Soulful Self-Care Conversations

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of "Conversations with Pearl," host Pearl Chiarenza welcomes mental health advocate Gretchen Schoser. Gretchen shares her deeply personal journey through depression, highlighting the challenges she faced in late 2022, including her wife's health issues and the loss of loved ones. She recounts a pivotal moment when calling the suicide crisis hotline (988) saved her life, leading to her healing journey through therapy and setting boundaries. Together, they discuss the importance of self-care, setting boundaries, and fostering open conversations about mental health, aiming to inspire listeners to seek help and support one another.

Discussion:

Personal journey through depression and mental health challenges.
Importance of reaching out for help and utilizing crisis hotlines.
Experiences of loss and the impact on mental health.
The significance of self-care and setting personal boundaries.
The role of community support in mental health discussions.
Creation and purpose of the podcast as a platform for sharing stories.
Strategies for emotional healing and therapy.
The challenges and benefits of being an empath.
The value of kindness and open communication in mental health.

Gretchen Schoser, mental health advocate and co-host of *Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads,* turned her journey through depression into a mission to break mental health stigmas. Through humor and honesty, she shares her story, creating a safe space where listeners feel seen, understood, and reminded they're not alone.

Reach out to Gretchen
https://goesoninourheads.net/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/grex_and_dirtyskittles/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/shltthatgoesoninourheads
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/g-rex-and-dirty-skittles-1367a8299/
X - https://twitter.com/STGOIOH
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC--WZzEkgvd9UanEw_CdXYg
Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads
https://goesoninourheads.net/episodes

Follow Pearl on
social media TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook: @Pearlchiarenza

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.wsliving.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Remember to embrace your inner pearl, nourish yourself, and find balance in life. Stay
true to your authentic self and continue working on your personal growth.

Follow Pearl on
social media TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook: @Pearlchiarenza

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.wsliving.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Remember to embrace your inner pearl, nourish yourself, and find balance in life. Stay
true to your authentic self and continue working on your personal growth.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of the Conversations with Pearl Podcast, host Pearl Chiarenza welcomes guest Heather, a transformation coach and creator of the Thriving Life Method. Heather shares her journey from a high-stress corporate finance career to a fulfilling role in holistic health and coaching. Emphasizing self-care, setting boundaries, and advocating for oneself, Heather discusses the importance of prioritizing personal well-being, especially for women in midlife. Pearl complements Heather's insights by sharing her own experiences and encouraging listeners to reflect on their priorities. The episode concludes with an invitation to Pearl's annual pajama retreat, fostering self-care and community.

- Transition from corporate finance to holistic health and coaching
- Importance of self-care and prioritizing personal well-being
- Challenges women face in midlife regarding work-life balance
- Setting boundaries in personal and professional relationships
- Societal pressures leading to guilt over prioritizing self-care
- The significance of self-reflection and identifying personal priorities
- Impact of environment and relationships on well-being
- Encouragement to engage in creative practices like daydreaming for self-discovery
- The value of community support and shared experiences in personal growth
- Affirmation of self-worth and the pursuit of dreams and aspirations

Connect with Heather:
Heather is a Transformation Facilitator, Coach, Podcaster, and The Thriving Life Method™ Creator. She seamlessly marries her background in corporate finance with her dedication to holistic health to help guide transformative coaching experiences for her clients. She found her own escape from the societal expectations of a career at the expense of health and vitality and now helps other mid-life women do the same. 

https://heatherstewart.coach
https://www.facebook.com/heatherstewartcoaches https://www.instagram.com/heatherstewartcoaching/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherstewartcoaching/ 

Her Podcast: Back to Me - Wellness Your Way
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/heatherstewartcoaching  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb84Op3vnnrPbxKi0BxtlKQ
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/heatherstewartcoaching  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb84Op3vnnrPbxKi0BxtlKQ

Do you know you want something different for your life but you're feeling a bit lost and not sure where to begin?
I have your roadmap!
Use this download to begin your process of not only figuring out where you want to go but where you are now so you know which way to go!
https://heatherstewart.coach/tlm-map-download

Follow Pearl on
social media TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook: @Pearlchiarenza

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.wsliving.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Remember to embrace your inner pearl, nourish yourself, and find balance in life. Stay
true to your authentic self and continue working on your personal growth.

Send us Fan Mail

In this inspiring episode of Soulful Self-Care Conversations with Pearl Chiarenza, we welcome empowerment coach, bestselling author, and 30-year nursing veteran Michelle Weihman for a powerful conversation on self-care, confidence, and stepping fully into your voice.

As Pearl introduces the evolution of the show into Soulful Shero Conversations, Michelle embodies exactly what it means to be a “Shero”—strong, empowered, radiant, and fully aligned with her purpose.

Michelle shares her journey from a young girl who always knew she wanted to care for others… to becoming a nurse for over three decades… to now helping women empower themselves and reclaim their lives.

But this isn’t just a success story.
 It’s a story of growth, boundaries, resilience—and choosing yourself.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

•  How childhood purpose often connects directly to your life’s work 
•  What 30 years in nursing teaches about compassion, leadership, and strength 
•  Why self-care is not optional—it’s essential 
•  The moment Michelle realized she needed to shift her path 
•  How a setback (a broken foot) became the catalyst for her next chapter 
•  Why women struggle to say “no”—and how to reclaim that power 
•  The importance of setting boundaries in both personal and professional life 
•  How to create simple, meaningful self-care routines (even with a busy life) 
•  The connection between empowerment and everyday choices 

Michelle also shares how she transitioned from full-time nursing into building a growing community of women focused on healing, growth, and self-worth—proving it’s never too late to pivot into purpose.

Pearl and Michelle dive deep into what it truly means to sit in your own “chair”—to claim your space, your voice, and your worth without apology.

This episode is for every woman who:

•  Feels overwhelmed or stretched too thin 
•  Struggles with people-pleasing 
•  Has lost touch with herself 
•  Is ready to step into her next level 

💬 Call to Action

If you’re ready to stop pouring from an empty cup and start living your empowered life…

👉 Join Michelle’s community: Dare to Care with Michelle (Facebook Group)
👉 Watch for her upcoming book: Dare to Care (Releasing soon)

And remember…

You don’t need permission to choose yourself.

Follow Pearl on
social media TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook: @Pearlchiarenza

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.wsliving.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Remember to embrace your inner pearl, nourish yourself, and find balance in life. Stay
true to your authentic self and continue working on your personal growth.

Send us Fan Mail

In this deeply personal solo episode of Soulful Self-Care Conversations, Pearl Chiarenza opens her heart and shares one of the most difficult journeys of her life—what she calls “divorcing” her mother.

This isn’t about blame. It’s not about tearing anyone down.
 It’s about what happens when love and self-protection collide… and you’re forced to choose yourself.

Pearl takes listeners behind the scenes of a quiet, emotional battle—one that didn’t come from a single moment, but from repeated patterns that disrupted her peace, her energy, and her ability to show up fully for her own life and family.

Through vulnerability and strength, she shares how people-pleasing, over-functioning, and trying to “fix” everything led to a painful realization:
 You can’t heal what you didn’t break… and you can’t keep betraying yourself to keep the peace.

This episode walks through:

•  The emotional weight of setting boundaries with a parent 
•  Recognizing unhealthy patterns that don’t change without interruption 
•  The difference between love and self-abandonment 
•  Why boundaries are not rejection—they are direction 
•  Letting go of guilt while still holding onto love 
•  Choosing peace, even when it hurts 

Pearl also opens up about the internal struggle—questioning herself, feeling guilt, navigating doubt—and the unexpected sense of relief that came when she finally chose to protect her spirit.

This is a powerful message for anyone who feels torn between loyalty and self-worth… especially those struggling to say “no” without guilt.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by relationships that drain you, or found yourself sacrificing your peace to avoid conflict—this episode will speak directly to your soul.

This is just the beginning of a multi-part series, where Pearl will continue to unpack what this journey looked like, how it unfolded, and what healing truly requires.

💬 Call to Action

If you’re feeling pulled in every direction and struggling to protect your peace… it might be time to pause and ask yourself:

What am I giving up… just to keep others comfortable?

If you’re ready to rediscover your joy and set aligned boundaries, connect with Pearl at:
 👉 https://wsliving.com

🔥 Key Quotes from the Episode

Follow Pearl on
social media TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook: @Pearlchiarenza

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.wsliving.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Remember to embrace your inner pearl, nourish yourself, and find balance in life. Stay
true to your authentic self and continue working on your personal growth.

Send us Fan Mail

In this deeply personal solo episode, Pearl opens her heart and shares a vulnerable part of her journey—what it really meant to “divorce” her mother and choose self-protection over lifelong patterns.

This is not a story about blame or judgment. It’s about what happens when love and self-respect collide, and you’re faced with a decision you never thought you’d have to make.

Pearl shares how this wasn’t one moment or one argument—but a pattern of behavior that continued to disrupt her peace, her energy, and her ability to show up fully in her life.

Like many women, she tried to:

•  Fix it 
•  Manage it 
•  Keep the peace 
•  Be the one who holds everything together 

But eventually, she realized something powerful:

She wasn’t just tolerating the situation…
 She was betraying herself to maintain it.

This episode walks through the moment of clarity where Pearl chose to set a boundary—not out of anger, but out of protection.

Protection for her peace.
 Protection for her family.
 Protection for the woman she is becoming.

She also speaks honestly about the emotional weight of that decision:

•  The guilt 
•  The doubt 
•  The questioning 

And also… the unexpected relief that comes when your spirit finally feels safe again.

This is the beginning of a multi-part series where Pearl will continue to unpack this journey and help others who may be facing similar situations.

If you’ve ever struggled with setting boundaries—especially with someone you love—this episode will speak directly to your heart.

Follow Pearl on
social media TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook: @Pearlchiarenza

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.wsliving.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Remember to embrace your inner pearl, nourish yourself, and find balance in life. Stay
true to your authentic self and continue working on your personal growth.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Pearl sits down with health and self-leadership coach Courtney Townley to explore why lasting change in health has little to do with willpower—and everything to do with identity.

Courtney shares her journey from professional dancer to wellness expert, revealing how her work evolved beyond movement and weight loss into something deeper: helping women reconnect with themselves.

Together, they unpack why so many women achieve results—only to fall back into old patterns. The missing link? Identity. Without shifting who you believe you are, sustainable change becomes nearly impossible.

Courtney introduces the concept of “integrity pain”—the internal discomfort that comes from living out of alignment with your true desires. Rather than addressing that pain directly, many women try to fix it through food, control, or overachievement.

This conversation challenges the traditional health model and replaces it with a new approach:
 Reduce unnecessary stress and intentionally lean into the kind of stress that builds strength, resilience, and growth.

Courtney also shares her Consistency Code framework, built on four key practices: awareness, organization, follow-through, and realignment. These tools help women not only create change—but maintain it through every season of life.

This episode is a powerful reminder that health is not a destination—it’s an ongoing relationship with yourself.

🗣️ Episode Quotes

Courtney Townley: “You cannot change what you’re not willing to look at.”

Courtney Townley: “If you don’t change your identity, your old behaviors will always come back.”

Courtney Townley: “Health is not a one-time transformation—it’s learning how to navigate a life of transformation.”

Courtney Townley: “Integrity pain is the result of living misaligned with what you truly want.”

Courtney Townley: “Life is one long series of problem solving—the sooner you accept that, the less you suffer.”

Pearl: “It’s never too late to step into who you really are.”

Follow Pearl on
social media TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook: @Pearlchiarenza

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.wsliving.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Remember to embrace your inner pearl, nourish yourself, and find balance in life. Stay
true to your authentic self and continue working on your personal growth.

Send us Fan Mail

What does it really mean to be a “good mom”?

In this powerful and deeply honest episode, Pearl Chiarenza sits down with maternal mental health expert Kate Kripke to challenge the biggest misconceptions around motherhood, self-sacrifice, and success.

For high-achieving women, the same patterns that drive success in business—perfectionism, control, people-pleasing, and over-functioning—often create overwhelm, burnout, and disconnection at home.

Kate introduces a powerful shift: most women are operating from an achievement-based mindset (fixing, controlling, doing), while motherhood actually requires a connection-based approach (feeling, allowing, being present).

Together, Pearl and Kate explore:

•  Why “doing it all” leads to emotional exhaustion 
•  The hidden cost of trying to be the perfect mom 
•  What mental health actually looks like for both parents and children 
•  Why kids need to feel emotions—not be rescued from them 
•  How to move from fixing problems to supporting growth 

Pearl shares real-life parenting experiences, including moments where she chose connection over control—leading to deeper trust and transformation in her relationship with her children.

This episode is a must-listen for any parent who feels overwhelmed trying to balance life, career, and family while still showing up fully for their kids.

You’re not failing—you may just be operating from the wrong system.

👉 Connect with Kate Kripke: https://www.katekripke.com

👉 Work with Pearl: https://wsliving.com

Follow Pearl on
social media TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook: @Pearlchiarenza

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.wsliving.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Remember to embrace your inner pearl, nourish yourself, and find balance in life. Stay
true to your authentic self and continue working on your personal growth.

Send us Fan Mail

In this powerful episode of Soulful Self-Care Conversations, Pearl welcomes Janet Therese, intuitive guide and mentor for inner alignment, who helps individuals reconnect with their divine presence, clear limiting stories, and step into a more expansive, aligned life.

This conversation dives deep into intuition, energy, trauma, alignment, and what it truly means to live from your highest self—not from fear, conditioning, or outdated beliefs.

🌿 Meet Little Janet

Janet takes us back to her childhood, growing up in the 1960s with a unique blend of spiritual exposure and traditional upbringing.

Raised in an Italian Catholic household while also being introduced to metaphysical teachings through her father, Janet experienced a rare duality—structured religion alongside expansive spiritual exploration.

As a child, she was fascinated by both:

• The mystical world (inspired by shows like Bewitched)
• The creative, strategic world of marketing and communication

That early curiosity would later shape her path in unexpected ways.

🧭 A Life Between Two Worlds

Janet followed a traditional path into adulthood:

• Marriage
• Career success as a marketing executive
• Doing “all the right things”

But underneath it all, she always felt a deeper connection—what she describes as a vertical alignment with something greater.

Despite that inner knowing, she spent years operating in the “horizontal world,” trying to achieve, perform, and push forward without fully honoring her calling.

⚠️ The Wake-Up Call

When we ignore our alignment, life has a way of getting our attention.

For Janet, everything shifted in a short period:

• Increased work pressure and burnout
• Loss of both parents within two weeks
• A cancer scare
• Job loss shortly after

Her body and life forced her to stop.

She describes this as a “sit and stay” moment—a time where she had no choice but to pause, reflect, and reconnect.

During that period, she realized:

She was not living her soul’s path.

✨ Vertical vs. Horizontal Living

One of the most powerful concepts Janet shares is the difference between:

Horizontal Living
Constant doing, striving, forcing outcomes, and trying to control life externally.

Vertical Alignment
Connection to divine presence, intuition, inner knowing, and trust.

When we are vertically aligned:

• The pressure to control disappears
• Clarity increases
• Decisions become easier
• Life begins to flow instead of force

Janet explains that when you focus on alignment first, everything else begins to organize itself.

🧠 Clearing Stories and Energy Patterns

Janet’s work focuses on helping clients release what is no longer serving them.

She teaches that many of our struggles come from:

• Old stories
• Limiting beliefs
• Emotional patterns
• Trauma stored in the body and energy field

These act like filters—distorting how we see the world.

Through her process, she helps clients:

• Identify these patterns
• Clear them at an energetic level
• Reconnect with their true self
• Strengthen intuitive awareness

As those layers are removed, clients naturally become more aligned, calm, and confident.

🧘‍♀️ The Power of Meditation and Awareness

Janet and Pearl discuss the importance of meditation—not as a rigid practice, but as a way to create space between thoughts.

Key insights include:

• You are not your thoughts
• You are not your emotions
• You are not your past stories

When you step back and observe instead of react, you begin to access:

• Peace
• Clarity
• Intuition
• Presence

Eve

Follow Pearl on
social media TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook: @Pearlchiarenza

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.wsliving.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Remember to embrace your inner pearl, nourish yourself, and find balance in life. Stay
true to your authentic self and continue working on your personal growth.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of Soulful Self-Care Conversations, Pearl welcomes Dr. Brett Hill, chiropractor, speaker, and founder of Your Posture Program. Dr. Hill has dedicated his career to helping people understand how posture, movement, and neurological health are deeply connected.

From growing up in a small town to building a thriving chiropractic clinic and launching a global online posture program, Dr. Hill shares his journey into chiropractic care and how he discovered that posture is one of the most overlooked keys to improving health and preventing chronic pain.

Together, Pearl and Dr. Hill explore how everyday habits—especially the increasing use of phones, computers, and digital devices—are shaping our posture and contributing to many health issues people face today.

Meet Dr. Brett Hill

Dr. Hill grew up in a small town where staying active and playing sports was a big part of daily life. Early on, he knew he wanted to help people improve their health and initially planned to attend medical school.

However, watching his mother struggle with autoimmune conditions and seeing how traditional medicine often focused on symptom management rather than root causes pushed him to explore other paths.

That journey led him to chiropractic care.

After learning how the body has an incredible ability to heal when properly supported, Dr. Hill pursued chiropractic training with a focus on neurology and functional movement. His goal became helping patients address the root cause of their health issues rather than simply masking symptoms.

He started his practice in a small clinic with no patients, gradually growing it into a thriving health practice focused on helping people regain control of their health.

What Posture Really Means

Many people believe posture simply means sitting or standing up straight.

But Dr. Hill explains that posture is much more complex. It is actually the body’s ability to resist gravity efficiently and automatically through neurological control.

Our brain and nervous system constantly adjust posture while we sit, stand, walk, and move throughout the day.

The challenge is that modern lifestyles train our bodies into poor posture habits. Hours spent looking at phones or sitting at computers cause the body to adapt to positions that weaken the core muscles and strain the neck and spine.

Over time this can lead to issues such as:

• Chronic neck and back pain
• Headaches and migraines
• Vertigo and balance issues
• Sciatica and lower back pain
• Shoulder tension and stress
• Poor breathing patterns

Dr. Hill emphasizes that many people attempt to correct posture by strengthening larger muscles, but the real solution lies in retraining the smaller stabilizing muscles and neurological patterns that control posture automatically.

How Technology Is Affecting Our Posture

Today’s technology-driven world encourages long hours of sitting and looking down at screens.

Children and adults alike are spending more time:

• Working on computers
• Looking down at phones
• Sitting for extended periods
• Using digital devices for both work and leisure

These habits cause the body to shift into forward head posture and weaken the deep core muscles responsible for stability.

Dr. Hill explains that the body is constantly adapting through a process called neuroplasticity, meaning the brain learns and reinforces whatever patterns we repeat most often.

If we repeatedly sit in poor posture, the brain eventually treats that position as normal.

The Your Posture Program

To address this growing issue, Dr. Hill developed Your Posture Program, an online system designed to help people rebuild posture through neurological retraining and guided exercises.

The program includes:

• Virtual post

Follow Pearl on
social media TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook: @Pearlchiarenza

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.wsliving.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Remember to embrace your inner pearl, nourish yourself, and find balance in life. Stay
true to your authentic self and continue working on your personal growth.

Send us Fan Mail

In this powerful and heart-centered episode of Soulful Self-Care Conversations, Pearl welcomes Ami Maikoski, quantum catalyst, transformational facilitator, leadership field architect, and executive partner devoted to awakening human potential.

Together, they explore identity, alignment, mindset, self-mastery, energetic truth, and what it really means to release the armor we’ve worn for years.

This is not surface-level self-development. This is about remembering who you truly are.

🌿 Meet Little Ami

Ami begins by introducing us to “little Ami” — a nature-loving, tree-climbing, fearless little girl from Michigan who felt most alive at the top of the trees, swaying with the wind.

She shares:

• Growing up in Kalamazoo and Mount Clemens, Michigan
• Being one of ten children
• Her fascination with the human body and the mind
• Joining the military when college wasn’t guaranteed
• Serving in the medical field
• Working alongside military leaders and supporting mission-critical operations

Even as she rose into executive corporate leadership roles later in life, there was always an inner knowing that something deeper was calling her.

🪞 The Mirror Moment

Ami shares a turning point — standing in front of the mirror one morning and not recognizing herself.

On paper, she was successful.
 In reality, she felt disconnected from who she truly was.

That moment became the beginning of her transformation.

She realized the answer was not external — not in titles, not in roles, not in responsibilities.

The answer was within.

🛡️ The Armor We Wear

Pearl and Ami discuss the many identities women carry:

• The mother
• The wife
• The leader
• The caregiver
• The volunteer
• The achiever
• The fixer

Over time, we begin to believe we are the armor.

But the armor is not who we are — it’s what we’ve carried.

Ami explains that transformation often doesn’t require becoming more.

It requires releasing what isn’t yours anymore.

🧠 Mindset, Alignment & Software Upgrades

Ami describes her work as helping individuals upgrade their internal operating system.

She works with leaders and visionaries to:

• Step into self-mastery
• Align energetically with their truth
• Remove inherited or outdated belief systems
• Stop forcing and start flowing
• Reveal the genius already within

Her philosophy is simple yet profound:

You don’t need to try harder.
 You need to stop carrying what isn’t yours.

🌊 Quantum Catalyst & Leadership Field Architecture

Ami explains that she doesn’t “fix” people.

She:

• Holds space
• Reflects truth
• Reveals potential
• Activates awareness
• Celebrates what already exists

She emphasizes the power of being seen, heard, acknowledged, and loved — what she believes is the greatest human need.

Her work isn’t about adding pressure.
 It’s about removing distortion.

💛 Self-Care as Alignment

When asked how she separates business from self-care, Ami shares something powerful:

She doesn’t.

Who she is and what she does are integrated.

Before her day begins, she:

• Meditates
• Aligns with source
• Sets energetic intention
• Surrenders as a vessel
• Closes each interaction with gratitude and clarity

That intentional space allows her to serve deeply without carrying others’ energy into her own life.

✨ What Am I Worth?

The episode closes with a reflection from the Better Questions Better Life card deck.

The question:
 What am I worth?

Ami’s response:

I am of infinite worth. There is no container that can hold the capacity of who I am.

Pearl adds:

I am worth

Follow Pearl on
social media TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook: @Pearlchiarenza

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.wsliving.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Remember to embrace your inner pearl, nourish yourself, and find balance in life. Stay
true to your authentic self and continue working on your personal growth.