Spacious Success

Why do so many high-functioning women hold it together all day, then unravel somewhere between the front door and dinner preparation? In this episode, Dr Kristy sits down with registered psychologist, bestselling author and international speaker Dr Vanessa Lapointe to unpack the invisible emotional load ambitious women carry as the steady anchor of their families, teams and workplaces. Vanessa sha...

You can manage your time, set your boundaries, take the holiday, and still find that you cannot switch off. In this episode, Dr Kristy unpacks why so many high-achievers keep overworking even when every external reason to slow down has gone. Drawing on new research into what scientists call the “doer identity”, and the striking pattern of eldest daughters in senior leadership, she explains why res...

What if confidence was never the thing holding women back? In this episode, Dr Kristy Goodwin sits down with digital safety expert, speaker and former police officer Yasmin London to unpack what is really keeping capable women from stepping forward. Yasmin shares preliminary findings from her First Movers Women's Confidence Study, including the striking gap between how confident women feel in the...

Why does a messy house feel like a personal failing for so many women, even when their partner insists no one cares? In this episode I unpack the research on mess perception, kinkeeping and office housework that reveals what I call the Invisible Tax: the cognitive and emotional load women carry at home and at work that is rarely seen, rarely measured and almost never rewarded. I share a study wher...

Taryn Brumfitt has reached more than 200 million people with one message: your body is not the problem. As the 2023 Australian of the Year, founder of the Embrace Movement and creator of the EMBRACE films, Taryn has spent more than a decade doing the work that most of us were told was impossible. Changing the way women feel about their bodies. In this conversation, Taryn and I explore what actuall...

There is a thought that many high-performing women have quietly entertained, and almost never say out loud. Sometimes I wish I could just get sick for a week. Not seriously. Just enough to stop. Just enough that the world would stop asking things of them without needing an explanation. In this episode, Dr Kristy Goodwin unpacks why this fantasy is more widespread than we admit, what it is actually...

Amelia Phillips is a sports scientist, nutritionist, bestselling author, and co-founder of the Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation. For over two decades she has worked with women on the science of energy, recovery and performance, and today she brings her precision lens to the conversation Spacious Success listeners are hungry for. In this episode, Amelia and Dr Kristy Goodwin go deep on...

You have probably noticed it. One quick prompt becomes eleven. You close the tab forty-five minutes later with that particular hollowness that follows too long on a screen. And you wonder: is it just me? It is not. And it is not a willpower problem either. In this episode, I walk through the five neurological mechanisms that make AI genuinely hard to put down: dopamine loops and instant feedback,...

Behind every polished exterior is a story worth telling. Tory Archbold built one of Australia's most successful PR agencies, representing global names including Drew Barrymore, Zara, and Lancôme, while simultaneously fighting a twelve-year battle behind closed doors that nobody in her professional world knew anything about. In this conversation, Dr Kristy Goodwin and Tory Archbold cover the full a...

Smart, successful women are half-joking about becoming trad wives. And while the joke gets a laugh, the data behind it is not funny at all. In this episode, I want to challenge the narrative that high-performing women are losing their ambition. The research tells a different story. Women are not leaning out because they want less. They are leaning out because the current model of success is biolog...

What does success really look like when you strip away the titles, the pressure and the constant push for more? In this episode, I sit down with Andrea, Sydney Managing Partner at Deloitte Australia, for a powerful and deeply honest conversation about burnout, panic disorder and the hidden cost of high-achievement. Andrea shares what it looks like to succeed on paper while quietly running on empty...

I used to think distraction was a discipline problem. That I just needed to try harder, be better, be more focused. But one moment changed everything. In this episode, I share a deeply personal story that became the catalyst for my research into attention, distraction and the digital world we are all trying to function in. If you feel scattered, overwhelmed or like your day disappears into emails...

The cold plunge trend is everywhere right now… but is it actually right for women? In this episode of Spacious Success, we unpack the science behind cold exposure and why what works for men doesn’t always work for female physiology. If you’ve ever tried an ice bath and felt more stressed instead of energised, you’re not imagining it. We explore: Why extreme cold can spike cortisol in women The act...

Why does sleep suddenly feel so hard? If you’re waking at 2:22 a.m. with a racing mind, lying there exhausted but wired, this episode will feel uncomfortably familiar and deeply reassuring. I unpack why so many high-performing women are struggling with sleep and why it’s not a personal failure. It’s biology colliding with modern life. We explore the real drivers behind disrupted sleep, from hormon...

What if the story you’ve been told about your brain…. is wrong? In this episode, I sit down with neuroscientist and science communicator Dr Sarah McKay to unpack what’s really happening in the female brain across life’s most misunderstood transitions. From puberty to pregnancy, matrescence to menopause, we explore why these phases are not signs of decline, but powerful periods of adaptation, reorg...

We’ve been sold a productivity myth for decades. If you want to get more done you should multitask. Juggle more. Move faster. But neuroscience tells a very different story. In this episode of Spacious Success I bust the myth that multitasking equals productivity and explain what is really happening in your brain when you constantly switch tasks. I take you inside a very familiar workday. One fille...

In this episode, I’m unpacking what’s referred to as the “Performance Paradox” and why so many high-achieving women are doing all the “right” high-performance habits and still feeling exhausted, distracted and flat. I share the story of Jess, an executive coaching client who looked successful from the outside. She was waking at 5am, journaling, ice bathing, lifting heavy, optimising supplements, t...

We’ve been sold a seductive lie.  “You can have it all, you just can’t do it all.” It sounds empowering. It isn’t. In this episode of Spacious Success, I unpack the Superwoman Myth, the quiet, culturally reinforced belief that ambitious women should be able to excel at work, show up perfectly at home, maintain friendships, prioritise wellbeing and look effortless while doing it. I explain why this...

Women are holding more than ever, the mental load, the emotional labour, the invisible work that keeps families, teams, and workplaces running. In this episode of Spacious Success, I’m joined by one of the wisest women in my life, Maggie Dent, for a deeply honest conversation about why modern motherhood and womanhood feels so heavy right now. We explore why women lie awake at night running endless...

Today, I’m unpacking what I call the “stress superstorm”, the collision of biology, beliefs and bias that are leaving so many ambitious women depleted, overwhelmed and quietly wondering why everything feels harder than it used to. This episode was inspired by a very ordinary Tuesday in my life. A 2:27 am wake-up, a racing mind, forgotten school events, relentless notifications and a keynote to del...

Female friendships in midlife aren’t a luxury. They’re a biological necessity. In this episode of Spacious Success, I explore why women are not wired to do life alone and why connection is one of the most powerful buffers against stress, burnout and overwhelm. Through a personal story and compelling neuroscience, I unpack how even small moments of connection (a voice note, a funny meme, a shared r...

In this episode of Spacious Success, I share the personal story that changed everything. The moment my body pulled the emergency brake. I will take you back to a time that on the surface I was coping but underneath, years of chronic stress, poor recovery, and relentless pressure were quietly eroding my health, until I landed in a hospital’s Code Red ward. In this episode, I’ll introduce you to the...

In the first official episode of Spacious Success, I share the deeply personal story behind why I finally launched this podcast. Years of deferring this project, hidden behind busy schedules, work priorities, and life’s demands, came to a turning point with the sudden loss of my trusted team colleague and friend, Karen. Through Karen’s life and legacy, I explore the powerful lesson that “someday”...

Welcome to Spacious Success, the podcast for ambitious women who are ready to achieve more while sacrificing less. I'm Dr. Kristy Goodwin, neuro-performance scientist, speaker, author, executive coach and mum. And I know firsthand how success can come with a hidden tax on your sleep, energy, health or relationships. Burnout once landed me in the hospital, hooked up to a ventilator, unable to breat...