<![CDATA[The Scenic Route with Victoria Steward]]>You did everything right. Built the career. Earned the credentials. Hit the numbers.

And somewhere along the way... it stopped feeling like enough.

Welcome to The Scenic Route: real talk from women who took the long way home... and loved it.

I’m Victoria Steward, financial empowerment coach and recovering corporate engineer. Every week I’m here with honest conversations about the pivots, detours, and unexpected turns that led somewhere better than the straight line ever could have.

Solo episodes on money, identity, and what it actually takes to build a life that feels as good as it looks. Plus interviews with coaches and entrepreneurs who’ll tell you exactly what cracked them open... and what they found on the other side.

If you’re a high-achieving woman who’s starting to wonder if there’s a different road available... you’re in exactly the right place💫

]]>www.victoria-steward.comRiverside.fm (https://riverside.com)Sat, 30 May 2026 18:47:09 GMTFri, 06 Mar 2026 17:12:33 GMT60Victoria Steward<p>You did everything right. Built the career. Earned the credentials. Hit the numbers.<br /><br />And somewhere along the way... it stopped feeling like enough.<br /><br />Welcome to The Scenic Route: real talk from women who took the long way home... and loved it.<br /><br />I’m Victoria Steward, financial empowerment coach and recovering corporate engineer. Every week I’m here with honest conversations about the pivots, detours, and unexpected turns that led somewhere better than the straight line ever could have.<br /><br />Solo episodes on money, identity, and what it actually takes to build a life that feels as good as it looks. Plus interviews with coaches and entrepreneurs who’ll tell you exactly what cracked them open... and what they found on the other side.<br /><br />If you’re a high-achieving woman who’s starting to wonder if there’s a different road available... you’re in exactly the right place💫</p>episodicVictoria Stewardinfo@victoria-steward.comno<![CDATA[Abi Majekodunmi on Building a Runway Out of the 9-5]]>Most people leave the 9-5 one of two ways: they quit in a blaze and figure it out later, or they stay until they burn all the way down. Abi Majekodunmi found a third way. She ran the numbers.

Abi is the founder of Freedom Runway™ and a former senior tech marketing manager... a mom of two boys who looked, from the outside, like she had it all handled. Six figures. Good reviews. The promotions. And one morning, driving back from school drop-off, she went right past her own house. She wasn’t running from her family. She just couldn’t make herself go back inside for one more day of the rush.

What she did next is the whole episode. She asked herself a question she had never actually asked before: what do I want? Then, because she is a self-described money geek, she built a runway... a number separate from her emergency fund, sized to her family’s real expenses, so that when she left she would never feel like she had to come back. She thought it would take twelve months. It took five.

Abi and I come at this from opposite directions. I leapt on a gut feeling; she got strategic and was gone in a season. But we land in exactly the same place: if you don’t get honest about what you actually want and what your numbers actually are, you carry the stress right out the door with you.

This one’s for you if you’ve been doing the math in your head for months and still don’t feel sure enough to move.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome and Introducing Abi Majekodunmi

01:05 Who Abi Is: From Burnt-Out Corporate to Helping Moms Exit

02:50 The Immigrant Script: Become a Doctor, Lawyer, or Accountant

05:14 COVID, Two Kids at Home, and Meetings With the Camera Off

07:04 The Morning She Kept Driving Past Her Own House

10:53 The First Question She Ever Asked: What Do I Want?

12:19 Building a Runway Beyond the Emergency Fund

13:44 Twelve Months Became Five: The Power of a Takeoff Date

17:32 Why a Coach Holds Your Vision When You Cannot

19:57 The Pause: Nine Months of Rest Before Building Anything

22:38 What She Would Tell Herself 10 Years Ago

27:10 The Donkey Parable: Someone Will Always Have an Opinion

28:25 The Third Option: You Do Not Have to Quit or Burn Out

36:49 Where to Find Abi and Her Free Calm Exit Check

CONNECT WITH ABI

Freedom Runway™

Free Calm Exit Check (5 questions before you leave the 9-5)

Abi on Instagram

Abi on LinkedIn

About Victoria

Victoria Steward is a Financial Empowerment Coach and Certified Profit for Keeps® Coach who helps senior women in tech and engineering build the financial clarity and career confidence to leave corporate on their own terms. After 20 years as a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy, she took the scenic route to get here... and she’s been reaching a hand back ever since.

Victoria on Instagram

Victoria on LinkedIn

Website

]]>089ed4ed-7cb3-4449-bb66-514ab9ed8f50Wed, 27 May 2026 10:00:00 GMT<p>Most people leave the 9-5 one of two ways: they quit in a blaze and figure it out later, or they stay until they burn all the way down. Abi Majekodunmi found a third way. She ran the numbers.</p><p></p><p>Abi is the founder of Freedom Runway™ and a former senior tech marketing manager... a mom of two boys who looked, from the outside, like she had it all handled. Six figures. Good reviews. The promotions. And one morning, driving back from school drop-off, she went right past her own house. She wasn’t running from her family. She just couldn’t make herself go back inside for one more day of the rush.<br /><br />What she did next is the whole episode. She asked herself a question she had never actually asked before: what do I want? Then, because she is a self-described money geek, she built a runway... a number separate from her emergency fund, sized to her family’s real expenses, so that when she left she would never feel like she had to come back. She thought it would take twelve months. It took five.<br /><br />Abi and I come at this from opposite directions. I leapt on a gut feeling; she got strategic and was gone in a season. But we land in exactly the same place: if you don’t get honest about what you actually want and what your numbers actually are, you carry the stress right out the door with you.</p><p></p><p>This one’s for you if you’ve been doing the math in your head for months and still don’t feel sure enough to move.</p><p></p><p><b>CHAPTERS</b></p><p><b>00:00</b> Welcome and Introducing Abi Majekodunmi</p><p><b>01:05</b> Who Abi Is: From Burnt-Out Corporate to Helping Moms Exit</p><p><b>02:50</b> The Immigrant Script: Become a Doctor, Lawyer, or Accountant</p><p><b>05:14</b> COVID, Two Kids at Home, and Meetings With the Camera Off</p><p><b>07:04</b> The Morning She Kept Driving Past Her Own House</p><p><b>10:53</b> The First Question She Ever Asked: What Do I Want?</p><p><b>12:19</b> Building a Runway Beyond the Emergency Fund</p><p><b>13:44</b> Twelve Months Became Five: The Power of a Takeoff Date</p><p><b>17:32</b> Why a Coach Holds Your Vision When You Cannot</p><p><b>19:57</b> The Pause: Nine Months of Rest Before Building Anything</p><p><b>22:38</b> What She Would Tell Herself 10 Years Ago</p><p><b>27:10</b> The Donkey Parable: Someone Will Always Have an Opinion</p><p><b>28:25</b> The Third Option: You Do Not Have to Quit or Burn Out</p><p><b>36:49</b> Where to Find Abi and Her Free Calm Exit Check</p><p></p><p><b>CONNECT WITH ABI</b></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://freedomrunway.com" target="_blank">Freedom Runway™</a></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://freedomrunway.com/freebies/calm-exit-check/" target="_blank">Free Calm Exit Check</a> (5 questions before you leave the 9-5)</p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/abifreedomrunway/" target="_blank">Abi on Instagram</a></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/abimajekodunmi/" target="_blank">Abi on LinkedIn</a></p><p></p><p><b>About Victoria</b></p><p>Victoria Steward is a Financial Empowerment Coach and Certified Profit for Keeps® Coach who helps senior women in tech and engineering build the financial clarity and career confidence to leave corporate on their own terms. After 20 years as a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy, she took the scenic route to get here... and she’s been reaching a hand back ever since.</p><p></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/victoria.steward.coach" target="_blank"><b>Victoria on Instagram</b></a></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-steward-coaching" target="_blank"><b>Victoria on LinkedIn</b></a></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://victoria-steward.com" target="_blank"><b>Website</b></a></p>no00:37:59111Abi Majekodunmi on Building a Runway Out of the 9-5full<![CDATA[Lilli Bewley on the Pattern That Shows Up in Your Career, Your Money, and Your Dating Life]]>There’s a version of high-achieving where you absorb everyone else’s everything and call it being chill. There’s a version where you give every part of yourself to your career, and then one day notice the same pattern playing out in dating, in money, in your body, in your business. “A pattern is a pattern is a pattern,” Lilli Bewley says. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Lilli is a Dating Coach for Finding Love and the creator of the Feminine Dating Archetype Quiz. Her framework is the four stages women move through on the way back to themselves: Chill Woman, Fortress Woman, Goddess Woman, Magnetic Woman. And the Magnetic Woman isn’t a mask. She’s the version of you where your actions, your behaviors, your thoughts, your beliefs and your emotions finally line up.

In this conversation Victoria takes the quiz and lands as the Chill Woman, which drops us straight into the thing this whole show is about: how do you know what you actually want, and how do you get brave enough to stay with it when life starts asking you to test it?

Lilli tells the story of the first real boundary she ever set... shaking in her car outside a doctor’s office, asking the nurse to skip the scale as an act of self-love. And the moment she stopped trying to push through fear and started moving toward it instead.

This one’s for you if you’ve ever read a self-help book that named what was wrong with you and then left you stranded on how to actually change it.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Welcome to the Scenic Route
00:52 Lilli’s journey... surviving to thriving in love
03:26 “I do nothing”... Victoria on the identity freeze after leaving a 20-year career
05:21 “Who am I without this?” The most confronting question
08:00 The eldest-daughter pattern shows up everywhere
10:33 The Feminine Dating Archetypes framework
15:48 Victoria’s quiz result: the Chill Woman
20:52 The Chill Woman’s work... boundaries, needs, desires
27:42 Lilli’s first real boundary... the doctor’s scale story
33:02 Going toward the fear, not away from it
36:45 The Fortress Woman and the Great Wall around the heart
40:32 The Goddess Woman... done the work, still misaligned
45:58 The Magnetic Woman... when everything lines up
46:27 Take the quiz at datingarchetype.com

FIND LILLY
Feminine Dating Archetype Quiz
Lilli Bewley Website
Lilli on Instagram

ABOUT VICTORIA
Victoria Steward is a Financial Empowerment Coach and Certified Profit for Keeps® Coach who helps senior women in tech and engineering build the financial clarity and career confidence to leave corporate on their own terms. After 20 years as a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy, she took the scenic route to get here... and she’s been reaching a hand back ever since.

FIND VICTORIA
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
Website

🎙️ This show is recorded with Riverside, the easiest way to run a professional podcast and livestream simultaneously. Thinking about starting your own show? riverside.sjv.io/PzzkYY

]]>80ab9c33-3cb9-4bee-8596-ac7df477ed69Wed, 20 May 2026 08:00:00 GMT<p>There’s a version of high-achieving where you absorb everyone else’s everything and call it being chill. There’s a version where you give every part of yourself to your career, and then one day notice the same pattern playing out in dating, in money, in your body, in your business. “A pattern is a pattern is a pattern,” Lilli Bewley says. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.<br /><br />Lilli is a Dating Coach for Finding Love and the creator of the Feminine Dating Archetype Quiz. Her framework is the four stages women move through on the way back to themselves: Chill Woman, Fortress Woman, Goddess Woman, Magnetic Woman. And the Magnetic Woman isn’t a mask. She’s the version of you where your actions, your behaviors, your thoughts, your beliefs and your emotions finally line up.<br /><br />In this conversation Victoria takes the quiz and lands as the Chill Woman, which drops us straight into the thing this whole show is about: how do you know what you actually want, and how do you get brave enough to stay with it when life starts asking you to test it?<br /><br />Lilli tells the story of the first real boundary she ever set... shaking in her car outside a doctor’s office, asking the nurse to skip the scale as an act of self-love. And the moment she stopped trying to push through fear and started moving toward it instead.<br /><br />This one’s for you if you’ve ever read a self-help book that named what was wrong with you and then left you stranded on how to actually change it.<br /><br /><b>CHAPTERS</b><br />00:00 Welcome to the Scenic Route<br />00:52 Lilli’s journey... surviving to thriving in love<br />03:26 “I do nothing”... Victoria on the identity freeze after leaving a 20-year career<br />05:21 “Who am I without this?” The most confronting question<br />08:00 The eldest-daughter pattern shows up everywhere<br />10:33 The Feminine Dating Archetypes framework<br />15:48 Victoria’s quiz result: the Chill Woman<br />20:52 The Chill Woman’s work... boundaries, needs, desires<br />27:42 Lilli’s first real boundary... the doctor’s scale story<br />33:02 Going toward the fear, not away from it<br />36:45 The Fortress Woman and the Great Wall around the heart<br />40:32 The Goddess Woman... done the work, still misaligned<br />45:58 The Magnetic Woman... when everything lines up<br />46:27 Take the quiz at <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://datingarchetype.com" target="_blank">datingarchetype.com</a><br /><br /><b>FIND LILLY</b><br /><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://datingarchetype.com" target="_blank">Feminine Dating Archetype Quiz</a><br />Lilli Bewley <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.lillibewley.com" target="_blank">Website</a><br /><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/lillibewley/" target="_blank">Lilli on Instagram</a><br /><br /><b>ABOUT VICTORIA</b><br />Victoria Steward is a Financial Empowerment Coach and Certified Profit for Keeps® Coach who helps senior women in tech and engineering build the financial clarity and career confidence to leave corporate on their own terms. After 20 years as a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy, she took the scenic route to get here... and she’s been reaching a hand back ever since.<br /></p><p><i>FIND VICTORIA</i><br /><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-steward-coaching" target="_blank">On LinkedIn</a><br /><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/victoria.steward.coach" target="_blank">On Instagram</a><br /><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://victoria-steward.com" target="_blank">Website</a><br /></p><p>🎙️ This show is recorded with Riverside, the easiest way to run a professional podcast and livestream simultaneously. Thinking about starting your own show? <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://riverside.sjv.io/PzzkYY" target="_blank">riverside.sjv.io/PzzkYY</a></p>no00:47:40110Lilli Bewley on the Pattern That Shows Up in Your Career, Your Money, and Your Dating Lifefull<![CDATA[Breaking the Good Girl Pattern: How High Achievers Finally Feel Safe with Coco Duan]]>What does it feel like to check every box, reach every milestone, and still feel like something is deeply wrong?

 

Coco Duan was a senior leader at a Fortune 500 company, earning over $400k a year, doing everything she was supposed to do. On the outside, high performance. On the inside, running on empty, living in low-grade anxiety she didn't even have a name for, and giving everything to everyone except herself.

 

COVID stopped the superhighway. And for the first time, the whisper she had been outrunning for years got loud enough to hear.

 

In this conversation, Coco and Victoria talk about what actually happens after you get off the highway: why the anxiety doesn't automatically stop, why high achievers keep chasing the next goal to feel safe even when they know better, and why the nervous system work has to come before the strategy. Coco also talks about Argentine Tango as nervous system regulation, dancing five nights a week in Shanghai, and going to Buenos Aires for three weeks because joy is not a luxury. It is the fuel.

 

Her book Unchecking the Boxes is out now. Her podcast is The Badass Leader. And this conversation is for anyone who has ever felt like a beautiful Porsche running on a broken engine.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Welcome and Introducing Coco Duan

00:38 Who Coco Is Now: Breaking Good Girl Patterns and Becoming Badass

01:52 The Inciting Incident: When Did the Whisper Start?

02:27 From Whisper to Shout: How COVID Made the Voice Impossible to Ignore

04:42 Life on the Corporate Superhighway: Urgent, Urgent, Urgent

05:28 Driving 100 Miles an Hour While Running Completely Empty

07:24 The Turning Point: Seeking Professional Help for the First Time

10:54 How She Found Coaching: The Glimmer That Changed Everything

14:45 Zone of Excellence vs Zone of Genius: Why Good at It Is Not Enough

15:13 Building Financial Safety Before Taking the Leap

16:51 Hiding in the Closet: Coaching While Still in Corporate

18:16 What Traditional Executive Coaching Gets Wrong

19:46 Still Anxious on the Scenic Route: Why the Work Was Not Done

21:09 Nervous System Regulation, IFS, and the Voice That Was Never Present Coco

25:12 What Self-Sabotage Actually Is (It Is Not What You Think)

26:13 The Good Girl Patterns That Keep High Achievers Stuck

30:41 Joy as Fuel: Argentine Tango, Buenos Aires, and Three Weeks of Dancing

37:18 The Science of Dancing as Nervous System Reset

39:15 Reading Books and Listening to Podcasts Is Not Enough

43:23 You Cannot Learn to Ride a Bike From a Podcast

44:27 Where to Find Coco and Wrap

FIND COCO
Website: cocoduancoaching.com

Coco on LinkedIn

Unchecking the Boxes (book): Available on Amazon

The Badass Leader Podcast: Apple Podcasts

FIND VICTORIA

On Instagram

On LinkedIn

victoria-steward.com

]]>e561856d-7d03-404b-9bc5-678d443d62ddWed, 13 May 2026 15:21:22 GMT<p>What does it feel like to check every box, reach every milestone, and still feel like something is deeply wrong?</p><p> </p><p>Coco Duan was a senior leader at a Fortune 500 company, earning over $400k a year, doing everything she was supposed to do. On the outside, high performance. On the inside, running on empty, living in low-grade anxiety she didn't even have a name for, and giving everything to everyone except herself.</p><p> </p><p>COVID stopped the superhighway. And for the first time, the whisper she had been outrunning for years got loud enough to hear.</p><p> </p><p>In this conversation, Coco and Victoria talk about what actually happens after you get off the highway: why the anxiety doesn't automatically stop, why high achievers keep chasing the next goal to feel safe even when they know better, and why the nervous system work has to come before the strategy. Coco also talks about Argentine Tango as nervous system regulation, dancing five nights a week in Shanghai, and going to Buenos Aires for three weeks because joy is not a luxury. It is the fuel.</p><p> </p><p>Her book Unchecking the Boxes is out now. Her podcast is The Badass Leader. And this conversation is for anyone who has ever felt like a beautiful Porsche running on a broken engine.</p><p></p><p><b>CHAPTERS</b><br />00:00 Welcome and Introducing Coco Duan</p><p>00:38 Who Coco Is Now: Breaking Good Girl Patterns and Becoming Badass</p><p>01:52 The Inciting Incident: When Did the Whisper Start?</p><p>02:27 From Whisper to Shout: How COVID Made the Voice Impossible to Ignore</p><p>04:42 Life on the Corporate Superhighway: Urgent, Urgent, Urgent</p><p>05:28 Driving 100 Miles an Hour While Running Completely Empty</p><p>07:24 The Turning Point: Seeking Professional Help for the First Time</p><p>10:54 How She Found Coaching: The Glimmer That Changed Everything</p><p>14:45 Zone of Excellence vs Zone of Genius: Why Good at It Is Not Enough</p><p>15:13 Building Financial Safety Before Taking the Leap</p><p>16:51 Hiding in the Closet: Coaching While Still in Corporate</p><p>18:16 What Traditional Executive Coaching Gets Wrong</p><p>19:46 Still Anxious on the Scenic Route: Why the Work Was Not Done</p><p>21:09 Nervous System Regulation, IFS, and the Voice That Was Never Present Coco</p><p>25:12 What Self-Sabotage Actually Is (It Is Not What You Think)</p><p>26:13 The Good Girl Patterns That Keep High Achievers Stuck</p><p>30:41 Joy as Fuel: Argentine Tango, Buenos Aires, and Three Weeks of Dancing</p><p>37:18 The Science of Dancing as Nervous System Reset</p><p>39:15 Reading Books and Listening to Podcasts Is Not Enough</p><p>43:23 You Cannot Learn to Ride a Bike From a Podcast</p><p>44:27 Where to Find Coco and Wrap</p><p></p><p><b>FIND COCO</b><br /><b>Website: </b>cocoduancoaching.com</p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="linkedin.com/in/cocoduan" target="_blank"><b>Coco on LinkedIn</b></a></p><p><b>Unchecking the Boxes (book): </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://us.amazon.com/Unchecking-Boxes-Proving-Pleasing-Performing/dp/B0GM8NG9X3" target="_blank">Available on Amazon</a></p><p><b>The Badass Leader Podcast: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-badass-leader-helping-high-achieving-women-lead/id1764853248" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a></p><p></p><p><b>FIND VICTORIA</b></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://instagram.com/victoria.steward.coach" target="_blank">On Instagram</a></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-steward-coaching/" target="_blank">On LinkedIn</a></p><p>victoria-steward.com</p>no00:45:2419Breaking the Good Girl Pattern: How High Achievers Finally Feel Safe with Coco Duanfull<![CDATA[What Nobody Tells Therapists About Building a Private Practice with Katie Fortunato]]>What happens when you do everything the right way and still burn out? You try again. And again. Until you finally stop trying to fit yourself into someone else's blueprint.

Katie Fortunato is a Licensed Professional Counselor and EMDR therapist who built her practice the way she was told to... and hit the wall every single time. School counselor. Pivot in an unplanned direction due to COVID. Air Force Academy position. Group practice. Private practice. And at every stop: burnout, because the model she was handed wasn't built for her.

In this conversation, Katie and Victoria talk about what it actually takes to build something sustainable: starting with what you need (not what someone else did), figuring out your real number before you set any goals, and why the identity shift from clinician to practice owner is the part nobody warns you about.

If you are a therapist thinking about private practice, this one was made for you. And if you are not a therapist but you have ever tried to build something using someone else's rules and wondered why it kept breaking, this one is for you too.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Welcome and introducing Katie Fortunato
00:41 Who Katie is now: LPC, EMDR therapist, and coach for therapists
01:14 Where it started: the straight-line plan and the first detour
03:19 Five years as a school counselor: the promise vs. the bureaucracy
04:19 Selling everything in February 2020... and then COVID happened
07:17 The scenic route to private practice: Air Force Academy, group practice, and the moment she finally said yes
10:07 Knowing what you are worth and refusing to accept less
12:13 Year one of private practice: why the model she inherited nearly broke her
15:21 Her methodology: why the number has to come from your life, not from industry averages
18:27 Therapist pay, martyr culture, and the internal message that says you don't deserve more
22:03 The group program: building with a cohort instead of building alone
31:02 What she wishes she had told herself at the start: vision first, build second
37:11 The founders cohort: what is open, how long, and what founders get
38:31 Where to find Katie and wrap

ABOUT KATIE
Katie Fortunato is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) | EMDR Therapist | Group Practice Owner | Coach for Therapists Building Private Practices

Learn More:
Instagram: @katiefortunatocoaching
From Clinician to Practice Owner: Build, Launch & Grow for Therapists Facebook Group
To Learn More About Katies Group Program: Book a Call

ABOUT VICTORIA
Victoria Steward is a Financial Empowerment Coach and Certified Profit for Keeps® Coach who helps senior women in tech and engineering build the financial clarity and career confidence to leave corporate on their own terms. After 20 years as a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy, she took the scenic route to get here... and she's been reaching a hand back ever since.

On LinkedIn: @victoria-steward-coaching

On Instagram: @victoria.steward.coach
Website: victoria-steward.com

🎙️Record your own podcast with Riverside.

]]>b86c4757-7ae6-4a50-a7a0-b67afe38dfe5Wed, 06 May 2026 16:07:51 GMT<p>What happens when you do everything the right way and still burn out? You try again. And again. Until you finally stop trying to fit yourself into someone else's blueprint.<br /><br />Katie Fortunato is a Licensed Professional Counselor and EMDR therapist who built her practice the way she was told to... and hit the wall every single time. School counselor. Pivot in an unplanned direction due to COVID. Air Force Academy position. Group practice. Private practice. And at every stop: burnout, because the model she was handed wasn't built for her.<br /><br />In this conversation, Katie and Victoria talk about what it actually takes to build something sustainable: starting with what you need (not what someone else did), figuring out your real number before you set any goals, and why the identity shift from clinician to practice owner is the part nobody warns you about.<br /><br />If you are a therapist thinking about private practice, this one was made for you. And if you are not a therapist but you have ever tried to build something using someone else's rules and wondered why it kept breaking, this one is for you too.<br /><br /><b>CHAPTERS</b><br />00:00 Welcome and introducing Katie Fortunato<br />00:41 Who Katie is now: LPC, EMDR therapist, and coach for therapists<br />01:14 Where it started: the straight-line plan and the first detour<br />03:19 Five years as a school counselor: the promise vs. the bureaucracy<br />04:19 Selling everything in February 2020... and then COVID happened<br />07:17 The scenic route to private practice: Air Force Academy, group practice, and the moment she finally said yes<br />10:07 Knowing what you are worth and refusing to accept less<br />12:13 Year one of private practice: why the model she inherited nearly broke her<br />15:21 Her methodology: why the number has to come from your life, not from industry averages<br />18:27 Therapist pay, martyr culture, and the internal message that says you don't deserve more<br />22:03 The group program: building with a cohort instead of building alone<br />31:02 What she wishes she had told herself at the start: vision first, build second<br />37:11 The founders cohort: what is open, how long, and what founders get<br />38:31 Where to find Katie and wrap<br /><br /><b>ABOUT KATIE</b><br />Katie Fortunato is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) | EMDR Therapist | Group Practice Owner | Coach for Therapists Building Private Practices<br /><br /><b>Learn More:</b><br />Instagram:<a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/katiefortunatocoaching" target="_blank"> @katiefortunatocoaching</a><br /><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/katiefortunatocoaching" target="_blank">From Clinician to Practice Owner: Build, Launch &amp; Grow for Therapists Facebook Group</a><br />To Learn More About Katies Group Program:<a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/booking/XHQOG83j5xXwcceMpIj8" target="_blank"> Book a Call</a><br /><br /><b>ABOUT VICTORIA</b><br />Victoria Steward is a Financial Empowerment Coach and Certified Profit for Keeps® Coach who helps senior women in tech and engineering build the financial clarity and career confidence to leave corporate on their own terms. After 20 years as a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy, she took the scenic route to get here... and she's been reaching a hand back ever since.<br /><br />On LinkedIn: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-steward-coaching/" target="_blank">@victoria-steward-coaching</a></p><p>On Instagram: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/victoria.steward.coach/" target="_blank">@victoria.steward.coach</a><br />Website: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://victoria-steward.com" target="_blank">victoria-steward.com</a><br /><br />🎙️Record your own podcast with <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="riverside.sjv.io/PzzkYY" target="_blank">Riverside</a>.</p>no00:39:2918What Nobody Tells Therapists About Building a Private Practice with Katie Fortunatofull<![CDATA[You Did the Math. So Why Don’t You Feel Ready to Leave?]]>Leaving corporate and building your runway number: why knowing it isn’t the same as feeling ready to go.

You’ve run the numbers. You have the savings. And somehow, you still don’t feel ready to leave.

That’s not a math problem. That’s a missing system.

Victoria Steward, Financial Empowerment Coach and former 20-year Navy engineer, shares why the number alone doesn’t create financial safety, what happened when she left corporate with $100k and no cashflow system, and the one shift that moves you from financial anxiety to genuine delight in paying your bills.

This episode is for you if you keep telling yourself “one more year” even though the math already says you’re ready.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Why Your Runway Number Isn’t the Finish Line
01:00 The Debt Cycle: Why Getting Out of Debt Can Feel Unsafe
02:30 Why Having Your Runway Number Can Feel Terrifying
03:30 Left the Navy With $100k and Still Felt Like Freefall
06:00 What “Going on Vibes” Actually Costs You
07:30 The Number Is Information, Not Safety
09:00 Giving Every Dollar a Job: What a Cashflow System Does
10:30 From Braced to Neutral to Delighted: How Money Shifts
11:30 Why Victoria Pays Her Bills With Genuine Delight
12:30 Shelby Herber on Money Stress and Everything Else
14:00 How Long Is Enough? Why Your Runway Number Is Personal
16:00 Could You Have a Million Dollars and Still Feel Unsafe?
17:30 Know Your Number Masterclass: Friday May 1

CURIOUS TO KNOW YOUR RUNWAY?
Register for Know Your Number Masterclass: Friday May 1, 2026 at 12pm ET: 3 Strategies to Leave Corporate & Start Your Business.

About Victoria
Victoria Steward is a Financial Empowerment Coach and Certified Profit for Keeps® Coach who helps senior women in tech and engineering build the financial clarity and career confidence to leave corporate on their own terms. After 20 years as a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy, she took the scenic route to get here... and she’s been reaching a hand back ever since.

Links
Website: victoria-steward.com
Instagram: @victoria.steward.coach
LinkedIn: @victoria-steward-coaching
YouTube:

🎤 This show is recorded with Riverside, the easiest way to run a professional podcast and livestream simultaneously. Thinking about starting your own show?

]]>fd6ab578-527e-4988-b9e6-2a2cb9e5c61aTue, 28 Apr 2026 18:59:22 GMT<p>Leaving corporate and building your runway number: why knowing it isn’t the same as feeling ready to go.<br /><br />You’ve run the numbers. You have the savings. And somehow, you still don’t feel ready to leave.<br /><br />That’s not a math problem. That’s a missing system.<br /><br />Victoria Steward, Financial Empowerment Coach and former 20-year Navy engineer, shares why the number alone doesn’t create financial safety, what happened when she left corporate with $100k and no cashflow system, and the one shift that moves you from financial anxiety to genuine delight in paying your bills.<br /><br />This episode is for you if you keep telling yourself “one more year” even though the math already says you’re ready.<br /><br />CHAPTERS<br />00:00 Why Your Runway Number Isn’t the Finish Line<br />01:00 The Debt Cycle: Why Getting Out of Debt Can Feel Unsafe<br />02:30 Why Having Your Runway Number Can Feel Terrifying<br />03:30 Left the Navy With $100k and Still Felt Like Freefall<br />06:00 What “Going on Vibes” Actually Costs You<br />07:30 The Number Is Information, Not Safety<br />09:00 Giving Every Dollar a Job: What a Cashflow System Does<br />10:30 From Braced to Neutral to Delighted: How Money Shifts<br />11:30 Why Victoria Pays Her Bills With Genuine Delight<br />12:30 Shelby Herber on Money Stress and Everything Else<br />14:00 How Long Is Enough? Why Your Runway Number Is Personal<br />16:00 Could You Have a Million Dollars and Still Feel Unsafe?<br />17:30 Know Your Number Masterclass: Friday May 1<br /><br />CURIOUS TO KNOW YOUR RUNWAY?<br /><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://masterclass.victoria-steward.com" target="_blank">Register for Know Your Number Masterclass</a>: Friday May 1, 2026 at 12pm ET: 3 Strategies to Leave Corporate &amp; Start Your Business.<br /><br />About Victoria<br />Victoria Steward is a Financial Empowerment Coach and Certified Profit for Keeps® Coach who helps senior women in tech and engineering build the financial clarity and career confidence to leave corporate on their own terms. After 20 years as a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy, she took the scenic route to get here... and she’s been reaching a hand back ever since.<br /><br />Links<br />Website: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://victoria-steward.com" target="_blank">victoria-steward.com</a><br />Instagram: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://instagram.com/victoria.steward.coach" target="_blank">@victoria.steward.coach</a><br />LinkedIn: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-steward-coaching/" target="_blank">@victoria-steward-coaching</a><br />YouTube: <br /><br />🎤 This show is recorded with <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://riverside.sjv.io/PzzkYY" target="_blank">Riverside</a>, the easiest way to run a professional podcast and livestream simultaneously. Thinking about starting your own show? </p>no00:21:0117You Did the Math. So Why Don’t You Feel Ready to Leave?full<![CDATA[Shelby Renae on the Signs She Ignored and the Life She Found When She Finally Listened]]>You know that feeling when everything looks right on paper but something keeps trying to get your attention?

For Shelby Renae, that “something” wasn’t subtle. It showed up as seizure episodes before she left for the Philippines. As a nervous system that never fully settled through two years in the Peace Corps. As a conservation job that matched her degree perfectly and slowly wore her down anyway.

Shelby did what a lot of us do: she kept pushing through. She was good at it. And her body kept escalating.

In this conversation, Shelby and I trace the whole scenic route: the travel bug that lit up in eighth grade, the marine science degree, the Peace Corps assignment to the Philippines (where a volcano eventually made the decision for her), and the long, winding road back to herself through holistic health, Ayurvedic medicine, and eventually the money framework that gave her and her partner the runway to leave the States entirely for six months in Mexico.

What I love about Shelby’s story is that none of it reads as a detour. Every chapter taught her something she now brings to the women she works with: heart-led practitioners and wellness entrepreneurs who are incredible at what they do and exhausted by what money stress costs them. She built a life by learning to listen. Now she’s teaching others to do the same.

This one is for you if you’ve ever felt your body trying to tell you something your plans weren’t ready to hear.

WHAT YOU'LL HEAR ON THIS EPISODE

💫The eighth-grade trip to Poland that planted the travel seed Shelby is still following today

💫How Shelby kept overriding her body’s signals to make it to the Peace Corps in the Philippines, and what two years there cost her nervous system

💫The volcano evacuation that ended her Peace Corps service and the holding pattern in Manila that forced her to figure out what came next

💫How her cycle disappearing for over four years became the clearest feedback system she’d ever had

💫The compound path from naturopathic medicine to Ayurveda to life coaching school to Profit for Keeps®, and how each step built on the last

💫Why Shelby believes money stress is often the root that holds everything else back

💫How the PFK® framework gave Shelby and her partner Dan the runway to leave their jobs, travel Mexico for six months, and build toward what’s actually next

CONNECT WITH SHELBY

@shelbyrenaewellness on Instagram

Shelby Renae on LinkedIn

Book a Clarity Call with Shelby

Register for the Masterclass Replay: Why Does Money Feel So Hard in a Heart-Led Business?

About Victoria

Victoria Steward is a Financial Empowerment Coach and Certified Profit for Keeps® Coach who helps senior women in tech and engineering build the financial clarity and career confidence to leave corporate on their own terms.

 

Want to get clear on what your runway? Join Victoria for her free masterclass on May 1st: Three Strategies to Move From ‘Just One More Year’ to Your Real Runway.
masterclass.victoria-steward.com

 

Links

Instagram: @victoria.steward.coach

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/victoria-steward-coaching

Website: victoria-steward.com

]]>88a82a53-ff8d-40ee-a30b-3309aa2be055Sun, 26 Apr 2026 15:30:34 GMT<p>You know that feeling when everything looks right on paper but something keeps trying to get your attention?</p><p></p><p>For Shelby Renae, that “something” wasn’t subtle. It showed up as seizure episodes before she left for the Philippines. As a nervous system that never fully settled through two years in the Peace Corps. As a conservation job that matched her degree perfectly and slowly wore her down anyway.</p><p></p><p>Shelby did what a lot of us do: she kept pushing through. She was good at it. And her body kept escalating.</p><p>In this conversation, Shelby and I trace the whole scenic route: the travel bug that lit up in eighth grade, the marine science degree, the Peace Corps assignment to the Philippines (where a volcano eventually made the decision for her), and the long, winding road back to herself through holistic health, Ayurvedic medicine, and eventually the money framework that gave her and her partner the runway to leave the States entirely for six months in Mexico.</p><p></p><p>What I love about Shelby’s story is that none of it reads as a detour. Every chapter taught her something she now brings to the women she works with: heart-led practitioners and wellness entrepreneurs who are incredible at what they do and exhausted by what money stress costs them. She built a life by learning to listen. Now she’s teaching others to do the same.</p><p></p><p>This one is for you if you’ve ever felt your body trying to tell you something your plans weren’t ready to hear.</p><p></p><p><b>WHAT YOU'LL HEAR ON THIS EPISODE</b></p><p>💫The eighth-grade trip to Poland that planted the travel seed Shelby is still following today</p><p>💫How Shelby kept overriding her body’s signals to make it to the Peace Corps in the Philippines, and what two years there cost her nervous system</p><p>💫The volcano evacuation that ended her Peace Corps service and the holding pattern in Manila that forced her to figure out what came next</p><p>💫How her cycle disappearing for over four years became the clearest feedback system she’d ever had</p><p>💫The compound path from naturopathic medicine to Ayurveda to life coaching school to Profit for Keeps®, and how each step built on the last</p><p>💫Why Shelby believes money stress is often the root that holds everything else back</p><p>💫How the PFK® framework gave Shelby and her partner Dan the runway to leave their jobs, travel Mexico for six months, and build toward what’s actually next</p><p></p><p><b>CONNECT WITH SHELBY</b></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/shelbyrenaewellness/" target="_blank">@shelbyrenaewellness</a> on Instagram</p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://linkedin.com/in/shelby-renae-64b36b404/" target="_blank">Shelby Renae</a> on LinkedIn</p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://links.shelbyrenae.com/widget/bookings/-claritycall" target="_blank">Book a Clarity Call with Shelby</a></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://links.shelbyrenae.com/widget/form/K6pcckqXDzpXb8e7DK76" target="_blank"><b>Register </b></a><b>for the Masterclass Replay: </b>Why Does Money Feel So Hard in a Heart-Led Business?</p><p></p><p><b>About Victoria</b></p><p>Victoria Steward is a Financial Empowerment Coach and Certified Profit for Keeps® Coach who helps senior women in tech and engineering build the financial clarity and career confidence to leave corporate on their own terms.</p><p> </p><p>Want to get clear on what your runway? Join Victoria for her free masterclass on May 1st: Three Strategies to Move From ‘Just One More Year’ to Your Real Runway.<br />masterclass.victoria-steward.com</p><p> </p><p><b>Links</b></p><p><b>Instagram: </b>@victoria.steward.coach</p><p><b>LinkedIn: </b>linkedin.com/in/victoria-steward-coaching</p><p><b>Website: </b>victoria-steward.com</p>no01:04:2716Shelby Renae on the Signs She Ignored and the Life She Found When She Finally Listenedfull<![CDATA[Eight-Year Cycles: Giving Yourself Permission to Not Know Yet with Chetal Patel]]>What if the version of you who doesn’t know what comes next isn’t lost... she’s just between chapters?

 

My friend Chetal Patel has lived her life in eight-year cycles. Eight years on Wall Street. Eight years teaching English to immigrant kids in NYC public schools. Eight years raising her children, including twins who came after a long and hard infertility journey. And now: a fourth cycle, a certified health coach who specializes in change itself, sitting in the in-between and letting herself not know yet what comes next.

 

We met in Emily Fletcher’s Evidence of Magic community, and the way Chetal talks about her own life stopped me the first time I heard it. Not because she made dramatic leaps, but because she has this uncanny ability to feel when a chapter is truly closing and to trust that signal, even when everyone around her is asking why she would walk away from something good.

 

In this conversation, we talk about the moment 9/11 planted the first seed of “what am I actually doing with my life,” leaving six figures for a classroom because a cousin asked the right question at the right time, what postpartum depression taught her about the difference between the life that looks perfect on paper and the life you can actually live in, and why sitting in the unknown is still the muscle she is building, even now.

 

This one is for you if you know something is shifting but you don’t yet have a name for what comes next. Chetal makes that space feel a lot less lonely.

 

What You'll Hear On This Episode

🌟 How 9/11 cracked open the first real question Chetal had ever asked herself about her own life, and why it took years for that question to actually change anything

🌟 What it felt like to leave a six-figure Wall Street career in her mid-20s when nobody around her understood why, and how her husband’s support made the leap possible

🌟 The pivot muscle: why her first career change was the hardest and every one after that got a little more familiar

🌟 What she discovered about herself inside the isolation of motherhood, and how therapy and meditation became the foundation for everything that came after

🌟 Why she’s deliberately sitting in uncertainty right now, not building the next thing yet, and what that is teaching her about modeling a different kind of life for her kids

🌟 The deathbed question she has always used as a quiet gut check, and why it keeps pointing her toward what’s true

🌟 Her reminder that you are not carrying skills from the past into an empty future: you are integrating, not replacing

Connect with Chetal

@chetalppatel on Instagram

FIND VICTORIA

Victoria Steward is a Financial Empowerment Coach and Certified Profit for Keeps® Coach who helps senior women in tech and engineering build the financial clarity and career confidence to leave corporate on their own terms. After 20 years as a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy, she took the scenic route to get here... and she’s been reaching a hand back ever since.

Register of the May 1st Masterclass

Three Strategies to Move From “Just One More Year” to Your Real Runway

@victoria.steward.coach on Instagram
@victoria-steward-coaching on LinkedIn
victoria-steward.com

]]>0344a890-062b-46d2-ab22-3a5baabbb199Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:07:03 GMT<p>What if the version of you who doesn’t know what comes next isn’t lost... she’s just between chapters?</p><p> </p><p>My friend Chetal Patel has lived her life in eight-year cycles. Eight years on Wall Street. Eight years teaching English to immigrant kids in NYC public schools. Eight years raising her children, including twins who came after a long and hard infertility journey. And now: a fourth cycle, a certified health coach who specializes in change itself, sitting in the in-between and letting herself not know yet what comes next.</p><p> </p><p>We met in Emily Fletcher’s Evidence of Magic community, and the way Chetal talks about her own life stopped me the first time I heard it. Not because she made dramatic leaps, but because she has this uncanny ability to feel when a chapter is truly closing and to trust that signal, even when everyone around her is asking why she would walk away from something good.</p><p> </p><p>In this conversation, we talk about the moment 9/11 planted the first seed of “what am I actually doing with my life,” leaving six figures for a classroom because a cousin asked the right question at the right time, what postpartum depression taught her about the difference between the life that looks perfect on paper and the life you can actually live in, and why sitting in the unknown is still the muscle she is building, even now.</p><p> </p><p>This one is for you if you know something is shifting but you don’t yet have a name for what comes next. Chetal makes that space feel a lot less lonely.</p><p> </p><p><b>What You'll Hear On This Episode</b></p><p>🌟 How 9/11 cracked open the first real question Chetal had ever asked herself about her own life, and why it took years for that question to actually change anything</p><p>🌟 What it felt like to leave a six-figure Wall Street career in her mid-20s when nobody around her understood why, and how her husband’s support made the leap possible</p><p>🌟 The pivot muscle: why her first career change was the hardest and every one after that got a little more familiar</p><p>🌟 What she discovered about herself inside the isolation of motherhood, and how therapy and meditation became the foundation for everything that came after</p><p>🌟 Why she’s deliberately sitting in uncertainty right now, not building the next thing yet, and what that is teaching her about modeling a different kind of life for her kids</p><p>🌟 The deathbed question she has always used as a quiet gut check, and why it keeps pointing her toward what’s true</p><p>🌟 Her reminder that you are not carrying skills from the past into an empty future: you are integrating, not replacing</p><p></p><p><b>Connect with Chetal</b></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/chetalppatel" target="_blank"><b>@chetalppatel</b></a><b> </b>on Instagram</p><p></p><p><b>FIND VICTORIA</b></p><p>Victoria Steward is a Financial Empowerment Coach and Certified Profit for Keeps® Coach who helps senior women in tech and engineering build the financial clarity and career confidence to leave corporate on their own terms. After 20 years as a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy, she took the scenic route to get here... and she’s been reaching a hand back ever since.</p><p></p><p><b>Register of the May 1st Masterclass</b></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://links.victoria-steward.com/widget/form/V6TarxkHqhEKUOqwUaQi" target="_blank">Three Strategies to Move From “Just One More Year” to Your Real Runway</a></p><p>@victoria.steward.coach on Instagram<br />@victoria-steward-coaching on LinkedIn<br /><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://victoria-steward.com" target="_blank">victoria-steward.com</a><br /></p>no00:36:0215Eight-Year Cycles: Giving Yourself Permission to Not Know Yet with Chetal Patelfull<![CDATA[Still Showing Up But Feeling Hollow: The First Thing That Actually Shifts It]]>The output still looks fine from the outside. She is still delivering, still the reliable one, still showing up.

But inside, she is hollowing out.

In this solo episode, Victoria Steward talks honestly about what that actually feels like: the Fridays that feel impossible to finish, the weekends that are just recovery, the exhaustion that sleep doesn't fix. She went to the doctors. The labs came back normal. And somehow that was the most disorienting part of all.

Because it's not a body problem. It's years of misalignment that only gets louder once you get still enough to hear it. And the first thing that actually shifts it isn't a system, a spreadsheet, or another certification. It's a practice for figuring out what you actually want... when you've spent so long doing what you were supposed to want that your own desire went quiet.

Victoria walks you through an abbreviated version of the five-senses visualization of your post corporate future she uses with every coaching client, and explains why spending time in the life you're building is the first step to making it feel safe enough to move toward.

If the version of you that keeps showing up is getting smaller... this one is for you.

WHAT YOU'LL HEAR:

  • The exhaustion that sleep doesn't fix... and why the labs coming back normal is the most disorienting part
  • What it actually looks like when your output still looks fine on the outside, but inside you are hollowing out
  • Why you keep delivering, keep showing up, keep being the reliable one... and why that makes it so hard to name what's wrong
  • What happens when you've spent so long doing what you thought you were supposed to that your own desires have gone completely quiet
  • Why spending time in the life you're building teaches your brain it safe to move toward it

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Ziva Meditation

Layla Martin VITA Coaching Methodology: laylamartin.com

Register for my Masterclass on the 1st of May: Three Strategies to Move From 'Just One More Year' to Your Real Runway

Download My 5 min Grounding Reset: reset.victoria-steward.com

Find Victoria:

On Instagram @victoria.steward.coach

On LinkedIn @victoria-steward-coaching

Website: victoria-steward.com

 

🎤 This show is recorded with Riverside: the easiest way to run a professional podcast and livestream simultaneously. Thinking about starting your own show?

]]>82b25c9c-a7ba-4559-81a8-d9e02bebeee7Thu, 16 Apr 2026 19:18:34 GMT<p>The output still looks fine from the outside. She is still delivering, still the reliable one, still showing up.</p><p>But inside, she is hollowing out.</p><p>In this solo episode, Victoria Steward talks honestly about what that actually feels like: the Fridays that feel impossible to finish, the weekends that are just recovery, the exhaustion that sleep doesn't fix. She went to the doctors. The labs came back normal. And somehow that was the most disorienting part of all.</p><p>Because it's not a body problem. It's years of misalignment that only gets louder once you get still enough to hear it. And the first thing that actually shifts it isn't a system, a spreadsheet, or another certification. It's a practice for figuring out what you actually want... when you've spent so long doing what you were supposed to want that your own desire went quiet.</p><p>Victoria walks you through an abbreviated version of the five-senses visualization of your post corporate future she uses with every coaching client, and explains why spending time in the life you're building is the first step to making it feel safe enough to move toward.</p><p>If the version of you that keeps showing up is getting smaller... this one is for you.</p><p></p><p><b>WHAT YOU'LL HEAR:</b></p><ul><li>The exhaustion that sleep doesn't fix... and why the labs coming back normal is the most disorienting part</li><li>What it actually looks like when your output still looks fine on the outside, but inside you are hollowing out</li><li>Why you keep delivering, keep showing up, keep being the reliable one... and why that makes it so hard to name what's wrong</li><li>What happens when you've spent so long doing what you thought you were supposed to that your own desires have gone completely quiet</li><li>Why spending time in the life you're building teaches your brain it safe to move toward it</li></ul><p></p><p><b>RESOURCES MENTIONED</b></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://zivameditation.com" target="_blank"><b>Ziva Meditation</b></a></p><p>Layla Martin VITA Coaching Methodology:<b> </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://laylamartin.com" target="_blank">laylamartin.com</a></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://links.victoria-steward.com/widget/form/V6TarxkHqhEKUOqwUaQi?notrack=true" target="_blank"><b>Register for my Masterclass on the 1st of May</b></a>: Three Strategies to Move From 'Just One More Year' to Your Real Runway</p><p>Download My 5 min Grounding Reset:<b> </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://reset.victoria-steward.com" target="_blank"><b>reset.victoria-steward.com</b></a></p><p></p><p><b>Find Victoria:</b></p><p>On Instagram<b> </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://instagram.com/victoria.steward.coach" target="_blank">@victoria.steward.coach</a></p><p>On LinkedIn <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-steward-coaching/" target="_blank">@victoria-steward-coaching</a></p><p>Website: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://victoria-steward.com" target="_blank">victoria-steward.com</a></p><p> </p><p><b>🎤 This show is recorded with </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="riverside.sjv.io/PzzkYY" target="_blank"><b>Riverside</b></a><b>:</b> the easiest way to run a professional podcast and livestream simultaneously. Thinking about starting your own show?</p>no00:31:5714Still Showing Up But Feeling Hollow: The First Thing That Actually Shifts Itfull<![CDATA[Twerk Therapy, Healing & the Roads We Take to Get There with Abigail Morrissey]]>What if your body already knew the way... and the work was just learning to listen to it?

In this episode, Victoria sits down with her friend Abigail Morrissey: holistic RN, yoga teacher, postpartum doula, Vital Mind Reset Coach, twerk therapist, and author of Shattered to Shine: You Put Yourself Together Again. Abigail grew up on what looked like a very clear path: Catholic school, nursing, marriage, family. What she discovered instead was that the plan she'd been handed had almost nothing to do with who she actually was.

What followed were three major pivots that each cracked something open: a broken arm at 25 that introduced her to Eastern medicine and the mind-body connection, a global pandemic that made her question everything she'd been taught, and a marriage that ended and brought her face to face with herself. Each one felt like a 180. Each one brought her deeper.

Now Abigail works with women to address period pain and other physical symptoms by going to all three layers at once: the physical, the mental, and the emotional. And twerking, it turns out, is a key part of the practice. Not for Instagram. For moving stuck emotions out of the body.

If you've ever been really, really good at not feeling your feelings... this one's for you.

Find Victoria

@victoria.steward.coach on Instagram  |  Victoria Steward on LinkedIn  |  victoria-steward.com

Find Abigail Morrissey

Instagram: @shinewellnessllc

Community: Inner Light Temple (free Skool group)

Book: Shattered to Shine: You Put Yourself Together Again & Shattered to Shine Journal

🎤 This show is recorded with Riverside — the easiest way I've found to run a professional podcast and livestream simultaneously. Thinking about starting your own show? riverside.sjv.io/PzzkY

]]>6dfaec70-3037-4d79-aac8-b6c4610fe2ffSat, 11 Apr 2026 15:40:29 GMT<p>What if your body already knew the way... and the work was just learning to listen to it?</p><p></p><p>In this episode, Victoria sits down with her friend Abigail Morrissey: holistic RN, yoga teacher, postpartum doula, Vital Mind Reset Coach, twerk therapist, and author of <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://a.co/d/0eTDKDYn" target="_blank">Shattered to Shine: You Put Yourself Together Again</a>. Abigail grew up on what looked like a very clear path: Catholic school, nursing, marriage, family. What she discovered instead was that the plan she'd been handed had almost nothing to do with who she actually was.</p><p></p><p>What followed were three major pivots that each cracked something open: a broken arm at 25 that introduced her to Eastern medicine and the mind-body connection, a global pandemic that made her question everything she'd been taught, and a marriage that ended and brought her face to face with herself. Each one felt like a 180. Each one brought her deeper.</p><p></p><p>Now Abigail works with women to address period pain and other physical symptoms by going to all three layers at once: the physical, the mental, and the emotional. And twerking, it turns out, is a key part of the practice. Not for Instagram. For moving stuck emotions out of the body.</p><p></p><p><i>If you've ever been really, really good at not feeling your feelings... this one's for you.</i></p><p></p><h2>Find Victoria</h2><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://instagram.com/victoria.steward.coach" target="_blank">@victoria.steward.coach</a> on Instagram  |  <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-steward-coaching/" target="_blank">Victoria Steward on LinkedIn</a>  |  <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://victoria-steward.com" target="_blank">victoria-steward.com</a></p><h2>Find Abigail Morrissey</h2><p>Instagram: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://instagram.com/shinewellnessllc" target="_blank">@shinewellnessllc</a></p><p>Community: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.skool.com/twerk-temple-6811/about" target="_blank">Inner Light Temple</a> (free Skool group)</p><p>Book: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://a.co/d/0eTDKDYn" target="_blank">Shattered to Shine: You Put Yourself Together Again</a> &amp; <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://a.co/d/06u1FZip" target="_blank">Shattered to Shine Journal</a></p><p></p><p>🎤 This show is recorded with Riverside — the easiest way I've found to run a professional podcast and livestream simultaneously. Thinking about starting your own show? <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://riverside.sjv.io/PzzkYY" target="_blank">riverside.sjv.io/PzzkY</a></p>no00:38:0213Twerk Therapy, Healing & the Roads We Take to Get There with Abigail Morrisseyfull<![CDATA[The Patterns We Inherit & the Life We’re Meant to Live with Dianne Tremblay]]>What would you do differently if you realized the life you've been living was partly scripted for you before you were old enough to choose?

Dianne Tremblay is a number one international bestselling author, entrepreneur, and strategic growth advisor who has spent her career at the intersection of health, technology, and entrepreneurship. But the real turning points weren't the credentials. They were the quiet wake-up calls she almost missed: a $40 hat that stopped her cold, a brain tumor diagnosis that arrived like a voice asking if she'd finally pay attention, and the slow recognition that some of the patterns running her life weren't even hers.

Her forthcoming book The Inheritance is about exactly this: what we absorb from our families and ancestors without ever consciously choosing it... and what becomes possible when we finally stop and look.

If you've ever wondered how much of your life you're actually living on purpose, this one's for you. ✨

WHAT YOU’LL HEAR

  • The birthday hat vs. the apartment building: the moment Dianne stopped on a street at 40 and made a vow she'd never told anyone... until now
  • The brain tumor diagnosis that arrived like a voice saying: "are you going to pay attention now?"... and what she said back
  • How a 14-day whitewater rafting trip through Nepal cracked something open, and why sometimes the shift comes before you understand it
  • Why she went from "I don't want to write a book" to writing 10 in a webinar chat and buying in on the spot
  • The patterns we inherit from our families and ancestors without realizing it, and how to start seeing the water you're swimming in
  • AI as a tool for self-discovery: why Dianne sees it as a relationship, not a search engine
  • The question she leaves every listener with: what are you doing on autopilot? What if you lived fully awake?

Find Dianne Tremblay

diannetremblay.com

@diannetremblayy

Dianne Tremblay on LinkedIn

Start Over: Turn Any Loss Into a Sensational Comeback (Volume 9)

The Inheritance : releasing June 2026.

Stadium Games

BioInsights

National Foundation for Integrative Medicine (NFIM)

Find Victoria

@victoria.steward.coach

Victoria Steward on LinkedIn

victoria-steward.com

Can I Pivot Yet? Calculator

 🎙️ Recorded with Riverside

]]>26136c18-9f2d-4460-91f3-d72b4fb9d662Sat, 04 Apr 2026 20:19:18 GMT<p>What would you do differently if you realized the life you've been living was partly scripted for you before you were old enough to choose?</p><p></p><p>Dianne Tremblay is a number one international bestselling author, entrepreneur, and strategic growth advisor who has spent her career at the intersection of health, technology, and entrepreneurship. But the real turning points weren't the credentials. They were the quiet wake-up calls she almost missed: a $40 hat that stopped her cold, a brain tumor diagnosis that arrived like a voice asking if she'd finally pay attention, and the slow recognition that some of the patterns running her life weren't even hers.</p><p></p><p>Her forthcoming book The Inheritance is about exactly this: what we absorb from our families and ancestors without ever consciously choosing it... and what becomes possible when we finally stop and look.</p><p></p><p>If you've ever wondered how much of your life you're actually living on purpose, this one's for you. ✨</p><p></p><p><b>WHAT YOU’LL HEAR</b></p><ul><li>The birthday hat vs. the apartment building: the moment Dianne stopped on a street at 40 and made a vow she'd never told anyone... until now</li><li>The brain tumor diagnosis that arrived like a voice saying: "are you going to pay attention now?"... and what she said back</li><li>How a 14-day whitewater rafting trip through Nepal cracked something open, and why sometimes the shift comes before you understand it</li><li>Why she went from "I don't want to write a book" to writing 10 in a webinar chat and buying in on the spot</li><li>The patterns we inherit from our families and ancestors without realizing it, and how to start seeing the water you're swimming in</li><li>AI as a tool for self-discovery: why Dianne sees it as a relationship, not a search engine</li><li>The question she leaves every listener with: what are you doing on autopilot? What if you lived fully awake?</li></ul><p></p><p><b>Find Dianne Tremblay</b></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://diannetremblay.com" target="_blank">diannetremblay.com</a></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/diannetremblayy?igsh=djJ5MHJpMmdkaGhz&amp;utm_source=qr" target="_blank">@diannetremblayy</a></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianne-tremblay-aab150aa" target="_blank">Dianne Tremblay on LinkedIn</a></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.amazon.com/START-OVER-Sensational-Comeback-Start/dp/1917731914/" target="_blank"><i>Start Over: Turn Any Loss Into a Sensational Comeback (Volume 9)</i></a></p><p><i>The Inheritance </i>: releasing June 2026.</p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://stadiumgames.co/" target="_blank">Stadium Games</a></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://bioinsights.com/" target="_blank">BioInsights</a></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://nfim.org/" target="_blank">National Foundation for Integrative Medicine (NFIM)</a></p><p></p><p><b>Find Victoria</b></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://instagram.com/victoria.steward.coach" target="_blank">@</a><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://victoria.steward.coach" target="_blank">victoria.steward.coach</a></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-steward-coaching/" target="_blank">Victoria Steward on LinkedIn</a></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://victoria-steward.com" target="_blank">victoria-steward.com</a></p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="calculator.victoria-steward.com" target="_blank">Can I Pivot Yet? Calculator</a></p><p></p><p> <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://riverside.sjv.io/PzzkYY" target="_blank"><b>🎙️ Recorded with Riverside</b></a></p>no00:42:3412The Patterns We Inherit & the Life We’re Meant to Live with Dianne Tremblayfull<![CDATA[The Thing That Finally Made Me Stop: How Meditation Changed Everything I Wanted]]>What do you do when you’ve done everything right... and everything still feels wrong?

In this first solo episode of The Scenic Route, Victoria Steward shares the real story behind why she left a 20-year career as a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy: not because she had a plan, but because her body and her nervous system finally said enough.

Victoria talks honestly about the burnout that didn’t look like burnout from the outside: the $120k salary she somehow couldn’t hold onto, the Fridays she couldn’t finish, the weekends spent in recovery mode instead of living. And the one thing that finally started to shift it: a simple meditation practice that made the signal louder than the noise.

This is also the story of what happened after she left: the detours into Reiki, sound healing, and animal communication; the slow realization that none of it was a wrong turn; and the winding scenic route that eventually brought all the parts of her back home.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re on the right path but it doesn’t feel like yours... this one’s for you.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

  • Why a $120k government salary didn’t feel like financial safety... and what was actually going on
  • The burnout that didn’t look like burnout: Fridays that felt impossible, weekends built entirely around recovery
  • How podcasts first cracked open her curiosity during COVID... and why that’s partly why this show exists
  • Finding Ziva Meditation with Emily Fletcher: the first thing that actually shifted something
  • Why the signal got louder in the stillness... and why that felt more frustrating before it felt freeing
  • Leaving the Navy in October 2023 with a gut feeling and no plan (and what happened next)
  • The scenic route that followed: Reiki, sound healing, animal communication, PFK® coaching, VITA(TM), and finding her way back to the middle
  • Why none of it was a detour... and why the engineering brain was never the problem

Resources Mentioned

]]>55ffab96-b2fe-44db-9888-3433a4344645Tue, 24 Mar 2026 15:31:07 GMT<p>What do you do when you’ve done everything right... and everything still feels wrong?</p><p></p><p>In this first solo episode of The Scenic Route, Victoria Steward shares the real story behind why she left a 20-year career as a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy: not because she had a plan, but because her body and her nervous system finally said enough.</p><p></p><p>Victoria talks honestly about the burnout that didn’t look like burnout from the outside: the $120k salary she somehow couldn’t hold onto, the Fridays she couldn’t finish, the weekends spent in recovery mode instead of living. And the one thing that finally started to shift it: a simple meditation practice that made the signal louder than the noise.</p><p></p><p>This is also the story of what happened after she left: the detours into Reiki, sound healing, and animal communication; the slow realization that none of it was a wrong turn; and the winding scenic route that eventually brought all the parts of her back home.</p><p></p><p>If you’ve ever felt like you’re on the right path but it doesn’t feel like yours... this one’s for you.</p><p></p><h1>What You’ll Hear in This Episode</h1><ul><li>Why a $120k government salary didn’t feel like financial safety... and what was actually going on</li><li>The burnout that didn’t look like burnout: Fridays that felt impossible, weekends built entirely around recovery</li><li>How podcasts first cracked open her curiosity during COVID... and why that’s partly why this show exists</li><li>Finding <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://online.zivameditation.com/zivamasterclass?el=googleads&amp;adattribution=1&amp;gc_id=22868172639&amp;h_ga_id=186304031169&amp;h_ad_id=768268502542&amp;h_keyword_id=kwd-813589331036&amp;h_keyword=ziva%20meditation&amp;h_placement=&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=22868172639&amp;gbraid=0AAAAADj2NgmtQUn0IHwizuWQ6wUCYcQWF&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjw7IjOBhDyARIsAFzrWQyR8wq89jy447ZI33e9BX1i6B5DziXZF119zDp1PKyeEm6E2VL_LTIaAjKmEALw_wcB" target="_blank">Ziva Meditation</a> with Emily Fletcher: the first thing that actually shifted something</li><li>Why the signal got louder in the stillness... and why that felt more frustrating before it felt freeing</li><li>Leaving the Navy in October 2023 with a gut feeling and no plan (and what happened next)</li><li>The scenic route that followed: Reiki, sound healing, animal communication, PFK® coaching, VITA(TM), and finding her way back to the middle</li><li>Why none of it was a detour... and why the engineering brain was never the problem</li></ul><h1>Resources Mentioned</h1><ul><li><b>Ziva Meditation with Emily Fletcher: </b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://zivameditation.com" target="_blank">zivameditation.com</a></li><li><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://amberdugger.com/" target="_blank"><b>Profit for Keeps®</b></a><b> Coaching Certification: </b>Amber Dugger LLC</li><li><b>Find Victoria:</b><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/victoria.steward.coach/" target="_blank"><b> </b>@victoria.steward.coach</a> on Instagram · <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-steward-coaching" target="_blank">Victoria Steward Coaching </a>on LinkedIn · Website: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://victoria-steward.com" target="_blank">victoria-steward.com</a></li></ul>no00:20:2511The Thing That Finally Made Me Stop: How Meditation Changed Everything I Wantedfull