Counter Culture Mama Podcast with Danielle Venables

Something happened that completely shook our world and forced me to ask a hard question: When everything feels out of control, what do I reach for first? In this episode, I'm sharing why I've been away, what's been happening with our family, and what God has been teaching me through one of the hardest seasons we've faced. We talk about: • My son's baptism and the spiritual...

Your closest friendships are forming you, whether you realize it or not. The people you trust, confide in, seek advice from, and spend the most time with have a powerful influence on your marriage, your convictions, your business decisions, and even the direction of your faith. In this episode, we examine the popular self-help phrase, "You are the average of the five people you spend the most...

The moment you start following Jesus… why does everything suddenly feel harder? If you’ve ever recommitted your life to Christ, gone back to church, or made a bold step of faith—only to be hit with anxiety, conflict, temptation, or chaos—you’re not alone. And you’re not imagining it. In this episode, Danielle Venables breaks down what the Bible actually says about spiritual warfare , why the battl...

A lot of people talk about IVF and surrogacy like they’re morally neutral tools. We don’t. In this episode, we slow down and ask a question many Christians avoid saying out loud:  If God is sovereign over life and fertility, what does that mean for the choices we make when infertility hurts and hope feels delayed? We walk through Scripture—from Genesis to 1 Samuel, Ruth, and the Psalms—where child...

You can spend years chasing “truth” and still feel like you’re missing the one thing that actually holds. If you’re starting to soften toward Jesus after New Age spirituality, coaching culture, or a long stretch of “my truth is the truth,” the next step can feel strangely frustrating: you want God to prove Himself, clearly and quickly, the way manifestation and divination promised they could. I ge...

I used to believe all religions were basically pointing to the same thing, and I built a business around New Age spirituality: oracle card readings, Akashic Records sessions, Reiki certification, tarot, astrology, and the whole “spiritual awakening” mindset. It felt like healing. It felt like light. It even looked like it “worked” at times. But when I finally started asking honest questions about...

Simple Business Models That Actually Work for Moms Your home doesn’t need a hustle culture invasion to bring in extra income. This is a lighter, practical conversation that respects real motherhood, real energy limits, and a family-first set of priorities. If you’ve been looking for work-from-home ideas that don’t make you less present, less patient, or constantly torn between your kids and your p...

“All religions are true” sounds like the kindest possible belief until you test it against reality. We sit with the uncomfortable parts of faith and ask a simple question with massive consequences: can truth be personal if different belief systems directly contradict each other about God, Jesus, sin, judgment, heaven, hell, and salvation? We talk through why Christians feel compelled to evangelize...

If you’ve ever tried to “manifest” your way into safety, money, or control, you know the crash that comes when life refuses to cooperate. I’m Danielle Venables, and I’m unpacking a tension I’ve wrestled with deeply since leaving the New Age: how do we pray boldly without turning God into a vending machine? We talk about why manifestation culture trains us to treat spiritual power as a tool for com...

Marriage can feel like the first place pressure shows up when we start taking faith seriously. When I zoom out and remember marriage as God’s design from Genesis, a lot of the confusion clears: the fight is bigger than a bad week or an awkward disagreement. It’s also why “leave him” advice can sound tempting while quietly making everything worse. I share what I’m learning in my church life groups...

If you’ve ever wondered why Christians treat Easter like the hinge point of history, it comes down to one claim that can’t be watered down: Jesus Christ literally rose from the dead. I’m Danielle Venables, and I’m walking you through why the resurrection is not a poetic metaphor, not a “spiritual truth,” and not something we can casually set aside while keeping the label of Christianity. If Jesus...

Good Friday is not a vague spiritual metaphor, it’s a confrontation with the thing we keep trying to outrun: we cannot fix ourselves by willpower, self-talk, or perfectionism. I share why “give yourself grace” can feel strangely unsatisfying when you’re still carrying real guilt, and why grace from Jesus lands with a different kind of weight. When grace is a gift that cost something, it doesn’t fe...

Tarot as a “tool.” Astrology as “just guidance.” Worshiping other gods as long as God stays at the top. We keep hearing versions of the same promise: you can blend New Age spirituality with Christian faith and still be fine. We don’t buy it, and more importantly, Scripture doesn’t either. We slow down and walk through the Bible passages people quote to defend spiritual coexistence, then we put the...

I didn’t leave the New Age because it stopped being popular, I left because I couldn’t ignore what it was producing in me. I had built a business and identity around manifestation, alignment, and “trusting the universe,” and walking away meant losing money, credibility, and the brand I spent years building. From the outside, a New Age to Jesus story can look like a sudden switch, but the internal...

Manifestation. Spirit guides. Reincarnation. “Low vibration” sin. These ideas don’t just shape a spiritual aesthetic, they shape how we think reality works, who holds authority, and what we do when life hurts. I’m Danielle Venables, and this is part two of my New Age vs the Bible series, where I lay out the specific beliefs I used to live by and contrast them with what I now believe after giving m...

“All paths lead to God” sounds loving and open minded, but I don’t think it’s harmless. I’m Danielle Venables, and I’m sharing why I believe some of the most popular New Age beliefs are not just different options for spirituality but counterfeits that can slowly pull us away from Jesus while still feeling bright, moral, and empowering. I walk through five big ideas I once believed myself: every re...

A small northern BC town is shattered by a school shooting, and the noise machine spins up fast. Before the takes and the threads, we slow down to honor the lives lost, sit with our own shock, and ask a harder question: what actually helps a grieving community right now? From my seat inside the response at work, I share how “action mode” can hide unprocessed pain, why early political battles rarel...

Ever been told to obey first and feel later? I grew up equating faith with performance, penance, and shame—and it kept me far from the church. Today we get honest about church hurt, the weight it puts on our hearts, and the quiet ways it can block a real relationship with Jesus. This is a story about moving from condemnation to conviction, from checking boxes to living in grace, and from isolation...

Perfection looks impressive online, but it can quietly starve your soul. I share why the chase for “arrival”—in faith, business, and identity—is often pride wearing a halo, and how Scripture reframed my need to look finished. Walking through Exodus, I found courage in Moses’ reluctance and God’s patience with imperfect people who still say yes. That lens changed my rhythm: not a sprint to polish m...

What if your business could honor your faith, protect your time, and still pay the bills every month? That’s the journey I open up today—walking from a new age‑entangled coaching brand to a values‑aligned income stream that feels steady, clean, and genuinely helpful for families. I unpack the uncomfortable middle: realizing your offers no longer match your convictions, saying goodbye to tools that...

A year ago, we argued you could chase “Christ consciousness” without embracing a Bible-centered faith—and we treated religion like a control system. After a season of prayer, study, and honest self-audit, we’re back to share what changed and why the shift brought more peace, not less. This is a candid walk-through of moving from self-optimization to surrender, from theories about ascension to a re...

A song in the kitchen broke everything open. One moment I was planning an oracle deck launch; the next, I was sobbing to an old worship chorus and realizing the “peace” I’d been manufacturing wasn’t the real thing. This episode is a candid walk through my rebrand to Counterculture Mama and the turn from new age practices to a faith-led life that reshaped my marriage, business, and sense of self. I...

Have you ever found yourself so busy analyzing your own patterns and emotional responses that you've forgotten to actually ask for what you need? That's what I call "the curse of the self-aware woman" – and it might be silently eroding your relationships. While self-awareness is undeniably valuable, there's a dangerous tipping point where accountability becomes self-abando...

Have you ever noticed how we entrepreneurs can become completely tunnel-visioned, believing our impact comes exclusively through our businesses? That revelation hit me hard this weekend, and it's completely transforming how I show up in the world. For years, I operated under the assumption that my business was my legacy—that to make a meaningful impact, people needed to join my programs, down...

Transforming your reality begins with a deceptively simple shift: being intentional about where you source your information and advice.  We often default to whatever resources are most readily available – Facebook groups, friends, or family – without questioning if these sources actually align with our desires. This creates a self-reinforcing cycle where limiting beliefs get strengthened rather th...