So I stopped.
And in this episode — my last before a long season away from the podcast — I’m sharing the simple New Year’s ritual I created instead. One that feels grounding, healing, spacious, and actually sustainable.

Today we’re walking through:
✨ How to remember the story you lived this year
✨ What to release so you don’t carry old weight into a new season
✨ How to reset with intention — without pressure or perfectionism

If resolutions haven’t been working for you (or haven’t felt kind)… this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

To go deeper, grab my brand-new guided journal The Story of This Year — the complete version of this process with prompts and space to reflect:
👉 StephanieMayWilson.com/NewYear

Since the podcast will be on hiatus for a while, the best place to stay connected is my email list:
👉 StephanieMayWilson.com/email

Thank you for being here. This community is one of my life’s greatest gifts.
Love,
Steph 🤍

Podcast Sponsors:

- ⁠⁠Antique Candle Co. ⁠⁠

- ⁠⁠BetterHelp⁠⁠

- ⁠⁠NIV Application Bible⁠⁠

- ⁠⁠Piper and Leaf⁠

- Please donate today at ⁠MercyShips.org/podcast⁠

- Visit ⁠OmahaSteaks.com⁠ for 50% off site-wide during their Sizzle All the Way Sale. And for an extra $35 off, use promo code FUN at checkout.

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Maybe you’ve followed the rules, made the plans, gone to therapy, prayed the prayers, checked all the boxes… and yet your life, career, relationships, or family story still don’t look anything like what you hoped for. It feels like you’re stuck in a giant “this is not what I ordered” moment, especially in this Everything Era where all the big decisions seem to pile up at once.

As we wrap up this season of the show (and before I take a break from Girls Night for a good chunk of next year), I’m sharing two things I really want to leave you with:

• You get to want what you want.

• You have more agency than it feels like you do.

I’ll read a section from my book, Create a Life You Love, and we’ll walk through practical tools for what to do when doors aren’t opening: when to quit, when to keep going, when to change tactics, how to invest in the life you have right now, and how to ask for help when you’re exhausted.

If you’re looking around thinking, “I thought I’d be further along by now,” this episode is for you. You are not behind. You are not failing. And you’re not as stuck as you feel. 💛

Podcast Sponsors:

- ⁠Antique Candle Co. ⁠

- ⁠BetterHelp⁠

- ⁠NIV Application Bible⁠

- ⁠Piper and Leaf

- Please donate today at MercyShips.org/podcast

- Visit OmahaSteaks.com for 50% off site-wide during their Sizzle All the Way Sale. And for an extra $35 off, use promo code FUN at checkout.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re down to the final few episodes of the year, and today we’re diving into something so many of us feel this time of year but rarely say out loud:

👉 Why does the holiday season sometimes feel like one big “This is not what I ordered”?

Maybe you thought you’d be spending Christmas with someone special this year, or reaching a goal you’d hoped to hit by December. Maybe family dynamics are messy or complicated, or your little family doesn’t look the way you imagined. Or maybe you had big dreams for a magical, cozy December… and somehow you slid into the holidays exhausted and overwhelmed, wondering where the magic went.

If any of that sounds familiar, this episode is absolutely for you.

Today we’re asking two big questions:

✨ How do we set ourselves up for delight — not disappointment — this holiday season?
✨ And how do we make Christmas magical… when we’re the ones responsible for the magic now?

We’ll talk about the moment you realize you’ve gone from experiencing Christmas to creating Christmas, why so many of us approach December like college finals week, and the gentle, intentional steps we can take to build a season we actually get to feel and enjoy.

We’ll walk through:

⭐️ noticing the expectations we’re carrying
⭐️ choosing the few meaningful things that matter to us
⭐️ putting them on the calendar so they actually happen

My hope is that this conversation feels freeing, grounding, and hopeful — like a deep breath in the middle of a busy month. You deserve to experience the magic you’re so faithfully creating, friend. Let’s build a December that feels more like the one our hearts have been longing for.

Mentioned in this episode:

💛 Love Your Single Life [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/singlelife]

💛 Just Married [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/justmarried]

💛 Becoming Mama [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/becomingmama]

🛒 Stephanie’s Journals & Guides [https://stephaniemaywilsonshop.com/]

Stay connected:

📸 Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/smaywilson/]

🌐 Website [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/]

💌 Join the Girls Night Community [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/email]

Podcast Sponsors:

- ⁠Antique Candle Co. ⁠

- ⁠BetterHelp⁠

- ⁠NIV Application Bible⁠

- ⁠Piper and Leaf

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As my twins turn five (how?!), I’ve been reflecting on everything I wish I could go back and tell myself before becoming a mom. The fears, the hopes, the questions, the emotions — the moments when I looked around and thought, “This is not what I ordered.”

So in today’s episode, I’m sharing four letters I wrote to the woman I was before motherhood — the woman who was wondering…

💌 Who will I be after I become a mom?
💌 What will kids do to our marriage?
💌 What if something goes wrong? What if the world is too scary?
💌 What if I mess this up?

If you’re planning, trying, pregnant, or simply wondering if you’ll ever feel “ready,” these letters are for you. They’re honest, tender, hopeful, and full of the things I wish someone would have told me years ago.

We’ll talk about what actually happens to your identity, how marriage shifts (and strengthens), how to navigate fear in a world that feels overwhelming, and why motherhood isn’t something you download — it’s something you grow into.

And if these letters resonate with you, you can get the full series for free at StephanieMayWilson.com/letters — they’re yours to keep or share with a friend who needs them.

At the end of the episode, I’ll also share more about Becoming Mama — the course my best friend Kelsey (a brilliant therapist) and I created to help you prepare emotionally, mentally, and practically for this huge transition. It’s the roadmap we wish we’d had, and enrollment is open for just a few more days.

Wherever you are on the path to motherhood, friend — you’re not alone.

I’m right here with you.

Mentioned in this episode:

💛 Love Your Single Life [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/singlelife]

💛 Just Married [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/justmarried]

💛 Becoming Mama [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/becomingmama]

🛒 Stephanie’s Journals & Guides [https://stephaniemaywilsonshop.com/]

Stay connected:

📸 Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/smaywilson/]

🌐 Website [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/]

💌 Join the Girls Night Community [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/email]

Podcast Sponsors:

- Antique Candle Co.

- BetterHelp

- NIV Application Bible

- Piper and Leaf

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

And one of the trickiest examples of that is the tension between career and motherhood. What happens when the rhythm that used to work suddenly doesn’t anymore? When the version of success you used to chase doesn’t quite fit the life you have now? Or when your family needs you in one way, but your career seems to demand something entirely different?

My guest today is Neha Ruch, founder of Mother Untitled and author of The Power Pause: How to Plan a Career Break After Kids—and Come Back Stronger Than Ever.

Through her work, Neha is helping women rethink what it means to take a pause in their careers after having kids—showing that stepping back doesn’t mean stepping away from your ambition. She’s helping us reimagine this in-between space as a powerful, intentional season of reflection and realignment—a chance to build a life and career that actually work together, not against each other.

Whether you’re already a mom, planning for motherhood, or just thinking about what your next chapter might hold, this conversation will give you permission to press pause—not out of fear or failure, but as a power move.

Alright friends, let’s dive in. Here’s my conversation with Neha Ruch.

Mentioned in this episode:

💛 The Power Pause

💛 Love Your Single Life [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/singlelife]

💛 Just Married [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/justmarried]

💛 Becoming Mama [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/becomingmama]

🛒 Stephanie’s Journals & Guides [https://stephaniemaywilsonshop.com/]

Stay connected:

📸 Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/smaywilson/]

📸 Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/neha_ruch]

🌐 Website [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/]

💌 Join the Girls Night Community [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/email]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mentioned in this episode:

💛 Love Your Single Life [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/singlelife]

💛 Just Married [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/justmarried]

💛 Becoming Mama [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/becomingmama]

🛒 Stephanie’s Journals & Guides [https://stephaniemaywilsonshop.com/]

Stay connected:

📸 Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/smaywilson/]

🌐 Website [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/]

💌 Join the Girls Night Community [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/email]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we’re talking about why friendships fade, why loneliness doesn’t mean something’s wrong with you, and how to start again.

Stephanie shares the five most common kinds of disconnection, what science says about why friendship really matters, and a simple recipe for rebuilding the kind of circle every woman needs.

💛 Listen in, share this episode with a friend who might need it too, and remember: you’re not behind — you’re just between circles.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

But for a lot of us who grew up in church, those questions can feel… complicated. Because somewhere along the way, we were taught that it’s wrong to want things. That it’s dangerous to trust ourselves. That being a “good Christian woman” means making yourself smaller — dying to yourself, staying quiet, and serving everyone else first.

Today we’re having a conversation I think so many of us need — about what faith actually asks of us. Our guest is Dr. Alison Cook, a therapist, host of The Best of You podcast, and author of the bestselling book by the same name. Alison is an expert at the intersection of faith and psychology.

She helps women heal from past wounds, develop a strong sense of self, and experience a loving God who is for them — not asking them to disappear.

We’re going to talk about what self-denial really means, how to know when faith has turned into self-erasure, and what it looks like to follow Jesus without losing yourself in the process.

You ready? Let’s jump into my conversation with Alison!

Mentioned in this episode: 💛 Love Your Single Life [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/singlelife] 💛 Just Married [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/justmarried] 💛 Becoming Mama [https://stephaniemaywilson.com/becomingmama] 🛒 Stephanie’s Journals & Guides [https://stephaniemaywilsonshop.com/] Stay connected: 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smaywilson/ | https://www.instagram.com/dralisoncook/ 🌐 Website: https://stephaniemaywilson.com/ 💌 Join the Girls Night Community: https://stephaniemaywilson.com/email

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you like your life?

And even more — do you believe you’re allowed to?

So many of us have followed all the rules, checked all the boxes, and built the kind of life we thought we were supposed to want — only to look around and wonder why it doesn’t feel like home. In this episode, we’re slowing down, taking inventory, and learning how to remodel the parts of our lives that no longer fit.

We’ll walk room-by-room through your “life house” — your relationships, your body, your work, your faith, your family, your joy — and ask some simple but powerful questions:

👉 Does this still fit me?
👉 Do I like it?
👉 What might need to change?

This isn’t about burning it all down. It’s about noticing what’s working, what’s not, and making small, thoughtful changes that help your life feel like you again.

If you’ve been trudging along a path that feels uphill and exhausting, this episode will help you find a new route — one that’s easier, freer, and a lot more beautiful.

Resources Mentioned:

• Love Your Single Life

• Just Married

• Becoming Mama

• Stephanie’s Journals & Guides

Let’s be friends!

• Instagram

• Website

• Join the Girls Night Community

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today’s episode, we’re talking about something many of us rule-followers were never taught how to do: questioning authority.

We’ll unpack:

• Where the formulas and “life scripts” we’ve been following actually came from

• How to recognize when a leader, community, or cultural voice doesn’t deserve authority in your life

• A practical vetting process for deciding who should get a seat at your table

• What to do when a leader you trusted lets you down

• How to quiet the noise of other people’s expectations and hear your own voice again

If you’ve ever felt crushed by the weight of doing what you’re “supposed” to do, this episode will help you take a deep breath, release the old scripts, and start writing a life that truly fits.

✨ Resources & Links

• 📘 Create a Life You Love (my newest book)

  
  

• 💻 My online courses & journals

  
  

• 💍 Newlywed couples course — Just Married: StephanieMayWilson.com/JustMarried

  
  

• ❤️ Free resource to find a counselor you can trust: StephanieMayWilson.com/Counseling

Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss what’s ahead this season — because together we’re going to keep unpacking how to let go of other people’s expectations and rebuild a life that feels like home.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’ll hear the origin story of Girls Night, why this season is different, why so many of us feel disoriented and isolated right now, and a simple practice to turn down the noise so you can hear (and trust) your own voice again. Stephanie also guides you through three clarifying questions and leaves you with four grounding reminders — including this one: It’s not too late.

In this episode:
• The Everything Era (and why you’re not behind)
• When the formula “A + B = C” fails you
• The people-pleaser’s trap
• How to create quiet in a noisy world
• A guided reflection to name what’s hard (and why it helps)

Resource mentioned:

What to Say Script Guide — practical, word-for-word responses for uncomfortable family questions (marriage, kids, timelines & more): stephaniemaywilsonshop.com

If this resonates, please follow/subscribe and leave a quick rating & review — it helps more women find the show. And say hi! DM or email me — I truly write back.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

That’s exactly what we’re talking about in today’s Girls Night episode. I’m joined by my dear friend Jena Dunay—a mom of two, business owner, and career strategist who has spent years helping women navigate big transitions in their work lives.

Jena knows firsthand what it looks like to juggle both career ambitions and motherhood dreams, and she’s here to share the wisdom she’s learned along the way.

In this conversation, we cover:

• How to prepare your career for baby before you’re even pregnant

  
  

• What to do if you love your job but also know you want to start a family soon

  
  

• Whether you should “pull back” at work before baby—or lean in until it’s time to pivot

  
  

• How to know if your workplace will really support you as a mom

  
  

• The truth about maternity leave (paid vs. unpaid, how it works, what to ask your HR team)

  
  

• When and how to tell your employer you’re pregnant

  
  

• Practical ways to set boundaries and actually enjoy your maternity leave

  
  

• How to define “success” in your career during different motherhood seasons

This episode is full of encouragement and practical advice for anyone who’s in what I call The Everything Era—that stretch of life when so many big decisions seem to come at once. If you’ve ever wondered how to hold space for both a career you love and a family you’re dreaming of, this conversation will be such a gift.

Resources & Links:

• Connect with Jena: Instagram / Company

• Listen to Jena’s past Girls Night episodes on dating, singleness, and career transitions.

• More encouragement + resources for navigating The Everything Era: stephaniemaywilson.com

✨ If you loved this conversation, would you take 30 seconds to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify? It means the world and helps more women find the show.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whether you're focused on career, dating, getting married, having kids, or honestly just trying to figure out your life right now — this show gives you expert guidance and practical next steps to create a life you genuinely love, not one someone else thinks you should live.

I'm Stephanie May Wilson — 9x author, TEDx speaker, and your host here at girls night and in each episode, we tackle the questions that keep so many of us up at 2 AM — like what to say when people ask invasive questions about your life choices, how to stop comparing your timeline to everyone else's, and most importantly, how to figure out what you actually want and what your next right step is to get there.

As we’re trying to figure out our lives, you might find yourself running into some obstacles and wondering, “Is this normal?” Does everybody struggle with this or am I the only one?” Or maybe like me, you've had several friends receive ADHD diagnoses recently, and you're wondering,”What about me? Am I neurotypical? Or are there some things that are different and unique about my brain too?”

Friend, in this episode you're going to hear from Greer Jones. Greer is the host of The Unfinished Idea podcast and a passionate advocate for neurodivergent families, helping others build lives that actually work for their unique brains. 

I learned SO much from this conversation. I can’t wait for you to hear it. 

Resources Mentioned: → "We Need to Talk" guide with scripts for 44 difficult conversations https://stephaniemaywilsonshop.com/products/we-need-to-talk-scripts-for-44-of-lifes-most-difficult-conversations

→ Love Your Single Life course for building confidence and navigating dating conversations

https://stephaniemaywilson.com/SingleLife

→ Just Married course for newlyweds learning to navigate conflict and communication

https://stephaniemaywilson.com/JustMarried

→ Becoming Mama course for advocating for yourself during pregnancy and early motherhood

https://stephaniemaywilson.com/becomingmama

→ Create A Life You Love book

https://stephaniemaywilson.com/create

Connect with Girls Night:

🎧 New episodes every week:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/girls-night-with-stephanie-may-wilson/id1278993781

📱 Follow @SMayWilson on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/smaywilson/

💌 Weekly newsletter with exclusive content

https://stephaniemaywilson.com/email

🌐 Show notes and resources

https://www.girlsnightpodcast.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you just nodded your head, this episode is for you.

I'm sitting down with my new friend Alexandra Kaval — who coaches ambitious women through exactly this struggle. And friends, this conversation is going to give you permission to think differently about your priorities and actually provide you with a roadmap for getting unstuck.

We're talking about the big rocks method, why the things we get distracted by are never as important as the things we get distracted from - that's an Andy Stanley quote that will stick with you - and honestly, some pretty vulnerable stuff about how to rank the people in your life when you can't say yes to everyone.

This is one of those conversations that's going to make you want to grab a notebook because Ali shares some really practical tools that you can start using today.

So let's dive in.

Resources Mentioned:

→ Join the email fam to receive instant access to our 15-minute coaching workshop

→ Apply for your complimentary clarity call for 1:1 coaching to live your most intentional, Christ-centered life both personally & professionally

→ Apply for Flourish - GSCC's Mastermind to grow your business, ground your faith, and cultivate community

→ "We Need to Talk" guide with scripts for 44 difficult conversations https://stephaniemaywilsonshop.com/products/we-need-to-talk-scripts-for-44-of-lifes-most-difficult-conversations

→ Love Your Single Life course for building confidence and navigating dating conversations

https://stephaniemaywilson.com/SingleLife

→ Just Married course for newlyweds learning to navigate conflict and communication

https://stephaniemaywilson.com/JustMarried

→ Becoming Mama course for advocating for yourself during pregnancy and early motherhood

https://stephaniemaywilson.com/becomingmama

→ Create A Life You Love book

https://stephaniemaywilson.com/create

Connect with Girls Night:

🎧 New episodes every week:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/girls-night-with-stephanie-may-wilson/id1278993781

📱 Follow @SMayWilson on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/smaywilson/

💌 Weekly newsletter with exclusive content

https://stephaniemaywilson.com/email

🌐 Show notes and resources

https://www.girlsnightpodcast.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After 11 years of marriage, they've cracked the code on avoiding resentment, eliminating daily arguments about chores, and creating a system that actually works. They share their real-life examples (including Carl's Marie Kondo folding methods vs. Stephanie's "bomb went off" approach), how they handle disagreements, and why clarity is the secret to feeling seen and appreciated.

Whether you're newlyweds, engaged, or just tired of fighting about the dishwasher, this episode gives you practical tools to create your own system that works for YOUR relationship.

What You'll Learn:

• How to inventory and assign household tasks fairly

• Why traditional gender roles don't have to dictate your marriage

• Real examples of how Carl and Stephanie divide everything from laundry to meal planning

• How to handle tasks you both hate (hint: outsourcing isn't just for the wealthy)

• The importance of acknowledging and appreciating each other's contributions

Resources Mentioned:

• Fair Play by Eve Rodsky: [Book Link]

• Eve Rodsky's Girls Night Interview: [Episode Link]

• Just Married Course: stephaniemaywilson.com/justmarried

• Household Tasks Spreadsheet (available to Just Married and Becoming Mama students)

Connect with Stephanie:

• Instagram: @SMayWilson
• Website: stephaniemaywilson.com
• Email: hello@stephaniemaywilson.com

If this episode helped you, please leave a quick rating and review - it makes such a difference in helping other couples find these conversations!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is for you if you've ever felt like everyone else got a manual for how to navigate conflict while you're just winging it, caught yourself saying "yes" when you wanted to say "no" because you didn't know how to set boundaries, or worried that speaking up about your needs would damage your relationships instead of strengthening them.

In this episode of Girls Night, Stephanie breaks down exactly how to prepare for and navigate life's most difficult conversations. You'll get word-for-word scripts, practical strategies, and the confidence to finally have those talks you've been avoiding.

What You'll Learn:

• Why your Everything Era makes difficult conversations both more important and more challenging

• The six-step framework for preparing for any hard conversation (so you never freeze up again)

• When you need to speak up versus when to let things go (the key indicators that will save you from unnecessary conflict)

• What happens when we avoid these conversations (spoiler: we end up living smaller lives)

• Word-for-word scripts for three of the most common difficult conversations women face

• How to anticipate pushback and respond thoughtfully instead of defensively

• Why people-pleasers and highly sensitive people actually have an advantage in these conversations

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever been at a family event when someone - let's call her Aunt Sharon - starts asking those pointed questions that somehow manage to hit every single insecurity you've been trying not to think about?

You know the ones: 'So, are you seeing anyone special?' followed immediately by 'You're not getting any younger, you know.' Or maybe it's 'When are you giving me some grandchildren?' or 'Are you still doing that little blog thing?'

Cue the internal screaming, right?

Today we're diving into what I call 'The Aunt Sharon Effect' - why these well-meaning questions feel like such a gut punch, and most importantly, how to handle them with grace while protecting your own heart and mind.

We'll cover practical scripts you can actually use, mindset shifts that will change everything, and how to walk away from these conversations feeling empowered instead of deflated.

Because here's what I've learned: the way we handle these moments says so much about how confidently we're walking in our own authority.

And building that confidence? That's exactly what we're going to work on today. Let's dive in!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maybe you've moved somewhere new and you're still making small talk with acquaintances months later. Or you're tired of being the one who always has to reach out first, scheduling friend dates 30 days in advance like business meetings. If you've ever felt like everyone else has their tight-knit friend group figured out while you're still searching for yours, you're not alone.

In this episode of Girls Night, Stephanie sits down with entrepreneur and community builder Liz Forkin Bohannon to talk about how to build the kind of intentional community we're all craving — even when you're starting from scratch.

• Why most Americans have friendship completely backwards (and the mindset shift that changes everything)

• The four pillars of building lasting community that actually work in real life

• Why you need to commit to consistency BEFORE you feel connected (not the other way around)

• The "look for the losers" strategy that's more effective than trying to break into existing friend groups

• How Liz went from knowing zero people in Portland to living next door to her best friends

• The practical steps they took to buy property together and create intentional community

• How to have difficult conversations that deepen trust instead of damaging relationships

• The science behind why friendship is literally a matter of life and death (the data will shock you)

📱 Follow Liz on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/lizbohannon/?hl=en

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You know the feeling, right? You're genuinely happy for your friend who just got engaged, promoted, or pregnant — but there's this other part that feels like each piece of good news for someone else somehow makes your own dreams less likely to come true. If you've ever wondered how to be happy for friends when you're struggling with jealousy of friends' success, you're absolutely not alone.

Today, I'm giving you a complete survival kit for celebrating friends' success when you're still waiting for your own good news. We'll talk about navigating wedding jealousy when you're single, baby shower jealousy when you're trying to conceive, and promotion parties when you're job searching.

But first, let me tell you about the day before my husband Carl proposed to me, when one of my good friends got engaged — and I completely broke down at an Italian restaurant. Because here's what I learned that changed everything: just because someone else got something before you doesn't mean they got it instead of you. Your story is still being written, and someone else's timeline doesn't determine yours.

So grab your coffee, put in those earbuds, and let's dive in.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's episode is especially close to my heart because it's about something I see constantly in our community: why we keep second-guessing our best decisions and how understanding your emotional patterns can help you stop letting fear masquerade as wisdom.

I'm sharing the story of the night before my family moved to Spain — when I was lying in bed having a complete panic attack about a decision I knew was right — and the breakthrough that changed how I navigate decision-making anxiety forever.

If you've ever made a thoughtful choice only to immediately start doubting yourself when things got uncomfortable, this episode will give you the tools to trust your decisions even when they feel scary.

You'll learn to distinguish between "this feels hard because it's wrong" and "this feels hard because it's new."

Let's dive in!

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I'm beyond thrilled to share today's episode with you because I’m talking with my very best friend, Kelsey Bennett. Kelsey and I both took the leap and relocated our families to Spain just 10 months ago, and I'm so excited to dive into what our experience has been like navigating this significant life change. In this conversation, we'll explore the highs and lows of our journey so far, how we navigated the decision-making process, and what's on the horizon for both of our families.

Fair warning, there were tears shed in this episode, but for a good reason!

If you’re in the midst of working through a big decision in your own life and need encouragement for what to do next, then this conversation is for you. 

Okay, let’s jump into my conversation with Kelsey! 

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It's hot here in Granada, Spain - my family and I moved here last summer - which means I'm instantly desperate for a pool. I cannot wait to go swimming this summer, and as we speak, I'm trying to wiggle one last weekend getaway out of our hotel points before we head back to the US for the summer.

But naturally, just like summer means swimming, swimming means swimsuits, which means we're all going to be dealing with our feelings about our bodies in a way we don't have to quite as directly when we're covered in spring dresses or winter coats.

Today I wanted to get a little candid - okay, a LOT candid - and share with you what I've been sharing with my in-person friends at my real-life girls' nights lately. And that's how I'm feeling about my body these days, especially considering me and everybody else is about to see a lot more of it.

If you're someone who dreads swimsuit season, who starts panicking about "getting beach body ready," or who has ever felt like your worth is tied to the number on the scale or the size of your jeans, this episode is for you. We're going to talk about what it really means to get your body image ready for summer - and spoiler alert, it has nothing to do with losing weight.

Before we dive in, I want to acknowledge that everyone's experience with their body is different — and that for a lot of us, the one we have with our body is by FAR our hardest relationship. For some of us, talking about body is tender, for some of us, it’s THE MOST TENDER THING. And my hope for this episode is that I’ve been able to create a safe space for you to process, no matter your experience. And if you find a place where I inevitably fell short, please forgive me in advance.

If you've struggled with your weight your whole life, if you've been in a bigger body and faced discrimination because of it, if you've dealt with health issues - your experience is valid, and your feelings are valid.

This conversation isn't meant to dismiss the real challenges that some people face, including the very real ways that society treats different bodies differently. What I am saying is that regardless of your starting point, regardless of your body size or shape, you deserve to feel at home in your body.

You deserve to define what health means for you. And while mindset work can't erase societal discrimination, it can help you reclaim some power in how you relate to your own body.

We’ll chat more about this in the episode. Let’s dive in!

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I’m so excited. We’re officially back for Season 21 of the Girls Night Podcast! Can you believe it? Twenty-one seasons of this show started in my bedroom closet when Carl and I were newlyweds and trying to figure out life, and here we are - still figuring it out together, just in different ways.

This season, we're going back to the heart of Girls Night. This show has always been for women in their twenties and thirties who are navigating the biggest decisions of their lives. Maybe you're single and wondering if you'll ever meet your person. Maybe you're newly married and trying to figure out how to blend two lives into one. Maybe you're thinking about having kids but you're not sure about the timing, or the finances, or if you even want to be a mom at all. Maybe you love your job but you're wondering if there's something else out there for you. Maybe you're feeling stuck, or lost, or like everyone else got a playbook that you never received.

If any of that is you - you are in exactly the right place.

Now, I have to tell you something. This summer, I'm doing something that feels pretty scary to me, but scary in the way where I know, "Oh gosh, this is definitely what I'm supposed to do." I'm going to be doing more solo episodes. Just me, talking to you, like we're having coffee together or texting back and forth. No guests, no interviews – just the conversations I wish we could have if we were sitting across from each other right now.

I'm trying to listen and follow where I feel led, and this is where it's taking me. So we'll see where it goes! But I'm excited to go there with you.

Before we dive in, I want you to know something: this is a safe space. You don't have to have it all figured out here. You don't need a polished answer to "So what's next for you?" In fact, if your honest answer right now is "I have absolutely no idea," you are in exactly the right place.

Today we're talking about something I know so many of you are feeling – that nagging sense that you're falling behind in life. That everyone else figured out the secret playbook while you were... what? Making coffee? Scrolling Instagram? Living your actual life?

Here's what I want you to know right up front: You're not falling behind. You're not broken. And there's nothing wrong with you. What you're experiencing? It's not a you problem - it's an us problem.

I’ll tell you what I mean by that in the episode. Let’s dive in!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to stop letting fear run your life.

If you're like me, you have a vision for your life and career and your family- but somehow, fear, self-doubt, and uncertainty keep creeping in, whispering that you're not enough or that you're just not ready. Well, it's time to silence those voices and start living the life you ACTUALLY want to live.

Our guest for today’s episode is my friend, Mary Marantz. Mary is the three-time bestselling author of Underestimated, Dirt, and Slow Growth Equals Strong Roots, as well as the host of the popular podcast The Mary Marantz Show. She grew up in a trailer in rural West Virginia and was the first in her family to go to college before going on to Yale for law school.

I was so blown away by Mary’s story. She's teaching us how to reclaim our power from fear and create a new narrative for our lives. This is seriously one of my favorite episodes ever! I know I say that all the time, but it’s true. I can’t wait for you to hear from her! 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re addressing one of the most common root causes of tension and resentment in marriage.

The things we’re talking about in this episode are so universal and so pervasive and so toxic (when left unchecked), my friends and I have been talking about this a TON in person, and that’s why I’m so glad to be talking about it here on the show.

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Paige Connell. Paige is a working mother of four who works to highlight the everyday experiences of women balancing motherhood, careers, and relationships. Known for her candid insights on the mental load of motherhood and the challenges of creating equity at home and work, Paige’s content resonates with millions. 

And I have a feeling you’ll resonate with her as well. 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about why your closet may be full but you still feel like you have nothing to wear!

Getting out the door in the morning can be a struggle, and for many of us, the hardest part is figuring out what to wear. Finding that perfect balance between style and practicality can be a challenge, and it's even harder when you're not sure where to start or what pieces to invest in.

To help us with this, I invited my new friend, someone I’ve followed for years, Conni Jespersen. Conni is the educational wardrobe stylist behind Art in the Find. Over the last 10 years, Conni has worked with countless style clients in person and virtually all over the world, helping them to craft an intentional wardrobe that feels personal, pulled together, and practical for the rhythms of their daily life.

Conni is offering her best advice on finding clothing that truly resonates with us, and sharing practical tips to make getting dressed easier and more enjoyable.

After chatting with her, I already feel like I have a way better understanding of my personal style and a practical plan for improving my closet. I know you'll find her advice just as helpful!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about what’s going on in the United States politically — how to wrap our minds around it, how to stay informed without losing our minds, and how to participate in a way that creates the real, lasting change we want to see for our communities.

A few caveats here:

1. Why are we talking about politics? Because I don’t know about you, but this topic DEFINITELY is coming up at my girls nights. And if we talk about something at our real life girls nights, I want to make sure we’re talking about it here too!
2. I know that not all of our listeners live in the United States. I actually don’t currently live in the United States. But the majority of our listeners are in the States, and as I’m learning as a US citizen living abroad, the things that are happening back in my home do really affect the rest of the world. But if this episode doesn’t really apply to you, feel free to skip! We’ll catch up with you at the next one.

So, who’s going to walk us through all of these questions and help us find some peace and clarity? My friend, Sharon McMahon, of course. 

After years of serving as a high school government and law teacher, Sharon McMahon took her passion for education to Instagram, where more than a million people rely on her for non-partisan, fact-based information as "America's Government Teacher." In a time where flashy headlines and false information often take the spotlight, Sharon is a reliable source for truth and logic.

In this episode I ask her if what’s happening in the US is truly unprecedented and how it measures up to other seasons our country has been through. We talk about how to get along with people who think differently from you and what that looks like, how to stay sane while also staying informed, and how to make the real, lasting change we want for our communities. 

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed or unsure about what’s been happening in our country the past several months, you’re not alone. In these uncertain times, it's refreshing to hear a voice of clarity and hope. That's exactly what Sharon brings to the table. I can’t wait for you to hear from her!

One last thing before we dive in: 

This season, we’re doing a really fun giveaway each week as a thank you for supporting this show (and the women who put it together!).

This week, we’ll be picking one winner of a $50 visa gift card — perfect for hosting a girls night of your own!

To enter, all you have to do is take a screenshot of the show as you’re listening, and share it on social media. Make sure to tag me! I’m @SMayWilson.

One last thing: I know that some of our episodes are pretty personal (in fact, a lot of them are) and so I want you to know that you don’t have to share the exact episode you’re listening to in order to enter the giveaway. You can just share the show in general.

(That way you’re not accidentally giving your Aunt Susan and all your old high school friends information about your personal life that you don’t necessarily want them to have!) 

Okay, with that said, let’s dive into my conversation with Sharon! 

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Today we’re sharing one woman’s courageous journey of living with an autoimmune disorder and navigating the challenges of motherhood. 

I know there are women listening who dream of being a mother. But for those living with chronic illness or other health complications, that dream can come with uncertainty and doubt. Even if you haven't walked this path, you may know the ache of longing for something that feels just out of reach. Today's conversation is for anyone who has ever wondered if their dream of motherhood will ever become a reality.

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Ashley Fenker. Ashley is the author of a new book called Good (Enough) Mother. In this new collection of stories and essays, Ashley explores the complexities of chronic illness, modern motherhood, and faith. 

Ashley’s story is full of hope and resilience – I was so inspired by it and I know you will be too!

One last thing before we dive in: 

This season, we’re doing a really fun giveaway each week as a thank you for supporting this show (and the women who put it together!).

This week, we’ll be picking one winner of a $50 visa gift card — perfect for hosting a girls night of your own!

To enter, all you have to do is take a screenshot of the show as you’re listening, and share it on social media. Make sure to tag me! I’m @SMayWilson. 

One last thing: I know that some of our episodes are pretty personal (in fact, a lot of them are) and so I want you to know that you don’t have to share the exact episode you’re listening to in order to enter the giveaway. You can just share the show in general.

(That way you’re not accidentally giving your Aunt Susan and all your old high school friends information about your personal life that you don’t necessarily want them to have!) 

Okay, with that said, let’s dive into my conversation with Ashley!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to identify your attachment style and feel more fulfilled in your relationships.

To help us with this, I invited my new friend Eli Harwood on the show! Eli is a therapist, author, and online you might know her as the Attachment Nerd — and she’s passionate about helping people understand attachment and learn how to relate in more secure ways. 

If you’re anything like me, you’ve heard about attachment styles but you’re not really sure what they are or why they matter — and that’s why I’m truly obsessed with this episode. I learned so much and I can’t stop thinking about what I learned. This is the absolute KEY to healthy relationships, and I can’t believe I didn’t learn about this sooner!

One last thing before we dive in: 

This show is all about women supporting women — and so that’s why, this season, we’re doing a really fun giveaway each week as a thank you for supporting this show (and the women who put it together!).

This week, we’ll be picking one winner of a $50 visa gift card — perfect for hosting a girls night of your own!

To enter, all you have to do is take a screenshot of the show as you’re listening, and share it on social media. Make sure to tag me! I’m @SMayWilson. 

Again, we’ll pick the winner at the end of the week and all you have to do to enter to win a $50 visa gift card is share about the show on social media and tag me, I’m @SMayWilson on Instagram. 

Okay, with that said, let’s dive into my conversation with Eli!

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As a new mom, I desperately needed guidance on what to worry about and what to let go of. I'm sure many of you can relate to those frantic 2am Google searches! That’s why today we're diving into the top 5 things new moms can stop worrying about, and the 5 essential things that deserve your attention.

There’s no better person to help us with this than my favorite parenting guru, Emily Oster! Emily is the founder and CEO of ParentData, a data-driven guide to pregnancy and parenting, and a  Professor of Economics at Brown University. Emily is on a mission to empower parents by providing the data and tools they need to make confident decisions. 

I’m also excited to share about her brand new newsletter called PregnantData that is loaded with resources about trying to conceive. Head to the show notes for the link! You can always find our show notes at Girls Night Podcast.Com!

Emily's resources have saved me from so much unnecessary stress and anxiety as a new mom. I can’t wait for you to hear from her! 

One last thing before we dive in:

This show is all about women supporting women — and so that’s why, this season, we’re doing a really fun giveaway each week as a thank you for supporting this show (and the women who put it together!).

This week, we’ll be picking one winner of a $50 visa gift card — perfect for hosting a girls night of your own! 

To enter, all you have to do is take a screenshot of the show as you’re listening, and share it on social media. Make sure to tag me! I’m @SMayWilson. 

Again, we’ll pick the winner at the end of the week and all you have to do to enter to win a $50 visa gift card is share about the show on social media and tag me, I’m @SMayWilson on Instagram. 

Okay, with that said, let’s dive into my conversation with Emily!

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This last April I wrote a book called Create A Life You Love: How to quiet outside voices so you can finally hear your own. In the book, we talked about the voices we grow up with as women — and there are a lot of them — all telling us who we should be, what we should look like, how we should behave, how we should spend our time, what we’re allowed to do, what we’re not allowed to do, and more. 

The most confusing thing about this is that oftentimes, the voices disagree. One section of the peanut gallery says we should be doing this, while another section would judge us HARD for doing that exact thing. 

Some of the loudest voices when it comes to who a woman should be come from the church. I know they have in my life. And in a lot of ways, that’s a good thing. Our faith — the bedrock of who we are and what we believe — should absolutely impact who we become.

The problem is… while many of us are looking to God to tell us who we are and what we should do with our lives, oftentimes that message has gone through a bit of a game of telephone. The message started one way, but by the time it reached our ears, it was something completely different.

A few years ago, I came across a book that changed my life. It’s called The Making of Biblical Womanhood — How the Subjugation of Women became Gospel Truth. The book takes a look at what women are told in the church today — and then traces the thread back through history — trying to figure out where it came from and if what we’re being told God wants from us is actually what God said in the first place.

Today on the show, I’m so honored to get to welcome my new friend, author of The Making of Biblical Womanhood, Beth Allison Barr. Beth is James Vardaman Endowed Professor of History at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where she specializes in medieval history, women's history, and church history. 

This episode is SO powerful — and if you have questions about what we’re supposed to be doing as women and where exactly those rules came from, this episode is for you. 

One last thing before we dive in: 

This show is all about women supporting women — and so that’s why, this season, we’re doing a really fun giveaway each week as a thank you for supporting this show (and the women who put it together!).

This week, we’ll be picking one winner of a $50 visa gift card — perfect for hosting a girls night of your own!

To enter, all you have to do is take a screenshot of the show as you’re listening, and share it on social media. Make sure to tag me! I’m @SMayWilson. 

Okay, with that said, let’s dive into my conversation with Beth!

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Today we’re continuing our “How She Does It.” series. About once a month we do a profile of a woman who’s living a beautifully, unique life and we'll get to hear the behind-the-scenes of how she does it.

And I’m so excited because today we’re talking with my dear friend, Suzanne Kianpour - I call her Suzy. Suzy is an Emmy-nominated journalist, documentarian, and presenter who has reported from conflict zones and corridors of power as a BBC foreign correspondent. She is the founder of Helmet to Heels, a platform amplifying the voices of women driving global impact, and the host of News with Suz, a series blending international affairs with fashion and culture. 

Suzy is a force to be reckoned with - a confident, passionate, and inspiring individual who has spent years telling the stories that need to be told. I know you'll love hearing about her journey and the lessons she's learned along the way.

Don’t forget — all season long we’re doing a weekly giveaway — all you have to do is take a quick screen shot of the show as you’re listening and share it on social media. This week, our winner is going to get a $50 visa gift card — perfect for a girls night of your own! 

Again, all you have to do is take a screenshot of the show and share it on your social media. Tag me @smaywilson and you’re entered to win! We’ll pick a winner every week! 

Okay, with that said, let’s dive into my conversation with Suzy.

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Today we’re talking about how to improve your sleep so you can feel your best. I'm willing to bet that, like me, you're craving a restful night's sleep but, somehow, it always feels just out of reach. Whether your mind is racing with worries or your to-do list is overflowing, it can be tough to wind down and get the sleep you need. 

That’s why I’m so excited to introduce you to today’s guest, who also just happens to be my incredibly wise and wonderful cousin! Dr. Sarah Jeffrey is a licensed naturopathic doctor and co-founder of Aya Naturopathic Medicine. With specialized training in natural approaches to stress and sleep issues, she combines science and compassion to help her patients feel their best. Dr. Jeffrey is passionate about empowering women to take charge of their health and believes small lifestyle changes can make a big difference. 

I can’t wait for you to hear from her today!

Don’t forget — all season long, if you take a quick screen shot of the show as you’re listening and share it on social media, each week one winner will get to pick something out from the Girls Night Gift Shop! Make sure to tag us! We’ll pick a winner every week!

Okay, with that said, let’s dive into my conversation with Sarah.

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Today we’re talking about how to heal, move forward, and find your spark again after a rough breakup. We're mainly focusing on romantic relationships, but honestly, these tips can apply to any meaningful relationship that's ended - whether that's with a friend, a family member, or even a job. So, if you're looking to rediscover your passions and purpose and overall sense of self after a tough split, you're in the right place!

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Dr. Morgan Cope. Dr. Morgan is a relationship scientist and Assistant Professor of Psychology at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. She studies how people's sense of self is changed by romantic relationships. Her research investigates how breakups affect people’s identity, as well as how to recover and avoid breakup pitfalls after relationships end. 

Morgan is amazing. I so wish I had had her as a resource the gazillion times I got my heart broken over the years.

And don’t forget — all season long, if you take a quick screen shot of the show as you’re listening and share it on social media, each week one winner will get to pick something out from the Girls Night Gift Shop! Make sure to tag us! We’ll pick a winner every week!

Okay, with that said, let’s dive into my conversation with Dr. Morgan Cope! 

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Today is officially the launch of Season 20 of Girls Night! I can hardly believe it! We’re kicking off the new season by talking about a topic that’s so close to my heart and that’s singleness. 

I recently had a raw and honest conversation with a close friend about the challenges of singleness and dating. As she shared her feelings of frustration and uncertainty, I offered her some advice that resonated deeply with both of us. Today, I want to share that same advice with you, in the hopes that it might bring you comfort, clarity, and renewed hope.

If you're feeling stuck, uncertain, or overlooked in your own journey, you’re not alone and this conversation is for you! 

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On this show, we talk about the Everything Era: that wildly confusing decade-ish where we have to make some of the most significant decisions of our lives, typically all at the same time. If you’re anything like me, it probably feels like a lot  — how do you even know what you want out of life? And even once you’ve figured that out, how do you make it happen? 

Thankfully, we don’t have to figure this out alone. I’ve invited some of the smartest women I know onto the show to walk us through the topics that keep us up at night. We’re going to learn from both their expertise and their experience and you’ll walk away not only knowing what your next step is, but with the support you need to actually take it.

No matter who you are, where you come from, or what decisions you end up making, you’re welcome here.

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I can’t believe I’m saying this, but today is our very last Girls Night episode of 2024 and of Season 19! I’m closing us out with a solo episode — we're chatting about how to reflect on the past year and prepare for the year ahead! 

This episode was inspired by the project I’ve been working on for the past few months, but really the past few years, and that’s my New Years Reflection & Intention Journal. In it, I finally get to introduce you to the New Year's Journaling process I’ve been doing for the last ten years.

Friends, 2025 is full of possibilities, and it all begins with a clear vision and intentional steps. Today’s episode is going to help us take action toward the life we actually want to live.

I can’t wait for you to tune in! 

P.S. We will be back for Season 20 of Girls Night in February of 2025! We have incredible guests and topics in store for you!

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I’m excited about this episode because I know many of you are navigating what I call The Everything Era – the decade-ish when we have to make 80% of most biographically significant life decisions all at the same time. Career, relationships, family, and identity are all intersecting, bringing immense pressure and expectations along with them. 

We know what this feels like for us — inside our heads and circumstances and lives — but we don’t always know what this feels like to other women. It’s so easy to wonder, “Am I the only one struggling this way?” “Is anyone else going through this too?” So today, we’re taking a step towards finding that out! 

Our guests for today’s episode are my new friends, Danielle Robay and Simone Boyce. Danielle is a TV host, journalist, and content creator known for her open-hearted + compelling interview style. Simone is a journalist and multidimensional storyteller who lives audaciously, leads with curiosity and embodies radical self-expression. Danielle and Simone are co-hosts of The Bright Side, a daily Podcast from Hello Sunshine. The Bright Side brings your daily dose of culture and inspiration – with the latest trends, celebrity interviews, and real conversations with women doing amazing things while navigating life’s transitions, both big and small.

Through their podcast and other projects, they've gathered invaluable insights into the challenges and successes women face in their careers, relationships, and personal growth — and basically, in this episode, I’m picking their brains about what they’ve discovered along the way. I cannot wait for you to hear from them! 

Here’s my conversation with Simone and Danielle!

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I can’t wait for today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to talk about money with your spouse as a newlywed. 

Money is stressful for everybody, but it's especially hard on newlyweds. You have your own money and now suddenly what's yours is theirs and what's theirs is yours and you have to figure out how to spend (and NOT spend) it all together.

And really, whether you’ve been married for 2 years or 20 years, money is always going to be a topic of discussion, so the earlier you can talk through this, and learn how to talk about it, the better! 

Our guest for today’s episode is a Girls Night favorite — my friend, Rachel Cruze. Rachel is a two-time #1 national bestselling author, financial expert, and podcast host. Since 2010, Rachel has served at Ramsey Solutions, where she teaches people how to avoid debt, budget, and win with money at any stage in life. Rachel believes it’s possible for anyone to turn around their finances and build a life they love.

The advice Rachel shares in this episode is everything I wish I could go back and tell myself and the beginning of marriage — so grab a note pad if you can because she’s sharing all the tips! 

Okay friends, let’s hop into the episode! 

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Today's episode is deeply personal for me as we dive into the topic of IVF and infertility treatments. My husband and I shared our IVF journey on Girls Night episode 94, but with recent misinformation circulating online surrounding this topic, I've invited a trusted expert to help us figure out what information is actually true and what just isn’t. 

That expert is my new friend, Dr. Lucky Sekhon. Dr. Lucky is a double board-certified reproductive endocrinologist, infertility specialist, and OB/GYN based in New York City. Dr. Sekhon is passionate about empowering women with accurate, evidence-based information on reproductive health and fertility. She has personally gone through IVF, which has deepened her understanding of the challenges her patients face.

In our conversation, Dr. Lucky explains what IVF is and, maybe equally as important, what it’s not. We also discuss other fertility treatment options like egg freezing, IUI, and more! 

Whether you’re currently facing a fertility issue or, like me, have been diagnosed with infertility, OR whether you’re wanting to know your options when it comes to having a family in the future — I hope this conversation will ease your mind by helping you know the facts and what options are available for you and your family. 

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Friends, I’m so excited because today we’re back with another episode in our How She Does it Series where I’m sharing profiles of women we look up to. 

Today’s guest is someone I’ve looked up to for a long time and that’s my new friend, Katelyn James. Katelyn is a photography educator based in Richmond, Virginia, with 30,000 students around the globe and co-owns an entrepreneurial-based micro-school for kids in their community called Acton Academy Westend. Her passion lies in teaching the power of personal branding and empowering others through her education.

In today’s episode, she’s sharing about her journey of becoming a business owner and a mom and the doors that have opened as a result of her hard work, grit, and determination.

One of the first questions I ask her is what is the accomplishment she’s most proud of and I think her answer is going to surprise you — I know it did for me, but in the very best way! 

This is one of the most inspiring conversations I’ve had here on Girls Night, so let’s dive right in! 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to take the first step (and then next 10!) when pursuing your dreams.

We all are dreaming about something — maybe it’s something we want to happen in our lives, maybe it’s something we want to happen in the world because of our lives. And if you have a dream, you also have a few things that go along with it — fear, insecurity, uncertainty, and discouragement. (Among other things.)

Sometimes, figuring out what we even want to do in the first place is the issue. Other times we know what we want to do, but getting started (and then keeping going!) is a whole other story. 

No matter where you are with your dreams for your life, I cannot WAIT for you to meet our Girls Night guest for today. 

Our guest for today’s episode is Liz Bohannon. Liz is a social entrepreneur and the founder of Sseko Designs, a socially responsible fashion company. She is also a Forbes Top 20 speaker, the author of the best-selling book Beginner's Pluck, the host of the Plucking Up Podcast, and a partner at Noonday Collection.

I’ve followed Liz for years and her book, Beginner’s Pluck, totally changed my life. I cannot wait for you to hear from her!

Let’s hop into our conversation! 

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Friends, I’m so excited because today we’re back with another episode in our How She Does it Series where I’m sharing profiles of women we look up to.

Today’s guest is my new friend, Bri Summers! After Bri landed what she thought was her dream job after college she quickly realized that her dream job — the one she’d been working toward FOREVER, wasn’t actually so dreamy. In fact, she realized that she wanted to do something totally different and that’s when she decided to strike out on her own and build a business based on her hobbies, passion, and expertise — and that’s when her company, Brighten Made was born. Brighten Made is an artful branding and web design studio for lifestyle brands. I first stumbled upon Bri’s work as I was in the design process for my apparel line, The Girls Night Gift shop, and fell in love with everything she does! 

In this conversation, we’re talking through the things Bri had to overcome and figure out to get to the place where she is today — from receiving pushback from naysayers to navigating the pressures of motherhood and overcoming her own fears and insecurities that held her back. 

Bri is someone who is doing incredible things in the world and making a difference in the creative community — I know you’re going to love her!

Okay, with that said, let’s hop into our conversation!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about color analysis and finding your personal style. 

To walk us through this, I invited my new friend Lindsey Myers, to join us! Lindsey founded Created Colorful in 2020 while navigating being a new mom. Pouring any energy she had into her kids, Lindsey slowly realized she had nothing left for herself. Hope came crashing into her life once she learned color analysis–a process where each person has a set of colors that objectively flatters them. From there, she was hooked. Through sharing her findings on Instagram, Lindsey quickly was flooded with requests and became a CEO “overnight” when Created Colorful was born. Lindsey and her team have helped more than 20,000 clients to date find their colors and reignite self-confidence.

I was blown away by the impact colors can have on our style, but also our confidence and how we show up in the world!

I can’t wait to share this with you! Here’s my conversation with Lindsey.

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A few weeks ago, I recorded a video to share with women in our community who purchased something from my shop during my blog birthday sale. It was called the 12-in-12 workshop and in it I shared 12 of the most important things I’ve learned in the last 12 years of my life. But, the more I thought about it, these are things that I wish I could tell every woman, so, instead of just sharing it with a portion of our community, I wanted to share it with everyone! So that’s what we’re doing today!

In this conversation, we’re talking about boundaries, friendships, figuring out what you want to do with your life, how to dream, how to fail, and so much more! 

These things have absolutely changed my life in the very best way, and I cannot wait to tell you about them! 

Okay, let’s dive in!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to stop running on empty and prioritize your emotional, spiritual and physical needs.

If you’re anything like me, you’re trying your best to do it all and be the person that everyone needs you to be, even if it comes at the expense of your own health and well-being. 

We all know that isn’t a sustainable way of living and eventually leads to things like stress and total burnout.

That’s why I invited today’s guest, Debra Fileta, back on the show to help us out! Debra is a licensed professional counselor, podcaster, speaker, and author who specializes in dating, marriage, and relationship issues, along with mental and emotional health. She recently released a book called Soul Care where she teaches us 6 practices Jesus implemented in His own life and ministry and how we can apply those same practices to our lives. 

Two of my favorite practices she explains in the episode were protect and savor. More about that soon! 

Okay, let’s hop into my conversation with Debra!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to understand your personal finances and build a stronger relationship with your money!

If you’re someone who feels overwhelmed by budgets, savings, and investments, you're not alone. In this episode, we explore what financial freedom and security really mean — and why it doesn’t require giving up everything that brings you joy (Any other coffee shop lovers appreciate that?).

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Shanna Skidmore. Shanna is a former fortune 100 financial advisor turned business consultant, educator, and international speaker. With clients and students in more than 26 countries, Shanna has helped thousands of entrepreneurs over the last 15 years build profitable & sustainable businesses while leading a life they love. She also has amazing advice for managing your personal finances, whether you’re an entrepreneur or not. 

I loved this conversation because Shanna takes the scary or intimidating parts out of personal finances and offers really practical tips on how to set yourself up for a great financial future, whatever that looks like for you! 

Okay, I cannot wait for you to hear from her. Let’s dive in! 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to unplug from our devices so we can be more present in our everyday lives. 

I couldn’t wait for this topic because I know firsthand how tough it can be to break free from the constant pull of our devices. We tap into social media with the best intentions, only to emerge from the digital haze thirty minutes later, wondering where the time went. If you can relate, today’s conversation is for you! 

Our guest for today’s episode is my dear friend, Hannah Brencher. Hannah is a writer, TED speaker, and entrepreneur. She founded The World Needs More Love Letters, a global community dedicated to sending letter bundles to those who need encouragement. She also wrote a book called, The Unplugged Hours: Cultivating a Life of Presence in a Digitally Connected World. In this book, she shares about the exhaustion she felt from her constantly plugged-in lifestyle and the challenge she undertook to change that — the challenge being unplugging from her device for 1,000 hours in one year!

Her results after completing the challenge are pretty astounding – you’ll hear more about them soon! My hope is after hearing Hannah's story, you'll be empowered to reassess your own relationship with technology and be more present for the things that matter most.

Alright, friends, let’s hop into my conversation with Hannah!

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I’m so excited for today’s episode because you get to hear from two of my favorite humans on the planet, my dear friends, Mariko Clark and Rachel Eleanor. Marri and Rachel have a brand new kid’s Bible coming out this week called The Book of Belonging and to say I am overjoyed and ecstatic about it is a huge understatement. 

I knew I needed to invite them both on the show to not only talk about the book and incredible backstory, but also what the process was like while writing and illustrating it. 

I loved this conversation so much because it reminded me that when God stirs our hearts to action, he equips us to do the hard thing, no matter how daunting the task (or how unqualified we feel!). 

I can’t wait for you to hear from them! Let’s dive in!

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I’m so excited because today we’re revisiting an amazing conversation I had with my dear friend, Hanna Seymour, a few years ago. If this is your first time meeting her, Hanna is an amazing writer, mentor, Bible teacher, and she’s the host of an incredible podcast called No Matter What with Hanna Seymour. She’s also one of my closest friends, and I just love the conversation we have in store for you!

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Here’s a little bit of background on this episode before we dive in:

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So, awhile back, I got a message from one of our listeners that just stopped me in my tracks. I’m going to read it to you.

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She said, “Hey Stephanie, I have been listening to Girls Night for awhile now, and hearing you and your guests talk a lot about God and having a relationship with Him. I am not a Christian, but I think I might want to be one. I think I might want to have a relationship with God, but I’m not sure what that really means, or where to start. Can you help me?”

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I LOVED her question because I remember exactly where I was when I was asking the very same thing. Also, as I was writing her back, I realized that there really aren’t very many resources to help with this specific moment in faith.

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If you go to church, or read a book about Christianity, or listen to a Christian podcast, you’re usually walking in the middle of the story. It’s sort of assumed that you’ve started the journey, that you have some background information about God and Jesus, and for a lot of us, that’s not true.

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When I became a Christian, I didn’t know ANYTHING about God or Jesus. I had been to church a few times, but I didn’t remember a thing from it. I really was starting from square one. (You’ll get to hear more of that story today!)

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In this episode, you’ll hear me ask Hanna all of the questions I was asking at the very beginning of my faith journey.

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Questions like:

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What does it mean to have a relationship with God?

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How do we actually begin a relationship with God?

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What kind of life change should we expect to see in becoming a Christian? And what if we become a Christian but our lives don’t really change? What do we do then?

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How do we put our full hope and trust in God, even when we can’t physically see Him?

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And that’s just the beginning.

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If you are new to your faith journey, or if you’re like, “I’m not a Christian, but I have some questions,” this episode is for you.

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But also, if you’ve been a Christian for awhile, or even for your whole life, this episode is for you too.

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I think so many of us come to a place where our faith just feels a little bit stale. We’ve been doing this forever, and so in some ways, it’s become routine. I know for others of us, we’ve been a Christian for a long time, but we’ve never really had a big transformation moment with God. We hear other people talk about how much God has changed their lives, and while we would LOVE to experience God in such a tangible, life-changing way, that just hasn’t been our story.

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If you’re in either of those places, I know this episode will really help.

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Guys, I have to be honest with you: This is my favorite episode about faith that we have ever done here on the podcast, and I can’t wait to dive in.

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Today, we’re revisiting a conversation I had with my friend, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt, on setting boundaries.

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If you’ve been a Girls Night listener for a while now, this isn’t the first time you’re hearing me talk about boundaries. And it’s because this has been a HUGE lesson for me.

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I am historically bad at knowing what I want and what I need — at drawing lines and saying no.

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And for the longest time, I was okay with that. (Maybe even a little bit proud of it?)

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I like being helpful. I like being needed. I like feeling useful, capable, and strong.

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For years I thought that this was the best way to love the people I love: To always put their needs above my needs, to say yes to everything, to give but never take, and to have everything that’s mine be theirs without limit — whether it was my stuff, my space, my time, or my energy.

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This is what I thought would lead to the healthiest, closest relationships. But over the last few years I’ve learned that the opposite is true.

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Boundaries are an absolutely essential part of healthy relationships. They’re an essential part of a healthy life, of a healthy US.

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And that’s what we’re talking about here today.

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Our guest, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt, is a renowned cardiac anesthesiologist, professor, bestselling author and CEO and Founder of Brave Enough. Sasha is also a wife and a mother who has walked through seasons of loneliness, anxiety, and complete burnout. Needless to say, she has had to learn about boundaries the HARD way.

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She wrote a book called, Brave Boundaries: Strategies to Say No, Stand Strong and Take Control of Your Time where she helps us find the courage to implement boundaries in our own life.

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Here are just a few of the things she’s going to teach us in this episode:

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How to take a personal boundary inventory and identify what boundaries we need

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Why saying no to others and yes to ourselves isn’t selfish and can actually help us be a better version of ourselves (and love our people better!)

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How to kindly respond to someone if we receive backlash for the boundary we’ve set

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And so much more!

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One of my favorite things that Sasha says in the episode was, "The world will set your boundaries if you don't set them for yourself” and that couldn't be more true.

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Friends, if you’re feeling anxious, burned out, or overwhelmed in life right now, this episode is for you!

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Today, we’re revisiting a conversation I had with my dear friend, Emily Ley a couple years ago. We’re talking about super busy seasons of life, and how we can bring some order to the chaos!

Emily is the founder of Simplified, a brand of planners and organizational tools for busy women. Her newest book, Sure as the Sunrise is 100 daily meditations on God’s mercy and delight to greet each morning with hope and joy. Along with being an author and entrepreneur, she’s also a wife, a mama of three kids, a friend, a woman of faith and so much more. 

She truly does it all and in this episode I pick her brain on how she makes it all happen! (And the quick answer to that question is, “She doesn’t do it alone!)

Here are just a few of the things she’s going to share about in the episode:

• How to structure our days to make everything run more smoothly 

• What tools and resources have been most helpful for keeping her schedule organized  

• How to figure out what to say no to

• How to prioritize what’s most important in your life, your family's life, and in your business’s life

• And how to stay consistent in your faith when life feels really busy

If you’re feeling stressed out with a busy schedule, or just want to make your everyday life a little easier and more efficient, Emily’s tried-and-true systems are going to be a game-changer for you! 

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Okay, friends, today’s episode is going to look a little different than usual! While getting settled in Spain these past few weeks, I haven’t had as much time to record new Girls Night episodes, although that will be changing VERY soon now that I have my little podcast studio set up in our apartment! 

In the meantime, over the next few weeks, I thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.

Today, we’re revisiting a conversation I had with the incredible Dr. Marisa G. Franco where we talked about making and keeping friendships! 

Marisa wrote a book called,  Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make--and Keep--Friends. Marisa is a brilliant psychologist, international speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. She is known for digesting and communicating the science of human connection in ways that resonate deeply enough with people to change their lives.

Here are just a few of the things she’s going to teach us in the episode:

• Why friendship is essential no matter what stage of life you’re in

• How to not only make new friendships but also keep our friendships

• What an attachment style is and how we can figure out what ours is

• How to make new friends as an adult and improve the quality of our friendships

• And so much more!

If you’ve been desiring deeper connections in your friendships, you’re in the right place. Marisa seriously has an abundance of knowledge to share with us on this topic – I can’t wait for you to hear from her!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today my husband, Carl Wilson, is joining me to give you guys the scoop on what it’s been like to pack up our life and move our family to Spain! 

We're answering your biggest questions about our move abroad — sharing the emotional highs and lows of leaving behind our life in Nashville and living out our dream, all while navigating life with two toddlers.

This transition has been a wild ride, but it's already taught us valuable lessons about embracing change and living intentionally. We can't wait to share our story and inspire you to do the same – to live a life that's authentic, meaningful, and truly yours.

Okay friends, let’s jump into the episode!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today, we're talking about how to stay true to who you are no matter what changes life brings your way

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I'm looking forward to diving into this topic because, let's face it, change can be tough — and even tougher when it affects our livelihood or loved ones. This conversation felt incredibly timely and relevant considering I’m in the midst of a major life transition myself, having moved my family to Spain. And I know I’m not the only one — so many women in our community are walking through big changes in their lives as well.

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So that’s what we’re diving into today!

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Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Najwa Zebian. Najwa is a Lebanese-Canadian activist, author, speaker, and educator. Since self-publishing her first collection of poetry and prose in 2016, Najwa has become an inspiration to millions of people worldwide and a trailblazing voice for women everywhere - name dropped by the New York Times, The Huffington Post, and CBS News, among others. She has published books of poetry and self-development that followed her journey of healing, building a home within, letting go of her conditioning and reinventing herself. Her newest book, The Only Constant, explores the power of embracing change.

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My hope is that by hearing Najwa's story — one of hope, power and resilience — you will have the courage to make change in your own life and fully embrace the person you were created to be!

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Okay, you ready? Let’s dive into our conversation!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking with my new friend, Joanna Gott. ​ Joanna is a first time single mom through international adoption and the Content Director for Emily Lex Studios — Emily Lex is an amazing watercolor artist, author, and her childhood best friend!

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And today, Joanna is sharing all about her story and what the adoption journey looked like for her!

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I wanted to have this conversation because I know there're so many women — both single and married — in our community who are interested in adoption, but aren’t sure where to begin. You might be asking questions like, “Is it harder to adopt a child as a single parent?” or “How much does adoption cost and are there any ways to find support?” Joanna is going to help us through all of this!

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Before we dive in, I want to let you know that we ran into a few technical issues when starting the episode, so her introduction and part of the first question is missing. Because of that, Joanna was so gracious to give us a little recap of her introduction and some context for her background and story.

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So, as I mentioned, Joanna is a mom and the Content Director for Emily Lex Studios. Her fun fact is that she knows the entire dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller video and she once won first place in a Michael Jackson Thriller dance contest. Incredible. Right!?

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After this, I asked her the first “How She Does It” question, which was this –

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"Here on the show, we’re talking about what I like to call… The Everything Era — ​ this weird, wonderful, and wildly difficult span of years between our late 20s and early 40s during which we make the most biographically significant decisions of our lives ​ (Career, marriage, motherhood, and more!) —all at the same time—and in front of an audience, no less. It’s a LOT. There’s so much pressure, specifically on women, for our lives to look a certain way, and by a certain time.

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So, to start, can you tell us what this has looked like for you? What are some of the biggest “supposed tos” you wrestled with during your Everything Era?"

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Here was Joanna’s answer:

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“The biggest challenge for me in this era was that I was at a point in my life when things should be getting "settled" and it all kind of fell apart. My marriage of 10 years ended, my career came to a screeching halt, I was not actively pursuing a relationship with God, and suddenly this "life plan" I thought I had just didn't exist. So in my mid to late thirties I made the decision to start all over. I sold everything I owned (my house, car, all my furniture) and moved to Waco, TX where I did not know a single soul and started a brand new job. It was terrifying and hard to let go of how I imagined my life would look, but it was also such a beautiful season of growth and refinement.”

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Okay, more on that in the episode! Joanna is the best and her story truly embodies what it looks like to create a life you love on your own terms.

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Again, our conversation will start a little abruptly, but you’ll catch on really fast!

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Alright, let’s dive in!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. As you guys know (as I hope you know!) my family and I just moved to Spain! I’m sitting in our Airbnb in Granada right now as I record this, so I definitely have travel on the brain. That’s why today we’re talking about travel points — specifically how to maximize your travel credit card points so you never have to pay for a plane ticket again!

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Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Abby Hatteberg. Abby is the owner of Wayfaren, Dallas mom of 3, who’s attempting to travel the world with her favorite people. She teaches others how to maximize their credit card points and miles to take multiple bucket list trips a year...for nearly free! Abby and her family have traveled to places like Italy, Hawaii, Switzerland, Disneyland, Cabo San Lucas, Norway, and SO many more for a true FRACTION of the actual cost...and she wants to teach YOU to do the same!

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In the episode, she’ll be sharing how travel points work, what’s the best card to get started with, how to use your credit cards responsibly (and not wrack up tons of debt or ruin your credit), and so much more!

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If travel is something you’ve always wanted to do, but it just feels way too expensive, make sure you tune in, because Abby is giving us all of the steps we need to take to make this a reality!

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Last note here: I have travel credit cards and the points we’ve earned from them have made a massive difference in our ability to travel over the last 10 years or so. BUT, in this episode, I learned SO MUCH that I didn’t know AT ALL. I cannot wait to put into practice the things Abby taught me and I’m so happy you get to hear from her too!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to better understand yourself and your kids using the Enneagram. 

Since the Enneagram has gained popularity in the past few years, I’m guessing most of you are at least somewhat familiar, but, if you need a refresher, The Enneagram Test is basically a personality assessment to help us know ourselves better and to help us overcome some of the roadblocks in our lives and become the best versions of ourselves.

I personally love using the Enneagram because it has helped me understand my heart and my mind and my personality SO MUCH BETTER.

But, something I haven’t spent as much time on is learning how I can use Enneagram as a tool to better understand my kids and learn how they feel and process things. And that’s why I cannot wait to share today’s conversation!

Our guest for today’s episode is my friend, Beth McCord. Beth is an accomplished Enneagram speaker, author, coach, and teacher with over two decades of dedicated experience. Her passion lies in helping individuals rewrite their life stories, empowering them to realize that lasting change and meaningful relationships are possible. Beth's mission led to the creation of the Your Enneagram Coach community—a nurturing space where individuals safely explore the Enneagram. Her most recent book is called, The Enneagram for Moms: See the True Colors of Yourself and Your Children as God Intends, and I cannot wait for you to hear more about it! 

I absolutely loved this conversation and I know you’re going to love it too!

Here’s my conversation with Beth.

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Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!

Today we’re continuing our brand new series on the Girls Night Podcast called, “How She Does It.” 

About once a month we do a profile of a woman who’s living a beautifully, unique life and we'll get to hear the behind-the-scenes of how she does it.

We’ll also talk about what things she does or, maybe more importantly, doesn’t do to make it all happen!

The idea for this series came to me while I was writing my new book, Create A Life You Love, and so I want to read you the passage that inspired it.

Over the years, I’ve spent more and more time looking for women who are breaking the mold—creating lives that look like them and feel like them and work for them. And the more I see, the more I notice, the more empowered I feel to create my own life in a way that’s a little different, a little outside the lines, but that looks like me, feels like me, and works for me and my family. — Create a life you love

That's my hope for these episodes. 

I’m so excited about today’s episode because we’re talking to my dear friend, Christy Wright. Christy is an author, podcaster, certified business coach, dynamic speaker and personal development expert. I’ve been a huge fan of Christy for years — she’s truly one of the most inspiring women I know! 

The plan for the episode was to go through all of my usual questions that I ask for this series. Questions like “What “supposed to’s” have you wrestled with in your Everything Era?” and “How did you do things differently?”

We made it through the first two or three and then totally changed gears… but in the best way possible! 

This conversation is one I wasn’t expecting, but totally needed, and I think you’ll feel the same way. We talk about listening to God’s voice, interpreting signs, following God’s lead (even when it feels scary), and so much more! 

Christy has so much faith and wisdom — you’re going to love her! Okay, let’s dive into the conversation! 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about How to make your travel dreams a reality. 

I’m excited about this episode because if you’re anything like me, you want to travel and explore new places, but there’s a few things that tend to hold you back. 

First, traveling is expensive. You really want to make travel a priority, but between plane tickets, lodging costs, and other travel expenses, it gets to be a lot. 

Two, you don’t know who to travel with. Maybe you’re single and not sure if you want to travel solo or you're married but it seems like none of your friends are able to travel. 

If you’ve ever felt this way, you’re not alone, but today’s guest is going to help us! 

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Whitney Haldeman. Whitney is a Luxury Travel Advisor and Founder of Blonde Atlas, a luxury boutique travel company that provides planning services for individual clients, as well as group tours for women called Atlas Adventures. She is passionate about connecting like-minded women who have a shared love for travel. 

In this episode, she’s helping us figure out how to incorporate travel into our lives no matter our budget or whether or not we have someone to go with. 

One of my favorite tips she shares is splitting time between budget friendly lodging and luxury lodging — more about that in the episode! 

If you have the itch to explore and want to make your travel dreams a reality, this episode is for you! Okay, let’s hop into my conversation with Whitney!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode.

When writing my book, Create a Life You Love, I did a ton of research on what life has been like for women throughout history. One of the biggest themes I’ve found is that throughout history, women have had next to no authority over their lives. And while that’s been getting better — we have more options today than any generation of women in history, we also are carrying more than any generation of women in history, because the more we’re able to “do it all” the more we’re being expected to actually, “DO IT ALL.”

That’s why I cannot wait for you to hear from today’s guest! 

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Paula Faris. Paula is a journalist, author and Founder of CARRY Media, which advocates for working moms. Paula’s mission is to make sure being a working mom works! 

One of my favorite parts of the episode is when she talks about the “mom default” and why so much of the load seems to be left in the hands of women — and what we can do to change that!

Paula is funny, and brilliant, and an advocate for real change — you are going to love this conversation! Let’s hop into the episode!

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A few weeks ago, my husband Carl and I hosted a virtual live girls night of sorts with the incredible crew of women who helped me launch my new book, Create A Life You Love.

Nothing was off the table — we had them send in any and all questions they had for us, and we answered as many of them as we could. 

We made sure to record that Q&A session, and I’m so glad, because now we get to share it with you. 

In this episode, we’re talking about marriage, dating, pursuing your dreams, and we’ll be answering a few questions about moving to Spain — what that looks like and what we’re most excited about! 

This was such a fun conversation to have, especially with mine and Carl’s 10 year wedding anniversary coming up in early July! 

So, without further ado, let’s dive into my conversation with my husband, Carl Wilson!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to become an informed voter and avoid misinformation on the internet.

I’m excited about this episode because if you’re anything like me, you feel the weight of the political tension happening in our world right now – especially as we’re inching closer to election time! Your social media feeds are filled with everyone and their mom’s opinions on leaders and policies and, before you know it, you’re feeling angry, frustrated, and confused. And, on top of all of that, you’re wondering if your vote will actually make a difference or if it will just get lost in a giant pool of people. 

Friends, if you’re feeling this way, you’re not alone and I cannot wait to introduce you to today’s guest! 

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend and go-to politics guru, Sharon McMahon. Sharon is on a mission to curate facts, fun, and inspiration by educating Americans on democracy, politics, and history. After years of serving as a high school government and law teacher, Sharon took her passion for education to social media to combat political misinformation with non-partisan facts. 

In this episode she’s helping us figure out which news sources are helpful and which ones might be unhelpful, why our votes matter, how to manage our mental health during elections, and how to set boundaries with family members around political conversations (and avoid arguments). 

Friends, I love this episode because it’s a (actually fun) conversation about politics (for the girl who hates politics! 🤣).

No matter what political party you align with, this episode will help you find out what’s most important to you so that you can make an informed decision this November.

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I am so excited for what we have going on this week. Put on your coziest sweatpants and listen in, because today we’re talking all about boobs! 

I’m excited about this episode, because, if you're anything like me, you haven’t spent a ton of time learning about your breast health. Sure, you know the basics and they’re a part of who you are, but you also have some questions that maybe you’ve been too embarrassed or uncomfortable to ask. Questions like “Is it normal to experience pain in xyz scenario?”, “Should I be doing a self breast exam and how often,?” or “How do I control my boob sweat?”. 

Also — as we go through life, are there things we’re supposed to know about our boobs? Ways we’re supposed to take care of them? I wasn’t aware of any for so long, and I always worried that I was missing something.

If you can relate to any of those things, I’m so glad you get to hear this conversation!

Our guest for today’s show is Dr. Gillian Goddard. Gillian is an endocrinologist in private practice in New York City and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. I first discovered her work after reading an article she collaborated on with Emily Oster from Parent Data called An Owner's Manual for Breasts. The research was so helpful and informative, so I knew we needed to have her on! 

This episode is especially close to my heart right now, because I had a bit of a health scare last week. I had my second ever mammogram, and thought it would be a simple check-up. But it turns out, they needed to go in to take another look, and then I actually ended up having to get a biopsy! 

Thankfully, I’m totally fine. The spot was benign. But that experience has me more resolved than ever to talk about things on the show that are just not talked about enough.

Our bodies are incredible — and they’re also kinda complicated sometimes — but thankfully, we don’t have to figure ANY of this out alone. Let’s dive into the episode!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to get on the same page about household responsibilities with your spouse.

Question for you – 

Do you and your spouse (or partner or roommate) ever have a hard time figuring out who is responsible for managing certain household tasks? This could apply to chores, paying bills, or making meals.

Okay, another question for you – 

Are you frustrated because the majority of household tasks always seem to fall on you? 

Friends, I’ve lived in that tension before, but, today’s guest (and her book) changed everything for me and my relationships in general! 

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Eve Rodsky. Eve is an expert on the gender division of labor. She wrote one of my favorite books called, Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (and More Life to Live). In it, she discusses the issue of unequal labor in the home, why this is hurting our relationships, and what we can do to fix it. 

One of my favorite parts of the episode is when she explains the concept of being the “She Fault” and why so much of the domestic work falls in the hands of women. More about that soon! 

Friends, whether you’re married, engaged, single, or dating, I know there’s something for you in this episode! 

Okay, one more quick thing before we dive in –

I wanted to let you know that there are a handful of cuss words in this episode, so if you’re listening with tiny ears around that repeat everything like my girls do, maybe put some headphones in for this conversation! 

Alright, let’s jump into my conversation with Eve!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about why it’s so important that we stop trying to be the “perfect” Christian.

Tell me if any of this sounds familiar to you:

You try to do all of the “right” things like pray and read your Bible, but sometimes it feels like you’re checking boxes off a to-do list rather than experiencing real intimacy with God. 

Or maybe you feel like you need to do X,Y, & Z, you fill in the blanks, in order to be a “good Christian” or person of faith.

Or, if you don’t have your quiet time (or whatever the thing is you feel you’re supposed to do), you feel like a bad Christian and that God must be disappointed in you. 

Does any of this resonate with you? If so, I want you to know you’re not alone and we’re going to work through this together. 

Our guest for today’s episode is Kimberly Stuart. Kim is a writer, speaker and podcaster. Her most recent book is called, Star for Jesus (And Other Jobs I Quit): Rediscovering the Grace that Sets Us Free. In it, she’s reminding us that our faith is not about trying to be good enough or doing all of the right things — instead, it’s about accepting the free gift of God’s grace. 

Kim is hilarious and warm and relatable and wise. I can’t wait for you to meet her.

One of my favorite quotes Kim says in the episode is this, “There is more than enough grace to cushion every single fall every single day.” Yes and amen to that! 

I hope this conversation reminds you how loved you are and that there’s room for everyone at God’s table! Okay, let’s dive in!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about friendship, specifically how to navigate friendship conflict and find forever friends.

To help us with this, I invited a Girls Night favorite back on the show, my dear friend, Danielle Bayard Jackson! Danielle is a female friendship coach and educator who speaks nationally about the science of women’s platonic connections. She has a brand new book out called, Fighting for Our Friendships: The Science and Art of Conflict and Connection in Women's Relationships. 

This book offers the strategies we all need when navigating our friendships and she’s sharing several of those strategies with us in today’s conversation! She’s also sharing more about “friend types” and how to know which one you are! 

One of my favorite moments of the episode was when she shared her advice for setting boundaries in your friendships. Y’all need to listen in, because you’re going to LOVE what she has to say about this!

Okay, friends, make yourself cozy — here’s my conversation with Danielle!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to stay present even if you’re not exactly where you want to be in life. 

I’m excited about this episode because if you’re anything like me, when you’re going through a waiting season, all you want to do is skip forward and get to the “good part” where it feels like you have your life together again. Or maybe you want to skip ahead because what you’re currently facing — in your job, in parenting, in a relationship —  is too hard, too messy, or not at all where you pictured you would be at this time in your life.

Friends, I get it. I’ve been there too. But the more waiting seasons I’ve lived through, the more that I’ve discovered that they're not something to wish away. They’re actually something to lean into, and today’s guest is going to teach all about this!

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Ruth Chou Simons. Ruth is a bestselling author of several books and Bible studies, an artist, entrepreneur, podcaster, and speaker, using each of these platforms to sow the Word of God into people’s hearts. I’ve been a fan of Ruth for years and love the work that she does. Her newest book is called, Now and Not Yet: Pressing in When You’re Waiting, Wanting, and Restless for More. 

In the description she says this book is showing us how to “embrace the biblical truth that someday is made up of thousands of right nows” and that’s really what this episode is all about!

If you’re feeling stuck in your current circumstances, I hope today’s conversation is the reminder you need that no season is wasted and it’s possible to grow in the right here and right now.

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Here’s the thing — we’ve all been there. We’ve all had days where it feels like our emotions are getting the best of us or our minds can’t stop racing. These moments are so frustrating because often we think, “I shouldn’t be feeling this way” — but still, we do! And these feelings have a way of impacting every facet of our lives — our relationships, our career, our body image and so much more! 

But, the truth is, it’s okay to feel our emotions, what matters is how we respond to them! 

Our guest for today’s episode is Dr. Alison Cook. Alison is a psychologist, podcast host, and the author of three books, including her newest book called, I Shouldn't Feel This Way: Name What’s Hard, Tame Your Guilt, and Transform Self-Sabotage into Brave Action. For 20 years, Alison has helped women, ministry leaders, couples, and families learn how to heal painful emotions, develop confidence from the inside out, forge healthy relationships, and fully live out their God-given potential.

One of my favorite parts of the episode was when Alison shared her strategy on how to “name, tame, and transform” our thoughts. I will be using this all of the time! 

Friends, my hope is that you leave this episode feeling like you have a better grasp on how to navigate your tricky emotions and have more compassion for yourself.

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Today, I’m so excited to read a section from my new book, Create A Life You Love. 

Did you know that the average woman makes most of her biggest life decisions between her 25th and 35th birthdays? Who you are, what you want to do with your life, where you’ll call home, who your people are, which person you’ll share your life with, and whether you’ll have kids—there's major pressure (internal, external, and even biological) to decide the major plot points of our lives, all within just a few short years.

My book, Create a life You love, is a guided journey of self-discovery, helping you take the pressure off what you think your life is supposed to look like by now and intentionally, confidently, and authentically build the life you actually want to live — a life that looks and feels like YOU. 

The book comes out THIS WEEK, and you can order or purchase a copy wherever books are sold. I’m SO excited and honored to share this with you. Okay, so for today’s episode, I want to actually read a section of the book to you! Eeek, I can’t wait to share this with you. Let’s dive in!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to decorate your home (when you’re not a professional home designer).

Decorating a home can feel challenging because there are so many different components to consider, but, like most things in life, there are some guidelines we can follow to help make things a little bit easier! 

To walk us through this, I invited a Girls Night favorite back on the show and that’s my dear friend and home design enthusiast, Myquillyn Smith. Myquillyn, also known on social media as “The Nester,”  believes every home has a silver lining. She's created a beautiful home in 15 different houses and she loves teaching how to create beauty in imperfect circumstances. She recently wrote a book called, House Rules: How to Decorate for Every Home, Style, and Budget. In it, she shares 100 universal decorating truths that apply to every house. One of my favorite rules that she shares is, “you can’t ruin something you already hate” — more about that in the episode! 

This episode inspired me to look at my home through a new lens and I hope it does the same for you! Ready? Let’s dive in! 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today you’ll hear the advice I WISH I would have had when I was single.

Today’s episode is going to look a little different than usual. If you’ve been around our Girls Night community for a while, you know that it’s girls only. (With the occasional exception of my husband Carl). Today, we’re breaking that rule — but I promise it’s for a really good reason!

Our guest for today’s episode is my long-time friend, Ryan Wekenman. Ryan and I met back in college at a campus ministry we were both a part of, but today he’s the teaching pastor at a church called Red Rocks Austin. He recently wrote an incredible book called, Single Today: Conquer Yesterday's Regrets, Ditch Tomorrow's Worries, and Thrive Right Where You Are.

In this episode, Ryan is sharing his journey as an unmarried pastor for over a decade. He has such a unique perspective on this topic and I knew we needed to have him on! Ryan is the REAL DEAL. 

He’ll talk us through some of the biggest struggles we all face when we’re single — “How do I respond to a relative who keeps nagging me about my relationship status?” “How do I stop comparing my timeline to the other people in my life?” “Can I experience intimacy even as a single person?” “Is there something wrong with me for wanting to be single?” or “Is there something wrong with me because I’m not married yet?” And that’s just the beginning! 

If you’re a single person in your twenties or thirties, I hope this episode will bring you so much encouragement and remind you that you’re not alone! 

Okay, ready? Let’s dive into my conversation with Ryan!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about why your 20s & 30s are some of the most important years of your life and how you can make the most of them! 

To walk us through this, I invited none other than the twentysomethings expert herself, Dr. Meg Jay. Meg Jay is a clinical psychologist and author who specializes in twentysomethings. I read her book, The Defining Decade, about a decade ago, and it totally changed my life. And she actually has a new book releasing this week called, The Twentysomething Treatment which is about young adult mental health — I cannot wait for you to hear more about it! 

In our conversation, Meg is teaching us why the twentysomething (and thirtysomething) years are so critical in shaping who we are. Along with that, she’s sharing her research on the young adult mental health crisis in America and her best solutions for improving your mental health, and your life in general! 

My hope is that you’ll walk out of this episode feeling less alone knowing that it’s totally normal to struggle with life in your 20s or 30s, but also, feeling so equipped to take your next steps forward. You don’t have to do this alone!

Okay, you ready? Here’s my conversation with Meg!

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As you may know, I have a new book coming out soon called Create a Life You Love and in it I tackle what I call the Everything Era — that wildly confusing decade-ish where we have to make some of the most significant decisions of our lives, typically all at the same time.

I've spent the last 10 years wrestling with these big life decisions and the pressure that comes with them — and I've talked to countless women who are doing the same. But I didn't know it was a thing — actually a thing — until two years ago when I heard a statistic I will never, ever forget.

In a rare study of life-span development, researchers at Boston University and the University of Michigan found that 80% of our life’s most defining moments happen before we turn 35. In fact, the average woman makes the majority of her biggest life decisions in the decade between her 25th and 35th (ish) birthdays.

So… I wasn't exaggerating, it wasn't my imagination, this season of life is actually as big, and hard, and consequential as it feels. So that's when I started to dig. I needed more information. I wanted to know more about what's happening in us during these years, and what's happening around us.

I also started to wonder what these years have looked like for the generations of women who have gone before us, because I realized I didn't actually know.

I have learned SO MUCH as I’ve heard stories of women from past generations. The more I’ve learned about women’s history, the more I understand why our lives look the way they do today.

This is why I’m so excited to introduce you to today’s guest!

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Sarah Gristwood. Sarah is a former film journalist and now writes books about women’s history. Her most recent is called, Secret Voices: A Year of Women’s Diaries. In it, she analyzes a collection of excerpts from women’s diaries, looking back over four centuries to discover how women’s experience—of men and children, sex and shopping, work and the natural world—has changed down the years. And, of course, how it hasn’t.

I LOVED this conversation, and I can’t wait for you to hear it.

Before we dive in, I wanted to read you just a little snippet of my new book, Create A Life You Love — because in it, I explain why learning about women’s history has meant so much to me.

“Recognizing the pressures women have been under throughout history helps me feel like I’m not alone. I’m part of a large sisterhood, and I’m honored to be.

This truth is especially helpful to me during times when I start to wonder if the pressure I’m feeling is imagined—if the expectations I’m sensing are really as heavy and forceful as they feel.

As I look back at the centuries of pressure and expectations and opinions about women’s lives and how they should spend them, I see that yes, this actually is as big as it feels. And that’s so validating. It helps me be kinder to myself as I navigate all of this. I hope it helps you too.”

“Not only is it helpful for me to know that this pressure isn’t new—that women have always had people breathing down their necks telling them what they should do and how they should live—but also, the more I find out about the expectations placed on women throughout history, the more I understand why some of the decisions I’m trying to make in my own life today feel so heavy.”

You guys, Sarah is the best. I can’t wait for you to meet her. You ready? Let’s dive in. 

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Today’s episode is going to be a little different than usual! A few weeks ago, my new friend, Jacqueline Genova, invited me to be a guest on her podcast called How to be Wellnstrong. We talked about all different types of transitions women face in their 20s and 30s — and we talked so much about dating and breakups and what I wish I could go back and tell myself in the midst of all of that.

I loved our conversation so much, I asked Jacqueline if I could share it here with you guys! She was so gracious to say yes and so that’s the episode you’ll hear today! Jacqueline is in the interview chair, and I’m answering the questions!

We’re going to be talking about…

• How to heal from a hard breakup

• What to do if your friend gets into a relationship or marriage before you do

• How to be happy for your friends even when you’re still waiting

• How to navigate the dating scene

• Why you should give online dating another try

• And that’s just the beginning!

I’m so excited to share this conversation with you! 

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On the show today, we’re talking about how to decide if you should stay where you are, move to a new city, or move back home. 

To walk us through this I invited my dear friend, book editor, and now literary agent, Carly Kellerman, to join us!

In this episode, Carly is sharing the story of leaving her home and community in Michigan for a season to move to Nashville. She was leaving SO much behind with that move — a support system and a home she LOVED — but she’ll say that leaving it all behind for a season was one of the best decisions she ever made. I can’t wait for you to hear why.

But then, we’re talking about the decision she made a handful of years later to move back home and she walks us through the expectations and fears and insecurities she had to overcome when making that decision.

Friends, if you’ve ever contemplated moving to a new city or moving back home, but you’re not sure what your next steps should be, this conversation is for you! 

One of my favorite things Carly says in the episode is this: "You have to take the steps in front of you and do it with boldness and hope and strategy and faith." Yes to that!

You ready? Let’s dive in! 

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Today we’re talking about how to know if it’s time for us to stay or time for us to go.

I love this topic, because if you’re anything like me, this is a question you’ve come to over and over again throughout your life. Should you stay in the relationship, or is it time to go? What about the job? What about your hometown? What about this new opportunity you didn’t see coming, but now can’t stop thinking about?

These moments are so intimidating, because in a lot of ways, it feels like the fate of our future hangs in the balance. It feels like with one little decision, we might just ruin everything.

Or maybe that’s just me.

I couldn’t think of a better person to walk us through this than my dear friend, Emily P Freeman! Emily is someone I have looked up to for years and years. She’s an author, podcaster, spiritual director and workshop leader. Her most important work is helping to create soul space and offering spiritual companionship and discernment for anyone struggling with decision fatigue. She recently wrote a new book called, How to Walk into a Room: The Art of Knowing When to Stay and When to Walk Away, and that’s what we’re talking about today!

In this episode, Emily is teaching us what caution flags to look for when we feel like it’s time to make a change, how to know the difference between readiness and timeliness, how to move forward after leaving something behind, why the right decision doesn’t always feel comfortable, and so much more!

This conversation felt like the biggest hug and was truly so encouraging. So grab your coziest blanket and your favorite notebook and let’s dive in! 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to make decisions in pregnancy and in the first few months after your baby is born. There are so many myths and misconceptions floating around, and today we’re going to work through some of them.

In the first few months after my girls were born, I spent so much time Googling — wondering, when does this get easier, am I doing this right? Am I going to mess up my kids? Should I do this or this? Should I choose this option or this one? I was totally overwhelmed by the responses to my google searches — one because there were about a MILLION of them. It’s so great to live in an age where the wisdom of the world is at our fingertips, but when you’re exhausted and already overwhelmed, that amount of information can be a lot. To make it even harder is the fact that a lot of it conflicts! People have different ideas about the right way to do things, and so in this episode, we’re going to talk about how to filter through that information and figure out what’s right for you and for your particular family.

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Emily Oster. Emily is a New York Times best-selling author, Professor of Economics at Brown University, and founder and CEO of ParentData, a data-driven guide to pregnancy, parenting, and more! 

I’ve been following Emily’s work for years, and when I tell you that she changed (and maybe even saved) my life as a mom, that’s not an exaggeration. She is my #1 go-to source for parenting information. Emily’s science-backed resources and research have given me so much peace of mind, especially in the early stages of motherhood, and my hope is that she can do the same for you!

You ready? Let’s dive in!

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Today we’re continuing our brand new series on the Girls Night Podcast called, “How She Does It.” 

Once a month we do a profile of a woman who’s living a beautifully, unique life and we'll get to hear the behind-the-scenes of how she does it.

We’ll also talk about what things she does or, maybe more importantly, doesn’t do to make it all happen!

The idea for this series came to me while I was writing my new book, Create A Life You Love, and so I want to read you the passage that inspired it.

Over the years, I’ve spent more and more time looking for women who are breaking the mold—creating lives that look like them and feel like them and work for them. And the more I see, the more I notice, the more empowered I feel to create my own life in a way that’s a little different, a little outside the lines, but that looks like me, feels like me, and works for me and my family. — Create a life you love

That's my hope for these episodes. 

Y’all, I’m so excited about today’s “How She Does it” guest. I’m talking with my new friend, and someone I’ve looked up to… you know… for just about ever — Savannah Gutherie. Savannah is the co-anchor of the Today Show, she’s NBC News' chief legal correspondent and she’s a primary anchor for the network's election coverage. (Casual, right?)

Guys, I am not exaggerating when I tell you that this is one of my favorite conversations I’ve ever had. It was so encouraging personally and professionally for me and I know it will be for you too. In this episode you’ll get to hear Savannah’s career backstory — the twists and turns and detours that led to where she is today. I walked away so encouraged and inspired, and I know you will too. 

So, you ready to dive in? 

Here’s my conversation with Savannah Guthrie.

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I’m looking forward to today’s episode because this is a topic I think all of us need to hear. Today we’re talking about how to stay hopeful when there’s so much bad news in the world, how we can stay informed without being totally crushed in the process. We’re also talking about how we can all help make positive change in our world and in our communities.

To help us with this, I invited my dear friend, Danielle Coke Balfour back on the show! Dani is a graphic designer turned artist, advocate, speaker, and entrepreneur. She’s the founder of Oh Happy Dani, an illustration-based educational platform that uses artwork and resources to make complex ideas more accessible and help others seek justice while staying hopeful. She recently wrote an incredible book called, A Heart on Fire: 100 Meditations on Loving Your Neighbors Well. This is something we all need, especially with everything happening in our world right now. 

Here are a few of the things she’s going to teach us in this episode:

• How to process all the bad news when it feels like the world around us is falling apart

• How to figure out what we actually can and should do and what’s within our sphere of influence

• Practical things we can do with our influence, time, and money

• How to stay informed without damaging our mental and emotional health

• And more! 

Friends, if you’re feeling discouraged by all of the bad news and tragic events happening in our world, you’re not alone. But amazing women like Dani are teaching us how to stay hopeful and take action and that’s why I’m so excited for you to hear this conversation!

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So, if you’ve spent any time in my little corner of the internet lately, you’ve probably heard me say that I have three big secrets I’ve been keeping from… well… basically everybody for the last, gosh, it feels like forever.

I finally got to share secret #1 a few weeks ago, and that was some of the big changes we’ve had going on here at Girls Night: New cover art, new music, new focus, new network! 

I’ve been so excited to share that news with you, but I have to tell you, Secrets #2 and #3 have been MUCH harder to keep.

I finally get to tell you Secret #3 on March 18th, AND… I get to tell you Secret #2 TODAY.

Friend, I am truly over the moon about this. In this episode, I’m going to tell you my huge news, and all of the details that I’ve been dying to share with you for AGES. I’ve been keeping this secret for the last 18 months, and today, I finally get to tell you everything.

My dear friend Carly Kellerman is here to help me share the news, and I honestly can’t wait any longer. Let’s do this. Let’s dive in!

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Today we’re talking about how to navigate friendships as an adult, including friend breakups! 

To talk us through this, I invited my dear friends Jess Johnston and Amy Weatherly back on the show! Jess and Amy met online several years ago and became really close friends. Since then, they’ve started an amazing online community called, Sister I Am With You, where they talk about all things friendship. They are also co-authors of a brand new book called, Here For It (the Good, the Bad, and the Queso): The How-To Guide for Deepening Your Friendships and Doing Life Together. Gahh, I love that so much!

Here are a few of the things you will learn in today’s episode:

• How to navigate friend breakups in a healthy way even if it’s not mutual
• How to go deeper in your friendships 
• How to have more self-awareness in our friendships
• And more!

Put on your coziest sweatpants, and grab some queso! You’re going to love this conversation!

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Friends, I’m so excited because today we’re starting a brand new series on the Girls Night Podcast! The series is called “How She Does It” and in it we’re sharing profiles of women we look up to.

Here’s what I’ve been learning over the past decade or so of my life — Women, including myself, feel an intense pressure (especially between the ages of 25-40ish) for their lives to look a certain way, and it can be crushing. It’s even more crushing to glance around at the women ahead of you in life, and for it to seem like they’re somehow doing it all without breaking a sweat.

So that’s what these episodes are going to help us with. About once a month, I’ll have a woman come on the show to talk through the story of why she is who she is today. We’ll hear everything from the pressures and pushback she’s faced to what she’s had to give up to be where she is today. We’ll also talk about what things she does or, maybe more importantly, doesn’t do to make it all happen!

I’m so excited because our first “How She Does It” profile is with my guest, Jasmine Roth. Jasmine is a California-based designer and builder. You might recognize her from her HGTV show, “Help! I Wrecked My House!” I’ve been following Jasmine and watching her show for years now and I absolutely love the work that she does. 

In this conversation you’ll hear about her job as a designer and builder, but you’ll also hear about her time in corporate America, the areas of life where she’s needed to ask for help, her battle with overcoming mom guilt, her experience with going to therapy, her best tips for having success, and so much more!

My hope is that by hearing what life looks like for women like Jasmine, you’ll be able to see women who are living in beautifully unique ways that are all their own — and feel permission to do the same.

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to take charge of your finances and actually enjoy the process!

I’m excited about this episode because if you’re anything like me, figuring out what to do with your money – how to save, how to invest, where to spend, where not to spend — can feel a bit overwhelming at times, especially when you don’t have a degree in finance or you weren’t taught this information in school (anyone else wish there was a budgeting 101 class in middle school, or, you know, college?! 😂)  But, thankfully, it doesn’t have to be that way! Taking charge of your finances is easier than you think — and can actually be fun! And I have the perfect person to walk us through this!

Our guest for today’s episode is Katie Gatti Tassin. Katie is the founder and host of the growing personal finance media company Money with Katie.

I’ve been following along with Katie for years now and her advice on money has been invaluable in my journey of becoming more confident in my finances! (Her content is also just so much fun. She’s this dynamite combination of brilliant and hilarious. You guys are going to love hearing from her!) So make sure you grab your coffee and a notepad — you’re going to love this conversation!

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Friends, I’m SO excited to be back for Season 19 of The Girls Night Podcast! We’re kicking off the season with a solo episode! I’m talking about New Year’s resolutions, or lack thereof (More about that in the episode!) and how to ask for help this year! 

Here’s the thing, I love a reset as much as anybody, a fresh start. But the expectation that it all needs to happen on the first day of a new year is a lot of pressure. (And leaves you feeling like you’ve already failed just two weeks in). So today I’m sharing what I do instead!

Along with that, we’re talking about what it looks like to ask for help in the new year and why it’s one of the most important things you can do for yourself!

Oh, and make sure you stick around until the end of the conversation, because I will be sharing a super exciting announcement about the podcast that you won’t want to miss!

Welcome to Season 19, friends!!

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As this episode is airing, the holidays are right around the corner. I know for a lot of us this means spending more time with our family, which can come with a whole range of emotions. Family dynamics can be complicated and figuring out what to say or what not to say in different scenarios can feel overwhelming. But today’s guest is going to help us work through this!

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Courtney J Burg. Courtney is a writer and the founder of Discover Your Worth, an online membership designed to support women with practical tools to break free from codependency while establishing a healthy boundary practice. She has a new book coming out on December 12th called, Loyal to a Fault: How to Establish New Patterns When Loving Others Has Left You Hurting.

In this episode she’s helping us work through the common scenarios a lot of us face during the holidays. Scenarios like your Aunt Sharon commenting on your weight or your cousin Joe asking when you’re going to have kids. She’s also teaching us how to set boundaries with difficult family members in a healthy and loving way.

This episode is full of practical tools we can all use to make the holidays, and really any family gathering, as smooth and stress free as possible! I can’t wait for you to hear from her!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to stop comparing your journey to others and figure out what success means for you. We’re also talking about how to be intentional with the hours in our day so we can be fully present with the people and opportunities that mean the most to us.

And there’s no better person to talk us through this than my new friend, Sazan Hendrix. Sazan is a globally recognized digital creator with her husband Stevie Hendrix. They have spent almost a decade in the online space connecting with millions worldwide. Recently, they wrote a book together called, A Real Good Life: Discover the Simple Moments that Bring Joy, Connection, and Love. In it they share their story and what they discovered as they were searching for “the good life” as they refer to it.

So that’s what you’re going to hear about today!

Y’all, I loved this episode. I can’t wait to introduce you to Sazan!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to live a healthy, balanced life when you have both kids and a demanding career.

I wanted to do this episode because I know that so many of you are in a similar situation as me where you’re trying to figure out how to be the best mom you can be while also balancing a career and doing all of the things…like laundry and finding pockets of rest.

There’s also women listening who desire to have kids in the future, but you’re trying to figure out the logistics and asking yourself questions like, “How am I going to find and afford childcare?” or “Is it possible to work and to be a mom?”

These are really great questions and my guest for today’s episode is going to help answer them! 

Today, we’ve invited my friend, Robin Long, back onto the podcast. Robin is a Pilates Instructor, Founder and CEO of Lindywell, mom of four kids under the age of 9, and most recently added author to her long list of achievements!

Robin is someone I’ve followed and admired for years. She has incredible wisdom to share about balancing work life and being a mom because she’s been doing it herself for the last several years! She even has twins like me!

Friends, I hope this episode is a reminder that you’re not alone in this journey and there’s people in your corner cheering you on as you go!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today I’m doing my second solo podcast and we’re talking all about what to do when you feel like giving up on a dream!

I wanted to share this episode with you because I was in that spot not too long ago. For the last 18 months, I dove head first into a passion project that I dreamed about for years…but came really really close to giving up. 

Today, I’m sharing what happened, what changed my perspective and caused me to pivot, and what you can do if you’re feeling the same way I did!

The passion project is my newly re-imagined shop and you’ll be hearing all about that in this episode as well — including details about the launch on Black Friday weekend!! Seriously, this will be your new go-to shop for all things friendship!

Friends, I can’t wait to share this with you! 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to find joy when you’re feeling stressed and anxious.

I don’t think it’s any secret that there’s a lot happening in our world right now. There are heartbreaking things and scary things and heavy things happening in other people’s lives and our own lives. And on top of that, there are pressures each of us face on a daily basis at work and at home. It’s a lot to carry. And it really doesn’t help when we are scrolling through social media and seeing hundreds of people who seem to be doing it better than us. 

So, where is the hope in this? How do we find peace and joy even when life seems a bit crazy? And is that even possible?

Today’s guest is going to help with this!

Our guest for today’s episode is Raquelle Stevens. Raquelle is an author, producer, and host based in Los Angeles, California. You might recognize her from starring in the Apple documentary called, Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, and the HBO Max series Selena + Chef. This year she released a book called, The Sunshine Mind: 100 Days to Finding the Hope and Joy You Want. I love the word “sunshine” because that’s what this conversation felt like to me.

In this episode, we learn how to embrace our path and stop trying to measure up to everyone else, how to manage our stress and anxiety in practical ways, and how to experience just a little more joy in our lives, even when everything else feels crazy.

Friends, I left this conversation feeling lighter and so encouraged and I hope you feel the same.

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how looking back at our history helps us understand our present, our future, and ourselves better. 

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Jasmine L. Holmes. Jasmine is a mom, a historian, and a writer. Her newest book is called, Crowned with Glory: How Proclaiming the Truth of Black Dignity Has Shaped American History.

I wanted to have Jasmine on the show because I’ve spent so much time lately looking back at our history as women — seeing where we’ve been, and how we got to where things are today, and it’s just given me so much insight and context into my present to know more about our past. So when I saw that she had written this book, I knew I wanted to hear what this journey has looked like for her digging back into the past and what she learned from it.

You guys, Jasmine is a brilliant teacher. She answered all of my questions so beautifully — (the big ones and also the ones that I worried might be kinda dumb?). Her answers were somehow simple and easy to understand, and also totally profound. I learned SO much in this conversation and I cannot WAIT to share it with you.

Jasmine is a treasure. You’re going to love her. 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how our past experiences can point us to our purpose for the future!

To talk us through this, I invited my new friend, Jami Nato, on the show. Jami is a writer, serial entrepreneur, and an instagram influencer who loves keeping it real. A few months ago, I received her book in the mail called, This Must Be the Place: Following the Breadcrumbs of Your Past to Discover Your Purpose Today, and I knew I needed to have her on to talk about this with us!

In this episode, Jami shares the story of discovering her unique identity by drawing on her past experiences and why she truly believes that God can use every part of our story, even the messy parts.

Embracing her new identity has given her the freedom to step into her gifts and live a more joyful and purpose-filled life, and she’s telling us how we can do the same.

I left our conversation feeling so inspired and encouraged and I know you will too!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to make cooking more fun and less stressful.

If you’ve been listening to Girls Night for awhile, you know that I absolutely love food. I can tell you exactly what I’ve eaten on every one of my birthdays, and I am pretty sure that great restaurants are my love language.

The caveat is, I would much rather someone else make the food for me than try to cook it myself. Can anyone else relate?! 

But cooking is an incredible thing and it’s something I want to get better at, so I wanted to talk with someone who can simplify this for us and help us become more confident in the kitchen. And today’s guest is going to do just that!

Our guest for today’s episode is Bri McKoy. I recently received Bri’s cookbook in the mail called, The Cook's Book: Recipes for Keeps & Essential Techniques to Master Everyday Cooking, and absolutely fell in love! Bri calls herself an accidental home cook, which she’ll explain more in the episode, but she truly fell in love with cooking and is here to teach us some of the things she learned along the way!

In the episode, she shares how to make a meal plan, how to tweak recipes and your kitchen to fit your personal taste, what staples we should have in our pantry and she even shares some of her favorite recipes from her cookbook. My mouth is watering just thinking about them!

Friends, if you’re a beginner in the kitchen, like me, I love that there are ways to make this more enjoyable and Bri is going to tell us how! 

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I absolutely love the conversation I get to share with you today. Today we’re talking about how to best care for your loved ones during hard times.

To walk us through this, I invited my new friends, Christy Knutson and Jane Butler on the show! Christy is a healthcare strategist and entrepreneur. After a series of early losses, she is working to improve the end-of-life experience with a deep belief that there has to be a better way. Jane is a creative professional and entrepreneur. When Jane’s fiancé (now husband) was diagnosed with brain cancer at the young age of 24, they quickly learned the value of grief support and care in their healing.

Together, as business partners, they co-founded an amazing company called Near to help change the way we offer care and support during difficult times.

In this episode, they’re answering the hard questions so many of us face during our lives. Questions like…

• What happens when someone I love receives a diagnosis?

• How do I support a friend or family member who’s going through a difficult time?

• What do I say or not say to someone who’s experiencing grief?

• When do I start thinking about end-of-life planning whether it’s for my parents or for myself and how do I even approach that conversation?

• And the list goes on! 

Friends, these are heavy things to talk about, but I know we’ll all be better friends and caretakers because of it! 

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Friends, I’m so excited, but also really nervous for today’s episode. I can’t believe this, but today I’m sharing my very first solo episode! This may be the first of many or may be the first and last solo episode — I’m not totally sure yet! 🤣 But either way, I cannot wait to see what you think!

In this episode, I’m talking about how to find rest amidst our busy schedules. 

We often hear about the importance of rest and self-care, but how many of us can claim to truly understand what that means for us, individually? It's one thing to set time aside for ourselves but quite another to figure out what rejuvenates us, what actually fills our cup. 

That’s what I’m going to help you through, today. In this episode, I share the 3 most important things I’ve learned about rest and how to practically apply them to your life. I don’t have this all figured out and I’m not perfect at this, but I’ve grown a lot in this area over the past couple of years, and want to share what I’ve discovered along the way. 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with your schedule and having a hard time figuring out how to incorporate rest into your daily, weekly or even seasonal routine, then grab some coffee and get comfortable, this episode is for you!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to become a mom without totally losing yourself in the process. 

As a newer mom myself, I’ve experienced first-hand pressures that come along with becoming a mom. First of all, motherhood is taxing. It’s consuming. It requires everything you have to give and often way more. And so being a mom while also being… yourself… it’s a LOT.

It’s also a lot because the expectations society puts on mothers are HIGH. There’s no shortage of opinions on what a good mom should do and be and act like and provide for her kids — the list of expectations is so long it’s actually totally impossible to measure up to — which leaves a lot of us feeling like we’re failing. 

And this is an area of life where we absolutely do not want to fail. We’re pouring over the parenting books out there, trying our very best to do everything exactly right and feeling like we’re going to mess up our kids lives — or just mess up our kids in general — if we make even one tiny mistake. 

We’re killing ourselves trying to be perfect, and still somehow falling short. Is this really what our kids need from us??

The answer is no. It doesn’t have to be this way, it shouldn’t be this way, there IS a better way — and that’s why I can’t wait for this conversation! 

Our guest for today’s episode is my friend, Alli Worthington. Alli is an Entrepreneur, Author, Podcaster and is helping women reach their dreams in business and in life. She’s also a mother of five boys, so she’s been on this motherhood journey for several years now. 

Alli recently wrote a book that I’m so excited about called, Remaining You While Raising Them: The Secret Art of Confident Motherhood. This book is not a parenting book, but rather a book focused on moms. In it she’s sharing why modern motherhood is broken and helping us remove the myths we’ve believed about what it means to be a “good mom.” 

And, from the principles she wrote about in this book, Alli is going to teach us how to: 

• Intentionally care for ourselves spiritually, emotionally, and physically as a new mom
• Conquer the mom guilt we might be feeling
• Stop comparing ourselves to other moms 
• Embrace our unique mothering style 
• And more! 

This episode is for the brand new mom or the woman who really wants to be a mom, but is scared of the pressures that come along with it! I promise you’ll come out of this conversation feeling way more empowered and encouraged! 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to be more gusty — how to stop procrastinating, get unstuck, and pursue your dreams.

Tell me if this sounds familiar…

You have a dream in your heart — maybe something with your career or life in general — and you’ve been wanting to do something about it for a long time, but you have no idea what your next step should be. You’re feeling stuck and constantly find yourself seeking the validation and approval of others, which only leaves you feeling more tired. 

So what do we do about this? How do we get past these fears, stop putting things off, and go for what we want? 

Today’s guest is going to help us answer those questions! 

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Natalie Franke. Natalie is an Author, Speaker, Community Builder, Neuroscience Nerd, and the Chief Evangelist at Honeybook, where she supports over 100,000 independent business owners. Because of that, Natalie knows a thing or two about what it looks like to pursue your dreams and not let your fears hold you back.

Her newest book is called, Gutsy: Learning to Live with Bold, Brave, and Boundless Courage. In it she gives readers the push they need to take the next step and bravely follow their dreams. 

Here are just a few of the things she's going to teach us:

• How to stop procrastinating on our dreams

• How to reframe our mindset on failure

• How to embrace our own path 

• How to stop letting the opinions of others hold us back

• And so much more! 

I know I say this a lot, but this is one of my favorite episodes we’ve ever had on the show! So cozy up, grab a notebook, and get ready to make a move on your dream! 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to build more grit and resilience in our life and how to keep going even when things feel really hard.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve had moments in your life where you know you’re supposed to do something — maybe it’s a career path you’re supposed to pursue or a dream you want to accomplish. But at some point along the road, we meet some resistance. Things start to feel really hard, we can’t get over something that happened in our past that makes us feel like we’re not good enough, we feel like we’re falling short compared to everyone else around us, we’re wondering if maybe we’re just not cut out for this.

So how do we move past those obstacles? How do we keep moving forward and not give up?

To help us answer those questions, I invited my dear friend, Bianca Juarez Olthoff, back on the show. Bianca is a bestselling Christian Author, Speaker, and Podcast Host. She recently released her brand new book called, Grit Don't Quit. In it she helps readers cultivate perseverance, embrace resilience, and embark on a life of purpose. And that’s what she’s helping us do today! 

Here are just a few of the things she’s going to be teaching us:

• How we can train our brains to be more resilient

• How to keep going even when things feel really hard or even painful

• How to combat feeling like we’re falling short or falling behind

• How to hear from God and keep pursuing what He has for us

• And so much more!

Whether you’re trying to figure out your next steps in life, in a relationship, or in your career, this episode might just be the nudge you need to keep moving forward. I hope so.

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to truly enjoy your single life instead of just enduring it. We’re also talking through some of the lies or myths we’ve believed about singleness or dating. Lies like “my success is way too intimidating so I need to tone it down a bit”, or “I’ve been single for X amount of years, so I’ve missed my shot at finding my person.” 

Y’all, I’m even more excited because we have a really special guest to talk us through this! 

Our guest for today’s episode is singer, actress and my new friend, Michelle Williams. Many of you know Michelle from her days singing in the popular musical group Destiny's Child. Along with being a super talented singer, Michelle is also an amazing speaker! I had the privilege of hearing her speak and meeting her in-person at a conference I attended earlier this year in Atlanta. After hearing her heart for singleness and dating, I knew I needed to invite her on the show! 

In this episode, Michelle is sharing about her journey as a single woman and the biggest lessons she’s learned in her dating life. 

She’s also teaching us how to:

• Be confident in who we are and not let anyone dim our light

• Cherish our time as a single person 

• Stop feeling lonely in our singleness 

• Figure out the type of partner we need 

• Stop settling 

• And so much more! 

I can’t wait for you to hear from her! 

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Y’all, I am so excited to be back for Season 18 of the podcast!! I’m even more excited because our first guest is my new friend, Madison Prewett Troutt. I’m guessing a lot of you are familiar with Madi after her debut on the reality TV show, The Bachelor. But, along with being a TV personality, Madi is an author, speaker, and has an incredible social media presence. Her life mission is to share the name of Jesus and to help women discover who they were made to be and where to find the truest form of love.

Madi has a brand new book called, The Love Everybody Wants: What You’re Looking For Is Already Yours. In it, she talks about so many important things like how to stop settling for less than you deserve, how to see yourself the way God sees you, how to find a partner who’s going to compliment you, not complete you, and so much more!

And that’s what today’s episode is all about!

One of my favorite things she talks about are strategies to combat the lies we so often tell ourselves during waiting seasons. Lies like, “I’m just hard to love” or “I’m never going to be enough.”

Y’all are going to love this episode. I can’t wait to share it with you!

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.

Several months ago, I had the honor of being interviewed by my sweet friend, Kait (Warman) Tomlin, for her podcast, Heart of Dating, and that’s the episode I want to share with you today.

Now, I know I’m not telling you anything new when I say that we’re given a lot of mixed messages when it comes to our desire for marriage. People either act like marriage is the end-all-be-all goal for our lives, or we’re told to push away our desire for marriage to focus on “more important things” (I put those in air quotes). 

But in this conversation, I help us find a middle ground, so we can truly embrace our desire for marriage while also not putting an unhealthy pressure on it. A middle ground where we can prepare for marriage and look toward the future, while also savoring and making the most of the present. 

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.

Today I’m chatting with my friend, Debra Fileta!

Debra is a Licensed Professional Counselor, national speaker, relationship expert, and author of a new book called, Love in Every Season. Her popular relationship advice blog, TrueLoveDates.com, reaches millions of people with the message of healthy relationships. I can’t wait for you to hear from her!

Especially because today we’re talking about a subject that is very near and dear to my heart. 

Today we’re talking about how to know if you’ve found “the one.” 

The reason I’m so excited about this episode is because this is a question I MAJORLY wrestled with when Carl and I were dating. This is also a question I get asked all the time by our Girls Night listeners. 

You're dating a guy, things are going well, but how do you know when things are going well enough for you to actually get married? How do you know if he’s “the one?”

For me personally, this was one of the most stressful, anxiety-ridden questions I’ve ever asked in my life. I know that’s not everybody’s story, but it was mine, and I know I’m not alone. 

So in this episode I ask Debra all of the questions I wish I could have asked back when Carl and I were dating — and I’m hoping that this episode brings some peace and clarity to anyone who really needs it right now. 

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.

Our guest for today’s episode is my dear friend, Kait (Warman) Tomlin. Kait is a speaker, a writer, and the host of the Heart of Dating podcast. Kait’s actually been with us on the show before. I just love her so much and I knew we had to have her back! 

Today we’re chatting about a topic that I know I struggled with like CRAZY throughout the years. We’re talking about how to move forward after a breakup.

Kait has so much wisdom in this area, and such a passion for helping women through it, and I’m so glad because this is so important. Kait is going to teach us what it looks like to grieve and process a breakup in a healthy way (and what can happen if we don’t).

She’s going to talk us through what it looks like to actually let go of someone we’ve loved so that we can move on and be ready to love someone new. And speaking of loving someone new, she’s going to help us recognize how to know when we’re ready to step into a new relationship. 

I loved our conversation and I can’t wait to share it with you. 

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.

Today we’re talking about the beautiful things that can happen when your life doesn’t go according to plan.

Several months ago, I had the privilege of being a guest on a podcast called, On the Front Porch. The hosts are two amazing women from our Girls Night community, Angela and Mary. They are so much fun. They asked amazing questions. And I loved the conversation so much I just knew I had to share it with y’all. I asked them if I could share the interview we did for their show here on Girls Night and they so graciously said yes!

I’m excited about this episode because if you’re anything like me, you’ve had this picture in your head for a long time of how your life was going to play out. You were going to attend that school, get that degree, get hired for that one job you’ve always wanted, get married, have kids, buy your dream house and the list goes on! But, as most of us know, life doesn’t always play out like we want it to or in the time frame we hope it will.

Sometimes God has a way of wrecking our plans, or at least that’s how it’s felt to me at several points along the way. And that’s the story you’ll get to hear today.

In this episode, I’m sharing about my faith journey and how I met Jesus in the most unexpected way, and in the most unexpected place. I’m talking about several times when God completely wrecked my plans when it came to my career. And finally, I’m sharing how God completely transformed my outlook on dating and relationships and helped me make the most of my single life.

You guys, I share so much of my story in this episode and how God has shown up in the BEST ways possible, and I truly believe he can and will do the same for you! 

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.

Several months ago I got to catch up with a woman in our girls night community who has just graduated from college. She was in the thick of it, trying to answer the question we all find ourselves wrestling at one point or another — “What am I supposed to do with my life? (Or at least with the next few years)”

She was holding her newly-minted degree in one hand, a few different opportunities in the other hand, and she had no idea what to do. 

This moment felt like such a pivotal one — and she was absolutely feeling the pressure. 

She reached out to me specifically because several of the things she was weighing — her specific degree, the specific opportunities she was considering — were crazily similar to the ones I was weighing when I first graduated from college.

So we hopped on the phone and talked through it together. I shared with her some of the things I learned as I was taking my first steps into my career, away from my degree, into a job that paid next to nothing and made absolutely no sense. But also, it did make sense, and it led directly to everything I’m doing today. (Okay, not directly — there were several twists and turns and falls along the way as well).

But as I was sharing that story with her, I realized that I’m not totally sure I’ve shared this story with you guys.

And so that’s what we’re doing here today.

I’ve brought my dear friend Marri back on the show to take over the host chair, and she’s going to help me walk back through my own personal career story — where I started, and how I got to where I am today and all that I learned along the way.

Whether you’re just graduating college, or you’re in a different life stage completely, I know there are so many women in our community who are trying to make some big decisions right now, or waiting for something, longing for something or hoping for something in their careers, but it just hasn’t happened yet.

I also know there are so many women who have a general idea of what they want to be doing in their careers but they have no clue how to actually get there.

I also know there are so many of us who have no clue what we want to be doing, but we know for a FACT that it’s not what we’re doing today.

This episode is for you. It’s the story of where I started, where I am today, and all of the twists and turns that happened in the middle.

I cannot wait to share this with you. 

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.

I’m so excited because, recently, I had the honor and privilege of interviewing my all-time favorite author, Shauna Niequist, and that’s the conversation you’re going to hear today!

If you’ve been following along with my corner of the internet for a while, you’ve probably heard me mention Shauna and her books — one of my favorites being Cold Tangerines. Her words and stories and wisdom have impacted my life and truly shaped who I am as a person, a writer, a friend and, now, as a mom. 

Shauna has a book called, I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet: Discovering New Ways of Living When the Old Ways Stop Working, and in it she talks a lot about life in the midst of transitions. Well, today she is talking us through some of the things we all need to hear in the midst of life’s biggest transitions and I cannot WAIT for you to hear what she had to say. 

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.

When I first became a Christian, I remember hearing someone say that God answers prayers in one of three ways. He either says, “Yes,” “No,” or “Not right now.” I think this insight was supposed to be helpful, but instead, it left me more confused than ever. Because especially when I’m coming up on a gigantic decision, or praying for something I want with my whole entire heart, I don’t want to know what God MIGHT say, I want to know what He IS saying. 

And in the process of trying to figure it out, I end up acting like an amateur detective as I piece together clues. 

“I didn’t get the job, does that mean that God is saying no? Or not right now? Or yes, but I have to just keep going?” 

“I haven’t gotten pregnant yet, so does that mean that God is saying not right now, or yes, but we need to just keep trying for a while. Or, is God trying to tell me that I’m not meant to be a mom? Does God say that to people? Is that a thing?”

“I really really want this relationship to work out. Is this the person God has for me? How do I know?”

And in all of these gigantic life moments, how do we know if faith looks like making the best decision we can with the information we have and moving forward, OR if it looks like stopping and waiting for a clear answer from God before we take another step?

Anyone know what I’m talking about here? 

That’s why I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today I’m talking with my friend Elizabeth Laing Thompson, and she’s going to help us get out of our heads and finally find some clarity here.

In this episode we’re talking about:

• Whether we need a clear yes or no from God about every decision in our lives
• How to know if God is saying no or not right now
• How long we should keep trying before we give up on something
• How to deal with the disappointment when God does say no
• How to stay close to God even when He doesn’t give us the answer we want
• If it’s okay to ask God to change His mind about something
• And so much more!

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.

Our guest for today’s episode is my amazing friend, Bianca Olthoff. Bianca is a Bible teacher, a speaker, and a writer. And speaking of writing, today, Bianca is sharing about a book she wrote called How to Have Your Life not Suck. I recently got my copy, and friends, it is so so good! We’ll actually talk more about it in today’s episode, she’ll tell us all about it.

I wanted to have Bianca on the show today to talk to us about friendship, and actually, she’s here to talk about the part of friendship that I find to be the hardest: How to end a friendship. 

Every single one of us has come to a point in a friendship where things just aren’t going well — and I think every single one of us struggles to know what to do about it. We should fight for our friendships, right? And yes, we should! Sometimes. But there are other times when we’re in friendships that aren’t actually good for us, and other times when a friendship has just run its course.

This is so hard to face, and it’s even harder to know what to do with this. But that’s why I’m so glad to have Bianca here today. She’s going to teach us how to recognize when a friendship needs to end, and then she’s going to teach us how to end it in a way that is kind, loving, and healthy. 

She’s also going to share with us some practical steps we can take today to start making some great new friends. 

I’m so excited about this episode. I just love Bianca, and I know you will too!

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.

So, as I’m continuing to share past Girls Night conversations, we have something super special and a bit different for you in today’s episode!

Today, my sweet friend Marri is hopping into the host chair, and interviewing me! But she’s not just interviewing me. I’m not in that guest chair alone. Sitting right next to me is my sweet husband, Carl Wilson. That’s right, we have a boy here at Girls Night, but I promise, he’s worth the invite.

I wanted to share this episode because this week is mine and Carl’s 9-year wedding anniversary! I cannot BELIEVE It’s been nine years! And so in honor of that, I wanted to go back to the beginning and share our story of how we met, started dating, knew each other was the one, and more!

So that’s what we’re talking about today.

In our conversation today, Marri is asking me and Carl all of the questions we’re asked most often by my sweet readers and listeners — questions we rarely get a chance to answer! We're going to be sharing how we met, all about our first date, how we knew each other was the one. We’ll be sharing our best dating advice, our best advice for how to prepare for a really great marriage, and so much more.

This conversation was so much fun. Carl is hilarious and so so wise, I cannot wait for you to get to know him better. 

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.

I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we have my real life friend, Jordan Lee Dooley back on the show to teach us how it’s possible to really like our lives (even when we’re not exactly where we want to be).

Jordan has a new book called, Embrace Your Almost: Find Clarity and Contentment in the In-Betweens, Not-Quites, and Unknowns. I love this because so many of us have found ourselves here. So many of us are experiencing heartbreak, disappointment, lost dreams, and never-ending delays. We’re in seasons of waiting — waiting for a relationship, a promotion, a baby, or a big move. We’re in a place where our life just isn’t working out the way we thought it would, the way we really, really want it to. And that’s HARD. 

It’s even harder to know what to do when we’re in this place. Do we try harder? Do we keep pushing? Do we give up and walk away? How do we know? And as we’re waiting, what do we do in the meantime? 

Jordan’s going to walk us through all of this and more. I can’t wait for you to hear from her. 

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites. 

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Allie Casazza. Allie is an amazing wife, mom, podcaster and business owner, helping women rid their lives of physical, calendar and mental clutter to make space for the things that are most important in life. And that’s what this episode is all about!

Today Allie is going to walk us through a process that will help us declutter our homes and destress our lives. Don’t you love that? I think we ALL need this in our lives. 

I learned so much from Allie in this conversation, and just one of the things she taught me was that when we declutter our homes, it reduces our housework by 40%. 40% isn’t that insane?!

The second we finished our conversation I dove immediately into a closet to start the decluttering process, and I have a feeling you’re going to do the exact same thing. Keep me updated, okay? If you find yourself buried in a closet while you’re listening to this episode, I want to see it. Send me photos!

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.

I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today you’ll be hearing part two of my conversation with my amazing therapist, Christen Reed, from Ready Nest Counseling in Nashville! If you haven’t listened to the part one episode, make sure you go back and listen to that one first.

In this two-part episode, we’re talking about becoming a mom — why it’s such a big transition, what you can do to prepare for it, and some really practical pieces of advice and wisdom to help you through it. (Especially in those first few months).

Like I said, if you didn’t listen to part one, go back and listen to that part first. But today in part two, we’re focusing on:

• How to ask for help as a new mom — and why needing help is NOT a sign of failure or weakness or a sign that we’re somehow a bad mom

• Why it’s so important for us to take care of ourselves, how to actually do that, and how to drop the guilt so many of us feel when we do

• How to filter through all of the advice that’s out there for first time moms, so we can figure out what’s best for us, our family, and our new baby

• And more

And then at the end of the episode, since Christen is my therapist, we talk about therapy — why it’s so important, how it can help, and how to find the right therapist for you (even if you’ve struggled to find someone who is a good fit in the past!).

I said this last week, but this is a pretty vulnerable topic for me. Becoming a mom is by far the hardest transition I’ve ever been through. But I wanted to share the whole story of how this went for me, because if you’re struggling in the same ways I was, it’s so important to me that you know you’re not alone. 

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.

Our guest for today’s episode is Christen Reed. Christen works as a licensed marriage and family therapist at Ready Nest Counseling here in Nashville. And not only is she an amazing therapist, she’s MY therapist. 

Christen has been there with me every step of the way as I’ve gone through the most gigantic transition of my entire life — becoming a mom. 

And that’s what we’re talking about today. 

We’re talking about becoming a mom — why it’s such a big transition, what you can do to prepare for it, and some really practical pieces of advice and wisdom to help you through it. (Especially in those first few months).

Now, I have a few disclaimers to share with you before we dive in: 

First: It is a tad unconventional for you to be meeting my therapist. (She and I had tons of talks and signed lots of papers having to do with boundaries and confidentiality and making sure that we keep our therapist/client relationship as safe and sacred as it’s always been!)

So I just wanted to let y’all know that.

Second: I wanted to let you know that this is a pretty messy, vulnerable topic for me. In this episode, you’ll hear why I had such a hard time in the first few months of being a mom — why I say that it’s the hardest transition I’ve ever gone through. 

And the reason I want to be so honest about this is not to be discouraging (that’s the LAST thing I would want to be), but it’s because I don’t ever want you to have to go through any of this alone.

I was actually talking to my sister about this a few weeks ago.

Maybe your first few months of mom life won’t be that hard, and if that’s the case, AMAZING! I’m so so happy for you.

But if this is really hard for you — I want you to know that you’re not alone in that. You’re not weak, you’re not a bad mom. This is hard. And you’re not alone in feeling that way. 

One last thing I wanted to say: Christen and I had so much to talk about in this episode that we actually had to split it into two parts. But trust me, it’s so worth it. So today you’ll be hearing part one of our conversation, and next week we’ll air part two.

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites. 

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Kristen Newton, who goes by KB. KB was a former DJ for the Indiana Pacers (so cool, right?), but she recently started a new venture to help millennial women find, cultivate, and keep amazing friendships. 

Now, you guys hear me say it at the beginning of every episode because I think it is 1000% true — life is so much better when we walk though it together as girlfriends! But maintaining healthy friendships isn’t always easy. And that’s why I wanted to have KB on the show. She’s here to talk about how we can deepen friendships (and heal some of our unhealthy ones) by having honest, authentic heart conversations. She’s going to give us some super practical tips and steps to help us find and form friendships that go way beyond the surface. True friendships, deep friendships. I just love that. 

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.

In today’s episode, I’m chatting with my sweet friend, Robin Long, who actually joined us all the way back in the second episode of Girls Night. Robin is a pilates instructor and the creator of an online community called Lindywell (previously called The Balanced Life) where she provides quick and efficient online workouts for busy women. Robin is passionate about empowering women to feel good in their own skin, and that’s exactly what she does! 

Today, we’re talking about how to be consistent in your health journey. I think a lot of us have big ambitions when it comes to our health and fitness goals, especially at the beginning of the new year, but then lose momentum a few months or even a few weeks in! Robin’s going to share practical, and actually doable, tips that have helped her stay committed to her health for years now, and she’s going to teach us how we can do the same. 

If you’re feeling a bit lost or frustrated in your health journey, whether it’s with food or fitness or both, please know you’re not alone! I’ve actually been feeling the exact same way lately. And that’s why I was so excited to talk to Robin. I left this conversation feeling so refreshed, motivated, and like I can ACTUALLY do this, and I know you’ll feel the same.

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.

Today’s guest is my friend, Carrie Grace. Carrie is a motivational speaker who travels all around the country speaking to businesses and teams, and one of the things she teaches them how to do is to take more risks!

I met up with Carrie awhile back, and, y’all, she’s amazing. She has this quality about her where she seriously is not scared of rejection. She’s the kind of person who knows that if you don’t ask the question, the answer is always no. She loves taking risks and the things that have happened in her life because of those risks are amazing.

My heart was pounding the whole time she and I were at lunch, and as we talked, I found myself dreaming in a whole new way, wondering what crazy leaps I could take, and actually not being afraid of the rejection I might face in the process.

And that’s why I just knew we had to have her over for a Girls Night.

Friend, if you’re feeling stuck or lonely or like your dreams are just too far off, this episode is for you! My hope is that the stories Carrie shares from her own life will inspire you to be bold, take risks, and see what amazing things come of it!

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.

Today we’re talking about negative thought patterns and how God’s word can help us break free from fear and take back our joy.

Our guest for today’s episode is Margaret Feinberg. She’s a writer, speaker, and podcaster and has a brand new book called, More Power to You: Declarations to Break Free from Fear and Take Back Your Life. 

You guys, I’m SO EXCITED about this episode, because the practice that Margaret talks about in this book, the one she’s going to teach you today, has absolutely transformed my faith and my life over the last 10 years or so.

It was so cool talking to her about it, because I’ve never known how to describe or explain or teach this concept, but (as you’ll hear!) it’s been a mainstay of my faith practice for years, and I can’t even tell you how much of a difference it’s made in my life.

Seriously — this is the practice that helped me go from truly being my own worst critic, to actually feeling beautiful, and loved, and good enough in my own skin. 

(I’ll explain more in the episode!) 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about why confidence in ourselves is the key to great friendships!

Our guest for today’s episode is my friend, Amy Weatherly. Amy is a wife, mom, an author, and co-creator of Sister I am With You. She is passionate about helping women embrace courage, confidence, and purpose for their life.

I recently read the book she co-authored with her friend, Jess Johnston, who we’ve also had on the podcast, and it’s called, I’ll be There But I’ll be Wearing Sweatpants. I absolutely loved the book, but there was one chapter in particular that Amy wrote and it totally blew my mind, so I had to have her back on the show to talk with us about it!

Here are a few of the questions I’ll be asking Amy in the episode! 

• How do our personal insecurities affect our friendships? Why does how we feel about ourselves matter for friendship? 

• How do we build confidence in ourselves and truly love ourselves?

• Once we find confidence in ourselves, how do we bring that confidence into our friendships?

• And so much more! 

Amy has amazing wisdom when it comes to friendships, and she is just so much fun! You’re going to love her!

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Today’s episode is for the woman who feels totally lost in her faith. It’s for the woman who feels angry with the Church or with God and honestly isn’t sure what to do or if there’s a place for her anymore. It’s also for the woman who needs to be reminded that she’s not alone in feeling this way.

Our guest for today’s episode is my dear friend, Caroline Schandel. Caroline is an Associate Pastor at an incredible church in Atlanta. And, she’s one of my favorite mentors and friends in my life. She’s so kind and wise and wonderful and I’m so grateful for the voice she’s been in my life over the years.

Here are just a few of the questions I’ll be asking Caroline during the episode: 

• Is there still a place for us in the Church if we’re messy and unsure about basically everything?

• If we’re feeling distant from God is that our fault? Like, is it because we haven’t been trying hard enough?

• Do we need to agree with our pastors about everything in order to go to a particular church? And what do we do if there are things happening within our churches or church leadership that we don’t agree with? 

• If we’re feeling totally lost in our faith and angry at God or angry at the church, what do we do? Is it okay for us to feel these things?

• How do we heal from church hurt and how do we talk to God about those things?

• And so much more!

Friends, these are really tricky questions that we don’t have all of the answers to, but Caroline truly handles them like a champ and has some amazing wisdom to share with us. I hope you leave this conversation knowing that you’re not alone and feeling a little more peace and comfort where you are today.

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to create your dream home and why it’s not as out of reach as you might think!

I’m excited about this episode because, for most of us, home is a really important part of who we are. It’s where our lives happen and so many sweet memories are made. If you’re anything like me, you really want it to be a place that feels comfortable and beautiful and inspiring and feels like YOU. And you also want a space that really functions for you and your family, and almost takes care of you in a way!

But is it possible to create our dream home even if we don’t have a HUGE budget or tons of experience with home renovations?

That’s what we’re diving into today!

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Noell Jett. Noell is the creative force behind the popular Jett Set Farmhouse, where she and her husband Daniel, along with their five children, share their lives, DIY tips, cleaning and organization hacks, and their home building journey with their millions of followers. She recently released a new book called, Create Your Dream Home on a Budget: Practical Advice, Inspiration, and Projects and I can’t wait for you to hear her heart behind it!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode because this conversation is so important and also so overdue. I can’t believe we haven’t talked about this here on Girls Night yet. Today’s episode is self-defense 101: The simple strategies that every woman needs to know!

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Kailee Billerbeck. Kailee is the CEO and Founder of Everyday Armor. She’s combined an incredible background in martial arts with a passion to keep women safe, and in the last few years she has traveled to over 40 states by herself teaching self defense classes at colleges and universities. Her goal is to redefine self defense and help young women navigate life feeling more safe, confident and independent. 

Here are just a few of the things Kailee will be teaching us:

• How to keep ourselves out of dangerous situations
• How to be more aware of our surroundings 
• What to do if we do end up in a vulnerable or dangerous situation — and what we can do to physically defend ourselves.
• How to keep ourselves safe but also not live in a constant state of fear
• And so much more! 

You guys, these are practical things that so many of us can do. I can’t wait for you to hear from her!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to build your dream career and create work-life harmony.

I’m excited about this episode because a lot of us have big dreams, but we don’t know how to begin. Or, if we have started, we want to know how we can continue to grow and push our creativity without feeling totally burnt out!

And while this might seem like an overwhelming feat, our guest is here to show you why this is possible, because she’s done it herself!

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Tina Wells. Tina is a speaker, brand builder, author of over 20 books, and introspective entrepreneur recognized by Fast Company as one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business. For over two decades she led Buzz Marketing Group, an agency she founded at age 16 with clients like Dell, The Oprah Winfrey Network, Kroger, Apple, P+G, Johnson & Johnson, and American Eagle. She also has a whole collection of office supplies at Target called Elevation, and a new book called The Elevation Approach. In it, she shares about how to meet your goals without sacrificing joy for productivity and progress.

During our conversation, you’ll hear about the journey that led to Tina’s success as an entrepreneur and the practices she’s implemented to create work-life harmony and stay creative in her work! You guys are going to love her!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to date with confidence and STOP settling for less than you deserve. 

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Faitth Brooks. I had the privilege of hearing Faitth speak at a conference in Atlanta a few weeks ago and immediately knew we needed to have her on Girls Night!

Faitth is an incredibly talented writer, speaker, social worker, activist, and podcaster. She is also the author of a book called, REMEMBER ME NOW: A Journey Back to Myself and a Love Letter to Black Women, which you’re going to hear all about in this episode. 

Faitth has amazing wisdom when it comes to dating and relationships. She’s going to teach us how to be confident in who we are as women and how to bring that confidence into our dating lives. 

Toward the end of our conversation she reads a letter from her book and it’s truly SO beautiful and such a good reminder about who we are and who God created us to be.

I can’t wait for you to hear from her!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to work from home and actually get work done! 

I’m excited about this episode because working from home has become more and more popular in the past few years, especially since the aftermath of the pandemic. Some of us work from home full-time and others of us have more of a hybrid schedule and are at home one or two days out of the week.

I have personally come to love working from home, but I know it still comes with its challenges which is what we’re diving into today!

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Elizabeth McCravy! Elizabeth is a wife, mom, podcaster, and website designer! She designs and sells the most beautiful Showit website templates which we’ll be sure to link to in the show notes along with a discount code. And similar to me she works from her home near Nashville!

In this episode she teaches us her tried and true tips for making our workdays at home productive and efficient, while also leaving time for brain breaks and rest. I especially loved the exercise she shared about how to plan our to-dos and work schedule for the week, which you’ll be hearing more about soon! 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about what to look for in a best friend and how to stay close to your best friends once you’ve found them. And there’s no better person for me to talk about this with than my very best friend in the whole world, Michelle Windhausen. 

I cannot believe this, but Michelle and I have been friends for over 25 years! We’ve been through so much together, middle school, high school, college, figuring out what we want to do with our lives, meeting and marrying our husbands, and now we have five beautiful daughters between the two of us — including two sets of identical twins. (Which… we’re going to tell that full story in this episode. It’s WILD.) 

In this episode, we’re chatting about what it is about our friendship that’s made it last so long, how to maintain a friendship, what qualities we should be looking for in a best friend, whether or not it’s possible to have more than one best friend, and that’s just the beginning. 

I loved this conversation and I love Michelle – I can’t wait for you to hear from her again!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode because my very dear friend, and Girls Night Favorite, Mariko Clark, is back on the show! (I call her Marri, but we’ll talk about that in the episode!) Today we’re talking about how to make a new city feel like home! 

Marri has made a few big moves in the past handful of years, so she knows all about the process and what goes into making a decision like this! And she knows how hard of a transition it can be. So today we’re talking about how to make a new city feel like home. We’re talking about everything from finding your closest grocery store, to how to stop feeling like the awkward middle schooler all over again, to how to make true, lasting friendships in your new city.

Marri is an absolute treasure. I’m so happy you get to hear from her today. 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about renovations and real estate and how to get started renovating your house without totally destroying it in the process!

I’m excited about this episode because over the past several years I’ve fallen in love with all things interior design! While I’m not perfect at it, I’ve gotten way better, and I absolutely love thinking through a space and making it feel functional and homey. I’ve also watched a crazy amount of HGTV! So it only seems fitting that I invited someone from my favorite TV Network to walk us through this! 

Our guest for today’s episode is Mina Starsiak Hawk. Mina is a mom, a wife, a podcaster, and the owner of Two Chicks and a Hammer. While she has been renovating homes in Indy since 2008, it wasn't until 2014 when she was approached to do it for TV! Now rolling into season 8 of HGTVs Good Bones while running her brick and mortar store, Two Chicks District Co, she keeps plenty busy! 

In this episode, Mina shares really practical tips on where to get started when renovating our houses – what to DIY and what to leave to a professional! She also tells about her real estate journey and where to begin if we want to get into that ourselves! 

Plus, she’s just so fun. I cannot WAIT for you to meet her. 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to know when it’s time to quit your job and how to find a better one. 

I’m excited about this episode because while I know some of us have jobs we love, that’s just not the case for all of us. And if you have a job that you don’t necessarily love (or that you totally hate), what do you do? Should you leave? Or should you stick it out a little bit longer? How do you decide? And even if you’re sure you do want to leave, there’s always the fear that you won’t be able to find something better. 

So how do we figure this out? How do we know when it’s time to leave our job? And what do we need to do to find something better?

Today’s guest is going to help us answer these questions! 

Our guest for today’s episode is Ashley Stahl. Ashley is a ​​career expert, podcast host, international bestselling author, and she has SO much wisdom to offer on this topic.

I cannot wait for you to hear from her!

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Friends, welcome to Season 17 of The Girls Night Podcast! I’m super excited to be back! We have some really amazing guests lined up and I cannot wait to introduce you to them! But today’s guest really doesn’t need an introduction, because y’all already know him! Today, my sweet and amazing husband, Carl Wilson, is joining me back on the show! 

I’m really excited about today’s conversation! Today we’re talking about how to plan holiday celebrations with your spouse and talk through expectations!

You’re going to hear the story of our first Valentine’s Day together and the story of our first wedding anniversary – and how we learned very quickly that talking through your expectations is a must for a healthy and happy marriage!

Here are few more things we talk about in the episode:

• How to plan for special occasions like Valentine’s Day or Birthdays and get on the same page about gifts and what you’re going to do to celebrate

• How to split up time between families during holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas and think about what traditions you want to create together

• We also talk about our new course The Marriage Starter Kit and why it might be helpful for you as you navigate your first few years of marriage

If you’ve ever felt disappointed after a holiday because things didn’t play out the way you hoped they would, this conversation is for you! 

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites. 

Our guests for today’s episode are three of my closest friends, Emily Tuttle, Suzy Hachey, and Heather Reed. 

Y’all, these women are amazing, they’re my people — some of my my best friends, my most trusted advisers, women who have been in my corner for years, and I’m so excited for you to get to meet them. 

This conversation was so much fun because it happened while we were all together having a big weekend-long girls night at my house in Nashville, something that rarely gets to happen.

The four of us live in all different corners of the country and don’t get to see each other very often. (It’s the worst right? I hate being away from my people.) Yet, the amazing thing is that even though we’ve lived apart for so much of our 6-year friendship, we’re closer than ever, and that’s exactly what we’re talking about today! 

We’re talking about how to find and form friendships with people who are really your people — and how to maintain and even deepen those friendships no matter how far away you live from each other. 

I cannot wait to share this episode with you!

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At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites. 

Today we’re talking about how to travel solo. 

I love this topic because traveling is absolutely one of my favorite things to do and has played an irreplaceable role in my story! I’ve had the privilege of visiting places all around the world and every time I come back feeling more inspired and more full of life and just more like myself.

But while I love traveling, I know firsthand how hard it can be to actually make a trip happen. Sometimes it’s finances that get in the way, sometimes it’s work, and a lot of times, we find that we don’t have anyone to go with! 

That’s why I’m so excited to have my dear friend Gennean Woodall back on Girls Night to talk us through this. Gennean is a travel planner and content creator, and she has traveled to places all around the world… all by herself.

Like most of us, she had some major reservations about traveling solo. (Is it safe? Will I be lonely? Can I actually do this?!) But she’s figured out a formula that really works and now, traveling solo is her favorite way to go.

She also has grown so much as a person through these solo trips. I honestly can’t wait to take one myself! 

Friend, if you’ve been dreaming of taking a trip and are ready to actually make it happen — this episode is for you.

Gennean equips and empowers us to do the things we’ve been dreaming about for so long, and I’m so excited to share this conversation with you. 

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Our guest for today’s episode is my friend, Brianna Glenn. We’ve had Bri on the show before, but I knew I needed to have her back because she’s been one of y’alls favorites. I love that. She’s one of my favorites too. For those of you who don’t know her already, Bri is the mastermind behind Milk and Honey Travels, a boutique travel agency helping you go on the trip of your dreams. She helps people figure out what kinds of travel experiences they want to have, and then she actually makes them happen!

I love this because that’s exactly what Bri is going to do for us today. So many of us want to go traveling with friends — whether that’s an epic adventure overseas or a quick cabin weekend, but if you’ve ever tried to plan a girls trip, you’ve probably discovered that they’re not all that easy. 

Everyone has different schedules, budgets, travel preferences, and that’s just the beginning. Not only are the logistics tricky, but it’s a vulnerable thing to ask friends to travel with you. What if they say no? And because of all of this, it’s really tempting to put girls trips in the “Would be nice” column in our lives, and never actually make them a reality.

But they can be a reality, and today Bri is going to teach us how. 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Backing up a little bit…

Before Carl and I had kids, one of the most common things people would say to us is, “Travel now before you have kids, because once you have them, you won’t be able to!” 

The first time I heard that, I sort of brushed it off. Travel was (and IS!) such a huge, important part of my life, surely that wasn’t true. Right? 

But eventually, I’d heard that same phrase enough times from enough different people that I started to get scared.

Did I have to turn in my Passport the day I became a mom? It felt like the answer was yes! And what would becoming a mom mean for the other dreams I had for my life? Would I have to give those up too?

Friends — I wrestled with this question for YEARS. No joke, YEARS. 

In so many ways, I felt like I had to choose between being myself and being a mom. It was NOT an easy decision to make.

Finally, I learned that this isn’t actually true — you CAN still be yourself and pursue your dreams and YES, even travel, after you have kids. And the way I found this out was through the example of other women who were going before me. 

That’s why I’m so excited to share this episode with you.

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Lindsey Roman. Lindsey is an educator, speaker, photographer, wife and a mom of two, with one more on the way! And she actually had a LOT of the same fears about motherhood that I did.

We talk about all of that in this episode. And we also talk about how we both got through those fears. 

As we recorded this episode, Lindsey was actually in Spain with her family, and we spend a ton of time talking about how to travel with your family and what that’s looked like for her. 

This was such a fun conversation, but it’s also one that would have brought me SO MUCH peace and encouragement if I’d been able to hear it a few years ago, and so if any of y’all are wrestling with the same things I was, I hope it does exactly that for you.

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to create your own family culture — what that means, why it’s so important, and then how to practically do it!

To be honest, this is something I’ve thought about a lot since becoming a mom, but it’s also something I thought about even before having kids! 

If you’re anything like me, you’ve had this idea that your family needs to do things a certain way — this could be in any category: The way you eat, spend money, spend time, what you value, what you prioritize, how you do holidays, and more. These ideas might come from the way you were raised — the way your parents did things — or from how your friends are doing things or from social media. But over the years I’ve been learning something that’s been incredibly freeing for me: Your family culture should be a reflection of YOU. There’s not one right way to do this. You get to decide what this looks like. And that’s what we’re talking about today!

Our guest for this episode is our new friend, Jodi Mockabee. Jodi is a photographer, writer, blogger, speaker, social media influencer, and mother of five. She has a new book called, The Whole and Healthy Family and I can’t wait to talk more about it!

Here are just a few of the questions I’ll be asking Jodi in the episode:

• Where do we begin with creating a healthy family culture and what does that look like?

• How do we sort through the things we experienced as a child and determine what we want to be a part of our family life and what we want to do differently?

• Is it okay if the way we do things is different from what others in our inner circles are doing?

• How do we form a family culture that aligns with our values?

• And so much more!

One of my favorite parts of the episode is when Jodi shares a story about a choice her family made when attending church and how that one decision positively impacted their whole congregation! It’s super cool. I can’t wait for you to hear from her!

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So friends, since the holiday season is officially here, I wanted to revisit one of my all time favorite Girls Night episodes. It’s a conversation I had a few years back with Carl’s mom, and my amazing mother-in-law, the one and only Kathy Wilson. 

As we speak, I’m just now getting back from a beautiful family Thanksgiving celebration that Kathy put together for 22 people and so I knew I needed to reshare this conversation because truly she is the hostess with the mostess!

Now, here’s what you need to know about Kathy before we dive in: She basically invented pinterest. That’s not true, but it feels like it. She has incredible style, impeccable taste, and almost everything I know about style, design, home decor, hosting, and more, I learned from her. 

In today’s episode, she’s going to be sharing with us…  

• How to make our house feel like home (with a nurturing, inviting ambiance) 
• How to decorate our homes without breaking our budgets
• How to make our homes feel warm and inviting for guests
• Actually doable tricks to being a great hostess
• How to make friends today that we’ll still be friends with in 30 years. 

I’m so excited for you to get to hear from her.

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Today, we’re welcoming back my dear friend Ainsley Britain to Girls Night. Ainsley is an Author, Podcast Host, and Enneagram Coach, helping young adults embrace their confidence, date healthy and discover their identity in Christ. 

She has a new book called, Don't Date a BooBoo Dude: Raise Your Standards, Realize Your Worth, and Remove Shame from the Dating Game. And that’s what we’re talking about today – how we deserve to be treated in a relationship. 

Here are just a few of the things we’re talking about in this episode: 

• What you deserve (and don’t deserve!) in a relationship

• What an unhealthy relationship looks like and how to know if you’re in one 

• What to do if you’re in a relationship that’s less than you deserve (how to ask for the things you want, and how to know if you should give this person another shot or if it’s time to end it).

• And more

Friends, if you’ve ever settled for less than you want in a relationship because you’re worried you won’t be able to get more (been there!) this episode is especially for you!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about super busy seasons of life, and how we can bring some order to the chaos!

Our guest for this episode is Emily Ley. Emily has been on the show once before, but she’s someone I’m endlessly inspired by, so I’m so thrilled to have her back!

Emily is the founder of Simplified, a brand of planners and organizational tools for busy women. Her newest book, Sure as the Sunrise is 100 daily meditations on God’s mercy and delight to greet each morning with hope and joy. Along with being an author and entrepreneur, she’s also a wife, a mama of three kids, a friend, a woman of faith and so much more. 

She truly does it all and in this episode I pick her brain on how she makes it all happen! (And the quick answer to that question is, “She doesn’t do it alone!)

Here are just a few of the things she’s going to share about in the episode:

• How to structure our days to make everything run more smoothly 

• What tools and resources have been most helpful for keeping her schedule organized  

• How to figure out what to say no to

• How to prioritize what’s most important in your life, your family's life, and in your business’s life

• And how to stay consistent in your faith when life feels really busy

If you’re feeling stressed out with a busy schedule, or just want to make your everyday life a little easier and more efficient, Emily’s tried-and-true systems are going to be a game-changer for you! 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about friendship. I learned SO MUCH from our guest, and I can’t wait for you to hear from her. 

Our guest for today’s episode is Dr. Marisa G. Franco.

Marisa has a book called Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make--and Keep--Friends. Marisa is a brilliant psychologist, international speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. She is known for digesting and communicating the science of human connection in ways that resonate deeply enough with people to change their lives.

Here are just a few of the things she’s going to teach us in the episode:

• Why friendship is essential no matter what stage of life you’re in

• How to not only make new friendships but also keep our friendships

• What an attachment style is and how we can figure out what ours is

• How to make new friends as an adult and improve the quality of our friendships

• And so much more!

If you’ve been desiring deeper connections in your friendships, you’re in the right place. Marisa seriously has an abundance of knowledge to share with us on this topic – I can’t wait for you to hear from her! 

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Toni is a Hope Coach, author of Brave Enough to Be Broken and the founder of Broken Crayons Still Color, an international women’s ministry that helps women process their brokenness and reclaim hope. After a lifetime of childhood trauma, navigating a toxic marriage and divorce, an unhealthy church, becoming a single parent and feeling betrayed, Toni has learned how to find hope and healing in the midst of her pain. And that’s what she’s sharing with us today! 

Here are just a few of the things she’s going to teach us in this episode: 

• How to rebuild your life after experiencing brokenness and pain

• How to release ourselves from the pressure of perfectionism

• How God can restore our hope and use our past experiences for good

• Why therapy has played a vital role in her healing journey 

• And how the practice of gratitude can change your life

Friend, if you’re in a hard season right now, or you’re looking back at your past and wondering how any good can come from it, this episode is for you.

I’m praying you walk away feeling so encouraged. Your story is NOT over!

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Today’s episode is a hard one, but a really, really important one. Today we’re talking about what to do if you or someone you love is having suicidal thoughts. We’re also talking about how to heal and move forward after a tragedy. 

You guys know I’m all about mental health — I want to talk about it as often as possible. But you may not know that I’ve lost several friends to suicide throughout my life. 

And the thing is — I know I’m not the only one. 

That’s why I wanted to talk about it here on the show.

Our guest for today is Kayla Stoecklein. Kayla is an author, speaker and mother of 3 little boys. Kayla became an unexpected widow in August 2018 when her husband, Andrew, the pastor of their large church in California, died by suicide. With three young boys also grieving and a heart full of pain, it became her mission to bring hope and help to others who have faced unexpected hardships.

She recently wrote a book called, Rebuilding Beautiful: Welcome What Is, Dare to Dream Again, and Step Bravely into What Could Be  – I can’t wait for you to hear more about it! 

Here are a few of the things she’ll be talking to us about in the episode 

• First, she shares about the stigmas surrounding mental health and why it’s so important for us to check in on our loved ones 

• Next, she talks through what to do if we know someone who is struggling with their mental health or suicidal thoughts and how to seek help

• And finally, she shares how to start healing and rebuilding your life after you’ve gone through a hardship or a tragedy. 

This episode is incredible. The things Kayla shared with me were just amazing. I am so deeply grateful for the work she’s doing.The second we hung up the phone, I immediately texted several friends about it. This is a conversation I know I’ll be sharing and re-sharing for years to come. 

I’m praying this conversation is as helpful for you as I know it’s been for me.

If you or a loved one is having suicidal thoughts, we encourage you to seek help. Here are resources for you:

• 988 is the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (available 24 hours), you can also call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
• Here is their website: https://988lifeline.org/

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to learn what your feelings are trying to teach you. 

I love this episode because if you’re anything like me, you experience a lot of feelings in any given moment, and you’re not always sure what to do with them. For a lot of us, we feel totally overwhelmed by our feelings — our feelings run the show, telling us what’s true about ourselves and the world around us. But then others of us tend to stuff our feelings — and as a result we miss out on so much intimacy — with God, with our people, and even with ourselves.

But there’s a third option — a beautiful and better way, and that’s what this episode is all about.

To talk us through this I invited my sweet friends, Mac & Kenz back on the show. They’re the founders of Delight Ministries, and an amazing hub of resources called, “For the Girl” and they recently came out with a brand new Bible Study called “In My Feels.”

I loved this conversation and I cannot wait to share it with you. 

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I’m so excited about today’s conversation. Today we’re re-sharing a conversation I had a few years ago with my dear friend, Caroline Schandel.

If this is your first time meeting her, Caroline is a brilliant writer, speaker, and Bible teacher. She’s a woman I’ve looked up to for years — she’s taught me so much about who God is and about who I am because of who God is, and I am so so so happy we get to revisit this conversation! 

In the episode we’re talking about waiting. How to trust God in the midst of long waiting seasons, how to tune into what He’s up to along the way, how God uses these seasons to transform us, and so much more.

Friends, if you’re waiting on something today — a job, a spouse, an answer, a home, a move, a positive pregnancy test, or anything else — this episode is for you. 

God has us. He’s taking care of us, and I’m praying that you walk away from this episode believing that more than ever. 

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As I mentioned in last week’s episode, we’re kicking off this season by sharing a few of our favorite past episodes having to do with singleness, dating, and relationships. Today we’re sharing the conversation I had with my sweet friend, Jena Dunay, in episode number 75. At that time, she was Jena Viviano, but, a little spoiler alert, she ended up marrying the amazing guy she talks about in this episode, which is so fun! 

Y’all Jena is incredible. She is the Chief Learning Officer for a wealth management firm and is just a total boss. She's also an alumni of my online course, Love Your Single Life!

A little while back, Jena and I were at lunch and we were talking about some of the things she learned along the way in her journey of singleness and dating, and I loved her heart and her perspective so much, I just knew we had to record another episode together. I’m not kidding when I say this is one of my favorite Girls Night episodes EVER!

One of my favorite takeaways from the episode is a story Jena shares about a time when she completely broke down at a thanksgiving breakfast from feeling defeated in her single life, an experience I think so many of us can relate to. But what really amazed me are the words her friend said to her a few days later that she’ll never forget and that I believe so many of us need to hear, too. Friend, if you can relate to feeling tired and discouraged and disappointed by your love life so far… this conversation is for you. 

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I’m so excited to be back for Season 16 of the Girls Night podcast — and to kick off this season we’re doing something a little different. Since registration for my course Love Your Single Life is opening back up in just a few weeks, I thought it would be fitting to revisit a few of the amazing Girls Night episodes we’ve had over the years all having to do with singleness and dating. 

To start, we’re going all the way back to episode 7 of the podcast to a conversation I had with my best friend, Michelle. In this conversation, we talk about breakups — how to make it through a breakup, and how to put your heart back together!

Michelle and I have both been through our fair share of breakups (more than our fair share, I think), and we’ve learned so much along the way: What to do, what not to do, what helps, what doesn’t, things that comforted us along the way, things that helped us get over it, and more. Best of all, we’re going to be talking about God’s redemption in all of this — how He’s able to transform these broken pieces of our lives into something positively beautiful.

He’s done that in our lives, and we KNOW He wants to do that in yours too.

One thing I wanted to say before we jump in is that I know lots of y’all have been through hard breakups, but I also know that some of you may have broken hearts in different ways. Maybe you just lost a job or had a falling out with a friend. Maybe you’re mourning the death of a dream or even a loved one. Well — in this episode we’re going to be talking about breakups from relationships, but these ideas and principles apply to so many different types of broken hearts. So regardless of what you’re going through right now, I'm so glad you’re here.

My prayer is that this conversation brings you so much comfort as you know you’re just not alone in what you’re going through, peace as you’re reminded that you WILL make it through, and hope as you get to see that God NEVER leaves things broken for long.

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Friends, I can’t believe it, but today is our last episode of Season 15! To wrap up this season, we’re talking about a really important topic and that’s how to deal with mean girls and friend drama as an adult. 

I wanted to have this conversation because I’m such a believer that as friends, we can be the best thing to happen to each other. In so many ways, I am who I am because of the incredible women in my life. Their guidance, and love, and presence in my life has changed everything for the better. But I’ve also experienced the opposite in friendship. The negative experiences I’ve had with female friendship have broken my heart and scarred me more deeply than any other relationship in my life. 

In fact, if I could go back and give my younger self one piece of advice, I’d tell her that you don’t have to be friends with people who are mean to you. But that’s so much easier said than done, even as an adult, and that’s why I’m excited for this conversation.

To talk us through this, I invited my wonderful and brilliant friend, Danielle Bayard Jackson, back on the show. Danielle is a certified friendship coach and a national speaker who works to teach women how to create and maintain better female friendships.

Y’all, Danielle has so much great advice on this topic. If you’re dealing with friend drama, mean girls, or friendship hurt — this episode is for you. This conversation would have been life-changing for me if I would have had it just a few years ago, and that's why I’m so happy to get to share it with you.

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to see your value and ask for what you want (in both work and relationships!).

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend Mori Taheripour. 

Mori is a speaker, educator, negotiation expert and teaches Negotiation and Dispute Resolution at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. 

She has a new book called, Bring Yourself: How to Harness the Power of Connection to Negotiate Fearlessly, and when I first came across it, I immediately began to wonder how the things she teaches in it could help us in our relationships — specifically in these three really vulnerable areas of life where we have to put ourselves out there and ask for what we want in order to be successful: dating, friendships, and our careers. 

And that’s what we’re talking about in this episode. 

Friends, if you’ve been struggling to see your value and need practical tips on how to ask for what you want with confidence, then you’re in the right place!

She is brilliant. I can’t wait for you to meet her.

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about the Enneagram and how it can help us grow in our relationships. 

I shared about the Enneagram way back in episode number seventeen of the podcast and chances are you’ve heard about the Enneagram before, but if you’re not super familiar or need a refresher, it’s a personality assessment that helps you understand your emotions and motivations at a deeper level. The way I have come to understand it, it’s designed to do two things:

1. It helps us get to know our minds and our hearts so much better

2. It helps us overcome some of the roadblocks in our lives and become the best versions of ourselves 

It also helps us understand and connect with the people we love, whether that’s a friend or our family, our coworkers or our spouse. And that’s the focus of today’s episode. Because, if you’re anything like me, you want to connect with the people around you on a deeper level, but you don’t always know how to make that happen in a practical way. You might also find yourself disagreeing or feeling disconnected in certain ways and not knowing how to fix it. But adding the Enneagram to my relationship toolbox has been a game changer and I hope it will be for you too! 

To talk us through this, I invited my sweet friend, Meredith Boggs, on the show. Meredith is an expert when it comes to the Enneagram and has a new book coming out soon called, The Journey Home; A Biblical Guide to Using the Enneagram to Deepen Your Faith and Relationships.

In this episode she’s going to teach us:

• What the Enneagram is (and what it’s not!)
• An overview of the Enneagram types and how to discover what type we are
• How the Enneagram can help us communicate in our relationships
• How the Enneagram can help us in our faith 
• How the Enneagram can help us understand and connect with our significant others better
• And that’s just the beginning! 

If you’ve been wanting to cultivate deeper, healthier, more meaningful relationships, the Enneagram is a great resource to try and I can’t wait to share more about it!

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So, I was at an event recently when someone asked me what Girls Night is all about. I told them that here on the show we talk about anything and everything that you’d actually talk about with your real life best friends at a real life girls night. That pretty much covers it, right? 

Well, one of the things my friends and I spend a lot of time talking about is where we’ll live. Where we live is a big deal — our homes are where our lives happen. Our cities are where our people are. And so making decisions about where we want to be located and what kind of house we want to live in — those are really important things to talk about! 

And because so much rides on this decision from finances to family to lifestyle, I’m so glad we had our friends to help us walk through it.

As many of you know, one of my closest friends here in Nashville is Hanna Seymour. Hanna’s been on Girls Night a bunch of times, and she’s actually the one who connected us with her amazing Realtor, Cindy Easley — who also happens to be Hanna’s mom. 

Cindy has walked Carl and I through the process of buying and selling our home a few times now, and I am SO grateful for her. Buying a home can feel really scary, but it’s been so much easier and less intimidating to have my friends, and one of friends’ amazing mom to walk me through it.

And that’s why I cannot wait to share today’s episode with you! We’re talking about how to buy a home for the first time and how to make it less intimidating! 

In this episode Cindy is going to teach us…

• How to figure out if we’re personally ready to buy a home and what to consider when starting that process

• How to figure out the financial part of buying a home — she’ll walk us through things like down payments, mortgages, credit scores, and loans.

• How to find a real estate agent and lender that you trust 

• How to figure out your must-haves for a home – what’s realistic and where we might need to compromise a little

• And so much more! 

Friends, if you’re trying to figure out your living situation right now, this episode is for you. I can’t wait for you to meet Cindy.

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I’m so excited for today’s episode. Today we’re talking about boundaries: How to set them, how to keep them, and why they’re so truly life-changing. 

If you’ve been a Girls Night listener for a while now, this isn’t the first time you’re hearing me talk about boundaries. And it’s because this has been a HUGE lesson for me.

I am historically bad at knowing what I want and what I need — at drawing lines and saying no.

And for the longest time, I was okay with that. (Maybe even a little bit proud of it?)

I like being helpful. I like being needed. I like feeling useful, and capable, and strong.

For years I thought that this was the best way to love the people I love: To always put their needs above my needs, to say yes to everything, to give but never take, and to have everything that’s mine be theirs without limit — whether it was my stuff, my space, my time, or my energy. 

This is what I thought would lead to the healthiest, closest relationships. But over the last few years I’ve learned that the opposite is true.

Boundaries are an absolutely essential part of healthy relationships. They’re an essential part of a healthy life, of a healthy US.

And that’s what we’re talking about here today. 

To help us through this, I invited my dear friend, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt back on the show. Sasha is a renowned cardiac anesthesiologist, professor, bestselling author and CEO and Founder of Brave Enough. Sasha is also a wife and a mother who has walked through seasons of loneliness, anxiety, and complete burnout. Needless to say, she has had to learn about boundaries the HARD way. 

She has a new book called, Brave Boundaries: Strategies to Say No, Stand Strong and Take Control of Your Time where she helps us find the courage to implement boundaries in our own life. 

Here are just a few of the things she’s going to teach us in this episode: 

• How to take a personal boundary inventory and identify what boundaries we need

• Why saying no to others and yes to ourselves isn’t selfish and can actually help us be a better version of ourselves (and love our people better!)

• How to kindly respond to someone if we receive backlash for the boundary we’ve set

• And so much more! 

One of my favorite things that Sasha says in the episode was, "The world will set your boundaries if you don't set them for yourself” and that couldn't be more true. 

Friends, if you’re feeling anxious, burned out, or overwhelmed in life right now, this episode is for you! 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to have more fun and why fun is so important. 

Let’s be honest: being an adult is hard. There’s so much to navigate, so much to balance, so much to figure out. We’re figuring out work, and bills, and health insurance, and our living situations. For so many of us, we wake up FAR earlier than we want to, work all day at school or at our offices, eat lunch at our desk, and then come home at the end of the day feeling totally and thoroughly spent.

The things we’re doing are good, and important, and necessary. But as we’re making time for all these important things, we also need to make sure we’re having some fun.

Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Annie F. Downs. Annie is an amazing Author, Podcaster, and Speaker. She has a new devotional book called, Chase the Fun: 100 days to discover fun right where you are. And that’s exactly what we’re talking about in today’s episode!

We’re talking about: 

• Why having fun matters (it actually matters — for our brains, and our bodies, and Annie and I both agree that fun is an important spiritual practice!) 

• How to figure out what sounds fun to us and how to actually do those things

• Practical ways to make more time for fun (even with super busy schedules!) 

• How to embrace the things we find to be fun (even if those things aren’t necessarily cool)

• How to start a new hobby

• And so much more!

Friends, if you’ve been itching to add more fun and joy into your life, but don’t know where to start, this episode is for you! 

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I don’t think I’m telling you anything new when I say that there have been a lot of hard things happening in our country and in our world recently. It seems like bad news hits us and before we can even take a breath or process what just happened, it hits us again. 

And if I’m honest, this has been weighing really really heavily on my mind and my heart lately. It’s something my family and friends and I have all been talking about a lot — we’ve all just been feeling heavy, and tired, and at times even a little bit hopeless about the state of things. 

(Side note: If you’re wondering what I’m referring to, I don’t have a specific event in mind from this week’s headlines. I’m actually recording this two weeks in advance — so I have no clue what’s happening in the news on the day this comes out. But so much has happened in the last few months and last few years, I’m just feeling the weight of it overall.)

And I figured that if I’m feeling this way, and my friends and family are feeling this way, that you might be feeling this way too. 

And that’s why I’m excited about today’s episode. 

When I’m trying to process bad news in the world, I always find myself thinking back to one of our Girls Night episodes. It’s the conversation I had with Danielle Coke back in Season 13 of the podcast. Dani has a way of taking really important, really complex issues and making them more digestible and helping us figure out what to do with them. And so today I’m actually going to be re-sharing the conversation I had with her, because I have a feeling we could all use these reminders today. 

Here are just a few of the things I ask Dani in this episode:

• When the whole world feels like one big ball of bad news, how do we process this? How do we care about the people who are hurting in the world without getting so overwhelmed by the hurt in the world that we just shut down? 

• How do we identify the cause or mission that is our thing? How do we figure out where and how we can help and actually make a difference?

• Once we figure out what our mission is, what do we do with everything else? When something crazy or hard or heartbreaking happens in the world, how do we process it? How do we both care and help without losing focus on the thing that is our thing? 

• How do you figure out what to say, when you should speak out, and how to do it? And I asked her about how to get through the fear that you’re going to say the wrong thing. (Does anyone else have that fear? Is that just me?) 

Friends, if you’re feeling discouraged by all of the bad news or tragic events happening in our world, I’m right there with you, but there is hope! This episode is seriously life-giving and has practical advice on how we can process our feelings and make a difference in our world and community today!

I can’t wait to share it with you. 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today you’ll be hearing part two of my conversation with my amazing therapist, Christen Reed, from Ready Nest Counseling in Nashville! If you haven’t listened to the part one episode, make sure you go back and listen to that one first.

In this two-part episode, we’re talking about becoming a mom — why it’s such a big transition, what you can do to prepare for it, and some really practical pieces of advice and wisdom to help you through it. (Especially in those first few months).

Like I said, if you didn’t listen to part one, go back and listen to that part first. But today in part two, we’re focusing on:

• How to ask for help as a new mom — and why needing help is NOT a sign of failure or weakness or a sign that we’re somehow a bad mom

• Why it’s so important for us to take care of ourselves, how to actually do that, and how to drop the guilt so many of us feel when we do

• How to filter through all of the advice that’s out there for first time moms, so we can figure out what’s best for us, our family, and our new baby

• And more

And then at the end of the episode, since Christen is my therapist, we talk about therapy — why it’s so important, how it can help, and how to find the right therapist for you (even if you’ve struggled to find someone who is a good fit in the past!).

I said this last week, but this is a pretty vulnerable topic for me. Becoming a mom is by far the hardest transition I’ve ever been through. But I wanted to share the whole story of how this went for me, because if you’re struggling in the same ways I was, it’s so important to me that you know you’re not alone. 

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Our guest for today’s episode is Christen Reed. Christen works as a licensed marriage and family therapist at Ready Nest Counseling here in Nashville. And not only is she an amazing therapist, she’s MY therapist. 

Christen has been there with me every step of the way as I’ve gone through the most gigantic transition of my entire life — becoming a mom. 

And that’s what we’re talking about today. 

We’re talking about becoming a mom — why it’s such a big transition, what you can do to prepare for it, and some really practical pieces of advice and wisdom to help you through it. (Especially in those first few months).

Now, I have a few disclaimers to share with you before we dive in: 

First: I mentioned this last week, but it is a tad unconventional for you to be meeting my therapist. (She and I had tons of talks and signed lots of papers having to do with boundaries and confidentiality and making sure that we keep our therapist/client relationship as safe and sacred as it’s always been!) 

So I just wanted to let y’all know that.

Second: I wanted to let you know that this is a pretty messy, vulnerable topic for me. In this episode, you’ll hear why I had such a hard time in the first few months of being a mom — why I say that it’s the hardest transition I’ve ever gone through. 

And the reason I want to be so honest about this is not to be discouraging (that’s the LAST thing I would want to be), but it’s because I don’t ever want you to have to go through any of this alone.

I was actually talking to my sister about this a few weeks ago.

Maybe your first few months of mom life won’t be that hard, and if that’s the case, AMAZING! I’m so so happy for you.

But if this is really hard for you — I want you to know that you’re not alone in that. You’re not weak, you’re not a bad mom. This is hard. And you’re not alone in feeling that way. 

One last thing I wanted to say: Christen and I had so much to talk about in this episode that we actually had to split it into two parts. But trust me, it’s so worth it. So today you’ll be hearing part one of our conversation, and next week we’ll air part two. 

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A few summers ago — the summer of 2018, to be exact — was one of the toughest, darkest, saddest, most difficult times of my whole entire life. I found myself in an absolute tailspin of anxiety and depression.

And as the anniversary of this season rolls around each year, I always find myself remembering with striking clarity how it all felt. As the weather grows warmer and summer sets in, I always feel a fresh wave of gratitude for the fact that I'm not stuck in that dark place anymore. And I tear up every single time I think of the women who carried me through it.

Our guest for today’s episode is my former therapist — the one who walked me through that dark season in 2018 and so much more — Blake Blankenbecler. 

And today I’ve invited her on the show to talk about people-pleasing.

People-pleasing and how to set boundaries are things she and I talked about a LOT during the years I was seeing her. And I cannot even begin to tell you how much freedom I was able to step into as a result.

Friends, if you’re a people-pleaser, if you have a hard time saying no, feel guilty for setting boundaries, worry constantly about how other people are perceiving you, and often feel resentful because you feel so depleted from it all — this episode is for you. 

(Quick disclaimer here: Confidentiality is something that is taken really seriously when it comes to counseling and therapy. And so it’s pretty unconventional for me to be introducing you to my counselors — both former and current — and for us to be sharing some of what we’ve talked about in our sessions. I just wanted to let you know that we’ve had all of the conversations and signed all the necessary paperwork when it comes to the ethics of having them on the show — especially with my current therapist who you’ll meet next week — we’ve done all the work to make sure to protect my privacy, the work we’ve done together, and the integrity of our therapeutic relationship. Just wanted to make sure to say that.)

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to travel solo. 

I love this topic because traveling is absolutely one of my favorite things to do and has played an irreplaceable role in my story! I’ve had the privilege of visiting places all around the world and every time I come back feeling more inspired and more full of life and just more like myself.

But while I love traveling, I know firsthand how hard it can be to actually make a trip happen. Sometimes it’s finances that get in the way, sometimes it’s work, and a lot of times, we find that we don’t have anyone to go with! 

That’s why I’m so excited to have my dear friend Gennean Woodall back on Girls Night to talk us through this. Gennean is a travel planner and content creator, and she has traveled to places all around the world… all by herself.

Like most of us, she had some major reservations about traveling solo. (Is it safe? Will I be lonely? Can I actually do this?!) But she’s figured out a formula that really works and now, traveling solo is her favorite way to go.

She also has grown so much as a person through these solo trips. I honestly can’t wait to take one myself! 

Friend, if you’ve been dreaming of taking a trip and are ready to actually make it happen — this episode is for you.

Gennean equips and empowers us to do the things we’ve been dreaming about for so long, and I’m so excited to share this conversation with you. 

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I’m so excited to be back for Season 15 of the Girls Night podcast — and we’re kicking off this season with a really wonderful episode. 

We’re talking about why it’s so important to celebrate the big things (and the little things) in our lives — and how to practically do that!

I love this episode because I always find myself craving delight and whimsy and celebration (and popsicles!) more in the summer than any other time of year.

But this episode is actually so much deeper than just having more parties.

Something I learned in this episode is that joy is one of the most vulnerable things we can ever feel.

It’s WAY less vulnerable to feel disappointment, to imagine worst-case-scenarios, and to rehearse bad things happening. It’s like, if you’re preparing for the worst, it won’t hurt so much if it happens.

Whereas if you really open your arms and your heart to something good, and embrace it, then if it gets taken away, you feel like you’ll be crushed. (Even more so because you didn’t see it coming!)

It’s like naming a puppy you’re not going to get to keep. It feels easier just not to name it.

But actually, it doesn’t work this way. I can’t wait for you to hear why!

Our guest walking us through this incredible topic is my friend Nicole Zasowski. Nicole is a Marriage and Family Therapist as well as an author. She recently wrote a book called, What If It’s Wonderful?: An Invitation to Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find the Courage to Celebrate.

Friends, if you’d like to feel more joy and contentment in your life (that’s all of us, right?) this episode is for you. I can’t wait to dive in!

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We know that sex is an important part of marriage, but because it’s such a personal, intimate thing, it’s often the area of marriage where we have the least amount of help, guidance, and support. 

If sex is uncomfortable, or if it hurts, or if it’s just not as good as you thought it would be — or if you find yourself wanting to have sex more often or less often than your partner and it’s causing some tension between you — or if one of you is struggling with porn, or if you’re just not feeling as connected or free in your intimacy as you want to feel — we don’t necessarily know where to turn for help.

And while there are some books and resources available to us — a lot of the advice out there about sex and intimacy just honestly isn’t that good. Sometimes it’s not just unhelpful, it’s actually damaging.

A lot of us are suffering as a result of the bad advice we’ve been given in the past, sometimes without even realizing it. 

All of that is exactly why I’m so excited about today’s episode. Our guest this week is author and sex expert, Sheila Gregoire. Sheila has written several books, but two of my favorites are The Great Sex Rescue, and The Good Girls Guide to Great Sex.

These are incredible resources. Sheila has helped so many couples grow in their connection, passion, and intimacy, and that's why I’m so excited for you to get to hear from her.

In this episode she’s talking to us about: 

• How often we should be having sex
• Libido differences: What to do if one person wants to have sex more than the other
• What to do if sex is painful, uncomfortable, or honestly just not that good
• What to do if shame is keeping us from being able to feel free in our sex lives
• How to undo some of the harmful messages that have had a negative impact on our view of sex
• What to do if your spouse struggles with porn
• And so much more

Friend, if you’re struggling — with literally anything — in your sex life, you are SO not alone. And you also don’t have to walk through this alone either. 

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So today is a bit of a departure from what I had originally planned. Instead of a new episode, today you’re going to hear an episode that originally aired in 2019. And the reason we’re doing this repeat is because honestly… I need to. 

We have had a few crazy, CRAZY weeks in our house — traveling, a family wedding, the wonderful people who normally help us take care of the girls have been out of town, and then just when we thought life was about to get back to normal — we all got sick. (Which, if I sound weird, or suddenly start coughing, that’s why!)

The fact that we’re all sick has meant lots of time together as a family, which has actually been really sweet. But it’s meant absolutely ZERO time for anything else. Seriously, you should see my inbox, and the piles of laundry in our house. So, while we’re all recovering, and resting, and wading through piles of laundry, and trying to pull ourselves back together, I thought that in the name of simplicity, we should do a repeat episode — especially because it was such a good one.

Our guest for this episode, Emily Ley, is a woman I’m constantly learning from. Not only is she the maker of my all-time favorite planner, The Simplified Planner. But she’s an incredible author, podcaster, speaker, entrepreneur, mom (she also has twins!), and in all of those areas of her life, she’s both an incredible teacher and student of what it means to live a simplified life. 

She also has a gorgeous new kids book coming out here in a few weeks. I just pre-ordered my copy. It’s called You're Always Enough: And More Than I Hoped For and I can’t wait to read it to my girls!

In this episode she teaches us how to make our lives more meaningful and less stressful. 

We’re talking about:

• What living a simplified life practically looks like

• How to rework our day-to-day routine and keep ourselves from overcommitting

• How to prioritize our time so we’re spending less time on things that stress us out and more time with the people we love

• Practical tips for simplifying our use of social media

• How to shift our mindset from always wanting more to loving the amazing and beautiful things that we already have

• And more. 

I can’t wait for you to hear from her. You ready? Let’s dive in! 

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to get out of debt!

I wanted to do an episode on this topic because I know there are so many women in our community who are really struggling with their finances right now.

There are so many things you dream of doing in life, but debt is standing in the way of all of them. You want financial freedom, but reaching that point seems confusing, daunting, and like it will require an unthinkable amount of sacrifice to achieve.

I totally understand that feeling. I’ve been there too. But the things we’re talking about in today’s episode have helped me so much to get control of my financial life, and I truly believe they’ll do the same for you.

And to help us with this, I invited my friend Rachel Cruze back on the show! Rachel is an author, financial expert and host of The Rachel Cruze Show. I knew I needed to have Rachel on for this episode because she’s helped countless people get out of debt and achieve financial freedom — and the way she does it is so approachable and actually doable.

I can’t wait for you to hear from her.

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I’m so excited for today’s episode! Today we’re talking about how to get pregnant — everything you need to know when you’re ready to start trying.

I’ve been wanting to do this episode for years now, because this is something my friends and I have been talking about at our real life girls nights for a really long time.

If you’re anything like me, the last time you got a full overview of your reproductive system was also the last time you took a health class. Which again, if you’re anything like me, was in high school, and you were too busy trying not to die of embarrassment to really pay attention to what was going on.

Also, for the longest time, I was mostly focused on how NOT to get pregnant. So when I actually wanted TO get pregnant, I had no idea where to start.

Okay… I knew where to start… but I didn’t know much more than that.

But really, there’s so much that goes into it, and while yes, I have a great doctor, and most of my friends do too, the really important “how to get pregnant” information is something we passed around to each other.

It was my friend Hanna that told me that you can only get pregnant for a short window of time each month. (ESSENTIAL information!) It was Kelsey who told me how long it typically takes to get pregnant, and who talked me through how I might feel if it didn’t happen right away (Which, of course, it didn’t.) My dear friend Ann was my practitioner for a while there, and so she was the one telling me which prenatal vitamin to take and also the one who referred me to our fertility clinic when the time came.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that my friends directly contributed to the lives of my babies — whether through emotional support, encouragement, or sending me the link to an ovulation predictor kit on Amazon. And I love that. That’s exactly how it should be, right? And so that’s why it was so important to me to capture the conversations we have been having over the past few years and to share them with you.

But because I didn’t want to accidentally steer you wrong, I wanted to make sure to bring a professional on the show to talk us through the details. So today’s guest is my new friend, Rebecca Helie.

Becca is a Certified Nurse Midwife and provides full-spectrum women’s health care. In her spare time, she also runs a women’s health account on Instagram where she provides free, evidence-based information all about women’s health! I’ve been following along with Becca for a while now and just love her content and resources! I’m so excited for you to hear from her!

She’s going to bring us back to the basics and explain how our bodies work in a really practical way. She’s also going to walk us through the steps we need to take when we’re ready to start trying to have a baby.

I’m so honored to get to talk about this together.

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about online dating and how to do it well!

So, here’s the thing, I think we fall into a few different camps when it comes to the topic of online dating. A lot of us want to try online dating, but we are totally nervous about it. We don’t know if it’s the right fit, the right next step, and we’re not sure how to do it successfully.

On the other hand, I know there are a lot of us who have really given online dating a try and we have come out the other side totally exhausted, discouraged, and burned out. It’s just not working.

Friend, I promise, whatever group you find yourself in, you’re not alone there. Today’s conversation is going to dig deep into the fears and frustrations we have about online dating, while also giving us lots of encouragement – the kind of encouragement that might even have you reconsider your outlook on online dating altogether!

And the woman who’s going to walk us through this is a Girls Night favorite and my dear friend, Kat Harris. Kat is the Co-Founder of the online publication, The Refined Woman, and host of The Refined Collective Podcast. She’s also the author of an amazing book called, Sexless in the City.

Kat is the go-to expert when it comes to online dating. I had the honor of helping out with a workshop she did about online dating a few months ago, and as I was listening to her teach, her knowledge, wisdom, and insight seriously blew me away.

In this episode, Kat’s going to teach us how to shift our mindsets and attitudes around online dating, how to set up our dating profiles so that we stand out, how to make our online dating experience better, and so much more! I can’t wait to share this with you!!

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I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to make a meal plan that will actually make your life easier.

Alternate titles for today’s episode are: 

• A meal planning guide for people who are terrible at meal planning
• Stephanie finally gets unstuck in an area of life that has been frustrating her every single day for years. 

So, I know that some of the women in our community are excellent cooks. They feel comfortable in the kitchen, and their favorite question to answer is, “What’s for dinner?” I wish that was the case for me, but it’s totally not.

I’m the takeout queen. And although I’ve tried meal planning more times than I can count, I’ve never been able to do it in a way that makes my life easier.

In fact, it always seems to make my life harder. I could break out in hives just thinking about it!

When I think about meal planning, I picture a complicated app full of recipes I don’t actually want to make. I picture the app spitting out a grocery list that’s the length of a CVS receipt, and I picture me spending too much time and too much money on meals I’m not actually excited about eating in the first place.

This plan didn’t make my life easier, it’s made it 10X harder.

And so I always end up tossing out my meal plan (and the whole weekend I spent making it!) and just end up winging it — somehow surprised and frustrated every single day when at 5pm we have to (AGAIN!) answer the question, “What do we want to do for dinner?”

So when I got the opportunity to have Kendra Adachi back on the show to tell us about her new book, The Lazy Genius Kitchen, I was excited, but also thought that whatever tips she had probably wouldn’t help me.

I’m so happy I was wrong. This conversation was honestly life-changing for me. I can’t wait for you to hear it. 

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Friends, I’m so excited about today’s episode. This is such an important topic! Today we’re talking all about our periods!

I’m excited about this episode because if you’re anything like me, you don’t spend much time learning about your period. You are pretty sure you know the basics — after all, you’ve lived with it for years now. It’s a normal part of your life.

But also, if you’re anything like me, there are really hard parts about your period that negatively impact your quality of life. Maybe you have terrible cramps, or really bad PMS, maybe your period is super irregular or really painful, but it’s always been that way so you’ve just sort of tried to accept it.

That’s how I’ve been for years. I’ve been frustrated by my period, had issues with my period, and just overall hated my period at times, but I honestly just didn’t know there was a different way.

If you can relate to any of those things, I’m so excited for you to hear this conversation.

Our guest for today’s episode is Berrion Berry. Berri is a menstrual health educator, practitioner and the creator of Optimize Your Flo. And in this episode she is teaching us everything we never learned about our periods — things I wish I knew so much sooner. We’re talking about alleviating pain, navigating our hormonal shifts, and so much more.

You guys, I learned SO much in this episode. There were things I’ve always done that I learned I should NOT be doing, and there are ways of embracing the changes in our hormones throughout the month that has totally revolutionized the way I view my period and honestly, the way I live. This was such a good conversation!

So make sure you put on your coziest sweatpants and grab a pen and paper because you don’t want to miss out on this!

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Today’s episode is a harder one, but also a really important one. Today we’re talking about how you know when it's time to end a relationship (and how to actually do it!).

I wanted to do this episode because I know there are women listening to this who are currently in a relationship, maybe one they’ve been in for years, but things have been feeling off lately and you just can’t seem to figure out why. You’ve tried your best to communicate your feelings, but nothing seems to change. You know deep down that you might need to end things, but you’re feeling hesitant because you’ve invested so much time and energy into this relationship. And really, you’re just feeling stuck!

If you’re nodding your head, you’re not alone in those feelings. And I have just the right friend to talk us through this and that’s Kenz Durham from Delight Ministries! We actually had Kenz on another Girls Night episode where she briefly mentioned ending a long term relationship with her boyfriend at the time and that it was one of the hardest decisions she ever had to make. She casually mentioned that we could do a whole podcast episode about it. And so…here we are, doing exactly that! 

In this episode, Kenz shares her story – the things she’s glad she did and the things she wished she did differently. I’m so excited for you to hear from her!

One more thing – I know there are some of you listening who are not in a place of ending a relationship, but so many of the things Kenz shares applies to other situations too – other areas of our lives where we need to say goodbye, walk away, end something and we haven’t known how. So if you’re in a similar situation, this episode is for you too! 

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I recently had the privilege of being a guest on a podcast called, On the Front Porch. The hosts are two amazing women from our Girls Night community, Angela and Mary. They are so much fun. They asked amazing questions. And I loved the conversation so much I just knew I had to share it with y’all. I asked them if I could share the interview we did for their show here on Girls Night and they so graciously said yes!

I’m excited about this episode because if you’re anything like me, you’ve had this picture in your head for a long time of how your life was going to play out. You were going to attend that school, get that degree, get hired for that one job you’ve always wanted, get married, have kids, buy your dream house and the list goes on! But, as most of us know, life doesn’t always play out like we want it to or in the time frame we hope it will.

Sometimes God has a way of wrecking our plans, or at least that’s how it’s felt to me at several points along the way. And that’s the story you’ll get to hear today.

In this episode, I’m sharing about my faith journey and how I met Jesus in the most unexpected way, and in the most unexpected place. I’m talking about several times when God completely wrecked my plans when it came to my career. And finally, I’m sharing how God completely transformed my outlook on dating and relationships and helped me make the most of my single life.

You guys, I share so much of my story in this episode and how God has shown up in the BEST ways possible, and I truly believe he can and will do the same for you! 

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Jordan has a new book called, Embrace Your Almost: Find Clarity and Contentment in the In-Betweens, Not-Quites, and Unknowns. I love this because so many of us have found ourselves here. So many of us are experiencing heartbreak, disappointment, lost dreams, and never-ending delays. We’re in seasons of waiting — waiting for a relationship, a promotion, a baby, or a big move. We’re in a place where our life just isn’t working out the way we thought it would, the way we really, really want it to. And that’s HARD. 

It’s even harder to know what to do when we’re in this place. Do we try harder? Do we keep pushing? Do we give up and walk away? How do we know? And as we’re waiting, what do we do in the meantime? 

Jordan’s going to walk us through all of this and more. I can’t wait for you to hear from her.

Episode Links:

Jordan’s Podcast: She Podcast

Jordan’s Book: Embrace Your Almost: Find Clarity and Contentment in the In-Betweens, Not-Quites, and Unknowns

Past Girls Night Episodes with Jordan:

Girls Night #5: How to Keep Comparison from Stealing Your Joy

Girls Night #58: How to Overcome Impostor Syndrome: Pursuing Your Dreams When You Feel Like a Fraud

CONNECT WITH JORDAN

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