Unmuted by Nola

What if the life you thought you missed…didn’t miss you at all?I’ve been thinking a lot about timing lately. The things we thought would happen by now. The paths we assumed we’d take. The things we once wanted badly enough that we never stopped to ask whether we still want them.And then I had a moment at my dinner table that made me see the whole question differently.In this episode of Unmuted by Nola, I’m talking about timing, comparison, ambition, faith, the cost of forcing things that no longer fit, and what happens when life shows up in a form you weren’t looking for.I’m also sharing why a passage from John 5 has been sitting with me, and why I keep coming back to this question:What if we’re so busy watching for the answer we expected that we miss what’s already happening right beside us?And before I go, there’s a little Unmuted update too.The microphone isn’t disappearing.But some of these quiet truths may be getting written out loud a little more often.Music CreditsTuesday 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.

I recorded this episode right before vacation, then actually went on vacation, let my out-of-office do its job, and came back to discover that everything was still standing.So why do so many of us announce that we’re unavailable and then immediately explain all the ways we can still be reached?In this episode, I unpack what our out-of-office messages reveal about professionalism, control, leadership, and our need to prove we’re still committed. Because accountability means preparing well, creating coverage, and handling what truly cannot wait. Availability just means people can still get to you.Those are not the same thing.Music Credit:
Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats
Artist: 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 if all that research isn’t actually making you feel more prepared?We have access to more information than ever before. So when life feels uncertain, we do what responsible people do: we research. We read the reviews. Watch the TikToks. Join the Facebook group. Ask the experts. Compare the options. Open 37 tabs.And somewhere along the way, preparation can quietly become an attempt to make ourselves immune to disappointment.In this episode of Unmuted by Nola, Nola explores the optimization trap, the belief that if we can just gather enough information, make the right choice, and plan carefully enough, we can prevent regret, uncertainty, and bad outcomes.From planning Disney like a graduate-level research assignment to motherhood, careers, relationships, self-improvement, faith, and the internet’s endless supply of people telling us what we have to do, this is a conversation about what happens when being thoughtful turns into trying to control the uncontrollable.Because maybe confidence isn’t knowing exactly what will happen.Maybe it’s trusting yourself to respond when you don’t.And maybe, at some point, you have to close the browser and actually live.🎵 Music CreditTuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beatshttps://soundcloud.com/snoozybeatsCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported, CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibesMusic promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng

Life has felt a little heavy lately, so court is taking a recess from the usual proceedings.In this special session of Unmuted by Nola, I am using my expensive legal education to examine the truly urgent cases of adulthood: Target receipts, Disney spreadsheets, girl math, toddler testimony, the laundry chair, and the ongoing exploitation of an unpaid employee known as Future Me.It is funny, slightly unhinged, and still unmistakably Unmuted. Because underneath our ridiculous everyday arguments are quieter questions about competence, motherhood, perfection, capacity, joy, and the harsh judge many of us carry around in our own heads.The Court finds that life is already serious enough. We are permitted to tell the truth, laugh at ourselves, and stop treating every imperfect decision like a felony.Court is now in session.Music Credit:Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy BeatsArtist: https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeatsCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported, CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibesMusic promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng

What does it mean to love something complicated?Recorded in the stretch between Juneteenth and the Fourth of July, this episode begins at 2 a.m. with Harper asleep on my chest, me scrolling through images from the Obama Presidential Center opening, and one question I could not shake:If I could choose, would I choose to be Black?My answer was immediate.Yes.Every single time.Not because the hardship has been small.Because the beauty is that big.This episode is a reflection on Black joy that does not have to be earned, freedom delayed, freedom declared, complicated patriotism, motherhood, hope as labor, and what it means to inherit something unfinished and still love it enough to tell the truth.It is a little churchy, a little lawyerly, a little mother-at-2-a.m., and very much a conversation about joy, identity, history, and the work of every generation.Music Credit:Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy BeatsCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported, CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibesMusic promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng

What happens when life doesn’t unfold the way you thought it would?In this episode of Unmuted by Nola, I sit down with Joyce Baker-Leggett, author of Redefining Regret: Starting Over Without Shame, At Any Age, At Any Stage, for a conversation about the life we planned versus the life we actually got.We talk about regret and shame, dreams that changed shape, finding your voice after difficult seasons, and what it means to begin again without believing you’ve missed your chance.Joyce shares openly about faith, therapy, healing, and the people who helped her see possibility when all she could see was pain.And, in true Unmuted fashion, she answers our signature question:What’s one quiet truth you wish more people said out loud?If you’ve ever looked at your life and thought, this isn’t what I expected, this conversation is for you.Because maybe regret isn’t the end of the story.Maybe it’s the beginning of a new chapter.Music Credit:Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy BeatsCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)Stream/Download: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibesArtist: https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeatsMusic promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng

After weeks of overthinking my return to the podcast, I finally decided perfection was overrated.So yes, the audio gets a little glitchy in spots.Yes, I have one (or two) surprise guest hosts.And yes, we’re rolling with it.In this Season 3 kickoff episode, I’m catching you up on Costa Rica, turning 42, coming home to a child who somehow grew up while I was gone, rediscovering my love for private practice, and my recent hobby of inventing problems in a season where life is actually pretty good.We talk about waterfall rappelling, rainforest adventures, a private chef dinner that felt like something out of a movie, and the birthday that started with a broken phone instead of a profound revelation.We also talk about motherhood, watching Harper become more independent, why I’ve spent entirely too much time cross-examining my own happiness, and what happens when you realize the life you’re living is actually pretty close to the one you once hoped for.No framework.No keynote.No perfectly packaged life lesson.Just a conversation.And honestly, that feels about right.Music Credit:Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy BeatsCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)Stream/Download: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibesArtist: https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeatsMusic promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng

People often talk about motherhood as something women have to manage around work.Or as the thing that somehow turns us into magical multitaskers.Honestly?Neither story has ever felt completely true to me.In this season two finale, I unpack eight ways motherhood has quietly made me better at my job… not because it “fixed” me, but because it exposed me.My urgency.My perfectionism.My over-functioning.My tendency to mistake friction for failure.From daycare pickup and time entry… to clingy soccer practices, gray blankets in family pictures, emails I wisely never sent, and a little girl stopping to blow flowers while I was mentally three meetings ahead…This episode is about what motherhood taught me about:• Time• Focus• Emotional regulation• Invisible labor• Worth• Perfectionism• Triage• And what success actually feels likeAnd while motherhood is my lens…The lessons are much bigger than parenting.If you’ve ever chased squirrels professionally, confused busy with effective, or mistaken a hard moment for a verdict on your competence…This one’s for you.⸻Music CreditsTuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beatshttps://soundcloud.com/snoozybeatsCreative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibesMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng.

Some conversations don’t end when the mic turns off.They keep going in group chats.On sister calls.At the kitchen table.This was one of those.After my last episode sparked bigger conversations, I invited my sisters Tiffany and Kara back to keep it going.We talked about motherhood, faith, judgment, respectability, and the questions women can get tired of answering, even when life doesn’t unfold the way they were taught it should.About the question underneath the question.About grace.About church.About family that may not fit neat boxes, but can be whole all the same.There is laughter in this one.There is honesty in this one.And there may be a few things said that could get us kicked out of somebody’s Bible study.Pull up a chair.This one feels like the kitchen table.🎧 Listen, share, and send it to a sister or friend if it resonates.Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beatshttps://soundcloud.com/snoozybeatsCreative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibesMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng

I thought my life would follow a certain order.Marriage.Then family.Then everything else falling into place.But at some point, life stopped feeling theoretical… and started feeling real.In this episode of Unmuted by Nola, I’m talking about what happens when your life doesn’t follow the blueprint you were given—and the decisions you’re left to make when everything doesn’t line up the way you thought it would.We get into: • the moment timing becomes real • what shifts when you’ve built a full life on your own • the tension between what you were taught and what you’re actually living • and what it looks like to choose differently… on purposeThis isn’t a how-to.And it’s not a perfect answer.It’s a real conversation about navigating life when the plan changes—and learning to trust yourself anyway.⸻🎵 Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beatshttps://soundcloud.com/snoozybeatsCreative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibesMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng.