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In a world where AI is ever-present, information never stops, and external opinions flood our feeds, it’s easy to lose touch with the one voice that truly knows: your own.
Return to Intuition is a podcast for conscious leaders, working parents, creatives, and seekers who are ready to pause the noise and tune back in. Hosted by Erin McMahon—marketing executive, mother of two, and intuitive seeker—this show explores how reconnecting with your inner voice can transform the way you lead, parent, create, and live.
Each episode offers grounded insight, personal reflection, and meaningful conversations with founders, intuitive leaders, and thoughtful creators navigating growth, ambition, and soul-aligned choices in a fast-changing world.
Let’s face the future knowing our greatest guide is within—and talk to each other about how to use the world around us to build the best every day and an even better future.
00;00;03;01 - 00;00;24;14
Unknown
Hello. This is my first podcast in a while and I am not even using my headphones or microphones, which my training coach for podcasting told me I should. So I'm going a little rogue, but we'll see how it sounds in. I'm just getting back in the swing of things. So I think the last time I recorded podcast was in October.
00;00;24;17 - 00;00;50;23
Unknown
I have let's see what's what's been going on since then. I'm now nine months into my new job with ether, and I've recently taken up more responsibilities with my previous employer before I got into Web3. In fact, finder, now renamed in, say, finder AI. So I really love leading marketing and coming up with positioning in the AI and Web3 space.
00;00;50;28 - 00;01;34;21
Unknown
Spaces are very dynamic, so I'm excited to work with people in both places and help their businesses grow for ether. In the months since they've had their product, which is, GPUs as a service, we've grown to $100 million. Are and and so finder AI is building new products initially started as observability and incident resolution for it, and is now moved into observability and quality monitoring for AI solutions, which obviously now all companies are moving into AI and understanding how I can help optimize their businesses.
00;01;34;22 - 00;01;58;29
Unknown
So very exciting space to be in. That's the business side of things. Spirituality side of things. I am still meditating every day. Usually do that before the kids wake up in the morning. I spend about 20 minutes doing that, and of course, that's after I do my cardio workout in the morning, which I have been doing since since I was a teenager.
00;01;59;02 - 00;02;21;26
Unknown
And that's still a very important space in place for me. And as I get more into my spirituality and understand how mind and body are engaged, I understand more why it feels so important to me. And I have more of an explanation, holistic explanation as to why exercise is so important to me and how that really makes a difference.
00;02;21;26 - 00;02;43;14
Unknown
In the beginning of my day. I mean, before I would say I isolated the way I thought about mind and body in that I worked out in the morning and that was my, you know, initial sort of felt like it was for my mind, but really like that that was the time for my body and that I could work out and kind of zone out.
00;02;43;16 - 00;03;19;00
Unknown
And then I would notice the positive effect that would have on my mood and demeanor. But I now now that I've gotten more into breathwork and yoga and different aspects of spirituality, I understand how other things work together and, I'm more more aware of it and, acknowledge and thankful for it. And also make, make changes in adaptability, you know, for it, I would say right now I do about a 40 minute cardio workout and then, you know, about 20 minutes of yoga.
00;03;19;03 - 00;03;50;15
Unknown
Whereas before I would have probably done an hour plus of cardio and then just call it a day, no stretching or anything like that. So me from 10 or 15 years ago would be like, did you spend 20 minutes on breathing instead of getting 20 minutes extra running miles or going on the elliptical or something like that? But, people change and, you know, it shows that the mind is adaptable and the body is adaptable.
00;03;50;18 - 00;04;21;24
Unknown
And I think that's a good lesson for me in the future and also for anyone who has regimented, routines or if it feels very stuck in their ways because things do change in it probably takes inspiration. And, for me, slow, slow evolution over time because I still probably would error towards being not stuck in my ways, but like, really enjoying my my ways and my routine.
00;04;21;24 - 00;04;50;26
Unknown
But it does change over time. So, That's good. It's good to have that. And, it's good to be adaptable. Of course, the other side of my routine that's completely changed over the past five years is having kids. And now they're an integral part of my workout or integral integral part of my routine, and will thwart my routine and override my routine of anything, you know, happens in the morning or, you know, when they wake up and things like that.
00;04;50;26 - 00;05;13;28
Unknown
So that's a little update on on my life. Let's see it. We are approaching Easter weekend. Kids have had an Easter egg hunt today and I actually went to do chapel because I won't be able to go there on Easter Sunday. It's a lovely service that they have. And the chapel. Then you know, a welcoming of all faiths over all.
00;05;13;28 - 00;05;59;05
Unknown
But, you know, they do have a methodist centered ideology. So that is, you know, the predominant sort of main, main theme in service, especially as this major holidays approach. So I won't be able to be there on Sunday. But I did go today and, I spent it's making me a little teary thinking about it. I spent some time just in the front few pews and really quieted my mind and, just reflecting upon all the great, you know, people who have, you know, worship there and who are dedicated to thinking about, higher power and, you know, connecting to the greater good and in their own way.
00;05;59;08 - 00;06;35;14
Unknown
I also lit candles, one for my professor, one of my favorite professors, a Duke Dean Wilson, who passed away suddenly. But it was, I think he used in his 80s, but it was so sudden. He passed away in the fall, and he was one of my favorite professors. They had him for two seminars, and he was really special to me because he was, you know, very smart, learned in history and religion and but very inviting for different viewpoints and personality to come forward, make a statement and elaborate on their thoughts.
00;06;35;20 - 00;07;04;26
Unknown
Sometimes when college kids are in class, they will say something and they'll be like I said, my statement and I'm done. And I remember Dean was and always been like, come on, say more, say more about that. And so, and he'd get excited and animated. So he was amazing. I enjoyed lighting a candle for him. And then I also lit a candle for my grandparents who are in theater for, you know, beyond beyond this world right now.
00;07;04;28 - 00;07;34;00
Unknown
And, one of my grandparents, when did you was very into history, religion. And my other two grandparents were very into Duke sports. And so I, I lit a candle for them. So that was a good way to start the holiday weekend before all the craziness starts, which is, you know, Saturday for the Easter egg hunt and then Sunday, more of the, you know, traditional time with family.
00;07;34;02 - 00;08;08;20
Unknown
Another thing I wanted to mention this, this relates to going to Duke. And also a few weeks ago, I had to go to tech conference in California called the Nvidia GTC Tech Conference, which is very AI infrastructure focused. A lot of, our clients would were going to be there. And it's just, you know, one of the biggest centralized places where they will talk about AI innovation and direction, you know, of all different aspects of AI and how it's transforming different industries moving forward.
00;08;08;20 - 00;08;38;14
Unknown
So I learned a lot. I love going to industry conferences, kind of like any conferences, because I just I just love to hear different points of view. And I'm basically like a sponge. And I learned a lot. So, you know, as I listen to different companies present and give their perspective, it was great to think about how our companies, the companies I'm working with for them, but then also how how transformative I will be in the space overall.
00;08;38;14 - 00;09;10;05
Unknown
So I got a lot from that. That was my first time being back in San Francisco since I left there. After a major life change in which I was, I left a relationship. I was working for Facebook. I stopped doing that. I moved to North Carolina to be closer to my family and the East Coast. So I would say, you know, even though it's been it had been a while since I was in California and I still have, you know, very close friends in California.
00;09;10;08 - 00;09;36;11
Unknown
I was a little bit not concerned. I was, I was a little bit I had feelings that were going there because I didn't know how to react to it. But one of my I would say, business, leader I follow posted something about her return trip to New York a few weeks before I went, and that she had.
00;09;36;14 - 00;09;55;14
Unknown
It was her first time in New York after a little while, and she had been in New York and had lived there with her kids. And, you know, it was, you know, in an apartment on Upper West, Upper East Side, something like that. And, you know, had a family there. And she left there and moved to Florida and have left jobs there and, you know, left a relationship there.
00;09;55;14 - 00;10;17;24
Unknown
And so obviously, when you come back and there are all these feelings or there can be all these feelings, I think it's a natural state of things. And she said, you, how she thought about it, was it? I have a choice about which hamster wheel I get on. I can get on the hamster wheel that says I, you know, had all these things.
00;10;17;24 - 00;10;45;11
Unknown
And life is so different now, and, you know, comparing and thinking back to that time. And then I there's another one that says, like, look how far I've come or like how my life is now. And I thought that I was I kept that in mind, not only because that that aligns with, you know, some of the things and the pillars that I go by, which is, you know, looking what you've learned and you know where you are now and appreciating the present moment.
00;10;45;11 - 00;11;08;28
Unknown
But then also it helps me to hear that because it's it's good to know that, you know, we're not I'm not alone. And what I went through and, and other people who are, you know, wonderful professional women or just, you know, women or whatever have been through those things and have been through tough times. And they made it through.
00;11;09;00 - 00;11;33;25
Unknown
I think it's still not completely easy to talk. Right? I guess because emotion comes up when when I do say that and I, I honestly didn't think it would, but when I was there, it was great. It was a wonderful experience. It was great to be with my team. It was amazing to see, how how much the same and how, how, much things have changed.
00;11;33;25 - 00;11;54;19
Unknown
And in that area, I mean, San Francisco and the, the Bay area is such a bastion of technology and innovation. And while I was there, not only at the main conference, but outside of that, there were lots of, you know, meetings about, you know, I startups in innovation. And it's just like that that energy there is so amazing.
00;11;54;19 - 00;12;19;22
Unknown
And at the same time it's like they're they're are like office parks and office parks and office parks that sort of show you the history of, you know, the churn of these businesses that have happened and, you know, the the evolution of time so well, you know, it's very tech focused, forward thinking. There's also a very to me at least, there's also very historical aspect to it.
00;12;19;22 - 00;12;38;26
Unknown
So that was an interesting reflection for point. I got to see a lot of office parks because I had to stay at a hotel. There was like 20 minutes away in the conference because the conference was so had so many people. It was so overloaded. So I had a lot of time to reflect and think about the the neighborhoods, the, the Uber card.
00;12;38;26 - 00;13;08;13
Unknown
The Uber person was driving around. But I, I thought about it in terms of both going back to San Jose, being in that area that I was in, as well as, you know, going to do today and going to the chapel that places are really portals and they're portals not only for us, but then also ways that we can reflect on, you know, those that have come before and you know, those that can come after us.
00;13;08;13 - 00;13;35;04
Unknown
So, yeah, that was interesting to think about because, I guess when, when teaching, and spirituality or one aspect is how do we think about time and your time is a construct, as you know, many will say in the spiritual world. And when you when you go back to a place that you've been before, you been in a different age, you're sort of like, I'm this person now.
00;13;35;05 - 00;13;55;17
Unknown
I was a person then there is an essence of me that is the same in this place, and this place is evoking the essence. Or, you know, parts of me that was there before, but like, not look how far I've come, but like, it's like those two points are merging. So that was, that was interesting to think about.
00;13;55;20 - 00;14;27;29
Unknown
So that was my experience over the last two months, last week and last month. And now I am hoping to get back into podcasting a little bit more. My goal is to talk about both business and spirituality. I think both are very important. And, you know, I guess bridging that, you know, another topic I many, many advising me will say I need to be more can be more narrow in my focus.
00;14;28;02 - 00;14;52;29
Unknown
But I want to talk about parenting. I want to talk about business, and I want to talk about spirituality. And both and all three things are fascinating to me. And maybe that makes my mind seem a little all over the place sometimes. But all are all are very important to me, and all are helping me evolve. And I don't think I would be as good or as connected with one without the other.
00;14;53;01 - 00;15;17;28
Unknown
So I think that's my plan. I still want to talk to other people. I honestly just want to talk to my best friends first of all. So we'll see if I can get them online. But then I also am part of several communities, spiritually minded moms, business moms, and I want to talk to them too and say, you know, just how are we evolving as women and how are we evolving and raising our children?
00;15;18;01 - 00;15;44;19
Unknown
One other thing that did happen in session, was that I switched daycares, or my husband and I decided to switch daycares for my kids. They been going to a community daycare in in our town, that had been around for 35 years. And it was great. It was where they first, you know, when I first went back to work and there they were cared for by a lovely woman who had managed babies for 30 years.
00;15;44;22 - 00;16;17;00
Unknown
She recently had retired, and my kids were beyond the beyond the baby room. And I, I was seeing some ways that the classroom, I guess curriculum and or cadence was being handled, that that wasn't necessarily fitting with, my son. And since he is the older one in this situation, he was sort of the is the first, you know, to to show how he reacts.
00;16;17;00 - 00;16;47;05
Unknown
As you know, he engages with his peers, his mind develops and things like that. So what we did with them to go to a montessori based school very close to the other school, and it's actually a bigger classroom size but more individualized learning and more student led learning. And both of them had done really well with that. It was it was a really scary choice to make, I think, because, you know, I knew something was in wasn't right.
00;16;47;05 - 00;17;11;21
Unknown
But then I was also going into the unknown of making a school choice change and ultimately it was the right decision as it exists right now. I think my kids are pretty happy at their school, and I'm thankful for the nudge to to think about a change and for the the courage and the support to go about that change.
00;17;11;27 - 00;17;41;05
Unknown
What that instigated is a longer term and will be continuous thought process about how we're approaching education with our kids. I think education system in the US is has its, you know, is isn't that great and is very much designed for the industrial revolution, doesn't necessarily cater to kids needs. I had overall a great education experience because I turned out who I was.
00;17;41;05 - 00;18;04;11
Unknown
And you know, I'm thankful for that. But it was by no means easy and I yeah. So I really want to think about what what are we going to do for our kids. So maybe I will explore those topics too. Under the large umbrella of parenting. I do know some people that are in higher education, tech and higher education and, you know, their studies and things like that.
00;18;04;11 - 00;18;29;11
Unknown
So hopefully we can connect with them too. Thank you for the catch up episode. I'm hoping the audio is okay without the microphone, but I'll find out in a few minutes. So seeking the magic. First of all, seeking the magic for me is to be present. And I have some gratitude every day, which I know I mentioned before in these episodes and I think is very important.
00;18;29;14 - 00;18;57;26
Unknown
Still, I am grateful that I am attempting this again and I hope I have, traction and both on my side and the receiving side. And I'm grateful for, you know, having experienced this to go back to, you know, California, go back to, you know, my school, which I live near and, you know, reflect on the person I was was then and the person I am now.
00;18;57;26 - 00;19;18;19
Unknown
And, you know, the lessons that I've learned as I've become who I am now and how I can hopefully share, share those lessons with with other people and grateful for working in a really cool tech space that's going on a lot of places. So I hope to share lessons of business and marketing and things like that with everyone.
00;19;18;19 - 00;19;41;26
Unknown
And, you know, also a career development in a non-linear fashion. And then, of course, grateful for my family, my husband and my two kids and how they teach me lessons every day. So those are the things I am grateful for. And those are my magical moments. And I hope you can seek the magic in your day today.
00;19;41;26 - 00;19;43;01
Unknown
Thank you.