Friendship IRL: Real Talk About Friendship, Community, and What It Actually Takes

Today’s episode is about friendship goals. Why set them? What do they look like? So many people are taking one action after another when it comes to friendship without much thought as to why. They’re repeating old patterns and doing what they “think” they should do instead of focusing on their ideal vision of social wellness. I say “ideal vision” with a grain of salt. Likely, this vision is a movi...

Books are like people – they come into our lives when we most need them. Today’s guest, Kara Infante, host of the Bookish Flights podcast, shares this quote by Emma Thompson at the end of every podcast episode.  Community and books are important to Kara, and as a military spouse who moves frequently with her family, she’s learned that, for her, the easiest way to make connections in a new place is...

In this episode, we return to one of Friendship IRL’s most quintessential questions: what IS a friend anyway? Today’s guest is Jeni Holla, who, two and a half years ago, left her conventional job to hit the road with her husband and pups and live the nomad life. They thought this adventure would last six or twelve months but liked it so much they’re still living this lifestyle. Having a social lif...

Opening lines aren’t just for dating – they come in handy when you’re looking for new friends, too. Today’s guest, Leah Wiseman Fink, says she likes to use this line: Do you want to come over for pizza? Yes, it helps that Leah is also the co-owner of a Brooklyn-based pizza chain, but it’s a great opening line anyone can use. Leah is a life coach, business coach, and mom of two kids. She grew up in...

The holidays are here, which means many of us will be spending time with family and friends over the next couple months. It’s the perfect time to talk about deep conversations with people we care about. Today’s episode features Chris Burnett, who, in 2020, started a personal project to reconnect with people in his life. It started with weekly calls to catch up. Then, he began asking if he could in...

When DeeDee Moore became a grandparent, she had a hard time finding resources that would help her with the transition. So, she created one: More than Grand – which has online and downloadable content – covers topics that matter to parents and grandparents, from finding meaningful ways to connect to the latest trends in childcare. DeeDee joins us today as we talk about the importance of diversity i...

A few years ago, I was diagnosed with ADHD. I didn’t know it at the time, but ADHD was affecting so many areas of my life, including my friendships. Navigating friendships with a neurodiverse brain is tricky. I talked about it in Episode 40, and here we delve into the topic again with today’s guest, Charlotte Dover, an ADHD life coach who supports late-diagnosed and self-diagnosed ADHD women. Char...

This week, the Friendship IRL podcast turns a year old. One whole year! I launched this podcast knowing this was an important topic, but the more work I do, the more I think it’s such a fundamental thing we don’t talk enough about. People have told me this podcast makes them feel seen, which makes me so happy. But here’s the thing: I cannot do this alone. The only way we make an impact is by peopl...

Last March, Erin Woodruff was walking through her neighborhood with her two-year-old daughter. It had been a long winter and it felt like spring would never come. During the walk, Erin began wondering about her neighbors. Many were also moms of young children. Were they also depressed and tired of the cold weather? She wished she knew them better. So, she created a means to do so. The next week, s...

What does it take for a friendship to be a constant in your life for two decades? That’s what we’re talking about with today’s guest, Elise Enriquez, a productivity coach who gives us a behind-the-scenes look at her friendship with Andrea, which she says is one of the most meaningful relationships in her life. Elise tells us about how she and Andrea became friends, how they built the friendship, h...

Today’s episode is with Terri Huggins Hart, an award-winning journalist who has written for Parents , Good Housekeeping , and other major publications all over the country. Back in 2015, she wrote an article on her blog, “ What Everyone Ought to Know About Never Having a Best Friend ,” that went viral. Turns out, many readers also related to never having had a best friend. If you’ve been listening...

If you’re getting out there and meeting new people, there’s no getting around the fact that you’re going to have to do some small talk. I don’t think I’ve met a single person who’s told me they truly enjoy small talk. Many go to extreme lengths to avoid it. One reason people despise it? It’s Ground Zero. Our brains are wired for familiarity and certainty. Small talk is neither. But as with most th...

Moving somewhere new? Here’s some advice from today’s guest: Get stuff on your walls. Michele Reichman is a personal trainer, health coach, mom, and, most pertinent to today’s conversation, a military spouse. Often, her family doesn’t know how long they’ll be in a place, so when they get there, they waste no time turning it into their home. Creating community is her way of doing that, and today, w...

Picture this. You’ve been friends with somebody for 40 years. You’ve always lived close by. Then, one of you moves across the world. Suddenly you have to Zoom to stay in touch – but talking online with somebody you’re used to sitting on a couch with feels uncomfortable. You might think there’s something wrong with your friendship. The reality? This is just a new way of connecting. Today’s guest, I...

The energy it takes to raise little ones is intense . Parents and caregivers NEED friends because this is not a job you should have to go about alone. Today’s guest is Emily Siegel. She is a friendship coach, mentor, podcast host of The Connected Mom Life , and a working mom of two little boys. In this episode, we cover the realities of mom friendship. We discuss how to make building and maintaini...

Recently, somebody asked me how to go about friendship demotions. I think it’s super common to go through a season in friendships where things feel good – and then, something changes. We aren’t talking about these friendship shifts enough. But “demoting” a friend has a bad feeling to it. Instead, what if we talked about building a better version of friendship for right now? That’s what today’s epi...

Making friends is one area in life where you just need to go out there and do it. It might involve being a little uncomfortable. It takes time and practice to get used to navigating these situations – and no episode illustrates this better than this one. Today’s guest, Deasha, has made and maintained friendships with people all over the world. She’s done it so many times, she trusts that when she...

A year ago, I went on a walk with a friend who’s around the age of my parents. I shared how I wished my parents and in-laws found other people to talk to besides just me. Doing so would not only make them happier – it would take some pressure off, too! At the end of the walk, my friend said she saw herself in my story. And I actually think a lot of people will see themselves in this story. Boomers...

Ever been in a friendship trio? It can be complicated, right? I get questions about friendship trios all the time, and today, we’re finally tackling this topic with my guest, Brandi Cambric. We cover maintaining a friendship for multiple decades, introducing your closest friends, and existing in a friendship trio. The good, the hard, and the reality! If you’re out there looking for a friendship tr...

Have you ever regretted a conversation with a stranger or acquaintance? To be fair, reflecting on past interactions isn’t a bad thing. Maybe you said something that was slightly offensive. Maybe you said something not knowing a person’s full circumstances and worried you may have triggered them. What you probably experienced was the Liking Gap. Research shows that people often underestimate how we...

“To love someone long-term is to attend a thousand funerals of the people they used to be.” This quote by Heidi Priebe beautifully summarizes what I’m talking about in this episode – neurodiversity and nuances in friendships – with my guest Sadie, a self-connection coach and recovering people pleaser. It’s a subject I’ve been wanting to cover for ages. Personally, I was diagnosed with ADHD two and...

In North America, there are laws in place that make it more difficult to connect. Zoning and parking laws impact the amount of foot traffic in a town, which consequently affects the number and kinds of third places in a town. People often talk about how these laws impact things like home values or crime – but rarely do they touch on their social implications. Joining me today is Nathan Allebach, a...

Sometimes it's nice to just have a space to “exist” – to laugh and let go and feel light. I’ve mentioned third places in other episodes, and today, I dive deep into this concept – what they are, their decline, and ideas for bringing them back. The “third place” was coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg and refers to the place people spend their time after their “first place” (home) and their “s...

TRIGGER WARNING: In this episode we talk about depression and suicide. Building friendships and community is a skill that takes hard work to master. For many people, such as myself and today’s guest, Noah, building these connections isn’t just for fun. It’s also about survival. Today, we talk about growing up in a household where you don’t feel seen or supported and then going off on your own – on...

Today’s episode begins with a decision to book plane tickets to California over my birthday and stay with some friends who were going through a medical emergency. They needed an extra hand with day-to-day things: think cooking, laundry, and walking their dog. Now, I’m not a big birthday person (never have been). At a certain point in my life, I probably would have been thrilled to be alone on my b...