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This week, we chat with Jon Fogel—known to many as @wholeparent on social media—to challenge everything we think we know about parenting, discipline, and the role of punishment. Jon brings a unique blend of lived experience as a pastor, foster parent, and neuroscience-informed educator. Together, we dive into how authoritarian parenting patterns mirror broader societal dynamics and why shifting from punishment to connection could be the most transformative change we make as parents.

We also get deeply personal—sharing stories of tantrums, triggers, and those hard moments that test every parent's resolve. If you've ever wondered whether there's a more effective, more human way to raise your kids—especially when they're screaming "F-you" at you—you’re going to want to hear this. Jon’s insights on brain-based, compassionate parenting are nothing short of game-changing.

⭐️ If this episode resonated with you, I’d love for you to rate, review, and follow the show. And don’t forget to share it with a fellow parent who might need a reminder that punishment isn’t the only path. Let’s raise kids who feel safe, seen, and supported.

Links & Resources:

Jon Fogel’s Book: Punishment-Free Parenting: The Brain-Based Way to Raise Kids Without Raising Your Voice

Follow Jon on Instagram and TikTok: @wholeparent

Jon’s Substack (with bonus parenting resources): wholeparent.substack.com

Book Mentioned: The Whole-Brain Child by Dr. Tina Payne Bryson and Dr. Dan Siegel

Children’s Book Mentioned: The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld

Book Mentioned: Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn

Emotional Regulation Guide from Jon (included in Substack subscription)

Primary Keywords:
gentle parenting, punishment-free parenting, parenting without punishment, conscious parenting, discipline vs punishment, emotional regulation for kids, neuroscience-based parenting, raising emotionally intelligent children, parenting, punishment-free parenting, emotional regulation, child development, neuroscience, parenting advice, John Fogel, Whole Parent, discipline, Bible, authoritarianism

Supporting Keywords:
Jon Fogel Whole Parent, Whole Brain Child, parenting expert interview, foster parenting, parenting and religion, parenting and politics, authoritarian parenting, ICE raids and parenting

Long-Tail Keywords:
how to discipline without yelling, what to do instead of timeouts, how punishment affects child brain development, alternatives to authoritarian parenting, what is conscious parenting really about, parenting advice for strong-willed children

Support the show

Website: https://www.doyouwantthetruthpod.com

Connect with Sam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/samanthastrom

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

Connect with Zara:

Zara Hanawalt https://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-hanawalt/

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

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

Send us a text

In honor of Pride month, this is an encore release of Bret Shuford (of @Broadway Hubands fame) episiode. Bret Shuford, renowned for his performances in Broadway hits such as Wicked, The Little Mermaid, and The Lion King. Bret shares his personal journey to parenthood through surrogacy thanks to one of his friends, offering a heartfelt glimpse into the challenges and triumphs they've encountered. We learn some of the most interesting things about insurance, gestational carriers and the overall surrogacy process.

Delving into his illustrious career, Bret discusses the delicate balance between the demanding schedule of a Broadway performer and the joys of family life.

Bret Shuford, Broadway, Wicked, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, surrogacy, theater career, inclusivity, representation, performing arts, family life, authentic storytelling, LGBTQ parenting, gay dads, surrogacy journey, Pride Month podcast, Broadway dads, queer fatherhood, gay family, surrogacy costs, intentional parenting, LGBTQ family building

Long-tail keywords:
how gay couples have kids through surrogacy, Broadway actor talks LGBTQ fatherhood, real stories of gay dads and surrogacy, LGBTQ+ parenting podcast episodes 2025, what surrogacy really costs for same-sex couples, raising kids as a gay couple, Pride Month parenting stories, surrogacy advice from gay dads, how to start a family as an LGBTQ couple, Bret Shuford fatherhood interview

Support the show

Website: https://www.doyouwantthetruthpod.com

Connect with Sam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/samanthastrom

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

Connect with Zara:

Zara Hanawalt https://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-hanawalt/

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

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

Send us a text

Ever wondered what really goes on behind the Instagram-perfect scenes of modern motherhood? In this episode, we’re joined by Ellie Rineck—mom of two, host of A Day in Her Life podcast who is unapologetically real about the highs and lows of parenting.
When she’s not recording conversations with women across all walks of life, Ellie works as a project manager and implementation lead in AI healthcare tech.

She joins us to talk about high-risk pregnancies and hormone chaos to postpartum recovery and the pressures of breastfeeding.

Plus, we dig into the mental load, unexpected waves of partner guilt, and why outsourcing might just be your secret to survival. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by motherhood or questioned if you're doing enough, this episode is the supportive, unfiltered talk you didn’t know you needed. Ellie also shares her insights from 100+ interviews with women on how they actually manage their chaotic, beautiful lives.

🔗 Links & Resources:

Ellie's Podcast: A Day in Her Life

Pepper Books (Spicy Romance Subscription): shoppepperbooks.com

Follow Ellie on Instagram: @adayinherlifepod

Ready to outsource? Remember to use Peacock Parents code

💬 Closing Thought
If this episode resonated with you, take a moment to rate and review the podcast, follow for more real talk, and share it with a fellow mom who needs to hear she’s not alone. Your support helps more women find this space for unfiltered, honest parenting convos. 💛

Support the show

Website: https://www.doyouwantthetruthpod.com

Connect with Sam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/samanthastrom

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

Connect with Zara:

Zara Hanawalt https://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-hanawalt/

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

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

Send us a text

In this deeply moving and empowering episode, we're joined by Dr. Jessica Zucker, the trailblazing psychologist and author behind the “I Had a Miscarriage” movement. Jessica shares the deeply personal story that reshaped her career and advocacy: experiencing a miscarriage at 16 weeks, alone at home, and the aftermath that followed. What began as a clinical interest became an urgent call to action as she confronted the silence, stigma, and shame surrounding pregnancy loss.

Together, we dive into the evolution of cultural conversations around miscarriage, the emotional aftermath of loss, and the healing that comes from speaking the truth. Jessica also opens up about her journey through breast cancer, how grief stays in our bones, and why it’s time to normalize every phase of womanhood—from menstruation to menopause. If you’ve ever felt alone in your experience, this episode is a reminder that you're not.

Check out her new book
Jessica Zucker, Ph.D.
Order NORMALIZE IT

Dr. Jessica Zucker’s book: I Had a Miscarriage: A Memoir, a Movement

Follow Jessica on Instagram: @ihadamiscarriage

KEYWORDS
miscarriage awareness, pregnancy loss support, women's reproductive health, maternal mental health, Dr. Jessica Zucker, #IHadAMiscarriage movement, grief after miscarriage, trauma and healing, perinatal anxiety, perimenopause and motherhood, breaking cultural taboos, pregnancy after loss, miscarriage therapy, reproductive trauma, parenting after loss, women's health advocacy, Normalize It book, community in motherhood, healing through storytelling, female mental health

Support the show

Website: https://www.doyouwantthetruthpod.com

Connect with Sam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/samanthastrom

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

Connect with Zara:

Zara Hanawalt https://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-hanawalt/

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

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

Send us a text

After 40 episodes, your co-host Sam Strom is sharing her birth story.

Sam flips the roles and sharing the deeply personal story of how she became a mom—despite being sure she never would. Growing up with financial instability and watching the emotional toll motherhood took on her own mom, Sam was convinced kids weren’t for her. But life had other plans. In this conversation with Zara, she opens up about what changed, the reality of a traumatic pregnancy with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), and a birth experience that ended with two (nearly three) blood tranfusions and her surgeon saying “she’d never experienced anything like it in her 35 years.”

We talk about everything—from my complicated feelings around motherhood and how a therapist’s words unexpectedly nudged her into parenthood (spoiler alert, her words were less than honest), to the brutal reality of hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) and a traumatic birth during the pandemic. She talks about the guilt, the pressure to “bounce back,” and how lit took months to truly bond with her son.

If you’ve ever questioned motherhood, felt unseen in your journey, or realized your experience didn’t match the picture-perfect version the world sells us—this episode is for you.

⭐️ If something here spoke to you, follow, rate, review, or share it with someone who might need to hear an honest story about motherhood. It will help both them and us get our podcast to folks who it can help.

We’re just getting started.
🔗 Resources & Mentions:
Tone It Up fitness during pregnancy
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth (not an endorsement—listen for why)
Taking Cara Babies sleep program

Pregnancy with hyperemesis gravidarum, traumatic birth, and postpartum recovery

birth story podcast, traumatic birth story, hyperemesis gravidarum, postpartum recovery, first-time mom story, pregnancy complications, birth trauma, motherhood podcast, honest motherhood stories, C-section experience, postpartum anxiety

I didn’t want kids, unplanned motherhood journey, giving birth during the pandemic, bonding with baby, postpartum guilt, postpartum identity crisis, maternal mental health, pregnancy after 35, pandemic birth story, severe morning sickness, emergency C-section, blood transfusion birth story

Support the show

Website: https://www.doyouwantthetruthpod.com

Connect with Sam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/samanthastrom

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

Connect with Zara:

Zara Hanawalt https://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-hanawalt/

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

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

Send us a text

In this special re-release, we are officially introducing a past guest as our new co-host. Learn more about Zara's story in this episode, and tune in next week for part two of her story.

Why does parenting in America feel so much harder than it should? Today, we’re joined by Zara Hanawalt, a freelance journalist who has spent nearly a decade covering parenting, motherhood, women’s health, and culture for outlets like Vogue, Parents, Glamour, and The Everymom. But even after years of writing about reproductive health, she was completely unprepared for her own journey into motherhood.

Zara gets real about her struggles with infertility, the challenges of carrying twins, and the prenatal and postpartum realities that no one warns you about (like PUPPP, Post Preeclampsia and so much more). She also shares her perspective on why the system—not mothers—is setting parents up to fail, how American parenting culture has evolved in the past decade, and what we can do to push back against unrealistic expectations.

Learn more about Zara here > https://www.doyouwantthetruthpod.com/our-guests/zara

Episode Highlights:
[02:00] Zara’s infertility journey & how she conceived twins via IUI
[09:30] The complications of a high-risk twin pregnancy
[18:45] Why postpartum hit harder than she ever expected
[25:10] Feeling completely unprepared for the overstimulation of motherhood
[33:40] The broken “village” and why moms today have less support
[40:15] Why parenting in America feels uniquely hard & how we can change the conversation
[52:00] The unexpected joy of realizing she’s her kids’ safe space

Links & Resources:
📖 Read Zara’s work in Vogue, Parents, Glamour, The Everymom, and more
📢 Follow Zara on Instagram & TikTok for more conversations on modern motherhood
👶 Learn more about fertility & postpartum resources at www.postpartum.net

Support the show

Website: https://www.doyouwantthetruthpod.com

Connect with Sam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/samanthastrom

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

Connect with Zara:

Zara Hanawalt https://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-hanawalt/

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

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

Send us a text

In part two of this powerful conversation, Paige Connell returns to share the deeply personal story of what happened after the breaking point—the day of the diaper pail and the dishwasher. What followed wasn’t the end of her marriage, but a hard-won beginning.

We talk about the real work of rebuilding a partnership after years of resentment, mental overload, and feeling like the default parent. Paige opens up about navigating the Fair Play method with her husband, the realities of balancing neurodivergence in a marriage, and the emotional toll of being the one to initiate all the hard conversations.

We also get into the guilt that lingers even in equitable partnerships, how motherhood has shaped her identity, and what it means to unlearn productivity as self-worth. If you’ve ever felt unseen in your relationship, or stuck in the narrative that “it’s just easier if I do it myself,” this conversation is for you.

Paige also shares a personal update about the podcast and what’s next.

🕒 Timeline Summary:
[0:24] – The diaper pail & dishwasher moment: how one cut finger became a breaking point.
[2:00] – Paige lays it all on the table: what she needed from her marriage to stay.
[4:07] – Why the “dishwasher fight” is never really about the dishwasher.
[5:29] – How they implemented the Fair Play method (and made it their own).
[8:00] – Rebuilding trust after burnout, broken promises, and emotional distance.
[13:05] – Neurodivergence, organizational labor, and unlearning the “I’m just better at it” trap.
[19:31] – Working for yourself, fighting guilt, and reclaiming your own time.
[23:01] – Corporate parenting vs. being your own boss: the invisible weight of PTO, holidays, and school breaks.
[30:22] – The myth of the modern “village” and the impossible standards of intensive parenting.
[38:34] – What Paige would tell her best friends before they become parents.
[39:37] – The joy of watching your kids become people—outside of you.
[41:45] – Paige’s heartfelt farewell from the podcast.

🔗 Links & Resources:
Learn more about the Fair Play method by Eve Rodsky: Fair Play Life

Book mentioned: This Is How Your Marriage Ends by Matthew Fray

Follow Paige: @sheisapaigeturner

Support the show

Website: https://www.doyouwantthetruthpod.com

Connect with Sam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/samanthastrom

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

Connect with Zara:

Zara Hanawalt https://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-hanawalt/

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

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

Send us a text

Well, the time has come. You’ve heard her voice, you’ve heard her hot takes, and now you’re getting the whole story. In this episode, I turn the mic toward Paige Connell aka @sheisapaigeturner.

We get real real. Paige walks us through the beautiful, messy, emotional tornado that has been her path to motherhood—starting with a teenage AIM love triangle, through pregnancy losses, fostering two toddlers, navigating IVF and surviving a traumatic birth

If you’ve ever wondered how someone goes from "let's not not try" to four kids in five years. (Yes, four kids. In five years. Wild.)—all while staying married, organized, employed and mostly sane—you’re in for a treat. Plus, we talk domestic labor, postpartum absurdities, and more.

🕒 Timeline Summary:

[1:22] - That time Paige's teenage AIM crush ditched her best friend… and became her husband.
[6:11] - The “am I hungover or pregnant?” moment that turned into an ectopic pregnancy.
[11:46] - Fostering toddlers while grieving a pregnancy loss—because why do things the easy way?
[25:54] - IVF with toddlers during lockdown… nothing to see here, totally normal.
[33:35] - That time her placenta overstayed its welcome… by several surgeries.
[41:50] - Choosing a C-section (plus surprise hysterectomy!) with 40 people in the room.
[50:26] - The unexpected joy of watching your kids turn into tiny weird humans.

🔗 Links & Resources:

• Follow Paige on Instagram: @sheisapaigeturner
• Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston) - Website
• Interested in fostering in Massachusetts? Learn more: DCF MA Foster Care

💬 Final Thoughts:
If you’ve ever wanted to hear a woman survive an ectopic pregnancy, foster two kids, endure a pandemic pregnancy, lose a placenta and her uterus—all while staying sarcastic and showing up as the other half of this show—this episode is your moment.

If you laughed, cried, or screamed into a pillow (relatable), don’t forget to rate, review, follow, and share the podcast. We love ya for it.

SUMMARY OF TOPICS WE COVER

• Met husband at age 14, dated at 16, and are going strong 18 years later
• Always planned on having four children, influenced by both coming from larger families
• Began fostering process at age 28, taking nearly a year to become licensed
• Experienced two ectopic pregnancies requiring surgery and removal of both fallopian tubes
• Fostered and later adopted a one-year-old and two-year-old in 2019
• Underwent IVF to conceive two biological daughters
• First birth resulted in severe complications with retained placenta, requiring multiple surgeries
• Second birth required a planned C-section with emergency hysterectomy due to placenta accreta
• Navigated pandemic parenting with daycare closures while working full-time
• Experienced inequitable division of household labor dur

Support the show

Website: https://www.doyouwantthetruthpod.com

Connect with Sam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/samanthastrom

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

Connect with Zara:

Zara Hanawalt https://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-hanawalt/

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

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