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Ambition Without Compromise is the space where powerhouse women of color — with a special heart for Black mothers and future mothers — come to redefine success on their own terms. Hosted by Monique R. Shields, executive coach, entrepreneur, and mentor to women at the highest levels of leadership, this podcast dives into the real challenges women face when juggling bold professional pursuits with the responsibilities of being present partners, mothers, and whole, healthy individuals. Through honest conversations and powerful stories, you’ll gain insights on: Balancing ambition and freedom without burnoutCrafting sustainable work-life integrationProtecting your mental and emotional well-beingBuilding intentional communities and seeking mentorship for growthWhether you're scaling your business, stepping into a higher leadership role, or simply seeking clarity about what success means now, this show offers the tools and stories to help you thrive without compromise. Follow Monique wherever you listen to podcasts and step into a world where ambition and joy can coexist.

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Check latest episodes from Ambition Without Compromise podcast

78 | Am I Enough? Releasing the Habit of Counting Yourself Out In Your Career Growth

2026/01/28

In this episode, Monique explores a moment so many high-achieving women experience. That moment an opportunity appears and you quietly start building a case for why you shouldn’t take it. Using the launch of her new YouTube channel as a real-time example, Monique shares what it looks like to move forward without waiting to feel “ready.” She unpacks the familiar fears that often surface when visibility increases, such as What if it flops? What if people judge me? What if I’m not enough? and offers a grounded reframe. For anyone sitting on a pivot, a transition, or a new chapter, Monique encourages you to shoot the shot, stop self-disqualifying and see what happens. LINKS Join Monique’s Newsletter Apply for her upcoming Retreat March 1-4, 2026 in Palm Springs, CA GEMS DROPPED “Don't count yourself out before you give it a shot.” “We have this very interesting relationship to our achievements as high achievers where it's like as soon as you achieve something, you write it off. It's just like, okay, on to the next.We have just been dismissing over and over and over again, not enoughing over and over and over again. Through every milestone, every point of new expansion, every big lesson learned, or every iInternal shift. These are huge things, but we discount so much of it.” “I don't know what it is that you might be facing. What it is that you're hesitating to go for, to toss your hat in the ring for, to apply for, to step into, a phone call that you have been holding off on making, there's a person that you want to mentor you, someone that you want to connect with, anywhere you want to be. Shoot your shot. Shoot your shot.” “Whatever the thing is that you are holding yourself back on, with intention, shoot your shot. Stop counting yourself out and see what happens. Know that you can cope and that you will grow. Guaranteed. In any case, you will grow. “ “We have to push ourselves into new limits. And I think especially to take emotional risks. These are the things that make us feel very vulnerable. Oftentimes we feel a lot more equipped to take professional risks, tactical risks, strategic risks. But we don't always want to take the emotional risk. And the emotional risk is where it's at. That's where you're going to see yourself transform.” STAY IN TOUCH Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields or YouTube and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

77 | Dreaming, Being, and Becoming: Why High-Achieving Women Struggle to Sit With the Dream

2026/01/14

In this day and age when there are a lot of things that want to stifle our dreams and stifle our energy and our creativity about what it is that we can build or do or how we can exist in the world, we need support with dreaming. In this episode, Monique shares what came up during a recent dream session she led with her clients, and why making space for self-reflection and imaginative play is such a powerful (and necessary) practice. You’ll hear her unpack our relationship with dreaming and the ongoing work of becoming, not the version of yourself that gets approval, but the version that feels true. She also offers a gentle but clear shift: instead of chasing external validation, start paying attention to what you actually desire, because those internal cues are often the most honest fuel for your ambition. If your dreams have been feeling distant, smaller, or harder to access lately, this conversation will help you reconnect. Tune in, explore what’s calling you forward, and take one small step toward reclaiming your dreams. GEMS DROPPED “Dreaming can feel really tough, especially for women who are positioned to be the caretakers of this world in our communities, in our families, in our offices, everywhere we go. And so we get wrapped up in what everybody else needs.” “To have a relationship to the dream, which is like more of a destination positioning, as opposed to having a relationship to dreaming, which is the act of creating, engaging with the dream. I think the line of delineation there is one points to where am I supposed to go or and how am I supposed to go there. The other one points to who am I supposed to be and so that's the question I'll pose to you, which is who it is that you're trying to be?” “The dream is really just a byproduct or a symptom of you being who you are meant to be expressed as here and now, right? Are you behaving as her? Are you existing as her? Are you at the energetic frequency? It's just what happens.” “Whether or not we know it, y', all, we have mantras running through our heads every day. Directing our beliefs, directing our actions, all of our choices. You're already running off of a mantra, and it is your job to, as often as you can, examine what is the mantra that I'm living by right now. What is the track that is running through my mind that is directing my thoughts, my emotions, my behaviors, what's in there and is it serving me? Because sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't. Many times, especially in a season where you are triggered by fear and overwhelm, those kinds of things, they don't come from nowhere, and they don't have an impact. That's just external. It's like your mind is running on something. And so we’ve got to get a hold of our thoughts, and we have to replace our thoughts.” “Your dream is about who you wish to be. How you wish to be expressed in the world. It's not about the destination or the accomplishments. It's about how you want to feel about yourself. The kind of woman who is. The kind of woman who does. The kind of woman who exists. Are you willing to put her at risk to make other people feel better?” STAY IN TOUCH Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields or YouTube and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

76 | A Hard Reset on Money, Consumption, and Self-Trust [Dashboard Diaries]

2025/12/31

In this introspective episode, Monique shares her self-discovery journey and what it’s taught her about shifting her relationship with money and consumption. You’ll hear how she’s approaching better money management through a low-buy challenge, plus the real lessons she’s carrying forward from past accountability efforts in other parts of her life. This conversation is a reminder that financial wellness isn’t meant to be done alone. When we name what’s true, share the messy parts, and ask for support, we create a healthier, more fulfilling relationship with money. Tune in now. GEMS DROPPED “I think that our relationship with money and finances is just like any other relationship in life where it is a continuous growth process, a continuous learning curve with reevaluation and reinvestment and retesting and retrying.” “When we say we want something, then we don't do it, It's because you didn't commit. You didn't really want it. You wanted to want it, but your behaviors do not demonstrate that commitment.” “One thing I know about myself is that if I have an accountability partner, an accountability group that's also serious, I am golden. I am golden. I work out so many things in my life through relationships. It's a tool, it's a leveraging piece that I use to help me meet my goals.” STAY IN TOUCH Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

75 | You Can’t Do Big Things in Shallow Waters [Dashboard Diaries]

2025/12/17

In today's fast-paced world, women often find themselves at a crossroads, grappling with their professional identities and the desire for personal growth. In this candid conversation, Monique discusses the societal pressures that often keep women tethered to outdated identities and the necessity of forging authentic connections that foster growth and transformation. Her message serves as a reminder that change is possible, and with the right support, women can achieve their dreams and redefine success on their own terms. Tune in to discover how to reclaim your worth, embrace your agency, and build meaningful relationships that support your growth. GEMS DROPPED “I do believe that we all should own something. It does not matter if you work full time and you are a corporate baddie. You are busting down doors and climbing all the ladders… I do believe that we should all own something.” “You need to actually take the reins of your own story and be able to not only build it, but speak about it and move in it. To actually exist in this new identity.” “Transformation is a choice, but it's also a result of relationships. You're not going to find transformation by reading a book. You're not. You might find a spark that leads you down a path towards growth and development and transformation, but information is not transformation. Information in and of itself, does not mean that you have actually made meaning of it. And I know that as we endeavor to make big changes in our world and big changes in our life that if we continue to exist only in shallow spaces, then we are missing out on the transformation.” “I know when I feel like I'm down in the dumps about something and I'm doing that thing where it's like, well, I just need to do better. I'm just not enough. I'm not doing enough of the things. I gotta push harder. I just need to pull myself up by my bootstraps. All that bs. We self isolate as well. It puts you in this sort of self fulfilling cycle of the thing that you need most, which is the degree of support that you are not getting from the outside through an aligned community. When you don't do it, it just leads you to further and further self isolation and shame.” “Depth [in relationships] is about alignment and a mutual willingness to continuously reach for realignment and overlap and ways in which to know each other more and to create more and more permission to know each other.” "When you've got the passion, the ideas, the access and the networks, but you still won't move. That's your signal. It's not you. There's nothing else that you're lacking…Stop blaming yourself. … There is something about your environment, your community, the systems that exist around you, or don't exist around you. That is what is lacking. And so you have to solve for those things with the resources that you have.” “’I’ve shouted from the rooftops that this is how we have to move in the society that exists around us. This is how we have to move. You cannot be passive with this. You cannot be wishing upon a star and hoping. This is not a time for just being hopeful. You gotta take action and use what you have to get what you want.” STAY IN TOUCH Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

74 | [Rewind] The Right Time Is Not Coming

2025/12/03

This week on Ambition Without Compromise, we’re revisiting a pivotal episode that resonates deeply with our ongoing theme of embracing change. Join Monique as she tackles the elusive concept of the "right time" and how it often keeps us stuck in a cycle of waiting for the perfect moment to pursue our dreams. She dives straight into the heart of the matter, sharing powerful insights on how we often cling to familiar paths, fearing the unknown, and how this can lead to stagnation. She encourages us to challenge the narratives that keep us from embracing our true passions and desires. It's time to give ourselves permission to dream big and take action! GEMS DROPPED “This magical right time, the time when you feel ready, when things are in place, when you have done enough, when you have prepared enough, and you know that this is up for you, that this is a challenge for you right now… The whole thing is a trick.” “When you keep saying stuff like, well, I just have to think about, or I just have to decide, or I've got to give some more thought to … I need to do some preparation… I just. I just. I just. I just. y'all. This is all danger language. Danger, danger, danger, danger, language. We start backing ourselves into deep limitation because we are fearful of giving ourselves permission to be specific about what it is that we truly want.” “Leading with our wants feels reckless when we have always led with what we think we need/what is required, for so, so, so, so long.” “You can't cut something off from nourishment and expect it to survive.” “I recognize that in order for this next part of me, this next phase to come to fruition, for that to happen, I'm gonna have to relinquish the reins. I'm gonna have to let this other part of me, this free and creative and open, this vulnerable part of me, come up to the driver's seat and I might have to get in the back, I might have to get in the trunk at some point. That feels so risky. It feels so, so risky internally.” “We disconnect from that part of ourselves. We leave those, air quote, ‘childish things’ behind and we get serious about life and we put on new coping skills and different things toughen us up and rough us up, and we forget that that wild and free little version of us, has so much power.” “I hope that if you are sitting in stagnation and not realizing, I hope that if you are sitting in, ‘I need to wait for the right time’, or ‘I just need to think through. I just need to figure out,’ or ‘I just need to, you know, shore up x, y and z,’ that you bust down those walls and get real with the truth of what's going on here, which is knowing that you don't have to cling to what's familiar and that you're not going to find your freedom. Your salvation will not come from this place. You have everything you need to make the move if you give yourself permission to let that part of you actually dream it up and connect you to the urgency of it all.” STAY IN TOUCH Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

73 [Rewind] Being "Worthy" Of The Pivot

2025/11/19

We’re bringing back this powerful conversation as a replay because the message is still exactly what you need to hear if you’re feeling called to something more in your career or business. Join Monique as she dives into the art of self-persuasion and the importance of recognizing your inherent worthiness. She challenges you to shift your mindset from external validations to embracing your internal power, urging you to ask yourself: Who do I need to be to make the changes I desire? By understanding the narratives you create around your ambitions and the social contracts you feel bound to, you can begin to dismantle the barriers that prevent you from stepping into your fullest potential. When you move with confidence in who you are and what you stand for, it’s magnetic. You are powerful. You are worthy. You can make that pivot and this replay is your reminder. GEMS DROPPED “Setting yourself up for success is either code for, “I want to make sure that I make a move that protects me from failure” or “how do I make sure I'm set up for it is what will finally make me worthy of the success?” So one is about, I want to make sure that I have collected all of the Girl Scout badges, and the other is about I've put on enough armor to protect myself. Both of those buckets are a way of thinking that has been handed down to us through traditional career building in corporate structures and neither of those models is going to get you to your intrinsic vision” “The social contracts that you make with people, they do exist. When we build up different brands, or even just professional reputations in people's minds, they exist, …people need to be able to hold you in their imaginations as something, we need to make sense of each other. But those brands, those reputations are not built on the specific configuration of what you do and how you do it in the world. They're not built upon the specific titles that you carry, and the specific strengths and skills that you have and how those things specifically come together. That's not actually the bedrock, they're a part of it, for sure, but the bedrock of those social contracts, and the way that people are carrying us in their minds… is trust”. “People are not thinking about us as much as we think they are. we're caught up in our own stuff y'all, like the same way that you're just trying to stay on top of all the basic necessities of your life in all the big questions of your life. That's what everybody else is doing, too.” “...things that you think you need to have… all of the shiny objects that you need to collect… all of the people, all of the authorities that need to approve of you before you can make this step, you don't have to be set up in that way for success. The way that we set ourselves up for these pivots. The ways that we prepare ourselves to make these kinds of pivots is by going internal into making some decisions and making some shifts around how we are relating to ourselves, which then carry out to how we move. When we move with that kind of energy, you become magnetic…’ STAY IN TOUCH Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

72 | Adhering To Your Dreams: The Secret to Doing What You Say You Want

2025/11/05

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the demands of life and struggling to prioritize your well-being? This struggle is not unique; countless high achieving women share similar experiences of knowing what they should do for their health and happiness, but finding it difficult to take action. In our latest episode, Monique offers insights that can help transform your approach to self-care and ambition. Join in to explore the systemic influences at play and discover four key pillars that can help you adhere to your personal goals. By understanding the systemic barriers we face and recognizing the importance of support systems, we can take meaningful steps toward a more fulfilling life. Tune in to learn more about how to align your actions with your highest goals and create the life you truly desire. GEMS DROPPED “Thinking about what keeps us from prioritizing our priorities, I'm gonna say number one is capitalism. As we think about what are the things that hamper us? A lot of them are systemic. Which is why I point to capitalism, which means they're all around us. The pressures on our time, our mental energy, our ability to access things like clarity or confidence. It's all driven by these systemic influences and it's by design.” “We have a whole culture around career building in this country in particular that despises space, rest, and restoration for our body, mind, or spirit. So we know, but day by day, the lived experience of it is like we know better and we have every reason to, and we have the urgency, but we still don't do it.• “Routines, they drive adherence. If you don't have somebody holding the routine for you, because I think that is the mistake we make. We just like, I just need to get more discipline. I just got to hunker down. Girl. If you ain't been hunkered down or grown this imaginary, you know, pool of discipline in these past five years, it's not, it's not coming. So make it happen. Invest in making sure that someone else is holding it alongside you, holding it for you. Holding it with you. At a bare minimum, we've got to find ways for the routines to be held because life is life in life be lifeing.” “If you don't have space to actually move through what is your true emotional state or states of being, it makes it hard for you to also align your actions with moving toward what it is that you want.Because your wanting becomes tainted or complicated. It just taints your willingness if you, if you're feeling a lot of suppressed emotions.” “If you are not doing the things to actually evolve yourself, that moment's not coming. It's not coming. The way it works is you invest ahead. You invest ahead so that you can fast track yourself to the things that you know you should be doing, but you're just not doing right now. And then you get the payout.” STAY IN TOUCH Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

71 | You Can’t Outsmart Overwhelm - Leading Differently in Tight Seasons

2025/10/22

👉🏾 Interested in learning more about Monique's group coaching experience CLAIMED? Click this link to join the interest list and we will email you the details ASAP. Are you feeling overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time? You're not alone! This paradox can be particularly pronounced for women and people of color, who often carry the weight of not just their own responsibilities, but also the expectations of their communities. In this timely episode, Monique addresses the struggle of feeling squeezed while trying to maintain personal and professional aspirations and inspires us to rethink our approach to leadership, collaboration, and self-care. Tune in to discover how to reclaim your time and energy while still pursuing your dreams without sacrificing your well-being. MENTIONED 70 | Inside Our Marriage: Navigating Ambition, Money, and Vision Together GEMS DROPPED “Don't wait. Just offer what you have to offer when you have to offer it, where you have to offer it from. And so that's what we're doing right now. Sometimes it's not perfect, and why does it need to be?” “We have a lot on our side right now and maybe still feel pressured. And I want us to realize how much we still have to create with. All is absolutely not lost, y'all.” “It's important to note that it's not about figuring out how to squeeze more out or how to become more productive yourself. It's really about how to skillfully become a producer who is not doing direct producing. Like, how can you be someone who's orchestrating while other people are producing on your behalf. I think that this is something that we really, really, really struggle with.” “If you are overwhelmed, the solution can't be to fill my brain with more stuff that cannot be the automatic solution, or it can't be the entire solution. Cognitive deficit is not the issue. We got to stop solving for the thing that is not the problem or where we are actually missing support is in who we are showing up as who we are being.” “We're attached to the identity of being the one who handles everything because that is how we are appreciated. That is how we are seen as valuable.That is how we have connected with a sense of being loved and belonging. That's how we have had a sense of ourselves for so long. It's really hard to detach from that.” “You can and actually have to begin to learn to do less in order to experience more. Period, point blank. Period.” STAY IN TOUCH Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

70 | Inside Our Marriage: Navigating Ambition, Money, and Vision Together

2025/10/08

👉🏾 Interested in learning more about Monique's group coaching experience CLAIMED? Click this link to join the interest list and we will email you the details ASAP. How do you balance ambition with your partner? In our latest episode, Monique explores the delicate balance of managing personal and shared goals within a relationship. Drawing from her own experiences with her husband, she sheds light on the importance of mutual support, communication, and understanding in navigating shared and individual ambitions. Monique candidly discusses foundational elements that must be in place for a successful partnership, including respect, kindness, and the value of therapy. As the conversation unfolds, Monique introduces actionable tools and strategies, including the concept of "over owning" and the importance of articulating personal desires. She also shares her unique approach to regular "family off-sites," designed to foster alignment and communication about goals and aspirations. Plus, she’s sharing a FREE tool to help you get started. Tune in to learn more. MENTIONED Drop the Ball: Achieving More by Doing Less by Tiffany Dufu Grab my Family Offsite Workbook DM me the word OFFSITE on IG @moniquershields. GEMS DROPPED “To ambition as a couple, to ambition with a spouse, requires some foundational things that you just got to have in place such as love, respect, kindness, mutual willingness. If these are missing then there's nothing else to talk about.” “If you have a habit of feeling like you have to be on top of everything and own everything, it will bleed across multiple areas of your life and work, and it will get you into trouble in various ways.” “At some point you have to recognize like, okay, well, if I have a holistic view on all the things that I want to accomplish in life and this piece of me over owning is keeping me from the things that I want for myself. It's basically pushing me out of the equation. The solve is simply. You may be setting up your partners to be the intern. So step back and let your partner, your spouse, exercise and build their competence. Because your co-CEOs, your co-leaders, your one, your a unit.” “We'll convince ourselves that things are scarce when we haven't directed ourselves towards wanting what we want and asserting what we want. And then you move towards what you want and then you create what you want. Like that's kind of how it works. And we don't give ourselves space to do that. We don't take it seriously because we just need to respond to the demands. We need to be reactionary. And I'm telling y', all, if you don't give yourself this space, then no one can get into that space with you and help you build towards it.” STAY IN TOUCH Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

69 | Optimizing Your Life For Confidence

2025/09/24

👉🏾 Interested in learning more about Monique's group coaching experience CLAIMED? Click this link to join the interest list and we will email you the details ASAP. This week's episode is all about confidence! After months of reflection, Monique shares her insights on why we must prioritize optimizing for confidence in a world that often undermines it. Through relatable scenarios from her coaching practice, Monique illustrates how fear and uncertainty can hold us back from pursuing our true potential. She emphasizes the importance of community and support in building confidence, highlighting how being witnessed in our struggles can lead to breakthroughs. From transitioning to full-time entrepreneurship to navigating family dynamics, Monique provides actionable insights for reclaiming our confidence and taking bold steps forward. If you’re looking to explore the intricacies of confidence and how to cultivate it in your life, this episode is a must-listen. GEMS DROPPED “Confidence is that feeling you have when you feel on. When you feel maybe not ready, but ready enough. When you feel like, I'm gonna take this first step regardless of how I feel. That's what I like to think of as confidence. And I think sometimes we confuse confidence for certainty. They're not the same thing. And I think we're often waiting on certainty before we can tell ourselves that we are confident and it's really the illusion of certainty.” “I've just recognized that the world the world is coming for me in a really specific way, especially as a woman of color. And I have got to do everything in my power to optimize for my confidence. Not just because feeling confident feels good, but because it costs me to not feel confident. There's a massive cost to us feeling stuck, because what do we do when we're not confident? We stay where we are. Stagnation thrives off of our lack of confidence.” “We've lived life long enough to look back and see sometimes we have this negativity bias where we only see the mistakes or the missteps that we feel like we've had or the lost opportunities. But when we're really honest with ourselves, we've done so many things well. We've done so many things with integrity and with courage and with creativity. So much creativity. And so to give ourselves that moment, to have it reflected back to us, again, a confident confidence booster.“ “What it means to have the support, the vetted, skilled, appropriate support for where you are in life, where you are in work, to have that support to bring you back into yourself, it's priceless. It's actually priceless.” “We cannot afford to get stuck. Especially now, the world is really showing us, we cannot afford to get stuck. And I tell you, the fastest way to get stuck is to get isolated.” STAY IN TOUCH Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

68 | Becoming the Kind of Leader These Times Require

2025/09/10

In this deeply personal episode, Monique opens up about her recent struggles with visibility, purpose, and the weight of societal turmoil. After a series of engaging guest interviews, she reflects on her own journey, feeling speechless and overwhelmed by the state of the world. Monique shares her experiences of grappling with inner turmoil while maintaining her coaching practice and supporting her family. As she confronts feelings of anxiety and the pressures of capitalism, Monique explores what it means to embrace change and vulnerability. She discusses the importance of community, the necessity of being honest about one’s struggles, and the transformative power of pain. Through her candid storytelling, Monique invites us to reflect on our own journeys and consider how we can show up authentically in times of uncertainty. Join in for an honest conversation about vulnerability, resilience, and the journey of self-discovery. Don't miss this opportunity to connect and find strength in our shared experiences. Tune in now! GEMS DROPPED “I am loved. I am love. No matter what… No matter what.” “I feel like, especially as someone from a marginalized community, we keep talking about the unknown, the unknown. And I think what we're actually scared of is not the unknown, I think that we're scared of what we know is to come and how we're gonna cope with it.” “Pain is a part of life, and you can handle pain. It's just pain. It comes and it goes, and you're still here… you're fine. And for the things that are worth it… the pain required to get to the other side is not only okay, but can be really worth it.” “I hope that this offers somebody who is listening and trying to keep it together, and also recognizing that this season, or the seasons to come are asking you to submit to changes, to submit to inevitabilities that feel like they're going to invite some painful things, some scary things that it doesn't serve us to focus on how fearful we are of the pain, that there is possibility in releasing that tension as best you can.” “You can show up honestly in the midst of the mess, fully admitting that you don't have the answers.” STAY IN TOUCH Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

67 | More Than Getting By: How I Resourced Myself and Reclaimed My Career

2025/08/27

In this week's episode, join Monique as she shares her inspiring journey from side hustler to executive coach. Monique takes us on a journey through her recent conversation with Nicaila Matthews Okome on the Side Hustle Pro podcast. Together, they dive into Monique's career trajectory, from her time at Spelman College to her evolution as an executive coach, and the lessons learned along the way. Tune in to gain insights into the significance of resourcing oneself, the power of community, and the necessity of setting high standards for personal and professional growth. GUEST INFO Nicaila Matthews Okome, host of Side Hustle Pro Podcast | Website | Instagram | YouTube MENTIONED 59 | You Don’t Need More Time — You Need a New Identity GEMS DROPPED “ When we feel connected with the truth of who we are and how we actually feel, and then we get to know what we actually think and what our imaginations can bring us to, we get to dream forward.” - Monique R. Shields “Corporate spaces are not designed for anybody to be their full authentic selves. You have to decide what pieces of you are safe here, what pieces of you are advantageous to share here. You have to kind of design yourself a certain way. It's just what it is.” - Monique R. Shields “Instead of shaming ourselves for decisions we have made or are about to make, remember a lot of these decisions are rooted in survival. And you need to do what you need to do in that moment or in this moment to put your survival first. Right. However, when you do have space and time to be able to think beyond surviving to thriving, this is the conversation…”- Nicaila Matthews Okome “If you're still feeling on the fence about things, I think it's good to listen to that survival instinct in you, that gut check and remember that just because something's high ticket doesn't mean it's going to be valuable. You must vet the business and make sure it's what's really going to help you to move the needle in your business. Emphasis on your.”- Nicaila Matthews Okome “A lot of us actually need to start to dismantle some of the identities we've taken on unknowingly.” - Nicaila Matthews Okome “We’re walking around with a lot of invisible I ams and I'm nots and it's about doing the work to make those things a lot more visible to you so that you can see the one's holding you back or the one's keeping you stuck.” -Monique R. Shields “Whatever it is that you're facing down next, whatever challenge it is that you're trying to take on or figure out, you don't need more. You're not deficient in anything. There's no deficit within you. You don't need to take on anything new. Tack on anything new. Build yourself up more. Usually you need to release, so focus on what you need to let go and let that be your energy. Let yourself be released.” -Monique R. Shields STAY IN TOUCH Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

66 | Why Ambitious Women Are So Lonely — with Danielle Bayard Jackson

2025/08/13

In this week's episode, Monique welcomes Danielle Bayard Jackson, a relational health educator, to discuss the complexities of female friendships, particularly for ambitious women of color. Throughout the conversation, they unpack the three affinities that strengthen female friendships: symmetry, support, and secrecy. Danielle emphasizes the importance of reciprocity and vulnerability, encouraging listeners to embrace their needs and foster deeper connections. Monique and Danielle also address the impact of competition within friendships and how it can create barriers to intimacy. If you are an ambitious woman feeling isolated in your friendships, press play to discover how to cultivate deeper connections and break the cycle of loneliness. GUEST INFO Danielle Bayard Jackson, Women’s Relational Health Educator and Director of the Women’s Relational Health Institute | Website | Book | Podcast | TikTok | Instagram GEMS DROPPED “I think a lot of people would be surprised to know that most of the women I work with are high achieving women. They're not women who don't have social skills or don't know how to have a conversation. These are women who are charismatic, who are extroverted. They have no shortage of social connections, but it's just that they feel so deeply unsatisfied with the connections they have. And of course, this is something that they are harboring secretly because to publicly announce that you are having challenges with what other people think should come so naturally bring some sort of shame. And it also detracts from this image of self-sufficiency that an ambitious woman would like to project.” - Danielle Bayard Jackson “On one hand, you feel the weight of the expectations that we place on each other. But on the other hand, it's like, yes. And it's partially for really good reason, because there's so much available when we can reach that depth with one another and then navigate the times where inevitably conflict strikes.“ - Monique R. Shields “There are so many things I think we overlook when it comes to building close relationships. I think we think of sharing secrets and being vulnerable. And that's all true, but it's other surprising things, like navigating healthy conflicts or receiving help. The research finds that that's a prerequisite to platonic intimacy.” - Danielle Bayard Jackson “You do have to shift your beliefs to shift your behaviors. And if you can get yourself into this practice of checking in on your values. We can all recall a time where we had the good feels for being able to show up for somebody else, and it is robbing your friends of that experience. It's a gift to let somebody give to you.” - Monique R. Shields STAY IN TOUCH Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

65 | Reimagining Success from the Inside Out: Personal Style, Presence, and Possibility — with Pamela Shepard

2025/07/30

How do you dress for the life and legacy you actually want? In this powerful and personal episode, Monique is joined by costume designer, educator, and style visionary Pamela Shepherd, as they unpack what it really means to show up in your full presence. From dressing bodies to shaping identities, Pamela reveals how style becomes a strategy for visibility, authority, and self-reinvention, especially for Black women in leadership. Tune in to hear how Pamela navigated her leap from tech to fashion, what it takes to embrace your own definition of “executive presence,” and why asking for help is the real flex. Together, they explore fashion as liberation, style as storytelling, and the magic of taking up space without apology. If you’ve ever questioned your image, doubted your voice, or wrestled with how to be both authentic and visible, this episode is your call to reimagine what success looks like from the inside out. GUEST INFO Pamela Shepard, Costume Designer and Stylist | Website | Instagram | FlowWood Costumes (Launching soon!) GEMS DROPPED “For those of us who are designing our ambitions and creating futures that maybe we don't have an example for in our household. Who are you not just asking? What doors are you not just knocking on?” - Monique R. Shields “Because I work so collaboratively, I'm often working with different groups of people. And because the work requires your expertise and your expertise and your experience and your experience and your experience, I think that it further helps me to develop the muscle when it comes to leaning on others for what I don't know. It's not indicative of weakness or lack of ability or really anything. What it's indicative of is curiosity.” - Pamela Shepard “One way that you signal to yourself and to the world that you take yourself seriously is by asking for help, by actually leveraging the relationships that you have poured into. And it doesn't take that many. You don't have to know the world. You start with who you know, and then you, again, you don't know who they know and who those people know.” - Monique R. Shields “If I were talking to someone about fashion, I think my first question would be, where do you spend most of your time? Is it in an office? Is it at home? Is it in transit and traveling? Like, what does the look of your life look like? Because I think that sometimes we feel compelled to have all the things. Our lives don't really call for all the things.” - Pamela Shepard “There is part of the work that is just listening to people, checking in with people, seeing how they're doing, and listening to what they're saying, because I think that can help inform, the decisions of the pieces we're choosing and moving forward. And so just encouraging people to be brave and trying to put on the things that embody how they see themselves.” - Pamela Shepard “Your clothes are not going to give you executive presence. They can be a reflection of the presence that you already carry, that you already exude, but the clothes can't give it to you .” - Monique R. Shields STAY IN TOUCH Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

64 | When the World Hurts, Is It OK to Keep Building?

2025/07/16

Reflecting on her time at the ROI Millionaire Summit, Monique shares the profound inspiration she gained from connecting with like-minded individuals dedicated to closing the wealth gap for marginalized communities. As she transitions from the empowering atmosphere of the summit back to the harsh realities of the world, Monique grapples with feelings of guilt and confusion about her role in the larger scheme of things. Join in as she shares her journey of navigating these conflicting emotions and the grounding moment she had when she observed a trail of ants marching diligently across her driveway. The ants remind her to stay connected, support others, and remain focused on our collective goals. Join in as she explores these themes and ways to find encouragement in our shared experiences. GEMS DROPPED “I think that's the thing that's so compelling to me about ants is that they lead these lives, each one of them has a role. There's a very specific, sort of caste system within, ant colonies where you have a specific role. Are you a soldier, protector, scouts, nurse, worker, forager? They play these very specific roles and it's like, play your role. It's like they know what lane they're in. They know what their mission is. They know what their purpose is. Like, I exist to do this, therefore I do it.” “I hope that that's encouragement to anyone else who is feeling in any way destabilized emotionally, or otherwise by what is going on around us…to remind yourself in those moments that they are moments, they are fears, and they can come, they can pass through, but that doesn't mean you're confused about who you are. That does not mean you're confused about what you're here to do, what your purpose is, what you were literally built for. If you stop playing your role, then the colony fails, the community fails, the family fails.” “It's such an illusion to believe that you are playing every role that you play, every position on whatever field you're trying to play, as we're out here building and, trying to advance ourselves in our communities, that you're ever supposed to do it alone and that you ever have it all covered. You don't, you don't. And that's a reason why our bodies start to suffer, our psyches start to suffer, because you were never meant to be everything, every person, playing every role for everyone. We were not actually built to do this.” “I find so much peace and encouragement by observing nature when I feel lost in human nonsense…By observing these creatures, these animals who are still doing the same behavior, still exhibiting the same behaviors and instincts that their ancient ancestors were, because they're just being what they're supposed to be. And that helps me to be guided by an inner wiring, in a collective rhythm.” “All this surrounds identity and who it is that every day we have to examine and decide who we are? Who are we being in every conversation and every time we show up and knowing that we're never going to get it “right”. We're never going to get it perfectly, but to stay in it. To stay in the examination of it. To stay in the curiosity around it and to do our damn best, y' all.” STAY IN TOUCH Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].

Podcast reviews

Read Ambition Without Compromise podcast reviews

5 out of 5

70 reviews

★★★★★

Eyeculookin1x 2025/09/17

Episode 68 - Phenomenal

This episode touched me to my core. So relevant and powerful. Decide to be who you were called to be!!! Submit to change…uncertainty by committing y...

★★★★★

sun ra ra 2025/03/14

When you do the most but expect the least

I just listened to this episode. And wow. I wasn’t fully aware of how incongruent this process of consistently trying to shrink or be “low maintenance...

★★★★★

Jamaica Lane 2025/03/13

Grateful

Hey now—I stay living my life, learning the things, evolving, activating the tools. And then, I listen to Monique’s podcast and find myself facing a d...

★★★★★

Carin Sauerwein 2025/02/14

Essential!!

Just listened to The Safety Shift and wow!! I have that fear not if I can keep up with my partner’s season of life but can they slow down and be prese...

★★★★★

higherin777 2024/08/31

A gift!

I just listened to “What to do when your vision is changing” and got so much out of it. Monique’s wisdom is a breath of fresh air. As a black woman in...

★★★★★

Marla Teyolia 2024/08/29

So many gems!!!

Truly enjoy listening to this podcast on my morning walks. Monique had a way of speaking that is engaging, filled with stories and teachings. 10/10 re...

★★★★★

PinaB0999 2024/04/01

Highly recommend

Monique is a woman wise beyond her years with so much guidance to offer. Thrilled she is doing a podcast and won’t miss an episode.

★★★★★

ErinT1881 2024/03/30

Amazing!

I look forward to every episode. Congrats on your 1 year anniversary! I look forward to this next year with you.

★★★★★

Elle1313! 2024/03/29

Inspiring!

This podcast makes me feel seen. So relatable and informative all at the same time.

★★★★★

ECS*** 2024/03/27

I never rate podcasts . . . . .

. . . . But I had to rate this one because it is one of my favs. I often listen to episodes two, three, or four times to catch all the brilliance that...

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