Episode #20: You Can Have It All, Just Not All at Once: Ricki Wax on Integrated Ambition
August 25, 2026
Click to watch on YouTube.
Building a Business With Anxiety, a 9-to-5, and Big Ambition with Ricki Wax
Episode Summary
What does it look like to build something meaningful when your ambition is big, your calendar is full, and your mind rarely slows down?
In this episode of The Building Well Podcast, Amanda sits down with Ricki Wax, holistic career coach, founder of Empress Retreats, author, and corporate professional, for an honest conversation about what she calls “integrated ambition.” Ricki has spent years building alongside her corporate career, but her journey has also required her to confront perfectionism, high anxiety, ADHD, and the pressure she places on herself to keep everything moving.
Ricki shares how the pandemic pushed her outside of her comfort zone and ultimately led her to launch her coaching business. What began with a website, 30-minute coaching conversations, and a small number of clients eventually evolved into serving more senior professionals, growing a community, and launching Empress Retreats.
But growth has not simply meant doing more. Ricki opens up about seeking therapy, receiving diagnoses that helped her better understand how her mind works, and learning to build boundaries and systems around what she now knows about herself. She also discusses the challenge of loosening her grip on perfectionism and extending more grace when reality does not match the picture she originally had in her head.
The conversation also explores what it actually takes to build a business while working full time. From calendar systems and Sunday schedule reviews to working on her “five to nine,” leaning on her husband, and accepting that her existing circle may not always be the audience for her next venture, Ricki offers a realistic look at pursuing entrepreneurship without waiting for the rest of life to become less busy.
This episode is for the woman who has a vision she wants to pursue but is wondering how to make room for it alongside the career, relationships, responsibilities, and internal challenges she already carries.
3 Key Takeaways
You do not have to wait for the perfect season to start building.
Ricki built her coaching business while maintaining a full-time corporate career, beginning with only a few 30-minute sessions each week. Her story challenges the assumption that entrepreneurship has to begin with an immediate leap away from employment. Starting small can still be a legitimate beginning, and your current career can provide stability while you build what is yours.
Understanding how you operate can change how you build.
For years, Ricki assumed that constant mental activity, extensive planning, and the pressure she put on herself were simply part of being responsible. Therapy and her eventual diagnoses of high anxiety and ADHD gave her language for experiences she had previously normalized. That awareness allowed her to begin establishing clearer boundaries, recognizing triggers, and creating systems that work with the way she operates rather than continually pushing herself to run on fumes.
Growth sometimes requires releasing the original picture.
Ricki initially envisioned Empress Retreats as a three-day experience where women would stay together, wake up together, and fully immerse themselves in the retreat. She eventually had to recognize that asking people to make that commitment to a brand-new experience might be too much for the first event. Learning to respond with more grace when things do not unfold exactly as envisioned has become an important part of navigating both her perfectionism and the next stage of her business.
Guest Bio
Ricki Wax is a holistic career coach, founder of Empress Retreats, author, and corporate professional with a background in HR and leadership. She began her coaching business in 2020 after the pandemic prompted her to reconsider how she could use her professional experience to help others develop their careers and become better versions of themselves inside and outside of work.
Her work has evolved from supporting early-career and postgraduate professionals to serving a more senior audience navigating career growth, ambition, and well-being. Alongside entrepreneurship, Ricki works as a Cloud AI Program Manager and advocates for what she calls “integrated ambition,” the ability to continue pursuing professional success while making room for personal passions and well-being.
She is also the author of 99 Prompts to Mindfulness and Wellbeing, a prompt journal designed to help readers explore mindfulness, journaling, and everyday well-being practices. In 2026, she launched Empress Retreats, a women’s wellness retreat created to give busy professionals, entrepreneurs, and ambitious women space for community, rest, and restoration.
Resources Mentioned In This Episode
Ricki’s Book: 99 Prompts to Mindfulness and Wellbeing
Some links above may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission from purchases to support this show.
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