Millennial Pioneers Podcast

In this episode we are finally diving a little deeper into the topic of homeschooling... more specifically, questions to ask yourself when considering homeschooling. I (Jen) came upon an article written by Little House Learning Co. She walked through 6 questions she felt were important to ask yourself to see if homeschooling could work for you and your family. We loved the idea of going through th...

I (Jen) have been waiting to have this conversation with Anna Taylor for months now! Anna has such an incredible story, we honestly could have talked on 20 different things... but I love where this conversation went.    God nudges... and then he slams doors. How huge life changes can look incredibly messy and feel painful, while doing beautiful, meaningful work within us.    We adore how vulnerabl...

In this episode, we are kicking off Sammy's favorite season with one of Jen's favorite topics - HYGGE! What the heck is hygge, you may ask? Hygge is defined as 'a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment and wellbeing' by Oxford Languages, but we like to think of it as making time for the simple joys of life - breaking away from the daily rush and gr...

In this episode, we're revisiting a topic that we began discussing in season 1... the beauty and challenges of adult friendships! In particular, we both want to open up about our experiences hitting the 'restart' button on friendships after we both moved across the country, explore the ups and downs and share our strategies that seem to be working (so far)!   In this episode we'll discuss: Can you...

In this episode, we are excited to talk about Feng Shui with our dear friend Lauren Bragg from the Feng Shui Collective! Feng Shui is 'an ancient Chinese art of arranging buildings, objects, and space in an environment to achieve harmony and balance' (National Geographic). As Lauren states on her website, "Your space not only reflects you, it affects you". Join us today as we discuss how this prac...

In this episode, we really felt the nudge to push pause on our usual format and have a candid chat about mental health, and where we are with our own journeys. We feel so passionately about normalizing actually talking out loud about mental health (much like we do about physical health)! Normalizing checking in with our friends and asking... "how are you, really?"   In this episode you'll hear Sam...

In this episode we have our first interview, with Alexis Girvan, for a segment we would like to call "Millennial Pioneer Profiles". These are people we have met and know who are embodying this lifestyle that we have been diving into... intentional, value based, slow living, etc. So, in the spirit of this 'slow living season' we have been in, we can't think of anyone better to kick it off than Alex...

In this episode, slow living in the kitchen meets slow living debt free as we explore our personal journeys in making more frugal choices when it comes to the foods that we eat while trying to keep a nutrient-dense diet, sharing where we've struggled and what we've learned along the way... One of my biggest frustrations with podcasts and blog posts on the subject of saving money on a healthy diet...

How do the #zerowaste movement and #slowliving go together? Sammy and Jen break down their experiences with the zero waste movement, some of the darker sides of the movement (and what you can aim for instead), and how to get started reducing your impact on the environment in ways that can actually benefit you and your lifestyle as well!    In this episode, we will cover:    What is the zero waste...

We finally have gotten around to doing an episode on slow living and getting out of debt! This has been a long time coming for us. We skirted around the conversation in episode 5 in season 1, " Keeping Up With the Jones '"... but we got to deep dive on the topic of debt and getting out of debt in this episode.    In this episode you'll hear: How does paying off debt relate to slow living? How we b...

In this episode, we continue our conversation around the topic of slow living, while diving deep into the topic of nature.    In this episode we will cover: How does being in nature add to slow living? How does nature benefit us and our health? Seasonal depression and getting outdoors daily What is the #1000 hours outside movement Some common hurdles adults feel to getting outside each day and mor...

We actually had an entirely different episode planned, but after Jen texted Sammy with overwhelming feelings of anxiety... We decided to take a different turn with this episode. Anxiety is prevalent. There are more cases of anxiety today than ever before. It makes you wonder, doesn't it? In this episode, we talk about some modern day causes of anxiety, our personal experiences with it, and some id...

I am loving the direction that season 2 is taking with a focus on "slow living". What better place to deep dive on this topic than heading straight to slow living in the kitchen. In our homes, the slow living kitchen truly is the heart of the home. Where full bellies equal love and affection. In this episode Jen and Sammy dive deeply into how we are using the kitchen as a vehicle to slow down and...

For season 2 of the Millennial Pioneer Podcast, we're feeling the nudge to talk more about "slow living". Maybe it's the high levels of anxiety we're experiencing as a culture, maybe it's the onslaught of "cottage core" and homesteading romanticization... but there is something that is nudging us all to slow down, question the status quo of "climbing the corporate ladder" and writing our own defin...

Welcome back for episode 1 of Season 2 of the Millennial Pioneer Podcast!  In this episode, Sammy and Jen are catching up on what has been going on so far this summer... and there has been a lot to catch up on! We also share a few of our hopes for the upcoming season... and perhaps overshare a time or two...or three.     Connect with us: Jennifer Araza   blog  |  newsletter Sammy Davis   website  ...

We genuinely feel this conversation around postpartum is one of the most important conversations we have had on this podcast to date!  There is a lie going around... the lie that women must compete to see who can "bounce back" quickest after giving birth. Who can be the woman who gets back to her "pre baby weight" the fastest. Fits in her "pre baby jeans" the fastest. Gets back to the gym the fast...

After recording episode 11 on Jen's personal experience having three natural childbirths at home, we felt there was a lot left to be said...from an expert. There were a lot of questions from our listeners about the details of what a midwife does, as well as what a natural birth can look like from the perspective of the birth worker. We were lucky enough to interview Jen's midwife Jenna Wilson, who...

In this episode of the Millennial Pioneers Podcast, we are so excited to be interviewing Casey Pfeifer about permaculture. As I discussed this upcoming interview with my husband one morning and what exactly I would ask Casey about permaculture, my sweet 8-year-old son Bennett innocently asked from across the room... "What is permaculture?" Yes... let's start there. What is permaculture, and why is...

In this episode of the Millennial Pioneer Podcast, we get to interview Dr. Nicholas Araza (Jen's super handsome hubby) on the topic of chiropractic. Dr. Nick is so passionate about chiropractic and giving his patients freedom. Freedom to move their bodies, freedom to reach their health goals, freedom to play with their kids/grandkids, etc. In this episode we dive deep into all the questions you ma...

In this episode of the Millennial Pioneers Podcast, Sammy will be interviewing Jen about her experiences ( all very different ) of birthing her three children at home naturally...yes homebirth, folks.  This is a very near and dear topic to me, as I have found that women freely share scary stories of hard births, but I find women shying away from telling their positive birth stories in fear of the...

In this episode of the Millennial Pioneers Podcast, we are going to take a deep dive into values-based relocation, exploring our personal (and family) approaches to evaluating current and/or future living situations, and discuss how we both made the decisions to move out of CA! But this episode can apply to move out of any state...   We originally wanted to make the episode about leaving Californi...

In this episode, we are talking about Intentional Living! Have you been curious about sustainable/intentional/regenerative lifestyles? So have we! We're going to share our WHYs for even getting into this world in the first place, discuss our experiences (both positive AND negative), and wrap up with 'our' most valuable intentional living projects (which may be different from yours)! If you found y...

In this episode, we are talking about Intentional Living! Have you been curious about sustainable/intentional/regenerative lifestyles? So have we! We're going to share our WHYs for even getting into this world in the first place, discuss our experiences (both positive AND negative), and wrap up with 'our' most valuable intentional living projects (which may be different from yours)! If you found y...

In this episode, we are talking about Millennial SPIRITUALITY! First, we'll take a look at some interesting stats about American adults and their religions (or lack thereof). Then we will dive deep into a heartfelt and vulnerable discussion about our past and present relationships with spirituality, religion, and faith. Man, this felt like a hard episode to do. Both Sammy and I don't like being "o...