Send us a Message

Leadership didn’t become exclusionary over time. It was intentionally built that way.

In this replay episode of The Empowered & Embodied Show, Kim Romain and Louise Neil sit down with Shoshana Allice, a neuro-inclusive leadership coach and consultant, to examine how leadership systems are rooted in exclusion and what it takes to lead differently.

This conversation explores decolonizing leadership, the myth of belonging through conformity, and how power, privilege, and productivity norms shape who gets to lead and who gets left out. Together, they name the ways we’ve been taught to wear armor, suppress our bodies, and confuse fitting in with safety.

This episode covers:

• Why so many leadership systems are exclusionary
• What it means to decolonize leadership and unlearn inherited norms
• Belonging vs. fitting in
• Rest as resistance inside productivity culture
• Curiosity as a leadership practice
• Reclaiming humanity in leadership and work

If you’re questioning traditional leadership models, navigating burnout, or searching for more honest and humane ways to lead, this episode offers language (and permission) to stop pretending the system works for everyone.

Key Moments:

00:00 – Welcome and Introductions
07:20 – Curiosity, Writing, and Listening to the Process
13:20 – Introducing Shoshana Alice
15:47 – Land Acknowledgement and Context
21:33 – What Decolonizing Leadership Really Means
25:15 – Safety, Armor, and Brave Spaces
30:04 – Curiosity as the Starting Point
34:45 – Belonging vs. Fitting In
38:32 – Age, Wisdom, and Leadership
44:36 – Key Takeaways and Reflections
49:10 – Where to Find Shoshana and Closing

Resources Mentioned:

📖 Rest as Resistance by Tricia Hersey

🎥 This is Water

Connect with Shoshana:

🌎 www.decolonizingleadership.com

Join a circle of changemakers committed to leading with purpose, presence and ease inside Kim's Rising Visionaries mentorship program.

Reclaim your career and confidence during midlife through Louise's Rise & Redefine program.

If you’re loving this show, come check out the Feminist Podcasters Collective, where creators like us are uplifting diverse voices and driving meaningful change. If you’re looking for new shows to fill your feed, head to https://feministpodcasterscollective.com

Send us a Message

In this re-released episode, we explore the crucial difference between competence and confidence, and why understanding this distinction might be the key to getting unstuck. This episode was originally released November 19, 2024. We're resurfacing this conversation because the struggle between external validation and internal confidence is timeless, and these insights deserve another listen.

Kim, Louise, and business coach Becky Mollenkamp dive into the psychology of proving energy, the myth that confidence appears before you're ready, and why taking action scared is the only way forward. Becky shares her journey from a "perfect on paper" life to complete upheaval, and what she learned about building businesses and lives aligned with who you actually are.

If you've ever felt like you're doing all the right things but still don't feel ready, struggled with self-doubt despite having the skills, or wondered whether fear or wisdom is holding you back from your next big move, this conversation is for you.

What We Cover

• The critical difference between competence (external validation) and confidence (internal belief)
• Why "proving energy" keeps you stuck in a cycle of seeking approval
• How to act your way into believing faster than you can believe your way into acting
• The "Is this new?" framework for evaluating whether fear is protecting you or limiting you
• How to resource yourself when taking scary steps forward
• The mediocre white man test: identifying when systemic conditioning (not lack of ability) holds you back
• Why sometimes the bravest choice is saying "I could do this, and I choose not to"

About Becky Mollenkamp

Becky is a business coach for entrepreneurs ready to transition from small business owner to CEO without recreating toxic corporate culture. She's the founder of the Feminist Founders Movement, host of the Feminist Founders Podcast, co-host of the Messy Liberation Podcast, and founder of the Feminist Podcasters Collective. You can find her work at https://beckymollenkamp.com or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Listen + Subscribe If this episode resonates, follow The Empowered & Embodied Show for more conversations on confidence, self-trust, leadership, and building a life aligned with who you actually are.

Join a circle of changemakers committed to leading with purpose, presence and ease inside Kim's Rising Visionaries mentorship program.

Reclaim your career and confidence during midlife through Louise's Rise & Redefine program.

If you’re loving this show, come check out the Feminist Podcasters Collective, where creators like us are uplifting diverse voices and driving meaningful change. If you’re looking for new shows to fill your feed, head to https://feministpodcasterscollective.com

Send us a Message

In this re-released episode, we dive right into the heart of personal agency, systemic conditioning, and what it actually takes to reclaim your power in a world that benefits from you doubting yourself. This episode was originally released on October 29, 2024. We’re resurfacing this episode because the conversation around agency, sovereignty, and systems is more relevant than ever and it’s worth hearing again.

Kim, Louise, and coach + mediator Valerie Friedlander explore how we learn to trust our bodies, advocate for ourselves (and our kids), and untangle the beliefs we absorbed from workplaces, schools, and social systems that were never designed with our wellbeing in mind.

If you’ve ever struggled with self-trust, boundary-setting, burnout, parenting in a system that overrides instincts, or feeling “not enough” inside corporate or cultural expectations, this conversation hits home.

What We Cover
• How systems — not individuals — create the illusion of disempowerment
• The difference between agency, abdication, and conscious choice
• Why curiosity is a key tool for sovereignty and emotional resilience
• Parenting kids to trust their bodies and instincts
• How corporate conditioning follows you into entrepreneurship
• The role of self-advocacy inside schools, healthcare, and workplaces
• What it means to reclaim power without bypassing the realities around you

About Valerie
Valerie is a Life & Business Alignment Coach with over 20 years in leadership development, mediation, and personal empowerment work. Her podcast can now be found under Mindset Unlimited. You can find her coaching, writing, and podcast episodes at valeriefriedlander.com or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Listen + Subscribe
If this episode resonates, follow The Empowered & Embodied Show for more conversations on self-trust, sovereignty, leadership, and living in alignment with who you actually are.

Join a circle of changemakers committed to leading with purpose, presence and ease inside Kim's Rising Visionaries mentorship program.

Reclaim your career and confidence during midlife through Louise's Rise & Redefine program.

If you’re loving this show, come check out the Feminist Podcasters Collective, where creators like us are uplifting diverse voices and driving meaningful change. If you’re looking for new shows to fill your feed, head to https://feministpodcasterscollective.com