Her Village

What happens when the life you've worked so hard to build no longer feels like the life you want? Or when life changes in ways you never could have imagined?

Sometimes it's a quiet realization that something doesn't feel right anymore. Other times, it's an unexpected loss or major life transition that changes you forever.

In this episode of the Her Village Podcast, I'm joined by Stacie Shifflett, founder of Modern Consciousness and author of Treasure Map to Joy, for an honest conversation about identity, grief, healing, and learning to live more intentionally through life's changing seasons.

What begins as a conversation about recognizing when we've outgrown certain expectations takes a deeply personal turn as Stacie shares the loss of her infant son and I reflect on my own experiences with pregnancy loss and grief.

Together, we explore what it means to keep moving forward while still honoring what we've lost, why healing isn't necessarily a linear process, and how joy and grief can exist alongside one another.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why achieving the life you thought you wanted doesn't always bring the fulfillment you expected
• Recognizing when you're living on autopilot instead of making intentional choices
• How grief and loss can reshape our identities and perspectives
• Why moving forward doesn't mean leaving grief behind
• The idea that grief and joy can coexist, and healing can happen in layers
• How small changes in our relationships, habits, and mindsets can create meaningful shifts
• Why it's okay for our priorities, purpose, and sense of self to evolve

Whether you're grieving a loss, navigating a major transition, or simply questioning what you want from this season of life, this conversation is a reminder that you don't need to have everything figured out.

You're allowed to change. You're allowed to keep growing. And you can make space for joy while still honoring everything that has shaped you.

Connect with Stacie:

Website: https://modernconsciousness.com

Book: Treasure Map to Joy — Available on Amazon

Free Resource: Navigating Your Emotional Triggers workbook, available on Stacie's website.

Find your village! 🌻

Her Village is a community helping women connect more deeply with themselves, each other, and their local community through meaningful gatherings and curated experiences.

Our Founding Memberships are officially open in Naperville! Join us for connection, new experiences, exclusive local business perks, and opportunities to make space for yourself again.

Explore membership and upcoming gatherings: https://hervillage.kit.com/naperville

Follow along on Instagram: @hervillagehq

If this conversation resonated with you, consider sharing it with someone who might need to hear it. 💛

Content note: This episode includes personal discussions of pregnancy loss, infant loss, and grief.

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________________

Her Village is more than a podcast—it’s a space for real connection, honest conversations, and meaningful friendships in the places we live.

If you want to go deeper and stay connected beyond the podcast, you can join us here: https://hervillage.kit.com/products/founding-membership 💛 __________________________________________________________________________________

When was the last time you did something simply because you wanted to?

Not because your kids needed it. Not because it was productive. Not because someone else was counting on you. Something that made you feel curious, connected, excited — or simply more like yourself.

In this solo episode, Jacqueline talks about the kind of connection so many women are missing: connection to ourselves, meaningful connection with other women, and connection to the communities we call home.

She shares how years spent building her family left her wondering who she was outside of survival mode and motherhood — and how that identity shift ultimately helped inspire Her Village.

Jacqueline also shares the vision behind Her Village: putting yourself back on your own calendar, learning from women with different experiences, trying new things, discovering hobbies, having fun, supporting local businesses, and actually experiencing more of the place you live.

And today marks a big next step: Her Village Founding Memberships are officially open. 🌻

If you're in the Naperville area and ready to make more room for yourself, meaningful connection, and your local community, we'd love to have you.

Join Her Village:
hervillage.kit.com/products/founding-membership

Connect with Her Village:
Instagram: @hervillagehq

Because we don't only need a village to survive. We deserve one that helps us thrive.

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________________

Her Village is more than a podcast—it’s a space for real connection, honest conversations, and meaningful friendships in the places we live.

If you want to go deeper and stay connected beyond the podcast, you can join us here: https://hervillage.kit.com/products/founding-membership 💛 __________________________________________________________________________________

What happens when the path to motherhood looks nothing like the one you imagined? And how do you find purpose in a journey you never would have chosen for yourself?

In this episode of Her Village, Jacqueline sits down with Stephanie Jones, founder of the Michigan Fertility Alliance, to talk about infertility, pregnancy complications, surrogacy, and the unexpected ways our most difficult experiences can change the direction of our lives.

After experiencing two life-threatening ectopic pregnancies, Stephanie faced the heartbreaking reality that she could no longer safely carry another pregnancy. Determined to grow her family, she turned to gestational surrogacy, only to discover that Michigan's restrictive surrogacy laws created another obstacle on her path to motherhood.

What began as a deeply personal journey eventually became a much larger mission. Stephanie founded the Michigan Fertility Alliance and helped advocate for the Michigan Family Protection Act, which changed the landscape of surrogacy and family building in Michigan.

Together, Jacqueline and Stephanie explore the grief that comes with letting go of the motherhood experience you imagined, the emotional complexities of surrogacy, and what it means to turn an unexpected life experience into something that helps other families.

In this episode, we explore:

• Navigating infertility, pregnancy complications, and the loss of the ability to carry a pregnancy.
• The emotional journey of pursuing gestational surrogacy.
• Finding support and community when your path to motherhood looks different.
• How Stephanie's personal experience inspired her to become an advocate for other families.
• The relationship between motherhood, identity, and finding purpose beyond the roles we originally imagined for ourselves.

Whether you're navigating infertility, exploring alternative paths to parenthood, or simply finding yourself in a season of life you never expected, this conversation is a reminder that your story is still unfolding.

Connect with Stephanie Jones:

Michigan Fertility Alliance: https://www.mifertilityalliance.com

State Strong: https://www.statestrong.org/

Instagram: @stephanie.jones___

Connect with Her Village:

Instagram: @hervillagehq

Website: https://joinhervillage.co

Her Village is an in-person community helping women feel more connected to themselves, each other, and their local community. Our founding chapter is launching in Naperville, Illinois, where we're creating opportunities for women to build meaningful friendships, explore new experiences, and find their people in every season of life.

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________________

Her Village is more than a podcast—it’s a space for real connection, honest conversations, and meaningful friendships in the places we live.

If you want to go deeper and stay connected beyond the podcast, you can join us here: https://hervillage.kit.com/products/founding-membership 💛 __________________________________________________________________________________

When did everything become about the kids?

The school schedules. The activities. The appointments. The therapies. The meals. The birthday parties. The endless mental checklist of who needs what, where, and when.

In this solo episode, Jacqueline shares a realization she's been having lately: she doesn't want a life away from her kids—she wants a life that includes her, too.

After years of building a family, staying home with her children, and naturally structuring so much of life around motherhood, creating Her Village has unexpectedly made Jacqueline look at her own life differently. What started as a way to help women find connection has also reminded her how important it is to have places, people, interests, and experiences that belong to us.

This isn't about reinventing yourself, finding some huge new purpose, or adding another thing to your to-do list. It's about remembering that you're still a person outside of everything you do for everyone else—and maybe putting something on the calendar simply because you want to be there.

In this episode, Jacqueline talks about identity outside motherhood, mom guilt, adult friendship, making room for fun and hobbies, and why having a full life of your own doesn't take anything away from being a devoted mom.

Because maybe the question isn't, “Who was I before I became a mom?”

Maybe it's: “Who am I becoming alongside motherhood?”

🎧 Listen in, then take a look at your calendar and ask yourself: Where am I on here?

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________________

Her Village is more than a podcast—it’s a space for real connection, honest conversations, and meaningful friendships in the places we live.

If you want to go deeper and stay connected beyond the podcast, you can join us here: https://hervillage.kit.com/products/founding-membership 💛 __________________________________________________________________________________

How much of who we are is truly ours—and how much has been shaped by the expectations, beliefs, and stories we’ve inherited?

In this episode of Her Village, Jacqueline sits down with Dr. Nicole Wordlaw, clinical psychologist, author, and longtime Buddhist meditation practitioner, to explore what it means to reconnect with our own inner knowing.

Nicole’s book, Waking Up Alone: Navigating the Narrow Passage Through Master-Slave Narratives, combines memoir with an exploration of identity, power, relationships, and the conditioning that can shape how we understand ourselves and our place in the world.

Together, Jacqueline and Nicole discuss the ways women can become accustomed to looking outside themselves for reassurance and validation, how motherhood can challenge our sense of identity, and what it looks like to begin rebuilding self-trust.

They also explore Nicole’s concept of the “inner teacher,” the difference between belonging and changing ourselves in order to belong, and why finding our way back to ourselves doesn’t mean we have to do it without community.

In this conversation, we explore:

• The personal journey behind Waking Up Alone
• How inherited stories and expectations influence our identities
• People-pleasing, perfectionism, and the pressure to do life “right”
• Motherhood, identity, and continuing to grow as an individual
• What it means to find and follow your inner teacher
• Rebuilding self-trust when you feel disconnected from your own voice
• The role of community in becoming more fully ourselves

Whether you’re navigating motherhood, a life transition, or simply wondering what you actually want beneath all the noise, this conversation is an invitation to get curious about the stories you’ve been living by—and remember that you’re allowed to keep becoming.

Connect with Dr. Nicole Wordlaw:
Website: https://www.nicolewordlaw.com/
Book: Waking Up Alone: Navigating the Narrow Passage Through Master-Slave Narratives

Connect with Her Village:
Instagram: @hervillagehq
Explore the podcast and community: joinhervillage.co

If this episode resonates with you, share it with a friend who might need the reminder that she’s allowed to trust herself and keep becoming, too.

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________________

Her Village is more than a podcast—it’s a space for real connection, honest conversations, and meaningful friendships in the places we live.

If you want to go deeper and stay connected beyond the podcast, you can join us here: https://hervillage.kit.com/products/founding-membership 💛 __________________________________________________________________________________

Remember when making friends was just… built into life?

You met on the playground. Sat next to each other in class. Played on the same team. Lived down the hall in college. Or, in Jacqueline’s case, essentially paid for your friends by joining a sorority. 😂

Then adulthood happens—and suddenly, no one is assigning you friends anymore.

In this solo episode, Jacqueline explores why adult friendship feels so different, especially in motherhood. It’s not necessarily that we’ve forgotten how to make friends. It’s that the structure that once made friendship happen naturally—proximity, repetition, and shared experiences—has disappeared.

She talks about friendships changing as our lives change, the difference between mom friends and friendships that feel like they’re truly yours, why one great conversation usually isn’t enough to build a real connection, and why sometimes we have to be willing to go first.

Jacqueline also shares how this realization has shaped Her Village and the upcoming Her Village membership: creating consistent opportunities for women to get out of the house, explore Naperville, see the same faces again, and give new friendships somewhere to actually grow.

Because maybe we don't need to magically find a new best friend.

Maybe we just need a place to keep showing up.

In this episode:
• Why making friends felt easier when we were younger
• How adult life removes the built-in structure for friendship
• Why proximity + repetition + shared experiences matter
• The difference between having friends and still craving more connection
• Making friends through motherhood—and wanting relationships that are yours, too
• Why somebody eventually has to send the “When are you free?” text
• What Jacqueline is really building with Her Village
• Why consistency is at the heart of the upcoming membership
• Giving friendship somewhere to grow

If someone came to mind while you were listening, send her this episode—and maybe send the second text, too:

“When are you free?”

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________________

Her Village is more than a podcast—it’s a space for real connection, honest conversations, and meaningful friendships in the places we live.

If you want to go deeper and stay connected beyond the podcast, you can join us here: https://hervillage.kit.com/products/founding-membership 💛 __________________________________________________________________________________

Motherhood has a way of rewriting the plans we were so sure we had figured out.

For Susanna Peace Lovell, that meant becoming a mother to her daughter, Arizona, who is neurodivergent and has autism, ADHD, anxiety, and significant allergies. For Jacqueline, it meant infertility, loss, a 24-week premature birth, a four-month NICU stay, and eventually learning that her oldest son has autism and ADHD, and her younger son also has ADHD and sensory processing disorder.

In this deeply personal conversation, Jacqueline and Susanna talk about what happens when motherhood looks nothing like the version you imagined—and how you learn to find yourself within it.

They open up about receiving a child's diagnosis, the instinct to immediately jump into "fix it" mode, the fear of what the world will think of your child, and the invisible mental load of raising a child with additional needs. They also talk about something caregivers don't hear nearly enough: you are allowed to have needs, joy, interests, dreams, and an identity outside of caring for everyone else.

Susanna shares the importance of compassion—for our children, for other mothers, and especially for ourselves—and why finding people who simply get it can change everything.

In this episode:

• When motherhood doesn't look the way you imagined
• Processing an autism or ADHD diagnosis
• The invisible work of parenting a neurodivergent child
• Why gratitude and overwhelm can exist at the same time
• Letting go of the pressure to "fix" everything
• What other people don't understand about raising a child with additional needs
• Building a village when you can't do it alone
• Rediscovering joy and identity outside of caregiving
• What Susanna would tell a mom who just received her child's diagnosis
• Why your child is still the exact same child they were before the label

Susanna also shares her work with We Are Brave Together, a community supporting the mental health and wellness of caregiving moms, and the anthology Suddenly Brave Together, featuring letters from experienced caregiving mothers to moms who are just beginning this journey.

If you've ever wondered where you went while taking care of everyone else—or you're navigating a motherhood story you never saw coming—this conversation is for you.

Connect with Susanna:
SusannaPeaceLovell.com
Instagram: @mamapeace

Learn more about We Are Brave Together:
WeAreBraveTogether.org

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________________

Her Village is more than a podcast—it’s a space for real connection, honest conversations, and meaningful friendships in the places we live.

If you want to go deeper and stay connected beyond the podcast, you can join us here: https://hervillage.kit.com/products/founding-membership 💛 __________________________________________________________________________________

A Her Village Solo Episode 🎙️

The backpacks are packed, the school supplies are labeled, and the kids are settling back into their routines. But once we’ve gotten everyone else where they need to be… what about us?

In this solo episode, I’m talking about the back-to-school season as more than just a reset for our kids. It can be a reset for us, too.

Not in a reinvent your entire life now that the kids are in school kind of way. But as an opportunity to check in with ourselves and ask: What do I want this next season to feel like?

We’re talking about the routines we want to come back to, the things we may be ready to let go of, the parts of ourselves that have gotten pushed aside, and how to make a little more room for what fills us up.

Because motherhood has a way of dividing life into seasons—and sometimes a new season is exactly the invitation we need to reconnect with ourselves.

In this episode:

• Why back-to-school can feel like a fresh start for moms, too
• The difference between adding more to our plates and making intentional changes
• Taking inventory of what worked (and what didn’t) this summer
• Reconnecting with the parts of ourselves that exist outside of motherhood
• Thinking about how we actually want this next season to feel
• Starting small instead of trying to overhaul everything at once

And if connection is one of the things you’re craving in this season, that’s exactly why I’m building Her Village—a place for women to connect with themselves, each other, and their local community, both through these conversations and in real life.

🎧 Hit play, take a walk, pour another cup of coffee, and spend a little time thinking about what you want from this next season.

I’ll be right here when you come back to hit play.

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________________

Her Village is more than a podcast—it’s a space for real connection, honest conversations, and meaningful friendships in the places we live.

If you want to go deeper and stay connected beyond the podcast, you can join us here: https://hervillage.kit.com/products/founding-membership 💛 __________________________________________________________________________________

What happens after you've survived something that could have defined the rest of your life?

Today's guest, Cindy Benezra, is a USA Today bestselling author, speaker, trauma recovery advocate, and author of Under the Orange Blossoms. Cindy is also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of her father.

But this conversation isn't about the details of what happened to Cindy. It's about what came next.

Cindy and I talk about what healing actually looks like in everyday life, learning to trust yourself again, breaking generational cycles, reclaiming your voice, and shifting the question from "What happened to me?" to "What's next?"

We also talk about Cindy's beautiful concept of "Freckles of Light"—the small, ordinary moments of hope and goodness that remind us healing doesn't always happen through one massive breakthrough. Sometimes it happens quietly, little by little.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Moving from a past-defined identity toward what's next
• What it means to become your own healer
• Cindy's "Freckles of Light" and finding hope in ordinary moments
• Breaking intergenerational cycles
• Reclaiming your voice and learning to trust yourself
• The role of storytelling and vulnerability in healing
• Why community and connection matter
• Finding hope when you're still carrying something from your past

Whether you've experienced trauma yourself or you're simply carrying something from your past that has shaped who you are today, this conversation is a reminder that what happened to you can be part of your story without getting to write the rest of it.

Connect with Cindy:
Learn more about Cindy, Under the Orange Blossoms, and her work at CindyTalks.

Connect with Her Village offline:
If you're local to the Naperville area, Her Village is about getting out from behind the screens and building real-life connection, too. Join us for upcoming coffee dates, nights out, book gatherings, and other opportunities to meet women in your local community.

Find details and upcoming gatherings by following along on Instagram or signing up for our email list.

And if this episode made you think of someone in your own village, send it her way. Sometimes being part of someone's village is as simple as saying, "I heard this, and I thought of you."

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________________

Her Village is more than a podcast—it’s a space for real connection, honest conversations, and meaningful friendships in the places we live.

If you want to go deeper and stay connected beyond the podcast, you can join us here: https://hervillage.kit.com/products/founding-membership 💛 __________________________________________________________________________________

As summer winds down and back-to-school season approaches, it's easy to look back and wonder...

Did I do enough?

Did we make enough memories?
Did my kids have the summer they deserved?
Did I somehow miss the mark?

If you've been carrying those thoughts, this episode is for you.

In today's solo episode, Jacqueline shares an honest reflection on the pressure moms often put on themselves during the summer—from trying to create magical memories to balancing work, childcare, businesses, and everything in between.

Whether you're a working mom, a stay-at-home mom, or somewhere in the middle, this conversation is a reminder that your worth isn't measured by Pinterest-worthy adventures or perfectly planned summers.

Your kids don't need a perfect summer.

They need you.

In this episode, we'll talk about:

• Why moms feel so much pressure to "win" summer
• The comparison trap of social media
• Why working moms and stay-at-home moms are both carrying invisible loads
• How to redefine what a "successful" summer really looks like
• Why back-to-school can be a fresh start for moms, too
• How creating community for yourself is just as important as creating memories for your kids

If this conversation encouraged you, I'd love for you to share it with another woman who may need to hear these words today.

✨ Learn more about Her Village or join our email community at joinhervillage.co

📍 Local to the Naperville area? We'd love to have you at an upcoming Her Village gathering!

If you're enjoying the Her Village Podcast, leaving a rating and review is one of the best ways to help more women discover these conversations.

Thank you for being here.
I'm so grateful you're part of this village.

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________________

Her Village is more than a podcast—it’s a space for real connection, honest conversations, and meaningful friendships in the places we live.

If you want to go deeper and stay connected beyond the podcast, you can join us here: https://hervillage.kit.com/products/founding-membership 💛 __________________________________________________________________________________