Holyoaks Rise: Stories of Rising Through the Unexpected

What does it take to keep going when life tells you to quit? In this first Rise Collection, we’re exploring five extraordinary true stories of people who refused to give up in the face of overwhelming obstacles. From a Major League Baseball pitcher born with one hand, to the world’s first licensed pilot born without arms, to a prisoner of war who found freedom through forgiveness, these stories re...

How does someone survive a 10,000-foot fall into the Amazon rainforest? In this immersive episode of Holyoaks Rise, we tell the extraordinary true story of Juliane Koepcke, the only survivor of LANSA Flight 508, which broke apart after being struck by lightning over the Peruvian Amazon on Christmas Eve in 1971. Based primarily on Juliane’s memoir, When I Fell From the Sky, this episode follows her...

In Part 2 of this conversation, Amanda continues her discussion with Jasmine, a homeschooling mother raising a daughter with Smith-Kingsmore syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that has brought significant medical challenges, developmental delays, feeding difficulties, and a severe seizure disorder. This episode moves beyond the diagnosis and into the heart of family life. Jasmine shares who her dau...

In this episode of Holyoaks Rise: Stories of Rising Through the Unexpected, Amanda sits down with Jasmine, a homeschooling mom and medical mother whose oldest daughter lives with Smith-Kingsmore syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that has brought significant medical challenges, developmental delays, feeding difficulties, and a severe seizure disorder. Jasmine shares the story of her family, the jou...

After a two-week break from the podcast, I’m back with unexpected lessons from Odyssey of the Mind World Finals. What started as a trip to support my children quickly became a powerful reminder of what it means to grow through challenges, face fears, embrace teamwork, and keep moving forward when things don’t go as planned. In this episode, I’m sharing the behind-the-scenes reality of World Finals...

When we got married 16 years ago, we had plans. What we didn’t plan for were five kids, a NICU journey, foster care, adoption, complex medical diagnoses, countless appointments, sleepless nights, unexpected detours, and all the ways life would rewrite our story. In this special anniversary bonus episode, my husband and I sit down together to look back on sixteen years of marriage and the plot twis...

For years, survival mode was necessary. Medical motherhood, NICU life, caregiving, night shifts, trauma, responsibility, and simply trying to hold everything together can slowly become an identity. But what happens when you finally begin asking yourself who you are outside of survival? In this deeply personal episode, I talk honestly about ambition, fear, vulnerability, healing, motherhood, identi...

Rise Story In 1987, the world held its breath as 18-month-old Jessica McClure fell 22 feet into a narrow well in Midland, Texas. For 58 hours, rescue crews dug through rock by hand while millions watched and prayed. But this story isn’t only about a rescue. It’s about exhaustion. Fear. Human determination. Parents waiting helplessly. Rescue workers refusing to quit. And what happens when ordinary...

Rise Story Series. In this episode, we’re talking about the life of Christopher Reeve—a man most people knew as Superman… until everything changed in a single moment. After a devastating accident left him paralyzed from the neck down and dependent on a ventilator to breathe, his life didn’t just shift—it completely reset. This is the part of the story we don’t always know what to do with. The part...

Rise Series What does Rising actually look like in medical motherhood? Not the dramatic moments—but the everyday ones. In this episode of Holyoaks Rise: Stories of Rising Through the Unexpected, I’m sharing what that season really looked like for me—the routines, the appointments, the court dates, and the quiet decisions I made without even realizing it. This is a raw look at: ● The daily weight o...

You think rising comes after survival mode. After the crisis. After the fear. After everything finally settles down. But what if you are already rising? In this episode of Holyoaks Rise: Stories of Rising Through the Unexpected , we’re redefining what “rising” actually means— because it’s not something that started when life gets easier. It’s happening right in the middle of the hard. Rising looks...

Medical Motherhood series. You make it through the emergency… and everyone expects life to go back to normal. But what happens when it doesn’t? In this episode of Holyoaks Rise: Stories of Rising Through the Unexpected, we’re talking about the part no one prepares you for—the emotional crash that comes after the crisis is over. When the adrenaline fades, the appointments slow down, and things are...

Next up in my Medical Motherhood series.. If you feel like you’re constantly on edge… exhausted but unable to rest… forgetting everything and just trying to make it through the day—you might be living in survival mode. In this episode of Holyoaks Rise: Stories of Rising Through the Unexpected, we’re talking about what survival mode actually is—especially in medical motherhood—and why it’s not some...

Medical Motherhood series: There’s a part of medical motherhood no one really prepares you for… Not the appointments. Not the diagnoses. Not even the relationships. But you. Because somewhere along the way, while you’re caring for everyone else… you start to feel like you’ve lost yourself. In this episode, we’re talking about the identity shift that happens in medical motherhood—the quiet, in-betw...

Medical Motherhood Series Medical trauma affects more than just the child— it reshapes the entire family system. In this episode, we discuss how chronic illness, NICU experiences, and prolonged medical stress impact marriages, siblings, grandparents, friendships, and caregiver mental health. Learn how trauma can influence family dynamics, and emotional regulation for parents raising medically comp...

NICU Rise Series Mom guilt doesn’t start when you leave the NICU… and it doesn’t end when your baby comes home. In this deeply honest episode, we talk about the many layers of guilt medical moms carry — from not bonding the way you imagined, to pumping exhaustion, comparison, medical decisions, identity shifts, and the quiet guilt of just wanting the hard season to end. If you’ve ever wondered, “A...

NICU Rise Series When your baby is in the NICU, suddenly there are a dozen specialists involved in their care. Neonatology. Cardiology. Neurology. Gastroenterology. Ophthalmology. Genetics. It can feel overwhelming fast. In this episode of Holyoaks Rise, NICU nurse Amanda Holyoak walks families through the many All the Ologies™ involved in caring for babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and...

NICU Rise Series What should you expect in the NICU? What actually happens in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)? And what does a typical NICU day really look like? If your baby has just been admitted to the NICU — or you’re preparing for a possible NICU stay — this episode walks you through what to expect from the first 24 hours to the daily rhythm of care. As a NICU nurse and a medical mom,...

NICU Rise Series When your baby is in the NICU, some fears never fully leave your mind. Will my baby have long-term problems? What will life after the NICU look like? Will they meet their milestones? Will our family ever feel normal again? Even after survival feels certain, many parents enter a new season of fear—the fear of the unknown. In this episode of Holyoaks Rise: Stories of Rising Through...

I met “Busy Bee” as her NICU nurse. At the time, I had no idea I was meeting my future daughter. In this episode of Holyoaks Rise: Stories of Rising Through the Unexpected, I share the journey from NICU nurse to foster parent to adoptive mother. What began as caring for a premature baby in the NICU became a life-changing story of foster care, adoption, medical motherhood, and learning to navigate...

Sometimes the signs are quiet before they are loud. Sometimes the story begins long before we know what we’re looking at. In this episode of Holyoaks Rise: Stories of Rising Through the Unexpected, I share our daughter’s journey with pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), liver disease, and the long road to finding answers. What began as seemingly unrelated symptoms eventually led us through...

In this first episode of Holyoaks Rise, I share my journey from NICU nurse to medical mom. From navigating my daughter’s NICU stay to managing a chronic pediatric GI condition with my older child, I found myself experiencing healthcare from both sides of the hospital crib. This episode is for parents navigating medical complexity, pediatric chronic illness, special needs parenting, and the uncerta...