# People Pleaser Ash and dealing with Leadership Anxiety | Ep 23

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/behind-the-stems-7549819/people-pleaser-ash-and-dealing-with-leadership-anxiety-ep-23
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/behind-the-stems-7549819/people-pleaser-ash-and-dealing-with-leadership-anxiety-ep-23.md
Podcast: [Behind the Stems](https://stenobird.com/podcast/behind-the-stems-7549819)
Published: 2025-11-14T01:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.wildfloweracademy.co/podcasts/behind-the-stems/episodes/2149113797
Audio file: https://app.kajabi.com/podcasts/medias/2149113797.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/behind-the-stems-7549819/episodes/people-pleaser-ash-and-dealing-with-leadership-anxiety-ep-23
Duration seconds: 1788

## Resource

In this episode, I’m talking about something I never thought I’d have to learn: how to be a leader. Not a corporate manager, not a clipboard-wielding supervisor… just a wedding florist who suddenly had people relying on her and absolutely no idea how to direct them. For a long time, I felt like I was doing it all wrong. I hated the idea of telling people what to do, so I over-explained everything. I didn’t want to come across as bossy, so I softened all my instructions. And then I wondered why people didn’t know what I meant. Every drive home was a spiral: was I too much? Not enough? Did I make someone uncomfortable? Did I make sense at all? It took one uncomfortable moment for me to realise the truth I’d been avoiding: I was the bottleneck. My team wasn’t confused because they were incapable. They were confused because I was trying to lead in a way that kept everyone comfortable… except myself. So I started asking better questions. What would actually help my team do their best work? And what do I love or hate when I’m freelancing on someone else's wedding? From there, everything started to shift. I stopped trying to be liked and started trying to be clear. I stopped filling the silence with explanations and just said what needed to be said. And for the first time, leading a team didn’t feel heavy, it felt supportive, collaborative, and surprisingly simple. This episode is the behind-the-scenes of that turning point: what changed, how I changed, and how it made every wedding week run smoother than ever. If leadership has ever felt awkward, overwhelming, or just not your thing, I think you’ll feel really seen in this one.   Want help applying this to your own floristry business? Wildflower Academy is where we do this work properly, blending mindset, strategy, and…

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## Transcript

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