In this solo episode of The FEEL Podcast, Melissa Crook introduces The Calendar Cleanse, a powerful and practical reset designed to help you reclaim your time, realign your priorities, and stop living in a constant state of overcommitment.

As the year gets underway, many of us start with good intentions like setting goals, creating routines, and imagining a more balanced life only to find that real life quickly takes over. Unexpected responsibilities, work demands, family needs, and emotional labor can quietly fill our calendars until we’re exhausted, stretched thin, and disconnected from ourselves.

The Calendar Cleanse is more than time management—it’s an act of self-respect. Melissa walks listeners through how your calendar reflects your boundaries, values, and relationship with yourself. This episode helps you identify where you’re overgiving, spot “hidden no’s” disguised as yeses, and begin intentionally designing a schedule that actually supports your nervous system, energy, and well-being.

You’ll learn how to gently but confidently remove commitments that no longer fit, why you don’t need to replace every removed obligation with something else, and how creating white space allows for rest, nourishment, and presence. Melissa also revisits powerful foundational practices such as clarifying how you want to feel, identifying what nourishes you, and honoring your worth when making decisions.

This episode is especially supportive for ambitious women who struggle with people-pleasing, guilt, and fear of disappointing others, and who want to show up more fully resourced in their work, relationships, and daily lives.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

• Use a calendar cleanse to reduce overwhelm and burnout

• Align your schedule with your values and energy

• Spot overcommitment and release guilt around saying no

• Practice the 24-hour pause before saying yes

• Create space for rest, nourishment, and clarity

• Build healthier boundaries through your calendar

• Design a life that feels intentional, present, and sustainable

Melissa also shares how listeners can go deeper through the Calendar Cleanse online course or one-on-one support.

Learn more and explore resources at embracinglayers.com

#CalendarCleanse
#TimeManagement
#LifeAlignment
#BurnoutPrevention
#HealthyBoundaries
#SelfWorth
#Overcommitment
#EnergyManagement
#PersonalGrowth
#EmotionalWellness
#IntentionalLiving
#WomenInLeadership
#PeoplePleasingRecovery
#SelfCarePractices
#NervousSystemSupport
#WorkLifeBalance
#MindfulLiving

Keywords for this episode:

• calendar cleanse

• time management for women

• overcommitment recovery

• burnout prevention strategies

• aligning your schedule with values

• energy and time management

• how to stop overcommitting

• people pleasing and boundaries

• self-worth and time

• intentional living practices

• healthy boundaries at work and home

• life alignment coaching

• stress reduction tools

• nervous system regulation

• reclaiming your time

• self-care through scheduling

• emotional burnout recovery

Support our work by becoming a Paid Substack Suscriber Here -⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://substack.com/@thefeelpodcast⁠⁠

In this powerful and inspiring episode, we sit down with Jodi Bondi Norgaard, gender equality advocate, entrepreneur, author, and creator of the groundbreaking sports doll that challenged long-standing gender stereotypes in the toy industry.

Jodi shares her personal journey toward advocacy, including a pivotal “aha!” moment in a toy store where she noticed how deeply gender roles in toys shape children’s beliefs about who they are and what they can become. From dolls promoting beauty standards and fashion to toys limiting boys to aggression and action, Jodi recognized how early gender stereotypes in marketing begin to influence confidence and self-worth.

Motivated by the lack of positive, empowering toys for girls, Jodi created a sports doll with realistic body proportions, modeled after real children, not unrealistic beauty standards. Her mission wasn’t to replace fashion dolls, but to expand choice, allowing girls to see themselves as strong, athletic, capable, and confident.

Her vision quickly proved successful when her dolls sold out at the U.S. Open, reinforcing the demand for inclusive toys that promote female empowerment, body positivity, and gender equality. This success marked the beginning of a larger advocacy journey.

Jodi also opens up about how low self-esteem in women often begins in childhood, when girls start doubting their intelligence, strength, and worth. Through her work, speaking, and her book More Than a Doll: How Creating a Sports Doll Turned Into a Fight to End Gender Stereotypes, Jodi encourages women and girls to live unapologetically and reclaim their power.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in women’s empowerment, gender equality, inclusive entrepreneurship, conscious parenting, and breaking societal norms. Jodi leaves us with a powerful reminder: “It’s okay to rest—it’s not okay to give up.”

The next time you’re shopping, observe how products are marketed to men and women. What stereotypes are being reinforced? Awareness is the first step toward change, and better choices for ourselves and future generations.

#GenderEquality
#WomenEmpowerment
#BreakingGenderStereotypes
#InclusiveToys
#FeministPodcast
#GirlsConfidence
#FemaleEntrepreneur
#BodyPositivity
#EmpoweredWomen
#GenderRoles
#WomenInBusiness
#SocialImpact
#AdvocacyWork
#RaisingConfidentGirls
#PurposeDrivenBusiness
#EqualityForAll
#WomenSupportingWomen

Timestamps:

Prioritizing Self Care - ( 2:44 )

Confidently Setting Boundaries - ( 6:41 )

Taking Care of Your Emotional Health as much as Your Physical Health - ( 10:58 )

Support self & other women unapologetically - ( 13:24 )

Coming Back to Your WHY and Your VALUES - ( 36:05 )

Living Out of Your Own Expectations - ( 40:21 )

Accepting the Layered Aspects of Yourself - ( 49:31 )

Living out FEEL, how does it affect your relationships - ( 55:58 )

5 Activities That Nourish You - ( 59:56 )

5 Words for How You Want to Feel in the Next Six Months - ( 1:02:15 )

Original Music by Rio & Valencia Saint-Louis

✨ Free Download: Embracing a F.E.E.L Fueled Life Sample Freebie ✨- https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:02ce6c2f-90ed-4741-bdab-e62e20c2e7ad

Want to be a guest on The F.E.E.L. Podcast? - Send Melissa Crook a message on PodMatch, here:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/feel2021⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Support our work by becoming a Paid Substack Suscriber Here -⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://substack.com/@thefeelpodcast⁠⁠

In this episode of The FEEL Podcast, Melissa Crook introduces the Feel Leadership Immersion, a transformative approach to leadership rooted in empowerment, self-awareness, and wholeness rather than burnout. Designed for visionary women leaders, entrepreneurs, creatives, and change-makers, this conversation explores how to lead from identity instead of activity.

Melissa breaks down what it means to live the FEEL framework first—prioritizing self-care, healthy boundaries, emotional intelligence, and alignment between mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health—and then translate it into a sustainable leadership operating system.

You’ll learn how unapologetic leadership fosters trust, clarity, productivity, and psychological safety in the workplace, while creating environments where people feel seen, known, heard, and supported. This episode also challenges chronic apologizing, misalignment between personal and professional values, and leadership driven by external expectations.

Whether you’re leading a business, a team, a family, or a community, this episode invites you to reflect on how you show up, communicate, and model wholeness, so others feel empowered to do the same.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

• Lead with authenticity, empathy, and confidence without burnout

• Apply the FEEL framework to both life and leadership

• Clarify your values, purpose, and “why” as your leadership North Star

• Build healthy boundaries and clear communication at work

• Create psychologically safe, high-trust, high-productivity teams

• Shift from hustle-based leadership to identity-based leadership

• Support and empower women through modeling unapologetic living

If you’re ready to align your leadership, health, relationships, and work with how you want to feel, this episode is your invitation to begin or deepen the journey.

Learn more about the Feel Leadership Immersion and work one-on-one with Melissa at https://www.embracinglayers.com/empowerment

• #WomenInLeadership

• #UnapologeticLeadership

• #AuthenticLeadership

• #ConsciousLeadership

• #LeadershipDevelopment

• #HolisticLeadership

• #EmpoweredWomen

• #LeadershipMindset

• #BurnoutPrevention

• #ValuesBasedLeadership

• #EmotionalIntelligence

• #WomenSupportingWomen

• #WorkplaceWellbeing

• #PurposeDrivenLeadership

• #SelfLeadership

• #FemaleEntrepreneur

• #LeadershipCoaching

• #PersonalGrowth

• #LeadWithEmpathy

Original Music by Rio & Valencia Saint-Louis

✨ Free Download: Embracing a F.E.E.L Fueled Life Sample Freebie ✨- https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:02ce6c2f-90ed-4741-bdab-e62e20c2e7ad

Want to be a guest on The F.E.E.L. Podcast? - Send Melissa Crook a message on PodMatch, here:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/feel2021⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠