Free to Be Mindful Podcast | Helping Professional Moms Find Calm in a Busy World
The Free to Be Mindful Podcast with Licensed Therapist and Latina Mom Coach Vanessa De Jesus Guzman helps professional moms find calm in a busy world.
Each episode blends mindful living strategies, mental health insights, and REAL TALK - grounded in culture and inspired by everyday life - to help you stress less, live with intention, and feel more like yourself... without hours of meditation.
Tune in for practical tools and relatable heartfelt stories that help you slow down, recharge, and show up as your best self.
Free to Be Mindful Podcast | Helping Professional Moms Find Calm in a Busy World
The Hidden Loneliness of Being Highly Capable
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Being the one who “has it handled” can look like strength from the outside, but it often comes with an invisible cost. In this episode of the Free to Be Mindful Podcast, Vanessa De Jesus Guzman explores why highly capable, high-functioning women - especially moms and leaders - can feel deeply alone despite being surrounded by people who rely on them.
Through a therapist’s lens, Vanessa unpacks how cultural conditioning, emotional labor, and the mental load many women carry quietly reduce support over time. This conversation is not about doing more or pushing harder. It is about understanding why support often disappears when you are seen as “the strong one,” and why learning to ask for help is essential for long-term well-being.
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
- Why being highly capable can unintentionally lead to loneliness
- How cultural expectations and early responsibility shape over-functioning
- The emotional labor and mental load others often do not see
- Why people stop checking in when you always seem “fine”
- How survival-based leadership shows up in motherhood and daily life
- Why support is not a reward you earn after burnout, but a necessity before it
TUNE IN TO LEARN
- How capability becomes identity and limits support
- The difference between doing tasks and carrying responsibility
- Why asking for help feels uncomfortable for high-achieving women
- How to recognize exhaustion you may have normalized
- Practical ways to invite support back in without guilt
REFERENCED LINKS
The Reset Experience on February 22nd in Ridgefield, New Jersey
https://www.amigamoms.com/event-details/resetexperience-feb2026
Book Vanessa for Speaking
https://www.freetobemindful.com/speaking
TAKEAWAY MESSAGE
Being capable does not mean you have to carry everything alone. If this episode resonated, it is not a sign that something is wrong with you. It is often a sign that you have been strong for a long time in environments that quietly relied on that strength. Support is not a weakness. It is a skill, and one you are allowed to practice. Listen in, reflect gently, and remember… you are always free to be mindful.
120 COPING SKILLS
https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast-120copingskills
GET THE MUSE HEADBAND AT A DISCOUNT!
https://choosemuse.com/freetobemindful
Use this link to get 15% off your total when you purchase the amazing brain sensing headband that tells you when you're in a meditative state and guides you to improve your practice.
LET’S STAY CONNECTED:
🌐 Website: https://www.freetobemindful.com
🎧 Podcast: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/counselorvdejesus/
💛 Coaching for Moms: https://www.amigamoms.com/
🎤 Speaking & Workshops: https://www.freetobemindful.com/speaking
DISCLAIMER:
Free to Be Mindful Podcast episodes are for educational purposes only and should not be considered as or substituted for therapy or professional help from a licensed clinician.
