January is usually about beginnings — new goals, new energy, new vision. But what about endings?

In Episode 2 of Season Three of The Table I Built, Andrea Walton explores why learning to steward endings, losses, and transitions is essential to growth. Drawing from Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud and the wisdom of Ecclesiastes, this episode reframes “negative” moments as necessary — and sometimes healing.

As we look toward 2026, this conversation offers a grounded, hopeful framework for navigating change, preparing for transitions, and letting go of what no longer fits — without fear, and without denial.

Pull up a chair. Your seat at the table is waiting.

Welcome to Season Three of The Table I Built.

This season, we’re elevating the powerful voices of women who lead with purpose, compassion, and conviction — women reshaping the world through their decisions, their courage, and their impact.

To open this season, I’m joined by Karen Hanrahan, a global leader whose career spans more than 25 years across humanitarian action, child protection, and international development. As the Chief Impact and Innovation Officer at ChildFund International — and through her previous roles with the U.S. Department of State and the GLIDE Foundation — Karen has spent her life advocating for vulnerable communities and helping rebuild lives in some of the most complex environments in the world.

In this episode, Karen and I talk about:

• The leadership lesson that has guided her across every chapter of her career

• How she stays hopeful in challenging global moments

• Why women in leadership must embrace vulnerability, humanity, and truth

• What she’s learned from communities who rebuild after conflict and crisis

• What resilience really looks like in practice

This conversation sets the tone for a season dedicated to women leading with power, purpose, and heart.

Pull up a chair — your seat at the table is waiting.

Season Two Finale — The Table I Built

In this powerful season finale, Andrea sits down with commercial pharmaceutical leader Shana Washington, a seasoned executive with more than 15 years of experience driving global strategy across the biotech and life sciences industry.

With nearly 1.1 million layoffs across the U.S. this year and close to 15,000 job cuts in pharma, this conversation is timely, honest, and deeply necessary. Andrea and Shana expand on their impactful dialogue from Young Black Pharma, offering clarity, preparation strategies, and real guidance for anyone navigating today’s volatile job market.

Shana brings her rich leadership experience from organizations such as Moderna, Sarepta Therapeutics, and AbbVie, where she’s led global marketing strategies, launched major initiatives across international markets, championed diversity in healthcare, and co-chaired a leading women’s ERG. She holds degrees from Columbia University and Ohio University, along with executive certificates from Northwestern and NYU.

Together, Andrea and Shana explore:

• How to fortify yourself if you’re still employed in an unstable market

• What to do in the first days and weeks after a layoff

• How to rebuild your narrative and confidence

• Strategies to stand out in a crowded, employer-driven job market

• Ways to monetize your skills while you search

• A 30-day roadmap for resetting, reconnecting, and moving forward with intention

Whether you’re navigating a transition or simply preparing wisely, this episode offers the wisdom, grounding, and strategy you need for the journey ahead.

In this special bonus episode of The Table I Built, I sit down for a deeply personal and long-awaited conversation with my mother, Urith Lynn Walker — poet, artist, singer, believer, and the woman whose strength has shaped so much of my own.

This year, my mom faced breast cancer for the first time in her life. But this episode isn’t about the disease — it’s about resilience, healing, and grace. It’s about what she learned about herself, how she stayed grounded, and the wisdom she now carries for every woman navigating her own season of uncertainty or transition.

We talk about courage. We talk about faith. We talk about slowing down, listening to your body, and allowing yourself to receive support instead of always giving it. And we talk about the kind of inner strength that only surfaces when life insists you go inward.

If you’re a woman holding everything together, or a woman learning to release, this conversation is for you.

And if you’re looking for tools to support your own healing journey, my mom recently released a guided journal designed to help women reflect, process, and restore themselves through writing. You can find her journal on Amazon here: https://a.co/d/7n9DmoB

Resilience is strategy. Purpose is power. And legacy is built one decision at a time.

Thank you for joining me — and for honoring this moment with us.

Before the rush of the holidays and the close of another year, Andrea pauses to reflect on a season that’s tested and strengthened so many of us.

In this heartfelt episode, she invites you to slow down, breathe, and take inventory of how you’ve shown up for yourself this year — even through loss, delay, or uncertainty.

Because even if every prayer wasn’t answered, your presence here means you’re still becoming.

In this heartfelt solo episode, Andrea opens up about what it means to carry purpose through a season of exhaustion. Between her mother’s recent cancer surgery, her daughter’s recovery, and the ongoing weight of leadership and motherhood, she reflects on the quiet strength it takes to keep standing when life feels heavy.

Because sometimes the miracle isn’t that you keep going — it’s that you’re still standing.

🎙️ A short, honest reminder that even when you’re tired, grace still finds you.

As we close out Disability Awareness Month, I’m joined by a very special guest — my daughter, Naomi Nicole, creator of One Strong Hand.

Born with a radial club hand and raised by a teenage mother, Naomi’s story is one of faith, strength, and redefining what’s possible. Together, we talk about what it means to be underestimated, how to turn obstacles into opportunities, and why our limitations never define our legacy.

Because being underestimated isn’t a setback — it’s an invitation to rise.

In this solo episode, Andrea gets real about the unseen cost of success — what happens when you build at the expense of your peace. Through honest reflection and practical wisdom, she unpacks how to create boundaries, release what no longer serves you, and build from a place of clarity instead of chaos.

Because peace isn’t a reward you earn at the finish line — it’s the foundation that helps you finish well.

In this solo episode of The Table I Built, Andrea Walton explores what it truly means to step out of the shadows and into your full power.

For everyone who has ever felt unseen, overlooked, or uncertain about how to show up authentically in their career or calling, this episode is a reminder that visibility isn’t vanity — it’s responsibility.

Andrea shares reflections on fear, self-advocacy, and authenticity, along with three ways to become visible in your own life: telling the truth about who you are, advocating for yourself out loud, and building community around your voice.

In this episode of the table, I built, Andrea Walton sits down with Bunmi Mitchell, an HR Executive who story, embodies, resilience, growth, and grace.

From becoming a mother as a teenager to raising three children, while climbing the corporate ladder, she shares what it means to navigate life, loss, and leadership with purpose. She reflects on how seasons have changed shaped her strength, and how stepping it into her own power has transformed not just her career, but her voice.