Host Julie Harris Oliver welcomes leadership coach Louise Hansell to discuss listening to and trusting an inner voice or “internal compass.” Louise shares how she moved from corporate HR and transformation work into coaching after becoming a mother, and explains that intuition is often subtle, felt through the body, and can be drowned out by societal, family, and logical “shoulds.” They explore distinguishing intuition from the rational mind and a protective ego voice that reacts with fear and urgency, noting Louise’s view that intuition appears in the first few seconds before other voices take over. Louise suggests building discernment through mindfulness, silence, and low-stakes experiments, using full-body cues like expansion, contraction, relief, tension, or persistence. They also address people-pleasing, staying “clean” with clear no’s, and tolerating uncertainty while doors gradually open. Louise closes with an Einstein quote about honoring intuition alongside reason.

00:00 Welcome to Deep Work

00:40 Meet Louise Hansel

02:18 Louise Coaching Origin

04:01 Theme Inner Compass

04:44 Hearing Versus Trusting

08:35 Body Based Yes No

09:29 Julie Pivot Story

13:32 Louise Three Voices

16:45 Naming Mind Protector

19:03 Ego and Body Listening

19:40 Mindfulness vs Thoughts

20:29 Silence and Inner Voice

23:02 Clean No Boundaries

25:15 Waiting for Doors

27:20 Trusting the Compass

28:48 Seattle Moving Example

31:26 First Three Seconds

32:42 Low Stakes Practice

34:41 Einstein Quote Wrap

35:30 Where to Find Louise

35:46 Final Invitation 

louisehansell.com