The Within Podcast

Protect What You’re Building: The Legal Basics Every Business Owner Should Know Protect What You’re Building: The Legal Basics Every Business Owner Should Know Starting a business is exciting. Forming the right entity, reviewing contracts and planning what happens if a partnership falls apart? Less exciting—but potentially much more important. In this episode, Nicky and Allie are joined by Nicky’s...

“Okay, Just Hear Me Out”: Life Married to an Entrepreneur What happens when one spouse is full of big ideas and the other is already calculating the cash flow? In this episode, Nicky and Allie are joined by Nicky’s husband, Matt Wallace, for an honest, and light hearted, conversation about marriage, ambition and making two very different personalities work. Nicky is the entrepreneur who thinks big...

Hiring more people should create more capacity—right? Not necessarily. Nicky learned this while growing her staffing and recruiting company. After rapidly hiring five or six employees, she expected more time, support and room to grow. Instead, she became the founder, trainer, process manual, systems expert and help desk for a larger team. She also discovered—after making the hire—that the salesper...

Introducing the Within HR Series for Founders + Leaders You can build a successful company, attract customers and keep growing—without ever being taught how to build the people side of the business. Nicky first recognized the size of this gap while sitting in a business education program surrounded by accomplished entrepreneurs. These founders had real companies, growing teams and plenty of work t...

We entered summer with bucket lists, ambitious plans and visions of magical family time. Then August arrived—and apparently, all structure and sanity left the building. In this episode, Nicky and Allie have an honest conversation about the beautiful, exhausting chaos of summer with kids. They unpack the guilt that can come with needing a break, the challenge of working while children are home and...

We have more wellness information, products, supplements, trackers, peptides, and “life-changing” protocols available than ever before—so why do so many of us still feel exhausted, stressed, and disconnected from our bodies? Following their conversation about becoming an unconscious consumer, Nicky and Allie explore another side of the wellness industry: our tendency to chase advanced optimization...

What if you've achieved everything you thought you wanted... and you're still unhappy? For years, we chased the promotions, bigger paychecks, beautiful homes, impressive titles, and the version of success we were taught to want. From the outside, everything looked perfect. On the inside? We felt exhausted, disconnected, and completely out of alignment. In this vulnerable conversation, we're sharin...

Whether you're thinking about starting a business or you're already in the middle of building one, this episode is the conversation we wish someone had with us years ago. This week, Nicky and Allie sit down to share the biggest lessons they've learned throughout their entrepreneurial journeys—from trusting your intuition and making difficult decisions to finding the right people, staying aligned w...

In a world where we have endless information, products, opinions, and trends available at our fingertips… have we stopped asking ourselves what we actually need? In this episode of The Within Podcast, Nicky Wallace and Allie Sartain dive into the idea of becoming an “unconscious consumer”, not just with what we buy, but with what we allow into our bodies, minds, schedules, and lives. From beauty a...

The second annual Potential Within Summit may be over, but the conversations are just getting started. In this episode, Nicky and Allie reflect on one of the most meaningful days they've ever created—what surprised them, what inspired them, and why community continues to be at the center of everything they're building. They share pieces of their own health and personal growth journeys, discuss the...

In this episode of Within, Nicky Wallace sits down with Andrea Irwin, owner of Empirical Sales & Marketing, to talk about resilience, advocacy, entrepreneurship, motherhood, and the unexpected challenges that can completely reshape your life.  Andrea shares her journey through business ownership, motherhood, and navigating complex medical experiences with her daughter—an experience that ultima...

In this episode of Within, Nicky Wallace and Heidi Buttoph sit down with Amanda and Kristen, founders of Vivid Wellness & Aesthetics  in Des Moines, to talk about the growing world of functional medicine, integrative wellness, and personalized care. Amanda and Kristen share how their backgrounds in nursing and healthcare led them to create a space focused on root-cause healing, individualized...

In this special edition of Within: I Wish I Would Have Known, Ali Payne and Nicky Wallace sit down with Nikki Russell of Aptitude Fitness + Paws for an honest conversation about control, motherhood, business ownership, and learning to let go. As a mom of three and owner of two businesses, Nikki shares how life has taught her that trying to control everything often leads to more stress, overwhelm,...

In this episode of Within, Nicky Wallace and Ali Payne sit down with Nikki Russell, owner of Aptitude Fitness and Pause Studio, to talk about women’s wellness, cycle syncing, recovery, perimenopause, and learning how to better listen to your body. Nikki shares how her own experience as an endurance athlete led her to explore the connection between hormones, performance, recovery, energy levels, an...

In this episode of Within, Nicky Wallace and Ali Payne sit down with Katie Nyberg, founder of Iowa Baby Lady , to talk about the support many parents don’t realize exists during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery. Katie shares how her team of birth doulas and postpartum doulas helps families navigate everything from labor support and advocacy to overnight newborn care and postpartum recover...

What if the hardest season of your life… is actually pointing you toward something greater? In this Wish I Would Have Known episode, Heidi Valdez shares a powerful reflection from her own health journey—one that completely changed the direction of her life. During a personal health crisis, Heidi didn’t have answers. Like many people, she was navigating symptoms, stress, and uncertainty. But what s...

In this episode of Within, Nicky Wallace and Ali Payne sit down with Polly Loneman, VP of Marketing at NCMIC , to talk about workplace wellbeing, authentic leadership, advocacy, and the future of whole-person care. Polly shares her perspective on how organizations can better support employees—not just professionally, but personally—and why conversations around wellness, mental health, hormones, bu...

In this episode of Within, Nicky Wallace and Ali Payne sit down with Melissa Poley and James of Serendipity Spa DSM  to explore conscious language, emotional patterns, personal transformation, and the connection between mind, body, and healing. Melissa shares how years in the wellness and esthetics space eventually led her deeper into transformational life coaching and personal development work af...

What if the hardest season of your life… is actually pointing you toward something greater? In this Wish I Would Have Known episode, Heidi Valdez shares a powerful reflection from her own health journey—one that completely changed the direction of her life. During a personal health crisis, Heidi didn’t have answers. Like many people, she was navigating symptoms, stress, and uncertainty. But what s...

In this episode of Within, Ali Payne sits down with Sheena Mahan for an honest conversation about ambition, burnout, and the pressure many women feel to constantly keep climbing. Together, they explore what happens when success starts to come at the expense of your wellbeing, your relationships, and your sense of self. From navigating leadership roles and career transitions to balancing motherhood...

What if the system you trust to take care of your health… isn’t actually designed to? In this Wish I Would Have Known episode, Dr. Steffany Mohan shares a powerful perspective from nearly 30 years in dentistry and a household deeply rooted in medicine. Her biggest realization? The moment healthcare providers partnered with insurance companies, the priorities shifted—and not in favor of the patient...

What if your anxiety… wasn’t just in your head? In this episode of Within, Nicky Wallace and Heidi Buttolph sit down with Heidi Valdez, owner of Mindful Counseling Des Moines, to unpack the powerful (and often overlooked) connection between chronic stress, gut health, and mental wellbeing. Heidi shares her personal journey from working as a school social worker to experiencing her own health crisi...

Starting a business looks exciting from the outside—but the reality? It’s a grind most people aren’t prepared for. In this Wish I Would Have Known episode, James Eaton, founder of Project Lean Nation, shares the honest truth about entrepreneurship—what he thought it would be like vs. what it actually takes. From wearing every hat in the business to realizing that even a health-focused brand doesn’...

In this special “I Wish I Would Have Known” episode of Within, Nicky Wallace and Heidi Buttolph dive into a conversation that many people can relate to—but don’t always talk about. What happens when you’re still showing up, getting your work done, and “keeping the wheels on the bus moving”… but you’re not actually okay? Nicky shares a recent experience during her pregnancy where a colleague simply...

In a world full of diet trends, conflicting advice, and “quick fixes,” it’s easy to feel stuck when it comes to your health. In this episode of Within, Nicky sits down with James Eaton, owner of Project Lean Nation, to break down what actually works when it comes to weight loss, nutrition, and building sustainable habits. James shares his personal journey from pre-med student to entrepreneur after...