221 | Neutral Is Anything But: Using Your Voice in Business and Beyond with Colleen Nichols
Listen to Neutral Is Anything But: Using Your Voice in Business and Beyond with Colleen Nichols on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Your player of choice
In this episode of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by entrepreneur, author, and personal branding expert Colleen Nichols for a candid conversation about mixing business and politics, finding and using your voice online, and why choosing to remain “neutral” is anything but. Colleen has spent years helping entrepreneurs become more human on the internet, but as the political landscape has grown increasingly impossible to ignore, her work has expanded to include what happens when being authentic also means being willing to say what you believe.
We talk about the very real fear that comes with speaking out: losing followers, upsetting customers, disappointing family, being misunderstood, or discovering that people you care about fundamentally disagree with you. Colleen doesn’t pretend those consequences aren’t possible. Instead, we explore what can exist on the other side: deeper trust, stronger alignment, a more connected community, and the relief of no longer performing a watered-down version of yourself to keep everyone comfortable.
This conversation also gets into good-girl conditioning, performative authenticity, changing your mind in public, and how to determine which political or social issues are actually yours to speak about. You do not have to comment on every headline or turn your business into a political account. But you can identify your lines in the sand, share what you are learning, challenge harmful comments in everyday conversations, and use your platform, no matter its size, to help someone else feel less alone.
Colleen and I also discuss why women with informed opinions have always been dangerous, what our choices in this moment reveal about the role we would have played throughout history, and why meaningful change is often created through small, ordinary acts of courage. Whether you’re an entrepreneur navigating values-led marketing, a leader learning to use your voice, or simply someone who cares deeply but doesn’t know where to begin, this episode is a grounded conversation about speaking up when silence feels safer, and remembering that politics is already shaping our lives, whether we “do politics” or not.
In this episode, Neutral Is Anything But: Using Your Voice in Business and Beyond with Colleen Nichols, we cover:
Why staying neutral in business, politics, and social justice is never truly neutral
How to speak about politics online without turning your entire platform into a political account
Finding your voice as an entrepreneur, business owner, leader, and human who cares about the world
The fear of losing followers, customers, friends, or family when you share your beliefs
How good-girl conditioning and people-pleasing keep women quiet, agreeable, and afraid of conflict
Identifying your core values, non-negotiables, and personal “lines in the sand”
Why values-led marketing can create greater trust, connection, and alignment with your audience
The difference between authentic personal branding and performing a watered-down version of yourself online
How changing your mind publicly is a sign of growth—not hypocrisy or failure
Navigating criticism, online backlash, vulnerability hangovers, and the discomfort of being misunderstood
Why speaking clearly about your beliefs may repel some people while attracting a more aligned community
Using social media for activism, advocacy, education, and meaningful cultural change
How women sharing information, challenging harmful systems, and using their platforms creates a powerful ripple effect
Small, practical ways to speak up online, in your business, and during everyday conversations
Why what you are doing right now reflects what you would have done during other defining moments in history
If this conversation sparked something for you, share it with a friend who might need it too.
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Wild & Waking is more than a podcast—it’s a sacred return to who you’ve always been.
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Hosted by soul expansion coach Emily Reuschel, Wild & Waking is for the spiritual entrepreneurs, coaches, rural changemakers, and conscious leaders dismantling old paradigms and creating new ways of living, leading, and becoming. Through raw conversations, deep reflections, and embodied wisdom, we explore what it means to awaken a life of abundance, authenticity, and purpose.
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