Stark Conversations

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Trigger warming. This episode is about mental illness and we talk about suicide. If you or somebody you know needs help please call the suicide prevention hotline at 800-273-8255. Heather Loeb is a mental health advocate and creator of Unruly Neurons, a blog dedicated to eradicating the stigma attached to mental illness. Heather, who struggles with depression,...

Trigger Warning- this episode deals with depression and suicide. If you are struggling and need help, please call the suicide hotline at 800-273-8255. Esmé Spock is a married mother of one. She is an animal rescue advocate who loves makeup, painting and horror films. She is a vegan but confesses to horrible cooking skills. I have known Esmé for over a decade but had no idea the story she was livin...

Celina is the type of woman who fights for the rights of others. She openly accepts that everyone comes with a story, baggage, and the desire to be heard. Celina is a criminal defense attorney who believes that everyone deserves someone in their corner. She shares with me her story of how she came to be the woman who proudly stands up and represents those that society has deemed criminal. This is...

This is Tina. She is a fun-spirited feminist that knows how to inspire and uplift. She is here is to change the conversation about victim-blaming and shaming, especially when women do it to each other!  Tina is a Podcaster, Interviewer, NLP Practioner, and a Women Empowerment Coach. She got her Psychology degree in 2005. In 2018, she started several coaching training courses, and in September 2020...

Meet Anastacia Olympia D Short, a drag queen and self-proclaimed goddess who desires to live her truth. Anastacia (aka Anya For Short) has autism and struggles with anxiety. She is bisexual, secretly dresses in drag, and still lives at home with very conservative parents. Anya wants desperately to live an authentic life, but is still facing fierce opposition from her parents. She shares her story...

Welcome back to Part 2 of For Me. Heather continues her conversation with Charli Roanhaus about how she has been deconstructing society's idea of beauty. Charli shares her definition of beauty and heads up- we talk briefly about shapewear and high heels! Both can be touchy subjects for women. But in the end, Charli shares a beautiful message about the spirit of women.

Join host Heather as she interviews Charli Roanhaus, host of The Growing True podcast. For the past five years, Charli has been deconstructing society's idea of beauty. When she was younger, she chased others' definitions of beauty, which always left her feeling rejected. She finally realized to feel beautiful in her own body; she had to ask herself, "What does beauty mean for me?". 

I asked, and you answered. After Texas passed its Heartbeat Law, I asked people to share their stories about abortion. I felt as though no one had given space to the very people this law seemed to affect. I wanted to expose the arguments people give for denying a person autonomy over their body by using your stories to surround and crush those fragile arguments. Your stories are valid, raw, and un...

Meet Tristan, an energetic spirit who is on a quest to help women step into their own ideas of beauty. From an early age, Tristan believed that the definition of beautiful was thin, blonde, and boobs that would attract the boys, but there was a catch. She was not blonde; she didn't consider herself thin, and a medical condition left her with misshapen breasts. As a result, Tristan felt like a pris...

"I wanted to be the best little Christian girl." This line makes many of us who grew up in the south wince. When you meet someone in the south, one of the first questions asked is, "Where do you go to church." Christianity is a lifestyle with heavy expectations. For many women, finding their space in a Christian world is stifling. We live in a world that uses the Son of Man to dictate what women c...

Halee turns her story of addiction and living as a homeless person into a life of vulnerability and courage. Trigger warning: the following topics are discussed homelessness, addiction, prison, and family issues.

A story about addiction and redemption. Trigger warning: The following topics are discussed: addiction and drunk driving fatality.

Julia Walsh shares her story of surviving sex trafficking. Trigger warning: topics in this episode include sex trafficking, adoption, family stressors, abuse, manipulation, and PTSD

Learn how one woman pulled wisdom from trauma and use it as a means to identify and serve others. Trigger warning: topics in this episode include sexual abuse.

Learn how processing and metabolizing our stories is a powerful healer.

Heather briefly explains why she pushed pause on the podcast, how she has triumphed, and what is in store for Season 2 of This is Me.

Sometimes the only way to move forward is to look back. I know this is contrary to what you've heard time and time again, but it's true. Looking back at our own stories helps us become aware of why we make certain choices and recognize coping habits we develop through experiences of shame, stress and self-doubt. But most importantly, it helps us understand how those things affect the stories we're...

Did you know your body physically holds onto memories and emotions you experience throughout your life? They get bound up and stored, waiting for the opportunity to be released. That’s why yoga can be so therapeutic. When I first started my practice I was in it for the strength and flexibility, but soon I found myself crying when I went into certain poses. Caught by surprise, I found myself relivi...

(Part 2 of 2) The mass devastation of the Liberian Civil War of 1989 served as a backdrop to Sonnie’s earliest memories. Her father headed to the United States when she still was very young, leaving Sonnie, her mother and younger brother to seek refuge in a small village outside the city. Soon after the war ended, Sonnie’s mother left both children behind in the village as she, too, made her way t...

(Part 1 of 2) The mass devastation of the Liberian Civil War of 1989 served as a backdrop to Sonnie’s earliest memories. Her father headed to the United States when she still was very young, leaving Sonnie, her mother and younger brother to seek refuge in a small village outside the city. Soon after the war ended, Sonnie’s mother left both children behind in the village as she, too, made her way t...

Facing your own story can be difficult. Sometimes you need a solid supporter - the one that sees all the moments of your struggle, never judges, always encourages and helps pull you through to a better place. That person actually becomes part of your story. In this episode, my husband Lanham and I talk about how *my* story is actually *our* story. We've been married more than 20 years and he's see...

Have you ever hit a breaking point, a true rock-bottom moment when you knew things had to change? I’ve felt compelled to dive deeper into my experience with mental illness. In this podcast, I talk about my breaking point – the moment “broken” reached the bottommost layer of my soul. In that moment, tears fell uncontrollably. But there is a voice that comes after tears. It brings warmth and it brin...

What is your mean-girl memory? Being a mom is tough. But the best way through it is with your tribe, so the “book club” ladies are back for a second Winecast! Pour your own glass of wine and join the gals as they discuss the mean-girl culture that exists today, not only in adulthood but also while raising their daughters.

Do you constantly ask yourself the most absurd questions? Join Heather as she shares with you the hilarious, but uncomfortably truthful questions that come up often for her, and most likely other women.

How do you feel about bras? Add some “sush” in your cup, and join Heather Stark as she shares with you her uncomfortable, but comical story of the “floating bra syndrome” and the childhood trauma it created. Did you get a shiny introduction to puberty filled with an instruction manual and a $100 gift card to Victoria’s Secret? For Heather, this was not the case. There were some hand-me downs, some...