The Motherhood Experience

For the first time, TME has a guest host, and Val takes the other side of the mic as the featured guest. Jill Camacho takes the reigns as host and through the course of several laughter breaks, we talk about motherhood, faith, and the lessons we've learned in life that are speaking the loudest to us today. Join the TME Online Community: themotherhoodexperience.com/learnmore Connect with Jill:...

Gigi Baxter is an Amazon #1 bestselling author, wife, mother of three adult children, lifelong learner, and recovering fixer. She writes for women who have spent years carrying everyone else and are finally ready to ask, “What about my life?” Her work blends vulnerable storytelling, sharp humor, and practical frameworks that help women love their families without disappearing inside them. She live...

My guest today is Jessica Brassington, founder of Mama Bears Rising, a grassroots movement helping moms with the issues that matter most to their families. Her motto is simple: informed, not influenced. What started as one mother's conviction has grown into a national advocacy effort, taking her all the way to Washington DC to push for real policy change. Jessica talks about how she built a mo...

Sue Homola is a legislative drug policy advocate who has been involved in the discussion on marijuana legalization for years. As a former state representative, she has first-hand knowledge of the myths and facts surrounding legalization, and the impact that it has had on states across the nation and on families who lives have been forever altered by marijuana use. Sue is also a mother of four, who...

Laura Wifler is a mother, author, and exceptional conversationalist (which shouldn't be surprising, considering she used to host the Risen Motherhood podcast with her sister in law). Laura's debut poetry book,  This Side of The Sky , explores the aches of living in a world that feels both heavy and holy. Candid without unraveling and hopeful without glossing over pain, these pages give wor...

Holly Porter is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and a fighter. Not only did she nearly die from complications with COVID, but she has had an uphill battle in every accomplishment and achievement she has reached to date. She has four biological children, stepchildren, and a total of 19 grandchildren so far. While the numbers appear impressive, it has taken another battling drive for Holly to hold...

When Jody Hudson’s daughter, Alex, first complained that her legs hurt, it was assumed it was simply growing pains. What followed was a 10-year battle with a mysterious illness, more than 40 doctors, multiple misdiagnoses, and a desperate cross-country search for answers that finally led to a diagnosis of Lyme disease. Through unimaginable physical suffering, Alex clung to her faith and chose to t...

Shama Stock has worn many hats including homeschool mom, nutritionist, non-profit administrator, and writer. She is a cyber missionary and the founder of Revelation for Kids, a web-based platform where she shares insights from bible prophecy in a simplified way. Studying and applying what she's learned in the book of Revelation continues to change her life in unexpected ways. She is the author of...

The way you speak, the tone you use, the words you choose - all of it matters. This carries into every relationship or encounter of your life, but it's exceptionally crucial in your relationship with your children. Today's guest, Jody Hill, talks about your superpower as a parent in managing how you speak to and with your children. Connect with Jody: Jody's website: https://mysecretsup...

Sometimes we forget the moms of the Bible were real, human, and had struggles and stories just like us. Rhonda helps relate these moms to our own situations today, and the Lord who helped them just as He helps us in our mothering. Author and Speaker Rhonda Stoppe is a phenomenal conversationalist, and one of Val's most encouraging guests on The Motherhood Experience podcast. If you've ever...

At the age of 18, Tiffany Brearton walked through the doors of a strip club to start her first ever job. She never wanted to be a stripper. What she wanted was control, and as you'll hear her explain, it was this yearning that unknowingly paved the path before her. Overcoming abuse, exploitation, more abuse, and a sense of lost identity, Tiffany's story is one that will encourage and empow...

If you've ever struggled with feeling like a control freak, fighting perfectionism, or wondering if you would lose your mind because you were consumed by fear, this is an episode made especially for you. Jill is a fellow podcast host turned real-life friend, and I'm so pleased to introduce her to you this week! Host of the Halfway to Sunday podcast, Jill has a knack for conversations. She...

How do you keep moving forward when life doesn't unfold the way you planned? In this encouraging episode of The Motherhood Experience, Val sits down with speaker, facilitator, and entrepreneur Marianne Hickman to talk about building a meaningful life and finding success after some of life's greatest setbacks. Marianne shares how experiences including miscarriage, divorce, and other unexpec...

Terri is a wife, mother, grandmother, and encouragement expert! As host of the At Home with Terri Bonin podcast, (which you can listen to the episode where I guested here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-motherhood-experience-hearing-about-a-unique/id1675298864?i=1000767577460) she speaks regularly to encourage women in their daily lives to be the best versions of themselves as the Lord...

Dr. Pam Theriot is a wife and mother first and foremost, but also an optometrist, author, and dry eye specialist based in Louisiana. With over 20 years of experience in eye care, she leads the Dry Eye Relief Center at Lusk Eye Specialists, where she helps patients find personalized, long-term solutions to chronic eye irritation. We talked about how she admittedly is working to convince her daughte...

Andrea Fortenberry joins me on TME this week and if you don't have your coffee handy, you'll feel warm and satiated after listening to this conversation with her! Andrea is the host of The Perfectionist’s Guide to Mothering , a podcast that equips moms to find freedom from perfectionism and show up for the life God has for them. She is the author of " Two-Minute Timeouts: 100 Devotion...

Raeanne Johnson, founder of Brainwaves Wellness, is one of the most fun, engaging guests in TME's history. Our conversation was so rich and full of laughs while balancing serious topics in a lighthearted approach. Raeanne is a Pediatric Mental Health Specialist, Nurse Practitioner and homeschooling mother of three. Her superpower is taking hard neuroscience concepts and pairing them with core...

One of the most unique episodes of the podcast to date where I visit with Doreen Virtue. Once, she was the top authority and influencer in all things New Age, now she has serving Jesus as her top priority in life. Listening to her story was fascinating and hearing how she reflects on her motherhood journey really tugged at my heart strings. If you're curious about things like vision boards, yo...

This episode of the podcast with Brigitte Donoho was such a fantastic, fun, friendly conversation! Turns out we had a lot of the same experiences and tastes in life, and it was so fun to reminisce with Brigitte as she shared about her motherhood and her career in music. Brigitte is an award winning Songwriter, Recording Artist, Wife, Mom and Worship Leader. For the past 13 years, Brigitte has trav...

This week, I’m joined by Clancy Denton, co-host of the podcast The Loud Quiet, for a conversation about motherhood, transitional stages, and leaning into the "loud quiet" of life after grown children leave home. Clancy shares her own experience and how she and her husband started mentoring an entire community of empty nesters, both in-person and over the airwaves. Clancy talks about thei...

This week, I’m joined by Emily Cleghorn, host of the podcast Mamahood After Trauma , for a conversation about motherhood, emotional wellbeing, and learning to move forward after difficult experiences. Emily shares about the ways unresolved trauma can unexpectedly surface in everyday life, sometimes feeling, as she describes it, “like a freight train”, especially within the already demanding and vu...

After struggling with infertility and unanswered questions, Kim Patton and her husband found themselves on an unexpected path to motherhood through adoption. In this episode, Kim shares the stark realities of infertility, the journey of adopting two sisters, and what it looks like to build a healthy open adoption relationship with their daughters’ birth mother. As the host of Book Therapy with Kim...

In this episode, Bonnie Butler shares her honest tale of adoption: the emotional highs, the unexpected challenges, and the long road toward becoming a truly connected family. What began as a comfortable journey into motherhood became something deeper. It was a refining process that stretched limits of patience and dentity. Bonnie opens up about the hard seasons that tested her, and how choosing to...

From the time she was a child, Christine knew she wanted to adopt. As strongly as she felt about adoption, there was no way for her to know or predict what it would mean for her family, or for her motherhood journey. From loss, to estrangement, to disruption, to success, Christine has experienced a little bit of everything. About Our Guest: Christine Siddens Christine started podcasting to create...

Holly's story is one that will simultaneously tug at your heart and leave you inspired! I asked Holly's husband if he would ask her to consider being a guest on the podcast, though she and I had never spoken before and didn't know each other. We got into the story of how we're connected, but I'm so glad she agreed to come on the show! About Our Guest: Holly Andrews Holly is a l...