Let’s Get Real with Jena Burris

Free Resource for Moms

Feeling overwhelmed and like you’ve lost yourself in the chaos of motherhood?

 You’re not alone. And you don’t have to keep feeling this way.
I created this FREE guide for you:
 🎁 The Overwhelmed Mom’s Guide: 10 Small Changes to Start Feeling Like You Again

 Simple, realistic shifts you can start making today without adding more to your plate.

👉 https://jenaburris.kit.com/ecc29b3801

Episode 66: The Hidden Cost of Ignoring Your God-Given Desires

Have you ever felt guilty for wanting something more for yourself?
Maybe you're a mom who's constantly taking care of everyone else, leaving little time or energy for your own dreams. Or perhaps you've convinced yourself that wanting something beyond your basic needs is selfish.

In this solo episode of Let's Get Real, Jena Burris opens up about her journey of learning to embrace her God-given desires, challenge limiting beliefs, and give herself permission to dream again.

Through her experiences with motherhood, chronic illness, and personal growth, Jena shares how she began moving beyond survival mode and reconnecting with the things that make her feel alive.

Giving Yourself Permission to Want More

Growing up in a Christian household, Jena believed that desire was something to be cautious about. But as she explored her faith, she began realizing that not all desires are bad. Some are part of how God created us to flourish.

She reflects on how motherhood and chronic illness left her feeling overwhelmed and disconnected from her creativity. Even when her basic needs were being met, she longed for opportunities to create, explore, and pursue something meaningful.

But allowing herself to want more meant confronting feelings of guilt, shame, and unworthiness.

Taking Small Steps Toward Your Dreams

Jena shares how taking a pottery class became a meaningful step toward reconnecting with herself. Although she initially felt guilty about spending time and money on something she wanted, the experience reminded her how fulfilling it could be to create simply for the joy of it.

She also discusses the importance of asking for help, challenging limiting beliefs, and surrounding yourself with people who encourage your growth.

Most importantly, she reminds us that fear and guilt don't have to disappear before we take action. Sometimes, moving forward means bringing those feelings along without allowing them to control our decisions.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:
Why not all desires are selfish or wrong.
How motherhood can make it difficult to prioritize your dreams.
The difference between surviving and truly flourishing.
How guilt, shame, and limiting beliefs can keep you stuck.
Why asking for help is an important part of pursuing your desires.
How small steps can help you reconnect with your creativity and identity.
Why you don't have to wait until fear disappears to move forward.

A Reminder That You Are Worth It
You don't need permission from everyone around you to pursue something that matters to you.

Your dreams and desires are worth exploring, even when life feels overwhelming. You can start small, ask for support, and take meaningful steps toward becoming more fully who God created you to be.

If this episode resonates with you, share it with someone who needs a reminder that her dreams matter, too!

Free Resource for Moms

Feeling overwhelmed and like you’ve lost yourself in the chaos of motherhood?

 You’re not alone. And you don’t have to keep feeling this way.

I created this FREE guide for you:
 🎁 The Overwhelmed Mom’s Guide: 10 Small Changes to Start Feeling Like You Again

 Simple, realistic shifts you can start making today without adding more to your plate.

👉 https://jenaburris.kit.com/ecc29b3801

Episode 65: Why Resisting Your Symptoms Makes Healing Harder 

Why do the things that matter most often feel the hardest to begin?
Whether it's creating something meaningful, having an honest conversation, showing up for your healing, or simply getting through the day with chronic illness, resistance has a way of convincing us to stop before we even start.

In this solo episode, I explore the quiet but powerful force of resistance—how it disguises itself as fear, perfectionism, procrastination, and self-doubt, and why learning to respond differently has become one of the most important parts of my healing journey.

This isn't about eliminating resistance.
It's about learning that resistance doesn't always mean you're on the wrong path.

Sometimes it means you're standing at the edge of growth.

Why Resistance Feels So Convincing

Resistance rarely announces itself by saying, "I'm afraid."
Instead, it sounds practical.

"Maybe tomorrow."
"You're too tired today."
"You need to know more before you share."
"Wait until you've figured it all out."

I share how these internal stories show up before recording this podcast, during creative work, and throughout everyday life—and why our brains often mistake vulnerability for danger.

The more meaningful something is, the louder resistance often becomes.

Chronic Illness, the Nervous System & Learning to Feel Safe Again

As I've continued recovering from mold toxicity and chronic illness, I've discovered that resistance doesn't only show up around creativity.

It also appears whenever my body doesn't feel the way I wish it would.

Fatigue.
Pain.
Brain fog.
Anxiety.

Instead of immediately trying to fix, fight, or escape every uncomfortable feeling, I've been learning a completely different approach through nervous system work—one that invites acceptance instead of panic.

It's simple to describe.
Much harder to practice.
But it's changing the way I move through each day.

Acceptance Isn't Giving Up

One of the biggest lessons I'm learning is that acceptance is not the same as surrendering hope.

It's choosing to stop fighting reality long enough to actually be present with it.

When we constantly resist our emotions, symptoms, or circumstances, we spend enormous amounts of energy trying to push away what already exists.

Ironically, that resistance often creates even more suffering.
In this episode, I share why grief has become an unexpected part of healing, how perfectionism can keep us stuck, and why creating space for difficult emotions may actually be the doorway to greater peace.

In This Episode, We Discuss:
What resistance actually is and why it shows up.
The stories fear tells us before we take meaningful action.
How resistance affects creativity and vulnerability.
Lessons from The War of Art on overcoming creative resistance.
The connection between chronic illness, the nervous system, and feeling safe.
Why trying to fix or avoid uncomfortable feelings often makes them stronger.
How perfectionism fuels resistance and anxiety.
The role grief plays in accepting life's imperfect realities.
A simple practice to interrupt resistance by canceling the story and creating space for the present moment.

If you've been feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or convinced that fear means you're heading in the wrong direction, I hope this conversation reminds you that resistance is part of being human.

You don't have to wait until you feel fearless.

Sometimes healing begins the moment we stop fighting what we're feeling, soften toward the present, and take the next small step anyway.

Free Resource for Moms

Feeling overwhelmed and like you’ve lost yourself in the chaos of motherhood?

 You’re not alone. And you don’t have to keep feeling this way.

I created this FREE guide for you:
 🎁 The Overwhelmed Mom’s Guide: 10 Small Changes to Start Feeling Like You Again

 Simple, realistic shifts you can start making today without adding more to your plate.

👉 https://jenaburris.kit.com/ecc29b3801

Episode 64: What Happens When Needs Go Unmet

For most of my life, I believed having needs was something to hide.

Somewhere along the way, I learned that asking for help was an inconvenience, needing rest was weakness, and strong people should be able to handle everything on their own. So I became really good at pushing through, minimizing my own needs, and convincing myself I was fine.

Until motherhood made that impossible.

In this deeply personal solo episode, I'm sharing how becoming a mom, walking through chronic illness, and years of living in survival mode forced me to confront one of the biggest lies I'd been believing—that I shouldn't need anyone.

Learning to embrace my humanity has become one of the most freeing parts of my healing journey.

We Weren't Meant to Do Life Alone

Our culture celebrates independence.

We're praised for being productive, self-sufficient, and capable of doing it all. But beneath that pressure is often a deep fear of admitting that we need help.

Motherhood exposed that fear in me almost immediately.

As I cared for babies who needed me constantly, I began realizing something I had ignored for years: I had needs too. The anger, resentment, and exhaustion I was experiencing weren't because my children needed too much—they were revealing how little support I believed I was allowed to ask for.

What Unmet Needs Really Cost Us

Ignoring our needs doesn't make them disappear.

Instead, they often show up as burnout, resentment, emotional exhaustion, chronic stress, and feeling disconnected from ourselves and the people we love.

I share how years of trying to "do it all" while my husband traveled for work, navigating chronic illness, and raising young children slowly revealed the hidden beliefs driving my behavior. Along the way, I also share the practical ways my husband and I began redefining what support looked like during different seasons of life—and why learning to receive help has been just as important as learning to give it.

Becoming Human Again

One of the most transformative resources I've discovered is The Needs of the Heart by Chip Dodd.

His work gave language to something I had struggled to explain for years: every human being has core needs, and those needs don't disappear simply because we ignore them.

In this episode, I share the 11 Core Needs, why support has become one of the biggest areas of growth in my own life, and how learning to ask one simple question—What do I need right now?—has changed the way I approach healing, relationships, motherhood, and even my relationship with God.

Because healing isn't about becoming someone who no longer has needs.

It's about learning that having needs is part of being fully alive.

In This Episode, We Discuss:
Why so many of us feel ashamed of having needs.
The cultural messages that glorify self-sufficiency.
How motherhood exposed beliefs I didn't know I was carrying.
Why unmet needs often show up as resentment and burnout.
My journey of learning to ask for support without shame.
The 11 Core Needs from The Needs of the Heart by Chip Dodd.
Why our needs are ongoing—not something we "graduate" from.
The connection between feelings, unmet needs, and healing.
Practical ways to begin identifying what you truly need.

If you've ever struggled to ask for help, felt guilty for taking care of yourself, or believed you should be able to carry everything on your own, I hope this episode reminds you that you're not broken.

You're human.

And learning to honor your needs may be one of the most important parts of becoming fully yourself.

Free Resource for Moms

Feeling overwhelmed and like you’ve lost yourself in the chaos of motherhood?

You’re not alone. And you don’t have to keep feeling this way.

I created this FREE guide for you:
 🎁 The Overwhelmed Mom’s Guide: 10 Small Changes to Start Feeling Like You Again

 Simple, realistic shifts you can start making today without adding more to your plate.

👉 https://jenaburris.kit.com/ecc29b3801

Episode 63: What Chronic Illness Taught Me About Rest, Guilt & Self-Trust

For years, I knew something wasn't right.

I was exhausted no matter how much I slept. Brain fog made it difficult to think clearly. Anxiety, dizziness, nausea, and overwhelming fatigue became part of my everyday life. Doctor after doctor told me my lab work looked normal, leaving me questioning my own experience and wondering if it really was "just stress."

In this solo episode, I'm sharing the story I've only touched on in short clips online—the journey that ultimately led to discovering severe mold toxicity, the emotional toll of chronic illness, and what this season has taught me about healing.

This wasn't just a story about finding a diagnosis. It became a story about learning to trust myself again.

When You Know Something Is Wrong—Even When No One Else Can See It

Living with chronic illness often feels invisible.

Symptoms are easy to explain away as motherhood, grief, hormones, stress, or simply getting older. But when months turn into years and your body continues to decline despite doing "all the right things," it becomes impossible to ignore.

I share what it was like navigating countless doctors, trying different treatment plans, feeling dismissed, and questioning my own reality before finally finding practitioners who understood what was happening. Discovering mold toxicity didn't solve everything overnight, but it finally gave a name to what my body had been fighting for years.

Healing Isn't Just Physical—It's Emotional Too

Finding mold in our home completely changed our lives.

From moving out of our house for months, navigating remediation, managing insurance, caring for young children, supporting my husband through his own cognitive symptoms, and making overwhelming decisions while still incredibly sick, it was one of the hardest seasons our family has ever experienced.

Even after returning to a safe home, my body didn't immediately bounce back. Instead, it shut down.

That experience forced me to ask a question I hadn't asked myself in a very long time:
What do I actually need?

The answer surprised me.

Rest, Play & Learning to Trust Myself Again

For so long, my life revolved around responsibilities, productivity, and survival.

Healing invited me into something completely different.

This summer became an intentional season of rest, fun, and play. I started saying yes to things that brought me joy, playing golf, buying the Jeep I'd dreamed about for over twenty years, taking naps without apologizing, and allowing myself to rediscover parts of who I was underneath the illness.

What I didn't expect was the guilt.

In this episode, I unpack why choosing ourselves can feel uncomfortable, how chronic illness exposed beliefs I didn't realize I was carrying, and why self-trust often begins with listening to the quiet needs we've ignored for far too long.

In This Episode, We Discuss:
My years-long journey searching for answers to chronic illness.
How mold toxicity was finally discovered.
The emotional impact of feeling dismissed by medical professionals.
What our family experienced during mold remediation.
Why healing requires more than physical treatment.
The connection between rest, nervous system regulation, and recovery.
Learning to choose joy without guilt.
Rebuilding self-trust one small decision at a time.

If you've ever felt unseen, exhausted, or questioned your own experience because no one could explain what was happening, I hope this episode reminds you that you're not alone.

Healing isn't always linear.
Sometimes it begins the moment we stop dismissing ourselves and start believing what our body has been trying to tell us all along.

Free Resource for Moms
Feeling overwhelmed and like you’ve lost yourself in the chaos of motherhood?

You’re not alone. And you don’t have to keep feeling this way.

I created this FREE guide for you:
 🎁 The Overwhelmed Mom’s Guide: 10 Small Changes to Start Feeling Like You Again

 Simple, realistic shifts you can start making today without adding more to your plate.
👉 https://jenaburris.kit.com/ecc29b3801

Episode 62: When Getting Lost Becomes Your Turning Point with Tracy Smith
Sometimes the biggest transformation doesn't begin with having a perfect plan. It begins with saying yes to something that feels exciting, even if you don't know exactly how it will unfold.

In this episode, Jena sits down with author and traveler Tracy Smith to talk about the one-way ticket to Iceland that unexpectedly changed the course of her life. After years of putting everyone else's needs first, Tracy found herself entering a new season where her children no longer needed her in the same ways. What started as an impulsive decision to join friends on a trip eventually became a journey of self-discovery, courage, and learning who she was beyond the roles of mom, employee, and caregiver.

Their conversation is a powerful reminder that rediscovering yourself rarely happens overnight. It's often built through small, intentional decisions that slowly reconnect you with the person you've always been.

Learning to Say Yes to Yourself Again
For years, Tracy's life revolved around caring for everyone else. Like many women, every decision first went through the filter of, "What do my kids need?" As her children became more independent, she realized she finally had space to consider what she wanted.

Rather than jumping straight into a completely different life, Tracy explains how learning to say yes started with small decisions—reading a book before doing the dishes, taking a weekend trip, or allowing herself to make plans without guilt. Those small moments eventually built the confidence to book a one-way ticket across the world.

Why Travel Changed More Than Her Passport
While the destinations were beautiful, the greatest transformation happened within.

Travel exposed Tracy to different cultures, perspectives, foods, and ways of living. More importantly, it challenged the fears and patterns she didn't even realize she carried. Over time, she became more confident, more curious, and more willing to step outside her comfort zone.

One of the biggest surprises wasn't becoming fearless—it was realizing she no longer depended on someone else to create happiness for her. The change happened so gradually that she didn't fully recognize it until she looked back months later.

You Are More Than the Roles You Carry
One of the most meaningful parts of this conversation is the reminder that we are more than the titles we hold.

Yes, you're a mom, a spouse, an employee, a caregiver—but underneath every role is still you. Tracy shares how rediscovering herself helped her build healthier boundaries, strengthen her relations Nhip with her children, and make intentional choices that reflected who she truly wanted to be.

If you've been waiting for the "right time" to pursue a dream, this episode offers hope that your dreams don't disappear just because life gets busy. Sometimes they simply wait patiently until you're ready to answer them.

Whether your next step is booking a trip, trying something new, or simply saying yes to yourself in one small way today, this conversation will encourage you to believe that it's never too late to rediscover who you are.

Connect with Tracy
https://www.instagram.com/tracytravelseverywhere/
https://www.tracysmithauthor.com/


P.S. If this episode resonates with you, please reach out. I truly want to hear your story. You can DM me on Instagram @jenaburris or email me at [email protected]. Your voice matters — and I’m here for you.

Free Resource for Moms
Feeling overwhelmed and like you’ve lost yourself in the chaos of motherhood?

You’re not alone. And you don’t have to keep feeling this way.

I created this FREE guide for you:
 🎁 The Overwhelmed Mom’s Guide: 10 Small Changes to Start Feeling Like You Again

 Simple, realistic shifts you can start making today without adding more to your plate.

👉 https://jenaburris.kit.com/ecc29b3801

Episode 61: Smart, Successful and Still Not Fulfilled? Let's Talk About It with Zerina Derveni

What happens when you've done everything "right"—built a successful career, reached impressive milestones, and created a life that looks successful from the outside—but internally, something feels off?

For many high-achieving women, success becomes a cycle of striving, proving, and chasing the next accomplishment. Yet even after reaching the goals they once dreamed of, they're left wondering why they still feel disconnected, exhausted, or unfulfilled.

In this episode of Let's Get Real, Jena sits down with executive and life coach Zerina Derveni to explore why so many ambitious women experience burnout despite outward success. Zerina shares her own story of repeatedly feeling the quiet nudge that she was meant for something different—and how learning to listen to that inner voice completely changed the trajectory of her life.

The Courage to Rediscover Yourself
Rather than making impulsive decisions, Zerina explains why lasting change begins with slowing down and becoming curious. Together, Jena and Zerina discuss the limiting beliefs that often keep women stuck, the importance of questioning old definitions of success, and why discovering your purpose is a process rather than a single moment.

Zerina also introduces her five-stage framework—awakening, unlearning, exploration, integration, and authentic living—which helps women navigate seasons of uncertainty while building greater confidence, clarity, and self-trust.

Living Authentically Instead of Performing
One of the most powerful themes throughout this conversation is the difference between performing and truly living. Emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and learning to trust your intuition become essential tools for creating a life that feels aligned—not just impressive.

If you've been feeling disconnected, questioning your next chapter, or sensing that there's more to life than simply checking boxes, this episode will remind you that those quiet inner nudges aren't something to ignore. They may be the invitation to rediscover who you really are and begin living with greater purpose, peace, and authenticity.

Connect with Zerina
https://www.zerinalifecoach.com/
https://www.instagram.com/zerinalifecoach/?igshid=YjNmNGQ3MDY%3D


P.S. If this episode resonates with you, please reach out. I truly want to hear your story. You can DM me on Instagram @jenaburris or email me at [email protected]. Your voice matters — and I’m here for you.

Free Resource for Moms
Feeling overwhelmed and like you’ve lost yourself in the chaos of motherhood?

You’re not alone. And you don’t have to keep feeling this way.

I created this FREE guide for you:
 🎁 The Overwhelmed Mom’s Guide: 10 Small Changes to Start Feeling Like You Again

 Simple, realistic shifts you can start making today without adding more to your plate.

👉 https://jenaburris.kit.com/ecc29b3801

Episode 60: When Faith Is Misused & Healing From Abuse With Rev. Cheryl Kincaid

There are few things more confusing than being hurt by someone while also being told your faith requires you to stay silent.

For many women, spiritual language becomes tangled with fear, guilt, and shame. Scriptures about forgiveness are used to excuse abuse. Submission is misunderstood as enduring harm. And instead of finding safety, many women are left wondering where God is in the middle of their pain.

In this episode of Let's Get Real, I sit down with Rev. Cheryl Kincaid to have an honest conversation about faith, abuse, trauma, and healing. Cheryl shares her own journey of surviving childhood abuse, navigating unhealthy relationships, and discovering that true biblical healing required more than simply trying harder or hiding her pain behind Scripture. It required telling the truth.

When Faith Is Used to Silence Instead of Heal

Cheryl opens up about how she once believed that if she stayed faithful enough, disciplined enough, and only dated Christian men, she would automatically break unhealthy patterns. Instead, she found herself repeatedly drawn into abusive relationships and unhealthy ministry environments.

Everything began to change when she sought trauma-informed counseling and started reading Scripture through a different lens.
We talk about why counseling is not a lack of faith, the importance of finding safe people to process trauma with, and how confession, honesty, and healing have always been deeply biblical. Cheryl explains the difference between forgiveness and denial, showing how minimizing abuse or pretending it "wasn't that bad" actually keeps women trapped in harmful cycles.

God's Heart Is Never Abuse
One of the most powerful parts of our conversation centers on righteous anger. Cheryl explains that anger is not the enemy—it can be God's gift that alerts us when injustice has occurred. Healing isn't about pretending we aren't hurt; it's about acknowledging the truth, releasing vengeance to God, and learning healthy boundaries.

We also discuss how spiritual language can sometimes be misused to pressure women into staying in unsafe situations. Cheryl challenges common misconceptions about forgiveness, submission, and unconditional trust, reminding us that Jesus Himself modeled wisdom, caution, and healthy boundaries.

If you've ever questioned whether protecting yourself is biblical... if you've struggled to separate forgiveness from reconciliation... or if you've wondered whether God truly sees the pain you've carried, this conversation offers both compassion and hope.

Healing begins when we stop denying what happened and start telling the truth.

If this episode encouraged you, share it with someone who may need this reminder today: God never asks you to ignore abuse in the name of faith. He invites you into truth, healing, and freedom.

Connect with Rev.Cheryl
https://www.instagram.com/pastorcherylkincaid/
https://www.youtube.com/@cherylkincaid5643/podcasts

P.S. If this episode resonates with you, please reach out. I truly want to hear your story. You can DM me on Instagram @jenaburris or email me at [email protected]. Your voice matters — and I’m here for you.

Free Resource for Moms

Feeling overwhelmed and like you’ve lost yourself in the chaos of motherhood?
 You’re not alone. And you don’t have to keep feeling this way.

I created this FREE guide for you:
 🎁 The Overwhelmed Mom’s Guide: 10 Small Changes to Start Feeling Like You Again
 Simple, realistic shifts you can start making today without adding more to your plate.

👉 https://jenaburris.kit.com/ecc29b3801

Episode 59: The Difference Between Real Faith and Avoiding Your Pain With Laura Bratton

Faith can be powerful.

But sometimes what we call faith is actually avoidance.

In this episode, I sit down with Laura Bratton to talk about the subtle, and often invisible — difference between trusting God and bypassing our pain.

Because there’s a version of “faith” that sounds spiritual… but keeps us disconnected from our hearts.

And there’s a version of faith that requires us to feel everything.

When Faith Becomes a Shield

For many women, especially in faith communities, we’re taught to:

“Give it to God.”
 “Trust the process.”
 “Count it all joy.”

And while those truths hold weight, they can sometimes become shields we hide behind.

Laura shares how easy it is to spiritually explain away grief, anger, disappointment, or trauma instead of actually processing it. We quote scripture. We pray harder. We smile through it.

But underneath?

The pain is still there.

Real faith isn’t pretending we’re okay.
 It isn’t minimizing heartbreak.
 It isn’t rushing ourselves to the lesson.

Real faith is bringing our full, messy, human selves to God — without editing.

The Courage to Feel

One of the most powerful parts of this conversation is the reminder that avoidance delays healing.

When we suppress grief, it doesn’t disappear.
 When we silence anger, it doesn’t dissolve.
 When we rush past disappointment, it doesn’t transform.

It just goes underground.

Laura talks about how true healing begins when we allow ourselves to name what we’re actually feeling, even when those feelings feel “unspiritual.”

Sad.
 Angry.
 Confused.
 Disillusioned.
 Tired.

God isn’t afraid of those emotions.

And neither should we be.

Faith That Holds Both

Faith isn’t the absence of pain.

It’s the willingness to stay present inside it.

This episode invites you to consider:

• Where am I using spiritual language to avoid emotional work?
• Where am I rushing myself to gratitude instead of sitting in grief?
• What would it look like to trust God while still honoring my pain?

Because the deepest faith isn’t shiny.

It’s honest.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re trusting God or just avoiding something hard… this conversation will gently help you untangle the difference.

And if you’ve felt pressure to “be strong” in your faith while quietly hurting inside — you are not alone.

Connect with Laura Bratton

You can learn more about Laura’s work, her book Harnessing Courage, and her coaching and speaking at LauraBratton.com.

Her work is a powerful reminder that grief, fear, faith, and gratitude can exist together and that moving forward doesn’t require having everything figured out.

P.S. If this episode resonates with you, please reach out. I truly want to hear your story. You can DM me on Instagram @jenaburris or email me at [email protected]. Your voice matters — and I’m here for you.

Free Resource for Moms

Feeling overwhelmed and like you’ve lost yourself in the chaos of motherhood?
You’re not alone. And you don’t have to keep feeling this way.

I created this FREE guide for you:
 🎁 The Overwhelmed Mom’s Guide: 10 Small Changes to Start Feeling Like You Again
 Simple, realistic shifts you can start making today without adding more to your plate.

👉 https://jenaburris.kit.com/ecc29b3801

Episode 58: Moving Through Grief One Small Step at a Time With Lisa Espinoza

Grief has a way of freezing time.

The world keeps moving.
The calendar keeps turning.
Holidays still come.

But the person grieving can feel stuck, suspended between what was and what will never be again.

In this episode, I sit down with Lisa Espinoza, author of First Brush Your Teeth: Grief and Hope in Real Time, to talk about what it actually looks like to move through devastating loss, not years later, but day by day.

On January 1, 2019, Lisa lost her youngest son, Chandler, after 18 days in the hospital following a traumatic brain injury. What began as cautious hope during those hospital days ultimately became unimaginable loss.

And in the middle of it all, she wrote.

Grief in Real Time

Just days after Chandler was hit, Lisa began journaling daily updates on CaringBridge. What started as a way to keep family and friends informed became something deeper, a way to process the unthinkable.

After losing Chandler, Lisa committed to writing every single day for an entire year. Not polished reflections from a distance. Not tidy lessons learned. But real-time grief.

She wrote through:

• The first Mother’s Day
• The first birthday
• The first holidays
• The ordinary Tuesdays that felt impossible

Her book is a collection of those entries, raw, honest, and unfiltered.

Because when you’re grieving, you don’t want a bow on top.
You don’t want clichés.
You want someone who understands what the first “everything” feels like.

As Lisa shares, sometimes the most helpful words aren’t explanations. They’re simply:
 “God, this hurts. I hate this for you.”

Grief, Identity & the Possibility of Joy

Loss reshapes identity in ways we don’t anticipate.

Lisa describes the moment someone asked her how many children she had — and realizing she would always be a mother of four, even though one of her sons now lives in heaven. Grief doesn’t erase identity. It reshapes it.

And yet, in the middle of heartbreak, Lisa discovered something surprising:

Joy can coexist with grief.

Not in a forced, “everything happens for a reason” way.
 But in small, honest steps.

She offers this gentle starting point:

“I’m willing to become willing to be open to the idea of joy.”

Not today’s big breakthrough.
 Not pretending you’re fine.
 Just a crack in the door.

Grief isn’t something we fix. It’s something we move through, one breath, one page, one small step at a time.

If you are grieving, or walking alongside someone who is,  this conversation will remind you that you are not crazy, not weak, and not alone.

And if you’ve ever wondered what to say to someone in deep loss, Lisa offers simple wisdom: don’t minimize. Don’t compare. Just be present.

Connect with Lisa

You can connect with Lisa at lisaspinoza.com and find her free resource, A Gentle Guide for Getting Through the Day When You’re Grieving the Loss of Your Child.

P.S. If this episode resonates with you, please reach out. I truly want to hear your story. You can DM me on Instagram @jenaburris or email me at [email protected]. Your voice matters — and I’m here for you.

Free Resource for Moms

Feeling overwhelmed and like you’ve lost yourself in the chaos of motherhood?
You’re not alone. And you don’t have to keep feeling this way.

I created this FREE guide for you:
 🎁 The Overwhelmed Mom’s Guide: 10 Small Changes to Start Feeling Like You Again
 Simple, realistic shifts you can start making today without adding more to your plate.

👉 https://jenaburris.kit.com/ecc29b3801

Episode 57: Breaking Free from Burnout & Self-Sabotage With Heather Simco

Burnout doesn’t usually arrive all at once.

It builds quietly.
Through overworking.
Through people-pleasing.
Through coping mechanisms that feel “normal”… until they aren’t.

In this episode, I sit down with Heather Simco to talk about what burnout really looks like beneath the surface and how self-sabotage often hides inside behaviors we’ve normalized for years.

Heather shares her powerful personal story of growing up in instability, learning early to wear a façade, and coping first through food and later through alcohol. What started as survival eventually escalated into addiction — all while she maintained a successful career, marriage, and public image.

On paper, everything looked fine.
Behind the scenes, she was unraveling.

Her sobriety journey began on April 30, 2014 and with it came the hard work of rebuilding her life from the inside out.

The Hidden Signs of Burnout

Heather describes burnout not just as exhaustion, but as living in extremes.

Working 18-hour days.
Over-functioning.
Crash dieting.
Over-exercising.
People-pleasing.
Numbing out with wine, shopping, food, scrolling, or chaos.

She calls it “deprivation or overcompensation.”

For many high-achieving women, burnout isn’t laziness. It’s running at 100 miles an hour with no healthy way to slow down.

And when we don’t know how to come down gently… we crash.

When People-Pleasing Becomes Self-Sabotage

One of the most eye-opening parts of our conversation?
Heather names people-pleasing as a form of self-sabotage.

We say yes to everything.
We try to make everyone happy.
We avoid confrontation.

But over time, we lose ourselves.

Heather explains that boundaries are the turning point. Taking inventory of relationships, identifying where energy is leaking, and learning that “no” is a complete sentence can radically shift everything.

Because when we don’t decide what comes off our plate — life will decide for us.

If you’ve been running on empty…
If you recognize yourself in the extremes…
If you’re tired of crashing after pushing too hard…

This episode is for you.

Connect with Heather:
Visit heathersimco.com to explore coaching, community, and resources.

P.S. If this episode resonates with you, please reach out. I truly want to hear your story. You can DM me on Instagram @jenaburris or email me at [email protected]. Your voice matters — and I’m here for you.