69 | Optimizing Your Life For Confidence Artwork

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.

All Episodes

Ambition Without Compromise

69 | Optimizing Your Life For Confidence

September 24, 2025 • Monique R. Shields

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This week's episode is all about confidence! After months of reflection, Monique shares her insights on why we must prioritize optimizing for confidence in a world that often undermines it.

Through relatable scenarios from her coaching practice, Monique illustrates how fear and uncertainty can hold us back from pursuing our true potential. She emphasizes the importance of community and support in building confidence, highlighting how being witnessed in our struggles can lead to breakthroughs. From transitioning to full-time entrepreneurship to navigating family dynamics, Monique provides actionable insights for reclaiming our confidence and taking bold steps forward.

If you’re looking to explore the intricacies of confidence and how to cultivate it in your life, this episode is a must-listen.

GEMS DROPPED

“Confidence is that feeling you have when you feel on. When you feel maybe not ready, but ready enough. When you feel like, I'm gonna take this first step regardless of how I feel. That's what I like to think of as confidence. And I think sometimes we confuse confidence for certainty. They're not the same thing. And I think we're often waiting on certainty before we can tell ourselves that we are confident and it's really the illusion of certainty.”

“I've just recognized that the world the world is coming for me in a really specific way, especially as a woman of color. And I have got to do everything in my power to optimize for my confidence. Not just because feeling confident feels good, but because it costs me to not feel confident. There's a massive cost to us feeling stuck, because what do we do when we're not confident? We stay where we are. Stagnation thrives off of our lack of confidence.”

“We've lived life long enough to look back and see sometimes we have this negativity bias where we only see the mistakes or the missteps that we feel like we've had or the lost opportunities. But when we're really honest with ourselves, we've done so many things well. We've done so many things with integrity and with courage and with creativity. So much creativity. And so to give ourselves that moment, to have it reflected back to us, again, a confident confidence booster.“

“What it means to have the support, the vetted, skilled, appropriate support for where you are in life, where you are in work, to have that support to bring you back into yourself, it's priceless. It's actually priceless.”

“We cannot afford to get stuck. Especially now, the world is really showing us, we cannot afford to get stuck. And I tell you, the fastest way to get stuck is to get isolated.”

STAY IN TOUCH

Come and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to ambition@moniquershields.com.