Ep 83: This one's back by popular demand. Christopher Ward, the photographer behind Model Strangers, joins me for a conversation that turns up one of my favorite discoveries yet — his family's direct line back to the Brontë family, yes, those Brontës.

We trace Christopher's roots from a two-story cottage in County Down, where storytelling nights around the fire were a nightly ritual, all the way down through generations of laborers, a servant at a grand manor house, and a great-grandmother whose death just ten days after childbirth changed the whole shape of the family. And there's a twist in the family name itself that ties back to storytelling in a way neither of us expected.

Christopher shares how it feels to trace a creative thread through people who mostly just had to survive — and what that means for the work he's doing now, one stranger at a time.

Find Christopher and Model Strangers on

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modelstrangers

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@modelstrangers

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/modelstrangers

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@modelstrangers

Grab my free guided meditation here: The Pattern That Isn't Yours: ⁠https://knowyourancestors.co/pattern⁠

If this one landed for you, I'd love a rating and review — it's still one of the best ways to help people find the show.

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TikTok: ⁠https://tiktok.com/@meganhillyer⁠

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Ep 82: This one's from the archives, back for encore because it still hits. Monica Packer of the About Progress podcast joins me to talk about the pull toward perfection so many women inherit — and then we go looking for where that pattern actually started in her family.

We dig into her second great-grandmother, Lucy Rose Ehmann, and a story that's been sitting with Monica's family for generations — one involving a birth out of wedlock, a name that doesn't match the record, and a marriage that may have been anything but a choice. It's a hard one, and Monica meets it with a lot of honesty.

Monica also talks about her own path through perfectionism, why "progress over perfection" became her life's work, and what it means to honor the women who came before you by doing the things they never got to.

Find Monica and About Progress at https://www.aboutprogress.com/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aboutprogress 

Grab my free guided meditation here: The Pattern That Isn't Yours: ⁠https://knowyourancestors.co/pattern⁠

If this one landed for you, I'd love a rating and review — it's still one of the best ways to help people find the show.

Follow me on:

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/meganhillyer ⁠

TikTok: ⁠https://tiktok.com/@meganhillyer⁠ 

Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/knowyourancestorsco

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@knowyourancestors

Ep 81: We're revisiting this one from the archive this summer — it's stuck with me.

Ashlynn Allen Mitchell came on to learn about her grandfather, a man her own father rarely spoke of before he passed. What we found on FamilySearch took us through a WWII POW camp, a one-month gap between a divorce and a surprise remarriage, and a few quiet parallels between his life and the family that came after him.

Find Ashlynn on IG: https://www.instagram.com/this.isashlynn

Grab my free guided meditation here: The Pattern That Isn't Yours: ⁠https://knowyourancestors.co/pattern⁠

If this one landed for you, I'd love a rating and review — it's still one of the best ways to help people find the show.

Follow me on:

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/meganhillyer ⁠

TikTok: ⁠https://tiktok.com/@meganhillyer⁠

Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/knowyourancestorsco

Ep 80: This one's from about two and a half years ago, back when Crystal was homeschooling her four kids while circumnavigating the globe with her family, working online from wherever they landed. We talk about what that life actually looks like day to day — and then I share what I found digging into her paternal family history. Why did her great grandfather change his name? What happened to his mother? Those are the mysteries we get into.

Grab my free guide, The Pattern That Isn't Yours: ⁠https://knowyourancestors.co/pattern⁠

Find Crystal on Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/its.crystal.noelle/

⁠If this one landed for you, I'd love a rating and review — it's still one of the best ways to help people find the show.

Follow me on:

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/meganhillyer ⁠

TikTok: ⁠https://tiktok.com/@meganhillyer⁠

Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/knowyourancestorsco

Ep 79: This was maybe my absolute favorite one of these interviews I've done and am so excited to share it again, almost 3 years later.

I've known Cristy since elementary school, and going into her family tree, I thought I'd be sharing something lighter. Instead we ended up with a marriage that unraveled more than once, and a little boy who left home alone at twelve and crossed a border to start over.

There's a lot more underneath it — where it all traces back to, and what it means for how Cristy sees her own story now.

You'll have to listen to get there.

Grab my free guide, The Pattern That Isn't Yours: https://knowyourancestors.co/pattern

Find Cristy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cristyleeduce

If this one landed for you, I'd love a rating and review — it's still one of the best ways to help people find the show.

Follow me on:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meganhillyer

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@meganhillyer

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/knowyourancestorsco

Ep 78: This week we're bringing back one of our favorite conversations! In this encore episode, I sit down with ancestral healing guide Torie Feldman of Sacred Ancestry as we explore the stories hidden in her family tree.

Together we uncover immigration journeys, courageous women, ancestral homes in Europe, and the power of combining genealogy with personal reflection. Whether you're just beginning your family history journey or have been researching for years, this conversation will inspire you to see your ancestors in a whole new way.

In this episode you'll discover:

• The remarkable stories behind Torie's Jewish and Czech ancestors
• How genealogy can bring your ancestors' lives into focus
• Why understanding family patterns can deepen your sense of identity
• The value of preserving your family's stories for future generations

✨ Free Resource: If you've ever wondered whether a pattern in your life actually started with you, download my free guide,

The Pattern That Isn't Yours: https://knowyourancestors.co/pattern 

Connect with Torie:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacredancestry 
• Website: https://sacredancestry.com

Connect with me:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meganhillyer 

• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meganhillyer 

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/knowyourancestorsco
  

Ep 77: This summer I'm bringing back some of my favorite guest episodes from Know Your Ancestors — conversations where we really dug into identity and what it means to understand yourself better through your lineage.

Julie Taylor has always felt deeply called to a piece of land in Provo, Utah. She moved her family back from Connecticut for it. She kept her last name after marriage because of it. In this episode, we find out exactly why — and it goes back a lot further than she realized.

If this episode resonates with you and you're curious about what you might be carrying from your own lineage, grab my free guide — The Pattern That Isn't Yours — at https://knowyourancestors.co/pattern

You can find Julie on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/thejulietaylor

If you enjoy the show, I'd love it if you took a minute to leave a rating and review — it helps so much.

Follow me:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meganhillyer/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/knowyourancestorsco

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meganhillyer

Ep 76: This summer I'm bringing back some of my favorite guest episodes from Know Your Ancestors — conversations where we really dug into identity and what it means to understand yourself better through your lineage. And I couldn't think of a better place to start than episode one.

Brittany MacLeod was our very first guest, and this episode is one of my favorites simply because of how much we were able to uncover. She came in knowing almost nothing about her family history — and by the end of the episode, she had a lot more to sit with.

If you've ever wondered whether there's a reason you are the way you are, this episode is for you.

You can find Brittany on Instagram at @brittanymacleod_ and her agency at @macleodmedia_

If you enjoy the show, I'd love it if you took a minute to leave a rating and review — it helps so much.

Follow me on:

Instagram: @meganhillyer

TikTok: @meganhillyer

Facebook: @knowyourancestorsco

Ep 75: I get this question all the time: "But what if there's barely anything about my ancestor?" So in this episode, I'm showing you exactly what's possible. I chose my second great-grandmother for the Ancestor Power Project — a woman with one photo, no memories passed down, no journals. Just records. And what I discovered is that even when you can't find more records, you can find context. The world she lived in, the language she spoke, the community around her — all of it brought her to life in a way I didn't expect. I'm reading you the story I wrote about her, and I think it'll change how you see those "dead ends" in your own family tree.

If you've been wanting to learn how to do this kind of research yourself, this is your last chance to grab Family Tree Foundations. I'm retiring the course, so it's on sale for $97 (normally $197) until June 12 at midnight — after that, it's gone forever. You'll keep lifetime access to everything.

Check it out at https://knowyourancestors.co/foundation

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you left a rating and review — it really helps others find the show.

Come find me:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meganhillyer/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/knowyourancestorsco

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meganhillyer

Ep 74: Some seasons just pile on. In this episode I'm getting a little real about a hard few weeks — and the moment I grabbed a book of ancestor biographies off the shelf and let my grandparents remind me what I'm built from.

If you've got a family history book collecting dust, this is your sign to open it. And if you don't have stories like that yet — I'd love to help you find them.

Start here: knowyourancestors.co/origin

Come find me:

• Instagram: @meganhillyer
• TikTok: @meganhillyer
• Facebook: Know Your Ancestors