Top Chef’s Kristen Kish on Last Chances, Making Big Changes and Living a Life That’s Accidentally On Purpose

She’s become a leading voice in the culinary world and today stars as the lead host of the same cooking competition show that launched her career. Kristen Kish was eliminated from Bravo’s season 10 of Top Chef, only to make a triumphant return through a Last Chance Kitchen opportunity that cleared the way for her to beat out the remaining competition and win the season. 

Since that 2013 victory, Kristen has been everywhere – launching a new restaurant, Arlo Grey, in Jen’s hometown of Austin (and another restaurant opening soon in New York), hosting some of our favorite food shows including Kitchens at the End of the World, Iron Chef, and now Top Chef (the student has become the teacher). She’s also flexing a new muscle as an author. In her new book, Accidentally on Purpose, Kristen shares her story of being born in South Korea and adopted into a loving white, midwestern American family and what it was like for her to navigate her identity in all of its racial, sexual and professional contexts. Ultimately, what defines Kristen’s story is how she learned to find her voice and use it and, while accidents may be unexpected, they don’t have to be at odds with our purpose. 

Our conversation today covers: 

  • Pivoting, embracing change, and building a life that is truthful and authentic
  • How the road to success was so much more winding and complicated than it may have appeared from the outside
  • Knowing internally that it’s time to make a change or take a new step forward
  • How it’s the behind-the-scenes, off camera moments that nobody sees where the decisions and discoveries are made, where the unexpected meets the intentional, and where things get really interesting.
  • Battling imposter syndrome and burnout and quieting the voice of doubt
  • How life’s best opportunities often come from embracing the unexpected

Melinda French Gates on The Next Day and the Beauty in What Comes Next

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

Midlife Isn’t a Crisis, It’s a Comeback: Maddie Corman on Being Accidentally Brave

Maddie Corman is a seasoned American actress and playwright that you’ve seen in classic films including Some Kind of Wonderful, Maid in Manhattan, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and our favorite television shows like Law and Order, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Most recently, she has put her creative hand to writing and performing in a very raw and vulnerable autobiographical one-woman play called Accidentally Brave, that delves into Maddie’s personal journey following the arrest of her husband on child pornography charges in 2015. Today, Maddie shares her story of navigating the aftermath, focusing on themes of resilience, healing, and redefining normalcy when life takes an unforeseen turn.

In this tender and transparent conversation, we discuss:

  • How Maddie’s life turned upside down after a public personal crisis—and how she found her way back
  • What led to her decision to write a raw, hilarious, deeply moving one-woman show called Accidentally Brave (now a movie on MAX!)
  • What she imagined midlife would look like when she was younger versus what it looks like from where she sits today
  • What it’s like to walk (or sometimes crawl) through shame and loss—and come out with more freedom, more truth, more YOU
  • Also, how motherhood shifts our perspective in crisis
  • What practices or people help us stay grounded in the hard moments – Maddie shares some really great resources!
  • Why midlife is actually the best time to tell your story and start again

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