We're wellbeing researchers and practitioners who are helping women break free from their 'good girl' beliefs with practical, evidence-based tools to embody their unique selves.
Our podcast is free and can be found on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Simply select a place to begin below.
Do you ever feel like you're constantly juggling expectations - both your own and others' - of who you're supposed to be and how you're supposed to show up in the world? Maybe you've been labeled as "too much" or "not enough." Perhaps you've found yourself exhausted from striving for an impossible standard of perfection or silencing your own needs to please others. If any of this resonates, you're not alone.
In this season of the podcast, we explore the 'good girl' beliefs that we need to perform perfectly, please everyone and protect others to be worthy of love and what it takes to break free.
Our research has found that seeing other women successfully break free from their ‘good girl’ mindsets made the journey feel possible for others. These role models and mentors demonstrate that we can navigate challenges while staying authentic—even when it feels overwhelming. Yet too often, we hesitate to seek guidance, believing we should figure everything out alone or fearing judgment for asking for help.
In this season of the podcast we explore the power of huddling, where you'll hear from diverse women including the practical tools that helped them stay grounded in challenging moments.
Studies suggest by age 11, many girls have absorbed society’s “good girl” expectations—perform perfectly, please everyone, protect others by silencing yourself. Between 11 and 14, many boys absorb the “strong boy” expectations—dominate, deny your needs, disconnect from emotions except competition and anger. Both paths lead to exhaustion, resentment, and loneliness. No one escapes these gender expectations unharmed.
In this season, we discover how to reach for gender compassion instead of gender warfare to build a world one where everyone gets to be safe, seen, and valued for who they are, not what gender box they’re supposed to fit into.
When you remember a recent moment of trying to be a ‘good girl" — performing perfectly, pleasing everyone, or protecting others at your own cost — who was really expecting you to behave that way?
In our latest research, two years on from our quantitative study of more than 1,000 Australian women, we went back and asked exactly that question. 92% named themselves. What began around age 11 as a set of external instructions — be quiet, be helpful, don't make a fuss — has gradually become our internal script as grown women.
So we asked a second question: what is actually helping us break free of this as adults? In this season, we revisit our favorite episodes from earlier seasons, what we've learnt two years on and share more practical tools you can use anywhere, anytime.