Leaving corporate to build a business is one of the biggest personal brand shifts a woman can make, especially when your whole identity has been tied to your job title.

In this episode, I’m sitting down with Noha Gerges, a corporate escapee turned meal prep coach and kitchen strategist, to talk about burnout, rebuilding who you are from zero, and finding the courage to go after the thing that’s been tapping on your heart.

We’re talking about:
✨ The moment Noha turned down a dream promotion before her brain even caught up with her mouth
✨ How corporate burnout hid for years behind labels like “this is just adulthood”
✨ Her three-year exit plan, including a career coach, a very random list of careers, and a freedom account
✨ What happens to your identity when your job title can no longer introduce you
✨ How she tricked herself into networking, and why selling your own personal brand feels harder than selling someone else’s product
✨ The PhD setback that sent her into the kitchen and eventually became a business
✨ Her advice for women in corporate who feel the nudge but fear what people will think

If something in you has been quietly asking for more, this conversation is your permission to listen.

Connect with Noha:
🌐 Website: https://foodiescoach.com
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foodiesinthekitchen_/
🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@foodiesinthekitchen_
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ngerges/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@foodiesinthekitchen
🎧 Podcast: It’s Never Just Food https://open.spotify.com/show/0H125hTAK89RxsCBYnyoMT

CHAPTERS

00:00 – The dream offer her body said no to
00:52 – Welcome to The Brand Bridge with Noha Gerges
02:03 – From corporate escapee to meal prep coach and kitchen strategist
04:00 – Corporate burnout and checking every box while your soul is unhappy
07:04 – A career shift every ten years, from cancer genetics to innovation
07:55 – “Everybody does this,” spotting the gift others saw first
09:38 – Year one of leaving: mourning a team and mission she loved
11:08 – Hiring a career coach and getting a list of ten random careers
13:40 – The freedom account and planning her exit
15:36 – Losing her colour and her spark, and her husband’s support
18:03 – Starting from zero and learning to share herself on social media
19:32 – The identity crisis: how do you introduce yourself now?
22:51 – Signing up for a program just to make herself show up to networking
23:43 – Meeting women with the same winding path out of corporate
26:18 – Why selling yourself feels harder than selling someone else’s thing
28:31 – Why she chose a digital business over reopening her bakery
32:29 – How a failing PhD project led her into the kitchen
36:33 – Advice for women in corporate who feel the nudge
39:21 – True champions and choosing a smaller, authentic circle
40:59 – What being a warrior means
43:07 – Where to find Noha

Let’s connect! Follow me on my socials:
🌐 Website: https://themelissamaughn.com
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/themelissamaughn
👤 Facebook: https://facebook.com/themelissamaughn
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themelissamaughn

Building a personal brand and a business with no backup plan sounds terrifying, and for some women it’s exactly what moves them forward.

In this episode, I sit down with Robyn Flynn, podcast producer and owner of Le Studio Quinze in Montreal, to talk about pivoting from a dream career in radio, becoming a mom after a long fertility journey, and building a business where failure simply isn’t on the table.

We’re talking about:
✨ What it takes to create a welcoming space for women in a male-dominated industry
✨ Robyn’s path from childhood Habs fan to play-by-play broadcaster to studio owner
✨ How motherhood and a three-year fertility journey reshaped her priorities and her career
✨ Turning the skills and relationships you already have into a business, even without a traditional plan
✨ A simple way to set boundaries by deciding in advance what you’re willing to sacrifice
✨ Saying yes before you feel ready, and how every stage fright moment becomes proof of your confidence
✨ The case for diving in without a safety net when your business is your livelihood
✨ Daily rituals, reflection, and trusting that you’re being guided
✨ What it means to be a warrior who keeps getting back up

If you’ve been waiting to feel ready before you go all in, Robyn’s story is your permission to start now.

Connect with Robyn:

📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/robynlisaflynn

👤 Threads: https:/threads.com/robynlisaflynn

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robyn-flynn-25a3a0125/

🌐 https://lestudioquinze.ca

CHAPTERS
00:00 – Failure is not an option
00:39 – Welcome to The Brand Bridge, meet Robyn Flynn
01:19 – Building a podcast studio where women feel safe to share their story
04:04 – How a journalism background shapes great storytelling
05:10 – From Habs fan to the first woman calling play-by-play
06:45 – Becoming a mom and rethinking a career in radio
07:11 – Three years of fertility treatments and the lessons in tenacity
08:04 – Pivoting overnight by using the skills and network you already have
12:35 – Building a business without the traditional checklist
14:51 – Boundaries: choosing what you will and won’t sacrifice
15:50 – Saying yes first, then figuring it out (her first interview was Sidney Crosby)
17:29 – Theatre school and conquering that pit-of-your-stomach fear
19:15 – Why a safety net can hold your business back
22:13 – Breaking up with clients and launches that got zero buys
23:55 – Spirituality, daily rituals and trusting a higher power
27:48 – What being a warrior means to Robyn
28:52 – Where to find Robyn and Le Studio Quinze

🌐 Website: https://themelissamaughn.com
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/themelissamaughn
👤 Facebook: https://facebook.com/themelissamaughn
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themelissamaughn/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themelissamaughn

If fear has been quietly shaping your choices in business and in life, this conversation is for you. My beautiful sister Miruna joins me for one of the most personal episodes I’ve ever recorded.

We talk about hearing God’s voice, learning to tell the ego from the soul, and what it looks like to stop performing and simply be who you were created to be. Our stories are almost identical, and you can feel that in every part of this conversation.

We’re talking about:

• Miruna’s encounter with Jesus in her kitchen, and the journey of becoming that followed
• How to tell the difference between your ego and your soul
• Three dreams, a pandemic leap of faith, and trusting a path your mind can’t see yet
• What it means to be at the centre of your own mission, with grace for yourself along the way
• Spiritual ego, perfectionism, and the exhaustion of performing a version of yourself
• Why who you are is more important than what you do
• Fear as the opposite of love, and a gentle way to meet it in your body
• The 90-second emotional flush and the power of saying “there is fear in me”
• Taking up space as a soft-spoken woman of faith
• Living as a beam of light, and what it means to be a warrior

Everything you walk through shapes your life and your work. This episode is an invitation to meet all of it with love, starting with how you see yourself.

✨ TAKE THE FREE BRAND CLARITY QUIZ ✨

If this resonated and you're realizing your messaging might not be as clear as you thought, I created a free Brand Clarity Quiz to help you identify exactly what to refine next.

👉 https://join.themelissamaughn.com/brand-clarity-assessment-quiz

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👉 [https://join.themelissamaughn.com/bridge-notes-newsletter

Let's connect!

🤝 CONNECT WITH MIRUNA

🔗

🎥 Miruna’s video on emotions:

🎤 The TED Talk Miruna mentions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=EKy19WzkPxE&ra=m

Follow me on my socials:

🌐 Website: https://themelissamaughn.com
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/themelissamaughn
👤 Facebook: https://facebook.com/themelissamaughn
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themelissamaughn/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themelissamaughn

KEYWORDS

how to stop letting fear control your life, faith and fear, ego vs soul, how to hear God’s voice, spiritual growth for women, faith and business, overcoming perfectionism, how to release fear, emotional healing for women, identity in Christ, who you are is more important than what you do, women of faith podcast, purpose-driven women entrepreneurs, The Brand Bridge Podcast