Episode 21: Voices, Stories, and Finding the Good

Episode 21: Voices, Stories, and Finding the GoodGuest: Heather Ballantine of Voices and Stories StudioWelcome to Episode 21 of Cat Unmuted, and my very first guest episode!In this conversation, I sit down with my friend Heather Ballantine, fellow Air Force veteran, author, podcast host, and creator of Voices and Stories Studio.Heather shares her journey from military life to writing books for young readers, including stories inspired by deployment, military families, history, and the importance of helping children feel seen. We also talk about her podcast, America is Great, her “blind date with a book” style project for rehoming used books, and the many creative ideas that somehow all keep circling back to stories.This episode took a different path than I expected, which honestly made it even better. We talked about creativity, authorship, motherhood, military life, miscarriage, identity shifts, and the strange way life keeps handing us lessons wrapped in chaos and hailstorms.In this episode, we talk about:Heather’s return to the military through the Vermont Air National GuardWriting her first book from her son’s perspective during her husband’s deploymentWhy military kids need stories that help them feel seenHer love for history and writing young adult booksThe reality of learning authorship the expensive wayThe importance of having people in your cornerHow creative ideas can grow into one connected businessMilitary life, motherhood, and the hard choices that come with bothMiscarriage, grief, and how loss becomes part of who we areLooking for the good without pretending the hard parts aren’t realWhat success means when your work is truly people-centeredAbout HeatherHeather Ballantine is an author, podcast host, military member, and creator of Voices and Stories Studio. Her work centers around books, storytelling, military families, history, and helping people connect through stories.You can find Heather at:voicesandstoriesstudio.squarespace.comFinal ThoughtThis episode is really about stories. The ones we write, the ones we live, the ones we survive, and the ones we choose to pass on.Sometimes the story starts with fear. Sometimes it starts with loss. Sometimes it starts with a child watching their parent deploy.And sometimes, it starts with two old friends finally catching up and realizing there was a whole bookcase of life between them. Get full access to Cat Unmuted at catlcarnell.substack.com/subscribe