What if the thing you’ve been calling strength is actually keeping you stuck?

In this episode of Visionary Womenpreneurs, Donna Lynn Price sits down with Barb Varci Smith — trauma recovery educator, therapist, speaker, and creator of The Ascendance Method™ — to explore one of the most important concepts high-achieving women need to understand: Fake Resilience™.

Fake Resilience™ isn’t weakness. It’s actually a sign of how capable you are. But when achievement, productivity, perfectionism, and caretaking become survival strategies rather than genuine wellbeing — something has to shift.

Barb brings over two decades of experience and a unique systems-thinking background to make complex trauma concepts practical, relatable, and actionable. She believes — deeply — that one healed adult can change generations.

If you’ve ever wondered “If I’m doing so well, why do I still feel stuck?” — this conversation is for you.

In this powerful conversation, Donna and Barb unpack why so many high-functioning women feel exhausted and disconnected despite outward success — and what to do about it.

Barb introduces Fake Resilience™ — the hidden survival pattern that masquerades as strength — and walks us through the 5 Pillars of Self from The Ascendance Method™: inner strength, self-love, wisdom, intuition, and purpose. She explains why trauma isn’t what happened to you but how you adapted in response, and how understanding those adaptations is often the missing link between awareness and lasting transformation.

The conversation also touches on Barb’s background in technology and systems thinking, the Steps of Ascendance™ framework, and her vision for a movement that creates healing ripple effects across families, communities, and generations.

This is an episode about coming home to yourself — and building a life and business from that place.

3 Key Lessons

1. Fake Resilience™ Is Not a Character Flaw — It’s a Survival Strategy. The women who look the most capable from the outside are often the ones most quietly running on empty. Fake Resilience™ shows up as exhaustion, numbness, overthinking, perfectionism, and hyper-independence — and it’s so normalized in high-achieving women that most don’t recognize it. Authentic resilience feels different. It comes with energy, joy, and alignment.

2. Trauma Is an Explanation, Not an Excuse. Trauma isn’t what happened to you. It’s how you adapted in response. Those adaptations were intelligent — they kept you safe. But they’re running on outdated programming, and until you understand them, they keep driving the show. By restoring the 5 Pillars of Self — inner strength, self-love, wisdom, intuition, and purpose — women move from juggling survival strategies to living and leading with genuine agency.

3. One Healed Adult Can Change Generations. The ripple effect of one person’s healing is extraordinary. When you shift your own patterns, the impact extends beyond you — into your relationships, your parenting, your clients, your community, and the generations that follow.

Connect with Barb:

Website: ⁠https://your-steps.co.uk⁠

Podcast: Way Out of Childhood Trauma

Upcoming Book: Purposeful Parenting: Applying the Ascendance Method™ to Family Life

Are you a woman entrepreneur who’s been doing all the right things but the growth just isn’t coming? Sometimes what looks like a business problem is actually an alignment problem.

Grab the free Business Growth & Profits Field Guide and find exactly where the gaps are. ➡️ ⁠compassroseconsulting.com/field-guide⁠

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Chart Your Path. Build Your Legacy.

I've been gone from this podcast for a couple of years. And the reason I stepped away? It turns out it's exactly what this show — and everything I'm building — has evolved into.

In this relaunch episode I get real about what happened: caring for my mom through her battle with breast cancer, a major pivot toward cycling, nearly shutting down Compass Rose Consulting entirely — and what stopped me. Plus what's new inside the Business Growth Compass framework, why I rebuilt the leadership section from scratch, and what to expect from the show going forward.

If you've ever tried something that just didn't feel right in your body — and kept doing it anyway — this episode is for you.

IN THIS EPISODE:
— Why I almost closed Compass Rose Consulting for good
— What my own compass told me when I was ready to walk away
— The complete rebuild of the Business Growth Compass framework
— What's inside the Business Growth Hub and three monthly calls
— What's coming up on Visionary Womenpreneurs

👉 Watch the free YOUR WAY training — Why There Is No ONE Way to Business Success:
compassroseconsulting.com/yourway2

🧭 Join the Business Growth Hub — monthly coaching, live calls, and a community of women building their businesses their way:
compassroseconsulting.com/hub

📅 Book a Compass Clarity Call:
compassroseconsulting.com/clarity-call

📘 Get the free Business Growth & Profits Field Guide:
compassroseconsulting.com/field-guide

👥 Join the free Women's Business Growth Project community:
facebook.com/groups/businessgrowthproject

🌐 compassroseconsulting.com
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💼 linkedin.com/in/donnalynnprice
📸 @donnalynnprice

👍 Like this episode if it resonated
💬 Tell me below: what made YOU keep going when you thought about walking away?
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#VisionaryWomenpreneurs #WomenEntrepreneurs #BusinessGrowthCompass #YourWay #CompassRoseConsulting #WomenInBusiness #BusinessCoach #PodcastRelaunch #ChartYourPath

What does it take to see a problem so clearly you simply cannot walk away from it? For Sherri Combs, it happened in a swimming pool — and in one moment, she saw the entire vision for Silver Streak Senior Services: the logo, the framework, the platform. All of it, fully formed.

Sherri is an award-winning entrepreneur, bestselling author, and senior advocate who spent a decade as a private banker watching seniors and their families navigate a fragmented, fraud-riddled landscape with no trusted guide. Scams were everywhere. Referral lists went stale. Lead-selling platforms turned vulnerable people into targets. Families in crisis were Googling their way through one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives — and finding confusion instead of help.

So, she built something different. A nationwide vetted platform connecting seniors, caregivers, and the businesses that serve them with honesty, integrity, and heart. Every business on Silver Streak has passed criminal background checks, licensing and insurance verification, and reputation reviews. No shortcuts. No lead selling. No compromising the people she built this for.

Three developers told her it couldn't be done. She sat down, learned to code, and proved them wrong.

And she didn't stop there. Sherri also founded the Silver Streak Foundation — a nonprofit dedicated to fraud awareness and prevention education for senior communities nationwide. She delivers training through senior centers, Rotary clubs, and community organizations, teaching seniors and caregivers how to recognize and stop scams before they cause harm.

In this episode we cover:

• The swimming pool moment when the entire vision arrived at once — logo, framework, and all
• Why the current way we search for senior services is fragmented, broken, and dangerous
• How Silver Streak vets every business on the platform: background checks, licensing, insurance, and reputation reviews
• Three web developers, one determined founder, and what she did when they said it couldn't be built
• Her four-step Silver Streak It framework for scam protection: Pause, Verify, Reach Out, Delete
• The Just In Case Plan: why aging planning matters as much as estate planning — and the conversation every family needs to have before the crisis hits
• How Silver Streak is funded: membership fees as low as $1 for seniors, free for veterans and first responders, with proceeds donated to the nonprofit
• The seven-phase vision for where Silver Streak is going — and why she's not waiting to get started

3 Things You'll Take Away

1. Your vision is your protection. Three developers told Sherri it couldn't be done. Her clarity about what she was building — and her refusal to settle for anything less — is what kept her moving. When you know what you're building and why, obstacles become detours, not dead ends.
2. Integrity is a business model. Silver Streak isn't free to list on because free platforms can't be trusted. The vetting process is the product. When safety and trust are your differentiators, you build differently — and that's exactly the point.
3. Plan for the aging, not just the dying. Most families have a funeral plan. Very few have an aging plan. The Just In Case Plan fills that gap — and the conversation Sherri teaches us to have is one every family needs.

Connect with Sherri: silverstreakseniorservices.com | Facebook: Don't Fall for It! Silver Streak It | Don't Fall For It! SILVER STREAK IT! Scam Awareness Group |

Book: https://silverstreakseniorservices.com/book info@silverstreakseniorservices.com | 888-478-2885

Resources from Donna: Field Guide: compassroseconsulting.com/field-guide

YOUR WAY Training: compassroseconsulting.com/yourway

Business Growth Hub: compassroseconsulting.com/hub

Clarity Call: compassroseconsulting.com/clarity-call

In this episode, I sit down with Stephanie Wood to discuss the importance of self-care for business owners. Stephanie shares insights from her body knowledge system and provides valuable practices to help womenpreneurs prioritize their well-being.

Are you wondering why self-care is such a big deal for business owners? Do you find yourself overwhelmed by the long list of self-care techniques?

In this thought-provoking episode, Donna Price and guest Stephanie Wood dive deep into the topic of self-care and its impact on business success. Prepare to shift your perspective and gain practical strategies to prioritize your well-being as a womenpreneur.

Stephanie Wood is a self-care expert and the creator of the body knowledge system. With her extensive experience, she helps womenpreneurs establish a strong and harmonious relationship with their bodies. In this conversation, Stephanie highlights the significance of listening to your body's intelligence and harnessing its wisdom to thrive in your entrepreneurial journey.

Throughout the episode, we explore the various challenges womenpreneurs face in incorporating self-care into their busy schedules. We discuss the misconceptions regarding self-care and clarify its role in creating a more fulfilling and successful business. Stephanie introduces her unique practice of having conversations with your body, enabling you to establish a supportive and collaborative relationship that nurtures both your physical and mental well-being.

Here are three key lessons from this episode:

1. Self-care is essential for business owners: Taking care of yourself allows you to show up as your best self for your clients and business.

2. Starting with a relationship with your body: Cultivating a strong connection and communication with your body is the foundation for effective self-care practices.

3. Identifying your body style: By identifying your dominant body style, you can approach business challenges with more confidence and clarity.

Ready to prioritize your self-care and enhance your entrepreneurial journey?

Learn more by visiting https://bodyawe.com for additional resources, and be sure to take the check-in: https://www.bodyawe.com/body-confidence-check-in/ to discover your body style.

Connect with Stephanie Wood and explore her body knowledge system on her website https://bodyawe.com .

Remember, self-care is not a luxury; it is an investment in your personal and business success.

Take the first step by connecting with your body and unleashing your full potential as a womenpreneur.

Connect with Stephanie at:

Body Awe: https://bodyawe.com

Take Stephanie's quick and insightful four-style assessment on her website, bodyaw.com, to gain a deeper understanding of your body style. https://www.bodyawe.com/body-confidence-check-in/

Body Confidence Coach
Author: Body Knowledge System(R) An Awesome Intelligence
Podcast series at: https://bodyconfidenceradio.podbean.com

Check out the show page at CompassRoseConsulting.com/Radio

#VisionaryWomenpreneursPodcast #SelfCareMatters #BodyKnowledgeSystem #EntrepreneurMindset #UnlockYourPotential

Embark on a captivating journey of self-discovery and embrace the power of playfulness in this episode of the Visionary Womenpreneur's Podcast.

Join host Donna Price as she delves into a thought-provoking conversation with Nicole Wittauer, a visionary artist and expert in utilizing play as a tool for personal growth and connecting with one's authentic self. Discover the untapped potential of your inner creativity and learn how to navigate your entrepreneurial path with joy and inspiration.

Show Notes:What if the key to unlocking your true potential as a womenpreneur lies in embracing the power of play? In this episode, Nicole Wittauer, an acclaimed artist and play enthusiast, takes us on a journey of self-discovery and shares her insights on the transformative impact of playfulness. With a unique blend of artistry and coaching, Nicole helps individuals explore their inner creativity and tap into their subconscious minds to unlock new levels of inspiration.

In this enlightening conversation, Nicole reveals the profound impact art can have on connecting with one's conscious and subconscious mind. She shares the story of her own artistic journey and discusses the creation of maps to visualize complex ideas, offering a powerful tool to simplify and communicate intricate concepts effectively. Nicole's focus on embracing playfulness without fear of failure resonates deeply, as she encourages womenpreneurs to give themselves permission to explore and experiment, surrounded by supportive playmates who nourish their growth.

Throughout the episode, three key lessons emerge:

1. The Power of Play: Nicole explores how play can help us reconnect with our inner knowledge and wisdom, fostering exploration, experimentation, and finding solutions. Discover how to infuse playfulness into your entrepreneurial journey for a more fulfilling and aligned life experience.

2. Embracing the Unknown: By surrendering control and letting go of preconceived notions, Nicole reveals how we can float and regain a sense of control over our emotional well-being. Learn the paradoxical yet fascinating concept of embracing the unexpected and the importance of staying open to new experiences.

3. Transforming Identities: Nicole invites us to examine the identities we have assumed and question whether they truly reflect our authentic selves. By transforming these identities and finding gratitude for the lessons learned, personal growth becomes possible. Explore the power of multiple passions and pathways and see how unlikely combinations can lead to exceptional outcomes.

Take action today and immerse yourself in the inspiring wisdom of Nicole Wittauer as you journey towards unleashing your full potential as a visionary womenpreneur.

Connect with Nicole and experience the power of play through her websites and resources.

Website: [NicoleWittauer.com]

Resources: [NicoleWittauer.com/resources]

Join us on this episode of the Visionary Womenpreneur's Podcast, as Nicole Wittauer empowers us to embrace playfulness and explore our authentic selves on the path to success. Don't miss out on the transformative insights and actionable strategies offered in this captivating conversation. Tune in now!

Pick up your copy of the Visionary Womenpreneur's Field Guide at: https://compassroseconsulting.com/field-guide

In this episode of the Visionary Womenpreneur's Podcast, host Donna Price invites guest Deberah Bringelson to discuss the power of shifting our beliefs and energy to create positive outcomes in our lives. Deberah shares her insights and experiences in understanding quantum physics and how it relates to our daily lives. She emphasizes the importance of recognizing negative beliefs and feelings of inadequacy that can control our actions and limit our success.

Through her work, Deberah has helped numerous individuals overcome these barriers and achieve incredible results. Join us as we explore the fascinating world of energy and the transformative power it holds.

Key Lessons from this Episode:

1. Understanding the Power of Energy: Learn how everything in the universe is energy and waves of energy, and how shifting our beliefs from perceiving something as solid to perceiving it as waves can lead to different outcomes.

2. The Four Components of Your Point of Power: Discover the importance of understanding the four components of your point of power and how they contribute to making positive changes in your life.

3. Shifting Energy and Frequency for Success: Explore how shifting your energy and frequency can help you achieve success, confidence, and personal power.

4. Addressing Buried Beliefs and Emotions: Uncover the hidden beliefs and emotions that may be controlling your life and learn how to release them to regain control and create a life of abundance.

5. Treating the Whole Individual: Understand the importance of treating people as whole individuals with whole lives, beyond just business success, and the profound impact it can have on their overall well-being.

Learn more about Deberah Bringelson and her work by visiting Visionary Womenpreneur's Podcast: https://compassroseconsulting.com/visionary-womenpreneurs-radio-with-deberah-bringelson/

Connect with Deberah Bringelson and explore her resources:

• Her Billion Dollar CEO Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebilliondollarceo

• Deberah’s website - https://QuantumResultsFormula.com for her free gift

Don't miss this insightful episode filled with inspiration and practical tips for harnessing the power of energy and shifting your beliefs for success. Tune in now on Visionary Womenpreneur’s Podcast

No time to listen -- here is the recap page:

TIMESTAMPS

{00:03:06} Abusive childhood leads to a transformative journey.

{00:05:15} Quantum physics + metaphysics = success, no math needed.

{00:08:19} Game called "What's under that?" uncovers root issues; removes control from negative beliefs.

{00:11:45} Mindset control beliefs and emotions determine outcomes.

{00:15:58} Daily bombardment of messages reinforcing inadequacy.

{00:19:10} Understanding your point of power, shifting energy. Gift for listeners: guided processes to shift energetically.

{00:22:58} "Everything is energy, proven by science experiments."

{00:27:05} Whole person, stress, health, business, cancer, healing

{00:30:26} Teach people to let go, have fun.

In this episode, I talk with Lisa Wilson about leadership and the foundations of good leadership for small companies.

Lisa Wilson, Previously Human Resources Leader in large organizations such as Magna International, is now bringing the opportunity to small to medium sized companies. Lisa is a co-author of 2 best-selling books has now authored her first solo book “Leading with Ease”. Lisa holds a Bachelor of Business, is a Certified Human Resources Leader and hold a certificate in Advanced Dispute Resolution. Lisa has had the opportunity to lead in both the workplace and through her volunteer activities. Lisa supports leaders so they can take their teams to amazing heights, find out how.

Visit https://lmwcoaching.ca/free-books

TRIGGER WARNING: In this episode I'm talking with a trauma survivor about their history and recovery. Suicide, child abuse, and PTSD are common themes.
This episode covers a difficult topic and parts of the conversation may be hard to listen to, but so important. Amanda's story is one of incredible courage, resilience and inspiration.

Amanda Blackwood is an accomplished artist and author, public speaker, podcast host, trauma recovery mentor and a survivor of human trafficking. A portion of every book sale goes to help fight human trafficking. Amanda lives in Denver, Colorado with her rescue cats and supportive husband who keep her sane. "When I managed to escape human trafficking, I was left with mental and physical scars for many years. The anger wouldn't fade until I learned the truth about who I was, what forgiveness really means, and how to finally let go of the past. So let's have a discussion about the power of forgiveness, and why it doesn't mean what we've been made to think it does."

Amanda is the author of the Growth From Darkness Series with the first book available now: https://growthfromdarkness.com/workbooks

Other books that we discussed are available on her website: https://growthfromdarkness.com/amandas-books

Amanda also co-hosts a podcast "Detailed Pieces" https://growthfromdarkness.com/podcast

Contact host Donna Price at: https://CompassRoseConsulting.com