Her Story Unscripted

“Why would you want to skip the in-between chapters? Then the book isn’t interesting, and then your life isn’t interesting.” — Romi Menegoni

Romi Menegoni has worn a lot of hats, and a crown is only one of them. She came to the U.S. from Sarajevo at eight years old, booked her first modeling job in third grade, and has spent fourteen years caring for patients as a dental hygienist. This year, she carried all of it onto the Miss California stage as Miss Sonoma County USA.

In this episode of Her Story Unscripted, a women’s podcast built on real life stories, Romi opens up about the sisterhood that happens backstage at pageants, the women’s and children’s health clinics she’s championing here in Sonoma County, and why safety is the first conversation she has with any family thinking about modeling. She shares the daily meditation that keeps her grounded between patients, the pinch-me moment she had backstage at New York Fashion Week, and what she’d tell any girl with a dream she’s afraid to chase.

If you’re in the long, unglamorous middle of something you want, this honest conversation is a reminder that the in-between chapters are the story. New episodes every Thursday on all major podcast platforms.

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Timestamp
00:00 Cold open — Romi on core values, self-respect, and self-confidence
00:45 Welcome to Her Story Unscripted
01:11 Heather welcomes Romi, recording from her car before work
02:44 Fourteen years as a dental hygienist, and training new grads
03:20 Restorative yoga, Miss California, and a big campaign in Malibu
04:47 Why pageants aren’t a beauty contest — and the cause she carried
07:22 Her first modeling ads in third grade, walking set cards door to door
08:44 Album art, band tees, and why her mom pointed her toward pageants
10:58 The sisterhood backstage — “take my earring, take my shoe”
13:15 Six pageants in, and an invitation to Miss International
14:41 Four days of 4 a.m. call times
15:50 Born in Sarajevo, arriving at eight, becoming a California girl
18:59 Advocating for yourself in your own healthcare
21:17 Blending Eastern and Western medicine, and her first yoga class at 16
24:48 Meditating on a yoga mat behind the office every lunch break
27:22 How you actually become Miss Sonoma County USA
31:21 Showing up for Sonoma County, and the need people don’t see
35:48 Why safety comes first for girls entering modeling and pageants
41:00 The sisterhood that shows up long after the pageant ends
43:08 Her pinch-me moment backstage at New York Fashion Week
45:52 What she’d tell a girl with a dream on her heart
49:54 Finish what you started — and keep watering the garden
51:25 Thank-yous from a Starbucks parking lot in Santa Rosa

About Romi Menegoni

Romana “Romi” Menegoni is a Bosnian-Italian editorial fashion model, philanthropist, clinical health professional, and pageant girl. She has been featured in magazines internationally since the early ’90s and models for beauty ads, fashion campaigns, and beauty commercials. A former Miss California USA contestant, Romi currently holds the title of Miss Sonoma County USA and plans to keep competing for the Miss USA and Miss Universe titles.

When she isn’t modeling, Romi works full time as a Registered Dental Hygienist, serving patients in her community and taking her role as a healer to heart. She also teaches restorative yoga to private groups, creating safe spaces for teenagers and women to heal through movement and meditation. A supporter of A21, Romi believes you can create sunshine in your community no matter the circumstances, and her heart is with women and children wherever life takes her.

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"It's a moment in time. It's not your whole life." — Liz Benditt

The first time, it was a mole her mom wouldn't stop nagging her about. Liz Benditt finally went to the dermatologist just to get some peace, and a few days later she got the call: melanoma. Over the next fourteen years, she would hear the words "you have cancer" five more times.

In this episode of Her Story Unscripted, a women's podcast built on honest conversations with women, Liz shares her real life story with warmth, humor, and zero sugarcoating. She talks about the people who showed up for her, the second opinion that gave her a voice in her own care, the well-meaning gifts that missed the mark, and the friend who told her she didn't have to be strong. She also opens up about founding The Balm Box in her 40s, the pivot that made it work, and why trusting her own instincts became the lesson of this chapter of her life.

Whether you love someone in treatment or you're the one everyone expects to stay positive, Liz's story will make you feel a little more understood. New episodes every Thursday on all major podcast platforms.

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Timestamp
00:00 Cold open — "Trust your judgment, trust your insight"
00:41 Welcome to Her Story Unscripted
01:07 Heather welcomes Liz
02:26 Six cancers, one survey, and the gap she set out to close
03:34 Heather's best friend, and not knowing what to give
05:42 Cancer #1: the mole her mom wouldn't stop nagging her about
06:45 The phone call, and the mom who got off the plane
09:57 Why she never skips her yearly skin check
12:07 Cancer #2: thyroid, and the unexpected gift of time
13:45 Jello shots, and acknowledging the yuck
14:28 Cancer #3 and why a second opinion changed everything
18:39 Two breast cancers, and becoming her friends' go-to
20:50 Radiation, pink stuffed animals, and the great deodorant hunt
22:09 Taking her own comfort into her own hands
26:08 "You don't have to be strong"
26:32 Why cancer isn't a "journey"
28:44 Starting a business in her 40s
31:21 The pivot: from subscriptions to gifts
34:53 From the guest room to a warehouse
35:59 Inside the boxes, and the nonprofits behind them
40:12 Manufacturing, and Andy, her "best friend"
42:32 20,000 boxes and counting
43:53 Trust your instincts, use your network
46:30 Where to find Liz
46:52 Wrap-up

About Liz Benditt

Liz Benditt is a senior marketing executive with more than 25 years of professional experience and the President and CEO of The Balm Box. After facing six different cancers over the past 15 years, Liz brought together her expertise as a marketer and her experience as a patient to launch TheBalmBox.com, offering functional self-care and gift packages for people going through cancer treatment. She also teaches undergraduate marketing courses at the University of Kansas School of Business, and is a public education and nonpartisan political advocate who serves on the board of directors of the Mainstream Coalition. Liz lives in the Kansas City metro with her husband, their two kids, and one terrible dog.

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"The tectonic plates of my life started to shift." — Becca Francis

Some shifts happen with a big announcement. Others happen quietly, over weeks you don't even notice at first — a laptop closed in frustration, then reopened out of curiosity, then a whole life rebuilt from the ground up. That's the kind of shift Becca Francis walked through.

In this episode, Becca — a psychic medium and human design teacher — shares the honest, unscripted story of fifteen years spent in corporate jobs that made her feel completely constricted, and every side hustle she tried along the way to escape it. We talk about the pandemic-era discovery that changed everything, the dark night of the soul that later pulled her toward psychic mediumship, and the orbs she's caught on camera during her own readings. It's a real conversation about self-discovery, trusting your own energy, and learning to stop dismissing the signs right in front of you.

If you've ever felt like you were too much, too scattered, or too far behind in figuring out your one true thing — this conversation might change how you see that about yourself. New episodes every Thursday on all major podcast platforms.

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Timestamps
00:00 - Introduction — Heather welcomes Becca Francis
08:00 - Becca closes her laptop on human design — and why she came back
01:47 - Fifteen years of trying to escape a job that didn't fit
18:09 - The dark night of the soul that changed everything
24:10 - The orbs, the signs, and what 11/11 really means

About Becca Francis

Becca Francis is a Lisa Williams Certified Spiritual Advisor, internationally certified psychic medium, healer, and Human Design teacher. Originally from the UK, she's now based in Brisbane, Australia, where she's built a global community of more than 6,800 students through her Human Design coaching business. Becca also works one-to-one with clients as a psychic medium, helping them reconnect with loved ones who've passed, find clarity on the path ahead, and live in alignment with their own Human Design. When she's not reading energy or teaching charts, she's an obsessed dog mom to her rescue greyhound, Elvis.

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"Do you know what it's like to wake up and not have any secrets? I'm so free." — Kimberly Menzies

For years, Kimberly Menzies kept one part of her life locked away. She built a whole story around it, a marriage that wasn't quite what she said, a picket fence meant to keep people from looking too closely. Then her son found her, and she realized she was done carrying it alone.

In this episode of Her Story Unscripted, a women's podcast built on honest conversations with women, Kimberly, known to many from TLC's 90 Day Fiancé, shares the real life story behind the headlines. She talks about placing two children for adoption while serving in the Army, reconnecting with her son Larry, the ongoing search for her daughter, and the flood of messages from birth mothers and adoptive families since she went public. She also gets candid about love and heartbreak on camera, the comments that still sting, the grief of losing her mom and sister, and what it means to live life on her own terms now.

If you've ever been afraid of what people would think if they knew the whole story, Kimberly's freedom might feel a little contagious. New episodes every Thursday on all major podcast platforms.

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Timestamps
00:58 Welcome to Her Story Unscripted
01:24 Heather welcomes Kimberly (and admits she was nervous for this one)
03:06 Life after reality TV: "I'm just a normal woman"
06:52 Grief, COVID, and how she first connected with Usman
09:00 Meeting on camera in Tanzania, and the private trip to Nigeria
11:21 The breakup that became a defining moment
12:55 What the comments did, and didn't, take from her
17:45 The notebook: answering every birth mother and adoptive family
19:00 The search for her daughter, and why she can't give advice
22:48 Heather on surrogacy, and the gift of making a family
23:37 The "picket fence" story she built to protect herself
29:19 Her relationship with Larry and his adoptive mom
31:53 Speaking as a birth mother at 22, and the man who changed his mind
36:11 Grief, health, and becoming the rock of the family
37:52 Love after reality TV, and being fully known
40:50 Forgiveness and friendships across the 90 Day cast
45:32 What's next for Kim (and why "Kimbali" is retired)
46:37 A shared love of Michael Jackson
48:05 Her one regret, God's timing, and her tight circle
49:40 Wrap-up

About Kimberly 

Kimberly Menzies is a mom, cat mom, U.S. Army veteran, and birth mother best known to audiences from TLC's 90 Day Fiancé franchise, including 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days, 90 Day: The Single Life, and Pillow Talk alongside her son, Jamal. Off camera, she works full time as an assistant manager at a five-star spa, where her love of hospitality and wellness come together. After years of keeping her adoption story private, Kimberly chose to share it publicly, and she has since become a trusted voice for birth mothers, adoptive families, and adopted children who reach out to her every day. Today, she's focused on authenticity, wellness, and living life entirely on her own terms.

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“I can't remember a day I didn't think about my weight.” — Kassidy Coulter

There's a kind of honesty that takes an entire year to work up the courage to say out loud. This week on Her Story Unscripted, singer/songwriter Kassidy Coulter shares the story behind the song she almost didn't release — and what it took to finally let it go.

Kassidy grew up in Sonoma County and now lives in Nashville, building an independent music career one honest song at a time. In this conversation, she opens up about writing "Body Image" after a year of picking herself apart in her sister's wedding photos, the Christmas Day she played it for her mom and sister for the first time, and the stage fright she's carried since she was a little girl. We talk about authentic storytelling, self-discovery, and what it really looks like for a woman to build something from scratch while still learning to be kind to herself along the way.

If you've ever looked at a photo of yourself and gone straight to the parts you don't like, this conversation will feel like sitting with a friend who gets it. New episodes every Thursday on all major podcast platforms.

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Timestamps
00:00 - Introduction — Heather welcomes Kassidy Coulter
02:34 - Growing up in Sonoma County and finding her way to music
04:17 - The stage fright she's carried since childhood — and the exercise that helped
14:05 - The year of chasing a number on the scale before her sister's wedding
17:39 - The Christmas Day she played “Body Image” for her family for the first time
21:27 - Building an independent music career, one song at a time

About Kassidy

Kassidy Coulter is a country-pop singer/songwriter based in Nashville, originally from California. She's been writing songs since she was a little girl, turning the things she's most afraid to say into music that feels less like someone else's story and more like your own thoughts, played back to you. Her songs — including "Body Image," "That Guy You Hate," and "Twenty Something" — blend vulnerable storytelling with conversational lyrics and pop-leaning country melodies. Beyond her music, Kassidy brings that same openness to social media, where she shares unreleased songs, acoustic performances, and the stories behind her writing.

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"I just felt like I had to choose one. But by choosing one, I knew I was betraying my cultural identity, and I was betraying myself." — Urmi Hossain

There's a version of belonging that means folding yourself in half to fit somewhere — keeping one culture on for school and another for home, and never letting the two sit in the same room. For a long time, that's the only version Urmi Hossain knew.

Urmi is a wealth management professional based in Montreal, born in Italy to Bangladeshi parents. In this real life story, she shares what it was like walking into a male-dominated finance career without realizing it, why she left a demanding job to ask who she was outside of her title, and how writing her book finally let her stop choosing between two cultures and start embracing both.

If you've ever felt like you had to leave part of yourself at the door to belong — this authentic storytelling conversation about women's identity and life transitions is for you. New episodes every Thursday on all major podcast platforms.

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Timestamp
00:00 Introduction — Heather welcomes Urmi Hossain
02:40 Wearing many hats — chasing impact, not titles
08:20 Leaving a demanding job to find herself outside of work
09:34 Walking into a male-dominated finance world without realizing it
15:45 Writing Discovering Your Identity and embracing both cultures
19:13 Starting a podcast about immigration and belonging
30:23 Where to connect with Urmi Hossain 

About Urmi Hossain
Urmi Hossain is a self-published author, speaker, podcast host, and finance professional based in Canada, holding both her CFA and CAIA designations. Her book, Discovering Your Identity: A Rebirth from Interracial Struggle, reflects her journey as a third-culture woman navigating belonging, culture, and self-worth. She hosts Stories Beyond Borders, a podcast amplifying diverse voices on identity, migration, language, and what home really means, and serves as Co-Chair of Women in Leadership's Montreal Chapter. When she's not in the boardroom, you'll find her boxing, running, or with her nose in a good thriller.

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Book: Discovering Your Identity: A Rebirth from Interracial Struggle

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"The best in people always shines through, even during the darkest times." — Annette Mullin

There's the version of a crisis you see on the news, and then there's the version lived by the people who show up for it — the officers, the first responders, the moms trying to keep their own kids steady while everything around them feels unsteady. Annette Mullin lived both.

Annette spent 24 years as a Las Vegas police officer — patrol, homicide, internal affairs, and nine years as a crisis negotiator. In this episode, she shares what it was like being an officer during the mass shooting on the Strip, becoming the first woman ever put in a supervisor role in her department's homicide unit, and the humbling first hostage case that taught her everything she now teaches as an instructor with the Black Swan Group. This is a real life story about resilience, service, and what it actually means to make someone feel heard.

If you've ever had to hold steady for everyone else while quietly falling apart yourself, this conversation is for you. New episodes every Thursday on all major podcast platforms.

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Timestamps
00:00 Introduction — Heather welcomes Annette Mullin
03:24 Annette's childhood dream of becoming a coroner and how it led her to policing
07:32 Being an officer during the mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip
09:45 Bringing her kids to a candlelight vigil to process as a community
19:42 Becoming the first woman supervisor in homicide
21:36 Nine years as a crisis negotiator and what it taught her about being heard
25:24 The transition to coaching with the Black Swan Group
39:39 Where to connect with Annette Mullin 

About Annette Mullin

Annette Mullin retired from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) in August 2021, closing out a 24-year career in law enforcement. She spent more than 20 years specializing in Violent Crimes Against Persons, working across Criminal Intelligence, Sexual Assault and Abuse, Abuse and Neglect, Internal Affairs, Force Investigations, and Homicide. Annette served as a Crisis Negotiator for nine years and led the Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) for two of those years. In 2018, she was promoted to Director and built the Police Employee Assistance Program, providing health and wellness resources to LVMPD employees and their families. She has also taught Sexual Assault Prevention, Sex Trafficking Investigations, and Domestic Violence Prevention around the world, with engagements as far-reaching as Vietnam and Budapest. Today, Annette is a Negotiation Instructor and Coach with the Black Swan Group, translating those high-stakes experiences into practical tools for leaders, teams, and individuals navigating pressure, conflict, and growth.

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You think you have stability. You think you have your health. You think you have all these things. But in reality, they can be taken from you at any moment without warning — Jennifer Peterson

There's a version of strength that looks like showing up for everyone else while quietly falling apart underneath it. Jennifer Peterson spent 25 years in critical care and trauma medicine — and then found herself on the other side of the emergency, bleeding out after a routine surgery, unsure she'd make it home to her own kids.

In this episode, Jennifer shares the honest, unscripted story of that near-fatal medical crisis, the EMDR work that helped her carry it, and the burnout that finally pushed her to leave inpatient medicine. She opens up about why she pivoted into perimenopause and menopause care, and why so many women are dismissed, misdiagnosed, or handed antidepressants when what they actually need is real hormone support and someone willing to listen.

If you've ever felt unheard by a doctor or like you had to fight for basic answers about your own body, this is a real life story about women's health, self-advocacy, and finding your people. New episodes every Thursday on all major podcast platforms.

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Timestamps
00:00 — Introduction — Heather welcomes Jennifer Peterson
03:12 — 25 years in critical care — how she got into medicine
09:41 — The 2017 surgery that nearly took her life
12:59 — EMDR and processing medical trauma
15:16 — Burnout, leaving inpatient medicine, and finding her real calling
19:01 — Why women are dismissed in perimenopause and menopause care
47:03 — Where to connect with Jennifer Peterson

About Jennifer Peterson

Jennifer Peterson is a Board-Certified Acute Care Nurse Practitioner with more than 25 years of clinical experience. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Delaware in 2003 and her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania in 2007, and spent the bulk of her career specializing in Critical Care Medicine and Transplant Hepatology. Now based in Rohnert Park, California, Jennifer draws on that deep clinical background to offer highly personalized care in perimenopause and menopause, medical weight management, and platelet-rich plasma therapy — blending evidence-based medicine with a more holistic, individualized approach to women's health.

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"Our brains are wired for survival. They are not wired for success." — Gina Mundy

There's a specific kind of courage it takes to walk out of your own life with nothing but a suitcase and $50 in your pocket. For Gina Mundy, that night came the day after Christmas, after 24 years of marriage, after she'd quietly stopped caring about the version of her life that looked perfect from the outside.

Gina is a childbirth attorney with over 23 years of experience investigating what goes wrong in labor and delivery, and bestselling author of A Parent's Guide to a Safer Childbirth. In this real life story about women navigating change, we talk about pitocin, doulas, and the racial disparities in birth outcomes she's still trying to understand — and then we talk about the night she left her marriage, and the brain science behind why staying somewhere unsafe can feel safer than leaving.

This is an honest conversation about advocacy, identity, and starting over more than once in the same year. If you've ever felt your brain talk you out of a decision your heart had already made, listen in. New episodes every Thursday on all major podcast platforms.

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Timestamps
00:00 — Introduction — Heather welcomes Gina Mundy
03:15 — How Gina became a birth injury attorney by accident
12:00 — The realities of pitocin, induction, and advocating for yourself in labor
29:01 — The unanswered question about race and birth complications
36:03 — The night she left her marriage with $50 in her pocket
44:32 — Brains wired for survival, not success — and starting over twice in one year
48:08 — Where to connect with Gina Mundy 

About Gina Mundy

Gina Mundy is a childbirth attorney, bestselling author, speaker, podcaster, and mother of three based in the Detroit, Michigan area. For over 23 years she's specialized in childbirth cases and birth trauma litigation — traveling the country, analyzing medical records, and cross-examining the nation's top experts to understand why the most joyful day of a family's life sometimes goes wrong. She's the bestselling author of A Parent's Guide to a Safer Childbirth, founder of the Safer Childbirth Community, and host of The Childbirth Attorney Podcast. She recently became a grandmother for the first time.

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Book: A Parent's Guide to a Safer Childbirth: Expecting the Best by child-birth

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"Fun is an energy that people are magnetized to." —  Jillian Murphy

There's a version of starting over that doesn't look like a five-year plan. For Jillian Murphy, it looked like losing her corporate job on a Tuesday, giving herself one day to feel bad about it, and hiring a business coach 48 hours later because she didn't have time to figure it out alone.

In this episode, Jillian Murphy joins Heather to talk about building a seven-figure sales coaching business after being the first woman hired at her company since 1963 and then losing that job during the pandemic. They get into why Jillian calls her lead list her "love list," the moment she realized her old podcast brand no longer fit who she'd become, and why she still refuses to outsource her DMs or her content even with a thriving business. It's an honest conversation about women's identity, self-discovery, and what it really takes to rebuild on your own terms.

If you've ever felt boxed in by a version of yourself you've outgrown, this conversation is for you. New episodes every Thursday on all major podcast platforms.

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Timestamps
00:00 — Introduction — Heather welcomes Jillian Murphy
02:06 — Being the first woman hired since 1963, and dropping out of the police academy
04:42 — Losing her corporate job on a Tuesday, hiring a coach 48 hours later
21:16 — Why she renamed her lead list her "love list"
41:29 — The moment she realized her podcast brand no longer fit her
14:26 — Why she'll never outsource her DMs or her content
44:20 — Where to connect with Jillian Murphy

About Jillian Murphy

Jillian Murphy is a Sales and Marketing Specialist with over 25 years of experience helping entrepreneurs master sales, messaging, and business growth.

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