Advancing Women Podcast

“Going Little” Comfort, Joy, and Doing Less

Episode Description:
It’s December. Again. And the end-of-year chaos is real. This episode is your invitation to slow down, find comfort, and embrace joy through the art of going little.

In this episode,  we explore the Danish concept of Hygge and I share simple, science-backed practices to help you pause, reset, and reclaim calm during the busiest season of the year. From holding a warm drink to creating a cozy nook, or winding down with an intentional end-of-day ritual, these small, intentional actions are ways to soothe your nervous system and reconnect with yourself.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• How warmth can regulate your nervous system and reduce stress
• The power of sensory anchoring to calm your mind
• The concept of environmental containment and creating a cozy sanctuary
• How to create an End-of-Day Soft Landing for better rest
• Why doing less doesn’t mean feeling less or being less

Key Takeaway: Whether it’s holding a warm drink, anchoring yourself in a favorite sensory cue, carving out a cozy nook, or gliding gently into sleep, each of these practices invites intentional ease. Go little. Comfort, joy, and presence are not indulgent; they’re essential.

Resources & References:

• The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell
• The Little Book of Hygge
• Yang, Z., Su, Q., Xie, J. et al. Music tempo modulates emotional states as revealed through EEG insights. Sci Rep 15, 8276 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-92679-1
• Yang, SY., Wang, JY., Liu, C. et al. Effects of binaural beat therapy with different frequencies on autonomic nervous system regulation among college students. BMC Complement Med Ther 25, 206 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-025-04922-x

Listen, Subscribe, Connect!

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Facebook: Advancing Women Podcast https://www.facebook.com/advancingwomenpodcast/

LinkedIn: Dr. Kimberly DeSimone https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-desimone-phd-mba-ba00b88/

Spend With Intention, Support Women This Holiday Season

Episode Summary

 

In this powerful episode, Kimberly calls us into a deeper, more intentional approach to the holiday season; one rooted in solidarity, economic empowerment, and supporting women in every space they lead, create, and build.

As the holidays approach and our shopping lists grow, this episode challenges the default: What if your purchases, your recommendations, your shares, and your reviews became part of a larger movement? What if supporting women wasn’t just an act of generosity, but an act of cultural change?

Kimberly explores the real data on women’s economic power, the systemic gaps women entrepreneurs face, the inequities in the creator economy, and the small-but-mighty actions each of us can take to move the needle.

This episode is your guide to:
✨ Women-owned products to explore
✨ Women-led services to consider
✨ How to use directories + simple search tools
✨ Free ways to amplify women on social media
✨ How to leave meaningful reviews
✨ How to support women creators and voices

Your dollars matter, but your voice, influence, and solidarity matter just as much! Let’s make this holiday season one rooted in intention, empowerment, and the collective strength of the per-sisterhood.

Key Topics Covered

·       The mental load & invisible holiday labor women carry

·       Why supporting women-owned businesses creates real economic impact

·       Practical ways to “vote with your wallet” this season

·       How to find women-owned businesses (WBENC, W Marketplace, Etsy filters, more)

·       Simple, free, high-impact ways to support women on social media

·       Why reviews matter more for women founders

·       How to back women in the creator economy

·       Recommendations as a form of influence and solidarity

Resources Mentioned. Directories + Marketplaces:

·       WBENC Women-Owned Business Directory

·       SBA WOSB Resources

·       NAWBO Member Lists

·       The W Marketplace

·       Etsy Women-Owned Filter

·       Amazon Women-Owned Page

·       "Women-owned businesses near me" (Google search, seriously, try it!) 

If you discover a women-owned business you love, tag it on Instagram @advancingwomenpodcast so we can amplify it too!

Call to Action

·       Share this episode with the women in your life who love supporting women.

·       Tell a friend about your favorite women podcasters, creators, and entrepreneurs.

·       Post, tag, save, review — it all matters.

·       This season, let your spending, your voice, and your influence become part of a cultural shift that amplifies women everywhere. 

Let’s Connect:

Instagram: @AdvancingWomenPodcast https://www.instagram.com/advancingwomenpodcast/?hl=en

Facebook: Advancing Women Podcast https://www.facebook.com/advancingwomenpodcast/

LinkedIn: Dr. Kimberly DeSimone https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-desimone-phd-mba-ba00b88/

Gratitude Without Guilt: Gratitude on Your Own Terms

As Thanksgiving approaches, we’re reclaiming the true power of gratitude. Not the polished, pressured version women are so often handed. This episode digs into how gratitude has been distorted, weaponized, or used to quiet our very real experiences, and invites you to take it back on your own terms.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How “enforced gratitude” becomes emotional dismissal and invalidation
• The gendered gratitude gap and why women often give more than they receive
• Emotional multiplicity: holding gratitude and struggle at the same time
• Reverse gratitude: being thankful for what you released or outgrew
• What healthy, self-directed, truthful gratitude actually looks like

Join me for an honest, empowering conversation about gratitude as resistance, empowerment, and restoration.

Key Takeaways:

• Gratitude should empower, not silence
• You can hold multiple feelings and emotions at once
• Letting go can be something to be grateful for
• Healthy gratitude is self-directed, grounded, and restorative

Hashtags:
#AdvancingWomenPodcast #GratitudeWithoutGuilt #WomenAndGratitude #EmotionalLabor #ReverseGratitude #WomenEmpowerment #HonestGratitude #HolidayWellness #BoundariesAreBeautiful #ReclaimYourTime #ReclaimYourPeace

Previous episode referenced in this episode:

Advancing Women Podcast. Spotify Weaponized Gratitude & Gratitude Shaming https://open.spotify.com/episode/1CKUwcWxCqGyuieOplP2GP?si=c7ffc86d6c8041e9

Let’s Connect:

Instagram: @AdvancingWomenPodcast https://www.instagram.com/advancingwomenpodcast/?hl=en

Facebook: Advancing Women Podcast https://www.facebook.com/advancingwomenpodcast/

LinkedIn: Dr. Kimberly DeSimone https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-desimone-phd-mba-ba00b88/

The Sensitivity Advantage: Why Feeling Deeply Makes You Powerful

Episode Summary:
In this episode of The Advancing Women Podcast, Dr. Kimberly DeSimone explores the science and social conditioning behind women’s emotional sensitivity, and reframes it more accurately…as a strength, not a flaw.

Research shows that women, on average, have lower baseline serotonin levels than men; but the story doesn’t end there. This biological difference interacts with hormonal cycles and cultural expectations to shape how women feel, respond, and are perceived. Dr. DeSimone reveals how emotional responsiveness, so often dismissed as being “too emotional”, is actually a powerful form of emotional intelligence, leadership, and adaptive strength. From boardrooms to families, women’s ability to read the room, sense tension, and lead with empathy is not “soft,” it’s strategic.

This episode offers both a scientific and empowering reframe that helps us honor our depth, protect our energy, and lead from emotional authenticity without apology.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why women’s serotonin levels affect emotional sensitivity — and what that means for mood and connection.
How cultural conditioning distorts emotional intelligence into “overreaction.”
The “gendered emotion hierarchy”, and how bias defines which emotions are labeled as strength or weakness.
Why empathy and sensitivity are forms of data gatheringand leadership.
How to protect your emotional energy through mindful boundaries and self-compassion.

Key Takeaways:
Sensitivity is strength. Emotional attunement is intelligence.
Emotion is data, not drama.
Boundaries protect your empathy.
Reframing emotional intelligence is revolutionary leadership.

Mentioned concepts:

Serotonin and hormonal influence on mood

Gender socialization and emotional labor

Emotional intelligence and leadership

Patriarchal bias in emotion valuation

Mindful self-protection and boundary-setting

#AdvancingWomenPodcast #EmotionalIntelligence #WomenInLeadership #SensitivityIsStrength #GenderBias #EmotionalIntelligenceAtWork #EmpathyInLeadership

References:

Don’t Call Them Soft Skills: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-call-them-soft-skills-with-communications/id1569849100?i=1000606194105

Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (2024). Male-Female Differences in the Serotonin System May Help Explain Differences in Stress Vulnerability, Study Suggests:  https://bbrfoundation.org/content/male-female-differences-serotonin-system-may-help-explain-differences-stress-vulnerability

 

National Institute of Health: Differences between males and females in rates of serotonin synthesis in human brain. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC24674/

 

Let’s Connect:

Instagram: @AdvancingWomenPodcast https://www.instagram.com/advancingwomenpodcast/?hl=en

Facebook: Advancing Women Podcast https://www.facebook.com/advancingwomenpodcast/

LinkedIn: Dr. Kimberly DeSimone https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-desimone-phd-mba-ba00b88/

Another Season of the Witch: The Coven of Persisterhood

Episode Summary:
Welcome to the Advancing Women Podcast! In this Halloween-themed episode, we reclaim the witch archetype as a symbol of female power, independence, and solidarity. Building on last year’s Season of the Witch, we explore how the witch reflects the experiences of ambitious women across history and today…from the backlash faced by independent women to the double standards confronting women leaders.

Through media, history, and lived experience, we uncover how witches (and women!) have been feared, misunderstood, and sometimes punished for asserting autonomy. But there’s a bright side: the witch is being reclaimed in fiction, in culture, and in women’s networks, offering a model for persistence, solidarity, and strategic power.

Join us as we dive into:

• The historical and modern symbolism of the witch
• How autonomy, economic independence, and ambition have provoked backlash across centuries
• The parallels between historical witch hunts and modern workplace double standards
• The power of covens—real and metaphorical—and what I call persisterhood
• Strategies for building networks of support, mentorship, and collective resilience

This episode is a call to embrace your coven, celebrate your independence, and wear your power proudly. Because we are the persisterhood, and our solidarity, creativity, and courage are our most potent magic.

“We are the granddaughters of the witches you weren’t able to burn. Let’s wear that badge proudly.” #covenofpersisterhood #seasonofthewitch #persisterhood #genderbias #leadershipbias #leadership #advancingwomenpodcast #genderequity

Resources & References:

• Mona Chollet, In Defense of Witches
• Joan Williams, research on the tightrope bias and workplace double standards
• Media examples: Wicked, Practical Magic, Marvel’s Agatha Harkness
• Historical context: Matilda Joslyn Gage on persecution of witches (Woman, Church and State, 1893)

Connect & Engage:

Subscribe, rate, and share the podcast!

Leave a review or a like on Instagram if this episode resonated with your inner witch!

Follow, and Join the Conversation on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/advancingwomenpodcast/

& Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advancingwomenpodcast/

More on Dr. DeSimone here! https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-desimone-phd-mba-ba00b88/

Where Did Play Go? Reclaiming Your Joyful Self in a Serious World

Episode Summary:
Have you ever felt like a part of yourself got lost along the way? That lighter, playful version of you—the one who laughed without thinking, chased silly ideas, or turned a rainy day into an adventure—quietly slipped away amid responsibilities, deadlines, and endless to-do lists? When was the last time you played just for the joy of it? Not for productivity, not for output…just for YOU?

In this episode of Advancing Women Podcast, I explore the lost art of playfulness and why reclaiming it matters; not just for joy, but for creativity, resilience, connection, and well-being. Drawing inspiration from childhood stories, pop culture, and science-backed research, I’ll share practical strategies to invite play back into your life. #tunein

We’ll discuss:

• Why productivity culture and societal pressures often push play aside, especially for ambitious women.
• How play actually improves brain function, problem-solving, creativity, and relationships.
• Micro-play rituals and imaginative practices you can start today.
• How reconnecting with your playful self can reduce stress, spark joy, and strengthen community.

Key Takeaways:

• Playfulness is not optional—it’s foundational to thriving.
• Shared laughter and playful interactions enhance connection and trust.
• Start small: 5 minutes of dancing, doodling, silly voice texts, or gamifying everyday tasks can reignite your playful spirit.
• Revisit childhood joys and bring them into adult life intentionally.
• Use micro-play rituals to make routine spaces and moments playful and alive.

Resources Mentioned:

Brown, Stuart. Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul.Avery.

Ware, Bronnie. The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing.Hay House.

Apps / Tools: Habitica. Habitica, https://habitica.com/ and Epic Win. Redwood Games, https://www.redwoodgames.com/epicwin

Let’s Connect:

Instagram: @AdvancingWomenPodcast https://www.instagram.com/advancingwomenpodcast/?hl=en

Facebook: Advancing Women Podcast https://www.facebook.com/advancingwomenpodcast/

LinkedIn: Dr. Kimberly DeSimone https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-desimone-phd-mba-ba00b88/

The feedback trap. When Criticism is Really Bias.

We’ve all heard it: “You’re too controlling.” “You should smile more.” “Maybe if you weren’t so emotional…”

But here’s the truth: not all feedback is created equal. And far too often, what women receive isn’t feedback at all. It’s bias dressed up as “constructive criticism.”

In this episode, we’re tackling a common but often invisible challenge in professional and personal life: feedback that masquerades as growth but is actually bias. We explore how women frequently receive critiques that focus on personality, style, or likability rather than skills or outcomes. Feedback that can drain energy, reinforce double standards, and perpetuate gender bias.

Finally, I share strategies for reframing and resisting biased feedback, so you can protect your confidence and focus on growth that truly matters. If you’ve ever felt like you’re working twice as hard to fix things that were never broken, this episode is for you.

Key Topics Covered:

• Feedback vs. bias: How to tell the difference
• Competence vs. likability: The damned-if-you-do, doomed-if-you-don’t bind
• Joan Williams’ prove-it-again bias and its impact on women’s careers
• Vocal fry, uptalk, and other examples of style policing as bias
• Practical strategies: reframing biased feedback and pushing back with questions 

Manifestatement (Key Takeaway): Biased feedback is not your personal deficit. You are neither broken, nor defective. By reframing and resisting, we reclaim our power, keep the focus on outcomes, and push toward greater equity.

Resources & References:

Williams, J. C., & Dempsey, R. (2014). What works for women at work: Four patterns working women need to know. New York University Press. 

Previous Advancing Women Podcast Episode:

Tone Policing, Vocal Fry, & Upspeak (4/7/22) https://podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/tone-policing-vocal-fry-upspeak/id1569849100?i=1000568796565

TikTok trend example (Is a “top-tier” man just an average woman?) https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17XnA2v6E3/

Let’s Connect:
Instagram: @AdvancingWomenPodcast https://www.instagram.com/advancingwomenpodcast/?hl=en

Facebook: Advancing Women Podcast https://www.facebook.com/advancingwomenpodcast/

LinkedIn: Dr. Kimberly DeSimone https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-desimone-phd-mba-ba00b88/

Animal Kingdom’s Painted Dogs and the Case for Collaborative Leadership

Episode Summary:
What can a pack of African painted dogs teach us about leadership and gender equity? A lot more than you might think.

On a recent Disney trip with my son, I hopped on my favorite ride - Kilimanjaro Safari -in one of my favorite parks – Animal Kingdom, and our guide, Kyla, shared something that really caught my attention: painted dogs are the most successful hunters in the animal kingdom with an incredible 85% success rate. Compare that to the so-called “King of the Jungle,” the lion, who is successful only about 20% of the time.

The difference? Not brute force. Not dominance. Not confidence.
The painted dogs’ secret is collaboration. They succeed because an alpha male and alpha female lead together, backed by the entire pack.

In this episode of the Advancing Women Podcast, we explore:

• Why win/win beats win/lose in leadership and equity.
• The hidden strengths that are too often overlooked and undervalued.
• How McKinsey research proves diverse, collaborative leadership outperforms.
• The importance of communal traits like empathy, compassion, and collaboration.
• Why the future of leadership looks a lot less like lions, and a lot more like painted dogs.

This episode is a reminder that leadership and equity aren’t about fighting for the biggest piece of the pie. it’s about ditching the scarcity mindset in favor of abundance. Win/Win!

If you lead a team, an organization, or even your own family, this episode will challenge you to rethink leadership and equity, not as competition, but as collaboration. #tunein and discover why the case for gender equity is really the case for better leadership for everyone.

References:
🎧 Advancing Women Podcast (2023, July 17). Gender Equity = Win/Win
Listen here

📊 Hunt, V., Prince, S., Dixon-Fyle, S., & Yee, L. (2020). Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters. McKinsey & Company.
Read here

📖 Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Free Press. (See Habit #4: Think Win-Win)

Let’s Connect:
Instagram: @AdvancingWomenPodcast
Facebook: Advancing Women Podcast
LinkedIn: Dr. Kimberly DeSimone

Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share the podcast!

The NO Club! Revisiting The Art & Agony of No!

A few  years ago, we explored The Art and Agony of No—one of the most popular episodes in the Advancing Women Podcast archive. In this episode, we revisit that topic and dig deeper into why saying no feels so agonizing for women, especially in professional and personal contexts. From social conditioning and workplace biases to household expectations, we explore the forces that keep women overcommitted and undervalued.

Using research, real stories, and practical strategies, we discuss:

• The concept of non-promotable work and why women are asked to do it more often—and why we say yes.
• How prove-it-again and tightrope biases make saying no feel risky.
• The transformative story of the No Club, a collective approach to saying no strategically and confidently.
• Actionable ways to start protecting your time, energy, and opportunities, both at work and at home.
• A cultural reflection inspired by the movie 9 to 5, showing how little has changed in the fight for workplace balance.

Key Takeaways / Manifestatement:
Your time, your energy, your brilliance are precious. Saying no protects them. This episode is about being intentional, reclaiming your boundaries, and understanding that every no is a doorway to your best yes.

Action Steps for Listeners:

1. Start Your Own No Club: Set a goal for how many requests you’ll decline this week or month.
2. Keep a Log: Track your nos to notice patterns and normalize boundary-setting.
3. Share Your Practice: Encourage friends, colleagues, and family that saying no is strategic, not selfish.

Episode referenced in this episode: The Art and Agony of Saying NO! (8/2/2021) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-art-and-agony-of-saying-no/id1569849100?i=1000530813744

Let’s Connect @AdvancingWomenPodcast

 

Subscribe, rate, and share the podcast!

 

Follow, and Join the Conversation on: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/advancingwomenpodcast/

& Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advancingwomenpodcast/

 

More on Dr. DeSimone here! https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-desimone-phd-mba-ba00b88/

Pick Me’s, Queen Bees, and the Patterns That Persist

Episode Summary: From middle school cliques to corporate boardrooms, patterns of competition, division, and survival strategies among women persist. Here’s the thing though: this isn’t about a flaw in women; it’s about a flawed system. In this episode of the Advancing Women Podcast, we explore the rise of Queen Bee Syndrome and the "Pick-Me" phenomenon, and what pop culture, psychology, and gender bias research reveal about why these patterns exist, and how we can challenge them.

We dig deep into:

• The cultural roots of Queen Bee and Pick-Me behaviors
• Internalized sexism, patriarchal bargaining, and the male gaze
• The myth of women as each other’s worst enemy
• Strategies to disrupt toxic narratives and build true solidarity

It’s time to move from scarcity to solidarity, from competition to coalition—and rewrite the narrative with the persisterhood at the center.

Key Takeaways:

• “Pick-Me” behavior isn't vanity, it’s often survival in biased systems.
• Queen Bee Syndrome isn't about women being mean, it's about navigating tokenism and structural barriers.
• Internalized sexism and societal “shoulds” fuel division.
• Systemic bias, NOT women, is the root issue.
• Solidarity is the antidote to scarcity.

Call to Action: Let’s stop shaming Queen Bees and Pick-Me girls and start fixing the systems that pit women against each other. Let’s write a new chapter grounded in persisterhood, because together, we rise further.

References

AWP Episode referenced in this episode: Tug of War Bias, Tokenism & Queen Bee Syndrome. https://open.spotify.com/episode/75MiOAvyhFje37sDd9Latc?si=RBUK5seNRUa5-6VOZIW8Yw

Rhimes, S. (Writer), & Corn, R. (Director). (2005, May 22). Losing My Religion (Season 2, Episode 27) [TV series episode]. In S. Rhimes (Executive Producer), Grey’s Anatomy. ABC Studios (This is the episode featuring Meredith Grey’s “Pick me. Choose me. Love me.” Speech).

TikTok. (n.d.). #pickmegirl. Retrieved August 6, 2025, from https://www.tiktok.com/tag/pickmegirl

Brown, A. (2023). The Implications of the Queen Bee Phenomenon in the Workplace. Journal of Organizational Culture Communications and Conflict, 27(1).

Wiseman, R. (2002). Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping your daughter survive cliques, gossip, boyfriends, and the new realities of girl world. Crown Publishing Group.

Rudman LA, Goodwin SA. Gender differences in automatic in-group bias: why do women like women more than men like men? J Pers Soc Psychol. 2023, 87(4):494-509. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.87.4.494. PMID: 15491274

Rubin, M., Owuamalam, C. K., Spears, R., & Caricati, L. (2023). A social identity model of system attitudes (SIMSA): Multiple explanations of system justification by the disadvantaged that do not depend on a separate system justification motive. European Review of Social Psychology, 34(2), 203–243 https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2022.2046422

Let’s Connect @AdvancingWomenPodcast

Subscribe, rate, and share the podcast!

Follow on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/advancingwomenpodcast/

& Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advancingwomenpodcast/

More on Dr. DeSimone here! https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-desimone-phd-mba-ba00b88/