The Collision Point

You're running your business and your family on one nervous system, and when work and motherhood collide, your body usually feels it first. In this episode, I'm sitting down with the therapist who walked with me through the hardest part of my story, to talk about what a collision actually feels like on the inside and how to come back to yourself when one hits.

Brooke Farrell is a private practice therapist who works with individuals, families, and moms using internal family systems (IFS) and polyvagal theory. She's also a mom to twin girls and shares her very own collision she recently experienced in motherhood.

Brooke explains IFS in plain language: the idea that two parts of you can pull in opposite directions while both wanting something good. We get into what happens in your nervous system when you ignore collisions for too long, and why even your best plans fall apart the moment you're flooded by these emotions.

If you’ve ever seen the movie “Inside Out”, the explanation of IFS may seem familiar, and it’s a good visual for us to refer to here. Brooke shares with us that naming these emotions while they’re happening and asking the loudest part to wait in the “waiting room”, can help your nervous system regulate.

Experiencing collisions as an ambitious mom is inevitable when operating both business and motherhood on one nervous system, but this episode walks you through ways to help you find regulation when one comes up. Take a deep breath, hit play, and then send this to a mom friend that may also need to hear this.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Connect With Brooke: brooke@unifyfamilies.com

Visit Her Website

Find Brooke on Psychology Today

IFS Resources:

IFS Institute Website

Books: “No Bad Parts” by Richard Schwartz & “You Are The One You’ve Been Waiting For” by Richard Schwartz

YouTube Video: “What is IFS Therapy?” by Dr. Tori Olds

For show notes, head to www.ashleysterken.com

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Collision Point! I'll be back next week with another episode, but until then here's how we can connect!

Connect with Ashley on Instagram @ashley_sterken

Visit Ashley's Website

Follow Ambire Collective on Instagram @ambirecollective

Join the Community

Thank you for listening to The Collision Point! If you enjoyed this episode please leave a rating and written review for the show! Your words truly matter and Ashley reads each and every one! Thank you again and we'll see you again next time!

Collisions often happen at the worst possible times and often, when you least expect them to. This week, I’m experiencing a collision of my own. I need five full working days and have just about three. So for this episode, I’m going to work through this collision, with you, in real time, plus I’m going to share three things that I’m doing about it that you can try in your own life.

What sounds like a time management problem is actually a structural problem. So press play and let’s get started. Ditch the color coding calendar, grab your notebook, and learn how to create more structure around your work week.

For show notes, head to www.ashleysterken.com

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Collision Point! I'll be back next week with another episode, but until then here's how we can connect!

Connect with Ashley on Instagram @ashley_sterken

Visit Ashley's Website

Follow Ambire Collective on Instagram @ambirecollective

Join the Community

Thank you for listening to The Collision Point! If you enjoyed this episode please leave a rating and written review for the show! Your words truly matter and Ashley reads each and every one! Thank you again and we'll see you again next time!

Who else is familiar with the formula: More effort means more control, and more control means more reward. After having a child, that formula no longer applies.

In today’s episode, I’m joined by therapist Katrina Oliver to talk about why high achieving moms hit a wall when pushing harder doesn’t work, and what you can actually do instead. Katrina is a therapist, mom of 9-year-old twins, and the host of Still Becoming, a podcast about what it actually feels like to be a high-functioning woman in midlife.

We’ll get more into this formula that worked for us for so long, why it stops applying in motherhood, what Katrina calls an overwhelm that strategy can’t touch, overfunctioning, becoming a new version of yourself, and why slowing down matters.

This conversation is a great one between close friends, and it also provides so much value and encouragement, so if you’re in the middle of recognizing these collision points within yourself, you’re not alone. Grab your headphones, slow down a little, and enjoy this episode!

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Connect with Katrina on Instagram

Listen to Still Becoming Podcast

Find Katrina on Psychology Today

For show notes, head to www.ashleysterken.com

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Collision Point! I'll be back next week with another episode, but until then here's how we can connect!

Connect with Ashley on Instagram @ashley_sterken

Visit Ashley's Website

Follow Ambire Collective on Instagram @ambirecollective

Join the Community

Thank you for listening to The Collision Point! If you enjoyed this episode please leave a rating and written review for the show! Your words truly matter and Ashley reads each and every one! Thank you again and we'll see you again next time!

Ambition after kids doesn’t disappear. It runs straight into your new life, over and over, creating collisions of all sizes. In this first episode, I walk you through what I call a “collision point”, why they happen, and how to start spotting your own.

If the pace you had before kids isn’t working anymore, nothing is wrong with you. Your life just wasn’t rebuilt to match who you’ve become.

Listen in as I share why high achievers don’t see these collisions coming, the quiet collisions in logistics, identity, and ambition that most of us just absorb, my own story – how I went from COO at a growing company to experiencing two major collisions that changed how I worked, and why I treat this as an infrastructure problem and not a willpower problem.

It’s time for you to notice the collisions in your own life. The time of day that always falls apart, the decision that always lands on your plate, or the handoff that always breaks. You don’t have to fix it yet, just start noticing.

If you’re a mom and a highly ambitious woman, experiencing your own collisions in life or building a business of your own after stepping into motherhood, this is for you.

For show notes, head to www.ashleysterken.com

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Collision Point! I'll be back next week with another episode, but until then here's how we can connect!

Connect with Ashley on Instagram @ashley_sterken

Visit Ashley's Website

Follow Ambire Collective on Instagram @ambirecollective

Join the Community

Thank you for listening to The Collision Point! If you enjoyed this episode please leave a rating and written review for the show! Your words truly matter and Ashley reads each and every one! Thank you again and we'll see you again next time!

Welcome to The Collision Point, a podcast about the intersection of ambition and motherhood, and what happens when the two collide. Hosted by Ashley Sterken, a former corporate COO turned two-time founder, this show explores the realities of building a business, pursuing career goals, and navigating motherhood without losing yourself in the process.

After years of following the corporate playbook of doing more, working harder, and pushing through, Ashley discovered that the strategies that once fueled her success no longer worked after becoming a mother. Through conversations about mom burnout, work-life balance, entrepreneurship, and the challenges of modern motherhood, she shares an honest look at what it means to redefine success and build a business that supports your real life instead of constantly competing with it.

If you're a working mom, entrepreneur, or ambitious woman trying to balance career growth with family life, you're in the right place. It's time to stop expecting yourself to operate the way you did before and start creating a way of working that works for you now. Be sure to follow The Collision Point for honest conversations about ambition, motherhood, burnout, and building a business that makes room for all of who you are. Thank you for being here and we'll see you next week!

For show notes, head to www.ashleysterken.com

Ashley will be back with another episode next week, but here's how to stay connected in the meantime!

Connect with Ashley on Instagram @ashley_sterken

Visit Ashley's Website

Follow Ambire Collective on Instagram @ambirecollective

Join the Community

Thank you for listening to The Collision Point! If you enjoyed this episode please leave a rating and written review for the show! Your words truly matter and Ashley reads each and every one! Thank you again and we'll see you again next time!