The WOMAN Podcast

Justice does not bring those lost back to life. But it does hold those responsible for horrific crimes accountable, and hopefully acts as a deterrent for potential perpetrators of those crimes.     But prior to the Grace Anne Sparks Coercive Suicide Prevention Law of 2026, coercive suicide was not a crime.     After grooming Grace Anne Sparks online from the age of 12 to 19, Hayden Jennings Berkeb...

When Laurin ran for Cookeville, TN City Council she was balancing a career, marriage, and motherhood to two young children. She saw opportunities to serve her community and chose to step forward. Her children were just 2 and 3 years old.   Despite having no previous political experience, she was elected Vice Mayor during her first term and Mayor during her second.   Our conversation explores how w...

Do you ever get stuck in analysis paralysis? Does deciding what to keep and what to let go of completely stress you out? Same. In this episode, my guest Beth shares practical, doable tips that will actually help you tackle the spaces you’ve been avoiding. Because clutter isn’t just stuff - it’s postponed decisions. Read that again: clutter is postponed decisions. And listen… sometimes that junk dr...

A home can be a haven. A community can be a haven. Even a person can feel like a haven. A haven is a place of safety, rest, and protection—things many incarcerated women have rarely, if ever, experienced. In this episode, Linda and Deanna share how a 12-month sober living program creates that kind of safe haven for women transitioning out of jail. It offers more than a place to stay—it provides a...

Is it enabling to give someone clean needles to shoot up?  Is the best way to find God always in church?  Is the man or woman begging on the street corner lazy?  Is addiction a moral failure?   Morgan and I confront these questions head on in today’s powerful conversation about what it really means to meet someone where they’re at.  But that begs the question - Where ARE they?  Where are the addic...

In this episode my guest and longtime friend, Tara, and I explore the narrative many women know too well - long marriage, children, financial dependence, and the ground shifting beneath us through divorce.    Now a marriage and family counselor, Tara regularly gets an up-close look at the systems that surround families and how, for our purposes, they affect women - systems like the church, the fam...

In this episode with Tina and Melody we explore the often-unseen work of hospital navigators — the people who help patients struggling with alcohol or drug addiction navigate complex healthcare systems with clarity, support, and most importantly, dignity. That moment of crisis is often a rock bottom moment - which in the world of addiction, is actually one of the most transformative moments of a p...

At 19, Sherri was homeless with two young children, and over the next several years, she experienced what far too many women do - abuse.  Physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, and mental abuse became her norm.  How does a woman escape this nightmare?  How does she find it within herself to believe this does not have to be her life?  She can start by telling herself what Sherri’s friend told...

The bond between women is different than the bond between men and women.  They're both special.  But there's just something about having a woman in your life that walks with you through everything and who you know will always be there for you.  Tiffany is that woman for me.  We met during a tough time in my life and she had just come through her own tough time.  She gave me hope, put up with my sh...

Listener discretion is advised.  This episode has descriptions of trauma that may not be appropriate for young listeners. Matty and I met just weeks after she left tent city - an encampment in a usually wooded area in which the unhoused lived.  Not long after Matty and I met, she took me to the encampment to meet the people she left behind.  We took them propane heaters and food.  It was exactly w...

The child welfare system refers to the entire network of laws, agencies, professionals, and programs designed to protect children’s safety, ensure their well-being, and support families.  At the heart of that system are social workers.  They are in the trenches and on the front lines of the fight for children and families.  They deserve medals of honor. In this episode, Leanne and Olivia, both wit...

Have you ever felt extra "aware"?  Like you're in your head a lot and like you see beneath the surface of everything?  Do you feel different than most of the people around you?  And do you feel lonely because of that?   In this episode, Sam and I take a deep dive into what it's like to be a neurodivergent woman and how her upbringing and an extra dose of awareness has led her to be both a communit...

The U.S. has the highest female imprisonment rate in the world, with roughly 200,000 women incarcerated.  Up to 90% of those women are survivors of physical or sexual violence, and many incarcerated for violent crimes acted against abusive partners. In this episode, Lakeisha gives us an inside look into her experience in a women's prison and how spending 8 years incarcerated lit a fire in her to h...

Have you ever wondered what it's like to share an open toilet in a jail cell with another person? Spoiler alert - it's not great. In this episode, Destani takes us into the jail she spent most of her time incarcerated in. Destani and I met after she earned her way out of her cell and into the program pod. I was teaching a parenting program at the time and she passed with flying colors.   In this e...