Virtual Life Podcast

Tawnya Sutherland is the Market Leader in the Virtual Assistant Industry since 2003. She helps entrepreneurs become Virtual Assistants and grow their business with her VA career programs. She also hosts a yearly online conference for Virtual Assistants. People can hire VA’s and also post jobs to find a VA on her website. Here is a link to learn more about becoming a Virtual Assistant and grab Tawnya’s FREE VA Resources.*Music sample: Bobcaygeon by The Tragically HipDisclaimer:The views and opinions expressed by the podcast guests do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the podcast host, Wendy Nicholson. *Affiliate link

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Amy is a Performance Artist and calls herself a Fat Feminist Body Image Activist. In 2015, she wore a black bikini and a blindfold in the middle of a public market in Boise, Idaho. She called it her “Stand for Self-Love”. It was a progressive, courageous step and when she posted about it on her blog,  it went viral. That action propelled her influence worldwide. She advocates for women, especially in larger bodies, who feel marginalized in today’s diet-centric and fat-phobic culture.Music sample: Lover by Taylor SwiftDisclaimer:The views and opinions expressed by the podcast guests do not necessarilyreflect the views and opinions of the podcast host, Wendy Nicholson.

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Judy has been running her successful Professional Organizing business since 2010 and offers her services to within a 1 hour driving distance of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She has a Bachelor’s in Psychology which helps when she is dealing with clients in different situations. Judy has a team of subcontractors who assist her who are also professional organizers themselves. Many times, seniors need to rely on family and friends when they are ready to downsize. Judy and her team can come and assist them and take this load off their shoulders. She is available for educational sessions on the topic of professional organizing called “Clear the Clutter, Reclaim Your Life”. Music sample: Tainted Love by Soft Cell

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How Did I Get Here? In this episode, Wendy discusses how she is changing, growing and expanding who she is interviewing to include people who are entrepreneurs, influencers, bloggers etc. The Virtual Life Podcast is now a central platform for Wendy’s past and present episodes. It is a compilation of Wendy’s podcast archive and also newly released interviews. She is thinking of possibly trying some blog-type episodes and has other ideas she is exploring. The podcast tag line, “Where Minds Meet Online”, is a way to see the virtual world as a part of social connection that can enhance and support each other during difficult and challenging times. Thanks for listening! 

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Originally Published December 6, 2018 under the Just Us Women podcast title.Stephanie (Anonymous) was raised in Brazil as the child of Assemblies of God missionaries. She lived the typical itinerant missionary kid lifestyle. In the foreign country 3-4 years, in the US for 1 year. She attended many schools growing up, from Brazilian schools to private Christian schools using the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) system. Her parents held to strict Bible inerrancy and literalism. In the end though, they were children of the 60s. In one breath they would teach unquestioning faith in god while in the other advocating anyone was allowed to question anything and get the right answer.At the age of 16 she moved to NW Florida where she graduated from high school and attended community college and completed nursing school. She lived in the area for about 10 years.In her mid-twenties Stephanie moved to Texas to pursue a relationship with her future husband who she had met through mutual friends. She married into a ready-made family with two kids aged 11 & 7. This June they will celebrate 20 years of marriage. Her stepdaughter has given them 2 beautiful grandchildren who are the joy of their lives!Scholastically, Stephanie did well but was subjected to the vagaries of the ACE education which was focused on route memorization and regurgitation. ACE is fundamentalist in its Christian beliefs advocating for young earth creationism among other fallacies. The system left her poorly prepared for college, but she was able to avoid too much math or creative writing during that stage. 20 years later, she chose to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing which involved studying philosophy, ethics, statistics, critical scientific thinking. This was the final stake in the heart of her theistic beliefs, which had been weakening over the years. After completing the bachelor’s degree, Stephanie was still fascinated by research and found that it would be possible for her to pursue a career as a Nurse Scientist by getting a PhD. That pursuit started in 2014. It has been a long and difficult path but as of January 2018, she is ABD, All but Dissertation. She is hoping to complete her research by Spring or Summer 2019 and defend her dissertation. Her goals are to use research and evidence to improve the lives of patients, especially neonates, which is her field of specialization.Original Music Composition by Esther NicholsonDisclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the podcast guests do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the podcast host, Wendy Nicholson

Originally Published September 1, 2018 under the Just Us Women podcast title.As with ALL episodes, there is an explicit label. That is because the topics may include discussions that can be triggering for people. This episode does have some difficult topics so, just be warned.I recently listened to a podcast by Rebecca Scritchfield, called Body Kindness. In an archived episode back in 2016, she talked about a book called The Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal. They talked about how fear can lead to courage. And for some people, after going through trauma, they can actually experience post-traumatic growth…after the trauma, life has more meaning.For most of this episode, Tracey tells her story about growing up with many challenges including a complicated family-of-origin history. She talks about education choices and career changes. She talks about being married to her 1st husband and the traumatic experience that was including experiencing violence and abuse.Tracey also shared about her daughter dealing with PTSD and about how the school system and so many adults do a poor job in standing up for children who have been bullied or abused. This was very triggering for me so at about the 49:10 min. mark, I had a 10 min breakdown which I mostly edited out. It really hit a nerve and I was surprised at my own emotions. This was because there have been multiple times that I have experienced and witnessed that so many adults do not really listen to (or protect) children who have been abused or bullied. And so, to hear yet another instance of this, the emotions just overflowed. We picked up the discussion talking about reasons why women end up staying in difficult marriages and the societal pressures put on women.We had to cut the discussion short at the end but will hopefully be able to pick up the topic in a future episode.Original Music Composition by Esther NicholsonDisclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the podcast guests do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the podcast host, Wendy Nicholson

Originally Published August 18, 2018 under the Just Us Women podcast title.This interview was recorded on July 2nd, 2018. I first met Tracey when she was a co-host of a podcast that interviewed me in 2017. Tracey has a blog called Godless Mama which she has had for over 10 years which was about the time she first became a part of the skeptical and atheist movement.There are no atheist churches on every corner. There are very few physical locations to go to interact with people who are part of the atheist and skeptical communities. The majority of the atheist community is online, so the quantity of social media increases as you get more involved and vice versa. And so, Tracey and I discuss what it’s like to take a break from social media.I was going to interview her when I still had the Women Beyond Belief podcast but that was postponed after I ended up ending the podcast under that name. Then, Tracey started her own podcast this past spring where she interviewed me in her 3rd episode. It’s so good to have a friend to be blunt and honest with.Original Music Composition by Esther NicholsonDisclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the podcast guests do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the podcast host, Wendy Nicholson

Originally Published March 2, 2018 under the Just Us Women podcast title.This Women’s Panel was recorded on January 25, 2018Questions to discuss:* What did you learn at church and home about sex?* What about masturbation and orgasms?* What was your church/home opinion of premarital sex and teen pregnancy?* Were you influenced by the “purity culture”?* Who were some prominent religious leaders who influenced you related to your early understanding about sex?* What are some recommendations you would have to others who may be listening who are single and still religious?Autumn (Pseudonym) grew up in a divorced family with moderately diverse spiritual beliefs – a little Catholicism, a little Alcoholics Anonymous Theism. Although she was a self-identifying Atheist from a young age, she was enticed into Christianity as a teenager, the promise of “God has a wonderful plan for your life” being irresistible. She continued in Christianity for ten years, during which she attended a “discipleship school,” where she learned how to be a bible literalist and fundamentalist. She attempted to maintain the fervor she had in the cultish environment of the school, but real life and critical thinking eventually won out. Her deconversion was a slow erosion but came down all at once in late 2016. Autumn is a little over a year into being an “out” Atheist. Although most of the important people in her life know, she is using a pseudonym to protect her privacy, and her husband’s privacy. Her husband is still a Christian. Janelle Leegstra was raised in a very specific branch of Christianity: The Reformed or Calvinist branch. Most people who think of Reformed think of Christian Reformed, which was the liberal side of the Reformed spectrum. They resided somewhere in the middle. Her family believed in a lot of fundamentalist teachings such as: women couldn’t lead in the church, original sin makes everyone prone to evil, no sex outside of marriage, etc. However, some more conservative versions of Calvinism went steps further, and believed things like: women should always wear skirts and you could never know if you were saved (Janelle’s husband belonged to one of these). They believed they were chosen by God and must now follow his teachings. A lot of what they believed was quite conservative.She grew up very absorbed in this tradition. She was homeschooled for 8 of her school years because they moved a lot and also due to the fact that her parents didn’t like the mainstream Christian schools because they were too liberal. Eventually, in grade 9, Janelle was enrolled in a Canadian Reformed School and graduated from there. She even went to a Christian university in Ontario for a year. She didn’t break out of Christian circles until she came to Lethbridge, Alberta to go to a secular university. This is where Janelle finally got a glimpse of what outside ways of thinking looked like and began her journey of de-conversion. It took a couple years before she finally realized she didn’t believe it anymore, and it’s still a work-in-progress to let go of all of the inner thought processes. But, she is definitely an Atheist now, and has recently come out to her family as such. The fallout from that is very recent and is pretty tense still. It’s been a long road with a long way to go yet, but she is very excited to see where it goes.Janelle was definitely influenced by the misogynistic culture of her church community. There was a lot of emphasis on virginity and definitely an unequal partnership in dating and marriage. She and her dad picked out a purity ring when she got her first period and Janelle was deeply immersed in purity culture until her boyfriend (now husband) began to leave the church.

Originally Published February 25, 2018 under the Just Us Women podcast title.Joy Hopper (Pseudonym) was born into a family with a twin sister and three older brothers. Her dad was an alcoholic and, as a result, drove her mom into the arms another man. Her mother moved out of state with the hopes of coming back for the three youngest, after she got settled and on her feet, financially. But before that could happen Joy and her siblings all ended up in foster care due to severe neglect and her dad’s second DUI. One day, two social workers pulled up and Joy and her twin sister got into one car, her brother into another while the two older boys had been sent on an errand. When they came back they were gone. No good-byes no closure. Just gone. Joy and her twin landed on a farm out in the country, in rural Idaho and were adopted by a devoutly religious, Pentecostal family. They never saw their brothers or anyone else in the family again for the rest of their childhood.Joy has fond memories of the Assemblies of God church they attended. The church was where they felt loved and accepted. As a teen, the church became increasingly pivotal as Joy fully embraced the message of being in the world but not “of” it. She was the compliant and obedient daughter that every other Christian parent wanted their own children to emulate. Essentially, church was the place where she didn’t feel like a freak.As she got into high school, every minister, traveling evangelist and TV preacher talked about the imminent return of Christ. Joy’s fear of missing the rapture kept her locked in to the church and Bible reading and prayer at a heightened level. It was also this fear that fueled her decision to go to Bible College in North Dakota.For the next three decades, she followed Jesus with her whole heart, mind, and strength. Joy played the piano on the worship team, wrote children’s musicals for Christmas and Easter, taught Sunday school, assisted her husband as a care group leader’s wife, did missionary work, home schooled her kids.The unraveling began just a few years ago, when her oldest daughter came home from traveling in Europe for a year. She started talking about Christians in third person and Joy felt such a tremendous wave of sadness and panic. There was NO WAY she would let any of her six kids get ensnared by the devil. She felt she had to win her back to Jesus! Her biggest issue for de-converting was the concept of Hell. On her journey in Europe, Joy’s daughter had met and befriended the most amazing people and they all happened to be atheists. She said, she could never believe in a god who would condemn perfectly decent, kind, caring, honest people simply for not having enough evidence to believe. So, Joy started digging deep and researching the doctrine of Hell and from there her ironclad foundation started to shake. She didn’t lose faith because she walked away from God or took her eyes off him. Instead, she lost faith when she pressed in and looked MORE closely– sincerely looking for answers to help her daughter.Joy has spent the last three years reflecting and processing this journey by writing a memoir of her spiritual formation and eventual collapse. It’s called, Joy Unspeakable: Toxic Faith and Rose-Colored Glasses. It’s in the process of getting published and will come out later this year from Page Publishing.Joy uses the metaphor of rose-colored glasses to describe how she saw the world, with Jesus in it. When she was finally able to take off the glasses, the world looked very different.Joy felt she had been hiding behind an avatar her entire life, a representation of herself that was merely a conduit of the Holy Spirit. When the glasses came off, belief system in a pile of ruins,

Originally Published February 18, 2018 under the Just Us Women podcast title.Kari Becken did not fall from faith, she outgrew it. Today, she is recovering from 43 years of fundamental religious dogma and indoctrination. It has been a journey woven in, and among, several sects and persuasions that cost both her career and community but allowed her to find herself.Her ‘rise to reason’ enabled her to embrace her queer identity and become committed to creating useful, relevant content and a safe space to inspire, encourage and support those who also seek to discover their unique, authentic selves.Through the exploration of self-care techniques and the science of intuition, she challenges her audience to develop critical thinking skills, expand their comfort zones and overcome unproductive habit loops, damaging mindsets, limiting beliefs and emotional obstacles such as fear, anxiety and self-doubt.In speaking from the real and raw vulnerable place of her own suppression of self, depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, she chronicles her journey and shares strategies of hope in her blog Queerious Beckonings with the goal of helping others who are also looking to experience being fully alive – and free.Marcia Wickham grew up in a fundamentalist church. At age 7, her parents divorced. She was sexually abused by her father and was kept quiet by the legalistic rules of the church. After a number of tragic events including her mother’s mental breakdown and having to live with her abusive father, she finally lived with a foster family who were Mennonites. She married at age 17 and started to foster children at age 20.After her father’s death, the secret of the abuse became public and her depression escalated to attempted suicide. While she was in the hospital she started to see a secular therapist who helped her initiate the road to recovery from the nightmares. He also challenged her to start thinking more critically and she started to question her faith. After 23 years of marriage, she divorced her 1st husband. She met her 2nd husband at a Unitarian church and now they have a blended family of 8.Questions discussed in this episode* What did you learn at church and home about sex?* Was the topics of masturbation and orgasms ever discussed growing up?* What was your church/home opinion of premarital sex and teen pregnancy?* Were you influenced by the “purity culture”?* Who were some prominent religious leaders who influenced you related to your early understanding about sex? * What Secular influences did you have around sex? * What was your church/home opinion about the LGBTQ+ community?* What are some recommendations you would have to others who may be listening who are single and still religious?* Do you have any resources that you would recommend?Additional topics discussed were sexual abuse, incest, Christian marriages and expectations of Christian wives, non-consent and obligatory sex.Original Music Composition by Esther NicholsonDisclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the podcast guests do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the podcast host, Wendy Nicholson