Girls Night with Stephanie May Wilson

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!I absolutely love the conversation I get to share with you today. Today we’re talking about how to best care for your loved ones during hard times.To walk us through this, I invited my new friends, Christy Knutson and Jane Butler on the show! Christy is a healthcare strategist and entrepreneur. After a series of early losses, she is working to improve the end-of-life experience with a deep belief that there has to be a better way. Jane is a creative professional and entrepreneur. When Jane’s fiancé (now husband) was diagnosed with brain cancer at the young age of 24, they quickly learned the value of grief support and care in their healing.Together, as business partners, they co-founded an amazing company called Near to help change the way we offer care and support during difficult times.In this episode, they’re answering the hard questions so many of us face during our lives. Questions like…What happens when someone I love receives a diagnosis?How do I support a friend or family member who’s going through a difficult time?What do I say or not say to someone who’s experiencing grief?When do I start thinking about end-of-life planning whether it’s for my parents or for myself and how do I even approach that conversation?And the list goes on! Friends, these are heavy things to talk about, but I know we’ll all be better friends and caretakers because of it! 

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!Friends, I’m so excited, but also really nervous for today’s episode. I can’t believe this, but today I’m sharing my very first solo episode! This may be the first of many or may be the first and last solo episode — I’m not totally sure yet! 🤣 But either way, I cannot wait to see what you think!In this episode, I’m talking about how to find rest amidst our busy schedules. We often hear about the importance of rest and self-care, but how many of us can claim to truly understand what that means for us, individually? It's one thing to set time aside for ourselves but quite another to figure out what rejuvenates us, what actually fills our cup. That’s what I’m going to help you through, today. In this episode, I share the 3 most important things I’ve learned about rest and how to practically apply them to your life. I don’t have this all figured out and I’m not perfect at this, but I’ve grown a lot in this area over the past couple of years, and want to share what I’ve discovered along the way. If you’re feeling overwhelmed with your schedule and having a hard time figuring out how to incorporate rest into your daily, weekly or even seasonal routine, then grab some coffee and get comfortable, this episode is for you!

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to become a mom without totally losing yourself in the process. As a newer mom myself, I’ve experienced first-hand pressures that come along with becoming a mom. First of all, motherhood is taxing. It’s consuming. It requires everything you have to give and often way more. And so being a mom while also being… yourself… it’s a LOT.It’s also a lot because the expectations society puts on mothers are HIGH. There’s no shortage of opinions on what a good mom should do and be and act like and provide for her kids — the list of expectations is so long it’s actually totally impossible to measure up to — which leaves a lot of us feeling like we’re failing. And this is an area of life where we absolutely do not want to fail. We’re pouring over the parenting books out there, trying our very best to do everything exactly right and feeling like we’re going to mess up our kids lives — or just mess up our kids in general — if we make even one tiny mistake. We’re killing ourselves trying to be perfect, and still somehow falling short. Is this really what our kids need from us??The answer is no. It doesn’t have to be this way, it shouldn’t be this way, there IS a better way — and that’s why I can’t wait for this conversation! Our guest for today’s episode is my friend, Alli Worthington. Alli is an Entrepreneur, Author, Podcaster and is helping women reach their dreams in business and in life. She’s also a mother of five boys, so she’s been on this motherhood journey for several years now. Alli recently wrote a book that I’m so excited about called, Remaining You While Raising Them: The Secret Art of Confident Motherhood. This book is not a parenting book, but rather a book focused on moms. In it she’s sharing why modern motherhood is broken and helping us remove the myths we’ve believed about what it means to be a “good mom.” And, from the principles she wrote about in this book, Alli is going to teach us how to:  Intentionally care for ourselves spiritually, emotionally, and physically as a new mom Conquer the mom guilt we might be feeling Stop comparing ourselves to other moms  Embrace our unique mothering style  And more!  This episode is for the brand new mom or the woman who really wants to be a mom, but is scared of the pressures that come along with it! I promise you’ll come out of this conversation feeling way more empowered and encouraged! 

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to be more gusty — how to stop procrastinating, get unstuck, and pursue your dreams.Tell me if this sounds familiar…You have a dream in your heart — maybe something with your career or life in general — and you’ve been wanting to do something about it for a long time, but you have no idea what your next step should be. You’re feeling stuck and constantly find yourself seeking the validation and approval of others, which only leaves you feeling more tired. So what do we do about this? How do we get past these fears, stop putting things off, and go for what we want? Today’s guest is going to help us answer those questions! Our guest for today’s episode is my new friend, Natalie Franke. Natalie is an Author, Speaker, Community Builder, Neuroscience Nerd, and the Chief Evangelist at Honeybook, where she supports over 100,000 independent business owners. Because of that, Natalie knows a thing or two about what it looks like to pursue your dreams and not let your fears hold you back.Her newest book is called, Gutsy: Learning to Live with Bold, Brave, and Boundless Courage. In it she gives readers the push they need to take the next step and bravely follow their dreams. Here are just a few of the things she's going to teach us:How to stop procrastinating on our dreamsHow to reframe our mindset on failureHow to embrace our own path How to stop letting the opinions of others hold us backAnd so much more! I know I say this a lot, but this is one of my favorite episodes we’ve ever had on the show! So cozy up, grab a notebook, and get ready to make a move on your dream! 

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to build more grit and resilience in our life and how to keep going even when things feel really hard.If you’re anything like me, you’ve had moments in your life where you know you’re supposed to do something — maybe it’s a career path you’re supposed to pursue or a dream you want to accomplish. But at some point along the road, we meet some resistance. Things start to feel really hard, we can’t get over something that happened in our past that makes us feel like we’re not good enough, we feel like we’re falling short compared to everyone else around us, we’re wondering if maybe we’re just not cut out for this.So how do we move past those obstacles? How do we keep moving forward and not give up?To help us answer those questions, I invited my dear friend, Bianca Juarez Olthoff, back on the show. Bianca is a bestselling Christian Author, Speaker, and Podcast Host. She recently released her brand new book called, Grit Don't Quit. In it she helps readers cultivate perseverance, embrace resilience, and embark on a life of purpose. And that’s what she’s helping us do today! Here are just a few of the things she’s going to be teaching us:How we can train our brains to be more resilientHow to keep going even when things feel really hard or even painfulHow to combat feeling like we’re falling short or falling behindHow to hear from God and keep pursuing what He has for usAnd so much more!Whether you’re trying to figure out your next steps in life, in a relationship, or in your career, this episode might just be the nudge you need to keep moving forward. I hope so.

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today we’re talking about how to truly enjoy your single life instead of just enduring it. We’re also talking through some of the lies or myths we’ve believed about singleness or dating. Lies like “my success is way too intimidating so I need to tone it down a bit”, or “I’ve been single for X amount of years, so I’ve missed my shot at finding my person.” Y’all, I’m even more excited because we have a really special guest to talk us through this! Our guest for today’s episode is singer, actress and my new friend, Michelle Williams. Many of you know Michelle from her days singing in the popular musical group Destiny's Child. Along with being a super talented singer, Michelle is also an amazing speaker! I had the privilege of hearing her speak and meeting her in-person at a conference I attended earlier this year in Atlanta. After hearing her heart for singleness and dating, I knew I needed to invite her on the show! In this episode, Michelle is sharing about her journey as a single woman and the biggest lessons she’s learned in her dating life. She’s also teaching us how to:Be confident in who we are and not let anyone dim our lightCherish our time as a single person Stop feeling lonely in our singleness Figure out the type of partner we need Stop settling And so much more! I can’t wait for you to hear from her! 

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!Y’all, I am so excited to be back for Season 18 of the podcast!! I’m even more excited because our first guest is my new friend, Madison Prewett Troutt. I’m guessing a lot of you are familiar with Madi after her debut on the reality TV show, The Bachelor. But, along with being a TV personality, Madi is an author, speaker, and has an incredible social media presence. Her life mission is to share the name of Jesus and to help women discover who they were made to be and where to find the truest form of love.Madi has a brand new book called, The Love Everybody Wants: What You’re Looking For Is Already Yours. In it, she talks about so many important things like how to stop settling for less than you deserve, how to see yourself the way God sees you, how to find a partner who’s going to compliment you, not complete you, and so much more!And that’s what today’s episode is all about!One of my favorite things she talks about are strategies to combat the lies we so often tell ourselves during waiting seasons. Lies like, “I’m just hard to love” or “I’m never going to be enough.”Y’all are going to love this episode. I can’t wait to share it with you!

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.Several months ago, I had the honor of being interviewed by my sweet friend, Kait (Warman) Tomlin, for her podcast, Heart of Dating, and that’s the episode I want to share with you today.Now, I know I’m not telling you anything new when I say that we’re given a lot of mixed messages when it comes to our desire for marriage. People either act like marriage is the end-all-be-all goal for our lives, or we’re told to push away our desire for marriage to focus on “more important things” (I put those in air quotes). But in this conversation, I help us find a middle ground, so we can truly embrace our desire for marriage while also not putting an unhealthy pressure on it. A middle ground where we can prepare for marriage and look toward the future, while also savoring and making the most of the present. 

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls’ Night!At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.Today I’m chatting with my friend, Debra Fileta!Debra is a Licensed Professional Counselor, national speaker, relationship expert, and author of a new book called, Love in Every Season. Her popular relationship advice blog, TrueLoveDates.com, reaches millions of people with the message of healthy relationships. I can’t wait for you to hear from her!Especially because today we’re talking about a subject that is very near and dear to my heart. Today we’re talking about how to know if you’ve found “the one.” The reason I’m so excited about this episode is because this is a question I MAJORLY wrestled with when Carl and I were dating. This is also a question I get asked all the time by our Girls Night listeners. You're dating a guy, things are going well, but how do you know when things are going well enough for you to actually get married? How do you know if he’s “the one?”For me personally, this was one of the most stressful, anxiety-ridden questions I’ve ever asked in my life. I know that’s not everybody’s story, but it was mine, and I know I’m not alone. So in this episode I ask Debra all of the questions I wish I could have asked back when Carl and I were dating — and I’m hoping that this episode brings some peace and clarity to anyone who really needs it right now. 

Hey friends! Welcome to Girls Night!At the moment we’re in between seasons here on the show. But while we’re waiting for our next official season to begin, we thought this would be a great time to pull some of our favorite episodes out of the Girls Night archive. This is the perfect time to catch up on episodes you might have missed, or listen again to old favorites.Our guest for today’s episode is my dear friend, Kait (Warman) Tomlin. Kait is a speaker, a writer, and the host of the Heart of Dating podcast. Kait’s actually been with us on the show before. I just love her so much and I knew we had to have her back! Today we’re chatting about a topic that I know I struggled with like CRAZY throughout the years. We’re talking about how to move forward after a breakup.Kait has so much wisdom in this area, and such a passion for helping women through it, and I’m so glad because this is so important. Kait is going to teach us what it looks like to grieve and process a breakup in a healthy way (and what can happen if we don’t).She’s going to talk us through what it looks like to actually let go of someone we’ve loved so that we can move on and be ready to love someone new. And speaking of loving someone new, she’s going to help us recognize how to know when we’re ready to step into a new relationship. I loved our conversation and I can’t wait to share it with you.