A Fresh Story

In this episode of Wake Up Fresh , Jenny explores the idea that boundaries don’t require justification. As part of a daily morning ritual, this reflection encourages listeners to practice saying no without over-explaining or feeling guilty for protecting their time and energy. Designed for anyone who struggles with people-pleasing or boundary-setting, this episode offers a compassionate reframe: a...

In this episode of Wake Up Fresh , Olivia Howell offers a compassionate reminder that the start of a new year doesn’t have to be rushed or overengineered. Instead of pushing for immediate productivity or clarity, this episode invites listeners to approach January as a softer landing — a time for rest, reflection, and honest self-check-ins. Designed as part of a daily morning ritual, this short epi...

In this episode of Wake Up Fresh , Jenny Dreizen explores what it means to take up space without guilt. With warmth and clarity, she reframes confidence, boundaries, and self-respect in a way that feels accessible and empowering. A short, aspirational morning reflection for anyone wanting to move through the day with more presence and ease.

Welcome to January! In this episode of Wake Up Fresh , Olivia Howell offers a compassionate reminder that the start of a new year doesn’t have to be rushed or over-engineered. Instead of pushing for immediate productivity or clarity, this episode invites listeners to approach January as a softer landing — a time for rest, reflection, and honest self-check-ins. Designed as part of a daily morning r...

Wake Up Fresh with Olivia & Jenny is a daily 3–5 minute motivational podcast designed to help you start your morning grounded, clear, and a little more connected to yourself. Hosted by sisters Olivia Howell and Jenny Dreizen , this 30-day series offers compassionate, practical reflections on boundaries, self-trust, emotional wellness, and modern life. Each episode is a gentle reset — part pep...

Some books feel like a warm light in a room you didn’t realize you’d been sitting in the dark. The Cost of Quiet: How to Have the Hard Conversations That Create Secure, Lasting Love is one of those books—because it names the thing so many of us do to keep the peace: we swallow the truth, we smooth the edges, we “handle it,” we don’t rock the boat… and then we wake up one day with a body full of re...

In this Book Talk episode of A Fresh Story , Olivia sits down with journalist and author Ej Dixon to ask a deceptively simple question: is there really such a thing as a “bad mother,” or have we built her, brick by brick, out of fear, patriarchy, and pop culture? From Brooklyn to the pages of New York Magazine’s The Cut, Ej brings both sharp humor and deep curiosity to a role women are told they’r...

In this A Fresh Story: Simple Tips to Support Yourself episode, domestic abuse survivor, journalist, and divorce coach Amy Polacko , founder of Freedom Warrior , shares expert-backed guidance on how to quietly and safely plan an exit from a relationship . Drawing from her lived experience, professional coaching practice, and years of reporting on divorce and domestic abuse, Amy walks listeners thr...

You think you’ve made peace with your past—until the world decides to turn it into a headline. In this A Fresh Story: Book Talk conversation, Olivia sits down with author Melissa Petro , whose life was forever altered when the New York Post splashed her face across the front page, reducing her to a caricature of “dirty hooker teacher.” What the paper didn’t capture was the human being behind the s...

There are books that feel like confession and books that feel like prayer—and then there are books like Ring of Salt , which feel like stepping into someone’s storm and finding, somehow, that the wind has shifted in your favor. From the first page, Betsy Cornwell brings listeners into a life carved by longing, survival, and the quiet bravery of beginning again. In this episode, Betsy joins us from...

You don’t realize how much you’ve been carrying until someone quietly names it: Why am I so tired? In this A Fresh Story: Book Talk episode, Olivia sits down with economist and author Dr. Corinne Low , whose book Having It All: What Data Tells Us About Women’s Lives and Getting the Most Out of Yours reads like a mirror held up to modern womanhood. Between the groceries arriving mid-interview, the...

In this episode of A Fresh Story: Simple Tips to Support Yourself , energy healer Jo-Anne Suriel shares her expert insights on the healing power of creativity during major life transitions. With extensive experience in Reiki, Akashic Records readings, and sound healing, Jo-Anne guides listeners through practical tools to support emotional resilience, nervous system regulation, and the process of s...

What if the problem isn’t that you want “too much,” but that the world keeps insisting you be just one thing? In this A Fresh Story: Book Talk, Amanda Goetz opens the door to the messy middle—those seasons when ambition and tenderness, rebuilding and exhaustion, motherhood and desire, all crowd the same room. She tells the truth about filing for divorce while leading marketing at The Knot, raising...

The first time money breaks something you love, it doesn’t sound like coins; it sounds like silence. In this intimate Book Talk, we sit with Heather and Douglas Boneparth—partners in marriage, parenting, and work—who wrote Money Together because they lived the gap between what couples say about money and what they can’t bear to say out loud. The episode opens where most advice books don’t: inside...

Some books arrive in the world because their authors have always dreamed of writing them. Others are born from heartbreak, stitched together from the pieces of a life forever altered. Your NICU Story is the latter — a tender, practical, and deeply human guide born from Ravi and Mahaley Patel’s experience of loving and losing their daughter, Saachi, after a birth injury and a NICU stay. What began...

It starts with a hot flash. That moment—unexpected, uninvited, and disorienting—becomes the spark that ignites Clementine Crane’s quiet rebellion. In this moving and laugh-out-loud episode of A Fresh Story: Book Talk , Olivia sits down with novelist and writing teacher Kristin Bair to discuss her forthcoming novel Clementine Crane Prefers Not To , a fierce and funny feminist tale of a woman who wa...

When the world shut down, Anna Rollins opened a door she had kept locked for over a decade. A longtime teacher and private writer, Anna found herself postpartum, isolated during the pandemic, and struck by a single, urgent question: Would she go her whole life without telling the truth about what had shaped her? What followed was a furious commitment to finally write the book she’d always feared—a...

When Laura Danger first began writing No More Mediocre , it wasn’t just a book—it was a lifeline. Born from her own marriage, her classroom experiences, and thousands of digital conversations, Laura set out to unpack one of the most overlooked truths of modern life: domestic labor isn’t just a set of chores—it’s the foundation of intimacy, equity, and well-being in every relationship. In this powe...

The moment Tiffany Graham Charkosky received the phone call that changed everything, she wasn’t a child anymore—but suddenly, her childhood grief came rushing back. In this poignant episode of A Fresh Story , Tiffany sits down with Olivia Howell to share the emotional landscape behind her debut memoir, Living Proof: How Love Defied Genetic Legacy . What began as an unanswered ache—the loss of her...

It started with a softball game and a dream to become fathers. In this heart-opening episode of A Fresh Story , we sit down with Danny Auld and David Fullner, a couple whose love story spans over two decades—and whose journey into parenthood required courage, creativity, and a cross-country dash to a Honolulu delivery room. What began with a lighthearted “Would you be our surrogate?” turned into a...

Some weeks are about productivity. Others are about survival. And then there are the ones like this—where the beauty lies in the whimsy, the detours, and the quiet wisdom that sneaks in while you’re painting miniature wallpaper or waiting for a thunderstorm to pass. In this heartwarming episode of Weekly Wrap-Up , Olivia and Genevieve are joined by a very special guest: Weston, Olivia’s oldest son...

When Lori Lyons became a stepmom, she knew exactly what she didn’t want: the tension, jealousy, and divided loyalty she had grown up with as a child of divorce. Instead, she envisioned something radical for the time—a family that included everyone, even her husband’s ex-wife. In this heart-opening episode of A Fresh Story , Lori invites us into her Louisiana home and into a decades-long story of b...

Some weeks, it all bubbles over—and this was one of them. In this emotional, unfiltered, and deeply personal episode of The Weekly Wrap-Up , sisters Olivia Howell and Genevieve Dreizen unpack a week full of professional friction, single mom milestones, and the aching beauty of watching your child graduate when life hasn’t gone to plan. Olivia shares the vulnerable experience of sitting solo at her...

Some weeks feel like a blur of soft moments and wild schedules, where the biggest revelations are found not in headlines, but in quiet yards, tiny donuts, and the hum of treadmills. In this week’s wrap-up, Olivia and Genevieve invite listeners into their real lives—the ones with deer sleeping in the backyard, pool memberships, belt tests, donut day detours, and dreams of Muppet parades. It's a gen...

Scott Christian Sava didn’t plan to write a book or become a YouTube mentor to millions. He just wanted to draw Spider-Man. But as his creative journey unfolded—from comic books and video games to filmmaking and community-building—Scott discovered something bigger than himself: the call to teach, to connect, and to remind others that art is a deeply human experience. In this heartfelt episode of A...