Some call it a passion. Others call it a side hustle. But beneath the labels is something more honest, the quiet pull that never fully goes away, no matter how busy or accomplished life becomes.

In this episode of Live Your Jam, Ellen is joined by three lifelong friends, Amy Moskalewicz of Campbell & Co, Juliann Reviglio of Simply Scrumptious, and Laura Reilly of Chicago Wilderness Alliance, for a deeply human conversation about purpose, timing, fear, and the courage to follow what you love.

Together, they explore what it looks like to answer an inner calling alongside real life responsibilities. From environmental conservation and leadership, to building a family-run event business, to launching a cottage baking brand and supporting women through hair loss, each story reveals the same truth: purpose doesn’t shout, it persists.

This episode unpacks why meaningful work often calls louder later in life, how passions evolve through seasons of career and motherhood, and why listening to that inner nudge isn’t selfish, it’s stabilizing. You’ll hear about imposter syndrome, saying yes before you feel ready, and how following what you love doesn’t require burning your life down, it can quietly enrich it.

You will learn:

1. Why the pull toward meaningful work never fully disappears
2. How passions evolve across careers, motherhood, and life transitions
3. Why timing matters, and why it’s rarely accidental
4. How fear and imposter syndrome show up when you pursue what matters
5. The power of saying yes before you know how
6. Why purpose-driven work expands your life instead of replacing it
7. What happens emotionally when you ignore what you love for too long
8. How to trust your instincts when the path isn’t linear
9. Why following what you love is courage, not indulgence

👉 Watch the full conversation and subscribe for more stories about intuition, purpose, and living your jam.

We talk about:

1. 00:00 Welcome and why this conversation matters now
2. 01:00 The shared truth, doing the thing you can’t not do
3. 03:00 Lifelong friendships and how purpose reveals itself over time
4. 05:00 Conservation, caretaking, and impact beyond job titles
5. 09:00 Building a creative business alongside a full-time career
6. 12:00 Family, creativity, and collaboration across generations
7. 15:00 Starting something new later in life
8. 18:00 Baking, creativity, and trusting yourself before you feel ready
9. 21:00 Supporting others through meaningful, heart-led work

Women are the glue, the nurturers, the cheerleaders, the ones who make the magic feel effortless (even when it’s anything but). In this episode of Live Your Jam, Ellen names a “superpower” many women carry, attunement, the ability to read the room, anticipate needs, and hold emotional tone in families, communities, and workplaces.

And then she tells the truth, that superpower can work for you, and it can also quietly drain you.

Ellen explores how women are socially conditioned into roles that keep everything running, organizer, emotional anchor, peacekeeper, caregiver, the “operating system” of the household. The pattern is so normalized we don’t even see it until we feel exhausted, disconnected, and asking, “Where did I go?”

Ellen also connects chronic over-responsibility to the body, how stress and emotional suppression can show up physically over time. Most importantly, she offers a path forward that doesn’t require burning your life down. It starts with a simple pivot, take that same attunement you’ve used for everyone else, and turn it inward.

Because responsibility to yourself isn’t selfish, it’s stabilizing. And letting go of the “glue role” doesn’t mean you love less, it means you finally include yourself in the love.

You will learn:

• Why women so often become the emotional anchors at home, work, and in friendships
• What “the glue role” is, and why it’s so hard to step out of socially rewarded expectations
• The difference between emotional labor and mental labor (and why both are exhausting)
• How women learn attunement early, and why “connection equals safety” can become a lifelong pattern
• Why the body eventually speaks when you’re chronically over-functioning
• How to turn attunement inward with one question, “What do I need?”
• How to stop over-functioning without blowing things up, using gentle truth, boundaries, and full-body yeses
• A closing reflection to guide your next chapter, “What do you really want?”

👉 Watch the full conversation and subscribe for more stories about intuition, purpose, and living your jam.

We talk about:

• 00:00 Women’s roles, and the superpower of attunement
• 01:00 Women in caregiving professions, and why the percentages are so high
• 02:00 The “glue role”, organizers, emotional anchors, anticipating needs
• 03:00 Social conditioning, why stepping out of roles feels like swimming upstream
• 04:00 Motherhood and caregiving, when devotion blurs into self-disappearance
• 06:00 Invisible labor Part 1, emotional labor, what it is and where it came from
• 08:00 Invisible labor Part 2, mental labor, becoming the household operating system
• 09:00 Chronic stress and emotional suppression, the body’s warning signs
• 11:00 A personal story about stress, health, and what changed when life got quieter
• 12:00 How attunement is learned early, girls praised for harmony and emotional awareness
• 14:00 The superpower’s cost when it only goes outward
• 15:00 Turning attunement inward, “What do I need?”
• 18:00 Over-functioning, noticing what isn’t yours to carry
• 19:00 Precious energy, how doing everything for others steals time from you
• 20:00 Boundaries without drama, telling the truth gently, full-body yeses
• 22:00 Closing reflection, “What do you really want?”

Connect with Ellen

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liveyourjam
• LinkedIn: https://www.instagram.com/liveyourjam
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Nature is not a luxury, it is a nervous system reset.

In Episode 10 of Live Your Jam, Ellen McGinnis shares why the natural world is one of the most powerful tools we have for regulation, clarity, emotional steadiness, and reconnecting to inner wisdom.

Ellen explores how stepping out of “manmade boxes” and into the wild immediately softens the ego, shifts perspective, and returns us to a sense of awe. You will learn the science-backed reasons nature supports mental health and emotional resilience, including morning sunlight for circadian rhythm and cortisol balance, birdsong as a safety signal for the brain, and flowing water as a doorway into calmer brainwave states linked to creativity and intuition.

This episode also weaves personal stories across pivotal life transitions, from Starved Rock and Matheson State Park in Illinois, to the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain, to daily refuge hikes in Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley, and finally the forests of Switzerland that held Ellen through a life-altering season.

If you have been feeling overstimulated, stuck in mental loops, or disconnected from your body and intuition, this episode is your invitation back. Nature does not require effort. She requires presence.

You will learn:

• Why nature calms the ego and reconnects you to something larger
• How morning sunlight supports circadian rhythm, mood, and stress resilience
• Why birdsong can reduce stress and signal safety to the nervous system
• How water sounds create “soft fascination” and support intuitive brain states
• Why walking is one of the most powerful daily practices for mental clarity
• The difference between a hike and a pilgrimage (and why intention matters)
• Simple ways to bring nature into your day, even when life is full

👉 Watch the full conversation and subscribe for more stories about intuition, purpose, and living your jam.

#LiveYourJam #NatureAsMedicine #NervousSystemRegulation #MindfulnessTools #WalkingMeditation #EmotionalResilience #InnerWisdom #IntuitionPractice #SomaticHealing #StressReliefTools #CircadianRhythm #MorningSunlight #MentalClarity #PresencePractice #HealingInNature #GroundingPractices #ConsciousLiving #WellnessPodcast #SelfRegulation #InnerPeace

We talk about:

• 00:00 Welcome, Happy New Year, and 2026 as a “new beginnings” year
• 02:00 Why this episode is devoted to nature (and why it matters)
• 03:30 Nature as regulation, awe, and ego-softening
• 05:30 Morning sunlight, circadian rhythm, and healthy cortisol rhythm
• 07:00 Birdsong, safety signals, and calming the mind
• 08:45 Flowing water, “soft fascination,” and intuitive brain states
• 11:00 Walking as medicine, stress relief, and perspective shift
• 12:30 Early roots, Starved Rock and Matheson State Park memories
• 15:00 The Camino de Santiago, transition, symbolism, and intention
• 20:30 Berkeley refuge, Tilden Regional Park, identity, and healing seasons
• 25:30 Switzerland, forest solace, and community adventure
• 27:30 Simple daily invitations, bring nature into your life
• 29:00 Closing message, nature as the gateway back to yourself

Connect with Ellen

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liveyourjam
• LinkedIn: https://www.instagram.com/liveyourjam
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