The Confident Working Woman Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In today's uncertain job market, layoffs are happening across every industry. If you're lying awake wondering if your position is safe, or if you've recently been let go and feel like your world just crashed down, this episode is for you.

Everyone's pushing the 'start a side business' solution, but what if you need income NOW? What if you have no emergency fund and bills to pay?

In this episode, I share my personal story of losing my job with zero financial buffer - and the strategic moves I made that transformed my biggest career crisis into my greatest breakthrough. You'll learn why your job loss isn't about your worth, how to calm your nervous system enough to think clearly, and practical steps to take when you're starting from scratch.

This isn't feel-good fluff. This is real-world wisdom from me who's been where you are.

Key Topics Covered:

Why Job Loss Feels Personal

• How we confuse our job with our identity and worth
• The emotional betrayal when relationships at work end in business decisions
• Understanding employment as energy exchange, not validation

My Personal Story

• Getting laid off with zero emergency fund
• The 2 AM panic and shame spiral
• Swallowing pride to take a "smaller" job as nervous system strategy
• How temporary work became a decade-long passion career

The Neuroscience of Financial Fear

• Why panic mode shuts down clear thinking
• The critical role of meditation in rewiring your brain
• How to calm your nervous system enough to make smart decisions

Practical Action Steps

• Emergency planning when you have no buffer
• Strategic networking without desperation energy
• Taking temporary work as bridge, not failure

Want to go deeper? Join my free training 'From Financial Panic to Financial Peace' at https://sharonsinghsidhu.com/peace

Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed by your finances but don't want to become a financial guru to figure it out?

In this episode, I break down the exact 3 steps that transformed my relationship with money—and they have nothing to do with budgeting apps or investment strategies.

What You'll Learn:

Must-Do #1: Get Out of Survival Mode First 

• Why you can't make good financial decisions when you're in panic mode 
• The first step to take if you've been laid off or need money urgently
• How to get an honest snapshot of your financial situation (even when it's scary)
• Why facing the truth is always better than living in fear

Must-Do #2: Learn to Let Go of Fear and Panic

• The connection between your money beliefs and your financial reality
• Why your current money story is creating your current money situation
• How to create space in your heart and mind for clear thinking
• The difference between reactive fear-based actions and intentional dream-based actions

Must-Do #3: Paint the Vision of Your Financial Future 

• How to shift from running away from fear to moving toward your dreams 
• The power of feeling your future financial reality before it happens
• Why visualization isn't just "woo-woo"—it's belief-building
• Tools for daily practice: meditation, journaling, and the MAP process

Key Takeaway: You have to BE the financially confident woman first, then you'll naturally DO the things financially confident women do, and finally HAVE the financial freedom you want.

Connect with me: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonsinghsidhu/
• Join my program waitlist: https://sharonsinghsidhu.com/5m
• Subscribe to my podcast: https://sharonsinghsidhu.com/podcast

Love this episode? Leave a review and subscribe so you never miss new episodes dropping every week.

Busy working moms straddling a job, side business and family don't have time to waste! That's why I love time and energy saving hacks like this one I share in today's episode.

People always ask me how I get so much done as a full-time working mom, primary earner and caregiver, and business owner. Well, listen to this week's episode to find out how!

Building your dreams doesn't have to cost you your sleep, energy, and mental wellbeing once you learn how to do things in creative ways. 

Remember, if you found this episode useful, please rate the show and share with other moms struggling with work-life balance, thank you!

This week I speak with Snehal Ponde, Life & Career Coach and a certified NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) practitioner. What makes Snehal’s journey from an HR professional to a Coach special, is how she decided to pursue her passion for Coaching while battling Stage 4 breast cancer.

Snehal and her husband moved to Singapore from Mumbai in 2019. In April 2020, the couple welcomed a healthy baby boy. She got detected with breast cancer when her baby was five-months old and had to initiate her treatment immediately since the cancer had spread to her lungs, liver and bone. 

The last 16 months has seen her undergoing chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and radiation. Despite the pain and problems associated with cancer and its treatment, Snehal was determined not to allow cancer to define who she is and what she does.

While her treatment is still on, she is keen on speaking about her journey, in her quest to spread awareness about breast cancer, finding her passion and not treating cancer like a death sentence. 

We go beyond talking about her cancer to discuss spirituality, one of my favourite topics. No one would fault Snehal if she had a negative perspective on life, but what’s so inspiring is that in spite of everything she’s going through - the uncertainties, fears, doubts and more - Snehal remains positive and determined to live life fully.

If you’re at a place where you feel everything is at a deadend, listen to this episode to get a wider perspective on life and your incredible power to make a difference. You’ll be inspired by Snehal’s story.

RESOURCES

Snehal’s Instagram @blue_lotus_coach and website

Snehal’s mobile: +85-88309484 

Sofie Hon’s LinkedIn Post

The Channel News Asia article I referred to:

Fighting stage 4 breast cancer: New mum shares her story while still in chemotherapy

This week, I spoke with Dr Deborah Ward about the consequences of basing our self-worth on financial success. I was interested in this topic because I wanted to understand why some people place so much importance on financial success compared with others. I learned from Dr Ward that it’s because some people derive their sense of self-worth from how financially successful they are. We also discussed what to do if you’re someone like that.

Besides the topic of deriving self-worth from financial success, Dr Ward also shares her insights and experiences about why she decided to pursue a career in academia and what you’ll need to be aware of if you’re considering going into academia. We talked about the key to success for a career in research, like the need for collaboration, of finding good mentors, how to view failure differently, and the tenacity, independence and balance needed to thrive. 

Dr. Deborah Ward recently graduated with her Ph.D. in Social-Personality Psychology from University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. She earned her B.A. in Liberal Arts from Muhlenberg College, where she double majored in Psychology and Russian Studies, and her M.S. in Psychology from Villanova University. Currently, Dr. Ward is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Saginaw Valley State University.

Broadly, Dr. Ward studies topics related to identity threat. People are susceptible to identity-threat when they receive negative feedback related to important aspects of the self (e.g., competence, appearance). Much of her work revolves around the consequences of basing self-worth on financial success. 

More recently, she has applied this work to academic contexts with the goal of understanding how to identify circumstances – in the classroom or university-wide – that could threaten students’ self-esteem or self-efficacy, and potentially discourage them from meeting or pursuing academic goals. Dr. Ward has also conducted research on numerous other topics, including romantic relationships, economic inequality, cultural norms, and coping with stressors.

I’m grateful to Dr Ward for sharing her perspective, wisdom and insights from her work and her own journey and I know you’ll enjoy this one!

You can connect with Dr Ward through email at deward@svsu.edu

This week’s episode is with Ashleigh Rennie. Ashleigh is a conversion copywriter and copy strategist. She works with high-performing business women all over the world, who are looking to increase their impact, expand their audience, and connect with their communities in the most authentic and human way imaginable.

It was Siobhain Danaher, one of my previous guests, who introduced me to Ashleigh because Ashleigh had written a blog post about how having to adapt to changing financial circumstances has led to the kind of relationship she has with money. We also talked about how she ended up doing what she does now, which is to help women entrepreneurs discover and speak in their truest and most authentic voice. 

These 2 themes of money and authenticity couldn’t have come at a better time as this podcast transitions from one that used to primarily discuss our relationship with money to one that now is all about helping you follow your passions and pursue your dreams to create a life your heart desires. To do that, you have to find who your true self is. You can’t speak in your authentic voice, or say and do what your heart desires if you don’t know who your true self even is.

Ashleigh also recommends a book, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, which is a 12-week workbook that I’m now halfway through and I thoroughly enjoy and suggest you pick up if you want to find your inner voice and creativity that is essential to living a life of passion and doing what your heart loves.

I see all this happening in perfect timing to support this transition for the podcast and for me personally in finding and speaking in my most authentic, true voice, from my heart. All of which is to say how everything is always happening synchronously for us, if we care to pay attention.

Ashleigh is so much fun to talk to and please check out her website and follow her on Instagram. Her newsletters are always a blast and she has an awesome quiz to find out your brand’s unique voice. The links are found below.

RESOURCES

Ashleigh’s website and Instagram (@thestoryteamldn)

Ashleigh’s blog post - Grateful For Growing Up Poor: AKA Let’s Talk About Money

Take Ashleigh’s Quiz to find out your brand’s voice

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

Siobhain’s episode - There Are Multiple Paths to Financial Freedom - What's Yours? With Siobhain Danaher

Natalie’s episode - Create Freedom in Your Business & Adventure in Life with Natalie Sisson

This episode explains why I decided to rebrand The Financially Free Woman Podcast into The Two Point Zero Podcast and what you can expect from the show in 2022 and beyond.

You can listen to these interviews on https://twopointzero.me/podcast

Don’t forget to sign up to my newsletter to be updated whenever new episodes are ready. You can sign up at https://twopointzero.me/newsletter

If my guests helped you in some way, please let them know! I hope you stick around by following the show and please leave a review on Apple Podcast if you enjoyed the show.

Thanks for listening!

This week’s episode is a continuation of where we left off from Episode 052 with Lagom Kids. 

When I asked co-founder of Lagom Kids, Anna if she had any final advice at the end of the episode for you listeners, she suggested for women to ‘freeze your eggs!’. 

Well that intrigued me and we had a brief chat about it after the interview and I found out a little more about her personal journey with IVF. That’s how we also talked about Linda Locke from last week’s episode. Linda was Anna’s mentor through her IVF journey.

If you’re wondering whether you should freeze your eggs, or know a loved one or friend who is considering this, or maybe you just want to learn a bit more about this topic, then I hope Anna’s honest and open sharing will give you some insight from her perspective. 

I really appreciate Anna offering to share this personal experience in the hope of helping someone out there. Don’t forget to let Anna know if what she’s shared helped you in some way. 

Enjoy!

RESOURCES

Episode with Lagom Kids

Episode with Linda Locke

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonsinghsidhu/

This week’s podcast is an epic one!

I talked to Linda Locke, accomplished leader in the advertising industry, IVF warrior, children’s book author and great grandniece of Agnes Joaquim, the brilliant woman who created the first hybrid orchid and Singapore’s national flower, the Vanda Miss Joaquim orchid in 1893.

We talked about her advancement as graphic designer to senior leadership in the tough industry of advertising, her heart wrenching and triumphant journey with IVF, how she helped to shape the history of IVF in Singapore and so much more. 

Linda shares her wisdom about succeeding as a woman in a fast-paced, highly demanding industry like advertising and when she switched gears with her decision to become a mom. That decision led her right into her next role as IVF warrior and again, Linda is a trailblazer here, helping to shape Singapore’s IVF policy. 

Here are the key points Linda touches on about that she thinks helped her succeed:

• Be persistent in getting the results you want.
• When things don’t work out the way you want them to or when you encounter challenges, overcome them if you can. If you can’t, find a way to work around them. 
• Look for solutions and learn how to communicate your ideas and solutions effectively so that people buy into your vision.
• Get the results for people so that they trust that you’re the person who can help them.
• Build trust by being authentic so people know what they see is what they get.
• Be transparent and direct with the truth.
• Be self-aware and know your strengths and weaknesses. Use your strengths and have people around you who can complement your weaknesses.
• Have mentors who can guide you and help you get better at what you do.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions when you don’t know, then apply what you learnt. 
• Think big, have a vision that’s beyond yourself, then find the resources to make that vision happen.

Linda’s tenacity and resilience is clear when you hear her talk about her career and  IVF journey. You will be inspired. 

This was such a wonderful conversation, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it and learn a lot in the process!

RESOURCES

Episode with Lagom Kids

Godmotherbooks website

Godmotherbooks Instagram

Linda Locke’s books on Epigram

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonsinghsidhu/

When I embarked on my journey to find out how I could live a financially free life where I could break free from the tyranny of being worried and stressed out about not having enough money for the lifestyle I wanted for me and our kids, I never thought I'd find it in MINDFULNESS.

As I delved deeper into mindfulness, I discovered that practising mindfulness is exactly the thing that brought the peace of mind, confidence and a sense of abundance and gratitude about money that I was searching for. It wasn’t making more money that did it for me. It was through mindfulness that I found the security and reassurance I'd always been looking for externally - be that in other people, my education and qualifications or my job. 

The practice of mindfulness has helped me to stop stressing about money and still enjoy life, even while paying off our 6-figure business debt, even through having my income reduced because of the pandemic, and living with the uncertainties of corporate life during a period of mergers and acquisitions. 

Listen to this episode to learn how mindfulness can help you stress less over your money and financial life.

Finally, if you found this episode useful, please share it with someone you think would benefit from it, and follow the show on Apple Podcast and leave a review.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonsinghsidhu/