The space between where you are now and where you want to be can feel daunting and lonely. This podcast is the remedy to comparison and feeling like everyone else has it figured out but you. Each episode contains personal insights from her work as a therapist and taking a deeper look at the messy middle between before and after stories.
Danielle wants to help you make big feelings feel less scary, easier to understand and approaching them possible. And, wherever possible - to laugh as much as possible.
Danielle and Emily discuss creative toolkits, emphasizing authenticity, clarity, and the importance of understanding one's unique perspective. They explore methods for capturing ideas, navigating self-doubt, and differentiating oneself in creative endeavors. The episode also covers practical tools like Scrivener, voice memos, and self-publishing platforms, alongside the significance of community support and physical tools like favorite pens and notebooks.
Creative expression can be a powerful tool for personal healing and growth because the creative work we do is so connected to the healing work we need. From following along in this Creativity Miniseries, you know that Emily Sutherland has been my special guest on this journey. Emily is a ghostwriter, published author, coach, and executive storyteller. Together, we have explored the messy, magical stages of bringing an idea to life—Inspiration, Preparation, and Perspiration. Now, we’ve arrived at...
Welcome back to our Creativity Miniseries on Don’t Cut Your Own Bangs! We’re diving into the next (and sweatiest) stage of creativity: perspiration! This is where ideas move from being dreams and start becoming reality. I’m joined once again by my brilliant friend, Emily H. Sutherland—a ghostwriter, published author, coach, and executive storyteller. Together, we’re getting real about what it takes to push past resistance, embrace creativity, and bring your ideas to life. We use our own messy, s...
Welcome back to Don’t Cut Your Own Bangs and our Creativity Miniseries! I’m thrilled to continue this deep dive into the creative process alongside my friend and fellow creative, Emily H. Sutherland—a ghostwriter, published author, coach, and executive storyteller. Together, we’re exploring what it means to embrace creativity, break through resistance, and bring ideas to life. In our last episode, we discussed the first stage of creativity: inspiration—how talking about creativity, building comm...
"becauseOne" is an online platform that connects people's passions with the needs of those served by non-profit organizations. This remarkable initiative sprang from the collaborative vision of sisters Stephany Dolan and Stacia Jones and was driven by their family's desire to strengthen community and make it easier to help others. We look at how to use becauseOne to get involved with organizations that match your specific areas of interest. And, as part of our discussion about the enthusiasm and...
Most of us look long and hard for reasons to avoid therapy. And, granted, therapy is not the only modality for emotional healing. Talking with friends and exercise and travel and dozens of other things can help the healing process. But, only therapy is therapy. Ultimately, THINKING about starting therapy is way harder than ACTUALLY starting therapy and it’s because of these three myths. People tend to think that starting therapy means: Something is wrong with me. (Not true.) I have failed. (Agai...
Jealousy is often seen as a negative emotion. And let’s be honest, it doesn’t feel great when we experience it. BUT, what does it look like when we approach our jealousy with a little compassionate curiosity? In my experience, jealousy is calling our attention to a deeper desire that’s hiding inside us. Like every emotion, jealousy can be a great teacher. It can show us that there is something we want or something we want more of. Jealousy can also signal that we are ready for a change. Oftentim...
My guest, Ashlyn Thompson, is the co-founder of Charlotte’s Hope Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting, encouraging, and educating parents and caregivers of children facing difficult health challenges. Ashlyn, and co-founder Emily Whiting, have daughters with rare medical complexities. By sharing their stories, they hope to connect other parents and caregivers with valuable resources and the understanding that they are not alone. In short, they think of the foundation as ...
Talk about a throwback! From 2018, this is the first ever recorded episode of the Don’t Cut Your Own Bangs podcast. Not the first to air, but the first to be recorded. My guest, David Dellen , is a Harley Davidson dealer , a big brother in the Big Brother Big Sister Program, and also MY HUSBAND. He is an incredible leader and entrepreneur with a lot of valuable experience to share. I wish I could say that I asked him to be my first guest because of his experience and wisdom, but truthfully...it ...
Our special series focusing on the seven life themes in The Treasured Journal continues with the second in a two-part discussion of relationships. This is a big topic that can include communication, boundaries, trauma, pleasure, needs identification, and more. But, here, I want to zero in on two specific concepts that I’ve found to be invaluable for myself and my clients—and I’m confident they will help you make the most of your journaling: Relationships are like mirrors The relationship fear lo...
We continue with a special series of exercises that will be our focus over the coming weeks. With each podcast, I’ll examine one of the seven life themes in The Treasured Journal: career, relationships, love, sex, money, family, and purpose. Journaling is one of the most powerful tools we have for gaining clarity and understanding of ourselves, which in turn, helps us advocate for ourselves, create space when we need it, and engage in constructive conversations that otherwise might feel overwhel...
I am excited to announce a very special series of exercises that will be our focus over the next seven to nine weeks. With each podcast, I’ll examine one of the seven life themes in The Treasured Journal: career, relationships, love, sex, money, family, and purpose. Whether you’re experienced at journaling or brand new to it, I encourage you to take advantage of these guided exercises to explore the seven themes in your life. Journaling is one of the most powerful tools we have for gaining clari...
Sheena Birt is the owner of Color Story Studio, a custom design studio that turns brick-and-mortar businesses into destinations people can’t wait to visit. Color Story Studio is known for creating one-of-a-kind installations for a variety of high-profile locations in and around Indianapolis. Her work has been featured at Dior in Chicago and Two Chicks District Co. (the store owned by the women of HGTV’s Good Bones), corporate lifestyle brands (such as Anthropologie), and Newfields, an art instit...
There really is no escaping the year-end holidays. From decorations to music to parties, the season is everywhere! And, with the season, comes the expectation that this is a festive time of year and you had better get on board and be grateful. We love and encourage feelings of gratitude. Gratitude feels good and we want to feel good, right? But gratitude can go very wrong when it doesn’t allow for a full range of emotion. When there is no space to feel anything else, gratitude can tip over into ...
I started the "Don’t Cut Your Own Bangs" podcast to explore the "messy middle," that place between the before and after photo. It can also be thought of as the gap between how we are feeling and how we think we should be feeling. The middle doesn’t only exist during the year-end holidays, but as we’re closing in on that time of year, the gap between how we feel and how we want to feel can seem especially wide. To deal with the stress and business of the holiday season, we must first acknowledge ...
Lauren Rieker, RDN, is a registered dietitian and owner/manager of Collaborative Counseling & Nutrition, an outpatient nutrition and body image counseling center in Indianapolis. In this episode, I talk with Lauren about her own history with food, exercise, and health—and how it led her to pursue an approach to eating disorders, body image, and intuitive eating that emphasizes compassion, mindfulness, and holistic treatment. This is not a typical discussion about our bodies and food-related stru...
Let’s face it, sometimes things just don’t go as planned. But, how do we respond? Do we hang on fiercely to the original plan? Do we let go and adjust to the new situation? If we let go of the original plan, how do we know when to let go? A lot of my clients have been faced with this question lately. So, in this episode I share a recent experience of my own to explore these questions and more. We can learn a lot about ourselves when our plans are upended. All of us know the struggle of holding o...
In episode #42 from April 2022, Jen Petro and I discuss the benefits of taking a solo retreat. She first suggested the idea to me while working side by side at Cafe’ Patachou . I remember thinking, “Huh? Just go somewhere by myself, for myself, for no other reason than I want to?” It sounded indulgent, a little selfish, and OH SO NECESSARY. Saying yes to myself in this way changed my life. Truly. A solo retreat can drop your stress level and help you feel more settled, especially in times ...
This episode revisits my discussion with Danielle Wolter Nolan , who has a question for you. When was the last time you did something for the first time? In episode #42 from April 2020, Danielle and I talked about taking leaps of faith, what it means to push past what you believe is possible, and what it takes to live adventurously. Danielle and her wife, Kate Nolan, founders of DNK Presents , organize and guide empowering adventure retreats for groups and businesses. They focus on getting peopl...
If the way we want to feel isn’t alive somewhere inside us, then we’re more likely to stay stuck in the mindset of our problems. While choosing joy in the midst of insanity might feel like a bold and radical choice, joy is the rocket fuel we need to get us where we want to go. In this episode, I discuss tactics that help us tap into the joy that can be lying dormant inside us. Window-shopping joy Doubling down on what feels good Being a student of happiness By recognizing what feels good and pra...
Our desire to attract more loving relationships relies on our ability to be honest and loving toward ourselves. In this listener’s favorite episode from January 2021, I revisit what this has looked like in my own life and explore the importance of finding acceptance and comfort in our authentic selves, which can set the stage for growth. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast. Your feedback helps increase the value of these discussions and makes it easier ...
This episode comes in the wake of another horrific school shooting and many of the people I’ve encountered over the past week are struggling because of it. So, I’m compelled to use this time to address the concept of fear brought on by secondary trauma and how we can get stuck trying to process that fear. Through biologic evolution, our bodies have been hardwired with the classic fear responses: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. Often we respond with fear even when the danger or trauma does not p...
In this Listener’s Favorite from November 2020, I revisit compassion fatigue and empathy with Liesel Mertes. Liesel is a workplace empathy consultant and founder of Handle with Care Consulting . In the wake of Covid, workplace empathy has taken on even greater importance, but so too has the need for compassion and empathy in every aspect of our lives today. For many of us, the lines between work and home and school have been blurred and it seems that nearly everyone is struggling with fatigue an...
Women have always known that building community with other women creates a powerful force for good. Leslie Bailey, the co-founder and CEO of Indy Maven, has transformed that knowledge into a lifestyle media company and community for women that epitomizes her spirit of collaboration, support, and inspiration. And now she is creating even more opportunities for the community by launching a new social and networking space that expresses what the Indy Maven team has created digitally. I love the wis...
I'm excited to introduce you to Dr. Katye Tuyo, PT, DPT, an orthopedic and pelvic health physical therapist. In this episode we learn that everyone—regardless of gender—has a pelvic floor and its health plays a vital role in our overall health and wellbeing. I learned this firsthand as a patient, which is why I’ve asked Katye to share her expertise. This episode is not just for new parents. Katye talks about pelvic floor health, how to recognize when therapy might be needed, and how even seeming...
When you’re caught up in the details of everyday life, it can be easy to “forget” how remarkable our loved ones are because we’re around them so much. By dedicating time for interruption-free discussion that might not happen organically over dinner, we can reconnect in important ways. So I thought it would be fun to “check in” with my husband, David Dellen, and share that discussion with you. Since having a baby in the last year, our relationship has changed and evolved in ways we anticipated an...
Jealousy is often seen as a negative emotion. And let's be honest, it doesn't feel that great when we experience it. BUT, what does it look like if we approach our jealousy with a little compassionate curiosity? In my experience, jealousy is calling our attention to deeper desires that we may not be fully aware we have. When we're riding the jealousy train, we might find ourselves falling into the following rabbit holes: Comparison Criticism Complaining Here's 3 things jealousy it might be ...
Doubt - What does it mean? Why do we feel it? What do we do about it? A preview to upcoming episodes, and what to expect from the podcast moving forward. Doubt - Why do we feel it? What does it mean? How does it affect our behavior? And, what the heck are we supposed to do when we feel it? I share a journal entry (in real time) as an example for when I last experienced doubt, how I felt, and share a process that could be helpful to you too. Did you enjoy the episode? If so, please remember to ra...
Being gaslit can feel like you're carrying a lunch tray and someone smacks it up in your face. It wasn't your doing, but somehow you're the one with chocolate pudding and pizza all over your clothes. It's messy, confusing, and often leaves you doubting yourself. In this week's solo cast, I'm exploring gaslighting. What it means. What it sounds like. What it does to our relationships. And more importantly -> How to work through it. Did you enjoy the episode? If so, please remember to rate, review...
Erica Ballard is joining me in this week's episode of Don't Cut Your Own Bangs. What's in the episode? BIG learning. & Whole-hearted belly laughs. We talk about adjusting to the curveballs of life, deep dive into all the ways we AREN'T alone, why connection matters, and why companies have to start doing more to support the mothers that work for them. Meet Erica Ballard. A woman who jumped from job to job – hoping to find a company that let her be herself while doing work that mattered. She never...
