We Didn't Turn Out OK with Jennie Monness

This episode is brought to you in partnership with Spring Fertility.

What does it really mean to build a family?

As someone who went through IVF myself, I know firsthand how emotional, complicated, and deeply personal the journey to parenthood can be. One thing I always realized during my journey was how much all of the conversations, tests and focus naturally centered around me. It made me realize how often fertility is viewed as a woman’s responsibility, when in reality, building a family has always been about both partners.

That’s one of the many reasons I was so excited to sit down with Dr. Nicole Yoder, fertility specialist at Spring Fertility.

In this conversation, we don't just discuss fertility treatment. We talk about what fertility care actually looks like today, when it’s time to seek support, the emotional weight of deciding whether your family is complete, and the pressure that comes with that decision.

We also dive into a conversation that I believe deserves far more attention: male fertility. Dr. Yoder shares why she advocates for evaluating both partners early in the fertility journey and why approaching family building as a shared experience can save time, reduce unnecessary stress, and help couples feel supported from the very beginning.

In this episode, we discuss:

A huge thank you to Spring Fertility for partnering with us on this episode and for the work they do supporting individuals and couples through every stage of the family-building journey.

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Some conversations change the way you think. Others change the way you see yourself. This was one of those conversations for me.

When Alexandra Brook Clark first started getting sick, she knew something was majorly wrong. But after doctor after doctor told her everything looked “normal,” she found herself facing a question so many people have had to ask themselves: Do I trust what everyone else is telling me, or do I trust myself?

That question became the thread of this entire episode.

Yes, we talk about chronic Lyme disease, mold illness, functional medicine, and creating a less toxic home. But what stayed with me most was Alexandra’s relentless self-advocacy, her willingness to keep searching for answers, and her refusal to let her diagnosis become her identity.

One of my favorite parts of our conversation was talking about how easy it is to unconsciously become the anxious one, the sick one, the neurotic one and how healing often means letting go of the identity we’ve built around our suffering.

We also explore the role psychedelics played in helping her reconnect with herself, release fear, and find the clarity that ultimately led her to create Armur Health.

Whether you’re navigating a health journey, learning to trust your intuition, or simply wondering who you are outside of the hardest thing you’ve ever experienced, I think you’ll find something in this conversation.

I absolutely loved this episode, and I can’t wait to hear what resonates most with you.

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This week on I’m joined by Kim Ross, founder and CEO of ORA, for a conversation about the invisible pressure so many mothers carry: to build, achieve, nurture, optimize, and somehow do it all without dropping a ball.

Kim shares what it’s been like building a fast-growing wellness company while raising children, why she had to let go of the belief that she needed to do everything herself, and how entrepreneurship has forced her to become more flexible than perfect.

We also unpack perfectionism, not just how it shows up in business, but how it eventually shapes the way we parent. Kim talks about intentionally letting her children see her make mistakes, apologize, pivot, and adapt, because those moments may be teaching them more than getting everything “right” ever could.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re giving enough to your family, your work, or yourself… this conversation is a reminder that maybe the goal was not doing it all and figuring out how not to.

In this episode, we discuss:

This episode is for every parent who’s ever felt stretched between the life they’re building and the people they love most.

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This week, I’m joined by Jenna Zoe, founder of My Human Design, the Align app and one of the most recognizable voices in Human Design. While Human Design may not be familiar to everyone, this conversation is ultimately about something much bigger: self-trust.

Jenna shares her perspective on the shift we’re seeing from a more collective way of living - where success, parenting, education, and even identity were often defined by external expectations - to a more individual one. How more people are finding the courage to question what they’ve been told, explore different paths, and create lives that feel more aligned with who they truly are.

We talk about how Human Design can serve as a framework for understanding ourselves and the people we love - not as a label or limitation, but as a tool for greater awareness and compassion.

One of the ideas that resonated most with me was how often our suffering comes from trying to be someone we’re not. As parents, we can unintentionally do the same thing with our children. We may push a slow-to-warm child to be more social, encourage a cautious child to be more adventurous, or assume there is one “right” way to move through the world. What if instead we learned to better understand who they already are?

Through her Align app, Jenna helps people discover their Human Design type and use that information to better understand their natural energy, decision-making, relationships, and parenting. The goal isn’t to put ourselves or our children in a box, but to reduce the exhaustion that comes from constantly working against our nature.

Whether you’re familiar with Human Design or completely new to it, this episode is an invitation to consider what becomes possible when we spend less time seeking validation outside ourselves and more time learning to trust what already exists within.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The shift from external validation to self-trust

• Why more people are questioning traditional paths and expectations

• Human Design as a tool for self-awareness

• Understanding your child’s unique temperament and needs

• The difference between supporting growth and trying to change who someone is

• Alignment, energy, and reducing unnecessary mental suffering

Whether we’re talking about Human Design, parenting, or personal growth, I think so much of it comes back to the same thing: spending less time looking outside ourselves for answers and more time learning to trust what we already know (and feel) inside.

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This week’s episode is a little different.

After a recent conversation with a guest discussing psychedelic-assisted therapy and healing, many of you reached out with questions about my own experience and what led me down this path. So today I’m scratching the surface on that personal story.

In this short solo episode, I talk about the anxiety I’ve lived with since I was a teenager, the healing modalities I explored over the years, and what ultimately led me to pursue psychedelic-assisted therapy as part of my own journey.

This episode is not medical advice, a recommendation, or an endorsement that this path is right for everyone. Psychedelic therapies carry risks, are not appropriate for every person or situation, and should only be considered with qualified medical and professional guidance where available.

My intention is simply to share my experience honestly and provide context for why conversations about healing, self-awareness, and personal transformation have become increasingly important to me. As always, take what resonates, leave what doesn’t, and make decisions in partnership with trusted medical professionals.

Thank you for listening and for being open to these conversations.

⁠The heart openers behind my journey.

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Julie Vincent is the founder of The Gifted Life, a movement and podcast redefining giftedness as every human’s birthright. After 12 years in corporate marketing, Julie became a coach and began noticing how many people had achieved traditional success on paper but still felt disconnected from their worth, meaning, and gifts.

Then motherhood deepened that work in a way she never could have expected. Her son was labeled gifted in the traditional sense. Her daughter, born after what had been a normal pregnancy, spent time in the NICU before eventually being diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, myotonic dystrophy. Julie shares the grief of letting go of the “mini me” daughter she had imagined, while also learning to see and celebrate the extraordinary child in front of her.

In this conversation, we talk about how society uses the wrong ruler for our children and ourselves. We discuss giftedness, labels, IEPs, advocacy, emotional intelligence, and the difference between measuring children by metrics versus meaning.

We also talk about the ways our children trigger us and teach us. From the birthday party where my daughter retreated back to me after I thought I was finally free to mingle, to Julie realizing her daughter’s “no fancy dresses” comment was showing her where she was over-controlling, we explore how our kids reflect back the places where we still equate their behavior, clothing, temperament, or success with our own worth.

This episode is about parenting the child in front of you, not the child you imagined, feared, or thought you were supposed to have. It is about advocacy, acceptance, repair, and learning to see every child’s gifts especially when they don’t look the way the world taught us to recognize them.

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This week on We Didn’t Turn Out Ok, I’m joined by Michael “Zappy” Zapolin — founder of  ⁠Psychedelic Concierge⁠, and one of the leading voices helping bring more mainstream awareness and understanding to psychedelic healing. Zappy has worked with celebrities, CEOs, veterans and individuals from all walks of life. He is the creator of films including The Reality of Truth and Frequency featuring voices like Joe Dispenza, Marianne Williamson and Aubrey Marcus discussing healing, consciousness, transformation and human potential.

This conversation goes far beyond psychedelics themselves. It’s really about healing. Survival mode. Emotional patterns. Motherhood. Identity. Fear. Connection. And what happens when people finally begin reconnecting with themselves in deeper ways.

We talk about the changing landscape around psychedelic healing, why these modalities have carried so much stigma historically, and why both of us believe these conversations are becoming increasingly important - especially when approached responsibly, ethically, and with proper support and integration. We even get into the growing use of psychedelics for bio hackers like Bryan Johnson who are looking to extend their lives and the benefits of psychedelics for brain and mental health.

I also share openly about my own experiences with several guided psychedelic journeys over the past year and how profoundly they’ve impacted the way I think about parenting, nervous system regulation, self-awareness, and healing.

One of the biggest themes we explore is this:

Motherhood can bring the deepest love and connection you’ve ever felt toward another human being… while simultaneously surfacing all the places you may feel disconnected from yourself in ways you never realized before.

And perhaps that’s why so many mothers are craving deeper healing.

We also discuss:

why so many people feel emotionally stuck

the difference between healing and escapism

the importance of ethical guidance and integration

why psychedelics developed such a complicated reputation historically

what happens when parents begin healing themselves

and how these experiences can shift the way we move through life, relationships, and connecting with our children. 

I honestly believe many people are walking around disconnected from parts of themselves (and the world around them) and that there are layers of ourselves many of us never fully access until we experience “healing” of this depth. The more I experience and learn about this work, the more I realize that this is part of my calling because so many of us are functioning, succeeding, caregiving and showing up for everyone while quietly becoming more disconnected from parts of ourselves that we haven't had the space or safety to access. I honestly believe that at the least, everyone should learn more about this, now more than ever as it is gaining more and more science backed research, importance and approval at a government level because of the healing and profound nature of its impact on mental health and well being.

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After more than fifteen years working to the top of luxury fashion, culminating in her role as COO of Brandon Maxwell, Lauren Phelps walked away. She had just lost her mother to brain cancer and was pregnant with her first son, and she realized something: the memories she carried of her mom weren’t the milestones or big moments, trips and celebrations. They were the in-betweens. The way her mother brushed hair away from her face during a bedtime story. The songs. The painting together on the back porch. She didn’t want to miss those moments with her own children.

Today, Lauren is a fine artist working out of her studio at the historic National Arts Club in Gramercy Park, where her oils, charcoals, and pastels are devoted almost entirely to the bond between parent and child. She is currently illustrating a book with bestselling author Michael Sampson (out soon), with her own debut as author-illustrator launching in 2027.

In this episode, Lauren and I get into the big little moments, and we bond, hard, over what it’s like to raise deep-feeling kids who show those feelings in wildly different ways. Our older ones tend to process through complication and quiet; our younger ones leave nothing unsaid. We close the conversation with Lauren in the middle of a real one: her 8-year-old is scheduled to perform an almost unbelievably complex musical piece in front of his entire school the next day, and he’s wavering. We talk through how to hold space for a child who is caught between wanting something and being terrified of it.

(An update from Lauren the morning after we recorded: he performed. He was incredible.)

This one is two moms pulling back the curtain on what it actually feels like to parent big-feeling children and on holding each other up while we do it. I hope it helps you and you connect with it the way we did with each other.

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What happens when the story you’ve always believed about yourself… starts to shift?

This week on We Didn’t Turn Out Ok, I sit down with Morgan Radford, journalist, co-anchor of NBC News Daily, mom, and now debut novelist, to talk about identity, unbelonging, family stories, and the quiet ways our past shapes who we become.

Morgan’s new novel, Now Then, explores a mother and daughter uncovering hidden truths across generations, and our conversation goes far beyond the pages of the book. We talk about what it feels like to move through spaces where you’re deeply aware of exclusion, the tension between belonging and becoming, and how motherhood changes the way we understand our parents - and ourselves.

We also talk about intentional parenting, raising children connected to culture and language, and the emotional inheritance we pass down without even realizing it.

And honestly? One of the most underrated “why didn’t anyone tell me this sooner” moments from this conversation was hearing Morgan talk about the importance of looking for peace and stability in a relationship, not just chemistry, intensity, or potential. It’s one of those things that feels so obvious once someone says it out loud, but so many of us were never actually taught to value.

This episode is thoughtful, emotional, reflective, and full of the kinds of conversations that stay with you long after they end.

In this episode we discuss:

Unbelonging and awareness of exclusion

Identity and self-discovery

The stories we inherit from our parents

Motherhood and perspective shifts

Culture, language, and intentional parenting

Family secrets and emotional legacy

Love, timing, and choosing peace in relationships

Now Then is available now. Learn more and order at MorganRadford.com.

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I sat down with my dear friend Dr. Rachel Goldman, psychologist, Clinical Assistant Professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, mom of two, and author of When Life Happens.

In this episode, we talk about what it really means when “life happens” the moments we can’t control, the stories we attach to them, and how we can move from blame, shame, or stuckness into curiosity and repair.

Rachel shares a cognitive behavioral therapy lens on parenting, body image, conflict, comparison, and the everyday thoughts that shape how we feel and respond. We talk about why “why is this happening to me?” can keep us stuck, how to ask “now what?” instead, and how to help our kids build problem-solving skills by modeling this same mindset.

We also get into body image, the messages our kids absorb, why language matters, and how modeling boundaries, breathers, resets, and self-compassion may be one of the most powerful ways we teach our children how to move through hard moments.

This conversation is about letting life be messy without making ourselves wrong for it and remembering that none of us are doing it perfectly, but we can keep learning, repairing, and beginning again.

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