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Hello hello, my love. Reporting live from my social free era with coffee in one hand and a board game under the other. On my 38th birthday, August 28, I broke up with social media for at least one year. Two months in and I do not miss it even a little. Not the scrolling, not the performative selfies, not even the dopamine glitter.

This episode is the tea and the receipts. Why I left, how I did it without burning my business to the ground, and what has shifted in my brain, my rhythms, and our home now that my thumbs are not living on an app. Let’s talk about presence, peace, and how good life gets when you are not trying to be everywhere at once.

TOPICS & TANGENTS:
• The birthday decision and what “off” really looks like for me
• Parenting with integrity: saying no to my son’s social media and holding myself to the same standard
• The book that shifted everything: how attention, intuition, and coping get rewired
• Addiction, dissociation, and why “I have to for business” kept me stuck
• Comparison fatigue: kitchens, lifestyles, and wanting what you never wanted
• Friendship fallout and the highlight-reel problem
• Presence over performative living: documenting less, remembering more
• Business without socials: remembering companies existed long before apps
• What I’m doing instead and how I’m staying visible without a feed

POINT OF THE STORY:
Social media can offer connection and sales, but if it steals your peace, energy, and presence, the cost is too high. Choose the life you want to be inside of, not the one that looks good from the outside.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
• The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

MORE ABOUT ASH
I am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.

LINKS:

• Become the Regulated Woman
• Get emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).
• Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7
• Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)
• Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

Work with me 1:1

• Therapeutic Mentorship
• Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)
• ...