What's It Like? with Stacy and Emily

Today's guest is Jill Pascarella, the principal at Carl Traeger Middle School in Oshkosh.  
Teachers and staff at her school will tell you she is a "say-it-like-it-is" woman, who supports her teachers, cares deeply about the students and wants the very best for the school and our district. 
Jill has a long history in the public school system and has so much wisdom to share. We had an absolute BLAST talking with her and we know everyone will love to hear what she has to say!

We loved our conversation with mental health and substance abuse counselor Lindsay Loewe so much one year ago, we asked her to come back and talk about how Covid has affected mental health and what we can do about it!
As we expected, she had so much insight to share. We felt encouraged, better equipped and more aware of things we are struggling with as parents, wives, friends and employees during these crazy times!

Tammy and Julie are both awesome women, moms and they are both raising a child with special needs. 
On this episode, they share what it was like to first find out their child had special needs all the way to now, parenting a middle schooler with down syndrome and an adult with autism. 
You will appreciate their honesty and grow in empathy as you learn about the ins and outs of parenting and loving a child with special needs.  

Paul Tackes, Emily's brother, shares real experiences about being black in America today. Paul is kind, smart and cares so much about his community and furthering the dialogue about racism. 
He is wise, full of grace and exceedingly honest about the reality African Americans face.
We loved this conversation.  

This chat is really a catch up session for Emily and Stacy. Life threw us all a major curve ball in March and like everybody else we have had to adjust. 
We talk about Covid-19, how our families dealt with the quarantine, the good and the hard of life slowing down. And we also talk about the BLM movement and protests and how we want to engage and be a part of the solution.

It's so good to be back, we have missed you!!!

Andi Koth, a wife, a mom, a friend, a general all around kick-butt woman, is also a recovering alcoholic. She shares her story of struggling with addiction, what finally made her want to be sober and how she now uses her experience, empathy and wisdom to help other people. 
Such an important story and we are so thankful for Andi's courage and openness. 

What do you do when life veers in a direction you never saw coming? How do you go on living after the death of your spouse? What are some of the small but significant ways loved ones can help when someone you care about is walking through deep grief?
Michelle bravely talks about her love story with her husband Dave, and how she is figuring out how to live a life she didn't plan on. 

This was a hard podcast to title. Bee Vang is our guest today. He is Hmong, became a refugee in Wisconsin when he was two. He is a father, a pastor and he has felt the hatred of racism too many times to list. 
This is the story of a young boy trying to assimilate into a foreign community and the amazing path his life took as a result of poverty, Hmong culture, the will to succeed and the gift of a few people who believed in him. 

You will LOVE this podcast!

We have discussed adoption and foster parenting on our podcast in the past. We have shared perspectives from parents who have adopted, and heard stories from people who were adopted themselves. 
This podcast is the story of a 19 year old girl making a hard and courageous decision to choose adoption for her daughter. 20 years later they have reunited.
Stephanie Krueger is as real as they come. She shares candidly about the tough choices she was faced with as a young adult, the love she carried for the daughter she gave up for adoption and her gratitude for the chance to be a part of her life now. 
This is a feel good story and we are so grateful to Steph for sharing it with us!