If you’ve ever felt the need to hide or numb your sensitivity with alcohol, other substances, or even Netflix and cake, then this episode is for you. I’m joined by Jane Elizabeth Aston who is a coach, writer, and researcher based in the UK.

We talk about the HSP journey through the lens of addiction and recovery, discovering our purpose, and leaning into spirituality as a guiding light. Jane’s story is deeply personal and relatable, and I hope it offers hope and wisdom for any HSPs out there who are seeking a more authentic and connected approach to life.

What Jane Shares:

• Her journey from numbing and masking to living authentically as an HSP.
• How a spiritual journey helped her in the in recovery and healing process.
• How compassion for ourselves and others creates space for growth.
• Insights on boundaries, balance, and embracing sensitivity as a strength.

Topics Covered:

• The HSP experience through addiction and recovery.
• Filling our void with spiritual experiences and connection in healing.
• How to find purpose that feels aligned as an HSP.
• The reality of navigating overwhelm and painful emotions as HSPs.

About Jane Elizabeth Aston:

Jane Elizabeth Aston is a coach, researcher, and YouTube creator based on the south coast of the UK. Jane works with HSPs and neurodivergent people who seek deeper self-trust, connection, and meaning. She blends her lived experience, spiritual insight, and her academic and research background to guide her clients toward alignment, integrity, and soulful living.

Her approach combines lived experience, spirituality, and practical tools. Having discovered her own HSP trait in 2011 and receiving a late autism diagnosis in 2024, Jane brings profound self-knowledge and compassion to her coaching. She is also in long-term recovery, having been sober for over 15 years — an experience that deeply informs her work.

Jane shares weekly reflections on her Made for Meaning, Wired for Light YouTube channel and podcast. Previously, she co-hosted nearly 50 episodes of the High Sensory People Podcast, reframing being HSP and neurodivergent as a vibrant strength rather than a burden.

Follow along on Jane’s journey:

Website: https://janeelizabethaston.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JaneElizabethAston

Let’s Connect:

🤍 Share your biggest takeaway or follow us on Instagram @happyhsppodcast — we’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Subscribe and leave a review to help more HSPs find this space: thehappyhsppodcast.buzzsprout.com

📩 Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out to Kimberly at: kmarshall@happyhspcoaching.com

📖 Learn about Kimberly’s work: happyhspcoaching.com

About Kimberly:

Kimberly Marshall is a career coach for highly sensitive people (HSPs) and host of The Happy HSP Podcast. After 20 years in the publishing industry working for companies like Time Inc., Monster.com, and W. W. Norton, she left her corporate career to pursue work that better suited her HSP needs. She now helps HSPs overcome burnout and low confidence in the workplace and create gentle and nurturing careers that bring them lots of purpose, meaning, and joy.

Through her work and creative ventures, Kimberly hopes to shed more light on the reality of living with high sensitivity and inspire more HSPs to embrace their empathetic, loving, and gentle natures.

• Hosted/produced by Kimberly Marshall
• Edited by Fonzie Try Media
• Artwork by Tara Corola
• ...

If you’ve ever felt the ache of loneliness and longing for deeper connection as a highly sensitive person, or wondered where you truly belong, then today’s episode is for you.

I’m joined by psychotherapist and community builder Cindy Gale, who has dedicated her work to empowering HSPs through both individual healing and the healing that comes with genuine connection. She shares her journey of discovering her own high sensitivity, why community is essential for our well-being, and the beautiful vision behind her innovative platform, HSP Connect.

In this episode, Cindy shares:

• How discovering her high sensitivity helped her reframed her life and profession.
• Why HSPs need community for deeper healing.
• The vision behind HSP Connect.
• How grief and sensitivity can become gateways to resilience and joy.
• The beauty of shared experiences among HSPs.

Topics covered:

• Cindy’s journey into activism, psychotherapy, and HSP-focused work.
• The role of Elaine Aron’s research in understanding sensitivity.
• Why loneliness is a growing issue for HSPs and how to address it.
• The importance of rituals and “The Work That Reconnects.”
• How vantage sensitivity allows HSPs to experience joy and deep connection.

About Cindy Gale:

Cindy Gale is the creator of the HSPConnect.app community and a psychotherapist working with Highly Sensitive People. With a background that spans engineering, physics, psychotherapy, management consulting, shamanic practice, setting up charities and a published author, Cindy brings a powerful blend of experience and insight to our HSP community.

She supports HSPs in discovering and living their authentic selves and is sparking local HSP support and social groups across the world, helping sensitive souls collaborate, create, and connect.

Cindy is a long time Active Hope (aka Work That Reconnects) facilitator helping people to foster resilience in the face of global crises. Her mission is to help people deepen their relationship with themselves, others, and the natural world.

Follow along on Cindy’s journey:

Website: https://cindygalehsp.com/

HSP Connect: https://hspconnect.app/

***Use code HAPPYHSP to gain access to 20% off the standard price of HSPConnect.app for the first year of membership. Offer valid until October 31, 2025.

Let’s Connect:

🤍 Share your biggest takeaway or follow us on Instagram @happyhsppodcast — we’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Subscribe and leave a review to help more HSPs find this space: thehappyhsppodcast.buzzsprout.com

📩 Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out to Kimberly at: kmarshall@happyhspcoaching.com

📖 Learn about Kimberly’s work: happyhspcoaching.com

About Kimberly:

Kimberly Marshall is a career coach for highly sensitive people (HSPs) and host of The Happy HSP Podcast. After 20 years in the publishing industry working for companies like Time Inc., Monster.com, and W. W. Norton, she left her corporate career to pursue work that better suited her HSP needs. She now helps HSPs overcome burnout and low confidence in the workplace and create gentle and nurturing careers that bring them lots of purpose, meaning, and joy.

Through her work and creative ventures, Kimberly hopes to shed more light on the reality of living with high sensitivity and inspire more HSPs to embrace their empathetic, loving, and gentle natures.

• Hosted/produced by Kimberly Marshall
• Edited by Fonzie Try Media
• Artwork by Tara Corola
• ...

In this episode of The Happy HSP Podcast, host Kimberly Marshall is turning the microphone inward to share her own story as a highly sensitive person. From discovering she was an HSP at just 19 — to navigating motherhood, career burnout, and a deep healing and spiritual journey — she shares many of the challenges she’s faced with her sensitivity along with the growth she’s experienced over the years.

If you’re an HSP who has struggled with your confidence and finding the strength to stand up for your needs in the workplace or relationships, then this episode is for you.

Kimberly shares:

• How she first discovered she was a highly sensitive person in her teenage years.
• The role that motherhood played in deepening her understanding of her sensitivity.
• The struggles she faced in her career with confidence and burnout as an HSP.
• Her journey to standing up for her needs in relationships and the workplace.

Topics covered:

• High sensitivity and self-discovery in motherhood.
• The challenges of being an HSP in work and family life.
• The connection between empathy and healing.
• Finding a career with lots of purpose, meaning, and joy.
• Developing self-awareness and resilience as an HSP.

Follow along on Kimberly’s journey:

Happy HSP Coaching

Happy HSP Podcast

Happy HSP Living

Let’s Connect:

🤍 Share your biggest takeaway or follow us on Instagram @happyhsppodcast — we’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Subscribe and leave a review to help more HSPs find this space: thehappyhsppodcast.buzzsprout.com

📩 Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out to Kimberly at: kmarshall@happyhspcoaching.com

📖 Learn about Kimberly’s work: happyhspcoaching.com

About Kimberly:

Kimberly Marshall is a career coach for highly sensitive people (HSPs) and host of The Happy HSP Podcast. After 20 years in the publishing industry working for companies like Time Inc., Monster.com, and W. W. Norton, she left her corporate career to pursue work that better suited her HSP needs. She now helps HSPs overcome burnout and low confidence in the workplace and create gentle and nurturing careers that bring them lots of purpose, meaning, and joy.

Through her work and creative ventures, Kimberly hopes to shed more light on the reality of living with high sensitivity and inspire more HSPs to embrace their empathetic, loving, and gentle natures.

• Hosted/produced by Kimberly Marshall
• Edited by Fonzie Try Media
• Artwork by Tara Corola
• ...

If you’ve ever felt like it was difficult to accept your trait of high sensitivity, especially as it relates to being labeled with the word “sensitive,” then this episode of The Happy HSP Podcast is for you. I’m joined by writing coach, author, and founder of The Introverts Paper Playground, Nicola McDonald, who found that recognizing and validating her sensitivity shifted her from refusing to acknowledge her sensitivity to embracing it wholeheartedly.

It’s packed with lots of inspiration and understanding in and around themes of rejection and self-acceptance with lots of encouragement and wisdom along the way. I hope you enjoy it!

What Nicola Shares:

• How raising a sensitive child helped her recognize her own sensitivity.
• The impact of finally naming sensitivity in her life.
• Why self-acceptance is the foundation for thriving as an HSP.
• How she uses her newfound appreciation of high sensitivity in her work.

Topics covered:

• The struggle of feeling “too sensitive” in a world that doesn’t always understand.
• The relief and empowerment that comes from naming sensitivity for the gift it is.
• Reflections that come along with the HSP parenting journey.
• Moving from suppression and overwhelm to authenticity and strength.

About Nicola McDonald:

Nicola McDonald is a creative writing coach, author, and founder of The Introverts Paper Playground, an online writing school designed for introverts, highly sensitive people, high sensation seekers, and creatives who need space to breathe and express themselves on the page.

Nicola uses writing as a tool for expression, escape, and emotional clarity, and she now coaches others to do the same. Whether she’s supporting creatives in finding their voice or bringing writing for wellbeing into the workplace, she’s passionate about using words to nurture sensitivity rather than suppress it.

This September, Nicola is launching her six-month course, Authoring: From Idea to Manuscript, where she’ll guide up to 15 students inside The Introverts Paper Playground — all while writing her next book alongside them.

Follow along with Nicola’s journey:

Instagram: @nmcdonaldcreativewritingcoach

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolamcdonaldcreativewritingcoach

Website: https://the-introverts-paper-playground.teachable.

Let’s Connect:

🤍 Share your biggest takeaway or follow us on Instagram @happyhsppodcast — we’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Subscribe and leave a review to help more HSPs find this space: thehappyhsppodcast.buzzsprout.com

📩 Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out to Kimberly at: kmarshall@happyhspcoaching.com

📖 Learn about Kimberly’s work: happyhspcoaching.com

About Kimberly:

Kimberly Marshall is a career coach for highly sensitive people (HSPs) and host of The Happy HSP Podcast. After 20 years in the publishing industry working for companies like Time Inc., Monster.com, and W. W. Norton, she left her corporate career to pursue work that better suited her HSP needs. She now helps HSPs overcome burnout and low confidence in the workplace and create gentle and nurturing careers that bring them lots of purpose, meaning, and joy.

Through her work and creative ventures, Kimberly hopes to shed more light on the reality of living with high sensitivity and inspire more HSPs to embrace their empathetic, loving, and gentle natures.

• Hosted/produced by Kimberly Marshall
• Edited by Fonzie Try Media
• Artwork by Tara Corola
• ...

*Content Warning: This episode includes some strong language and mentions of sex abuse, which may be sensitive for some listeners.

Have you ever wondered if there’s a deeper, more spiritual side to being highly sensitive? In this episode of The Happy HSP Podcast, I’m joined by Dr. Katie Larson. She’s a hypnotherapist, growth coach, and somatic practitioner who shares her journey with past-life regression, somatic healing, and the spiritual aspects of life.

Together, we explore how these practices can help highly sensitive people not only manage the overwhelm of the world but also embrace their unique gifts and live with more balance, meaning, and intuition.

Dr. Katie shares:

• Her awakening experience as a highly sensitive person.
• How past-life regression opened new doors to healing.
• The role of mystical experience and spiritual gifts in her journey.
• Why somatic healing is helpful for HSPs.
• Lessons learned from balancing sensitivity with spiritual exploration.

Topics covered:

• High sensitivity as both a challenge and a gift.
• Past-life regression as a tool for self-discovery and new experiences.
• How to develop self-trust and intuition in sensitive people.
• Somatic healing for grounding and resilience.
• Embracing the spiritual side of sensitivity in daily life.

About Dr. Katie Larson:

Dr. Katie T. Larson, Ph.D., is a hypnotherapist, growth coach, and somatic practitioner who works with highly sensitive people, empaths, and intuitives. She has helped initiate meaningful personal growth in thousands of individuals, but she is best known for guiding clients through “Quests” — inner journeys — that offer opportunities to explore their lives from deeper perspectives, bringing more purpose, meaning, and joy.

Follow along with Dr. Katie’s journey:

Instagram: @drkatiegrowthquests

Website: growthquests.com

Let’s Connect:

🤍 Share your biggest takeaway or follow us on Instagram @happyhsppodcast — we’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Subscribe and leave a review to help more HSPs find this space: thehappyhsppodcast.buzzsprout.com

📩 Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out to Kimberly at: kmarshall@happyhspcoaching.com

📖 Learn about Kimberly’s work: happyhspcoaching.com

About Kimberly:

Kimberly Marshall is a career coach for highly sensitive people (HSPs) and host of The Happy HSP Podcast. After 20 years in the publishing industry working for companies like Time Inc., Monster.com, and W. W. Norton, she left her corporate career to pursue work that better suited her HSP needs. She now helps HSPs overcome burnout and low confidence in the workplace and create gentle and nurturing careers that bring them lots of purpose, meaning, and joy.

Through her work and creative ventures, Kimberly hopes to shed more light on the reality of living with high sensitivity and inspire more HSPs to embrace their empathetic, loving, and gentle natures.

• Hosted/produced by Kimberly Marshall
• Edited by Fonzie Try Media
• Artwork by Tara Corola
• ...

In this episode of The Happy HSP Podcast, NLP Master and Sensitive Leadership Coach Nina Khoo shares how her journey through burnout, parenting sensitive children, and navigating high-pressure corporate life led her to discover her sensitivity. We discuss healing through practices like NIA, intuition-building, and mBraining, and how highly sensitive women can step into leadership with confidence and resilience.

Nina shares:

• How recognizing sensitivity in her children helped her recognize it in herself.
• The realities of burnout while working in a global investment bank.
• What holistic practices like Nia and mBraining taught her about healing and resilience.
• How she helps women embrace sensitivity as a leadership strength.

Topics covered:

• Burnout and recovery for HSPs.
• Parenting and advocating for sensitive children.
• Embracing holistic tools for healing (Nia, mBraining, intuition-building).
• Nina’s Revolutionary Resilience model for reframing sensitivity as a strength.
• Sensitivity as an asset in leadership and business.
• Creating balance and purpose as a highly sensitive leader.

About Nina Khoo

Nina Khoo — NLP Master & Sensitive Leadership Coach

When highly sensitive women embrace their way of being, they win and the world wins. In Nina’s coaching and training programs, she supports her clients to discover their own unique and natural path to success.

As creator of the Born to Lead Program and the Revolutionary Resilience Model, Nina has developed a body of work designed to guide highly sensitive women to succeed in the sometimes hard and harsh worlds of entrepreneurship and corporate life.

A certified Master NLP Coach, Wild Voice™ Facilitator, and NIA Movement practitioner, Nina combines her experience in pursuit of her mission: to help create a world where sensitivity is respected and valued, and no one feels they have to “push through” ever again.

Follow along on Nina’s journey:

• Website: www.ninakhoo.com
• Free Sensitive Leadership Self-Assessment Quiz: Take the Quiz
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nina-khoo-coachingforhswomen

Let’s Connect:

🤍 Share your biggest takeaway or follow us on Instagram @happyhsppodcast — we’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Subscribe and leave a review to help more HSPs find this space: thehappyhsppodcast.buzzsprout.com

📩 Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out to Kimberly at: kmarshall@happyhspcoaching.com

📖 Learn about Kimberly’s work: happyhspcoaching.com

About Kimberly:

Kimberly Marshall is a career coach for highly sensitive people (HSPs) and host of The Happy HSP Podcast. After 20 years in the publishing industry working for companies like Time Inc., Monster.com, and W. W. Norton, she left her corporate career to pursue work that better suited her HSP needs. She now helps HSPs overcome burnout and low confidence in the workplace and create gentle and nurturing careers that bring them lots of purpose, meaning, and joy.

Through her work and creative ventures, Kimberly hopes to shed more light on the reality of living with high sensitivity and inspire more HSPs to embrace their empathetic, loving, and gentle natures.

• Hosted/produced by Kimberly Marshall
• Edited by Fonzie Try Media
• Artwork by Tara Corola
• ...

In this episode of The Happy HSP Podcast, therapist, author, and speaker Barbara Allen-Williams shares how leaning into empathy and embracing a quiet style of leadership allows HSPs to rise above social norms and fid their stride. She shares why empathy is a strength, how to honor your needs without apology, and practical ways to step into leadership that feels authentic to you.

We talk about what it means to be enough, the importance of rest, and the powerful energy that HSPs bring to the world simply by being themselves.

Barbara shares:

• Why “quiet leadership” is not about being small, but about leading with purpose and empathy.
• How highly sensitive people can embrace confidence without masking their sensitivity.
• The role of authenticity in building trust and influence.
• Practical strategies for protecting your energy while leading others.
• Her personal journey toward self-acceptance as an HSP.

Topics covered:

• Understanding the concept of quiet leadership for HSPs.
• How empathy can transform relationships and work environments.
• Navigating leadership challenges as a highly sensitive person.
• Building self-confidence without abandoning your true nature.
• The connection between authenticity and resilience.

About Barbara:

Barbara Allen-Williams founded Growing Unlimited Therapeutic Consultancy (2002) and the National Centre for High Sensitivity (2010-19). She is a retired integrative therapist, group worker, author and a therapeutic supervisor with 30 years of experience. She writes and speaks on the topic of high sensitivity as well as facilitates the empowerment of individual HSPs as a mentor 1-1. She also hosts groups and workshops nationally and internationally. She is a founding member of International Consultants in High Sensitivity and attended training with Elaine Aron PhD in San Francisco.

Her book The Little Book of HSP Wisdom has just been published and is available in paperback and eBook formats at Amazon and Troubador, and in paperback at Waterstones and Blackwells. There is also a new Facebook page for the book where readers can discuss topics arising from the book (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1029004049279908).

Follow along on Barbara’s journey:

Website: www.growingunlimited.co.uk

Email:

Let’s Connect:

🤍 Share your biggest takeaway or follow us on Instagram @happyhsppodcast — we’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Subscribe and leave a review to help more HSPs find this space: thehappyhsppodcast.buzzsprout.com

📩 Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out to Kimberly at: kmarshall@happyhspcoaching.com

📖 Learn about Kimberly’s work: happyhspcoaching.com

About Kimberly:

Kimberly Marshall is a career coach for highly sensitive people (HSPs) and host of The Happy HSP Podcast. After 20 years in the publishing industry working for companies like Time Inc., Monster.com, and W. W. Norton, she left her corporate career to pursue work that better suited her HSP needs. She now helps HSPs overcome burnout and low confidence in the workplace and create gentle and nurturing careers that bring them lots of purpose, meaning, and joy.

Through her work and creative ventures, Kimberly hopes to shed more light on the reality of living with high sensitivity and inspire more HSPs to embrace their empathetic, loving, and gentle natures.

• Hosted/produced by Kimberly Marshall
• Edited by Fonzie Try Media
• Artwork by Tara Corola
• ...

*Content Warning: This episode includes mentions of suicide, which may be sensitive for some listeners.

In this episode of The Happy HSP Podcast, Kimberly Marshall sits down with author and advocate William Allen to explore the personal and often unspoken journey of being a highly sensitive man. From cultural conditioning to emotional suppression, this conversation shines a light on the challenges and quiet power of high sensitivity in men.

William shares:

• His personal journey later in life of discovering he's an HSP.
• The cost of growing up in a culture that suppresses male sensitivity.
• How he transitioned from IT to writing, advocacy, and community-building.
• The challenges HSP men face with vulnerability and emotional expression.
• Why he believes HSP men can lead the way in redefining modern masculinity.

Topics covered:

• What it means to be a highly sensitive man.
• Emotional suppression and the “man code.”
• The lack of male representation in HSP spaces.
• Creating safe spaces for sensitive men to connect.
• Cultural implications of ignoring male sensitivity.
• The impact of societal expectations on mental health.

About William Allen:

William Allen is a thought leader and educator dedicated to redefining masculinity through the lens of high sensitivity. After a 30-year career in corporate IT leadership, he founded BrainPilots, a hypno-coaching and neurofeedback practice in Bend, Oregon, focused on mental and emotional well-being.

His personal journey as a highly sensitive man led to the creation of TheSensitiveMan.com, a global platform offering resources, community, and support for sensitive individuals. William’s writing — including his acclaimed books Confessions of a Sensitive Man and On Being a Sensitive Man — has helped reframe sensitivity as a strength.

He leads an online men’s group, offers a self-paced course, and co-hosts the podcast Men with S.T.Y.L.E. He also appears in the documentary Sensitive Men Rising, amplifying the voices of sensitive men worldwide.

Follow along with William’s journey:

Website: www.thesensitiveman.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesensitiveman

Let’s Connect:

🤍 Share your biggest takeaway or follow us on Instagram @happyhsppodcast — we’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Subscribe and leave a review to help more HSPs find this space: thehappyhsppodcast.buzzsprout.com

📩 Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out to Kimberly at: kmarshall@happyhspcoaching.com

📖 Learn about Kimberly’s work: happyhspcoaching.com

About Kimberly:

Kimberly Marshall is a career coach for highly sensitive people (HSPs) and host of The Happy HSP Podcast. After 20 years in the publishing industry working for companies like Time Inc., Monster.com, and W. W. Norton, she left her corporate career to pursue work that better suited her HSP needs. She now helps HSPs overcome burnout and low confidence in the workplace and create gentle and nurturing careers that bring them lots of purpose, meaning, and joy.

Through her work and creative ventures, Kimberly hopes to shed more light on the reality of living with high sensitivity and inspire more HSPs to embrace their empathetic, loving, and gentle natures.

• Hosted/produced by Kimberly Marshall
• Edited by Fonzie Try Media
• Artwork by Tara Corola
• ...