For The Love With Jen Hatmaker Podcast

We have a powerful start to a brand-new series: For the Love of Exploring Our Faith. Speaker, writer and activist Lisa Sharon Harper comes from a long line of Americans—African-Americans who have been in America since 1687. Slavery existed in her family. Lisa wrestles with the Good News of the Gospel and how that translates to folks who have been victims of race-motivated atrocities—from people who claimed that Gospel as their truth. She walks us through the history of evangelism and where some things got twisted. Prepare to be schooled and to take in some eye-opening information (pen and paper at the ready!) because Lisa breaks it down for us with the meanings of original Hebrew writings and shows us the truth of what God intended His Kingdom to be--“ALL blessing all.”  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Closing out our For the Love of Women Who Built series, we have Meredith Walker, the Co-Founder of Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, an organization which is dedicated to helping young people cultivate their authentic selves. They emphasize intelligence and imagination over “fitting in.” Meredith Walker began her television career producing the Peabody and Emmy award-winning Nick News with Linda Ellerbee, and then went on to head up the talent department for Saturday Night Live, where she met and became fast friends with Amy Poehler. They shared tales of their own upbringings and dreamed about how great it would be to create something to help girls get through their own awkward teen and pre-teen years. They started Smart Girls with a “mix of great planning, and luck, and not planning,” and now they help girls all over the world navigate the choppy waters of adolescence. Meredith shares her personal story of following the “unscripted path” and encourages those of us who have had an unconventional life’s journey to embrace what we care about and recognize the value we add to our world. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You spoke—we listened. Sara Cunningham was your nominee from the tribe for the last episode of our “Women Who Built It,” series and we couldn’t be more thrilled to hear about what she is building.  When Sara’s son came to her with the decision that he was going to live as a gay man on his 21st birthday, Sara’s life went into a tailspin. After 20 years in the church and actively “praying the gay away,” with and on behalf of her son, she was at a crossroads. Her search for resources as a Christian mom turned up very little, but her research on the data and statistics out of the LGBTQ community devastated her. The rejection she saw from families, churches, and communities was more than she could bear. She needed to begin the work of accepting her son, and she started by getting involved with Free Mom Hugs. Showing up at a Pride Rally with a homemade “Free Mom Hugs,” button, she simply gave out hugs—some to young people whose own mothers hadn’t hugged them in years. Whatever your beliefs, you will want to hear Sara’s moving journey and her mission of spreading healing—not only to a community who often feels marginalized—but to their families in the church who are looking for answers. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our fabulous “Women Who Built It” series continues with the founder of Be The Bridge, Latasha Morrison. Latasha’s mission is to encourage racial reconciliation among all ethnicities, to promote racial unity in America, and to develop others to do the same.  She facilitates “Be The Bridge Groups” that provide a “safe place for white people and a safe place for people of color to communicate and share their hearts.” She and Jen share about the incredible experiences they’ve had by being a part of bringing these two groups together as one to ask questions, and describe the life changing nature of these interactions. Latasha believes that in order to bridge the divides, we need to get to know each other and strip away the misconceptions and stereotypes each group might have about the other one, building a foundation of trust and movement toward a new landscape of awareness and understanding.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 3 of the “For The Love of Women Who Built It" series features the feisty and funny Nicole Walters. At just 28 years old, Nicole was a top-selling executive at Fortune 500's and was managing multi-billion dollar business relationships for an S&P International healthcare organization. With a six-figure salary, first-class flights, and fancy hotels, she thought she had arrived. She shares with us that her  real “arrival” came when a family crisis jolted her into the realization that "life was too short to be comfortable, but unfulfilled." She made a bold, and very public move (in front of 10,000 people on Periscope, no less) to leave her comfortable corporate situation and embark on a new course to “help everyday entrepreneurs live and work in their purpose.” Nicole shares how the tough experiences of “always being the minority,” allowed her to build a platform that welcomes people of all races, shades, and colors, ethnicities, and faiths, and how getting to "the next thing" revealed her true purpose.   To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 2 in our “For the Love of Women Who Built It” features the fearless and heroic (CNN even awarded her with nomination as a 2017 CNN Hero) Becca Stevens, the president and founder of Thistle Farms. Becca describes her “aha” moment 21 years ago when she no longer could stay quiet about what she was seeing regarding women who were subject to sex trafficking and abuse (before “trafficking” was even a widely-used term). She started the organization with the Magdalene Center which welcomed women who had been subject to sex trafficking or abuse by providing free residences; taking care of their housing, medical care, therapy, and education for two years. From this, she moved into a social enterprise that creates beautiful and healing products for the body and employs these same women in need. The global market of Thistle Farms employs over 1,800 women worldwide, and the national network has over 40 sister communities. Becca’s new book (and mantra for her entire organization) is “Love Heals.”  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s new series time, and we’re excited about this 6-part series featuring “Women Who Built It.” This series is filled with women who are slaying in their careers. They’re building amazing spaces in business, ministry, and culture, and they’re here to share with us the triumphs, heartaches and leaps of faith it took to build something important. Our first guest is Jo Saxton, one of Jen’s heroes in the leadership space. She’s an international speaker and an author who has a deep passion for leading women toward their full potential. Jo gives us insight, as women, into our sometimes complicated relationship with ambition and provides context for the current culture where women are acknowledging the unwarranted obstacles that have long been in their paths (and being heard) across all industries. Her ultimate goal is to show women of all kinds (mothers, grandmothers, godmothers, sisters, aunts, friends) their incredible influence on shaping lives.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We close out with a last laugh in our "For the Love of Laughter" series with none other than one of our own. We asked you:  "Who's funny? Who is that funny person we should absolutely have on the podcast?" And you responded--Melissa Radke!  Melissa is that funny friend who wryly observes all the things in life that we face as women and moms, and takes them to task--hilariously head on. Whether it's struggling with "Mom Guilt," or trying to make logical the complexities of "Red Ribbon Week"--140 million viewers of her videos can't get enough of her side-splitting soliloquies. You'll also hear Melissa's amazing mom hacks for everything from kids' costumes to a "nutritious" lunch. If you've been labeled as "too" much of something--too big, too loud, too vocal, too much--you'll find courage in Melissa's message of pushing aside what some people might say you are, and believing in who you're made to be.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Crist has a gift for making us laugh at ourselves. John was the middle child in a family of 8 kids and found his comedic sensibilities while growing up in the church. His humor gently pokes fun at some of our religious “sacred cows,” and gives us permission to laugh at our foibles. His videos (which collectively have garnered over 150 million views) around these topics are spot on, including: “Millennial International” and “Church Hunters.” John doesn’t reserve his brand of humor just for the church, however, and has been playing comedy clubs with the likes of Dave Chappelle, Jeff Foxworthy, Trevor Noah and other comedy legends. He was also a finalist in Comedy Central’s “Up Next” Comedy Competition. John and Jen discuss when jokes are amazing and when they are hilariously bad, why comedy is more important than just making people laugh, and why it’s okay—even when our world seems pulled apart at the seams—to find some humor in the midst of it. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anjelah Johnson didn’t always want to be a comedian. Her dream was to be an actress, and after a short stint as an Oakland Raiders cheerleader, she followed that path to L.A. With a lot of time on her hands, and no leads in sight, she did a lot of praying and a lot of waiting. Persuaded by a friend to take a free joke-telling class they were offering at her church, Anjelah tried her hand at her first comedy bit called “Nail Salon,” and suddenly found herself to be an overnight YouTube sensation. Gigs with MadTV, the advent of another viral character “Bon Qui Qui,” comedy specials on Netflix, and multiple tours around the world have become Anjelah’s “new normal,” but she believes wholeheartedly that faith and being open to what was in front of her led her to where she is today.   To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices