Whether ahead of big life events like starting a new job or while hyping yourself up to get more organized at home, we all need motivation to achieve our goals. Sometimes, the right words from the right source can make all the difference.
When you’re looking for a little pick-me-up in your life, podcasts can be a fantastic resource. They provide a convenient way to access valuable insights, strategies, and perspectives that can help you stay focused, motivated, and empowered as you pursue your goals. Fortunately, there's a wealth of podcasts out there for almost every situation you could ever need guidance on. From career advancement and personal growth to health and wellness, there's a podcast out there to address every aspect of your life. Whether you're seeking encouragement, practical advice, or simply a boost of inspiration, tuning in to these 20 podcasts can be a transformative experience.
You might hear and learn about:
- Strategies for self-improvement, building confidence, setting goals, and cultivating a growth mindset.
- Tips for advancing in your career, navigating workplace challenges, building leadership skills, and finding work-life balance.
- Advice for starting and growing a business, overcoming entrepreneurial challenges, and achieving success as an entrepreneur.
- Ideas for tapping into your creativity, overcoming creative blocks, and finding inspiration in everyday life.
- Stories of resilience, perseverance, and triumph in the face of adversity, including personal anecdotes from guests who have overcome challenges.
- Insights on cultivating a positive mindset, practicing gratitude, and harnessing the power of positive thinking to overcome obstacles and better your mental health.
Many of these podcasts also feature interviews with successful women who’ve navigated through relatable struggles and have found a way to make it out on the other side, inspiring listeners with their stories of resilience, determination, and triumph. So, grab your headphones and get ready to be inspired!
Read more: The Best New (to You) Podcasts You Can’t Miss in 2024
Motivational podcasts for and by women of color
1. Side Hustle Pro
Want to hear how Jessica Nabongo, the first Black woman on record to visit every country in the world, turned her passion for travel, writing, and photography into a business? Side Hustle Pro features interviews with inspirational Black women entrepreneurs like Nabongo who’ve scaled their side-hustles into profitable businesses. Host Nicaila Matthews Okome releases weekly episodes to help listeners learn actionable strategies to start small and grow.
2. Brown Girl Self-Care
In this podcast, host Bre Mitchell shares life advice and her go-to health and wellness habits, tips, and favorite products, while also affirming and uplifting women of color and encouraging them to take up more space. In a recent episode, Mitchell interviewed Brittny Horne, founder of RVL Wellness, a self-care puzzle company created specifically for Black women, to discuss relevant topics such as spotting red flags at work, dealing with microaggressions, and why taking risks pays off.
Read more: 3 Essentials to Practicing Self-Care During Your Job Search
3. Cultivating H.E.R. Space
Standing for healing, empowerment, and resilience, H.E.R Space is dedicated to being a safe space for Black women. The podcast is hosted by psychologist Dr. Dominique Broussard and motivational speaker Terri Lomax and offers discussions on topics like the fourth trimester, fatphobia, overcoming self-doubt, and more.
Read more: 34 Zendaya Quotes on Confidence & Authenticity
4. Our Body Politic
Created and hosted by award-winning journalist Farai Chideya, this motivational podcast centers on how women of color experience the major political events of today and how they can feel empowered to take action. Weekly episodes feature in-depth conversations about the economy, health, politics, education, and other pertinent issues.
Motivational podcasts with cult followings
5. the bossbabe podcast
With 3.6+ million followers and 380k+ subscribers, bossbabe is one of the largest online communities of ambitious women and women entrepreneurs in the world. Cofounders Natalie Ellis and Danielle Canty discuss topics such as toxic friendships, how to build a successful business, and balancing life and work. Funny yet actionable, this podcast is a must-listen for women looking to create success in their own way.
6. Super Soul
This motivational podcast spotlights Oprah Winfrey’s interviews with thought leaders, bestselling authors, and health and wellness experts on how to work toward becoming and embracing your best self. One Apple reviewer says, “When so many things in this world do not make sense, it is so refreshing to hear a message that speaks life, healing, truth, hope, and love.”
Read more: 22 Oprah Winfrey Quotes About Building the Life You Want
7. 9 to 5ish with theSkimm
Every week, theSkimm co-founders Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg sit down with women leaders from every industry imaginable, chatting about motivational topics like leaving your desk job, choosing the harder path, and building confidence. One reviewer on Apple says, “This series has inspired me in crafting my own story and personal ‘why’, and contains anecdotes and doses of wisdom that leave me feeling inspired and empowered every time.”
8. Creative Pep Talk
Illustrator and public speaker Andy J. Pizza helps creatives harness their potential, motivation, and passions. The podcast features monologues and interviews with creative powerhouses like Abbi Jacobson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and doesn’t fall short of energetic inspiration. Learn how to persevere through hardship, refocus your energy, and create work that resonates on a deeper level.
Motivational podcasts for building confidence
9. The Self Love Fix
Embodiment coach Beatrice Kamau helps listeners shift away from shame, people pleasing, codependency, low self-esteem, and self-doubt and toward embracing self-love and self-trust. She motivates listeners to set boundaries, be authentic, and foster healthy relationships.
10. Unlocking Us
Bestselling author and researcher Brené Brown interviews experts and celebrities like Viola Davis and Tarana Burke on topics like courage, joy, and creativity, all to discover what connects us as humans. One reviewer raves, “Brown has dedicated her career to researching and speaking about vulnerability and courage, and if ever there was a time for the voice of someone who’s done her homework on these subjects, it is now.”
11. Routines and Ruts with Madeleine Dore
In this show, writer and interviewer Madeleine Dore advises listeners how to avoid indecision spirals, overcome productivity guilt, and prioritize rest. It’s about resilience, rejection, motivation, procrastination, self-confidence, and the extraordinary lessons there are to be learned through all of your setbacks.
12. We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle
Every week, Glennon Doyle and her sister, Amanda, tackle hard-hitting subjects, honestly. Doyle says, “We are all doing hard things every single day—things like loving and losing; caring for children and parents; forging and ending friendships; battling addiction, illness, and loneliness; struggling in our jobs, our marriages, and our divorces; setting boundaries; and fighting for equality, purpose, freedom, joy, and peace. On We Can Do Hard Things, [we] do the only thing I’ve found that has ever made life easier: We will drop the fake and talk honestly about the hard.”
13. Women in Tech
Host Espree Devora wants every woman to walk away from this podcast with a feeling of actionable empowerment and confidence. The podcast features stories from women founders, engineers, UX/UI designers, investors, and more, explaining how they got where they are today.
Read more: 17 Bestselling Books on Confidence to Boost Self-Worth & Change Your Mindset
Motivational podcasts for moms
14. Moms Who Create
Every Monday, host Kelli Heil chats with motivational mom artists and writers who are balancing motherhood with passion projects. One Apple reviewer says, “I love this series because it deep dives into the topics that creative moms think about, in a bite size way. I listen to these episodes as I’m going back and forth for school drop off/pick up, and it’s just the right amount to get me energized and motivated to continue to create!”
15. Second Life
Second Life focuses on the stories of women who’ve mastered pivots at all stages of their careers. Host Hillary Kerr, a journalist turned entrepreneur, speaks with artists, mothers, founders, writers, visionaries, designers, CEOs, and more about how they found their version of success and fulfillment. Kerr dives into their successes, failures, and lessons learned to help motivate you during your first, second, or third life.
16. She Explores
Moms who love to adventure—this motivational podcast is all about finding inspiration alongside women who love the outdoors. Episodes vary from interviews to in-the-field recordings to listener submissions, and the women cover how things like entrepreneurship, equity, aging, motherhood, and chronic illness intersect with outdoor experiences.
Read more: How 3 Moms Made Career Breaks Work for Their Trajectories
Motivational podcasts when you’re in the mood to learn
17. Hysteria
If you’re passionate about feminism and staying informed on today’s political issues, Hysteria is a great podcast to check out. Political commentator and comedy writer Erin Ryan and former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco debrief the week’s news, trends, and cultural stories that affect women’s lives.
18. The Fairer Cents
The Fairer Cents digs into why money is such a complicated subject. The podcast focuses on the systemic economic issues that disproportionately affect women, people of color, nonbinary people, and anyone who feels marginalized by our current money culture. Forbes says it’s “a must listen podcast for anyone who is ready to change the status quo.”
19. Code Switch
Hosted by different journalists of color, this podcast by NPR explores how race impacts politics, pop culture, history, sports, and everything else. Learn how race shapes and impacts our school systems, the history of toxic language, and more.
Read more: Code-Switching: How Marginalized Employees Navigate Oppression at Work
20. en(gender)ed
en(gender)ed talks through the systematic beliefs and practices that enable gender-based violence and oppression to exist and simultaneously motivates listeners to help end it with solutions. According to the website, the podcast name is inspired by the ways in which society, culture, and policies shape our gender identity.
