The Self Trust Solution | Real Stories. Real Self-Trust.

The Almost-Ready Loop | Brittni Schroeder on Readiness

Read the full episode breakdown + show notes: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/ready-is-not-a-feeling [https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/ready-is-not-a-feeling]You have been almost ready for the same launch, the same offer, the same price increase for months, and you keep mistaking that hesitation for good judgment.In this episode, I sit down with Brittni Schroeder, business coach, marketing strategist, founder of the Compassion Club nonprofit, and former high school senior photographer featured in the Wall Street Journal and Good Morning America. We talk about what actually moved her from waiting to building, and why the readiness most entrepreneurs are chasing has no delivery mechanism.In This Episode, We Explore:• Waited-for confidence: why the "ready" feeling most entrepreneurs are waiting for has no mechanism, and what to choose instead.• Embodied competence confidence: how Brittni built a website in six months of one-hour days, and why that sequence (decide, do, repeat) is the only one that compounds.• Do It For Data: reframing a "failed" first summit, a launch that underperformed, or a challenge you have never run as data collection, not verdicts.• The Momentum Loop in real life: Brittni's bathroom sink story as a working illustration of decide, do, have your own back.• Identity Lag in costume: the entrepreneur who wants one more certification, one better website, one more credential before charging her real rate.• Choice before evidence: why self-trust is decided in front of the action, not earned after it.Episode Chapters:00:00 The early entrepreneurial path: photography, publishing, and learning by doing04:30 Two successful businesses and the discipline of outsourcing07:00 Loss, the Compassion Club, and discovering coaching13:30 Two kinds of confidence: past evidence vs. the leap16:00 Failure as a chapter of learning, not a verdict22:00 Ready is not a feeling: permission as a decision23:00 Awareness, thought, and the action that follows30:00 Where entrepreneurs get stuck before they scale31:00 The website she could not build, until she did35:00 Self-trust as identity, and the ripple effect outwardConnect with Brittni Schroeder:www.instagram.com/brittni.schroeder [www.instagram.com/brittni.schroeder]www.facebook.com/groups/redefineyourbiz [www.facebook.com/groups/redefineyourbiz]www.linkedin.com/in/brittnischroeder [www.linkedin.com/in/brittnischroeder]www.pinterest.com/brittnijo [www.pinterest.com/brittnijo]FREE GIFT: http://brittnischroeder.com/funnels [http://brittnischroeder.com/funnels]Join the Conversation:If you are the certified coach with the drafted launch, the half-built funnel, and the price you have been "almost" ready to raise for two quarters, this one is for you. You are not missing a credential. You are waiting for a signal that was never going to arrive.✨ If today's conversation stirred something in you — I want you to take one next step before you close this episode.Take the Self-Trust Identity Map.Before strategy. Before motivation. Before more effort — you need to know where your identity is operating from. Because that is what determines everything that follows.It's free. It takes three minutes. And it will give you a precise read on where your identity is actually operating from right now — and exactly where to focus next.👉: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map [https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map]And if you're a coach or expert who already knows what's in the way — if you're done operating from almost and ready to claim the authority that makes your business vision a reality — Claimed is my private six-month coaching container for exactly that. Not a curriculum. Not someone else's strategy. Identity-level work that changes the person leading the business.👉: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/claimed [https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/claimed]⭐ Subscribe and leave a review if this episode resonates — it helps more people find these conversations.

Real vs Toxic Positivity | Chris Butler on Self-Trust

Stop fixing your business ceiling when your floor is shaking. If you are stuck in a constant loop of tweaking only to hit the same ceilings over and over again, join me live on July 8th for The Floor. This is an intimate live implementation experience designed to help you claim your true authority, build unshakable self-trust, and establish the firm foundation your business is asking of you next. How to join: Registration is handled personally. Slide into my Instagram DMs @theselftrustcoach and message me the word FLOOR to claim your invitation.ONTO THE SHOW: Read the full episode breakdown + show notes: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/toxic-positivity-vs-real-self-trust [https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/toxic-positivity-vs-real-self-trust] The version of positivity you've been resisting isn't real positivity. It's avoidance with better marketing, and your nervous system has known the difference the whole time. Christopher Butler is the co-founder of Power of Positivity, a platform now reaching more than 60 million people. In 2009 he was laid off, freshly bankrupt, 320 pounds, with a baby on the way and, by his own description, no trust in himself to lead his own life. This conversation is about what actually rebuilt that, and why the sequence almost everyone gets backward is the reason their self-trust never holds. In This Episode, We Explore: * Outsourcing Your Safety: Why being a "loyal follower" was an adaptive strategy that outlived its usefulness, and what it costs when you keep running it in a life that no longer requires it. * Do It For Data: How Chris reframed 320 pounds as a system he was already running, not a verdict on his character, and what changed when he asked which direction to point it. * Servant to Steward: The distinction that lets you care deeply about other people without erasing yourself, and why "stop people-pleasing" is the same binary just flipped. * Real Positivity vs Toxic Positivity: Why turning the lights up on what's hard is self-trust in action, and why turning the lights out is the actual fracture. * Choice Before Practice: Chris wore a "Future Millionaire" shirt at his lowest point, not because he felt confident, but because the choice came first. The sequence is choice, then practice, then expression. * The Expansion Record in Real Time: Why celebrating day one the same way you'd celebrate year ten is not soft, it is precise evidence collection. Episode Chapters: 00:00 Cold open and introducing Christopher Butler01:38 2009: Laid off, bankrupt, baby on the way04:13 The loyal follower pattern and where it came from08:40 The $5,000 credit card that started Power of Positivity10:00 Rebuilding self-trust piece by piece11:31 Affirmations that actually work versus ones that fracture you14:25 Servant to steward: caring for others without erasing yourself22:01 Real positivity vs toxic positivity24:51 Gratitude as a trained skill, not a mood26:30 What to remember if you're still on the floor32:00 Where to find Chris Connect with Christopher Butler: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisordad Facebook: The Peaceful Christopher Power of Positivity: https://www.powerofpositivity.com If you're a coach who has quietly suspected that "positivity" was just one more performance being demanded of you, this conversation is the permission to stop performing and start telling the truth about what you actually have influence over right now. ✨ If today's conversation stirred something in you — I want you to take one next step before you close this episode.Take the Self-Trust Identity Map.Before strategy. Before motivation. Before more effort — you need to know where your identity is operating from. Because that is what determines everything that follows.It's free. It takes three minutes. And it will give you a precise read on where your identity is actually operating from right now — and exactly where to focus next. https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map [https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map] ⭐ Subscribe and leave a review if this episode resonates — it helps more people find these conversations.

The Doer's Asymmetry | Lynn Howard on Authority

Read the full episode breakdown + show notes: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/identity-gap-humility-self-concept [https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/identity-gap-humility-self-concept]You finished the conversation, replayed it in your head, and asked yourself why you over-explained to people who already respected you.This week I sat down with Lynn Howard, business development strategist, fractional COO, author, and co-creator of The Pursuit of Badasserie, who has spent 25 years building and selling companies across three continents. We trace the self-trust thread running through her decision to buy a franchise as a single mom, her partnership in Badasserie, and the moment she caught herself reaching for validation from people who were already in her corner. The conversation lands on the gap between what your results are and what your self-concept will accept.In This Episode, We Explore:• The Identity Gap: why babbling in front of people you respect is a self-concept lagging behind a result, not a personality flaw• Outsourcing Your Safety: how high achievers wait for someone else to say the words they have not yet said to themselves• Choice Before Evidence: Lynn's franchise decision as a clean example of choice, then practice, then expression• The Doer's Asymmetry: executing at a high level while still treating your own self-concept as a question mark• Have Your Own Back in Partnership: self-trust as the willingness to ride highs and lows with someone else, not as control or knowing everything• Discomfort Tolerance as a Business Asset: why your current circle can only hold you at your current levelEpisode Chapters:00:00 The self-trust thread running through one career03:30 Single mom, three kids, and a franchise offer in California06:30 The voice that asked, who are you to ask people to trust you09:30 Doers get the reward in the accomplishment, not the recognition14:30 Catching yourself reaching for validation from people who already see you19:30 When you need someone else to say the words first25:30 Hitting the ceiling of being siloed as just you30:30 What self-trust actually looks like inside a partnership37:00 Where self-trust breaks for entrepreneurs at every revenue level41:00 The room you stand in is the level you live at44:00 Where to find Lynn and The Pursuit of BadasseryConnect with Lynn Howard:The Pursuit of Badasserie on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCmi22_-q4zxRHBKtVrWNw3g [https://www.youtube.com/@UCmi22_-q4zxRHBKtVrWNw3g] Website: https://thepursuitofbadasserie.com [https://thepursuitofbadasserie.com]Lynn's book on the personal side of her story: And So, She Did https://a.co/d/08fWo0bi [https://a.co/d/08fWo0bi]Join the Conversation:If you are the doer who keeps the head down and the deliverables moving, and you noticed this week reaching for one more piece of outside confirmation before you would let your own decision count, this episode is for you. ✨ If today's conversation stirred something in you — I want you to take one next step before you close this episode.Take the Self-Trust Identity Map.Before strategy. Before motivation. Before more effort — you need to know where your identity is operating from. Because that is what determines everything that follows.It's free. It takes three minutes. And it will give you a precise read on where your identity is actually operating from right now — and exactly where to focus next.👉: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map [https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map]And if you're a coach or expert who already knows what's in the way — if you're done operating from almost and ready to claim the authority that makes your business vision a reality — Claimed is my private six-month coaching container for exactly that. Not a curriculum. Not someone else's strategy. Identity-level work that changes the person leading the business.👉: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/claimed [https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/claimed]📩 Have a self-trust story to share?: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/yourstory [https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/yourstory]⭐ Subscribe and leave a review if this episode resonates — it helps more people find these conversations.

You're Not Starting From Scratch: Shannon Russel on Reinvention and Second Act Success

Read the full episode breakdown + show notes: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/career-reinvention-starting-from-experience [https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/career-reinvention-starting-from-experience] She missed her son's first birthday on a shoot, and that was the moment the wheel started turning on a career she had wanted since she was five. This week I'm joined by Shannon Russell, business coach, speaker, host of the Second Act Success podcast, and author of Start Your Second Act: How to Change Careers, Launch a Business, and Create Your Best Life. After sixteen years producing television in New York and LA, Shannon walked away from the dream job, threw spaghetti at the wall for a year, ran a STEM education franchise for eight years, sold it at its peak, and went all in on coaching women through the same threshold. Underneath every pivot is the same quiet question: do I trust myself to choose what fits the life I'm actually living now? In This Episode, We Explore: • Identity Gap: The cage of holding onto "I am a television producer" past the point where the self-concept still fits the life you're living. • Do It For Data: Why Shannon's year of trying graduate school and a toxic nine-to-five wasn't wasted time, it was clinical evaluation that sharpened the next decision. • The I'm So Impressed List: Shannon's "you're not starting from scratch, you're starting from experience" reframe, and how to stop running a muted highlight reel of yourself. • Choice Before Evidence: She decided to leave before the path was clear, before family support arrived, before confidence felt available. The sequence of choice, then practice, then expression in real time. • Outsourcing Your Safety: The biggest fear Shannon sees in women considering a second act is not strategy or money, it is what other people will think. What it costs to let that be the deciding vote. • The Inner Room: Producing your own life instead of fitting yourself into a role someone else wrote for you. Episode Chapters:00:00 Welcome and Shannon's introduction01:00 The dream job and the moment the wheel started turning04:00 Fears, doubts, and leaving without family support06:00 The spaghetti year: grad school, a nine-to-five, and what didn't fit09:00 From television producer to STEM franchise owner12:00 Selling the business at its peak14:00 Going all in on coaching women through second acts17:00 The Pilates studio story and why research saves you22:00 What a second act actually means now23:00 Where self-trust shows up missing in this threshold Connect with Shannon Russel: Website: https://secondactsuccess.co [https://secondactsuccess.co] Podcast: Second Act Success Podcast Book: Start Your Second Act: How to Change Careers, Launch a Business, and Create Your Best Life https://a.co/d/07JPD58T [https://a.co/d/07JPD58T] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondactsuccess/ [https://www.instagram.com/secondactsuccess/] If today's conversation stirred something in you — I want you to take one next step before you close this episode. Take the Self-Trust Identity Map.Before strategy. Before motivation. Before more effort — you need to know where your identity is operating from. Because that is what determines everything that follows.It's free. It takes three minutes. And it will give you a precise read on where your identity is actually operating from right now — and exactly where to focus next.: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map [https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map] And if you're a coach or expert who already knows what's in the way — if you're done operating from almost and ready to claim the authority that makes your business vision a reality — Claimed is my private six-month coaching container for exactly that. Not a curriculum. Not someone else's strategy. Identity-level work that changes the person leading the business.: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/claimed [https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/claimedhttps://www.theselftrustcoach.com/claimed] Have a self-trust story to share?: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/yourstory [https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/yourstory] Subscribe and leave a review if this episode resonates — it helps more people find these conversations.

She Took the "Smart" Advice. Then Worked Until 2 AM. Adri Kopp on Taking Advice: Adapt, Don't Adopt

Read the full episode breakdown + show notes: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/advice-is-not-instruction [https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/advice-is-not-instruction] What happens when you take advice from someone successful, but not from someone who has been where you actually want to go?In this episode, Dawn sits down with Adri Kopp, email strategist, copywriter, and co-creator of Inbox Academy, where she teaches freelancers how to build flexible, sustainable businesses by offering email as a high-value service. Adri knew early on she wanted to niche in email. A peer who was further along told her to stay general first. The advice sounded logical, the peer was successful, so Adri silenced her own knowing. The cost arrived as draining blog projects, 2 a.m. deadlines, and an identity she did not earn: "procrastinator."In This Episode, We Explore:• Adapting vs. Adopting Advice: why "has this person actually been where I want to go?" is the filter that changes which voices get a vote• Resistance Data and Energy Data: how Adri's procrastination was not a flaw but precise information about which work belonged to her• The Lobby vs. the Inner Room: what happens when a peer's voice gets louder than your own instinct, and how the business pays the interest• Identity Lag: from "I am a procrastinator" to "I am adaptable," and why the new identity has to be claimed before the strategy works• Right-Sizing the Mentor: as you grow, the temptation to defer to bigger names grows too, and self-trust has to scale with it• The U-Turn Permission: why following advice all the way to the end is not self-trust, it is obedienceEpisode Chapters:00:00 From zookeeper to copywriter: the first leap04:00 The peer advice that overrode her own instinct05:30 Draining work, late nights, and the "procrastinator" label07:00 Procrastination as data, not character09:30 Has this person been where you want to go?10:30 Six months to rebuild, then the business took off15:30 Scaling the business means scaling the self-trust21:00 Adapting the advice instead of adopting it whole26:30 Energy data and the pro-and-con list rewrite30:00 You are allowed to do a U-turnConnect with Adri Kopp:Instagram: @copybykoppWebsite: inboxacademy.coJoin the Conversation:This one is for the coach who took the "smart" advice from someone further along, widened her niche, said yes to the work that drains her, and is now privately calling herself a procrastinator at midnight. The label is wrong. The data underneath it is the most accurate read on your business you have right now.✨ If today's conversation stirred something in you — I want you to take one next step before you close this episode.Take the Self-Trust Identity Map.Before strategy. Before motivation. Before more effort — you need to know where your identity is operating from. Because that is what determines everything that follows.It's free. It takes three minutes. And it will give you a precise read on where your identity is actually operating from right now — and exactly where to focus next.👉: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-mapAnd if you're a coach or expert who already knows what's in the way — if you're done operating from almost and ready to claim the authority that makes your business vision a reality — Claimed is my private six-month coaching container for exactly that. Not a curriculum. Not someone else's strategy. Identity-level work that changes the person leading the business.👉: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/claimed📩 Have a self-trust story to share?: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/yourstory⭐ Subscribe and leave a review if this episode resonates — it helps more people find these conversations.