Fresh Start Family Show

On this episode of The Fresh Start Family Show, Wendy is joined by returning guest Hunter Clarke-Fields, who is a best-selling author, mindfulness instructor and host of the Mindful Mama Mentor Podcast.  They chat about ways we as parents can be less busy and more present in our lives. Listen now to hear ways we can do this, including: Start seeing busy as a choice  Take a “Sabbath” day where we d...

On this episode of the Fresh Start Family Show, Wendy encourages us to be brave and courageous as we switch up our parenting game from traditional hand-me-down tactics of fear and force / bribery and rewards to the long term connection and relationship of compassionate discipline in parenting.  Tune in to see how we can utilize courage as our greatest parenting superpower and learn: Ways to see al...

On this episode of the Fresh Start Family Show, Wendy has an open discussion surrounding discipline and punishment. The focus of this episode is to help families overcome the mindset that harsh punishments are necessary and to empower parents to get courageous with trying new compassionate discipline tools that will strengthen relationships, while allowing parents to feel proud and empowered with...

On this episode of The Fresh Start Family Show, Wendy gets down to the root of why punishing strong-willed kids doesn’t actually work. The need to feel powerful is one we all have, and it’s even more so with these kids. If we lean into punishment and try to “break their will”, we’re actually missing an important opportunity to mentor and help them become the future leader and world changer they we...

This episode of The Fresh Start Family Show is all about what is trauma, how we learned to adapt to survive (often in unhealthy ways), and why it’s so important that we spend time getting the help and healing we need to put those traumas to rest and be whole.  Terry and Wendy’s guest this week is Travis Goodman of Therapy4Dads. He is a licensed LMFT and host of the Therapy4Dads podcast where he he...

On this episode of The Fresh Start Family Show, Wendy chats with Danielle Binns - Certified Nutritionist, Picky Eating Expert, and more importantly, a mom of three. After having a daughter born with a heart defect and labeled “failure to thrive”, Danielle found her passion in helping families make meal planning more joyful, especially parents of picky eaters.   This conversation helps us understan...

On this episode of The Fresh Start Family Show, Wendy sits down with homeschool expert Jennifer Pepito about the fears we face in parenting and how to move through them. Jennifer is mama to 7 kiddos, founder of The Peaceful Press homeschool curriculum resources, host of the Restoration Home podcast and co-host of the Wild + Free podcast. There are so many things that can hold us back as parents, a...

On this episode of The Fresh Start Family Show, Wendy and Terry discuss recent surfing experiences and draw comparisons to parenting. The methods they used to face and overcome the swells are the same they use to overcome challenging parenting moments: Acknowledge your fear and face it – on the other side are bravery and courage.  Use your breath and your self-calming capabilities. This will empow...

On this episode of The Fresh Start Family Show, Wendy and community coach and podcast manager Amy break down why we often resist change and how to move forward when we feel scared of it and why it sometimes just feels so hard.  Whether it’s change that we choose or change that’s thrown upon us, one thing for sure is that we often resist it because it brings discomfort. If we can acknowledge why we...

On this episode of the Fresh Start Family Show, Wendy chats with the incredible Destini Ann Davis. Destini is a working mom and parenting coach, author, TedX speaker and host of B*tch, You Doing a Good Job podcast. She advocates for peaceful parenting and positive discipline techniques that encourage both the parent and child to connect and communicate.  Wendy and Destini dig into the intriguing t...

This week on the Fresh Start Family Show, Wendy is sharing the secret to getting strong willed kiddos to listen better and cooperate more.  How do we know if we have a strong willed kid? Well for one, they push back…a lot (duh!) … and they’re usually not ones to easily ‘go with the flow’ and let others be in charge. This is something that is going to serve them so well in their futures, provided w...

This episode of the Fresh Start Family Show brings a beautiful conversation between Wendy and the inspiring Meredith Miller. She is a pastor, parent, and writer with over 20 years experience in children’s ministry and curriculum.  This topic is triggering for many people who were raised in a rigidly interpreted version of what the Bible says about homosexuality and other variations of it.  The mor...

On this episode of The Fresh Start Family Show, join Wendy and her community coach and podcast manager Amy to discuss how ALL of us are capable of becoming a calm parent.  It might seem some people have it and others don’t. With some intention, tools and time, we can all begin to calm our nervous systems, access responsiveness and influence our families to do the same. We can cultivate the calm we...

This episode of The Fresh Start Family Show welcomes back a cherished guest Rosalia Rivera. Rosalia is the founder of Consent Parenting, a consent educator and child sexual abuse prevention specialist, sexual literacy advocate and the host of the About Consent Podcast. She is also a child sexual abuse survivor, turned thriver. You’ll learn how to avoid the pitfalls that many well meaning parents m...

On this episode of The Fresh Start Family Show, Wendy is showing up in her most vulnerable episode yet. During an intense healing season, she’s found some truths and discoveries that had been hidden for 3 decades. There is SO much healing that comes through not hiding away from it, but rather facing it head on and letting go of shame that is felt. This episode will help us see how we also can:  Us...

On this episode of The Fresh Start Family Show, Wendy and Terry discuss self-control – how to strengthen our own while also teaching our children to build theirs. They discuss the importance of modeling self-control as the best way to teach our kids this important life skill. Since self-control is something that continues to grow and develop as we age, it’s beautiful to be able to learn and practi...

This episode of the Fresh Start Family Show is one we can all relate to as parents. There are times when we just feel off our parenting game and in a major funk amidst whatever season of life we’re in. Wendy chats with Eliazabeth Andreyevskiy about 3 Ways We Can Get Out of a Funk.  Elizabeth is a mother of 4 kiddos, a stress coach for moms, and the host of the Emotionally Healthy Legacy Podcast. S...

On this episode of The Fresh Start Family show, Wendy chats with Randy Kulman, Ph. D., who is an author and the founder of LearningWorks for Kids, an educational technology company that specializes in using video games to teach executive-functioning and academic skills. Our kids love video games. Many of us see them as a waste of time, and they can be very addictive when not part of a balanced Pla...

On this episode of The Fresh Start Family Show, we are getting real with some sex talk. Our guests are none other than incredible mom and daughter Christian sexpert duo Sheila Wray Gregoire and Rebecca Lindenbach of Bare Marriage. Terry and I chat with them about the powerful topics of their upcoming book She Deserves Better: Raising Girls to Resist Toxic Teachings on Self, Sex & Speaking Up. Whet...

On this episode of The Fresh Start Family Show, Wendy sits down with Jackie Leonard, founder of Motherscope and host of The Motherscope Podcast to talk about the Life Changing Magic of Creative Writing in motherhood. Jackie’s early experiences of motherhood acted as a catalyst for the birth of Motherscope - a community of moms who inspire and uplift one another by writing and sharing their own sto...

In this episode of the Fresh Start Family Show, we are re-visiting an OG fan favorite episode where Wendy & Terry discuss the why & the how behind taking a break from using time-outs in our households, and instead, teaching & modeling how to implement self-calming breaks.  Time-outs are a forced isolation that do not actually teach a child how to calm themselves down. Self calming breaks give kids...

On this episode of The Fresh Start Family Show, we are taking a closer look at one culture’s form of hand-me-down autocratic parenting: Tiger Parenting. It's a parenting style that stresses success and achievement at any cost so that the child fulfills the parent’s definition of "good enough".  Wendy is joined by her Asian-American cousin, Midori, to chat with today’s guest Iris Chen about growing...

This episode of the Fresh Start Family Show features the incredible Dr. Caroline Heldman - author, speaker, activist, and Executive Director of the Representation Project. Their documentaries include the wildly transformational film “The Mask You Live in.” In a society that places undue pressure on men and boys to act and behave in certain ways, there is an ever rising need to push back on limitin...

There is only so much we can do alone. Community is the difference for many of us between temporary and lasting change.  On this episode of the Fresh Start Family Show, Wendy continues the conversation about the power of community with Fresh Start Experience Certified Community Coach and Podcast Manager, Amy Sheira.  Tune in to hear how the community experience was the key to transforming one mama...

On this episode of the Fresh Start Family Show, Wendy walks us through the difference between “wishing” and “hoping” when it comes to looking for change in our parenting walk. Wishing doesn’t lead to action. Hope, however, provides the motivation that change is possible and we are capable of doing things in a new way.  We are not powerless, and there is hope for peace in our homes. When we raise o...