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Your past does not get to vote on your future, unless you let it.

In this powerful episode of Women Like Me Stories & Business, Julie Fairhurst sits down with executive leader, author, and professional speaker Victoria Pelletier for an honest conversation about what it really means to be unstoppable.

Victoria shares the mindset, resilience, sacrifice, and daily choices behind high achievement. We talk about why strong women often confuse resilience with never needing rest, why life integration matters more than chasing perfect balance, and how leaders can create workplaces where people are seen as whole human beings.

This conversation also goes deep into executive presence, workplace power dynamics, personal branding for women, and what to do when you walk into a room feeling outnumbered, overlooked, or underestimated.

You’ll hear practical wisdom on owning your seat, finding allies, building confidence, growing credibility, and learning how to stop apologizing for your ambition.

If you are a woman in leadership, business, transition, or reinvention, this episode will remind you that you are not here to shrink. You are here to rise.

Subscribe to Women Like Me Stories & Business for more conversations with women who are turning lived experience into wisdom, purpose, leadership, and impact.

Ways to connect with Victoria:

Website:  https://victoria-pelletier.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Victoria.Pelletier.Unstoppable/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoria_pelletier_unstoppable/?hl=en

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VictoriaPelletierUnstoppable

✨ READY TO TURN YOUR STORY INTO AUTHORITY?

I’m Julie Fairhurst - publisher, executive producer, story and sales strategist, and founder of Women Like Me Media.

After 34 years in sales, helping approximately 3,000 clients, publishing more than 350 women’s stories, and hosting over 400 interviews, I know this:

Your story is not simply something that happened to you. It is part of your wisdom, your credibility, and the work you are here to do.

Whether you are ready to write your story, publish your book, strengthen your message, sell with greater confidence, or become more visible, I can help you take the next step.

Your voice matters. Your experience has value. And you do not need to remain the best-kept secret in your industry.

Visit https://juliefairhurst.com to explore coaching, publishing, podcast opportunities, and visibility programs.

🎙️ Subscribe to Women Like Me Stories & Business for honest conversations with women who are turning what they have lived and learned into purpose, leadership, and lasting impact.

Julie Fairhurst
Founder & CEO, Women Like Me Media
Publisher • Executive Producer • Story & Sales Strategist

Soft heart. Strong voice. Clear invitation.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

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The overdose crisis is often talked about like a statistic, but behind every loss is a family, a story, a mother, a child, a friend, and a grief that does not end.

In this powerful conversation, Julie Fairhurst sits down with her dear friend Brenda-Lee Hunter on the eve of her book launch, Echoes of Love, Voices of Loss, a deeply moving collection built from the real stories of families impacted by the drug crisis in British Columbia and beyond.

Brenda-Lee shares why overdose grief is so often misunderstood, how stigma changes the way families are treated after a loss, and why silence keeps people trapped in shame instead of receiving compassion and support.

We talk about the prescription opioid era, mental health gaps, pain care, today’s unregulated drug supply, safe injection sites, shelters, outreach, treatment access, longer rehab timelines, brain injury from repeated overdoses, and the children who are growing up in the shadow of addiction and trauma.

This is not just a conversation about addiction. It is a conversation about love, loss, families, policy, community, and the urgent need to stop treating grieving people like they have something to hide.

If this episode touches your heart, please share it with someone who needs language for what they are carrying. Subscribe, leave a review, and help us spread stories that can move hearts and push leaders to act.

Join the group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/4101376083451665
Buy the book:
United States
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GZ2SW3D9
Canada 
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0GZ2SW3D9
Website:  https://thelegacymission.com/meet-brenda-lee-hunter

✨ READY TO TURN YOUR STORY INTO AUTHORITY?

I’m Julie Fairhurst - publisher, executive producer, story and sales strategist, and founder of Women Like Me Media.

After 34 years in sales, helping approximately 3,000 clients, publishing more than 350 women’s stories, and hosting over 400 interviews, I know this:

Your story is not simply something that happened to you. It is part of your wisdom, your credibility, and the work you are here to do.

Whether you are ready to write your story, publish your book, strengthen your message, sell with greater confidence, or become more visible, I can help you take the next step.

Your voice matters. Your experience has value. And you do not need to remain the best-kept secret in your industry.

Visit https://juliefairhurst.com to explore coaching, publishing, podcast opportunities, and visibility programs.

🎙️ Subscribe to Women Like Me Stories & Business for honest conversations with women who are turning what they have lived and learned into purpose, leadership, and lasting impact.

Julie Fairhurst
Founder & CEO, Women Like Me Media
Publisher • Executive Producer • Story & Sales Strategist

Soft heart. Strong voice. Clear invitation.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Send us Fan Mail

“Is it me?” can sound like healthy self-reflection, but in a toxic relationship it can become the trap that keeps you questioning yourself for years.

In this episode, Julie Fairhurst sits down with Carine Van Hee, a visual artist living in Norway, survivor of domestic abuse, and author of Is It Me? The Hidden System Behind Toxic Relationships, to put clear language around the confusing reality of emotional abuse, manipulation, coercive control, and gaslighting.

Carine shares how the death of her mother exposed a painful family truth and pushed her to research the repeatable patterns behind toxic relationships. Together, we talk about why emotional abuse can be so hard to recognize when it is mostly invisible: the early love bombing that feels like a soulmate connection, the gradual isolation, the blame shifting, the walking on eggshells, and the slow erosion of confidence that happens one small moment at a time.

We also explore healing after abuse. Carine explains why leaving is only the first step, how it can take time to “detox” from the abuser’s voice, and what helped her rebuild self-trust through therapy, meditation, movement, and nervous system support.

This conversation goes beyond romantic relationships, because toxic patterns can also show up in families, friendships, workplaces, and communities. When we learn the pattern, we are better able to protect ourselves and support the people we love.

If this episode gives you words for something you could not explain, please share it with someone who may need it, subscribe for more conversations like this, and leave a review so more women can find the support and language they deserve.

Find out more about Carine, her mission, and her book here:

https://www.carinevanhee.com/

✨ READY TO TURN YOUR STORY INTO AUTHORITY?

I’m Julie Fairhurst - publisher, executive producer, story and sales strategist, and founder of Women Like Me Media.

After 34 years in sales, helping approximately 3,000 clients, publishing more than 350 women’s stories, and hosting over 400 interviews, I know this:

Your story is not simply something that happened to you. It is part of your wisdom, your credibility, and the work you are here to do.

Whether you are ready to write your story, publish your book, strengthen your message, sell with greater confidence, or become more visible, I can help you take the next step.

Your voice matters. Your experience has value. And you do not need to remain the best-kept secret in your industry.

Visit https://juliefairhurst.com to explore coaching, publishing, podcast opportunities, and visibility programs.

🎙️ Subscribe to Women Like Me Stories & Business for honest conversations with women who are turning what they have lived and learned into purpose, leadership, and lasting impact.

Julie Fairhurst
Founder & CEO, Women Like Me Media
Publisher • Executive Producer • Story & Sales Strategist

Soft heart. Strong voice. Clear invitation.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

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Some memories don’t feel like “the past.” They feel like rooms we have locked, avoided, and quietly built our lives around without realizing it.

In this powerful episode of Women Like Me Stories & Business, Julie Fairhurst sits down with April Day Garcia, author of The Room to Be Brave, to talk about what happens when you finally walk back into the moments that shaped your identity — and decide you do not have to carry the same story out with you.

April shares how sobriety and a near-simultaneous ADHD diagnosis forced a new kind of honesty. From the outside, life may look successful, but inside, old wounds can still be quietly running the show.

Together, Julie and April explore the patterns that often reveal unhealed pain: waiting for abandonment, accepting behavior you do not deserve, shrinking your voice, believing you are “not enough,” and feeling like you do not belong in rooms you have every right to stand in.

April explains why healing can feel safer the second time around — because now you enter with choice, awareness, and the power to leave. She also shares why compassion matters more than judgment when revisiting shame, trauma, and old self-talk.

This conversation also offers practical tools for emotional recovery. Therapy can be powerful, but April believes healing often requires a multi-tool approach, including journaling, meditation, yoga, Reiki, acts of service, and intentionally making space for joy.

By the end of this episode, you will have simple prompts to help you name the identity you were told to be — and choose the one you are brave enough to live as.

If you have been feeling stuck in old self-talk, shame, trauma patterns, or the belief that you are not enough, this conversation will meet you with truth, compassion, and hope.

Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who needs it, and leave a review so more women can find these stories and start doing the work too.

Reach out to April:  https://www.aprildaygarcia.com/

✨ READY TO TURN YOUR STORY INTO AUTHORITY?

I’m Julie Fairhurst - publisher, executive producer, story and sales strategist, and founder of Women Like Me Media.

After 34 years in sales, helping approximately 3,000 clients, publishing more than 350 women’s stories, and hosting over 400 interviews, I know this:

Your story is not simply something that happened to you. It is part of your wisdom, your credibility, and the work you are here to do.

Whether you are ready to write your story, publish your book, strengthen your message, sell with greater confidence, or become more visible, I can help you take the next step.

Your voice matters. Your experience has value. And you do not need to remain the best-kept secret in your industry.

Visit https://juliefairhurst.com to explore coaching, publishing, podcast opportunities, and visibility programs.

🎙️ Subscribe to Women Like Me Stories & Business for honest conversations with women who are turning what they have lived and learned into purpose, leadership, and lasting impact.

Julie Fairhurst
Founder & CEO, Women Like Me Media
Publisher • Executive Producer • Story & Sales Strategist

Soft heart. Strong voice. Clear invitation.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

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A brand-new book goes live, and a brand-new voice steps forward.

In this powerful episode of Women Like Me Stories & Business, Julie Fairhurst is joined by Zainab Akintelu, author of Unsilenced: A Journey From Silence To Voice, written under the author name Queen Zee.

Calling in from Nigeria, Zainab shares the heart behind her memoir and the three words that keep showing up for women who are ready to change their lives: healing, becoming, and rising.

Get her book on Amazon:  

Follow Zainab on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/zainab.akintelu

✨ READY TO TURN YOUR STORY INTO AUTHORITY?

I’m Julie Fairhurst - publisher, executive producer, story and sales strategist, and founder of Women Like Me Media.

After 34 years in sales, helping approximately 3,000 clients, publishing more than 350 women’s stories, and hosting over 400 interviews, I know this:

Your story is not simply something that happened to you. It is part of your wisdom, your credibility, and the work you are here to do.

Whether you are ready to write your story, publish your book, strengthen your message, sell with greater confidence, or become more visible, I can help you take the next step.

Your voice matters. Your experience has value. And you do not need to remain the best-kept secret in your industry.

Visit https://juliefairhurst.com to explore coaching, publishing, podcast opportunities, and visibility programs.

🎙️ Subscribe to Women Like Me Stories & Business for honest conversations with women who are turning what they have lived and learned into purpose, leadership, and lasting impact.

Julie Fairhurst
Founder & CEO, Women Like Me Media
Publisher • Executive Producer • Story & Sales Strategist

Soft heart. Strong voice. Clear invitation.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Send us Fan Mail

She thought it was the flu. Then she woke up with a gut-level warning that would not let go: get to the hospital now.

Holly Porter’s oxygen was at 63, her organs were shutting down, and what followed was a 70-day fight through COVID, ICU care, intubations, a tracheotomy, sepsis, and the kind of medical uncertainty that changes a person forever.

In this powerful episode of Women Like Me Stories & Business, Holly walks us through the disorienting reality of losing her senses, the emotional whiplash of coming back after a near-death experience, and why intuition became more than a buzzword in her life.

We also talk about the hard, unglamorous middle — long COVID recovery, rebuilding strength, the mindset shift behind her daily mantra “better is better,” and what it takes to keep moving forward without living in victim mode.

From there, we connect the spiritual to the practical. Holly shares how her SHIFT framework — surrender, hope, intuition, faith, and transformation — shapes her leadership, why community accelerates healing, and why she believes retreats can become powerful catalysts for real change.

Holly also shares what she would say to any woman who has survived something life-altering but still feels afraid to tell her story.

If you are navigating illness, burnout, reinvention, grief, recovery, or a new calling you can’t ignore, this conversation will meet you where you are and challenge you to take one brave next step.

Subscribe, share this episode with someone who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

https://linktr.ee/hollyporter

✨ READY TO TURN YOUR STORY INTO AUTHORITY?

I’m Julie Fairhurst - publisher, executive producer, story and sales strategist, and founder of Women Like Me Media.

After 34 years in sales, helping approximately 3,000 clients, publishing more than 350 women’s stories, and hosting over 400 interviews, I know this:

Your story is not simply something that happened to you. It is part of your wisdom, your credibility, and the work you are here to do.

Whether you are ready to write your story, publish your book, strengthen your message, sell with greater confidence, or become more visible, I can help you take the next step.

Your voice matters. Your experience has value. And you do not need to remain the best-kept secret in your industry.

Visit https://juliefairhurst.com to explore coaching, publishing, podcast opportunities, and visibility programs.

🎙️ Subscribe to Women Like Me Stories & Business for honest conversations with women who are turning what they have lived and learned into purpose, leadership, and lasting impact.

Julie Fairhurst
Founder & CEO, Women Like Me Media
Publisher • Executive Producer • Story & Sales Strategist

Soft heart. Strong voice. Clear invitation.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

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A beautiful website is not enough if your brand does not feel safe to be seen. In this powerful episode, Julie Fairhurst sits down with author and personal brand strategist Chanoa Inez to talk about inside-out personal branding, self-trust, visibility, grief, reinvention, and building a brand that feels deeply aligned.

Chanoa shares why the most magnetic personal brands are not built from copying trends, chasing validation, or trying to look perfect online. Instead, they begin with inner work, clarity, purpose, values, boundaries, and the courage to show up as yourself. Together, Julie and Chanoa explore the mindset traps that hold women entrepreneurs back, including fear of judgment, comparison, and the pressure to follow what everyone else is doing.

Chanoa also opens up about the devastating loss of her boyfriend shortly after moving to Europe and how grief shaped her identity, her body, her healing, and her path to reinvention. She shares insights from her book, Dream On: How to Create the New Life After Upheaval or Loss, offering hope to women learning to dream again after life changes everything.

This episode is for women entrepreneurs, coaches, authors, speakers, and business owners who want to build a personal brand that feels honest, sustainable, and true.

Reach out to learn more and grab her book:  https://www.chanoainez.com/

✨ READY TO TURN YOUR STORY INTO AUTHORITY?

I’m Julie Fairhurst - publisher, executive producer, story and sales strategist, and founder of Women Like Me Media.

After 34 years in sales, helping approximately 3,000 clients, publishing more than 350 women’s stories, and hosting over 400 interviews, I know this:

Your story is not simply something that happened to you. It is part of your wisdom, your credibility, and the work you are here to do.

Whether you are ready to write your story, publish your book, strengthen your message, sell with greater confidence, or become more visible, I can help you take the next step.

Your voice matters. Your experience has value. And you do not need to remain the best-kept secret in your industry.

Visit https://juliefairhurst.com to explore coaching, publishing, podcast opportunities, and visibility programs.

🎙️ Subscribe to Women Like Me Stories & Business for honest conversations with women who are turning what they have lived and learned into purpose, leadership, and lasting impact.

Julie Fairhurst
Founder & CEO, Women Like Me Media
Publisher • Executive Producer • Story & Sales Strategist

Soft heart. Strong voice. Clear invitation.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Send us Fan Mail

A grandmother shows up in a vivid 2 a.m. dream with one urgent message: write our real family history before it disappears.

That dream becomes the spark that sends Brigid Kennedy, a professional violinist, violin teacher, and longtime “behind the scenes” supporter of her husband’s academic career, into a completely new identity as a published author and storyteller.

In this episode of the Women Like Me Stories & Business Podcast, Julie Fairhurst sits down with Brigid Kennedy to talk about family history, ancestral stories, spiritual guidance, writing, courage, and the calling to preserve the stories that could vanish if no one writes them down.

Brigid shares how she began with the practical steps of genealogy research — names, dates, places, and the familiar chaos of unlabeled family photos — before her family narrative hit a hard stop. Her research led to the extraordinary story of her great-grandfather’s journey from Ireland to Peru, a monastery wedding in 1910, and his later disappearance into the Amazon rainforest.

With the historical record incomplete, Brigid made a brave, creative decision: she wrote into the gap.

By weaving Irish myths and Incan legends into the missing pieces of her family story, Brigid created something more than fiction. Her book became a reclamation of roots, a way to restore connection, and a form of healing for a family that had carried unanswered questions for generations.

Julie and Brigid also talk about the real work behind writing a book when you do not have a writing degree, an agent, or a roadmap. They explore handling critique, fighting imposter syndrome, carving out time while juggling motherhood and work, and navigating the visibility of becoming an author in the age of TikTok and Instagram.

This conversation is for anyone who has been searching for motivation to preserve family history, start a memoir, write a novel, or finally begin the story that keeps tugging at their heart.

Sometimes the story chooses you before you feel ready to choose it.

If this episode speaks to you, subscribe, share it with a friend who has “one day” plans, and leave a review so more listeners can find Women Like Me Stories & Business.

What family story do you want to save before it is gone?

Learn more about Brigid Kennedy:

Website:  https://www.brigidkennedybooks.com/

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@BrigidKennedyBooks

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/BrigidKennedyBooks/

TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@brigidkennedybooks

✨ READY TO TURN YOUR STORY INTO AUTHORITY?

I’m Julie Fairhurst - publisher, executive producer, story and sales strategist, and founder of Women Like Me Media.

After 34 years in sales, helping approximately 3,000 clients, publishing more than 350 women’s stories, and hosting over 400 interviews, I know this:

Your story is not simply something that happened to you. It is part of your wisdom, your credibility, and the work you are here to do.

Whether you are ready to write your story, publish your book, strengthen your message, sell with greater confidence, or become more visible, I can help you take the next step.

Your voice matters. Your experience has value. And you do not need to remain the best-kept secret in your industry.

Visit https://juliefairhurst.com to explore coaching, publishing, podcast opportunities, and visibility programs.

🎙️ Subscribe to Women Like Me Stories & Business for honest conversations with women who are turning what they have lived and learned into purpose, leadership, and lasting impact.

Julie Fairhurst
Founder & CEO, Women Like Me Media
Publisher • Executive Producer • Story & Sales Strategist

Soft heart. Strong voice. Clear invitation.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Send us Fan Mail

Are you a first-time writer who wants to write your personal story but doesn’t know where to begin? In this short video, Julie Fairhurst shares three simple writing tips to help beginners start their true-life story with more clarity and confidence.

You’ll learn how to create a timeline of important life events, look at your story as an observer instead of reliving every painful moment, and let go of perfectionism so you can finally get your words onto the page.

Your first draft does not need to be perfect. It simply needs to begin.

Visit juliefairhurst.com for writing resources, personal story support, and tools to help you start sharing the story that is calling you.

✨ READY TO TURN YOUR STORY INTO AUTHORITY?

I’m Julie Fairhurst - publisher, executive producer, story and sales strategist, and founder of Women Like Me Media.

After 34 years in sales, helping approximately 3,000 clients, publishing more than 350 women’s stories, and hosting over 400 interviews, I know this:

Your story is not simply something that happened to you. It is part of your wisdom, your credibility, and the work you are here to do.

Whether you are ready to write your story, publish your book, strengthen your message, sell with greater confidence, or become more visible, I can help you take the next step.

Your voice matters. Your experience has value. And you do not need to remain the best-kept secret in your industry.

Visit https://juliefairhurst.com to explore coaching, publishing, podcast opportunities, and visibility programs.

🎙️ Subscribe to Women Like Me Stories & Business for honest conversations with women who are turning what they have lived and learned into purpose, leadership, and lasting impact.

Julie Fairhurst
Founder & CEO, Women Like Me Media
Publisher • Executive Producer • Story & Sales Strategist

Soft heart. Strong voice. Clear invitation.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Send us Fan Mail

Change can flatten you even when you are “good at change.”

One day, you are steady in your routines, and the next, you are facing a layoff, burnout, loss, a career pivot, or a life transition you did not ask for. Then the question hits hard: now what?

In this episode of the Women Like Me Stories & Business Podcast, Julie Fairhurst sits down with Janine Lequay, Change Strategist, Coach, and Author, to talk about why so many people feel scattered, overwhelmed, and disconnected during major transitions — and why that feeling is often a missing process, not a personal flaw.

Janine brings 15 years of organizational change management experience into real life, where the stakes are personal, and the tools are rarely taught. Julie and Janine explore why our brains cling to comfort, why discomfort is a normal biological response to change, and how isolation can make transition feel even heavier.

Janine also shares her powerful GPS metaphor for personal change: you cannot get where you are going if you do not first name where you are starting from. From there, the conversation moves into overwhelm versus failure, burnout signs such as autopilot and avoidance, and the relief that comes from internal alignment instead of chasing everyone else’s expectations.

You will also hear Janine explain her DO IT Change Method in simple, practical language: Discover, Own, Implement, Transform. This framework helps people navigate career pivots, identity shifts, burnout recovery, personal reinvention, and life transitions by taking small steps that build momentum.

This conversation is a reminder that change is not always linear, and feeling overwhelmed does not mean you are failing. Sometimes you simply need a clearer map, a steadier process, and the courage to take the next honest step.

Julie and Janine also discuss community support, why your career is not your identity, and Janine’s vision for teaching kids how to navigate change with intention.

If this conversation helps you, subscribe, share it with a friend in transition, and leave a review so more people can find tools for change management, burnout recovery, reinvention, and personal growth.

What change are you standing on the edge of right now?

Learn more about Janine Lequay:

Soleil Edge: https://soleiledge.com/

www.doitchangemethod.com 

www.mychangearchetype.com

✨ READY TO TURN YOUR STORY INTO AUTHORITY?

I’m Julie Fairhurst - publisher, executive producer, story and sales strategist, and founder of Women Like Me Media.

After 34 years in sales, helping approximately 3,000 clients, publishing more than 350 women’s stories, and hosting over 400 interviews, I know this:

Your story is not simply something that happened to you. It is part of your wisdom, your credibility, and the work you are here to do.

Whether you are ready to write your story, publish your book, strengthen your message, sell with greater confidence, or become more visible, I can help you take the next step.

Your voice matters. Your experience has value. And you do not need to remain the best-kept secret in your industry.

Visit https://juliefairhurst.com to explore coaching, publishing, podcast opportunities, and visibility programs.

🎙️ Subscribe to Women Like Me Stories & Business for honest conversations with women who are turning what they have lived and learned into purpose, leadership, and lasting impact.

Julie Fairhurst
Founder & CEO, Women Like Me Media
Publisher • Executive Producer • Story & Sales Strategist

Soft heart. Strong voice. Clear invitation.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━