A podcast about ditching the default, rewriting your story, and leading a life that actually feels like yours. Real conversations, mindset shifts, and identity rewrites to help you stop settling and start living on purpose. The pen is in your hand, and the next chapter is up to you. This is The Rewrite.
A podcast about ditching the default, rewriting your story, and leading a life that actually feels like yours. Real conversations, mindset shifts, and identity rewrites to help you stop settling and start living on purpose. The pen is in your hand, and the next chapter is up to you. This is The Rewrite.
Let's be honest - the holidays can be magical AND stressful.
Between burnt cookies, mall meltdowns, and the pressure to make everything perfect, it's easy to lose the joy in the season. But what if you could rewrite your holiday experience? Not by controlling every detail, but by controlling the one thing you actually can: how you respond to the chaos. In this solo episode, I'm sharing the simple PEN framework that will help you stay calm, present, and joyful this holiday season - even when your child is lying on the floor of the mall in their Christmas best, refusing to get up.
Because here's the truth: your family feeds off your energy. When you're frazzled and stressed, they become frazzled and stressed. When you're calm and intentional, everything shifts. The PEN framework stands for Pause (regulate before you react), Examine (get curious about the story you're telling yourself), and New Narrative (rewrite the story to support the experience you actually want). It's not about toxic positivity or pretending everything is perfect. It's about being intentional with your thoughts and responses so you can create the magical, memorable holiday season you actually want - not the stressed-out survival mode most of us default to. Because the pen is always in your hand. You're the author. And you get to decide what happens next.
Key Takeaways:
Download the FREE Holiday Rewrite Mini Workbook:
This workbook walks you through the PEN framework with helpful prompts to shift your mindset and energy all holiday season long. Get intentional about creating the magical, memorable Christmas you actually want.
What happens when you realize you can help people, but you can't help them heal to the level you know is possible? Dr. Taylor Smeenk, chiropractor and founder of Empact Wellness, faced this exact moment after building what looked like a successful practice - full schedule, loyal patients, steady growth. But she felt capped. She was trying to be everything for everyone, which wasn't sustainable for her or truly effective for patients. That realization led her to build something radically different: a holistic wellness sanctuary with chiropractors, massage therapists, naturopaths, psychotherapists, reiki healers, IV therapy, and red light therapy - all under one roof, all communicating with each other to ensure no gaps in patient care. But getting here wasn't smooth. Her first attempt at opening her own space ended in eviction after signing a lease she shouldn't have signed with someone she barely knew. She admits she was "young and dumb," more comfortable living in other people's shadows than stepping into her own light. The crash and burn gave her three months to figure it out - and what she created in that pressure cooker moment blows her away to this day. Now she's in the middle of another rewrite: learning to thrive in peace instead of chaos. As someone who performs well under pressure, her physical body has had enough of that pattern. She's teaching herself to lead from a soul-led place instead of forcing and pushing. Her latest tool? Horseback riding. Because when you're galloping and panic, you lose your focus - just like in life and business. The only thing you can control is your inner environment, not all the external factors. This conversation is about recognizing when "successful" isn't sustainable, building teams that truly collaborate for patient care, and understanding that the next level requires releasing the limiting beliefs that got you here.
Key Takeaways:
Connect with Dr. Taylor:
What happens when your coworker says "she's always smiling" and your husband looks confused because he doesn't recognize that version of you? That's the moment Sarah Kinlin realized her corporate job was getting the best of her while her family got the worst. After 20+ years following all the rules, leading teams of 70 people working 24/7 in manufacturing, she was the happy, smiling leader at work - and grouchy, stressed, exhausted at home. The wake-up call at that Christmas party changed everything. She took a lateral move from 70 people to 2, got paid the same money, and suddenly had TIME. Time to ask "who is Sarah Kinlin?" Time to put herself first. Time to build a business as a speaker and coach. She started with one mindset coach, then another for business strategy, another for speaking craft, and eventually a spiritual coach to trust her own intuition. Her original plan? Manufacturing consultant. But that wasn't what lit her up. What she really wanted was to be a world-renowned speaker - and now she's living it. She went from needing to qualify herself with "I used to work at Johnson & Johnson for 25 years" to simply saying "I'm Sarah Kinlin. I get paid to show up and light up rooms." The most profound part? Her vision for the future isn't speaking to 20,000 people in an arena - it's facilitating experiences outside, with people's bare feet in the grass, more silence than speaking. Because she's learned that getting outside, grounding herself barefoot before every speaking engagement, is her secret to showing up fully. This conversation is about recognizing when success is costing you what matters most, understanding that putting yourself first strengthens every relationship, and knowing that your best life comes from balancing grit (relentless pursuit) with grace (forgiveness and rest).
Key Takeaways:
Learn More About Sarah:
Sarah Kinlin is a professional speaker, coach, educator, and author who helps leaders move from overwhelmed to focused with the right balance of grit and grace. After 20+ years in corporate manufacturing and warehousing leadership, she left to build Pearl Performance Inc. (named after her daughter's middle name). She speaks to audiences about living their best lives, coaches on mindset and leadership, and works with youth hockey teams on mental performance. Her book "Grit, Grace, and Goals: Lessons from my Dad, Leader of Nine Kids and a Nuclear Station" published in April 2025. Sarah's unique grounding practice: taking her shoes off and walking barefoot outside before every speaking engagement. She lives just outside Guelph, Ontario with her husband Steve and three kids (ages 21, 18, and 11).
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What happens when you spend nine years building a business you love, only to have motherhood completely shake your foundation? Puja Malhotra, founder of Roop Creative Agency, thought she had it all figured out. Corporate dropout turned boutique branding expert, building beautiful brands for entrepreneurs - she was living the dream. Then came IVF during a pandemic, pregnancy hidden from clients out of fear they'd think her less ambitious, and a baby that shattered the Instagram fantasy of laptop-in-one-hand-baby-in-the-other success. The false advertising of motherhood hit hard. Suddenly she was falling out of love with the business she'd spent nearly a decade building - not because she lacked ambition, but because she'd lost sight of what she wanted that ambition to look like. Two years into motherhood, something had to change. She hired a coach, restructured her priorities (putting herself first for the first time), and made the bold decision to drop an entire service offering. Social media management was bringing in income, but it was draining her soul and keeping her from the design work that lit her up. Now she only works on branding and websites - the parts of her business that make her excited to show up. She's building systems that let her pick up her son from school every day (a non-negotiable inspired by her own grandmother), protecting her boundaries fiercely, and surrounding herself with a village of ambitious moms who get it. This conversation is about relearning what success means when your life changes, understanding that freedom is the real luxury of entrepreneurship, and discovering that saying "no" to good opportunities creates space for aligned clients who light you up. Puja's journey proves that you don't have to do it all - you just have to do what matters most.
Key Takeaways:
Learn More About Puja:Puja Malhotra is the founder and creative director of Roop Creative Agency, a boutique branding studio helping entrepreneurs and creatives build aligned, impactful brands through strategy-led design. With over 15 years of experience in marketing, branding, and web design, Puja blends clarity and creativity to help clients transform their ideas into timeless, intentional brands. A former corporate marketer turned entrepreneur, IVF mom, and passionate advocate for honest conversations around ambition and motherhood, she's built a business that grows with her life rather than against it. Her work focuses exclusively on branding and websites, allowing her to show up fully for both her clients and her son.
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What happens when mysterious bug bites on a relaxing Mexico vacation turn into shingles, months of misdiagnosis, and a complete life unraveling? For Ameera Virani - who spent over two decades producing global events for icons like Oprah, Deepak Chopra, and Tony Robbins - it became the wake-up call that saved her life. After years of pushing through the "perfect" nine-to-five while building a side business, being the perfect mom, and stretching herself impossibly thin, her body finally said "enough." What doctors thought might be Lyme disease (but thankfully wasn't) sent Ameera into a spiral of doomsday thinking, especially given her history of losing loved ones young. But here's where her story gets profound: instead of just treating the physical symptoms, she went back to everything she'd learned from those spiritual mentors and started questioning her deepest beliefs. Why was she so afraid of dying? Where did that come from? And most importantly - what did she truly desire to feel in her life? The answer wasn't just "health" - it was safety, abundance, and peace. But when she dug deeper, she discovered that the very thing she wanted most (money for safety) conflicted with her subconscious belief that money was unsafe. No wonder she kept cycling through earning and spending, mounting debt she couldn't explain. Through this illness and later through the sudden death of her eldest brother (her symbol of safety and security), Ameera learned that rewriting isn't a one-time event. Old patterns resurface with new challenges. But when you know how to do the inner work, you collapse the timelines and create a life that feels peaceful, abundant, and fulfilling - not despite the challenges, but because you've learned to hold the success your nervous system once pushed away.
Key Takeaways:
Learn More About Ameera:
Ameera Virani is a life and business design coach with over two decades in leadership, strategy, and entrepreneurship. She's produced and hosted global events featuring icons like Oprah Winfrey, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Maya Angelou, and Tony Robbins. Through her personal journey of burnout, misdiagnosis, and profound loss, Ameera discovered that brilliant, accomplished women were excelling on paper yet quietly feeling overextended and unfulfilled. Now she teaches women how to magnetize success and wealth that doesn't cost their peace, guiding them to align mindset, energy, strategy, and action so they can design lives that feel clear, confident, abundant, and deeply fulfilling. Host of The Designed Life podcast.
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What happens when you check all the boxes life told you to check - school, marriage, job, house, kids - only to discover the script you were following wasn't meant for you? Britt Holmes knows this story intimately. After years of climbing the corporate ladder, enduring the thankless grind of agency life, and rushing through the "checkbox life" to hit arbitrary timelines, everything changed at 24 weeks pregnant. What was supposed to be a fun extra ultrasound turned into a devastating genetics appointment where she was told her unborn child had zero chance of survival - and she had to decide that day whether to continue the pregnancy. That traumatic experience delivering a stillborn baby while battling hyperemesis so severe she couldn't keep pain medication down, then leaving the hospital with an ugly painted box instead of a car seat, broke her wide open. But it also taught her that everyone is fighting an invisible battle. Four pregnancies, two living daughters, a loveless marriage where she did 90% of the parenting, the loss of her best friend (her dog of 13 years), and finally the courage to leave after 18 years together - Britt's story is about getting knocked down repeatedly and choosing to get back in the ring every single time. Now as a divorced single mom running Merit Media Inc., she's rewriting what success looks like by asking herself daily: "If I could do anything today, what would I do?" Her journey from corporate robot to loud, outgoing entrepreneur who refuses to dim her light is a masterclass in resilience, intentional living, and the power of choosing differently every single day.
Key Takeaways:
Learn More About Britt:
Britt Holmes is a loss mom, corporate dropout, and divorced single mom of two who's rewriting what success looks like. After walking away from the agency world where she spent years being told her work wasn't good enough while working 12-16 hour days, she built Merit Media Inc. from the ground up. Her agency specializes exclusively in advertising, using her corporate experience to cut out the BS and provide cost-effective solutions for small businesses - particularly in the health and wellness space. Juggling motherhood, healing, and entrepreneurship, Britt shows the unfiltered reality of building a business and life that doesn't fit the default script. Her ultimate dream? Building her business to the point where she can work as a recreational coordinator at a retirement home, planning pub nights and crafts with elderly people.
Connect with Britt:
What if the thing blocking your business growth isn't your strategy, but your relationship with money? Intuitive and spiritual coach Binu Dhindsa spent years helping women with their relationships, only to discover that money blocks showed up in every single conversation. Despite running programs and coaching clients, she'd break even on her taxes year after year, spending thousands on her own growth while her bank account refused to match her energetic success. The breakthrough came when she finally spoke the truth out loud at an event: "I feel so successful energetically, but the money doesn't match." That vulnerable admission launched a complete rewrite of her money story. From binging books off her successful brother's shelf (including "The Science of Getting Rich" from the 1970s), to reprogramming her subconscious mind through YouTube videos, to having honest conversations with her accountant husband about her spending, Binu embarked on a journey to understand money as spiritual energy. Now in her fifties with three adult children, she's on a mission to help spiritually-inclined women leaders release their money blocks and understand that money in the hands of good women changes worlds. This conversation explores why we're conditioned to think talking about money is greedy, how childhood conditioning creates our money blueprint by age 10, and why the simple mantra "I love money and money loves me" can transform your entire relationship with abundance.
Key Takeaways:
Learn More About Binu:
Binu Dhindsa is an intuitive and spiritual coach, inspirational speaker, podcast host of High Vibes with Binu, and certified hypnotherapist. A mom of three adults with a master's in epidemiology and biostatistics, her love for researching human behavior started in academia and evolved into helping spiritually inclined women leaders release self-judgment, shatter subconscious illusions, and open up to infinite possibilities. She specializes in helping women understand money as spiritual energy and teaches that abundance at an energetic level allows you to manifest and attract more wealth to help more people. Her mission: to be a leader of leaders and eradicate judgment while empowering women to live extraordinary lives.
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What if the physical pain you've carried for years isn't actually physical at all? Sarah Lambert discovered this truth the hard way when she realized her debilitating stomach issues - painful enough to make her faint in public - were actually suppressed emotions manifesting in her body. But this revelation came after watching her mother collapse from chronic fatigue at age 41, unable to lift her head from the pillow for 15 years. Growing up as the last child dropped off and picked up from the babysitter, Sarah witnessed firsthand what happens when you try to do it all without tools to regulate your nervous system. Her mother - a VP at a major ad agency going through divorce, grief, and a midlife crisis - simply burnt out. That moment became Sarah's "why" for building a business that prioritizes nervous system health alongside business growth. During maternity leave in 2018, she launched a photography course that made six figures in year one, allowing her to quit corporate and rewrite the script her mother's life had written. Now as a business mentor and embodiment strategist, Sarah helps other moms scale to seven figures without sacrificing their wellbeing. Her signature "fuck off Fridays," intentional calendar design, and emphasis on feeling emotions rather than suppressing them have created both financial success and the freedom to show up for her kids in ways her parents couldn't. This conversation explores the dangerous cost of being "strong" by hiding emotion, why burnout isn't just about needing rest, and how your biggest hardships become your greatest wisdom and life's purpose.
Key Takeaways:
Learn More About Sarah:
Sarah Lambert is a business mentor and embodiment strategist for successful coaches, healers, and course creators who want to scale without sacrificing their lifestyle, flow, or alignment. She built her business during nap times on maternity leave in 2018 - proof that big visions don't need perfect timing, they need bold decisions. Through her signature frameworks and intuitive strategy, she helps established entrepreneurs build 7-figure offer ecosystems, collapse launch pressure, and sell in a way that feels as good as it converts. Her work turns content into currency and authority into autopilot sales, without hustle or high-stakes strategy. When she's not supporting clients in creating freedom-based income, she's being mom to her two kids and living a spacious lifestyle with her husband.
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What do you do with a childhood that gave you incredible creative parents who pursued art fearlessly, but also showed you the devastating impact of addiction and industry collapse? If you're storytelling coach Alex Street, you learn to take what serves you and intentionally rewrite the rest. Growing up with British immigrant parents who boldly left home as teenagers to chase their artistic dreams - his father becoming Canada's top photographer and his mother performing on West End stages - Alex inherited both their creative passion and their struggles. But here's where his story gets interesting: he's not rejecting his past, he's consciously choosing which parts to carry forward. From his father's battle with alcoholism and bankruptcy when photography went digital, to his mother's feeling of being caged while raising kids instead of performing, Alex witnessed the beautiful and the broken. Today, as a father of three and successful coach, he's actively rewriting the parenting manual - bringing intentionality to everything from emotional awareness to daily mantras like "today's a great day." This conversation explores how we inherit more than we realize, how rewriting isn't a one-time event but a daily choice, and why becoming aware of old patterns is the first step to choosing new ones. It's a masterclass in acknowledging your story while refusing to let it write your future.
Key Takeaways:
Learn More About Alex: Alex Street knows the power of one clear story. From performing on stage as an actor to spending 15 years as a pastor, he’s seen how the spoken word can move people to action. Now, as the creator of the StoryArc Method™ and author of StoryArc, he helps impact-driven leaders craft messages that inspire teams, engage customers, and build unforgettable brands.When he’s not helping brands find their voice, Alex drinks a lot of coffee, watches a lot of Survivor, and plays a lot of board games, his wife of 20 years and their three Gen Z kids in Midland, Ontario. And he’s just getting started.
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What do you do when your soul whispers "this is ours" about a 42-acre forest property you weren't even looking for? If you're Jody Heffren, you listen. After 18 years as a registered nurse working in intensive care units as an organ donor coordinator, Jody found herself standing on forest trails saying words she didn't plan: "I have to share it." That intuitive moment launched a complete life transformation that would see her leave traditional healthcare to create Rooted Woodland, a nature-based sanctuary for nervous system healing.
But the real rewrite began in 2020, when the pandemic forced her to question everything she thought she knew about education, safety, and following the norm. The decision to pull her daughter out of online kindergarten and begin homeschooling became the first chip off the block of conventional thinking. From there, Jody and her family discovered alternative education, moved to their forest property, and built a business around cold plunge therapy, breathwork, and community gathering. Her story is a powerful reminder that our most profound transformations often begin with a single decision to stop doing what everyone else says we "should" do and start listening to what feels right for our family.
Key Takeaways:
Learn More About Jody:
Jody Heffren is a former registered nurse turned breathwork and cold plunge facilitator who founded Rooted Woodland, a 42-acre forest sanctuary in Ontario's Blue Mountain region. After 18 years in intensive care as an organ donor coordinator, she now creates transformative experiences through nature-based healing practices. Jody and her husband homeschool their children using alternative education approaches, and she's passionate about building authentic community where people can be vulnerable and supported. She offers retreats, workshops, and an off-grid cabin rental, plus is launching her first closed container program for women seeking consistent community and nervous system healing.
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Connect with Jody:
👉 Come say hi on Instagram: @vandercreativeco and tell me what you’re rewriting next.
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What happens when your child's autism diagnosis triggers your deepest trauma response? For former teacher Tiffini Jacobs, it became the catalyst for the most profound rewrite of her life. After spending 20 years in the education system - first as a student, then as a teacher - Tiffini found herself trapped in patterns of control that were slowly destroying her wellbeing. When her daughter was diagnosed with autism at three and a half, Tiffini's need to "fix" and manage everything spiraled into a two-year period she describes as debilitating. But sometimes our greatest breakdowns become our biggest breakthroughs. Through breathwork, Reiki, and eventually discovering Human Design, Tiffini began to understand that her controlling nature wasn't a character flaw - it was a trauma response learned early in childhood. Now a registered psychotherapist, Human Design expert, and Reiki master, she helps women heal from the exhausting cycle of people-pleasing and self-abandonment. Her story is a powerful reminder that we don't have to wait for permission to become who we're meant to be - and that sometimes the most radical act is choosing to embody your future self right now.
Key Takeaways:
Learn More About Tiffini:
Tiffini Jacobs is a registered psychotherapist (qualifying), Human Design and Gene Keys Coach, Reiki Master Teacher and special needs advocate who helps women heal from fawning, people-pleasing, and self-abandonment. She blends nervous system repair, Human Design and trauma-informed care to guide clients back to their bodies, boundaries and power. Her work is rooted in embodiment, emotional truth, and sacred self-leadership.
Connect with Tiffini:
👉 Come say hi on Instagram: @vandercreativeco and tell me what you’re rewriting next.
⭐️ If you loved this episode, please rate & review—it helps more than you’d think.
👀 If you didn’t love it… maybe just don’t rate it.
Sometimes the hardest rewrites aren't born from crisis - they're born from courage. Renee Walker, wellness entrepreneur and host of the Spiritually Wired podcast, shares her journey of letting go of something good to create something extraordinary. After building a thriving yoga-centered business during COVID, Renee faced a pivotal choice: stay comfortable in what was working, or trust her calling to step into bigger spiritual leadership. Her story reveals the unique challenges of rewriting when life is already good, and why sometimes the most important transformations require us to leave people behind who can't come with us to the next level. From discovering her voice through yoga to creating sacred spaces for women's authentic connection, Renee's evolution shows us that rewriting isn't always about fixing what's broken - sometimes it's about honoring what we're becoming.
Key Takeaways:
Learn About Renee
Renée Walker is the founder of Renée Walker Wellness, a wellness company dedicated to empowering women to achieve optimal well-being and fulfillment. She is the host of the Spiritually Wired Podcast and leads the Spiritually Wired Membership, supporting members in elevating their mindset and spiritual connection through daily practices, coaching, and a soul-led community.
A certified meditation teacher, NLP practitioner, spiritual life coach, and Reiki master with a focus on mindset, Renée brings over 20 years of personal growth and transformation experience to her work. Her holistic approach helps clients cultivate self-awareness, release limiting beliefs, and is connect deeply with their intuition.
Connect with Renee:
👉 Come say hi on Instagram: @vandercreativeco and tell me what you’re rewriting next.
⭐️ If you loved this episode, please rate & review—it helps more than you’d think.
👀 If you didn’t love it… maybe just don’t rate it.
After 28 years in the fitness industry, Kim Basler found herself juggling it all - until her body and mind demanded she stop. What looked like failure from the outside became the foundation for her most meaningful work yet. Kim shares how leaving her management career during a mental health crisis led her to discover her true calling: coaching women to heal their relationships with food, their bodies, and themselves.
From that pivotal Thanksgiving moment when she could barely hold it together to now hosting transformative women's circles in a yurt, Kim's story proves that sometimes our biggest breakdowns are actually our greatest breakthroughs. Her journey reminds us that surrender isn't defeat - it's the doorway to becoming who we're meant to be.
Key Takeaways:
Learn About Kim
After spending decades battling disordered eating and self-worth struggles, Kim Basler turned her pain into her purpose. Today she coaches women to find peace with food, confidence in their bodies and freedom in their lives. Through her speaking, event hosting and coaching, Kim is on a mission to remind women that they are enough, exactly as they are.
Connect with Kim:
👉 Come say hi on Instagram: @vandercreativeco and tell me what you’re rewriting next.
⭐️ If you loved this episode, please rate & review—it helps more than you’d think.
👀 If you didn’t love it… maybe just don’t rate it.
Welcome to the very first episode of The Rewrite.
In this raw and unfiltered episode, I’m sharing my story—my rewrite. From growing up in chaos and survival mode to becoming a wife, mom, business owner, and accredited neuroscience coach, I’ve rewritten my life more than once.
You’ll hear about the reality of my childhood, losing my mom at 16, starting life on my own without a diploma, and the many chapters that followed. Most importantly, you’ll hear how I realized I was holding the pen—and how every single one of us has the power to rewrite our own story.
If you’ve ever felt stuck in your circumstances, trapped in the “default life,” or wondered if it’s too late to change your path—this episode is proof that your past doesn’t get to decide your future.
This is your reminder: the pen is in your hand.
👉 Come say hi on Instagram: @vandercreativeco and tell me what you’re rewriting next.
⭐️ If you loved this episode, please rate & review—it helps more than you’d think.
👀 If you didn’t love it… maybe just don’t rate it.