A client said something recently that captured a quiet leadership reality many people struggle to name.

She wants to be a useful, helpful and effective leader - and she cares deeply about being present with her team. What she didn’t expect was how difficult it can feel to switch out of deep, focused work when someone needs her, then switch back again and stay clear, present and effective in both.

This episode explores the hidden internal cost of leadership presence.

Not the visible demands.
Not the meetings or the decisions.
But the repeated internal switch leaders are required to make - often without warning - between deep, self-directed work and relational leadership.

You’ll hear why this switch isn’t neutral, why it quietly drains energy and focus over time, and why time management alone doesn’t address what’s really happening beneath the surface.

We explore leadership as an internal practice - one that requires skill in managing attention, presence and internal state - not just behaviour or output.

This is a conversation for thoughtful leaders who want to understand the real work of leadership, and how to offer genuine presence without losing clarity, momentum or themselves in the process.

I also share a Soft Strength leadership tool designed to help train this internal switch more cleanly and sustainably.

In this episode, we explore:

• The unseen internal labour of leadership
• Why presence has a real cognitive and emotional cost
• The difference between deep work and relational leadership, and why switching between them is demanding
• Why leaders often feel busy but behind, even when they’re highly capable
• Why time management doesn’t solve this part of leadership
• How leaders can learn to manage their internal state more skilfully
• A practical, embodied way to train this leadership switch

A Soft Strength leadership tool

If this conversation resonated, you may find the short visualisation and meditation I’ve created helpful.

It’s designed to support leaders in resetting after conversations, regaining clarity after interruption, and moving between depth and presence without carrying one into the other.

You can find it for free on the Insight Timer app, or CLICK HERE.

And, learn more about Janelle's work HERE.

This episode is a grounded, compassionate conversation about body confidence, self-acceptance, and building a healthier relationship with your body - without waiting for it to change.

In a culture that constantly tells us confidence, happiness and self-worth live on the other side of weight loss or physical transformation, this episode offers a different path.

Janelle Ryan explores how to love your body as it is today - whether you’re trying to change it, thinking about change or choosing not to. She shares her personal journey of decades spent disliking her body due to societal, generational and media pressure, and how inner work helped her move from control and punishment to strength, respect, and embodiment.

This is not a weight-loss episode. It’s about body image, body confidence and learning to feel at home in your body. Even in a world that tells you not to.

You’ll hear why loving your body and wanting change are not opposites, how inner work creates sustainable change, and 12 practical truths to help you build a kinder, more respectful relationship with your body.

Perfect listening if you’re navigating body image struggles, January body pressure, health changes, or simply want to stop feeling at war with yourself.

If this episode resonated and you’re ready to build a kinder, more confident relationship with your body, you’re invited to explore Exploring, Embracing, Embodying Body Confidence - Janelle Ryan’s self-paced, experiential digital course. This course helps you release shame, shift limiting beliefs, and feel truly at home in your body, without needing to change it first. You’ll receive lifetime access, including future updates, so you can return to the work whenever you need it. Currently 50% OFF - use code NEWYEARSPECIAL at checkout.
👉 Learn more and enrol HERE.

A new year doesn’t make us new people, and that’s not a problem.

In this episode, we explore why January is more symbolic than magical, and how this moment can still be a powerful pause if we choose it to be. I share a grounded reflection on the shift from the Year of the Snake (shedding and discernment) into the Year of the Horse (movement, momentum and direction), and why this is an ideal time to focus on intentional expansion rather than reinvention.

If you’d like to dive in with me, grab a notebook and reflect as you listen, or save this episode and return to it when you have space. You’ll be guided through two options:

• a quick, surface-level reflection for those wanting efficiency
• and a deeper series of journalling questions for those ready to dive inward and uncover real insight.

Take your time. Find the space. And let this be a conversation with yourself.

If you’d like to be the first to hear about Sky High Coaching's 2026 offerings, you’re warmly invited to join our email community by emailing janelle@skyhighcoaching.com.au.

Acting in a role can feel like leading with one hand tied behind your back.

In this episode, Janelle unpacks the real challenges of stepping into an interim role, from navigating authority and team dynamics to managing expectations, pressure and self-care. You will walk away with practical insights to help you lead with confidence, clarity and calm, even when the role is temporary and the stakes feel high.

Perfect listening if you are stepping up, holding the fort or quietly proving yourself in the in-between.

Here are the links she mentions:

Unshakeable Confidence Blueprint

Debut: Leading From the Start

The Leadership Lounge

Today we’re diving into something that high-performing humans do not love…
and that is being forced to slow down.

You know that feeling when everything in you wants to move, decide, progress, do…
but life has other plans?
Maybe it is traffic. Maybe it is timing. Maybe it is the season you are in.
Suddenly, you find yourself in a pause you did not choose - and definitely did not order.

If you’ve ever felt anxious, twitchy or downright irritated when momentum stalls, you’re in good company.

In this episode, I’m sharing a moment that brought all of that to the surface for me, and the powerful lesson tucked inside it:

That sometimes the pause is not the problem.

So settle in - or walk, or drive, or fold laundry, whatever you do while you listen - and let’s explore why stillness feels so uncomfortable… and why it might be exactly what you need right now.

And before we dive in, if you’re someone who is standing at the edge of a new chapter - or wanting to feel clearer, steadier or more grounded as you choose your next step - I’ve created two beautiful free blueprints to support you.

https://www.skyhighcoaching.com.au/yourfreegifts

One will help you reconnect with your inner confidence, and the other will guide you through discovering what your next chapter is asking of you.

Let’s begin.

This episode dives into the hidden cost of people-pleasing and why it quietly erodes your energy, confidence and leadership. If you’ve ever found yourself overexplaining, overgiving or overcompensating just to keep the peace, this conversation will land deeply. You will learn the subtle signs you’re prioritising everyone else over yourself and the practical shifts that help you reclaim your time, power and boundaries with kindness and grace.

Here is the link to the free blueprints Janelle mentions:

Success Was The WarmUp

Unshakeable Confidence

https://www.skyhighcoaching.com.au/yourfreegifts

Ever caught yourself saying “I’m fine” while your jaw is clenched so tightly you could crack a walnut?

Welcome to stress addiction - the hustle high so many high-performers accidentally rely on.

In this episode, we unpack why stress can feel addictive, the surprising reasons we keep seeking it out, and the long-term toll it takes on our bodies and minds.

Then we move into the good stuff: how to unhook from the hustle and build a rhythm that feels successful without being fuelled by panic.

If you’re tired of living in fight-or-flight (but also slightly addicted to the thrill of it), you’ll love this one.

Learn more about Janelle and Sky High Coaching at www.skyhighcoaching.com.au. Download your free gifts HERE.

If you’ve ever scrolled Instagram and suddenly felt like everyone else is winning at life - promotions, holidays, glowing skin, well-behaved children - while you’re over here doing your best with a lukewarm coffee… welcome. You’re in the right place.

In this episode, I share Emily’s heartfelt question about comparison and envy, and together we explore why your brain is literally designed to compare. We’ll unpack Maslow’s hierarchy (don’t worry, no exam at the end), the biology behind envy, and why social media is the perfect storm for making you feel like you’re 'not enough'.

You’ll walk away with practical tools, clarity and maybe even a sigh of relief.

Learn more about Janelle, and Sky High Coaching at www.skyhighcoaching.com.au

Download your free gifts HERE.