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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: Category: surviving Sarah, interview
Aug 11, 2020
I am so very happy to welcome my friend, Dr. Deborah Tillman, back to the podcast. You may know her best as America’s Supernanny. She is a Consultant, speaker, author and founder of Happy Home Christian Leadership Academy for Early Learners, Inc. The Washington Post labeled her “A force for good” which I completely agree with. She joined me back on episode 163 where we talked about raising strong willed kids.
 
Today, we talk about something that I know Dr. Deborah is passionate about and so am I. We talk about harsh parenting. What that looks like, misconceptions about why people feel like they should discipline harshly, what the goal of discipline really is and alternative ways for all ages. This is such a helpful conversation and a much needed dialog that we as parents need to partake in.
 
Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit newsletter and receive downloadable planner pages for FREE.
 
Check out bonus content from David Thomas & Sissy Goff from Raising Boys & Girls along with deleted content from today's episode over on Patreon.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram
Aug 4, 2020
I am so happy to welcome my good friend, Morgan Tyree, to the show. Morgan is a professional organizer, writer, and fitness instructor. She runs her own personal organization and time-management business and lives with her husband, David, and their three children in Colorado.  She has such a helpful podcast, too, called Morganize With Me. 
 
Today, we have an interesting conversation around her latest book called Your Hospitality Personality. We talk about how we are all wired for hospitality and how that looks for different personalities. This episode is as if the enneagram met the hostess.
 
Check out bonus content from David Thomas & Sissy Goff from Raising Boys & Girls along with deleted content from today's episode over on Patreon.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram
Jun 30, 2020
I am releasing some older episodes as re-runs this summer. These are some conversations that I enjoyed. Running re-runs allows me to take a few weeks to finish my manuscript. For more updates about my upcoming book sign up for my newsletter at Sarahbragg.com and you can follow me on Instagram @sarahwbragg Thank you for your continued support.
 
We start by talking about the personalities of our kids. And I’ve been thinking so much how important it is that we understand our kids’ wiring so that we can figure out how to communicate with them—especially if they are teenagers. We talk about doing the hard work of parenting, why kids need a caring adult in their lives, and how to better understand teenagers. If you have teenagers or work with teenagers or have kids who will eventually be teenagers, then you will certainly enjoy this conversation. We talk about moving from an air traffic controller in the early years to a coach in the adolescent years.
 
Click here for the original show notes to this episode.
Jun 23, 2020

I am releasing some older episodes as re-runs this summer. These are some conversations that I enjoyed. Running re-runs allows me to take a few weeks to finish my manuscript. For more updates about my upcoming book sign up for my newsletter at Sarahbragg.com and you can follow me on Instagram @sarahwbragg Thank you for your continued support.

Click here for the original show notes to this episode.

Jun 9, 2020

I’m happy to welcome Heather Brown to the table. Heather is the creator and editor of the online community, My Life Well Loved. She has a passion to empower women, inspire confidence, and elevate living a life well loved. Her website is a destination for fitness, fashion, mom hacks, and wellness tips. And in this episode, not only do we talk about finding normal in the middle of quarantine but we spend some time focusing on tips for health during this season. Heather shares some tips to stay physically and mentally healthy during this time.

Check out bonus content from David Thomas & Sissy Goff from Raising Boys & Girls along with deleted content from today's episode over on Patreon.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

 

May 26, 2020
Today’s conversation is going to be so helpful because I bet I’m not the only one who has completely lost their mind and exploded in anger at their kids especially during this season of self-isolation. A few weeks ago, certified professional life coach Natalie Hixson joined me to talk about anger and motherhood. Natalie is a mother to three daughters and knows firsthand what it is like to experience destructive anger and burnout. In this conversation, we talk about how anger played a role in her motherhood, how to overcome the pattern of destructive anger, and how to rebuild broken relationships because of anger. 
 
Her story hits so close to home for me. I never knew how to handle negative emotions which made it hard to teach my kids how to handle negative emotions. You’ll hear Natalie coach me through how to handle my emotions when my kids are fighting. And before we jump into the conversation I need to let you know that we experienced some weird technical difficulties about midway through the conversation. Skype actually dropped the call and then we had to try to pick back up where we left off.
 
Download Natalie's Trigger Tracker here
 
Check out bonus content from David Thomas & Sissy Goff from Raising Boys & Girls along with deleted content from today's episode over on Patreon.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram
 
 
May 19, 2020
Today, I am so happy to welcome Kelly Minter to the table. She is an author, speaker, and singer/songwriter who lives in Nashville, TN. Our mutual friend, Sissy Goff, had highly recommended her for the podcast. And since she recently published a beautiful cookbook called A Place At The Table, I decided that this would be the perfect time to have her on the show.…and let me just say that this cookbook is so very pretty and full of easy, delicious recipes. 
 
Kelly was booked to be on the show way back before the pandemic because I wanted to have a conversation about community and the power of inviting people around the table to see how food brings us together. Well, then COVID happened and we recorded this episode just a few weeks ago in the middle of quarantine. So life and community look a little different now for all of us. I really enjoyed this conversation as we navigated what community looks like now and how to lean into where we are. We also talk about how even though you may not be able to gather people around your table you can still use food to cultivate creativity, joy, and meaning.
 
Check out bonus content from David Thomas & Sissy Goff from Raising Boys & Girls along with deleted content from today's episode over on Patreon.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram
May 12, 2020
I am excited to welcome Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers to the table. You may know them as the hosts of the popular Pantsuit Politics podcast. They are also the authors of the book I Think You’re Wrong But I’m Listening: A Guide to Grace-Filled Political Conversations. And I want you to know that this conversation was recorded the week before everything started to shut down so again, you won’t hear a lot of conversation about COVID19.
 
I invited these ladies to be on the show because since 2020 is a big election year, I wanted someone to help me know how to have conversations with my kids about politics. Talking about politics, in general, can feel uncertain and scary but then trying to navigate those waters with your kids adds a whole other layer of vulnerability to it. I think you will find that this conversation is very helpful not just in how to talk to your kids about politics but also how to help yourself feel more confident and curious about politics.
 
Check out bonus content from David Thomas & Sissy Goff from Raising Boys & Girls along with deleted content from today's episode over on Patreon.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram
Apr 28, 2020
Kristin Mize joins me around the table. She is a therapist and licensed clinical social worker who works with moms and mental health. She is a survivor of perinatal depression when she was pregnant with her twins. Not only is she school-certified but she is life certified as well to help women walk through so many aspects of mental health. 
 
Kristin talks to me about depression, anxiety, OCD, and even PTSD in regards to motherhood. She shares signs to look for that show you may be experiencing more than just the baby blues; perfectionism in parenting; how to make your expectations more realistic; what drives our anxiety; and practical steps you can do today to help. This is such a good conversation and helpful in light of the heightened anxiety surrounding our current season of life in light of COVID19.
 
Check out bonus content from David Thomas & Sissy Goff from Raising Boys & Girls along with deleted content from today's episode over on Patreon.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram
Apr 21, 2020

I want to welcome Anne Beiler to the table today, but you likely know her as the founder of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, the largest pretzel franchise in the world and author of the recent book, The Secret Lies Within. Anne shares her story today about the secrets she learned to keep after experiencing the death of her toddler-age daughter and sexual abuse from her pastor. She talks about how growing up Amish shaped her, how she found her way out of a cycle of shame, how confession gave her life and how she was brave enough to write a new ending to her story. I was struck with Anne’s vulnerability, transparency, and humility throughout her story and I know you will be too.

Check out bonus content from David Thomas & Sissy Goff from Raising Boys & Girls along with deleted content from today's episode over on Patreon.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram
Mar 31, 2020
Today, Amber and Guy Lia join me. You may remember Amber from joining me way back on episode 106 where we talked about parenting. Amber and her husband Guy wrote a book called Marriage Triggers. Together they own Storehouse Media Group, a faith-friendly and family-friendly TV and Film production company in Los Angeles, CA. And they are raising 4 boys.
 
As we wrap up our relationship series, we take a deep dive into our relationships with our in-laws. We talk about what sort of things are triggers for our relationship with our in-laws and how that relationship can affect our marriage. We talk about boundaries, communication, and perspective.
 
Check out bonus content from David Thomas & Sissy Goff from Raising Boys & Girls along with deleted content from today's episode over on Patreon.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram
 
Mar 24, 2020

We are going to continue in our relationship series. Today, Larry Bilotta joins me. Larry has been helping people in their relationships and marriages for years and his heart for doing this was birthed from his own marriage. He talks about how the first 27 years of his marriage were awful and then in year 28 something changed. They have now been married for over 40 years. We talk about his marriage and what caused it to fall apart but then what helped it change. We talk about how the messages we hear in childhood shape how we experience relationships as adults. We talk about what those messages sound like, the solution to them and how to take ownership of them.

Check out bonus content from David Thomas & Sissy Goff from Raising Boys & Girls along with deleted content from today's episode over on Patreon.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram
Mar 10, 2020

I welcome my friend Nicole Zasowski back to the table. She first joined me back on episode 161. If you haven’t listened to that one, I highly recommend it especially if you have walked through any type of change or loss that was really hard. Nicole is a Marriage and Family Therapist and recently published a book called From Lost to Found: Giving Up What You Think You Want For What Will Set You Free and it is a beautiful and helpful book. For this episode, I pulled out a chapter in her book on relationships and talk about how to be a good partner by moving away from a dependent or independent stance to one of interdependence. We talk about how we are responsible for being loving in our relationships but not responsible for making someone feel loved. And we spend some time unpacking what it looks like to self-regulate the emotions you feel in a relationship and how to figure out what your best self looks like so that you can show up as that person.

Check out bonus content from David Thomas & Sissy Goff from Raising Boys & Girls along with deleted content from today's episode over on Patreon.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram
Mar 3, 2020
Each week in March, the conversations will center around a different topic that will help us all have better relationships—whether that is in marriage or dating, parenting, or friendships. I want to help you survive well in those relationships. 
 
For this first episode in the series, I am happy to welcome coaches and consultants from Thrive, Inc, Susan Clarke and ChrisMarie Campbell, to the table today. Their firm helps people have real conversations both at home and at work. They are authors of the books The Beauty of Conflict and The Beauty of Conflict for Couples. They’ve spent 20 years helping men, women, couples, and teams to resolve difficult conflicts and create strong, thriving relationships. They also co-host a podcast, The Beauty of Conflict, for dealing with conflict at home and at work.

 We have a really great conversation about conflict. We talk about why there’s beauty in conflict; our different styles of conflict; how the way we were raised affects how we handle conflict; practical steps to deal with conflict, how personality plays into it, and how our nonverbal communication plays a role. We have a really fascinating conversation about congruency in our communication—what we feel and what we say—and why that matters so much. I gained so much wisdom from this conversation and I think you will too

Check out bonus content from David Thomas & Sissy Goff from Raising Boys & Girls along with deleted content from today's episode over on Patreon.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram
Feb 11, 2020

I am so happy to welcome my friend Katie Hearn to the table. She is the Digital and Accessible Services Coordinator for the Atlanta Braves. She focuses on assisting all fans in having a memorable experience while at Truist Park, with a special emphasis on their accessible programs.

In the spring of 2017 she suffered sudden vision loss and is now blind. She tells her story of how she lost her vision while she was in her twenties and how that affected everything in life. She shares how she is working to find a new normal, how she sees the world differently now and how losing her vision helped her find her voice. And you know, I couldn’t resist asking several Atlanta Braves related questions. (My goal is to convert all of you to Braves fans.)

Check out bonus content from David Thomas & Sissy Goff from Raising Boys & Girls podcast along with deleted content from today's episode over on Patreon.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram
Feb 4, 2020

I am so happy to welcome my dear friend, Meredith McDaniel, to the table today. Our friendship was birthed from proximity—literally walking the same direction on a sidewalk over 4 years ago. Meredith is a licensed counselor and author of the new book, In Want & Plenty: Waking Up to God’s Provision in a Land of Longing.

We talk about the enneagram and how that shapes how we see the world around us. Then, we spend some time talking about what it looks like to feel stuck and how to create some forward motion. She even turns the table and asks me about where I feel the most stuck. I think this is a conversation that we can all relate to. If you’ve ever said, “I’m stuck, now what?” then you will enjoy this conversation.

Check out bonus content from David Thomas & Sissy Goff from Raising Boys & Girls along with deleted content from today's episode over on Patreon.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram
Jan 21, 2020
Ashley LeMieux joins me around the table today. She has made a career out of helping others reignite the light within them. As founder and CEO of The Shine Project, she launched both a movement and a company that empowers women in myriad ways, including teaching first-generation college students how to produce handmade products that they can then sell as employees of The Shine Project. 
 
We talk about how when she was only a college student she saw a problem facing some youth and she worked to solve that problem. We also talk about her first book, Born To Shine. With that, she talks about walking through a hard, dark time in life where they faced a contested adoption and ultimately lost the kids. Life didn’t end with a pretty bow on top. And then we unearth some beautiful conversation about what it looks like to show up in the biggest fight of your life and what you need to show up with. We all love hearing stories about miracles, but what if your miracle doesn’t come? If you can relate to that, you’ll love this episode.
 
Check out bonus content from David Thomas & Sissy Goff from Raising Boys & Girls along with deleted content from today's episode over on Patreon.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram
Jan 14, 2020
Today, I am happy to welcome Rachel Bailey to the table. She is a Parenting Specialist who has been serving families for over a decade. Besides being a mother of two, she also has a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology, a certification in Positive Discipline, and has provided services as an ADHD Coach, in-home mentor, and therapist. Currently, Rachel teaches parents practical, long-lasting tools for raising responsible, resilient, confident children... while reducing the overwhelm and guilt in parents' lives. Can I get an AMEN?
 
I think we hit the parenting goldmine with this conversation. It is extremely helpful! We talk about ways to simplify parenting which includes how to become less reactionary and how to figure out which negative behaviors we need to tackle first in parenting. We take a personal example for our home which is staying in bed at night and Rachel helps come up with why this behavior is happening and what to do about it. We also talk about how fear plays a role in parenting and how to build our kid's self-esteem. I’m telling you, that last segment about building self-esteem is just so good. Be ready to take some mental notes.
 
Check out bonus content from David Thomas & Sissy Goff from Raising Boys & Girls along with deleted content from today's episode over on Patreon.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram
Jan 7, 2020
I am happy to welcome Kumiko Love to the table. She is an Accredited Financial Counselor® and also created of The Budget Mom™ As a single mom, she had to find a way out of debt and a way to create the type of life she wanted to provide for herself and her son. In doing so she created a unique, practical and dare I say fun budgeting method that has helped thousands of women take control of their finances. 
 
We have a really great conversation where we talk about how she got out of debt, common bad spending habits, and what emotional spending looks like. We also talk about her budget method, where to start and how to stay motivated. 
 
Connect with Sarah: Website // Instagram // Patreon
Dec 31, 2019
I am so happy to welcome my dear friend, Merica Stum, back to the table for our annual year in review episode. Can I just change the show to have every episode with Merica? I just love her so much. There is something so fun about this episode. I think it embodies exactly who I am. We can talk about nothing like our Starbucks order and I find it fascinating and entertaining.
 
In this episode, we talk about what changed for us this year, what we learned, ways we’ve grown, good habits we’ve put into practice, what we read and what was in our 2019 survival kit. Then we talk about what we are hoping for in 2020.
 
And you are going to want to immediately go sign up for the Surviving Sarah Patreon page for our bonus lightning round questions where we talk planners, what we tried this year that was a bust, our favorite follows this year, what made us laugh this year. Go to Patreon.com/SurvivingSarah.
 
Connect with Sarah: Website // Instagram // Pateron
Dec 17, 2019

I am so happy to welcome Rachel Martin to the show. Connecting with people has been the greatest part of this show and I am so glad to be connected to Rachel. She has 7 kids and after a divorce, she was a single mom for 7 years. We talk about navigating that sense of loss with her kids after her divorce and advice for the woman who is in the middle of marriage loss. We talk about how she climbed out of a mountain of debt, how gender roles affect how we handle money and advice on changing the narrative around the phrase "cutting cost". If life has ever felt less than you imagined, this conversation will be an encouragement to you.

I am launching a Pateron page for the show which is a great and easy way to support the show financially and in return, you will receive some bonus content. For simply $3 a month, you will receive some deleted questions from each guest and for only $7 a month, you will receive those deleted questions along with a new segment called Ask The Expert where I will ask David Thomas and Sissy Goff questions about raising boys and girls. Go to patreon.com/survivingsarah to become a patron today! 

Connect with Sarah: Website // Instagram

Dec 10, 2019
I am so happy to welcome Heather Adams to the show today. I was in Nashville this past September and was able to sit down face to face with Heather. Heather is the founder and CEO of Choice Media Communications which is a boutique public relations firm in Nashville. And I’ve had the opportunity to work with her firm over the last few years and they are so kind and gracious to work with.
 
Not only is Heather a leader and entrepreneur but she is also a boy mom. So you know we had to talk a little bit about what she’s surviving currently as a boy mom to tweens. Then, we had a really insightful conversation about mentorship. We talked about the importance of pivotal relationships, advice she’s learned from them in regards to leading others, advice for finding a mentor and advice for being a good mentor.
 
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Dec 3, 2019

I am so happy to welcome Courtney DeFeo back to the show. Courtney is an OG Surviving Sarah guest making her first appearance on the show back on episode 18. She is such a creative entrepreneur who has a big heart for helping others. She is an author and podcast host for the Treasured Podcast which is a great resource for moms of girls. Courtney has partnered with Parent Cue from Orange to create a resource for moms and tween girls so that is the basis for our conversation today.

We talk about raising tween girls, the areas in which we feel inadequate to help, and even the area that we struggled with as tweens. And since we are in the throws of the holiday season, we talk about ways to make the holidays less about what we receive and more about what we give. Courtney shares some very practical and helpful ideas to light up your community during this holiday season.

Connect with Sarah: Instagram // Website

Support Surviving Sarah on Pateron

Nov 19, 2019

I am so happy to welcome Tricia Goyer back to the show. To me, Tricia is one of those women that I just want to be around. She is a wife, mom, author, speaker, and podcaster. You may remember her from a previous appearance on the show where we talked about how to calm angry kids. This time around, we talk about her book The Grumble Free Year which documented a challenge that her family took to live a grumble free life for a whole year. We talk about what triggered her to take this challenge, ways that we all grumble that we may not realize is grumbling and some very practical help and phrases to say to help yourself and your kids to be grumble free.

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Nov 12, 2019
I am so happy to welcome Ashley Abercrombie to the show. Former Surviving Sarah guests, Kelsey Chapman and Tiffany Bluhm, connected us and I am so glad they did! This was one of my favorite conversations. Ashely and her family live in New York City. She is a blogger and writer and her first book, Rise of the Truthteller, hit stores this fall. She is also the co-host of the podcast Why Tho with Tiffany Bluhm. 
 
Ashley has fought to overcome addiction, rape, abortion, perfectionism and dysfunctional relationships. She pretended to be someone she wasn’t for far too long and then decided that it was time to tell the truth. In this episode, we talk about how she became a truth-teller and owned her story, how she stopped wearing a mask and stopped pretending to be someone she wasn’t. We also talked about how to find safe people when you are ready to tell your story to and some phrases to say to people who are hurting that aren’t cliche. This was one of my favorite conversations. And I think you are going to love it, too.
 
Check out the show notes for ways to connect with Ashley, takeaways from the conversation and discussion questions to go along with this episode.
 
Connect with Sarah: Instagram // Website
 
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