If you secretly need someone to tell you you’re doing a good job just to believe you’re not screwing it all up—this one’s for you.

After years crushing it in corporate, Donna and Cheryl built a business from scratch. But the real shock? Losing the constant feedback loop—no performance reviews, no gold stars, no ‘great work’ emails—and realising they didn’t actually know how to trust themselves.

This episode is the real talk about why female founders crave validation (even when we think we’re confident) and how that craving silently slows down your decisions, messes with your leadership, and keeps you playing smaller than you realise.

Here’s what we get into:

• (01:24) From corporate besties to business partners—how they made the leap
• (03:53) The six months they spent with zero clients (and how they didn’t quit)
• (06:55) Why leaving corporate didn’t magically boost their confidence
• (10:54) Why being good at your job makes trusting yourself in business harder
• (14:13) The sneaky ways external validation still ran the show (and how they spotted it)
• (15:49) How they stopped looking for feedback—and started backing themselves
• (20:08) How to find proof you can do this—even if you’re too deep in self-doubt to see it
• (22:58) The pressure of being the first woman in your family to break the mold
• (27:11) Why you can’t ‘wake up’ people who aren’t ready—and why that’s none of your business
• (31:27) Why external validation will never make you feel like enough (and how to stop needing it)
• (36:08) What they teach inside ‘The Real You’—and why every founder needs to do this work

If you’re building a business but still secretly hoping someone will tell you you’re doing it ‘right,’ this is your wake-up call.

Go listen, then DM me: what’s one decision you’ve been holding off because you’re waiting for a sign?

Want more from Donna & Cheryl?
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/ linkedin
/ imposter syndrome solution masterclass

free resources for leaders & biz owners

• FREE ENERGY BOOSTING TOOLS
• NEED TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR BIZ? TAKE THE GROWTH AUDIT

connect with me
- insta → / emilyrosedallaracoach
- linkedin → / emilyrosedallara

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About Emily:
Emily Rose Dallara transforms underperforming teams and leaders into growth engines, driving more revenue, more time, and less stress for businesses.

With over 9 years of experience scaling marketing teams as a CMO, globally in Web3, startups, and crypto, Emily combines her expertise as a growth advisor & leadership coach with nervous system and energy management tools to optimize team performance and leadership dynamics.

She’s also a qualified somatic practitioner and the host of Bubbling Out, a podcast that explores insights from inspiring leaders and visionaries.

Awards: Emily was voted a Top Woman of the Future 2022 and a Woman in Web 3 Changemaker by N...

If you’ve ever felt like building a business and leading a team means carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders—this one’s for you.

I sat down with Chiara Airoldi, co-founder and COO of Cloove, to talk about what it really takes to scale a startup, lead a team, and delegate without turning into a control freak. Chiara shares her journey from working in startups to building her own business, how she raised €400,000 in pre-seed funding, and the biggest lessons she’s learned about leadership, delegation, and building a team that actually takes ownership.

If you’ve ever found yourself micromanaging, struggling to let go of tasks, or feeling stuck in the operational weeds, Chiara breaks down the mindset shifts and systems that make all the difference.

We dive into:

(04:11) Why Chiara left the corporate world and what drew her to startups
(05:59) Raising €400K in pre-seed funding—and the biggest challenges that came next
(06:46) The hardest part of leading a team (hint: it’s not what you think)
(08:54) The one system every founder needs to avoid becoming a bottleneck
(12:35) How to hire people who take initiative (without just throwing money at the problem)
(16:21) The real reason founders struggle to let go of tasks—and how to shift that
(20:19) How to stop sweating small mistakes and focus on what actually moves the needle
(26:19) Managing team mistakes without damaging trust or morale
(32:08) Why standardization is your best friend—and the tool that changed the game for Chiara
(36:30) How Chiara finds time for personal development while running a startup

Chiara keeps it real about the challenges of leadership and how she’s grown as a founder—plus, she shares some practical ways to step out of reaction mode and into high-performance leadership.

If you’re building a team, scaling a business, or just trying to survive startup chaos, this is a must-listen.

Listen now and let me know what resonated most.

Connect with Chiara: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiara-airoldi/

free resources for leaders & biz owners

• FREE ENERGY BOOSTING TOOLS
• NEED TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR BIZ? TAKE THE GROWTH AUDIT

connect with me
- insta → / emilyrosedallaracoach
- linkedin → / emilyrosedallara

→ Sign up to my newsletter here to get exclusive content, tips and strategies that help you nail leadership, business and building a team. Direct to your inbox each week.

About Emily:
Emily Rose Dallara transforms underperforming teams and leaders into growth engines, driving more revenue, more time, and less stress for businesses.

With over 9 years of experience scaling marketing teams as a CMO, globally in Web3, startups, and crypto, Emily combines her expertise as a growth advisor & leadership coach with nervous system and energy management tools to optimize team performance and leadership dynamics.

She’s also a qualified somatic practitioner and the host of Bubbling Out, a podcast that explores insights from inspiring leaders and visionaries.

Awards: Emily was voted a Top Woman of the Future 2022 and a Woman in Web 3 Changemaker by N...

Ever feel like there’s an invisible pressure driving you to constantly do more? That subtle hum in the background, always telling you to keep moving, keep achieving—it’s not just in your head. In this episode, I’m sharing a recent live session where I unpacked the concept of chronic urgency: why so many of us experience it, how it’s been hardwired into us, and the ways it’s holding us back from true focus and peace.

I dive into:

• The color spectrum of emotional states and how to identify where you are.
• How urgency might have helped you succeed but now drains your energy.
• The difference between “good urgency” and the chronic, destructive kind.
• Practical tools like somatic resourcing and orienting to bring your body back to calm.
• Why learning to pause (and not doing the laundry) could transform how you show up every day.

Key Takeaway:
You don’t have to live in constant urgency to thrive. Pausing, feeling safe, and moving intentionally isn’t just possible—it’s essential.

Timestamp Highlights:
0:00 - Why urgency is the silent saboteur of your nervous system.
2:15 - What is “body fullness” and how I practice it daily.
4:30 - How developmental trauma creates chronic urgency in adulthood.
6:45 - The “air conditioning” of constant action: where it comes from and how to notice it.
9:00 - Tools to move from an urgent state to a calm, regulated one.
12:00 - Q&A: Managing overwhelm in high-pressure industries like Web3.

Resources & Tools Mentioned:

• The Energy Boost Guide: Includes tools to reset, refocus, and recharge when you feel that urgency bubbling.
• Connect with me on Instagram: @emilyrosedallaracoach

free resources for leaders & biz owners

• FREE ENERGY BOOSTING TOOLS
• NEED TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR BIZ? TAKE THE GROWTH AUDIT

connect with me
- insta → / emilyrosedallaracoach
- linkedin → / emilyrosedallara

→ Sign up to my newsletter here to get exclusive content, tips and strategies that help you nail leadership, business and building a team. Direct to your inbox each week.

About Emily:
Emily Rose Dallara transforms underperforming teams and leaders into growth engines, driving more revenue, more time, and less stress for businesses.

With over 9 years of experience scaling marketing teams as a CMO, globally in Web3, startups, and crypto, Emily combines her expertise as a growth advisor & leadership coach with nervous system and energy management tools to optimize team performance and leadership dynamics.

She’s also a qualified somatic practitioner and the host of Bubbling Out, a podcast that explores insights from inspiring leaders and visionaries.

Awards: Emily was voted a Top Woman of the Future 2022 and a Woman in Web 3 Changemaker by N...