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The Life I Choose: Motherhood, Ambition, and Success on My Own TermsWhat does it mean to build a life that reflects your own values instead of someone else’s expectations?
In this episode of She Rose Anyway, host Bea Baylor sits down with Jodee O’Brien, Senior Partner and Nonprofit Executive Coach with ActionCOACH Benefic Group. Drawing on more than 35 years of leadership experience across nonprofits, business, and community impact, Jodee shares how motherhood, career, grief, and reinvention shaped her understanding of success.
Jodee reflects on the choices she made early in life, including times she chose the safer path instead of following her own instincts. She speaks candidly about the expectations placed on women in leadership, the pressure to prove themselves by acting like someone else, and the exhausting belief that they must be everything to everybody.
Together, Bea and Jodee explore ambition and motherhood, mom guilt and perfectionism, and the importance of making room for your own identity. Jodee shares how motherhood strengthened her ambition and taught her patience, humility, and the value of focusing on what she can control. She also describes how moving from Iowa to Texas helped her discover her own capability and confidence.
Jodee opens up about becoming a widow when her son was just eight months old, and how faith helped her navigate grief and a life she had not expected. Today, she defines success through kindness, love, and the difference we make in ordinary moments. The legacy she hopes to leave is rooted in how she treated people and the example she set for her children and grandchildren.
The conversation also highlights Jodee’s work supporting nonprofit organizations through leadership transitions, board alignment, and mission continuity. She explains her mission continuity framework and her Discover Your Why program, which helps people and teams better understand their communication styles and how they work together.
This is an honest conversation about trusting your intuition, releasing perfection, and choosing a life that feels true to you. You are allowed to define success for yourself, and you can rise anyway.
In This Episode
About Jodee O’Brien
Jodee O’Brien is a Senior Partner and Nonprofit Executive Coach with ActionCOACH Benefic Group. With more than 35 years of leadership experience across nonprofits, business, and community impact, she brings personal storytelling and practical insight to conversations about leadership, purpose, and meaningful change.
Through AJO Solutions, the Discover Your Why program, and the Succession Workbook, Jodee helps individuals and organizations strengthen communication, prepare for leadership transitions, and protect the continuity of their mission. Her signature keynote, “Close Your Eyes. Clasp What Matters,” invites audiences to pause, reflect, and lead with intention.
Connect with Jodee
Website: jodeeobrien.com/speaking
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jodeeobrien
Timestamps
00:00 — Realizing your life may have been built around someone else’s expectations
01:44 — Welcome to She Rose Anyway
03:11 — Introducing Jodee O’Brien and her leadership background
05:33 — The pressure to be perfect as a woman and mother
06:27 — Choosing safety over self in early career decisions
07:23 — Refusing to become someone else for a job
08:09 — Letting go of the belief that you must be everything to everyone
09:32 — Why women are often told to choose between family and career
10:03 — Caring for others without erasing yourself
11:41 — What motherhood teaches about patience and control
13:22 — Trusting your intuition and making present-moment decisions
14:41 — Perfectionism and watching another generation parent differently
16:12 — Redefining success as kindness and impact
17:41 — The bold move from Iowa to Texas
18:27 — Discovering your capability in a new community
20:59 — Watching your children make their own choices
22:00 — How Jodee’s children see her work and growth
23:43 — Faith, prayer, and staying grounded through hard seasons
24:13 — Widowhood, grief, and life’s unexpected turns
25:40 — Legacy, daily kindness, and gratitude
27:15 — Grandparenting, traditions, and passing down context
28:46 — Success, loneliness, and the need for real support
30:12 — Grieving her mother and recognizing inherited traits
32:00 — Making space to reflect and choose your path
33:40 — Finding herself and taking the reins
36:00 — Jodee’s mission continuity framework for nonprofits
39:05 — Discover Your Why and stronger communication
40:44 — Nonprofit leadership and a legacy of impact
41:51 — Where to connect with Jodee
43:02 — Speaking to women, nonprofits, and business groups
44:09 — Final advice: trust yourself and your journey
Notable Quotes
“Ambition does not end with motherhood.”“What we’re remembered by is how we treat somebody and if we were kind.”“I rose anyway because despite the expectations put on me by other people, I found myself, took the reins, and went for it.”About She Rose Anyway
She Rose Anyway features conversations with women who are rebuilding life, wealth, and legacy. Hosted by Bea Baylor, the podcast makes space for honest stories of change, resilience, purpose, and rising on your own terms.
Watch and subscribe on YouTube: She Rose Anyway
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When Your Career Ends, but Your Calling Continues with Tammy Torres
This episode explores what happens when an unexpected ending forces you to rethink identity, faith, and purpose. Bea Baylor is joined by Tammy Torres, a published author, Bible instructor, ministry leader, and former corporate executive who rebuilt her life after a sudden downsizing ended a 13-year career.We discuss the grief of losing a role you thought would last forever, the difference between rebuilding your old life and becoming who God is calling you to be, and how to move forward even when the next step feels frightening.
This conversation invites you to reflect on your own next chapter. An ending can leave you with questions, but your calling can still have room to grow.
ABOUT TAMMY TORRES
Tammy Torres is an entrepreneur and the author of God’s Redeeming Grace for Paul the Apostle.
📚 FIND HER BOOK
God’s Redeeming Grace for Paul the Apostle
Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
🧁 CONNECT WITH TAMMY’S BUSINESS
Tammy Cakes Munch Munch More:
https://tammycakesmunchmunchmore.square.site
💜 JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Have you ever had to rediscover yourself after a career ended? Share your experience in the comments.
Subscribe to She Rose Anyway, like this episode, and share it with someone rebuilding her life, faith, or purpose.
RISE. RECLAIM. REBUILD.
#SheRoseAnyway #TammyTorres #BeaBaylor #FaithAndPurpose #CareerTransition #WomenRebuilding
Key topics
Timestamps
(00:00) Opening: unexpected endings and purpose after loss
(02:40) Introducing She Rose Anyway and Tammy Torres
(04:08) Tammy’s background in ministry, theology, and corporate life
(07:03) Who Tammy is today and the legacy she wants to leave
(10:10) The first signs that her corporate role was being targeted
(12:18) Reapplying for her job and the emotional weight of it all
(15:03) God’s nudge toward food, business, and trust
(16:34) Losing control and choosing the severance
(19:54) Why God does not show the full picture
(22:08) Naming the hurt instead of carrying it into the next season
(25:51) Letting go of the old season and surrendering the new one
(26:36) The scariest step: leaving a paycheck behind
(28:37) Early business provision and unexpected peace
(31:21) Why she was not rebuilding the old Tammy
(32:12) Retirement, peace, and slowing down to hear God
(35:12) What Tammy is most proud of now
(38:56) What women need when bills, kids, grief, and fear hit at once
(41:50) The power of women supporting women
(44:44) Learning to ask for help and stop apologizing
(47:52) Boldness, counseling, and speaking truth with care
(50:30) Being known and loved by God despite failure
(52:44) Finishing the sentence: “I rose anyway”
(53:27) What Tammy is excited about next
(55:18) Tammy’s book, workbook, and website
(59:13) Final encouragement: pick up your shovel and keep going
Notable quotes
Action items
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When You Lose the Life, You Built: Reclaiming Self-Trust, Financial Independence, and Purpose
In this episode of She Rose Anyway, host Bea Baylor speaks with Eva Lavina about surviving covert emotional abuse, the collapse of a 25-year marriage, and the loss of home, money, and family stability. Eva shares how she rebuilt self-trust, protected her future through financial independence, and found meaning again after profound personal and physical trauma. This conversation is for anyone trying to recognize subtle abuse, recover from a life-altering breakup, or start over with nothing but determination and a plan.
Key topics
Timestamps
00:00 - Opening the conversation on rebuilding after loss
01:17 - Why this episode centers on self-trust and legacy
03:13 - Introducing Eva Lavina and her story of loss and survival
06:22 - The moment Eva felt lost and ashamed in daily life
07:42 - How manipulation and promises kept the marriage going
09:02 - Why covert emotional abuse is so hard to spot
11:49 - Realizing she had been made to feel like a quitter
13:09 - The final fight and the buildup to her cardiac arrest
16:28 - Waking up in the ICU and being abandoned in the hospital
18:16 - Losing home, money, car, and daily stability
20:43 - The first step: financial independence
22:51 - Losing self-trust and rebuilding judgment
25:33 - Therapy, grief, and slowly feeling worthy again
26:51 - A court ruling that helped restore confidence
28:03 - Why Eva started writing her books
29:30 - Reading the passage that inspired the title
31:03 - What readers take away from the book
32:39 - Finding a therapist and support group that fit
34:08 - Why blocking the ex and leaving social media matters
35:43 - Letting go of codependence
38:34 - Basic financial planning and documenting abuse
41:08 - Why it is never too late to start over
42:06 - Lessons, mental health, and learning from toxic patterns
43:34 - Becoming independent enough to care for herself
44:41 - Why she rose anyway
45:13 - Where to find Eva and her work
49:57 - Eva’s final encouragement to start reclaiming your life now
Notable quotes
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“I died a thousand times over the course of twenty five years.”
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“It doesn't matter how long you're going to put pieces of your heart back together. But it's no reason to stop living.”
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“The sooner you start, the better it is for you. But it's never too late to reclaim your life.”
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Get Obsessed with What’s Possible: Why It’s Never Too Late to Start Over
Bea Baylor talks with mindset coach, speaker, and bestselling author Sunniva Holt about rebuilding after major life changes, releasing what no longer fits, and learning to trust yourself again. This conversation is for women who are navigating divorce, burnout, grief, or any season where life no longer matches who they’ve become. Sunniva shares how she moved through the end of her marriage, burnout, and deep personal upheaval to create a life rooted in alignment, boundaries, and self-trust. The episode centers on starting over as a powerful reset, not a failure.
Key topics
Guest Website: sunnivaholt.net
Instagram: @sunnivaholt
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sunnivaholt
Timestamps
00:00 - Starting over when life no longer fits
01:15 - Bea introduces She Rose Anyway and the episode theme
03:33 - Meet Sunniva Holt and her alignment-focused work
04:49 - Why the episode felt divinely timed
05:23 - Sunniva names the season she is in now
07:10 - The end of her marriage and the affair that changed everything
09:02 - Closing her career to focus on healing
11:29 - When she finally knew it was over
14:20 - Journaling, visualization, and self-reflection tools
16:26 - How to spot misalignment by how things feel
18:49 - Walking away from a relationship, business, and friendships
20:38 - Childhood conditioning and learning to have needs
22:06 - What to do when you cannot see the next step
23:03 - Moving emotional energy through the body
24:56 - Staying longer than you should
26:01 - Building community after divorce
28:18 - When someone cannot stay in your circle
29:22 - How hardship reshaped her business and leadership
31:34 - Burnout and changing how she works
33:44 - Energetic boundaries versus spoken boundaries
34:39 - How everything can shift in a second
37:03 - Visualizing your 2.0 self
39:03 - Pouring into yourself without guilt
40:19 - What she is most proud of
41:54 - Letting yourself fall apart before rising again
43:40 - “I rose anyway” through the darkest season
44:39 - Writing a new book and creating future retreats
46:35 - Stop “shoulding” all over yourself
48:09 - Get obsessed with knowing yourself deeply
49:21 - Sunniva’s morning routine and daily mindset practice
51:44 - Where to find Sunniva and learn more about her work
55:55 - Live fully, with no regrets
Notable quotes
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“Everything can change in a second.”
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“You can’t pour from an empty cup.”
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“Life is a game. Play with it.”
Action items
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DESCRIPTION - You can look fine on the outside and still be falling apart on the inside. Bea Baylor and special guest Yana German unpack the hidden cost of staying busy, the danger of survival mode, and why healing often begins the moment you finally admit, “I'm not okay.”For the woman who keeps showing up for work, family, business, and everyone else while quietly feeling disconnected, this conversation names what so many ignore: anxiety, grief, trauma, depression, emotional numbness, and the body’s constant signals that something deeper needs attention. Bea opens the episode with the question at the heart of so many women’s lives—are you truly healing, or just becoming functional while still hurting? Yana German, an awareness and transformation coach, spoken word artist, and creator of Soul Script Poetry, shares how decades of buried pain, panic attacks, depression, and cultural silence around emotions led her to the work she does now. You’ll hear how she reframes healing through awareness, stillness, and alignment, and why she believes the real work starts by listening to the body, the heart, and the subconscious. You’ll discover:
Bea also shares her own season of grief, loss, betrayal, sickness, financial strain, and caring for her mother, creating a raw and deeply relatable moment for any listener who has had to pause, rebuild, and reclaim herself after life changed everything. This episode matters because the cost of ignoring your inner life is never just emotional. It can show up in your relationships, your sense of self, your nervous system, and your health. But healing is possible when you stop performing and start paying attention. Essential listening if you are a woman in survival mode, a caregiver who has forgotten herself, or someone who senses that stillness might be the first step back to wholeness.
Bea and Yana also discuss what alignment looks like in everyday life—when your thoughts, words, beliefs, and actions finally match—and why that inner congruence matters for your health, relationships, and peace of mind. This conversation is especially powerful for women carrying grief, burnout, betrayal, caregiving fatigue, anxiety, or the pressure to stay strong for everyone else. If you have ever wondered whether you are actually healing or simply becoming more functional while still hurting, this episode will meet you there. Bea closes with a reminder that what happened to you may be part of your story, but it does not get to write your final chapter. If you need permission to pause, feel, and begin again, this is your episode. Yana German is an awareness and transformation coach, spoken word artist, and creator of Soul Script Poetry. Her work explores healing, faith, self-worth, neuroscience, and energy-based wellness to help women find their way back to themselves.
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In this powerful conversation, Bea Baylor welcomes LaToya Thompson, author of Unprotected: Learning to Survive Before Learning to Heal, to She Rose Anyway.
LaToya shares her deeply personal journey through survival, abandonment, trauma, pain, motherhood, resilience, and finding her voice. Together, Bea and LaToya explore what happens when survival is all you’ve ever known—and what it really takes to begin healing.
LaToya also talks about the importance of having a safe space where women can share their stories without judgment, unpack their trauma, and connect with others who understand their experiences.
This conversation is especially meaningful for women who may still feel stuck in survival mode, are navigating grief or trauma, or are learning how to heal from experiences that shaped their lives.
In this episode:
• Learning to heal what you had to survive
• Moving beyond survival mode
• Trauma, pain, abandonment, and resilience
• Finding your voice and giving a voice to the voiceless
• Healing through connection and safe spaces
• Motherhood and personal growth
• Why sharing your story can help someone else
• LaToya Thompson’s book, Unprotected: Learning to Survive Before Learning to Heal
About LaToya Thompson:
LaToya Thompson is the author of Unprotected: Learning to Survive Before Learning to Heal, a book that explores survival, trauma, abandonment, resilience, motherhood, and healing.
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Starting Over Wasn’t My Plan But I’m Not Starting From Nothing
Starting over was never part of Bea Baylor’s plan. After a major heart attack and open-heart surgery, caring for her mother, losing her mother, experiencing financial hardship, and navigating major changes in her life, she found herself rebuilding in ways she never expected.
Through those seasons, Bea realized that rebuilding did not mean returning to the life she had before. Her health, priorities, finances, relationships, and understanding of purpose had changed. She had to honestly examine what still fit, what drained her, which relationships supported the woman she was becoming, and what kind of business and life reflected her purpose, peace, and legacy.
The biggest realization? She was not starting from nothing. She was starting from experience. Her knowledge, lessons, wisdom, mistakes, and everything she had survived became part of what she could build next.
Today’s Action Step 🎯: Write down: What part of my old plan am I still trying to force, even though my life is asking me to build something new?
Follow She Rose Anyway and share this episode with another woman who may be rebuilding quietly.
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What happens when life changes in an instant? How do you find the strength to rise after loss, heartbreak, or unexpected life transitions?
In the very first episode of She Rose Anyway, host Bea Baylor welcomes women who are rebuilding their lives, rediscovering their purpose, strengthening their faith, creating wealth, and leaving a meaningful legacy after life's most challenging seasons. Bea introduces the Six Pillars of Rising: The Burning, The Pause, The Healing, The Rediscovery, The Rebuild, and The Rising—a powerful framework that has guided her own journey of resilience and transformation.
Bea courageously shares the life-changing experience of suffering a heart attack at home on September 14, 2020, during the height of the pandemic, followed by emergency open-heart surgery. Through this deeply personal story, she reveals how moments of crisis can become the beginning of healing after loss, emotional growth, and renewed purpose.
The conversation continues as Bea reflects on simplifying her life by downsizing into a 40-foot RV, a season she now recognizes as The Pause—a time of healing, reflection, and preparation for what was ahead. She then opens up about caring for her mother during her final months, the profound grief of losing her on May 21, 2024, and the emotional journey that followed.
Seeking space to heal, Bea spent four months in Thailand with her daughter and grandson, where she processed grief, navigated betrayal, deepened her relationship with God, and embraced emotional healing and personal growth. That season became the foundation for rediscovering who she was and stepping confidently into a new chapter.
Today, Bea is rebuilding through her Favor Legacy System and launching She Rose Anyway to encourage other women who are navigating life transitions, searching for hope, rebuilding their confidence, and believing it's never too late to rise again.
If you're looking for encouragement, resilience, and practical inspiration for rebuilding your life after adversity, this podcast is for you.
In This Episode
00:00 Welcome to She Rose Anyway
01:13 The Moment Before Breakthrough
02:49 Six Pillars of Rising
03:39 Heart Attack and Burning
07:36 Downsizing and The Pause
10:46 Caring for Mom and Loss
12:40 Thailand Healing Journey
16:48 Rediscovery and Rebuilding
20:40 Rising and Listener Invitation
23:59 Follow, Share and Closing
Thank you for being here from the very beginning. Your support means more than you know, and I'm honored to have you as part of the She Rose Anyway community.
Do You Have a Story to Share? Has your life taken an unexpected turn? Have you experienced loss, heartbreak, illness, financial hardship, betrayal, or another life-changing season—and found the courage to keep going? Your story could be the very encouragement another woman needs to hear.
Apply to be a guest on She Rose Anyway and share your journey of rising, reclaiming, and rebuilding.
She Rose Anyway Guest Application:
Apply Here
Follow She Rose Anyway, share this episode with a woman who needs hope, and remember...
No matter what you've been through, you can still rise. You can still reclaim your life. You can still rebuild your legacy.
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Welcome to She Rose Anyway, a podcast for women who are picking up the pieces and rebuilding their life, their finances, and their legacy after going through it. Hosted by Bea Baylor, this is a space for real talk about healing, resilience, faith, purpose, financial recovery, and what it actually looks like to rise again after a hard season.
In this trailer, you'll hear the story behind why this podcast exists, what it's really about, and a little taste of what's coming in future episodes.
If you're looking for hope, healing, and a fresh start, you're exactly where you need to be.
Hit subscribe so you don't miss what's next.
🌐 Website:
https://beabaylor.com
Follow Bea Baylor:
Instagram: @bossbeabaylor
Facebook: She Rose Anyway Podcast
LinkedIn: Bea Baylor
From the publisher's feed
Some seasons break you wide open. The grief that will not move. The income that disappears overnight. The health scare that stops everything. The family betrayal you never saw coming. The moment…
She Rose Anyway is for the woman who has lived through those moments and is still finding her way back to herself.
Hosted by Bea Baylor, Business Ecosystem Architect, best-selling author, and legacy strategist, this podcast is an honest conversation about what it actually takes to rise after loss, rebuild after collapse, and reclaim the life and purpose that was always meant for you. Bea brings her own story and the stories of women who refused to stay down through six powerful pillars: The Burning, The Pause, The Healing, The Rediscovery, The Rebuild, and The Rising.
This is not a highlight reel. This is the real work of women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond who chose to keep going when everything said stop.
If you are in the middle of your comeback, this show was made for you.
RISE. RECLAIM. REBUILD.