Tend HER Wild Podcast

At the start of season 4 we agreed that we had to take more risks and have more edgy conversations. This interview definitely lived up to our intention for season 4! We were surprised when a guest reached out to us to share her story of how she was having the best sex of her life in her 70s.  After a short conversation with her, we agreed that we needed to do a full interview to let her share her...

In today’s episode we welcome back psychotherapist and thought leader Shannon Algeo for his second visit to the podcast. We explore Shannon’s new book, “The Power in Your Hands” about our relationship to our smart phones and his quest to liberate himself from his own attachment to technology. We talk about: How nature, biking, and music all shaped Shannon’s early years and how they continue to nou...

What if perfectionism isn’t something we need to overcome—but something we need to understand differently? In this episode of  Tend HER Wild , we explore perfectionism through a new lens. Rather than viewing it as a flaw to fix, we discuss the difference between healthy striving and the forms of perfectionism that keep us disconnected from our authentic selves. We share our own stories of pe...

Today we have a conversation with two of the most creative, entrepreneurial women we know.   We are getting ready to teach a course on Rewilding in July and wanted to put together a Rewilding Box that accompanies the course.  These 2 women contributed their creative skills to this project.  Leslie, of Pure Luxe Apothecary, helped us create a Rewilding Scent.  Rachael, of {made} community, helped u...

In today’s episode we explore toxic relationships. We’ve all had them whether they are with partners, friends, social media, food, substances, or even our government.  We seek to understand the hallmarks of them, what to do about it once you see the truth, why we get in them in the first place, and the parts of self we need to own that might be attracting in such relationships. We talk about: Toxi...

In this deeply intimate conversation, we sit down with Annalise Nelson as she shares her story of motherhood, identity, loss, and rebuilding life after the death of her 7-year-old daughter, Ann-Marie. Now parenting a newborn son, Leo, Annalise reflects on how grief has reshaped everything she thought she knew about love, time, and meaning—while also revealing unexpected moments of beauty, connecti...

What severs women from their wild, instinctual selves? Or maybe the better question is:  when did we become disconnected in the first place? In this episode, we explore the concept of “Wild Severance” — the gradual disconnection many women experience from their intuition, instincts, bodies, power, and truth. Inspired by the work of Clarissa Pinkola Estés, we unpack the systems, experiences, and co...

In this heartfelt Mother’s Day episode, Kate sits down with her mom, Carolyn Warner Elwood, for a deeply personal conversation about motherhood, family, resilience, and the threads of love that carry through generations. Carolyn reflects on her upbringing, her career journey, raising three daughters, and the values that shaped the family culture they still carry today. From farm adventures and Vie...

It’s hard to fathom that this podcast has lasted this long — and even more incredible that the energy surrounding it only seems to be getting stronger. What continues to emerge through these conversations is a deep collective longing: to understand ourselves more fully, to reclaim forgotten parts of ourselves, and to return to something ancient and true. Again and again, we find ourselves circling...

In today’s episode we speak with Jaime Ehrenberg, an intuitive and spiritual guide whose gift is listening to and communicating with the land.  We have an eye opening conversation about what we can all do to energetically care for our own back yard, and the healing that can ripple out when we do this. We talk about: Jaime’s early years being raised by a single Dad, her draw toward environmentalism...

In today’s episode we speak with Dr. Juliana Hauser whose work is about holistic sexuality.  She talks today about how sex saved her life multiple times, and the importance of understanding how sexuality is intricately connected to all areas of our life.  We loved how Dr. Juliana balances openness and vulnerability with grounded theory and research.  We definitely learned new things in this conver...

Today we explore the concept of the inner child, or the parts of self from childhood that may be subconsciously influencing our life as an adult.  The inner child carries both positive traits like creativity and playfulness, as well as negative unresolved traumas, fears, or unmet needs.  Today’s conversation ends with a guided inner child exercise with Dr. Betsy. What We Cover in This Episode: The...

In this special live episode of the Tend HER Wild Podcast, recorded at the James Theatre with the Water Bearer Collective, four remarkable women share stories and insights gathered across decades of life. Together they reflect on courage, friendship, aging, and the power of crone wisdom—showing how experience deepens our capacity to lead, love, and keep evolving. Guests Marcia Akin – Educator and...

Sarah Van Cleve is a somatic practitioner, facilitator, death doula, mother, gardener, devoted life-lover, and future ancestor. She is the founder of  Soul House Wellness , where she weaves together yoga, sound healing, somatic practice, and leadership development to support people in reconnecting with their bodies and their truth. A self-described  Black radical and professional agitator , Sarah’...

We sit down today with return guest Sasha Boros to talk about her newly inspired collaboration with women called The Water Bearer Collective.  When we last spoke to Sasha in Episode 29, she was leaving a marriage and adjusting to all the transformational shifts in her life this ending brought.  She spoke of a dream she had back in 2020 about women, empowerment, and the importance of women being he...

In this deeply honest and expansive conversation, Megan shares her journey from a highly sensitive child who learned to shut parts of herself down—to a therapist helping others reconnect with their inner intelligence for healing. We explore how early life experiences shaped her path, the moment yoga reawakened her sensitivity, and how her work has evolved to include innovative therapeutic modaliti...

Today is an update on 2 of our brilliant guests and the powerful art they are putting out into the world. In episode 128 we interviewed Kristin Marrs and Anne Marie Nest about a theatre/dance piece they created called Chalk, which is about both of their journeys through miscarriage and infertility. These amazing women have been busy in the last year because they developed the piece into a full len...

Words have a way of finding us exactly when we need them. In this episode, we share 22 quotes that have inspired, grounded, and guided us through different seasons of life. This conversation was sparked by a listener who asked us:  What are the quotes you return to again and again?  So we gathered the words that have stayed with us—and the meaning behind them. We’d love to know: what quotes have s...

Kate and Betsy speak with Elizabeth Marner, the founder and CEO of “The Be A Light Project” for brain health and suicide prevention for rural communities.  Her nonprofit was born out of personal pain following her son’s suicide attempt and their frustrations getting the help he needed. In today’s Episode we discuss: Elizabeth’s experience of growing up and continuing to live in a rural small town....

Kate and Betsy dive into the topic of feminism after an article came out in the New York Times in November 2025 entitled “Are women ruining the workplace?”.  In this episode we seek to understand the real meaning of feminism, the different waves it has gone through, and what the wild woman archetype says about these times. In today’s Episode we discuss: The fire that Kate felt after reading this a...

In this deeply moving and thoughtful conversation, Dr. Ren shares the personal, cultural, and professional journey that shaped his life and work. Origins & Identity Ren begins by telling the story of his first ten years growing up in Japan and the powerful meaning behind his name.  Ren , which means  “Lotus,”  was intentionally chosen by his mother — a decision so unusual at the time that she...

Season 4 of  Tend Her Wild  opens with a refusal to play small. In this episode, we bear witness to what is unfolding in Minneapolis—and across our country—through the lens of the  Wild Woman archetype . This conversation is about courage in real time, love under pressure, and what it looks like when women choose presence over paralysis. We ask the question Clarissa Pinkola Estés reminds us of how...

In today’s episode we review this past year and all that unfolded in the podcast and in our personal lives. We talk about the highs and lows, the practices that sustained us, and we reveal our theme for Season 4 that begins February 2026. In today’s episode we explore: Reflections on the year of the snake, 2025, and all the shedding that we did. The guests we interviewed in this last year that rea...

Medium Dani Worrell returns for an incredible live podcast event recorded at Revival’s pop-up studio in downtown Iowa City, where she offers intuitive readings for the audience. In this episode, we explore: Dani’s recent personal intuitive reading with her mentor, where her grandmother came through—a powerful figure who once encouraged Dani to shut down her gifts, now returning with guidance and a...

Today’s interview kept us laughing nearly the entire time, and yet was deeply poignant as our guest shared her story of scars.  Ophira is a stand-up comedian, author, and story teller who has been lauded as one of the “top 10 comics that funny people find funny”.   Our attention was rapt as we listened to her many physical and emotional scars and how she has been able to create art, humor, and eve...