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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;00;00 - 00;00;25;17
Unknown
Welcome to return on intuition, the podcast where strategy meets Soar. I'm Erin McMahon, a marketing leader, startup advisor, mom of two, and lifelong seeker of what's real in a world ruled by data speed and artificial intelligence. There is a space where we pause to tune in. Each week, we'll explore what it means to lead, build, parent, and grow not just with logic, but with intuition.
00;00;25;19 - 00;00;51;14
Unknown
You'll hear from founders, creators, marketers, spiritual guides, and so many more people aligning ambition with purpose and using their intuition as a real tool for transformation. Because when we pay attention, get present and trust our instincts, that's when the magic happens. Let's get into it. Welcome to return on Intuition. Personal story. My son doesn't usually play soccer. He's new.
00;00;51;14 - 00;01;16;02
Unknown
Right? He's almost four, so he's new to a lot of things. Recently this spring, we signed him up for soccer practice with toddlers, which is basically like groups running around near a ball and just a lot of chaos. Well, for him, most practices follow a similar pattern. He shows up, he is on the field for 15 minutes running, but really has no interest in the ball.
00;01;16;07 - 00;01;43;09
Unknown
He takes a water break and then drifts, finds a tree. Plays with rocks, doesn't force himself back in and honestly, I have him forced to. Me either. But with this last practice, something shifted. He went out at the beginning. He ran around. Then he tested the soccer ball and he stayed out there and at the water break. He didn't linger back with the parents, as a lot of the kids do.
00;01;43;10 - 00;02;01;25
Unknown
Even the kids who were engaged, the whole practice, he went right back out there. So much so that his coach said, Lucas, did you actually sip some water? And he's like, yeah, I did. I'm like a racecar. So anyway, at the end of practice, this kid who normally is on the sidelines ran across the field and scored a goal.
00;02;01;27 - 00;02;33;14
Unknown
No one told him to do it. No one cheered him into it. It came from him. And this makes me reflect on instinct versus intuition, especially in parenting, but also in our lives and the different voices that are battling in their heads. When he started soccer and started practice. And of course, as all parents are, you know, doing during these practices is if the kid goes out, it's like, okay, do you want to do you want to go back in and do what we're supposed to be doing right now, which is you playing soccer on a field and learning.
00;02;33;17 - 00;02;55;18
Unknown
And the instinct, especially if you played sports in any capacity, is like, participate. Get out there. This is the time you've got to do it. But obviously for little kids, they are going by their own internal guidance in ways that we can only, wish to return to. To some extent. And he would say, no, I'm done.
00;02;55;18 - 00;03;31;12
Unknown
15 minutes. That's enough for me. I don't really have interest in the soccer ball. I don't like this tree over here near the edge of the field. And, Or look at the rocks and make a pile or give some flowers to dad or something like that. So part of my brain, the sports training part of my brain, wanted to really urge him to go back in and, you know, do his thing or afterwards talk to him about, you know, why, why didn't you go back to soccer practice or what was the problem or, you know, asking him questions like that.
00;03;31;14 - 00;03;57;09
Unknown
But I also realized that he was really listening to his instinct and his draw at the time, which is the only thing he knows. And so I followed my intuition, the quieter voice that said, let him be. He's learning. He did what he could. He had, you know, the instincts of or he has the attention capacity, which is much smaller.
00;03;57;11 - 00;04;23;15
Unknown
He doesn't know. He's naturally supposed to be in practice for the whole time. And I followed that. And I think as a result of that, his internal spark showed up on its own, and he he ran with it. So I am still wondering why this particular moment or why this particular practice, it happened. Of course, I'm retracing my steps, trying to control the situation.
00;04;23;15 - 00;04;41;21
Unknown
Say like, was it a snack I gave him, or did he get extra rest the night before? Or you know what? What sort of environment did I create for him to do it? But in reality, he probably it was just his internal drive that all of a sudden he said, I like this, I'm connecting with it. I'm going to do it.
00;04;41;28 - 00;05;07;19
Unknown
And he went from, you know, participating in the warm ups to actually kicking a soccer ball and engaging with the other kids, some of whom are older than him. Some of them are a little younger than him. But, you know, it involves more coordination and it involves going outside of his comfort zone in terms of, you know, learning how to kick the ball, learning how to balance paths to the extent you can pass as a little kid.
00;05;07;24 - 00;05;40;29
Unknown
But he was ready to go out of his comfort zone. He was ready to stretch himself. And, you know, he did that all on its own. So, you know, reflecting on this, they said, when do I hang back and trust my face? And when I do, I feel the urge to go all in. And there are competing voices inside my head when this is happening, and it's usually honestly when I it sort of motivates me to go outside of my comfort zone more often when I encounter what my kids are doing, because they're always going outside of their comfort zone.
00;05;40;29 - 00;06;02;15
Unknown
So many things are new to them, and they are really trusting themselves as to when to do something or not do something. So I think there are moments in life, business building, things where I've come back and question myself for it, and then the moment where something clicks and I move forward and it's not out of pressure, but it's out of clarity.
00;06;02;17 - 00;06;32;14
Unknown
And sometimes it is when my intuition is speaking and I have held back and there's been two competing urges. One is to stay within my comfort zone and one is to not. And it is when that urge to do something more becomes so much louder or so much more persistent that I, you know, finally feel like I can step out of my comfort zone because our instinct is human.
00;06;32;15 - 00;06;53;22
Unknown
Survival mode is to stay within our comfort zone. But your intuition, which is usually a quiet, steady voice, and that is important to distinguish because sometimes there are words of anxiety. It says like, oh my God, I really need to do this, that sort of thing. But you're quiet. Steady voice says, you should try this. You really should do this.
00;06;53;23 - 00;07;23;16
Unknown
And those are the moments where there is a turning point and you decide to, okay, go out of your comfort zone. This is the moment for me to do that. And as you start to do it more, it becomes, first of all, those those moments become more comfortable because you have stepped out in first moments of doing something different are the hardest, but then it becomes easier to try new things and put yourself out there.
00;07;23;20 - 00;07;54;17
Unknown
So intuition, it doesn't feel like a push, it feels like a pull and it's not urgent, but it's undeniable. And it feels like alignment and not anxiety, like joy meets readiness. So questions for this audience. What are your moments where you feel like you want to hang on the sidelines? Not because you're afraid, but because you're watching, absorbing, getting ready, still percolating on what's going on?
00;07;54;19 - 00;08;20;05
Unknown
And when was the last time you just knew it was time to do something? And how do you know it's the right time for you and not the expected time? So watching my son reminded me sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is wait until our own moment comes. No rush. Not comparing, just listening. And sometimes our own intuition leads us to the sidelines.
00;08;20;05 - 00;08;41;14
Unknown
So we're ready so that when the right time comes, we can run straight across the field and score in our own way. So that's what return on intuition is about the pause and the leap, the sideline and the goal. Let's keep listening, watching, and let's keep trusting what rises. See you next time. Thanks so much for tuning in.
00;08;41;14 - 00;09;02;01
Unknown
To return on intuition. If something sparked your curiosity or let you up, I'd love to hear from you. Share the episode, leave a review or DM me with what landed. Your feedback helps shape where we go next. And remember, the best decisions don't just come from what you know. They come from what you feel. So take a breath, trust yourself and keep following the moments.
00;09;02;02 - 00;09;24;18
Unknown
If you like magic, I'll see you next time.