If we’re lucky, most of us will live an abundant life that’s filled with a number of significant transitions. How we embrace those inevitable life changes and honor that growth can make a big difference in how we are prepared to meet future challenges.
Today, Jen and Amy have the pleasure of sitting down with Melinda French Gates to discuss how, at 60, she is stepping into this next beautiful season of life. By giving a rare glimpse into her interior life, and sharing previously untold stories included in her new memoir, The Next Day: Transitions, Change and Moving Forward, Melinda shares the heart-connecting lessons that we all can apply to the universal moments in our lives – including becoming a parent, the loss of a close friend, the loss of a marriage, knowing the right time to make a career move.
In this episode, we discuss:
The art of letting go and beginning again and making the most of the time between an ending and a new beginning
How growing up in a middle-class Catholic family influenced Melinda’s values and worldview
What it looks like to loosen the bonds of perfectionism and embrace uncertainty in times of change
The new projects, ideas and hopes Melinda has for the future
In this thought-provoking conversation, Jen and Amy speak with “poet laureate of the ordinary” Kelly Corrrigan about the valuable lessons from life she’s reflecting on in this season: the significance of saying hard things, the power of listening and understanding in relationships, observations from parenting and from a career as a writer, podcaster and storyteller, and the importance of participating in democracy, regardless of who is in power. In this episode, which was recorded on Election Day 2024 (prior to knowing the outcome) Kelly uses her trademark wit and steadfast wisdom to offer listeners evergreen words of encouragement for our political landscape and for our lives in whole.
This week, step into the studio (and kitchen!) with Jen and Amy as they have an intimate and insightful conversation with the iconic Ina Garten, a true pioneer in the culinary world who has shaped the way we cook at home. As they delve into Ina’s groundbreaking career, from the beloved Barefoot Contessa specialty food shop to the 28 seasons of her cherished TV show, you’ll discover the heart and humor behind Ina’s success. Amidst laughter and heartwarming tales, the conversation takes a deeper turn as Ina opens up about her new memoir, “Be Ready When the Luck Happens,” providing candid insights into her life, including her early days with husband Jeffrey and the triumphs and challenges that have defined her journey.
Topics include:
Being open to unexpected opportunities can lead to fulfilling paths.
The importance of maintaining a sense of humor and lightheartedness on the journey to success and connection.
Behind the scenes of Ina’s relationship with her husband of 56 years, Jeffrey, where she underscores the value of strong support systems and partnerships in achieving balance and joy.
Whether you’re a longtime fan or new to Ina’s world, this episode offers a personal glimpse into the life of a culinary legend who continues to inspire us all.
PLUS don’t miss Jen and Amy’s discussion about foods they ate as kids that they wouldn’t dare touch now, and the cooking shows that first caught their attention as young wives and moms.
Leanne Morgan was going to quit her career as a stand up comic and start a hardware store (with a cheese wheel, no less!) before she had her major break in comedy. Making the decision to invest in herself one last time opened the doors to an incredible season and newfound success in the comedy world.
Jen, Amy, and Leanne get candid when talking about what it means to be the best version of themselves in their second act of life, and when success comes later, why it can be better than having all your dreams come true at once.
Topics discussed include:
Behind the scenes of Leanne’s viral success at 51
Why being yourself is always the best answer to any problem
How handling criticism at their ages is so much easier to deal with
The cornbread drama — do you add sugar or not?
Also; don’t miss Jen and Amy’s discussions before the interview on Taylor Swift drama and FOMO!
At the height of her worldly and academic success garnering three Harvard degrees, Martha Beck received life altering news, and discovered that maybe she didn’t know everything. This set off a lifetime of pursuing ways to soothe her nervous system from anxiety and find freedom in a new purpose.
In a world where anxiety seems to be spiraling out of control, Martha offers a revolutionary approach to understanding and befriending anxiety. Drawing from cutting-edge neuroscience and her years of experience coaching people through what she calls the “Change Cycle,” Martha shares:
The four phases of the “Change Cycle”
Why anxiety is on the rise and how it’s affecting us all
The unexpected connection between anxiety and creativity
How to access your own creative genius
You’re also not going to want to miss Jen and Amy’s discussions before the interview on embracing the mantra “it’s never too late” and Jen’s incurable attachment to an ancient email address.
Today we’re diving into the profound biological, psychological and social shifts experienced when becoming a mother – a process known as “matrescence.” Jen sits down with science journalist, Lucy Jones, who experienced a seismic identity shift that arose after the birth of her first child.
Lucy and Jen unpack groundbreaking neuroscience research and they expose the deep-rooted myths and unrealistic expectations surrounding modern motherhood. From the minimizing of postpartum struggles to the pressure of “natural birthing” ideals, Lucy reveals how these systemic fictions can breed shame, isolation and maternal mental health crises.
Jen and Lucy discuss:
The concept of “matrescence” – the biological, psychological and social transition to becoming a mother that renders profound identity changes
How modern cultural myths and idealized notions of motherhood as blissful and “natural” can be deeply alienating and contribute to maternal mental health issues
The systemic lack of scientific research and societal rituals to prepare and support women through the seismic transformation of matrescence
The need to construct new narratives, share vulnerable experiences, and build community care around the modern realities of the matrescence
Hey everyone, Jen Hatmaker here, your host of the For The Love podcast. Welcome to the show. This series has been so good. We are in the Embracing Change series, and I can’t think of anybody in my entire life that this doesn’t apply to in some way. Whether you are in change that you are choosing or needing to choose or change has chosen you in some way, we’re all there. This episode, I think, is going to touch your soul in ways that you didn’t expect — including diving into the healing power of writing and reclaiming agency in the face of constant change and uncertainty. Our guest today is so remarkable.
Najwa Zebian is who we have today. She’s a poet, an author, and an advocate. Her words have been hope for literally millions of people around the world. She has millions of followers and you’ll see why. She has quite a story. We were just talking a second ago after we had finished recording, and she was like, “You’re such a good listener.” And I’m like, “You’re such a good storyteller. I just wanted you to tell me more and more and more.” I think you’re going to find a lot of points of connection. Even if we were raised in different cultures and with different circumstances, some of the themes of abandonment, a lack of care, uncertainty, and displacement are universal. She’s going to talk about what she learned, how she overcame, and how words were a part of that journey. Stay until the end, because we get to the crescendo at the very end of this interview, where she sort of steps into what felt like her life’s thesis.
So, let me tell you about her a little bit before we start hearing her story. Doctor Najwa Zebian is a Lebanese-Canadian actor, activist, author, speaker and educator. She’s got her doctorate in educational leadership. Najwa began to write to connect with and help heal her first students, which was a group of young refugees, which she understood. Then come to find out, she began writing to heal herself. She is the author of six books. She delivered the Ted Talk, “Finding Home Through Poetry.” She recently launched a digital school called Soul Academy and a podcast called “In the Clear.” Her latest book is called The Only Constant. It’s a powerful message of agency and autonomy and being able to trust ourselves as the primary leader of our own lives. You’re going to love this. You’re going to love her. Reminder, if you ever want to watch an interview, we video all of them over on my YouTube channel because, sometimes it’s just powerful to watch a guest tell her own story and Najwa is powerful to watch in addition to being spectacularly beautiful. So that’s over on YouTube if you’d like to watch it, in addition to listening to it. I am delighted that she was here and just moved by today’s conversation. So pour yourself a cup of tea and get ready to be inspired by the absolutely wonderful Najwa Zebian.
Hey everybody, Jen Hatmaker here, host of the For the Love Podcast. Welcome to the show.We’ve got a powerhouse in today’s episode. So right now, we are deep in our Embracing Change series. The whole team was, like, really excited about this series, especially when we got this guy to say “yes” that he would come on the show. This is an author and a speaker. He’s done deep, deep, deep work and far reaching work about how we can create a life that literally sets us up well to face change, not not only just to embrace changes we didn’t see coming, but really to get out in front of it. To be the ones who are creating change that has like a major, meaningful impact on the whole rest of our lives. His book is probably one of the most, if not the most popularly recommended books in the last several years for people who want to make meaningful change. People who want to cultivate habits that they feel proud of, that moves them toward being the person they want to be, to free themselves from everything that is holding them back. So, of course, I am talking about “Atomic Habits,” an easy and proven way to build good habits and break bad ones. And so obviously we’ve got the one and only James Clear on this show today.
The thing is sometimes everything around change feels hard, right? It seems hard. And we don’t know where to start, or we don’t know what to do, or we have false started before, or the thing that we are aiming for feels too far away. And so I get all that. Those are all my hang ups, all the reasons for me to like off ramp off any like meaningful moment of change in my own life. So I am personally enraptured with people who can break down a concept and serve it back to us in a different, non overwhelming way. Do you know what I mean? One thing I’ve said before about myself that I know about myself, I have a tendency toward overwhelm, particularly when an idea is front loaded to me. Like here’s this big idea and then it’s just too big. And, I am easily overwhelmed. So “Atomic Habits” has been an absolute game changer for so many people. Millions and millions and millions of people. Finally, sort of building the life that they want through teeny tiny changes. In fact, the book announces on the cover, tiny changes, remarkable results. And it really is that simple.
I talked to James today…Well, you’re just going to have to listen in, but I’m like, “first of all, James, you and I are starting with beef.” And so I brought to him my grievances, the airing of the grievances. And so you’ll hear that right out of the gate. But also, you’re going to be just excited to hear from him, like he is just vibrant. This material is imprinted on his DNA at this point, and he still speaks of it in such, like, vivacious and vibrant and fresh ways. In fact, we’re at the very end of the thing. And I’m wrapping up the interview and he’s like, wait, I have something else I want to say. I’m like, bro, bring it. That’s why you’re here. Like, what else do you want to say? We want to hear it. So I think you’re going to love this conversation.
Our new series of Embracing Change is a deep examination of all the different ways change shows up in our lives and all the ways we can respond to it. As Jen says in this interview, our guest today went through a “chosen change.” Hers was a transformation that felt inevitable after all the small, incremental posture changes made her ready for the leap to follow — a leap toward more sanity, more love, and more joy.
Joy Sullivan is a poet and community builder. Her new book “Instructions for Traveling West” is “for anyone flinging themselves into fresh starts.” She received a Masters in poetry from Miami University and has served as the poet-in-residence for the Wexner Center for the Arts. She joins the podcast today sharing her story of walking into the unknown. Through her unique viewpoint as a poet, she unlocks potent ways for us to trust our intuition and stay curious about what is scaring us.
Jen and Joy touch on:
The importance of embracing loneliness and stillness as opportunities for self-discovery and hearing one’s true inner voice and callings.
stories from Joy’s life that served as lessons for her to love herself more deeply
Reclaiming selfhood by rupturing constrictive cultural and religious narratives, especially around womanhood and female identity
For anyone feeling the tug to upend the inertia of their life and lean into evolution, this conversation is an inspiring guide for following one’s deepest callings into new horizons.
We’re wrapping up our series featuring Black Trailblazers, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have another guest who has broken barriers and basically created their own space as part of the national conversation, becoming the first black woman to anchor a cable primetime show. You may know her from her seat as a political analyst on MSNBC, or as the host of her own show, The ReidOut. It’s the amazing Joy Reid, everyone! Joy is a Harvard grad with a degree in visual and environmental studies and a concentration in documentary film. She also worked on the Florida branch of the Obama campaign. Her political writing prowess has landed her columns and articles everywhere; The New York Times, The New Republic, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, and The New Yorker, to name a few. PLUS she has a new book coming out that she gives us a special peek into; it’s the important and moving story of slain Civil rights pioneer Medgar Evers and his wife Myrlie, also an activist. It’s not every day we get to talk to someone who brings the goods about so many profound topics—civil rights, the fight for reproductive rights, immigration issues, the sacrifice for equality—and she and Jen shy away from none of them here. Joy’s passion for calling out injustice and her unwavering belief that we all hold the keys to preserving our rights and our freedoms gives us a reason to believe that we all can be trailblazers toward sparking change in our world.
Take a peek around
If you’re not sure where to begin, I got you, friend. I’m always bringing you something new to enjoy.
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