Emotional Mastery for CEOs

Leading Yourself When Everything Is on the Line

When the pressure rises, your identity isn’t proven by what you feel - it’s proven by how you lead.

In this solo episode of She Wears the Pants, Ashley Deland takes you into the internal leadership that determines everything at the next level: emotional mastery.

Not the soft, surface-level version. The real kind - the ability to regulate yourself in high-stakes moments, make clean decisions under pressure, and stay anchored in who you are when everything around you is shifting.

You can have the right strategy.

The right offer.

The right mentorship.

The right opportunities.

But if you cannot lead yourself in the moments that matter most, your business will never move the way it could.

If you’re a high-growth woman stepping into bigger rooms, heavier decisions, and higher visibility and you’re realizing that your internal state is now the bottleneck - this episode will help you build the emotional baseline required to rise with precision, not panic.

In this episode, Ashley shares how to:

1. Understand why your external results are always downstream of your internal environment
2. Recognize the difference between emotional maturity and emotional avoidance and why one builds power
3. Strengthen your ability to regulate your nervous system so you respond instead of react
4. Create emotional neutrality in decision-making so clarity leads instead of chaos
5. Protect your self-definition when doubt, projection, conflict, or misunderstanding tries to pull you off center
6. Anchor into identity-led leadership that stays solid even when everything is on the line

Ashley also shares behind-the-scenes lessons from a season of intense pressure and high-stakes decision-making and the truth most women aren’t taught: leadership isn’t built in what you want to do. It’s built in what you choose to do.

By the end of this episode, you’ll walk away with a steadier internal posture, clearer standards for how you lead, and a practical framework for emotional mastery that strengthens your business, your boundaries, and your capacity to hold more.

Continue the Work with Ashley

Step into your next level: Explore Private Advisory, high-touch strategic partnership, and fractional leadership support for women scaling with precision and power.

→ https://ashleydeland.com/inquire

Experience a full-business transformation in one weekend: Apply for Ashley’s Executive VIP Experience — an immersive, in-person strategic overhaul designed to collapse timelines and accelerate growth.

→ https://ashleydeland.com/inquire

Stay in proximity: For daily strategy, identity expansion, and behind-the-scenes insight, connect with Ashley on Instagram.

→

The women who scale the highest aren’t the most confident.

They’re the ones who’ve learned how to trust themselves after everything falls apart.

In this episode of She Wears the Pants, Ashley Deland is joined by Jaclynn “Jax” Brennan, founder and CEO of Creative Duality and co-founder of the Ayana Foundation. Together, they unpack what it really takes for a high-growth woman to build companies, communities, and impact without losing herself in the process.

This is a raw, honest conversation about ambition, burnout, partnership breakdowns, identity loss, and the power of rebuilding from the ground up. Jax shares what social media never shows, the lessons learned from failed ventures and legal battles, and how self-trust becomes the most important currency as you scale.

If you’re a woman navigating expansion, leadership, and the emotional cost of building something meaningful, this conversation will help you recalibrate your standards, trust your intuition, and build support systems that actually hold you.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

1. Build internal self-trust so your intuition becomes a reliable leadership tool
2. Navigate partnerships, operating agreements, and red flags before they cost you everything
3. Recover from burnout without shame and rebuild your life and business sustainably
4. Create a personal “life board of directors” to support both your ambition and your humanity
5. Separate identity from your business so setbacks don’t dismantle your sense of self

By the end, you’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of what it really takes to lead, rebuild, and rise into the woman your next level requires.

Meet Jax

Jaclynn “Jax” Brennan is the founder and CEO of Creative Duality, a next-generation brand and community agency working with global leaders like YouTube, Soho House, Bumble, and UBS. She specializes in creator-led ecosystems, immersive activations, and narrative-driven campaigns that turn brands into movements.

She is also the co-founder and executive director of the Ayana Foundation, a nonprofit supporting first-time women founders building venture-scalable businesses through mentorship, resources, and community.

Website: www.creativeduality.com

Instagram: @jaclynnbrennan

Foundation: www.ayana.org

Continue the Work with Ashley

Step into your next level: Explore Private Advisory, high-touch strategic partnership, and fractional leadership support for women scaling with precision and power.

→ https://ashleydeland.com/inquire

Experience a full-business transformation in one weekend: Apply for Ashley’s Executive VIP Experience — an immersive, in-person strategic overhaul designed to collapse timelines and accelerate growth.

→

The Identity Architecture Behind Extraordinary Women

Why Belief Is the Infrastructure of Your Next Level

Your vision isn’t too big — your beliefs just haven’t caught up yet.

In this solo episode of She Wears the Pants, Ashley Deland takes you into the unseen architecture that determines how much success, visibility, and responsibility you’re actually able to hold.

This is not a mindset conversation, it’s an identity conversation about self-trust, internal leadership, and the beliefs that quietly shape every decision you make.

You can have the strategy.

You can have the plan.

You can have the opportunity.

But if you don’t trust the woman executing it, the entire structure becomes unstable.

If you’re a high-growth woman who knows she’s capable of more - yet feels a subtle hesitation between vision and execution - this episode will help you close the gap between who you’re building for and who you’re currently leading as.

In this episode, Ashley shares how to:

1. Understand why beliefs function as infrastructure
2. Recognize the difference between intellectual confidence and embodied self-trust
3. Identify the three internal voices shaping your decisions: the Architect, the Analyst, and the Auditor
4. Rebuild belief through identity-backed patterns instead of surface-level motivation
5. Strengthen the three layers of belief required for sustainable leadership: belief in self, belief in process, and belief in assignment
6. Anchor into internal leadership that allows your strategy, visibility, and opportunities to finally stabilize

Ashley also names the cost of uncalibrated belief: hesitation, shrinking, over-functioning, and building momentum your identity doesn’t yet feel safe holding and why self-trust is not a personality trait, but a pattern built in the smallest moments when no one is watching.

By the end of this episode, you’ll walk away with a deeper understanding of the beliefs you’re currently operating from, clarity around what must be reconfigured, and a grounded sense of the woman you’re becoming — one who can finally rely on herself at the level she’s calling in.

Continue the Work with Ashley

Step into your next level: Explore Private Advisory, high-touch strategic partnership, and fractional leadership support for women scaling with precision and power.

→ https://ashleydeland.com/inquire

Experience a full-business transformation in one weekend: Apply for Ashley’s Executive VIP Experience — an immersive, in-person strategic overhaul designed to collapse timelines and accelerate growth.

→ https://ashleydeland.com/inquire

Stay in proximity: For daily strategy, identity expansion, and behind-the-scenes insight, connect with Ashley on Instagram.

→

Your body is not a side project. It’s the infrastructure of your next level.

In this episode of She Wears the Pants, Ashley Deland is joined by Leah Van Dolder, award-winning dietitian, transformation coach, and top 10% podcast host. Together, they unpack what it really takes for a high-growth woman to feel strong, nourished, and deeply connected to her body while she builds a business that matches her calling.

If you’re a woman who refuses to choose between ambition and well-being, this conversation will help you reclaim your energy as a leadership advantage - not a cost of success.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

1. Shift from toxic diet culture into sustainable nourishment that supports your goals
2. Reframe movement as self-leadership, not punishment — and build consistency without burnout
3. Apply Leah’s SHINE framework to strengthen habits that protect your energy and confidence
4. Anchor your identity and faith through fear, pressure, and uncertainty so you don’t abandon yourself in the process
5. Lead your life and business with standards that honor both your calling and your body

By the end, you’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of how to support your energy, strengthen your self-trust, and build success that actually feels good on the inside.

Meet Leah

Leah Van Dolder is an award-winning dietitian, transformation coach, and top 10% podcast host. With over 15 years of experience, she helps ambitious women dismantle toxic diet culture, elevate their strength and confidence, and reconnect to their bodies through integrative, identity-led nourishment.

Website: leahvandolder.com

Instagram: @leahvandolder

Leah is also co-hosting the Bold Retreat in Costa Rica (February 14–20, 2026) — an immersive experience for women ready to reconnect with their bodies, deepen their leadership, and expand their vision in one of the most powerful environments on earth. Learn more here: https://www.shirleewilliams.com/bold-retreat

Continue the Work with Ashley

Step into your next level: Explore Private Advisory, high-touch strategic partnership, and fractional leadership support for women scaling with precision and power.

→ https://ashleydeland.com/inquire

Experience a full-business transformation in one weekend: Apply for Ashley’s Executive VIP Experience — an immersive, in-person strategic overhaul designed to collapse timelines and accelerate growth.

→ https://ashleydeland.com/inquire

Stay in proximity: For daily strategy, identity expansion, and behind-the-scenes insight, connect with Ashley on Instagram.

→

The Woman Before the Win

Becoming Her Before the Results Arrive

You don’t become her at the win.

You become her long before the win ever arrives.

In this solo episode of She Wears the Pants, Ashley Deland takes you into the most misunderstood, and most critical phase of leadership: the becoming.

Not the applause.

Not the breakthrough.

Not the moment the evidence finally shows up.

But the quiet, unglamorous, unseen middle where identity is forged long before results arrive.

Before confidence comes proof.

Before validation comes discipline.

Before outcomes come identity.

If you’re a high-growth woman who feels like she’s doing everything “right” but hasn’t yet seen the external confirmation - this conversation will anchor you into the truth that changes everything:

You are not behind. You are being built.

In this episode, Ashley shares how to:

1. Understand why becoming matters more than arriving — and why the win cannot shape you if the woman isn’t built first
2. Recognize the identity work happening in the silent seasons when nothing seems to be moving externally
3. Identify the difference between desire-led action and identity-led leadership
4. Release the pressure to rush the process, bypass the middle, or perform confidence before it’s embodied
5. Strengthen the private standards, discipline, and self-leadership that create sustainable success
6. Anchor into the future identity that makes the win inevitable — and sustainable

Ashley also speaks candidly about the loneliness, uncertainty, and internal recalibration required when you’re evolving faster than your life can keep up and why those seasons are not a detour, but the assignment.

By the end of this episode, you’ll walk away with a deeper trust in who you’re becoming, renewed commitment to your process, and clarity around the identity that must be built before the results can safely arrive.

Continue the Work with Ashley

Step into your next level: Explore Private Advisory, high-touch strategic partnership, and fractional leadership support for women scaling with precision and power.

→ https://ashleydeland.com/inquire

Experience a full-business transformation in one weekend: Apply for Ashley’s Executive VIP Experience — an immersive, in-person strategic overhaul designed to collapse timelines and accelerate growth.

→ https://ashleydeland.com/inquire

Stay in proximity: For daily strategy, identity expansion, and behind-the-scenes insight, connect with Ashley on Instagram.

→ https://www.instagram.com/ashleydeland/

She Wears the Pants is where high-growth women come to build companies that match their calling. If this episode...

Burnout isn’t a badge of honour. It’s a signal — and it’s asking you to lead differently.

In this episode of She Wears the Pants, Ashley Deland is joined by Paula Stachyra, PR powerhouse, media personality, bestselling author, and high-performance coach. Together, they unpack what it really takes for a high-growth woman to build success without self-abandonment and to protect her peace while still leading at the highest level.

If you’re a woman who is carrying a lot, building something meaningful, and quietly feeling the cost of constant output, this conversation will help you recalibrate before your body forces the pause.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

1. Recognize burnout early — before it takes you out emotionally, mentally, or physically
2. Rebuild your energy without diluting your ambition or lowering your standards
3. Address imposter syndrome at the level it truly lives — identity, visibility, and leadership
4. Create success rooted in service, community, and sustainability instead of pressure and overperformance
5. Use faith as an anchor for resilience and direction when leadership feels heavy

By the end, you’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of how to lead from alignment, protect your internal world, and build success that doesn’t require you to sacrifice yourself to sustain it.

Meet Paula

Paula Stachyra is a PR powerhouse, media personality, bestselling author, and high-performance coach. Through her work, she helps high-capacity women lead with clarity, build resilience, and create sustainable success without burnout - so their ambition is supported by alignment, not chaos.

1. Website: www.paulastachyra.com
2. Instagram: @queenofthegrill

Continue the Work with Ashley

Step into your next level: Explore Private Advisory, high-touch strategic partnership, and fractional leadership support for women scaling with precision and power.

→ https://ashleydeland.com/inquire

Experience a full-business transformation in one weekend: Apply for Ashley’s Executive VIP Experience — an immersive, in-person strategic overhaul designed to collapse timelines and accelerate growth.

→ https://ashleydeland.com/inquire

Stay in proximity: For daily strategy, identity expansion, and behind-the-scenes insight, connect with Ashley on Instagram.

→ https://www.instagram.com/ashleydeland/

She Wears the Pants is where high-growth women come to build...

Burnout isn’t a badge of honour. It’s a signal — and it’s asking you to lead differently.

In this episode of She Wears the Pants, Ashley Deland is joined by Paula Stachyra, PR powerhouse, media personality, bestselling author, and high-performance coach. Together, they unpack what it really takes for a high-growth woman to build success without self-abandonment and to protect her peace while still leading at the highest level.

If you’re a woman who is carrying a lot, building something meaningful, and quietly feeling the cost of constant output, this conversation will help you recalibrate before your body forces the pause.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

1. Recognize burnout early — before it takes you out emotionally, mentally, or physically
2. Rebuild your energy without diluting your ambition or lowering your standards
3. Address imposter syndrome at the level it truly lives — identity, visibility, and leadership
4. Create success rooted in service, community, and sustainability instead of pressure and overperformance
5. Use faith as an anchor for resilience and direction when leadership feels heavy

By the end, you’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of how to lead from alignment, protect your internal world, and build success that doesn’t require you to sacrifice yourself to sustain it.

Meet Paula

Paula Stachyra is a PR powerhouse, media personality, bestselling author, and high-performance coach. Through her work, she helps high-capacity women lead with clarity, build resilience, and create sustainable success without burnout - so their ambition is supported by alignment, not chaos.

1. Website: www.paulastachyra.com
2. Instagram: @queenofthegrill

Continue the Work with Ashley

Step into your next level: Explore Private Advisory, high-touch strategic partnership, and fractional leadership support for women scaling with precision and power.

→ https://ashleydeland.com/inquire

Experience a full-business transformation in one weekend: Apply for Ashley’s Executive VIP Experience — an immersive, in-person strategic overhaul designed to collapse timelines and accelerate growth.

→ https://ashleydeland.com/inquire

Stay in proximity: For daily strategy, identity expansion, and behind-the-scenes insight, connect with Ashley on Instagram.

→ https://www.instagram.com/ashleydeland/

She Wears the Pants is where high-growth women come to build...

Becoming the Woman Who Can Hold It

The Identity Work Required for Your 2026 Vision

Before you set another goal, you have to become the woman who can hold it.

In this solo episode of She Wears the Pants, Ashley Deland goes deep into the identity work required to lead at your next level.

Not strategy.

Not hype.

Not performative motivation.

But the internal calibration that determines how much responsibility, visibility, money, and calling you’re actually able to sustain.

Before the breakthrough, there is a becoming.

And before the results, there is identity.

If you’re a high-growth woman entering a season that feels bigger, heavier, or more demanding than anything you’ve held before, this conversation will help you anchor into the version of yourself capable of carrying it without collapsing, shrinking, or outsourcing your power.

In this episode, Ashley shares how to:

1. Understand why your business can never outgrow the identity of the woman leading it
2. Recognize when you’re performing a version of yourself designed for a chapter you’ve already outgrown
3. Identify the difference between readiness as mindset and refinement as identity-level work
4. Release survival-based identities built from scarcity, self-protection, and over-explaining
5. Apply internal standards that align your decisions, boundaries, and leadership with your future self
6. Anchor into the woman who protects her assignment instead of proving her worth

Ashley also shares a deeply personal behind-the-scenes season — a year that looked like momentum on the outside, but felt like dismantling, loneliness, and identity shedding on the inside and why what felt like unraveling was actually preparation.

By the end of this episode, you’ll walk away with a grounded understanding of who you’re becoming, what you must release to rise, and the internal congruence required to hold what you’re calling in next.

Continue the Work with Ashley

Step into your next level: Explore Private Advisory, high-touch strategic partnership, and fractional leadership support for women scaling with precision and power.

→ https://ashleydeland.com/inquire

Experience a full-business transformation in one weekend: Apply for Ashley’s Executive VIP Experience — an immersive, in-person strategic overhaul designed to collapse timelines and accelerate growth.

→ https://ashleydeland.com/inquire

Stay in proximity: For daily strategy, identity expansion, and behind-the-scenes insight, connect with Ashley on Instagram.

→ https://www.instagram.com/ashleydeland/

She Wears the Pants is where high-growth women come to build companies that match their calling. If this episode resonated, follow, rate, and review so more women...