Introducing to the Chicago North Shore Moms community Anna Marcolin — a mom of five grown kids, psychotherapist, high-performance coach, and the voice behind the Badass Confidence Coach podcast!
Anna has spent 30 years helping high-functioning people (defined below, it’s all of us moms!) finally feel as steady on the inside as they appear on the outside. A Maryland girl who came to Chicago for graduate school, fell in love with this city, and never looked back, Anna built a full, beautiful life on the North Shore while raising five kids, cheering on countless sporting events and instilling a healthy habit for communication that she lovingly calls monthly chit chats. Now grown, Anna is in that bittersweet almost-empty-nester season — but the front door still swings open on random afternoons with a “Mom? Where are you?”… and she wouldn’t trade that sound for anything. When she’s not seeing clients or recording her podcast, you’ll find her running the Green Bay Trail, hunting down the best Neapolitan pizza on the North Shore, trying her hand at stand-up comedy (yes, really!), and planning what’s shaping up to be the family event of 2027 — a wedding!
Get to know Anna and don’t miss her five simple emotional regulation tools for managing stress in everyday life; advice that’s worth its weight in gold – I’m going to try a few of them today! Welcome, Anna!
Hi Anna! Give us a quick snapshot of you and your life right now.
Hi, I’m Anna Marcolin. I live on Chicago’s North Shore and my days are full in the best way. I split my time between seeing clients in my therapy and coaching practice, recording and producing the Badass Confidence Coach podcast, writing, and getting outside as much as possible. I love work that has meaning and momentum, but I’m also serious about stress management and nervous system regulation, so movement and quiet are non-negotiable. I’m a big believer that calm isn’t a personality trait. It’s a trained nervous system.
Where are you from originally and why did you move to the North Shore?
I was born and raised in Maryland just outside of Washington, D.C. I came to Chicago for graduate school and never left because I fell in love with this city. Chicago just fit me. Over time, the North Shore became home as our family grew, and I’ve stayed because I genuinely love the community here.
Tell us about your family. What does motherhood look like in your house these days?
I’m a mom of five, and my kids are all grown now, between 24 and 31. Those were some crazy busy years with sports and after-school activities. This new season of being an almost empty nester feels different and surprisingly sweet. Those first years I really didn’t know what I’d do with myself with the new eerie quiet in the house. That was a time of a lot of self-coaching and mindset work around developing a new(ish) identity!
And right now we’re planning a wedding; it’s shaping up to be the big family event of 2027.
What I’m most proud of is the culture my husband and I built at home. When the kids were younger, we would have “family chit chats” twice a month, basically a mini “state of the union.” The kids used to groan and roll their eyes about it, but it gave us a rhythm for talking about what was working, what wasn’t, and how we were treating each other.
And today? They tell us those “annoying” meetings taught them how to communicate and talk openly about hard things, which, for me, is a huge win as a parent.
These days I revel in Sunday Family Dinners with the kids, their partners and extended family. And I love it when the front door opens on a Tuesday evening or a Saturday afternoon and I hear “Mom? Where are you?”
What’s something about you that might surprise people—outside of your work and mom life?
Two things.
First, I’m a lifelong endurance athlete. I was a competitive runner and triathlete for 20 years. That mindset shapes and informs how I teach resilience and emotional regulation to clients. Training today, whether it be strength training or going for a long run, has always been one of my best tools for keeping my mind steady and clear.
Second, I have improv training from The Second City Chicago, and lately I’ve ventured into stand-up comedy. Yes, really. I’m taking stand-up classes and participating in local open mic nights. It’s scary… and I’m not that good.. yet I do it anyway. It’s a great reminder that confidence isn’t something you have. It’s something you practice. Even when you are on stage and 80 eyes are staring back at you with a straight face. 🙂
Where are your go-to spots right now?
On any given Saturday or Sunday morning, my go-to spot is the Green Bay Trail. It’s a flat trail where you can bike, run with friends, and walk dogs. It’s a great place to meet with friends on a weekend morning. I also love exploring all of the different walking paths and biking routes throughout the Chicagoland area. There are so many! It’s something my husband and I started doing during Covid. And now it’s a fun day of exercising while exploring new towns and restaurants.
Also, I’m a Neapolitan pizza snob. I lived in Italy many years ago and I go back frequently to visit family… so I have strong opinions about pizza. Two of my favorites are Spacca Napoli in the city and Napolita in Wilmette and Northbrook.
And lately, give me a spa with a great sauna and I’m thrilled, especially if red light therapy is included. Restore in Deerfield has a lovely set-up and I am a devoted customer. I am loving the sauna heat so much that we’re considering adding a sauna setup at home. The research on sauna benefits is compelling, and I’m up for anything that just makes me feel good inside and out.
What are you loving lately?
I’ve been on a reading kick lately and I’m so happy about it. I just finished Frozen River, and the main character, Martha Ballard, her life and her legacy live rent free in my head.
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, I love Elin Hilderbrand. The Five-Star Weekend was such a fun, easy beach read that I didn’t want to put down. And I just started The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons, so I’m officially all over the place in the best way.
I’m also loving podcasts (so much so that I started my own in 2019). My favorites right now are Wirecutter which is basically the NY Times Consumer Reports. And for catching me up on the latest in current events and celebrity I enjoy Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald. She’s also a stand-up comic and she just makes me laugh.
What’s something you cannot leave home without?
My phone, a water bottle, and lip balm. And I live by my notes app. If it isn’t written down, it doesn’t exist.
It’s time to get down to business! Please introduce your coaching and therapy practice as well as your robust podcast!
I’m a psychotherapist and high-performance coach with 30 years in the mental health field. I work with high-functioning adults who are doing big things in their lives, but privately feel anxious, reactive, emotionally exhausted, or stuck in patterns they cannot outthink. My clients often describe me as direct, but warm and empathic, which is exactly how I want the work to feel: honest, grounded, and safe.
I’m also the host of the Badass Confidence Coach podcast, where I share emotional mastery tools, mindset shifts, and real conversations about stress, confidence, relationships, and what it looks like to lead your life from the inside out.
With 30 years in the mental health field, what inspired you to create the Badass Confidence Coach brand and the Emotional Mastery Method and how do they support busy parents juggling careers, families, and personal growth?
The whole brand came out of a desire to pay it forward. I spent 25 years sitting across from clients who were dealing with really hard things, and so many of them genuinely believed they were the only ones. They were carrying anxiety, shame, and pressure in silence, thinking everyone else had it figured out.
The podcast was my way of widening the room. It’s a place where I get to normalize what people are experiencing and give them real tools that actually work.
The Emotional Mastery Method grew out of that same mission. It helps people regulate their stress, communicate better, and build grounded confidence in the middle of real life, especially when you’re juggling work, family, and everyone needing something from you.
Many high-functioning moms struggle with anxiety and overthinking behind the scenes. What are some simple emotional regulation tools you recommend for managing stress in everyday life?
Here are a few tools I recommend all the time because they’re simple and they work:
- Name what’s happening: “My nervous system is in overdrive.” Labeling it helps you stop identifying with it.
- Extend the exhale: Inhale for 4 seconds, exhale for 6 to 8 seconds, repeat for 2 minutes. Longer exhales help downshift stress fast.
- Relax the stress muscles: unclench your jaw, drop your shoulders, soften your hands. Your body leads your brain.
- One small next step: Anxiety loves vagueness. Pick one five-minute action you can complete right now. Completion lowers overwhelm.
- Bookend your day: two minutes in the morning and two minutes at night to ask, “What do I need today?” and “What can wait until tomorrow?” That tiny habit reduces mental load.
Can you define high-functioning for us?
High-functioning describes people who are doing a lot and doing it well. They’re founding companies, starting businesses, going back to school, raising families, managing a household, playing chauffeur at night, and then becoming the midnight doctor when a kid is sick. A lot of people are also caring for aging parents while trying to keep their own life from falling apart.
High-functioning is not a personality type, it’s capacity. These are capable, responsible, productive people who show up and get it done, even when life is heavy. The catch is that behind the scenes they often run on overdrive. They can look calm and competent on the outside while privately dealing with anxiety, overthinking, irritability, or exhaustion because they have been holding so much for so long.
As a therapist, coach, and podcast host, you work with people in many different roles. What does “grounded confidence” really look like in daily life, and how can women start building it at any stage?
Grounded confidence is steady, not loud. It looks like speaking honestly without over-explaining, setting boundaries without spiraling afterward, and handling stress without losing yourself. It’s self-trust in motion.
You build it by doing three things consistently:
- Keep small promises to yourself. Consistency builds self-trust.
- Get clear on your values and use them as a filter for decisions.
- Learn emotional regulation skills so your nervous system supports your life instead of running it.
What do you want our readers to know that we have not already covered?
The greatest compliment and honor in my work is when someone allows me into their life and then stays for months, sometimes years. That kind of trust means everything. My favorite moments are when a client tells me their spouse, mom, or close friend has said, “Well, what does Anna think?” or “Have you talked to Anna about that?”
Word-of-mouth referrals are the best compliment because they tell me the work is not just helping in the room, it’s shaping how someone lives, communicates, and leads outside of it. That’s the goal: real change that shows up in real life.
Give us your dets! Where can we connect and ask questions?
Instagram: https://instagram.com/askannamarcolin
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@askannamarcolin
Podcast: Badass Confidence Coach (available on major podcast platforms)
Website: https://www.annamarcolin.com/
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annamarcolinlcsw/
About Our Spotlight Partner
Chicago North Shore Moms is supported in part by Mary Gregory Gifford, a Lake Forest mom of three and owner of Gifford Law, a solo Estate Planning Firm (wills and trusts). Mary, we appreciate your support of local moms in our North Shore communities! Learn more about Mary by visiting her Meet a Mom spotlight here! Contact Mary directly here: [email protected].
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