She's Not Broken

In this episode, I sit down with Katie from Missoula Mama Circle to talk about something so many moms are craving—real, tangible support in motherhood.Katie shares the heart behind why she created Missoula Mama Circle—a space designed to help moms connect, show up as they are, and build real, lasting relationships. Because while motherhood can be deeply fulfilling, it can also feel surprisingly isolating, especially when the “village” we expected isn’t naturally there.We talk about the different seasons of friendship—what it looks like when relationships shift or fall away, and how that doesn’t always mean something has gone wrong. Sometimes it’s just growth.We also get into the real fears that come up around making friends as an adult… the hesitation, the waiting for an invitation, the wondering if you’ll be received. And what can happen when you stop waiting—and start creating the kind of connection you actually desire.Katie shares more about the ways she’s intentionally building community for moms in Missoula, from weekly meetups to workshops and involvement in programs like Family Action for Montana, all with the goal of making support more accessible and tangible.This conversation is such a reminder that the “village” isn’t gone… but it often requires us to step into it differently than we expected.If you’ve ever felt alone in motherhood, struggled to make or keep friendships, or found yourself craving deeper connection—this one is for you.RESOURCES:Connect with Katie & Missoula Momma Circle Here:- Missoula Mama Circle | Mom Meetup Group | Missoula, MT, USA- https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1AoxnQ9xoL/

This episode opens a new season on connection.We’re starting with friendship — not just being around people, but the kind of connection where you can actually relax, be yourself, and feel safe.I talk about why that can feel so hard, especially for women and mothers… how we were shaped to stay controlled, composed, and guarded, and how that shows up in our friendships now.I share parts of my own experience with friendship, attachment patterns, and losing close relationships — and how that has shaped what I look for now.We also get into the reality of motherhood and connection… why playdates and mom spaces don’t always lead to real friendship, and how much isolation is built into the way we live.And something that doesn’t get talked about enough — how many of us have only accessed looseness and connection through alcohol, and what it can feel like to navigate that without it.If friendship feels hard or deeper connection feels out of reach… you’re not alone in it.

What if the thing keeping you stuck isn't a lack of healing… but the constant search for more of it?In this season finale, I sit down with Nina De Francisco (MindbodyNina) for a conversation that deeply challenged the way I think about healing, self-awareness, and growth.Together, we explore the subtle ways many of us turn healing into another thing to achieve, another way to evaluate ourselves, and another box we're trying to climb into. We talk about the pressure to become a better version of ourselves, the exhaustion of always working on ourselves, and how easy it is to mistake understanding our wounds for actually healing them.This conversation is especially for the thoughtful women, the deep feelers, the intellectualizers, and the women who have spent years doing the work but still feel like they're somehow falling short.We discuss nervous system patterns, embodiment, belonging, self-rejection disguised as growth, and what it might look like to stop chasing the next breakthrough long enough to be with yourself exactly as you are.If you've ever wondered why healing can sometimes feel so heavy, this conversation is for you.Resources & ConnectNina De Francisco Instagram: @mindbodynina Paul Leendertse – The Root Cause InstituteInstagram: @therootcauseinstitute

What do you do when you believe God heals… but healing doesn’t look the same for everyone?In this episode, I’m sharing a deeper, more vulnerable look into my experience walking through cancer—not from a place of having answers, but from the place of wrestling with questions I couldn’t ignore. Questions about God’s sovereignty, the body’s ability to heal, and what it actually looks like to trust when the outcome isn’t in your control.We’ll explore the tension between faith and fear, science and spirituality, control and surrender… and the moments where those lines blurred in ways I still don’t fully understand.This isn’t a formula. It’s not a clean testimony.It’s an honest look at what it felt like to stand in the unknown, to believe and question at the same time, and to come out the other side still holding both.

This episode is a story.A recalling of a night during my cancer journey where everything felt uncertain, and I had to sit with what I couldn’t control.It was the scariest thing I had ever been up against.And somehow, in the middle of that night, God brought a kind of peace into my heart that I can’t fully explain — a peace that allowed me to actually let go… and fully surrender to the journey I was in.I’m just bringing you into that moment.

You’re learning. You’re growing. You’re doing the work.So why does it still feel like it’s not enough?In this episode, I share the subtle pattern of constantly evaluating yourself—how even healing and self-awareness can become another way to feel like you’re falling short. We’ll explore the “tiny box” we create for ourselves and why chasing a better version of you can leave you feeling more exhausted than at peace.

If you’ve ever felt like peace is just out of reach… like if you could just get a little more healed, a little more regulated, a little more “together”… then you’d finally feel it—this episode is for you.In this episode, I’m sharing a very personal part of my story, walking through cancer and the deeper shift it created in how I understood peace, control, and faith. We talk about the subtle ways we chase peace through striving, and how that pursuit can actually keep us stuck in cycles of pressure, fear, and “almost.”This isn’t about having it all figured out. It’s an honest look at what begins to change when you stop trying to force outcomes and start seeking something deeper.If you’ve been doing all the “right” things but still feel like peace keeps moving… this conversation might help you see why.

I’m pregnant again after cancer… and thinking about postpartum in a very different way.In this episode, I share the real fears and questions that are coming up as I prepare for another postpartum season — and why this time, I’m looking at support and the “village” differently.We talk about why it’s so hard to actually ask for help, even when people genuinely care. The difference between “I’m here if you need me” and the kind of support postpartum actually requires. And how the way our lives are structured — isolated homes, full schedules, invisible boundaries — makes it incredibly hard to both give and receive real support.We also get into the moments no one sees… the late nights, early mornings, and overwhelming in-between spaces where help is needed most, but rarely asked for.This is a conversation about over functioning, carrying too much, and what it might look like to slowly shift the way we show up for each other.If you’ve ever felt supported… but still alone in it, this will hit close.

If you’ve ever told yourself, “I’ll feel better when everything is done”… this might be the lie that’s keeping you exhausted.In this episode, I sit down with Glenna, a single mom carrying the full weight of motherhood, to talk about the constant cycle of doing, fixing, and pushing through — and why it never actually brings the peace we think it will.We talk about over functioning as a coping mechanism, the guilt that keeps us from putting ourselves first, and what it feels like to be overwhelmed… and still keep going. We also get into the deeper layers — feeling alone even in a full life, and how busy, demanding seasons can keep us from processing grief.This is a real conversation about what it looks like to pause, turn inward, and question the patterns that are keeping us stuck.If you’ve been carrying too much and telling yourself to just get through it… this one will feel familiar.

What does it actually look like to work full-time from home while raising kids… without a village?In this episode, I sit down with my friend Kiley, a full-time work-from-home mom, to talk honestly about the weight of doing it all in one space. We get into the pressure, the constant demand, and what it feels like to be stuck in a rhythm that doesn’t really allow you to slow down — even when your body is asking you to.We also touch on the physical side of this — what constant hypervigilance and over functioning do to the body, and how it can start to show up in ways you can’t ignore.This isn’t a “fix it” conversation. It’s a real one. One that so many moms will recognize themselves in.If you’ve ever felt like you’re carrying too much and don’t see a way to set it down, you’re not alone in that.

If parenting has been feeling tense, heavy, or like everything turns into a struggle… this episode is for you.We’re talking about play — not as entertainment, but as a way to shift hard moments, soften reactivity, and reconnect with your child (and yourself). I share how playful redirection can turn everyday struggles into moments of connection in a way that actually works in real life.If you want to go deeper, my Mindful Moments workbook walks you through simple, in-the-moment tools for regulation and connection:Mindful Moments Workbook: Turning Reactivity Into Purposeful Action: Jessop, Shelby: Amazon.com: BooksSometimes the smallest shift changes everything.

If you feel like you keep losing it on your kids, this episode is for you.We’re talking about what’s actually happening in those moments — and why it’s not about willpower or trying harder. It’s about your nervous system.In this episode, we get into:what regulation actually iswhy motherhood is so dysregulatingthe difference between reacting and respondinghow coping mechanisms form (and why they don’t always resolve things)parenting styles and why “gentle” isn’t always regulatedand how somatic experiencing shifted the way I approach those intense momentsThis is the foundation of the work I do with moms — learning how to turn reactivity into intentional, grounded action.If you want to go deeper:Mindful MomentsYou can also grab the Mindful Moments workbook here:Mindful Moments Workbook: Turning Reactivity Into Purposeful Action: Jessop, Shelby: Amazon.com: BooksYou’re not broken. You’re learning a skill you were never taught.

In this episode, Shelby sits down with Sarah Grenfell for a thoughtful conversation about the postpartum experience through the lens of the nervous system. Together they explore how birth and early motherhood can be deeply impactful events for the body, mind, and nervous system — often in ways that many women are never taught to understand.Sarah shares her personal birth story and the ways postpartum shaped her emotionally and physically. The conversation also dives into EMDR therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and how it can help process and heal birth experiences that may still be living in the nervous system.They also talk about the importance of community, support, and the “village” mothers were always meant to have, and how healing often happens in connection with others.This episode is an honest, compassionate look at postpartum, trauma, and the ways healing can unfold when women are supported in telling and processing their stories

In this episode of She Is Not Broken, I sit down with my sister to talk about the postpartum seasons that changed her life.Motherhood can bring immense love and beauty, but it can also expose parts of ourselves we didn’t know were still there — pain, exhaustion, identity shifts, and moments that feel darker than we expected.In this conversation, she shares her journey through postpartum with her three children and what it looked like to face seasons that felt overwhelming and heavy. Instead of turning away from the pain, she slowly learned to turn toward it, discovering that even the darkest seasons can carry messages that shape and transform us.We talk about the unraveling that sometimes happens in motherhood — the kind that strips away the version of ourselves we thought we had to be and invites something more honest to emerge.This episode is a reminder that the hard seasons do not mean you are broken. Sometimes they are the beginning of deeper understanding, healing, and growth.This episode includes a brief mention of suicide attempts during a discussion of postpartum mental health. Listener discretion is advised.Content NoteThis episode includes a brief mention of suicide attempts during a discussion of postpartum mental health. Listener discretion is advised.

Many mothers reach a point where motherhood feels heavier, more overwhelming, and more disorienting than they expected — even when everything looks “normal” on the outside.In this episode, we explore how motherhood functions as a full-body nervous system event, and why chronic stress, isolation, and lack of support can push women into survival mode. We talk about hypervigilance, emotional reactivity, numbness, loneliness, and the gradual loss of access to joy and connection — not as personal failure, but as intelligent responses to prolonged overwhelm.This conversation names how modern motherhood, shaped by isolation and individualism, asks mothers to carry more than any nervous system was designed to hold alone. The work isn’t about fixing yourself — it’s about creating safety, support, and space for your nervous system to come out of survival.

In this episode, I share my personal story — a journey shaped by self-reliance, motherhood, illness, and an eventual return to faith rooted in surrender rather than striving.This conversation reflects on how motherhood, loss, and suffering exposed the places where control replaced trust — and how letting go opened the way for a deeper, steadier relationship with God.This is not a guide or a promise of outcomes, but a testimony of unlearning, stillness, and discovering that nothing in our story is beyond redemption.If you’ve ever felt exhausted by self-fixing, spiritually confused, or quietly longing for something more grounded and true, this episode offers space to listen, reflect, and breathe.

Motherhood can feel heavier than expected, leaving many women quietly wondering if something is wrong with them.In this opening episode, we name that question and explore why it’s so common.This conversation looks at how isolation, exhaustion, and the loss of shared life shape the modern experience of motherhood — not as personal failure, but as the result of cultural and structural patterns that leave many women carrying more than they were meant to hold alone. We reflect on the absence of the village and the impact of living disconnected from shared rhythms and community.This episode is not about fixing yourself or offering solutions.It’s an invitation to see your experience with more compassion, release the belief that you’re broken, and begin reimagining a more connected, human way of living — together.

She Is Not Broken is a gentle place to explore the parts of motherhood that feel messy, lonely, or confusing, without shame or pressure to “do better.”This is for the mom who wants to feel safe in her body again, connected to herself, and rooted in truth.Come as you are.Nothing about you needs fixing.