We Can Do It Women

True Self-Care Is Not a Bubble Bath. A 25-Year Nurse Explains What It Actually Is.

She lost 60 pounds in eight months — and has kept every pound off for seven years. But that's not the transformation that matters most in this story. The real shift began when Mugs Haugen's best friend and oldest sister, Kathy, died of metastatic breast cancer. Standing beside Kathy as her nurse, her sister, and her closest confidante, Mugs looked at her own life and asked: How do I want to live the years I have left? Everything that followed began with that question. In This Episode: * Mugs' lifelong caregiving journey: from helping elderly relatives at age 9, to nursing her dying father at 22, to caring for her best friend and sister through cancer * How 11 years in the emergency department quietly eroded her health, her weight, and her sense of self * The seminal moment after Kathy's death that became the catalyst for a full life transformation * How Mugs lost 60 pounds in 8 months — and ended decades of yo-yo dieting — by changing her identity, not just her habits * The ANCHOR framework at the heart of her coaching: Awareness, Nourishment, Compassion, Happiness, Opened Heart, and Responsibility * Why true self-care is not a bubble bath — and what it actually requires * The counterintuitive truth about compassion fatigue: compassion isn't what causes burnout — it's what prevents it * Why Mugs named her practice Anchored Heart Coaching after her sister Kathy, the family's anchor * Client wins: a retired nurse pursuing visual arts, a housewife who discovered her own dreams for the first time * Her vision: bringing burnout prevention to nurses on-site, in hospitals, and eventually at live retreats About Mugs Haugen Mugs Haugen is a registered nurse with over 25 years of experience and the founder of Anchored Heart Coaching. After her own health transformation — losing 60 pounds and ending a lifetime of yo-yo dieting — and a profound loss that reoriented her entire life, Mugs became a life coach specializing in burnout prevention and recovery for nurses, caregivers, and women who have spent a lifetime putting others first. Her webinar, "Bust Through Burnout by Understanding the Meaning of True Self-Care," brings her ANCHOR framework to nurses seeking balance, resilience, and joy. Connect with Mugs Haugen * Website: anchoredheartcoaching.com [https://anchoredheartcoaching.com] Resources * WeCanDoItWomen.com [https://wecandoitwomen.com] — join Debra's community If you are a nurse, a caregiver, or a woman who has been putting everyone else first for so long you've forgotten what it feels like to put yourself first — Mugs is the real thing. Visit anchoredheartcoaching.com and take the first step. And a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts takes 60 seconds and helps more women find this show. Thank you for being here.

Are You Burning Out or Breaking Through? A Fortune 1 Executive Turned Coach Explains.

She had a bald spot the size of her fist. Her body had been sending signals for months — and she kept flipping her hair to hide it. She had worked for the world's largest retailer, managed multimillion-dollar budgets, traveled to 40 countries before 40, and climbed every rung she had set out to climb. And then her body simply refused to get out of bed. Lynn Wong's burnout story is not a cautionary tale. It is the origin story of one of the most compelling coaches working with high achievers today. In This Episode: * Lynn's journey from Singapore to Atlanta — how a girl who majored in "people watching" (sociology) ended up running global teams for Fortune 1 companies * Why Lynn noticed she had benefited almost entirely from male mentors — and what she decided to do about it * The burnout that stopped her cold: alopecia, 12 steroid injections, and the day her body refused to get out of bed * The three things she committed to during her sabbatical — and why she refused to add a fourth * The REST framework: the four-step acronym Lynn uses to help high achievers recover without losing themselves * The moment during her sabbatical when she said for the first time: "I think I'm going to become a coach" * What CliftonStrengths coaching actually is and why Lynn got her certification as a birthday gift to herself at 40 * The Canadian tech founder who sold her company, lost her identity, and came back to salsa dancing and community * The warning signs of burnout that high achievers routinely dismiss — and why Lynn knows exactly what they look like * What it means to be "the one you've been waiting for" About Lynn Wong Lynn Wong is an executive and life coach, founder of LW Coaches, and National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach. A Singapore-born corporate leader who spent two decades managing global teams across Fortune 1 companies, Lynn knows the cost of high achievement firsthand — she burned out, recovered, and rebuilt her life around helping others do the same without paying that price. She specializes in high achievers who are burning out or breaking through, and works at the intersection of coaching, neuroscience, and yoga. Connect with Lynn Wong * Website: lwcoaches.com (free starter kit and burnout assessment available) Resources * WeCanDoItWomen.com — join Debra's community

The Two Things Every Woman Needs in Equal Measure to Achieve Any Goal She Sets

She passed out at the podium on her very first public speaking assignment. By the time she graduated college, she had won a national speaking competition and spoken to stadiums of 10,000 people. That trajectory — from clinically diagnosed shy child with a debilitating stutter to global leadership CEO — is not just Linda Fisk's backstory. It is the exact philosophy she has built an entire movement on: grit and grace, in equal measure. In This Episode: * The childhood diagnosis that changed everything: clinical shyness that manifested as a severe stutter in every classroom and social setting * How Linda went from passing out at a podium in college to winning national public speaking competitions — and what that journey required * The concept of "grit and grace" and why both are essential to any woman pursuing her next chapter * What LeadHERship Global is — and why it attracts everyone from solopreneur coaches to leaders of billion-dollar corporations * The "multiplier effect" of transformative partnership — why one plus one doesn't equal two * Real results inside the community: businesses doubled and tripled, nonprofits fully funded, women stepping onto TEDx stages and into paid board seats * Why radical responsibility and radical candor are the twin pillars of every real breakthrough * The "say-do ratio" — and why it is the only currency that builds lasting trust * Why women wait for "perfect" before taking the next step — and what Linda says to every woman who is hanging back About Linda Fisk Linda Fisk is the CEO and founder of LeadHERship Global, a worldwide leadership community for women that provides access to funding, media, speaking, and partnership opportunities across every industry and geography. After overcoming clinical shyness and a severe stutter — and going on to win national public speaking competitions — Linda built her career in the C-suite of some of the world's most prestigious membership organizations before founding LeadHERship Global on the principle that women rise fastest together. Connect with Linda Fisk * Website: leadhershipglobal.com [https://leadhershipglobal.com] * Email: linda@leadhershipglobal.com [linda@leadhershipglobal.com] Resources * Join Debra's community - WeCanDoItWomen.com [https://WeCanDoItWomen.com] Follow for new episodes weekly.

Why a Perfect 5.0 Rating Is Actually a Red Flag — and What Score to Aim For Instead

Dotty Scott built her business the same way she learned to run a farm as a child — through discipline, consistency, and showing up even when it was uncomfortable. As a committed introvert, she knows firsthand how paralyzing the online world can feel. So when she launched her web design and digital strategy business, she made herself a promise: one video per week for one year, no matter what. She kept that promise for two years. The result? Strangers at networking events started approaching her as if they already knew her — because they did. They had watched her videos. The introvert who used to stand against the wall at chamber meetings suddenly had people walking across the room to start conversations. That experience shaped how Dotty coaches her own clients. She teaches business owners to repurpose everything — turning one piece of content into multiple formats across multiple platforms, testing what gets traction, and leaning into what works. Her advice for time-strapped solopreneurs: stop trying to be everywhere. Figure out where your audience actually is, then show up there consistently. And always start by Googling yourself. Most people are shocked — either by what appears, or by what doesn't. Then Google your top competitor and look at every directory, listing, and platform where they appear that you don't. That gap is your to-do list. On reviews, Dotty is refreshingly counterintuitive. A perfect 5.0 rating is a red flag to savvy consumers — it signals manipulation. A 4.5 tells the truth: this person deals with real clients, and when something goes wrong, they respond with integrity. Her advice is to claim your Google Business Profile (it's free and always has been), welcome the occasional imperfect review, and use your response to that review to demonstrate exactly how you handle adversity. That response is often the deciding factor for a potential new client. As for AI, Dotty's message is simple: it's not coming for your job. It's coming to give you your Fridays back. She tests tools so her clients don't have to, filtering out the junk and sharing only what genuinely moves the needle. The result? She now takes every Friday and Monday off during Washington summers, running her entire business in three days a week — and her clients are experiencing similarly expanded freedom. About Dotty Scott Dotty Scott is the founder of Premium Websites and a 20-year veteran of digital strategy for solopreneurs and small business owners. An introvert who built a thriving business in male-dominated industries, Dotty specializes in taking clients from invisible to invincible online — through websites, video, SEO, content repurposing, and curated AI tools. She is a teacher at heart who has been where her clients are, and that shared experience is exactly why they stay. Connect with Dotty Scott * Website: premiumwebsites.net (schedule a Zoom call directly from the site) Resources * WeCanDoItWomen.com — join the community If Dotty's story gave you one thing you're going to do differently this week — even just Googling your own name — then share this episode with a woman in business who needs to hear it. And a quick 5-star review on Apple Podcasts goes a long way toward helping more women find this show. We're grateful you're here.

Could Your 401(k) Be Setting You Up for a Massive Tax Bill at Retirement? A CFP® Explains.

She landed at JFK from Lithuania with $100 in her pocket and couldn't understand "window 30" — because she'd learned British English, not American. She didn't know what a checking account was. Had never seen a credit card. What Asta Sanders built from that starting point will change how you think about your own financial future. In This Episode: * How Asta went from selling Kirby vacuums to becoming a CFP®, Enrolled Agent & Certified Private Wealth Advisor * The moment she looked her bank manager in the eye during the 2008 crisis and asked: "If that was your mother, would you sell her that annuity?" * Why taxes and investments must be planned together — and what it costs you when they aren't * Case Study 1: How a retiree was saved from paying ordinary income tax on $1M of company stock * Case Study 2: How a $300,000 tax bill became $104,000 through year-end planning * The difference between a fee-only fiduciary and a commission-based broker * What multi-generational wealth planning actually looks like in practice Episode Summary Asta Sanders didn't grow up knowing the language of American finance — literally or figuratively. In Lithuania, there were no checking accounts, no credit cards, no allowances. If you wanted money as a child, you picked berries and sold them at the market. That entrepreneurial spirit carried her through a career that began selling Kirby vacuums door to door (where she first heard the name Warren Buffett), through Merrill Lynch, through a regional bank during the 2008 financial crisis, and finally into the fee-only fiduciary world she now calls home. The 2008 moment is worth pausing on. Her manager pressured her to sell high-commission annuities regardless of client suitability. She looked at him and asked: "If that was your mother sitting in front of me, would you want me to sell her that annuity?" He didn't answer. She had hers. Today Asta holds three designations — CFP®, Enrolled Agent, and Certified Private Wealth Advisor (taught by Yale School of Management, requiring five years of high-net-worth experience to even qualify). That combination lets her do what most advisors can't: plan taxes and investments together before December 31st, not after April 15th. The results speak for themselves. One Occidental Petroleum retiree was about to roll $1M in company stock into an IRA and trigger ordinary income tax on the entire gain. Asta used a Net Unrealized Appreciation strategy instead — taxing only the $150K basis, preserving the growth at capital gains rates, and ensuring his children inherit the remainder at zero tax cost. In another case, a high-earning W2 client went from owing $300,000 to $104,000. The $196,000 difference? Year-end planning that most CPAs never do. About Asta Sanders Asta Sanders, CFP®, EA, CPWA, is the founder of Empowered Retirement. A Lithuanian immigrant who built her expertise from the ground up, she specializes in tax-integrated financial planning, multi-generational wealth, and retirement planning for women. She still answers her own phone. Connect with Asta Sanders * Website: empoweredretirement.com [https://empoweredretirement.com] * Phone: 973-709-2244 Resources * WeCanDoItWomen.com/group [https://WeCanDoItWomen.com/group] — join the community One ask: If this episode opened your eyes to something your own advisor may be missing, share it with a woman who needs to hear it — and leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. It takes 60 seconds and helps more women find this show.