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Surviving Sarah

The Surviving Sarah Podcast is hosted by Sarah Bragg, and each week she brings a different guest on the show to talk about what it looks like to survive--survive life, yourself, your kids, your job, your relationships. Each guest brings their unique story to the table in a real and casual way. The conversation is curated for you much like listening to your favorite playlist to inform, inspire, encourage and entertain women.
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Now displaying: 2019
Jul 2, 2019

I'm excited to put this conversation back in your ears! This was the first time David Thomas from Daystar Counseling Center came on the show. We talk about raising boys, child development, dealing with your child's aggression and adjusting our parenting expectations. If you want to hear more with David, check out episode 91 of Surviving Sarah and our other podcast, Raising Boys and Girls.

Shownotes

Connect with Sarah: website // Instagram

Jun 25, 2019

I want to have a conversation with you about where we are in life. If you have ever felt stuck where you are and unhappy with how life has turned out, then this episode is for you. I talk about how powerful acceptance is—accepting where you are and who you are. And how acceptance starts by naming what reality you are resisting.

Connect with Sarah: Instagram

Jun 18, 2019
I am happy to welcome Justine Froelker to the show. She is a licensed professional counselor and certified Daring Way and Dare to Lead Facilitator which is based on Brené Brown’s research. She has 19 years of experience in mental health. She is a best selling author and her latest book is called The Complicated Gray.
 
We have a really meaningful conversation about hard times. We talk about what to do when life doesn’t turn out like you hoped, dreamed and planned. She walks us through her story of infertility and how she discovered resilient redemption. Your big, hard parts of your story don’t have to be the end. You don’t have to end up a sad, bitter, resentful woman. We talk about what it looks like to be face down in the arena of something hard and how to rise strong from it.
 
Come find me on Instagram and say hello! And be sure to sign up for my monthly Survival Kit newsletter that hits your inbox at the end of every month. When you sign up, you'll receive my FREE planner pages as a thank you.
Jun 11, 2019
I am so excited to welcome Pete Enns to the podcast today. Pete is a college professor who has been teaching, writing and speaking about the Bible for over 20 years. He is a storyteller which is one reason why I love his writing but I also love that Pete isn’t afraid to lean in and ask hard questions. He values hearing the stories of everyday people and their struggles with the Bible. That drives so much of what he does with his writing and with his podcast, The Bible For Normal People. 
 
I have read two of his books, The Bible Tells Me So and How the Bible Actually Works, and have thoroughly enjoyed reading and wrestling through them. I want to let you know upfront that this is a vulnerable conversation. But it’s exactly what I want to model for you. I want us to have permission to ask questions. Permission to doubt. Permission to lean into the uncertainty that we feel about life. Permission to be critical thinkers when it comes to our faith. All of these things aren’t problems for our faith—they can be expressions of it. 
 
In this episode, we talk about the bible—what it is and what it isn’t. We talk about how to apply the way of wisdom when we approach the bible. And we dive into how to talk about the bible with our kids.
 
Show Notes for this episode
Connect with Sarah: Instagram // Website
 
 
Jun 4, 2019
We have a special episode today because I teamed up with my good friends over at the Open Door Sisterhood Podcast, Alexandra Kuykendall & Krista Gilbert, to bring you a crossover episode about summer. And then, we decided to invite our friends Kate Merrick and Morgan Tyree to join us, too. All five of us join forces to talk about surviving summer. This is a two part episode so after you listen here be sure to find the other part to this conversation at The Open Door Sisterhood Podcast.
 
On this part, we talk about our biggest challenges in regards to time and summer. Morgan Tyree is an organizational expert and has a book coming out this summer that is all about time called Take Back Your Time. So we put her in the hot seat and fire questions at her. 
 
And what is so great about the women at this table is that we represent kids between the ages of preschool and college age. So no matter where you fall in the stages of kids, we’ve got you covered. We talk about chores, juggling schedules, how to create more time for fun, advice for work from home moms and how to help your kids learn to manage their time. Lots of good practical advice shared here.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website & Instagram
Today's show notes which includes links to everything we talked about and ways to connect with each guest.
May 28, 2019

Today, I want to have a conversation with you about what surviving looks like. In our culture, it’s easy to operate out of a do it all and do it well mentality. We are told to thrive in every situation. And then the pressure builds and we live in a state of "supposed to's." Somewhere along the lines, surviving got a bad rep. But what if surviving is something noteworthy? What if surviving was actually admirable? In this episode, I will talk about what surviving means to me—what I think it actually is—and how we need to give ourselves permission to show up where we are as we are.

Connect with Sarah on Instagram.

Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survivial Kit newsletter to find out all the things that have helped her survive the month. And as a gift, you will receive FREE downloadable planner pages to help you survive your week, your day and your meal plan.

May 21, 2019
Tiffany Bluhm joins me around the table and we became fast friends in this conversation. I was blown away at her story and I think that all of us listening will resonate with her in some way. She is an author, speaker, podcast host, wife and mother who shares her personal stories of rejection, failure and what it’s like to overcome adversity to find your dream. She married with two kids, one adopted from Uganda and one biological. She is Indian and her husband is white and she jokes that their family looks like the United Nations.
 
In this conversation, she shares her own story of rejection—being abandoned as a baby at only two days old to feeling rejected because she was different than others to being rejected from love as an adult. We talk about the tensions we feel about dreaming about the life we were created for or the life we want—what gets in the way and how to take the next step forward. If you’ve ever wondered if this is it in life or feel stuck where you are, then this conversation will encourage you.
 
To connect with Tiffany and find links to everything we talked about including her book go to SarahBragg.com
 
Connect with Sarah on Instagram to follow along with a fellow survivor of life
May 14, 2019
My friend Amy Wicks joins me today. Amy is one of those people that I met at a conference simply because we sat down next to each other and about 10 minutes later we were fast friends. Amy is a wife and mother to 3. She is the voice of the weekly Simply Wholehearted Podcast which i had the honor of being a guest. She leads The Simply Wholehearted online community on Facebook and serves as Director of Mom's Ministry at Radiant Church in Kansas City. She has recently co-authored with Sara Hagerty The Unseen Way, a book study created for Unseen: The Gift of Being Hidden in a World that Loves to be Noticed.
 
But for today’s conversation, Amy joins me to talk about creating an intentional summer with your kids. She has created an amazing course called Simply Summer and I highly recommend taking advantage of this course. In this conversation, we talk about what makes summers so difficult for moms, how we can survive summer with intentionality, how we can own our time instead of it owning us, how to create meaningful minutes, and how to help our kids set goals for what they want to accomplish over summer.
 
Amy's Simply Summer Course - use discount code SURVIVING for 10% off
Today's show notes 
Connect with Sarah: Instagram // Facebook // Website
May 7, 2019
Ruth Schwenk joins me today. You may know Ruth from the website she created called TheBetterMom.com. She is a wife and mom to 4 kids. She is an author of several books including the two we mention in today’s episode: The Better Mom Devotional and Settle My Soul.
 
If you’ve ever felt alone in motherhood or struggled to love every stage of motherhood, you will relate to this conversation. Ruth has such a heart to come alongside other mothers to help them feel seen and known. In this episode, Ruth shares her advice for new moms, the importance of surrounding yourself with women who are a set ahead in life and those who are a set behind you in life. And in that true form, I ask for her advice on how to handle sibling conflict. And lastly, after walking through a year of health hardship with her husband, she shares what brave has looked like for her.
 
Today's show notes which includes Sarah's takeaways, ways to connect with Ruth and discussion questions in case you want to gather a group of women together to discuss the episode.
 

Freebies:

Connect with Sarah online: Instagram // Website

Apr 30, 2019

Last month, I asked you to join me in reading The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown. This is one of my all time favorite books and one that I sit with on a regular basis. I’ve already heard from many of you how this book has been wrecking you in the most beautiful ways.

I asked my dear friend, Sarah Anderson, to join me around my table to discuss the book. We had the best conversation that included our takeaways, favorite quotes, things that surprised us, things we are putting in to practice and what is helping live a wholehearted life.

Freebies:

Be sure to check out the show notes online for links to everything we mentioned and discussion questions that you can use to discuss this book and episode with your friends.

Apr 23, 2019

Jordan Lee Dooley joins me today. She is a multi-passionate women who is speaks, writes, podcasts (SHE podcast) and creates (SoulScripts). And she has a book launching in May called Own Your Everyday: Overcome the Pressure to Prove and Show Up For What You Were Made To Do. In the midst of a culture where everybody feels like they need to work within their purpose and/or push their creativity to be a side hustle, it’s easy to feel like purpose and position become blurred. It is sometimes difficult to find the balance between working for income and working with meaning. We talk about the balance between purpose and position; how to discover what you were made for; things that limit us from stepping towards what we were made to do; who inspires her; and what she’s learned in the early years of marriage.

Freebies:

Connect with Sarah: website // Instagram // Facebook

Go listen to Season 2 of Sarah's other podcast Raising Boys & Girls

Apr 16, 2019
I am happy to welcome my friend, Heather Zempel, to the table today. She is a pastor, author, speaker, wife and mom. She was formerly a biological engineer and a legislative assistant in the U.S. Senate before becoming a pastor. She now serves as the Discipleship Pastor and Ministries Director at National Community Church in Washington, DC. She recently published a book called Big Change, Small Groups which is all about creating community.
 
There is so much goodness packed into this conversation. Not only do we cover random stories about vultures, but we also talk about some really important ways to connect with others. Finding community in a city is hard enough, but have you ever imagined what it must be like to find community in a city where everyone is defined by which political aisle you belong to?
 
So we talk about what its like to build community with people that you disagree with, advice on creating a safe place for community to cultivate, how her community showed up for her when she walked through a difficult and vulnerable season and she shares a lot of advice on how to handle conflict in relationships.
 
Apr 9, 2019

One of my favorite things is to have reoccurring guests on the show. I love inviting people back to the table who I just really enjoy and today’s guest is one of those people. KariAnne Wood, whom you may know as Thistle Wood Farms, joins me again. She is a home blogger, influencer and author who has written a new book called The DIY Style Finder. If you have ever asked the question, “How do I figure out my decorating style?” then this episode is for you! We talk about  why its so hard to find our style, our biggest design regrets, how to push past the fear of decorating, our favorite rooms to decorate, advice on how to decorate on a limited budget and what to do when your home is temporary. I have never laughed so much in an episode. KariAnne is such a delight. And before we jump into the conversation, I want to let you know that the audio may sound a little different. Skype has been giving me such grief lately, so I apologize that it might sound a little off than what you are used to from me. Okay, now it’s time for you to join KariAnne and I around the table.

Freebies:

Apr 2, 2019
Way back in January I sat down with today’s guest and as I was editing the episode, I found myself talking about things that I was journaling about and working on this very morning. My friend, Emily Shupert, joined me around my table. She is licensed professional counselor and founder of a boutique counseling and coaching company here in Atlanta called Simplify Life Counseling + Coaching. She is the author of the book The Happiness Map which was written to offer women a personalized navigation tool to find happiness in life right now.
 
Emily and I have an honest conversation about anxiety (including postpartum anxiety), fear and shame and how that affects us as women. We also turn the table and I step right into the hot seat of vulnerability and allow Emily to ask me some personal questions about fear. This conversation is full of practical and helpful advice—I know you are going to enjoy it.
 
Check out links to everything we mentioned, ways to connect with Emily, takeaways and discussion questions in today's show notes.
 
NEW!!
I just started a Surviving Sarah book club! We will read The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown together in April 2019. Sign up here!
 
Connect with Sarah: Instagram // Website // Facebook
Mar 29, 2019

This month, I chose to re-release my first conversation with Sandra Stanley. If you don’t know her, she is an author and wife to pastor Andy Stanley. She is one of the most likable people and this conversation was one of my favorites from the early days. In this episode, she shares all sorts of advice for moms, wives and women in general. Plus, she mentions an item in her survival kit and is now a stable in my wardrobe.

The original episode aired in May of 2016 so you may notice a little difference in production quality. I love how far we've come!

Here's a link to the original show notes.

Come find me on Instagram or Facebook or stop by my website to download FREE planner pages to help you be more efficient and productive with the time you have.

Mar 26, 2019

Today, I want to have a conversation with you about health. I’m not sure that I’ve shared on the show my own health journey. In fact, did you know that I wrote a book all about it that was published when I was in my twenties? It was written for teenage girls and called Body. Beauty. Boys. The Truth About Girls and How We See Ourselves. 

That book chronicled my journey through eating disorders and body obsession and the truths that finally helped me see myself clearly. The girl who wrote that book as a 25-year-old had yet to experience turning 30 and yet to experience having babies and yet to experience turning 40. And I’m talking you today and I have yet to experience what turning 50 or 60 is like but I do know that there are some principles that we can adopt now that is beneficial no matter what age we are. There are principles that will help you to have a better perspective on yourself and your health.

Connect with Sarah: Instagram

Check out the show notes for this episode which includes links to everything we talked about and discussion questions for the episode.

For information about the FASTer Way to Fat Loss

Sign up for Sarah's monthly newsletter which will inform you on all the things that helped her survive that month.

Mar 19, 2019
I have been looking forward to putting today’s conversation in your ears for a long time. Shannon Miles joins me around the table. She is the CEO and Co-founder of Belay which is a staffing company serving businesses all over the US. 
 
When Shannon faced an all too common, yet emotional decision to stay home with her new baby or return to a fast-paced, demanding career (that she loved), she knew that there had to be a way to have both. Shannon shares her story and advice on how she didn’t take no for an option. We talk about her book titled “The Third Option” which is all about figuring out how to have both a career and family. We talk about what to do when you feel stuck and how to figure out that next step.
 
If you enjoyed today’s episode, would you take a screenshot and share it on your favorite social channels and tag me. I’m @sarahwbragg on Instagram and SurvivingSarahPodcast on Facebook. That’s an easy way to support the show. Another thing you could do is to leave a 5 star rating and review on iTunes. Your review will help other women who feel alone or depleted find encouragement. 
 
You can find links to everything we talked about and discussion questions to complement today’s episode online at SarahBragg.com. While you’re there, be sure to sign up for my monthly newsletter in which I send out the details to my own survival kit. Maybe something that is helping me survive will help you, too. And since we talked about planners, if you’d like a FREE resource to help you plan your day, your week and your meals, go to SarahBragg.com/planner and download your FREE planner pages today!
Mar 12, 2019

Jessica Reinhart joins me today on Surviving Sarah. She is the creator behind the brand Lumitory which exists to help encourage community and meaningful connection in your home and in your community. She loves to breath life into something that makes a positive impact in the world. In addition to her work, she is a wife and a mom. And our conversation is such a good follow up conversation to my recent episode about friendship. We talk about how to navigate the waters of social media and real life friendships, how to create a sense of belonging in our home with our family and practical ways to build connection in your community.

If you enjoyed today’s episode, would you take a screenshot and share it on your favorite social channels and tag me. I’m @sarahwbragg on Instagram and SurvivingSarahPodcast on Facebook. That’s an easy way to support the show. Another thing you could do is to leave a 5 star rating and review on iTunes. Your review will help other women who feel alone or depleted find encouragement. 
 
You can find links to everything we talked about and discussion questions to complement today’s episode online at SarahBragg.com. While you’re there, be sure to sign up for my monthly newsletter in which I send out the details to my own survival kit. Maybe something that is helping me survive will help you, too.
 
Thank you for listening and as always I hope this show helps you survive a little easier.
Mar 5, 2019
I am happy to have Alli Worthington join me around the table. Alli is a powerhouse of a woman who has authored several books and is a speaker, podcaster and business coach. She is also the co-founder of the Blissdom Conference which is a business conference that helps writers, podcasters, influencers and online entrepreneurs take their work to the next level. I so want to be apart of that in the future!
 
Among those things, she is a wife and mom of 5 boys who has a goal to help women live the life they were created to live. And in this conversation, we talk about happiness. We talk about misconceptions about happiness, how she survived walking through a hard season of bankruptcy and losing her home, how adopting a happiness mentality can benefit your life and business and practical ways to increase your happiness. I love that Alli is very practical so this conversation is gonna not only motivate you but leave with you with some action steps.
 
I wanted to make sure that you don’t miss out on something I offer. Each month, I send out to email subscribers my very own survival kit. It’s where I talk about all the things that helped me survive that month including what I’m reading, what i’m watching, what I’m listening to and just what I’m loving. You don’t want to miss out on all the things so go to SarahBragg.com and sign up. When you do, you will receive the planner pages that I created for FREE. So that is a win, win.
 
Come find me on Instagram or Facebook! Let's be there for each other as we survive life!
Feb 28, 2019

This month, I decided to re-release my conversation with Sofia Dickens where we talk about parenting and developing emotional intelligence in our kids. We also talk about what it's like to be an entrepreneur. One of my kids' favorite board games has been EQtainment's Q's Race To The Top. You definitely want to check that out!

This episode originally aired in June of 2016 so you may notice a little difference in production quality. Love how far we've come!

Here's the link to the original show notes.

Come find me on Instagram or Facebook or stop by my website to download FREE planner pages to help you be more efficient and productive with the time you have.

Feb 26, 2019

We are already at the end of month which means it is time for me to sit across the table from you and have a heart to heart. I am loving these episodes where it’s just me talking right to you. And this month, we are going to talk about something that I think most of us struggle with. Every time I’ve reached out to you guys about what topics you’d like to hear addressed, there is one that rises to the top—friendship. Isn’t it interesting that even as adult women, we struggle in the friendship department like we did when we were tweens. So in this conversation, we are going to talk about how to find friends, how to keep friends and what to do if you lose friends.

Help me help you! Take the 2019 listener survey and be entered to win a $25 amazon gift card

Connect with Sarah: Instagram // Facebook // website

Feb 19, 2019

I am so happy to welcome Knox McCoy to the show. Knox and his family are no strangers to the Bragg’s. We used to live in the same city and became great friends. Knox even helped me launch the podcast way back when. If you don’t know Knox, he is the co-host of the wildly popular podcasts “The Popcast with Knox and Jamie” and “The Bible Binge” They are killing it on the iTunes charts and if you haven’t subscribed to their shows, then press pause and go do it. You won’t be disappointed. And sidebar, his co-host Jamie Golden was on Episode 17 of Surviving Sarah if you want to go back to hear more of her story.

Knox joins me to talk about all things faith and pop culture. We talk about his book The Wondering Years along with what it was like to be so vulnerable in his writing. We talk about his evolving faith—how questions should be honored and what helped him navigate them. We also talk about everything from Survivor to baseball to something that blew his mind about his beloved Tom Brady. This is two friends talking about things that don’t really matter and things that do. I hope you enjoy it! 

Download your FREE planner pages here and help me curate content for the show by taking my 2019 podcast survey here

Come find me on Instagram or read today's show notes here

Feb 12, 2019
You are going to love today’s episode. I loved it when I recorded it and loved it when I edited it. Kathleen Edelman joins me. She is an expert on temperaments and recently released a new study called I Said You Heard. It is a 6 week video based study that will help you understand yourself and others better in order to communicate better.
 
We talk about the difference between temperaments and personalities, Kathleen breaks down each of the four temperaments and tells us who they are, what language they speak, what they need, what their strengths and weaknesses are, how to communicate well between temperaments and how to handle conflict better. There is so much good and powerful information in this episode. I think you’re gonna love it.
 
Each year I create a survey so that I can make sure that I am serving you well. I would really appreciate it if you would take a few minutes and answer some questions about the show. And as a reward, you will be entered to win a $25 amazon gift card. Go to SarahBragg.com/survey
 
I truly want to help guide you to be the best you that you can be. So let’s be friends. Make sure to hit that little subscribe button so you will never miss an episode. And come find me @sarahwbragg on Instagram or twitter or SurvivingSarahPodcast on Facebook. And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it on your social channels and tag me.
Feb 5, 2019

Dr. Deborah Tillman joins me today but you may know her best as America’s Super Nanny for Lifetime television. She is a child development and parent educator, speaker, author and founder & CEO of Happy Home Child Learning Centers. 

And today, we have such a helpful conversation. It was like Deborah was in my home being super nanny and helping me to the best parent I can be. We talk about how she became America’s Super Nanny, how to handle a strong willed child, how to steer your child in the right direction and how to set boundaries with your kids. 

Connect with Sarah: show notes // Instagram // Facebook 

Be sure to sign up for Sarah's newsletter and receive FREE printable downloadable planner pages

Jan 29, 2019

I love the start of every year because there is something fresh about it. I love looking back at the previous year at what I loved or what I enjoyed and taking notes of what I’d like to repeat or do more of in the coming year.

One thing that I want to do more of this year is to come alongside you to help you navigate life. So each month, I’m going to do an episode from me to you. No guest. Just me. Talking straight to you.

For January, I decided to answer a question that I am asked a lot: How do you manage your time? I share with you the tensions we feel when it comes to managing our time, why we need to learn to budget our time, what I personally do to manage my time on a daily and weekly basis.

Download your FREE planner pages

Connect with Sarah: Instagram // Facebook // Website

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