Firestarters with Shannon Watts

"I hope I've helped to create a framework where people find a way and feel like their voice can make a difference because I have seen how just one voice can make a difference."

In 2022, after 18 months of fertility treatment, Texan Amanda Zurawski and her husband learned she was pregnant. However, at 18 weeks, doctors told Amanda she had miscarried. And then, because of Texas's abortion ban, those same doctors denied Amanda the healthcare she urgently needed and she nearly died from septic shock.

Amanda has since become an advocate for abortion and reproductive care, and was the lead plaintiff in Zurawski v. Texas, the first lawsuit brought by patients challenging a state on its abortion bans since the fall of Roe v. Wade. Her case is featured in a new documentary by the same name.

Earlier this year, Amanda was named a TIME Woman of the Year, a very deserved honor. As you listen to Amanda tell her story, you'll hear how brave and fierce she is, how her life has been turned upside down in all the right ways, and what's next on her journey from athlete to communications professional to an incredible advocate for women's rights. Amanda is the epitome of a Firestarter.

To read more inspiring stories from Firestarters like Amanda, preorder my book “Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark Into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age” at firedupbook.com.

My new book Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark Into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age, is available for preorder! Out in June 2025, Fired Up will give you the formula for finding your unique spark and show you how to use it to start fires in your life. By preordering, you can enroll for FREE in Firestarter University, a year-long online program that includes live monthly workshops, workbooks and resources, accountability check-ins, and a community to help you succeed.

Check out my Substack Live conversation with Katherine Goldstein, author of How to Find Your People: A Guide to the Transformative Power of Community about the importance of finding or creating community.

After watching the replay above, make sure you’re following Katherine on Substack at The Double Shift.

My upcoming book, Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark Into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age, is now available for preorder! This book is my guide to figuring out what lights you up and will show you how to live on fire every day. Click here to preorder and get locked into some incredible bonuses.

“For women, people of color, and anyone on the margins, there’s a culture and society that wants to dominate us; to keep us oppressed and in line. The more that we fight through it, the better off we are and the more fires we can start to disrupt the world around us.”

Alencia Johnson is an award-winning commentator, political advisor, leader and now an author who is teaching people how to be everyday disruptors. After working on presidential campaigns of President Obama, Senator Warren, and President Biden, Alencia went to work for Planned Parenthood where she helped create “Stand with Black Women," a campaign to call attention to Black people’s bodily autonomy and dignity. Alencia's debut book Flip The Tables: The Everyday Disruptor’s Guide to Finding Courage and Making Change, a manual for finding your audacity, shaking up the status quo, and creating a better world, is out now.

During our conversation, Alencia and I discuss the life lessons she took away from being raised by activists, the mental and physical health struggles that helped her focus on her personal fulfillment, and how she found the courage to be an agitator for good. Alencia is a strong and compassionate leader, a bold and confident risk-taker, and a courageous warrior for justice and equality. Alencia Johnson is a firestarter.

To read more inspiring stories from Firestarters like Alencia, be sure to preorder my book “Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark Into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age” at firedupbook.com.

My upcoming book, Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark Into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age, is now available for preorder! This book is my guide to figuring out what lights you up and will show you how to live on fire every day. Click here to preorder and get locked into some incredible bonuses.

"For those of us not in immediate danger of losing our livelihoods, our lives, our ability to move through the world, this is the moment we need to step up. Right now, more than anything, we all have to be firestarters. Light the match."

Luvvie Ajayi Jones is an author, speaker, and mentor who tells stories that inspire and dare people to live more boldly. She started her career as a blogger and in 2016, published her first book, I'm Judging You: The Do-Better Manual, which debuted on the New York Times best-seller list. Her subsequent TED talk, “Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable” has been translated into 23 languages and is in the top 1 percent of TED Talks of all time.

Luvvie and I discuss what her Nigerian family taught her about community, how blogging turned into a dream career, and why she wrote her new book, Little Troublemaker Defends Her Name, which comes out this spring.

Luvvie is a force of nature who wants all of us to become “professional troublemakers”—people who use their voices to make every room they enter just a little better. She exemplifies courage, summons others’ audacity, and teaches us how to create community. Luvvie is a firestarter.

Preorder Luvvie’s upcoming book: Little Troublemaker Defends Her Name.

Regardless of who you’re having sex with — yourself or someone else — research shows that women over age 50 are having the best sex of their lives. Watch my live conversation with former CNN anchor and fellow Gen Xer Brooke Baldwin, and read my piece about all of the treatments and technology available to make sex even better, from hormones to the MonaLisa Touch laser to pelvic floor trainers.

And be sure you’re following Unraveling, with Brooke Baldwin.

"I'm hesitant to use the word luck because women use the word luck way too much. I was ready. I was prepared. Ready when the breaks came, and persistent to get them."

Today on the Firestarters podcast, I’m talking with Poppy Harlow, an award-winning, Emmy-nominated journalist, podcast host, author, and the previous anchor of CNN Newsroom. Poppy has interviewed some of the world’s most important leaders and influencers, including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and moderated two CNN presidential town halls.

Poppy and I discuss leaving CNN after her morning show was cancelled, navigating the “messy middle,” the importance of pursuing your desires (even when it’s inconvenient), and why age should never limit our dreams.

To read more inspiring stories from Firestarters like Poppy, be sure to preorder my book “Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark Into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age” at firedupbook.com.

My upcoming book, Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark Into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age, is now available for preorder! This book is my guide to figuring out what lights you up and will show you how to live on fire every day. Click here to preorder and get locked into some incredible bonuses.

Today I spoke with Charlotte Clymer about the state of activism and politics in America, how we got here, why it can change quickly, and ways everyday citizens can force their elected leaders to fight back against fascism … NOW.

Mentioned in this conversation is my Substack piece on the ways we can put public pressure on Democrats.

And be sure you’re following Charlotte’s Substack, Charlotte’s Web Thoughts, for politics, religion, culture, and humor.

"Imposter syndrome, this feeling that we think we're not good enough, we're not smart enough, we're not prepared enough, we're not ready enough has really held us back. And that imposter syndrome is a con. It's a lie we've been told to keep progress dismantled."

Today on the Firestarters podcast, I’m talking with Reshma Saujani, an incredible activist who has spent more than a decade fighting for women and girls’ economic empowerment, to close the gender gap in the tech sector, and advocating for structural changes moms need - like affordable child care and paid leave. Reshma was the first Indian American woman to run for Congress, is the founder of Girls Who Code, is a best-selling author, as well as a TED Talk speaker.

In this conversation, Reshma and I talk about how she got into the work of empowering girls, what it’s like to be in the tech space as a woman, why imposter syndrome is a con, and what we need to do to support women and girls in the future. Reshma Saujani, for her incredibly impactful work is, without a doubt, a firestarter.

To read more inspiring stories from Firestarters, be sure to preorder my book FIRED UP at firedupbook.com.

My upcoming book, Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark Into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age, is now available for preorder! This book is my guide to figuring out what lights you up and will show you how to live on fire every day. Click here to preorder and get locked into some incredible bonuses.

And then read our joint Substack post, The hope you deserve on Inauguration Day, and let us know in the comments what drives you, gives you purpose, and how you’re preparing for the next four years.

My upcoming book, Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark Into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age, is now available for preorder! This book is my guide to figuring out what lights you up and will show you how to live on fire every day. Click here to preorder and get locked into some incredible bonuses.

"I'm brutally shy, but I’ve never questioned my ability to work hard. So I say yes to things that were way outside my comfort zone. I can be afraid, but I do it anyway."

On my latest Firestarters podcast, I’m talking with CEO, stylist, and activist Karla Welch. Not only is Karla one of the most powerful stylists alive, but she’s also the co-founder of sustainable period underwear company Period and the non-profit, The Period Abundance Foundation, and a longtime social activist. She is a true force for good in this world and, together with her husband, has leveraged collaborations and partnerships to raise over a million dollars for organizations supporting things like gun safety, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, trans rights, birth control, climate change, racial equality, and more.

I wanted to learn more about the inspiration behind Karla’s creativity, what it’s like to be over age 50 in an image-conscious industry, and how she’s surmounted the obstacles she’s faced during her long career. Karla is dedicated to supporting marginalized communities, showcasing beauty at every age, and ensuring period products are available to everyone. In other words, Karla is a Firestarter.

To read more inspiring stories from Firestarters, be sure to preorder my book FIRED UP at firedupbook.com

My upcoming book, Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark Into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age, is now available for preorder! This book is my guide to figuring out what lights you up and will show you how to live on fire every day. Click here to preorder and get locked into some incredible bonuses.