Be Freaking Awesome Podcast

Send us Fan Mail What if growth doesn’t make life easier… at least not right away? In this episode of Be Freaking Awesome, Sami Kinnison and Angela Belford get real about the unexpected side effects of emotional healing, like crying more, feeling stretched thin, questioning your capacity, and realizing that growth doesn’t mean you never struggle again. This conversation is a follow-up to The Nonli...

Send us Fan Mail In this conversation, Olympic medalist and entrepreneur Dominique Blake joins Angela and Sami for an honest, high-energy look at what it means to stay committed to growth when life doesn’t go as planned. Dominique shares how setbacks in her athletic career sparked a powerful evolution—from running on the track to building businesses, leading wellness communities, and mentoring oth...

Send us Fan Mail Let’s be honest. Working with your family can be equal parts beautiful and bananas. And when the holidays hit? Whew. That’s when the lines between pass the gravy and circle back on that project get real blurry. In this episode, Angela and Sami get vulnerable and hilarious about what it actually looks like to navigate work and personal relationships within a family business. From s...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Be Freaking Awesome , Angela and Sami dive deep into the world of coaching, what it is, what it isn’t, and why it can be such a powerful catalyst for personal and professional growth. Together, they explore the difference between coaching and consulting, why your brain naturally resists change, and how nervous system regulation plays a foundational role in leade...

Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever sat through a workplace training that sounded great in theory but didn’t change a thing, this episode is for you. Angela and Sami are pulling back the curtain on why team trainings often fall flat, what “improving communication” actually means (hint: it’s not just talking nicer), and how to approach development that truly sticks. From metaphors about runny noses to...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Episode 200, our first ever live episode! We’re celebrating a huge milestone, giving major shout-outs, reflecting on what this podcast has meant so far, and sharing what’s next for the journey of Be Freaking Awesome. What’s Inside This Episode Live recorded energy and community vibe: This is our first time doing a live broadcast, complete with real-time chats, emojis, a...

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful and personal episode, Angela and Sami sit down with speaker, leadership trainer, and PhD researcher Summer Jelinek to talk about what it really means to be neurodivergent in the workplace. From masking and burnout to emotional intelligence and late diagnoses, we explore how modern work culture often fails to support neurodivergent thinkers and what we can do about...

Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ EP198: Mom Guilt: Let’s Talk About It You know that feeling when you're serving up mac & cheese for dinner (again) and thinking, "Am I totally dropping the ball as a parent?" That creeping sense of mom guilt shows up in the quiet moments and the loud ones, making you question if you're doing enough or getting it all wrong. In this episode, Angela and Sam...

Send us Fan Mail When life hits hard— really hard—how do you get back up? In this raw and powerful episode, Angela and Sami sit down with Nick Morrison , a former professional bull rider whose life was dramatically altered by more than 50 concussions. From chasing rodeo dreams to losing the ability to speak, Nick’s story is one of unimaginable setbacks and unshakable resilience. Nick walks us thro...

Send us Fan Mail Let’s be real. “Fine” is not the goal. And yet, so many couples find themselves stuck in the land of just-okay, coasting through life like roommates instead of staying deeply connected. In this episode, Angela and Sami sit down with marriage coach and licensed counselor Karen Maloney to talk about how to wake up your relationship before it hits a breaking point. Karen shares her s...

Send us Fan Mail What if self-care wasn’t just a luxury, but a life-saving, community-shifting, revolutionary practice? In this episode, Angela and Sami sit down with the extraordinary Dr. Joi Lewis, a community healer, liberation facilitator, and author of Healing: The Act of Radical Self-Care . Dr. Joi introduces her signature Orange Method, a healing framework that includes meditation, mindfuln...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to a delightfully unfiltered episode where Angela and Sami get grumpy, but not without a purpose. This week, we’re talking about the everyday annoyances that poke at our peace and why those irritations often point to something deeper (hint: it’s not actually about pineapple on pizza). From workout pain and pizza judgment to unhealed trauma and limiting beliefs, we explore...

Send us Fan Mail What if competition isn’t the problem? What if it’s how we’ve been thinking about it? In Part 2 of our conversation with Jake Thompson, keynote speaker, leadership coach, and Chief Encouragement Officer at Compete Every Day , Sami and Angela dig into what healthy competition really looks like in everyday life. From comparing yourself to others, to keeping score in relationships, t...

Send us Fan Mail What if the person standing in your way isn’t your competition at all but you? In this episode, Sami and Angela sit down with Jake Thompson, keynote speaker, leadership coach, and Chief Encouragement Officer at Compete Every Day, to talk about what it really means to compete with yourself instead of everyone else. Jake opens up about how years of chasing other people’s success lef...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever stopped yourself from telling a story because you thought, “Well, that’s not important enough” or “That’s too small, nobody cares about that” ? Or maybe you’ve worried that if you share your story, people will think you’re being too vulnerable, too much, or (worst of all) a little bit “woe is me.” That’s exactly why Sami and Angela were so excited to sit down with Sa...

Send us Fan Mail Ever feel like you’re stuck in that “in-between” space where life feels uncertain, overwhelming, or just plain messy? You’re not where you were, but you’re not where you want to be yet. That’s the messy middle, and it can be one of the hardest seasons to walk through. In this episode, Angela and Sami sit down with Amy Wilkins, Messy Middle Mindset Coach, to talk about what it real...

Send us Fan Mail Sami returns to the podcast with an honest look at what life has been like after becoming a mom of three through an unexpected guardianship that is now on the path to adoption. She shares the emotional highs and lows of bonding with a toddler, navigating work transitions, and leading a major community project all at once. This episode unpacks what it means to follow through on som...

Send us Fan Mail What if the bravest thing you could do… was stop? In this powerful and vulnerable episode, Angela sits down with fellow podcaster and author Stacy Ryan to talk about what it really looks like to consciously walk away from something—even something meaningful, purpose-driven, and healing. Stacy shares her journey through surviving cancer, losing her husband, launching a podcast and...

Send us Fan Mail Happy September! In this solo episode, Angela reflects on why this time of year feels like the real New Year and how we can use it to reset, reflect, and rewire the beliefs that are holding us back. She also celebrates the anniversaries of publishing Be Freaking Awesome (2017) and Traveling Light (2023). Angela shares what she’s learned since writing them, what’s shifted in her he...

Send us Fan Mail 🎙 Episode 186: From GED to PhD: Hope, Healing, and a Hunger to Learn with Dr. Jessi Brewer | Part 2 of 2 What if the way back to yourself started with a book? In Part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Jessi Brewer, we move from big systems to deeply personal transformation. Jessi opens up about growing up below the poverty line, navigating limited access to formal education, and how...

Send us Fan Mail 🎙 Episode 158: What Literature Teaches Us About Justice with Dr. Jessi Brewer Part 1 of 2 with Dr. Jessi Brewer What does Victorian literature have to do with modern prisons? This week, we’re joined by Dr. Jessi Brewer, a literary scholar and Arkansas native, for a conversation that just might blow your mind. From GED to PhD, Jessi’s journey is packed with grit, purpose, and a rad...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of Be Freaking Awesome , Angela is joined by Dr. Roz Griffiths, a chiropractor from Wellington, New Zealand, for a fascinating deep dive into the polyvagal theory and how understanding your nervous system can help you move from feeling stuck or overwhelmed to feeling safe, regulated, and empowered. Dr. Roz shares her own health journey, explains the three main nerv...

Send us Fan Mail What if being kind to yourself wasn’t just a nice idea—but the key to better relationships, leadership, and daily peace? In this episode, Angela sits down with executive coach and author Massimo Backus to explore what self-compassion in action really looks like—especially for high achievers and recovering perfectionists. With Sami on a surprise maternity leave (yay!), Angela and M...

Send us Fan Mail What if the way we usually talk about confidence is kind of wrong? This week, we’re joined by speaker and confidence igniter Meshell Baker for a conversation that challenges everything you thought you knew about confidence. Meshell doesn’t just inspire. She equips you to take ownership of your confidence. This isn't surface-level motivation. It's a real conversation abou...

Send us Fan Mail Ever felt torn between loving the body you have and wishing you moved it a little more? Or walked into a gym, got slammed by fluorescent lights and clanging weights, and thought, “Nope—hard pass”? This conversation with personal-trainer-turned-neurodivergent-fitness-whisperer Abby Clapper is your permission slip to ditch the shame-spiral and find movement that actually fits you ....