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That's Where I'm At

·S1 E71

EP 71: Empowering Women: Learning to Trust Yourself and Set Boundaries for a Fulfilling Life with Vanessa Kavulish

February 18
37 mins

Episode Description

In this episode of That's Where I'm At, host Laura sits down with Vanessa Kavulish, a business strategist, speaker, entrepreneur, and founder of VK Growth Consulting. Vanessa helps founders scale their businesses with clarity and alignment—without losing themselves in the process. Having advised and coached hundreds of entrepreneurs, and as the founder of Benefit Bar, an elevated eco-friendly event brand known for exceptional execution and unforgettable experiences, Vanessa brings both strategic expertise and lived insight into sustainable growth and authentic leadership.

In this empowering conversation, Vanessa shares her personal journey from seeking external validation to trusting her intuition, setting strong boundaries, and prioritizing self-respect. She and Laura explore the impact of societal conditioning, the importance of rest, and how relationships evolve as women step into their true selves. Vanessa also offers practical guidance on building confidence, strengthening self-trust, and growing both personally and professionally without sacrificing well-being. This episode is a powerful reminder that true success comes from alignment, authenticity, and honoring who you are becoming.

 

Key Topics & Timestamps

Content Warning (00:01:16) A brief warning about potentially triggering subjects in the episode.

Guest Introduction: Vanessa the Empowerment Coach (00:01:25) Laura introduces Vanessa, her background, and her work as an empowerment coach.

Vanessa's Journey: Overachieving & Seeking Validation (00:02:15) Vanessa shares her upbringing, need for external validation, and how it led to her career and eventual unhappiness.

Breaking Free from Others' Expectations (00:04:18) Discussion about filtering advice from well-meaning people and learning to trust your own path.

Weeding Out External Voices & Self-Trust (00:07:22) The process of identifying which internal voices are truly your own and learning self-trust.

Reframing Self-Validation & Self-Respect (00:08:02) Vanessa explains the importance of self-respect and treating yourself as your own best friend.

Vanessa's Epiphanies & Empowerment (00:09:25) Vanessa shares how self-trust led to empowerment, new opportunities, and the start of her coaching journey.

Coaching Focus: Women & Setting Boundaries (00:12:38) Vanessa explains her focus on coaching women and the importance of practicing saying no and setting boundaries.

Self-Reflection: Judging Others & Internal Beliefs (00:17:28) Vanessa discusses how our judgments of others reflect our own internal struggles with boundaries.

Learning Boundaries Through Experience (00:18:34) Laura shares her personal journey of discovering boundaries and the challenges of asserting them.

Levels of Boundaries: With Others & Self (00:20:15) Vanessa explains that boundaries exist on many levels, including with oneself, and shares her own experiences.

Rest, Burnout, and Permission to Slow Down (00:21:12) Discussion about the importance of rest, recognizing burnout, and giving yourself permission to take breaks.

Losing & Gaining Relationships During Growth (00:26:29) Discussion on how healing and setting boundaries can lead to losing some relationships but making space for new, supportive ones.

Normalizing Change in Social Circles (00:30:02) Vanessa normalizes the cycling of people in and out of our lives as we grow and change.

Coping with the Pain of Losing Connections (00:31:20) Acknowledging the emotional difficulty of losing close connections during personal transformation.

Final Thoughts: Trusting Your Authentic Self (00:32:40) Vanessa's closing advice to trust yourself, embrace your authentic self, and reconnect with your inner child.

Being Yourself Attracts Your Tribe (00:34:12) Laura and Vanessa discuss how authenticity and humor help attract like-minded people and foster healing.

 

Powerful Quotes from the Episode

Vanessa, 'We have to learn to trust ourselves before we trust anybody else.' Vanessa, 'The person you have from the moment you're born until the moment you die is you, so you really have to learn how to be your best friend.' Laura, 'The ultimate act of self-love for me was learning how to set boundaries.' Vanessa, 'You have to give yourself permission to slow down, because we can't pour from an empty cup.' Vanessa, 'The key is just trusting yourself and leaning into who you are.'

 

RESOURCES:

FOLLOW VANESSA:

 

"Self-trust is the foundation of every boundary, every decision, and every aligned life."

Podcast Produced and edited by the team at ResilientVoiceMedia.com

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