For National Eating Disorder Awareness Week (NEDA), we’re going beyond awareness and into accountability.

Today’s guest, Akiera Holloway-Gilbert, is a national speaker, mental health leader, and CEO of Project HEAL, the leading U.S. organization dedicated to equitable mental healthcare for people struggling with eating disorders. Under her leadership, Project HEAL has delivered millions of dollars in services, including free treatment placement for individuals who otherwise would not have access to care. Her work has been recognized by outlets like Forbes, Fortune, TIME, NBC, Refinery29, CNN, Yahoo, and The Washington Post.

Before stepping into her current role, Akiera founded Body Reborn to support BIPOC communities navigating mental health challenges. She also serves as a Board Member of the Eating Disorders Coalition, advancing federal mental health legislation and fighting for systemic change.

In our convo, we talk about what it means to lead in close proximity to suffering.
How access to care is shaped by race, class, and policy. The emotional weight of advocating for change in systems that resist it. And how to hold rigor and humanity at the same time.

This episode is about justice, who gets to be seen and what real healing requires, both individually and collectively.

I’m also introducing No More Sunday Scaries, a free weekly space where we slow down, regulate the nervous system, and intentionally enter the week ahead together.

Sign-up {HERE}

Connect with me:

• Resources: https://www.shanettamcdonald.com/free
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamshanettamcdonald/
• Newsletter sign-up: https://shanetta.substack.com/

In this solo episode, I’m breaking down why Sunday Scaries aren’t a mindset problem or a motivation issue, but a nervous system response to how our weeks are structured and what they require from us. We’ll talk about anticipatory overwhelm, why “figuring it out” often keeps us stuck in survival mode, and what actually helps when your body is already bracing for what’s ahead.

I also share why so many capable, thoughtful women — especially mothers — start the week depleted, and how preparing differently can change the way the week feels without adding more to your plate.

I’m also introducing No More Sunday Scaries, a free weekly space where we slow down, regulate the nervous system, and intentionally enter the week ahead together.

Sign-up {HERE}

Connect with me:

• Resources: https://www.shanettamcdonald.com/free
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamshanettamcdonald/
• Newsletter sign-up: https://shanetta.substack.com/

Last chance to sign-up for The Visibility Shift group coaching program: https://www.shanettamcdonald.com/the-visibility-shift. Starts February 4th!

What happens when your body starts telling the truth before your mind is ready to hear it?

In this episode, I’m joined by Kristal Howard—award-winning communications and public relations expert, founder of The Howard Method, and former senior communications leader at The Kroger Co. After more than a decade shaping national narratives at a Fortune 20 company, Kristal found herself at a crossroads when burnout forced her to slow down and listen.

We talk about burnout as an initiation rather than a failure, the courage it takes to step away from corporate success, and how turning inward through rest and somatic healing reshaped Kristal’s relationship with work, leadership, and visibility. Kristal shares how honoring her body’s wisdom led her to build a business rooted in clarity, culture, and community—and what it really means to choose yourself in a world that rewards constant productivity.

This conversation is for anyone feeling the quiet nudge that something needs to change—and is ready to listen.

Connect with Kristal:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristal.howard/?hl=en

Connect with me:

• Resources: https://www.shanettamcdonald.com/free
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamshanettamcdonald/
• Newsletter sign-up: https://shanetta.substack.com/

In this solo episode, I’m talking about visibility and why it often feels harder now than it used to.

I share how age, social media, and cultural pressure shaped my relationship with being seen, why visibility isn’t a confidence or mindset problem, and how “visibility wounds” form in the body over time.

I also talk about:

• Where visibility wounds come from
• Why pushing yourself to be visible often backfires
• The role of nervous system safety and embodiment
• What actually helps you show up in a way that feels grounded and authentic

If you know you’re meant to be more visible but still hesitate, overthink, or hold back, this episode is for you.

This episode connects to The Visibility Shift, an 8-week group coaching experience for women leaders, founders, and experts who want to be seen with grounded confidence.

Connect with me:

• Resources: https://www.shanettamcdonald.com/free
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamshanettamcdonald/
• Newsletter sign-up: https://shanetta.substack.com/

What happens when our relationships are driven by wounded energetics instead of grounded, healthy power?

In this episode, I sit down with Dené Logan — therapist, group facilitator, and author of Sovereign Love — to unpack how wounded energetics show up in our relationships, our sense of self, and the ways we abandon our own needs to stay connected.

Dené shares how healthy energetics are rooted in self-trust, embodiment, and inner authority — not control, perfection, or being needed. We explore how somatic work helps us shift these patterns, why so many women were conditioned to earn love through performance, and how sovereignty in love is less about independence and more about conscious interdependence.

This conversation invites you to recognize where your energy is coming from, meet your shadows with compassion, and begin relating — to yourself and others — from a place of wholeness rather than wound.

In this episode, we explore:

• The difference between healthy vs. wounded energetics
• How self-abandonment forms, and how to interrupt it
• Why love often gets tangled with performance and people-pleasing
• The role of the body in reclaiming inner authority
• What sovereignty in love actually looks like in real life

If you’ve ever felt disconnected from your truth or stuck in relational patterns that don’t reflect who you are becoming, this episode offers a powerful reframe and a way home to yourself.

Connect with Dené:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dene.logan/?hl=en

Connect with me:

• Resources: https://www.shanettamcdonald.com/free
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamshanettamcdonald/
• Newsletter sign-up: https://shanetta.substack.com/

If you are tired of being told the holidays are supposed to be restful,or you're working harder than ever while everyone else seems to be winding down, or you're already exhausted and it's only December then this episode is for you.

In this episode, we're breaking down the myth of the holiday slowdown and why high-achieving women actually go into overdrive during this time of year. You'll learn what's really happening in your nervous system when you're stuck in "productivity override," why you can't just will yourself to relax, and the somatic signs that you're running on empty. Plus, I'm sharing a few practical tools you can use right now to actually downshift, even in the middle of the chaos.

Sign-up for the Out-Of-Office somatic coaching workshop on 12/7: https://luma.com/0cdadd7j

Connect with me:

• Resources: https://www.shanettamcdonald.com/free
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamshanettamcdonald/
• Newsletter sign-up: https://shanetta.substack.com/

The holidays can bring up a lot. Food overwhelm, family dynamics, old wounds, and the pressure to be “on” when our bodies are asking for something entirely different. In this episode, I’m sharing my honest experience with holiday gatherings growing up, how Thanksgiving became especially difficult during my eating disorder, and why the season still feels complicated for me today — especially being estranged from my parents and living far from my family.

Whether you love holiday gatherings or dread them, this conversation offers grounded ways to move through the season with more agency and nervous-system peace. I walk you through practical tools to help you support yourself around food, family, and social expectations — from envisioning your ideal holiday, to setting a plan before you walk into a gathering, to honoring your “no” without guilt.

Sign-up for Out-Of-Office: https://luma.com/0cdadd7j

Connect with me:

• Resources: https://www.shanettamcdonald.com/free
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamshanettamcdonald/
• Newsletter sign-up: https://shanetta.substack.com/

This week, our guest is someone whose honesty is transforming how we talk about recovery, shame, and self-acceptance.

Laura Cathcart Robbins is the best-selling author of Stash: My Life in Hiding, a memoir about her journey through addiction to alcohol and Ambien, and the courage it took to tell the truth about it. She’s also the host of The Only One in the Room podcast, where she’s shared stories of other voices who’ve felt unseen or alone in their experiences.

In our conversation, Laura and I talk about how storytelling becomes a vehicle for recovery, what self-evolution actually looks like, and why truth-telling can be one of the most healing acts of all.

If you’ve ever felt like you had to keep it together or play a part just to be loved, this episode is for you. Laura’s story is a reminder that freedom begins where hiding ends, and that recovery, in all its forms, starts with radical self-honesty.

Connect with Laura:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauracathcartrobbins/?hl=en

Connect with me:

• Resources: https://www.shanettamcdonald.com/free
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamshanettamcdonald/
• Newsletter sign-up: https://shanetta.substack.com/