🎙️Carrie On!

In this episode of Carrie On!, I sit down with Liz Svatek—Rapid Transformational Therapist, coach, CEO of Warrior Women Inc., best-selling author of Finding Your Diamonds, and host of the globally ranked Liz Svatek Show. Before Liz helped women all over the world break cycles of overworking, overgiving, and people-pleasing… she had to break the cycle in her own family.

Liz shares what it was really like growing up with an abusive, volatile father and a sister whose narcissistic behavior mirrored the chaos of their childhood home. We talk about what happens to a child’s nervous system when “love” is mixed with fear, why so many daughters become the comedians, the caregivers, and the peacekeepers—and how that conditioning follows us into adulthood, motherhood, and the holidays.

If you’ve ever dreaded a holiday because of who will be in the room—or felt guilty for even considering not going—this conversation is for you.

Holiday Support Mentioned in This Episode:

Reflect & Rise Workshop: (December 18, 2025) Liz’s 90-minute workshop to review, honor, and release 2025—then intentionally call in what you want to feel and create in 2026. https://www.lizsvatek.com/offers/vyijB3Yd/checkout?coupon_code=RISE2025-BRA

All Is Calm: Hypnotic Recording - https://www.lizsvatek.com/offers/D68LJzLD/checkout A guided hypnotic audio from Liz focused on holiday calm, presence, and peace—including a tender moment of connecting with a loved one on the other side.

Connect with Liz:

• Podcast: The Liz Svatek Show (wherever you get your podcasts): https://www.lizsvatek.com/podcast
• Book: Finding Your Diamonds https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Your-Diamonds-Warrior-Appears-ebook/dp/B0F9VR6ZRH/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2I7EALMZRSX3T&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6xDwRNTrPtiK-UmMQ3IE7g.jfcpdDq3BEwfcxoQjFmdTguMhslZMlj7LLORAvI-9U4&dib_tag=se&keywords=liz+svatek+book&qid=1764731674&sprefix=liz+sv%2Caps%2C183&sr=8-1
• Social: https://www.instagram.com/liz.svatek/ and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@LizSvatek

🎙️Carrie On!

Hustle culture tells us we’re either not doing enough… or we should stop doing everything. But what if the real question isn’t whether you hustle, it’s what the hustle is costing you?

In this episode of Carrie On!, I sit down with Dr. Portia Preston—2x TEDx speaker, public health expert, and author of Hustle, Flow, or Let It Go?: A Guide to Shame-Free Wellness That Honors Your Reality and Gives You Life (Revell, Aug 5, 2025). We dig into what sustainable wellness actually looks like, especially for women, Black women, caregivers, and neurodivergent folks who are tired of “perfect” wellness culture and just want something that feels real and doable.

Portia shares her SANE framework, talks openly about late-in-life ADHD + autism diagnosis, and gives us language for navigating shame, overwork, and the pressure to be everything to everyone. If you’ve ever thought, “I know I need to slow down… but how?” this episode is your permission slip.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why hustle itself isn’t the villain—how to know when it’s costing you too much
• The SANE framework:
  • S – Slow down and reflect
  • A – Acknowledge your reality (resources, support, and thoughts)
  • N – Navigate with intention (values, integrity, how you want to show up)
  • E – Evaluate and adapt
• The shame spiral: why shame is the easiest fuel to grab… and the worst one to run on
• How identity (gender, race, role) shapes our relationship to hustle, worthiness, and rest

The biological “weathering” Black women experience and why access alone doesn’t fix health inequities.

About Dr. Portia Preston:

Dr. Portia Preston (Long Beach, CA) is a 2x TEDx Speaker, Author of Hustle, Flow, or Let It Go? (Revell, Aug 5, 2025), CEO/Founder of Empowered to Exhale, Associate Professor of Public Health at California State University, Fullerton, and a Certified Executive Coach.

She’s spent her career helping individuals and organizations create sustainable, inclusive wellness, drawing on experience with organizations like Procter & Gamble, the CDC, Deloitte Consulting, and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

At Cal State Fullerton, Portia teaches stress management, promoting health in diverse populations, and public health administration, while designing innovative wellness programming for students, faculty, and staff. She holds degrees from Stanford (BA in cultural & social anthropology), University of Michigan (MPH), and UCLA (DrPH).

• Website: portiapreston.com
• Instagram & socials: @drportiapreston

Book: Hustle, Flow, or Let It Go?: A Guide to Shame-Free Wellness That Honors Your Reality and Gives You Life (Revell, Aug 5, 2025) – available through your favorite online retailer or by request at your local bookstore.

🎙️Carrie On!

Title: Erotic Wholeness After 40 with Darshana Avila

Summary If you’ve ever thought, “We’re solid… so why don’t I want sex?” this episode is your gentle reframe. Carrie talks with erotic wholeness guide Darshana Avila about rebuilding intimacy from the inside out—starting with nervous-system tenderness, expanding consent language, and redefining sex as life-force energy that fuels creativity, leadership, and joy. Especially resonant for women and non-binary folks navigating perimenopause/menopause, body changes, and the desire to feel at home in your skin.

In this episode

• What “erotic wholeness” means (beyond the bedroom)
• Why midlife is the perfect season to stop performing and start choosing
• Practical first steps: relaxation, consent vocabulary, touch experiments
• Communicating preferences after years together
• Talking with teens about consent & pleasure without fear-mongering

Connect with Darshana: https://darshanaavila.com/

Work with Darshana: https://darshanaavila.com/offerings/

Connect with Carrie: https://www.carrie-murray.com/

Resources & Mentions

• Be Woman Marketing — bewomanmarketing.com (mention Carrie On! for 10% off a strategy session with Stacey)
• ReadyForTed.com — Toni Purry’s 8-week program to craft a TEDx-ready talk (Toni appears in Ep. 2)

🎙️Carrie On!

What if calling off your wedding is the beginning of your greatest love story—your love for you?

Author and storyteller Katherine Woller opens up about ending her engagement two weeks before the big day, rebuilding from the ground up, and how a simple therapy question—“What percentage of you would say yes today?”—cut through the noise and changed everything.

We talk rings, dresses, friend breakups, mother-daughter legacies, social pressure, body signals, and how following your intuition can lead you to the right partner, the right life, and the right you.

Guest: Katherine Woller, bestselling author of Calling It Off: Memoir of an Almost Bride

Host: Carrie Murray | Show:Carrie On!

Key Takeaways

• Choosing yourself is kind—truth beats “polite.”
• The Percentage Tool: “If I had to decide today, what % of me says yes?”
• Intuition feels peaceful; programming feels pressured.
• Your body tells the truth: sleep, tension, heart rate = data.
• Movement + Writing help process and rebuild self-trust.
• Aligned love is possible after you walk away.

💫 About This Episode

Guest: Katherine Woller Book: Calling It Off: Memoir of an Almost Bride

Instagram: @katherinewoller

Book: https://www.katherinerosewoller.com/

Watch: YouTube: Carrie On! with Carrie Murray

💛 About Carrie Murray

Host of Carrie On! — exploring reinvention, self-discovery, and empowerment before, during, and after midlife. Founder of BRA Network and Carrie On Media.

Follow Carrie:

🌐 thecarriemurray.com

📸 https://www.instagram.com/_carriemurray_/

▶️YouTube Channel

🌍 Sponsors:

• Ready for Ted – Build your signature talk with Toni Purry → readyforted.com
• Two Peacocks Travel – Travel with purpose → twopeacockstravel.com

🪶 Join the Conversation

If this episode helped you trust your gut—even 10% more— 💬 Comment below: What percentage of you says YES today? 👇 Subscribe for more stories of courage, reinvention, and truth-telling.

Show Notes:

Description: What can a Broadway musical, a fascist dictator, and a former U.S. president teach us about the fragility of democracy?

In this gripping episode of Carrie On!, host Carrie Murray draws stunning parallels between Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, Hitler’s rise to power, and Trump’s America today. Through history, humor, and heart, Carrie explores what happens when nations stop questioning power — and how art, storytelling, and truth-telling can keep democracy alive.

Join Carrie as she retraces her grandfather’s WWII footsteps across Europe, from Normandy to London, and reflects on the lessons still echoing 80 years later. This episode blends musical theater, history, and politics into one powerful cautionary tale: democracy doesn’t disappear overnight — it erodes one applause line at a time.

In this episode:

• 🎭 What Hamilton teaches us about leadership, legacy, and restraint
• ⚔️ How Hitler’s rise mirrors the slow erosion of democracy
• 🏛️ What Project 2025 reveals about America’s authoritarian drift
• 🎙️ Why King George’s comic songs are really warnings about control
• 👑 How Washington’s “One Last Time” still models true power through letting go
• 🗳️ How we can each “keep the republic” — one act of vigilance at

Key Takeaway: History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes — and right now, the melody sounds familiar.

👉 If you believe democracy is worth defending, hit subscribe and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it.

Watch next:

• The Ugly Cry That Comes From Having a Great Community
• Pain to Purpose: Turning Grief Into Action with Cat Curry Williams
• What If It Were Easy? Creating in Flow with Christina Barsi

Follow Carrie: 🌐 bra-network.com

🎧 Carrie On! on Apple Podcasts & Spotify

📸 Instagram: @bra_network | @_carriemurray_

Hashtags: #CarrieOn #HamiltonTheMusical #Project2025 #Democracy #WWII #Authoritarianism #Leadership #Freedom #MusicalTheater #HistoryHasItsEyesOnYou

🎙️Carrie On!

Only 1.8% of U.S. charitable giving goes toward women and girls — and that number hasn’t budged in years.Today’s guest, Cat Curry Williams, turned her heartbreak into a movement that’s changing lives across the globe.

After losing her firstborn son, Shane, to a rare genetic disorder, Cat transformed her grief into action. She co-founded Inclusion Matters by Shane’s Inspiration, building nearly 100 inclusive playgrounds in over 30 countries, where kids of all abilities can play side by side.

Then she went even further — co-founding the She Angels Foundation, which has awarded 65+ grants totaling $350,000 to grassroots organizations supporting women and girls.

Key Takeaways:

• How tragedy became a spark for inclusion and action
• Why women’s philanthropy only gets 1.8% of funding (and how to change that)
• The $1.40 a day giving model anyone can do
• Finding your “why” and writing your own permission slip
• Creating ripple effects through community, compassion, and purpose

💡 This episode is a masterclass in turning pain into power.

Links & Resources

• 🌐 CatherineCurryWilliams.com
• 🌸 She Angels Foundation
• 📘 Philanthropy on a Shoestring — by Cat Curry Williams
• 🎥 Cat’s TEDx Talk: From Pain to Passion
• 🧠 Ready for TED (with Toni Purry) — readyforted.com
• ✈️ Two Peacocks Travel — 2peacockstravel.com

🙌 Connect with Us

Follow Carrie On! for more stories of reinvention, courage, and community:

• 🎧 Apple Podcasts: Carrie On!
• 🎙️ Spotify: Carrie On!
• 📸 Instagram: @bra_network | https://www.instagram.com/_carriemurray_/
• 💌 Subscribe to Carrie’s newsletter: carriemurray.com

💖 Support the Show

If you loved this conversation: 1️⃣ Like 👍 this video 2️⃣ Comment your biggest takeaway 💬 3️⃣ Subscribe 🔔 for more episodes 4️⃣ Share this episode with a woman who inspires you

#CatCurryWilliams #SheAngelsFoundation #CarrieOnPodcast #WomenPhilanthropy #InclusivePlaygrounds #WomenSupportingWomen #GriefToPurpose #TEDxSpeaker #Philanthropy #DisabilityInclusion #CarrieMurray #WomenInLeadership

🎙️ Carrie On!

Episode Overview:

What happens when burnout becomes your biggest teacher? Actor-turned-podcast-producer Christina Barsi shares how two concussions and a total career pivot led her to discover flow, alignment, and purpose through podcasting. Together we unpack how trusting your intuition (and letting go of perfection) can transform your business and your life.

If you’ve ever thought, "This feels too hard,” this episode asks—what if it were easy?

Hot Takes:

-Turning burnout into breakthrough

- Using podcasting as a mirror for alignment

- Why your why* matters more than going viral

- How Reiki & energy work can support creative flow

- Gentle “self-attunement” practices to reconnect with your purpose

🔗 Connect with Christina Barsi:

👉 Free 5-Day Guide: https://www.boss-goddess.co/activate#blueprint

👉 Instagram: @bossgoddessbarsi https://instagram.com/bossgoddessbarsi https://www.instagram.com/boss_goddess.co

🎧 Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/boss-goddess-deepen-expand-your-soul-led-business-with/id1361426555

Mentioned in Episode:

Ready for TED with Toni Purry — 8-week program for crafting your TEDx talk

BRA NETWORK

JOY GUIDE JUNE

5 DAY GUIDE

Meet Carrie:

Hosted by Carrie Murray, Carrie On! explores reinvention, self-discovery & empowerment before, during, and after midlife. Each conversation reminds you to keep your head above the chaos — and Carrie On!

🎙️Carrie On!

Show Notes:

Celebrity chef and performer Katie Chin shares how cooking with her mother helped heal generational trauma—spanning immigrant beginnings, the legendary Sean Connery restaurant story, sibling loss and silence, and her TEDx talk “Dumplings Released My Demons.” Celebrity chef, award-winning author, and performer Katie Chin joins Carrie On! to explore how the act of cooking can open hard conversations and help heal generational trauma. We trace her family’s immigrant journey from Guangzhou to Minneapolis, the rise of her mother Leeann Chin from seamstress to restaurateur (with a little help from Sean Connery!), and the cycles of shame and silence that Katie chose to break. Katie talks about losing a sister to suicide, finding friendship with her mother later in life through food, pivoting from a senior exec role at Fox to the kitchen, and crafting her TEDx talk,

“Dumplings Released My Demons: How Food Can Heal Generational Trauma.”

We also peek into her one-woman show, her global family cookbook, and why karaoke (and a pandemic game night!) became unexpected lifelines. If you’ve ever felt caught between cultures or ready to rewrite your family story, this episode is a warm invitation to begin.

In This Episode:

• First-gen identity, “lunchbox shame,” and love as food
• Leeann Chin’s origin story → from bus-riding caterer to restaurant empire
• The Sean Connery moment that changed everything
• Breaking cycles: speaking openly about suicide and emotional abuse
• Quitting a big job + leaving a marriage: “Leap and the net will appear”
• Why cooking together can be meditative, connective—and healing
• Building a TEDx talk that gives people tools (not just a story)
• One-woman show, five cookbooks, and a very ’70s cover band

Three Takeaways:

1. Food can be therapy. The ritual of cooking together creates space for truth and connection.
2. Tell the truth anyway. Breaking silence helps others—and stops damaging cycles.
3. Reinvention is allowed. You’re not late; you’re right on time.

Links & Resources:

• Katie Chin — IG/TikTok: @ChefKatieChin
• Website: chefkatiechin.com
• Catering: wokstarcatering.com
• Book: Katie Chin’s Global Family Cookbook (major booksellers)
• TEDx: “Dumplings Released My Demons” (search: TEDxFargo Katie Chin on YouTube)
• USA Today op-ed by Katie on breaking cycles and seeking therapy
• Legacy restaurants: Leeann Chin (Twin Cities & select airports)

Sponsor

Two Peacocks Travel — Transformative, purpose-driven group trips for women. Find your travel bestie and travel with meaning: twopeacockstravel.com

Connect with Carrie

• Instagram/TikTok/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSXJR1cAZIwf_qrXVNlvbuA
• BRA Network: bra-network.com

🎙️Carrie On!

Show Notes: In this heartfelt mini episode of Carrie On, host Carrie Murray reflects on the power of community, the evolution of BRA (Business Relationship Alliance), and the importance of carrying on—even in life’s messiest chapters.

💬 Carrie opens up about why she started BRA back in 2015, and how the women she set out to support became the very ones who carried her through her own life transitions. From divorce to business pivots, her story is a reminder that we’re not meant to do life alone.

🌎 You’ll also hear from members of Carrie’s community who share what carrying on means to them—whether it’s choosing joy in the messy middle, finding hope in “what’s next,” or embracing resilience with ferocity.

🔑 In this episode: -The surprising way BRA became Carrie’s lifeline -Why community is more than networking—it’s about shared values -How to lean on support without guilt or shame -Women in the community share their personal definitions of “carry on”

💡 Mentioned in this episode:

Two Peacocks Travel: https://www.twopeacockstravel.com/ – Transformative journeys for women ready to connect, adventure, and grow

Ready for TED: https://www.readyforted.com/ – An 8-week program led by Toni Purry to help women craft and deliver their TEDx talk, listen to her episode here: https://youtu.be/VpR0woP7xRM?si=cG15TB8-Sw9WUWV1

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/carrie-on-with-carrie-murray/id1829193172?i=1000728238453 & Spotify

📺 Subscribe here on YouTube for new episodes!

💌 Join the Carrie On community → www.carrie-murray.com ✨ If this episode inspired you, don’t forget to like, comment, and share it with a friend who needs to hear it.

Many people marry later in life—but dating, partnering, and planning a wedding after 40 is a whole different vibe. In this heart-first convo, my dear friend Stacey Beaman—multi-passionate entrepreneur, co-founder of Plyojam, and newly engaged 40-something—shares how a career pivot, a pandemic slow-down, and one perfectly timed Tinder message led to a grounded, joyful love with her fiancé, Ryan. We talk consistency over chaos, moving in (with the Star Wars collectibles), sharing dog custody with an ex, and why hope + self-trust matter more than timelines. Plus: her forest-chapel proposal and a rapid-fire “40-Year-Old Bride” gift-registry game.

About our guest

Stacey Beaman is a marketer and movement maker. She runs a small-business marketing practice and co-founded Plyojam, a sexy, sweaty, super-fun cardio dance format empowering thousands to shake it out and feel amazing. Spiritually centered and community-driven, Stacey believes the world thrives on the love and grace we offer each other.

• IG: @staceybeeman

What we cover

• Healing, identity, and dating after a brief first marriage
• Letting your career be your love story—for a season
• The injury + pandemic pause that clarified what she really wanted
• Safety, sanity, and swipe stories (including a “Tinder Swindler”-era stakeout by yours truly 🙋🏻‍♀️)
• Meeting her now-fiancé from high school—decades later—via Tinder
• Why consistency is Stacey’s greenest flag
• Moving in after 40: compromise, communication, and… vintage Jabba the Hutt
• Sharing custody of a dog with an ex (and what that says about character)
• The forest-chapel proposal at Mammoth’s Twin Lakes
• Advice for brides-to-be in their 40s, 50s, 60s: stay open, don’t “waste the wait,” and rethink the “perfect package”

Stacey’s takeaways:

• “My business was my love story for a long time.”
• “Consistency is the green flag. No games—just steady care.”
• “Don’t waste the wait. Live fully so you’re interesting to yourself, too.”
• “Love rarely arrives in the package you pictured. Focus on what actually matters.”

Connect with Stacey:

• Instagram: @staceybeaman
• DM for small-business marketing support & Playa Jam class info

Connect with Carrie:

• Instagram: @carriemurray
• YouTube: Carrie On!
• Web: carrie-murray.com

Sponsors of this episode:

• Ready for TED with Toni Purry — 8-week program to craft your big idea and hit the red circle.
• Two Peacocks Travel — group adventures for women that blend connection, growth, and purpose.