Permission to Pivot Podcast

I wasn’t always into the Word of the Year trend. In fact, at first, I found it kind of cheesy. It wasn’t until late 2015 that I realized it was kind of genius. Now, having chosen words for the past three years and heading into my fourth, I look forward to the ritual each year, but I also recognize that it’s just one piece of the equation that is preparing for and walking through my year with intention.In my final episode of 2018, I take the mic solo to reveal my Word of the Year for 2019. Before I talk about why I chose that word and what I hope it will mean for me in the coming year, I also share what I chose the past three years and how those intentions have shaped me and showed up through my work and in my personal beliefs.What will your Word of 2019 be?Learn more about my goal-setting experience, Chart Your Year, and how it will help you reflect, envision, and plan your best year yet here.Check out the show notes at https://permissiontopivot.com and join the private, free Facebook group: Permission to Pivot Community.

Fellow coach, Aaliah Elnasseh, shares about the creative challenges she’s developed for both her own personal growth around deeply meaningful topics and for the collective benefit of others. With her numerous, self-directed  “100 days” projects, she’s explored important themes such as spirituality and healing through the creative lens of photography, writing, and community. Aaliah breaks down how accessible and effective these creative challenges can be in unlocking important truths, developing discipline, and connecting with others.In this episode, we discuss:The illness and life evaluation that sparked Aaliah’s newfound commitment to creativity and the story behind why Aaliah wanted to pursue these creative explorations in the form of 100 day challengesHow creative challenges can help you develop consistency and the confidence in being able to follow-throughHow these experiments can combat the overwhelming feeling of having too many possibilities and areas of interestIncreasing the longevity and value of important memories and travel through creative expressionLimitations and how they can be both restricting and freeingReleasing perfectionism through a realistic commitment around expectations and structureStarting where you are and building on that in order to grow and improveThe importance of having a stopping point or a reflection point in an experimentPutting yourself in the posture of creativity to allow for inspiration to come, even if it’s not always profoundThe key components of a creative challenge that make it effective and meaningfulWhy Aaliah chose spirituality and healing as the themes of her last two creative projects and what she gained from themStriking a balance between sharing vulnerably and inviting others in that process and not making vulnerability a commodity“Just showing up - that’s how inspiration comes. You don’t wait for inspiration. You create the conditions that inspiration can thrive in.” - Aaliah Elnasseh“Being an artist or being a creative person or someone who is spontaneous doesn’t mean that I can’t also have structure and strategy in how I go about growing. It doesn’t have to be haphazard and random. I want to have a say and a real purpose and intention for where my life goes and the ways that I grow in. Why not decide how I want that to look like?” - Aaliah Elnasseh“Instead of hoping that you will create these amazing ideas and find the right idea, it’s more about becoming the kind of person that ideas come to. It’s more about being than doing.” - Marissa Burdett“The more authentic and the more honest and willing to be vulnerable, and uncomfortable as it may be, that’s the extent that we’ll receive love. The more courageous we are, the more ourselves we are, the more love reaches our core.” - Aaliah Elnasseh“The shame we feel about having gone through difficult experiences is really costing us our own healing and our ability to be there for one another.” - Aaliah ElnassehCheck out the show notes at https://permissiontopivot.com and join the private, free Facebook group: Permission to Pivot Community.

After her debut in Season One on “Taking the Leap,” I’ve brought Michelle Anthony LaCroix back for a conversation on how to move through our conditioned fears to do the small things that make big shifts in our lives. From establishing habits to trying new activities to putting ourselves out there in new ways, these small pivots allow us to experience more joy and expand our definition of who we are and what we’re capable of.In this episode, we discuss:What gets in our way of making small shifts in our lives, like establishing new habits or trying something new, even when it’s high on our list of goals and intentionsThe paralyzing the fear of failure and the fear of not being good at something can be and how that has held us back both as children and as adultsThe “all or nothing” mentality we fall back on in order to feel in control and avoid messing upHow to combat the stories we’ve told ourselves around failure, like “Everyone is sitting around waiting for me to screw up so they can say, ‘Ha! I told you so,’” or that “If I make a mistake, people will suddenly realize that I’m a human being and I can’t be trusted as easily.”Finding peace in the “worst case scenario”Keeping a “paper trail” of our self-in-progress to normalize our mistakes and celebrate our incremental progressThe discouraging feeling we get when we anticipate something is going to be really hard and how to shift our mindset around challenges for our benefitGoing after sustainable success and earning our “merit badges” rather than short-term avoidance of difficultyHow we often skip out on things that would bring us a lot of pleasure and joy simply because we feel like we have to have a reason for doing it or that it has to lead to something importantJoin the conversation around the habits we’ve established and the small shifts we’ve made in this past year over in the Permission to Pivot Community group on Facebook and on our Instagram profiles: @marissaburdett and @theheartyfig.Quotes:“It’s so much braver and stronger to take the risk and fall on your face and so much easier to be the Internet troll who is going to tear down everyone’s efforts. If that person’s never going to step up and do anything themselves, then why do they matter? Who cares. Let that guy be a troll and keep on moving forward.” - Michelle Anthony LaCroix“Anytime that we start thinking about ‘worst case scenarios,’ the best way to combat that is to start asking ourselves, ‘And then what?’” - Marissa Burdett“The longer we spend avoiding the work because we’re afraid we’re going to be bad at it, we’re just wasting time. It’s an inevitable part of the process and we’re better off investing our time and energy getting comfortable with that truth.” - Michelle Anthony LaCroix“We need to shift from the belief that hard work is bad to hard work is worthwhile.” - Marissa Burdett“It’s a lost cause to set out with the goal of avoiding difficult or hard experiences on your way to where you want to get.” - Michelle Anthony LaCroix“Success is fragile when you don’t have the experience and the ‘oops’ to back that up.” - Michelle Anthony LaCroix“There’s nothing wrong with being intentional, but our intuition doesn’t necessarily have words yet. Sometimes our intuition isn’t logical. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense. If our intuition is guiding us in some way, maybe that’s reason enough, even if you don’t know where you’re going with it.” - Marissa BurdettCheck out the show notes at https://permissiontopivot.com and join the private, free Facebook group: Permission to Pivot Community.

We’re back with season two of the Permission to Pivot Podcast! Since we wrapped up Season One earlier this year, a lot has happened. In our inaugural episode of this season, I’m turning the tables and having my former coach, Rachel East, interview me about the biggest transition I’ve made this year: quitting my job and going full-time in my coaching business. This highly-requested conversation peels back the layers of an often glamorized experience, sharing an honest glimpse into my first quarter of full-time self-employment–the good, the bad, and everything in between.In this episode, Rachel and I talk about:What actually led to my decision to quit my job and go full-time with my businessMoving from an energy of pushing and forcing and burnout to slowing down, taking a step back, and trusting that the Universe will step in to support me and make the right things happenHow I’m better off now having slowed down and surrendered instead of jumping the gun at the first several signs of discomfort in my jobGoing from this abstract, “one day” decision to actually going through with it and how it differed from the expectations I hadHow anyone can use a “now and never” mentality to truly think through a decision and form a realistic plan, rather than continuing to put it off and hoping for external circumstances to “force your hand”How the Universe has made it clear that this was the right decision for me at the right time, even if logically it didn’t always add up financiallyHow to cultivate self-trust through callous-building experiences The truth about what self-employment has looked and felt like for me in the first three months, including the challenges I face around money and finding my focus and what I’ve enjoyed most so farHow I “deal with” self-doubt and loneliness that inevitably comes upThe most helpful thing I’ve done to support myself in this transitionHow doing more isn’t always the goal, which challenges the typical societal beliefs under capitalismWhat’s next in business and life and not having to know all of the steps ahead“The moment I decided to put it on the backburner was the moment that things started moving forward and gaining momentum for me.” - Marissa Burdett“One of the hardest lessons we ever learn is that you have to be more willing to get what you need than what you think you want.” - Rachel East“I think the reason a lot of people sit on the precipice and never jump is that they haven’t allowed themselves to experiment and fall on their face a number of times. The benefit of having done that was that you proved to yourself that you’re capable of recovering from things that don’t go well or don’t go the way you expected, which gives you the ability to step out into the unknown.” - Rachel East“There’s something satisfying about struggling towards the thing you really want versus struggling toward the thing that you don’t want.” - Marissa Burdett“Instead of trying to fix everything and control everything, maybe we just have to let it be. Maybe you don’t have to know. You just have to believe what’s currently unfolding is greater than anything we could even imagine.” - Marissa BurdettCheck out the show notes at https://permissiontopivot.com and join the private, free Facebook group: Permission to Pivot Community.

That’s a wrap! In this finale episode of Season One, I host my first “Ask Me Anything” session, answering these listener-contributed questions: What is the most surprising thing you learned about running a podcast? What is your advice for anyone thinking of becoming a life coach in the future? How do you keep yourself motivated enough to accomplish your goals? "External progress means nothing if the internal work can’t meet you there." - Marissa Burdett To reserve your 75-minute Purposeful Pivot Session, visit ampersand.co/pivot. For show notes, quotes from the episode, links, and information on the guest, visit permissiontopivot.com.

For the second episode of our two-part series on coaching, I sit down with my first “real” client ever, Clara Mattucci, to discuss the very unique and powerful relationship between a coach and client: the foundation it was built on, what it was like to work together, and what that friendship looks like now. To say Clara was an ideal client would be an understatement. I absolutely hit the jackpot when we met and started working together and I am a better person having known her. Our sessions were truly a highlight of my week and I’m so blessed to say that we continue to have a beautiful friendship now that we’re “on the other side.” If you’ve ever been curious about what an aligned coaching relationship could look like for you and if it’s something worth considering, this is a great episode to help you think through what kind of partnership you’d benefit from. In this episode, we talk about: How Clara and I met at the beach of all places What was going on in Clara’s world that prompted her to consider finding a coach How I define my role as a coach How coaching is a collaborative experience What a helpful “onboarding” process looks like in making Clara feel comfortable and confident in her decision to start working together How Clara’s open-minded, not-attached-to-a-specific-outcome approach to self-exploration made the coaching experience even richer Developing a personalized self-coaching “toolkit” of life skills that carry you through any and all situations The mutually beneficial coach/client relationship and how it has (and hasn’t!) changed now that the sessions are over A real-life experience that illustrates how deeply I have been changed by coaching How coaching has helped Clara feel more “plugged in” to who really she than she has in years The balance between getting to know your coach and focusing on the coaching agreement and the client’s agenda The role that trust, honesty, authenticity, openness, and humanity play in the coach/client dynamic The questions people should ask themselves, to others, and the potential coach/client before investing in that experience An opportunity to experience coaching at a low-cost for a limited time! "I know I have been changed by coaching because now I see everything through a more conscious lens. Being more conscious and having these tools--I can’t immediately throw myself into victim mode anymore. It’s not a default reaction anymore. I see so many more options and possibilities.” - Marissa Burdett For show notes, quotes from the episode, links, and information on the guest, visit permissiontopivot.com.

So, what is coaching, really? I step behind the mic in the first of a two-part series to address some frequently asked questions about the unique profession of coaching. In a society with so many varying interpretations and examples of coaching, it’s no wonder that it can be confusing for some! I’m here to demystify and clarify, per my own definition as supported by the International Coach Federation, and to illustrate what a client and coach might discuss and work through together. Next week, we’ll dive into the coach/client relationship with an interview with my first “real” client! Here are the questions I tackle in this episode: What is coaching? How does it differ from consulting or therapy? What does a coach actually do in a session? What are some things you talk about during a coaching call (from a client’s perspective)? Are there any trends that you see that unite your clients? How can a coach help me? How do you find a coach that’s a good fit for you? How does a coach get certified? Why did you become a coach? To learn more about working with me or to find answers to other coaching questions, visit ampersand.co. For show notes, quotes from the episode, links, and information on the guest, visit permissiontopivot.com.

Who better to talk about adventure with than Amanda Folk, the energetic bucket list enabler behind Sunshine Chasers? This outdoor travel enthusiast and I turn the traditional definition of adventure upside down and explore what it means to be adventurous in this current political and social climate, how to bring more adventure into our everyday lives, and being more flexible with our intentions and goals. In this episode, we talk about: What it means to be “adventurous” and how Amanda’s definition has evolved over time How Amanda went from a shy, anxious child to an outgoing, adventurous, open-minded adult Being conscious of using adventure and travel as an escape from what’s really going on Choosing yourself first and being brave, despite what society tells you to do Recognizing that big adventures are made up of many smaller steps Becoming more aware of how to make adventure and travel more accessible for all Fear, doubt, and guilt around using our voices and checking our privilege, especially in light of the current political and social climate in the U.S. How I have much more room to grow with regard to diversity and inclusion and using my platform for good How outdoor adventure and travel can help us strengthen our sense of self and provide a sense of direction and community Finding a balance between supporting those in your own backyard and being of service globally Tips for combatting high expectations around a trip or adventure What holds us back from being more adventurous Having flexibility around what adventure can look like so it’s not all or nothing Paying attention to what about other people’s adventures you’re attracted to or envious of and tuning into what it is you really want Bringing more adventure into our everyday "The more we interact with ourselves and with others through adventure travels and outdoor travel, the more we know ourselves and the better we are able to articulate what we believe in." - Amanda Folk For show notes, quotes from the episode, links, and information on the guest, visit permissiontopivot.com.

What happens when a career coach and the founder of Career Contessa come together to talk about career transitions? You get a deep dive into what makes job searching and making changes in your career so dang uncomfortable and challenging, how to prepare for and be your own advocate, and ways to successfully navigate your career. I sat down with Lauren McGoodwin, former Hulu recruiter turned female-focused business owner, to talk about how to stay resilient and motivated during a career transition. This episode is also jam-packed with practical tips, so no matter where you are in your career journey, you’ll be sure to find some nuggets of wisdom to take action on right away. In this episode, we talk about: Lauren’s career journey that lead her to recruiting at Hulu to eventually starting her own business, Career Contessa, to support women in their own career journeys How resilience, coupled with a strong support network, can help us navigate through uncomfortable career transitions The power of informational interviews and unique networking groups Discomfort and fear around not having a career direction and how to combat that Scarcity mindset in the job search Normalizing career transitions and the array of emotions that come alongside it Advocating for yourself in your career, especially as women Being open-minded to career and business possibilities that, at first glance, might not seem viable but might actually be exactly what you would succeed at The most common career questions Career Contessa receives and how they address them Paying attention to what other people and companies are doing and expand your definition of what’s possible in your career Keeping a work journal and preparing to ask for a raise or go for a promotion Recognizing that our self-worth is not defined by our net worth Creating healthy money mantras How to stand out in the job search and maintain momentum Speaking the truth about where you are in your career journey and finding community in transparency “You don’t get what you don’t ask for. You have to be in the driver seat of your career.” - Lauren McGoodwin “Be open-minded about your career. Don’t take anything off the table because you never know where it’s going to take you.” - Marissa Burdett For show notes, quotes from the episode, links, and information on the guest, visit permissiontopivot.com.

Who better to have on the show to talk about woo woo than the host of the podcast, Some Kind of Magic? Emily Levenson and I discuss how to be more open-minded to "woo woo" practices, even when they go beyond logic, so that you can enjoy a more magical relationship with your spirituality, the world around you, and yourself. In this episode, we talk about: What “woo woo” and “everyday magic” mean to us Examples of woo woo activities or practices and which ones we’ve experienced or find intriguing Our individual journeys toward embracing more woo woo and how we both started out a bit skeptical How Emily’s health crisis lead her to try alternative healing that finally gave her relief and how that opened so many more doors How gratitude has helped Emily deepen her relationship with spirituality and get into alignment The relief of knowing there are options during those desperate times when nothing else has worked What turns people off and what sparks curiosity about woo woo things The role that language plays in making woo either accessible or inaccessible to people Partnering with others to explore woo together How being more open-minded to woo woo rituals and practices has changed our lives for the better Striking the balance between logic and intuition, practicality and trust Plenty of resources for exploring woo woo mindsets and experiences “For me, ‘woo woo’ practices are a confirmation of some sort of deeper knowing you may whether consciously or unconsciously have that’s brought to the surface for me to pay attention to.” - Marissa Burdett “Just because something isn’t proven to be effective through science and research doesn’t mean it’s not effective. Sometimes it just means we don’t have the tools to measure it yet or the understanding to structure a research study to get the confirmation we’re looking for.” - Emily Levenson “If I find myself bristling about something or being like ‘Oh my God, that sounds absolutely ridiculous,’ I almost know that that’s the thing that I need to do because if I’m resisting it, then there’s something I need to get out of it or a new level I need to open myself up to.” - Emily Levenson “Not only can woo woo and magical things happen to you, but you can be magical to somebody else.” - Marissa Burdett For show notes, quotes from the episode, links, and information on the guest, visit permissiontopivot.com.

Growing up, I was always the happy, spirited, positive girl. I conditioned myself to push aside feelings like anger and sadness because I thought it was expected of me, and because I thought feeling those things meant that I WAS an angry or depressed person. After a few decades under my belt and a range of life-altering experiences that I couldn’t ignore or “push past,” I learned that all emotions are inevitable and that they all have value. Through a game of “catabolic bingo,” I share my experiences in embracing the clarity and understanding that emotions of all kinds can bring and how we can use curiosity to free ourselves from self-judgment in feeling our feelings. "Pushing past feelings, even the ones that are uncomfortable and disorienting and hard, denies you the opportunity to learn and grow and develop empathy and compassion and resilience." - Marissa Burdett "All emotions are merely data points that help us discern what’s truly going on and how we best want to proceed. So feel them all. Feel them the whole way through. And get curious! Allow them to teach you and help you grow." - Marissa Burdett For show notes, quotes from the episode, links, and information on the guest, visit permissiontopivot.com.

For an episode on rewriting your identity, it felt only natural to bring on a guest whose own identity journey has been openly, courageously and creatively captured through writing and speaking over the last few years. Douglas Humphries, writer, blogger, voice actor, and facilitator of #createlounge, shares his wisdom around how to tackle some of those big life questions that seem to come up in these formative adult years (and beyond), like “Who am I?” “What am I supposed to be doing with my life?” and “How do I want to spend my time?” and shares some of his journey of how his own identity has changed from a “good, responsible kid” to a somewhat rebellious risk-taker and is continually evolving over time. In this episode, we talk about: Defining the word “identity” and what shapes it How changing our environment can be indicative of a change in our identities Realizing that you can change your identity and that you have so many more options than you can imagine Renegotiating inherited identity traits and deciding what really matters to you Moments that spark those big life questions Questioning our systems and beliefs and showing self-compassion and grace for the shame around old beliefs we are choosing to let go of Reconciling who we thought we would be with the person we really are Permission to explore opportunities and choices without it immediately defining you How others relate to the new iteration of who you are How our creative journeys reflected our changing identities The “Reluctant Rebels” Club for polite, highly-intuitive risk-taskers ;) Resources for uncovering our personal identities Being inspired by others, but being careful about adopting beliefs and values that aren’t actually ours “We have this fear that if we start to question things, everything will fall apart. But really good systems and belief can stand being questioned. It’s the ‘bad’ ones that you don’t want to question because you know they’ll fall apart.” - Douglas Humphries “We may not know why right now we’re doing the thing we’re doing, but later on you’ll know exactly why. You have to trust that you already are planting the seeds for that future.” - Marissa Burdett For show notes, quotes from the episode, links, and information on the guest, visit permissiontopivot.com.

Michelle Anthony of The Hearty Fig is easily one of my favorite human beings to talk to about creative business, women’s empowerment, using our voices, and everything in between. I’m thrilled to have her on the show to talk about that all-too familiar human experience: taking the leap. You know what leap I’m referring to. It’s going from that place of quiet knowing that something needs to change–in your relationships or career or business or whatever–to that place of courageous action. In this episode, we talk about: Michelle’s intentional shift from Bloomology to The Hearty Fig Recognizing the “symptoms” that a change is needed Uncovering what it is we actually want, not just what you don’t want Self-negotiation in response to fear The insidious nature of things being “good enough” and why taking a leap might still be necessary, even at a seemingly great cost Turning to those who have no “skin in the game” to help you navigate difficult transitions Cultivating self-trust and developing your intuition Why we as humans end up staying in situations that we know are no longer in alignment for wayyyy longer than we know is best Changing your mind Preparing oneself for taking the leap Practical strategies, skills, and resources for making important decisions and big changes The aftermath of taking a leap: processing and moving forward “One of the most obvious signals that something either needs a second look or isn’t quite working is the indescribable feeling of dissonance–when something inside you knows that the outer life you’re living does not match your inner desires.” - Michelle Anthony “Making a choice, any choice, becomes the ‘right’ choice because you’ve made it.” - Marissa Burdett For show notes, quotes from the episode, links, and information on the guest, visit permissiontopivot.com.

In this first solocast, I talk about: The backstory behind the podcast and my vision for the show Answering the question: What would life be like if we intentionally invested time and energy in activating how we wanted to feel in any given situation? Three reasons why this approach is so powerful and effective, compared to the alternative How this concept relates to the idea of "alignment before action" My Word of the Year: "Sacred Flow" Figuring out which actions create certain emotions for you How I put this practice into place when preparing for my oral exam for my coaching certification program (and how it helped me pass!) "You get to choose how you want to think, feel, and act. So how do you want to feel today and what will help activate that feeling for you?" -Marissa Burdett For show notes, quotes from the episode, links, and information on the guest, visit permissiontopivot.com.

Talk about a full-circle moment. I bring my former coach, Rachel East of Clarity on Fire, on the show to talk about consciousness. This episode is loaded with tons of examples to illustrate and internalize this concept of consciousness, so whether you’re waist-deep in your own consciousness journey or hearing about this term for the very first time, you’ll be able to walk away with a lot of food for thought and practical ways to cultivate consciousness right away. In this episode, we talk about: The differences between mindfulness, self-awareness, and consciousness The defining moments in Rachel’s life that kickstarted her interest in consciousness Chronic illness as an indicator of misalignment Surrendering to what I need vs. what I want (and being okay with throwing a human tantrum) What happens when people don’t go through the consciousness journey Using our privilege to make it possible for all people to feel safe and able to access and explore their own consciousness Practical activities and resources people can use to raise their consciousness The difference between true and Truth Using the “both/and” concept to find peace and freedom in all relationships and situations, regardless of where others are in their own journeys Not assuming that you know what is best for other people and trusting that they are where they are supposed to be Being who you really are has positive effects on everyone around us "Acknowledge and make room for the possibility that what you believe is true may not actually be the totality of what is True." -Rachel East "When you become more conscious, you can’t go back. You can’t put the blinders back on. You have a new responsibility to live that out." -Marissa Burdett For show notes, quotes from the episode, links, and information on the guest, visit permissiontopivot.com.

Boundaries. What feelings, thoughts, or even physical reactions do you get when you hear that word? Angelica Ross, content creator, copywriter, and marketing expert, and I kick off the very first episode of the Permission to Pivot Podcast talking about: The connotations that the word “boundaries” can elicit and how to find softness around it The many benefits boundaries provide, including helping with decision-making and casting intentional yeses for the things that matter most to you How to gently communicate your boundaries to those around you The underlying fears behind people-pleasing How to honor both individuals’ values and keep your boundaries in relationships Figuring out your real values, not just what you think you’re supposed to care about or one that’s based out of fear A practical call-to-action for figuring out your boundaries in the first place "A boundary is something that allows me to know where my values are and to figure out where I want to give my time. It allows me to give an intentional yes or intentional no. It’s a guideline for living." -Angelica Ross "We often feel, especially as women, that we need to qualify our statements and to explain why, especially when it’s a 'No.' But with boundaries, you don’t need to have a justification for it. 'No' is a complete sentence." -Marissa Burdett For show notes, quotes from the episode, links, and information on the guest, visit permissiontopivot.com.

Your "hostess with the mostest," Marissa Burdett, shares what the Permission to Pivot Podcast is all about, who it was created for, and what you can expect while listening. Marissa Burdett is a professional life and career coach for bloggers and creatives at Ampersand Coaching. Through personalized coaching, sincere podcast conversations, and thoughtful resources, she equips and empowers wide-eyed, open-hearted trailblazers (like you!) to embody who you really are at your core and to pursue a career and life that fully expresses your values. For show notes and information on the podcast, visit permissiontopivot.com.