For The Love With Jen Hatmaker Podcast

As we continue in our For the Love of Transitions series, we’re tackling one of the most stressful transitions to face in life--a change to our financial situation. Perhaps a job change/loss reduced your income unexpectedly, or maybe a medical situation came out of the blue and drained your bank account, or maybe you went through a divorce and are down one income, and/or never had to be in charge of your own finances as an adult. Tiffany Aliche, aka, The Budgetnista has some thoughts for you, the most important one being; you can Get Good with Money (also the name of her New York Times bestselling book). Even though Tiffany grew up with a dad who was a CFO/accountant who educated her about finances, she experienced her own financial struggles and found herself moving back home at the age of 30. Having gone from owning her own home and making good money to having literally nothing took its toll on Tiffany’s psyche, but she was determined to not let shame win, and building her way back from the bottom is what has informed her life’s work--primarily to empower women to know and own their own financial well being. She and Jen candidly talk about their rock bottom financial moments and share their experiences of feeling powerless dealing with finances to getting help, getting educated and taking ownership of their financial lives and futures. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Noom | Start building healthier habits today at noom.com/forthelove. Function of Beauty | Get 20% off your order at functionofbeauty.com/forthelove. Stamps.com | Sign up for your trial today at stamps.com and enter promo code–forthelove. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When it comes to making a big transition in life, we are often held back by fear. Fear of judgment, fear of backlash, fear of losing those close to us. But, oftentimes, it takes a big transition to lead us toward a more fully authentic life. For some of us, on the surface, it’s easier to “be who we are” authentically—especially if we identify as straight cis-gender individuals. But for our friends in the trans community, taking the step to become who they really are has traditionally been fraught with roadblocks. For those who haven’t experienced this wall between us and our true selves, there can be a limited understanding of what a transgender person experiences and what defines them—and surprise—it’s different for each and every one. So this week, we’ve got one person’s story that might give us some insight into others we may know who are running into that wall that keeps them from truly knowing the joy of stepping fully into themselves. Stephanie Byers grew up in a time where there weren’t even words in our vernacular that she could cling to that could give her some sort of path to figure out her true identity. As the world evolved and other brave souls like Stephanie began to emerge, the community finally had a name—transgender. Stephanie walks us through the stages of her discovery of herself and how she finally decided to fully enter into her true self at the age of 51 and the response from her family and community. She also leads us through the journey that led her to become a force for change for equal rights for all different kinds of people by becoming Kansas’ first openly-trans state representative. Jen and Stephanie concur that it can be difficult to see from the perspective of a person whose very make-up is so different from our own, and that we may struggle to understand them fully, but it should never be a struggle to be kind in that process. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! ABLE | Check out all that ABLE has to offer today at livefashionable.com and get 20% off sitewide, with my code, 20JEN. Betterhelp | Start living a happier life today. Visit betterhelp.com/forthelove to start today. Jen Hatmaker Book Club | Visit jenhatmakerbookclub.com to join our sisterhood in nerdiness today. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In our For the Love of Transitions series, we’ve been looking at and evaluating the chosen and unchosen changes so many of us experience in the various seasons of our lives. In the category of chosen changes, we have found that so many women would welcome one in their lives, and it’s to develop a positive view of our bodies. Think back to the first time you had negative perceptions of your body. Were you 13 and getting ready for the homecoming dance? Maybe you were younger—9 years old at a pool party and realizing that your body looked different from your friends—and different then didn’t seem good or unique—different always equaled bad. Pile on top of those early perceptions the barrage of images presented to us by the beauty industry who constantly hammers home the quest for perfection—and reminding us that our bodies aren’t it. We’ve become so entrenched in the values of a world that seems to celebrate the way a person looks over who the person is. With a whopping 98% of women saying they wish they could “fix” something about their body, we can’t have enough positive body conversations to turn the tide on the lies we’ve been fed and that we tell ourselves. And to bring that conversation to our podcast community this week is Jess Connolly, who is a life coach, a Bible teacher and author whose new book is called Breaking Free from Body Shame. Jess and Jen dig into the origins of our body negativity, talk about ways we can each be nicer to our own bodies, and why it’s important to resist the “perfection persona.” * * * Thank you to our sponsors! ABLE | Check out all that ABLE has to offer today at livefashionable.com and get 20% off sitewide, with my code, 20JEN. Jen Hatmaker Book Club| Head to jenhatmakerbookclub.com to join in on the fun today! Jen Hatmaker Merchandise | Visit jenhatmaker.com/shop to pick up your new favorite t-shirt or hat today. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When it comes to changing unhealthy dialogues and digging up errant roots that have been allowed to grow deep—many of us tend to ignore the discomfort and carry on with our days. However, when we live in denial, inequity and ignorance cannot be challenged, and greatness will not be achieved. During our For the Love of Transitions series, we’re learning how to embrace change. We’re sharing the stories of people who have lived through or implemented drastic changes in their lives and came out on the other side stronger and better than before. Some transitions are extremely broad in their scope and may seem nearly impossible—and one issue that’s come to the top of our agendas over the last year is; how do our communities and our country get to a place where we are moving toward an attitude of racial sensitivity? Is it possible that we agree more on what needs to happen around racial justice in this country than what we’re seeing portrayed as a great divide? Former NFL football player/now author and host of “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man” Emmanuel Acho believes that many of us truly do want the same things when it comes to racial justice, but by living in long-held attitudes and perpetuating insensitive commentary around race, we’ve been unable to make the big strides needed to make lasting change. Emmanuel believes that everything great comes by being uncomfortable first, and by pushing us toward those uncomfortable moments, he’s hoping to topple the attitudes we might not even be aware we’ve been caught up in, toward a better and more understanding way of being. He also recognizes that getting people to embrace discomfort toward change is tough, but it’s worth it. Emmanuel puts the thought out there that racial insensitivity is a bigger problem than racism itself in our country, and points out that living in D-E-N-I-A-L (don’t even know I am lying) keeps that insensitivity intact. Emmanuel and Jen walk through the difference between outright racism (which universally, most of us are against) and racial insensitivity (which many of us are guilty of without even knowing it). Come get uncomfortable with us and let’s all move toward making something great. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Noom | Start building better habits for healthier, long-term results. Sign up for your trial at noom.com/forthelove. Best Fiends | Download Best Fiends free today on the Apple App Store or Google Play. Rothy’s | Keep it clean with washable shoes and bags from Rothy’s. Head to rothy’s.com/forthelove to find your new favorites today. Betterhelp | Start living a happier life today. Visit betterhelp.com/forthelove to start today. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We continue with the “For the Love of Transitions” series and it’s giving us so many new perspectives on pushing back against what we’ve always known and finding new ways to grow and evolve into the person we have always wanted to be. This week’s episode really hits us where we live as we pursue to live a life that is “free”; free from pain, free from hurt, and free from bending to the will and opinion of others. Do you think you are living freely? In your soul, choices, and relationships? Do your actions embody the hopes and dreams you have for yourself? Or, are you acting under an assumed role? One that has always told us we need to be “the good girl;” one that is passive, servile and in the receiving position? It's hard to see through the systems we’ve become so toxically comfortable with. We have families and friends and jobs to worry about and care for and oftentimes it’s easier to fall into the assumed role than to build our own. However, when we wake up to being sovereign in our own authority, there is a liberation like no other. To walk us through this Radical Awakening (also the title of her brand new book) is Dr. Shefali Tsabary. Dr. Shefali is a New York Times bestselling author, a renowned clinical psychologist, and teacher to women as they transcend their fears and illusions to break free from the mold society has forced them into. Dr. Shefali and Jen have a vulnerable conversation about coming into a new and powerful sense of ourselves--and realizing that as women, “We have not been taught to back ourselves up. We've not been taught to put all our eggs inside our basket. And we don't know what it means to have our own back.” Dr. Shefali gently shows us that inner voice that every woman knows she has speaking to her, but is often avoiding by eating too much, being distracted too much, relentlessly serving family or work. Ultimately, freedom comes by not treating your inner knowing as a liar, but allowing it to speak and show you the truth about what’s really wrong and right in your world. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! ABLE | Check out all that ABLE has to offer today at livefashionable.com and get 20% off sitewide, with my code, 20JEN. Stamps.com | Never go to the Post Office again. Head over to stamps.com and enter promo code, forthelove, to start your trial today. Noom | Start building better habits for healthier, long-term results. Sign up for your trial at noom.com/forthelove. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Continuing in our “For the Love of Transitions” series, we look at crossroads many of us are facing in regards to our view of faith and religion. More than ever before, people in our country are choosing not to identify with a specific religion, including a large segment of Millennials who say they’ve “never attended church.” But amidst these shifts, there are many who hold tight to their faith, but haven’t found the stability of years past in the institutions they used to invest in for themselves and their families. What are the reasons for this shift? It’s a complex topic and sometimes charged to discuss, and we’ve got independent scholar and author, Diana Butler Bass to help us walk through it. Diana’s newest book, Freeing Jesus, invites readers to rediscover Jesus beyond the narrow confines society has built around Him. While discussing the mass exodus that’s happening in today’s churches, Jen and Diana look at how faith can and does thrive outside the pews of the church, and they ask the question: if we are church-goers, how can we work toward making our churches alive and welcoming for everyone? * * * Thank you to our sponsors! KiwiCo. | Get 30% off your first month plus free shipping on any crate line with code FORTHELOVE at kiwico.com. Rothy’s | Keep it clean with washable shoes and bags from Rothy’s. Head to rothys.com/forthelove to find your new favorites today. Betterhelp | Start living a happier life today. Visit betterhelp.com/forthelove to start today. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calling all book nerds! Are you looking for a place where your book-loving heart can flourish? Join us at jenhatmakerbookclub.com, and become one of our sisters in nerdiness. For May 2021, Jen and the club read Sue Monk Kidd’s The Book of Longings. Sue’s writing skyrocketed into notoriety after the publication of her book, The Secret Life of Bees. This novel spent nearly two years on the New York Times bestsellers list, has been translated into 36 languages, and has sold nearly 8 million copies. In addition to that smash hit, she has been nominated for and won numerous literary awards and has once again published a book that is impacting readers worldwide. The Book of Longings takes readers centuries back and immerses them in the world of Anna and her husband, Jesus. We get an intimate look at all the ways women can love, support, and encourage each other, while ensuring the stories of their lives are heard and told. This book reminds us that the power of a person does not come from who they are with and what their social status says, but instead, the way any individual impacts the world comes directly from their heart, dreams, and bravery. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Betterhelp | I want you to start living a happier life today. Visit BetterHelp.com/forthelove to learn more. ABLE | Check out all that ABLE has to offer today at livefashionable.com and get 20% off sitewide, with my code, 20JEN. Jen Hatmaker Book Club | Join our sisterhood in nerdiness, visit jenhatmakerbookclub.com today! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we are kicking off a brand new series here on the For the Love Podcast. There are so many times in each of our lives where a curveball just knocks us on our backs. The unexpected transition from what you thought was going to happen to your new reality is often hard to grapple with. But sometimes, we choose to make a major life change. So we’ll talk through all the ways we can embrace a transition. We’ll seek guidance from people who have made those transitions, learned from the struggle, and benefited from going through the process. Amy Downs epitomizes what it means to be thrown unwittingly into a situation that could have had a profoundly negative affect on her life, only to come out leading the charge for some amazing changes in her life. Amy is a survivor of the Oklahoma City Bombing--the last living person to be found under the rubble that claimed 168 souls that day. Amy’s outlook changed dramatically, and the 350 lb overweight college dropout with an attitude that she’d never amount to much used this experience to reclaim each area of her life by turning it around for the better. She and Jen talk about the horror of that day and how sometimes it’s possible to literally emerge from the rubble of our lives to take small steps toward healing and change. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Noom | There's a science to getting healthier. It's called Noom. Sign up for your trial today at noom.com/forthelove. Ancestry | Discovering your family history can bring your family together. Go to Ancestry.com/FORTHELOVE to learn—and share—stories of your past. Bloomscape | Get 15% off plant orders of $100 with promo code FORTHELOVE at bloomscape.com. Betterhelp | I want you to start living a happier life today. As a listener, you’ll get 10% off your first month by visiting BetterHelp.com/forthelove. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s the last episode of our Spring Back series--and we’re wrapping it up with a conversation that was the most listened to (and commented on) episode in our entire For the Love podcast history--and it’s with none other than Jen’s daughter, Sydney Hatmaker! Sydney first appeared on our show last summer, where she shared with the world that she was gay; walking us through her journey, beginning at 12 years old, and how hard she worked to reckon this with her faith and the beliefs of her family. This conversation between daughter and mother is so real, so brave, and if you haven’t heard it, you’re going to want to listen in as Jen and Sydney discuss some hard situations where religion and sexuality intersect and ultimately, how what they knew to be true about God and His love and mercy, was true for LGBTQ people of faith as well. And what better time to revisit our time with Sydney than during Pride month--plus we’ve got all new commentary from Jen and some updates about where Sydney is now in her life that you won’t want to miss! * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Best Fiends | Download the 5 star-rated puzzle game, Best Fiends FREE today on the App Store or Google Play. That’s FRIENDS without the R – Best Fiends! Ancestry | Ancestry can help you connect branches of your tree, whether it’s family you’ve always known or family you’ve never met. Go to Ancestry.com/FORTHELOVE to start a free trial. Queer RelationTips Podcast | Recommended by Sydney Hatmaker--Listen and subscribe today, wherever you get your podcasts. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are you ready to find your truth? We are currently in the tail-end of our spring back series where we are re-visiting some of our favorite episodes from For The Love past, and Jen’s bringing some all new insight and commentary to the conversation, as it is relevant to where we all are right now. This week we bring you the blockbuster combo of Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach! We love them here, but just in case you’re new, Glennon is a speaker, encourager, and a New York Times bestselling author with her most recent book, Untamed, passing 2 million copies sold--and she’s just started a brand new podcast called We Can Do Hard Things. Abby is an international soccer icon, bestselling author of the book WOLFPACK, and an activist for women and equal rights. This powerhouse couple and their unwavering belief in women inspires millions, and their work to create a more beautiful world for everyone is aspirational. So, this week, we are springing back to their first time here, and stick around all the way to the end as Jen has some new takeaways about lessons learned and how we can take those and dive straight into the life we have always been meant to live. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Third Love | Treat yourself with something that fits like it was made just for you. Go to thirdlove.com/forthelove now to get 20% off your first purchase. Ancestry | Ancestry can help you connect branches of your tree, whether it’s family you’ve always known or family you’ve never met. Go to Ancestry.com/FORTHELOVE to start a free trial. Rothy’s |Keep it clean with washable shoes and bags from Rothy’s. Head to rothys.com/forthelove to find your new favorites today. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There are so many lessons in life that are evergreen; they stay with us through each season, and that’s why we’re revisiting some episodes that bring those truths home in ways that are so applicable to where we are in life. Right. Now. For this episode of our Spring Back Series, we are bringing back one of our favorites - Marcie Alvis-Walker. Marcie is the creator of Black Coffee with White Friends and is an incredible teacher, leader, and woman. The first time she was here, Marcie and Jen talked through what racism actually looks like in America, the ways our history is steeped in minority erasure, and how each of us plays a role in the way stories are told. And this is a topic that is not going away, in fact, it may be more prominent now than ever before. Plus, Jen weighs in with some all new commentary regarding some key events of the past year that relate to this timeless conversation and how we can continue to uphold the idea of putting aside opinions for just a minute so we can better listen and know our neighbor. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Noom | There’s a science to getting healthier. It’s called Noom. Sign up for your trial today at noom.com/FORTHELOVE. KiwiCo | With KiwiCo, there’s something for every kid. Get 30% off your first month, plus free shipping on any crate line, with code FORTHELOVE at kiwico.com. BetterHelp | Start living a happier life today. Join over 1 million people taking charge of their mental health at Betterhlep.com/forthelove. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Each day as we inch closer to summer, we are reminded of all the possibilities that surround us daily. The leaves on the trees are becoming greener by the minute, the grass is finally dense and fluffy, flowers are pushing their way through the dirt. And just as the earth evolves, so do we. That’s why we wanted to bring you the Spring Back Series. After a particularly hard year or winter, it’s hard to remember all that we learned the year before. It’s even harder to put those lessons into practice and find ways to evolve into the people we were meant to be. So today we are springing back to an episode we love featuring the one and only Luvvie Ajayi Jones. You may know her as the New York Times bestselling author of I’m Judging You or as a speaker and podcast host. She exists beautifully at the intersection of comedy, media, and justice. She encourages all women to embrace their authentic selves and continually strive to be the best versions of themselves. So let’s spring back to Luvvie’s first time here with all new commentary from Jen about the impact of social media, the three steps we can take to be true to ourselves, and Luvvie’s new book, Professional Troublemaker. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! PolicyGenius | When it comes to insurance, it’s nice to get it right. Head to policygenius.com to get started now. Public | You can start investing today with as little as $1. You’ll even get a free slice of stock when you join. Head to public.com/JEN to get started today. Betterhelp | Start living a happier life today. Join over 1 million people who have taken charge of their mental health at Betterhelp.com/forthelove. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calling all book nerds! Are you looking for a place where your book-loving heart can flourish? Join us at jenhatmakerbookclub.com, and become one of our sisters in nerdiness. For April 2021, Jen chose her own book, Simple and Free, because what’s the point in having a book club if you can’t pick your own book every now and again? Jen invited two of her very best friends, Jenny and Shonna, to jump in on the discussion. They reminisce about the group decision to dive into living the experience of writing the book, why eating beans and rice for a whole month isn’t the most fun, and how not to train for a half marathon. This book reminds us that in a world filled with choices, sometimes you need to boil it down and bring it back to truly understand what you have, and recognize what means most to you. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! BetterHelp | Join over 1 million people taking charge of their mental health. As a listener, you’ll get 10% off your first month by visiting https://BetterHelp.com/forthelove. Jen Hatmaker Book Club | Join the bookclub sisterhood for reading plans, summaries, and exclusive perks. Visit https://jenhatmakerbookclub.com to learn more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just as we rely on spring each year to bring light and warmth back into our lives, we also depend on the lessons of life that show up during each season. That’s why on this series of For the Love we are bringing back some of our all-time favorite guests. Not only to remind ourselves of what life was like way back when it was normal, but also to give ourselves the chance to look back on some life lessons that we should always carry with us. And this week, we are bringing you the one and only, Emily Ley. You know the superstar mom that built the Simplified empire from the ground up? Yes, that one. Not only does she guide women to live their lives based in simplicity, she also encourages them to evaluate what truly matters, and ditch what doesn’t. Jen revisits why it’s so important to not only clear clutter from your home, but to also clear the clutter mentally. Because once we take the time to remove the unnecessary parts of life, we are then able to live a life filled with joy and passion for what we actually care about. AND Jen has all new commentary about how decluttering gives you space to live simple and free and grow boldly--also the topics of Jen’s and Emily’s new books. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Best Fiends | Download the 5 star-rated puzzle game, Best Fiends FREE today on the App Store or Google Play. That’s FRIENDS without the R – Best Fiends! Ancestry | There’s strength in every family story. Learn more about yours at Ancestry. Head to my URL at https://Ancestry.com/ForTheLove to start your free trial. Rothy’s | Style and sustainability meet to create your new favorites! Check out all the amazing shoes, bags and masks available right now at https://Rothys.com/FORTHELOVE. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spring is here, and you know what that means! Blossoming, regrowth, cleaning out, all the goodness that comes with a new season. But that doesn’t mean we should leave behind the lessons learned last season. We can be watering what we planted, watching it grow, and trying to become the better humans we’ve always strived to be. There are truths and lessons that come back year after year, reminding us of who we want to be and who we should be. To that end, we’ve gathered some wisdom from a few of our favorite For The Love Podcast guests that speak into what’s happening in our world right now, plus some brand new commentary from Jen as to how we can apply these ideas to where we are in our lives today. Spring back with as we revisit these time-tested truths while we keep on finding our footing in the present. Episode Description It’s new series time--and we’re “springing back” to some For the Love favorites, while bringing you some new thoughts from Jen’s heart in this season! As they say, what’s old becomes new again, and we can rely on spring every year to bring us that new growth; from the plants to the trees, and oftentimes within our own souls. This week we are bringing back one of Jen’s longtime inspirations and mentors, Beth Moore. Beth’s recent split from her roots in the Southern Baptist community after calling out the misogyny, inequality, and disregard for many minority communities has a lot of people talking. It was a big, huge deal, and Jen explains what this means to the Christian zeitgeist. Jen also revisits her favorite moments with Beth and dives back into how we can learn to live a life filled with faith even if that means pushing back against long held, and perhaps antiquated beliefs. So, let’s Spring back to our interview with Beth, and reflect on the biblical concept of the vineyard and how vines can grow in rocky places, opening space for God to prune and prepare us for change that comes with seasons of growth. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Noom |There’s a science to getting healthier. It’s called Noom. Sign up for your trial today at noom.com/forthlove. Chime | Join the millions on Chime. Signup takes two minutes, and doesn’t affect your credit score! Apply now at chime.com/FORTHELOVE. Public | You can start investing today with as little as $1. You’ll even get a free slice of stock when you join. Just go to public.com/JEN to download. *Disclaimer: Chime is a financial technology company. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank or Stride Bank, N.A.; Members FDIC. Eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Overdraft only applies to debit card purchases. Limits start at $20 and may be increased up to $100 by Chime. Early Direct Deposit depends on the payer. Out-of-Network cash withdrawal fees apply. Third-party and cash deposit fees may apply. Go to Chime.com/FORTHELOVE for details. Public is valid for U.S. residents 18+. Subject to account approval. See Public.com/disclosures. Not investment advice. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calling all book nerds! Are you looking for a place where your book-loving heart can flourish? Join us at jenhatmakerbookclub.com, and become one of our sisters in nerdiness. For March 2021, Jen and the club read Laura Zigman’s Separation Anxiety. Laura shot into superstardom with the publication of her first novel, Animal Husbandry, which was later adapted into the film Someone Like You starring Hugh Jackman and Ashley Judd. So, no big deal for your first book, right? Laura’s latest book, Separation Anxiety, helps readers face the complexities of everyday life in the 21st century. From self-help culture, anxiety, depression, and longing for what once was, Zigman knits and weaves the lives of her characters in a way that makes them relatable, complex, and at times absurd. The book reminds us that not everything is straightforward with one path ahead. Oftentimes we need to evaluate where we are and how we can grow in order to be who we’re meant to be. * * * Join the sisterhood today! jenhatmakerbookclub.com * * * NEW JEN BOOK! Get Simple and Free, a call toward simplicity and generosity for a radically better life (a revised and updated version of Jen’s book 7) https://jenhatmaker.com/books/simple-and-free * * * Thank you to our sponsor! KiwiCo | Get 30% off your first month at kiwico.com, promo code: FORTHELOVE To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s the grand finale of our For the Love of Food series—and lucky for us, we’ve got someone on today who holds the very high honor of “Most Requested For the Love Podcast Guest of All Time”—Joanna Gaines! Jen and Jo are real-life buddies, and this week they dive into Joanna’s rich family heritage that introduced her to so many cuisines from around the world by the time she could crawl. They dish about how to get a big family to get to the table, let alone connect at the table, how Jo finds joy in her garden, and why the kitchen is her happy place (even as she’s learning to cook on camera for her new show on the Magnolia Network called Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines). The two also get into very serious topics like the war between Ragú and Prego, and why ramen most certainly *cannot* have an egg in it. Through it all, Joanna shows that food has the power to bring life to any situation, and why getting folks around the table is far more important than how perfect the dish is that brought them there. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! KiwiCo | Snag 30% off your first month at https://kiwico.com, promo code: FORTHELOVE ThirdLove | Score 20% off your first purchase at https://thirdlove.com/forthelove BetterHelp | Get 10% off your first month at https://betterhelp.com/forthelove To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Come on over.” Talk about three words that promise fun’s on the way! We’re daydreaming of getting back to game nights with our besties, and margaritas with the neighbors, and the great Jeff Mauro is no exception. You may know him as a cohost on Food Network’s The Kitchen, or maybe as a winner of The Next Food Network Star. After getting his start working in a deli when he was 15 and later opening his own, Jeff is the larger-than-life sandwich king who’s just published a cookbook and launched a podcast—and both are called Come On Over! Jeff and Jen dive into why you *must* establish proper sandwich making protocol, and why it’s wise to become friends with your local deli guy. Jeff shows us that food has the power to bring together people of all ages, and after the past year, the “Come On Over” mentality might look different, but we can still find the same spirit of love and connection through a shared meal. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Policygenius | Policygenius has saved customers up to $1,055 per year compared to their current home & auto policies. Head to Policygenius.com to get started! Bloomscape | Get 15% off plant orders of $100 with promo code FORTHELOVE at bloomscape.com Ancestry | There’s strength in every family story—learn more about yours at Ancestry. Head to my URL at ancestry.com/forthelove to start your free trial. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you’re a kitchen newbie, it can feel a little intimidating—and even overwhelming—to figure out how to put a good meal together, especially if you’re just asking yourself questions like, “What the heck is oregano, anyway?” But we all start somewhere, even world-renowned country music artists. Martina McBride is a 14-time GRAMMY-nominated country singer, cookbook author, and self-taught home chef. Jen and Martina talk through what it’s really like to put a cookbook together, how these two Kansas girls learned the ins and outs of the kitchen in their adult years, and how a neighborhood golf cart can bring us a new verse to our all-time favorite Martina song “For the Girls!” * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Noom | Start your trial today at noom.com/forthelove Best Fiends | Download for FREE today on the Apple App Store or Google Play. Rothy’s | Check out all the amazing shoes—and bags! and masks!—available right now at Rothys.com/FORTHELOVE. BetterHelp | Get 10% off your first month by visiting betterhelp.com/forthelove To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We *know* we aren’t the only ones who spend hours on the couch binging episodes of Chopped or Iron Chef. Not only is it super satisfying watching other people cook— we feel like we become friends with the contestants and judges. And this week, we get to hear from one of our favorite Food Network chefs/judges/friends, Maneet Chauhan! Maneet and Jen take a walk through Maneet’s culinary history from her beginnings in India to the leap she took into the NYC culinary scene, and why she decided to begin her own restaurant empire in Nashville. Maneet has become known as the fun, kind, and bubbly judge on Chopped and now tells the full story of her path to culinary star in her latest book, Chaat. We’re so pleased to have Maneet’s perspective during our For the Love of Food series as she lifts up fellow female professional chefs and helps us understand the legacy of culturally driven foods. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Public | Go to public.com/JEN to follow me on Public.com and see what I’m investing in. You can start investing today with as little as $1. Chime | Join the millions on Chime. Signup takes two minutes, and doesn’t affect your credit score! Apply now at chime.com/FORTHELOVE. American Giant | Get your Classic Full Zip Hoodie at american-giant.com today and use promo code FORTHELOVE for 15% off your first order. **DISCLAIMERS**PUBLIC: Valid for U.S. residents 18+. Subject to account approval. See Public.com/disclosures. Not investment advice. CHIME: Chime is a financial technology company. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank or Stride Bank, N.A.; Members FDIC. Eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Overdraft only applies to debit card purchases. Limits start at $20 and may be increased up to $100 by Chime. Early Direct Deposit depends on the payer. Out-of-Network cash withdrawal fees apply. Third-party and cash deposit fees may apply. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the past year, many of us have looked at our kitchens and had to flip the Open sign to Closed. We put big holidays dinners on hold. We canceled game nights with our friends. We traded cutting boards for takeout containers because we just. couldn’t. cook. another. meal. But we still need to eat and nourish our bodies and souls, and for that, we turn to Alex Snodgrass of The Defined Dish. Alex shares her unlikely journey to creating a popular food brand and a New York Times bestselling cookbook (also called The Defined Dish), how to your get over your anchovy aversion (it’s worth it, we promise), and why healthy eating doesn’t mean a carrot stick on a bed of lettuce. Jen and Alex talk about how food can bond groups of people who may not come together otherwise, and why forming a community is super rewarding—even if you’re separated by a screen. * * * Get Jen’s latest book, SIMPLE & FREE! jenhatmaker.com/simpleandfree * * * Thank you to our sponsors! KiwiCo | Get 30% off your first month plus FREE shipping on ANY crate line at kiwico.com, promo code FORTHELOVE Third Love | Go to thirdlove.com/FORTHELOVE to find your perfect-fitting bra and get 20% off your first purchase! Ancestry | There’s strength in every family story. Learn more about yours at Ancestry. Head to my URL at Ancestry.com/ForTheLove to start your free trial. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Break out the confetti cannons because today’s guest is someone we’ve wanted on the show since Day 1: the one and only Jennifer Garner! Who didn’t love Alias? Who doesn’t watch 13 Going on 30 at least once a year? Jen Garner is one of our favorite actors ever, and today, the two Jens talk about all things Yes Day, Jen Garner’s brand-new movie on Netflix that’s the *perfect* feel-good watch for your family this spring break. The Jens talk about the phenomenon of Yes Days they’ve shared with their own kids (i.e. magical days where kids can do basically anything they want within reason) and how these days have brought their families closer together. From sitting in the front seat to getting eyebrows threaded to sharing s’mores around a campfire in the backyard, there’s so much joy to be found when we say yes a little more to our kids—and even to ourselves. * * * Thank you to our sponsor! BetterHelp | Join over 1 million people taking charge of their mental health at https://BetterHelp.com/forthelove To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We hope all you foodies out there have been enjoying the Food 2.0 series. But we know some of you saw what this series was about and thought, I can’t cook, I’ve never cooked, I will never cook, and you can’t make me! Listen, we get it—cooking isn’t everyone’s bag. It wasn’t Bri McKoy’s either. Bri’s an accidental home cook turned cookbook author, and her foray into the culinary space started when her husband refused to build a home out of their collection of Thai takeout containers. Bri reluctantly learned what a pinch of salt was, how to literally toast bread, and that onion casseroles perhaps aren’t the best idea to serve, well, ever. Bri watched a lot of Food Network and honed her craft, and since then she’s found a love for traveling with knives, and as a military wife, she’s learned food can be an easy way to bring people to the table and build community. Jen and Bri share some of their most epic kitchen failures, divulge the biggest lessons we can learn from standing over a stove, and reveal their can’t-live-without-it kitchen gadgets. Bri shows that food fills our days with simple joy and helps us forge new relationships with people in ways we never thought possible—even over a Zoom cocktail. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Noom | Ready to learn how to live healthier? Sign up for your trial today at noom.com/forthelove American Giant | Get 15% your first order when you use promo code FORTHELOVE at american-giant.com Ancestry | Start exploring your family story today! Head to ancestry.com/FORTHELOVE to get your AncestryDNA kit and start your free trial. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calling all book nerds! Are you looking for a place where your book-loving heart can flourish? Join us at jenhatmakerbookclub.com, and become one of our sisters in nerdiness. For February 2021, the Jen Hatmaker Book Club read the novel Red at the Bone by four-time National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson, and whew, what a story. Jacqueline is a master storyteller who explores all kinds of topics—sexual desire and identity, ambition, gentrification, education, class and status, and the life-altering facts of parenthood—with the grace and nuance that each deserves. Red at the Bone is a fascinating novel that looks at the ways young people often make long-lasting decisions about their lives—even before they’ve begun to figure out who they are and what they want to be. * * * Join the sisterhood today! jenhatmakerbookclub.com * * * Thank you to our sponsors! American Giant | Get 15% off your first order at american-giant.com, promo code FORTHELOVE PolicyGenius | Reshop your home & auto insurance rates, and you could save up to $1,055. Head to policygenius.com today! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’ve got a crush on this series and everyone in it—because FOOD! For the Love of Food, Part 2 is cooking up something new this week as we move into BAKING with a member of the royal family of baking itself—The Great British Bake Off’s Nadiya Hussain! Nadiya is not only the Mary Poppins of baking, she’s also hosting a brand-new show on Netflix that’ll be your brand-new happy place, and it’s called—what else?—Nadiya Bakes. Nadiya reveals why she never turned on an oven or baked anything until her 20s, why her husband sent in an application to Bake Off without her knowing (!), and how she learned to be confident in the kitchen and how to keep saying yes to new opportunities. Nadiya shows us that baking doesn’t have to be Bake Off-level perfect to bring people together, and promises our mashed potatoes would be better if we just added a bit of mayo to the mix (we’ll take her word for it!). * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Best Fiends | Download FREE today on the Apple App Store or Google Play. Betterhelp | Get 10% off your first month by visiting betterhelp.com/forthelove. Rothy’s | Check out all the amazing shoes—and bags! and masks!—available right now at Rothys.com/FORTHELOVE To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s a big day on For the Love, friends—we’re celebrating our 200th episode! We’re kicking off a brand-new series about food! And we’re celebrating it all with an FTL Fan Favorite: The Pioneer Woman herself, Ree Drummond! Ree’s back on the show to talk about the best (or tackiest?) sweatshirt of all time gifted to her by none other than Purveyor of Fine Sweatshirts, Jen Hatmaker. Jen and Ree talk about their favorite pastimes, potato chip sandwiches, what Ree makes when she’s just freaking tired of cooking (there may be a lot of jars involved), and the importance of a microwaved Ding Dong in a well-balanced diet. Not only does Ree show that cooking can be fun, she shares that it doesn’t have to be complicated and perfect—in fact, it’s probably better if it’s not. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Ancestry | Head to ancestry.com/forthelove to get your AncestryDNA kit and start your free trial Bloomscape | Get 15% off plant orders of $100 or more with promo code FORTHELOVE at bloomscape.com Jen Hatmaker Book Club | Join the sisterhood today! jenhatmakerbookclub.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calling all book nerds! Are you looking for a place where your book-loving heart can flourish? Join us at jenhatmakerbookclub.com, and become one of our sisters in nerdiness. For January 2021, the Jen Hatmaker Book Club read the novel This Tender Land by the author extraordinaire William Kent Krueger. Chock full of intrigue and adventure and drama, this unforgettable story of four orphans who travel the Mississippi River on a life-changing journey during the Great Depression just absolutely transported us. During this episode, Kent dives into the real-life research behind the Lincoln Indian Training School, and how Mark Twain and The Odyssey played a huge role in shaping the story. Kent gives us a peek into the family that he created among the brave runaways and how their bond shifts as they heal together throughout the novel. *** Join the Jen Hatmaker Book Club sisterhood today! jenhatmakerbookclub.com *** Thank you to our sponsors! Audiobooks.com | Sign up for your FREE 30-day trial! Go to jenhatmaker.com/podcast, and find the audiobooks.com link in today's show notes Wagon Coffee | Save 10% off all of coffee choices with code FORTHELOVE at wagoncoffeeroasters.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you ever had a conversation with a friend or loved one where you couldn’t find common ground about something that fundamentally mattered to you? Is it possible for those relationships to continue, even though you don’t see eye to eye? Today we’re wrapping up our For the Love of Reconnecting series and talking about some of the hardest reconnecting of all: how to stay engaged with and even love someone who thinks differently from us. To guide us through this rocky terrain, we have Rozella Haydée White—AKA the Love Big Coach. Rozella is a theologian, a spiritual life-coach and a leadership consultant who guides people to give and receive love that is life-giving and justice-seeking. Rozella and Jen walk through what it means to lean into the hardest conversations and make space for yourself and the ones you love (or have a hard time loving). Rozella reminds us that, “If we believe that people are created in the image of God, then I don't really have a choice but to believe in people.” * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Noom | Sign up for your trial today at noom.com/forthelove KiwiCo | Get 30% off your first month at kiwico.com, promo code: FORTHELOVE ThirdLove | Get 20% off your first purchase at thirdlove.com/forthelove To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the past year, we’ve had to put our dreams on hold. We canceled vacations, missed family gatherings, and constantly wondered, How long will my life look like this? But those spaces in our calendars have given us the margin to think about what’s next for us. And as we continue our For the Love of Reconnecting series, we’re going to go out on a limb and thinking about what it looks like to reconnect with our dreams. And our next guest, Priyanka Chopra Jonas knows all about that. Priyanka’s a triple-threat: she’s an actor, a social activist, and now the author of a brand-new memoir called Unfinished. Jen and Priyanka trace Priyanka’s winding path from India to the US as a teen, and how she’s leaped with both feet into new projects and challenges and discovered that being willing to fail is an important part of leveling up and investing in ourselves. Jen and Priyanka dive into why it’s so important to normalize ambition in women and girls, and why putting boots on the ground is crucial to making our dreams a reality. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! American Giant | Get 15% your first order when you use promo code FORTHELOVE at american-giant.com Ancestry | Head to ancestry.com/forthelove to get your AncestryDNA kit and start your free trial Jen Hatmaker Book Club | Join the sisterhood today! jenhatmakerbookclub.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Get ready for a deep-dive into what it means to listen and connect with those around you with our next guest in the Reconnecting series: psychiatrist and executive coach Dr. Mark Goulston. As a former FBI hostage negotiation trainer, Dr. Goulston knows how to reach out to and connect with just about anyone. After the past twelve months, we’re all living on edge, and Dr. Goulston gives Jen a few communication tips to guide tense conversations toward calm. Plus, Dr. Goulston shows us how people are icebergs and why asking someone, “What’s really going on?” more than once helps us drill down and discover what the real problem is. And spoiler alert: when we vulnerably share what’s going on with us, and when someone listens and responds without judgment—whether we’re doing the sharing or the listening, true connection really does help us heal. And after 2020, we’re all due for a heavy dose of healing. * * * Thank you to our sponsors!Best Fiends | Download FREE on the Apple App Store or Google Play! BetterHelp | Start living a happier, healthier life – get 10% off your first month at http://betterhelp.com/forthelove Rothy’s | Check out all the amazing shoes, bags and masks available right now at http://rothys.com/forthelove To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Break out a pen and notebook, because today on For the Love, we’re going back to school with writer and professor Chris Stedman, our next guest in the For the Love of Reconnecting series. A former chaplain at Harvard and founding director of the Yale Humanist Community, Chris just wrote a fascinating book called IRL: Finding Realness, Meaning, and Belonging in Our Digital Lives. He’s a millennial who grew up fluent in the digital world but didn’t have a smartphone that tethered him to the internet until after his formative years, when a post he wrote went viral and steered him toward building a platform online. The internet of today is definitely not the one Chris grew up with—it’s no longer something we log in and out of. Chris and Jen talk about the beauty of finding and building community online and expanding our circles of belonging, but also why it’s so important to disconnect from tech every once in a while, because we discover things about ourselves in the silence of retreat that we may not see otherwise. And while sometimes the internet can seem like a place teeming with chaos, Chris reminds us that we have the power to choose how *we* engage with technology, that we control our devices—not the other way around. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Noom | Check out how to stay on a healthy track at https://noom.com/forthelove Jen Hatmaker Book Club | Join the sisterhood today! https://jenhatmakerbookclub.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With so much discussion around finding different ways to connect in a season where literal physical connections are challenging at best, how do we address when our spiritual connections are faltering? How do we “feel seen” by God when things are not okay and our attitudes are washed in more doubt than belief? Writer Bunmi Laditan (also known by her online moniker, The Honest Toddler) joins For the Love to share her lifelong journey of wrestling with God and faith, and ultimately finding hope, acceptance, and love. The daughter of Nigerian immigrants, Bunmi ran away from home as a teen, seeking a home and faith that wouldn’t shackle her to rules and tradition. During her wanderings in both the spiritual and physical world, she explored relationships and different faith traditions before finally coming to know a core truth that has informed her ever since: God sees her and loves her—and He would come to meet her, no matter where her wandering took her. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! KiwiCo | Hands-on projects shipped right to your door! Get 30% off your first month plus FREE shipping on ANY crate line with code FORTHELOVE at https://www.kiwico.com/ ThirdLove | Find your perfect-fitting bra, and get 20% off your first purchase at https://thirdlove.com/forthelove BetterHelp | Take charge of your mental health—get 10% off your first month at https://betterhelp.com/forthelove To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s so hard to feel your feelings—especially when you have all of them all at once, and it’s never a convenient time to process them. For the past year, we’ve all been stewing with anxiety, stress, anger, loneliness, grief, and fear. Ignoring our hard feelings might seem like the easiest way to cope and get relief—but it’s not the only option available to us. Our next guest in our For the Love of Reconnecting Series, psychoanalyst and therapist Hilary Jacobs Hendel, reminds us that when we disconnect from our harder emotions, we disconnect from the life-giving ones too, like joy—and don’t we all need more of that right now?. Hilary’s the author of a fascinating book called It’s Not Always Depression (and psst: she consulted on the psychological development of characters in Mad Men!), and she and Jen talk about the freedom we find when we realize emotions just are, and we don’t have to judge them. In fact, instead of shutting down, Hilary shows us how we can walk ourselves toward self-compassion and healing, which gives us real resilience—not the kind that we *think* we have by stuffing down our feelings. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! American Giant | Get 100% American-made clothes that do good for local communities! Get 15% off with code FORTHELOVE at american-giant.com Jen Hatmaker Book Club | Join the sisterhood today! jenhatmakerbookclub.com Jen Hatmaker Merch | Get 20% off the entire site at jenhatmaker.com/shop To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Next up in our For the Love of Reconnecting series, we’re touching base with a very important and easy-to-lose-hold-of concept: our boundaries. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s how much setting boundaries impacts our life. So why do we feel guilty when we actually do set them? And when was the last time you took a second to think about what you need and what you have the capacity for? Therapist Nedra Glover Tawwab, author of the book Set Boundaries, Find Peace, walks us through how we draw these needed lines, and why it’s important for us to have them in the first place (spoiler alert: they’re crucial for our mental health and keep us away from resentment and burnout). It’s okay for us to ask for what we want and take charge of our own lives, even if some people don’t agree—because in the end, you really do know what’s best for you. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! 1| Best Fiends – Download FREE on the Apple App Store or Google Play 2| BetterHelp – Start living a happier, healthier life – get 10% off your first month at betterHelp.com/forthelove 3| Stamps.com – Never go to the Post Office again! Get a 4-week trial, PLUS free postage and a digital scale at Stamps.com, promo code FORTHELOVE To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sneak peek alert! Are you looking for a place where your book-loving heart can flourish? Look no further, and allow us to welcome you to the Jen Hatmaker Book Club. Want to join us? Visit jenhatmakerbookclub.com, and become one of our sisters in nerdiness. This month, we read the oh-so-powerful Cleo McDougal Regrets Nothing by Allison Winn Scotch. Allison tells us why the #MeToo and TIME’S UP movements inspired her to write this story, plus we dive into how regrets can impact our lives and how they present an opportunity for amends and personal growth. We get to unpack Cleo’s engaging and fierce character, what it’s like to be a woman in this moment in time (and to be one in politics!), and how being unapologetically ambitious might mean you’re not liked. Allison walks us through how she crafted a character that doesn’t rub everyone the right way, but how we still end up rooting for Cleo anyway. By unpacking abuse of power, examining Cleo’s role as a mother, and watching her learn to confront her not-so-great decisions, Allison has woven a tale that captivates us and teaches us and inspires us to be leaders ourselves. *** Join the Jen Hatmaker Book Club sisterhood today! jenhatmakerbookclub.com *** Jen Hatmaker Merch – Get 20% off the entire site at jenhatmaker.com/shop To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New year, new series! We’re thinking all about For the Love of Reconnecting, where we’ll try to get back in touch with who we are and what we value, so that we can start to inch forward in this brand-new year. What’s holding you back? Is there a real obstacle standing in the way of your growth—or is it just a story you’re telling yourself? Therapist, author, TED Talk superstar and podcast host Lori Gottlieb knows a thing or two about the stories we tell ourselves. In fact, Lori opens up her life in a deeply vulnerable way, taking us into the stories she told herself as a practicing therapist and how she moved past them in her New York Times bestselling memoir Maybe You Should Talk to Someone. Lori explains that we are the narrators of our own stories, and how we talk to ourselves and tell the story of our lives shapes who we will become. She asserts that when we begin to take responsibility for our choices and allow ourselves to examine what’s working in or lives and what we can tweak a little bit, we’ll begin to let go of the feeling of being trapped—and find a power in ourselves we never knew was there. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! BetterHelp | Take charge of your mental health—get 10% off your first month at https://betterhelp.com/forthelove To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We made it, you guys—we’re finally turning the corner into a brand-new year and into the hope of a fresh start. And while 2021 will no doubt have its set of challenges, we’ve set our minds to living in the moment while we wait for a post-pandemic world to settle in, thanks to inspiration from minister and activist Cece Jones-Davis. Cece was one of our favorite 2020 guests, and she’s back to lead us through a vigil on what we’ve walked through this year and reflect on all the beautiful things we have to look forward to. Cece reminds us that the weariness we feel from this year can be a powerful catalyst towards change for the better, and why 2021 can be the year of “Alive” (which happens to be the title of her brand-new worship album!). And here’s a little reminder for you, sister: as we enter a new chapter, remember that God is alive in you, and He has plans for hope and a future with your name written right on top. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! BetterHelp| Take charge of your mental health—get 10% off your first month at http://betterhelp.com/forthelove Noom | Check out how to stay on a healthy track at https://noom.com/forthelove Jen Hatmaker Book Club | Join the sisterhood! Visit www.jenhatmakerbookclub.com to sign up today. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! But let’s be honest: if you’re a Hallmark Christmas Movie addict, it’s been the most wonderful time of the year since October, and you’re *not sorry* about it. And neither are Dan, Panda, and Bran—the 3 dudes behind the smash-hit podcast Deck the Hallmark. These Hallmark movie connoisseurs each have a different perspective: Bran loves them, Panda’s okay with them, and Dan hate-watches with all his might. Jen and the guys break down why these, let’s face it, “less than stellar production value-filled” shows are so addicting. AND are we ever surprised that the big-city girl falls for the small-town candlemaker who owns the snowy inn?! The group dishes on the best movies Hallmark has to offer (spoiler alert: The Fonz makes an appearance!), and which ones you desperately need to avoid. And to wrap this holiday episode in the most beautiful bow, the group signs off by divulging their fantasy cast and plot lines for the Hallmark movies of their dreams. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Solitaire Grand Harvest | Download the app for FREE in the Apple App Store, Google Play, & Amazon BetterHelp| Take charge of your mental health this holiday season—get 10% off your first month at http://betterhelp.com/forthelove Noom | Check out how to stay on a healthy track at https://noom.com/forthelove To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, we’re wrapping up our celebration of small wins amid the 2020 dumpster fire, and we’re asking ourselves two questions: where we go from here, and how do we say yes what’s ahead? Savvy businesswoman and bubbly star of TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta Lori Allen has said yes to many things in her life: launching and running a successful bridal boutique for 40 years, fighting breast cancer, and managing the roles of wife, mom, grandmother, and daughter of aging parents. Lori and Jen break down how to push through resistance to change and breakthrough to accept the next yes, even when we don’t know what’s ahead. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! ThirdLove | Find your perfect-fitting bra, and get 10% off your first purchase at https://thirdlove.com/forthelove Thistle Farms | Find beautiful self-care gifts that are giving back! Use code FORTHELOVE to get 15% off the whole shop at www.thistlefarms.org Coupons.com | Get cash back for everyday items at the grocery store! Download the app for FREE today at the Apple App Store and Google Play! Rothy’s | Check out all the amazing shoes—and bags!—available right now at https://rothys.com/forthelove To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“If my faith cannot offer me something in the wilderness moments, it isn’t worth having,” says Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart. And as we explore the silver linings of this turbulent year, Rev. Naomi’s wisdom is just what we need as we turn our thoughts to how our faith has held us up, stretched our empathy, and asked us to hold suffering and joy with both hands. As Philadelphia’s Director of the Mayor’s Office of Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs, Rev. Naomi has spent the year trying to bring faith communities together with the goal of healing a hurting city. And for those who may not be able to see a way forward, Rev. Naomi reminds us that God is still right there, never leaving us alone. Because as she says, “we are always becoming,” meaning that even through the impossible, good can be brought out of any story—including the ones we never asked for. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Rothy’s | Check out all the amazing shoes—and bags!—available right now at https://rothys.com/forthelove Thistle Farms | Find beautiful self-care gifts that are giving back! Use code FORTHELOVE to get 15% off the whole shop at www.thistlefarms.org Ancestry | Don’t miss special holiday pricing on truly meaningful gifts during the Holiday Sale! Head to ancestry.com/forthelove BetterHelp | Take care of your mental health through the holidays—get 10% off your first month at http://betterhelp.com/forthelove **GIFT GUIDE ALERT** Making your holiday gift list and checking it twice? Need more ideas for unique, useful, or doing-good gifts? Check out all the goodies on the 4th Annual Edition of Jen’s Favorite Things Holiday Gift Guide! ➤ https://bit.ly/JensFavoriteThings2020 To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sneak peek alert! Are you a bookie? Do you love reading and talking about what you’re reading? Then the Jen Hatmaker Book Club is where you belong. Want to join us? Visit jenhatmakerbookclub.com, become one of the squad. This month, we read the fiercely feminine and delightful novel The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by the oh-so-talented Abbi Waxman. Abbi gives us a peek into her pleasurable work that’s truly the happy ending we need right now, because just like Nina, books are our escape. Abbi dives into what it was like to craft a character with ADHD and anxiety, and how she broke down that stigma, showing how preserving your mental health goes hand and hand with living a regular life. Abbi dives into what family issues can look like realistically, how the small moments can make the most spectacular relationship, and how dominating at trivia can give you a minute of triumph when you need it. *** Join the Jen Hatmaker Book Club sisterhood today! https://jenhatmakerbookclub.com *** Thank you to our sponsors! BetterHelp | Take charge of your mental health—get 10% off your first month at http://betterhelp.com/forthelove Duke Cannon | Find the perfect gifts for the men in your life—check out Duke Cannon’s grooming gift sets for only $20 each at Target! Coupons.com | Get groceries and get paid! Download the coupons.com app for FREE in the Apple app store or Google Play. Mrs. Fields | Get 20% off mouthwatering holiday sweets with code FORTHELOVE at https://www.mrsfields.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joy and pain aren’t mutually exclusive; they mingle together in our stories every single day. That’s probably never been more true than in 2020. In these moments, we reach for guides who have traveled through some dark moments and come out the other side, and we couldn’t have a better teacher than writer, speaker, and self-proclaimed joyologist Dawn Barton. Pain and loss have been familiar companions to Dawn for a long time. She’s lost a baby daughter, and a sister to cancer. She’s suffered through sexual assault and walked her mother through recovery from an aneurysm, and her husband through alcohol addiction. Dawn has seen suffering, but she’s also realized that even in the middle of pain, you can experience full-fledged joy. Moments of hurt create opportunities for others to show up for us, and allow us to experience love in ways beyond what we ever thought possible (and sometimes scary times lead to hilarious ones, as Dawn found during her misadventures with a prosthetic breast named Lucky). Ultimately, our lives come full circle when we get to help someone else through their painful moments the way that others once helped us. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! KiwiCo | Go to https://kiwico.com, and use code FORTHELOVE to get 50% off your first month of project crates, plus FREE shipping! Feetures | Head to http://feetures.com/, and use code FORTHELOVE to get $10 off your first pair of cozy Feetures socks. Honey | Sign up for free at https://joinhoney.com/FORTHELOVE, and add gifts on your Droplist for a chance to win some cash! Duke Cannon | Find the perfect gifts for the men in your life—check out Duke Cannon’s grooming gift sets for only $20 each at Target! **GIFT GUIDE ALERT** Making your holiday gift list and checking it twice? Need more ideas for unique, useful, or doing-good gifts? Check out all the goodies on the 4th Annual Edition of Jen’s Favorite Things Holiday Gift Guide! ➤ https://bit.ly/JensFavoriteThings2020 To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2020 has shaken up so many of our beliefs. What’s normal? What’s safe? What does it look like for our families and our communities to thrive? These are life-changing questions, and today’s guest is someone who has been searching for the answers to these very questions for nearly two decades. Diana Oestreich was an American soldier in Iraq who received orders to keep her convoy rolling at all costs, even if children crossed her path. And in that gut-wrenching moment, Diana decided she couldn’t follow those orders, and she would fight for peace with sacrifice instead of bullets. Today Diana “wages peace” with love and justice alongside the organization Preemptive Love, and she and Jen talk about who the true heroes are, and how everything changes in our world when we choose to build bridges instead of walls. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! FabFitFun | Order your Winter box today! Use coupon code FTL for $10 off your first box at www.fabfitfun.com #fabfitfunpartner BetterHelp | Take care of your mental health this holiday season—get 10% off your first month at http://betterhelp.com/forthelove Stamps.com | Need to send out those Christmas cards? Get a 4-week trial, plus FREE postage and a digital scale at https://stamps.com with code FORTHELOVE Ancestry | So don’t miss special holiday pricing on truly meaningful gifts during the Holiday Sale! Head to ancestry.com/forthelove **GIFT GUIDE ALERT** Making your holiday gift list and checking it twice? Need more ideas for unique, useful, or doing-good gifts? Check out all the goodies on the 4th Annual Edition of Jen’s Favorite Things Holiday Gift Guide! ➤ https://bit.ly/JensFavoriteThings2020 To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you know who has a PhD in Small Wins? We do, because this week on the show we have The Lazy Genius, AKA the brilliant and delightful Kendra Adachi! Kendra is the woman who brought the Tim Riggins Salad and Change Your Life Chicken to the internet, and she is about to change our lives far beyond the fridge (though fun fact: that chicken is delicious). Kendra’s going to give us a treasure trove of pro tips, like the beauty of 17-minute naps and the stress-reducing way to clean up our kitchens (hint: zones, people—it’s all about the zones!). As a recovering perfectionist, Kendra’s learned how to strike the middle ground between “It has to be perfect!” and “Meh, I don’t care anymore.” She shows us how to care about what matters and let the rest go, because let’s be real: there’s just too much for us to care about everything. Plus, for all the Enneagram 1s and Type-As out there, Kendra reminds us that even if our plans are upended, it doesn’t mean our plans were wrong—it just means that life happened, and we’ll be okay. And stay till the end for Jen and Kendra’s Hamilton love fest as they look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now in a world with Lin Manuel-Miranda and Disney+! * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Solitaire Grand Harvest | Download the app for FREE in the Apple App Store, Google Play, & Amazon Framebridge | Frame your photos and send the perfect gift! Get 15% off your first order at www.framebridge.com with code FORTHELOVE Stamps.com | Skip the post office lines this holiday season! Get a 4-week trial, plus FREE postage and a digital scale at https://stamps.com with code FORTHELOVE Ancestry | Don’t miss special holiday pricing on truly meaningful gifts during the Holiday Sale at Ancestry! Head to ancestry.com/forthelove **GIFT GUIDE ALERT** Making your holiday gift list and checking it twice? Need more ideas for unique, useful, or doing-good gifts? Check out all the goodies on the 4th Annual Edition of Jen’s Favorite Things Holiday Gift Guide! ➤ https://bit.ly/JensFavoriteThings2020 To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s the most wonderful time of the year—gift guide time! We're going to go ahead and give 2020 the No, Thank You Award, but we can still try to make the holidays merry and bright. And to help you do that, we bring you the 4th installment of Jen’s Favorite Things! Every year, we shine a spotlight on brands we love that also give back, so we do the most good with the dollars we're already going to spend (and PS: so many of these companies are women-owned!). So grab a cup of cocoa while Jen and her sisters, Lindsay and Cortney, share 12 incredible companies with amazing products—everything from coffee and candles to comfy robes and socks and Jen’s signature feather earrings. Plus, each brand has a special offer just for you, so you can stock up on great gifts and also *save some cash.* Look alive, campers, it’s time to do some Christmas shopping! Psst: We’ve taken notes so you don’t have to! Head over to jenhatmaker.com/podcast for a one-stop shop of all the companies, products, and offers mentioned on the show. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the road to finding small wins, it’s helpful to watch for the “green lights” in our lives—those signals that indicate we can move forward when we see them—but also recognize and appreciate the yellows and reds that slow us down so we can take a second to absorb what life is teaching us. Academy Award-winning actor, minister of culture, and self-proclaimed pickle expert Matthew McConaughey is a man who’s had a few green lights show up over the course of his career (along with a few reds and yellows, he admits). He shares about it all in his new book, Greenlights, where he describes (in an oh-so-McConaughey way) his “sights and seens, felts and figured-outs, cools and shamefuls.” Matthew points out that green lights illuminate our way through the choices we make, and challenge us to ask some bigger questions: Are you living in the present? Are you being kind? Are you enjoying both freedom and responsibility? Matthew gives us a sneak peek into his motivation for writing Greenlights, and tells us about important women in his life who shaped and supported him all along the way. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Noom |Check out how to stay on a healthy track at https://noom.com/forthelove BetterHelp | Take charge of your mental health—get 10% off your first month at http://betterhelp.com/forthelove KiwiCo | Go to https://kiwico.com, and use code FORTHELOVE to get 50% off your first month of project crates, plus FREE shipping! Stamps.com | Skip the post office lines this holiday season by visiting https://stamps.com, and get a 4-week trial PLUS free postage and a digital scale with code FORTHELOVE. **Gift Guide Alert!** Making your holiday gift list and checking it twice? Need more ideas for unique, useful, or doing-good gifts? Look for Jen’s super-special annual Gift Guide Episode, popping into your feed on Monday, November 16! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Right now, we all need some small wins. And in our brand-new series called—wait for it—For the Love of Small Wins, we’re talking to thought leaders who remind us to look for the ways kindness and resilience has showed up in our lives this year. First up, author and life coach Valorie Burton knows all about something we each struggle with: guilt. She knows what it looks like, how it can disguise itself, and how ingrained it is in our daily lives. Valorie helps us identify the difference between authentic and false guilt, and walks us through the different types of guilt we experience, especially in 2020: mom/daughter/friend guilt, guilt for not doing more or better, guilt for not being involved enough in the causes happening around us. Valerie gives us the tools to begin to let go of guilt, so we can take the first step on our journey to appreciating the small wins of 2020 * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Rothy’s | Check out all the amazing shoes—and bags!—available right now at https://rothys.com/forthelove ThirdLove | Find your perfect-fitting bra, and get 10% off your first purchase at https://thirdlove.com/forthelove Feetures | Go to http://feetures.com/, and use code FORTHELOVE to get $10 off your first pair of Feetures **Gift Guide Alert!** Making your holiday gift list and checking it twice? Need more ideas for unique, useful, or doing-good gifts? Look for Jen’s super-special annual Gift Guide Episode, popping into your feed on Monday, November 16! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Want a sneak peek into the book club of your dreams? Then allow us to present: the Jen Hatmaker Book Club! From time to time, we’ll drop in with what we’re reading in hopes you’ll join us at jenhatmakerbookclub.com—because we *know* you’ll love it. We had to bring this one out of the vault, because we are the biggest fans of NYT bestselling author—and now TV and podcast host—Kelly Corrigan! Kelly’s memoir Tell Me More was the first book we chose to read in the Jen Hatmaker Book Club back in June 2019, because Kelly has a knack for taking a magnifying glass to the phrases that create connection between us (like “I don’t know,” “I was wrong,” and “Good enough”) and showing us why they matter, all with her signature humor and warmth. If you’ve never met Kelly, get ready: you’re about to meet your new favorite. And while you’re at it, check out Kelly’s brand-new projects: a podcast called Kelly Corrigan’s Wonders and a new interview series on PBS called—wait for it—Tell Me More! * * * Thank you to our sponsors! Ancestry | Get your AncestryDNA kit and start your free trial at ancestry.com/forthelove Jen’s FREE Merch | Be free—check out the collection at jenhatmaker.com/shop Jen Hatmaker Book Club | Join our sisterhood today at jenhatmakerbookclub.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To be Black in America means living at several different intersections. Writer and thinker Marcie Alvis-Walker joins For the Love Podcast to share the inspiration behind her beautiful, thought-provoking space called Black Coffee with White Friends. Marcie shares about her experience having to code switch as she grew up—she’d have to adapt her language, her likes and dislikes based on the group she was with—and what it’s like for her family to navigate the world being members of different races. Marcie leads us to think about what it means to “celebrate” holidays like 4th of July, Memorial Day, and Columbus Day when your skin isn’t white, and how siblings of different races can use their influence to help their Black siblings. * * * Thank you to our sponsors! BetterHelp | Take charge of your mental health—get 10% off your first month at http://betterhelp.com/forthelove Jen Hatmaker Book Club | Join the sisterhood at jenhatmakerbookclub.com FabFitFun | Use coupon code FTL for $10 off your first box at https://fabfitfun.com/ #fabfitfunpartner To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this bonus episode of For the Love, we’re talking about a heartwarming new movie (based on a true story!) called “2 Hearts” with organ donor recipient and advocate Michael Kutcher. He’s a walking miracle shares his journey of receiving a heart transplant 29 years ago, and the profound ways the gift of organ donation not only gave him life—it impacted generations, as Michael is a proud father today. Michael and Jen talk about the beautiful parallels between Michael’s story and the “2 Hearts” movie, a true story of two couples who were never supposed to meet, but through love and generosity, they end up making waves in the world. * * * Thank you to our sponsor! Honey | Get online savings, simplified. Download Honey for FREE today at http://joinhoney.com/forthelove To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices