This is it, folks! The last and final episode of the last and final season of The Beautifull Project podcast. And to honor the beautiful end of this beautiful work, we've chosen to talk about death, about the ways in which the end of a thing can give meaning to its life. We talk about our bodies and why it matters so much that we spend the days we have just learning to live in them. We make as much room for the mystery of the ending as we did for the beauty of our beginnings. And we'd love to ha...
Oct 20, 2022•46 min•Season 4Ep. 4
We can't have a season about coming back to our bodies without having a little talk about trauma, can we? Absolutely not! While trauma seems to be a trending topic these days, the truth is that we're only beginning to understand the impact of trauma on our bodies. But while we may not know everything there is to know, we know enough to start taking on our trauma and carving out a path back to ourselves, directly through the experiences we've survived. Listen in as Annika O'Melia LCSW, LISW offer...
Oct 06, 2022•47 min•Season 4Ep. 3
If there's one place where diet culture runs deep, it's definitely in our relationship with food. From counting points to tracking macros, there is no shortage of suggestions out there that will continually remind us that we can't possibly be trusted to know how to nourish ourselves. But Michelle Russell has a different idea. As a certified Intuitive Eating Registered Dietitian, Michelle knows that food doesn't have to be this way. She knows that it IS possible to learn how to trust ourselves WI...
Sep 30, 2022•48 min•Season 4Ep. 2
This episode is a how-to for healing your relationship with moving your body. Kali Eastin, owner of the Kalioke Movement Lounge, brings a bit of her own story to the mic, but also grounds this whole conversation in solid science about what it means for us to move our bodies. She provides a path back to ourselves, using movement to get there, and ditching diet culture along the way. If you want to believe movement is meant for you, too, then this is the conversation to get you going. And if you w...
Sep 22, 2022•43 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Teri and Marylee talk about diet culture and body image from a white and a Black perspective.
Nov 15, 2021•44 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Hosts Sarah Stevens and Teri Voyna discuss changes to the podcast
Oct 13, 2021•56 min•Season 4Ep. 7
"If I'd been in a car accident and had a bone sticking out of my leg, would I get to the ER and have them refuse to fix my broken leg because I'm fat? Would they wait until I lost weight to pursue treatment? No. Of course not. This isn't different, but I still can't get what I need." Teri was one of our favorite storytellers in Season One, and she's back to talk about all things medicine and marginalized bodies by sharing her own story of seeking care while living in a fat body. This is an impor...
Mar 21, 2021•56 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Adriane is a survivor of human trafficking and shares her story in this episode. She tells her truth from beginning to end, and is hoping this act of courage will allow her to let go of the past and step into the power of her present life.
Mar 07, 2021•43 min•Season 4Ep. 5
"I thought I lived a life where people saw me, and they don't. Because I didn't even see myself. And by "saw me," I mean people saw me as a black woman. I didn't see myself as a black woman. I thought I did. But I didn't." Delia is a woman, a wife, a mother, and a force of a human being. In this episode, she shares her own reckoning with race, and its impact in her life. As she assesses a "world on fire," she offers the audience a way forward with her invitation to "rise from the ashes." She is ...
Jan 24, 2021•39 min•Season 4Ep. 4
"I just want to go back. To a time when we don't have fear. When we're not so sheltered from each other, from the external relationships with each other. I just want to go back. Welcome to the first interview of The Spilling Stories, a special series dedicated to abandoning the idea that we need to hold it all together and showcasing the grit it takes to allow ourselves to spill over. These are stories of resilience, of ordinary women who are willing to let their grief take up space, so that it ...
Apr 10, 2020•32 min•Ep. 18
"It doesn't do me any good to try to struggle to the surface until I've touched the bottom. If you don't let yourself go to the bottom where you can actually find your feet, it's hard to know which way is up. So, part of it for me is allowing myself the full sink, allowing myself to fall apart." Welcome to the first interview of The Spilling Stories, a special series dedicated to abandoning the idea that we need to hold it all together and showcasing the grit it takes to allow ourselves to spill...
Mar 26, 2020•31 min•Season 4Ep. 2
"Maybe I don't need to hold it all together. Maybe I really need to just let myself spill over." The Beautifull Project podcast is interrupting its regularly scheduled programming for a series of special episodes aimed directly at what it means to take up space in a world flipped upside down. In this first special episode, Sarah unpacks her own reaction, explains some of the silence on The Project's platform, and shares a small shift that is working for her as she moves through her own fear and ...
Mar 20, 2020•21 min•Season 4Ep. 1
"A lot of our conversations are filled with smile emojis, but at the end of the day it's leaving us empty. Just because we're more doesn't mean we're more connected... we need community." In episode 4, we sat down with Haley DeGreve, college senior, marketing and communications major, and co-founder of The Gray Matters. The Gray Matters is a mental health campaign that seeks to initiate conversation around the gray area between mental health awareness and stigma. The goal is to spread a message ...
Mar 07, 2020•40 min•Season 3Ep. 4
"I don't really now how this big, black lesbian got accepted into so many circles, but it happened for me. Since they let me in the door, I'm going to always have something to say." In this episode, we welcome Brandy Donaldson - author, speaker, and activist - to the microphone. Brandy began her journey into social advocacy and activism shortly after moving to Illinois. Her volunteerism has included Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley, the Rock Island County NAACP, The African Ame...
Feb 21, 2020•48 min•Season 3Ep. 3
"It doesn't matter who tells you that you can't have access. You go and you see... 'Can I get in here?'. And maybe not today, but tomorrow you can try again. I think it's important for women to give themselves permission." Welcome to Episode 2 of Season Three: The Mamas and the Makers. In this episode, we sat down with Gaye Shannon Burnett. Gaye has been active in the local community with art and drama programs for young people for over 20 years. She is an artist with studio space at Bucktown Ce...
Feb 06, 2020•47 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Welcome to Season Three: The Mamas and the Makers! In this first episode, we welcome Sara Dean, the original Shameless Mom, to the mic for an incredible conversation about what it takes to make something you love. Sara is the creator and host of the Shameless Mom Academy Podcast, a top rated podcast with over 2 million downloads. Her biggest passion is helping women own their space. After enduring her own identity crisis following the birth of her son, Sara took her background in psychology/heal...
Jan 25, 2020•53 min•Season 3Ep. 1
+Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault+ "When the truth gets stuck in us, it crowds out the space that could be used for love and connection. Telling the story is a way to get the truth outside of me." In this final episode of the Season of Survivors, Sarah sits down with her wife, Becky... not to interview her, but to BE interviewed by her, and to share a part of her own survival story she has not shared before. Sarah tells the story of her own sexual assault, a story she had buried from conscious th...
Sep 29, 2019•35 min•Season 2Ep. 15
+ Trigger Warning: Miscarriage + In this episode, we sat down with Katie, a survivor of miscarriage. Katie unpacks her story delicately, the way you unpack some little treasure you've stored away for safekeeping. And in many ways, that's what Katie had done with this memory up until this point. She had kept the memory of "Baby T" alive inside of her, and wanted to share that memory with all of you. She hones in on the importance of slowing down with grief and not rushing the process. She also sp...
Sep 29, 2019•32 min•Season 2Ep. 14
+Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault, Spiritualized Trauma + "And then one day, I sat up in bed, and said, 'I'm whole again.'" In this episode, we sat down with Rachel, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, and later, a survivor of an abusive marriage. Rachel grew up in a deeply religious context, and when her abuse was disclosed, she was silenced and told to believe that what happened to her was her fault. This belief took root in her, informing her decisions through much of her adult life, and ult...
Sep 28, 2019•58 min•Season 2Ep. 13
+ Trigger Warning: Eating Disorders, Miscarriage + "I believe in the power of community, in surrounding yourself with people who can believe things for you that you can’t believe for yourself when you’re in pain. And I’m a big believer in hope. Hold on to hope. Hold on to hope that you will come out of this stronger.” In this episode, we sat down with Liv, a survivor of an eating disorder, multiple miscarriages and the grief of holding on to a dream she didn't know would ever be possible. Liv is...
Jul 18, 2019•46 min•Season 2Ep. 12
++ Trigger Warning: Domestic Violence ++ In this episode, we sat down with Joni, a survivor of domestic violence who is committed to understanding the patterns from her past in order to find healing in her present. She is a gifted storyteller who expertly weaves the details of her lived experience into a story line that is recognizable to anyone who has suffered and survived a toxic relationship. Joni has done the work to move through her past and offers the audience the hope that comes from hea...
Jun 27, 2019•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 11
In this episode, we sat down with Amanda. Amanda is a survivor of birth trauma, a very real experience for many women who have given birth. Challenging the idea that the only "successful" birth story is the one that goes perfectly according to plan, Amanda shares what it was like to walk through an experience that didn't follow the arc she expected. She opens up about how the impact of the trauma didn't surface immediately, but when it did, it began to distort her understanding of the birth proc...
Jun 13, 2019•55 min•Season 2Ep. 10
+Trigger Warning: Sexual violence, domestic abuse, PTSD, depression, chronic pain, miscarriage+ In this episode, we sit down with Jackie - a woman who has survived serial trauma, beginning with a violent sexual assault during high school. The content of Jackie's story makes it one of the most intense of the entire season, but as the storyteller, Jackie does the most incredible job giving access to painful parts of her past without transferring her pain on to the listener. She is resolute in her ...
May 02, 2019•57 min•Season 2Ep. 9
We've spent a year and a half bringing you the voices of women who demonstrate strength and resilience. We have invited you to open yourself in the same way. But until this podcast, we never offered you any tools to help you put yourself back together after we invite you to let yourself fall apart. Today's pod is the first of many full of tips and tricks from our very own beauty, Nicole. Nicole is one of the people who helps us create at The Beautifull Project. She is also a trained therapist, a...
Apr 18, 2019•39 min•Season 2Ep. 8
+Trigger Warning: Sexual abuse + "I had finally dug up some self worth and I was ready to throw it around a little." In this episode, we welcome Kira to the mic to tell her story. Kira shares her story about the sexual abuse she endured at the hands of a trusted teacher during her adolescence, a story that is difficult to hear, but so very important to take in. But at the core of Kira's story, the listener will discover that Kira's story is also about her desire to belong, to feel seen, to be kn...
Apr 04, 2019•36 min•Season 2Ep. 7
+Trigger Warning: Sexual Violence+ In this episode, we welcome Dr. Kit Ford, Founder of Argrow's House of Healing and sexual violence survivor. Dr. Kit is a force for good in her community, and exudes a sense of purpose about her life in the most beautiful way. Dr. Kit's traumatic experiences do not define her, but have instead shaped her in a way that makes her able to lend hope and healing to other women. She shares her healing journey on the pod and provides inspiration and direction for othe...
Mar 20, 2019•44 min•Season 2Ep. 6
There is nothing more inspiring than a woman who challenges the expectations set in front of her and this woman… she has all the inspiration we need to remember what we are made of when our life requires resilience. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a baby, Sarah has lived and moved in a disabled body for her entire life. In this interview, she shares what it was like to navigate her adolescence, the ways she allowed the pain to take her to some dark places, and the hope she found when she began ...
Mar 07, 2019•40 min•Season 2Ep. 5
+Trigger Warning+ Eating Disorder, Depression In this episode, we welcomed Stephanie to the mic. Stephanie is a survivor of an eating disorder and an advocate for other survivors. She has spent most of her life looking for healing… not just for the eating disorder, but to find a deeper understanding of herself, of all of the things that seemed to ail her. In this interview, she talks about belonging, about the ways she searched for healing outside of her, and about how much power she’s found hav...
Feb 21, 2019•52 min•Season 2Ep. 4
"What matters most is how we walk through the fire." - Charles Bukowski + Trigger Warning+ Sexual assault, PTSD In this episode, we welcomed Maggie to the mic to tell her survival story. Maggie is a semi-retired pageant girl and a two-time survivor of sexual assault. She transformed her pain into purpose by founding Trauma Queens , a nonprofit dedicated to helping other survivors of sexual assault - a bad ass, Beautifull move for sure. But do you know what else Maggie is? She is tired. She is re...
Feb 07, 2019•57 min•Season 2Ep. 3
"There is beauty in terror. No feeling is final. Just keep going." +Tigger warning: Sexual assault, suicidal ideations, chronic pain, breast cancer + The episode kicks off the Survivor Series with a powerful interview with Laura, a survivor of sexual assault, 6 years of unimaginable chronic pain, and breast cancer. Laura is a force, but a gentle force - she offers the audience a new perspective on suffering, one that turns the listener toward hope. She has words of wisdom for transforming pain i...
Jan 25, 2019•52 min•Season 2Ep. 2
