Episode 306: How to Stop Being So Mean to Yourself with Samantha Calandri
Do you have an inner critic that won’t quit, always insisting you’ll never be enough? Samantha Calandri is a 5X certified coach who specializes in transforming harsh self-talk into self-compassion.
Her journey with alcohol was the classic party girl story until blacking out, panic attacks, and a 911 call made it clear she needed to make a change. After years of trying to moderate, she went alcohol-free in 2024 and discovered something unexpected: a massive void and a nasty inner critic.
Samantha shares how learning self-compassion became the turning point that changed her nervous system, her confidence, and eventually her entire career. You’ll hear tactical tips to achieve that reframe, from personifying your inner critic to regular self “check-ins,” and why rest actually makes you MORE creative, not less.
This episode is an invitation to stop living by everyone else’s “shoulds”, soften your inner world, and reconnect with the intuition and self-trust that already lives inside of you.
IN THIS EPISODE:
Samantha’s raw journey from party-girl identity to an empowered alcohol-free life: the panic attacks, the terrifying 911 call, and the moment everything finally clicked
The “void” after ditching alcohol nobody talks about: for Samantha, there was profound emptiness, identity confusion, and self-criticism
Techniques for silencing your inner critic through self-compassion, from “naming” your critic to imagining you’re speaking to your child or inner child
How generational conditioning, perfectionism, and parental role models wire us to feel never enough, and why self-compassion and rest actually FUEL success
REFLECTION QUESTION
Do you tend to equate productivity or ‘doing more’ with your worth? When have you achieved something from a place of inner peace and pleasure rather than hustle and burnout?
“I had this huge void, and my inner critic was super ugly and super nasty. I had so much shame, and was just like, who am I now? And so I really started to look at that, and I was like, oh, my gosh. It's this compassion piece that I'm missing that I think so many people are missing. Now I am helping girls and women all around the world just start to love themselves more and really be much kinder and gentler to themselves.” - Samantha Calandri
“We live in such a hustle culture that is all about go, go, go, work hard. You're not going to amount to anything if you don't keep going. And it's awful. But when you can slow down and allow yourself rest – and I know also our culture, rest equals lazy, right? – but when you can slow down long enough to give yourself what you truly need and have this compassion, it opens up space for more creativity, for more hard work. The other just leads to burnout.” - Samantha Calandri
LINKS/RESOURCES MENTIONED
Visit Samantha’s website and follow her on Instagram.
If you know you’re meant to help other people change their relationship with alcohol and achieve deep healing (along with their bigger dreams), be sure to get on the waitlist for the Empowered AF 5X Coach Certification Program – and get 5x certified as a world class alcohol-free empowerment coach, mindset coach, success coach, NLP practitioner, and hypnosis practitioner when applications open.
Check out Euphoric the Club, the premier club for successful women who don’t drink (and the women who are becoming them) where you can get access to all my alcohol-free programs and methodology, coaching, and trainings for only $62.
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