Why You’re One Breath Away From Self-Belief with Robyn Engelson
What happens when you look in the mirror and say “I love you”?
For many of us, it’s uncomfortable, even emotional. But for Robyn Engelson, it’s the foundation of real self-trust. In this episode, Robyn shares the 3 daily practices that changed her life—from mirror mantras to breathwork to brain-dump journaling, and how those simple habits helped her go from near burnout to hosting a top 5% podcast.
Whether you're battling self-doubt or craving a confidence reset, this conversation will remind you of one bold truth: everything you need is already inside you.
Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments
Why mirror work and saying “I love you” out loud builds deeper self-connection
How to regulate your nervous system using 3-2-1 breathwork
The power of unfiltered journaling vs. prompt-based writing
Why Robyn almost quit her podcast—and what stopped her
How studying top podcasters helped her shift her strategy and grow her audience
The myth of fear—and how it’s just a story we choose to believe
How flow, fun, and structure fuel consistency
Why your circle matters: the impact of aligned community on confidence
Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode
“You always had everything you needed inside you—you just had to come out of your shell.” - Robyn Engelson
“Fear doesn’t exist. It’s just a story we believe is true.” - Robyn Engelson
“You don’t have to create everything—just be smart enough to duplicate success.” - Robyn Engelson
“It’s the small daily wins that get us to the bigger goal.” - Robyn Engelson
“Just imagining saying ‘I love you’ to myself in the mirror gave me chills.” - Courtney Turich
“Being with yourself can be one of the hardest things to do.” - Courtney Turich
About Robyn
Robyn Engelson is a former consultant who left a six-figure career to prioritize her health after being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s. What began as a personal healing journey soon evolved into a deep passion for helping others feel better, too. She developed a simple yet effective system focused on nutrition, fitness, mindset, and accountability—and eventually turned it into a thriving online business.
Today, she is a mom, a wife, and a wellness coach dedicated to helping everyday people stop merely existing and start truly living. Within just 15 months of launching her side hustle, she reached the top 5% of her company, created her Signature Impact YOU coaching programs, and has since helped hundreds of individuals become healthier, happier, and more empowered.
She believes that with the right mindset and support, anyone can create lasting change—and she’s here to show them how.
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A Team Dklutr Production
BLOG TRANSCRIPT
Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies
Courtney Turich: Hey, it's your friend and host, Courtney Turich, and welcome back to Bold Moves, confident Choices, the podcast where we own our path, make fearless decisions, and get real about what it takes to turn bold ideas into reality. Today's guest is a force. Her name is Robyn Engelson. She is a keynote speaker.
Bestselling author of Exhausted to Energized and has a globally ranked podcast, she is top 5% in the world. Yes, for the Robyn Engelson podcast, she's a burnout recovery coach and lifestyle transformer, and she helps high performing women reset their energy. Reclaim their confidence and transform their health through mindset, nutrition, fitness.
Accountability. After overcoming Hashimoto's and burning burnout herself, Robyn now empowers women worldwide to fast track healing and lead vibrant, purpose-driven lives. She's a beach lover. Hip hop dancer and proud mom living proof that energy is everything. Robyn, I am so excited and grateful that you are here with us today.
Robyn Engelson: Thank you so much, Courtney. I am excited to be here and grateful as well.
Courtney Turich: Well, if you are watching the video, I put my red on just for Robyn today because red is her fierce color. But to get started, Robyn, share a little bit more about yourself.
Robyn Engelson: Absolutely. So the way I arrived at where I am is that, um, when my son, my oldest son was three and a half years old, I was trying to get pregnant with my second child and I couldn't.
So I went in for numerous tests and I walked out with an autoimmune disease called Hashimoto's, which is a thyroid autoimmune disease, and hypothyroidism and other health complications. It turned my life upside down with a two and a half years of doctor's appointments. Being allergic to medication, having to quit my six figure plus advertising job, you name it.
I had it living in a brain fog, exhausted and just trying to make it through the day, and then I figured out if it was up to me, it's meant to be. So I figured out my nutrition, my fitness, my mindset, and my accountability. For my autoimmune disease for my life, in order to go from exhaustive to energized and thrive in life and realize that my voice is something that people need, and I get to change the trajectory of people's lives based on my experiences, my true and tried methodologies to help them live the life that they want in order to use their voice and not silently suffer anymore.
From Silent Suffering to Standing Strong
Courtney Turich: Well, Robyn, I mean this is incredible. You have gone through a lot to get where you are today, and if you don't know Robyn, she is a ball of energy, so she is bringing that positivity for so many of us. Robyn, how long was that process for you from when you were starting to feel the way you were being diagnosed to thriving today?
Robyn Engelson: Such a great question because I didn't have any symptoms. The only symptom I had was that I couldn't get pregnant, which is a huge symptom because my antibodies, my thyroid antibodies were off the charts high after I got tested. And that's something that your primary care doctor does not test for. So you have to go to a specialist endocrinologist, or functional medicine doctor or infertility doctor to figure that out.
And then I had symptoms after I was diagnosed. Courtney, because I ended up being allergic to the fillers that they put in Synthroid, which is the main medication that they prescribe for Hashimoto's. Wow. It's a very common side effect that no one talks about. And my head started having heart palpitations.
My hair started falling out. My nails were brittle and soft. My body was fatigued and aching. I was sleeping 10 to 12 hours a night. I couldn't get up, I couldn't work. I was in a brain fog, all of these symptoms, and the doctors kept telling me for two and a half years. After I was on the medication and got diagnosed that my blood work was getting better, so I'm fine and I was silently suffering.
And then that's when I figured out, like I mentioned before, if it's meant to be, it's up to me. I wasn't put on this earth to just sit in bed all day and not be a present parent or you know, live my purpose. And so I started switching things with my nutrition. I started switching things with my fitness.
You know, I went from a cardio junkie to, uh, lifting weights and feeling strong and such a badass woman, right? Because I could lift heavy shit. And I started retraining my mindset as a model of positive change and really acknowledging, having the awareness of what happened in my past in order to overcome it.
To move forward, forward and that I get to rewrite my story and that what happened in my past is not define who I am today. I'm much bigger than that. I have a better story to tell than that, and the pages were just starting to get written in my book. And then having the accountability of people who had what I wanted that were one to two steps ahead of me and just could really show me the way and the path and the roadmap on how to get there.
And here I am today with my podcast, with my coaching business, speaking business, and best selling book.
Courtney Turich: You are thriving all around and it's really fun to watch. Robyn, I can tell you have a competitive streak in. You. Don't say I do.
Robyn Engelson: Extremely competitive. I wanna keep it away.
The Truth About Medication, Mindset & Healing
Courtney Turich: Uh, that's what it makes you as good as you are, Robyn.
And you know, when you talk about this medication you were taking and all these symptoms started to come to the forefront. Yeah. Did you stop taking the medication once you got your life realigned? What did
Robyn Engelson: that look like? Yeah, so I, I'll always be on medication because I have a deficiency. Um, however, I switched to the Hyperallergenic version after two and a half years of figuring this part of, when I was figuring it out.
I switched, switched to the Hyperallergenic version, which is called Tynt. Which insurance doesn't approve. You have to get prior approval every year from your doctor. And then also went on that for a lower dose combined with compounded T three, because what I found is that my body wasn't producing T three, which is part of your, uh, thyroid.
You have TSH, T four, T three antibodies, and my body wasn't producing it. So it was like the circle was not connected, if you will, from Theology for people. Right. So I had to connect. The circle in order to feel good. So again, it was Hyperallergenic version of the medicine as well as compounded T three.
And that combination for medication is what works for me. And I'm still on that today. The doses vary, you know, based on stuff going on in your life. Um, in addition to switching my nutrition, in addition to switching my fitness right and having the mindset shift in the work.
Choosing Thriving Over Trauma
Courtney Turich: So you do all this shift in your life from, at what point were you able to get pregnant?
Robyn Engelson: So I was never able to get pregnant again because I have other health complications. So I have one son who's the love of my life, um, and they're recording of this podcast. He's almost 17. Crazy to think that wow and taller than me, he's over six feet. Um, and so, you know, it was a decision that I had to make because of all the health issues that I had to either.
Be good with where I'm at because I'm thriving, where to undergo more trauma in order to have another child, and I chose to keep thriving because I didn't wanna jeopardize the life that I had and the life for my son.
Courtney Turich: Yeah. Um, that's, that's so powerful in itself. And to be, it's that moment of gratitude, of being thankful for where, where you are, where you've, everything you've gone through to get where you are today.
Robyn Engelson: Sure. Oh, sure. Absolutely. And you know, Courtney, it's really about the hustle to healing. Mm-hmm. Right? The, the chaos to clarity, because then you get to go from exhausted to energized. And that's what life's really all about. But that is a mindset shift. Yes. A big mindset shift. And that takes work. Yes. A lot of work.
If you ask anyone in my family, they'll say, yes, you did the work. My sister-in-law, my mom, my husband, like everybody. You did the work to get to where you are, and they notice that, not that I need credibility or acknowledgement for that because I know I did the work, but you know what Courtney and for the listeners is that if nothing changes, nothing changes.
You can't expect a different outcome doing the same thing.
The Bold Leap That Changed Everything
Courtney Turich: Yeah, for sure. So Robyn, I'm really curious about this question for you, and that is, what was that big, bold, pivotal move in your life that took you to that next level?
Robyn Engelson: Great question. And you know, I thought when I. I got diagnosed and all these health issues were happening that my life was over, right?
I, I ran a six figure plus ad agency and I, I really loved what I did, right? That I thought that was my calling and my purpose. But the biggest, pivotal moment was that after I got diagnosed and I realized there was more for my purpose in helping others overcome what I went through and being able to do that as my life's purpose.
Was a pivotal move and a bold move. It increased my confidence, it increased my clarity. It just increased my, uh, wellbeing because there was purpose to it. So because of what happened to me, I turned that into helping others. That was my big, bold move, and being the voice for others when they're silently suffering.
Courtney Turich: Yeah. And so how long ago was that, Robyn, when you decided to take that big bold move and leap? That was
Robyn Engelson: 13, almost 14 years ago now. Yeah, almost 14 years ago. And you know, Courtney, it's so interesting because there's a morning period when you do a, a big, bold move because you think that you're gonna go back to what you're doing or you think you're gonna, you're in your comfort zone, right?
Right. And looking for that next advertising gig or the next client for advertising and marketing and sales. I just felt like it was not there. I didn't feel the energy behind it. Right. And then once you get into that next bold move of what you're doing and you do the work, you start to be get clear and have clarity, and then you have your confidence to become energized in your purpose.
So how long
Courtney Turich: was that morning process
Robyn Engelson: for you, Robyn? Yeah, so it was about a year. It was about a year of trying to figure out. Is this the right decision? Right? We always second guess ourselves. Um, is this, you know, self-worth, you know, what are people gonna think of me? Self-image, self-love, all of these things.
Uh, but then as you mentioned, the work, Courtney, right? Part of doing the work is overcoming these fears because fear is a made up story in our head that we start to believe is true over time. That does not exist.
Courtney Turich: So you do all this mind work. Robyn, how do you gain clarity around all this by yourself, with others?
What are the tools you use? Mm-hmm. To gain clarity to know you're walking the right path for Robyn.
Robyn Engelson: Yeah. So the tool I use to this day and what I use prior and also with my clients, is that we have to acknowledge and have awareness for our past. But then we do things in the present that allow us to overcome that.
For example, mirror work, saying affirmations in the mirror. I am powerful. I am confident. I am amazing. Right? Just saying that out loud, and what happens is, Courtney, is that most people say it to themselves first, then they whisper it, then they say it out loud because we have to be able to have the self.
Love before we can do that. Uh, journaling, just brain dumping, writing everything down that is on my mind, and then looking back and identifying key terms or key words that I want to, uh, acknowledge and have purpose on for the day. Being in silence, right? The power of the pause, being able to sit and be with yourself and know that it's okay.
Not having any disturbances, just listening to the surroundings and knowing that you're gonna be okay. So the three things that I do is the mirror work, um, uh, just being the self-confidence work and the um, the power of the pause, as
Learning to Love Yourself Out Loud
Courtney Turich: well as journaling. Robyn, would you be open to sharing what your mirror work is for you to give people ideas?
Yeah, of course. And how powerful it is. Of course it can be.
Robyn Engelson: Yeah, of course. And I just said a little bit of it, but I'll, I'll repeat that again and know that it changes over time because you change over time. Right. And that's really important. And so what I say now is not what I said at the beginning. So let me do two phases.
So the first phase would be at the beginning where it just says, I love myself. I love you. So I would say I love you and I, and I think nie for people who can't see right now, Courtney has her hand on her heart, and I do. I recommend doing that as well too. And I do that too. I hold my hand on my heart and I say, I love you.
I am powerful. I am confident, right? I am amazing and I am loved because a lot of what I went through in my work, Courtney, is that I didn't think people loved me. So I had to acknowledge out loud that people did love me, but first I loved myself. Then as it progressed in working with my mentors and what I wanted out of life, I started talking in mirror work about what I wanted to get outta life.
So I would say, and I, these are some what I say today. I am a powerful, impactful, loving leader, right? And that to me. Encompasses who I am, what I do, and the value that I add to the world.
Courtney Turich: Ugh. Just hearing you say, I love you. I'm imagining envisioning myself doing that in the mirror to myself, and I'm getting a little emotional Yeah.
Of thinking about looking in the mirror, looking at myself, taking that moment, mm-hmm. To embrace. Me? Yes.
Robyn Engelson: Yes, exactly. Because so many times we don't do that. And the mirror work is key, Courtney, because you are looking at yourself. You're not looking at someone else. You're not looking at something else.
You're looking at yourself. And that's why it takes time to say it out loud when you start doing the work, because you don't truly believe it yet. Yeah. And then you have to overcome your limiting belief
Courtney Turich: before you can say it out loud. Right. You know, so many times I've said my mantra, it's laying in bed before I go to sleep.
I say it in my head, but you're right, I'm looking elsewhere. I have my eyes closed. But to look in my face, to look in my eyes, to see me as a human and to say, I love you. Yes. Wow. It has, I have chills from head to toe. So thank you for sharing your process and to help us wrap our mind around how we can do that for.
Ourselves.
Robyn Engelson: Absolutely. And you know, Courtney, it's the small daily wins that get us to the bigger goal. So I want listeners to understand that this doesn't happen overnight. Right. But when you do the work, it will happen over time.
3-Step Ritual for Grounding, Clarity, and Self-Connection
Courtney Turich: Yes. Yes. And then when you journal, do you have certain prompts that you ask yourself to get started, or do you just brain dump on what's.
On your mind.
Robyn Engelson: I just brain dump. Girl. I love, there's so much going on in our brains that just put it out and get it down on paper. And then I go back and I look for either key terms, key ideas, stuff that resonates with me that I wanna prioritize for the day, for the week, for the month. But it's really important just to brain dump and get it all out.
I find with prompts. We're not being authentic to ourselves. Sometimes it helps start the process, but if you really just take a moment to be with yourself and let it all out, you'll be amazed what happens and
Courtney Turich: what comes out. And just being with yourself can be a really hard thing to do. Mm-hmm. Yes.
Mm-hmm. Do you have any tools for. Being just with yourself. Sitting with yourself for the moment. Yeah.
Robyn Engelson: Yeah. It, it, it can be hard, right? Because so many times we're used to being around people or being stimulated or we're just not comfortable being alone. So what I like to do, it's breath work. Um, I will, I, I always do it in front of the mirror too, so I do the breath work in front of the mirror before I start the journaling.
Um, or just bring up your phone to look at the camera and just really just breathe in. And then hold it and breathe out, right? And do that for three seconds in hold for three out for three, and then two seconds, and then one second. And that'll regulate your nervous system. And what that does is it'll help you be in the moment, right?
Sometimes we don't like to the word meditate or, you know, visualize. But if we regulate our nervous system in small steps or increments throughout the day. Then it triggers our thoughts and we're able to data dump our brain dump, um, in our journals.
Courtney Turich: So this is really simple when it comes down to it. Just three steps.
Three steps. Everyone talk to say your mantra in the mirror. Mm-hmm. Number two journal. Yep. And number three, just be, just be with yourself. Be in silence. Yes.
How Robyn’s Podcast Hit the Top 5% Globally
SRobynbin, when you, I mean your podcast, let's talk about that for a moment. Okay. 'cause you have a, I wanna say nationally ranked. It's worldwide. You are 5% worldwide.
One of the top podcast host and founders of the Robyn Engelson podcast. Yes. How did you make that happen? What are you providing to everyone? That is so powerful. Thank you for that,
Robyn Engelson: Courtney. Um, it's interesting too because six months ago I almost picked my podcast for real. I was like, this isn't going anywhere.
I don't wanna do this anymore. It's not fun. So what I did is I had a shift on my effect shift and I was like, I'm gonna make this fun. I started. Evaluating, watching, studying top podcasters like Mel Robbins, Jay Shetty, and I duplicated their process, right? So you never, you don't have to create things on your own.
You just have to be smart enough to duplicate what the people ahead of you have done, right? And I learned that a long time ago because then it becomes your own. So I know that I needed to, part of my strategy is I needed to find awesome people to interview. Lit me up because they'll light my audience up, right?
I had to get much better at interviewing people with questions, asked the flow, the process, how I introduce them, how I close them, you know, what I do in between, and keeping it quick and short and, you know, rotating and moving on to the next subject, not letting them talk too much. And so I figured out the structure, right, the system.
I wanted to use and I was having a lot of fun because I was in flow, right? And I just kept doing it more and more. And when Mel Rams Jay, she changed something. I changed something and I just kept doing it and doing it. I was consistent, right? I've been extremely consistent every single week since October, 2023, and that is key consistency.
Resilience and change. And one of my friends realized she was ranked or found out she 5%. And I was like, how do you even find that out? Like, I didn't even know how to find that. Right. And she's like, you go here and here and like, okay. So I looked, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm top 10%. And then I was like, I wanna be top 5%.
So a month I just kept doing what I was doing. One month later, top 5%. Now I'm like, I wanna be top 3%. So I, and I just keep studying, studying, studying and updating my system and my structure in order to be where I am. And the most important part is just have fun and be in your flow.
Courtney Turich: That is so cool Robyn, and again, you almost gave up and here you are.
You had a mindset shift. Realigned yourself and look at what your accomplishment accomplishing. Anyone can make it happen. Yes,
Robyn Engelson: anyone?
Courtney Turich: Okay. Before I ask my next question, where can people listen to your podcast?
Robyn Engelson: All major podcast outlets, apple, Spotify, YouTube, anywhere. Everywhere. It's all over. Just log on to your local favorite podcast channel.
Courtney Turich: All right everyone. I'm fangirling here because I'm looking at Robyn. She's an inspiration to me to keep. To keep sharing my voice with bold moves, confident choices. So thank you, Robyn. You're inspiring so many of us out here. Absolutely. Thank you. Um, but we're not ending yet because I have a really big question to ask you, and that is, what would you tell your 18-year-old self Robyn today?
Trust your gut
Robyn Engelson: because you always had everything you needed inside of you. You just had to come out of your shell, right? Don't be afraid of what people think of you. Don't be afraid of what people say about you. Don't be afraid to be you because the world needs you. Okay. Women need you. They need your voice.
They need your ambition. They need your strategy and structure. They need your funness, your energy. And remember that fear doesn't exist, right? As I mentioned earlier, it's a story that we is made up in our head that we start to believe is true. It does not exist. So go out there and be
Courtney Turich: you,
Robyn Engelson: boo.
Courtney Turich: Be you boo.
And then trusting yourself is so hard to do. You're that gut feeling, Robyn. We've all had it. We all know the feeling. And why do we fight it so hard?
Robyn Engelson: I think we fight it so hard because of societal pressures.
Courtney Turich: Yeah,
Robyn Engelson: right. There's so much going on in the world and we're addicted to our phones, addicted to social media, and there's this presumed image that we think we need to portray.
When in reality when you're, you are yourself, that's when you attract people. Right
Courtney Turich: spot on. When you can be, when you find that your inner strength, your inner superpowers, you know what you bring to this world, you will shine. It's inevitable 100%.
Robyn Engelson: And when you do the work, Courtney, you develop an inner confidence that you never knew you had.
Courtney Turich: But it
Robyn Engelson: was
Courtney Turich: always inside
Robyn Engelson: of you.
Courtney Turich: I couldn't agree more. And you know something else, Robyn, to just take it a step further. When you surround yourself with people who are doing the same, it only makes catapults you further into that direction of being in your skin, believing in who you are, being confident and really thriving out there in the world.
Robyn Engelson: Absolutely. You are the sum of the five people you surround yourself with, so you better choose smartly and because the people that you surround yourself with elevate you
Trust, Thrive, and Shake It Off
Courtney Turich: a thousand percent. And so Robyn, as we're looking at your life and where you've been, what would you like to leave everyone with today?
Robyn Engelson: Trust yourself. Love yourself and know that anything is possible for you and your life in order to thrive and be the best version of yourself. Lean in.
Courtney Turich: Lean in. And Robyn, if people are looking for guidance and direction, how do they work with you? What does that look like?
Robyn Engelson: Oh, it's so much fun. I love this question.
It's, I'm such a fun person and I bring it out in everybody. Uh, so we might even have some hip hop dancing going on. So the best way to work with me is through my one-on-one coaching. Right. So it's a 12 week program and we have one-on-one zooms each week, and we go through the nutrition, fitness mindset and accountability, and we really dig deep into what's holding you back, right?
Why are you not getting that promotion? Why do you feel exhausted when you come home? Why are you and your spouse not getting along right? All of the things that are holding you back because you're overwhelmed and burnt out and you don't have and want to have now clarity and confidence.
Courtney Turich: Robyn, if they want to reach out to you.
Where's the best way to find you? LinkedIn or my website, Robyn engelson com. Fantastic. Robyn, it has been awesome having you here today. I am walking away with ways to empower myself, to love myself, to remind myself that those affirmations are imperative and and growth. Not only just sitting and quiet and solitude, embracing those feelings, those thoughts.
And when. I wanna have a lot of fun to go shake it off with a little hip hop, find Robyn and we'll have some fun. So Robyn, thank you so much for being here today. I, I can't wait for my audience to hear this. You have so much to offer to this world. I see your light, I see your energy, you make me wanna move and groove.
So again, thank you. Thank you, thank you. And go ahead, whatever.
Robyn Engelson: I was gonna say thank you to you, Courtney, because I really enjoyed this conversation and I believe that it's going to help your listeners and audience really dive deep into themselves and figure out their purpose and what they're meant to do in this world to make both bold moves.
Courtney Turich: Thank you so much. I can't thank you enough for being here. Everyone out there, remember, go be bold, be confident, and be you. Thanks.
