Ambition Without Compromise
Ambition Without Compromise is the space where powerhouse women of color — with a special heart for Black mothers and future mothers — come to redefine success on their own terms.
Hosted by Monique R. Shields, executive coach, entrepreneur, and mentor to women at the highest levels of leadership, this podcast dives into the real challenges women face when juggling bold professional pursuits with the responsibilities of being present partners, mothers, and whole, healthy individuals.
Through honest conversations and powerful stories, you’ll gain insights on:
- Balancing ambition and freedom without burnout
- Crafting sustainable work-life integration
- Protecting your mental and emotional well-being
- Building intentional communities and seeking mentorship for growth
Whether you're scaling your business, stepping into a higher leadership role, or simply seeking clarity about what success means now, this show offers the tools and stories to help you thrive without compromise.
Follow Monique wherever you listen to podcasts and step into a world where ambition and joy can coexist.
Ambition Without Compromise
65 | Reimagining Success from the Inside Out: Personal Style, Presence, and Possibility — with Pamela Shepard
Text Monique directly! Share thoughts, feels or feedback!
How do you dress for the life and legacy you actually want?
In this powerful and personal episode, Monique is joined by costume designer, educator, and style visionary Pamela Shepherd, as they unpack what it really means to show up in your full presence. From dressing bodies to shaping identities, Pamela reveals how style becomes a strategy for visibility, authority, and self-reinvention, especially for Black women in leadership.
Tune in to hear how Pamela navigated her leap from tech to fashion, what it takes to embrace your own definition of “executive presence,” and why asking for help is the real flex. Together, they explore fashion as liberation, style as storytelling, and the magic of taking up space without apology.
If you’ve ever questioned your image, doubted your voice, or wrestled with how to be both authentic and visible, this episode is your call to reimagine what success looks like from the inside out.
GUEST INFO
Pamela Shepard, Costume Designer and Stylist | Website | Instagram | FlowWood Costumes (Launching soon!)
GEMS DROPPED
“For those of us who are designing our ambitions and creating futures that maybe we don't have an example for in our household. Who are you not just asking? What doors are you not just knocking on?” - Monique R. Shields
“Because I work so collaboratively, I'm often working with different groups of people. And because the work requires your expertise and your expertise and your experience and your experience and your experience, I think that it further helps me to develop the muscle when it comes to leaning on others for what I don't know. It's not indicative of weakness or lack of ability or really anything. What it's indicative of is curiosity.” - Pamela Shepard
“One way that you signal to yourself and to the world that you take yourself seriously is by asking for help, by actually leveraging the relationships that you have poured into. And it doesn't take that many. You don't have to know the world. You start with who you know, and then you, again, you don't know who they know and who those people know.” - Monique R. Shields
“If I were talking to someone about fashion, I think my first question would be, where do you spend most of your time? Is it in an office? Is it at home? Is it in transit and traveling? Like, what does the look of your life look like? Because I think that sometimes we feel compelled to have all the things. Our lives don't really call for all the things.” - Pamela Shepard
“There is part of the work that is just listening to people, checking in with people, seeing how they're doing, and listening to what they're saying, because I think that can help inform, the decisions of the pieces we're choosing and moving forward. And so just encouraging people to be brave and trying to put on the things that embody how they see themselves.” - Pamela Shepard
“Your clothes are not going to give you executive presence. They can be a reflection of the presence that you already carry, that you already exude, but the clothes can't give it to you .” - Monique R. Shields
STAY IN TOUCH
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