Sendy Mom

What happens when a teenager who's never been allowed to say "I'm scared" gets put on a plane alone to Hong Kong? Haley Taylor opens up about a high-achieving childhood, a teenage eating disorder, and dropping out of high school — and the solo international trip that taught her she could trust herself. A raw conversation about courage, mental health, and redefining success.

Meet Haley Taylor:

Wife, mother of four, and entrepreneur who runs the international art-easel business behind her husband Brian's invention. Haley coaches beginning riders on her local youth mountain bike team and raises backyard sheep, ducks, and bees. A teenage mental health crisis and a solo trip to Hong Kong at sixteen shaped her lifelong definition of courage.

Takeaways:

• Being Sendy isn't about being hardcore — it's being brave enough to try

• A fixed mindset of "you're smart so you must succeed" makes it unsafe to attempt anything new

• Tough exteriors often hide fear instead of processing it — and that's not sustainable

• Expressing fear doesn't make you weak; it's part of doing hard things anyway

• A mental health crisis can become the turning point that redefines your sense of worth

• Letting your child have their own breakdown — instead of rescuing them — builds real resilience

• Stepping in to "fix" a child's problem can unintentionally validate their fear instead of their capability

• Redefining success means it's okay to try something and not be the best at it

Chapters

00:00 Exposure Therapy

03:30 Growing Up Cautious in a High-Achieving Home

05:45 The High Dive: Learning to Trust Fear Instead of Hiding It

10:53 A Teenage Eating Disorder, Depression, and Dropping Out of Schoo

13:08 Sent Alone to Hong Kong: A Mother's Leap of Faith

19:50 Showing Up Mediocre: The Courage to Try Anyway

Resources found here:

What 16-Year-Old Haley Taylor Learned About Courage From Getting Stranded in an Airport Alone

If you loved this episode, try:

2. Cautiously Crazy with Marty Klinger

22. From $80 to an eBay Business: Sendy Entrepreneurship

31. Planting Positivity: Growing Kids, Gardens, and Relationships

Coaching & Subscribe:

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👉 Email Becky: [email protected]

If you want help to be more sendy, click here

If you're feeling Sendy and would like to be a guest on the show, please fill out this form

What do you do when the world is literally falling apart around you? Julian of Norwich was born into 14th-century England, survived the Black Plague, twice, possibly lost her family, and then voluntarily sealed herself into a single room for thirty years as an anchoress to the chapel Julian in Norwich, England.

Her theology was considered radical for her time. Her words have survived wars, revolutions, and the burning of libraries to reach us today.

In this Sendy Spotlight, we look into the work of Julian of Norwich. She is believed to be the first woman to write a book in the English language. She had the courage to speak when women were meant to be silent. 

Key Takeaways:

• Stillness can be its own form of courage
• You don’t need credentials to speak truth
• Love is a choice, not a feeling
• God is not counting your failures
• Women have always protected each other’s wisdom
• Being strategic is not the same as compromising

Find resources here

Free Coaching & Subscribe:

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👉 Email Becky: [email protected] 

If you want help to be more sendy, click here

What does it look like when divine timing meets radical courage? In Part 2, holistic coach Cherie Burton shares the miraculous stories behind adopting her two youngest children — a son she saw in a spiritual vision years before he arrived, and a daughter who came through six court hearings, a California foster system, and a stranger's recurring dream. Plus rapid fire questions!

Meet Cherie Burton:

Mother of six and female empowerment coach with 20+ years of experience. Certified holistic practitioner and emotional breakthrough trainer, specializing in Aroma Alchemy. Leads retreats worldwide and runs an international wellness business. (Missed Part 1? Start there for shadow work, alchemy & the dark night of the soul.)

Takeaways

• Adoptees are "bridge souls" who choose their families to heal lineage wounds

• Divine timing rarely looks like what we expect — trust the process

• Birth mothers carry deep shame that needs compassion, not judgment

• The primal wound in adoptees is real and worth understanding

• We are never fully healed — just learning to love exactly where we are

• The most courageous thing is sometimes to wait, stay open, and trust

• Connection is the foundation of all healing work

Chapters

00:00 Cherie's Adoption Journey

00:15:00 The Importance of Connection

00:17:04 Rapid Fire Questions

Resources found here:

The Art of Emotional Alchemy: 4 Courageous Lessons from Cherie Burton on Healing Your Shadows, Your Lineage, and Your Life

If you loved this episode, try:

33. The Recipe for Resilience: Illness, Influence, and Inspiration

38. Digital Detox and Upload Humanity with Amy Antonelli of HXP

1. Radical Acceptance with Miriam Wood

Coaching & Subscribe:

👉 Subscribe: sendymom.com

👉 Email Becky: [email protected]

If you want help to be more sendy, click here

If you're feeling Sendy and would like to be a guest on the show, please fill out this form

What if your darkest shadows held your greatest wisdom? Holistic coach Cherie Burton joins Becky to explore shadow work, emotional alchemy, and breaking generational trauma cycles—sharing her profound journey through loss, a seven-year dark night of the soul, and two miraculous adoptions.

Meet Cherie Burton

Mother of six and female empowerment coach with 20+ years of experience in mind-body science, holistic emotional healing, philosophy, and depth psychology. Certified holistic practitioner and emotional breakthrough trainer. Since 2008, specializing in Aroma Alchemy—mind/heart/soul coherence through breathwork, anointing, and essential oils. Leads retreats worldwide.

Takeaways

• Shadow work means embracing your darkness, not eliminating it
• Alchemy transmutes emotional pain into wisdom—not suppression
• Feel emotions fully (even 90 seconds) to prevent physical illness
• A dark night of the soul is a spiritual initiation, not a breakdown
• Surrender is letting go of what you know so your body can teach you
• Adoptees are "bridge souls" healing family lineage wounds
• Inner authority activates when you admit "I don't know"
• Healing yourself heals your entire lineage—past and future

Chapters

00:00 Introducing Cherie Burton: Female Empowerment Coach

05:45 When You Can Change The Family Dynamic

12:32 Pivoting from Traditional Methods for Mental Health Help

15:11 Epigenetics and Alchemy Explained

21:06 Shadow Work Through Alchemy

29:33 Real Experience with Ayahuasca

35:09 The Journey of Self-Discovery

40:33 Practical Ways to Process Emotion

42:03 The Dark Night Of The Soul

Resources found here:

The Art of Emotional Alchemy: 4 Courageous Lessons from Cherie Burton on Healing Your Shadows, Your Lineage, and Your Life

If you loved this episode, try:

33. The Recipe for Resilience: Illness, Influence, and Inspiration

38. Digital Detox and Upload Humanity with Amy Antonelli of HXP

1. Radical Acceptance with Miriam Wood

Coaching & Subscribe:

👉 Subscribe: sendymom.com

👉 Email Becky: [email protected]

If you want help to be more sendy, click here

If you're feeling Sendy and would like to be a guest on the show, please fill out this form

What happens when a woman built for intensity has no outlet for it? For Christie Skousen, the answer was redirecting all of it toward her five-month-old — and quickly realizing that wasn't going to work. Part 2 picks up with Christie rebuilding: starting the Peery Piano Academy from scratch, writing a curriculum for the San Francisco Conservatory prep program, and slowly figuring out who she was beyond the piano.

But this half of the conversation goes somewhere deeper. Christie talks about the cycles she's noticed throughout her life — expansion and contraction, like musical phrasing — and how the blow-ups she never would have chosen (her parents' divorce at 23, losing her older brother to colon cancer at 48, her own 26-year marriage ending) have each broken her open into something bigger. She shares what she's learned about separating her identity from her children's outcomes, why living abroad changed everything about how she parents, and where she's headed next now that her youngest is off to Sydney for a year abroad.

Rapid fire answers, a beautiful musical analogy for life that will stay with you, and Christie's honest, grounded take on doing divorce well — Part 2 is the kind of conversation you want to go on forever.

Meet Christie Skousen, Founder of the Peery Piano Academy and author of the Peery Method. Trained under Dr. Irene Peery-Fox, Dmitri Boshkirov, and Leon Fleisher at Peabody. An international competition winner and soloist, her students have gone on to Harvard, Yale, Juilliard, UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, and more.

Takeaways:

• Know where your intensity is going.
• Life has phrasing, just like music.
• Big blow-ups break you open.
• Separate your identity from your kids' outcomes.
• Travel expands your world — and your parenting.

Chapters:

00:00 Teaching as a Path to Independence

03:43 Parenting with Intensity and Balance

05:07 Make Your Money Work For You

07:06 The Peery Method is Born

09:26 Writing New Chapters in Motherhood

11:07 Navigating Life's Expansions and Contractions

13:44 The Impact of Divorce on Personal Growth

18:06 Embracing Change and New Beginnings

19:02 Parenting Young Adults

25:48 How Living Abroad Broadens Your Horizon

27:57 Rapid Fire Questions

Resources:

How to Survive Life's Blow-Ups: Lessons from a World-Class Pianist and Mom

If You Loved This Episode, Try:

• 12. Music, Disability Parenting, and Playing for the Love of It
• 29. How to Push Past Limits and Find Your "Current Perfect"
• 37. Resilient Parenting, Risk-Taking, and Medical Aesthetics Done Right

Subscribe & Connect:

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👉 Email Becky: [email protected] 

Becky’s Free Coaching Calendar

Christie Skousen grew up in a household where practicing piano two hours a day was as non-negotiable as brushing your teeth — the daughter of the legendary Irene Peery Fox, who was performing at Carnegie Hall while pregnant with Christie. By age nine, Christie was teaching piano to pay her own way. By eighteen, she was on her own. And by the time she walked into Leon Fleischer's studio at Peabody as the only freshman he admitted that year, she had already learned the lesson that would define her life: if you do the work, you can do whatever.

In Part 1, Becky and Christie dig into what it was really like to grow up inside competitive classical piano — the strategy, the brutality, the subjective judging, and the complicated relationship between talent, hard work, and identity. Christie gets refreshingly honest about how she survived competitions not by leading with her love of music, but by leading with her competitive fire. She shares what she'd tell any kid whose heart is in music but who keeps walking away from competitions empty-handed. And she lays out the philosophy behind the Peery Method — the step-by-step system that has since taken her students to Juilliard, Eastman, and conservatories around the world. Also: she bought a cockatoo in junior high with her own money.

Meet Christie Skousen, Founder of the Peery Piano Academy and author of the Peery Method. Trained under Dr. Irene Peery-Fox, Dmitri Boshkirov, and Leon Fleisher at Peabody. An international competition winner and soloist, her students have gone on to Harvard, Yale, Juilliard, UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, and more.

Key Takeaways:

• Process beats destination — always
• Competitiveness is a tool, not a character flaw
• Let your kids own their stuff
• The journey IS the reward
• Don't quit

Chapters:

00:00 Meet Christie

01:13 The Peery Music Academy

03:04 What? Kids Can Pay For School?

05:19 How Many Kids Buy a Cockatoo for a Pet?

08:10 High-Capacity Parenting with Irene Peery Fox

11:55 Navigating Competitive Classical Piano 

19:03 Performance Anxiety and Personal Growth

25:40 The Toll of Exactness

34:43 The Long Game of Music Education

Resources:

Peery Piano Academy

How to Survive Life's Blow-Ups: Lessons from a World-Class Pianist and Mom

If You Loved This Episode, Try:

• 12. Music, Disability Parenting, and Playing for the Love of It
• 29. How to Push Past Limits and Find Your "Current Perfect"
• 37. Resilient Parenting, Risk-Taking, and Medical Aesthetics Done Right

Subscribe & Connect:

👉 Subscribe: sendymom.com
👉 Email Becky: [email protected] 

Becky’s Free Coaching Calendar

What would happen if your spouse died tomorrow — do you know where the accounts are? The passwords? The beneficiaries? Most of us don't, and that silence has a price.

Becky sits down with neighbor and longtime friend Mindy Stevens, creator of Invested Mother — a course teaching women the financial basics too often left unspoken in marriage. What starts as a money conversation becomes something bigger: resilience, lifelong learning, family, and what it truly means to prepare for your future.

Mindy is a mother of four, a student for more than two decades, and an entrepreneur. She attended the UN Commission on the Status of Women as a student representative, witnessed firsthand the global battle over family protection, and spent 20 years weaving her education through the chaos of motherhood. Her mission is urgent: finance is the number one driver of divorce because of what lives underneath it. We unpack that today.

Mindy Stevens is the creator of Invested Mother, where she teaches women financial basics to strengthen marriages and families. She holds a Bachelor's in Marriage and Family Studies and is starting her Master's in Social Work at Boise State University. Mindy is, without a doubt, a Sendy Mom. → investedmother.com

Key Takeaways:

• Know your financial picture
• Finance fights aren't about money.
• Resilience is learning to pivot.
• Education is never wasted, no matter when you do it.
• Women are more financially vulnerable than they realize
• You don't have to have it all figured out to start.
• Strong families are the bedrock of stable communities.
• Modeling perseverance matters more than perfection.

Chapters:

00:00 Introducing Mindy Stevens

02:05 Embracing Risk and Resilience

03:36 Learning to Pivot with Resilience

07:16 When Your Kid Gets a Sports Injury

10:47 Finding Inspiration and Purpose

12:01 Supporting Families at the United Nations

20:51 Invested Mother: Empowering Women Financially

21:55 The Top Financial Conversations to Have With Your Spouse

29:42 Future Goals and Family Experiences

30:52 Rapid Fire Questions

40:57 Creating Stronger Families Through Partnership

If you loved this episode, try:

Natural Healing Roots

How to Connect with Your Children

Normalize the Risk

Find all the Resources Here:

From the UN to Your Kitchen Table: How Mindy Stevens Is Teaching Women to Own Their Financial Future

Free Coaching & Subscribe:

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👉 Email Becky: [email protected] 

Becky’s Free Coaching Calendar

At fifteen, Leslie Morley boarded a plane to Nepal alone. She lived in a rural village, served in an orphanage, and came home with a worldview she’s still unpacking. But the bravest thing she’s ever done wasn’t Nepal—or starting her art business painting Heavenly Mother.

The bravest thing is staying: showing up for her kids, her faith, her creativity, and the work of being known.

In this episode, artist Leslie Morley joins Becky to talk about faith and courage, creative motherhood, and how to raise brave kids without losing connection. They explore imposter syndrome, gratitude vs. guilt, and what it means to live “alive and awake in Christ.” This conversation weaves together Latter-day Saint faith, sacred art, and the daily courage it takes to stay connected to God, your family, your community, and yourself.

If you’ve ever felt afraid to share your gifts, unsure in motherhood, or disconnected from your faith, this episode will ground and encourage you.

Meet My Guest:
Leslie Morley is a Christian artist known for paintings of the Divine Family—Heavenly Father, Heavenly Mother, and Jesus Christ. She studied art at Southern Utah University and art history in Italy. Her work invites a deeper relationship with God through sacred art. A mother of two, Leslie believes creativity is a form of testimony: you are known, you are held, and heaven is closer than you think. Find her at LeslieMorley.com and @lesliemorleyarts.

Key Takeaways:
• How to raise brave, resilient kids through daily connection
• Faith over fear: turning belief into action
• Creativity as grounding for overwhelmed moms
• Gratitude vs. guilt and overcoming comparison
• Imposter syndrome in motherhood and creative work
• Emotional vulnerability as real courage
• Connecting with God, family, self, and community
• Using your gifts without fear

Chapters:
00:00 Who is Leslie Morley?
04:40 On Being an Imposter
09:06 Lessons from India: Gratitude and Humility
15:28 Oregon Nomads: A Year of Free Range Learning
16:57 Connecting with Nature as a Grounding Force
23:06 Building Love in Your Family
25:11 Connecting with Children
29:12 Midway
30:39 Connecting with Yourself through Creating
34:14 Out From the Bushel Blog
36:22 Family Mottos
38:23 Leslie Morley Art
45:42 Mosaic of Christ
47:08 Savoring Moments of Motherhood
49:38 Rapid Fire Questions

Resources:
The Four Connections That Make a Life Feel Whole

Subscribe & Connect:
👉 sendymom.com
👉 [email protected]
Becky’s Free Coaching Calendar

If you loved this episode, try:
How To Not Die in the Wilderness and Learning to Smell the Daisies
How to Connect with Your Children: The Science of “Good Enough” Parenting
Art After Motherhood: Creating Without Guilt

She lost a child. She’s raising a daughter with Down syndrome and autism. She battled breast cancer—and still chose to say yes.

In this powerful episode of the Sendy Mom Podcast, Kim Dodds shares how she navigates grief, special needs parenting, and serious illness with resilience, faith, and a forward-moving mindset. Rather than staying stuck in “Why me?”, Kim opens up about accepting reality, leaning on community, and choosing growth through life’s hardest seasons.

A mother of six with a degree in Exercise Science from BYU, Kim brings both lived experience and practical wisdom to this conversation. We talk about supporting a child with complex needs, coping with loss, strengthening family relationships, and using tools like movement, connection, and mindset shifts to heal.

If you’re facing a difficult season, Kim’s story offers hope, perspective, and real-life encouragement to keep going—even when life feels unfair.

Key Takeaways:

• Resilience grows when you accept reality and choose your response
• Adversity in childhood and parenting can build empathy, strength, and adaptability
• Support systems and community resources are essential for navigating hard seasons
• Grief and trauma take time, but healing and growth are possible
• Creative outlets, movement, and journaling support mental health and recovery
• Strong relationships, faith, and perspective shape how we endure and thrive

Chapters:

00:00 Introducing Kim Dodds

04:33 When a Parent Has Mental Health Issues

08:08 Raising a Special Needs Child

14:14 Changing Careers: Choosing Your Hard

20:15 Hard Chooses You: Losing a Child

25:57 Inspiring Distractions

29:38 Navigating Life Choices and Resilience

34:28 Faith Through the Trial

37:35 Sex After Marriage

40:53 Crossroads: Children Leaving the Nest

43:29 Diagnosis: Breast Cancer

49:11 The Sendy Support Group

52:07 Positive Outlook During Trials

56:40 Rapid Fire Questions 

If you loved this episode, try:

How to Connect with Your Children: The Surprising Science of “Good Enough” Parenting

Music, Disability Parenting, and Playing for the Love of It

Parenting Complex Needs, TBI, and Choosing Empathy with Candace Berquist

Resources:

How to Say Yes When Life Feels Unfair: Raising Special Needs Kids, Cancer, and Loss

Free Coaching & Subscribe:

👉 Subscribe: sendymom.com
👉 Email Becky: [email protected] 

Becky’s Free Coaching Calendar

She lost a child. She’s raising a daughter with special needs. She battled cancer.
And somehow… she chose to say yes.

In this powerful episode of the Sendy Mom Podcast, Kim Dodds shares how she faced life’s hardest trials—grief, special needs parenting, and a breast cancer diagnosis—without becoming bitter or stuck in “Why me?”

Instead, Kim chose a different path. She learned to accept reality, lean on faith, and keep moving forward with resilience and purpose.

We talk about what it really looks like to support a child with Down syndrome and autism, how to cope with loss and grief, and the mindset shifts that help you stay strong during hard times. Kim shares practical tools for emotional healing, the importance of community support, and how choosing growth over victimhood can change your life.

If you’re navigating a difficult season, this episode will give you hope, perspective, and real-life strategies to help you keep going—even when life doesn’t feel fair.

Meet My Guest:

Kim Dodds is a mother of six and caregiver to a daughter with Down syndrome and autism. With a degree in Exercise Science from BYU, she chose to focus on raising her family while navigating challenges including loss, special needs parenting, and breast cancer.

She is passionate about staying active, building community, and finding joy in everyday life. Her story offers insight into overcoming adversity, strengthening family relationships, and choosing a growth-focused mindset.

Key Takeaways:

Resilience comes from accepting reality and choosing your response
Parenting a child with special needs requires adaptability and support
Community resources like respite care can be life-changing
Grief takes time, but healing is possible
Finding meaning in trials can reduce suffering
Career changes are possible at any stage of life
Creative outlets support mental and emotional health
Physical movement can aid healing during stress and illness
Open communication helps families process hard experiences
Writing can be a powerful tool for emotional healing
Marriage and intimacy require intentional effort
Faith and community strengthen you through trials
A positive perspective can improve overall well-being

Chapters:

00:00 Introducing Kim Dodds
04:33 When a Parent Has Mental Health Issues
08:08 Raising a Special Needs Child
14:14 Changing Careers: Choosing Your Hard
20:15 Hard Chooses You: Losing a Child
25:57 Inspiring Distractions
29:38 Navigating Life Choices and Resilience
34:28 Faith Through the Trial
37:35 Sex After Marriage
40:53 Crossroads: Children Leaving the Nest
43:29 Diagnosis: Breast Cancer
49:11 The Sendy Support Group
52:07 Positive Outlook During Trials
56:40 Rapid Fire Questions

Mentioned in the Show:

Find all of the show notes here

How to Connect with Your Children: The Surprising Science of “Good Enough” Parenting

Brades’ Place

Aspen Grove Family Camp

Utah Quilt Guild

Intimately Us App

The Orphan Keeper by Camron Wright

The Rookie on Hulu

Tabitha’s Way - Local Food Pantry

Free Coaching & Subscribe:

👉 Subscribe: sendymom.com
👉 Email Becky: [email protected] 

Becky’s Free Coaching Calendar