What if the season that feels like starting over is actually the moment you finally start from somewhere true?

Most women have been here at least once: standing at the edge of a new season with the uncomfortable awareness that the life they've been building no longer fits who they're becoming. It's not failure, and it's not a sign they got it wrong. It's one of the clearest invitations God gives — to stop forcing what no longer fits and start telling the truth about what does.

In this solo episode, Rachel Brooks opens up an honest conversation about what it actually means to begin again. Not the version that requires burning everything down, but the more honest, more grounded kind, where you look at your life, your values, your energy, and your sense of self, and ask what actually belongs in the next chapter.

Rachel shares her own experience of standing between the life she built and the one she's still defining, what she learned writing Chasing Perfection, and why the in-between space, as uncomfortable as it feels, is often exactly where clarity begins. She walks through the four pillars she returns to when everything feels unsettled, the questions worth asking when you're ready to stop carrying what belongs to an older version of yourself, and why small, consistent steps matter more than any complete overhaul when you're rebuilding self-trust.

This episode is for the woman who is tired of forcing old dreams into a new season and is ready to give herself permission to build a life that's true rather than impressive.

What You'll Hear:

• How to start over without losing the wisdom, experience, and foundation you've already built
• How to tell the difference between something that's genuinely challenging and something that's actually draining you
• The four pillars Rachel returns to when life feels unsettled, and why they apply across every area of your life
• What to do when clarity feels out of reach and the next step is all you have
• The honest questions worth sitting with when you're ready to stop defending a life that no longer fits
• How faith plays into starting over when God isn't giving you the full map, just the next step
• Why small, consistent decisions rebuild self-trust faster than any complete overhaul ever will

Scripture for the Soul:

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." — Proverbs 16:9

Key Quotes:

"Starting over becomes less about throwing everything away and more about telling the truth."

"What if this is actually wisdom we're starting from?"

"Starting over isn't about rejecting who you are. It's about honoring what brought you here while deciding what no longer needs to come with you."

"The goal isn't to become a completely different person overnight. The goal is to become more honest, more present, aligned, and rooted in what truly matters most."

"Maybe beginning again isn't proof that you failed. Maybe it's proof that you're still willing, still open, and still listening."

Your Next Step:

If you've been sitting in that gap between the life you built and the one you're still defining, this is where the real work begins.

Becoming The Confident Woman

Connect with Rachel Brooks:

Website: iamrachelbrooks.com

Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks

Podcast: iamrachelbrooks.com/podcast

Subscribe: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe

What if the season that feels like it’s breaking you is actually the one God is using to rebuild you?

In this episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks sits down with Christine Marie, known as the Cortisol Coach. Christine is a Christian entrepreneur, certified biblical mindset coach, bestselling author, podcast host, and leader of a community of more than 420,000 women.

After years of fostering 77 children, adopting two, and caring for family members through serious illness, Christine’s body began showing the effects of chronic stress through fibromyalgia, fatigue, hormonal imbalance, and burnout.

Together, Rachel and Christine explore the connection between stress, grief, caregiving, faith, and healing. They discuss what happens when you spend years caring for everyone else without stopping to consider what you’re carrying, what it’s costing you, and what God may be asking you to release.

Rachel also shares her own experiences with loss, identity shifts, and forgiveness during difficult seasons. This conversation is for the woman who feels overwhelmed, exhausted, and ready to discover a healthier way forward.

What You’ll Hear:

• How caregiving impacted Christine’s health and healing journey
• Why a performance mindset can keep you stuck in burnout
• The connection between cortisol, stress, and emotional burdens
• Why grief includes more than death and can involve seasons, roles, and identities
• The challenge of being a caregiver who never pauses to grieve
• How to simplify life and listen for God’s direction

Scripture for the Soul:

“Jesus wept.” — John 11:35

Key Quotes:

“Grief isn’t just something traumatic like losing a loved one. Grief is the constant evolution and letting go of what once was so that you can make room to embrace what is still to come.” — Rachel Brooks

“For us to grow, we gotta let go.” — Christine Marie

“The more is never found externally. The more is gained through our perseverance, our suffering, our losses.” — Christine Marie

“Everything we do, there’s a cost. Is it worth it?” — Christine Marie

“Who we are and whose we are is not found in what we do, but in who we be.” — Rachel Brooks

Your Next Step:

Ready to do the deeper work? → I Am… Becoming — rebuild your identity from the inside out: iamrachelbrooks.com/iam-becoming

Support your body's stress response, energy, and focus as you do it: → Beneve: iamrachelbrooks.com/beneve

Connect with Christine Marie:

Instagram: @cortisol_coach

Podcast: Cortisol Coach — available on all podcast platforms

Podcast: What to Expect While Fostering and Adopting

Connect with Rachel Brooks:

Website: iamrachelbrooks.com

Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks

Podcast: iamrachelbrooks.com/podcast

Subscribe: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe

What if the very thing you keep waiting to receive from someone else is the thing you have not yet learned how to give yourself?

In this solo episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks opens up a deeply honest conversation about giving, receiving, self-trust, self-respect, love, and the mirror that reveals what we are truly longing for. She speaks to the woman who has been looking for clarity, validation, peace, love, confidence, or direction, only to realize the deeper question may not be, “Why am I not receiving this?” but, “Where have I stopped giving this to myself?”

Rachel unpacks why so many of us struggle to fully receive what we say we want, especially when we have not yet built the inner foundation to recognize it, hold it, or believe we are worthy of it. Through personal reflection and Matthew 22:39, she invites you to look at the second half of the command to love your neighbor as yourself and ask what your relationship with yourself is teaching every other relationship in your life.

This episode is not about blaming yourself or pretending you do not need love, support, connection, or community. It is about telling the truth about where you may be withholding trust, respect, grace, forgiveness, or love from yourself while searching for it everywhere else. It is about coming back to the mirror, noticing what keeps coming up, and allowing God to reveal what needs your attention now.

What You’ll Hear:

• Why it can be hard to receive what you have not learned to give yourself
• How self-respect, self-trust, and self-love shape the way you show up in every relationship
• Why confidence is not where the journey starts, but the result of what you practice
• How broken promises to yourself quietly weaken self-trust and confidence over time
• What Matthew 22:39 reveals about loving others from a place of stewardship, not self-abandonment
• Why the thing you are craving may be pointing you toward the deeper work God is inviting you into
• A reflection to help you ask where you may be withholding the very thing you keep waiting to receive

Scripture for the Soul:

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” — Matthew 22:39

Key Quotes:

“Sometimes the thing that we keep looking for outside of ourselves is the very thing we haven’t learned yet to give ourselves.”

“Confidence isn’t where it starts. Confidence is a result.”

“Confidence is built every time you keep a promise to yourself.”

“Sometimes we’re asking God for the whole staircase when He’s asking us to take the next step.”

“Everything we desire starts within.”

Point to Ponder:

Where am I withholding the very thing I keep asking to receive?

Subscribe to The Confident Woman Podcast:

iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe

Connect with Rachel Brooks:

Website: iamrachelbrooks.com

Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks

Podcast: iamrachelbrooks.com/podcast

What if the version of you that got you here is the very version you've already outgrown?

In this solo episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks speaks to the woman who keeps reaching for old versions of herself when life feels uncertain — not because those versions were freer or more aligned, but because they were familiar. She may still be showing up, performing, producing, and carrying everything. But something underneath has started to shift. Something no longer fits the way it used to. And the version of herself she keeps trying to get back to may be the very one she's been called to release.

Rachel shares what it looks like when the survival version of yourself becomes your default, why staying in that version can feel like strength when it's actually fear, and how the grief of outgrowing who you had to be is a real and holy part of becoming who God is forming you to become. This episode is a faith-rooted, honest conversation about identity, surrender, and what it means to let go of the version that got you here so the woman you're becoming can finally lead.

This episode is not about rejecting your past or forcing instant clarity. It is about telling the truth about what that old version was actually built from, honoring how far she carried you, and asking the harder question: what is it costing you to keep obeying her?

What you'll hear:

• Why we reach for old versions of ourselves when life feels uncertain, and what's really driving that pattern
• How the survival version of you can become your default autoresponder — and why she is not the same thing as strength
• What it means when the version of you that knows how to carry everything starts to feel like it no longer fits
• Why letting go of an old version of yourself is a real form of grief, even when that version was built from pain
• Three anchors for the woman who is ready to stop letting fear drive and start giving the woman she's becoming permission to lead
• How Isaiah 43:18-19 speaks to releasing what's familiar and trusting what God is forming now
• The question to ask when the old version still works but the cost of obeying her keeps growing

Scripture for the Soul:

"Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing." — Isaiah 43:18-19

Key Quotes:

"Survival is not the same as freedom." — Rachel Brooks

"What if the version of me I keep trying to get back to is the very version I've outgrown?" — Rachel Brooks

"The old version of you did her job. But she may not be the one who gets to lead what comes next." — Rachel Brooks

"I have to let go to grow." — Rachel Brooks

Your Next Step:

If this episode met you where you are, the I Am Enough Identity Reset is where the honest work begins. Not to fix your whole life. Not to force clarity. Just to pause long enough to name what you've been believing, come back to what's actually true, and remember who you are and whose you are.

Start here: iamrachelbrooks.com/enough

Curious about supporting your body, energy, metabolism, and stress response as you rebuild, explore Beneve: https://iamrachelbrooks.com/beneve

Connect with Rachel Brooks:

The Confident Woman Weekly: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe I Am Enough Reset: iamrachelbrooks.com/reset LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks Website: iamrachelbrooks.com

In this episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel sits down with Annie Yatch for a raw conversation about over-functioning, burnout, reinvention, receiving, and what happens when the old way of carrying life no longer works. Annie is the CEO of Reinvention XO and creator of The Authority Shift. As a former counterterrorism analyst turned elite performance coach, Annie helps high-performing leaders stop carrying it all, release the internal patterns that cap their success, and lead from deeper alignment, authority, and truth.

Together, Rachel and Annie talk about why so many high-capacity women feel exhausted even after trying all the strategies, routines, masterminds, and productivity hacks. This conversation goes deeper than surface-level burnout and into the patterns, beliefs, and identities that keep women carrying more than they were ever meant to hold.

What You’ll Hear:

• Why burnout is often about more than working too hard
• How over-functioning can show up in leadership, relationships, business, and identity
• Why grief and life transitions can force a deeper reinvention
• What it means to stop building from pressure, performance, and survival
• How discernment helps you choose the right support, strategies, and next steps

Scripture for the Soul

"I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind." — Ecclesiastes 1:14

Key Quotes

"Most of us think we're burned out because we work too hard. But we're actually burned out because we're leading from our trauma, not from our true authority." — Annie Yatch

"Where there is suffering, there is a lie in your subconscious holding you back from your next great thing." — Annie Yatch "You can feel the feels. But you have to get up." — Rachel Brooks

Your Next Step:

The I Am… Enough Identity Reset is free. Ten minutes. For the woman who feels lost, exhausted, or disconnected from who she is. Start here: iamrachelbrooks.com/enough

If this conversation made you curious about supporting your body, energy, metabolism, and stress response as you rebuild, explore Beneve: https://iamrachelbrooks.com/beneve

Connect with Annie Yatch

Resources: reinventionxo.com/resources

Instagram: instagram.com/reinventionxo.annie

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annie-yatch

Facebook: facebook.com/annie.yatch

Connect with Rachel Brooks:

The Confident Woman Weekly: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks

Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks

Website: iamrachelbrooks.com

What happens when the thing that once felt freeing slowly starts feeling like pressure?

In this solo episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks reflects on the season after Chasing Perfection, her fitness competitions, and the visible transformation people could see from the outside. What looked like confidence, discipline, healing, and success to everyone else was also a season where Rachel was still trying to understand who she had become underneath it all.

When people kept asking, “What’s next?” the question slowly became pressure to turn her story into something clear, explainable, and easy for others to understand. Since fitness was the part people could see, it seemed like the obvious next step. But deep down, Rachel knew the visible transformation was only part of the testimony, not the whole assignment.

This episode is a reflection on identity, success, pressure, purpose, and what happens when the path that makes sense to everyone else does not fully align with what God is doing inside of you.

What you’ll hear:

• Why something that once felt freeing can slowly start to feel like pressure
• How “what’s next?” can become a trigger for proving, producing, and performing
• Why visible transformation does not always reveal the deeper healing underneath
• How fitness became part of Rachel’s testimony, but not the whole assignment
• What it means to mistake someone else’s clarity for your own

Scripture for the Soul:

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God?” — Galatians 1:10

Key Quotes:

“You can become someone new and still not fully know how to live as her yet.”

“I didn’t want the very thing that helped me heal to become another box I had to perform inside of.”

“No amount of workouts or morning routines can heal the belief that you’re not enough.”

“Sometimes the next step people see for you is only the part of the story they can understand.”

Mentioned in this episode:

Chasing Perfection: A Journey to Healing, Fitness, and Self-Love

Fit From Within: 60 Days to Finding Freedom

I Am… Enough — Rachel’s 10-minute identity reset

Your Next Step:

If this episode met you in a place where success has started feeling more like pressure than freedom, I Am… Enough is a simple place to begin. Not to force the whole vision. Not to figure out your entire next chapter. Just to pause, get honest about what you have been believing, and come back to what is actually true before the pressure gets too loud.

Start here: iamrachelbrooks.com/enough

Connect with Rachel Brooks:

The Confident Woman Weekly: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks

Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks

Website: iamrachelbrooks.com

What do you do when the thing God called you to build becomes the very thing He uses to rebuild you?

In this solo episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks reflects on seven years, 375 episodes, and the story behind how the podcast began. What started as a quiet idea in a journal became a space for real conversations about identity, confidence, faith, healing, purpose, obedience, and becoming.

Rachel shares the origin story of The Confident Woman, from her first public speaking experience in Los Angeles to the God-orchestrated moments that led to the podcast’s launch in 2019. She opens up about the doors that closed, the plans that changed, the people who were only meant for a season, and the way God kept bringing the right pieces together at the right time.

This episode is a reflection on calling, consistency, surrender, and what it means to keep showing up before you have the full blueprint. It is also an invitation for the woman who knows God has placed something in her heart, but keeps waiting until she feels more confident, more prepared, or more certain. Sometimes the first step is not polished. Sometimes it is simply obedient.

What you’ll hear:

• Why the story behind The Confident Woman Podcast still matters seven years later
• How Rachel’s healing journey became the foundation for the message she now shares
• The moment one woman’s honesty confirmed why these conversations were needed
• How The Confident Woman came through journaling, prayer, and a God-led moment of clarity
• Why closed doors, changed plans, and people walking away can still be part of God’s protection
• How the podcast evolved through friendship, transition, solo episodes, grief, and deeper faith
• Lessons about confidence, calling, obedience, and consistency
• Why confidence is not something you simply teach, but something you live, practice, and demonstrate

Scripture for the Soul:

“Faith without works is dead.” — James 2:26

Key Quotes:

“The part that’s supposed to fall apart will. And what was actually meant to be will come together in ways you could never have scripted.”

“You can’t teach confidence just like you can’t teach love. It has to be shown. It has to be lived.”

“God doesn’t need you to have it all together before He can use what you’re building. He just needs your yes.”

“Consistency compounded over time yields results.”

“Delay is disobedience when God has already called you to take the first next step.”

Your Next Step:

If this episode met you in a place where you are questioning what God is calling you into, the I Am Enough Identity Reset is a simple place to begin. Not to force the whole vision. Not to figure out the entire next chapter. Just to pause, get honest about what you have been believing, and come back to what is actually true.

Start here: iamrachelbrooks.com/reset

Connect with Rachel Brooks:

The Confident Woman Weekly: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks

Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks

Website: iamrachelbrooks.com

What would it look like to stop defining yourself by your titles, roles, and the labels this world assigns you — and start living from the identity God actually placed in you?

In this episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks sits down with success coach and keynote speaker Mitch Matthews — creator of the top 0.5% globally ranked DREAM THINK DO podcast — to talk about identity, permission, and what it looks like to dream bigger than your current circumstances, trust God's design for your life, and build your next chapter without burning down what you've already built. This conversation goes deep on faith, identity, and why giving yourself permission to start the conversation with God changes everything.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why your identity can never be anchored in a title, role, or label — and what to ground it in instead
• What 200+ interviews about dream jobs revealed: 70% of people end up creating something that didn't even exist when they started their career
• The Latin origin of "persona" and why wearing a mask is literally exhausting your body, soul, and business
• How to give yourself permission to build your next chapter without burning down what you've already built
• Why you don't have to wait for a mountaintop moment to hear from God — He'll meet you on the dog walk

Scripture for the Soul:

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." — John 10:10

Key Quotes:

"God created us to live on purpose. He created us for a purpose." — Mitch Matthews

"You can't hustle your way to your worth." — Rachel Brooks

"When you tie your identity anchored into faith, that identity plus faith gives you purpose." — Rachel Brooks

Your Next Step:

If today's conversation stirred something in you, the I Am Enough Identity Reset is your first step. Ten minutes to pause, name what you've been believing, and come back to what's actually true. Download your free reset: iamrachelbrooks.com/reset

Connect with Mitch Matthews:

Website: MitchMatthews.com

Free Guide — 11 Prayers for Building a Business You Love: mitchmatthews.com/11prayers

DREAM THINK DO Podcast: mitchmatthews.com/podcast

Instagram: @mitch.matthews

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mitchmatthews

Connect with Rachel Brooks:

Get the Free Identity Reset: iamrachelbrooks.com/reset

The Confidence Reset: offers.iamrachelbrooks.com/get/confidence-reset

The Confident Woman Weekly: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks

Website: iamrachelbrooks.com