Last week, I posted the final episode of Badass Women at Any Age.
Two hundred and forty-four interviews. Hundreds of hours of conversations. And one overwhelming feeling: deep gratitude.
When I launched this podcast, I wasn’t trying to define what it means to be a badass. I was trying to understand it. What makes a woman resilient? Where does courage come from when life knocks you flat? How do women reclaim their power after loss, failure, betrayal, illness, ageism, or invisibility?
After 244 conversations, I can tell you this:
Being a badass has very little to do with bravado—and everything to do with becoming.
As one guest, Becky Galli told me, “Sometimes the challenges that women face, no matter how significant, can lead to opening up new opportunities.”
Badass Is Not a Personality Type
The women I interviewed were founders, executives, entrepreneurs, artists, activists, athletes, caregivers, healers, and reinventors. Some were bold and outspoken. Others were quiet, thoughtful, and deeply introspective.
What they shared wasn’t a personality trait. It was a choice.
A badass is not the loudest voice in the room. She’s the woman who decides—again and again—not to abandon herself.
She listens to her inner knowing even when it contradicts expectations.
She speaks the truth even when her voice shakes.
She walks away from what no longer fits, even when it costs her status, certainty, or approval.
Badassery is not fearlessness. It’s fear plus forward motion.
Or, as another guest, Pam Luk put it, “Fear is really trying to protect you from things that could hurt you, but it also keeps you from the really good stuff that could come from trying something new.”
Courage Is Built in the Hardest Moments
Nearly every woman I spoke with could point to a defining challenge:
- A career derailment or public failure
- A health crisis that forced a reckoning
- A divorce, death, or devastating loss
- Being dismissed, underestimated, or erased because of age or gender
- A moment when the life she built no longer felt like her own
What struck me wasn’t the hardship itself—it was what came after.
Courage didn’t appear as a lightning bolt. It arrived quietly, through small decisions:
- To ask for help
- To rest instead of push
- To say no without apology
- To begin again, imperfectly
Resilience, I learned, isn’t about “bouncing back.” It’s about bouncing forward—changed, wiser, and more self-trusting than before.
Bianca Best shared her motivation: “I have always leaned into pursuing what has excited me and followed the potential opportunities, even if I felt a bit scared.”
Read the full article on Substack.com.
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