Alison talks with Eric Woodard about why many people feel stuck, stressed, or misaligned in their jobs, and how mindset and wellness play into finding better work. He shares his career path through government and cultural institutions and explains how those experiences shaped his views on work and people.

They also discuss patterns he has seen across careers, including the challenges of building a business and the need for human connection in a more automated world. Eric emphasizes building trust by focusing on other people, leading with curiosity, and making conversations more about listening than self-presentation.

He also speaks about judgment, vulnerability, and not assuming we know what others are thinking. The conversation closes by discussing service, clear agreements, and being intentional and helpful in work and life.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1:35 White House Breakthrough

4:14 Why Work Feels Hard

7:23 Make It About Them

11:24 Trust Over Credentials

14:23 Curiosity Beats Judgment

18:45 Reframe the Story

21:27 Service Over Pleasing

25:19 Lead With Connection

connect with Eric

website: https://go.winatwork.io

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INNOVATION AVENUE: Fitness and Self-Care Revolution

Alison talks with Sarah Rawlings about her holistic approach to health, shaped by her experience as a mom of six, personal trainer, and health coach. They discuss how Sarah works with clients by looking beyond fitness to include nutrition, sleep, stress, work, relationships, and home life, and how she helps them clarify what they want and why.

They also talk about consistency, movement, and small changes, including short walks, taking the stairs, and other “exercise snacks” that add up over time. Sarah emphasizes starting with one manageable habit, building routines around sleep and self-care, and focusing on steady progress rather than all-or-nothing thinking.

HIGHLIGHTS:

3:47 Building Wellness Pillars

6:57 Finding Your Why

9:55 Consistency Beats Intensity

13:11 Mindfulness and Grounding

15:17 Start With One Step

17:13 Sleep Is Nonnegotiable

20:06 Make Yourself a Priority

21:06 Simple Tips to Begin

connect with Sarah

website: https://www.sarahjrawlings.com

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShifttoThrive

IG: https://www.instagram.com/shifttothrive

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INNOVATION AVENUE: Fitness and Self-Care Revolution

Alison speaks with special guest, Nancy McKay, about her personal journey through sobriety, a suicide attempt, and ovarian cancer, and how these experiences led her to leave oil and gas and become a life coach. They discuss Nancy's view that people are not broken when they cannot do things perfectly, and her focus on helping clients recognize their own wisdom rather than looking for answers outside themselves.

They also talk about listening to the body, separating physical sensations from the stories the brain creates, and seeing relapse or setbacks as information rather than failure. Nancy describes her work with women in recovery and with those facing grief, burnout, divorce, retirement, and job loss, as well as her horse-based immersion sessions.

HIGHLIGHTS:

0:26 Sobriety, Cancer, New Purpose

2:41 You Are Not Broken

6:56 Listen To Your Body

10:08 Choosing Help And Healing

14:40 Discipline Over Willpower

17:07 Brave Recovery Work

18:47 Healing With Horses

21:28 Immersions And Safe Space

24:28 Practical Tips For Healing

connect with Nancy

website: https://www.womenempoweredrecovery.com

email: nancy@womenempoweredrecovery.com

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

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INNOVATION AVENUE: Fitness and Self-Care Revolution

Alison's guest, Katie Naughton discusses her family background in the automotive industry, her path through dealership work and becoming a dealership owner with her husband.

She describes the dealership ownership experience as the point where she saw a need for more support among women in leadership and says many existing women’s events focused on shared frustration without offering much practical help. She wanted a space where women could connect, be ambitious, talk honestly about challenges, and work through them together.

That led her to create Drive Her Forward, which she says is not limited to women in automotive. The work is aimed at women in leadership or women who want to grow, and she also describes leadership as something people can practice in their own lives.

She says building her business has been a major part of her own development, and that entrepreneurship has been a deep process of learning who she is. She notes that managing the highs and lows of business is an important skill and that having community helps make challenges easier to handle.

HIGHLIGHTS:

0:26 From Cars to Coaching

6:00 Building Women’s Leadership

11:02 Self-Care Through Entrepreneurship

15:48 Imposter Syndrome and Growth

19:16 Fitness as Mental Health

26:05 Build Your Life by Design

connect with Katie

website: https://www.driveherforward.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/driveherforward

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INNOVATION AVENUE: Fitness and Self-Care Revolution

Alison talks with Javier Gutierrez, a former professional baseball player who now works with clients on strength training and overall fitness. The discuss his athletic background and how his own experience in sports shaped his approach to training and coaching.

The conversation focuses on what getting stronger means over time and how strength is not only about appearance, but about supporting daily life, staying active, and maintaining quality of life as we age. They also discuss how training goals change with age, including recovery, movement quality, and preserving the ability to do the activities we want to keep doing.

They also talk about the importance of balance, stability, coordination, endurance, and full-range movement. Javier shares examples from his clients, including older adults who want to keep hiking, traveling, and moving safely. Included, how strength can help with daily tasks such as getting in and out of cars, lifting luggage, and playing with grandchildren.

Javier covers practical ways to stay consistent, including walking, adding small bouts of movement during the day, and not missing too many days in a row. He also explains his view that shorter workouts can still be effective, and that recovery, stress, sleep, and nutrition all matter for progress.

HIGHLIGHTS:

3:16 What Strength Really Means

5:44 Strength Beyond the Gym

9:36 Recovery and Active Movement

14:58 Simple Consistency Wins

18:27 Staying Consistent Long Term

20:09 Online Coaching and Accountability

23:14 Health Is a Smart Investment

connect with Javier

website: https://www.javiergutierrez.net

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INNOVATION AVENUE: Fitness and Self-Care Revolution

Alison welcomes Katie Kirklin, a registered nurse and certified functional nutrition counselor who is also training in nervous system regulation. The discussion focuses on digestive health and gut health, with an emphasis on both the science behind the topic and practical steps listeners can apply.

Katie shares her personal health history and describes developing health problems in her teens and 20s, trying different diets and medications, and feeling that standard approaches did not address underlying causes.

She then explains a major turning point in 2020 when an abnormal Pap smear and biopsy showed moderate cervical lesions. After choosing to make diet and lifestyle changes and working with a naturopath, she later received clear results, which led her to learn about functional nutrition and the idea of addressing root causes rather than isolated symptoms.

The discussion moves to gut health and Katie explains that gut health affects nutrient absorption, the microbiome, and the gut lining. She describes leaky gut as increased permeability in the gut lining, which can allow proteins and pathogens into the bloodstream and contribute to inflammation.

Katie identifies common inflammatory factors, including highly processed seed oils, ultra-processed foods, processed sugar, gluten for some people, and dairy for some people. She recommends reading ingredient lists rather than front labels and gradually increasing whole foods to crowd out processed foods.

Alison and Katie also discuss the importance of individualized nutrition and reintroduction after elimination, since the gut microbiome benefits from diversity. Katie emphasizes that different people can respond differently to the same foods.

They also cover the gut-brain connection. Katie describes the vagus nerve as a two-way communication pathway between the brain and gut and notes that most of the body’s serotonin is produced in the gut. She says these connections help explain why digestion, mood, sleep, and overall health are linked.

In her client work, Katie starts with blood sugar balance, sleep, digestion, hydration, movement, and fiber intake. She recommends tracking food, symptoms, and bowel movements, and suggests beginning with a nourishing whole-food breakfast to support stable energy and better choices throughout the day.

HIGHLIGHTS:

4:03 Functional Nutrition Journey

7:29 What Gut Health Means

10:47 Gut Inflammation Triggers

14:58 Understanding Leaky Gut

18:59 Body Systems Connected

27:43 Start With Breakfast

connect with Katie

website: https://www.katiekirklin.com

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INNOVATION AVENUE: Fitness and Self-Care Revolution

Barbara McAfee, a vocal coach and author, joins Alison to talk about the importance of using our voice and how voice connects to communication, self-expression, and wholeness. Their discussion focuses on why many people feel held back by their voice and what can help them speak with more clarity and confidence.

They start with the layers that can shape how we use our voice, including family messages, cultural expectations, past criticism, trauma, secrecy, and perfectionism. They also talk about how people may feel their voice does not matter or that they are not ready to speak.

Barbara shares her framework of four vocal qualities: earth, fire, water, metal, and air. She explains how different tones can be useful in different situations, such as setting boundaries, speaking with tenderness, projecting without strain, or telling stories and introducing new ideas.

Alison and Barbara also cover voice as a form of self-care. Barbara suggests playful ways to open up the voice, including pretending to be characters, voicing yawns, reading children’s books aloud, and listening to a playlist of singers with different vocal styles. She explains that these practices can help people expand their range and feel more at ease using their voice.

HIGHLIGHTS:

3:35 Stories Behind Our Voice

5:57 The Four Vocal Elements

10:25 Voice as Self-Care

12:51 Why We Hold Back

14:33 Simple Voice Exercises

connect with Barbara

website: https://www.barbaramcafee.com

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INNOVATION AVENUE: Fitness and Self-Care Revolution

Alison's guest, entrepreneur George Rivera, discusses how years of building businesses left him overworked and disconnected from his family, and how a comment from his dying father made him realize he was repeating the same pattern with his own son.

He says the change did not happen immediately. Although he recognized the problem, it took about three years before he fully restructured his life. He was working long hours and became the main bottleneck in the business and describes realizing that he needed to stop doing tasks he did not like and focus on what he did best.

Rivera says redesigning his business changed both his schedule and his family life. He reduced his workweek from about 90 hours to no more than 30, and says his income more than doubled. He also says he was able to keep his commitment to not missing his son’s games.

George also describes creating spaces for men to talk about stress and family issues, and shares advice for founders to cut unnecessary work, automate repetitive tasks, and delegate outcomes. He says money can be made again, but time with children cannot be recovered.

HIGHLIGHTS:

2:38 Legacy Sparks a Change

6:06 Redesigning for Freedom

11:05 The Come-to-Jesus Moment

18:47 Simple Steps to Freedom

21:08 Time Is Irreplaceable

connect with George

website: https://founderdadtables.com

Before They Stop Asking (book): https://beforetheystopasking.com

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INNOVATION AVENUE: Fitness and Self-Care Revolution