The Debrief with Staci & Ruthie

⚠️ Before You Listen: This episode contains discussions of suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, mental health crises, burnout, a broken healthcare system, and occasional strong language. While we avoid graphic details, listener discretion is advised. What happens when one call lasts twelve hours... and changes you? This week, Ruthie takes us inside one of the most emotionally exhausting shifts of...

What does joy actually look like after you've lived through burnout? In this episode, Ruthie and Staci dive into the difference between chasing happiness and cultivating genuine joy. From hustle culture and achievement addiction to contentment, gratitude, and nervous system regulation, they explore what happens when you stop waiting for life to feel better someday and start noticing the goodness t...

In this week's episode of The Debrief, Ruthie and Staci dive into a surprisingly relatable question: "What did you think would be easier by now?" Turns out... quite a few things. From mountains of laundry and the nightly dinner dilemma to teaching teenagers to drive and navigating ever-changing family schedules, we're unpacking all the things adulthood promised would eventually become second natur...

This week on The Debrief with Staci & Ruthie, we're taking advantage of a rare pocket of time and diving into some honest life confessions. From surprise parenting moments and overthinking tendencies to camping adventures, barn transformations, football cleats, and dairy cow dreams, this episode feels like sitting around the kitchen table with friends. We chat about: • Recent wins nobody knows...

Register for BOOK CLUB hereeeee! Show Notes In this episode of The Debrief with Staci & Ruthie , we’re taking a hilarious, nostalgic trip back to the wild survival era of growing up millennial. Before GPS, Life360, smartphones, and constant news alerts, we were out here printing MapQuest directions, burning questionable CDs from LimeWire, memorizing phone numbers, calling landlines, driving wi...

At some point, something shifts. You stop forcing yourself to attend events you don't want to attend. You stop buying clothes because they're trendy. You stop trying to keep everyone happy. And suddenly, being home in comfy clothes with your people sounds a whole lot better than almost anything else. In this episode, Staci and Ruthie unpack the hilarious and unexpected freedoms that come with gett...

This week, Staci & Ruthie are diving headfirst into something that’s been weighing heavy on their hearts lately: how different childhood looks now compared to the way many of us grew up. From Xbox marathons and YouTube Shorts to “I’m bored” complaints and screen-time battles, they unpack the reality of parenting in the digital age — while also giving themselves (and other parents) a whole lot...

Mother’s Day is not simple for everyone. For some, it brings flowers, cards, and breakfast in bed. For others, it stirs up grief, complicated family dynamics, old wounds, and the ache of parenting without the parents you wish you had. Today we’re talking about what it means to be a “parentless parent,” how we break cycles without a perfect playbook, and how we build a village when one wasn’t hande...

It’s been a hot minute and after a stretch of heavier episodes, we’re bringing you something a little lighter… and a lot more real. In this episode, we’re fully embracing our current roles as “Snack B!tch & Chauffeur” (because honestly… what else do you call it? 😅). From spring sports chaos to snack meltdowns, long car rides, hangry kids, and trying to keep your sanity intact, we’re pulling b...

You used to thrive in chaos. The pressure. The pace. The adrenaline. …until one day, it didn’t feel good anymore. What happens when the very thing that made you great at your job… is the thing that burns you out? In this episode of The Debrief with Staci & Ruthie , we’re talking about what it really means to be a recovering adrenaline junkie in healthcare and the moment when the chaos, pressur...

Episode Overview If you’re a nurse, EMT, paramedic, firefighter, police officer, or healthcare worker … this one is for you. In this episode, we’re talking about compassion fatigue, burnout, and emotional exhaustion in first responders —the kind that doesn’t get talked about enough. The kind where: You feel disconnected from patients You don’t react the way you used to You question why you even ch...

This one’s real life. In this episode of The Debrief with Staci & Ruthie , we’re talking about a season neither of us necessarily wanted … but one we’re stepping into anyway. We’re both about to be “married single moms.” Not because anything is wrong in our marriages… But because our husbands are stepping into callings that are pulling them away for a season — police academy, military deployme...

Burnout, exhaustion, chaos… and somehow still finding moments that matter. In this episode of The Debrief with Staci & Ruthie , we’re talking all things night shift — the good, the bad, and the absolutely unhinged. From: Burnt toast setting off smoke alarms Kids accidentally looking cyanotic from blueberries EMS calls that shouldn’t be 911 calls And the reality of running on fumes with no reco...

Burnout, overwhelm, anxiety, feeling like you’re barely keeping up - what if one intentional hour a week could start changing everything? In this episode of The Debrief with Staci & Ruthie , Ruthie puts Staci in the hot seat after watching her speak at a women’s wellness event. When the topic of box breathing unexpectedly came up before Staci’s talk, it rattled her a little — but it sparked an...

If you could sit down with your 18-year-old self… what would you say? In this episode, we talk about the advice we wish someone had given us... in high school, early motherhood, early marriage, and at the start of our careers in healthcare and EMS. We share: Why you shouldn’t dim the parts of you that make you “too much” The pressure of looking for love, validation, or identity from one person Wha...

Michigan winters are dark, gray, and honestly… some funky junk. In this episode, Staci and Ruthie talk about the very real winter funk that hits so many of us this time of year. From seasonal depression and low energy to the mental spiral that can come with long, dark days , we’re sharing simple ways to support your mood and take care of yourself during the colder months. We talk about things that...

What if the reason you’re exhausted isn’t because you haven’t done enough… but because you never feel allowed to stop? In this episode, we’re unpacking the belief that rest is something you have to earn — and the cost of living like that. From hustle culture to mom guilt to night shift survival mode, we’re having an honest conversation about why pushing through isn’t always strength. If you’ve eve...

In this episode, Staci and Ruthie take a hilariously honest look at the real workplace hazards in healthcare and spoiler alert… they are not the ones emphasized in training. From bedbugs and roaches to mucus mishaps, unexpected intimate encounters, and the emotional realities of traumatic calls, this conversation dives into the human side of frontline work. The stuff you weren’t warned about. The...

Ever had one of those mornings where everyone’s cold, cranky, overdressed or underdressed… and you can feel your nervous system climbing the walls? In this episode of The Debrief with Staci & Ruthie , we’re talking about listening to your body —not in a perfect, aesthetic, “wellness influencer” way… but in real life. Like: your kid insisting on the fancy velvet dress on the coldest day of the...

Trigger note: This episode includes honest discussion bringing up COVID, mental health care, healthcare burnout, and systemic gaps. Please take care of yourself as you listen. In today’s episode, we’re having one of those conversations that healthcare workers often have quietly—if at all. After more than 20 years working across EMS, emergency medicine, and inpatient care, we’re unpacking what it f...

Marriage. For a lot of us, the word alone brings up fairy-tale expectations—thanks to movies like The Princess Bride and the idea that love should be effortless once you find “the one.” But real marriage? It’s built over time. In conversations. In hard seasons. In choosing each other again and again. In this episode, Staci and Ruthie talk honestly about what long-term marriage really looks like—fr...

Motherhood changes everything... including friendship. In this episode of The Debrief , we’re talking about the moms who come into our lives later… the ones who meet us in the trenches, hold our babies so we can pee, bring meals we didn’t ask for, and quietly save us in ways we never forget. We talk about: Why mom friendships hit differently than any other season of friendship How groups like MomC...

Staci shares her journey from working as a bedside nurse to navigating burnout, leaving the ER, and following a calling into holistic nurse coaching. Along the way, she opens up about faith, motherhood, boundaries, guilt, growth, and the slow work of becoming more grounded and intentional. This isn’t a highlight reel... it’s an honest conversation about learning who you are beyond your roles, lett...

In today’s episode, we sit down with Ruthie: wife, mama, EMS specialist, firefighter and one of the realest humans you’ll ever meet. She opens up about her story (and the redemption only God can write), what first responder PTSD actually looks like in real life, why burnout comes in cycles, and how she’s learning to regulate her nervous system when life is still chaotic. Also… let’s talk about the...

Welcome to the very first episode of The Debrief with Staci & Ruthie — where faith, friendship, and real life collide. After months of talking about starting this podcast, we finally hit record. Between technology struggles, self-doubt, sick kids, work schedules, and “life happening,” the enemy definitely tried it… but we’re here anyway. ( Not today, Satan. ) In this kickoff episode, we share:...