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A beach vacation sounds simple until it changes what you believe you’re allowed to want. We’re joined by Serenity Leslie, a coach and traveler who shares how her first real trips, including Puerto Vallarta and Hawaii, broke open a new sense of possibility and exposed the routines and expectations she’d been living inside. What starts as travel inspiration quickly becomes something deeper: identity, freedom, and the courage to choose a life that actually fits.

Serenity opens up about divorce, a near-death car accident, and doing serious inner work through therapy and healing. She connects the dots between listening to your body, facing fear, and stepping out of the loops that keep so many women stuck. If you’re craving a reset, navigating a life transition, or questioning your career path, you’ll hear what it can look like to rebuild without pretending it’s easy.

Then we get practical for solo travel and everyday life: how to work with fear, how to redirect plans when the world feels unsafe, and how to tell the difference between intuition, anxiety, and fear. Serenity explains the body cues that help you make clearer decisions and stay aligned with what you truly want. We close with how she turns these lessons into her work. Visit her at Manifesting Serenity || Manifestation, Inspiration, Empowerment, and Travel Exploration Hub.

To listen to more Real Women LIVE episodes, click here: Podcast

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Most people are taught what rape is, but almost no one is taught what to do if it happens to them. That gap costs survivors options, time, and peace, especially in the first hours when shock takes over and the instinct is to scrub everything away.

We sit down with Jillie Maria, who shares her lived experience of being raped by her boyfriend and the years it took before the trauma fully surfaced again. We talk candidly about dissociation, numbness, shame, and the moment she finally walked into a rape crisis center and said the words out loud. She describes what helped her start healing and why three simple words from a counselor can change everything: “I believe you.”

You’ll also hear practical, survivor-centered guidance: what evidence preservation really means, why people say “don’t shower,” what a rape kit and SANE exam involve, and how reporting can be separate from prosecution depending on where you live. We break down rape vs. sexual assault definitions, why consent has to be explicit, and why so many survivors second-guess themselves when the person who harmed them is someone they know. We also explore long-term sexual trauma recovery, including body memory, triggers, therapy, group support, boundaries, and the hard but freeing question: what would justice look like for you?

For a free resource from today's guest: Jillie Maria | Trauma & E-motion Coach. If this conversation helps, subscribe, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a review so more survivors can find support.

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"Stay for the kids" is a line we often hear, but no one explains what kids actually learn when home feels tense, unsafe, or full of quiet disrespect. We sit down with Leanne Hutchinson, host of Life After Plus One, who shares what it looked like to leave a toxic relationship with her young daughter and rebuild from scratch, including the scary in-between season of couches, motels, and pure uncertainty. Her story is raw, practical, and grounded in one clear goal: create a healthy environment where your child can breathe.

We also get specific about the real-life mechanics of single parenting after separation: finding stability, managing money stress, and building work that fits school runs and the emotional load you carry. Leanne explains why she chose entrepreneurship, what the early “no guaranteed income” phase really feels like, and why persistence matters, especially when you’re tempted to quit. If you’re navigating a breakup, divorce, or domestic abuse recovery, this conversation offers a steady reminder that rebuilding takes time, but it is possible.

Then we move into solutions that make daily life calmer: simple self-care routines that don’t require extra money, and a co-parenting mindset shift that can lower conflict fast. Treating co-parenting like a business relationship, separating the breakup from the parenting role, and working through triggers can help you show up more grounded for your kids and for yourself. 

If you’re a single mom ready for a healthier next chapter, subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review so more single parents can find this support.

For more information about Leanne Hutchinson, visit https://www.lifeafterplusone.com/.

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Trauma doesn’t always show up as a single memory you can point to. Sometimes it shows up as a life that feels “off,” a voice that doesn’t sound like yours, reactions that feel bigger than the moment, and cycles you can’t explain no matter how hard you work on yourself. We sit down with Lease Youmans, author and trauma-informed speaker, to trace how childhood sexual abuse at 12 quietly shaped decades of decisions, coping, and identity, even while she believed she was living authentically.

Lease shares the moment everything shifted during a coaching session at age 50, when she realized the real breakthrough wasn’t about finding one more missing piece; it was about facing what she had disconnected from. We talk about dissociation, the need to stay busy to avoid stillness, and how trauma can influence relationships, self-worth, and the deep desire to be seen and valued. She also explains why personal growth can feel like frustration when you’re trying to build a future on an unhealed foundation.

From writing her book “Triumphant: A Journey from Trauma to Triumph” to starting therapy and learning to “unmute” her voice, Lease lays out a healing journey rooted in truth and steadiness. She closes by sharing her current work through The Trauma Unit and the Trauma Unit Experience, a trauma-informed healing system designed to stabilize, restore, and rebuild without pressure or retraumatization. Find her work here: HOME | LEASE L. YOUMANS

If you resonate with trauma healing, childhood trauma recovery, reclaiming your voice, and becoming your authentic self, this conversation will stay with you. 

Interested in turning your story into purpose?  Visit https://www.jessicastipanovic.com

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For some women, overeating isn’t about hunger. It’s promising yourself you’ll have just a little, eating more than you meant to, and wondering why it keeps happening. Julie Kleinhans knows that cycle well. She spent years dieting and bingeing before a referral to Overeaters Anonymous gave her a different way to understand her relationship with food.  Here is her story about how she applied that solution for both health and success in her life. 

Julie takes us back to sneaking sweets as a child and shares what it was like to recognize the foods that triggered her binges. She explains why abstaining from those foods worked for her when moderation hadn’t, how she dealt with the grief of giving them up, and how she lost 90 pounds. Her recovery became about more than weight: it changed how she cared for herself every day.

We also talk about the support that helped her stay connected to recovery, including a 12-step community, daily structure, and prayer. Julie shares her Christ-centered approach while recognizing that women with different beliefs can also find support in 12-step communities.

Today, Julie uses what she learned to help others through Reshape and Recover, its online community and weekly Zoom meetings, and her book Twelve Steps to Recovery from Overeating. Her story is an honest look at what happened when she stopped trying to manage compulsive overeating alone. If her story made you think about your own, explore more Real Women LIVE conversations. A new woman’s story arrives every Tuesday.

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How do you leave a legacy through a song, and what happens when your own life needs saving first? Jessica sits down with Canadian roots singer-songwriter Sarah Smith for an honest, grounded talk about sobriety, spirituality, and the kind of creativity that feels like it comes from somewhere bigger than you. Sarah shares how growing up in a deeply Christian home gave her community and structure, then how questioning, seeking, and recovery pushed her to build a personal concept of God that actually works in daily life. 

We dig into the recovery journey in real terms: getting sober at 21, diving into spiritual self-help, then later relapsing into a decade of partying that slowly turned into what she calls “soul sickness.” Sarah describes the moments she hit her knees, asked for help, and felt warmth and strength return. We also talk about practical tools that support emotional sobriety, including anger work, naming feelings, HALT, and the pause that turns a reaction into a response. If you’re navigating addiction recovery, alcohol-free living, or simply craving more inner peace, you’ll hear language you can use and practices you can try. 

Sarah also connects spirituality to purpose in music. She explains why she titled her single “Your Name (God)” and how that bracket is an invitation for believers, agnostics, and atheists to choose the word that helps them live with integrity. We explore her powerful songwriting collaborations and “legacy songs,” written from real stories of love, grief, chronic pain, and opioid overdose loss, plus what it takes to stay sober while touring venues where drinking is everywhere. 

If you take something from this conversation, subscribe, leave a review, and share the episode with someone who needs it.

If you'd like to connect with Sarah or collaborate on songwriting during her winter writing sessions, visit Sarah Smith - A Canadian Roots Rock Singer/Songwriter or find her on social media platforms @SarahSmithMusic.

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We sit down with Michelle Valiukenas to talk about losing her daughter after a premature birth and how that grief reshapes identity, relationships, and the way the world responds to parents in pain. She shares how noticing the hidden financial burden of high-risk pregnancy and NICU life led her to build the Colette Louise Tisdahl Foundation and speak openly so other families do not have to suffer in silence. 

We talk about the parts people whisper about but rarely name out loud: the identity shock of being a mom without a baby at home, the strange social time limit placed on grief, and the way friends disappear because they don’t know what to say. Michelle shares what helped, what hurt, and why speaking her daughter Colette’s name became both healing and disruptive in the best way because it permitted other parents to tell the truth about their own losses.

A major thread is the financial burden that stacks on top of heartbreak. Michelle noticed how money shapes everything in a crisis: whether a parent can stay bedside in the neonatal intensive care unit, recover postpartum, or keep life afloat when medical complications derail work. That insight led her to found the Collette Louise Tisdal Foundation, a national nonprofit providing financial assistance to families facing high-risk or complicated pregnancies, NICU stays, or loss. Over 4,000 families have been helped, and more than $2 million has been distributed. Visit to learn more: https://colettelouise.com/. 

If you’ve experienced pregnancy loss or infant loss, you’ll hear language that makes room for your grief without rushing it. If you love someone who has, you’ll leave with a simple challenge: show up, keep showing up, and don’t wait for perfect words. 

If this episode meant something to you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. 

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Divorce can devastate your finances, but the bigger shock is what it does to your identity. We sit down with Missy, a founder who once lived the high-output life of building and leading multimillion-dollar companies, only to watch everything unravel through a “ripple effect” divorce that wasn’t even her own. Overnight, she lost her role, her home, her income stream, and the sense of certainty that comes with success, and she spent two full years in a darkness she describes as far below “rock bottom.”

We get specific about what starting over after divorce actually looks like when you have limited resources and zero energy. Missy shares the basics that helped her survive, from a pen-and-paper daily checklist to the surprising power of service work and gratitude. Then we shift into the rebuild: using your voice, launching a podcast in the middle of chaos, and moving from consuming other people’s lives to creating your own. If you’re a midlife woman wrestling with loneliness, a confidence crash, or a financial reset, this conversation is a practical roadmap for finding traction again.

We also discuss women's entrepreneurship as a path to financial independence, not as a “get rich quick” fantasy, but as a sustainable way to regain choice. Missy talks about investing in yourself, embracing mistakes, and choosing authenticity in a world that feels more performative than ever. For more details: www.messiemissy.com

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Welcome to Real Women LIVE (formerly Sober Living Stories)

The most important stories of our lives are often the ones we keep hidden.

The divorce. The diagnosis. The addiction. The betrayal. The abuse. The grief. The quiet chapters we convince ourselves no one should ever know.

What if the very story you've spent years trying to hide is the one that changes everything?

Welcome to Real Women LIVE, formerly Sober Living Stories—a podcast built on one simple belief:

The stories we're most afraid to tell often become our greatest source of strength, purpose, and endless possibility.

Every Tuesday, host Jessica Stipanovic sits down with women who have lived through the moments that changed everything. Together, they explore what happened, what was learned, and what became possible when these women stopped performing, started telling the truth out loud, and owned every version of themselves.

These aren't polished success stories. They're honest accounts of loss, addiction, betrayal, trauma, grief, chronic illness, divorce, family hardship, recovery, and starting over. They are powerful conversations about what happens when we stop allowing our past to write the ending of our future.

For years, Jessica kept part of her own story out of view, believing the judgment of her past would somehow cloud her future. Instead, the opposite happened. After sharing publicly that she had been alcohol-free for more than twenty-one years, she discovered that people didn't run from her; they ran toward her. 

 A silent stigma she'd carried for most of her adult life disappeared. Her greatest vulnerability became her greatest visibility, opening doors for her she never imagined possible. 

That realization became the foundation of this podcast and an authorial platform for her upcoming book, because when one woman dares to share her story, another woman discovers the possibility of changing hers.

Many of the women you'll meet here have gone on to write books, launch podcasts, build businesses, create nonprofits, lead communities, and discover purpose-driven platforms they never thought possible. Not because their stories were perfect, but because they weren't.

 If you've ever believed your past disqualified you, you may discover it's the very thing that leads you to your greatest strength, deepest purpose, and wildest possibilities. 

You're in the right place.

Share your story. Change your life.

New episodes every Tuesday.

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Sarah Smith returns to share her spiritual journey from traditional Christianity to finding her own path through sobriety, and how this transformation has influenced her music career spanning over 26 years.

• Raised in a Christian family with her mother as choir director and substitute minister
• Found first sobriety at 21 when a band leader warned her about the dangers of addiction in the music industry
• Spent seven years sober immersing herself in spiritual literature from authors like Wayne Dyer and Deepak Chopra
• Experienced a 10-year relapse before finding sustained recovery
• Uses music as a conduit for healing, collaborating with fans to transform their stories into songs
• Created meaningful works including legacy songs for people facing terminal illness and those grieving loved ones lost to addiction
• Maintains sobriety in the music industry through boundaries, self-awareness, and having exit strategies
• Recently released compilation album "Shine Bright" featuring favorite tracks from 2012-present
• Changed her perspective from seeking help from a higher power to becoming a vessel for divine creativity

If you'd like to connect with Sarah or collaborate on songwriting during her winter writing sessions, visit sarahsmithmusic.com or find her on social media platforms @SarahSmithMusic.

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Real Women LIVE (formerly Sober Living Stories) Host Jessica Stipanovic is a writer, podcast host, and founder of the Female Entrepreneur Organization. 

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