The Badass Leader: Helping High-Achieving Women Lead with Calm, Clarity, and Deep Self-Trust

Send us Fan Mail In this heartfelt conversation on The Scenic Route , I sat down with financial empowerment coach to talk about what happens when you spend your whole life checking the boxes… only to realize you still don’t feel truly alive. We explored my journey from Fortune 500 executive to coach, the hidden cost of high achievement, and why so many successful women are stuck in “Good Girl” pat...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is a full-circle moment for me. I’m sitting down with my very first business coach, Jeff, and reflecting on the past three years—what it really took to go from leaving corporate, feeling uncertain and invisible… to building my coaching business and stepping into the woman I am today. And I’ll be honest with you—this journey wasn’t just about confidence. It wasn’t abou...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I’m sharing something very close to my heart—a masterclass I hosted on the three essential shifts that changed everything for me. If you’re someone who looks successful on the outside… but inside, you still feel pressure, self-doubt, or like you’re never quite “there”… this conversation is for you. I spent years trying to fix this by working harder, achieving more...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I’m talking about something I see over and over again with the women I coach—and something I lived in for years myself. You’re smart. You’re capable. You’ve done incredible things. People see you as a badass. But inside? You don’t quite feel it. If you’ve ever thought, “I know I’m capable… so why do I still second-guess myself?” —this episode is for you. I’m namin...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I’m sharing a deeply personal and honest conversation about something so many high-achieving women experience—but rarely say out loud: You’ve done so many badass things… so why don’t you feel like one? From the outside, I looked successful. I had the title, the income, the achievements. But inside, I felt small. I second-guessed myself. I was constantly trying to...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I’m sharing something deeply personal—and honestly, a little vulnerable. I’m officially renaming this podcast from Unshakeable Confidence to The Badass Leader . And this isn’t just a rebrand. It’s an identity shift.  For years, I believed confidence was the goal. That if I achieved enough, proved enough, pushed hard enough… I would finally feel like the powerful w...

Send us Fan Mail Can you create extraordinary success without suffering for it? For most ambitious women, success has always come with pressure, sacrifice, and relentless pushing. We were taught that if we want to achieve something meaningful, we must grind harder, endure more, and prove ourselves constantly. But what if that belief is simply not true? In this episode, I share the powerful story o...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is a special one — my birthday edition. As I turned 47, I found myself reflecting not just on how I celebrate, but what I’m actually celebrating. For years, my birthdays were about doing something fun — snowboarding, traveling, being in nature. And I still love that. But this year, something deeper shifted. Instead of only celebrating with activities, I chose to celeb...

Send us Fan Mail If you’ve achieved a lot in your career but still feel exhausted, pressured, or constantly “on,” this episode is for you. I recorded this on Lunar New Year — the year of the Fire Horse, a symbol of momentum, boldness, and ambition. And it made me reflect on something important: for many years, my success was powered by frantic fire — pressure, over-functioning, and constant strivi...

Send us Fan Mail We don’t wake up one day and decide to live in survival mode. We adapt. We cope. We push through. We prove. We please. We perform. And one day, we realize we’ve built a life that looks successful on the outside… but feels exhausting, tight, and heavy on the inside. In this deeply personal episode, Coco Duan shares the story behind her new book Unchecking the Boxes —and the five-ye...

Send us Fan Mail We’re only weeks into a new year, and already so many people are thinking: I can’t do another year like that.” Not because you didn’t try. Not because you don’t want change badly enough. But because the way we’ve been taught to change asks us to start in the wrong place. More goals. More discipline. More willpower. A better planner. A perfect morning routine. It sounds promising—u...

Send us Fan Mail Growth is something we all say we want. More clarity. More confidence. More calm. A different life than the one we’re living now. But growth doesn’t happen because we want it. And it doesn’t happen because we consume more books, podcasts, or tools. In this episode, I share five powerful lessons about growth that emerged from a deeply embodied experience: completing three 10-day si...

Send us Fan Mail Every January, we start with so much hope. “This year will be different.”  “I really want to change.”  “I just need to try harder.” And yet… by the end of January, nearly 88% of people have already quit . Only about 8% stick with their resolutions for the whole year. If that’s been your experience too, I want you to hear this first: There is nothing wrong with you. In this episode...

Send us Fan Mail When I look back, I realize that for so many years, my loudest voice was my inner critic. No matter how much I achieved, it was never enough. I would replay meetings for hours, beat myself up over small mistakes, and carry shame for days after setbacks. Maybe you can relate. In this episode, I open my heart and share not only my own journey of shifting from self-criticism to self-...

Send us Fan Mail As we close out the year and step toward 2026, I want to talk about something that quietly holds so many high-achieving women back from real change: investing in themselves in a meaningful way. Not a facial.  Not a yoga class.  Not another vacation. I’m talking about investing in your emotional well-being, your nervous system, and the deeper inner work that actually changes how yo...

Send us Fan Mail As we approach the end of the year, many high-achieving women find themselves exhausted, overwhelmed, and quietly hoping that next year will be different. Maybe you’re telling yourself: “Things will feel better when work slows down.” “Once the kids are older, I’ll have more time.” “After the promotion, the raise, or the job change, I’ll finally relax.” I hear this all the time—and...

Send us Fan Mail Do you ever feel like life looks successful on the outside—but inside, you’re exhausted, stuck, and quietly wondering, Is this really it? Like you’re running hard, doing everything “right,” yet somehow your life feels out of your control? I know that feeling intimately. I lived it for years. In this episode, I talk about what’s really happening when you feel trapped on the hamster...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Unshakeable Confidence , I’m talking about a pattern so many high-achieving women struggle with— being “too independent.” For years, I was proud of being the strong one who never needed help. But behind the strength, I felt heavy, overwhelmed, and painfully alone. What I didn’t realize was that my independence wasn’t confidence—it was protection . A survival str...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I’m opening up about one of the most essential human needs that most of us never learned to name — the need to be truly seen . Not for what we do. Not for what we achieve. Not for how impressive we look on paper. But for who we are at the deepest, most human level. I share the story of the first time in my life I ever felt genuinely seen — not for my accomplishmen...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, I sit down with my dear friend and longtime client, Natalie Lee , who is now a Vice President at Louis Vuitton and one of the calmest, most intentional leaders I know. When we first started working together almost three years ago, Natalie was leading Asia Pacific during the pandemic, pregnant, living in Hong Kong without family support, and running on empty. On...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I’m inviting you into one of the most important conversations we can have as high-achieving women: how to stop living from the chin up —stuck in our thoughts, analysis, and overthinking—and finally reconnect with the incredible wisdom of our bodies. For years, I lived purely in my mind. I pushed through exhaustion. I made decisions that looked good on paper but fe...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever received feedback that shook you to your core?  In this deeply personal episode, I share one of the biggest emotional breakthroughs I’ve had in years — how I turned a painful moment of shame into powerful growth through somatic parts work. It started with a piece of honest feedback that hit harder than I expected. What followed was a cascade of emotions — shame, disa...

Send us Fan Mail After returning from a month in Asia, I spent time reflecting—not just on the trip, but on how reflection itself has shaped my growth. For most of my life, I didn’t reflect—I ruminated . I replayed moments in my head, judged myself harshly, and wondered what was wrong with me. Reflection felt like a waste of time. It wasn’t until I started therapy and coach training that I learned...

Send us Fan Mail I recorded this episode from Lombok, Indonesia — a small island next to Bali — where I’ve been surfing twice a day for two weeks. Between the salt water, the wipeouts, and the stillness of the ocean, I realized something simple but profound: We can’t stop the waves. But we can learn to surf them. In this episode, I share three “real-life waves” I’ve surfed lately — from unexpected...

Send us Fan Mail For years, I carried an invisible weight — one that whispered, “What’s wrong with me?” When I froze in meetings, when I couldn’t leave a painful marriage, when I burned out and couldn’t make myself care anymore… I thought I was broken. What I didn’t realize was that what I was experiencing wasn’t weakness — it was shame . And shame is one of the biggest barriers to healing and gro...