Motherhood has a way of rewriting the plans we were so sure we had figured out.

For Susanna Peace Lovell, that meant becoming a mother to her daughter, Arizona, who is neurodivergent and has autism, ADHD, anxiety, and significant allergies. For Jacqueline, it meant infertility, loss, a 24-week premature birth, a four-month NICU stay, and eventually learning that her oldest son has autism and ADHD, and her younger son also has ADHD and sensory processing disorder.

In this deeply personal conversation, Jacqueline and Susanna talk about what happens when motherhood looks nothing like the version you imagined—and how you learn to find yourself within it.

They open up about receiving a child's diagnosis, the instinct to immediately jump into "fix it" mode, the fear of what the world will think of your child, and the invisible mental load of raising a child with additional needs. They also talk about something caregivers don't hear nearly enough: you are allowed to have needs, joy, interests, dreams, and an identity outside of caring for everyone else.

Susanna shares the importance of compassion—for our children, for other mothers, and especially for ourselves—and why finding people who simply get it can change everything.

In this episode:

• When motherhood doesn't look the way you imagined
• Processing an autism or ADHD diagnosis
• The invisible work of parenting a neurodivergent child
• Why gratitude and overwhelm can exist at the same time
• Letting go of the pressure to "fix" everything
• What other people don't understand about raising a child with additional needs
• Building a village when you can't do it alone
• Rediscovering joy and identity outside of caregiving
• What Susanna would tell a mom who just received her child's diagnosis
• Why your child is still the exact same child they were before the label

Susanna also shares her work with We Are Brave Together, a community supporting the mental health and wellness of caregiving moms, and the anthology Suddenly Brave Together, featuring letters from experienced caregiving mothers to moms who are just beginning this journey.

If you've ever wondered where you went while taking care of everyone else—or you're navigating a motherhood story you never saw coming—this conversation is for you.

Connect with Susanna:
SusannaPeaceLovell.com
Instagram: @mamapeace

Learn more about We Are Brave Together:
WeAreBraveTogether.org

Support the show

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Her Village is more than a podcast—it’s a space for real connection, honest conversations, and meaningful friendships in the places we live.

If you want to go deeper and stay connected beyond the podcast, you can join us here: joinhervillage.co 💛 __________________________________________________________________________________

A Her Village Solo Episode 🎙️

The backpacks are packed, the school supplies are labeled, and the kids are settling back into their routines. But once we’ve gotten everyone else where they need to be… what about us?

In this solo episode, I’m talking about the back-to-school season as more than just a reset for our kids. It can be a reset for us, too.

Not in a reinvent your entire life now that the kids are in school kind of way. But as an opportunity to check in with ourselves and ask: What do I want this next season to feel like?

We’re talking about the routines we want to come back to, the things we may be ready to let go of, the parts of ourselves that have gotten pushed aside, and how to make a little more room for what fills us up.

Because motherhood has a way of dividing life into seasons—and sometimes a new season is exactly the invitation we need to reconnect with ourselves.

In this episode:

• Why back-to-school can feel like a fresh start for moms, too
• The difference between adding more to our plates and making intentional changes
• Taking inventory of what worked (and what didn’t) this summer
• Reconnecting with the parts of ourselves that exist outside of motherhood
• Thinking about how we actually want this next season to feel
• Starting small instead of trying to overhaul everything at once

And if connection is one of the things you’re craving in this season, that’s exactly why I’m building Her Village—a place for women to connect with themselves, each other, and their local community, both through these conversations and in real life.

🎧 Hit play, take a walk, pour another cup of coffee, and spend a little time thinking about what you want from this next season.

I’ll be right here when you come back to hit play.

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________________

Her Village is more than a podcast—it’s a space for real connection, honest conversations, and meaningful friendships in the places we live.

If you want to go deeper and stay connected beyond the podcast, you can join us here: joinhervillage.co 💛 __________________________________________________________________________________

What happens after you've survived something that could have defined the rest of your life?

Today's guest, Cindy Benezra, is a USA Today bestselling author, speaker, trauma recovery advocate, and author of Under the Orange Blossoms. Cindy is also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of her father.

But this conversation isn't about the details of what happened to Cindy. It's about what came next.

Cindy and I talk about what healing actually looks like in everyday life, learning to trust yourself again, breaking generational cycles, reclaiming your voice, and shifting the question from "What happened to me?" to "What's next?"

We also talk about Cindy's beautiful concept of "Freckles of Light"—the small, ordinary moments of hope and goodness that remind us healing doesn't always happen through one massive breakthrough. Sometimes it happens quietly, little by little.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Moving from a past-defined identity toward what's next
• What it means to become your own healer
• Cindy's "Freckles of Light" and finding hope in ordinary moments
• Breaking intergenerational cycles
• Reclaiming your voice and learning to trust yourself
• The role of storytelling and vulnerability in healing
• Why community and connection matter
• Finding hope when you're still carrying something from your past

Whether you've experienced trauma yourself or you're simply carrying something from your past that has shaped who you are today, this conversation is a reminder that what happened to you can be part of your story without getting to write the rest of it.

Connect with Cindy:
Learn more about Cindy, Under the Orange Blossoms, and her work at CindyTalks.

Connect with Her Village offline:
If you're local to the Naperville area, Her Village is about getting out from behind the screens and building real-life connection, too. Join us for upcoming coffee dates, nights out, book gatherings, and other opportunities to meet women in your local community.

Find details and upcoming gatherings by following along on Instagram or signing up for our email list.

And if this episode made you think of someone in your own village, send it her way. Sometimes being part of someone's village is as simple as saying, "I heard this, and I thought of you."

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________________________

Her Village is more than a podcast—it’s a space for real connection, honest conversations, and meaningful friendships in the places we live.

If you want to go deeper and stay connected beyond the podcast, you can join us here: joinhervillage.co 💛 __________________________________________________________________________________