The Authentic Heart Podcast

In this episode of The Authentic Heart Podcast, Amber sits down with therapist Jena Brooks for a heartfelt conversation about healing, people pleasing, self-abandonment, and the journey back to your authentic self. Together, they explore what it means to honor your needs, recognize your inner critic, understand trauma patterns, and create more space for self-trust and emotional growth. Jena also shares insight into therapy, inner child work, nervous system regulation, and why slowing down can be an important part of healing.This episode is for anyone learning how to stop living in survival mode, set healthier boundaries, and reconnect with the truest version of themselves.Jena Brooks is a certified restorative therapist specializing in trauma-informed work, self-worth, and relationship patterns. Known for her honest, relatable, and compassionate approach, she helps people move beyond survival mode, transform old emotional patterns, and build healthier relationships with themselves and others. Jena blends depth, humor, and real life insight to make personal growth feel both empowering and approachable. She works with 1 on 1 clients and is able to work with people both inside and outside of Texas.Find Jena Brooks here:-https://www.jenabrookstherapy.com/-https://www.instagram.com/jena_brooks/-https://www.tiktok.com/@jena_b3Support the show-Follow Amber's music journey: https://beacons.ai/amberwesterman-Listen to Amber's new song "Feel It All" -Sign Up for Amber's Mailing list-Follow The Authentic Heart on SocialsThanks for listening to the The Authentic Heart! If you are enjoying what you hearing a quick rating helps a lot, and sharing with a friend means the world! You can sign up for my email list and find me on socials here, and don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to your pods so each episode lands in your feed when released.

Amber welcomes musician and songwriter Jesse Garcia for a heart-centered conversation on presence, ego, creativity, and authentic living. Together they explore the spiritual nature of music, the courage it takes to be fully seen, and the importance of creating from truth instead of pressure, image, or societal norms.Jesse Garcia grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He began studying classical piano at 9, and his musical interests quickly expanded! Over the course of his youth he studied flute, cello, Zimbabwean marimba, voice, and guitar. After only 1.5 years of study he became the principal cellist for the Santa Fe Youth Symphony and subsequently placed 5th in the New Mexico All-State competition. He began teaching Zimbabwean marimba classes when he was 14; this style of music is taught by ear to groups of 5-10 people. He directed/co-directed The Ande Marimba Band - one of the premier Zimbabwean Marimba bands in the US! The band headlined many times at the Zimbabwean Music Festival and toured successfully for years. In his early twenties Jesse found songwriting. This quickly became his primary focus. His intricate fingerstyle guitar, smooth voice, and vulnerable lyrics are frequently likened to James Taylor. Jesse's broad influences imbue his music with classical phrasings and technique along with world rhythm and syncopation.Follow Jesse's journey and find his music:https://linktr.ee/fool_0f_ideashttps://www.instagram.com/fool_0f_ideas/https://open.spotify.com/artist/4UyNhYeJ831ZkLZcnVf3zd?si=SLkM_k1LS7iXsnH4jgfhzASupport the show-Follow Amber's music journey: https://beacons.ai/amberwesterman-Listen to Amber's new song "Feel It All" -Sign Up for Amber's Mailing list-Follow The Authentic Heart on SocialsThanks for listening to the The Authentic Heart! If you are enjoying what you hearing a quick rating helps a lot, and sharing with a friend means the world! You can sign up for my email list and find me on socials here, and don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to your pods so each episode lands in your feed when released.

Amber sits down with Austin singer songwriter Alison Tucker for a real conversation about starting over. Alison shares how a major life reset, including divorce, and a season of grief, reshaped her identity and ultimately brought her back to music with more honesty than ever. Together they talk about faith, fear versus trust, and what it looks like to keep creating when life feels uncertain. If you are moving through a hard chapter, questioning your next step, or craving proof that a new beginning is possible, this episode will meet you right where you are and gently remind you that your detour can become your direction.Alison Tucker is an Austin-based singer-songwriter working at the intersection of folk, Americana, and country music. Known for her warm alto voice and story-driven songs, Tucker writes about love, loss, identity, and the long road between who we were and who we’re becoming. Her debut album, Where You Used to Be (2025), marks her return to music after a long hiatus.-Find Alison and her music:https://alisontucker.com/https://www.instagram.com/alison_tucker_music/https://www.youtube.com/@alison-tucker-musicSupport the show-Follow Amber's music journey: https://beacons.ai/amberwesterman-Listen to Amber's new song "Feel It All" -Sign Up for Amber's Mailing list-Follow The Authentic Heart on SocialsThanks for listening to the The Authentic Heart! If you are enjoying what you hearing a quick rating helps a lot, and sharing with a friend means the world! You can sign up for my email list and find me on socials here, and don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to your pods so each episode lands in your feed when released.

In this episode of The Authentic Heart Podcast, Amber sits down with her sister in law, Stephanie Schecter, a quantum intuitive healing coach, for a deeply honest conversation about healing and learning to trust yourself again. Stephanie shares her story of healing from childhood trauma and how her journey led her into intuitive work, spirituality, and embodied healing.Together, they talk about what it actually looks like to rebuild inner safety, listen to your “God-tuition,” and let your life expand from a place of truth instead of survival. This one is vulnerable, grounding, and full of hope.Content note: This episode includes discussion of childhood sexual trauma and a brief conversation about psychedelics in the context of healing.Stephanie Schechter is an intuitive thought leader, author, and serial entrepreneur whose work centers on discernment, self-trust, and embodied decision-making. Known for her refined intuitive intelligence and grounded clarity, she guides individuals back to their inner authority—helping them strengthen their intuition so they can make confident, aligned choices without outsourcing their power to logic, trends, or external validation.She is the creator of The Art of Remembering You, a transformational program designed to help people dissolve people-pleasing patterns and move through life with clarity and confidence. Her work is informed by lived experience as a multi-time business founder, global traveler, and creator who has built, scaled, and released companies—often by following intuitive guidance before it made logical sense.Connect with Stephanie:https://www.instagram.com/stephschechter_/https://www.rememberingyou.co/intuitionIf this episode helped you, share it with a friend, and leave a quick rating and review so more hearts can find it.Support the show-Follow Amber's music journey: https://beacons.ai/amberwesterman-Listen to Amber's new song "Feel It All" -Sign Up for Amber's Mailing list-Follow The Authentic Heart on SocialsThanks for listening to the The Authentic Heart! If you are enjoying what you hearing a quick rating helps a lot, and sharing with a friend means the world! You can sign up for my email list and find me on socials here, and don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to your pods so each episode lands in your feed when released.

Amber sits down with Nadia Vaeh, a pop rock artist based in Nashville, for an honest conversation about grief, reinvention, and the winding path back to creativity. Nadia shares how losing her mom as a teenager pulled her away from music, and how a series of wake up calls in her early 20s pushed her to leave a life that looked “good on paper” and start choosing what felt true. Along the way, unexpected detours (including literally joining the circus in Atlanta) reconnected her with an artist community and helped plant the seed that led her back to songwriting, healing, and purpose.Content note: Brief mention of substance use and recovery.Connect with Nadia VaehInstagram and socials: @NadiaVaehWebsite: NadiaVaeh.comSupport the show-Follow Amber's music journey: https://beacons.ai/amberwesterman-Listen to Amber's new song "Feel It All" -Sign Up for Amber's Mailing list-Follow The Authentic Heart on SocialsThanks for listening to the The Authentic Heart! If you are enjoying what you hearing a quick rating helps a lot, and sharing with a friend means the world! You can sign up for my email list and find me on socials here, and don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to your pods so each episode lands in your feed when released.

Episode 2 is a quick “meet your host” moment with Amber Westerman. Amber shares the story that brought her here and how she learned to trust her inner voice. By the end, the message is clear: your body keeps score, your spirit keeps time, and courage is trusting the next aligned step even when the path is foggy.Support the show-Follow Amber's music journey: https://beacons.ai/amberwesterman-Listen to Amber's new song "Feel It All" -Sign Up for Amber's Mailing list-Follow The Authentic Heart on SocialsThanks for listening to the The Authentic Heart! If you are enjoying what you hearing a quick rating helps a lot, and sharing with a friend means the world! You can sign up for my email list and find me on socials here, and don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to your pods so each episode lands in your feed when released.

Ready to stop chasing hustle and start living in flow? Amber is joined by Amanda Lumbrozo, host of Beyond Blissful Birth, for a heart led conversation on authenticity, nervous system regulation, boundaries, and manifestation without forcing. You will learn practical ways to regulate your nervous system, and reconnect with what feels true. Amanda also shares the ALPHA framework, created by Melanie Ann Layer, for navigating hard conversations so you can set boundaries and ask for what you need with confidence.Amanda Lumbrozo is a wife, mother, and spiritual doula. She holds women through life’s most sacred initiations—conception, birth, motherhood, purpose, love, loss, and rebirth—through her grounded presence, where love, safety, and truth are gently embodied and easily accessed.She amplifies women’s excitement about the upcoming miracles in their lives and midwives them into a surrendered state of inevitability.She’s on a mission to share what’s possible when it comes to birth, that it can be pain free and utterly blissful. She’s collecting the most blissful birth stories on the planet on her podcast BEYOND Blissful Birth kicking it off with the story of her daughter’s water birth in an RV with just her husband and doula.-You can connect with Amanda on Facebook and Instagram-And check out her podcast here:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-blissful-birth/id1770634607Support the show-Follow Amber's music journey: https://beacons.ai/amberwesterman-Listen to Amber's new song "Feel It All" -Sign Up for Amber's Mailing list-Follow The Authentic Heart on SocialsThanks for listening to the The Authentic Heart! If you are enjoying what you hearing a quick rating helps a lot, and sharing with a friend means the world! You can sign up for my email list and find me on socials here, and don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to your pods so each episode lands in your feed when released.

A new podcast for busy creatives, entrepreneurs, and anyone ready to slow down, cut through the noise, and reconnect with what feels true. Subscribe now, Episode 1 drops January 5, 2026!Support the show-Follow Amber's music journey: https://beacons.ai/amberwesterman-Listen to Amber's new song "Feel It All" -Sign Up for Amber's Mailing list-Follow The Authentic Heart on SocialsThanks for listening to the The Authentic Heart! If you are enjoying what you hearing a quick rating helps a lot, and sharing with a friend means the world! You can sign up for my email list and find me on socials here, and don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to your pods so each episode lands in your feed when released.