The Real Stuff with Lucie Fink

Today's audience caller, Cassidy, wrote in after I put out a casting call about kink, but what unfolded in our conversation went so much deeper than sex. It turned into one of the most layered discussions I've had on this show about mental health, medical gaslighting, abusive relationships, divorce, and ultimately, healing.

Cassidy spent over a decade being told nothing was wrong with her. Doctors dismissed her symptoms...

Today's caller, Liz, has one of the most incredible stories I've ever heard on this show. After connecting with a pregnant, homeless woman named Cassandra in a Facebook adoption group, Liz received a single photo of a newborn baby and a message saying that she had been listed as the mother on the baby's birth certificate...with no other explanation. That photo sent her, her sick husband, and her two kids on a six-hour driv...

I have to be honest — when I put out the casting call for people with interesting jobs, I wasn't expecting anything quite like this. Alexandra Sunshine is a senior editor at Kensington Books and, as she describes herself, is the number one romantic editor in the U.S. right now — meaning she has acquired more projects in the romantic genre than anyone else in the country. And yes, "romantasy" means exactly what you think it...

Today we have an audience caller episode for you and I am so grateful that Melanie wrote in because this conversation genuinely opened my mind in ways I wasn't expecting.

Melanie is 34 years old, openly polyamorous, and has been practicing BDSM for 15 years. Her husband knows about her boyfriend. Her family knows she's in multiple relationships at once. And after a long-term relationship where she and her partner pushed...

I have been fascinated by today's guest ever since I came across a profile piece about her when I was working at Refinery29. I never got the chance to film a Lucie for Hire episode with her back then, but when we recently put a casting call out for people who have interesting jobs, Jen wrote in and the rest is history.

Jen Glantz is a bridesmaid for hire. Brides from all over the country and beyond pay her to show up to...

In this solo episode of The Real Stuff, I'm sharing a theory I've been quietly developing for years. If you've ever watched my TEDx talk on The Power of Trying New Things, you know I've always championed getting out of your comfort zone. But today I’m going one layer deeper — asking the question: what is the underlying force that drives all of that trying? My answer: curiosity.

I'm calling it The Curiosity Crisis — a so...

I genuinely believe every single person needs to hear this conversation. Jackie Blankenship is an intersex advocate who was born with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome — meaning she has XY chromosomes, but her body couldn't respond to testosterone, so she developed externally female. She also has no internal reproductive system and no vaginal canal. And she didn't tell a single soul until she was 40.

In this epis...

I put out a casting call asking for audience members with unconventional family setups and Laura's submission stopped me in my tracks. Honestly? I think it should be a movie.

Laura is 40, lives in New York City, and is mom to her almost-two-year-old daughter Adeline. But the story of how Adeline came to be is one of the most intentional, creative, and genuinely heartwarming things I've ever heard. After a divorce in her...

My husband Michael is back on the podcast— and this time, we're getting into the biggest life shift our family has made in years.

At the end of last year, Michael made the decision to leave his corporate job in sports media after over a decade of climbing the ladder. He had no new job lined up… it was just a leap of faith toward a different kind of lifestyle. I've been watching him grind through high-pressure, around-th...

I have been waiting to have this conversation. Les Alfred — host of the She's So Lucky podcast and one of the most refreshingly honest voices in the self-development space — sat down with me in the studio, and we went deep.

We talk about what it really means to want a big life. Les is unapologetically vocal about wanting wealth, success, and a life that is anything but average, and in this episode, she explains exactly ...

Ever wondered what it's actually like to be a twin? In this deeply personal episode, I'm going solo to share everything I've never fully unpacked on camera about growing up as a fraternal twin — my experience, my perspective, and yes, the fact that my twin Allie is very much not here with me for this episode (she's private, she's pregnant, and she said no... and I respect it).

I'm diving into the science of fraternal vs...

Today I'm sitting down with an anonymous audience caller I'm calling "Emily," a married mom of two who has never told a single person (not a close friend, not a therapist, not ANYONE) about her husband's sexual kinks. Until now.

What starts as a candid, almost lighthearted conversation about a husband with some unconventional sexual preferences quickly becomes something much deeper: a story about trauma, secrecy, isolat...

From high school breakouts to a low-dose of Accutane… to the massive hormonal flare-up I experienced after coming off birth control in 2020 — I know firsthand how consuming, painful, and isolating acne can be. It’s not “just skin.” It affects your confidence, your relationships, your work, and your mental health.

In this episode, I’m joined by Kayleigh and Danielle, the co-founders of CLEARSTEM, a brand born out of thei...

A few years ago, I did something that most people would probably say is a terrible idea: I invited one of my online trolls onto a Zoom video chat.

You may have heard a version of this story in one of my TEDx talks, but on this episode of The Real Stuff, I’m telling the full, unfiltered version (including ACTUAL audio from the call itself). I went back and listened to the 44-minute recording of our call and what I notice...

For 11 years, I didn’t have a real menstrual cycle.

I was on hormonal birth control from my teenage years into adulthood, and while it did exactly what it was supposed to do, it also meant I wasn’t ovulating, wasn’t having a normal menstrual cycle, and wasn’t exactly aware of how deeply hormones shape my energy, creativity, mood, libido, and even my confidence.

In this episode, I’m expanding on a recent newsletter I ...

In this episode, I’m finally telling the full story of the spiritual experience that changed my personality and my entire approach to life. It’s the story of a dream I had about my late “Uncle” Donald — a man who wasn’t biologically related to me, but who was woven into the fabric of my family and my life in a way that’s hard to put into words. He was my parents’ best friend, the person who introduced them to one another, ...

In this special episode of The Real Stuff, I recorded my very first LIVE podcast taping and used it as an opportunity to get honest about wellness, what actually matters, and the moment my body forced me to slow down.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how wellness culture has become overly complicated. We’re obsessing over tiny optimizations and trendy hacks while completely ignoring the foundational habits that ac...

In today’s episode of The Real Stuff, I’m sitting down with Brandon Sudduth for a vulnerable and very important conversation. 

Brandon is known online for creating joyful, family-centered content alongside his wife, Destene, but behind that joy is a story he carried silently for more than 35 years. For the first time publicly, Brandon opened up about experiencing sexual abuse as a child, the lifelong impact of carr...

In today’s episode of The Real Stuff, I’m sitting down with Samantha Diamond, CEO and co-founder of Bird & Be, a company born out of her personal experience with PCOS, pregnancy loss, and the deep gaps in reproductive health education. Despite being married to an OB/GYN, Samantha realized she still didn’t understand her cycle, fertility window, or the silent struggles that so many women face—until she became one of the...