Successful on Paper, Numb in Real Life: Why High Achievers Ask "Is This It?" Brandi Jo Newman on Her Comeback

**Episode overview** https://www.michellethompsoncoaching.com/ **Guest:** Brandi Jo Newman, **Host: Michelle Thompson** Brandi Jo Newman grew up in East Texas on a cattle ranch and played professional golf on the LPGA Futures Tour across six continents. She went on to build and run several businesses, including a financial services firm she exited without selling, and had multiple eight-figure exits. She founded a San Antonio women's organization in 2024 and now coaches small business owners, with a focus on helping founders step out of being "chief everything officer." She is a Co-Pilot Advisor with *Exit Without Selling*, helping entrepreneurs exit the day-to-day without selling the business they built. She also offers a three-and-a-half-hour private coaching session for high achievers who have already won but can't feel it. She owns up to the years she was "the a\*\*hole," explains why success can leave high achievers numb, and shares the frameworks she uses to stop spinning and start choosing. Her advice to a woman who feels stuck: stop, let the mud settle, and don't step into the swirl. **Key takeaways** • **Be interested, not interesting.** Brandi Jo's dad told her people will eat out of your hand if you care about what they want. Curiosity took her further than being impressive. • **Success doesn't deliver a trophy.** Moving goalposts leave many high achievers asking "Is this it?" Sometimes enough is enough, and the next step is rest, not another level. • **Use SODA when your head is a pinball machine.** Stop, Observe, Detach, then either Accept or Awaken. Don't insert yourself into drama that isn't yours. • **Use GOALS to get clear on what you want.** What do you want to gain, what is your objective, what will you accept or be awarded, what do you want to learn, and who do you want to serve? • **Ask when you last failed at something.** At her luncheons, most women couldn't answer, because they had stopped trying. Confidence comes from being willing to fall on your face. • **You can't be both hero and martyr.** Solving everyone's problems keeps others from learning to solve their own, and it often comes from the identity women saw modeled around them. • **You haven't wasted the first half of your life.** Every decision got you to where you are. Choose people who match your standards and don't apologize when you mean "excuse me." • **Wait before you act.** Let the mud settle until the water is clear, and do the inner work, because the numbness comes from living on the outside. **Resources** • **Guest website:** Brandijo.com • **Instagram:** instagram.com/brandijonewman • **Her work (Co-Pilot Advisor): Exit Without Selling** • **Host's book: Courageously You: 7 Simple Frameworks to Create the Life You Love**, available on Amazon • **Work with Michelle:** book a call at michellethompsoncoaching.com