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What if the very thing that keeps tripping you is the doorway to freedom? Cassandra sits down with author and spiritual director Jessica Morris for a soul-deep conversation about addiction, faith, and the surprising grace of surrender. Jessica grew up in an alcoholic family, carried the wound of being called “a mistake,” and learned to survive with food and alcohol. The turning points came through brave love: a sister who set a boundary, a counselor who named the blockage, and a recovery room where honesty didn’t equal shame.

From there, the path opens into Higher Powered—how a “higher power” becomes a living relationship. Jessica shares how she moved from numbing to noticing, from hiding to looking up, guided by a counselor who modeled truth without judgment. Seminary enters the story not as a career track but as a quest to understand why encounters with Jesus divide life into before and after. A class on Revelation sparks the idea of personal eschatology: endings that are actually beginnings. Paul’s new sight, Lazarus stepping out of the tomb, and Nicodemus seeking at night echo Jessica’s own transformation.

The heart of the episode is practical and piercing: dying to self is not a one-time vow. It’s the daily chipping of barnacles—sugar, alcohol, judgment, pride, the need to control—so the boat can move again. Jessica’s guidance is refreshingly simple: get honest with God, even if the prayer is only “help me.” Write the letter you’ll never send. Trust that the scales fall in time. If you’re stuck, longing to live on your own terms while anchored in faith, this conversation offers language, tools, and hope to start where you are and keep going.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs courage today, and leave a quick review to help more people find these stories. Your words matter—and they might be the nudge someone is waiting for.

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Are you ready to create and design your best life on your terms?

If so, click here and schedule a complimentary discovery call with Cassandra. https://www.cassandracrawley.com/discovery-call

If this podcast helped you rethink whether you are living your best life on your terms, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help more women find it.

To get a copy of my debut book, "Is Your Way in Your Way", visit https://www.cassandracrawley.com/book

To get a copy of my brand-new book, "Is Your Way In Your Way", visit https://www.cassandracrawley.com/book

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What if your breakthrough doesn’t come from pushing harder, but from reclaiming joy as your operating system? We sit down with strategist and licensed therapist Nicole Van Valen, founder of Keen Insights and author of The Joyful Leader, to explore a practical path out of burnout and into purpose-driven performance. Nicole brings 25+ years across healthcare, behavioral health, and corporate leadership, blending mental health expertise with real-world tools leaders can use when the calendar is packed and the pressure is high.

We start by naming the traps—perfectionism, people pleasing, and the grind reflex—that keep high performers stuck in toxic environments. Nicole shares how she cultivated a “second battery” outside of work through dance and creativity, and why joy must be built, not waited on. You’ll learn the Joy Menu technique to lower friction in stressful moments, a simple three-breath reset you can use mid-meeting, and a clear distinction between happiness (event-based) and joy (internally cultivated). The conversation anchors on Nicole’s Ready–Set–Go framework: Ready to rediscover yourself and recharge, Set to design your landscape and boundaries, and Go to deliver aligned results without sacrificing your well-being.

Along the way, we dive into psychological safety, resilient cultures, and why service and philanthropy expand your capacity to lead. Nicole’s stories—from boardrooms to community projects in South Africa—highlight how purpose fuels energy, creativity, and follow-through. If success still feels heavy, this is your invitation to shift from surviving to thriving, to swap grit-only tactics for a sustainable strategy that restores clarity, connection, and courage.

Want more conversations like this? Subscribe, share the episode with a friend who needs a lift, and leave a quick review to help others find the show. Then tell us: what’s the first item on your Joy Menu today?

Get ready to break free from obstacles and live life on your terms!

Are you readdy to create and design your best life?

If so, click the link here.

To make sure you never miss an episode, make sure you subscribe to the podcast and head on over to www.cassandracrawley.com and join our mailing list.

Support the show

Are you ready to create and design your best life on your terms?

If so, click here and schedule a complimentary discovery call with Cassandra. https://www.cassandracrawley.com/discovery-call

If this podcast helped you rethink whether you are living your best life on your terms, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help more women find it.

To get a copy of my debut book, "Is Your Way in Your Way", visit https://www.cassandracrawley.com/book

To get a copy of my brand-new book, "Is Your Way In Your Way", visit https://www.cassandracrawley.com/book

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• Website: https://www.cassandracrawley.com
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Ever feel like you’re doing “all the right things” for your health and still spinning your wheels? We open up a different path with health strategist and Grace & Grit host Courtney Townley—one that trades perfection for practical skills and turns midlife into a launchpad rather than a slowdown. Instead of chasing one-off outcomes, we build the foundations that make change stick: honest awareness, smart organization, reliable follow-through, and the courage to realign without the drama.

We start by unpacking why the wellness rulebook fails so many women—especially at midlife. Courtney shares how a postpartum wake-up call revealed the blind spot in mainstream health: obsessing over weight while ignoring mindset, identity, and nervous system capacity. We explore integrity pain (that inner friction when your habits don’t match your values), the stress bucket model for simplifying life’s load, and why resilience is less about gritting your teeth and more about how you recharge. From micro-recovery breaks and nervous system respect to habit design you can actually maintain, the conversation offers tools that feel doable on your busiest days.

Midlife becomes a liminal space—between who you’ve been and who you’re becoming—where health serves as base camp for the climb of your life. You’ll learn how to reduce unnecessary stressors, add intentional challenges to build capacity, and parent your brain with useful thoughts that pull you forward. We also cover when talk therapy isn’t enough and how somatic support can unlock long-stuck patterns. If you’re ready to lead your health with clarity and grace, this is your roadmap to living full out.

Grab Courtney’s free Midlife Magic Quick Start Guide, keep an eye out for her book The Consistency Code (November 4, 2025), and connect at graceandgrit.com. If this episode helped you rethink your health story, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help more women find it.

Get ready to break free from obstacles and live life on your terms!

Are you readdy to create and design your best life?

If so, click the link here.

To make sure you never miss an episode, make sure you subscribe to the podcast and head on over to www.cassandracrawley.com and join our mailing list.

Support the show

Are you ready to create and design your best life on your terms?

If so, click here and schedule a complimentary discovery call with Cassandra. https://www.cassandracrawley.com/discovery-call

If this podcast helped you rethink whether you are living your best life on your terms, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help more women find it.

To get a copy of my debut book, "Is Your Way in Your Way", visit https://www.cassandracrawley.com/book

To get a copy of my brand-new book, "Is Your Way In Your Way", visit https://www.cassandracrawley.com/book

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• Website: https://www.cassandracrawley.com
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We explore how fierce grace turns breaking points into breakthroughs, and why reframing pain can unlock purpose, faith, and agency. Jesse Torres shares tools to identify current limits, trace their roots, and rescript meaning so action becomes sustainable.

• defining the stuck feeling and why knowledge without healing fails
• Jesse’s story of survival, loss, faith and a kindness that changed everything
• arguing with reality vs accepting and choosing new meaning
• three pillars of trauma: undiagnosed, unacknowledged, unresolved
• practical methods to find the “invisible thread” behind current limits
• fierce grace as a balance of power and softness in life and leadership
• self-love as the lens that changes how we see humanity
• coach vs mentor and how results in coaching are measured
• simple steps to sustain change and rebuild self-trust

Book a free call and get the 10-step guide to freedom: Go to IamFierceGrace.com. Click Let’s Talk to schedule your complimentary assessment

Get ready to break free from obstacles and live life on your terms!

Are you readdy to create and design your best life?

If so, click the link here.

To make sure you never miss an episode, make sure you subscribe to the podcast and head on over to www.cassandracrawley.com and join our mailing list.

Support the show

To get a copy of my brand-new book, "Is Your Way In Your Way", visit https://www.cassandracrawley.com

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cassandracrawleymayo
• Website: https://www.cassandracrawley.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassandra_crawleymayo/
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Grief specialist Ligia Houben shares powerful insights about common misconceptions surrounding grief, revealing how it extends beyond death to include divorce, job loss, health changes, and even lost security. This enlightening conversation explores the 11 principles of transformation that guide people from pain to healing with practical tools and compassionate understanding.

• Thanatology is the study of death and dying in a society that often avoids these topics
• Grief manifests beyond death—through divorce, job loss, health challenges, and lost security
• Modern society has created distance from death, transforming it from a home-based family experience to a clinical process
• Cultural approaches to death vary widely, with examples like Mexico's Day of the Dead celebrations
• The 11 principles of transformation include accepting loss, living your grief, developing spiritual dimensions, and modifying thoughts
• Creating meaningful rituals helps process grief, like memory boxes at family gatherings
• Grief follows no timeline—we don't "get over it" but learn to integrate it into our lives
• Changing our thoughts about loss can profoundly impact our emotional experience
• Opening our hearts to mortality helps us prioritize love and meaningful connections

Check out Ligia Houben podcast "Transforming Grief" available in both English and Spanish on all major platforms, and visit her website at ligiahouben.com to learn more about her work and books.

Get ready to break free from obstacles and live life on your terms!

Are you readdy to create and design your best life?

If so, click the link here.

To make sure you never miss an episode, make sure you subscribe to the podcast and head on over to www.cassandracrawley.com and join our mailing list.

Support the show

To get a copy of my brand-new book, "Is Your Way In Your Way", visit https://www.cassandracrawley.com

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cassandracrawleymayo
• Website: https://www.cassandracrawley.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassandra_crawleymayo/
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Love alchemist Sanaiya Gurnamal reveals why high-achieving women struggle to find love and how healing inner "love blocks" can transform relationship patterns.

• The common denominator in disappointing relationships is ourselves, not our partners
• Five love blocks prevent healthy relationships: commitment phobias, people pleasers, runaway brides, caretakers, and memory chasers
• Childhood experiences and past relationships shape our love blocks and relationship patterns
• Self-love is essential for attracting rather than chasing relationships
• High-achieving women don't need to downplay their success to find love
• Healing techniques like Theta Healing can release negative beliefs instantly
• Creating a clear vision for the relationship you want helps manifest it
• Energetic alignment is crucial for maintaining love in long-term relationships
• The most important relationship you'll ever have is with yourself

Take Sanaiya's Love Blocks Quiz at SanaiyaGurnamal.com/love-blocks-quiz to discover which patterns might be holding you back.

Get ready to break free from obstacles and live life on your terms!

Are you readdy to create and design your best life?

If so, click the link here.

To make sure you never miss an episode, make sure you subscribe to the podcast and head on over to www.cassandracrawley.com and join our mailing list.

Support the show

To get a copy of my brand-new book, "Is Your Way In Your Way", visit https://www.cassandracrawley.com

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cassandracrawleymayo
• Website: https://www.cassandracrawley.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassandra_crawleymayo/
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Cassandra Crawley-Mayo welcomes resilience expert Charisse Walker, who shares her journey from childhood trauma to becoming an author, Emmy-nominated TV host, and real estate powerhouse while raising six children.

• Understanding how childhood experiences shape adult behaviors and success patterns
• Converting rejection and trauma into motivation for achievement and helping others
• Taking strategic action instead of waiting for perfect timing to pursue dreams
• Breaking free from feeling trapped by taking small, manageable steps toward goals
• Focusing on just three priorities for 12 weeks rather than overwhelming yourself
• Recognizing different life seasons and being present while working toward dreams
• Getting strategic coaching instead of following every new business guru
• Remembering that your unfulfilled potential affects those waiting for your help

If you're ready to stop being in your own way and start achieving what you've only dreamed about, get Charisse's book "Flipping the Iceberg" and visit unbreakablemompreneurs.com to connect with her about relationships, real estate, or business development.

Get ready to break free from obstacles and live life on your terms!

Are you readdy to create and design your best life?

If so, click the link here.

To make sure you never miss an episode, make sure you subscribe to the podcast and head on over to www.cassandracrawley.com and join our mailing list.

Support the show

To get a copy of my brand-new book, "Is Your Way In Your Way", visit https://www.cassandracrawley.com

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cassandracrawleymayo
• Website: https://www.cassandracrawley.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassandra_crawleymayo/
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Desiree Taylor shares her powerful journey from progressive hearing loss to ministry leader, demonstrating how our perceived limitations can become our greatest strengths when we move beyond religion to relationship with God.

• Desiree experienced progressive hearing loss starting around age 3-4, receiving her first hearing aid at age 9
• Growing up with hearing loss led to feelings of isolation, insecurity, depression and anger
• After walking away from faith as a teenager, Desiree had a transformative personal encounter with God during her pregnancy
• When digital hearing aids stopped working in her late 20s, Desiree made the decision to receive bilateral cochlear implants
• Religion focuses on behavior and perfectionism, while relationship with God offers freedom and embracing our weaknesses
• Having consistent mentors and community is crucial for spiritual growth
• Desiree now serves as a writer, speaker, and mentor to women, particularly young adults
• Her book "Created to Relate: Living Beyond Religion" explores moving from religious obligation to authentic relationship
• Sometimes our greatest challenges become our unique strengths—"Sometimes my best writing is when my ears are off"

Visit Desiree's website at www.arenewedcreation.com to connect, read her blog, and learn more about her ministry.

Get ready to break free from obstacles and live life on your terms!

Are you readdy to create and design your best life?

If so, click the link here.

To make sure you never miss an episode, make sure you subscribe to the podcast and head on over to www.cassandracrawley.com and join our mailing list.

Support the show

To get a copy of my brand-new book, "Is Your Way In Your Way", visit https://www.cassandracrawley.com

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cassandracrawleymayo
• Website: https://www.cassandracrawley.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassandra_crawleymayo/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassandracrawley/
• YouTube: https://cassandracrawleymayo
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