Our Stories are Worth Telling Podcast: Recent Episodes
Lo Curtis
finding magic in the stories of seemingly ordinary people
Art and Music by Sarah Michelle (instagram: @sarahxomichelle)
Today's episode we get to know Jordyn (Jo) through her story. We discuss navigating shifting career goals, parent-adult child relationships and the way identity shifts as we become adults. Jordyn is open and generous with sharing her life experiences with us.
Jordyn is also the co-host of a podcast called "Tricky Existence" which you can check out on major podcast platforms.
If you'd like to connect with Jordyn, her IG handle is @laidyn74
This week's episode features DEBUT AUTHOR and hilarious all around epic huma, Angela Montoya! On this episode we talk about Angela's first book SINNER'S ISLE that comes out this Halloween, but we dive into who Angela is herself, why stories matter to her, and how she has come into becoming a story teller. THIS EPISODE IS SO FUN! I hope you have a blast getting to know Angela!
A year ago TODAY I was served the biggest curveball of my professional life which ultimately was the best thing that could have happened to me, but also set off a year of curveball after curveball - lesson after lesson - and podcasting wasn't something I had the bandwidth for. I've been feeling called back to the podcasting chair for a bit now and BABY I'M BACK. A little rougher around the edges, a little wiser, and a WHOLE lot happier. It's a joy to share the magic of stories with you again.
This week’s story is that of Taylor Mills
Taylor and I had a tremendous amount of fun talking about books and career changes and our thoughts on the new Taylor Swift Midnight’s album. This conversation also took a deep dive into what Taylor and I experience regularly as two fat women - systemic anti-fat bias as well as disordered eating/eating disorders. Taylor generously shares her story of living with, being diagnosed with, and her recovery from her eating disorder.
Content Warning: anti-fatness, eating disorders/disordered eating, shame/pain around body size
You can connect with Taylor on Instagram at @tayy-milly
This week’s story is that of Matea Langston
Matea shares with us her story of going from a very traditional “get your college degree, then join the workforce” path to entrepreneur bookish/fandom candle maker with all the joys and stresses in between. Like usual, our conversation goes all over the place from books we’re planning to read this fall, to how Matea comes up with her mystical candle scents, to how there’s no one right path in life. Talking to Matea felt like speaking with an oracle, her ability to see nuance and have perspective was enchanting, and I hope you’ll feel the same.
You can connect with Matea on instagram two ways: her personal account @mateathemirrorball and her business account (where you can find her amazing candles too!) @shopaugustalchemy
This week’s story is that of Sydney Pokard
Our conversation is so packed with laughter and joy (and some heavy stuff too), that I hope you’ll find yourself traveling down a nostalgic path, embracing silliness, and feeling seen if you’ve had complicated relationships with your parent(s). We talk about relationships of all kinds, how we’ve changed as we’ve gotten older and how we’ve also stayed the same.
Content warning: difficult parent-child relationships
You can connect with Sydney on Instagram at @doctorsydney_dvm
This episode is the first of something a little different that I'm calling "Coffee Chat" - shorter, usually lighter episodes about random things and thoughts.
This first installment I'm sharing what books I've got lined up for the Fall season. I'm your classic Fall girlie & I love to set the Fall mood with books that give me Fall vibes. Think academia, think spooky, think magic.
If you're not connected with me on instagram, let's fix that!
My personal IG: @magically.ordinary.Lo
Podcast IG: @ourstoriesareworthtellingpod
This week’s story is that of Madyson Russell
I loved this conversation with Madyson, and she ended up digging as much out of me and my story as I did her. In this conversation you’ll hear us discuss how our views of church and religion have changed over the past few years, we’ll dig into some personality frameworks like enneagram and birth order, and just generally philosophize about people and the way we move through the world with open hearts. I hope you’ll enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed being part of this.
Content warning: anxiety, religious trauma
You can connect with Madyson on Instagram at @mad_elyse
This week’s story is that of Lauren Shell
Lauren shares her story of being diagnosed with ADHD only very recently, and what it was like to grow up neurodivergent without knowing you were neurodivergent. She shares with us her story of attaching identity to success and achievement as well as the courage it has taken to rewrite these stories and pursue a non-traditional career path. Lauren also shares her cancer diagnosis and treatment that occurred both before and after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Content warning: cancer diagnosis, anxiety and perfectionism
You can connect with Lauren on Instagram at @cshelldvm
This week’s story is my career story.
I’m a veterinary neurologist and I’m a pretty average one at that. But that’s the thing about being average - most of us are! “Average” is a statistical word mean that you’re somewhere in the middle 50% of that particular sample size and it’s completely relative and not at all a reflection on your individual self. I wanted to share my story of a pretty “middle of the road” person in her specific sample set (other veterinary neurologists) and how I grappled with dissociating from an identity based on performance and production. While many of you might not be in the veterinary field, I know many of us struggle with feeling the pressure to be “above average” and “extraordinary”, so I hope this can feel relatable to you too.
You don’t have to be the leader of the pack to be a very vital member of that pack.
This week’s story is Maria’s story.
Maria is an exuberant book lover who teaches and LOVES teaching first grade. Maria and I chat for awhile about books and the magic of stories and literature, but we dig into her story of pursuing teaching and what it is about teaching that she loves to do, regardless of the struggles facing helping professions. This conversation, like most between friends, is a little bit of everything, and I hope that you’ll feel energized and inspired by Maria the way that I do.
Content warning: grief over loss of a parent
You can connect with Maria on Instagram at @riareading
This week’s story is Allie Gaines’s story.
Allie is a 26 year old woman living in Indiana, raising her daughter alongside her husband, and carving out her own space in the “bookstagram” world. Allie shares with us her diagnosis of postpartum anxiety and eclampsia, the conflicting emotions of being a mom, as well as her history of religious trauma. Allie and I talk for a WHILE about various topics, including a discussion on the ever-present overturning of Roe v. Wade. We wrap up our conversation talking about the books we love.
Content warning: anxiety, religious trauma, abortion
You can connect with Allie on Instagram at @unwrittenpages_
This week’s story is my own story of being diagnosed with and learning to live with generalized anxiety disorder.
In hindsight, I can see that I’ve been living with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) my entire life, but it wasn’t until this past winter that it became so debilitating that I arrived at a diagnosis. This week I’m sharing some of the things I was experiencing and feeling at my worst, some of the things that I’ve learned in therapy that have helped me, and how I’ve gotten to a place where I can experience joy despite external circumstances, despite also feeling anger, fear and exhaustion. My hope is that my story might help someone feel less alone in their struggle and/or recognize some symptoms they maybe didn’t realize was associated with GAD.
Content warning: anxiety, episodic depression and hopelessness
This week’s story is that of Deandra Hamer.
Deandra is one of my dearest friend, and is in fact, the inspiration for the other person in the art for this podcast! Deandra teaches us about holding space for whimsy and the heaviness at the same time - she’s an incredible person who’s no stranger to difficulty. Her predilection for whimsy isn’t due to the absence of pain, but rather the intention of creating joy, finding light in the darkness. Deandra personally inspires me every day to find magic in ordinary moments, and I hope she’ll inspire you too.
Content warning: chronic illness, mental health
You can connect with Deandra on Instagram at @deandra.hamer
This week’s story is that of Samantha Jaxon.
Samantha is a romance writer, advocate and a woman who has experienced several broken systems. This may be one of the most intricate and varied stories we’ve had to date - Samantha shares her story experiencing pregnancy and miscarriage, learning disability, chronic illness, sexual assault, advocacy, and the ongoing process that is healing in ways that may surprise you.
Content warning: chronic illness, pregnancy, miscarriage, sexual assault, abusive relationship, brief mention of forced sterilzation
You can connect with Samantha on Instagram at @books_by_ssjaxon
This week’s story is that of Nicole Fong.
On Tuesday, May 3rd, women across the US woke up to the news that a document had leaked from the US Supreme Court detailing a preliminary decision that would effectively overturn Roe v. Wade - the case that provided federal protection for women seeking abortion. That morning, Nicole reached out, willing to share her story of abortion - to address misconceptions, and to hopefully make any woman listening who has had or is considering having an abortion, feel a little less alone in that. But just like Nicole is not defined by her abortion, you’ll hear so many other facets of her story come through on this episode including growing up with a learning disability, her struggles and triumphs in her career, and motherhood. Nicole’s story is such a sweet reminder that we are not defined by our worst or hardest moments, that we are so much more.
Content warning: abortion, abusive relationships
You can connect with Nicole on Instagram at @disneygirlnf
This week is part two of my story as a fat woman.
Last week I shared my story of dieting since a young age and living in a body I hated for the majority of my life, as well as the hurdles I’ve faced getting good care simply because I am a fat woman.
This week I wanted to share more about what I’ve been learning and unlearning recently that’s helped me, the healing I’ve been undergoing with my body and body image and some resources that helped me in my healing, as well as some things I wish people knew and/or would stop doing or saying regarding fatness and fat people.
Again, I hope you’ll approach this with curiosity and empathy and a willingness to be wrong if you’ve engaged in any of these micro-aggressions in the past - I know I have. We are often so well intentioned, but harm can be done even when the intention is good, and impact is more significant than intention.
To my fellow fat people, you deserve dignity.
Content warning: weight stigma, anti-fatness, disordered eating, body shame
This week is part one of my story as a fat woman.
I’ve put off this episode for weeks because a) I wanted to do it RIGHT and b) it’s incredibly vulnerable. I also know that a lot of people are deeply uninterested in listening to the story of fatness. Our society deeply wants us to erase fatness and thus the stories of fat people, particularly the ones of people who are not trying to erase fatness in themselves.
My hope is that as you listen to this two part series, you’ll walk into this with the first goal of listening with a curious mind and an open heart. There are moments that may challenge you, I’ve been challenged quite a lot in the past few months dismantling my own internalized anti-fat bias, but I hope you’re up for the discomfort and the challenge because fat people deserve better. I know now that I deserve(d) better.
This week’s episode is specifically my history of dieting, body-shame and my personal encounters with really poor medical care.
Content warning: suicidal thoughts, weight stigma, anti-fatness, disordered eating, body shame
This week’s story is that of Emily Woodfield
Mom. Emily is a mom, but she’s not only a mom. She’s a wife, daughter, friend, sister, and someone excited about her career. In this episode, Emily shares with us how she’s changed in many ways since she’s become a mom a year ago, but how she’s also continued to pour into herself and her identity as a multifaceted reality. Whether you’re a mom or not, Emily’s story is relatable to anyone who’s struggled to find the magic in who they are while grappling with comparison, perfectionism and just figuring it out as you go.
Content warning: postpartum
You can connect with Emily on Instagram at @emily.woodfield
This week’s story is that of Noelle Bechtel.
Noelle lives in San Francisco with her husband, dog and cat. She’s a veterinarian, friend, daughter, sister and devoted aunt. As Noelle transitions into a new phase of life, starting a family, she opens up with us about her process of learning she would struggle with fertility, undergoing fertility treatment, and what she’s learned to grieve and process along the way. Noelle and I have a very candid conversation about women’s health in this episode as well as the grief surrounding infertility and pregnancy loss.
Content warning: infertility, pregnancy loss, BMI and weight/weight stigma
You can connect with Noelle on Instagram at @schoettlebug
This week’s story is that of Madison Jandick.
Maddie is a devoted Taylor Swift fan navigating the new terrain of millennial parenting in the context of a global pandemic. Having grown up with anxiety and depression, Maddie has been learning how that shows up in her parenting and talks about some of the aspects of this new reality of new parents in the 2020s that deserve a little bit of grace and a whole lot of patience. Maddie’s story is about authenticity, about reflection, and about the power of community.
You can connect with Maddie on Instagram at @madoverthemoon_
This week’s story is that of Dede Yocum.
(Content Warning: sexual assault, religious trauma, depression and anxiety)
Book lover, Taylor Swift lover, connoisseur of custom Starbucks drinks, and deeply funny and real person, Dede shares with us her story this week. She’s experienced some heavy seasons of her life, and talks candidly about how those things have shaped her and her process through that. Dede and I also share about books and movies we’ve loved growing up and how those stories have provided comfort and company in difficult times.
You can connect with Dede on Instagram at @magical.days.ahead, on TikTok at @thatbookbabe and you can join Dede for book club as she and many other bookish gals read Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell on April 10th
This week’s story is that of Cait Clarke.
Cait is a 30 year old woman living just outside NYC. She’s done a little bit of everything from working abroad, being in the start-up world, and climbing the corporate ladder - but what’s she’s discovered along the way about identity and mental wellbeing is the real magic.
You can connect with Cait on instagram at @caitclarke8
This week's story is of Meggie Hoffman.
Content Warning: grief, loss of a parent, alcohol use/sobriety
Meggie is an early-30's mom of 3, firefighter's wife, and incredible friend. Meggie lets us into her story of loss, grief, and a decision that affected her marriage and her family forever. Meggie's generousity, honesty and vulnerability as she shares her story is truly a thing of magic.
You can connect with Meggie on Instagram at @meggiehoffman
Hi, I'm Lo and I believe in the power of stories.
This podcast is the product of a near 180 shift in my whole perspective about moving through the world. A former "personal development junkie" and "your mindset is your only obstacle" subscriber - I'm finding a gentler, more curious and compassionate way to navigate the world.
In this debut episode, I share (maybe at nauseum) how I went from MLM "hey girl" to being deeply curious about people's stories - they connect us, they teach us, and I truly believe there's magic to be found in the stories of seemingly ordinary people.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being here. I hope you'll fall in love with stories alongside me.