JEN AKS 0:00
Welcome to the Wisdom From Within podcast. My name is Jen Aks, and I am your host. This is where mindset meets bodyset, where we access both so that we can make the most genuine, authentic, empowered impact on those we love and those we serve. Let's get started.
I am so excited today to have Madison Malloy, who is the podcast host of Next to Madison — which is all about confidence, identity, and reinvention. She's a best-selling author, a mindset coach, and a speaker. And what I love so much about this woman's story is that she has taken so many pivots. Just wait. She started in finance and she pivoted into comedy and she pivoted into having her own podcast, et cetera, et cetera. The list is long. She's made a lot of moves. And at the end of the day, she has followed her gut. She has followed her intuition and she has found freedom because of it. There's so much to learn from this story, and I'm so excited to share her with you.
Welcome, welcome, Madison. I thank you for being here. And I'm so excited for the listeners to hear about your journey — because this is called the Wisdom From Within podcast, right? And it's all about the humanity of us, the stories within us, the life journey that led us where we are now, through this lens of the body's wisdom. Really helping people understand what that means and why it matters and how it can help us be successful in our life.
So here's the thing about you that I love so much — you've made so many pivots in your life, it seems. And from what I read and what we talked about briefly, the initial onset was that you were in finance for a long time, right? And then you made a pivot, and then you made another pivot. What I'm curious about is: was that the entry point for you? Did you want to go into finance? Can you talk to us about that journey — that first initial decision and what led you there?
MADISON MALLOY 2:29
So I was about 16 years old, in high school. My mom had a friend whose husband was very wealthy, and they could do a lot of things that we couldn't. And my dad said, well, that's because I'm an accountant and he's an investment banker. And I said, well, then I'm gonna be an investment banker. I don't want to hear no, I want to do what they're doing. So I had kind of made my mind up based on never wanting to hear no, wanting to do these amazing things, have that financial freedom, and kind of prove my value to the world — at that time, being young.
So everything — where I went to college, what I studied — was all based on the fact that I was going to Wall Street. I had a very clear vision and nothing was gonna stop me. And I didn't really even know about visualization and manifestation and all this stuff back then. It was just something I naturally embodied. Everything worked out. Everything always worked out. My dad used to call me "the lucky one." So I get to Wall Street — I love it. I still have friends that I worked with there to this day. It was amazing. But I realized when I was looking around that I didn't feel that people were happy or fulfilled. They were aging rapidly. And there seemed to be a lot of corporate BS.
JEN AKS 3:55
What were you noticing that made you feel that way?
MADISON MALLOY 3:58
I think it was a lot of what we call FaceTime. It was more about not the work you did, but being there at a certain time, staying till a certain time, even if there wasn't any work to be done. So it just felt like everybody was trying to make an impression to move up this ladder. But then there were really fun parts too. Like when you saw a trader freak out and get into a fist fight — as much as that could be scary, this was the movies you saw. I was living the dream. Some guy just smashed his computer on the ground. I'm like, this is awesome.
JEN AKS 4:34
You were like, this is passion, this is drive! What were you aligning with?
MADISON MALLOY 4:42
It was everything I saw in the movies. Wall Street, Boiler Room. I was like part of the men's locker room — total tomboy. I'm like, this is amazing. I'm like, where's the cocaine and the hookers? This is what we need, you know?
JEN AKS 4:58
Yes. Oh my God, that's hilarious. Okay.
MADISON MALLOY 5:02
And so there was the adrenaline part, the good parts, and the people were great. But I got there when things were really, really good. I was a mortgage bond trader. And then about a year and a half later, things started to unravel and we landed into the financial crisis of 2008.
JEN AKS 5:26
Okay.
MADISON MALLOY 5:27
So even though I wanted to get out of that particular sector, I thought maybe I would stay in finance. But it was amazing to witness people losing everything — not amazing in a good way, but in a wake-up way. Like, nothing is guaranteed. This can all be taken from you at any single moment. People were pulling their kids out of school, selling their homes. People didn't know if they were going to be in trouble with the law. Nobody kind of knew what was going on. So I took it as this is God's way of telling me, okay, here's your exit. You don't have to explain yourself. Boom, and that was it.
And I had met this guy in my building in New York who was always with a different woman. And I said to him, are you the biggest player in New York City? And he laughed, thought it was funny, and we immediately struck up a conversation. He had had a company and wanted to start one that would compete with it a little bit. He needed somebody young and hungry to run it. And I was like, oh, I get to own a company and do my own thing. This is exactly what I needed. So without doing any due diligence, I jumped. And I didn't realize there was so much risk — the model wasn't exactly right, the budget they were gonna allow me to build a team around, so many working parts. And you know, my mistakes, their mistakes — eventually we didn't make it. But that journey led me to feeling like I hit rock bottom.
JEN AKS 7:12
And the journey, the crash you're talking about — that was the business, not the Wall Street crash?
MADISON MALLOY 7:18
It was the crash of the business not going where I thought it would go.
JEN AKS 7:23
Okay, got it.
MADISON MALLOY 7:24
And running out of money.
JEN AKS 7:26
Let's just rewind for a quick second. When you were still on Wall Street and 2008 happens — you're seeing all these people dealing with such loss. I'm curious about that piece, being at the front and center, because the whole concept of this podcast is to awaken people to that inner voice — to know that it's their GPS, the voice of their truth, their guidance, the system they should follow. Because we're so focused on external expectations. What does this person want me to do? What is that? So I'm just curious about that moment — because you said God told you, you had this moment of like, it's time to pivot. What was that really? Was that an internal voice? What was that crossroads like for you personally before you pivoted and went to work for this other company?
MADISON MALLOY 8:35
Well, if you mentioned how your body felt — if I went back to that time, my chest felt tight a lot. You had anxiety naturally, but it's kind of what helped you fuel and thrive in those environments. But I gotta tell you — and we'll get back to it — that never stopped. And I never realized that I was living in fight or flight. My shoulders were always tight. Even when I was sleeping, I couldn't fully relax. I just thought that was normal.
JEN AKS 9:13
Okay, this is so important. Yes, speak to that. You thought that was normal because that's all you knew.
MADISON MALLOY 9:22
That was it — after college, it was this constant pressure to prove yourself to the world, validate yourself. You wanted external validation. And I think a lot of teens and people in their 20s really thrive on that. When they don't get that, it's a dangerous place to be. It wasn't until I was about 35 that the inner validation started kicking in. But I didn't realize I was living in fight-or-flight mode and constantly stressed until I moved out of New York City — which was just recently, just six weeks ago.
JEN AKS 9:59
Oh my gosh. Okay, that's so great. So you were feeling that stress in your chest, your shoulders, your sleep. Did this stem from earlier? Because you got into this — you're talking about young people looking for that external validation, trying to prove yourself. It sounds like you fell into that category. So did that fight or flight start earlier in your body as well? But you were just focused and moving forward?
MADISON MALLOY 10:31
When your body feels a certain way, you just think it's normal. It's your new normal. So you've got to reset that system. But New York City — as much as it has a lot of amazing, beautiful things to offer, and I would never regret my time there — it's not necessarily the healthiest place to live. The cost of living is very high, everything's very expensive. So you're constantly trying to survive. People get raises, but then everything else goes up. So you never really feel like you're getting ahead. And I think people just naturally live in this without knowing it. And I didn't know.
People would describe me as happy. I was happy — I was happy with a million knots in my back, but I felt happy. And that's why I always wanted to escape the city on weekends. In the summer, if I had to spend one weekend in the city, I was sad. Because I needed nature, I needed that escape — it was the only time I could really relax. And I just didn't know that. Unless you are making 10 plus million dollars a year, I think it's really hard to feel zen in New York. I can only speak from my experience. I love New York, and I had tears the other day because I miss my girlfriends. But they're all gonna come down and visit, and I can always go back.
JEN AKS 12:06
What was that final moment — the climb to that decision of, I'm actually out of here? What was your body telling you? How did you feel? And how do you feel now?
MADISON MALLOY 12:31
I feel great. I think, like many New Yorkers who have fled — a lot have gone to Florida or different places — the political landscape was becoming too intense. The city was collecting all this tax revenue but couldn't balance a budget. Everything was just getting crunched. There's so many things if you go down the rabbit hole — the ghost apartments sitting empty, rents kept artificially high. It was just corruption through and through. And I just felt like: I don't see this going in a direction I want to be involved in. I had the best years in New York City. And I think it is time where I can live more like a queen, get ahead financially because of the taxes, and finally just kind of relax — be in a place that feels more like home.
It didn't come without risk. I had a great group of friends that I left, and that was the hardest part. But I luckily have friends down in Nashville, so that put me ahead. I'm still trying to find my group of girls and find my way, and slowly and surely you do that.
But you've got to take the risk. And that was that gut feeling that I never would listen to. I wouldn't listen to it in relationships, I wouldn't listen to it in jobs. I just thought it was me expecting the worst outcome — the anxiety running the show — when actually a lot of it was me not listening to my gut. So when I started to rewire my mind and get out of the anxiety and depression —
JEN AKS 14:30
How'd you do that?
MADISON MALLOY 14:31
A lot of self-help podcasts, a lot of trainings — manifestation trainings — a lot of tracking my thoughts. How was I feeling? What was this thought? Where did it come from? Really getting out of that situation. And — I totally had a brain fart.
JEN AKS 14:54
That's okay. Because I'm really thinking about this — you started doing all that work. But then how did you trust the gut after not trusting it for so long?
MADISON MALLOY 15:05
Because the gut was always right.
JEN AKS 15:08
How'd you know that?
MADISON MALLOY 15:09
Because what I expected happened. And so that's why I tell people: be very careful. You can manifest what you don't want. And you can just as easily manifest what you want. So I don't know if I was manifesting it or if it was my intuition telling me this is not right — because eventually I had the proof. All of a sudden it was like, see, I knew I was right. So I started to listen and follow it because I had a track record. The track record was: when this feeling comes up, your body is telling you something. Have a conversation, make some adjustments. But I refused to listen to it because I think we ignore our body, we ignore our feelings, and we blow it off as nerves, as overthinking, as interpreting something differently — instead of listening to that gut.
So when I had a gut feeling that I needed to get to Nashville — there's a lot of entertainment and publishers here — I decided, you know, maybe I should follow this. I can live the quality of life that I want. It's a new adventure. Everyone that's moved down here loves it. There's no state tax, there's no city tax. And so I said, you know what? Go. This is my chance to start fresh. And I had no idea — within the first three days of getting here, I'm like, I feel different. I haven't felt stressed. Nothing's changed within my work and my workload, but the stress has just gone.
JEN AKS 16:52
Wow.
MADISON MALLOY 16:52
It's just gone. It's just weird. Like, I don't feel frazzled. So I'm a big believer in: you can have your goals, but if you're not in the right environment, your goals are going to be impossible to reach. Your environment, your living situation, who you surround yourself with — that's a big thing. I had the best people around me, so I had that going for me. But I didn't have the healthiest living situation for me. And I knew if I didn't make a change, another year goes by and not much changes — except you need a little more units of Botox. You know what I mean? Like, it's the only thing that's changing. And I knew that if I didn't make this change, nothing would really change. So I followed it, and so far, so good.
JEN AKS 17:53
Okay, that is incredible. You listened to your body. And I love that whole journey, because so many people ask me: how do I know when my gut is pulling me in a direction? How do I know it's the right direction? And what you're saying is: you proved it to yourself. You listened to your gut, it took you down a path that was actually right for a long period — until your body got louder, and then your gut told you to pivot. You had proof about what happens when you manifest. So be careful, right? I love both sides of it. So now: is it like you're just going to listen all the time? Are you doing anything differently with your body — with the relationship and how you listen to it?
MADISON MALLOY 18:49
Yeah, like sometimes — I think I'm very much an empath. I pick up on people's energy. So if my friends are anxious or somebody I'm dating is anxious, I can feel that. And it feels weird because I'm going, wait, I thought I'd healed this, I've gotten over this. And then when you have a conversation, it's like, yeah, I've got this anxiety. And it's like, even far away, it's pulling.
So I think for somebody like me, you can feel other people's anxiety when you're connected to them. And when that happens, it's: hey, just stop and have a conversation. When it comes to relationships — friends, family, romantic — you can feel somebody else's anxiety when you're connected to them. And that's when you need to have a conversation. Because we want to avoid the conversation. I don't like conflict. I really do avoid it. But if I feel like somebody might be a little upset with me, or doesn't like how I showed up for something — with family specifically — sometimes I used to just brush it under the rug. But I'd feel it in my body, in my gut: oh, I think they're a little annoyed at me. And I would avoid it in the past. But now I just say, hey, I just wanted to check in. I felt something was off. I just want to make sure you're okay. Am I doing anything that's upsetting you? How can I show up better for you? I love that term. How do I show up better for you?
JEN AKS 20:26
Okay, that's beautiful. Do you apply that in your business?
MADISON MALLOY 20:33
No, but I should.
JEN AKS 20:36
Because if you do it —
MADISON MALLOY 20:38
Well, in business — one thing I tell people all the time is: if you're gonna start a business based on how much money you're gonna make, you're probably gonna fail. You just are, because you're chasing the wrong thing. You need to start a business based on the service and the value you're gonna bring to this industry or this world. So being in the creative space, when I go and create a concept or a book or whatever it is and I'm gonna pitch it to a publisher or production company or network, I always go through the lens of: how can I serve you and add value to you? It's not this is what this is gonna do for me — I take myself out of the equation. The equation is: this is how this project can produce a positive ROI, can impact listeners, viewers, readers, and this is what it's gonna do to improve the world.
My mission is: how do I make the world a better place? I had a friend that got me involved in a business thing, and somebody said, you have so many different things — why are you doing this? And I said: because people are getting taken advantage of, and I want to stop it. And if I can help improve their life, then it goes right into the mission of Madison Malloy.
JEN AKS 22:08
Well, I love that so much. And it goes back to the question — do you apply this in your business? You said no, I should. But you absolutely do apply it. You might not be sitting in front of someone saying, how can I show up for you? But that is how you serve the world. That's the question you're asking the world internally, to then go out and execute your form of leadership. Your form of leadership is all about service, showing up better, providing, helping people's lives get better. So you are actually asking that question.
MADISON MALLOY 22:45
Okay, good. I guess I'm asking it a different way. But yeah, I always tell people — when you go at it from the value you're adding, that's how you make leaps and bounds. And also for anyone young listening to this who is buying stuff you can't afford to impress people you don't really care about: stop. None of that's gonna matter in the end.
JEN AKS 23:13
None of it, right? I love that whole piece about service and mission. And I'm just curious — at the heart of your service, where do you feel that in your body? What's the connection? Where does that come from deep within you?
MADISON MALLOY 23:40
Well, I want to say heart — because heart is love and service. And I feel good. And I think the majority of people feel better when they're doing something for somebody else. It's the whole thing: the more you give, the more you get. And you don't give to get — you just give to give. It always comes back around.
I used to have a thing where if there was a business deal going on, I wanted to make sure I was protected, included, not cut out. All of that's gone. I just live by: life is happening for me, and it'll be this or something better. So now when I connect people, I don't connect people thinking, what's in it for me? I connect people out of the goodness of my heart because other people have done that for me. And that's how we have to keep living. Thinking, oh, because they get this opportunity there's not enough for me — that is a scarcity mindset that needs to be stopped immediately. What is meant for you will be for you.
And I always wake up every day like, show me the amazing things that are gonna happen today. And if something goes a little bit awry, it's like, well, life's happening for me. Look at the lesson it could teach you. And you're gonna start noticing, when you live in that mindset, that there's less lessons to be learned. You're kind of on the other side.
JEN AKS 25:15
I love that.
MADISON MALLOY 25:16
Yeah, because there aren't as many stressful things when you operate from a life is always happening for me mindset. And I think this is where our society went so wrong. I heard somebody say this on a podcast once and I was like, oh my God, that's brilliant: we are so brainwashed and trained in society as if we are going to live forever. We don't have mortality on the forefront of our mind — which changes the game. We stress about things that aren't important. We worry. We don't express love or honesty with people. We're afraid of rejection. And when you really look at those fears, they're operating from a lens of it's gonna last forever.
When you start looking at, oh my gosh, this could end at any point — your rejection fears go away. You're more honest and vulnerable with the people you love. The worry kind of stops. And you start looking at life like a video game. If things go wrong, you stop, you reset, and you go through. You realize that nothing is forever. We come in here alone, we go out alone.
So I think a lot, in relationships — and I'm speaking from my past experience — I would be fearful to open up or get involved because I didn't want to get hurt. But if it's like: wow, I have six months to live or six years to live — I want to experience that. None of us know. And it's like, who cares what you look like? As long as you're going forward and being your most authentic self, you've really got nothing to lose. Because I don't want to be one of those people on my deathbed saying I wish I'd done this, I wish I'd done that.
JEN AKS 27:13
Yeah. And it takes a while to get there. It's not easy to get comfortable with that.
MADISON MALLOY 27:18
No, it took me 37 years.
JEN AKS 27:21
Right, exactly. So talk to us a little bit about how that shift happened for you. What kind of practices, who were your teachers? What experiences did you have to create that shift?
MADISON MALLOY 27:34
I think I had a rock bottom moment, to be honest. I always had that famous line of: I'll be happy when. I'll be happy when I'm famous, I'll be happy when I sell this TV show. So life was always in the future — there was stuff to look forward to. But how on earth was I ever supposed to bring this to me if it was always just out there? So the universe was saying, we'll just dangle it in front of her like a carrot. Because that's the frequency she's giving off and she's okay with this. And it was always living for the future instead of being grateful for what I had.
And for me — I was so financially stressed. I wasn't getting ahead. I lived in this constant scarcity and lack mindset before I even really knew what that was. And I became really depressed. Really, really depressed. But I was afraid to come out and say I'm depressed. I didn't want to be labeled as someone who had depression or anxiety. I was just so down that I remember my lowest moment, thinking: I don't even want to be alive. Like it would just — and I remember thinking to myself, what would this do to your friends, your family? If this isn't God's plan, this is a selfish move. You have so many other blessings. And it kind of woke me up to think: holy shit, I'm not looking around at all the good things in my life. All the amazing things. Yeah, I may not be a zillionaire. But this stuff that I have in my life — you can't buy that.
And that's when I stepped into immense gratitude. And that started to change the game.
JEN AKS 29:31
Did you do that on your own, or did you have guidance?
MADISON MALLOY 29:34
I started to do that on my own. And then the depression was still there, and I realized that sometimes our bodies just don't produce certain hormones or chemicals — and that's okay. I think accepting yourself and loving yourself and being okay with the fact that help is there if you need it. So I went on a mild antidepressant, and it helped me just kind of calm myself and get clear. And then I read The Secret and The Power of the Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy, and different things. And really just studied that.
But a lot of people know The Secret or they know these books and still can't apply it to their lives, because they're just listening — they're not actually taking action and changing the identity that creates that. So I started really tracking my thoughts. Was this scarcity? Was this abundance? Where was it coming from? What was I feeling? What happened the day before? Really getting a gauge on what was causing it so I could stop it.
And a big thing too is — you can say reject. I think that's a good way to keep things from imprinting on your subconscious mind. Like, you can be at a party with a group of people and they're talking about how shitty the economy is, how expensive everything is, how they don't have enough money. You don't want to absorb that energy. So in your mind — while you're listening out of respect — you're also saying: reject, reject, reject, reject, reject.
JEN AKS 31:20
That's like my version of bodyset. As soon as I get hijacked or I'm in a moment or a conversation, I'm like: bodyset — hand on your heart, belly, close your eyes.
MADISON MALLOY 31:30
Yeah, no, exactly. It's so true.
JEN AKS 31:33
Because we need to return to what's true. Okay, go ahead.
MADISON MALLOY 31:36
Yeah. And from there I was able to just really uncomplicate life, I feel like — make it more fun and kind of operate it like a video game. Like I could die at any moment. Why am I not taking these risks? Why am I not having more fun? Why do I give a shit what anyone thinks? And it just kind of took over. And that's when I realized: the times I'm most upset, I just need to pull the corn cob right out. You know what I mean? Because what the hell got shoved up there?
And so I wrote the book Time to Light the F**k Up, because I felt like that was the answer — that everyone is just overcomplicating things and is so uptight. If we just looked back and started laughing at what life really is, we're kind of living in this crazy matrix, just trying to evolve our soul so we can get back home. And in the meantime, we're trying to accumulate so much stuff that we can't even take with us.
So it's kind of a funny game if you think about it. It's such a blip of time. I always love that visual where it's like you are here, and then it zooms all the way out and you can't even see it. Stop taking yourself so seriously. None of this is that important. Have fun, enjoy, laugh, spread value, love yourself, love other people. It's not hard. We made it hard.
JEN AKS 33:17
Oh my gosh. And then you wound up doing comedy! Let's talk about that — was it like, lighten the f**k up and I'm gonna go be a comedian?
MADISON MALLOY 33:31
No, that came after. That's why the self-help book is supposed to be funny and raunchy. So I started comedy after the online business I'd left Wall Street for stopped. I said, well, I've got nothing to lose — I might as well just go after my dream. And I was the happiest when I was making people laugh.
JEN AKS 33:51
Oh my gosh. When did you know? When did the comedian piece of you come alive?
MADISON MALLOY 34:06
You're born with it. I used to sit around and tell people jokes all the time. I had a great memory. But the problem was that my jokes were never appropriate — even when I was younger. Well, it's not a problem unless you want to get booked in corporate America. And in college, I'd pick up a hairbrush like it was a mic and be like, all right, listen, everybody, I got a joke. And people would tell me funny stories because I had this energy — not the energy of attracting negative stuff, but the energy of attracting crazy, insane, thank-you-God-for-this-story situations.
I don't know how it happened, but somebody's like: if you're gonna have a wild night where something crazy and random and funny is gonna happen, it's because you're with Madison. And I for some reason just attracted those situations. I mean, I got trapped at 20 years old at a nudist colony — like a nudist swingers fest. Pardon me.
JEN AKS 35:23
Oh my god, are you kidding me? What?
MADISON MALLOY 35:28
It's one of my favorite stories.
JEN AKS 35:29
I love it!
MADISON MALLOY 35:30
So I was in Boston for school. My dad said, I'll give you $1,500 if you can find a girlfriend to go with you for spring break — I want you to experience spring break. So I said okay. But I need all-inclusive: all the food, all the flights. Five-star, all-inclusive. I call up a travel agent in Boston — BJ's Travel. And they said, yes, we can get this for you. But the catch is, based on availability, you won't know where you're going until you land in the third world country. And I'm like, sign me up. This sounds great.
So my girlfriend and I book this trip. All we know is we have tickets to Montego Bay, Jamaica. We get there and they tell us: no, you're getting on a bus to Negril. All the spring breakers are going to Montego Bay, and we get on a bus with a bunch of baby boomers — our parents' age. And I'm thinking, oh shit, what did I do here?
We didn't know the name of the resort, we didn't know anything — until my friend noticed some weird photos on the wall. And our room wasn't ready, so we went up to the bar by the pool. And it wasn't until I saw a butt-naked man with a very large limp — just swinging like a pendulum, like an elephant trunk. And I'm thinking — I'd never seen one limp because I'm 20 years old, they all worked at that age. We crack up laughing. And I'm like, oh my god, that guy's naked. And the people next to us said, do you have any idea where you're at? And we're like, no. And they're like: this is a nudist resort. This is the prude side. But if you go over to the nude side, it's like a big party.
JEN AKS 37:31
Whoa!
MADISON MALLOY 37:32
And we're just laughing. I'm like, this is insane. But what I learned from that trip: A, if you haven't gone down a water slide butt naked, it's fun. Do it. It's the best public douche you'll ever have. Put it on your bucket list. I'm telling you, you drain for like 15 minutes. It's amazing. And number two: just because it isn't your lifestyle doesn't give you the right to judge. We have to do what's best for us. Am I a swinger? Do I want an open relationship? Absolutely not. But am I gonna sit there and put my values and my judgments on somebody else because they choose to do that? No. These people were lovely, they were respectful, they just like to get a little crazy.
JEN AKS 38:16
Oh my God, what a story!
MADISON MALLOY 38:18
Yes, it's kind of like the article: What I Learned About Seeing a Thousand Dicks in a Week.
JEN AKS 38:24
That is a great article, actually.
MADISON MALLOY 38:26
Right? And the good news — I didn't have to touch any of them.
JEN AKS 38:30
Oh my God, I love that. So how long did you do comedy?
MADISON MALLOY 38:36
I did comedy for 13 years, and I still get dragged back on stage. It was amazing. I got to perform with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I got to travel all over, I got to meet the most incredible people. The friends I made in comedy were not the people I would have been friends with had I stayed on Wall Street. And you really just become humble, you appreciate what's around you, you start becoming friends with people from very different walks of life. And it's a blessing. And I can't fully let comedy go because my mind just is very dirty. People need to have an outlet. But also, when people hear you're a comedian, they're like, oh my god, she's hilarious.
JEN AKS 39:27
Right, right. What's so interesting — I just had this circle-back moment. When you started on Wall Street, you noticed people were really living for the outside: showing up on time, proving themselves for external reasons. And then all these years later, you're in this comedic world, seeing people for the truth of who they are — their rawness, their honesty. What a breath of humanity you've been exposed to and been able to learn from.
So, we have a couple minutes left. You've told us a bit about your journey, which is so incredibly beautiful. Listening to your body, how it helps you, how it can sometimes cause pain — but then you learn from it and you pivot. And now you are in Nashville, your body feels free. You said you feel less stressed and calm, almost at home — even though you've left your friends, even though it was a difficult decision. You followed your intuition and you've landed in the right place. How does that feel?
MADISON MALLOY 40:47
I just knew. It feels good. I mean, I just knew there was something down here. I had been working on a secret project — not out yet — that took place, you know, involving two women who were up north and ended up in the deep south. And that would eventually get me to being here. But there are just so many new people I've met here and doors that have opened up, things in entertainment that I still had on the side burner that have now reignited — from being here, from being in just a clear state of mind. Entertainment feels very big here. It almost feels like an LA with less attitude, which is nice. I primarily came down here for a better cost of living and my career.
JEN AKS 41:40
I love that.
MADISON MALLOY 41:42
And there are other things that have happened too that have been great. I think that no matter where you're at — if you're in a positive mindset and you realize life is so short, I'm just gonna take the risk, I'm not gonna be afraid of rejection, not gonna be afraid of failure, not gonna be afraid of what people think — your life will be absolutely magical. Because it happened to me.
JEN AKS 42:06
I think that's so beautiful. And I'm just going to invite in the whole piece of bodyset here. There is the mindset, and what you're talking about. But what we haven't named is the bodyset. You listened to your body, your body's intuition, the body's intelligence — that gut knowing. You mentioned it many, many times. This is the awareness I want people to understand, connect with, and live by. It's a combination of our mindset and our bodyset so that we can live whole, real, honest, and authentic. Which is what you are doing.
So how do people connect with you? If I'm listening to this, I'm like: I need to know her. I need to know where she is, what she's doing, how can I be a part of her world?
MADISON MALLOY 42:58
Yeah, so you can follow me on Instagram and TikTok at realmadisonmalloy. You can check out my podcast Next to Madison — Jen has been on there — which covers a lot of great topics from coaching to health to finance, all the stuff to make your world a little bit better and inspire you. My books — you can go on my website, madisonmalloy.com. My first book was Time to Light the F**k Up, which was a lot of personal stories about how I dealt with anxiety and depression and really learned to take my foot off the gas, so to say, and enjoy life more — which actually helps you reach your goals faster. And yeah, you can just Google Madison Malloy and I'll pop up.
JEN AKS 43:45
I'm gonna put all your information in the show notes. You're fantastic, you're a real inspiration. I love your journey, I love the humor. I'm all about how you can —
MADISON MALLOY 43:55
Thank you. And thank you for allowing me to say a couple dirty things on here. One thing I will say — it's so funny, people ask, how do you describe yourself? And I always say: I've got Greenwich, Connecticut face with trailer park taste.
JEN AKS 44:11
Ah, that's funny. You're fantastic. Thank you all for being here and listening to the Wisdom From Within podcast, which is where human stories awaken the leadership from within. Thank you so much, and I'll see you next week.
If something in this conversation spoke to you, don't keep it to yourself — send it to someone who might need that message too. You can also send me a comment, because I would love to know what it is that landed for you. But most importantly, take a moment to pause and listen to what it is that resonated — because that's where your real guidance system lives. The one you can trust, the one you can rely on. See you next week.