Congruent with Lisa Carpenter | The truth beneath success. Why it never feels like enough.

• The Hidden Cost of Financial Control: Why Successful Women Still Feel Broke with Lisa Chastain

  You've done everything right. The degree, the career, the salary that finally exceeds what your parents made. You're checking all the boxes. But if you're honest, you still feel broke. Not because your bank account is empty, but because you never feel safe with money. You're controlling, budgeting, tracking every dollar, and somehow it still doesn't feel like enough. That constant financial anxiety? That's not about your numbers. It's about the unworthiness conversation running underneath every money decision you make. Lisa Chastain grew up blue-collar on a dirt road in Las Vegas, watching her dad never make more than $60,000 a year. She did what good girls do: got the degree, landed the job with the 401k and health insurance, bought a house at 24, married at 25, had her kid at 28. She was winning. Until she wasn't. When her husband lost his job nine months after she left her career to stay home, everything unraveled. The $100,000 in her 401k? Drained trying to hold it all together and start her financial advisor business. The perfect marriage? Hiding active addiction and chaos. The life that looked so good from the outside? Completely unsustainable on the inside. Lisa spent years trying to control her way to safety—budgeting harder, fixing her husband, making herself smaller, believing if she just did more, it would finally feel secure. But control was never the answer. The real work was healing the "not enough" conversation that made her use money to prove her worth, use debt to fill voids that weren't fillable with things, and stay in toxic situations because leaving felt like failure. Through divorce, a public rebound relationship with another addict, and what she calls her "come to Jesus moment," Lisa rebuilt her entire relationship with money. She stopped budgeting. She redefined success beyond bank account balances. She learned to use debt strategically instead of shamefully. And she made it her mission to help other women do the same—because financial shame keeps successful women stuck in scarcity longer than actual money problems ever could. Today, Lisa is a nationally recognized personal finance coach, bestselling author of Stop Budgeting, Start Living, host of The Real Money Podcast, and the woman teaching thousands of women how to stop controlling money and start trusting themselves with it.   In this raw, vulnerable conversation, Lisa reveals: Why budgeting is actually a control mechanism designed to keep women feeling ashamed of their financial decisions (and what to do instead) The hidden cost of financial control: how trying to manage every dollar keeps you feeling broke no matter how much you make Why debt isn't the problem—the unworthiness conversation driving your spending is How men are championed for using debt strategically while women are shamed for having $5,000 on a credit card The real reason successful women still live paycheck to paycheck despite good salaries: they're banking out of emotion, not data Why money amplifies who you already are (and what happens when you put money on top of an "unworthy" story) How to build self-trust with money through financial forecasting instead of white-knuckling a budget The generational shame women carry around money ownership and decision-making (and why it wasn't even legal for women to own their own accounts until less than 100 years ago) What redefining success actually looks like when you stop attaching it to external markers The exact moment Lisa realized she was the problem—and also the solution   This episode is for you if you've ever: Done everything "right" financially but still feel like you're one emergency away from falling apart Felt successful on paper but broke in your nervous system—constantly anxious about money no matter what your bank account says Controlled and budgeted your way through life only to realize you still don't feel safe with money Carried shame about debt, spending decisions, or financial mistakes that men would be championed for taking Made good money but somehow still felt like it was never enough Used spending or debt to fill a void that wasn't actually fillable with things Known you should feel more financially secure than you do, but the anxiety won't go away Realized you're trying to control money because you don't trust yourself with it   Guest Bio Lisa Chastain is a nationally recognized Personal Finance Coach and bestselling author with over 20 years of experience helping women take control of their money. Featured in CNBC, O – The Oprah Magazine, Fortune, Business Insider, and Forbes, Lisa is known for her fresh, no-shame approach to financial empowerment. After burning through $100,000 and nearly going broke, she rebuilt her life and made it her mission to help women fix their finances—without rigid budgets. In 2016, she launched her coaching business to teach women how to track money intentionally, invest wisely, and create sustainable wealth. Today, she's the host of The Real Money Podcast and the bestselling author of Stop Budgeting, Start Living, which challenges outdated money rules and inspires financial confidence. Lisa's work focuses on money mindset, leadership, and financial emotional intelligence, guiding clients and organizations to achieve long-term stability and freedom. She has been featured in Cosmopolitan, NBC News, MSN Money, Fortune, and Entrepreneur Magazine, and was named one of Las Vegas Women Magazine's "People to Watch." Find Lisa: Website: lisachastain.com Podcast: The Real Money Podcast: https://lisachastain.com/podcast/ Book: Stop Budgeting, Start Living: Transform Your Money Mindset, Transform Your Life (available on Amazon) Instagram: @realmoneywithlisa  90-Day Money Bootcamp launching quarterly 4-Day Intensive Healing Retreats   Ready to stop controlling money and start trusting yourself with it? If Lisa's story hit close to home, it's because you're carrying the same pattern: doing everything right, checking all the boxes, making good money, but still feeling broke, unsafe, and like it's never enough. Here's the truth: That anxiety isn't about your bank account balance. It's about the unworthiness conversation running underneath every financial decision you make. The shame you carry about debt. The belief that if you just budget harder, control tighter, manage better, you'll finally feel safe. But control is never the answer. Self-trust is. You're exhausted from white-knuckling your way through your financial life. You're collapsing into bed at night, mind racing about money, even though objectively you're doing fine. You snap at your partner about spending. You feel guilty every time you buy something for yourself. You've built a life that looks successful on the outside, but inside it doesn't feel congruent. The Congruency Audit is where we look at the gap between the financial success you've built on the outside and what you're actually feeling on the inside. We'll identify the exact patterns keeping you stuck in financial control instead of self-trust, the wounds driving your relationship with money, and what it's going to take for you to finally create success that feels as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. This isn't about budgeting harder. This isn't about more spreadsheets. This is about healing the "not enough" story that's been running your financial life since childhood—so you can finally step into the version of you who trusts herself with money, makes decisions from abundance instead of scarcity, and redefines success on your own terms. Book your Congruency Audit: lisacarpenter.ca/audit If you listen on Spotify:  Open the Spotify app on your phone. Search for Lisa Carpenter and open her podcast page. Tap the three dots under the podcast description. Choose Rate show from the menu. Select your star rating and tap Submit.

  --------  

  48:51

  --------

  48:51
• When Being Strong and Capable Becomes Your Prison: Learning to Soften Without Losing Your Edge with Manja Horner

  What if your greatest strength is actually your prison? What if the capability everyone admires, the drive that built your success, the resilience that got you through everything, is the very thing keeping you exhausted, overwhelmed, and unable to let anything be easy? Manja Horner learned early that she couldn't be a bother. With an older sister battling cancer and parents stretched beyond capacity, four-year-old Manja absorbed a profound lesson: be strong, be capable, never add to the burden. That pattern of over-functioning became her operating system, driving her to perfectionism, straight A's, a full-ride scholarship, and eventually a high-powered corporate career at BMO's Institute for Learning. On the outside, Manja was killing it. Executive track. Great salary. Respect. Security. But when she was asked to pour months of her life into a project she didn't believe in, something shifted. She walked away from the comfort, the salary, the stability, because her integrity mattered more than her safety. She sold a rental property to fund her business, had three small kids, and her husband, a police officer whose core values are security and stability, watched his wife blow up their predictable life. Fast forward to today: Manja runs a thriving learning and development company serving the skilled trades industry, she's pioneering AI applications to capture retiring tradespeople's wisdom, she's writing a book, raising three kids, doing somatic therapy, acupuncture, and EMDR to heal childhood wounds. She's accomplished, capable, and deeply successful. And her biggest challenge? Learning that ease is safe. Learning to soften without losing her edge. Learning that she doesn't have to make everything uncomfortable just because comfort feels dangerous. In this raw, vulnerable conversation, Manja reveals: The hidden cost of learning "don't be a bother" as a child and how it shows up as chronic over-functioning in adulthood Why perfectionism isn't about excellence, it's about not being judged (and how she's learning to iterate instead) The moment she walked away from corporate security because integrity mattered more than safety, and what that cost her marriage How being "intimidating" is often just armor for women who never learned they're allowed to take up space Why driven, ambitious women gravitate toward discomfort because ease actually doesn't feel safe in their nervous system The somatic reality of high-functioning freeze and what it takes to finally soften How therapy, EMDR, and the Big Leap helped her expand her capacity for joy, ease, and contentment Why "it is what it is" is a cop-out sentence that keeps you stuck in patterns you could actually change What it means to be the strong, capable one everyone relies on while quietly crumbling under the weight of your own standards The marriage work required when one partner's core value is security and the other can't stop shaking the cage This episode is for you if you've ever: Been told you're intimidating when you're just trying to belong Left a room wondering if you were "too much" or took up too much space Walked away from security because staying would have cost you your integrity Found yourself making things harder than they need to be because ease feels unsafe Collapsed into bed exhausted while your mind races through tomorrow's to-do list Snapped at the people you love most after a long day of holding it together for everyone else Wondered why you can't just relax, chill out, or enjoy the success you've built Been praised for your strength while secretly feeling trapped by your own capability Known you're over-functioning but can't figure out how to stop without everything falling apart Guest Bio Manja Horner is a learning experience strategist and trusted advisor to companies who want to transform their business with training and team procedures and processes in a seamless, digital and easy-to-implement system. As founder of Boost, she's on a mission to create amazing employee experiences and get results for leaders in the skilled trades. She helps clients in the skilled trades and construction create inspiring, enriching, and all-encompassing experiences for better employee retention, integration, and education. Manja is also the author of the forthcoming book Passing the Torch in the Trades and a former corporate learning executive at a leading financial institution who left security to build a business rooted in integrity and impact. Find Manja on: Instagram: @Manja_horner LinkedIn Boost   Ready to stop making everything harder than it needs to be? If Manja's story landed, it's because you recognize yourself in it. You're strong, capable, the one everyone turns to. You've built something impressive. But you're exhausted. You can't remember the last time something felt easy. And the idea of softening, of allowing ease, of not carrying it all? It terrifies you because doing feels safer than being. Here's what nobody tells you: Your strength isn't the problem. Your capability isn't the problem. The problem is that you learned a long time ago that being a burden wasn't safe, so you became the opposite. You became the rock. And now you're carrying weight that was never yours to carry. The Congruency Audit is where we look at the gap between the success you've built on the outside and the exhaustion you're feeling on the inside. We'll identify the exact patterns keeping you stuck in over-functioning, the childhood wounds driving your need to never be a bother, and what it's going to take for you to finally create success that feels as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. This isn't about doing more or being better. This is about learning that ease is safe. That softening doesn't mean losing your edge. That you can be strong AND allow support. That you can be capable AND let things be easy. Book your Congruency Audit: lisacarpenter.ca/audit This isn't about optimizing the version of yourself you built to survive. It's about creating congruence so the life you've built doesn't just look good, it finally feels right.   If you listen on Spotify:  Open the Spotify app on your phone. Search for Lisa Carpenter and open her podcast page. Tap the three dots under the podcast description. Choose Rate show from the menu. Select your star rating and tap Submit.

  --------  

  53:25

  --------

  53:25
• The Hidden Cost of Watching Your Mom Overwork with Emma Jory

  You're over-giving because you're terrified no one will see your value. You know you're doing it. You're even aware it's exhausting you. But awareness without understanding why you do it? That just fuels the shame cycle. Emma came to this coaching session with a question about imposter syndrome. Twenty-five years of teaching, consistently getting great results with her clients, and still doubting whether she's doing enough or good enough. Still uncomfortable asking for money. Still over-giving in every session because maybe, just maybe, if she gives enough, they'll finally see her value. But here's what I don't coach to: I don't coach to imposter syndrome. I coach to the operating system underneath producing that symptom. Within minutes, we uncovered what was really running the show. Emma watched her mom overwork her entire childhood. Watched her put herself last, neglect her health, tie her worth to productivity, and never value herself. Emma loved her mom. So she learned this is what you do. You work until you're exhausted. You give until there's nothing left. You prove your value through doing. And now, decades later, Emma's middle-aged, looking in the mirror, and seeing her mom staring back at her.   In this coaching episode, you'll hear me guide Emma through: Why she's been working so hard to get her clients' acceptance and what part of her is driving that hustle for approval The exact moment she realized she's been modeling her mom's pattern of tying worth to productivity without even knowing she picked it up How loving someone who couldn't value themselves creates an unconscious loyalty to suffering—and why it feels like betrayal to treat yourself better than they treated themselves The practice of emotional neutrality when asking for money so she can witness the discomfort without letting it run her choices Why "I want more money" and "I want freedom" are abstract goals that keep high-achievers trapped in chasing their tail instead of actually creating what they want How to stop recreating your parent's life and become the conscious creator of your own by getting crystal clear on your values and boundaries The tool for parenting the part of you that innocently picked up misinformed stories about your value—so you can take different action even while feeling uncomfortable This episode is for you if: You've built success but still feel like you have to over-give to prove your value You're aware of your patterns but can't seem to change them, which just makes you feel more shame You watched a parent sacrifice themselves through overwork and now you're doing the same thing You're uncomfortable asking for money even though you deliver exceptional results You chase "more money" or "freedom" but never feel like you're actually getting there You want to understand what it's like to work with a Master Coach who sees the operating system underneath your surface symptoms This is what it sounds like to work with a coach who doesn't address what you think the problem is. I go after the beliefs and identity driving the behavior. If you've been telling yourself it's just imposter syndrome when it's actually about worthiness, tune in.   Ready to explore your own patterns? What pattern are you repeating that you watched growing up? What are you getting from over-giving, from tying your worth to productivity, from staying exhausted, that you won't admit? Emma came in thinking we'd coach on imposter syndrome. But the real work was uncovering the operating system underneath that was running her life. And I'm willing to bet there's an operating system running yours too. If you're done perpetuating the suffering, if you're ready to stop recreating what you watched and start becoming the conscious creator of your own life, book a free Congruency Audit with my team at lisacarpenter.ca/audit. We'll identify what's working, what's out of sync, and the single biggest opportunity to bring your life, work, and self back into congruence. What pattern are you ready to stop repeating?   Connect with Lisa: Website: lisacarpenter.ca Podcast: lisacarpenter.ca/podcast Coaching + Retreats: lisacarpenter.ca/coachingretreat   If you listen on Spotify:  Open the Spotify app on your phone. Search for Lisa Carpenter and open her podcast page. Tap the three dots under the podcast description. Choose Rate show from the menu. Select your star rating and tap Submit.  

  --------  

  39:17

  --------

  39:17
• The Cost of Playing Small: What Happens When Making Things Look Perfect Keeps You From Being Real with Sarah Albritton

  You've built something impressive. From the outside, it all looks good. But if you're honest with yourself, you've been playing small. Making things look perfect so no one sees the truth underneath. Smiling through the exhaustion. Saying "I'm just" when someone recognizes your power. Shrinking yourself so others feel comfortable. Today's guest knows this pattern intimately because she lived it for years. Sarah Albritton has spent over 30 years as the trusted catalyst for high-impact leaders who've achieved massive success but know something's still missing. She works with CEOs, founders, and senior executives who look unstoppable from the outside yet privately feel their compass spinning. Her clients include billion-dollar business leaders and visionary founders who've realized the old playbook isn't working anymore. But before she was coaching the world's most accomplished leaders, Sarah was the woman who made everything look perfect while quietly crumbling inside. The high achiever with imposter syndrome who spent 20 years in a marriage where she wasn't fully present. The capable woman who carried chronic back pain because her body was screaming what she wouldn't say out loud. The leader who walked into rooms full of elite coaches and heard herself say "I'm just a coach here, just like everybody else" in that high-pitched little voice, watching doors close behind people's eyes. Until the day she couldn't keep playing small anymore. In this raw, vulnerable conversation, Sarah reveals what it actually costs to make things look perfect when you're not being real. The physical pain her body carried from years of inauthenticity. The devastating betrayal when her entire friend group turned on her during her divorce, not just walking away but actively trying to destroy her. The moment at a coaching seminar when she caught herself shrinking and made the conscious choice to show up bigger. And how learning to treat her body as her hero instead of her villain changed everything. In this conversation, Sarah shares: The real cost of playing small: how making things look perfect on the outside creates chronic pain, exhaustion, and a complete erosion of self-trust Why imposter syndrome isn't humility, it's hiding your power, and the exact moment she chose to stop shrinking What happens to your body when you spend years being inauthentic (and why her chronic back pain disappeared the moment she got real) The difference between corporate leaders who've been conditioned not to trust themselves and entrepreneurs who struggle to trust anyone else Why "who, question mark, me, exclamation point" is the energy shift that changes everything The devastating cost of betrayal and how therapy helped her see that other people's reactions to her getting real had nothing to do with her What her 15-year-old son said that made her realize the gift of getting real: "When you decided to get real, you made it possible for the rest of us to get real" How she went from chasing dean positions and status to redefining success as "not needing a definition of success" Why humans are terrible judges of their own impact and what becomes available when you stop needing proof The work she's building now: Leading with Backbone, helping both business leaders and coaches show up courageously instead of hiding behind neutrality This episode is for you if you've ever: Caught yourself saying "I'm just" when someone recognized your power or capability Made everything look perfect on the outside while quietly crumbling on the inside Felt chronic pain, exhaustion, or physical symptoms you can't explain (and wondered if your body is trying to tell you something) Played small so others would feel comfortable, then resented yourself for shrinking Built a life that looks impressive but doesn't feel real, doesn't feel like you Lost trust in yourself after betrayal and wondered if you'll ever feel safe again Known you're capable of so much more but kept yourself small to stay safe Wondered what would happen if you actually showed up as big as you really are Sarah Albritton is a transformational coach and leadership catalyst who has spent over 30 years working with the world's most accomplished leaders. She's known for her rare ability to deliver what she calls "catalytic jolts of clarity," helping CEOs, founders, and senior executives torch limiting patterns and reclaim aligned leadership. Working from deep 1:1 coaching to transformative team sessions to soul-awakening retreats at her North Carolina farm, Sarah balances self-compassion with radical candor and a refusal to sugarcoat. Her new program, Leading with Backbone, helps both business leaders and coaches show up courageously with truth. Find her at sarahcalbritton.com and on LinkedIn and Instagram @sarahcalbritton. Ready to stop playing small? If Sarah's story hit close to home, it's because you're living some version of it right now. You've built something that looks good on the outside. People think you have it together. But you know the truth. You're playing smaller than you're capable of. Making things look perfect so no one sees how exhausted you really are. Shrinking yourself so others feel comfortable while your body carries the weight of everything you're not saying. Here's what that costs you: your energy, your presence, your health, your relationships, and your ability to actually feel the success you've built. You collapse into bed exhausted but can't sleep because your mind won't stop racing. You snap at the people you love most, then feel guilty for not being present. You know you should take better care of yourself but you always run out of time and energy. You've built a life people admire but inside it doesn't feel congruent. The Congruency Audit is where we look at the gap between the success you've built on the outside and what you're actually feeling on the inside. We'll identify the exact patterns keeping you stuck in playing small, the wounds driving your need to make things look perfect, and what it's going to take for you to finally show up as big as you actually are. This isn't about optimizing the version of yourself you built to survive. It's about creating congruence so the life you've built doesn't just look good, it finally feels right. Book your Congruency Audit: lisacarpenter.ca/audit Success that feels as good on the inside as it looks on the outside.   If you listen on Spotify: Open the Spotify app on your phone. Search for Lisa Carpenter and open her podcast page. Tap the three dots under the podcast description. Choose Rate show from the menu. Select your star rating and tap Submit.

  --------  

  1:01:39

  --------

  1:01:39
• Hormone Health and The Truth About Self-Leadership

  Hormones can change how you feel, but they don't change who you are. And no prescription can fix a life built on burnout and self-abandonment. In this episode, I'm getting real about what's happening in my own body right now, hormones out of whack again, depression, anxiety, fatigue, memory loss, and a complete loss of zest for life. My get-up and go has left the building. But here's what I know: what I'm feeling is real, but it doesn't make it true. I've been on HRT for years. I take amazing care of myself physically. I work with practitioners. I've done decades of emotional work. And I'm still navigating this. Because HRT can support your symptoms, but it's not a magic bullet for all the emotional work you've been avoiding. Taking physically good care of yourself doesn't mean you've taken emotionally good care of yourself. Your hormones don't tank out of nowhere—they reflect how you've been living. The chronic stress, the over-functioning, the self-abandonment, the patterns you've normalized for so long you don't even see them anymore. This episode is for high-achieving women in perimenopause, menopause, or post-menopause who are exhausted, overwhelmed, and wondering if they're losing their minds. If you're ready to blow up your life or feeling like a victim of your own body, this conversation will challenge everything you think you know about hormone health. I break down what hormones can do, what they can't do, and the deeper self-leadership work your body is demanding you finally pay attention to. Because hormone therapy can change your chemistry, but only you can change your capacity.   Key Takeaways The critical distinction: What you're feeling is real, but it doesn't make it true. Feelings are data, not facts Why HRT isn't enough: Hormone replacement can stabilize physiology but cannot regulate your nervous system. That's your job The real cause of hormone chaos: How chronic stress, over-functioning, emotional suppression, and self-abandonment drive hormonal decline Physical vs emotional self-care: Taking physically good care of yourself doesn't mean you've taken emotionally good care of yourself Common perimenopause symptoms: Depression, anxiety, brain fog, fatigue, dry eyes, memory loss, poor workout recovery, loss of zest for life The hormone-gut connection: Why your gut health directly impacts your hormones and moods. 95% of serotonin is made in your gut Foundations that matter: Sleep, protein and fiber at every meal, movement, minerals and hydration, downtime, and boundaries What separates women who blow up their lives from women who transform: Self-leadership, emotional responsibility, and the courage to examine your patterns The questions you need to ask yourself: What are you getting from staying in chaos? How long will you blame your hormones instead of admitting you're a big part of the problem? Peri/menopause as invitation: This phase is asking you to finally know yourself more deeply and address the emotional work you've been avoiding   Resources Mentioned Hormone & Health Practitioners: Ciara Foy (@ciarafoyinc) - Specializes in hormone health and weight management for high-achievers over 40 Jenn Pike (@jennpike) - Nutrition and exercise expert with extensive online resources Alyssa Morra (@alyssamorragutexpert) - Gut health specialist focused on digestive wellness and hormonal balance Take the Next Step If you're exhausted from feeling like a victim of your own body, if you recognize yourself in this episode and you're ready to lead yourself differently, book a free 15-minute Congruency Audit. We'll identify exactly where you're out of congruence with yourself and what needs to shift so you can navigate this phase with awareness instead of reactivity, with self-leadership instead of self-abandonment. Book your Congruency Audit

  --------  

  47:50

  --------

  47:50

More Business podcasts

Trending Business podcasts

About Congruent with Lisa Carpenter | The truth beneath success. Why it never feels like enough.

Congruent with Lisa Carpenter | The truth beneath success. Why it never feels like enough.: Podcasts in Family