The Joy Junkie Show

FREE WORKSHOP ~> Flip through Insta or Facebook and you’ll find a bevy of “Love Yourself” and “Just Think Positive” memes and you’re likely over here like, “Lemme get right on that.” When you’ve been struggling to simply accept yourself, actually loving yourself can feel like it would take an act of god. Perhaps you see super confident people and wonder how the hell they actually like themselves so much? Like, how can I get a piece of what she’s having? Here’s the problem: No one ever teaches you how to love yourself… or speak kindly to yourself… or pay attention to your needs. Lucky for you, I’ve put together 10 simple things you can start doing TODAY to help catapult your journey of self-love. [Hint: It’s actually not about finding the perfect job or the perfect mate that allows you start loving yourself. #spoileralert This pod explores: How to make sure you have time for YOU on your calendar How to make friends with the voices in your head How pride can actually be one of the biggest helpers in self-love

FREE WORKSHOP ~> You want to start your own biz, but you’re not sure you’re ‘good’ enough. You want to put your name in for the promotion, but you often think, “I’m not experienced enough”. You want to go back to school, but you often feel like you’re not young enough to start over. No matter what the goal… there is this constant phrase on loop in your mind… Not enough, not enough, not enough. UGH! Sound familiar? If so, join the club. No, seriously. In my decade+ of working in personal development, I can tell you that the idea that “I’m not enough” is probably one of the most common, deep-seated beliefs people hold. And, the bitch of it all, is that it damn-near always stifles your growth and keeps you from going after what you really want in your life. In essence, feeling “not enough’ can contribute to a shit-ton of unnecessary heartache and unhappiness. In this week’s show, I look at four concepts you can employ to bust out of feeling ‘less than’ and step into some serious worthiness and self-confidence. G

FREE WORKSHOP ~> So… You’re going to an event where you’ll see people you haven’t seen for a hot minute. And you’re a few pants sizes bigger than when they saw you last and you can’t stop ruminating on what people are going to think/say about your weight. What will be running through their minds!? They will all be judging me! I’m so disgusting! I can’t go out like this!  We’ve all been there. But have you ever stopped to think why we find this to be the absolute WORST thing that could happen to a woman? Could it possibly be that our culture values men for what they can produce and values women for what they look like? Of course it is. So, it’s no wonder that most of us grow up with the idea that we need to constantly improve our bodies and for the love of god, lose some damn weight already! Never enough. Never fucking enough. And, we get this message everywhere. From our families, media, romantic partners, media, advertising. Everywhere. In this week’s episode, I have the great fortune to dial up Susan Hyatt,

Ever find yourself having a type grip on controlling damn near everything and wonder why-the-hell you have that tendency? Or maybe you constantly try to make everyone else happy and find yourself pleasing everyone (except yourself) and you’re starting to see that this behavior is just not working anymore. Or perhaps you don’t think anything is worth doing unless it is absolute PERFECT so you end up overthinking and procrastinating. Any of those sound familiar? What if I told you that there was a tool that could help you understand why you are pulled to these behaviors and what you can do to either embrace them, re-brand them, or alter them from a place of personal power? You’d be all over it, right? Spoiler: THERE IS A TOOL! Bet you didn’t see that coming (lol).  This week on the show, I’m so excited to have Sarajane Case share her vault of wisdom on how the Enneagram can provide huge insight into our shadow selves (the things about us that we aren’t so thrilled about), how we behave when we are stressed, and

LOVE POD TOUR ~> Are you worthy of love? Yes. Of course. Absolutely. But do you believe you are worthy of love? That’s an entirely different question altogether.  If you have ever questioned if you are lovable or deserving of love, you are amongst great company, my friend. Whether it be a rough example in your formidable years of what someone must be/do to deserve love or whether it be a challenging relationship that constantly made you doubt your worth, it is unbelievably common to adopt a disempowering belief that you are simply not worthy, not deserving of love. And, our society certainly doesn’t do us any favors with the barrage of media images of the select few who are perfectly white, wealthy, straight, young, and thin who are clearly deserving of love but the rest of us? The rest of us might as well get used to the idea that “We’re not worthy” [Wayne + Garth voice]. And then we do our damnedest to FORCE others to love us. Maybe if we’re perfect or if we achieve enough or if we constantly make sure ever

FREE WORKSHOP ~> Just believe in yourself, they said. It will be easy, they said. Good vibes only, they said. So, why-the-hell does it feel like it will take an act of god to actually believe in yourself!? If you’ve ever found yourself wondering why self belief feels so damn illusive, you are certainly not alone. I mean, if you’re worried about what others think about you and you constantly find yourself spinning off into the land of “what ifs” it can be hard to simply tell yourself “you’ve got this” and actually believe it, amiright!? In this week’s episode, I share 10 tangible tips you can implement TODAY that will aid you in cultivating some confidence and belief in self. Maybe you find yourself second guessing every choice you make or everything you say. Maybe you worry what your family will think if you tell them you aren’t a fan of marriage or having kids or running the family business. Or maybe you’re just sick and tired of getting in your own way so damn much. If any of that sounds like you, be sure t

JOIN MEL'S *FREE* 5-DAY CHALLENGE ~> Ok, so let’s all collectively try to not freak out.  Mel Robbins is on the show this week.  Like, THE Mel Robbins.  The Mel Robbins who’s sold millions of copies of her highly sought-after books, spoken to some of the biggest audiences all over the world, and who has built one of the biggest personal empowerment movements to date. Yeah… no big deal. So, let me ask you a question. When you look in the mirror, how do you usually feel? What are the feelings that come up? (Ugh, Amy, really!?) How do you speak to yourself? Do you immediately pick yourself apart, assessing all the things you loathe about yourself? Or maybe you avoid the mirror altogether because you never have a good feeling engaging with yourself. Well, what if… what if you actually got excited to connect with that person in the mirror? What if you actually got a thrill and burst of dopamine by engaging with your image in a totally different way? What the hell are you even talking about, you may be wondering. 

FREE WORKSHOP~> Ever find yourself *not* speaking up even though something your co-worker said just didn’t sit right with you? Or have you ever wondered if you and your partner have somewhat of a codependent relationship? Or maybe you have an out-of-body reaction if you sense that your family doesn’t approve of your recent choice to move to another state. As in, if you’re not seeking approval, like, what are you even doing? All of these scenarios are examples of ways we can abandon ourselves and make everyone else and every thing outside of us much more important. We often adopt behavior like silencing ourselves, becoming codependent, saying “yes” when we really mean “no”, and a ton of other tactics to legitimately keep ourselves safe. Seriously. We do it because somewhere along the line, we realized these behaviors could serve as a coping mechanism. And, then, one day, you realize that these methods of coping just aren’t working anymore.  In this week’s show, (the second of a two-part series) I look at 12 co

FREE WORKSHOP ~> Don’t rock the boat. Don’t open up a can of worms. Sweep it under the rug. We have so many idioms that metaphorically express a common message: KEEP. QUIET. And if we unpack that message even further, there are a few inferences: 1) If you do speak up there is something wrong with you and 2) You should make other people’s comfort more important than your own truth. Oof. Listen, chronically and consistently putting others in front of ourselves is poison disguised as nobility. Early on we learn that taking care of everyone else and making sure everyone else is okay is our life’s work. That it is noble to sacrifice Self. At all costs. But, there is a grave cost to constantly seeking approval outside of yourself, hiding who you are, and dismissing your own needs. In a word, Self-Abandonment. (Well, two words hyphenated.) The idea that we discount who we are and what we need in order to make everyone else happy. Or possibly because we don’t believe we even deserve to be happy. In this week’s show,

FREE WORKSHOP ~> Tell me if any of this sounds familiar: You can’t stop ruminating about a conversation you had earlier in the week and you keep replaying the situation over and over and over… worrying about what was or wasn’t said. Or, you start to have a complete out-of-body if you ever sense that you aren’t “needed” by someone… a family member, boss, friend, whoever. Or maybe you find yourself making sure that everyone else is okay so damn much that you have no idea what you truly like, value, or enjoy. If any of those concepts ring a bell, you may have a bit of codependency on your hands. Now, before you freak out and self-diagnose… It’s important to know that we are all a bit codependent in some way. And, it’s not always a bad thing. On this week’s pod, I’m thrilled to dial up Vanessa Bennett, a psychotherapist and codependency coach who shares a shit-ton of info on how to identify various codependent behaviors, why we tend to do these behaviors to begin with, and what we can do to shift them. Vanessa sh

NEW FREE WORKSHOP ~> Ever find yourself sacrificing what you want so you can cater to the needs of others? Like, you are exhausted from your day and desperately need some rest, but your bestie really wants you to come over and support her through (yet another) argument with her partner. Or, maybe you find yourself sacrificing what you want at work because you’ve convinced yourself you’re not “good enough”. These are classic examples of self-abandonment: essentially leaving your own wants, needs, and desires on the table. For a whole slew of reasons. This sort of behavior doesn’t spring up overnight. Often we shape this pattern by learning methods of survival when we are young, through messages we receive about what a “good woman” should be, and through our societal and patriarchal influences. On this week’s show, I was able to dial up an expert on all things self-abandonment. Dené Logan is a therapist and mindfulness coach who specializes in offering tools for reclaiming the self we’ve been conditioned to aba

NEW FREE WORKSHOP ~> How many times have you NOT spoken up because you were afraid of what someone may think? How many times have you not fought for the raise you deserved? How often have you apologized or beaten yourself up for your own body? How do you tweak your posture when you’re dealing with someone aggressive and domineering? How often do you disrespect your time by allowing others to be late or demand things of you last minute? All of these scenarios (and many more) indicate how comfortable you may be Taking. Up. Space. For many of us, we’ve been told that we aren’t as worthy or valid as the next person which often leads us to shrink and dim our shine in order to make other comfortable. You may find these situations all too familiar. I sure-as-hell have.  In this week’s episode, I explore the concept of “taking up space”, what that actually looks like, and how to start owning your personal power and self-worth. I look at seventeen different things you can start paying attention to in order to catapult

NEW FREE WORKSHOP ~> Have you ever wanted to negotiate a salary increase but weren’t really sure how? Or if you even deserved it? Have you had someone tell you that you are “too much”, “too loud”, or “too emotional”? And, then you shrink a little bit and proceed to dull your own shine. Have you ever looked around your life and noticed that you don’t have all that much fun anymore… like, whatever happened to pleasure? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, it’s probably high-time you took up a bit more space and started to Make. Some. Damn. Noise. Already. Ok, Amy, that sounds fucking great, but HOW!? I’m so glad you asked. On this week’s show, I’m thrilled to dial up an expert on the subject of making some noise – My very own bestie, Andrea Owen. In her third book (available end of August 2021), Andrea looks at the myriad of ways that women silence themselves in their lives, ultimately keeping them small and disempowered. Creep our conversation where we discuss the role that religion, the patriarchy

FREE WORKSHOP ~> Ever find yourself stressed out because of events happening at work, and when you get home you find a perfect opportunity to be critical of your partner for not putting their shoes away? Or loading the dishwasher properly? Or missing an important payment? Or maybe you can relate to feeling dismissed or micromanaged by your boss so you tend to be critical every time you speak about her to your bestie? Whenever we have a need that isn’t getting met, we can tend to put up our defenses and use the armor of criticism to express ourselves. And, you guessed it, it often is met with more dismissal or defensiveness and now everyone is blaming everyone. Supes productive, amiright!? [she says sarcastically] Ugh. So, what is one to do if you find yourself in a relationship (with a partner, work colleague, family member, whoever) where criticism is a constant? Maybe you’ve even found yourself starting to resent this other person or beginning to distance yourself from them because it’s a non-stop criticism

FREE WORKSHOP ~> So, your partner gives you a little nudge that *maybe* you could do something a bit differently and you Totally. Fly. Off. The. Handle. Or maybe your bestie gently suggests that you may want to try to actually DO something about the shit-job you are always complaining about and you completely chew him out. If you have a hard time with feedback (uh-hem, criticism), you are certainly not alone, my friend. In fact, we are actually wired to defend ourselves if we feel attacked, so OF COURSE your knee-jerk reaction is to spout off reciprocal accusations and cast blame in the opposite direction. Listen, I’m not saying that your partner or your bestie is always in the right, but what I am saying is that it would likely serve you to dig a bit deeper and call yourself out on your shit. How? I’m so glad you asked. In this week’s episode, I discuss what to look for when experiencing criticism from others, how to know if there is any validity, and how to not let the whole damn thing destroy you. Not that

FREE WORKSHOP ~> Remember when the Law of Attraction was all the rage and everyone thought (maybe even you) that you could simply think about a million dollars and boom! it would suddenly be in your bank account… or magically under your mattress? Yeah. Me too. There is actually waaaay more to manifesting what you want in your life, especially if what you want is a lifelong love and partner. Permanent swipe right! Continuing our series on manifesting a soulmate, I’m chatting with Victoria Gallagher who is a world renowned leader in hypnotherapy and an authority on Law of Attraction. We dig into how we’re all constantly manifesting but we’re often stuck in such a negative spiral that we constantly attract more evidence that we are not lovable or “not enough”. And the cycle continues. Victoria shares her personal story of manifesting her husband, how long it took, and what she needed to let go of in order to be truly open and ready for love. We shed light on some serious myths and misconceptions about LOA and ho

FREE WORKSHOP ~> What if someone told you three specific questions you need to ask yourself after every date to know if you should continue on to the second date? What if someone could outline the exact mindset you’ve been stuck in that is arresting you from attracting your soulmate? What if someone could spell out why most relationships only last a few years and end with a serious power struggle and you know… what you can actually do about it. You’d be all over it, right!? You’re in luck, my love. On the show this week, I dial up Kira Sabin, a dear friend, colleague and a powerhouse in the field of attracting love and creating thriving relationships. She shares six specific mindsets that women often get locked into that completely thwarts their ability to attract lasting and meaningful relationships. In this candid conversation, we discuss the areas where women tend to get in their own way, tactics to alter your mindset around love, and how to set yourself up for a rich and fulfilling relationship. And, plea

FREE WORKSHEETS WITH THIS EPISODE ~> If you’ve been coming up empty in the dating arena and are wondering what you’re doing wrong, this two-part episode is going to be your jam. Here’s the deal: Unless you’ve had some sort of magical, utopian guide on dating, it’s likely that you’ve learned how to date and be in relationship through trial and error, your parent’s [awesome] example, and/or a barrage of confusing commentary about what’s “normal” and “realistic” from our hyperbolic media. So, how does one find “the one”? Kismet? Chant some magic words or build an altar? Online dating? [starts to pull teeth out] I feel you. Because I wanted to equip you with everything in YOUR power to call in your dream-boat, I created this two-part pod series to teach you how to get crystal clear on what you want in a partner, and in this second edition in particular, what you can actually DO about it. If you’ve been feeling like the cards are stacked against you, get ready to feel super empowered and excited about what your f

FREE WORKSHEETS WITH THIS EPISODE ~> We get bombarded with messages about what true love looks like, but when we look around we don’t often see a shit-ton of fairytale romances. Or partnerships that are even happy, let alone blissful. So what does it really take to manifest your soulmate? I mean… are some people just lucky and everyone else is screwed? Hardly. Here’s the deal… No one ever teaches us how to prepare ourselves to be in a relationship. So, what happens? We usually just jump in and learn as we go… over-riding our intuition, ignoring warning signs, and inevitably taking on a bunch of “projects”. In this pod, I’ll have you dig into your deepest, truest desires for a partner. You’ll uncover what they look like, act like, what your life looks like together, and who you intend to be inside your relationship. We’re dreamin’ this week and next week we’ll be schemin’. This episode is the first of a two-part series I have created to equip you with all the tools necessary to summon up your soulie. Don’t wor

FREE WORKSHOP ~> Ever wonder what it really takes to keep love alive long-term? Ever see happy couples and wonder what-the-hell their secret is? (I mean… Considering you’re ready to strangle your spouse… like, always). In the near twenty-four years we’ve been together, Mr. Smith and I have consistently and repeatedly been asked what our secrets are to not just a long-term marriage but a happy one. Plenty of people stay together, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that they aren’t all that happy… maybe just okay… and sometimes flat-out miserable. So, what does it really take to keep love alive and FUN over multiple decades? Well, you’re in luck. In this episode, Mr. Smith is back on the show and we candidly and openly talk about six major factors that have kept our marriage strong, fun, and intimate. And, speaking of rocket science, many of our “secrets” aren’t all that hard… it’s just likely you’ve never been taught. Have a listen and you just may completely change the trajectory of your relationsh