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Have you ever taken something you genuinely love and turned it into another thing you feel pressure to succeed at?

I have. And after 400 episodes of The Confident Woman Podcast, I've been thinking a lot about confidence, self-worth, and how easily we can start measuring ourselves by what we accomplish.

When I started this podcast, I wasn't thinking about recording hundreds of episodes. I was looking for something I needed in my own life: genuine connection. I wanted to have honest conversations with people about the things we experience, the struggles we don't always talk about, and what we learn about ourselves along the way.

I had no idea how much those conversations would eventually teach me.

In this milestone 400th episode, I'm reflecting on the woman I was when I started, the woman I've become, and how my understanding of confidence, identity, faith, and success has changed through hundreds of conversations.

I'm also sharing some of the things that haven't always felt as certain as they might look from the outside, including the times I've wondered whether anybody was listening and what happens when something you started because it mattered to you becomes another thing you feel you have to prove.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT:

• Why genuine connection, rather than a business strategy, was the reason I started The Confident Woman Podcast
• What 400 conversations have taught me about listening, connecting with others, and becoming more comfortable with myself
• The difference between feeling confident and building confidence through experience, action, and learning as you go
• Why knowledge without implementation is just information, and what happens when we keep waiting until we feel ready
• How easily we attach our self-worth to achievements, productivity, and other people's expectations
• What I'm learning about redefining success, finding freedom, and knowing who I am and whose I am through my identity in Christ
• Why we don't have to know exactly where something will lead before giving ourselves permission to begin

Whether you've been here for hundreds of conversations or you're listening for the first time, I'm grateful you're here.

I hope this episode encourages you to recognize how far you've come, appreciate the woman you already are, and remember that your worth doesn't depend on everything you accomplish.

FREE RESOURCE: THE PERMISSION SLIP

If you've spent so much of your life trying to get everything right, accomplish more, or be who everyone else needs you to be, I created something for you.

The Permission Slip is a free private letter with an optional audio experience, inviting you to pause, be, and begin again.

CONNECT WITH RACHEL BROOKS

Create Your Own Story® on Substack: https://iamrachelbrooks.substack.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks

Website: https://iamrachelbrooks.com

Thank you for listening and being part of The Confident Woman Podcast.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Have you ever felt like your relationship with God has quietly morphed into another high-stakes project on your to-do list?

In this episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel sits down with author, entrepreneur, and former lead pastor Allen Ratta to dismantle the lie that following Jesus requires endless striving, optimizing, and over-functioning. After decades in high-level ministry and business leadership, a devastating personal crisis forced Allen to strip away theological complexity and discover what it actually looks like to live in God’s rhythm rather than our own artificial hurry.

If you are exhausted from trying to hold your life together with white knuckles, this conversation is your permission slip to slow down, breathe, and return to the simple power of daily presence.

In This Episode, We Unpack:

• The Hustle of Striving: Why our modern "hurry sickness" keeps us out of sync with God's intentional design for rest and daily bread.
• Slow-Motion Spiritual Malnutrition: What happens when we consume tons of spiritual content but never sit still long enough to actually digest it.
• The "Purposeless" Weekend: What Eugene Peterson taught Allen about silencing the inner workaholic and letting our racing minds catch up with our souls.
• The Lord’s Prayer as Daily Rhythm: How a 55-word prayer reorders our hearts, breaks the illusion of control, and anchors our identity in being loved rather than being productive.

The Question Underneath the Conversation: What is one artificial expectation you are carrying right now that you are ready to set down this week?

Your Next Step: Stop carrying everyone else's backpacks today. If you need a tangible reminder to help you pause and breathe, grab The Permission Slip for free:

Get The Permission Slip Here

Continue the Conversation: Create Your Own Story is Rachel’s weekly letter exploring faith, identity, confidence, and becoming.

Subscribe to read the companion essay: https://iamrachelbrooks.substack.com

Connect with Allen Ratta:

• Explore his work, books, and daily prayer journeys at spiritualsimplicity.com.

Connect with Rachel:

• Follow on Instagram: @iamrachelbrooks

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Have you ever noticed how everyone in your life gets to have an off day, drop the ball, or check out for the night… except you?

In this episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, host Rachel Brooks unpacks the silent exhaustion of being the woman everyone expects to fix everything.

When your high capacity becomes everyone else's baseline expectation, competence turns into an invisible trap. Moving beyond surface-level boundary advice, Rachel breaks down the spiritual and emotional cost of over-functioning—and how to finally put down the weight you were never meant to carry.

In this episode, you will learn:

• The Capacity Trap: Why being the "reliable one" often means you are the only person in the room not allowed to be human.
• Love vs. Control: A hard look at whether we are jumping in to serve others, or jumping in to manage our own anxiety.
• The Biblical Boundary: The crucial difference in Galatians 6 between carrying someone’s crushing crisis (the boulder) and carrying their everyday responsibilities (the backpack).
• 3 Actionable Shifts: How to let a ball drop, stop answering questions nobody asked, and say "no" without a five-paragraph apology.

FREE RESOURCE — THE PERMISSION SLIP: If you need a tangible reminder to set down the backpacks that don't belong to you this week, grab your free copy of The Permission Slip. It’s a simple, grounding tool to help you pause, take a breath, and release the pressure of holding it all together: 👉 [Insert Link: iamrachelbrooks.systeme.io/permission-slip]

CONNECT WITH RACHEL BROOKS:

• Join the Newsletter: Read the companion essays on Substack at Create Your Own Story
• Website: iamrachelbrooks.com
• Instagram: @iamrachelbrooks

If this episode met you where you are today, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and share it with a friend who needs permission to put down a heavy load.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Have you ever felt God calling you toward something, but you kept questioning whether you were the right person, whether you were ready, or whether you had what it would take to follow through?

What happens when obedience requires you to move forward before you have all the answers?

In this episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks sits down with Dr. LaTonya Jones, pastor, retired U.S. Army combat veteran, leader of Fishers of Men World Ministries, and founder of The Altar Call Tent Revival, for a powerful conversation about faith, fear, obedience, and surrender.

Dr. LaTonya shares how her journey from street ministry and community outreach led to a vision for large tent revivals, including God's instruction not to build a stage because the gatherings were never meant to be about recognition, but about serving Him and bringing people back to Jesus.

As their conversation unfolds, Rachel shares her own experience of resisting the call to write her first book, the fear she felt before stepping onto a stage in Beverly Hills, and the unexpected encounter with one woman that changed how she understood the purpose behind showing up.

Together, they explore what it means to trust God when you don't feel prepared, why the seasons when nobody sees what God is doing still matter, and how surrender often begins when we recognize we've been trying to carry everything in our own strength.

What we get into

• How Dr. LaTonya's vision for The Altar Call Tent Revival began and why she was instructed not to build a stage
• What obedience looks like when you're afraid, uncertain, or questioning whether you're qualified
• What Moses, Gideon, and Jeremiah teach us about God's calling and our perceived limitations
• Rachel's personal experience of saying yes to writing her book and discovering the impact of sharing her story
• Why seasons of obscurity, preparation, and transformation matter, even when nobody else sees what's happening
• What surrender can look like when you're exhausted, trying to control the outcome, and learning to bring everything before God in honest prayer

A question to carry with you this week

What have you been waiting to feel fully prepared for before taking the next step God has placed on your heart?

Join the conversation

We'd love to hear from you. The Confident Woman Podcast now has a voicemail inbox where you can share a reflection, ask a question, or tell us how a conversation has spoken to you.

Leave Rachel a voicemail

Create Your Own Story

Rachel continues sharing her personal journey through faith, identity, healing, confidence, and becoming in Create Your Own Story. Join the conversation as she writes about the experiences, questions, and lessons shaping this season of her life.

Subscribe to Create Your Own Story

New here? Start here

Connect with Dr. LaTonya Jones

Learn more about Fishers of Men World Ministries, The Altar Call Tent Revival, and Dr. LaTonya's work.

Website: https://www.fishersofmenwm.com/

Connect with Rachel Brooks

Instagram: https://iamrachelbrooks.com/instagram

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Have you ever finally sat down to relax, only to feel guilty about everything you should be doing instead? Maybe it's answering emails, cleaning the house, preparing dinner, working on your business, or tackling another task on a list that never seems to end.

In this solo episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks explores why slowing down can feel so uncomfortable, especially when you've spent years identifying as a high achiever, a hard worker, or the person who always gets things done.

As Rachel reflects on her own becoming journey, she shares how perfectionism can shift from our appearance and achievements into our everyday productivity, until what we accomplish becomes the way we measure our worth.

Through an honest conversation about ambition, faith, responsibility, and rest, Rachel examines the difference between godly diligence and self-reliant hustle, what happens when we begin treating peace as something we have to earn, and the invitation Jesus gives us in Matthew 11:28–30.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why resting can trigger guilt, anxiety, and the feeling that you should be doing something.
• How productivity can become another form of perfectionism.
• The difference between stewarding your gifts and trying to prove your worth through your work.
• Why unfinished tasks don't have to determine whether you've had a good day.
• Three practical shifts to help separate your identity from your accomplishments and begin practicing rest without guilt.

A question to carry with you this week:

If you accomplished absolutely nothing today, what would you say and believe about yourself?

Mentioned in this episode

The Permission Slip: A free resource to help you give yourself permission to pause and stop measuring your worth by what you accomplish.

Download The Permission Slip

Scripture: Matthew 11:28–30

Thank you for listening to The Confident Woman Podcast. If this conversation resonated with you, share it with a woman who may need to hear it, and follow the show for more conversations about faith, identity, confidence, purpose, and becoming.

Connect with Rachel Brooks at @iamrachelbrooks: https://iamrachelbrooks.com/instagram

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Have you spent so long being the woman everyone depends on that you don’t know who you are outside of what you do for them?

You can be capable, independent, and successful while realizing the life you’ve built no longer reflects what matters to you.

In this episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks joins mother, author, and board-certified family nurse practitioner Chelsea Ann O’Brien to explore identity, inherited expectations, and redefining success.

Chelsea shares how divorce and motherhood challenged her priorities, drawing from her books, The Feminine Effect and The Feminine Frequency, to discuss feminine nature and receiving support. Rachel shares how grief challenged her identity, why she walked away from a working relationship, and how faith helped her open the heart she’d closed to protect herself.

What we get into

• How family beliefs shape who you think you have to be
• Why independence can be both a strength and a form of protection
• Chelsea’s perspective on reconnecting with feminine nature
• Defining your values and setting boundaries without proving your worth
• Rachel’s “just because I could doesn’t mean I should” realization
• Feeling safe, seen, and secure while learning to receive support

If you heard yourself in this

Asking, “Who am I without all the roles I know how to perform?” The Becoming… Identity Planner & Journal gives you somewhere to separate who you are from what you do and get honest about what still belongs in this season.

Begin The Becoming… Identity Planner & Journal

Create Your Own Story

Rachel continues exploring faith, identity, and the cost of proving your worth in Create Your Own Story. Subscribe for her writing on questioning the life you’ve built and deciding what comes next.

Subscribe to Create Your Own Story

New here? Start here

Connect with Chelsea Ann O’Brien

Explore The Feminine Effect, The Feminine Frequency, and Chelsea’s work: Website | Books and resources | Instagram

Connect with Rachel Brooks

Instagram

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

The nutrition or exercise routine that worked years ago may not feel right in midlife. How do you take care of your health when your energy, body, and everyday responsibilities have changed?

In this episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks sits down with Meridan Zerner, an award-winning registered dietitian nutritionist and wellness professional with more than 30 years of experience in preventive health. Meridan shares her approach to midlife wellness and explains why she believes a sustainable health routine should fit the person and the life she’s actually living.

Rachel and Meridan talk about how hormonal changes can affect women’s midlife experience, the place of sleep, nutrition, movement, stress management, and connection in overall wellness, and why learning what to do is only part of making a lasting change. When Rachel asks how a woman can create her own recipe for health, Meridan begins with a surprisingly practical question:

What is already going well?

IN THIS CONVERSATION

• How to reassess your habits when what used to work no longer fits
• Why Meridan recommends starting with the supportive habits you already have
• How one or two small changes can be tested and adjusted within an ordinary week
• Why rest, social connection, and asking for support belong in a fuller conversation about health
• What Meridan’s The Thoughtful 30 offers as a framework for considering new wellness habits
• How to advocate for yourself, ask questions, and collaborate with qualified health professionals

YOUR NEXT STEP

Notice one thing you’re already doing that supports your health, then consider one small change you can realistically try this week. Give yourself room to see whether it fits before adding more.

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY BENEVE

Beneve is a wellness brand Rachel uses as part of taking care of her health, energy, strength, and body in midlife.

See what Rachel is using → BENEVE

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Meridan Zerner, MS, RDN, CSSD, LD, CHWC, is a registered dietitian nutritionist, wellness coach, speaker, and creator of The Thoughtful 30: 30-Day Reset for Midlife and Beyond.

Learn more about Meridan and find her free Thoughtful 30 get-started resources: https://www.meridanzernernutrition.com

CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION

This conversation doesn’t end with the episode. Rachel’s companion Create Your Own Story feature explores what happens when the way you’ve been taking care of yourself no longer fits the woman or the life you’re living now.

Subscribe and read the latest edition: https://iamrachelbrooks.substack.com

New here and not sure where to begin? START HERE →

Hosted by Rachel Brooks, author of Chasing Perfection and host of The Confident Woman Podcast.

Follow Rachel at @iamrachelbrooks: https://iamrachelbrooks.com/instagram

This episode is a general educational conversation and is not individualized healthcare guidance. Discuss personal symptoms or changes to treatment with your own qualified healthcare professional.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Are you paying the price to prove your worth?

Have you spent years working toward success, trying to meet everyone's expectations, or proving how much you can handle, only to realize that the life you're working so hard to create is costing you the very things that matter most?

Maybe you're building a career or business to create more freedom, but you barely have time to enjoy the people you love. Maybe you've become the person everyone depends on, and you're exhausted from carrying responsibilities you never consciously chose. Or perhaps you're navigating a season of change, trying to figure out who you are when your life no longer looks the way you thought it would.

In this episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks invites you into a conversation about knowing your worth, finding your voice, and what happens when you begin making decisions from the belief that your value isn't determined by what you accomplish, how much money you make, or how much you're willing to sacrifice for others.

Together, we're exploring how the pursuit of success can become tied to our identity, the difference between making necessary sacrifices and compromising ourselves in the process, and why becoming the woman God created you to be doesn't require spending another chapter of your life trying to prove you're worthy.

Inside This Conversation:

• Why knowing your worth and actually living from that belief are two different things.
• How success, productivity, and being needed can become tied to your identity and self-worth.
• Recognizing when your responsibilities and ambitions are costing you the freedom, peace, and relationships you were working so hard to create.
• The difference between making necessary sacrifices and compromising your dignity or self-respect.
• How to begin reconsidering what you're carrying and what you want to make room for in this season of becoming.
• What Colossians 3:23 reminds us about working wholeheartedly without allowing our work or someone else's approval to determine our worth.

This conversation isn't about giving up on your dreams, walking away from your responsibilities, or pretending that difficult circumstances don't exist. It's about getting honest with yourself about what you're pursuing, why you're pursuing it, and whether the way you're living actually reflects what matters most to you.

As you navigate your own messy middle of becoming, consider the question Rachel leaves you with this week:

Are you paying the price to prove your worth? And when you look at what it's actually costing you, is that a price you still want to keep paying?

Continue the Conversation

Read the companion essay, Are You Paying the Price to Prove Your Worth?, and join Rachel inside Create Your Own Story for weekly conversations about faith, identity, grief, ambition, and finding your way back to who God created you to be.

Read & subscribe to Create Your Own Story →

New here? Discover the writing, podcast, and where to begin.

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Scripture referenced: Colossians 3:23–24