Unabashed You

Have you ever wondered what to do with your doubt? Today’s guest, Joanna Mayo has had her own periods of doubt, expressing three different things that made the difference. She explored through reading, most notably Savannah Guthrie’s book, What God Does which provided comfort and hope. Joanna became more intentional in her faith through prayer and worship along with recognizing how being authentic and vulnerable is a place she finds strength. Finding the people that support you and seeking out new connections is the advice she shared. These were the beginnings of a process that ultimately renewed her faith.Joanna is our guest this week for Spicy Christian Women - Becoming all that and a bag of chips. This is Part 1.Thanks for being part of the UY conversation.The Unabashed You website has a page for each guest of photos, quotes and a blog with embedded audio at unabashedyou.com. You can find the show on other podcast platforms.Want to lend your support and encouragement? We invite you to follow, rate, review and share.Social media (direct links):FacebookInstagramYouTubeIf you have questions or comments email us at: [email protected] build upon on website visits, social media and word of mouth to share these episodes. We appreciate growth knowing these conversations help you think, celebrate who you are, and move you in some way.So be encouraged and continue to listen, read and be inspired. 🍐

Do you take the time, even a few moments, to look back at the year that is coming to a close? We did. Good friends Amy DeFehr, Mary Ann Mariani and I took some inventory from this year - like our favorite memories (time with family, travel, a big move), biggest challenges (a child’s anxiety, marital speed bumps, a desire to teach) and something we tried for the first time (going to a conference alone, giving a eulogy, going on a girls trip). Reflecting is a great way to learn and to keep growing forward. Next we thought about the upcoming year - areas that need more focus, things we want to do, and our word for the year. It was an empowering way to kick off the new year envisioning what we want, the work we want to do, and the people we want to continue to grow into being. Join our conversation for the inspiration needed to reflect, and head into the new year with encouragement and intention.Amy has been on UY in Walking Off a Cliff;IKnow Because I Know; and Reflections on 2024, Hopes for 2025.Find Mary Ann in A Passionate Artist of Story; I Was Mad at Myself;I Write but I don’t Love to Write; and Reflections on 2024, Hopes for 2025.Thanks for being part of the UY conversation.The Unabashed You website has a page for each guest of photos, quotes and a blog with embedded audio at unabashedyou.com. You can find the show on other podcast platforms.Want to lend your support and encouragement? We invite you to follow, rate, review and share.Social media (direct links):FacebookInstagramYouTubeIf you have questions or comments email us at: [email protected] build upon on website visits, social media and word of mouth to share these episodes. We appreciate growth knowing these conversations help you think, celebrate who you are, and move you in some way.So be encouraged and continue to listen, read and be inspired. 🍐

“Shaun and The Family Stone”It’s a family affair. That is the name of a song that was made famous by a group called Sly and the Family Stone way back in the day (feel free to Google). Today for your listening pleasure, we have Shaun and the Family Stone, as in a fun play on words. Dedicated to family, and one family in particular with the last name of Stone, Shaun and I take a conversational approach to the Christmas movie, The Family Stone. We watched it together this year in preparation. Here are our insights, thoughts and feelings. Oh, and maybe a verklempt moment or two. There is a lot of love for this movie, and for me, with good reason. Shout out to Hillary and Robyn, fellow Family Stoners.I was so excited to have this conversation that I forgot to plug in my mic! Forgive the less than stellar sound quality on my end.Thanks for being part of the UY conversation.The Unabashed You website has a page for each guest of photos, quotes and a blog with embedded audio at unabashedyou.com. You can find the show on other podcast platforms.Want to lend your support and encouragement? We invite you to follow, rate, review and share.Social media (direct links):FacebookInstagramYouTubeIf you have questions or comments email us at: [email protected] build upon on website visits, social media and word of mouth to share these episodes. We appreciate growth knowing these conversations help you think, celebrate who you are, and move you in some way.So be encouraged and continue to listen, read and be inspired. 🍐

“Making Merry with Andrew and Greg”The goal of this episode was to make merry. And who to help us do that but Andrew Gumm and Greg Henninger. I hired them both as teaching artists for children’s theater back in the day, and they went to college with Shaun. Our connections run deep. Even if I haven’t seen or talked to them in a while, all bets are off when we connect, and it’s like no time has gone by. I cherish them both. To make more merry, they were quizzed on some Christmas movie quotes, and then some questions around Christmas.We actually ran out of time. Maybe you could tell we could have kept going for many hours to come. Hopefully you are as entertained as we clearly were. Whether we’re talking about the merits, or lack of them for My Favorite Things as a Christmas song, or whether The Twelve Days of Christmas has too many birds, we covered as much as we could. For those things we will be pondering, we’ve got our work cut out for us to look into them and then we’ll come back and share our findings. Collaborating is fulfilling. When you can come together and be more than you could have been on your own, it’s simply the best. Just like these two. Thanks for being part of the UY conversation.The Unabashed You website has a page for each guest of photos, quotes and a blog with embedded audio at unabashedyou.com. You can find the show on other podcast platforms.Want to lend your support and encouragement? We invite you to follow, rate, review and share.Social media (direct links):FacebookInstagramYouTubeIf you have questions or comments email us at: [email protected] build upon on website visits, social media and word of mouth to share these episodes. We appreciate growth knowing these conversations help you think, celebrate who you are, and move you in some way.So be encouraged and continue to listen, read and be inspired. 🍐

“Christmas Movies with Shaun”It’s Christmas time. Why not invite Shaun to a conversation about something we both like. Christmas movies. We randomly found a list of the top 20 of all time and went from there. Some on the list were obvious, It’s a Wonderful Life, Love Actually, A Muppet Christmas Carol, and other more recent ones didn’t make the cut like, The Family Stone and The Holiday. There were the earlier ones which I look on fondly, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas. Not so much for Shaun. His nostalgia is for when he was growing up. Makes sense. It’s like a Venn diagram. His, mine, and the ones we both like in the middle like Daddy’s Home 2. Then there is the newest contender, Spirited. It’s a musical with Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds. My bar for this was so low it was on the ground. Not sure why, no offense to either actor. Maybe it was it being yet another Christmas Carol adaptation. Turns out it was better than I expected and I really did enjoy it. Shaun hasn’t seen it yet but he’s added it to the list of the ones he wants to watch. And I said I’d check out the sequel to A Christmas Story. Who knows, I may add another to my annual viewing list. Thanks for being part of the UY conversation.The Unabashed You website has a page for each guest of photos, quotes and a blog with embedded audio at unabashedyou.com. You can find the show on other podcast platforms.Want to lend your support and encouragement? We invite you to follow, rate, review and share.Social media (direct links):FacebookInstagramYouTubeIf you have questions or comments email us at: [email protected] build upon on website visits, social media and word of mouth to share these episodes. We appreciate growth knowing these conversations help you think, celebrate who you are, and move you in some way.So be encouraged and continue to listen, read and be inspired. 🍐