57. What Happened When I Asked My Kids for Feedback

62. The No-Complaining Rule That Rewires Your Brain

What if the difference between the entrepreneurs who actually make it and the ones who quietly fall away has almost nothing to do with strategy and almost everything to do with how their brain has been wired over a thousand tiny moments? In this episode, Emily shares an internet story she came across about a dad who raised three boys who were all millionaires by 30 with one rule: when they turned seven, they were no longer allowed to complain. She tells her kids the story at their Saturday morning family meeting, watches her nine-year-old declare on the spot that he is never complaining again, and then turns the lens straight onto entrepreneurship and what the grown-up version of complaining actually sounds like. This episode is for the ambitious mom who has caught herself recently in the I-wish, the if-only, and the when-things-slow-down loop and is starting to wonder how those quiet little complaints might actually be shaping her brain. Emily walks through why complaining puts you in the victim seat, what gets wired when you stop, the adult versions of complaining that hide as venting or wishing or commenting on someone else's life, and the reframe she had with her boys this morning that took her from irritated mom hearing the 57th complaint of the day to a mom on a completely different mission. She also draws the line her oldest drew this morning, from a single family meeting all the way to playing for the Yankees someday, and challenges you to draw your own line this week between a single moment of catching yourself and the version of your business and life you are actually building. Questions Answered in This Episode: * What is the no-complaining rule, and why does it actually wire a child's brain (and yours) over time? * Why does complaining put you in the victim seat, and what gets wired when you do it on repeat for years? * What are the adult versions of complaining that don't even sound like complaining at all? * What changed for Emily after she told her kids this story at their Saturday morning family meeting? * How is the way you respond to a flopped launch, a slow month, or a hard no actually the result of a thousand tiny moments you have already trained your brain on? * What is the reframe that took Emily from irritated mom hearing the 57th complaint of the day to mom-on-a-mission in a single conversation? * Why don't thriving entrepreneurs and present moms actually have fewer hard things happen to them than everyone else? * How do you draw your own line this week from a single moment of catching yourself all the way to what you are really building? Mentioned in this episode: Episode 60: My 9-Year-Old Is Already a CEO [https://pod.link/1806109464/episode/ZWY3MTVkNDItODgzMC00YWFjLThkOWQtYzU4NDMxMDQyM2Zm] Episode 57: What Happened When I Asked My Kids for Feedback [https://pod.link/1806109464/episode/YTk5YzMxMTQtZjc2Ny00YjRjLWIwOTYtODhmNDU1Nzk1Mjcz] THE CEO BESTIES MEMBERSHIP: A Membership For Ambitious Women Building Profitable Businesses Alongside CEO Besties Who Get It. Join the membership: https://theceobesties.com/membership/ [https://theceobesties.com/membership/] CONNECT WITH EMILY: 1. ✨ Website: www.emilycollins.com [http://www.emilycollins.com/] 2. ✨ Instagram: @heyemilycollins [https://instagram.com/heyemilycollins/]

61. 5 Rules I'm Breaking Right Now as the CEO of My Life and Business

You are not the same woman you were three years ago. You are not even the same woman you were six months ago. You have grown, you have evolved, you have outgrown things, and you accept that as part of being human. So why do so many ambitious moms expect their businesses, their motherhood, and their daily lives to stay frozen in place? In this episode, Emily brings back the tagline that started this whole podcast for her, "Let's have all the conversations and break a few rules," and then she walks through five of them. This episode is for the entrepreneur mom who is tired of following rules she never agreed to in the first place. Recording late on a Maysember Monday after a playoff baseball game, five months postpartum, and admittedly running on fumes, Emily lays out the five rules she is actively breaking right now as the CEO of her life and business: two business rules, two motherhood rules, and one life rule. She walks through what pivoting actually looks like when you have outgrown the version of yourself who built your business, why responding to every DM is survival dressed up as service, how she stopped buying her kids stuff and ended up with calmer holidays and more inventive kids, what changes when you talk to a four-year-old like he is a real person, and the one rule underneath all of the others that perfectionism keeps trying to quietly enforce in an AI era where the internet is starving for something that actually feels human. Questions Answered in This Episode: * What does it actually look like to pivot your business when you have outgrown the version of yourself who built it? * Why is responsiveness not the same thing as value, and what changed for Emily when she stopped answering every DM the moment it came in? * How did Emily reframe gift-giving for her kids, and what did her family actually choose when she sat them down and asked them? * What happens when you start talking to your kids like real people instead of managing them, and why does the same principle apply to your marriage and your friendships? * What is the quiet, sneaky form perfectionism takes for ambitious women, and why is the polished version almost never the version that lands? * How do you tell the difference between rules that are actually yours and rules you picked up along the way without ever agreeing to them? * Why is breaking the rule that doesn't belong to you part of the work of being the CEO of your life? Mentioned in this episode: Episode 60: My 9-Year-Old Is Already a CEO [https://pod.link/1806109464/episode/ZWY3MTVkNDItODgzMC00YWFjLThkOWQtYzU4NDMxMDQyM2Zm] THE CEO BESTIES MEMBERSHIP: A Membership For Ambitious Women Building Profitable Businesses Alongside CEO Besties Who Get It. Join the membership: https://theceobesties.com/membership/ [https://theceobesties.com/membership/] CONNECT WITH EMILY: 1. ✨ Website: www.emilycollins.com [http://www.emilycollins.com/] 2. ✨ Instagram: @heyemilycollins [https://instagram.com/heyemilycollins/]

60. My 9-Year-Old Is Already a CEO

Last weekend, Emily was out of town when her husband texted the family group with three words: Logan just hit a grand slam. Her almost-nine-year-old's wildest dream just came true. But the part that stopped Emily in her tracks came later, when Logan reflected on the moment and said, "Mommy, what people don't know is I knew that was going to happen." He had felt it in his body. He had visualized it. He had decided. And then he stepped up to the plate and made it real. This episode is for the ambitious mom who is in the building phase, before the proof, before the payoff, before anyone else can see the vision she is holding. Emily walks through the moments that have been stacking with her oldest son over the last year, why she now believes that raising an intentional kid and building a real business are the same muscle, and what it actually takes to keep going when everyone in your circle still quietly thinks you are crazy. She also shares the morning she led her whole family through a "puppet master" energy reset, the reading story that taught her to trust readiness over fear, the Shopify store her almost-nine-year-old is launching, and the one question every ambitious woman has to stop asking if she actually wants what she says she wants. Questions Answered in This Episode: * What does it look like to lead the energy of your home as a mom and why can it change everything inside two minutes? * What did Logan reveal about visualization, intuition, and self-trust the day he hit the grand slam? * Why are raising an intentional kid and building a real business actually the same muscle? * How do you keep building toward a vision when everyone in your circle still quietly thinks you are crazy? * What does it look like to trust readiness instead of forcing the timeline, and how does that same principle apply to your business? * How does fear quietly drive the wrong decisions in both parenting and entrepreneurship, and what does Emily ask herself instead? * Why is the question no longer "Is this possible for me?" but "What is it going to take, and am I actually willing to do the work?" * What is the most consistent person in the room doing differently than everyone else, and why does it almost always pay off? Mentioned in this episode: Episode 55: You Can Be a Present Mom and an Ambitious Woman — But It's Not Accidental [https://pod.link/1806109464/episode/OWRkODk1NTEtYzZkMi00YTBjLTlmZjEtMTI1NDIyNjUzNzRi] Episode 58: The Message I'm Going All In On in 2026 [https://pod.link/1806109464/episode/MjFiN2Q5MzYtNjIyNi00ZmQ5LWFmYjctY2M2NzBiMmM1NDZk] THE CEO BESTIES MEMBERSHIP: A Membership For Ambitious Women Building Profitable Businesses Alongside CEO Besties Who Get It. Join the membership: https://theceobesties.com/membership/ [https://theceobesties.com/membership/] CONNECT WITH EMILY: 1. ✨ Website: www.emilycollins.com [http://www.emilycollins.com/] 2. ✨ Instagram: @heyemilycollins [https://instagram.com/heyemilycollins/]

59. Build Your Circle Like You Mean It

After a morning walk with her CEO Besties female founders group, and a big conversation the night before with another couple about how they want to raise their kids, it hit her all over again that who you surround yourself with is one of the most important decisions you will ever make, whether you realize you are making it or not. This episode is for the ambitious mom whose friendships have been running on autopilot, who feels great after some conversations and quietly drained after others, and who has never stopped to ask whether her circle is actually aligned with the woman she is becoming. Emily walks through the difference between sharing to grow and sharing to stay stuck, names the conversations she has chosen to opt out of, and shares the five communities she has poured into intentionally over the last two and a half years and how they have changed everything for her business, her motherhood, and what she now believes is possible for her life. Questions Answered in This Episode: * What does it actually mean to build your circle on purpose instead of letting it happen by default? * What is the difference between sharing to grow and sharing to stay stuck, and why does it matter so much for ambitious moms? * Why has Emily intentionally opted out of certain mom-group conversations, even ones that feel normal and bonding? * What are the five communities Emily has poured into over the last two and a half years and why does each one matter? * How does the network you build shape what you believe is possible in your business and your life? * What does it look like to ask better questions about the relationships in your life and refine your circle as you grow? * Why is intentionally curating your network one of the highest-leverage decisions you can make as a CEO mom? Mentioned in this episode: Bonus Episode: The Smart Way Women are Building Businesses in 2026 With Natalie Bernacchi (Emily's CEO Besties co-founder) [ https://pod.link/1806103821/episode/NjU2MzllYzQtYmQ5MS00NDc5LTg3MDMtMmYyNzkxYzhhOTkz] THE CEO BESTIES MEMBERSHIP: A Membership For Ambitious Women Building Profitable Businesses Alongside CEO Besties Who Get It. Join the membership: https://theceobesties.com/membership/ [https://theceobesties.com/membership/] CONNECT WITH EMILY: 1. ✨ Website: www.emilycollins.com [http://www.emilycollins.com/] 2. ✨ Instagram: @heyemilycollins [https://instagram.com/heyemilycollins/]

58. The Message I'm Going All In On in 2026

What if the question you've been asking about ambition and motherhood is the wrong one entirely? In this episode, Emily plants her flag for 2026 and shares the message she is going all in on. You can be both a present mom and an ambitious woman, and the conversation worth having is no longer whether it's possible, but what it actually takes. This episode is for the entrepreneur mom who is tired of quietly shrinking in the name of being realistic. Emily speaks directly to the cultural messages that convince capable women to want less, names the moments where those beliefs sneak in, and shares what self-leadership and intentional life design look like in real life as a mom of five running two businesses. If you've been stuck in the loop of debating whether you can have both, this episode will change the question you're asking. Questions Answered in This Episode: * What is the message Emily is going all in on for 2026 and why does it matter for entrepreneur moms? * Why does the question "is it possible to be a present mom and an ambitious woman" keep CEO moms stuck in a loop? * What are the cultural messages that quietly convince ambitious women to shrink and call it realistic? * How do hard seasons turn into limiting beliefs about your capacity, your worth, and your season of life? * What does it actually take to build a business as a mom without losing yourself in the process? * Why is self-leadership for women the non-negotiable foundation of life and business design? * How do you design a life that holds both present motherhood and CEO-level ambition? Mentioned in this episode: Episode 55: You Can Be a Present Mom and an Ambitious Woman — But It’s Not Accidental [https://pod.link/1806103821/episode/OWRkODk1NTEtYzZkMi00YTBjLTlmZjEtMTI1NDIyNjUzNzRi] THE CEO BESTIES MEMBERSHIP: A Membership For Ambitious Women Building Profitable Businesses Alongside CEO Besties Who Get It. Join the membership: https://theceobesties.com/membership/ [https://theceobesties.com/membership/] CONNECT WITH EMILY: 1. ✨ Website: www.emilycollins.com [http://www.emilycollins.com/] 2. ✨ Instagram: @heyemilycollins [https://instagram.com/heyemilycollins/]