The Courage Coalition

Some conversations don’t just inspire you they expose you. That’s what happened for me sitting with Kendra Cooke. Yes, she’s a powerhouse in real estate (since 1988, starting as a receptionist and rising all the way to ownership), but what rocked me wasn’t her résumé it was her willingness to take the mask off. We went straight to the thing women avoid: money. Not the polished version. The real ve...

Money has never been just numbers. It’s never been black and white. From the moment we are old enough to notice it, money becomes tangled with safety, love, belonging, approval, fear, and shame. We learn often without words that what we earn, spend, or have somehow determines our worth or our place in the world. Emotional Money was created to gently but powerfully disrupt that story. Not by tellin...

There are some conversations we don’t avoid because they aren’t important—we avoid them because they’re too important. Too personal. Too revealing. Too likely to crack the “I’m fine” mask right off our face. In this episode of The Courage Coalition , I brought back repeat guest Erika Rothenberger a woman who doesn’t just walk into rooms with energy, but with truth . When I asked her what we need t...

Every January we make promises to ourselves about money, habits, change and by February many of us are already sitting in the quiet shame of why didn’t I keep it this time? What I’ve learned, both personally and through years of financial coaching, is that shame is one of the loudest drivers of our money behavior. Not income. Not intelligence. Shame rooted in old beliefs, inherited values, and def...

There’s a conversation we don’t have enough in foster care and adoption because it’s loaded with fear, judgment, and that quiet ache of “What will people think?” Today on The Courage Coalition , Trisha Collins (Director of Missional Impact at Child Bridge Montana) and James Newell (adoptive dad, husband, builder, and a man willing to speak honestly about the hard) helped open the door on the topic...

Fear is one of the most misunderstood forces we live with. We’re taught that fear is the signal to stop, to turn around, to stay safe. But what if fear isn’t the enemy at all? What if it’s simply a messenger an ancient survival system that was never updated for the life you’re living now? In this solo episode, I reflect on how fear has shown up in my own story, not as the thing that stopped me, bu...

There are conversations we avoid because they hit too close to home money, domestic violence, poverty, and the quiet realities of single parenthood. In our first guest episode of 2026, I sat down with Cindy Wittemann, and let me just say it: this woman is a powerhouse with a story that carries both pain and proof. She grew up in deep poverty with a single mom sometimes without electricity, water,...

As we open Season Three of The Courage Coalition , I found myself reflecting deeply on what this podcast was always meant to be and what it’s now being called to become. From the beginning, the heart of this space has been real people living courageous lives: choosing growth over safety, stepping forward in fear, and doing the hard things even when the noise around them said, stay comfortable . Th...

As this year comes to a close, I’m reminded once again that I don’t do resolutions I do reflections. Not the kind that measure accomplishments or accolades, but the kind that ask, Who did I become this year? What did I learn? What quiet truths rose to the surface when I allowed myself to slow down enough to hear them? This year, my practice was simple: gather the evidence of my becoming. Not the b...

There’s a whole lot of noise around social media, isn’t there? Post three times a day. Niche down to one tiny topic. Be on every platform. Dance, point, lip sync, perform. No wonder so many of us would rather hide than hit “publish.” In my conversation with social media strategist Jordan Reynolds, we talked about what happens when you stop trying to be the “perfect creator” and start showing up as...

What is your definition of courage?  "Courage is the quiet defiance of the impossible  the choice to move forward when logic, fear,  and every onlooker say you should not.  It is standing exposed at the edge of failure  and walking anyway, fueled not by certainty  but by the conviction that purpose is worth the fall.” There are moments in life when you meet someone whose very presence shifts...

We measure so much by numbers profit margins, client counts, turnover rates—but the truth is, numbers only tell part of the story. As a financial coach and bookkeeper, I see it every day: business owners chasing growth, retention, and loyalty, wondering why the numbers don’t reflect the effort. The answer isn’t more strategy or another spreadsheet. It’s connection. The number one human need whethe...

Some stories don’t thunder in with triumph they arrive quietly, hand to heart, and ask us to breathe. In my conversation with Christina Stevenson certified grief coach, retired U.S. Air Force officer, and author of I Carry You we talked about what courage actually looks like in the dark. The book’s title began with Addie’s toddler hands lifted high “I carry you” and became a ripple: the way our pe...

We all have it, the grip. That quiet, relentless need for things to look a certain way before we believe they’re “right” or “working.” I’ve gripped dreams, businesses, parenting, even the way joy should unfold. But the truth is, that grip is exactly what keeps us from seeing the beauty, the shift, the growth waiting to happen. At our first women’s retreat in Costa Rica, everything changed when I r...

There are moments in life when courage doesn’t look like the roar of a lion it looks like a whisper that says, not yet . In this week’s episode of The Courage Coalition , I sat down with Kristy Barkley, a woman whose story reminds us that sometimes the cracks in our lives are exactly where the light gets in. Once a high-powered sports executive for the Nashville Predators, Kristy’s life changed ov...

So often, we search outside ourselves for answers that were never meant to come from anywhere but within. Intuition is that sacred knowing the whisper that speaks before logic catches up.  I’ve learned that it’s not about trusting something mystical, but about remembering that our instincts were designed to protect and guide us. The problem is, most of us are too busy listening to the noise to hea...

We all say we’ll never repeat the patterns we grew up in, until our body tells the truth. Collapse is clarity. The story we explored today isn’t about hustle or heroics; it’s about a woman who finally chose communication over coping. That’s the pivot: not louder effort, but honest connection about money, schedules, mental health, faith. Simple does not mean easy. Simple means: we share the calenda...

There was a time in my life when control was my safety net. If I could plan it, predict it, or manage it, then I believed I could protect myself and the people I loved. Faith felt intangible something I couldn’t measure or touch. But over time, life kept nudging me toward something deeper. Intuition. Knowing. God. Energy. Whatever name you give it, it’s that quiet whisper that says trust me when e...

Some moments on the podcast feel less like an interview and more like a remembering—and my conversation with Katie Farinas was exactly that. Katie is a yoga teacher, podcast host, and Dharma coach who helps midlife women come home to who they’ve always been. We unpacked Dharma not as a single “magic pill” purpose, but as a through-line: Dharma = your essence + the expression of your essence. The e...

The world is loud so loud that sometimes it feels like we’re living in a constant hum of urgency. “Hurry up.” “Do more.” “Don’t fall behind.” It shows up everywhere our businesses, our homes, our volunteer roles, even our dreams. For a long time, I thought that was what ambition sounded like. But what I’ve learned is that the noise is what keeps us from the knowing. It’s what keeps us from hearing...

Some of the most life-changing people show up when we step into new rooms. That’s how I met Nancy Moore an entrepreneur, podcaster, and community builder helping women design businesses and lives rooted in passion and purpose.  Nancy’s story is a beautiful mirror for so many of us: she chose “secure” first (accounting at E&Y), discovered it didn’t light her up, and let an unexpected layoff bec...

This past week reminded me that courage doesn’t always roar it sometimes sits in an airport crying, whispering, “I don’t understand, but I’ll keep going.” Missing my flight felt like failure in motion. I had everything planned flights booked, conferences lined up, meaningful interviews scheduled and then, in one unexpected moment, it all fell apart. But as I sat there in that airport, what hurt mo...

If you’ve ever wondered what courage looks like in real life, it isn’t a headline; it’s the rhythm of chores at dusk, tiny hands that miss their dad after a video call, and a mom who keeps choosing the next best step. Sadie reminds us that hope isn’t the absence of hard, it’s the decision to see beauty in the middle of it and to keep moving anyway. What stood out most in our conversation was how f...

Fear is one of those companions we all carry sometimes quietly, sometimes loudly. What struck me in reflecting on my own journey is how often I’ve mistaken comfort for courage. People look at the big moves 13 years of foster care, selling everything and moving to Montana, launching a nonprofit and say, “Wow, you’re so brave.” And yet, many of those choices didn’t scare me. They were hard, yes, but...

Some truths don’t land softly: life doesn’t always get easier, but it can get better. Better happens when we practice hope like a verb. In my conversation with Lowell Hochhalter of The Lifeguard Group, we sat with this tension. Hope isn’t naïve sunshine; it’s the grit that keeps us moving when the road climbs. As a long-time foster mom, I’ve asked myself whether exposing my kids to hard stories di...