This one hits close to home. Today’s episode features Blakely Giordano — a friend who’s been in my world since 2014, the year I stepped into a brand-new chapter of life.

We open with the whirlwind: getting married in July 2014, bringing home Bailey that November, and welcoming Dylan on 11/27/15 — the moment everything changed. From a dream-life on paper to the shocking reality of being pushed out of my job at Magellan while caring for a newborn, and the unexpected pivot into baby brands, social media, and hustling to survive.

Blakely and I go deep into the parts people don’t post:

• Navigating addiction and the unraveling of my marriage
• Secondary infertility and the heartbreak of unanswered prayers
• Financial stress behind the curated suburban façade
• Feeling like an outsider among moms who weren’t ready for real talk

Then came the leap — a move to Florida in 2018, a separation in 2019, and the unimaginable loss of my husband in 2020. Through it all, motherhood became my anchor, even when the world felt like it was collapsing beneath my feet.

This chapter closes with a new kind of beginning: giving up alcohol in August 2021, right as Dylan walked into Kindergarten — the moment I finally chose clarity, healing, and myself.

This conversation with Blakely is raw, honest, and proof that even when life drops you to your knees… you can rise up, rewrite the story, and come out stronger than ever.

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