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What to do when your expertise isn’t respected—and how to stop making it mean something about you.

📘 Episode Summary

What happens when you bring solid fundraising expertise—and someone with less experience dismisses it? In this episode, Erin explores a common but rarely discussed dynamic: being treated like “the help” instead of a strategic professional.

She shares a personal story about having her work overruled, the emotional spiral that followed, and the deeper pattern underneath it. You’ll learn how early messages about money and worth can shape your reactions at work, why certain comments sting more than others, and how to stop letting others’ opinions define your value.

If you’ve ever felt dismissed, underestimated, or sidelined as a fundraiser, this episode will show you how to reclaim your power and stop shrinking in the face of pushback.

💡 Key Takeaways

• Someone else’s inability to value your expertise says more about their patterns than your worth.
• Your worthiness is innate—not determined by which ideas leadership approves.
• The part that gets hurt is often the part that already believes a version of the painful story.
• Your idea is not you; separation creates freedom.
• Try on the energy of the fundraiser who knows they’re worthy—who bends but doesn’t break.

📝 Journal Prompt

How would you stand, speak, and decide if you deeply believed your worthiness wasn’t up for grabs?

Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough

✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth

Listen to all episodes + subscribe:
https://thebraveandbalancedfundraiser.buzzsprout.com

Join the community:
The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser Facebook Group
👉 https://www.facebook.com/groups/braveandbalancedfundraiser

Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call:
A personalized 1:1 session to support your inner clarity and fundraising wellbeing.
👉 https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough

Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support:
VitalistCoaching.com

Connect on Instagram:
@erinmcquadewright

Send us a text

A somatic, compassionate practice to regulate your nervous system before making the ask.

📘 Episode Summary

This bonus meditation is a guided somatic practice designed to support you before donor meetings, fundraising conversations, or any moment when anxiety begins to take over. In this practice, Erin gently guides you through grounding in your body, noticing your felt experience, and working with Byron Katie’s inquiry process (“The Work”) to loosen the grip of anxious thoughts that often show up before making an ask.

You’ll explore a real fundraising memory—at a level that feels manageable—and uncover the belief fueling your anxiety. Then, through awareness, inquiry, and compassionate self-forgiveness based on the Spiritual Psychology tools from the University of Santa Monica, you’ll shift into a regulated, steady internal climate.

This meditation helps you:

• understand your body’s signals
• release pressure around specific donor outcomes
• reconnect with your inherent worth
• step into donor conversations with grounded confidence

Use this practice anytime you want to regulate your nervous system before fundraising, asking for support, or stepping into leadership.

💡 What This Meditation Supports

• Nervous system regulation before the ask
• Reducing anxiety in donor interactions
• Building somatic awareness of your emotional patterns
• Loosening the belief that your worth depends on a donor’s “yes”
• Creating spaciousness and grounded presence in your body

🛑 Important Note

This meditation includes checking in with your body and revisiting memories. If you know you carry Big T trauma, or if certain memories feel overwhelming, please practice this with a licensed therapist or trained somatic practitioner.
Your wellbeing comes first. If at any moment you feel flooded or unable to stay in the present moment, you have full permission to stop, drink water, step outside, or do whatever helps you return to safety.

📝 What You’ll Need

• A quiet place to sit
• A journal and pen
• Willingness to slow down and meet yourself with compassion

🎧 When to Use This Meditation

• Before donor meetings
• Before crafting a fundraising appeal
• When procrastination or avoidance kicks in
• When your body feels tight, pressured, or anxious
• When you want to reconnect with your own regulated presence

👥 Join the Community

Come share your experience with this meditation inside The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser Facebook Group, where fundraisers support one another in cultivating emotional mastery, nervous-system regulation, and grounded leadership.

➡️ Ready for deeper support?

If you'd like personalized help applying these tools to your fundraising practice, you’re welcome to book a Bra

✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth

Listen to all episodes + subscribe:
https://thebraveandbalancedfundraiser.buzzsprout.com

Join the community:
The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser Facebook Group
👉 https://www.facebook.com/groups/braveandbalancedfundraiser

Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call:
A personalized 1:1 session to support your inner clarity and fundraising wellbeing.
👉 [insert your Calendly link]

Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support:
VitalistCoaching.com

Connect on Instagram:
@erinmcquadewright

Send us a text

A somatic look at stress, pressure, and the internal signals fundraisers ignore.

Fundraising anxiety isn’t a mindset problem — it’s a nervous system response. In this episode, Erin breaks down why fundraisers experience tight chests, clenched stomachs, throat pressure, and racing thoughts when preparing to make an ask… and why none of this means you’re bad at your job.

Drawing on somatic practice, trauma-informed coaching, and fifteen years of fundraising experience, this episode helps you understand how your ancient wiring interprets budget shortfalls like a threat, how donors pick up on your internal state through co-regulation, and how anxiety quietly shapes (and sometimes sabotages) your relationships with donors.

You’ll also hear two contrasting “versions” of the fundraiser:
• the anxious fundraiser whose nervous system is in fight-or-flight
• the regulated fundraiser whose calm presence draws donors in

Understanding the difference is the key to asking with confidence, receiving with ease, and building long-term donor trust.

This episode is foundational for any fundraiser who has ever wondered:
“Why do I feel this way?”
“How do donors seem to sense my stress?”
“Is there a healthier way to do this work?”

Spoiler: Yes. And it starts in your body.

💡 Key Takeaways

1. Anxiety is not a flaw — it's biology.

Your nervous system reacts to budget shortfalls the same way your ancestors reacted to predators. Nothing is wrong with you. Your body is doing its job.

2. Donors feel what you feel.

Nervous system co-regulation means your internal state is always communicating, even if your words sound confident.

3. Anxiety narrows your vision and creativity.

Fundraising from fight-or-flight constricts your thinking, your options, and your relational presence.

4. A regulated fundraiser is a magnetic fundraiser.

When your breath slows, your energy settles, and you stop tying your worth to the donor’s “yes,” everything shifts.

5. Anxiety is a messenger, not a master.

It’s pointing to a place inside that wants safety, attention, or care — and you can learn to give yourself that.

📝 Reflection Question for Your Journal

Where in your body does anxiety show up — and what might it be trying to protect?
This question alone can unlock profound awareness for fundraisers.

🎧 Companion Resource

Be sure to listen to the guided meditation designed specifically for this episode:
“Meditation: Making the Ask”
Use it before donor meetings or anytime your system feels activated.

👥 Join the Community

Come share your insights or what came up for you inside The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser Facebo

Book your 1:1 Brave and Balanced Breakthrough Coaching Session here: https://calendly.com/vitalistcoaching/brave-balanced-breakthrough

✨ Stay Connected & Continue Your Fundraising Growth

Listen to all episodes + subscribe:
https://thebraveandbalancedfundraiser.buzzsprout.com

Join the community:
The Brave & Balanced Fundraiser Facebook Group
👉 https://www.facebook.com/groups/braveandbalancedfundraiser

Book a Brave & Balanced Breakthrough Call:
A personalized 1:1 session to support your inner clarity and fundraising wellbeing.
👉 [insert your Calendly link]

Learn more about Erin’s coaching & nervous-system based support:
VitalistCoaching.com

Connect on Instagram:
@erinmcquadewright