. About Devon Brooks: Devon defined a new market category, co-founding Blo, the world's first and largest franchise chain of Blow Dry Bars. The company now spans four countries, with 130+ locations, and has collaborated with international mega-brands like Mattel, Guess, Topshop, and Gwyneth Paltrow. True to her knack for shaking-up industries, Devon is growing her second venture, Sphere, a full-service marketplace platform designed to make personal & professional coaching more accessible with a gym-like membership experience for individuals and teams. Sphere's mission to support consciousness in the world by democratizing coaching has attracted backing from leaders at Lululemon, Thinx, Headspace, and Viacom. Devon was named 1 of the 30 most fabulous entrepreneurs by PROFIT Magazine, has been dubbed an 'elder stateswoman' by The New York Times, is one of the 2018 'InspiringFifty' women in STEM in Canada and was awarded Business in Vancouver's 'Top Forty Under 40.' As Sphere nurtures it's passionate remote-first team, Devon and her two young kids live in Whistler, BC where they do lots of mountain stuff. Try Sphere and get 50% off of your coaching session using the code: ACECLASS22 Devons IG Join The ACE Collective Membership Here FREE RESOURCE The RESET is your first step toward a brighter, lighter, more fulfilled you. This proven methodology will help you make moves towards the life you want. Get started free: mandybalak.com/reset SIGNATURE PROGRAM If you know you're ready to reclaim your time, get out of your own way and create the life you deserve I invite you to join my Signature 6 Week Program: RECLAIM Find out more here: mandybalak.com/reclaim WORK TOGETHER To inquire about private coaching, mentorship and consulting please submit an application at mandybalak.com/apply GET TO KNOW ME You can learn more about my story at mandybalak.com/about Connect with Mandy on Instagram: @mandybalak If you found value in today's episode, it would mean a lot to leave a rating, review or share with a friend you feel would benefit.