The Hidden Pressures of High Achievers (and How to Stay Balanced)
Release Date: 10/09/2025
Growing Pains: Why it hurts when you get everything you’ve ever wanted.
Channel Your Genius Podcast
What if the very success you’ve been working toward is the thing that hurts the most? In this episode, Mellissa Seaman explores the growing pains of success: those tender, disorienting moments that can arise after you’ve reached the goals you once dreamed of. Inspired by a conversation with a highly successful, world-renowned client, Mellissa shares why big expansion can surface grief, loss, and unexpected emotional challenges. Old relationships may fall away. Long-held identity stories dissolve. Even joy can feel complicated when you outgrow who you once were. This episode is a reminder...
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When Spirit Shows Up Uninvited and Changes Everything -- Venus Castleberg interviewing Mellissa Seaman
Channel Your Genius Podcast
Many of the world’s most impactful healers, mentors, and innovators began life as “the gifted kid”, high-achieving on the outside, deeply sensitive and intuitive on the inside, yet never truly understood the spiritual architecture behind their brilliance. In this special episode, the mic flips. Venus Castleberg, Home Whisperer, healer, and longtime friend and collaborator, interviews Mellissa Seaman about her awakening journey, one that moved her from Stanford-educated attorney and devout Catholic leader into a mystical, multidimensional intuitive strategist serving thousands. Mellissa...
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The Undercover Intuitive in Washington DC -- with Julie Jakopic
Channel Your Genius Podcast
Many of the most powerful leaders on the planet are secretly empathic, intuitive, and deeply sensitive, and have no idea that’s what’s really driving them. In this episode, Mellissa talks with Julie Jakopic, President and CEO of iLead Strategies, who advises policymakers, elected officials, NGO founders, and humanitarian organizations on the political front lines. Julie is highly respected as a strategist and consultant… and she’s also a deep empath, artist, and intuitive. Julie shares how she used to deny her intuition and pay a huge energetic price, how she finally understood that...
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The Secret to Feeling Energized, Valued & Paid Well for Your Purpose
Channel Your Genius Podcast
Leaders who come from their inspired Calling often feel drained, tired, and worn out. They’re doing BIG Work every day, so it kind of makes sense… right? NO, wait! Mellissa has noticed something powerful: if it’s draining you, it means there’s a mismatch. Maybe your focus needs to be updated. Maybe you never found the perfect-fit offering. Maybe your audience isn’t quite right. We see it all the time with the intuitive leaders we serve, when they adjust what they offer, to whom, and how, everything changes. Suddenly they feel energized by their work, their impact grows, and their...
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Confessions from a Private Jet: Luxury, Guilt, and a Golden Toilet
Channel Your Genius Podcast
Not everyone gets to have this kind of behind-the-scenes experience. As a spiritual mentor and intuitive guide to high-net-worth clients, Mellissa Seaman has occasionally been flown on private jets for her work. While she loves the miracle of flying, whether on a commercial airline or a tiny puddle jumper, her first time on a private jet revealed a world most people never get to see. In this episode, Mellissa shares a rare, candid look at what it’s actually like to fly private, and how these luxury experiences illuminate the growing divide between economic realities. Her stories are both...
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The Witch Awakens: The Hidden Power of Midlife Women
Channel Your Genius Podcast
Do you ever feel like midlife has made you invisible? In this heartfelt and empowering episode, Mellissa Seaman reframes one of the most misunderstood transitions in a woman’s life, menopause and midlife, as a portal into power. Far from fading away, women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s are stepping into a deeper visibility; one rooted not in appearance, but in truth, love, and embodied magic. Mellissa explores how this “menno-passage” initiates a profound transformation, revealing your authentic wisdom and intuitive strength. If you’ve ever felt unseen or uncertain about your changing...
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Your Work Is the Antidote: Slaying the 3 Snakes of Our Time
Channel Your Genius Podcast
In this powerful solo episode, Mellissa Seaman calls on every intuitive entrepreneur, healer, and purpose-led professional to stay the course. In a world that feels divided, fearful, and uncertain, she reminds us that your soul-led business isn’t just personal, it’s revolutionary. Mellissa breaks down the three “snakes” of our time: the cultural forces that threaten to suppress wisdom, compassion, and freedom, and how your work as an awakened leader is the antidote. This is a call to action for all spiritual entrepreneurs to double down, not retreat; to lead with heart, not fear; and...
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The Mind Is Mystical and Science Alone Can’t Explain It
Channel Your Genius Podcast
In today’s episode, Mellissa pulls back the curtain on one of the hottest buzzwords in leadership and coaching today: neuroscience. While corporate and executive programs rush to anchor every insight in brain scans and data, Mellissa challenges the obsession with what can be measured and calls us to reclaim the mystery, intuition, and higher intelligence that science alone can’t explain. Drawing on her years of working with intuitive professionals and grounded mystics alike, Mellissa explores how our fixation on “neural hacks” and logical proof can actually limit human potential. True...
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Why Your Dog Might Be Your Greatest Spiritual Teacher
Channel Your Genius Podcast
What if your dog is more than “just a pet”? In this heartfelt solo episode, Mellissa explores the sacred role our animals play in our spiritual lives as teachers, mirrors, and bridges between the human and the wild. Drawing from her own Apache ceremonial experience, her work with intuitive veterinarian Dr. Vanessa Gafferrer, and her deep connection with her dog Lucy, Mellissa shares how our animal companions help us remember our primal selves, model unconditional love, and guide us through seasons of change and grief. You’ll also meet Louie, the newest (and most mischievous) member of...
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The Spiritual Download Everyone’s Getting (And Why You Can’t Ignore It) - with Ragan Thomson
Channel Your Genius Podcast
In this inspiring conversation, Mellissa Seaman sits down with Ragan Thomson, a global spiritual teacher, healer, and philanthropist, whose work bridges the worlds of divine feminine wisdom, conscious leadership, and global collaboration. From her early life as an intuitive empath to her current mission guiding healers, women, and changemakers into deeper connection with Spirit, Ragan shares the journey of awakening that brought her into her soul’s purpose. Together, Mellissa and Ragan explore how to balance deep spiritual calling with worldly impact, the power of collaboration...
info_outlineWhat happens when a professional athlete turns her lived experience into a mission to transform the mental game for the next generation? In this episode of Channel Your Genius, Mellissa Seaman interviews Danielle McDonough — a former Division I and professional hockey player turned Mindset Optimization Coach. Danielle now helps athletes and parents build confidence, resilience, and mental strength that extend far beyond sports.
They dive into the hidden pressures young athletes face, the toll of tying identity solely to performance, and the powerful tools that support both athletes and parents in navigating high-pressure seasons with more balance and joy.
Talked about in today’s episode:
✅ Danielle’s journey from college and pro hockey player to mindset coach and author of The Empowered Athlete
✅ The invisible barriers athletes face and how mental performance tools help them break through faster
✅ Why nurturing multiple identities beyond sports prevents burnout, stress, and depression
✅ The importance of rest, recovery, and giving athletes (and adults) time to miss their sport
✅ Hidden stressors like tryouts, recruiting decisions, and waiting periods and how they affect athletes and families
✅ Tools for parents to regulate their emotions and better support their kids in sports
✅ Simple but powerful practices like box breathing to calm nerves and reset the nervous system
Guest Bio:
Danielle McDonough is a former Division I and professional hockey player who has transformed her own challenges and victories into a career helping athletes thrive. With a Master’s in Sport & Exercise Psychology, she now works as a Mindset Optimization Coach supporting athletes and parents to build confidence, resilience, and mental strength. Danielle is the author of The Empowered Athlete, and she serves as the official mental skills coach for USA Hockey’s National Development Camp.
Through her programs, Danielle teaches practical mental performance tools that not only elevate athletic performance but also create balance, identity, and confidence in life beyond sports.
Resources & Links:
🎧 Listen to Danielle’s free private podcast: Winning Resilience: Beating Teen Sports Stress
🌐 Website: www.ocppt.com
📖 Book: The Empowered Athlete
📷 Instagram: @danielle__mcdonough
💼 LinkedIn: Danielle McDonough – Mindset Coach & Author
Unlock Your Genius with Mellissa Seaman:
✨ Discover Your Soul Gift: Take Mellissa’s free Soul Gift Quiz to uncover which of the five soul gifts is driving your life's purpose.
📚 Dive Deeper into Growth: Explore the Channel Your Genius Academy for resources on living your purpose and expanding your influence.
💡 Stay Inspired: Connect with Mellissa on Instagram @channelyourgenius for wisdom and tools to help you thrive as a Wise Woman leader.
👉 For sacred transmissions and divine feminine wisdom from Ma, visit channelingma.substack.com and subscribe.
Keywords:
mindset coaching, sports psychology, youth athletes, confidence, resilience, identity beyond sports, parenting athletes, mental health in sports, performance mindset, athlete burnout, rest and recovery, box breathing, Danielle McDonough, The Empowered Athlete