In this heartfelt finale of Season 1 of the What Women Are podcast, host Dr. Sarah Denny Lorio reflects on the incredible women featured throughout the season, sharing their wisdom and experiences. She expresses gratitude for the lessons learned, emphasizes the importance of community support for the future of the podcast, and shares about the plans she has to create resources that support both women and men as they seek to offer their best selves in their everyday lives. This episode serves as both a celebration of women's strengths and also as a call to action for listeners to contribute to the podcast's mission. If you would like to support the mission, creation, editing, and production of the What Women Are Podcast, please consider going to the website to leave a review, to make a donation, or to share your favorite episode with someone you know.

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What Women Are Show Notes: https://www.whatwomenare.com/podcast/episode016

In this episode, Kat Finney allows us to grab another cup of coffee with her as she shares about embracing the adventure of life's ups and downs. Here in this episode, Kat shares about her unique journey through significant life transitions. Whether going from being a full-time teacher to staying at home, navigating difficult postpartum challenges, or bringing her passion for photography to life, Kat highlights the leaps of faith it takes to make these changes possible. As she describes the realities of motherhood and how she built her photography business, Kat highlights the importance of community, support, and the unique paths women navigate in their lives. This conversation about Kat's passions would be incomplete without her reflections on embracing life's ups and downs together as a family—whether costuming in New Orleans for Mardi Gras or in Disney World. This episode is for every woman out there who believes in pursuing her dreams while managing family responsibilities and who simultaneously aches for the confirmation that rest and play are essential for a fulfilling life. May we each remember that each unique season of life is an invitation to adventure with Him.

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What Women Are Show Notes: https://www.whatwomenare.com/podcast/episode015

In this episode, Kat Finney shares more about the challenges and joys of motherhood, particularly with young children. Highlighting her family’s journey from training together to actually running a recent 5K in Disney World (Kat and her little girls together!), Kat reflects on the significance of encouragement among women, especially teaching our little women this power. Kat also shares her experiences with homeschooling and creating a family routine, emphasizing the need for connection and support in daily life.

As always, Kat serves as a cheerleader for all of the unique gifts women bring to the world, highlighting the strength and solidarity found in female relationships.

This episode is for every woman out there who has done hard things and has learned the need to show grace both to the women in her life as well as to herself. May we continue to support each other in our own unique journeys of life.

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What Women Are Show Notes:

https://www.whatwomenare.com/podcast/episode014

Today’s episode allows us to grab a cup of coffee and sit down with Kat Finney for a heartfelt coffee date. Exploring woman’s experiences from high school to adulthood, Kat and Dr. Lorio discuss the importance of faith, the challenges of transitioning to college life, the value of friendships, and the impact of travel on personal growth. Here in this episode, Kat also shares her insights on pro-life advocacy, the significance of empathy, the powerful life lessons learned from her experiences abroad, and the beauty of living one’s life in seasons. This conversation highlights the gift of reconnecting with old friends and the transformative power of community and relationships. With a deep humility and respect, Kat shares her journey of growth as a new wife and mother to where she is today by going into more detail about the challenges of marriage and motherhood as well as the need for honest and consistent communication between spouses.This episode is for every woman out there as Kat shares about the trials of early marriage, the joys and sorrows of parenthood, and the importance of faith in navigating life's challenges. Through her own experience of miscarriage, Kat highlights how loss can deepen our understanding of joy and how finding hope in sorrow is a vital part of the journey.✨What Women Are Show Notes: https://www.whatwomenare.com/podcast/episode013

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In this episode, Mary Bruno shares more about her profound journey with infertility and the power of spiritual motherhood. She delves into both the complexities of adoption and the need for deepening the pro-life conversation to include the women who bravely offer their children up for adoption.

Finally, Mary encourages women to have open conversations with each other about women's health and sexual intimacy.

Ultimately, Mary’s wisdom emphasizes the significance of understanding one's own journey, the power of community support, and the necessity of addressing women's unique experiences in the context of faith and personal growth.

Other highlights from this episode include:

• Infertility is often a lonely journey, but sharing stories can create community.

• Adoption requires discernment and can be a beautiful path to parenthood.

• Women need to be empowered to share their experiences and voices.

• Sexual intimacy should not be painful; it's important to seek help if it is.

• The pro-life movement should support both birth mothers and adoptive families equally.

• Understanding one's gifts and desires is crucial for personal fulfillment.Therapy and counseling can be vital in addressing personal struggles and healing.

• Women’s health issues, including infertility, deserve open and honest discussions.

In honor of International Women’s Day, Dr. Sarah Denny Lorio shares a little bit of her own story and the history behind the What Women Are Podcast.

As an independent and stubborn young woman in her freshman year of college, Dr. Lorio took a Women’s Studies class that changed her life. Realizing just how much confusion there is surrounding the understanding of who and what women are, she decided to search for the answers for herself. In doing so, she discovered that there was much more freedom and joy to be found in the deepest truths of life and woman’s vocation. She also realized that these truths were ultimately meant for all women.

If you’ve ever wondered what the Catholic Church actually teaches about women, this episode is for you!

Let’s celebrate the gift of each and every woman as she fulfills her own unique feminine vocation, not by what she does but by who she is ♥️

What Women Are Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatwomenareofficial/

What Women Are Show Notes: https://www.whatwomenare.com/podcast/episode011

In this episode, Mary Bruno shares her profound journey of discernment regarding marriage and motherhood, especially in light of her struggle with endometriosis and infertility. Reflecting on the importance of faith, community support, and the power of vulnerability in navigating these challenges, Mary shares about her personal experience with endometriosis and the need for the Church to recognize the many spiritual mothers in the pews, regardless of family size. Together, Sarah and Mary emphasize the need for an open dialogue about women's health issues and about the importance of understanding and supporting women who experience these challenges.Acknowledging the difficulties faced in navigating the medical field and healthcare when struggling with fertility issues, this episode also highlights the significance of both physical and spiritual forms of motherhood, self-care, and the impact of suffering on personal growth and relationships. By sharing her unique story of healing, Mary beautifully recognizes the need we have for all women to offer their gifts to this world. We as women often feel societal pressure to conform to traditional motherhood roles, and this reality makes clear why community support is essential for those facing infertility. If you are a woman who needs encouragement in the gifts you have to offer the world, this episode is for you! We are all called to be mothers, but this episode beautifully describes just how multi-faceted and personal this vocation is for every single one of us.

What Women Are Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatwomenareofficial/What Women Are Show Notes: https://www.whatwomenare.com/podcast/episode010

In this conversation, Stephanie Hilgert shares about her work as a Marquette Method Instructor (a method of fertility awareness). As she explains the importance of understanding one's body, she elaborates on some of the challenges women face while charting during the postpartum period, and she emphasizes the significance of communication in marriage. More than anything, this episode both emphasizes the empowerment of women that comes from using fertility awareness methods and highlights the need for support and education in this area.It is important to seek help and guidance when needed. If you are struggling to understand your unique cycle and hormonal story, this episode is here to encourage you to find the help you need to grow in this ever-important knowledge. ✨To access the show notes where you can find more information about Stephanie and her work, please visit www.whatwomenare.com ✨

What Women Are Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatwomenareofficial/What Women Are Show Notes: https://www.whatwomenare.com/podcast/episode009

Join me as I chat with Stephanie Hilgert, a dear friend of mine, who has nearly a decade of experience as a pediatric emergency nurse, and now works part-time teaching the Marquette Method of Natural Family Planning. A wife and mother of four, Stephanie shares the beauty and reality of what it means to discern each new season as it comes. In this episode, Stephanie opens up about her life experiences: how she navigated the wide expanse of freedom when she started college, how she met her husband, what it was like to get married at 22 and move to a new city, her experience working as a pediatric emergency nurse, her decision to homeschool her children, the gift of finding the right help for her child who has autism, why she decided to send her kids back to school….and how she has remained open to each new season of life in both its unique beauty and difficult demands. Whether you have little ones you’re trying to raise, children in college, or are an ordinary woman just trying to discern your next steps, this episode is for you!✨Show Notes: whatwomenare.comWhat Women Are Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/whatwomenareofficial/What Women Are Show Notes:https://www.whatwomenare.com/podcast/episode008

In this last part of my conversation with Ali Dazzio, she shares her journey from working in women's health to her current role working with college students at Christ the King Church on the campus of Louisiana State University.

Steeped in the gifts of theology, she explains the need for women to stay rooted in reality and how embracing our humanity is essential for any kind of true personal growth.

Ali encourages women to be authentic in their own walks of life. Warning against the lies we believe about ourselves or that compel us to strive for perfection, she also shares the wisdom she’s learned more recently while parenting her now young-adult children.

Whether you have littles, children all grown and out on their own, or are just a single woman trying to remain faithful to the woman you’ve been created to be, this episode is for you!