There’s the kind of work that looks good in a highlight reel, and then there’s the kind that smells like bleach in July, stretches four feet from tip to tip, and requires the audacity to keep going when it would be easier to quit. This week we sit down with Cassie Everson of Wanderlust Skulls to talk about the ditch, the mountaintop, and the discipline of making art that endures.

Artist and entrepreneur Cassie Everson has been shaping the modern Western aesthetic for nearly a decade through her work as Wanderlust Skulls. If you’ve ever saved an image of a painted longhorn skull to your Pinterest board, chances are you’ve already encountered her signature pieces: bold, abstract, distinctly Western, and always authentic.

But this conversation isn’t a how-to on creative business, it’s a rare look into the unglamorous, cyclical reality behind it. Cassie shares the unlikely origins of her work, from finding her first skull in a secondhand shop to teaching herself taxidermy with YouTube and grit. She talks candidly about debt, slow shows, and why art requires you to sell not just an object but a feeling. What emerges is not a formula but a paradox: the work isn’t easy, yet over time it generates a surprising sense of ease if you can resist both the panic of failure and the intoxication of quick wins.

• How Cassie defines her “modern Western abstract” style and why authenticity matters in both art and business.
• The early, unvarnished realities of teaching yourself taxidermy.
• What art reveals about selling feeling rather than product, and why story is central to connection.
• A candid look at the cycles of business: the moments of debt, the long seasons of silence, and the resilience required to keep going.
• Why meeting both the ditch and the mountaintop with the same determination becomes a critical entrepreneurial skill.
• The paradox of ease versus easy, and how structure allows a business to feel lighter without diminishing the work.
• The Vault: Cassie’s forthcoming collection of jumbo longhorns with rare shape and scale, designed as bespoke heirloom pieces.

• 00:00 Why conversation dissolves comparison.
• 05:30 Cassie’s origin story: from a thrifted skull to a modern Western aesthetic.
• 12:00 Real vs. replica: how to identify authentic skulls and why it matters.
• 18:40 The messy middle: early shows, financial setbacks, and learning to continue.
• 24:15 Art as feeling: commissions, story, and connecting beyond the visual.
• 29:50 The difference between ease and easy, and what it demands of us.
• 34:30 The Vault preview: jumbo longhorns, rare breeding, and bespoke design.
• 39:00 Closing: seasons, sovereignty, and the practice of mastering your craft.

• Your turn: what hit home? Tag @cowgirlsovercoffee and @wanderlustskulls, and let’s prove that real talk travels farther than highlight reels.
• Trade scrolling for structure: Download the Routine Playbook. A quick-win guide to creating sustainable practices that feel less like obligation and more like sovereignty.
• Collect the art, meet the artist: Explore Cassie’s pieces at wanderlustskulls.com and follow her on Instagram @wanderlustskulls for a...

Fall is here and we’re not tiptoeing into it. Today we talk about going all in without burning out, rebuilding stamina after a slow season, and choosing sustainable momentum over shiny sprints.

In this conversation, we welcome back my dear friend Audrey Hall, a creative, builder, and wholehearted go-for-it gal who knows what it takes to strategically ramp back up. Together, we unpack what “locking in” looks like when you’re balancing real life: kids, careers, recovery seasons, and the call to create again.

We talk about scheduling as stewardship, fluid structure (yes to time blocks, no to rigidity), and the crucial difference between capacity and consistency. You’ll hear us reject the tired binary of “hustle harder” vs. “slow way down” and instead build a practice that honors both ambition and sustainability. From self-mastery to seasonality, we explore why momentum sticks when it’s grounded in honest constraints, hydration-and-all.

We also get practical: experimenting with expectations, noticing when to pause before you tip into burnout, and re-training your stamina at work, in your body, and in your calendar. If you’ve felt the nudge to go all in but you’re wary of old patterns, this one is your invitation.

• Why pairing structure with fluidity lets you move fast without snapping your bandwidth.
• How to treat scheduling as stewardship of time, energy, and attention.
• A simple lens for “capacity before consistency” so your progress is sustainable.
• The mindset shift from binary choices to both/and thinking (success and ease).
• How to rebuild stamina after a long rest without shaming your pace.
• A practical reframe for goals: train for the distance, check your direction, take water breaks.
• What it means to practice self-mastery now (not who you were at 25, 30, or last year).
• Why “locking in” can include Slime Sundays, date nights, Bible study, and all the parts of a real life, on purpose.

Times are approximate.

• 00:00 Opening: why we’re “locking in” for fall and inviting you into the conversation.
• 04:00 Calendars as clarity: scheduling that feels empowering.
• 08:45 Coming out of hibernation: Audrey on starting from “zero” and finding traction.
• 12:30 Capacity before consistency: the stamina metaphor and sustainable progress.
• 16:40 Seasonality in real life: mom-mode, build-mode, and rejecting scarcity.
• 21:15 Fluid structure: observing burnout signals and knowing when to set it down.
• 26:00 Self-mastery in this season: goals, pace, water breaks, and course checks.
• 31:20 The middle ground: ditching the hustle/slow binary and choosing both/and.
• 35:10 Permission slip: “Lock in with us” and how to start today.
• 38:30 Wrap-up + six-week check-in invitation for accountability.

Where to Go From Here

• Question for you: What’s your first non-negotiable as you lock in for fall—the one practice that makes everything else easier? Screenshot this episode and tag @cowgirlsovercoffee with your answer so we can crowdsource strategies that actually hold.
• The FREE Routine Playbook. Your step-by-step for routines that protect capacity (so consistency can finally kick in!). Get Yours Here
• Join the Cowgirls Over Coffee Lifetime Membership. Where conversation, accountability,...

September invites fresh structure and, if we’re not careful, fresh burnout. In this conversation, licensed professional counselor and Enneagram coach Becky Lauridsen reframes self-care as protection (not pampering) and opens the door to brain health with neurofeedback. From postpartum anxiety and over-functioning to rodeo performance and concussion recovery, we explore how to build capacity on purpose, before the crash out.

Becky shares the origin story of IOWEME (“I owe me”), a preventative, accessible, guilt-free self-care model born from her own burnout and postpartum anxiety. We unpack the crucial difference between self-indulgence (instant relief, little ROI) and true self-care (sometimes uncomfortable, always compounding). We also trade the myth of work–life balance for work–life harmony: a “pleasing arrangement of parts” calibrated to your actual rhythms (hello, 5:30am clarity!).

Then Becky takes us into ROAM (Rodeo Optimization and Mindset) and explains low-energy neurofeedback as a practical path to brain health. Think “parking brake off” for your frontal lobe: better regulation, focus, and recovery after high-intensity performance (for athletes and their horses). If you’re craving capacity that’s truly sustainable, this one’s for you.

Listen in for …

• The self-care vs. self-indulgence distinction, and why protection beats pampering.
• The IOWEME model: preventative, accessible, and simple mental-health support.
• Work/life harmony (not balance): designing a “pleasing arrangement of parts.”
• The “check-engine light” for burnout (irritability over the stray socks = signal).
• Neurofeedback 101: electrical vs. chemical brain systems, suppression, and flexibility.
• The “parking brake” metaphor: why so many high-capacity women feel stuck in Delta.
• Performance & recovery for rodeo athletes, and why brain care must match body care.
• The pony case study (!) and what equine sessions revealed about regulation.
• 
  

TL;DR (Minute by Minute)

• 00:00 “Conversations” > “episodes” + why listener feedback matters.
• 01:11 Meet Becky: LPC, EMDR, Enneagram coach, LENS neurofeedback provider.
• 06:17 Postpartum anxiety, burnout, and the wake-up call: it starts with me.
• 10:01 IOWEME origin: from reactive therapy culture to preventative care.
• 12:32 Responsibility & boundaries: self-care as non-negotiable, not “extra.”
• 16:00 Self-indulgence vs self-care (instant relief vs lasting effect).
• 18:54 “Outweigh the indulgence”: a practical rule that still leaves room for fun.
• 23:44 Non-negotiable habits: why early-morning quiet time compounds.
• 27:34 Work/life harmony > balance; design for your real energy ebb and flow.
• 31:47 ROAM begins: from rodeo roots to neurofeedback certification.
• 35:49 Neurofeedback explained: amplitude, frequency, suppression.
• 38:59 The parking brake brain: lifting Delta lock for flexible regulation.
• 41:01 Equine neurofeedback: the pony case and practical behavior change.
• 43:35 Head trauma, concussions, CTE risk, and recovery as standard practice.
• 47:26 Where to find Becky + what’s next.

Where to Go From Here

Question for you: When the day feels heavy, which shows up first: self-indulgence or true self-care? Screenshot and tag @cowgirlsovercoffee with your answer so we can crowdsource smart strategies that actually stick.

The FREE Routine Playbook. Your step-by-step for routines that protect capacity (so consistency can finally kick in!). Get Yours Here

Join the Cowgirls Over Coffee Lifetime Membership. Where conversation, accountability, and routines become infrastructure....

September has a way of sneaking up on us. The commitments start rolling in, the days get shorter, and suddenly the pressure to “get it together” hits full force. In this “season-two” kickoff of Cowgirls Over Coffee, Thea and her dear friend Meg share how one simple conversation shifted their entire perspective on the September spiral, and why the reset you need may not actually start with another routine tweak.

For many women, September feels like a fresh start wrapped in glossy anxiety. The casual pace of summer fades, structure snaps back into place, and expectations start piling up. The natural response? Double down, do more, and try to wrestle order out of chaos.

But in this episode, Thea and Meg explore what happens when you pause before reacting. Their conversation ranges from seasonal transitions to family rhythms, the pressure of rural grit, and the reminder that we’re not meant to navigate life alone. Along the way, they uncover a surprising truth: what often feels like burnout might actually have a different root cause.

You’ll walk away with a practical reframe for the fall, an invitation to anchor your routines in depth instead of hustle, and permission to reach out instead of powering through. If September already feels frenetic, maybe the best reset is as simple as picking up the phone.

Listen in for …

• Why September often triggers “fresh start pressure” that turns into burnout.
• The hidden cost of powering through on your own.
• How conversation can act as infrastructure for your routines.
• A practical fall reset: channel intensity into depth instead of just more doing.

TL;DR (Minute by Minute)

• [00:00] Why this feels like Season Two.
• [02:10] The fog-lifting effect of conversation.
• [06:20] Why September hits harder than summer.
• [10:08] Grit, buried feelings, and the cost of powering through.
• [14:45] A surprising realization about what’s really behind burnout.
• [17:18] Channeling intensity into depth instead of productivity.
• [20:18] Living in neutrality and curiosity when routines get shaky.
• [24:32] Work examples: how conversation resets productivity.
• [29:26] What’s next for this new season of Cowgirls Over Coffee.

Where to Go From Here

We want to know: does burnout for you feel more like exhaustion or like loneliness? Screenshot and tag @cowgirlsovercoffee with your answer.

The FREE Routine Playbook I mentioned. Your step-by-step playbook for routines that actually stick, because capacity has to come before consistency: TAP HERE

Join the Cowgirls Over Coffee Lifetime Membership where conversation, accountability, and routines become infrastructure. LEARN MORE HERE

Let’s keep the conversation going: find Thea at @thea.does.the.thing and Meg at @meg.scales.

This week Thea is joined by longtime friend and former western wedding photographer Lyndsey Garber for a reflective conversation about capacity, season of life shifts, and the slow, steady work of staying faithful in the little things.

Together, they talk through the emotional complexity of leaving something that’s still working, what it feels like to carry a big vision when there’s no margin left, and how to navigate the tension between knowing you’re made for more and also being at your limit.

Topics explored include:

• How to recognize when a season is ending even while you’re still succeeding in it.
• Why exhaustion and ambition so often co-exist.
• What it looks like to rebuild capacity through small, daily choices.
• Learning to audit energy and attention without slipping into a poverty mindset.
• How presence becomes a practice when margin is low.

This conversation holds space for the in-between moments where you know you’re on the edge of something new, but it hasn’t fully taken shape yet. We chat about ambition, presence, exhaustion, time scarcity, and that sneaky poverty mentality that shows up in your calendar, your body, and your grocery store anxiety. And mostly, it’s about what it takes to stay steady and self-respecting in the middle of a capacity crisis without losing your fire or your footing.

There’s no 5-step framework here. Just two women and a conversation about what’s working, what’s shifting, and how we keep showing up for the lives we believe in.

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going

We talked about what no one sees: the ordinary, unglamorous work that builds something sustainable. If you’re in that part of the process, we’d love to hear about it. Tag @cowgirlsovercoffee and let us know what “faithful in the little things” looks like for you right now.

Sure you can handle it all, but where is taking you? In this deeply personal, wildly validating summer conversation, Thea sits down with longtime friend and Cowgirls Over Coffee original Audrey Hall to unpack a question many of us are circling: What happens when your capability becomes your identity … and your margin disappears?

This is an episode for the woman who’s built a life she’s proud of and is left asking why it still feels so hard. For the one who gets it done, who performs under pressure, who’s known for delivering but lives in depletion.

Together, Thea and Audrey explore:

• Why “high performance” starts to feel like a trap.
• The difference between nurturing your ambition vs. demanding from it.
• What it really costs to prove your capability over and over again.
• How excellence can mask burnout.
• Why we sometimes feel safer in stress than in stillness.
• And, what it means to move from rocky soil to something more nourishing.

You’ll hear stories about rodeo royalty, sad girl eras, and gym floor epiphanies but underneath it all is a real-time conversation about rebuilding your relationship with ambition, restoration, and joy. If you’ve ever said, “I’m not afraid of the effort, but dang I’m tired of proving my worth through it.,” this one’s for you.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Follow Audrey Hall on Instagram at @audreyetta.
• Listen to Audrey’s new podcast, Cowgirl Church.
• Books by Trevor Mowad: It Takes What It Takes and Getting to Neutral.

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going

Screenshot this episode and tag @cowgirlsovercoffee with your favorite takeaway. Tell us your flavor of patience, your version of presence, or what kind of soil you’re growing in this summer.

What happens when you pair a visionary with a finisher, and give them a platform to celebrate the real women shaping western life and style?

This week Thea sits down with Ali Dee and Nicole James, the co-founders of Western Life & Style, for a conversation rooted in real-life entrepreneurship, deep collaboration, and the kind of bold vision that grows when women stop waiting for permission.

From warehouse pop-ups to showroom floors, from a simple Instagram page to a platform that now honors Western women across the country, Ali and Nicole share the behind-the-scenes of how Western Life & Style came to life, and how the 30 Over 30 Awards became a movement of recognition, reunion, and representation.

Inside this episode:

• How their dynamic as visionary and executor has fueled years of successful partnership.
• Why the Western Life & Style 30 Over 30 Awards were created and what makes them different from typical honors.
• The unexpected emotional impact of giving Western women their moment in the spotlight.
• How they build momentum without overthinking or getting stuck in fear.
• The real power of honoring women who are often behind the scenes, doing the unseen work.

Maybe you’ve hit pause on your vision. Maybe you’ve started and stopped more times than you’d like to admit. Or maybe, like so many of us, you’re in that frustrating middle space between the idea and the arrival. Wherever you are, this episode will meet you right where you’re at with permission, encouragement, and a nudge to be just delulu enough to keep going.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Western Life & Style on Instagram
• Ali Dee Brand, Rodeo Ranch, and Ali.Dee.CEO
• Zona Girl Nava – Nicole’s digital marketing agency.
• 30 Over 30 Honoree List

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going

We want to hear the behind-the-scenes version of what you’re building, what’s messy, what’s meaningful. Screenshot this episode, tag @cowgirlsovercoffee and share what vision you’re chasing!

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What if summer wasn’t something that just happened to you, but something you created on purpose? In this episode, I sit down with Cowgirls Over Coffee’s own Lana Wilkes for a real-deal conversation about what it actually takes to create a summer that feels restorative, anchored, and worth remembering. NOT another one that races by in a blur of chaos, laundry, and vague "maybe we'll do that someday" plans.

Overheard in this Episode:

• Why "maybe" is killing your summer.
• How to set anchor experiences that actually happen.
• The difference between chasing easy and creating ease.
• Why your routines should change with the season.
• The myth of the "perfect summer" and the real work of experiencing it.

We're not campaigning for a Pinterest-perfect summer schedule, but challenging you to claim your time, set anchor experiences, and take the administrative burden of daily life off the plate, so you can actually enjoy the season you’re in. Whether you’re road-tripping to Alaska with five kids or just trying to get to the dang lake more than twice this summer, this episode will give you the perspective shift (and tactical insight) to make it happen.

I also mention that you can use my Reset Ritual to help set the tone for summer. This is the exact framework I use anytime I need to reset. It’s genuinely not just for seasons of productivity or burnout, but for setting yourself up for presence at any time! Use it to set the tone this summer: download it here for FREE.

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going

Tell us what you’re planning on purpose this summer. Screenshot this episode, tag @cowgirlsovercoffee because we want to hear the real version: what works, what doesn’t, and what you’re learning along the way.