Hi, this is Makayla with Honest Talk Radio. Honest Talk Radio is a space where we will be sharing the good, the bad, and the other in real, raw conversations to try and do our part to reduce the amount of shame, guilt, and judgment so many of us want to face. Our hope is that through these conversations, you will feel supported and encouraged in every aspect of your life. So let's get started.
Hey guys, welcome to the relaunch of Honest Talk Radio. I am so happy and thankful that you're here and that I get to share in this journey of being a military spouse with you. Perhaps you're here because military life has you feeling out of control, alone in a journey. Wanting to connect with others.
Or maybe you want to hear stories of encouragement and ways to elevate your marriage, lessen the chaos and find balance. Regardless of what's brought you here, welcome. This is a place where you'll find honesty, community, and a safe place to feel understood and supported in this crazy life. First, let me introduce myself.
Hi, I'm Makayla, your host. And if I could sum up what makes me me in a simple sentence, it would be that I am passionate about helping spouses like you navigate the uncertainties of military life with ease and confidence. But get this, not just with ease and confidence, but staying true to your personal identity. You know, the one that often gets stifled, stored away under those roles and responsibilities you have.
So if you don't mind, I'm going to take just a minute to share my personal journey. Let me hear chatting with you. Alright, well, I won't bore you with too many of the details, but it's important that I started the beginning. Nearly 40 years ago, yikes.
I was born at 24 weeks gestation. That's right, my mom was just around six months pregnant with me. She went in a labor on an airplane, two and a half hours out of Los Angeles. Y'all, the offspring against me, I wasn't supposed to survive.
But thankfully I did. So from the moment I could understand that my life was spared, I knew I was put on this earth for a reason. Darn it, I was going to live life to the fullest and not waste a minute because I was given a chance. Through a lot of trials, errors, and searching, it has become really apparent to me that my passion isn't serving and teaching others.
At first, I thought I was going to become a neonatologist. That's right, I had big dreams of going to medical school. I did an internship at the very hospital that saved my life. I was paving the way to become a doctor.
But God had other plans. I met a boy. Yeah, you guessed it. This boy is the one that would join the military and show me the world.
Let's keep in mind that the world included a whole lot of deserts and Japan and Italy, which is amazing. You see this boy and I, we started dating my sophomore year of high school. Y'all, I was 15. I had no idea what life really was about.
He was a senior and the next thing I knew he'd received a full ride Air Force ROTC scholarship where he played Air Force while earning a degree. But I was so naive. And truthfully, I had no idea or real sense of what the real Air Force would be like after he was done. I honestly decided as a way for him to get a degree and get it paid for.
I could never have imagined what the military life was going to look like for him and I. But fast forward for years, he was graduating and getting ready to embark on his first duty station while I finished that college. The next year, we'd get married literally one week after I graduated and make our way from sunny California to the flat plains of Texas. But don't worry, the excitement most definitely does not stop there.
That first year of marriage was tough, you guys. I'm not going to joke. I'm not going to lie. It was a long year trying to test out my new lead into teaching skills, struggling to find a permanent job because well, you know, not many wanted to hire the military sauce.
After all, they knew that I was only going to be there for a year or two. But lo and behold, I finally found a job that I loved and it was in special education and I was teaching these adorable little kids and had worked with some of the best people I know. But then, I'd never say we came along and I found myself packing up my classroom, my first ever classroom. And halfway through the day, I was in a heap on the floor uncontrollably crying.
I was crying about the most ridiculous things. I was crying about packing up my classroom. I was crying about not getting to see my coworkers or my students. And y'all, it was only going to be for a couple months because summer is not forever.
But I was crying as if it was going to be the last time. And one of my coworkers jokingly tossed me a pregnancy test and were like, I think you're pregnant. And I said, no way, there's no way. Well, way, yep, I was trying to, with our first child, life was happening so fast.
I was so scared and excited about becoming a mom. And well, my first trimester was during summer vacation. So I didn't really have much to do other than go from my bedroom to the couch and couch to the bedroom. My husband was in pilot training, so he wasn't around much.
And I got totally stuck on watching TLC's The Baby Story. Have you ever seen that show? Well, not the best show to watch when you're newly pregnant. And truthfully, it instilled more fear in me than anything.
So because of that, I decided to research everything I possibly could about having a baby. And at the end of the day, I convinced my husband to scrape together every last time he had so we could attend this childbirth class with a fellow military spouse. The class was once a week for 12 weeks. My husband first looked at me and was like, you want me to commit to a two and a half hour class every week for 12 weeks?
Y'all, it was the best decision we ever made. Because that class taught us so much more than just having a baby. That class taught this newly married couple how to communicate better, how to autonomy, and how to make decisions that were right for us, not for everyone else. Seriously, the best decision ever.
Fast forward another year, and I found myself packing up our house, our first little home that we'd ever had as a couple. And I was doing it alone because my husband was TDY. And I had my baby who was two weeks old. We were moving from Texas to Arizona for the next year.
A year after that, we were traveling across the ocean to Japan, which was another amazing opportunity. But it didn't come without its own challenges. So fast forward a little bit further, and while living in Japan, I became a certified childbirth educator and would spend the next 15 years helping others prepare for one of the ultimate transitions of life. Talk about the best job ever.
But now, today, I not only get to help couples transition into parenthood, I get to help sauces like you prepare for a multitude of life transitions. Let's face it, as military spouses, we are always going through some kind of transition. And I take pride in giving you the tools, the resources, and the connections to stay true to your personal identity while supporting your loved ones. So that's me in a nutshell.
I hope that you are able to hear my story and relate to some and get excited about other parts of it. Truly, guys, the military, it can take everything from you if you let it. But if you learn how to take what you want from the military and stay true to your personal identity, I promise you the journey is going to be worth it. Every step of the way is going to be worth it.
The hard, the good, the bad, the ugly. So I would love for you to keep listening, join me on social media, share with your friends, and let's have a conversation about this crazy military life. I honestly can't wait to connect with each and every one of you. Because like I said before, my passion is to connect, relate, encourage, which all comes in the form of service and teaching.
All right, guys. Have a good one. Cheers. Thank you for listening to today's show.
If you'd like to come on the show and have an honest conversation about connecting, relating, and encouraging women, contact us at hello at honesttalkinternational.com. Also, don't forget to subscribe to this podcast so that you can be in tune with all the great happenings. Have a great day. Have a great day.