She Speaks Stories

Join us for our throwback episode #6, originally released in 2018, as Michele shares about a new ministry opportunity she and her husband stepped into through Apartment Life in Washington, D.C. Apartment Life creates community within apartment buildings by helping residents build meaningful relationships in safe, welcoming spaces where they can connect and find a sense of belonging. In this episod...

In Part 2 of our special summer series, Katie welcomes back a familiar voice to the She Speaks Stories kitchen table—former co-host and fan favorite, Portia Allen. Joined by new co-host Michele, the conversation feels like a joyful reunion among friends as they catch up on life, ministry, family, and the faithfulness of God through changing seasons. Portia shares updates from the past few years, i...

This summer, exciting changes are coming to the She Speaks Stories podcast! While Julia settles into her family's new adventure in Alaska, Katie introduces a wonderful group of women who will be joining the kitchen table as occasional co-hosts in future episodes. In this special bonus episode, you'll meet Michele, Jennifer, Cindy, and Julianne—women whose powerful stories are impacting the...

We had the best time chatting today with Cindy Laenger! She has such a beautiful soul and genuinely comes to the table with incredibly encouraging one-liners. As she walked us through her spiritual story that rises and falls, ebbs and flows, she shares phrases that helped her unlock truth in her life. Here are a few teasers:  “Busyness doesn’t equal spirituality.”  “You don’t have to lie to give H...

Sometimes life hits hard, and we really feel stuck or unable to improve. In this episode, Jacqueline Williams joins us to share her story of being an overcomer. She was born with an extreme birth defect and had to endure 24 surgeries before the 7th grade! She lived at the hospital for most of her childhood. But she realized that God was someone that she could always talk to, and through her consta...

Life is full of decisions, and that is why this theme has brought us such a variety of guests and stories. On today’s episode we have Lauren Burns, who was kidnapped as a child by her father and taken to Jordan. Not only does her story have us on the edge of our seats because of the kidnapping, it also holds an even greater wow-factor when we look at the power of prayer. In this episode Lauren sha...

We’ve been talking with so many great guests on our theme of Making Decisions, and today we have the lovely Cally Logan. She’s an author, speaker and teacher with such a great perspective on what it looks like to walk with Jesus. Sometimes we want the big and loud “signs” from God but Cally reminds us of the importance of paying attention to the small nudges from God and encourages us to walk in o...

Hey Friends, as we continue our theme of Making Decision we are delighted with the guests that God is bringing to our podcast. Today we have Amanda Hope Haley, who is a blast to hang out with, but also brings a very unique perspective of someone who explores the intersections of archaeology and the Bible. We were immediately intrigued and then wow’d by the easy and gracious way Amanda explains and...

We have another great episode in our current theme of Making Decisions! Today, Katherine Maribeth joins us to talk with us about her book, “Wayward Daughters” and all the decision making that was involved in her own life and in writing the book. Her book is a multigenerational memoir and the process of having, as she put it, “three voices and one author” continued some healing she had begun before...

Hey Friends, today we are sharing our chat with Kay Sumner, one of the producers behind the famous Dog Whisperer show and a newly released documentary Survivors. Kay walks us through her small decisions that lead to big opportunities and examples of how encouragement can do a world of wonders for people and help lead them to create and make good decisions. She reminds us that Jesus is with us, and...

In this season of Decision Making we are absolutely enjoying the diversity of stories! Today we have Elaine join us to share her unique story of breaking free from a doomsday, fear-based cult that she was raised in. She shares what steps she had to take to get through the confusion of misunderstanding who God is and all the fear that was an entangling part of her former religion. Although the cost...

We are continuing our season’s theme of Decision Making and delighting in all the guests that have been joining us! Today we have Rebecca George who loves connecting with women which led to her calling to be a communicator. Which is not just to share her thoughts and wisdom, but she writes, speaks and podcasts with the hope of helping others find their unique gifts. She shares her belief that thes...

As we continue our theme of Making Decisions we were SO pleased to have Katie M. Reid join us! Not only is Katie a fabulous person to chat with, but she also has written a bible study all about making decisions! She really has spent some time in her life accepting grace and the wisdom in how to unlock the doors of understanding in overcoming her "deficit in daughtership” in seeing Jesus as “f...

As you know, our podcast is called SHE Speaks Stories but we love it when a HE can come on and share his story with us! Philip Nation joins our love for storytelling by sharing the steps he’s made in his life that brought him from a shy kid to an educated speaker. He brings to light the importance of coming alongside other believers and strengthening each other through the good chapters, the hard...

As you may know, this season is filled with such an eclectic mix of stories all centered around decision making! After the recordings, our co-hosts, Katie and Julia, talk about how the episode went and have been personally impacted and wow’d at what God is showing them through these women’s stories. And our guest this week, Julie Condliffe, once again brought an awesome story to the table! Born in...

It’s always fun to make new connections and hear new stories! (At least we think so, because that’s what this podcast is all about!) When today’s guest, Lori Melton, agreed to share her story we had no idea how many incredible connections we would be making. Lori is an author, podcaster and spiritual director and in this episode shares with us all the decisions that lead up to where she is today....

Hey Friends! This should come as no surprise, but we have another epic episode for you! Today we have the very lovely and knowledgeable Dr. Kimberly LeHew! This episode is all about health and the impact our decisions can make ON our health, and the importance of making decisions FOR our health. God walked Dr. Kimberly through so many different paths to give her the tools, perspective and understa...

This season when we sit down with guests to discuss the topic of making decisions we have been blown away by the unique and powerful perspective they’ve brought, and not only does today’s episode fit that perfectly, but it also steps deeper into some practical application! Myshel Wilkens is well-spoken and full of truth. With her authenticity she cuts away excuses and she does it with a soft, stab...

Friends, we are here for a BONUS episode to join with our dear friend Bjou Mushengezi and talk about her Moseka Action Project Gala on October 25, 2025! We want as many people to attend and become educated about the tragedies happening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but also be encouraged, even if we can’t attend the gala, to support the incredible work Bjou and her team are doing for th...

Friends, join us as we chat it up with Laine Lawson Craft! Laine walks us through two pivotal decision making times in her life that, as she looks back, literally brought life into her dead marriage and a chance at life for her three prodigal children. Decisions are a huge part of our lives, but are so tricky. In this episode, Laine shares with us how she asked God to close doors, asked God to gui...

A couple years after the start of our podcast, after Katie and Susan got it going and saw all of these stories changing lives, Gwen joined the team of storytellers. In God’s perfect providence Gwen added an element of creativity that the podcast needed as the story curator. Fast forward to Katie receiving her cancer diagnosis. Gwen was a rock of stability the podcast needed and an element to the f...

As we dive into our NEW season with the theme all about decisions we really could not have started with a better guest if we tried! Rosann Coulon joins us in this episode where we talk about how decisions that she made opened up doors for change, hope and the ability to encourage others! She was a “PK” raised in an idyllic home, but like in so many of our lives at times, hardship hit. Rosann had t...

Katie and Julia are so excited to share with you our new theme for not just the fall season of 2025, but also the spring of 2026! Yes, this theme has piqued the interest of so many that our guest list overflowed past the fall dates all the way through our spring calendar and we are not disappointed at all.  In this episode, Katie Hawkins shares kind of where this Making Decisions theme came from a...

Hey Friends! Katie Hawkins and Julia Sifers start off our new season with some stories of how they've continued to learn from and share stories in OTHER ways besides our podcast. From the zoom book club, to other podcasts and even the Netflix series The Crown, our gal pals talk about all the ways we can see Stories Changing Lives! Then to wrap things up, they introduce us to the new theme this...

This season has been full of guests with stories of loneliness. Even though it’s not fun to feel lonely, we have had a blast talking with each guest because they all shared what happens during a time of loneliness or one the other side of it. And although all of these stories are unique they all have something in common: they wouldn’t trade their hard time for anything because of what they learned...