Episode 6: From People Pleasing to Boundary Setting with Elizabeth Fisher Good
I met Elizabeth Fisher Good in 2015 when I lived in Chicago, through the anti-human trafficking cause group I was working with, as she was establishing the anti-human trafficking organization she confounded, Selah Freedom. Elizabeth is one of those people that commands a presence, and you sense immediately that she’s doing something you want to be a part of.
What I learned about Elizabeth as time went on is that she had her own story to tell. Through unraveling this story, her passion to live her best authentic life, and helping other women do the same, has become as big of a part of her as the life changing work she does in the anti-human trafficking world. Her commitment in the healing work of helping girls who have been trafficked awoke something in her that ignited her desire to walk out her own healing & help others do the same. This was revealed in her book “Groomed” that was released in early 2020, and as she has established “Free With E”.
We discuss her journey through all of this in this episode. Elizabeth talks about what she’s learned about boundaries, emotional & physical health connections, living out of her own expectations, and how she gives her time to people & causes that align with her values and feed her soul in this season she is now in.
There is so much in this conversation about moving from people pleasing, codependency, and taking care of everyone else around us, to a healthier way of living. I can’t wait to share this with the world as we all journey towards living out F.E.E.L.
Don’t miss the show notes or sources on our website where we share about Elizabeth’s latest groundbreaking work through the Selah Way Foundation and the launch of her new program for women “Free with E - A Journey to More”
Be sure to listen here on the website under Episodes or on our Anchor Page!
Episode 5: Built for Healthy Boundaries with Joy Drake
I have known Joy Drake for over 25 years, as we have moved around the West, raised our families, and navigated life together. She has always been a force who knew her mind, her why for doing things, and has never been dissuaded by others thoughts or opinions, very comfortable living out of her own expectations of and for herself.
None of this was a surprise to me going into recording this episode. However, what became even more clear is that we did not even need talking points for this episode because Joy so clearly lives her daily life naturally out of each of these subjects we discuss. She’s so naturally boundaried, putting her time into relationships and causes that fit seamlessly into the why’s and expectations that drive her in all that she pursues. This goes for her long term pursuits as well as the new ones she’s going after in the last year.
Women, and for that matter people of all ages, can learn so much from Joy and how she navigates her life and lives out what aligns with her heart and hope for this world and the people in it.
Join us for this empowering conversation on how to live your life by your standards, hopes, dreams, and embracing all the parts and layers that make us each who we are.
Be sure to listen here on the website under Episodes or on our Anchor Page!
Episode 4: Healthy Boundaries & Living Out of My own Expectations with Abby Bekele
I first met Abby the Spring of her freshman year at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. She was one of my middle daughter Kylee’s original first friends in college, and they have remained close as roommates and friends over the last 5 years. I have literally watched Abby grow up through this time, and am so thankful for the friend she has been to Kylee, and how she has been willing to come on board this podcast journey with me and do things that I would have had no idea how to do without her help and expertise.
Abby has always been a loyal, kind, honest friend, but where I am seeing her grow the most that gives me great joy is in her finding her voice to talk about the important social issues that black young women face every day in this country in their social, athletic, and works spaces, as well as finding her own voice in setting boundaries in relationships and learning how to not give everything without also receiving what she is worthy of in her relationships. Abby is a big giver, so this has been a journey as she finds her voice and learns to live out of the expectations she has set for herself, not the ones that others around her have set for her.
We talk about navigating cultural expectations within her family as well as the expectations the world has put upon her, and not allowing those to override her why, her healthy boundaries, and expectations she has set for her life.
I have loved and continue to love watching her grow into this confident, spokesperson for her own life and the stories of others that she shares through her work, and her willingness to stay with it, knowing growth, learning, and change is a process, but that she is worth fighting for to be the best self she can possibly be for her and for the world.
I know you will feel inspired and encouraged as Abby shares all she’s learning and navigating in this episode. I hope you’ll join us, and realize you are worth fighting for too.
Be sure to listen here on the website under Episodes or on our Anchor Page!
Episode 3: Your Monthly Cycle Can Be Your Friend with Valencia Saint-Louis
I knew going into this Episode that it would be fun to do because of all the growth I’ve gotten to witness in Valencia the last almost 3 years I have known her.
I’ve watched her do the hard work of moving from people pleasing to living out of her own expectations & not others; of what it means to establish & communicate healthy boundaries in relationships, work, and making meaningful time for rest and self care. I was very excited to listen to her share about this journey.
I also knew we were going to talk about her brand that she’s launching, which will include a podcast and blog of its own. I knew she had connected the dots on how emotional & physical healthcare tied together. What I did not fully understand was all the research she had put into it, and how much knowledge she has generated about women’s cycles each month and how we can better understand how they work and how we can navigate them in such a helpful, meaningful, nourishing way. Ladies, if we truly take what she’s learned and apply it, it will change lives for good in a way most of us did not know was possible. It will change the way you think about, talk about, and approach and experience your cycle, hormones, and beyond.
This is a must listen for us all and I’m so pleased to get to share it with you.
Be sure to listen here on the website under Episodes or on our Anchor Page!
Episode 2: Meet the Crooks
My biggest concern going into this episode was that with so many people involved, could we still make it sound like a conversation that we would organically have around the table at dinner, sipping coffee, or just hanging out on the deck somewhere; AND would the length be an issue, given all involved, and that we all have our own unique stories and perspectives to share?
Following the recording I listened to the raw, unedited version a couple of times to assess these concerns, and came away very happy with how conversational and natural it felt, as well as how raw, vulnerable, and honest we all were, while still laughing and being our authentic selves throughout. My main thought was how is Valencia going to edit this because there’s so much good content? I don’t want much of anything cut, other than some transitional space here and there. But that’s why Valencia is the editor and producer and I am not :).
Later that week Valencia and I were catching up and she let me know that she was about 45 minutes into the episode and remarked on how conversational we sounded, what a good intent listener Brady is, how clear it was how much our daughters love and support each other and us, and that it did not feel long at all because of the quality of the conversation. I was very happy to hear that from an unbiased listener, who has not seen our family interact before; that she was able to pick up on that. I was still concerned however, that she was going to have difficulty editing it down to a reasonable time frame, but she came back and answered that question a couple of days later by recommending we split it into 2 episodes. That way we don’t cut good content, and the episodes are each a reasonable amount of time. Again, that’s why she’s the editor and producer :).
Needless to say, I’m really excited for these episodes to be shared with the world. There’s a ton of great nuggets and it will really give you an inside look at us, and how I got on this journey I’m on with this podcast.
I hope you love it as much as I do :)
Be sure to listen here on the website under Episodes or on our Anchor Page!
Episode 1: Emotional Health & Physical Health Connection to our Overall Wellbeing with Melissa Crook
Recording episode 1 and putting this out to the world is feeling very freeing to me. I am excited to introduce this content to the world because I believe that we as women need to feel the freedom to have these discussions, and remove the taboo around these topics. I want younger generations to learn from this, and create an awareness in their holistic health that helps them avoid the pitfalls that I ran into, and I want women my age and older to be empowered to deal with these areas of their life in a healthy authentic vulnerable way so we can all be living our best lives, not feeling guilty or selfish for prioritizing our well being.
As I have re-examined what living my healthiest life looks like, I am also excited to introduce listeners to people who are doing this themselves in their own unique ways, and continuing to evolve and learn as they’re doing it. I hope this offers some ideas and inspiration to listeners and also assists everyone in understanding that we are all continuing to learn and evolve, what our best healthiest life and relationships will change with different seasons that we go through, and that’s ok, as long as we don’t put ourselves on the backburner in that new season.
I’m invigorated by the thought of introducing these conversations to the world, and hope listeners will feel inspired and invigorated as well.
Be sure to listen here on the website under Episodes or on our Anchor Page!
Welcome to The F.E.E.L Podcast
Let me introduce you to the F.E.E.L podcast, Finding Empowerment Embracing Layers. My name is Melissa Crook, and at the age of 51, I just now feel like I'm finally finding and identifying with my authentic self and what it takes to live that out daily. The hope of this podcast is that it will help women at any age, especially 20 somethings, prioritize self care without feelings of guilt or selfishness, set healthy boundaries in jobs, activities, and relationships, and deal with all emotions and feelings fully and in a healthy way so they don't get stuck in their body and produce physical and emotional problems down the road.
Be sure to listen here on the website under Episodes or on our Anchor Page!