Peacekeeping might look like maturity — but for a lot of high-performing women, it's actually a survival strategy. The kind that keeps you "fine" on the outside while there's a quiet war happening inside: tension in the body, looping thoughts, fear of rocking the boat, and the belief that honesty will cost you love, safety, or belonging.

In this episode, Violetta sits down with Yemi Penn — keynote speaker, researcher, and cultural peace broker — to unpack the difference between peacekeeping and peacebuilding, and why real change starts by attending to the war within. You'll hear practical ways to work with triggers without gaslighting yourself, how to shift from assumption to curiosity in charged moments, and why the body's wisdom matters more than most people realize.

This conversation is about staying with discomfort slightly longer than normal — long enough to reclaim your voice, respond from choice, and stop passing your unprocessed stress into your relationships, teams, and communities.

🎙️ In This Episode, We Cover:

• Peacekeeping vs peacebuilding: how "keeping things calm" can keep you stuck — and what peacebuilding looks like in real life
  
  
• Identity + unlearning: how inherited beliefs (culture, religion, roles) shape what you think you're allowed to question — and the tension that follows
  
  
• Working with triggers in real time: the "pause" practice that interrupts reactivity and gives you your choice back
  
  
• Assumption vs curiosity: how to stop mind-reading and story-making when you're activated — without minimizing your lived experience
  
  
• The "thorn" beneath the trigger: why the moment isn't usually the real issue — and how to trace your reaction back to what it's protecting
  
  
• Somatic discharge: what excess charge looks like in the body and how to release it instead of carrying it for days
  
  
• Creating distance without running away: when distance means leaving, when it means changing a pattern, and when it means stillness
  
  
• Meditation as the deepest distance: why the ego resists quiet — and how five minutes can change what you do next
  
  
• The ripple effect of inner peace: how attending to the war within changes what you bring into your home, your work, and your world

🔗 Resources & Links:

🎧 Get the Free 6-Minute Nervous System Reset Audio: A body-based practice to release the inner load and reset your system — includes a 7-day guided journey to build steadiness under pressure. 👉 expandandimpact.com/reset2025

⭕️ Join the Next Virtual Women's Circle: Live sessions where ambitious women come together to normalize a new way of leading, living, and creating impact in work and life. 👉 expandandimpact.com/circle

👉 Connect with Violetta on Instagram: DM her directly — she reads every message. instagram.com/expand_and_impact

👤 Connect with Yemi Penn
Website: yemipenn.com
Instagram: instagram.com/dr.yemipenn

Busyness might look like ambition — but for high achievers, it's often quietly costing more than they realize.
Behind the to-do lists, deadlines, and "I'll rest later" mindset lives a system running on overdrive — fueled by stress, pressure, and the belief that being busy means you're moving forward.

In this episode, Violetta unpacks the hidden link between busyness, self-worth, and performance capacity — and how to tell when productivity turns into protection. You'll learn the science of how repetition and neuroplasticity retrain your mind-body system for calm, focus, and sustainable success, and what real integration looks like when ambition meets regulation.

This conversation is about refining your edge — accessing deeper focus, energy, and fulfillment not by pushing harder, but by leading yourself differently.

🎙️ In This Episode, We Cover:

• The hidden link between busyness, self-worth, and performance capacity
• How to tell when busyness becomes a protective strategy instead of a productive one
• Why slowing down can be one of the most powerful strategies for high achievement
• The science of repetition and neuroplasticity in retraining your mental and emotional habits for calm and focus
• How to access deeper focus, energy, and resilience without pushing harder
• Why self-awareness alone isn't enough — and what real integration looks like
• The difference between relief and regulation — and why it matters
• A simple reflection practice to help you re-pattern your relationship with being busy
  
  

🎧 Get the Free 6-Minute Nervous System Reset Audio:
A body-based practice to release the inner load and reset your system — includes a 7-day guided journey to rewire your relationship with busyness.
👉 expandandimpact.com/reset2025

⭕️ Join the Next Virtual Women's Circle:
Live sessions where ambitious women come together to normalize a new way of leading, living, and creating impact in work and life.
👉 expandandimpact.com/womenscircleregistration

👉 Connect with Violetta on Instagram:
DM her directly — she reads every message.
instagram.com/expand_and_impact

You finally hit the milestone, achieve the goal, or land the thing you worked so hard for — and instead of soaking it in, you start overthinking, scanning for the next problem, or pushing yourself right back into overwork.

If that sounds familiar, you're not alone. High-achieving women everywhere are unknowingly interrupting their own joy. And the reason has nothing to do with how much you're holding — it's the deeper patterns running in your nervous system.

🎙️ In This Episode, We Cover:

• The hidden "joy blockers" that ambitious women mistake for discipline or drive.
• How the inner critic, outer critic, and defensiveness hijack your best moments.
• The trap of "If this, then that" thinking — and why it keeps you from ever feeling like you've truly arrived.

💡 Why This Matters

Most women think joy comes after the next milestone, the next solved problem, the next achievement. But that belief is the very thing that keeps you sprinting past the life you're already in.

The truth is: joy isn't a reward for doing more — it's a skill you have to learn to hold. Until you rewire the patterns running in your nervous system, you'll keep sabotaging the very ease, freedom, and connection you're working so hard to create.

This episode isn't just about spotting the problem — it's about seeing success in a way that finally lets you feel it.

🔗 Resources & Links

🎉 Join Grow Forward LIVE — a 2-day virtual event for ambitious women ready to lead, work, and live with grounded self-trust: https://www.expandandimpact.com/gf25

🎧 Get the free 6-minute Nervous System Reset Audio: www.expandandimpact.com/reset2025

👉 DM Violetta on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/expand_and_impact?igsh=MTZrbXltcXJ4dTBoOA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr