B (4:33)

Yeah, there's 13 of us. 12. 12 others all together.

A (4:37)

It's called she Rises. And I wanted to invite Molly on the podcast to talk about that book. And if you can stop for a moment and when you hear the title she Rises, what comes up for you in your brain and in your body as a listener, Because I'll tell you for me, first of all, it's Beauty from Ashes. That's the first thing that always comes up for me. But then really thinking of women and some of the incredible ways that they have built resilience, the incredible ways that they are growing their capacities, that they are excited, expanding their life, that they are taking care of themselves, stepping into their own. And I just want to hear from you, Molly, about this book. So let me hear all about what you have to say about she Rises.

B (5:32)

Oh my gosh. Well, I have so much to say and more than that, I just so many feelings about it as you can imagine. So she Rises. This I'll tell you a little bit about how it started. So the 12 women that have co authored this with me have all trained with me as master coaches and They've learned from Leah as well.

C (5:56)

Right.

B (5:57)

Because Leah teaches the Nervous System section of that. And so that's what's really fun about this, too. All of these women have been touched by your work, and it is evident in each of their chapters that this Nervous System piece is just. It's just such a big deal. So, anyway, I digress. So. So back in. Earlier this year in. In May, I was approached to be a part of a book collaboration where it was like a book, and it was like, you know, like, endorsed Tony Robbins, and it was a collection of coaches. And I'm like, oh, this seems like a good idea, something worth looking into. And I was considering it, and. And what I kept noticing is that it wasn't a bad book, but it didn't feel. It just didn't feel right. It didn't feel aligned to me. And I kept trying to convince myself that it would be a good idea. And. And as I was thinking through it and talking with my mastermind, it hit me just like a bolt of lightning. Like, you know, who I would actually like to be to shoulder with, with a message and writing a book with it would be these incredible women. Women who I have seen rise up.

C (7:05)

Right?

B (7:06)

These women who I have seen, seen develop themselves, work with their own emotional mastery, learning themselves, bringing that awareness and that they are pouring their heart and souls into helping other people. And so I just. I was on a walk one day, and I just almost could, like, see these. Their faces in my mind on this book cover. And. And I just decided to say, let's go for this. And so it happened very like, this was May, right? And we're having this.

A (7:33)

No, when you said that, I was like, what? You'll have to talk separately about how you did this so quickly.

B (7:41)

It is. It is my greatest strength and my greatest downfall that I do things like that. So we'll have that for another episode. But so anyway, in fact, when I reached out to Everett, you know, my book guy who'd helped me with my other book, he was. He said, yeah, you know, this sounds great. It's going to take a while to get people on board. You know, he's like, thinking, this won't happen as quickly. And I said, trust me, like, I know these women, and I can feel the power, and it's going to happen. And sure enough, we had these 12 women signed on as authors by the end of May. We had our meeting, we got in, we wrote those chapters, and here we are. So that's kind of the backstory of this but, you know, the book is. It's such a beautiful collaboration because each of these women have their own unique experience, obviously, of what has happened within them, within their lives, their growth journey, their own relationship with their emotions and growth. So each of them has their own journey and their own story that is unique. And also the through thread of this book truly is about helping one another as women in community.

C (8:53)

Right.

B (8:53)

Caring about one another as women and really speaking to. We as women have such an opportunity to support ourselves and be supportive to one another as we create a strong foundation within ourselves. Every challenge that we face is an opportunity not just to get through it, like you said.

C (9:16)

Right.

B (9:16)

But to thrive. And so really, the through thread is every single woman, every human.

C (9:22)

Right.

B (9:22)

Not just women, every person matters. Your worth is not negotiable. And when we can really decide to believe that as absolute truth and take care of ourselves inside and out, we are able to grow and do amazing things in the world. So that was a mouthful, but that. That's kind of my. Yeah, well, I love that.

A (9:43)

And I know that you and I have talked before that looking at. Each individual has their story.

B (9:50)

Yep.

A (9:50)

And we all go through things in life. We all have adversity. I say, like, adversity is like your shadow. It's always going to be there, depending on where the sun is. Sometimes it's big, sometimes it's small, sometimes it's front of you, sometimes it's behind you, but it's always there. And so I love that each woman was able to really write about whether it's an adversity they've overcome or just a realization of finding themselves or rediscovering themselves. I think that, you know, probably a lot of my listeners are similar to me in that midlife where we have spent a good majority of our time taking care of others in our life. Now, whether it be like, I know you're a coach as well, so there's professional taking care of, but many of us are taking care of, whether it be children or our parents or we've had a role in caretaking of siblings or something that we do hit a point. Point, I think, where we stop and want to question, okay, how am I taking care of me? Who am I when I'm not taking care of other people? Who am I when I'm dealing with adversity? Who am I when I come out of dealing with adversity? So I think that the idea of rising from all of our experiences, all the. The things that have laid down our foundation and being able to rise, and what are the tools that we need and what are the support systems that we need so that we can really blossom from all the things that we're rising from.

B (11:36)

Exactly. And I think that, you know, this thought just came to me, so it feels like a bit of an out of the blue comment to make, but for whatever reason, I think it's an important thing for us to notice, is that. So I think everyone listening, all of you can think about those most difficult times in your life.

C (11:55)

Right.

B (11:55)

Maybe you're going through it right now, or maybe you think of that difficult time. And it's just interesting to notice that when we are in some of those hardest moments, those are the times that we often feel the weakest. Yeah.

C (12:12)

Right.

B (12:13)

When it. This. It's like the things we say are, this feels unbearable, this feels overwhelming. We feel the weakest. And what's ironic is, is at a distance, right. When I see a dear friend of mine going through that, they're feeling that. But typically what I'm seeing is actually the incredible strength that they're demonstrating and building as well. And so, you know, that that thought just came to me because. Because I. I just. I think it's really important that we remember that because sometimes when we're feeling the weakest or feeling like we can't really handle that, we believe that feeling as true, as a true reflection of what we're capable of. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

A (12:58)

When really some of our weakest moments are the greatest moments of strength or, you know, the quote, unquote, weakest moments that we think are actually our greatest growth opportunities and our greatest moments of strength.

B (13:14)

Yeah.

A (13:14)

And sometimes we do need other people to point that out just so that people get a sense of what are some of the chapters about? What are some of the things that these amazing women are sharing in the book?

B (13:28)

Yeah. So at the beginning. My chapter is at the beginning. And it's talking about specifically for women in business, highly ambitious women, high responsibility women, how we really need to prioritize wholeness over hustle. So that's one example of a topic where, Right. We've been sold this idea that we need to hustle and hold everything together. And it's just, it's not serving anyone as you know.

C (13:53)

Right.

B (13:53)

So it's really taking a shift away from that. And then throughout the chapter, it's like, I would love to name every single one of them.

A (14:01)

I know we don't want to point anything out. I just want a little bit of a flavor so that people listening can see, okay, what do I relate to? Because I think when we hear somebody else has gone through or going through something similar, just not feeling so alone in itself is so comforting to the nervous system. It wants that.

B (14:22)

Yeah, totally. Yeah. I mean, so you know who. Leah, you also know, because she's been in both of our communities. She's a doodling coach. And she's talking about really embracing doodling to know yourself. Right. Which applies to kind of any scenario. And Michelle is. She is such a brilliant coach. She is just a beautiful human being. And the work in that, in that chapter is just incredible. Eugenie talks about inner boundaries where, you know, we hear a lot about setting boundaries, but she's really talking about those ways inside.

C (14:54)

Right.

B (14:55)

That we can feel a little weak and advocating for ourselves or, you know, what we expect for in our lives. Margo has a chapter on grief. She personally has buried two of her children, and she is a grief educator, and she specializes in supporting women through that. We have Sandra and Carla and Angela, all different flavors of working with our emotions and overcoming perfectionism. And Angela and Marianne actually are both. They're tapping practitioners. So they're talking about how to use tapping to connect with self. There's a chapter on. It's called Mirror, Mirror on the Wall. What the Heck Happened? That's Jackie. And she is. She's a midlife coach.

A (15:42)

And it's just, okay, I know what she's talking about.

B (15:44)

Okay. It's like, wait, sounds familiar. And then. And I will say, because, you know, I know there are male listeners as well, and I think this book is not just for women, honestly. And there is one chapter in this book that is for men specifically. First of all, I think men and women should read the whole thing. But it's called why I Make Grown Men Cry by Patty Kohler. And she. She works with men on navigating their emotions and helping them get in touch with them. And so, you know, and I'll just mention these, these last authors as well. Kelly Arthur has an incredible story of perseverance, and she talks about really doubling down on self care. And, you know, also related to that is Midori Takata, who is a burnout coach, you know, for professional women. So, I mean, that gives you the flavor. These are the chapters, and every single one is just beautifully nuanced. And it's really going to give the readers insight into their own emotional world, into their own needs, into the ways they can move forward and create more resilience.

A (16:47)

I love that. I love. And I love that there is such a wide variety Because I do think that we. By the time you hit a little bit older in life, you start to realize that while everybody has their own unique flavor and own unique challenge, you will come across things that are going to put you to the test, that are going to push your nervous system to, like, you know, the. The upper and the lower limits, and how do you navigate that, and what are the tools that you need to navigate and what are the support systems that you need to navigate? So I love that here we see, like, this is. This is the variety you. You might not have experienced exactly what these people have experienced, but common humanity tells us we all are going to experience something along the lines of adversity and challenge and.

B (17:45)

Yeah, to build up, you know, And I think knowing each of these women the way that I do in such a personal way, having supported them, you know, what I can say is there. There's such genuine women and women who really take to heart their own transformation and. And I think that's a big deal because I just think we. There are a lot of books on the shelf. There are a lot of people that are authors. There are a lot of people that can write about a method. But to have a collection of women who truly have. Have leaned into their own growth and are willing to be vulnerable and brave enough to share it, it's a pretty magical thing.

A (18:32)

It is.

B (18:32)

Yeah.

A (18:33)

You mentioned about growth, and I just want to take the conversation a little bit in that direction because I look at growth as being one of the most important things I can do in my own life. I see that for myself. I don't want to speak for everybody and say it's the most important thing you can do, but I see how it has really served me. I do a lot of my growth through growing a business and, you know, putting myself in situations that are challenging. They challenge my brain, they challenge my capacity doing new things. Can you talk about what you think are some of the best ways or maybe not best ways, some of the ways that if a woman is out there or anybody, like you said, a human is out there and sort of feeling stuck. Stuck. What are some ways that you think that they can help grow through whatever they're experiencing?

B (19:34)

Yeah, I mean, the first thing that came to mind is thinking about how much we often resist change or we push against whatever is happening to us, and it's normal to do that.

C (19:49)

Right.

B (19:50)

As, you know. And so, you know, I think. And this is. This is maybe a slightly different answer or thought than what you were asking. And if that's the case, you know, bring me back on course. But I just, I think that, you know, when it comes to growth, the more we can really lean into what's happening, embrace what's happening, and kind of ask those questions, questions of what's here for me within what's going on. How can I be adaptable? How can I be resilient? How can I work with what's coming toward me instead of believing that it shouldn't be happening? Because I think that's where a lot of people get stuck and where growth is limited. When we're, when we're just.

C (20:39)

Right.

B (20:39)

Thinking this shouldn't be happening. We're pushing against it, right?

A (20:43)

Yeah. Yeah. Because when we push against it, we. We limit the opportunity for growth because there's no room for. Because we're sort of at, you know, at a standstill. Yeah. That's interesting to think of it in terms of how can I go with the flow? How can I let what is be, what is. I know for me, obviously, pulling everything. All roads lead back to the nervous system. One of the best ways for growth is to learning about your own nervous system and learning to understand what are the areas in your nervous system where you get stuck, where have you been stuck? What are the ways that you can grow your capacity? How can you grow your capacity working on being more flexible. All those things are. Are different ways of addressing growth. And, and I think what you're speaking to, the resistance is about the nervous system. Right. A healthy nervous system is a flexible nervous system that it can approach and go up and down with challenges.

B (21:45)

Yeah. And the other thing that just came to mind, you know, it's like, I know that you've said this before as well, that people kind of put like the nervous system and emotions, they're separate things to look, they're in right there. The nervous system is the backdrop of thoughts and emotions, obviously.

C (22:04)

Right.

B (22:06)

But also they're also a separate conversation. And I. And one of the things that I'll say in terms of, you know, this idea of accepting what is and leaning into what's happening, what often happens is so let's say, for example, that a family member gets a terrible diagnosis of some kind.

C (22:29)

Right.

B (22:29)

And immediately we don't want that to be the case.

C (22:34)

Right.

B (22:34)

We're pushing against it where we have resistance to it. And, and you could, you could plug any circumstance into that scenario.

C (22:44)

Right.

B (22:44)

That is unwanted, that is jarring. And. And oftentimes what is really needed is, is there is a grief within that circumstance that's come Up.

C (22:56)

Right.

B (22:57)

The grief of what you wish could have been.

C (23:00)

Right.

B (23:02)

The grief of what this means now. Because the fact is that I can look back on my life, and my life is vastly different than what I thought it would be. And there are many things in my life that have not come to fruition that I have felt really deeply sad about. And so one of the things that I just want to throw out there, if someone is feeling like they are having resistance to accepting what is, is it's really. There is a lot of value in taking a minute to just journal about what. Where is there? I don't know that this is the right question to hit on that spot, but where is the grief in this? Or what am I so sad about? What is it that I perceived I would have that I'm losing out on? Yeah, that's missing here. Because I think that most of us don't know what to do with grief. We haven't been taught what to do with it. And. And that grief will get stuck. It will get stuck there. I just. I was coaching a woman just the other day, and she had some grief come up from something 15 years earlier, and the current situation didn't make sense to why she was feeling angry and resistance to the situation. And lo and behold, she had some grieving to do. And so I just want to say that resistance that comes up and it's fine for us to say, oh, we need to accept what is, and let's put. Be kind and patient with ourselves and realize sometimes it's because we really don't know what to do with those deeply sad, hard feelings that are there.

A (24:29)

And I like that you're bringing up the example of grief, because I think it is one that we all experience. We often associate grief with death, but it can be the death of somebody. It can be the loss of a relationship. It can be. I know that I talked several months ago where I was saying as I was looking at getting older and my children getting older and creating their own lives, and there's a sense of. And I've talked about this recently on my podcast. I feel like I've been bringing my poor emerging adult kids and adult kids up a lot. But I think it's because there's a grief that I'm experiencing, and it's a. It's an excitement. Like, I look at their life, all their lives, and I love what they're doing. And I'm like, yeah, they've got their ups and downs and challenges like all kids, but they. They've got adventures and they're trying to figure things out. And. And there's a beauty in watching that. And there's an unspoken grief that I sit and I look and I can remember when I used to walk through the door coming home at the end of the day, and they would all be there with their stories of what was happening and I was needed. And there was, you know, like, as seasons go, like the first day of school, we didn't have any pictures this year. And then Halloween runs around and there's no. And there's a grief. And that almost feels ridiculous to say it's grief because we've labeled grief has to be a certain way. Like, grief is. Oh, when you lose somebody. But. But I think grief is also like, I remember grieving when I got divorced, the grief of the life that I thought I was going to have. And then for years, I remember grieving like Christmas Day, because I have never had Christmas Day. I got in the divorce, Christmas Eve, I never got Christmas Day. So Christmas Day, I always say to people, and now I can be more open and accepting of it. I hate Christmas Day. It is like my most holy, horrible day of the year because it was associated with grief. And I think that, that, that grief and the emotions and exploring that and not being resistant to it is where you can find growth and where you can find connection.

B (26:50)

I mean, absolutely. And one of the things we have a extensive study on grief in, in my training program. And this is exactly why. Because same thing, I always thought of grief as a death. And then I remember, like, a couple years after my divorce and understanding, oh, that was a grief, like, I went through grief with that. And since what I've learned is just how often and how many ways we actually experience grief in our lives. Because grief is anytime there is a perceived loss.

A (27:23)

That's right.

B (27:23)

And. And it is a feeling that needs to be processed. So, for example, when you know, as a. As a. If there's a mom or dad listening and. And you are maybe in a power struggle with your child and you're frustrated with them, it's very possible that you're really sad that their behavior isn't the way you wanted it to be, or that they're not making the choices you wish they would have made.

C (27:46)

Right.

B (27:46)

And so truly, if we think about what our hopes and expectations are for life, even on a daily basis, and how often that doesn't happen, I think that within this theme of rising up, it's really important that we all become more aware of the ways that sadness and loss and grief, even in those little ways, actually needs to be cared about and we can support ourselves and get that support. And it builds a really strong foundation. Grief, experienced and processed, builds strength in us.

A (28:20)

Yeah, yeah. And I will say almost all emotions that are uncomfortable, we tend to resist, of course, but there are so many lessons behind those emotions. You know, grief is one that I think we're talking more about, but there are still so many other. And sounds like that's what you're touching on in your book too. A lot of the different emotions and exploring our different emotions, the different ways to explore those emotions. Because we also know at the root of, like I look at, I do a lot of work around chronic pain and chronic illness. And what do we see behind chronic pain and chronic illness? We see a lot of repressed, unexpressed emotions. People not having permission, whether they learned to not have permission or they didn't feel they had their permission themselves. These emotions need to be expressed. Otherwise the body's like, if you don't.

B (29:19)

Express them, you know, you're gonna feel it.

A (29:22)

You're gonna feel them. That's right. I'm gonna express them for you and you're not gonna get a choice of how that's going to show up. So, yeah, I love. And again, so then exploring these emotions, exploring the things that maybe we don't want to go there, is really unlocking a door to growth, awareness, insight, and to have the ability to build that resilience and to rise up from whatever it is that we're facing.

B (29:51)

Yeah, I mean, and emotions are a topic obviously woven all throughout the book. And one in particular, chapter three, Carla's, is the message in the feeling. I mean, that is the whole focus of her chapter. And it's funny because I remember, you know, in the, in the beginnings of the book and us talking about it and she could, she knew the emotion work she did was most important. She knew this is what she wanted to write about. And then a part of her brain was telling her, oh, this is too vague.

C (30:18)

Right.

B (30:18)

Like a feeling. And so it's. I just think that's worth pointing out because as you and I are talking about this and we're understanding, you know, what this means as far as being with the emotions and processing it, most people really don't know. And even a lot of people who are very self aware and in the self help world, it can still seem a little bit vague. And so I think that's why it's important to learn to understand.

C (30:41)

Right.

B (30:42)

Read books like this and others because that's probably the biggest thing, obviously, like, honestly for me, Leah, because as you know, I started out very focused on mindset work. And of course, you know, now I teach more of the whole perspective, like the whole person view. But the emotion piece for me, yeah, has been and continues to be the thing that has completely changed my sense of self, my sense of connection with others. Like, it has been the thing. And I feel like I have taken such a deep dive into it personally and in my studies, and there's still so much more, so much to know. Yeah, it's like this never. It's like Pandora's box. Like, it's never ending.

A (31:27)

You know, that's what happens with emotions. And I will say I talked about this on an episode not so long ago where I talk about the distance between Gen X and Gen Z, or Gen Z, I can't remember, what do they call in the US It's Z, but we call it Zed. So I tried really hard in my podcast episode to just stick with Gen Z. But one of the things I talked about, which is probably a little bit controversial, is we have. Have, as parents who are Gen X parents, tried to raise our children with more of an emotional vocabulary, more of an emotional understanding, which I think is amazing, and I'm so happy about it. However, I think that it is one thing to have an emotional vocabulary, and we all need to continue to work on it, but there also does require life experience and maturity to manage all these emotions. It is not enough to just have emotional vocabulary and be able to label things. And I think that's why it is a journey. That's why, you know, I'm 53 years old and it's going to be a life journey for me to continue to process these emotions. So even though I've raised my children who, you know, they've got a good emotional vocabulary, I am also looking at it and saying, yeah, that's going to serve you well as you start collecting all the experiences and the maturity to fully understand and express and validate and appreciate all your emotions. It's not just about the words. The processing has a lot more to it that I believe is going to be a lifelong journey.

B (33:18)

I mean, it is. And I think especially, you know, one of the things that I just, I do a lot of work with this with myself and with my clients as well, is, is really tuning in and paying more attention to our own emotions and taking ownership of them, not in. I think sometimes we can use this word of, like, taking ownerships of your of your emotions or you're responsible for them as if they're kind of this ugly thing that we need to, to claim.

C (33:48)

Right.

B (33:48)

The good, the bad, the ugly, whatever. But it's like actually take when, when I think about taking ownership of my emotions, I think about noticing that all of my emotions, they're housed within me.

C (34:01)

Right.

B (34:02)

And therefore the more I can tune into what's going on for me and making enough space to understand those emotions, we begin to see more often the ways in which our emotions are not about other people. And the flip side of that is how those emotions are very much indications of things on the outside that are also not okay for us.

C (34:28)

Right.

B (34:28)

And so I just think I agree like understanding our emotions, being with ourselves in our emotions and really it's like I think about it as, as understanding our own emotional world is a lifelong journey. Yeah, it completely is.

A (34:47)

Well, I am excited for this book to get out there. Please share with people where they can find the book, where they can find you, get more information.

B (34:57)

Yeah, so I. Depending on when this is out. Of course, as this is airing now, the book is out and available on the 30th of September, September 30th, 2025. So I have a wait list. We're going to be telling everyone about it that day we are going to have the Kindle available for either $1.99 or 9. 9. We're still waiting to see how low Kindle will allow us to price the book.

A (35:20)

Right. Awesome.

B (35:21)

So but that day that's the price it will be and then after that day it's just available on Amazon. People can go to mollyclair.com and you can find the book link there or you can go to Amazon. She rises. Type in Molly Claire and it'll. And you'll see, you know all of the. But yeah, I mean each chapter is. It's awesome to have like a bite sized piece of, you know, wisdom and guidance and there are a lot of extra resources along with it as well. I know in my chapter I have a free workbook to help people really personalize it.

A (35:51)

So wonderful, wonderful. Well, thank you so much, Molly. It is always such a joy to have you on and to share the wisdom and I really appreciate it and I can't wait for everybody to get their hands on this book.

B (36:04)

Thank you. And I just huge shout out to these really incredible coaches and co authors of this book because they have put their heart and soul into it and gone through their own journey of being very visible which can be, can be uncomfortable. Yeah.

A (36:20)

So I love it. Thank you.

B (36:21)

Thank you so much.

A (36:23)

Take care.

B (36:24)

You too.

A (36:26)

Thank you for listening to the Building Resilience podcast. If you're interested in learning a little bit more about managing stress, building resilience, and leading a more purposeful life, then make sure we're connected on Instagram and Facebook @leah davidsonlife coaching. You can also subscribe to my weekly newsletter at www.leahdavidsonlifecoaching.com newsletter. Looking forward to connecting.

B (36:55)

Sam.