Welcome to the Grief Series, a collection of conversations about the grief woven throughout our lives with some extraordinary women && men bringing their raw, vulnerable stories to the mic. I hope you see yourself somewhere in these stories.

---

This is episode 200 and I knew I had to make it count. I brought on my favorite person in the world, my husband Jake, for the most honest conversation we've ever had on record. We went into his grief around identity and purpose when I was the breadwinner, the resentment he carried for years, what it actually costs to be the supportive one, && what had to die in both of us for our marriage to become what it is today. This one is for every ambitious woman who has ever wondered what her partner is really carrying && every man who has never had the language to say it out loud.

TOPICS WE EXPLORE

• Jake's identity crisis when I became the primary breadwinner
• The grief of losing your sense of purpose and provider identity
• Resentment he buried for years and what it actually looked like
• How my ambition triggered his comparison and jealousy
• What I had to stop doing for him to step into who he wanted to be
• Why slowing down in my business saved our marriage
• The hyper-independence that was costing me the partnership I wanted
• What Jake sees when nobody's watching
• What ambitious women get wrong about their husbands

THE POINT

Sometimes the grief inside a marriage is a man who doesn't know how to say he feels purposeless. Sometimes it's a woman who's so busy holding everything that she never leaves room to be held. Both of those things can be true at the same time && both of them can change.

ABOUT JAKE

Jake is my husband, my best friend, my baby daddy, && the person who knows me better than anyone in the world. He showed up to this conversation with zero prep && more honesty than most people manage in a lifetime of therapy. We've been together 16 years, married for 12, raised three kids, traveled the world full time, filed for bankruptcy, rebuilt, && somehow ended up in the best season of our marriage yet.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Jake's week-long mental health onsite in Tennessee
• Work with Ash

Are you loving it? Send Ash a text!

MORE ABOUT ASH

I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business.

I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time.

LINKS:

• Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts
• Fast-track your results → The Green Room
• Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions
• Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape
• Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck
• Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat
• Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com