Women Making Moves — Episode: Audacity and Authenticity

Guest: Sandhya Sudhakar — Certified Coach, Enneagram Practitioner, Speaker, Facilitator, Founder of Self At Work, and Host of the Working Your Way podcast.

Host: Amy Pons — Founder of Unlock the Magic Coaching, Healing and Magic School

Episode Summary: Amy sits down with Sandhya to explore what it means to show up authentically in the workplace and in life. They discuss the courage it takes to be direct, the tension between practicality and audacious dreaming, and how to navigate discomfort in a way that leads to real growth.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Audacity as a guiding word — Sandhya shares why she chose "audacity" for 2026 and how she's learning to dream bigger and care less about others' perceptions.
• Directness vs. palatability — Both Amy and Sandhya reflect on being told to "achieve the same but be nicer," and the impossible double standard women face in the workplace.
• Self-abandonment and trade-offs — A nuanced conversation about when to walk away from misaligned work and when financial safety takes priority, and the long-term cost of forsaking yourself.
• The learning zone — Sandhya breaks down the comfort zone / learning zone / panic zone framework and how to discern good discomfort from harmful discomfort.
• Generational dynamics at work — How Boomers, Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha each play a role in reshaping workplace culture.
• Enneagram in teams — How Sandhya uses the Enneagram to help high-achieving leaders diagnose team dynamics and lead more effectively.
• Speaking up and truth-telling — Amy shares a personal story about confronting inappropriate behavior and the backlash that followed.

Where to Find Sandhya:

• Website: selfatwork.com
• Podcast: Working Your Way (available on YouTube and all audio platforms)

Where to Find Amy:

• Website: https://unlockthemagic.org
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

Closing Thought: "Having less so I could do more — simplifying, and going much bigger with fewer things." — Sandhya Sudhakar

S7 Ep7 — Dr. Tamara Beckford

Women Making Moves Podcast

Host: Amy Pons, Founder of Unlock the Magic Coaching, Healing and Magic School

Guest: Dr. Tamara Beckford — Board-certified emergency medicine physician, bestselling author, international speaker, and founder of Truly Balanced Wellness Care

Episode Summary: Amy sits down with Dr. Tamara Beckford to explore the intersection of traditional medicine, holistic healing, and the powerful journey women experience through perimenopause and menopause. They discuss reclaiming the magic of womanhood, honoring the body's natural cycles, the importance of slowing down, and building an intentional life beyond the "go, go, go" mentality.

Topics Covered:

• 3:23 Perimenopause — embracing the biological experience
• 5:49 Slowing down & the "to-feel list"
• 8:04 Sound baths, sacral womb healing & energy work10:00Healing beyond traditional medicine & the power of timeframes
• 14:57 Heart disease as a silent killer in women
• 18:26 Women pushing through pain & learned endurance
• 21:43 Generational shame around menstruation & naming your womb
• 25:04 Menopause as reemergence — wisdom, not decline30:00Writing your own story & challenging "I have to"
• 33:22 Dr. Tamara's telemedicine practice & expanding to 4 states
• 35:14 "Intentional outweighs impressive" — building a slower, richer life
• 41:02 What patients truly want — time, compassion, listening
• 44:00 Advice for finding the right care provider
• 47:06 Closing remarks — fierce, ferocious, and forging the next path

Key Quotes:

• "How do you wanna feel?" — Amy on replacing the to-do list with a "to-feel list"
• "Intentional outweighs impressive every single day." — Dr. Tamara Beckford
• "Our body sheds, prepares, and renews for the next phase — over and over." — Dr. Tamara

Where to Find Dr. Tamara Beckford:

• LinkedIn: Dr. Tamara Beckford
• Facebook: Dr. Tamara Beckford
• Instagram: Dr. Tamara Beckford
• TikTok: @trulybalancedwc

Featured In: Fox 26, Forbes, Yahoo Finance, Voyage Houston, LinkedIn News, Rolling Out Magazine, Kevin MD

Books: Made For More, Made For More Too, Thriving After Burnout

Practice: Truly Balanced Wellness Care — concierge telemedicine for menopausal care, hormone balancing, and weight care (serving Texas, Michigan, Georgia, and Iowa)

Where to Find Amy, Women Making Moves, and Unlock the Magic:

• LinkedIn: Amy Pons, Unlock the Magic, Magic School, Women Making Moves
• Website: https://unlockthemagic.org
• Instagram: Unlock the Magic and Women Making Moves
• TikTok: @chicagosfavewitchycoach

Please leave a rating and review on your favorite platform, thank you!

The Future of Working Motherhood: Flexibility, Ambition, and Real Support After Maternity Leave

Amy Pons hosts Alexa Starks, maternity leave coach and founder of Executive Moms, to discuss reshaping maternity leave and return-to-work experiences and the findings from Executive Moms’ Future of Working Motherhood 2026 report.

They reflect on the need to deconstruct harmful workplace systems, the lack of support for mothers returning from leave, and how simple supports like mentorship can improve retention.

Alexa shares key data: 40% of women leave their job within a year of returning from maternity leave, yet 97% would stay if truly supported; the report also found no “ambition gap,” with mothers reporting equal or greater ambition after having kids. A major takeaway was that flexible work design (remote/hybrid/part-time) mattered more than longer leave. Alexa also previews a TED Talk in Rotterdam and the launch of Mothered Magazine.

01:09 Coaching and Paradigm Shift

03:02 Aha Moments in Corporate

05:22 Maternity Return Support Systems

06:48 Report Findings and Retention Stats

09:02 Ambition Gap Myth Debunked

11:43 Burnout and Hands On Work

13:54 Workplace Bullying and Boundaries

15:20 Surprising Data on Flexibility

16:56 Flexibility Tops Requests

17:15 Ambition And The 97 Percent

17:52 Survey Logistics And Reach

18:34 Return To Office Pushback

20:51 Why Leaders Cling To Control

22:42 TED Talk And Moving Abroad

25:04 Launching Mothered Magazine

27:04 Super Bowl Holiday Hypocrisy

28:46 Advice For The 97 And 40

31:06 Where To Find The Report

31:32 Feminine Strength Closing

Find the 2026 'Future of Working Motherhood' report along with key updates from Executive Moms here, and follow Alexa on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Thank you for tuning in to Women Making Moves, be sure to rate and subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform and follow along on Instagram and Bluesky. Visit Amy at Unlock the Magic, and follow on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Women Making Moves is for personal use only and general information purposes, the show host cannot guarantee the accuracy of any statements from guests or the sufficiency of the information. This show and host is not liable for any personal actions taken.