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.
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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....