Karen Stott is the master at the work-life balance. Not afraid of the "b word", she sees balance as maintaining a healthy rhythm in her workload while knowing her own capacity. When she was building her photography business, Karen had a difficult time finding a support system that would encourage both work and family, so she started The Pursuit Community to help women entrepreneurs.
We gain some insight into Karen's approach by what she tells her children about completing a task: Do it with excellence, do it to completion, and do it with joy. If she can't meet those standards on an assignment, Karen takes a pass. We hear how camping is her husband's love language and how Karen is learning to speak it, why Voxer works as a work tool within a restricted work schedule, and what essential oils are her daily go-tos.
You won't want to miss this interview with a woman who truly is working to be a world changer right where she is and is giving other women the tools to do the same. If you are looking for some inspiration on how to reconnect with your husband or want to learn how to make your shower a diffuser for essential oils, tune in to our conversation with Karen Stott.
Some couples choose to be childless in our culture, but when this decision is not made by choice, it can be devastating. Almost 5 million couples in the US experience infertility at some point in their marriage, and many more suffer miscarriages, or the loss of children. Some singles who are moving beyond child-bearing years also mourn the idea that they will not get to experience biological parenthood.
Whether you or someone you know is navigating childlessness, this conversation with Chelsea Patterson Sobolik will be a ray of hope. Receiving life-altering news at age 19, Chelsea is no stranger to the deep pain that accompanies barrenness. While her story may be different than yours, you will find the common threads of disappointment, struggle, grief, and sadness to be the same.
Krista also shares a personal story in this interview that became a defining moment in her life (caution: she cries more than she has in any other interview to date).
From her office on Capitol Hill, Chelsea provides some helpful resources for walking through childlessness, offers suggestions of what we can do to support foster care and adoption, and helps us know what NOT to say to a woman struggling with this issue.
Belle means beautiful in Latin, and that is exactly what Erin Weidemann is trying to help girls define. Using women of the Bible, Erin has created a company whose mission is to teach girls about prayerfulness, patience, bravery, leadership, and loyalty. The hope is that girls would not only learn about these women of faith, but would then adopt those traits and live them out in their daily lives.
Erin's enthusiasm is contagious, and her ideas brilliant. She uses five women of the Bible (Hannah, Esther, Abigail, Ruth and Deborah), five traits, and five virtues to teach timeless character. As a former teacher Erin incorporates language, visual elements and acronyms to help girls learn the practicals of traits like courage (see SHIELD acronym in the show notes). In fact it was her years of teaching that inspired her to consider how to teach her own daughter about the women of the Bible and Bible Belles was born.
Whether you are listening for your daughter or for yourself, you will walk away inspired to deepen your faith, character, and leadership. Because these women's stories and the virtues we learn from them span time, space and stage of life.
Sister, grab your teenage daughter and listen to this interview together. As the youngest guest to date on The Open Door Sisterhood Podcast, YouTube sensation Chelsea Crockett talks with host Krista Gilbert about everything from how she met her boyfriend (Twitter was involved), to how she started making YouTube videos, to what it's like living with over a million followers.
Beauty is at the center of Chelsea's message. She started her YouTube channel to share makeup tips with other girls and heard lots of questions with deeper undertones. This led to a book about beauty and what it means to pursue God's idea of beauty. A girl suddenly in the spotlight, Chelsea walks through both the inspirational and the practical in this sister interview.
For the woman who wants to better understand the teenage girl she loves to the one who just wants a good red lipstick tip, this episode will make you consider the influences in your life that shape your idea of beauty. You are loved sister. We know that you are made in God's image. His imprint is all over you. We hope this young woman, reminds you of that simple truth.