It's a constant struggle - owning my most authentic self. So, today, I want to share my heart with you and my thoughts on compromising who we are to accommodate other people. I explore why we do it, how it's affected me in my own life, and how we stop compromising and start living from our most authentic self.

The most vulnerable parts of our stories are the ones where we feel most alone.

In today’s episode, I’m sitting down with Paulene Cruse. Paulene is a sweet friend that I’ve known for several years now. But in today’s episode, she opens up about parts of her story I’ve never heard before.

She shares the story of being inspired by the work she did for her own wedding, and how that grew into her launching her own custom calligraphy business. She also shares the process of deciding to leave her full-time job and take this business full-time.

And then, it gets really stinkin’ vulnerable. This may be the most heart-shaking conversation I’ve ever had on the podcast. I cried while listening. I cried again while editing. Grab the tissues, sweet people. Paulene opens up about her experience of becoming a mom and how she didn’t feel the way she expected to feel. And it’s one of the most beautiful, vulnerable truths I think I’ve ever heard shared on the podcast.

You know that thing you're ashamed to share out loud? Maybe that thing is what makes you, and your work, so amazing. In today's episode, Kaitlin Noverr is opening up and sharing about a chronic illness that she's been living with, but has been scared to share out loud. She shares about finding out the diagnosis, how it affects her daily life, and the doubts and insecurities she has about her work because of it.

We talk about why she hasn't shared this before and the fears she's been living with. She also shares about her experience with dyslexia and how living with both of these has inspired her work and creativity in some unexpected ways. If you're living with a chronic illness or have been bottling up something you've been scared to share out loud, this episode is for you.

We spend the entire month of December and January every year planning out the next year and setting goals. But there's a problem with goal-setting we're not addressing. In today's episode, I'm sharing the problem with goal-setting and New Year's resolutions, even when we have the best of intentions. I'm opening up about the time my goals backfired and kept me from making a shift in my own life and business. And I'm sharing what I'm doing differently this year rather than setting goals.

Hooray for the first week of season two! This season is full of even more kickass ladies who are opening up about the real, raw, un-pretty parts of life and business.

Joining us for the first Thursday episode of 2017 is Ginny Krauss. She’s a brand and marketing strategist for creatives with three businesses! So how do you go from even running one business to running three? Ginny has all the juicy details.

While her journey sounds exciting and almost even easy, it was anything but. I asked Ginny to share the really hard parts of business that we wouldn’t see on social media. She also shares her exciting story of moving to Germany for love and her life now as a mompreneur, living and working abroad.

We also talk a lot about balancing online connections with offline friendships. Ginny gets real and raw sharing her own less-than-perfect experiences and her tips for finding a community.