For The Love With Jen Hatmaker Podcast

We’re starting strong in our new series For the Love of Powerhouse Women, because we’re joined by one of our personal heroes: Melinda Gates. Kind and wise, Melinda leads the world largest philanthropy, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to improve the lives of millions of women and children around the world, and she does it all with a listening ear and an equally fierce and gentle spirit. We’re thrilled to talk with her today about her dynamite new book The Moment of Lift. Melinda lets us in our her early days in Dallas, growing up in a devoted Catholic family and learning about the lives of the marginalized through volunteer work at the country courthouse. After receiving degrees in computer science and business at Duke, Melinda made her way to Microsoft, where she led product teams on little things you might’ve heard of like Microsoft Word and Expedia, before turning down Bill Gates for a date, then eventually becoming his bride. When her children were young, Melinda explored the lives of little ones like her own around the globe and wondered why children in other countries were dying of preventable diseases like malaria. Her trip down the rabbit hole led to conclude that their mothers needed to be lifted up. And in fact, when you lift up a woman, she lifts up everyone else. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this bonus episode as we begin a new series, which features Powerhouse Women, we’re thrilled to visit with someone close to one of the most powerful women on the planet! Stedman Graham is a brilliant business consultant whose clients range from Microsoft to the US Department of Labor. And after talking with him about his latest book, Identity Leadership, we can see why. Stedman reminds us if you want to lead someone else, you need to lead yourself first—and leading yourself means knowing who you are and where you want to go. He and Jen talk about why love is the secret ingredient to transforming our energy, why Oprah is one of the world’s most effective leaders, and how we can help our kids become creative, curious thinkers who can lead and dare greatly into the next generation. Whether you’re leading the way for your family or an entire company, Stedman’s advice rings true: find what you love and go do it, because love will light you up and change the world. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Break out the champagne and the streamers because today we’re celebrating our 100th episode! To mark this illustrious milestone, Jen is joined by the women behind the podcast: God-sent angel/assistant Amanda Duckett (who had to be heavily bribed to appear on the show), and producer extraordinaire/lover of stats Laura Neutzling. Together the ladies of For the Love dish on the behind-the-scenes shenanigans that have never left their laptops. Learn the secret identity of the first voiceover lady, which guest surprised Jen in the very best way, and what’s saving all our lives. The ladies muse on their personal favorite episodes and reveal which episodes have been your favorites, too. We’re also honored to celebrate you, our listeners, who inspire us to bring the best guests and topics to the table—here’s to the next 100 episodes! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In our fifth and final installment of For the Love of Health & Wellness, we’re exploring the wide world of career health, a huge part of many of our lives that affects us mind, body, and soul. How we spend our days is how we spend our lives, and if you work full-time, you know how much of your day seems to be dedicated to making a living. But what happens when you’re ready for the next step . . . and you don’t know what it is? Whether you’re a young person trying to break into a career or you’re wanting to start fresh later in life, what if it feels like the opportunities you expected aren’t presenting themselves? Rich Karlgaard, the publisher of Forbes Magazine, helps us embrace the notion that it’s never too late for us. While Rich landed a job that he loves, he didn’t always have a clear idea of his path. Years after he graduated from college, he wandered from job to entry-level job, seeking a spark from something (like so many of us). Rich has written a fascinating book called Late Bloomers, and he and Jen muse on why our world is so obsessed with early achievement, how that’s hurting adults and kids alike, and the benefits of “peaking” at a higher age. It’s never too late to start the business, write the book, go after the dream. In fact, the wisdom we might gain through hard-won experience could be just the thing that helps us succeed. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  *Since this episode contains mature themes, we recommend listening where kids can’t hear.* We forge ahead in For the Love of Health & Wellness with an important facet of our health we don’t address as openly as we may care to admit: sexual health. Jen sits down with sexologist Dr. Celeste Holbrook, who has dedicated her life to helping women achieve soul-centered sex, and they broach topics many of us might be too timid to bring up. Ever wonder how much sex is normal? It’s in here. Want to know what the #1 arousal killer is? Gotcha covered. And (gulp) we even discuss how to talk to our kids about sex (!). Not only does Celeste discuss these important topics, she also relates her own journey with sex—from the anticipation of having a mind-blowing sexual encounter for the first time, to finding that for her, the whole event was . . . less than ideal. For years, sex remained a painful, shame-inducing experience for Celeste that finally drove her to get help, but even then her doctor couldn’t give her the answers she needed to address the physical and emotional issues she had around sex. Celeste decided to take her sexual health into her own hands and got her PhD in sexology. Now Celeste sees one of the biggest ways she can help her clients have better sex is by helping them find their worth. She wants to empower women to know themselves and feel confident in their bodies, so that they are able to ask for what they want inside and outside the bedroom. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Let’s get in the driver’s seat of how we’re living, who we’re investing in, and how we’re spending our time as we head into the third episode of For the Love of Health & Wellness. Today we’re looking at the direct connection between living a life of kindness and improving our mental and physical health. Did you know studies show that helping others can reduce early mortality rates by 22%, diminish depression, and increase our sense of life satisfaction and well-being? Author, TV Host, and curator of the 100 Things List Terry Sebastian found this out firsthand. After tragically losing a childhood friend, 24-year-old Sebastian made a list of 100 Things he wanted to pursue, hoping it would bring him joy and a life of no regrets, and set out to bring his list to life. While the adventure involved amazing things like jumping out of a plane (naked!) and delivering a baby, he realized his true mission when he met a quadriplegic man named Mark, who dreamed of completing a half marathon. Sebastian helped Mark reach his dream by pushing Mark the entire 13.1 miles. Sebastian’s new mission to spread kindness led him to create an organization called Kindsum, which connects “helpers” to those who are vulnerable and brave enough to ask for help. Sebastian shows us what’s possible by living intentionally and how showing kindness can change ourselves and the world for good. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With the second episode of our For the Love of Health & Wellness series, we’re taking a deep dive into physical health—but this is not a “go get your annual physical” guilt trip. We’re talking with a doctor who’s taking a refreshing “body and mind” approach to looking at health, a physician who started a literary journal and decided to learn how to play the cello because she wanted a little more beauty and learning in her life. Dr. Danielle Ofri is a general physician at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, the oldest public hospital in America, and today she brings us into life inside the white coat as she and Jen discuss some of the HUGE changes the medical world has seen over the last few decades, what we really need to do to stay healthy (hint: make friends, get a hobby, and drink lots of water), and some of the exciting medical breakthroughs we might see in our lifetime. Equal parts art and science, Dr. Ofri emphasizes that better and more frequent communication and connection is at the heart of what will keep us healthy in the long run, which she talks about in her latest book What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re thrilled to begin a new series we hope will spur conversations about our body image, health, nutrition and well-being. During For the Love of Health & Wellness, we’re stepping out of the body-shaming space and giving the mic to experts and clinicians who have wise ways to help us take stock of how we’re doing, and adjust those dials to feel a bit better. In this episode, we’re talking food and body with our first guest, nutritionist Haley Goodrich, who we adore for many reasons—especially the way she helps others find joy and peace with their bodies. If you’re tired of feeding into toxic diet culture, you’ll be refreshed by Haley’s “Health at Every Size” philosophy that says you are worthy of caring for your body in ways that make you feel stronger and healthier, no matter the number you see on the scale. Jen and Haley have an eye-opening discussion about the way thin privilege shows up in our everyday lives and how we can become more inclusive of others’ different shapes. Haley encourages us to develop a healthy relationship with food that doesn’t involve strict calorie counting or calling foods “good” or “bad,” but instead helps us remember food is neutral—it’s just something we nourish ourselves with, body and soul. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We lost a beloved friend, teacher, and true faith groundbreaker this week. Her teachings, writings, and insight into the Christian faith have quietly revolutionized the lives for many whose religious upbringing imposed limits and yielded scars. Because of Rachel, more women than ever have begun pursuing their place in the pulpit. Because of Rachel, the way has been paved for all of us who struggle with questions, doubts and failings in the faith to speak openly about it. Her passing seems sudden, and too soon. But right now, we are clinging to her warmth and wisdom in hopes we can continue to be the light she always was for us. In that spirit, we’re re-airing her conversation from last year about her fierce love of the church, even in the midst of her doubt. In Rachel’s own words from that interview, “Ours is a God of death and resurrection—and that God can take anything and bring it to life.” In moments like this, we realize Rachel’s work planted seeds of hope that will bloom across generations. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We always like to mix it up a little bit here in For the Love Podcast world, and we hope you’ll be the happy beneficiaries of this bonus episode! We got the chance to catch up with one of our faves--the beautiful and talented Chrissy Metz--who plays the role of Kate Pearson on the beloved, boo-hoo-every-week hit television show, This Is Us. Chrissy shares a little about how she got her start, and in the process cheers on the late bloomers among us and those who may be tired of living in the shadows. She goes on to talk about the powerful movie she recently starred in called Breakthrough. In this true life story, she plays the role of a mother, who after everyone told her her son wouldn’t survive a terrible accident, decided to believe that he could. Chrissy experienced a similar situation after her own mother suffered a stroke, and relates how the role echoed her real life crisis. Chrissy is a champion for being vulnerable--as an actor, and as a woman--and is a model for what it means to finally believe in yourself and take a leap of faith. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices