SOLO: The Summer Ambitious Women Started Opting Out

SOLO: The Summer Ambitious Women Started Opting Out

For years, the message was clear: work harder, push through, build the thing, chase the goal. And now I have the conditions I want and am realizing I have no idea how to live inside of this reality. In this solo episode, I reflect on a surprisingly difficult season of spaciousness and confronting the discomfort of no longer striving. This is about ambition, identity, motherhood, burnout, and the strange feeling of getting exactly what you wanted only to discover that the adjustment is harder than expected. You'll hear: * What happened when I got the summer I always wanted * The identity crisis that can emerge after a season of striving * Why so many ambitious women seem to be opting out of the push for more * The cultural tension between "girlboss" ambition and traditional expectations of motherhood * The challenge of building a life that exists between the extremes * Letting go of achievement as the primary source of identity * Learning how to be present in a season before rushing toward the next one   About The Show 10,000 Tabs is a podcast about change, reinvention, and what happens when life no longer fits the way it used to. Each episode explores the moments when something shifts—when the version of life or work that once made sense no longer fits, and the next chapter hasn’t fully revealed itself yet. Through candid conversations with founders, creatives, leaders, and everyday people, the show explores how we make meaning, find clarity, and move forward anyway. Mentions & Links * Yesteryear [https://www.amazon.com/dp/059380421X?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback] * A Letter From the In-Between by Jeri-Ashley Bremer [https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/letter-from-in-between-jeri-ashley-bremer-m-s-ed--d7lmc/] * Subscribe to 10,000 Tabs: The Newsletter [https://kimwensel.myflodesk.com/10000tabsnewsletter] * Kim Wensel Website [http://kimwensel.com] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/kimwensel] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlywensel/]

Girlboss Culture, Seven Figures, and The Freedom To Change Your Mind with Rebecca Teaff

Back in the height of Girlboss culture, success seemed to have a clear formula: grow bigger, earn more, scale faster, and keep moving the goalposts. For many women, those communities opened doors. They created spaces where ambition wasn't something to hide. But what happens when you achieve the thing you once worked so hard for—and realize you don't want it anymore? In this episode of 10,000 Tabs, Kim sits down with entrepreneur and former marketing agency owner, Rebecca Teaff [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccateaff/], for a candid conversation about success, identity, and the pressure to keep growing simply because everyone else thinks you should. Together, they explore what it means to outgrow a version of success that once fit, the difference between building a business and building a life, and why more isn't always the answer. Rebecca shares the realities of stepping away from a thriving business, redefining ambition, and learning to make decisions based on what she wants now. This conversation is about responsiveness, reinvention, and giving yourself permission to want something different—even when your life looks great on paper. It's also a reminder that success isn't a destination. It's a moving target, and sometimes the bravest thing you can do is stop chasing someone else's definition of it. In this conversation, Kim and Rebecca discuss: * Building a business that's working and realizing it no longer fits * Why having what you once dreamed of doesn't always guarantee fulfillment * The difference between ambition and alignment * What happens when your goals evolve faster than your identity * Stepping away from a thriving business and redefining success * The tension between external validation and internal truth * How to make decisions based on the season of life you're actually in   About The Show 10,000 Tabs is a podcast about change, reinvention, and what happens when life no longer fits the way it used to. Each episode explores the moments when something shifts—when the version of life or work that once made sense no longer fits, and the next chapter hasn’t fully revealed itself yet. Through candid conversations with founders, creatives, leaders, and everyday people, the show explores how we make meaning, find clarity, and move forward anyway. Mentions & Links * Rebecca Teaff LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccateaff/] * Kim Wensel Website [http://kimwensel.com] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/kimwensel] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlywensel/]

Being Disliked, Being Misunderstood, and Boundaries That Protect Your One Precious Life with Catherine Zack

What happens when the version of you everyone depends on is the very version you’re trying to outgrow? In this episode of 10,000 Tabs, Kim sits down with writer, teacher, and former attorney Catherine Zack [https://www.catherinezack.com/] to explore the hidden cost of being the dependable one—the woman who anticipates everyone’s needs, keeps things running smoothly, and quietly carries far more than anyone realizes. Together, they unpack the lifelong conditioning many women experience around being “good,” agreeable, emotionally available, and endlessly accommodating and how those patterns can slowly disconnect us from ourselves. Catherine shares her transition from practicing law into yoga, and meditation, but this conversation goes far beyond career pivots. It’s about what happens when your identity has been built around being liked, understood, useful, and needed—and the uncomfortable reality that growth often requires disappointing people. This episode is an invitation to ask: What would change if you stopped managing everyone else’s experience of you? On this episode Catherine and Kim discuss: * The hidden emotional labor behind being the “good girl” * Why highly capable women often become over-responsible for everyone around them * The relationship between caretaking, perfectionism, and burnout * How people-pleasing shows up in work, leadership, and relationships * The discomfort of setting boundaries that other people may not understand * Why being misunderstood is part of growth * How women can begin separating their worth from how useful they are to others   About The Show 10,000 Tabs is a podcast about career change, reinvention, and what happens when life no longer fits the way it used to. Each episode explores the moments when something shifts—when the version of life or work that once made sense no longer fits, and the next chapter hasn’t fully revealed itself yet. Through candid conversations with founders, creatives, leaders, and everyday people, the show explores how we make meaning, find clarity, and move forward anyway.   Mentions & Links * Catherine Zack's Website [https://www.catherinezack.com/] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/cathzack] * The 40 Portal Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-40-portal/id1871903842] & Website [https://www.the40portal.com/%20] * Village Yoga [https://www.villageyoga.co/] * Kim Wensel Website [http://kimwensel.com] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/kimwensel] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlywensel/]

The Myth of Feeling Ready with Clara Artschwager

When you come from an academic family, "dating coach" definitely wasn't on the bingo card as a potential career. Even so, she's always been meant for it.  The "she" we're talking about is Clara Artschwager [https://www.ithinkilikeyou.co/], a coach, writer, mother, former start-up marketer, and much more. And the conversations she's most interested in having today sound like... * What does the next half of life look like? * What do I want it to look like?  * And how can I give myself aaaaaallll the space to not know yet? Kim and Clara cover these points and the pressure many high-achieving women feel to prove themselves—to be smart enough, accomplished enough, and thoughtful enough to deserve the life they actually want. In this episode, they discuss: * What's underneath the constant striving and cycle of proving ourselves * How often we make decisions because of the disappointment we're anticipating * What it takes to fully claim a version of ourselves that no longer fits other people’s expectations * How career pivots and life transitions can force deeper self-awareness * What happens when you know what you want but haven’t fully claimed it yet   About The Show 10,000 Tabs is a podcast about career change, reinvention, and what happens when life no longer fits the way it used to. Each episode explores the moments when something shifts—when the version of life or work that once made sense no longer fits, and the next chapter hasn’t fully revealed itself yet. Through candid conversations with founders, creatives, leaders, and everyday people, the show explores how we make meaning, find clarity, and move forward anyway. Mentions & Links * Clara Artschwager Website [https://www.ithinkilikeyou.co/]| Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ithinkilikeyou.co] | Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/6yvjYwt9hgz47Ze4b1njUx] * Kim Wensel Website [http://kimwensel.com] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/kimwensel] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlywensel/]

I've Lived Six Different Lives with Kloé Mallard

What happens when the thing you built your identity around suddenly disappears? In this episode of 10,000 Tabs, Kim sits down with performer, creative, event planner, and storyteller Kloé Mallard [https://www.linkedin.com/in/klo%C3%A9-klowiththefro/] for a conversation about identity, reinvention, grief, and learning how to rebuild yourself after life changes direction unexpectedly. At just 30 years old, Kloé says she feels like she’s already lived six different lives. From studying music in Chicago to performing on cruise ships around the world, losing her voice and falling into depression, rebuilding her life through school and corporate work, and now stepping into a caregiving role for her mother, this conversation explores what it means to keep evolving when every version of your life asks something different of you. Together, Kim and Khloé talk about the pressure to perform, the emotional complexity of outgrowing old identities, and the reality that many workplaces don’t actually want our “full authentic selves”—despite what modern work culture claims. This episode is about adaptation, self-worth, creativity, survival, and the quiet fear so many people carry: Do other people think I’m doing this right?   Kim and Kloé discuss: * Losing the identity you built your life around * Grief, depression, and rebuilding after sudden loss * What performing on a cruise ship was really like * Starting over in corporate America * Why adaptability is both a survival skill and a superpower * Whether it's really possible to bring your “full authentic self” to work * Code-switching, reading the room, and learning how to navigate different environments * Finding ways to stay creative inside of conventional structures About The Show 10,000 Tabs is a podcast about career change, reinvention, and what happens when life no longer fits the way it used to. Each episode explores the moments when something shifts—when the version of life or work that once made sense no longer fits, and the next chapter hasn’t fully revealed itself yet. Through candid conversations with founders, creatives, leaders, and everyday people, the show explores how we make meaning, find clarity, and move forward anyway. Mentions & Links * Kloé Mallard LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/klo%C3%A9-klowiththefro/] * Kim Wensel Website [http://kimwensel.com] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/kimwensel] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlywensel/]