Kelli France is a Master Certified Life Coach, a Perfectionist Coach, Founder of the Empowered Life Academy, Author of One Goal for 100 Days, and Host of the Finally Fearless podcast. She works with women to help them recognize and break free from perfectionist patterns– the kind that keep you stuck, burnt out, and constantly waiting to feel ready before you start.

Kelli discovered her own perfectionism during her master coach certification and realized it was showing up in almost every woman she coached. She built her entire framework around it, including four perfectionist archetypes rooted in the nervous system's fear response — and the practical tools to move through them.

This episode is a really honest, relatable conversation about the ways perfectionism quietly runs our lives — and what it actually looks like to break up with it for good.

In this episode, we cover:

• The four perfectionist archetypes — controller, overachiever, people pleaser, and procrastinator — and how each one is rooted in fight, flight, fawn, or freeze

• Why perfectionism is a nervous system response, not a personality flaw — and how it starts in childhood

• How people pleasing is really a form of control — and why it's linked to lying and manipulation without us even realizing it

• The difference between guilt and shame — and why the shame spiral is the most damaging part of the perfectionist cycle

• Why so many women don't even know they're perfectionists — they just think they're undisciplined, unmotivated, or not ready yet

• The identity crisis that hits when your title, role, or company disappears and your worth was tied to all of it

• Perfectionist mom patterns — the panic that you're not doing it right, attaching your identity to your kids' behavior, and the all-or-nothing trap

• Body image and perfectionism — why women won't show up online because their hair isn't the right color

• All-or-nothing thinking, cognitive distortions, and the SCAM acronym

• The "and" thinking — why adding "and" instead of "or" breaks the black-and-white trap

• "Dating discomfort" — what it means, why it matters, and how to get better at tolerating hard feelings without letting them drive

• The two S's for getting started: Start Sloppy and Super Small Steps

• The T model — thoughts create emotions, emotions create actions, actions create results

• Why your imperfections are what actually create connection — not the highlight reel

• What to do when you want to quit — and why that urge is just a feeling passing through, not a fact

• How Gen Z is dealing with perfectionism — and the conversations Kelli is having with her own kids

Connect with Kelli:

Instagram: @kellifrance https://www.instagram.com/kellifrance/

Book — One Goal for 100 Days: available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Goal-100-Days-Motivational-Journal/dp/B0CQHZ4K19

Podcast: Finally Fearless - https://open.spotify.com/show/56CKDOAOuW5PGV27QjZLcl?si=03cef683f1d14f37