Working Moms Redefined

Birth stories don’t always unfold the way we imagine. even when we plan carefully, pray intentionally, and prepare thoroughly.

In this episode, I’m joined by Jen Duesterhaus, mom of three, nurse practitioner student and business owner, to talk about her very different birth experiences- and the ones that didn’t go according to plan. After hoping for a VBAC and approaching this pregnancy with a calm, faith-filled mindset for baby #3, she found herself facing unexpected turns and the difficult tension between control and surrender.

Together, we talk about:

How each of her three birth experiences shaped her differently

Why a VBAC felt important emotionally, physically, and spiritually

What it’s like when a carefully held plan starts to unravel

Navigating disappointment while still feeling deep gratitude

Learning to hold grief and faith at the same time

How surrender in birth reshaped her view of control in motherhood and life

This conversation is for the mom who feels like her birth story didn’t go “right.” For the woman still carrying quiet disappointment alongside overwhelming gratitude. For anyone learning that trusting God doesn’t always mean getting the outcome you hoped for.

Jen’s story is honest, reflective, and deeply reassuring: you can trust God and still grieve what you lost. You can be grateful and still wish it had gone differently. Both can exist at the same time.

Connect with Jen

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/jendues11

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenfarmwife

Connect with Denise of Working Moms Redefined:  

Catch full episodes and subscribe to The Working Moms Redefined Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkingMomsRedefined  

Click here for the 9 Minutes a Day for a Lifetime of Connection Masterclass!  
  Listen to The Working Moms Redefined Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio and Amazon Music. New episodes drop every Thursday!  

Follow Denise on Socials & visit the Working Moms Redefined website:  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workingmomsredefined2025/  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/workingmomsredefineddenisetallcott  

Website: https://www.workingmomsredefined.com  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/working-moms-redefined/posts/?feedView=all

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@denisetallcottleadership

Some parents are raising children without ever having been shown what healthy parenting looks like. No blueprint. No example. No consistent support.

In this episode, we talk with Allison Housewright about what it means to parent while healing to give your children emotional safety, consistency, and tools you may not have received yourself.

We explore:

What “parenting without parents” really means

The emotional weight of breaking generational cycles

Raising kids while navigating your own healing

What it feels like to parent 24/7 without built-in support

Why community may be the missing piece for so many families

We also talk about the idea of building local support circles for parents who are striving to do better, even with limited resources and little outside help.

This conversation is for the parents who are determined to give their children more than they were given, even when it feels lonely, exhausting, or uncertain. If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re doing enough while trying to rewrite your own story, this episode will remind you that the very fact that you care means you’re already changing the narrative.

Connect with Allison

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allison.housewright.8

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allisonhousewright/

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-housewright-76b658112/

FREE Skool Community: https://www.skool.com/raising-forward-5756/about



Connect with Denise of Working Moms Redefined:  

Catch full episodes and subscribe to The Working Moms Redefined Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkingMomsRedefined  

Click here for the 9 Minutes a Day for a Lifetime of Connection Masterclass!  
  

Listen to The Working Moms Redefined Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio and Amazon Music. New episodes drop every Thursday!  



Follow Denise on Socials & visit the Working Moms Redefined website:  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workingmomsredefined2025/  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/workingmomsredefineddenisetallcott  

Website: https://www.workingmomsredefined.com  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/working-moms-redefined/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@denisetallcottleadership

As we celebrate one year of Working Moms Redefined, we’re revisiting one of our powerful early conversations with Therapist Sara Semenick. This episode remains just as meaningful today as it was when it first aired, offering insight and encouragement for anyone navigating growth, healing and the many roles that come with motherhood and career.

Sara brings her passion for helping women understand how past experiences and stored stress can influence how we show up in our daily lives. Drawing from her background in multiple therapeutic approaches, including NET Therapy (Neuro Emotional Technique), she explains how the mind and body work together and how greater self-awareness can help us break patterns that may be holding us back.

The conversation also explores the importance of understanding our personal motivations, family influences and the deeper “why” behind our behaviors. Tools like the Enneagram can offer helpful insight into personality and decision-making, while open conversations about mental health help normalize the idea that growth and healing look different for everyone.

Throughout the episode, Denise reflects on her own journey as a working mom, businesswoman and lifelong learner, sharing how self-discovery is an ongoing process. The discussion highlights how intentional reflection, meaningful relationships and personal accountability can help us become cycle breakers for ourselves and our families.

If you’re revisiting this episode with us or listening for the first time, we hope this conversation reminds you that growth takes time, self-awareness is powerful and every step forward matters.



Connect with Sara Semenick of Deeper Roots Counseling:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552973679755

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deeperrootscounselingmft/

Website: https://deeperrootscounselingmft.com/



Enneagram Test Link: https://assessment.yourenneagramcoach.com



Book Suggestion: “The Body Keeps Score.” https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0670785938/ref=asc_df_0670785938/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693449522341&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16785464844668993613&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9022417&hvtargid=pla-436114357585&psc=1&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693449522341&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16785464844668993613&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9022417&hvtargid=pla-436114357585&psc=1



Additional Book Links on Sara's Website: https://deeperrootscounselingmft.com/services



NET Therapy Example in the Referenced Grey’s Anatomy Episode: https://youtu.be/EJP8t2lv_vY?si=xijKD8aTyr6qsn9E



Connect with Denise of Working Moms Redefined: 

Catch full episodes and subscribe to The Working Moms Redefined Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkingMomsRedefined 

Click here for the 9 Minutes a Day for a Lifetime of Connection Masterclass: https://www.workingmomsredefined.com/9-99-9-minutes-landing

Listen to The Working Moms Redefined Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio and Amazon Music. New episodes drop every Thursday!   



Follow Denise on Socials & visit the Working Moms Redefined website: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workingmomsredefined2025/  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/workingmomsredefineddenisetallcott  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/working-moms-redefined/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@denisetallcottleadership

Website: https://www.workingmomsredefined.com

If you’ve ever felt like your energy makes no sense, your mood shifts without warning, or your body isn’t responding the way it used to, this episode is going to feel like a deep exhale.

I’m joined by Dr. Yoon Hang (John) Kim, a board-certified physician specializing in integrative and functional medicine who focuses on root-cause healing for complex conditions. Together, we unpack what’s really happening inside the bodies of busy, high-capacity women- especially when hormones, stress, sleep, and nervous system overload collide.

In this conversation, we talk about:

Why so many women feel like their bodies are working against them

The difference between achievement-based wellness and rhythm-based wellness

How chronic depletion shows up hormonally and emotionally

Why sleep is still the most powerful wellness tool we have

What cortisol actually does and when it becomes a problem

Hormone shifts after motherhood most women aren’t warned about

Simple ways to support your body without overwhelm or extremes

This episode is for women who are tired of guessing, tired of pushing through, and ready to understand their bodies instead of fighting them.

Connect with Dr. Kim

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578328574745

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yoonhangkimmd/

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoon-hang-kim-md-mph-6308597/

Website: https://www.directintegrativecare.com/

“Tao of Healing: A Story of Georgia Integrative Medicine” Book: https://www.amazon.com/Tao-Healing-Georgia-Integrative-Medicine-ebook/dp/B00QFJSFJ8/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2C7EVI69LXMIJ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.qe2QC2rwDohgfjalDW-iGA.UbbWltbBTk5xd4dQ2Q8nbE5CKLjZjcY2_ugYudeZhbg&dib_tag=se&keywords=tao+of+healing+georgia+integrative+medicine&qid=1766488848&sprefix=tao+of+healing+georgia+integrative+medicin%2Caps%2C231&sr=8-1

Connect with Denise of Working Moms Redefined:  

Catch full episodes and subscribe to The Working Moms Redefined Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkingMomsRedefined  

Click here for the 9 Minutes a Day for a Lifetime of Connection Masterclass!  
  

Listen to The Working Moms Redefined Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio and Amazon Music. New episodes drop every Thursday!  
  

Follow Denise on Socials & visit the Working Moms Redefined website:  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workingmomsredefined2025/  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/workingmomsredefineddenisetallcott  

Website: https://www.workingmomsredefined.com  

TikTok: Denise Tallcott Leadership (@denisetallcottleadership) | TikTok

LinkedIn: (11) Working Moms Redefined: Overview | LinkedIn

Pinterest: Pinterest

This week on Working Moms Redefined, Denise shares a powerful leadership metaphor inspired by a lesson from John C. Maxwell: be a river, not a reservoir.

Denise paints a vivid comparison between the main channel and the quiet coves using the Lake of the Ozarks. The cove represents rest, reflection and consumption. The main channel represents movement, connection and contribution. Both serve a purpose. Leadership is about knowing when to leave the cove and return to the current.

In this episode, Denise challenges listeners to examine their own patterns. Are you primarily consuming content, ideas and encouragement? Or are you taking what you have learned and pouring it into others? Are you anchoring in comfort, or are you stepping back into motion to serve, teach and connect?

This conversation explores the service-based mindset that defines meaningful leadership. It is not about recognition or self-promotion. It is about fueling others so they can show up better in their own lives. Whether that looks like asking a thoughtful question at work, volunteering in a new capacity or being fully present with your children, leadership is found in everyday moments of intentional impact.

If you have been in a season of gathering, learning or resting, this episode is your gentle nudge to re-enter the current. You are allowed to recharge. But you were not designed to stay stagnant. Choose the river. Choose movement. Choose to pour back into the people and spaces that matter most.

Connect with Denise of Working Moms Redefined:  

Catch full episodes and subscribe to The Working Moms Redefined Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkingMomsRedefined  

Click here for the 9 Minutes a Day for a Lifetime of Connection Masterclass!  
  Listen to The Working Moms Redefined Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio and Amazon Music. New episodes drop every Thursday!  

Follow Denise on Socials & visit the Working Moms Redefined website:  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workingmomsredefined2025/  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/workingmomsredefineddenisetallcott  

Website: https://www.workingmomsredefined.com  

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@denisetallcottleadership

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/working-moms-redefined