Reclaiming Your Power: Moms Demand Action’s Shannon Watts on Living a Life of Passion and Purpose

Today’s guest, Shannon Watts, has come to be known as a formidable force in the world. As the founder of Moms Demand Action, the largest grassroots movement against gun violence formed after the Sandy Hook school shooting tragedy in 2012, her activism has mobilized millions of moms to successfully pass  over 500 gun safety laws. As Amy poignantly stated, Shannon’s work “has legitimately made a tangible impact on the safety of my kids in their classrooms”, demonstrating the profound significance of Shannon’s contributions.

Watts has since shifted her time and attention to empowering women, whom she credits as the real changemakers in any movement. She has founded the Firestarter School, a platform designed to help women reclaim their power and has a forthcoming book,  Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age, releasing in the summer of 2025, which explores the necessary elements needed to ignite a fire in your life and pursue your passion and purpose.

From Prince to Parenting: Tamron Hall on Style, Stories, and Strength

The best adventures are often found when we embrace curiosity. That’s a lesson that Tamron Hall has learned in her storied career as a cultural icon, Emmy-winning talk show host, and broadcast journalist, as well as in her role as a young parent to a son with a shy but investigative nature to explore the world around him.

In today’s conversation, Tamron talks to Jen and Amy about that curiosity and why it is a trait that should be celebrated and nurtured, both in our children and in ourselves. They talk about the many cultural treasures that already exist right in our own neighborhoods, if we open ourselves up to the beauty of exploring new places and faces.

And, Tamron also shares details with Amy and Jen about her latest labor of love, the children’s book that she just released called Harlem Honey: The Adventures of a Curious Kid, an endearing story inspired by her real-life son and his adventure visiting Harlem’s most iconic spots, learning a valuable lesson about the meaning of home.

Loud-Quitting, Zero Damns, and Midlife Glow-Ups: Bits of Wisdom from the For the Love Listening Community

In the spirit of Spring Break, which it is for us here in Texas, we’re taking a quick break from our regular podcast lineup to do something fun. Recent listeners of the podcast will know that we’ve added a voicemail feature to the show, and for weeks, we’ve been asking you to leave us messages with your thoughts on recent episodes and questions for us. And boy, you have!

The messages we’ve received run the gamut—from candid and vulnerable to gutsy and inspirational, and some were just downright hilarious (though not all were fit for airwaves—but we still love them, so KEEP THEM COMING).

Today, we’re sharing a few of our favorite messages from the For the Love community—voices and stories we think will resonate with you on multiple levels. A big thanks to Naomi, Mollie, Jamie, Laura, and one special anonymous caller for their wisdom, humor, and courage.

Midlife Renaissance: Building Your Belonging Circle with Dr. Thema Bryant

Today, we’re revisiting a popular topic on this show: Friendships. More specifically, the revival of our friendships and our capacity for friendships in midlife. How many of us have sacrificed a relationship or a piece of ourselves in order to fulfill the implied demands of our role as a wife or mother or woman with a career? 

Dr. Thema Bryant is a renowned psychologist, author, professor, sacred artist, and minister, who empowers women to connect with themselves and to others by exploring fun and comfortable topics like our control issues and emotional unavailability with practical activation activities and teaching how to shift our mindset and patterns.

Today, we’re delving into the impacts of loneliness, the complexities of navigating new and evolving friendships in midlife, and the importance of self-love and “coming home” to ourselves before we can build a community that can support us in the way we need it to.

Aha moments from this episode include:

  • Common reasons why midlife can feel isolating to some women
  • The role major life changes (e.g., career shifts, divorce, empty nesting) play in creating a sense of disconnection
  • Signs that a friendship or community is not serving us well, including navigating shifts in those friendships and letting go of what no longer serves us and welcoming new connections
  • Practical activation exercises, such as writing vows to yourself, that you can practice to strengthen your relationships with yourself and others

Plus, Jen and Amy debut a new segment called “Zero Damns to Give” where they suss out what stuff really matters in this stage of their lives and what can be cast off, allowing them to step into full authenticity—without guilt, shame, or over-explanation.

No Such Thing As Good or Bad Kids: Dr. Shefali on Conscious Parenting

Today, we’re taking a trip into the archives to revisit a 2023 episode with renowned clinical psychologist and listener favorite, Dr. Shefali Tsabary, where we dove into the deeply-layered topic of conscious parenting. Those of us in the middle of life, still parenting kids at home, adjusting to parenting adult children who just launched out into the world. or in any season of the parenting journey, really, will find much to learn as we look back (and forward) at our parenting patterns.

Highlights from this convo include:

  • Defining conscious parenting and the three stages of the parenting map
  • Debunking the notion that as parents we are supposed to create happy, perfect superhumans by following traditional parenting rules
  • Dismissing the notion that there are good kids and bad kids—and how to avoid using these labels
  • Revealing the five ego patterns that parents might not even realize inform their quest to raise amazing children
  • The three reasons why children act out or misbehave and how you can learn not to shame them for it
  • The results of over-parenting and how it shows up in your adult children
  • How it’s never too late to become a mindful parent

What Time Is Noon (and Other Nonsense We Couldn’t Make Up If We Tried) with Chip Leighton

Chip Leighton is a guy whose kids describe him as an “unemployed, middle-aged TikTokker“. He has turned the chaos of parenting kids – teens, in particular, into comedy gold. By taking hilarious text from teens and turning them into reels, he keeps the internet in stitches. With his hilarious take on raising teenagers that is so relatable and mirrors so many parents’ exact experiences, Chip helps countless moms and dads know that they are not alone in their wild journey. Now he’s compiling the best conversations from texts and real-life moments into his new book, What Time Is Noon?

Chip and Jen talk about: 

  • The names we are given as parents of teens: Gangster, Bruh, or Jen’s favorite….Pimp
  • Ridiculous questions our kids have asked, such as: Did grandma have kids? Am I a notary? Am I on Medicare? What’s a stamp? 
  • Savage burns Chip’s kids have made about his wardrobe: Our favorite – “that looks like the material they make tents from”.
  • Endless instructions from the teens on how not to be embarrassing in front of their friends
  • Also, Chip tells the story of deciding to leave his corporate job to try his hand at standup (at the urging of one Caroline Rhea).

Big Time Adulting with Caitlin Murray

In this funny, refreshing, and irreverent conversation about parenting, Jen welcomes Caitlin Murray to the show to talk about her Big Time Adulting community space, the blog (and now podcast) that Caitlin started when her 5-year-old son was in cancer treatment for Leukemia, as a place to connect with other moms and parents craving funny, provocative, no-nonsense entertainment to distract themselves from the hamster wheel of life

Like a big sister, Jen offers encouragement to guide Cailin through the years to come, with the two ultimately agreeing that early childhood is hard but middle school is the real shit show.

They commiserate over: 

  • Spirit Weeks, PTA obligations, and signing reading logs
  • The idea of the ‘Hardship Olympics’ that creates unnecessary competition among women / moms
  • Comparison parenting and why authenticity resonates more with their communities than curated perfection
  • How community and humor that can be found in the everyday chaos of parenting

Finding Freedom with Mel Robbins and Two Little Words: Let Them

Buckle up, listeners. It was only a matter of time before our paths crossed with Mel Robbins, one of the most respected experts on change and motivation in the zeitgeist, and today is that day. Known for being the host of the #1 ranking education podcast in the world, bringing deeply relatable topics, tactical advice, tools, and compelling conversations to her audiences, Jen and Amy spend today’s hour diving into Mel’s “Let Them” theory, which is taking the world by storm, already delivering instant peace and freedom in the lives and relationships of people putting it into practice.

Together, they discuss:

  • The difference between “Let Them” and “Let Me”
  • Learning to release the white-knuckle grip we hold over other people’s behavior (and other things beyond our control)
  • Reframing disappointment to view it as a gift (yes, it’s possible!)
  • Repositioning self-worth inward, rather than leaving it dependent on others’ opinions.

Tell Me More: The Power of Hard Conversations with Kelly Corrigan

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.

Lessons from the Road: Sydney Hatmaker on Saying Yes to the World pt. 2

In part two of this epic conversation, we continue our journey around the globe with Sydney Hatmaker to hear about some of the amazing adventures and experiences had during her six months travelling across Europe and Asia on a tiny budget.  

In this episode:

  • We hear how staying connected while travelling can have some serious pros and cons
  • Sydney tells us about the 200 hours of intense yoga training she underwent in the magical landscape of the Indian Himalayan Mountains
  • She tells us about her heart-pounding experience climbing a (LITERAL) active volcano, Mount Rinjani in Indonesia, and how it was the hardest thing she has ever done
  • And Sydney tells us how she ultimately decided that it was time to hang up the backpack and come back home.

As you dream and make plans for 2025, we hope this episode inspires you to broaden your horizons, to take chances, and to say yes to new things. One thing we are sure of is that this once-in-a-lifetime adventure is sure to be repeated. The only question is where will we go?