Episodes

Is the story you have in your mind influencing your relationships with your partner, colleague, or family member? We all know what it’s like to get caught in our thoughts, replaying something that was said and building a story about what it means. In this episode, Barb is joined by Angus Ross, a transformational coach and co-host of the Awaken to Love podcast. They explore why we get gripped by story and what changes when we begin to see it with more clarity. Angus and his wife Rohini work pr...

What if the real question isn’t whether it will work out, but whether you can trust yourself inside the yes? In this solo episode, Barb explores what happens after we feel the aliveness, the curiosity, the expansion of a yes, and how quickly the mind and nervous system move in to manage, predict, and protect. Through reflections from her own life and leadership, Barb unpacks what she calls the “fragility trap”. The subtle way we treat ourselves as if we can’t handle growth, uncertainty, or exp...

What if the constant drive to optimize, organize, and “get it right” is actually keeping us at a distance from life? In this solo episode, Barb explores the subtle illusion behind getting our act together and how perfectionism and control can quietly delay action, presence, and aliveness. Using everyday examples and the metaphor of the kayak versus the yacht, she invites us to loosen our grip on certainty, trust our capacity to learn, and step more fully into the imperfect, unfolding reality o...

As the year comes to a close, I've found myself reflecting on the conversations I’ve had on the podcast and what has become clear as I listened to each of my guests. This isn’t a recap of interviews or a list of best moments. It’s a reflection on the themes that kept showing up, regardless of background, industry, or life story. In this solo episode, I share six truths that emerged again and again through conversation, about letting go, identity, presence, readiness, trust, and the human exper...

We’ve all been in that place where we’ve tried everything we know how to do, and nothing is working. The offer doesn’t land, the shift doesn’t happen, the result won’t come. Our instinct is to push harder or figure it out. But what if “nothing is working” isn’t a problem to solve, but a moment to listen? In this solo episode, Barb explores the deeper intelligence inside these breakdowns. She shares personal and client stories that reveal how often the real invitation is to return to zero, loo...

We’ve all had moments when a want feels clear, alive, and true, and yet, when it comes time to move toward it, something inside of us hesitates, tightens, or stalls. In today’s episode, we explore that mysterious place, the edge, where our heart’s desire meets old conditioning, protection, and the parts of us that don’t yet feel free. What if the pause, the freeze, or the resistance isn’t a sign of failure, self-sabotage, or “not wanting it enough”? What if nothing is wrong at all? Together,...

What happens when we stop trying to control our lives and begin listening to the quiet nudges within? What becomes possible when we’re willing to step into the space where the known ends and life begins? In this conversation, author and world traveler Kristy Halvorsen joins me from inside her Airstream, the home she’s lived in for the past eight years while following what she calls the “tickles of her soul.” Kristy’s book, Perfect Unfolding, chronicles not just a physical journey across North ...

So many of us learn early in our careers to put on a kind of professionalism, a polished version of ourselves that keeps us safe, earns approval, and helps us fit into the rooms we enter. But over time, that same persona can become a quiet constraint. It creates distance. It limits our expression. And it costs us connection, with ourselves and with others. In this week’s episode, I'm joined by Ken De Loreto, Founder of Provoke Learning, long-time facilitator of leadership and learning, and co-h...

What if life’s detours and unmet expectations are part of the design? In this conversation with Jason Amoroso, Founder of Revelation Breathwork, holistic high-performance coach, and host of Living the Way of Mastery and The Sound of Healing, we explore what it really means to let go of expectations and learn to trust life. From leaving a career in professional sports to building a business rooted in spirit and service, Jason shares openly about success, surrender, and the inner journey that co...

There are times when life looks fine on the outside - work is flowing, relationships are steady - yet something inside feels muted. A quiet flatness. That subtle hum of “blah.” In this solo episode, Barb explores how that feeling can often be a sign that we’ve drifted into our minds, narrating, managing, and interpreting life instead of living it directly. Drawing on a James Joyce quote, “Mr. Duffy lived a short distance from his body,” she reflects on how our mental protectors, once useful, ...

We all carry invisible rules, the quiet assumptions that shape how we live, work, and measure success. In this episode, Barb shares a story from a recent leadership retreat that revealed three powerful but often unseen beliefs: • that speed equals excellence, • that output equals worth, and • that what worked before should still work now. These hidden rules can fuel stress and overdrive, even when everything looks “successful” on the surface. When we start to see them clearly, something sh...

What happens when you spend six days in complete darkness, no phone, no light, no distractions, and finally stop trying to hold it all together? In this profound and intimate conversation, Barb Patterson sits down with Scott Kelly, a transformative coach whose experience in a dark retreat revealed what it truly means to let go and trust life. Scott shares how exhaustion, striving, and a lifetime of “it’s all up to me” slowly gave way to deep rest, surrender, and freedom. Together, Barb and Sc...

What if your okayness was never at risk, no matter the circumstances? In this episode, I’m joined by Board Certified Coach and Educator Davida Arnold for a conversation about what it means to discover that you’re okay - no matter what’s happening around you. Davida shares personal stories from parenting, teaching, and her own journey that reveal how easily we can get caught in the illusion that our happiness depends on others or our circumstances. Through the lens of the inside-out nature of l...

We’ve all been told to chase “work-life balance.” Get the calendar right. Set better boundaries. Manage your time better. But what if balance has nothing to do with rearranging the outside? In this episode, Barb Patterson explores why the traditional idea of work-life balance keeps us on a hamster wheel, and a fresh perspective on where to find what you’re looking for. She shares the simple but profound shift that allows you to meet deadlines, demands, and relationships with more clarity, prese...

What happens when the very lens shaping your world is invisible to you? In this intimate conversation, coach and author Melissa Ford shares her journey of uncovering the deep, unconscious belief that “I don’t matter”, and how that hidden story colored her relationships, her work, and her sense of self. Melissa and I explore the shift from concealing who we are, managing our image, protecting ourselves, controlling how others see us, to the profound freedom that comes when we reveal what’s real...

What happens when we stop resisting and start leading with “yes energy”? In this conversation, Barbara sits down with Sarah Richardson Mehler, Founder & CEO of Left Field Labs, to explore the inner shifts that have shaped her leadership and life. Sarah shares how embracing ambidexterity, blending imagination, and intuition with pragmatic execution, and empathy with strategy, opened space for her to bring her whole self to leadership. She reflects on why better together and collective intellige...

Have you ever felt like you’re a project in need of fixing? Like if you could just conquer that flaw, stick to that habit, or find the right formula, you’d finally arrive? For years, Barb lived inside that story, and it left her with a constant hum of dissatisfaction and self-doubt. In this solo episode, Barb shares how the self-improvement path opened incredible doors, yet also kept her locked in a cycle of striving. What began to shift everything was the realization that she was never broken ...

What if money was never the problem, but our relationship to creativity and possibility? In this conversation, coach and author Aila Coats joins Barb to explore money, abundance, and the deeper source behind both. From her earliest entrepreneurial sparks as a child, to navigating pregnancy while reimagining her business model, Aila has continually discovered that wealth isn’t about formulas, it’s about creativity, resilience, and trust in the infinite source of life. Together they talk about: ...

What if true leadership isn’t about pushing harder or overriding your limits, but about listening more deeply to your body and your wisdom? In this conversation, Barb sits down with Julie Chazotte, transformational coach and co-founder of Simple SHIFT, to explore what it really means to embody leadership. Julie shares her own journey from overwhelm and pressure to discovering the transformative role of the nervous system, somatic awareness, and embodied presence. Together they dive into the h...

We tell ourselves we’re waiting for the right moment, more information or better conditions. But often, those delays are just fear in disguise. In this solo episode, Barb unpacks how business has a way of shining a light on the patterns that keep us holding back, second-guessing, overthinking, playing it safe. She shares a personal story of a missed opportunity, and why real growth happens when we choose to engage with life and our businesses even when it's uncomfortable. Life, business, and c...

What happens when the body refuses to play along with your plans—when the old drive, hustle, and push simply stop working? In this candid and inspiring conversation, BarB sits down with branding and marketing expert Lee Bjarnason to explore the unexpected “no” that changed the course of her career. Lee shares how a season of resistance and burnout revealed deeper wisdom, reignited her creativity through an unlikely side project about the Beatles, and ultimately transformed how she approaches he...

What happens when we stop trying to be who we think we should be, and start showing up as we are? In this honest and thoughtful conversation, Barb sits down with Dan Wingard, real estate leader, business coach, and musician, to explore his personal journey from performance and perfectionism to presence and authenticity. Dan shares candidly about the evolution of his leadership, his marriage of nearly 30 years, and the internal shifts that helped him let go of the pressure to prove, perform, or...

What does it really mean to live an embodied life? What does it mean to have a felt, experiential knowing of who we are beyond our thinking? In this solo episode, Barb explores her personal journey of embodiment and what it means to drop below the surface, listen to the intelligence of the body, and trust its guidance even in uncertainty. From a trip to Ecuador and the loss of a loved one, she shares how reconnecting to the body opened up new dimensions of clarity, trust, and presence. This e...

What keeps life and leadership fresh, even after decades in the game? And how do you stay curious, present, and willing to take risks when it would be easier to play it safe? In this conversation, Barb sits down with Terri Keogh, President & CEO of Castro Properties, a third-generation entrepreneur, to explore the mindset that has kept her learning, growing, and thriving in business and life. Terri shares stories from her early days making the shift from prosecutor to the real estate industry,...