What do you do when the waiting is happening in every area of your life at once?

Hope Andrews knows that season. She waited on the right relationship. She waited on her education. She waited through fertility treatments that didn't work, a friend's pregnancy that felt impossible to celebrate, and a career pivot that started with silence and crickets. And then, in a fertility clinic on a Sunday morning, she and her husband made a decision to stop striving and surrender.

The next month, she found out she was pregnant.

But Hope's story doesn't stop at motherhood. In this episode, Kim Atwood also talks with Hope about what she did after her daughter arrived, a full career pivot into commercial real estate, one of the most male-dominated industries there is. Hope didn't wait for permission. She wrote a year-long plan, presented it to her firm, got no response, and signed up for her real estate license classes the day before Thanksgiving anyway. Then she emailed the whole company when she passed.

This is a conversation about the kind of resilience you can only build in seasons you didn't choose.

In this conversation:

• What it felt like to watch others reach milestones she was still waiting for, and how she kept going
• Why she started therapy during her fertility journey and why she's glad she did
• The moment in a fertility clinic that changed everything
• How to find support that actually meets you where you are, not where people wish you were
• Leaving a leadership career at Chick-fil-A to start over in commercial real estate
• Standing out as a woman in a male-dominated industry without trying to fit someone else's mold
• Joining CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) and finding community in unexpected places
• What the waiting seasons taught her that she couldn't have learned any other way

If you are in a season where nothing is moving the way you planned, and you are starting to wonder if it ever will, this conversation is for you.

About Hope Andrews Hope Andrews is a commercial real estate professional based in South Carolina. Her career path has taken her from Girl Scouts leadership and a nontraditional college journey to management roles at Chick-fil-A and now a career in commercial real estate, where she serves on the board of CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women). Her story of infertility, faith, and professional reinvention is one of Season 1's most quietly powerful.

About SpeakHER Sessions SpeakHER Sessions is a podcast for women who are finding their voice, or finding it again. Host Kim Atwood sits down with real women to talk about the experiences that shaped them, the seasons that stretched them, and the confidence they've built along the way. New episodes every Monday.

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Sponsors This episode is sponsored by:

How2SpeakU — Helping women build confidence and communicate with strength and clarity. how2speaku.com

Terri Brock State Farm — From first apartments to family homes, coverage you can trust from a team that treats you like family, not a policy number. Auto, home, life, and more. terribrock.com

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SpeakHER Sessions is hosted by Kim Atwood.
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