High Heels Higher Standards

What does it actually mean to lead people—not just manage them?

In this episode of High Heels, Higher Standards, Ashley sits down with Heidi to unpack the real, unfiltered lessons of people leadership—beyond titles, beyond authority, and far beyond performative boss energy.

Because leadership isn’t about being the smartest person in the room.
It’s about creating a room where other people can be brilliant.

Drawing from years of exp...

At some point, many high-achieving women have the same quiet realization:
Why do I feel invisible at work… even when I know I’m capable?

In this episode of High Heels, Higher Standards, Ashley and Heidi unpack what it really means to stop playing small—and why so many women unconsciously edit themselves in rooms they’ve worked hard to enter.

Because the truth is, most women aren’t lacking confidence or competence.
They’ve jus...

In this episode of High Heels, Higher Standards, Ashley and Heidi are redefining what leadership looks like for the modern woman—and why the old corporate playbook is officially outdated.

If you’ve ever thought, “I want to lead… but I don’t want to lose myself in the process,” this conversation is for you.

Ashley and Heidi break down the shift happening in leadership right now—from outdated, performative models rooted in dominance an...

What does ambition really cost women—and has anything actually changed?

In this powerful episode of High Heels, Higher Standards, Ashley and Heidi unpack The Cost of Ambition for Women (Then vs. Today)—from the overt barriers women faced decades ago to the subtle, internalized pressures high-achieving women navigate now.

Historically, ambition cost women likability, safety, and acceptance. Today, women have more opportunity and visib...

This Women’s History Month, High Heels, Higher Standards honors the brilliant women whose discoveries helped build the modern world — even when history didn’t give them the credit they deserved.

In Part Two of our Women’s History Month series, Ashley sits down with Heidi to explore the extraordinary female scientists, mathematicians, and innovators who reshaped medicine, space exploration, and molecular biology.

From Marie Curie’s gr...

March is Women’s History Month — and this week on High Heels, Higher Standards, we’re moving beyond surface-level celebration and into strategy.

In this powerful conversation, Heidi interviews Ashley about the women who didn’t just succeed within broken systems — they rewrote them. From Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s legal strategy to Madam C.J. Walker’s economic empire, from Katherine Johnson’s NASA calculations to Vera Wang’s bold reinvent...

What if burnout isn’t a personal failure—but a sign you’ve been living as a supporting character in your own life?

In this episode of High Heels, Higher Standards, Ashley and Heidi explore why main character energy isn’t a trend or mindset hack—it’s a legitimate wellness practice for high-achieving women. From chronic exhaustion and people-pleasing to nervous system overload and self-abandonment, they unpack how constantly prioritiz...

Are you actually tired… or is your lifestyle optimized for a version of you that no longer exists?

In this episode of High Heels, Higher Standards, Heidi and Ashley introduce the concept of a Lifestyle Audit — a powerful personal growth tool designed to help ambitious women realign their schedule, habits, environment, and energy with the woman they’re becoming.

Because wellness isn’t just about workouts, green juice, or meditation.

Is your “self-care” actually helping… or just helping you survive burnout?

In this episode of High Heels, Higher Standards, Heidi and Ashley break down the real difference between aesthetic self-care and disciplined self-respect — and why high-achieving women need to stop confusing exhaustion with ambition.

If you’re a driven woman juggling career, leadership, family, and high personal standards — but still feeling tired, resentful, ...

Wellness isn’t self-care. It’s strategy.

In this episode of High Heels, Higher Standards, Ashley interviews Heidi to reframe wellness as a deliberate system that supports ambitious women, not a reaction to burnout. This conversation is for high-performing women who are done normalizing exhaustion and ready to design lives that actually sustain success.

Together, they break down why constant recovery is a sign of a broken system, how ...

January is loud.
Declarations. Reinventions. “New year, new me” energy everywhere.

In this episode of High Heels, Higher Standards, we’re doing something different. Instead of chasing more goals, we’re talking about choosing wisely—and why focus, not frenzy, is the real power move this year.

As we close out January, Ashley turns the mic toward co-host Heidi for a grounded, strategic conversation about priorities, restraint, and i...

What if joy wasn’t something you waited for—but something you intentionally designed?

In this intimate and expansive episode of High Heels, Higher Standards, Ashley sits down solo with her dear friend Doctor Kirsten Phillips for a conversation about building a life that actually feels like yours. One rooted in curiosity, community, intentional joy, and the courage to follow desire without needing it to make sense to anyone else.

This...

What if you’re not broken—just exhausted from trying to be palatable?

In this deeply honest January episode of High Heels, Higher Standards, Heidi and Ashley opt out of "New Year New Me" and fix-yourself culture that tells women they’re perpetually unfinished. As part of our Goals, Not Resolutions series, we’re challenging the idea that growth has to come from self-criticism, endless healing, or constant self-editing.

Ashle...

January doesn’t have to be about reinvention.
It can be about regulation, steadiness, and coming back to yourself.

Join us for our Goals, NOT Resolutions Series in this quietly rebellious episode of High Heels, Higher Standards, Ashley and Heidi dismantle the pressure to “start over” in January and offer a radically calming alternative: stabilization instead of transformation.

If you’re feeling tired, slow, emotionally tender, or...

This New Years Eve ditch the dramatic resolutions and enter 2026 with clarity, confidence, and champagne. 🥂 In this vibrant New Year’s episode of High Heels, Higher Standards, Heidi and Ashley redefine what it means to set goals in a way that ambitious, growth-minded women actually achieve. If you’re searching for “personal growth,” “personal development goals,” or “how to set meaningful goals,” this episode is your fast track to ...

Home for the Drama-Days: How to Deal with Family and Keep Your Cool at Family Holiday Gatherings (Without Matching Chaos)

The holidays are here and so are the opinions, comments, old stories, and emotionally charged casseroles.

In this laugh-out-loud episode of High Heels, Higher Standards, Ashley and Heidi tackle one of the most universal December dilemmas: going home to family dynamics that haven’t evolved… even when you have.

If yo...

Surviving Difficult Guests: You Can Light the Candles and Hold Your Boundaries, Martha Stewart Would Approve

Hosting holiday guests should feel elegant, warm, and maybe a little glamorous… but let’s be honest: sometimes it feels like emotional survival. In this hilarious, practical, high-glam guide to holiday hosting, Ashley and Heidi break down how to handle difficult guests, family dynamics, boundary breakers, and chaotic energy —...

Emotional Hangovers During the Holidays: Coping with the holiday rush and the post party come down

Ever wake up the day after a holiday party feeling emotionally drained, overstimulated, or low-key regretful — even if you had “fun”? Welcome to the emotional hangover, babe. In this raw, cozy-glam holiday episode, Ashley and Heidi unpack the mental fog, post-party crash, family triggers, and loneliness that hit when the glitter settle...

If this is your first holiday, thanksgiving or Christmas without toxic family, a draining partner, or the chaos you grew up with, this episode of High Heels, Higher Standards is your permission slip to protect your peace, protect your energy, and romanticize spending the holidays solo for the softest December of your life. 

In “Untangling the Tinsel: Spending the Holidays Alone Without the Toxic Ones,” hosts Ashley Werner and Heidi ...