Be Freaking Awesome Podcast

Send us Fan Mail 📝 Show Notes You've done the work. Read the books. Had the realizations. And somehow, the same old patterns still show up. The same knot in your stomach before a hard conversation. The same voice telling you not to raise your hand, not to join the group, not to try. If you've ever wondered why growth doesn't feel like it sticks, this episode is going to land somewh...

Send us Fan Mail You did the work. You went to therapy. You did the coaching. You identified the belief. You thought you had handled it. And then one day it shows back up, like an uninvited guest who didn't get the memo. If you've ever looked at something coming up in your life and thought "wait, I already dealt with this" — this episode is for you. This week Sami and Angela pu...

Send us Fan Mail You worked for it. You hit the goal. The promotion, the milestone, the finish line you've been running toward for longer than you want to admit. And then you got there. And your inner critic did not say, 'We did it. We're good. We can rest.' It found something new to say. Something new to pick apart. Maybe it even got louder. If that's happened to you, not...

Send us Fan Mail You shared something you were excited about. And instead of getting the reaction you hoped for, you got a critique. The air went out of the room. That stinging feeling when someone icks on your wow is one of the most quietly corrosive things that can happen in a close relationship. This week, Sami and Angela get into the real mechanics of what's happening in those moments, wh...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is technically about grandparenting. But it is really about something most of us deal with every day: how to correct someone you love without making them feel like something is wrong with them. That shows up in how you give feedback at work, how you argue with a partner, how you talk to yourself when you mess something up. And yes, how you talk to a kid when they are...

Send us Fan Mail You know that feeling where you did something wrong and instead of fixing it, you just... keep feeling bad about it? Like feeling bad is the apology, the penance, and the plan all rolled into one? Yeah. That's not guilt doing its job. That's guilt overstaying its welcome, and there's a difference. In this episode, Sami and Angela get real about guilt: what it's...

Send us Fan Mail Nobody talks about disappointment long enough to actually help you with it. Most advice amounts to "lower your expectations" — which, as a life strategy, sounds a lot like choosing to feel nothing. This week's episode is a follow-up to EP211 (you asked for it, literally — thank you), and we're going deeper. Sami admits she does not want to talk about this one....

Send us Fan Mail Most people who write a book are terrified when it comes out. Angela was, too the first time. And the second time, she was more settled but still working through it. This time? Something is genuinely different. And that difference is kind of the whole point of the book itself. The Invisible Edge is Angela's third book, and it is a leadership fable five fictional business owne...

Send us Fan Mail There's a season in life where everything you've been leaning on just... isn't there anymore. The neighbor moves. The sister takes a second job. The husband travels. The parents are across the ocean. And you're standing in the middle of what feels like a very loud, very clear message that you are on your own. What do you do with that? Angela and I have been cir...

Send us Fan Mail You've thought about it. Maybe more than once. Maybe every time things get heavy and you tell yourself "I should really talk to someone." But then life picks back up and you don't. This episode is for you. Sami and Angela dig into the part nobody really talks about when it comes to therapy: how do you actually find a good one? Not just "any therapist,&quot...

Send us Fan Mail You have a problem. Maybe a big one. And you keep staring at it like if you think hard enough, the answer will finally show up. But here's what nobody tells you: most problems aren't actually complicated. They're just missing one of three things. This week, Sami and Angela break down a surprisingly simple framework that cuts through the overwhelm and gets you to the...

Send us Fan Mail You didn't do anything wrong. Your brain just got there first. That's the thing about automatic negative thoughts: they don't wait for evidence. They don't ask permission. Something happens, and before you've had a single conscious thought about it, your brain has already decided: of course this went sideways. Nobody ever comes through. Something is wrong...

Send us Fan Mail You have somewhere between 6,000 and 60,000 thoughts a day. Nobody agrees on the number. But here's what most researchers do agree on: a significant chunk of them are negative, and a startling number are repeats from yesterday. Your brain is running the same playlist on loop, and a lot of those tracks were recorded a long time ago by a much younger version of you who was just...

Send us Fan Mail You know that moment when you say something and immediately think, “ Wait, where did that even come from?” Most of us brush right past it. This episode is about what happens when you don't. Angela and Sami are diving into metacognition: the skill of thinking about your thinking. It sounds deceptively simple. It's also the thing that makes every other communication and le...

Send us Fan Mail You sent the text. You waited. Two days passed and nothing. And your brain went straight to the worst possible explanation. That spiral is not a character flaw. It is what happens when a deeper belief is running in the background: the belief that you do not quite belong. And when that belief is active, even the smallest social interactions can feel loaded. Not texting back becomes...

Send us Fan Mail If you've ever thought your vote doesn't really matter, that politics is too confusing, or that the whole system is just... too much, this episode is for you. A lot of us are carrying around this low-grade exhaustion with national politics right now, and it's easy to let that feeling bleed into disengagement. But there's a whole level of government that most pe...

Send us Fan Mail You have expectations of the people in your life. And they have expectations of you. The problem is that half the time, nobody actually said any of that out loud. And then someone ends up disappointed, resentful, or quietly fuming on the drive home. In this episode, we dig into a reframe that might just change how you navigate every relationship in your life: the difference betwee...

Send us Fan Mail Five countries. Six cities. Olympic tickets. A two-star Michelin restaurant. A near meltdown over very expensive seats. And more walking in the cold than Angela would normally tolerate. This is the full story. In this extended version of episode 211, we let you behind the curtain of the trip and of our friendship. We unpack the moments that did not make Instagram, the history nerd...

Send us Fan Mail What if the person you should be trying to impress isn’t the internet, your boss, or even the people around you, but 80-year-old you? Fresh off a whirlwind Europe trip that included five countries, Olympic events, freezing mountain tops, and one very heavy backpack, Angela came home with more than stories. She came home with confirmation that growth doesn’t happen accidentally. It...

Send us Fan Mail You worked hard, you stayed focused, you finally got there. So why doesn't it feel the way you thought it would? Nobody talks about this part. We spend so much time chasing our goals that we never stop to ask what happens when we actually catch them. Whether it's the dream job, the business you built, the house you wanted, or the milestone you sacrificed for, sometimes y...

Send us Fan Mail You've been told your whole life that if you don't call someone out, you're letting them get away with it. But what if that's completely wrong and it's actually making things worse? Most of us are exhausted from trying to change the people around us. Whether it's a frustrating family member, a difficult coworker, or a friend with completely different...

Send us Fan Mail Every time we go after something meaningful, a new goal, a big conversation, a leadership role, or personal growth, fear and resistance seem to show up right on cue. In this episode, Sami Kinnison and Angela Belford explore why resistance is not a sign you are doing something wrong, but often a signal that you are getting close to something important. Together, they unpack how fea...

Send us Fan Mail Ever walked into a networking event or professional gathering wondering if you're wearing the right thing, saying the right things, or even supposed to be there? You're not alone. In this episode, hosts Sami Kinnison and Angela Belford reveal a simple mental shift that can transform how you show up in any room—and it has nothing to do with what others think of you. Angel...

Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever tried to silence your inner critic by sheer willpower, only to end up overwhelmed, anxious, or spiraling into imposter syndrome, this episode is for you. This week, Angela and Sami unpack the truth about the inner critic. Spoiler alert: it’s not about getting rid of it. In fact, trying to push that voice away can sometimes make it come back louder and stronger. So i...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever made a decision and still felt bad afterward? No matter what you choose, there is guilt, second-guessing, or that lingering feeling that you are letting someone (or yourself) down. In this episode of Be Freaking Awesome, Sami Kinnison and Angela Belford unpack one of the most common but least named challenges people face: conflicting values. This is not about being i...