Voice Notes: Hi Sam

In this episode of Voice Notes: Hi Sam, I take you along for my entire birthday week — and it turns out, a solo trip to Fredericksburg, a crying-at-breakfast moment, and a very questionable dating card taught me more about myself than I expected.I've always made my birthday a whole thing. A week off, a solo trip, a celebration with the people I love. But this year felt different. This year I turned 29 — and somewhere between hiking Enchanted Rock, sobbing over a breakfast basket, and sipping champagne with a stranger at a wine tasting, it clicked: I am someone who knows how to take care of herself. And that's not small.Back in Houston, I had a bowling party with people from different corners of my life, and watching them all get along reminded me how intentionally I've been building something here. Community. A real one.But this episode isn't just about the birthday glow. It's also about the boldness that came with it. I talk about the "coochie card" I'm designing for dating (trust me, it makes sense), why going from 28 to 29 felt like a genuine shift in identity, and what it means to finally want to take up space without apologizing for it.The deeper thing I'm sitting with is this: I used to wait for someone else to create the experience, the care, the thoughtfulness. Now I'm the one doing it — for myself. And once you know you can do that, you stop playing small.

In this episode of Voice Notes: Hi Sam, I reflect on something my therapist had to stop me mid-session to address: my habit of living fully and freely in the moment, then spending the next 24 hours putting myself on trial for it.I've always been someone who acts first and thinks later. I go into the world unfiltered, I make connections easily, I say what I feel...But then, I come home and analyze every single thing I said or did until I've convinced myself I was too much.Through conversations with my therapist, affirmations from friends, and a weekend that involved three different guys and one very chaotic singles event, I started to see something clearly: the things I criticize most about myself are often the things people value most about me.But this episode isn't just about dating. It's also about a career pivot I didn't see coming, the creative projects I'm building in real time, and why I almost talked myself out of all of them (including this podcast).The deeper lesson I'm sitting with is this: not everything needs to be fixed. Not everything needs to be optimized or worked on. Some things just need to be lived.The work right now isn't about becoming a quieter, more filtered version of myself. It's about learning to trust her.This voice note is about authenticity, over-analysis, and what it actually looks like to just be yourself without apologizing for it afterward.

In this episode of Voice Notes: Hi Sam, I reflect on a pattern I’ve started to notice in my relationships - how my instinct to protect myself can sometimes turn into isolation.After leaving a toxic environment, I realized that even though I was physically safe, my mind and nervous system hadn’t caught up yet. Fear of judgment, rejection, and abandonment had quietly shaped the way I approached connection with others.Through therapy, self-reflection, and a recent interaction that triggered my nervous system, I began to understand something important: protection isn’t weakness - it’s pattern recognition.But the deeper lesson is learning balance. Healing isn’t just about protecting yourself; it’s also about accepting people for who they are, meeting them where they are, and allowing relationships to unfold without rushing to define them or abruptly cutting them off when misalignment appears.The work now isn’t about silencing my instincts - it’s about listening to them while responding with discernment instead of fear.This voice note is about fear, connection, and learning how to upgrade the ways we protect ourselves so they serve us instead of isolate us.

In the very first episode of Voice Notes: Hi Sam, I’m sharing a little bit about who I am, why I started this podcast, and how years of talking to myself through voice memos somehow turned into this.This episode is your introduction to me, this space, and what you can expect moving forward: deep thoughts, real conversations, self-reflection, and probably a few accidental breakthroughs.