Mental health touches every family.

In this episode, Valerie Geer shares an honest conversation about severe and persistent mental illness, caregiver burnout, stigma, crisis response, and what real community mental health support looks like beyond a therapist’s office.

We discuss the role of a community chaplain at the YMCA, why safe spaces matter, and how families can find practical help through the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

If you’re supporting a loved one with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, or anxiety — or navigating your own mental health journey — this episode offers clarity, compassion, and real next steps.

Follow Grit & Grace ⬇️
🌐 Website: https://www.gritandgraceenterprises.com
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gritandgraceenterprises/
🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gritandgraceenterprises
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grit&graceenterprises

Follow Valerie Geer ⬇️
🌐 YMCA
https://www.theyonline.org/
📸 Instagram: @vmgeer
https://www.instagram.com/vmgeer
📘 Facebook: Valerie Kiesser Geer
https://www.facebook.com/valerie.kiessergeer

How do you build a profitable business while leading with heart?

In this episode of the Grit & Grace Podcast, Dana interviews Amy Donaldson — author, business coach, speaker, and real estate leader — about servant leadership, cash flow management, entrepreneurship, and empowering women in business.

If you're a real estate professional, entrepreneur, small business owner, coach, or woman in leadership, this conversation delivers practical strategies and mindset shifts you can apply immediately.

In this episode, we cover:

• Servant leadership in business and life
• Building scalable real estate systems
• Cash flow strategy and financial stability for entrepreneurs
• Getting off the “cash flow roller coaster”
• Leadership development and mastering your craft
• Women’s empowerment and personal safety
• How trusting your gut becomes strategic business wisdom

Amy shares real-world insight from years in real estate coaching and business development, offering tools for sustainable growth, stronger leadership, and long-term success.

If you care about entrepreneurship, leadership, women in business, real estate growth, financial resilience, and personal development, this episode is for you.

Connect with Amy Donaldson:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmyD4

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/southwesternconsulting/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-donaldson-cpc-2b046966/

Book: Get Off the Cash Flow Roller Coaster (available on Amazon)

Follow Grit & Grace ⬇️

🌐 Website: https://www.gritandgraceenterprises.com

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gritandgraceenterprises/

🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gritandgraceenterprises

📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grit&graceenterprises

A cancer survivor physician on illness, women finding their voice, and why real healing isn’t toxic positivity

What happens when life breaks you open—and you choose not to look away?

In this powerful episode of the Grit & Grace Podcast, host Dana Lyons sits down with Dr. Cindy Howard—physician, cancer survivor, and award-winning author of Positively Altered—for an honest conversation about cancer, chronic illness, mindset, and what true healing really means.

This is not a conversation about toxic positivity or pretending everything is fine.
It’s about telling the truth, listening to your body, emotional resilience, and finding joy even when life doesn’t get easier.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why saying “I understand” can invalidate real pain
• How cancer and illness force women to reclaim their voice
• Motherhood, vulnerability, and the emotional weight of watching loved ones suffer
• Why mindset isn’t motivational fluff—it’s a survival skill
• Letting go of perfection, control, and people-pleasing
• How healing often begins when life falls apart

If you’re navigating cancer recovery, chronic illness, burnout, midlife transition, emotional exhaustion, or women’s health challenges, and asking, “Is there life on the other side of this?”—this episode will meet you exactly where you are.

🎧 Listen now and remember: life doesn’t end when things fall apart—it often becomes more honest.

Follow Grit & Grace
🌐 https://www.gritandgraceenterprises.com

📸 Instagram: @gritandgraceenterprises
🎵 TikTok: @gritandgraceenterprises
📘 Facebook: Grit & Grace Enterprises

Follow Dr. Cindy Howard
🌐 https://drcindyspeaks.com

📸 Instagram: @dr.cindyspeaks
📘 Facebook: Dr. Cindy Speaks
💼 LinkedIn: Cindy Howard
📘 Positively Altered on Amazon

Functional nutritionist Ali Virtue joins the Great Grace Podcast to unpack what a healthy reset for women really looks like—without diets or shame. This episode covers hunger cues, hormones, midlife metabolism, sleep, emotional eating, and sustainable habits that support long-term women’s health.

Connect & Learn More ⬇️
Grit & Grace: https://www.gritandgraceenterprises.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gritandgraceenterprises/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gritandgraceenterprises

Ali Virtue (Parkside Nutrition):

Email: ali@parksidenutrition.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ali.parksidenutrition/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParksideNutrition

Community doesn’t just happen—and meaningful connection takes intention.
If you’ve ever felt disconnected, disappointed by relationships, or unsure how to truly belong again, this episode is for you.

In this episode of The Grit & Grace Podcast, Dana sits down with Lori Harreldsen, entrepreneur, community builder, and CEO of Valor Connect, for an honest and powerful conversation about what it really takes to build authentic community.

After moving back to Oregon following nearly 20 years away, Lori found herself starting over—knowing almost no one. Rather than waiting to be invited in, she intentionally rebuilt connection from the ground up through curiosity, courage, clarity around values, and a willingness to step outside her comfort zone.

This conversation goes far beyond networking or surface-level relationships. It explores the deeper emotional work of rebuilding trust, choosing healthy community, and creating spaces where women support—not compete with—one another.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why community isn’t automatic and why waiting to be included keeps us stuck
• The difference between a comfort zone and a truly safe community
• How to rebuild connection after relational hurt or betrayal
• Why knowing your values helps you choose the right yes—and the right no
• How women can stop competing and start championing one another
• How small, honest conversations can lead to meaningful, lasting relationships

If you’re craving deeper connection, feeling the weight of isolation, or wondering how to begin again, this episode will meet you right where you are.

Connect with Lori Harreldsen:
Email: loriharaldsen@gmail.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori-haraldsen/

Follow Grit & Grace ⬇️
https://www.gritandgraceenterprises.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gritandgraceenterprises/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gritandgraceenterprises

🎧 Follow The Grit & Grace Podcast for conversations on leadership, resilience, faith, purpose, and building a life rooted in courage and connection.

Do you feel anxious, overwhelmed, exhausted, or stuck in survival mode—even when your life looks “fine” on the outside?

In this episode of The Grit & Grace Podcast, host Dana Lyons talks with nurse practitioner Sarah Haugland-Haggeabout nervous system regulation, trauma, somatic healing, and the powerful mind-body connection. Together, they explore why your body may feel unsafe even when your mind says you’re okay—and what to do about it.

If you’ve been told your labs are “normal” but you still don’t feel well…
If you’re dealing with anxiety, burnout, chronic stress, hormonal imbalance, or emotional overload…
If you want a clear, compassionate explanation of trauma healing and nervous system health—

This episode will help you understand what your symptoms mean and how to begin healing.

In this episode, you’ll learn about:

• Nervous system regulation and chronic fight-or-flight
• How trauma is stored in the body (somatic healing explained simply)
• The connection between anxiety, gut health, hormones, and burnout
• Practical ways to calm your nervous system when life feels overwhelming
• Why self-trust breaks down—and how to rebuild it
• How to shift from survival mode into thriving

Your nervous system isn’t broken.
It’s been protecting you.

🎧 Listen now and take the first step toward nervous system healing.

Follow Grit & Grace ⬇️
https://www.gritandgraceenterprises.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gritandgraceenterprises/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gritandgraceenterprises

Follow Sarah ⬇️
https://www.iawellnesscollective.com

#NervousSystemHealing #AnxietyPodcast #BurnoutRecovery #TraumaHealing
#SomaticHealing #MindBodyConnection #WomensHealthPodcast
#MentalHealthAwareness #GritAndGracePodcast

What does it really look like to lead without losing yourself?
In this episode of The Grit & Grace Podcast, Dana talks with executive coach Lucy Escobar about emotionally intelligent leadership, faith, family, and building a life that actually works.

Most women aren’t trying to build a brand—they’re trying to build a life that works.

In Episode 5 of the Grit & Grace Podcast, Dana sits down with Lucy Escobar, former banking executive, executive coach, and founder of the Oregon Book Fair, for a powerful conversation about leadership, faith, family, and purpose.

Lucy shares her journey from a 20-year career in banking into coaching leaders, mentoring women, and building community spaces rooted in belonging and literacy. She opens up about motherhood, becoming a grandmother, releasing expectations, and how to lead with heart while carrying real responsibility.

This episode is for women who are already doing a lot—and want to do it with more clarity, confidence, and peace.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
• Why leadership begins with emotional intelligence and self-awareness
• How to support adult children without controlling or resenting
• The simple 90-day practice Lucy uses to stay grounded (The Wheel of Life)
• Why persistence matters more than perfection
• How the Oregon Book Fair was built—and why community still matters
• What to do when discouragement shows up

If you’re leading at home, at work, or in your community—and wondering how to keep going without losing yourself—this conversation will remind you that you don’t have to do it alone.

Follow, rate, and review The Grit & Grace Podcast for more real conversations with women leading real lives.

Can you actually enjoy the holidays without feeling sluggish, bloated, or guilty afterward? In this festive Christmas episode of Grit & Grace, we welcome back Allie Virtue of Parkside Nutrition to break down how to stay healthy, energized, and grounded during the busiest (and treat-filled) time of the year.

We move past the awkwardness and talk about real health—starting with gut health (yes, even poop 💩). Allie shares why digestion is one of the most important indicators of overall well-being and how to navigate the holiday “treat fest” without derailing your progress or mindset.
You’ll also hear about “Grandma Training”—a powerful way to find your personal why—plus practical strategies for staying active when you’re traveling, hosting family, or completely off your normal routine.

🎁 In this episode, you’ll learn:
💩 The Truth About Digestion: Why regularity matters and what your body is trying to tell you
👵 Grandma Training: How to anchor your fitness goals to real-life function and purpose
🚶‍♀️ The 15-Minute Rule: Why “something is better than nothing” keeps momentum alive
🥩 The Double P Rule: How prioritizing Protein & Plants is the ultimate holiday hack
🧠 Stress vs. Digestion: Why “running from the lion” shuts down your gut health
⏰ Time Budgeting: How to take ownership of your schedule—even with toddlers or houseguests

✨ Key Quote:
“Nothing has absolutely no potential to go anywhere. Something, even a 5-minute walk, has the potential to become everything.”
Whether you’re trying to maintain progress, ditch the guilt, or simply feel better in your body this holiday season, this episode is packed with realistic, grace-filled strategies you can actually use.

🎧 Listen, subscribe, and share this Christmas episode with someone who needs permission to choose progress and joy this season.

Follow Grit & Grace ⬇️
https://www.gritandgraceenterprises.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gritandgraceenterprises/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gritandgraceenterprises
Contact Ali ⬇️
Email: ali@parksidenutrition.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ali.parksidenutrition/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParksideNutrition

#women #podcast #healthyliving #christmas #holiday #dailyhabits #womenempowerment #guthealth #gritandgracepodcast #health #wellness #nutrition #selfcare