Season Finale - This version of me was worth fighting for

Have you ever stopped to notice your own transformation? In this vulnerable season finale, I open my heart about the journey we've taken together through Season 3 of Thrive Like a Mother.

 

When I returned to podcasting after taking time away for my son's first year, I questioned whether I could handle everything emotionally, spiritually, and physically. There were tear-filled moments and near-breakdowns that made me wonder: Is this still my path? Yet these very challenges shaped not just the podcast but my growth as a mother, wife, friend, and community builder.

 

The version of me speaking to you now is softer yet stronger, clearer and more authentic—and I've earned her. By setting boundaries and choosing rest over the familiar hustle mindset I grew up with, I discovered something revolutionary: there's no deadline on our becoming. This healing journey wasn't always pretty. It involved tears, anger, and grief, but ultimately led to a peace I never thought possible growing up.

 

If you're in a season of transformation where some days nothing makes sense, know this: your version of you is worth fighting for. The work you're doing—both seen and unseen—matters profoundly. Becoming your fullest self isn't selfish; it's holy work. Although the path can feel lonely at times, you're never truly alone.

 

As we pause for reflection this July, take time to acknowledge how far you've come. Season 4 returns with "the brakes off," focused on bringing our community closer together, because no mother should feel isolated in her growth journey.

 

Share what you're proud of from these past six months by sending me a DM—I genuinely want to celebrate with you. Remember: you are already enough, you are becoming, and in this community, you are never alone.

 

Need some help reflecting on your growth these past 6 months? Listen to this previous episode where I talk about reflecting on the first few months of 2025 and taking messy action to reach your goals.

 

Halfway through the year -- the power of just doing it

Thank you so much for listening in! If anything in this episode resonated with you, it would mean the world to me if you left a review or shared it with a friend or on social media.

And don't forget to tag me so I can personally thank you for helping me get the word out.

Follow and chat with me on Instagram:

Podcast account - @thrivelikeamother.podcast

Personal account - @thrive.empowered

Sending you light and love always!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, love, I'm Ebony and welcome to Thrive Like a
Mother On this podcast.
We're scared for our truth, butthat fear is what fuels us to
truly live in it.
You're in the right place ifyou feel like you're stuck in
survivor mode and you're readyto step into who you were truly

(00:20):
meant to be.
I'll share resources and toolsI use daily to help you in your
journey towards a healthiermindset and to break the wheel
of survival.
The journey may not be easy,but you won't have to face it
alone.
I'm a mama of three, healingday by day from past trauma, and
I'm on a mission to build alife I've always dreamed of but

(00:42):
never thought was possible.
So, love, if you're ready tobelieve in what's possible,
let's link arms and thrivetogether.
Hey, loves, welcome to anotherepisode, the final episode of

(01:14):
season three of the Thrive LikeA Mother podcast.
Y'all, this episode is one thathas been sitting on my heart
for a while now, with the newmamas, a love letter to the new
mamas and helping them throughwhat I think is one of the most
intense, beautiful,earth-shattering transformations
on this earth.

(01:35):
If I'm being honest, becoming amother is just just that, but
today's episode is a love letterto the women that you have
become and to the women thatI've become throughout this
season.
Y'all, this is the moment ofreflection and, honestly,
celebration which we do a lot ofthat here on Thrive Like a

(01:57):
Mother this season, like just sothat you know what we've built
up to and what we are buildingin the future.
And y'all, if I'm being honest,I didn't know how this season
was going to go because, if youremember, I took a little break.

(02:20):
I took a little break whenHenry was born and I really made
sure that my main focus wasgoing to be him for that very
first year.
And so I put out a few episodes, you guys, you know, you saw
that, my Mama's Quiet Momentsseries, which were really just
like my raw voice notes that Iwas sharing with you.

(02:41):
And so, when I knew that I wasgoing to start season three, I
wasn't sure that version of methen was going to be able to
handle everything emotionally,spiritually, physically.
I had some doubts, I had somefears because, to be honest, the

(03:03):
podcast, we are still very new,right, we are still growing, we
are still learning and,honestly, we will continue to do
such.
But I, you know, thrive Like aMother is two years old and in
these two years y'all have seenI don't even know how many
versions of me you've seen, butyou've seen.
A few of me you've seen, butyou've seen, you've seen a few.

(03:26):
And so the version of me thatstarted this season I wasn't
sure at that point, coming outof a season where I was very
much intentionally slowing down,I wasn't sure how much, you
know, I could hold on my plate,and there were a lot of moments
where I was like, okay, are we,are we really?
We're really doing this right?
We're really doing this.

(03:48):
We're going to keep going.
There was some pull your hairout moments, there were some
tears where sometimes I wantedto get out an episode and
realized that I needed to shift.
I think there was one episodewhere I could not get it out.
On Tuesday I just almost abouthad a breakdown about man.
Can I handle this Right?
Is this for me?

(04:09):
Is this my path?
You know I got sad but I alsogot curious challenges.
They truly like in real time,shaped how this podcast and how
myself transformed it, shaped mygrowth throughout this entire

(04:35):
season, not just in the podcast,but as a mother, as a wife, as
a friend, showing up andbuilding my community.
It truly, truly had an impactthis season and sometimes, y'all
, we don't really even noticethat we're transforming, until

(04:57):
we stop for a minute and we takea long enough time to take a
look back at the progress thatwe've had, we don't realize that
, whoa, who am I now Like?
What is going on right?
This version of me, thisversion of Ebony, this version
of the Thrive Like a Motherpodcast, is softer.

(05:19):
I'm stronger, clearer, morehonest and honestly being more
authentic to myself as I shiftthrough different seasons and
through just different phases ofmy life.
Y'all, this version of me, oh,this episode is gonna make me
emotional.
This version of me, I've earnedher.

(05:42):
I want that to sit for a minute.
I've earned her.
I set some boundaries, not justwith other people, not just with
work, but boundaries withinmyself.
I've chosen, instead ofsticking to the hustle that I've
always known, the hustle thatI've grown up with, the you have
to be 10 times better to besuccessful hustle.

(06:05):
You have to be 10 times betterto be successful hustle.
I've exchanged that for rest,like chosen rest.
Y'all, you don't understand howchosen rest can impact not only
your brain but your growth.
When you choose rest.
You are saying there is nodeadline on what I'm creating.

(06:26):
There's no deadline on what I'mbuilding right.
I don't have to force myself togo at a speed that does not
feel authentic, that does notfeel right.
This like healing that I'veleaned into during this season
of the podcast like I can't eventruly, truly describe how much

(06:49):
it was needed, how much I didn'tknow that I needed it.
The type of healing that I wentthrough a lot of the times.
It was not pretty right.
There were some tears, therewas some anger, there was some
grief, but it was necessary.
All of it was necessary.
The reason that I've worked sohard for the piece that I have

(07:11):
now, for my voice, for my rhythm, the reason that I did that was
because I didn't grow up havingthat and I didn't grow up
knowing that that was apossibility for me.
I think, you know, during mychildhood I thought that this is

(07:35):
the way it is I don't havepeace, I don't get to share my
voice, I don't get to have myown rhythm.
And if anything this season hastaught me is that, yes, you do.
You choose your piece, youchoose to share your voice, own
your voice, you choose your ownrhythm.

(07:57):
Y'all, this version of me today, this version was worth
fighting for.
This version was worth fightingfor you.
If you are in that season, yourversion of you is worth fighting
for.
The one that you are in thatseason, your version of you is
worth fighting for.
The one that you are working onright now, the one where some
days you just like you don'tknow, you don't know what's

(08:18):
going on, it is worth fightingfor.
And so all of y'all who arewalking this road with me, we're
here, right, we're here andwe're here.
The work that you've been doing, the one, the work that is seen
, and the work that a lot of thetimes because no one has no one

(08:39):
, but God has that inside lookon our lives A lot of the work
that is unseen, all the thingsthat you've been going through,
the tears, the tantrums, thedecisions that no one
understands or knows that youare making, I just want to hold
space for you.
I just want to hold space foryou and let you know that it is

(09:01):
worth every single second.
It is worth fighting for, it isworth it, you are worth it, you
are worthy, you are, and y'all.
Sometimes that road, it can be alittle lonely, right?
Because, like I said, the onlyperson that gets an inside look
at every second of your life isGod.
If no one else knows whatyou're going through, right?

(09:24):
You may feel like, is this awaste of time?
No, no, it's not.
No, it is not, because becomingyour fullest self is not
selfish.
It's not selfish, don't youthink for a second that it is
Becoming your fullest, highestversion of yourself.
All that you're putting into it, that is holy work, my love

(09:47):
like, and I just, I, really, Ireally want to.
I really want this episode fory'all to understand that, if you
are in that season where youare in the trenches, believe me,
I'm still in the trenches withy'all.
Right, the work does not end.

(10:08):
But who we were at thebeginning of this season and who
we are now, can we giveourselves some permission to be
proud of the growth that hashappened in that span of time?
Yeah, I'm talking to you.
I'm talking to you.
Give yourself the permission tobe proud of what you've done

(10:30):
these past few months, becauseyou've been doing the thing.
You've been doing it.
You've been showing upregardless of all the obstacles
and the challenges that you havegone through to become this
version of yourself.
Be proud, I am proud of you.
If no one has said that to yourecently.
You have gone through to becomethis version of yourself.
Be proud, I am proud of you.
If no one has said that to yourecently, I am so proud of you.

(10:51):
And so, as we close out seasonthree, I really want to leave
you with this.
Season four, y'all.
Season four, we are comingthrough.
I can't even.
I can't even explain to you thecatapult that y'all are about
to see.
July is definitely going to bea moment of pause for me.

(11:14):
I hope that you have that thissummer at some point, taking a
moment of pause, especially atthis point in the year.
We're halfway through the year,y'all.
This is a perfect time to pauseand reflect.
And if you need some help justdoing that, go back and listen
to the episode I'm going to linkit in the show notes to listen

(11:36):
to the episode about reflectingon the halfway point of the year
, because it is important.
It is important.
But season four, y'all, we arecoming.
It is important.
But season four, y'all, we arecoming.
We are coming with the brakesoff.

(11:56):
Honestly, we are coming at youreally just acknowledging that
the transformation is going tocontinue, the growth is going to
continue, and not only yourlife, but, honestly, in this
community that we've built.
And I think season four I wantto really hone in on bringing us
all together.
I think we sometimes can feelso siloed and you can see one

(12:18):
mama doing one thing and anothermama doing something else, but
we need to all be cheering foreach other Because, like I said,
it can be lonely thattransformation, that growth can
be lonely.
And so, while we are on ourbreak here in this quiet season
for a moment, while I pause andreflect, I want you to basically

(12:44):
take a moment to lock in withme, join in on the community.
If you're not on my email list,go ahead and get on that so
that you can stay up to date and, honestly, y'all, when season
four drops, you will know thatit's coming, you will know that

(13:11):
it's coming.
You will know, because I wantto make sure that when I come
back from rest and reflection,that I'm coming back to continue
the trend of letting you knowthat you are already enough, you
are already becoming and youare never, never alone in this
community.
So thank you for season three,thank you for my listeners for

(13:34):
always showing up episode afterepisode.
Y'all are listening in andtuning in, and it means so much
to me to have you walkingalongside me, to know that we're
not on this journey alone.
So in this month, if you'vemissed any episodes, go ahead
and re-listen or share anyepisodes that really spoke to

(13:56):
your heart, and really I want tohear your reflections for these
past six months.
So go ahead and send me a DM ofwhat you're proud of for these
past six months of growth.
Send me a DM of what you'reproud of for these past six
months of growth.
Y'all.
Until next time, keep healing,keep growing and let's keep

(14:17):
thriving together.
Bye, y'all.
Thank you so much for listening.
Love.
If anything in today's episoderesonated with you, share it
with your bestie or share it onsocial media and tag me so we
can chat about it.
As always, sending you lightand love, and remember you are
worthy, you are enough and youdeserve to thrive.