Girls Night with Stephanie May Wilson

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!Today’s episode is a hard one, but a really, really important one. Today we’re talking about what to do if you or someone you love is having suicidal thoughts. We’re also talking about how to heal and move forward after a tragedy. You guys know I’m all about mental health — I want to talk about it as often as possible. But you may not know that I’ve lost several friends to suicide throughout my life. And the thing is — I know I’m not the only one. That’s why I wanted to talk about it here on the show.Our guest for today is Kayla Stoecklein. Kayla is an author, speaker and mother of 3 little boys. Kayla became an unexpected widow in August 2018 when her husband, Andrew, the pastor of their large church in California, died by suicide. With three young boys also grieving and a heart full of pain, it became her mission to bring hope and help to others who have faced unexpected hardships.She recently wrote a book called, Rebuilding Beautiful: Welcome What Is, Dare to Dream Again, and Step Bravely into What Could Be  – I can’t wait for you to hear more about it! Here are a few of the things she’ll be talking to us about in the episode First, she shares about the stigmas surrounding mental health and why it’s so important for us to check in on our loved ones Next, she talks through what to do if we know someone who is struggling with their mental health or suicidal thoughts and how to seek helpAnd finally, she shares how to start healing and rebuilding your life after you’ve gone through a hardship or a tragedy. This episode is incredible. The things Kayla shared with me were just amazing. I am so deeply grateful for the work she’s doing.The second we hung up the phone, I immediately texted several friends about it. This is a conversation I know I’ll be sharing and re-sharing for years to come. I’m praying this conversation is as helpful for you as I know it’s been for me.If you or a loved one is having suicidal thoughts, we encourage you to seek help. Here are resources for you: 988 is the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (available 24 hours), you can also call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) Here is their website: https://988lifeline.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to learn what your feelings are trying to teach you. I love this episode because if you’re anything like me, you experience a lot of feelings in any given moment, and you’re not always sure what to do with them. For a lot of us, we feel totally overwhelmed by our feelings — our feelings run the show, telling us what’s true about ourselves and the world around us. But then others of us tend to stuff our feelings — and as a result we miss out on so much intimacy — with God, with our people, and even with ourselves.But there’s a third option — a beautiful and better way, and that’s what this episode is all about.To talk us through this I invited my sweet friends, Mac & Kenz back on the show. They’re the founders of Delight Ministries, and an amazing hub of resources called, “For the Girl” and they recently came out with a brand new Bible Study called “In My Feels.”I loved this conversation and I cannot wait to share it with you.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!I’m so excited about today’s conversation. Today we’re re-sharing a conversation I had a few years ago with my dear friend, Caroline Schandel.If this is your first time meeting her, Caroline is a brilliant writer, speaker, and Bible teacher. She’s a woman I’ve looked up to for years — she’s taught me so much about who God is and about who I am because of who God is, and I am so so so happy we get to revisit this conversation! In the episode we’re talking about waiting. How to trust God in the midst of long waiting seasons, how to tune into what He’s up to along the way, how God uses these seasons to transform us, and so much more.Friends, if you’re waiting on something today — a job, a spouse, an answer, a home, a move, a positive pregnancy test, or anything else — this episode is for you. God has us. He’s taking care of us, and I’m praying that you walk away from this episode believing that more than ever.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!As I mentioned in last week’s episode, we’re kicking off this season by sharing a few of our favorite past episodes having to do with singleness, dating, and relationships. Today we’re sharing the conversation I had with my sweet friend, Jena Dunay, in episode number 75. At that time, she was Jena Viviano, but, a little spoiler alert, she ended up marrying the amazing guy she talks about in this episode, which is so fun! Y’all Jena is incredible. She is the Chief Learning Officer for a wealth management firm and is just a total boss. She's also an alumni of my online course, Love Your Single Life!A little while back, Jena and I were at lunch and we were talking about some of the things she learned along the way in her journey of singleness and dating, and I loved her heart and her perspective so much, I just knew we had to record another episode together. I’m not kidding when I say this is one of my favorite Girls Night episodes EVER!One of my favorite takeaways from the episode is a story Jena shares about a time when she completely broke down at a thanksgiving breakfast from feeling defeated in her single life, an experience I think so many of us can relate to. But what really amazed me are the words her friend said to her a few days later that she’ll never forget and that I believe so many of us need to hear, too. Friend, if you can relate to feeling tired and discouraged and disappointed by your love life so far… this conversation is for you.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!I’m so excited to be back for Season 16 of the Girls Night podcast — and to kick off this season we’re doing something a little different. Since registration for my course Love Your Single Life is opening back up in just a few weeks, I thought it would be fitting to revisit a few of the amazing Girls Night episodes we’ve had over the years all having to do with singleness and dating. To start, we’re going all the way back to episode 7 of the podcast to a conversation I had with my best friend, Michelle. In this conversation, we talk about breakups — how to make it through a breakup, and how to put your heart back together!Michelle and I have both been through our fair share of breakups (more than our fair share, I think), and we’ve learned so much along the way: What to do, what not to do, what helps, what doesn’t, things that comforted us along the way, things that helped us get over it, and more. Best of all, we’re going to be talking about God’s redemption in all of this — how He’s able to transform these broken pieces of our lives into something positively beautiful.He’s done that in our lives, and we KNOW He wants to do that in yours too.One thing I wanted to say before we jump in is that I know lots of y’all have been through hard breakups, but I also know that some of you may have broken hearts in different ways. Maybe you just lost a job or had a falling out with a friend. Maybe you’re mourning the death of a dream or even a loved one. Well — in this episode we’re going to be talking about breakups from relationships, but these ideas and principles apply to so many different types of broken hearts. So regardless of what you’re going through right now, I'm so glad you’re here.My prayer is that this conversation brings you so much comfort as you know you’re just not alone in what you’re going through, peace as you’re reminded that you WILL make it through, and hope as you get to see that God NEVER leaves things broken for long. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!Friends, I can’t believe it, but today is our last episode of Season 15! To wrap up this season, we’re talking about a really important topic and that’s how to deal with mean girls and friend drama as an adult. I wanted to have this conversation because I’m such a believer that as friends, we can be the best thing to happen to each other. In so many ways, I am who I am because of the incredible women in my life. Their guidance, and love, and presence in my life has changed everything for the better. But I’ve also experienced the opposite in friendship. The negative experiences I’ve had with female friendship have broken my heart and scarred me more deeply than any other relationship in my life. In fact, if I could go back and give my younger self one piece of advice, I’d tell her that you don’t have to be friends with people who are mean to you. But that’s so much easier said than done, even as an adult, and that’s why I’m excited for this conversation.To talk us through this, I invited my wonderful and brilliant friend, Danielle Bayard Jackson, back on the show. Danielle is a certified friendship coach and a national speaker who works to teach women how to create and maintain better female friendships.Y’all, Danielle has so much great advice on this topic. If you’re dealing with friend drama, mean girls, or friendship hurt — this episode is for you. This conversation would have been life-changing for me if I would have had it just a few years ago, and that's why I’m so happy to get to share it with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to see your value and ask for what you want (in both work and relationships!).Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend Mori Taheripour. Mori is a speaker, educator, negotiation expert and teaches Negotiation and Dispute Resolution at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She has a new book called, Bring Yourself: How to Harness the Power of Connection to Negotiate Fearlessly, and when I first came across it, I immediately began to wonder how the things she teaches in it could help us in our relationships — specifically in these three really vulnerable areas of life where we have to put ourselves out there and ask for what we want in order to be successful: dating, friendships, and our careers. And that’s what we’re talking about in this episode. Friends, if you’ve been struggling to see your value and need practical tips on how to ask for what you want with confidence, then you’re in the right place!She is brilliant. I can’t wait for you to meet her. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about the Enneagram and how it can help us grow in our relationships. I shared about the Enneagram way back in episode number seventeen of the podcast and chances are you’ve heard about the Enneagram before, but if you’re not super familiar or need a refresher, it’s a personality assessment that helps you understand your emotions and motivations at a deeper level. The way I have come to understand it, it’s designed to do two things:1. It helps us get to know our minds and our hearts so much better2. It helps us overcome some of the roadblocks in our lives and become the best versions of ourselves It also helps us understand and connect with the people we love, whether that’s a friend or our family, our coworkers or our spouse. And that’s the focus of today’s episode. Because, if you’re anything like me, you want to connect with the people around you on a deeper level, but you don’t always know how to make that happen in a practical way. You might also find yourself disagreeing or feeling disconnected in certain ways and not knowing how to fix it. But adding the Enneagram to my relationship toolbox has been a game changer and I hope it will be for you too! To talk us through this, I invited my sweet friend, Meredith Boggs, on the show. Meredith is an expert when it comes to the Enneagram and has a new book coming out soon called, The Journey Home; A Biblical Guide to Using the Enneagram to Deepen Your Faith and Relationships.In this episode she’s going to teach us: What the Enneagram is (and what it’s not!) An overview of the Enneagram types and how to discover what type we are How the Enneagram can help us communicate in our relationships How the Enneagram can help us in our faith  How the Enneagram can help us understand and connect with our significant others better And that’s just the beginning!  If you’ve been wanting to cultivate deeper, healthier, more meaningful relationships, the Enneagram is a great resource to try and I can’t wait to share more about it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!So, I was at an event recently when someone asked me what Girls Night is all about. I told them that here on the show we talk about anything and everything that you’d actually talk about with your real life best friends at a real life girls night. That pretty much covers it, right? Well, one of the things my friends and I spend a lot of time talking about is where we’ll live. Where we live is a big deal — our homes are where our lives happen. Our cities are where our people are. And so making decisions about where we want to be located and what kind of house we want to live in — those are really important things to talk about! And because so much rides on this decision from finances to family to lifestyle, I’m so glad we had our friends to help us walk through it.As many of you know, one of my closest friends here in Nashville is Hanna Seymour. Hanna’s been on Girls Night a bunch of times, and she’s actually the one who connected us with her amazing Realtor, Cindy Easley — who also happens to be Hanna’s mom. Cindy has walked Carl and I through the process of buying and selling our home a few times now, and I am SO grateful for her. Buying a home can feel really scary, but it’s been so much easier and less intimidating to have my friends, and one of friends’ amazing mom to walk me through it.And that’s why I cannot wait to share today’s episode with you! We’re talking about how to buy a home for the first time and how to make it less intimidating! In this episode Cindy is going to teach us…How to figure out if we’re personally ready to buy a home and what to consider when starting that processHow to figure out the financial part of buying a home — she’ll walk us through things like down payments, mortgages, credit scores, and loans.How to find a real estate agent and lender that you trust How to figure out your must-haves for a home – what’s realistic and where we might need to compromise a littleAnd so much more! Friends, if you’re trying to figure out your living situation right now, this episode is for you. I can’t wait for you to meet Cindy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!I’m so excited for today’s episode. Today we’re talking about boundaries: How to set them, how to keep them, and why they’re so truly life-changing. If you’ve been a Girls Night listener for a while now, this isn’t the first time you’re hearing me talk about boundaries. And it’s because this has been a HUGE lesson for me.I am historically bad at knowing what I want and what I need — at drawing lines and saying no.And for the longest time, I was okay with that. (Maybe even a little bit proud of it?)I like being helpful. I like being needed. I like feeling useful, and capable, and strong.For years I thought that this was the best way to love the people I love: To always put their needs above my needs, to say yes to everything, to give but never take, and to have everything that’s mine be theirs without limit — whether it was my stuff, my space, my time, or my energy. This is what I thought would lead to the healthiest, closest relationships. But over the last few years I’ve learned that the opposite is true.Boundaries are an absolutely essential part of healthy relationships. They’re an essential part of a healthy life, of a healthy US.And that’s what we’re talking about here today. To help us through this, I invited my dear friend, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt back on the show. Sasha is a renowned cardiac anesthesiologist, professor, bestselling author and CEO and Founder of Brave Enough. Sasha is also a wife and a mother who has walked through seasons of loneliness, anxiety, and complete burnout. Needless to say, she has had to learn about boundaries the HARD way. She has a new book called, Brave Boundaries: Strategies to Say No, Stand Strong and Take Control of Your Time where she helps us find the courage to implement boundaries in our own life. Here are just a few of the things she’s going to teach us in this episode: How to take a personal boundary inventory and identify what boundaries we needWhy saying no to others and yes to ourselves isn’t selfish and can actually help us be a better version of ourselves (and love our people better!)How to kindly respond to someone if we receive backlash for the boundary we’ve setAnd so much more! One of my favorite things that Sasha says in the episode was, "The world will set your boundaries if you don't set them for yourself” and that couldn't be more true. Friends, if you’re feeling anxious, burned out, or overwhelmed in life right now, this episode is for you!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices