When the Lord calls, He calls! The Feminine Genius Podcast has been quite quiet ever since the end of season 4, and after a lot of prayer and reflection I feel that it's time to bring the podcast to a close. After spending 3+ years hearing and sharing the stories of some incredible feminine geniuses from all over the world, I take some time to reflect on this honour and responsibility by sharing my own story with all of you, something that I've never been able to do in full with this podcast...

This season has truly been the most international season, complete with the 100th episode milestone and a lot of incredible stories of different feminine geniuses from (literally) across the globe! I take some time to reflect on the season that's happened and share a little bit of insight into what's next for the podcast. Here are the show notes for this week's finale episode: femininegeniuspodcast.com/post/episode-107-a-look-back-on-season-4-whats-next A big thank you to Theresa Ambat for...

“There’s something they have to offer from the struggles and the shape of their lives that the Church needs.” During her time as a campus missionary, Micole Amalu found herself journeying with students who struggled with their mental health, and helped them in their journey of healing. These experiences as well as her own journey led her to start The Face of Mercy, a nonprofit organization that aims to help provide mental health advocacy and education in the Church. In this episode, Micole...

“The fullness of truth breeds joy, and living out of that and not allowing these lies about our identity to really percolate in our souls is something that then allows us to access that joy so much more easily.” Jill Simons shared some major truth in this episode, discussing how the Lord invited her to trust Him more and stop hurrying and worrying. Jill is a wife, mother and the owner and creative director of Pink Salt Riot, but above all she’s come to rest in the truth of her identity as...

“I’d been searching in all different faiths. I think then it was very much an encounter with Christ in the least, with the explanation especially from this young man.” Rakhi McCormick’s journey to the Catholic faith was one of continual encounter. She was raised Hindu in a small town, and for much of her life she sought out belonging and identity. Through various points of encounter, she met Jesus in different people and experiences. Rakhi entered the Catholic Church as a young adult, and now...

“What is youth ministry? I get paid to love teens where they are and create community and show them literally the way, the truth and the life.” Joy is the word that come to mind when I think of Maria Raissa Espinoza. Maria is a youth minister and the host of the podcast Saintly Not Salty. After receiving a call from the Lord to evangelize to youth, Maria devoted her life to the calls to mission and holiness. A lot of her ministry revolves around bringing people closer to Christ and...

“In following my vocation and doing my best to focus on my family’s needs, I think God has been able to speak to me and bring out this career of being a recording artist.” Whitney Maslak was encouraged from an early age to share her musical gifts with her community. While going professional with her music wasn’t seen as a practical path, Whitney never stopped singing. Through an inspired moment in prayer, she received assurance from the Lord to pursue music, and from there, while caring for...

“You should love your God-given body, but you should also desire for that body to be how God desires for it to be.” Elizabeth Varga has a very special relationship to faith and food. In college, she was the one who had all the unique snacks — and now, she shares her plant-based recipes and the intersection of faith and food on her blog, “At Elizabeth’s Table”. In this episode, Elizabeth and I talk about her desire to share the good news with the people she meets, her journey on becoming a...

Friends, today's episode is the 100th episode of The Feminine Genius Podcast! It is surreal to be here and this would not have been possible with all of you: this community of sisters and friends who I am so fortunate to journey with as we all learn what it means to live out our unique feminine genius. Today's episode features some short reflections submitted by some listeners and dear sisters in Christ, and I am so excited for you to hear how they live out their feminine genius in a...

“I want people to fall in love with people, and then they’ll want to know the creator because they’re falling in love with the art.” Liv Harrison is a powerhouse of a woman who has endured a number of crosses in her life. She is a captivating speaker and storyteller with a killer sense of humour, but above all, she is rooted in the truth of God’s love for her. Her goal is to encourage, inspire, and connect people to Jesus — and she does so with joy, laughter, and incredible courage. In this...

“As a human person, made male or female, your body tells you something. Your body tells you that you are created to be a gift: you are made for relationship.” Growing up in a culturally Catholic country, Joy Katigbak knows very well what it means to serve. As the Lord called her to work in ministry, she was invited to be docile and more open to Him. This openness made her instrumental in bringing Theology of the Body to her home country of the Philippines. Now, she shares this important...

“The diversity of saints speaks to how big God is.” Claire Ellendson has a profound love for the saints, and aspires to learn as much as she can about her friends in heaven. One of the things that she’s come to appreciate is the ordinary-ness of some of these holy men and women, and through this appreciation, she’s grown in love of service and meeting people where they’re at, learning more about God’s unconditional love for us. In this episode, Claire shares her background in serving with NET...

"Our suffering sometimes gives us the capacity to understand what it means to be in heaven one day." Trisha de Souza had plans to work in politics and worked extremely hard towards that goal. But a series of health issues led to a major career shift and gave new life to an old hobby. This dramatic change led Trisha to grow in her dependence on God in the midst of life's challenges, as well as the reminder that this world is our ship, and not our home. In this episode, Trisha and I talk about...

"We need to really be naked before the Lord. We really need to bear everything before the Lord. He is ready to take every pain, every suffering, every blemish that you have, and He will turn it into grace. He will give you grace to go through that." April Garcia was raised Catholic but spent many years away from God and her faith. Her journey and searching brought her to a variety of different places, but ultimately she landed on the front lines of the New Evangelization. She now shares...

"God is the author of beauty, and He gives us our feminine genius. He gives us our gifts and our mission, and it's so much bigger than just one industry." Nicole Caruso has always had a love for style, art and media. The intersection of her background working in the fashion industry along with her vocation of motherhood challenged her perceptions of beauty and what it means to be worthy, and this led her to start Worthy of Wearing, a movement that reminds women of their God-given worth that...

"I thought it had to be lost and left in order for me to move forward, and it was more like it had to be given over, to be transformed and made new for what was ahead." Sr. Josephine Garrett is a Sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth with an incredible story and journey. She was raised Baptist, studied Political Philosophy, and worked in banking. During her time in banking, she had a desire to be a woman of God, and through this entered into the Catholic Church. With an even deeper desire to...

"We all should strive to be a leader in our own sphere of influence, wherever it is that God has placed us, wherever it is that we can be a gift of self to others." When Rachel Harkins Ullmann was young, she received a powerful vision from the Lord. She felt a call to step out of her comfort zone, serve others, and be a leader. With many years of experience working in ministry, Rachel now serves as the Executive Director for the GIVEN Institute, an organization that empowers young women to be...

"[Hearing loss] was something that became positive for me, knowing that whatever I was given, I would find a way through God's grace, obviously, to transform it into something good." As a girl growing up with progressive hearing loss, Sophia Lebano didn't always feel supported. Through a number of trials and moving schools, Sophia found that the one constant in her life was God and her faith, and she knew that to get through the challenges she would need to surrender everything to Him. God...

"Wrestling is what allowed me to come into my own and embrace who I am as a woman, and appreciate my body in the way that God made it." Alexandria Glaudé didn't seek out wrestling at first. In her words, "God wanted her to wrestle." She started wrestling in high school and quickly excelled in the sport, and has her sights set on wrestling for Team USA in the Olympics. Through the sport of wrestling and her biracial identity, she's come to learn a lot about herself, her femininity, and the...

"There's such beauty in that trust and faithfulness in saying 'yes' amidst those unknowns." Lauren Costabile remembers a summer serving at a camp for children and youth with special needs. In her nervousness, she connected with a camper with Down Syndrome, and she says that this was like a hug from God. As she learned more and grew in her desire to serve this community, she founded the organization Hearts of Joy International, which provides heart surgery for children with Down Syndrome in...

"I want to cultivate a culture of life in my daily life." Krista Corbello was raised Catholic and lived in a very culturally Catholic place, and this meant that she didn't have to think too much about calling herself 'pro-life'. But a human rights talk and meeting her biological father helped her to see herself in the pro-life movement. She started to speak out about her mother's story, and over time learned more about her own story of origin. In learning about a sibling who she lost to...

"We are all trying to eradicate a sin and replace it with a virtue, so let's all be on the same page." When she was younger, Chenele Shaw saw something in her peers that piqued her curiosity. After making some poor choices in her past, she made a conscious decision to reform her life and turn to God. This initial yes helped her grow in relationship with God and give witness to true human fraternity and she does this through groups like The Human Condition Community and Before Gethsemane...

"We're all called to be life givers, we're all called to give life and to be creatives. And in that sense, we really do share in God's image and likeness in a special way." Vivienne Boddy's artwork is instantly recognizeable and beautiful. As she prepared to enter into a new season of her life as a mother, she started Garden of Her Womb, an Instagram account where she shares her artistic journey. For Vivienne, it is a way to share her reflections on faith, life as a mother, and her growing...

Friends, it is the season finale of The Feminine Genius Podcast! This season, we welcomed 22 incredible women who shared their stories and unique ways of living out their feminine genius. I am so in awe of each of them and the ways in which they say YES to working with God in the particular way that He calls them! In this episode, I share some of the things that I've learned through talking this season of the podcast, as well as a little insight into what's next! Here are the show notes...