Honestly, Dear Listener

What happens when the work that once gave you life starts to feel like a cage?

In this episode, we talk with designer, teacher, entrepreneur, (and Carrie’s former sewing program director) Trishawna Quincy, who shares the story of how she left a stable job she loved—one she built from the ground up—to launch her own sewing business. We talk about discerning when it’s time to pivot, how to say no without guilt, and why building a crea...

This week, we were supposed to record an episode about a totally different topic—but then real life (and a weed whacker) happened. So instead, Carrie and Emily get honest about what it looks like when your beautiful, color-coded goal list gets trampled by end-of-school chaos, family birthdays, two pages of unchecked boxes, and a spontaneous deep-dive into Christian denominational history. (Yes, really.)

We talk about:

• The guilt s...

If you’re an artist with big dreams and a limited amount of energy (hello, real life), this episode is for you. We’re joined by singer/songwriter, vocal coach, and goals-group-organizing wizard Allie Moss to talk about how to set meaningful creative goals without falling into hustle-culture burnout.

We dig into:

• How to tell the difference between “I don’t want to do this” vs. “I’m scared to do this”

• Why your inner critic needs a n...

Money—just the word can trigger a storm of guilt, shame, confusion, or scarcity. In this episode, we crack open our complicated histories with cash: growing up with little, being raised in churches that equated poverty with holiness, and internalizing a belief that joy and money should never mix.

We cover:

• Growing up in financial lack

• Church culture’s weird relationship with money, guilt, and perceived “worth”

• The deeply internaliz...

Have you ever felt like everyone around you seems to have a creative identity—but you’re just… a bunch of puzzle pieces that don’t fit into any one box? Maybe you’re multi-passionate, maybe you’ve been told to “pick a lane,” or maybe you’ve spent years trying to be a Tide Pod on a shelf—marketable, palatable, and definitely not too much.

In this episode, we talk about what creative authenticity actually feels like in the body, how t...

LISTEN TO PART 1 HERE (then come back and listen to part 2)

You’re vibing at an art show. Then it hits you: someone else already made the thing you wish you’d made. Suddenly, your joy nose-dives into insecurity. Welcome to the complex emotional soup of envy and jealousy—especially for creatives.

In this second half of this two-part series, Emily and Carrie continue with their discussion on envy and focus specifically on Brené Brown’...

You’re vibing at an art show. Then it hits you: someone else already made the thing you wish you’d made. Suddenly, your joy nose-dives into insecurity. Welcome to the complex emotional soup of envy and jealousy—especially for creatives.

In this first half this two-part series, Emily and Carrie crack open Brené Brown’s definitions, explore how envy often hides under admiration, and share personal stories about classism on airplanes,...

This week on Honestly, Dear Listener, we’re talking about bodies—how we ignore them, how they yell at us when we do, and what it actually means to be embodied (especially for those of us who grew up thinking our bodies were the enemy). From panic attacks to protein charts, poop habits to dance breaks, we’re getting real about the messy, beautiful, annoying work of coming home to ourselves—one hard-boiled egg at a time.

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📣 Big Fat Announcement! 📣

Starting Friday, April 18, Honestly, Dear Listener will be moving to a bi-weekly release schedule—that’s every other Friday instead of every single one.

Why? Because as much as we love creating this podcast, we’re also navigating real human schedules, creative projects, family life, grief, growth, and all the glorious mess in between. And we’re practicing what we preach: realistic expectations, nervous sys...

Today on Honestly, Dear Listener, we are unpacking what the heck “the patriarchy” even means, how it hurts artists, and what YOU can do to dismantle it. Joining us today is Carrie’s childhood friend Rachel Darden, a working actor known not only for her talent but also for her keen observations on the state of the arts.

From storytelling shackled by skewed representation to the invisibility of aging women, the patriarchy has left its...

We’re diving into our vault and pulling out episodes we want to make sure you don’t miss! Here’s a gem from October 2024 talking with our friend, Amber Mogg Cathey of Evolve Vocal Studio, about how we can motivate ourselves with kindness.

It’s our first episode of Season 4!

This week on Honestly, Dear Listener, we welcome vocalist, voice coach, friend, and frequent contributor to the show Amber Mogg Cathey back to the podcast. We di...

Ever been stuck in a tiny cubicle, staring at a fluorescent light, memorizing alternative history while yearning for human connection? Welcome to our private Christian school experience. This week, we take you back to the rigid world of goal charts, scripture memorization, and cubicle learning, where asking for help required raising tiny American and Christian flags—and asking for more wasn’t an option. But what happens when you fi...

Ever feel like the world is on fire, your creative energy is on life support, and the certainty you once clung to—faith, government, the idea that adults know what they’re doing—was all an illusion?

Yeah, us too.

This week, we’re getting real about the existential free-fall of realizing certainty was never actually real, the shame spiral that comes with feeling too much, and the struggle to carve out small pockets of joy without gu...

In this week’s episode of Honestly, Dear Listener, we talk about showing up in the middle of neither of us being okay. We talk about how our creative energy—heck, our energy in general—is like a coin, an “energy coin” and how we spend it on mental and emotional resources, sometimes on creativity and connection, and other times on self-criticism and fear. We discuss the struggle of self-trust, the reality of creative burnout, and th...

Who says artists have to pick one identity and stick to it forever? Creativity is about curiosity, exploration, and—let’s be honest—trying on new looks like an unhinged fashion season. In this episode, we’re talking about reinvention—not as a brand strategy, but as an artist’s natural evolution. Your creative identity isn’t a fixed logo—it’s a closet full of possibilities. Some seasons, you’re all about red bows and high-waisted be...

In this episode of Honestly, Dear Listener, we dive into the uncomfortable but necessary conversation about bias—the ones we know we have and the ones we don’t always notice. Carrie shares a personal story about confronting her own snap judgments in a dive bar, and we explore how biases show up in politics, social media, and everyday interactions.

No matter what side of the aisle we’re on, at the core, most of us want the same thin...