THE BRAVE ENOUGH SHOW
A Podcast by Dr. Sasha Shillcutt
Dr. Sasha Shillcutt interviews change-makers, leaders, influencers, and overcomers on this show to elevate your spirit and encourage you to define success on YOUR terms.
Browse our Episodes HereSeason 1:
Making Difficult Decisions
Starting With Your Why: Life Mission & Vision
Season 13 Episode 1: May 17, 2024
In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt discusses:
- How to figure out your life mission
- How having a vision for your life helps you with difficult decisions
- Giving yourself permission to change
- What a personal “board of directors” looks like
Quote:
“You cannot live your life’s mission and have immense joy without disappointing nice people.” – Dr. Sasha Shillcutt
Episode Links:
Season 13 Sponsor - Freed AI
Freed is an AI scribe that listens, transcribes, and writes medical documentation for you.
Freed is a solution that could alleviate the burden of overworked clinicians everywhere. It turns clinicians' patient conversations into accurate documentation - instantly. There's no training time no onboarding, and no extra mental burden. All the magic happens in just a few clicks, so clinicians can spend less energy on charting and more time doing what they do best.
Today, more than 6,000 clinicians have fallen in love with Freed.
Follow Brave Enough:
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN
Join The Table, Brave Enough’s community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.
Money vs. Impact vs. Peace - How Do You Decide?
Season 13 Episode 2: May 24, 2024
In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt and Dr. Harriet Hopf discuss:
- Financial decisions and how they impact our joy
- How to develop your professional identity
- How harmful mindsets about money can lead to burnout
- Choosing impact and peace over money in our careers
- How mentors can help you figure out what brings you joy
Harriet W. Hopf, MD, is Professor of Anesthesiology and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Utah. She has held senior leadership roles at the medical school, university, and national level that positioned her for her current focus on nurturing career and leadership success in the next generation. As a three-sport college athlete she learned leadership, persistence, and how to get things done. Her husband Leo, who she met playing volleyball, is an expert in strategy and decision-making and a peerless peer mentor. Their offspring, McKinley, is a grad student busy reinventing the way history is told. Harriet is content never to have learned to say “No.” and thrilled to have been selected as one of 250 images on the Utah Women 2020 Mural, public art commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.
Quote:
“I am not good at doing things I do not enjoy, so I will choose impact and personal peace over tasks that make me money every time.” - Dr. Harriet Hopf
Episode Links:
Season 13 Sponsor - Freed AI
Freed is an AI scribe that listens, transcribes, and writes medical documentation for you.
Freed is a solution that could alleviate the burden of overworked clinicians everywhere. It turns clinicians' patient conversations into accurate documentation - instantly. There's no training time no onboarding, and no extra mental burden. All the magic happens in just a few clicks, so clinicians can spend less energy on charting and more time doing what they do best.
Today, more than 6,000 clinicians have fallen in love with Freed.
Follow Brave Enough:
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN
Join The Table, Brave Enough’s community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.
Knowing When to Quit
Season 13 Episode 3: May 31, 2024
In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt and Dr. Marcene McVay Gillam discuss:
- How to start to make the decision of a career transition
- How loyalty can hold women back
- How to process the guilt of leaving a role or a job
- How to reset your brain on failure
- Defining your own success
Marcene is board certified in pediatric surgery and general surgery. She completed residency at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences followed by fellowship at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. She is an Air Force veteran, honorably discharged as a Lt Colonel after serving in San Antonio & Afghanistan.
She is an Associate Professor of Surgery, serves as a consultant to the pediatric surgery board, and is active in committee leadership for the American Pediatric Surgical Association. She is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and was voted one of the “Best Women in Healthcare 2023” by AY Magazine.
She is a native Arkansan, Razorback alumna (Chemical Engineering), baseball fan, farmer’s wife and beagle mom.
Tenacious with a touch of OCD. Seeker of authenticity. Culture builder. Collaborative leader.
Follow on X: @mcvay_pedisurg
Quote:
“I finally found the courage to make the hard decision when I realized that my success does not have to be defined by other people.” Dr. Marcene McVay Gillam
Episode Links:
Season 13 Sponsor - Freed AI
Freed is an AI scribe that listens, transcribes, and writes medical documentation for you.
Freed is a solution that could alleviate the burden of overworked clinicians everywhere. It turns clinicians' patient conversations into accurate documentation - instantly. There's no training time no onboarding, and no extra mental burden. All the magic happens in just a few clicks, so clinicians can spend less energy on charting and more time doing what they do best.
Today, more than 6,000 clinicians have fallen in love with Freed.
Follow Brave Enough:
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN
Join The Table, Brave Enough’s community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.
When Life Hands You Lemons: How to Recover When You Have Lost Yourself
Season 13 Episode 4: June 7, 2024
NOTE: This episode contains conversations regarding mental health crises and suicide. Please listen with care.
In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt and Dr. Janet West discuss:
- How evaluation and performance can be linked to our mental health
- How training in healthcare can push us to be perfectionistic
- How importance connection with others is critical to our wellbeing
- How to reach out to others who are struggling
- The neurobiology of stress and burnout and how to recognize it
Janet West is a family physician, assistant professor, residency teaching faculty, hospital leader, and mother of three. She is also a military medical officer and flight surgeon and has been assigned to multiple operational units, including deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa. After completing certifications in physician wellbeing and leadership, her passion for physician wellness became more personal and emboldened after experiencing and recovering from her own mental health crisis. She now dedicates her time and energy to teaching medical students, residents, and fellow faculty about what wellness and resilience truly are, how our brains and the norms of our culture and profession can increase our risk of mental health challenges, and helping them build the self-awareness and connection we need to thrive as humans who happen to practice medicine.
Quote:
“I truly found myself by losing myself.” - Dr. Janet West
“We push ourselves so hard to manage any problem that presents itself and we expect to have all the answers and show no weakness. This is unobtainable and yet the expectation.” - Dr. Janet West
Episode Links:
Season 13 Sponsor - Freed AI
Freed is an AI scribe that listens, transcribes, and writes medical documentation for you.
Freed is a solution that could alleviate the burden of overworked clinicians everywhere. It turns clinicians' patient conversations into accurate documentation - instantly. There's no training time no onboarding, and no extra mental burden. All the magic happens in just a few clicks, so clinicians can spend less energy on charting and more time doing what they do best.
Today, more than 6,000 clinicians have fallen in love with Freed.
Follow Brave Enough:
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN
Join The Table, Brave Enough’s community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.
Are you struggling? Reach out to 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
MicroSkills: Small Actions, Big Impact
Season 13 Episode 5: June 14, 2024
In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt has a conversation with Dr. Adaira Landry and Dr. Resa Lewiss.
Adaira Landry is an award-winning mentor, Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School, and Emergency Medicine physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and contributor at Forbes magazine. At age 16 she attended University of California, Berkeley to study Molecular Cell Biology. She then attended University of California, Los Angeles for medical school. She completed residency at New York University as a chief resident. She attended Harvard Graduate School of Education for a Masters in Education and earned a fellowship in ultrasound in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She has held various positions that foster career development: Assistant Residency Director for the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine residency, Ultrasound Fellowship Director for Harvard Emergency Medicine fellows, and Society Advisor to Harvard Medical Students. She is the Co-Chair of her department's Diversity and Inclusion committee. She was previously a lead consultant for EchoNous, an AI-driven ultrasound start-up.
Resa is a professor of emergency medicine, TEDMED speaker, TimesUp Healthcare founder, designer, entrepreneur, and award winning educator, mentor, and point-of-care ultrasound specialist. She studied at Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the NIH Howard Hughes Research Scholars Program, Harvard Emergency Medicine, and Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Roosevelt. As host and founder of the Visible Voices Podcast, she interviews subject matter experts in the healthcare, equity, and current trends spaces. Her writings are published in scientific journals and the popular press, such as Harvard Business Review, Slate, Nature, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Fast Company. Her new book, MicroSkills: Small Actions, Big Impact is forthcoming from HarperCollins in 2024.
Quote:
“Success does not require self-sacrifice. We do not subscribe to that.” Dr. Adaira Landry
Episode Links:
MicroSkills: Small Actions, Big Impact
Season 13 Sponsor - Freed AI
Freed is an AI scribe that listens, transcribes, and writes medical documentation for you.
Freed is a solution that could alleviate the burden of overworked clinicians everywhere. It turns clinicians' patient conversations into accurate documentation - instantly. There's no training time no onboarding, and no extra mental burden. All the magic happens in just a few clicks, so clinicians can spend less energy on charting and more time doing what they do best.
Today, more than 6,000 clinicians have fallen in love with Freed.
Follow Brave Enough:
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN
Join The Table, Brave Enough’s community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.
Finding the Courage to Make Difficult Decisions
Season 13 Episode 6: June 21, 2024
In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt and Nicole Trick Steinbach discuss:
- The importance of clarity in becoming brave
- Knowing what you DON’T want just as much as what you DO want
- How collecting “data” of past decisions makes you braver
- Embracing the freedom that comes with failure
Nicole Trick Steinbach is the Founder of Trick Steinbach
LLC, the host of the Celebrate Brave podcast, and an
International Bravery Coach. She helps women build their
bravery and shows them how to stress and work less.
After spending nearly 20 years working in tech, Nicole had
become a Global Senior Director. She spent 13 years living
in Germany, traveling the world, and leading global teams
across all functional areas in over 25 different countries. In
2008, even with all of her success, Nicole realized that she
felt exhausted, unhappy, and alone. Through coaching,
Nicole discovered how her relentless pursuit of an
ever-changing definition of “success” was pushing away
her support network, deflating her confidence, and driving
her to burnout. Over the next ten years, Nicole was able to
build her own unique, gorgeous, wonderfully fulfilling life,
full of connection and appreciation, rest and joy, safety
and wealth. The key was realizing that bravery is a skill
that she could intentionally develop and practice.
Now she teaches women all over the world to build their
own brave. Nicole’s framework of clarity, momentum, and
accountability helps her clients set goals and establish
the mindset they need to sustain their success. Nicole
coaches women to view all of their successes, mistakes,
and even failures as equal stepping stones to building
their brave life and career.
When Nicole isn’t serving her clients you can find her
reading a new book, enjoying the outdoors with her two
kiddos, and learning with others on her own podcast.
Quote:
“Bravery is a skill anyone can build.” - Nichole Trick Steinbach
Episode Links:
Season 13 Sponsor - Freed AI
Freed is an AI scribe that listens, transcribes, and writes medical documentation for you.
Freed is a solution that could alleviate the burden of overworked clinicians everywhere. It turns clinicians' patient conversations into accurate documentation - instantly. There's no training time no onboarding, and no extra mental burden. All the magic happens in just a few clicks, so clinicians can spend less energy on charting and more time doing what they do best.
Today, more than 6,000 clinicians have fallen in love with Freed.
Follow Brave Enough:
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN
Join The Table, Brave Enough’s community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.
When Your Job is Affecting your Mental Health: How to Financially Feel Secure to Do What is Best for Your Health
Season 13 Episode 7: June 28, 2024
In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt and Melisa Alaba discuss:
- How to change your mindset around money and scarcity
- How to know what you want so you can live a life that honors yourself
- Retraining your brain for success
- How to heal after trauma and setbacks
Melisa Alaba the Group practice owner of Vision Works Counseling and Coaching, Money and Life Coach, Author, Podcast host and grandmother to Aria and Zayden. Melisa believes that true healing happens when women and their families are emotionally healed and financially whole. Melisa and her team work to help women heal their entire lives through the B’healed process. Melisa has supported women business owners, entrepreneurs , professionals and corporate leaders since 2004. Melisa started her first successful group practice in 2003 and have served hundreds of women through coaching, counseling, speaking and mentoring.
Melisa helps her clients develop their money and emotional alchemy so that they can heal old money wounds and break generational cycles of lack, have life-changing financial breakthroughs in their business and personal life. Helping women heal from the inside out has allowed Melisa’s client’s to create better relationships, feel more confident, manifest a business and life that they love and make more money with ease.
Melisa is the author of Live Out Loud: 52 Ways to Reawaken Your Spirit and Live a Life of Purpose – was featured in the movie 72 Hours.
Mrs. Alaba’s advice has been featured in Ebony Magazine, US News and World Report, Parents Magazine, Redbook, ABC online.
And she has made live appearances on Fox News and CBS as well as given talks at countless events.
Melisa is an advocate of women’s rights, equal pay and financial liberation for women. When she is not working you can find her on a golf course, playing with her grandchildren or reading a good book.
Website: www.melisaalaba.com
Quote:
“When you are in a hard time, and you start to question yourself, remember your skillset. You have a skillset that got you to where you are, and those same skills will get you through this difficult time to where you need to be.” Melisa Alaba
Episode Links:
Season 13 Sponsor - Freed AI
Freed is an AI scribe that listens, transcribes, and writes medical documentation for you.
Freed is a solution that could alleviate the burden of overworked clinicians everywhere. It turns clinicians' patient conversations into accurate documentation - instantly. There's no training time no onboarding, and no extra mental burden. All the magic happens in just a few clicks, so clinicians can spend less energy on charting and more time doing what they do best.
Today, more than 6,000 clinicians have fallen in love with Freed.
Follow Brave Enough:
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN
Join The Table, Brave Enough’s community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.
Financial Planning for Hard Decisions
Season 13 Episode 8: July 5, 2024
In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt and Jacque Denson discuss:
- What to know about your financial status and work benefits
- How to financially prepare for career transitions
- How to know your “Cost to Leave”
- How women can take charge of their finances and embrace change
Jacque’s passion is building strong, lasting relationships with her clients – she knows what truly motivates them to achieve their financial goals. She builds one-of-a-kind financial plans unique to each family and enjoys building different scenarios to walk through the multiple paths they can take to achieve their goals. Jacque loves seeing children grow up, hearing about vacations, helping secure financing for dream homes, and thinking creatively to help her clients realize their dreams. Though Jacque enjoys working with all types of doctors, her favorite clients are her female physicians. She is an advocate for equal pay for women in medicine and has experience devising timelines and strategies for maternity leaves to keep her female clients from being set back in wealth accumulation relative to their male counterparts. Jacque is passionate about seeing a change in the financial industry from a gender diversity standpoint and is inspired by the strides she has seen women make in medicine!
Jacque has been in the financial industry for over a decade, working in client service roles at Edward Jones, Lincoln Financial, and Larson Financial before joining the Vestia team as a Financial Advisor. She obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from Maryville University in St. Louis, and holds her Series 66 registration, Life & Health Insurance License, and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER ®. As a goal-oriented, lifelong learner, Jacque is always looking to further the expertise she can offer her clients. She recently completed the Investment Management Theory & Practice Education Program through Yale University and lends her knowledge to Vestia’s Investment Committee.
Outside the office, Jacque enjoys spending time with her husband, Aaron, and their children, Landon and Caroline; tending her backyard garden; and working with her husband on their side-hustle, a nutrition business for high school and college wrestlers.
Quote:
"Be educated on your next step, even if you are not planning to leave. You want to know your “cost to leave” before you have to for any reason.” Jacque Denson, Certified Financial Planner
Episode Links:
Season 13 Sponsor - Freed AI
Freed is an AI scribe that listens, transcribes, and writes medical documentation for you.
Freed is a solution that could alleviate the burden of overworked clinicians everywhere. It turns clinicians' patient conversations into accurate documentation - instantly. There's no training time no onboarding, and no extra mental burden. All the magic happens in just a few clicks, so clinicians can spend less energy on charting and more time doing what they do best.
Today, more than 6,000 clinicians have fallen in love with Freed.
Follow Brave Enough:
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN
Join The Table, Brave Enough’s community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.
When You Must Quit: Managing the Legal Side of Stepping Away
Season 13 Episode 9: July 12, 2024
In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt and Aimee Lowe discuss:
- How understanding the WHY You want to quit is crucial to protecting yourself
- Why understanding your current and future contracts are KEY
- Outlining your “cost to quit”
- Exit interviews: should you be honest?
- Positioning yourself and preparing yourself to quit
Aimee L. Lowe is the founder of Lowe Legal Group, PC LLO, a boutique law firm that provides legal services for executives and physicians, businesses, and entrepreneurs. She has worked with businesses, professionals, and physicians for years as executive advisor, general counsel, defender, and strategist. She represents professionals and physicians in complex contract and compensation negotiations and disputes. She works with companies of all sizes to provide strategic legal counsel in employment law, real estate, and business mergers and deals. She assists entrepreneurs with start-up entity formation, business plans, corporate maintenance, standardized contracts, and intellecutal property protections. She has been designated as a Thompson Reuter Super Lawyer since 2021. Before forming Lowe Legal Group, Lowe was a Partner with various law firms, served as judicial clerk with the Nebraska Court of Appeals, and held a role as in-house counsel where she oversaw federal and state regulations, internal audits, and drafted policy. Aimee served for several years as an Adjunct Faculty member with Creighton University School of Law. She is an honors graduate of the Creighton University School of Law, recipient of the Silver Quill Award – the highest award given for legal writing, recipient of seven CALI Excellence Awards for achieving the highest score in a given class, was winner of the Creighton Law School International Moot Court competition, and is a frequent speaker and writer on well-being, business, legal, leadership, faith, and debt-reduction topics.
Quote:
“Knowing your why – the reasons why you want to quit this employment relationship – is key to having a successful transition. There are many reasons why people leave their jobs; understanding your why is the foundation of a good transition.” Aimee Lowe, attorney
Episode Links:
Season 13 Sponsor - Freed AI
Freed is an AI scribe that listens, transcribes, and writes medical documentation for you.
Freed is a solution that could alleviate the burden of overworked clinicians everywhere. It turns clinicians' patient conversations into accurate documentation - instantly. There's no training time no onboarding, and no extra mental burden. All the magic happens in just a few clicks, so clinicians can spend less energy on charting and more time doing what they do best.
Today, more than 6,000 clinicians have fallen in love with Freed.
Follow Brave Enough:
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN
Join The Table, Brave Enough’s community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.
Changing Your Professional Identity: Working through the Transitions and Shifts of Change
Season 13 Episode 10: July 19, 2024
In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt discusses:
- How to Recognize When Your Work Identity is Shifting
- How to Deal with the Backlash of Changing Your Professional Mission, Role or Job
- How to Follow the Joy: What it means to do what makes you the most happy
- How to embrace change and make the past part of your positive narrative
Quote:
“When we find our professional identity shifting, it can be unsettling to others who have set expectations of us. You cannot let other people’s mission and vision for you stop you from embracing the change you know is best for you.” Dr. Sasha Shillcutt
Episode Links:
Season 13 Sponsor - Freed AI
Freed is an AI scribe that listens, transcribes, and writes medical documentation for you.
Freed is a solution that could alleviate the burden of overworked clinicians everywhere. It turns clinicians' patient conversations into accurate documentation - instantly. There's no training time no onboarding, and no extra mental burden. All the magic happens in just a few clicks, so clinicians can spend less energy on charting and more time doing what they do best.
Today, more than 6,000 clinicians have fallen in love with Freed.
Follow Brave Enough:
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN
Join The Table, Brave Enough’s community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.
