We love a good “starting Monday” fantasy, don’t we?
A gallon of water, a new Peloton plan, a fresh dose of delusion. And by Friday? We’re already promising to start again next week.
In this episode of Unmuted by Nola, I’m talking about The Restart Spiral — that endless cycle of hope, hustle, and “maybe next time.” We’ll laugh about the comedy of it all, dig into why we keep hitting reset, and get honest about what it really costs to start again (and again).
Because maybe we’re not inconsistent — maybe we’re just alive.
If you’re somewhere between self-discipline and self-compassion right now, this one’s for you.
🎵 Music Credit:
Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
SoundCloud
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What if your dream doesn’t need your full time — just your full heart?
Most of us keep waiting for the right time — for life to slow down, for the money to line up, for the stars to cooperate. But the truth is, the “right time” rarely comes.
In this episode, I sit down with my sister Kara — my built-in business buddy and creative consultant — to talk about what it really looks like to build a dream in the middle of real life.
We talk about:
✨ Stealing time when there’s never enough
✨ Redefining success when slow doesn’t mean stuck
✨ The magic (and messiness) of sisterhood while chasing something of your own
If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s too late or too hard to start, this episode will remind you: the dream doesn’t need your perfection. It just needs your participation. 💜
⸻
🎵 Music Credit:
Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes
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It’s 3 a.m., and the house is finally quiet — except for my thoughts.
The dog’s sighing, my daughter’s asleep, and I’m lying here realizing the armor that used to protect me — the composure, the control, the calm — has started to pinch.
This episode is about that moment when success stops feeling like peace.
When the version of you that’s always been capable starts asking, “At what cost?”
When the Armor Starts to Pinch is a late-night reflection on leadership, identity, and learning to show up with less performance and more presence.
Nothing’s falling apart here — it’s just finally honest.
———
🎵 Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes
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What started as a Des Moines Performing Arts donor trip to New York turned into something much deeper.
✨ Mojitos and music at Buena Vista Social Club
💔 The ache of the 9/11 Memorial
🎶 The breathtaking artistry of Ragtime
🌉 A Brooklyn rain break and 20,000-step wander
💪🏾 A Peloton miracle with Tunde Oyeneyin
Through it all, one refrain echoed in me: it keeps happening. Unexpected grace. Open doors. Joy sneaking in through detours.
This episode isn’t a recap — it’s about leadership, legacy, gratitude, and motherhood. It’s about what happens when you stop putting yourself on the back burner and start noticing how favor keeps showing up.
🎶 Music Credit:
Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes
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Season 2 of Unmuted by Nola is here — and we’re evolving. As I teased in the Season 1 finale with my sisters, this podcast won’t just be my reflections anymore. You’ll still get those, but now you’ll also hear conversations with guests I admire — people balancing life, work, leadership, and joy in their own way.
To kick it off, I sat down with my friend Kat. She’s an accomplished attorney who made the leap from Big Law to social justice work — the kind of work that carries immense weight. But in the midst of fighting for justice, Kat has also learned to protect joy.
We talk about:
💥 The myth that advocates have to mute their joy
💥 Joy as resistance in the middle of heavy work
💥 Fashion and fitness as lifelines
💥 Redefining health beyond shrinking your body
💥 Why joy isn’t frivolous — it’s fuel for the work
⚡️ Editing Note: This episode is unedited — likes, ums, and all. After two failed attempts that distorted my voice, I decided the most Unmuted thing I could do was give it to you raw. Sometimes, hitting publish is the boldest move you can make.
🎶 Music Credit:
Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes
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Every superhero has a lair. Ours just happens to be a group chat — and we call it the Bat Cave.
In this extended episode — almost a full 60 minutes — I sit down with my sisters, my original built-in kitchen table, to let you eavesdrop on the daily FaceTime calls that hold us together. We talk about how the Bat Cave started, share our funniest “receipts,” and get real about the moments we’ve carried each other through postpartum meltdowns, parenting chaos, and those days when life just feels too heavy.
This conversation is about more than sisterhood — it’s about finding your people, the ones who witness your life in real time and remind you that you’re not alone.
Music Credit:
Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes
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Balance isn’t a perfect day. Or even a perfect week. Sometimes it’s not even a perfect year.
In this episode, I get real about what balance actually looks like in my life — as a mom, a lawyer, an executive, and a person who still wants to do big things. I talk about leaving work at 5:00 for daycare pickup, why that doesn’t make me less committed, and why we should stop apologizing for our non-negotiables — whether it’s daycare or Pilates.
We dig into why balance feels so hard (spoiler: it’s not just you — the whole system is designed to make us feel like we’re failing) and even get into how first-thing-in-the-morning meetings hit differently for caregivers running half a marathon before 8:30 a.m.
And finally, I share six words — Family. Work. Health. Creativity. Joy. Faith. — that I’m using to guide how I measure balance over a season, a year, and even a career.
If you’ve ever gone to bed feeling like you “dropped every ball today,” this episode is your invitation to zoom out and start measuring your life by the whole picture — not the single day.
🎶 Music Credit:
Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng
Some rooms were never built for us — but we still have to decide whether to speak up when the moment comes.
In this episode, I talk about what it feels like to sit in that tension, how I decide when to use my voice, and why staying silent can sometimes feel like self-betrayal.
It’s honest, a little chaotic (featuring a real-time kitchen/dog/toddler/pasta moment), and a reminder that your voice matters — even when it shakes.
🎧 What You’ll Hear in This Episode:
• Why silence can feel safe — but isn’t always right
• How I decide when to speak up or save my energy
• A very real parenting story about chaos and finding your breath
• Why making space for multiple perspectives matters more than ever
🎶 Music Credit:
Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng
Sometimes faith isn’t loud. Sometimes it isn’t even articulate.
Sometimes it’s just sitting in the quiet and remembering you’re not the one holding the whole world together.
In this unedited and unpolished episode, I share the story behind my be still tattoo — why I got it after surviving one of the darkest seasons of my life, and why I’m clinging to it now as the world feels overwhelming again.
Take a deep breath with me, pause for a moment, and remember: you don’t have to be perfect or strong for God to meet you. You just have to be still.
🎵 Music Credit:
Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes
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This week’s bonus episode isn’t about leadership or the workplace — it’s about my other full-time job: vacation planner.
From coordinating safari-chic zoo outfits, to spiraling over San Diego vs. Anaheim hotels, to the Target runs, Amazon orders, and boutique splurges that somehow felt mandatory before we even left…the chaos was real.
And then came the Harper mutiny — because of course my toddler in her dress era wasn’t going to let my perfectly curated Disneyland looks stand unchallenged. Cue the tears, the pleading, and me finally realizing: the outfits weren’t worth ruining the day.
But then there’s the real payoff: Harper’s joy when she saw Mickey, and her little voice pointing at our family photos saying, “Mommy, Daddy, Harper…so happy.” That’s what makes it all worth it.
So if you’re wondering whether to take the trip? My advice is simple: take it.
⸻
Music Credits:
Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng
For years, I believed hustle culture when it told me exhaustion was proof of my worth. Law school guilt. Billable hour pressure. Pinterest-worthy parenting. That little voice whispering: “Don’t really unplug. Stay productive. Prove your dedication and loyalty.”
But here’s the truth: I was enough all along. And so are you.
In this episode, I read my official break-up letter to hustle culture and reflect on how busyness became our badge of honor — and how that badge is costing us our health, our joy, and our presence. I share what it’s like to overdo it, to carry invisible struggles, and to finally choose rest as rebellion.
Because you don’t have to hustle for your worth. You already are enough. And when you believe that? You give yourself permission to stay loud enough to hear yourself, soft enough to feel it all — but most of all, to stay unmuted.
Music Credit:
Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes
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Making friends as an adult feels…complicated. Gone are the days of “wanna play?” on the playground. Now it looks more like drafting Facebook DMs with ChatGPT, holding on to old friendships across different life stages, or craving the kind of casual community your grandma had — where people just dropped by for coffee and donuts before church.
In this episode, Nola gets candid about what friendship looks like when you’re a team of one at work, when being seen as “leadership” adds a wall you didn’t ask for, and when life’s logistics mean even your closest friends are knee deep in glitter at the dance studio and on soccer fields instead of at your kitchen table.
From daycare mom outreach to a 521-day Snapchat streak, from IF:Table to potty-training playdates, this episode is about the awkward, humbling, and absolutely necessary work of building adult friendships.
Stay tuned to the end — because this conversation sets the stage for what’s next on Unmuted: deeper connections, maybe even a few new voices joining the mic.
⸻
Music Credit:
Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng
“Motherhood isn’t a rebrand” is just the starting point. In this episode, I dive into why we should stop making someone’s “no” for them — whether they’re a parent, a caregiver, or in a completely different season of life.
You’ll hear the story of a friend passed over for a leadership opportunity because someone assumed she couldn’t handle it — despite her track record. We’ll unpack how those protective assumptions happen in both directions, why asking matters more than we think, and how boundaries and ambition can co-exist.
Because when we stop assuming and start asking, we make room for people to surprise us — and sometimes even surprise themselves.
Music Credit:
Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng
When you’re the default adult in every space — at home, at work, in your family — there’s no “escalation path” for the overwhelm. It all lands on you.
In this episode of Unmuted by Nola, I’m talking about the emotional and logistical weight of being “the one” everyone depends on, the quiet toll it takes, and what softening looks like when you’re maxed out. From potty training negotiations to wasp removal chaos, this one’s equal parts humor, honesty, and a gentle reminder that you’re not broken — you’re just carrying a lot.
If you’ve ever stared at your calendar, your toddler, or your inbox and thought, “I can’t keep doing this like this,” this one’s for you.
🎶 Music Credit:
Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: Audio Library
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People always ask me what Harvard Law was like. And I usually offer some polished version — say it was great, just not really my scene. That I’m not an East Coast person.
But that’s not the whole truth. And until now, I’ve never really told it.
In this episode, I open up about what it was actually like to survive one of the most elite institutions in the world — while grieving, unraveling, and trying to hold onto my sense of self.
I didn’t thrive. I endured. There were people who looked like me. But no one like me. And I was too afraid to admit how much I was struggling — until now.
If you’ve ever felt like your achievement came at the cost of your emotional survival — this one’s for you.
🎵 Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng
What starts as a sweet daycare story between two toddler besties turns into a deeper reflection on why representation still matters—at every age.
In this episode, I share the quiet beauty of watching Harper form a friendship rooted in shared knowing, and I open up about my own friendships that have held me through grief, motherhood, and everything in between. We explore the difference between being loved and being understood, and why celebrating difference is not divisive—it’s necessary.
🎶 Music Credit:
Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: Audio Library
Music promoted by Audio Library on YouTube
What happens when the world only sees your strength — and never your softness?
In this episode of Unmuted by Nola, I’m reflecting on the quiet burden of being “the strong one.” I talk about where I learned it, how it nearly cost me my health, and the emotional toll it still takes in motherhood, leadership, and love.
From law firm breakdowns to toddler meltdowns, I unpack what it means to hold it all together — and what I’m still learning about asking for help, letting the cracks show, and protecting my softness in a world that keeps asking for more. Because being strong shouldn’t mean being alone.
🎵 Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes
In this episode of Unmuted by Nola, we’re unlearning the myth that being “low maintenance” makes us more lovable, more promotable, or more worthy. From middle child peacekeeping to workplace professionalism to romantic relationships where silence became a survival skill, Nola explores how shrinking ourselves—emotionally, energetically, and spiritually—can feel like safety but becomes erasure. She shares the one space where she finally gave herself permission to be a little extra (hint: it’s her birthday), and how reclaiming voice, needs, and visibility is a lifelong act of unmuting.
🎵 Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes
The Civil Rights Act was signed 61 years ago.
It promised change.
It offered keys.
But a key is not the same as a welcome.
And a hallway is not the same as a seat at the table.
This isn’t a history lesson.
It’s a personal one.
About doors that stay closed.
About merit that still isn’t enough.
About the myth that hard work alone can carry you through.
I wasn’t planning to speak this week.
But silence started to feel like complicity.
So here’s a short offering —
A moment of truth in the middle of a holiday.
Because the door may be unlocked…
But it’s still not open.
⸻
🎶 Music Credit:
Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng
What does it really mean to own your voice?
In this episode, I share the quiet moment that followed a big keynote — a moment that didn’t happen on a stage, but in a text to my toddler’s teacher. It was about Harper’s hair. Her beads. Her boundaries. And the cultural nuance that often goes unspoken.
This isn’t just about protecting one child. It’s about raising awareness, deepening understanding, and creating a world where all kids — especially Black girls — are taught that their body and their beauty are not public property.
Because when we speak with care and clarity, we don’t just protect our space — we make more room for others to thrive in theirs.
Music credits: Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng