Aligning Your Life and Your Core Values with Shannon Logan
If you've ever felt like you're running a hundred miles an hour and somehow still falling behind in your business, in your home, or in your own head, this episode is going to feel like someone finally gave you permission to stop.
This week on The Chaotic Middle, I sat down with Shannon Logan, an executive coach based in Annapolis, Maryland, and the founder of The Whole Women Reset. Shannon works with women who are facing health, mindset, and overall fulfillment challenges, which, let's be honest, is most of us. She's a former gym owner, a kinesiology major turned wellness entrepreneur, and a mom to a five-year-old daughter. And the wisdom she brought to this conversation? Consider it required listening.
From Gym Owner to Executive Coach: A Path Paved With Real Experience
Shannon didn't arrive at executive coaching through a textbook. She built her way there through a decade of real-world, boots-on-the-ground experience.
She started personal training as a college junior, worked her way through big gyms, managed one, and then, in December 2014, opened her own brick-and-mortar gym, which she ran for 10 years. Through COVID, through scaling, through five full-time employees and all the payroll and pressure that comes with it, Shannon was building something real.
And then she had her daughter.
"When you have a kid, your whole identity shifts. For a lot of us, we don't figure out who we are for years after that, much less how to take care of that person."
Shannon had always wanted to be the primary caregiver for her child in those first two years. So she built her business around that intention before her daughter was even born, shifting her team and systems so she could be home while still running the gym. It was a lot. It was also the crucible that forged everything she now teaches.
Through that season of managing motherhood and a brick-and-mortar business simultaneously, she developed what she calls her SET Protocol. A framework built around Self, Energy, and Time, these are the three things she needed to manage to keep herself healthy, sane, and actually enjoying her life.
Colleagues started noticing. They started asking for help. And Shannon started coaching.
"I really found that I loved working with moms who owned businesses because we are a unique niche. We are the CEO of everything."
When she eventually sold the gym and transitioned into executive coaching full-time, her focus was clear: help women who are treading water finally find solid ground.
The CEO of Everything — And the Burnout That Follows
There's a reason Shannon's clients, who are female business owners and mothers, burn out faster than everyone else.
The demands at work and the demands at home don't take turns. They stack. Simultaneously.
And when you are the default question-answerer for your business and the default question-answerer for your household, there is no mental bandwidth left for yourself.
"They're just trying to get by, just trying to survive. And the thing is, this is the life we wanted. This is the life we prayed for. But because the days are long and they stack repetitively on top of each other, we can forget that."
That's the trap. Not that the life is bad. But that the pace of it, left unmanaged, can make you forget why you built it in the first place.
Shannon's approach starts with getting clear on what actually matters and building a structure around that, rather than around everyone else's noise.
Core Values as a North Star (And a Filter for Everything Else)
One of the most practical frameworks Shannon shared in this conversation was her approach to core values. And it's not the surface-level "write three words on a sticky note" version you've probably seen before.
She starts every client engagement by going deep on core values. Not what they think they are, but what the data actually shows, because where you spend your time and where you spend your money tells the real story.
"That's where that first sense of sandpaper on the inside starts from, because they have a set of core values that aren't being expressed, or are in contradiction somehow."
Once those values are identified and clarified, Shannon uses them to build out a personal and professional vision for three years, five years, ten years, and beyond. All the way to the front porch rocking chair with iced tea and grandkids.
And here's where it gets powerful: that vision becomes a filter.
When the next shiny offer lands in your inbox, when someone launches a new program, and the FOMO kicks in, or when you're being pulled in seventeen directions by seventeen different "must-do" strategies, you run it through the filter. Does this support where I'm going? If not, it's a no.
"Once you start to align your core values with the vision for your business, it's almost like a key to life. It's almost like you can't fail because you're working in the way you were designed to work."
This applies to motherhood just as much as business, by the way. Because the same noise that tells you you need the latest business strategy is also telling you your kid won't be successful without the right tutoring program, the right sleep sack, the right everything. And the antidote is the same: get clear on your own definition of success, and stop measuring yourself against someone else's.
Shiny Object Syndrome Is Keeping You Stuck
Shannon had a name for something I described, and it's something most entrepreneurs will recognize immediately: shiny object syndrome.
We are being bombarded with input constantly. Every strategy, every platform, every coach, and every course promises to be the thing that finally moves the needle. And at the root of almost all of it? Money. Someone is always making money off of making you feel like you're behind.
"When you buy into those shiny objects, you're just switching every 60, 90 days, and you're not actually making progress in any of them. That's why you don't scale, you don't grow. Because you're not actually working on them. You're entertaining them for a short time and then getting distracted by the next one."
The solution isn't to never try new things. It's to have a north star — a vision, a filter, a clear set of values — so that when the next shiny thing shows up, you can evaluate it against something real instead of reacting to the fear of missing out.
Brick-and-Mortar vs. Online: The Real Trade-Offs
Shannon has lived both sides of this conversation. She spent ten years with a physical location, employees, and payroll pressure, and now runs her coaching business entirely online. She was refreshingly honest about the trade-offs of each.
Brick-and-mortar gives you something online businesses can't fully replicate: real human connection. You can see your clients, your staff, and your community. Zoom helps bridge the gap, but it's not the same. It never quite is.
But online gives you something brick-and-mortar can't: freedom. Shannon took her daughter to Disney and the Florida Keys for 10 days to celebrate her fifth birthday and worked from the Keys without skipping a beat. Nobody cared. Nobody noticed.
"You have to get good with boundaries, no matter what you have. But when you're online, it's harder because you could technically always be working. And clients are online all the time."
Her recommendation? Find what works for you and protect it. Unapologetically. Because you will be better rested, more energized, and more inspired if you take that space, and that ultimately makes you better at everything.
She also shared a practical tool she loves: an app called Opal, which lets you schedule blocks of time where certain apps are completely inaccessible. During her daughter's after-school hours, email, social media, and work messaging are blocked entirely. And when she accidentally tries to open them and can't, her response is relief. Not frustration. Relief.
That says everything.
The Postpartum Care Gap Nobody Talks About
One of the most honest moments in this conversation came when Shannon and I got real about postpartum support. Or rather, the spectacular lack of it.
You grow a human being from nothing. You grow their heart, their eyeballs, their everything. You go through labor, and then, after all of that, the system essentially says: “Here's one appointment in six weeks. Good luck.”
"Postpartum was so much harder than actually being pregnant. I've played sports my whole life. I'm an athlete. I've trained through hard things. Nothing was like labor."
The placenta alone is the size of a dinner plate, Shannon pointed out. It represents a real wound inside your body that has to heal. And we are sent home and expected to figure out breastfeeding, sleep deprivation, and a complete identity shift with essentially no roadmap and minimal support.
It's not a personal failing. It's a systemic one. And the first step is just naming it.
Answering the Chaotic Questions
At the end of every episode, I ask each guest the same three questions. Here's how Shannon answered:
If you could go back and talk to your 2005 self, what would you tell her?
"Relax. Take a breath. You'll figure it out. Whatever it is, you'll figure it out."
A new mom comes to you for advice. What's the first thing you tell her?
"You are enough. You're enough just the way you are. And you don't have to do it alone."
What do you hope your daughter remembers about you as her mom?
"That I was present. That I was there."
Where to Find Shannon
You can find Shannon on Instagram at @coachshannonlogan and on her website at coachshannonlogan.com. If you're a woman, especially a mom who owns a business, who's tired of treading water and ready to actually build a life that feels as good as it looks, go find her. This conversation was just the beginning.
Ready to Hear More Stories Like This?
Shannon shared some tidbits of information that I think we all need to hear, both as moms and as women, but she shares so much more over on her Instagram. If you’ve been treading water and trying not to drown, I highly suggest you go add her to your Following list.
If this conversation inspired you, you're going to love The Chaotic Middle podcast, where we feature real stories from real people navigating the beautiful mess of work, life, motherhood, and everything in between.
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Because the world needs more voices. More stories. More humanity. And maybe yours is next.
