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Pull up a seat at our table, where badass women from all walks of life—fashion, beauty, design, music, philanthropy, art, and more—come together to share honest stories, serve truths, and dig into the realities of modern womanhood.
Johanna Almstead:
<< Happy birthday to us. Happy birthday to us. Happy birthday, Eat My Words. Happy birthday to us >> I'm going to make a wish. I'm having cake for girl dinner tonight because it's our birthday, everybody. Happy birthday to us. Welcome. Welcome to a girl dinner. We are going to do a little solo episode to just take a little bit of time to reflect back on this last year. We launched last year on April 15th, 2025. Our anniversary is tomorrow, and I can't believe what a year it has been. It has been extraordinary on so many levels. Thank you for tuning in tonight or today. Thank you for listening, and we're just going to take a little time and reflect on the last year. Let's dig in. Okay. I'm having cake for dinner. It's this gorgeous chocolate and kind of white cream, almost like a cheesecakey filling layer cake that is absolutely delicious. That's what I'm having for dinner tonight because I am celebrating.
This has been an extraordinary year, and we are officially one, so I just wanted to take a little bit of time. I wanted to first of all express my incredible gratitude to any of you who are tuned in right now. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for the support that you've shown us over this past year, for sharing it on your social media, for commenting, for leaving us reviews. It really is extraordinary. We are so proud of the work we're doing here, and we're so grateful that you guys are enjoying it and keep tuning in. The biggest, biggest thank you goes to all of you. So much has happened in this year. This podcast has evolved and grown. We've built this incredible community. I said the other day, I feel like we have this like little coven of badass women who are just multiplying. One of our guests, Trish Whalen, talked about us multiplying like gremlins.
I feel like it's true. We keep finding more of you. You keep reaching out. People are now asking us to be on the podcast, which is such an honor that people are excited and want to be here. A lot can happen in a year. Since we launched, one of our guests has had a baby, another has launched a book, another has actually had a stroke and is learning how to talk again. Another has taken on a new role, what a big job in the luxury sector. It's so much can keep happening. Much has happened. I just wanted to think a little bit about this past year. Honestly, I wanted to share what I've learned this year because I realized that I thought I was doing this podcast for all of you, which of course I still am, but the first thing I learned is that I really needed this more than any of you did. I have learned so much every time. Every time I sit down at this microphone and interview another extraordinary woman, my life has changed for the better.
I learn something new. I'm challenged by something new. I'm forced to look inside about something new. That is, first and foremost, a new learning for me. I thought I was doing this for the world, and now I realize I actually needed it a lot myself. I wanted to think about some of the themes that have come up over the last year. I think one of the first ones, and one of the things I feel like celebrating today is that life can change in a second. We don't know what our future holds. I've been working really, really hard and I've been reminded by so many of our guests this year to live in the moment and not kick the can down the road. Do the thing today that scares you. Do the thing today that you're embarrassed of trying. Do the thing today that feels big and scary and hard because life can change in an instant and life is so short. That has been a big lesson for me and something I'm celebrating today because starting this podcast a year ago was really, really, really scary.
I didn't know what I was doing and I had the incredible help of my amazing team. Sophy Drouin, who this would not have happened without her. Mila Boujnah and Isabella Boutros and Isabelle Robertson, all of you, I would not have been able to do this, and so, but I did. I did it anyway, and I'm a little bit afraid to listen back to all the episodes. I thought I should in honor of our birthday, but I was like, "I don't think I can. It might scare me. Your first draft is always supposed to suck or the first version of everything you did. I don't know if I want to hear that again." But anyway, I can say now a year into doing the big scary thing, it's one of the best things I've ever done in my life, and I'm so, so happy I did it. If that's one lesson I would say to take away is just do the thing. Take the class. Make the art. Sing the song. Launch a business. Launch a podcast. Write the book. Do whatever it is because if it's in you, it needs to come out.
That's how we're going to make the world better. Another thing and in line with that that I kept thinking about and which was such a good lesson and it came during our episode with Danielle Prescott, she said, "Don't be the one saying no to yourself." I just thought that was so brilliant. Don't be the one that says no. Don't be the one that says no to starting the big scary thing or writing the book or writing the song or making the art or taking the class. Don't be the one who's saying no. As someone who now is trying to grow this business into the next realm of greatness, I can definitely say no to myself a lot. I'm trying to remember that one. Let somebody else say no to you. Who cares if they do, right? If they do, they do. Today I sent a very long DM to someone I admire very, very much to find out if they're interested in partnering with us at Eat My Words, and it was scary. I thought, "Well, who else is going to do it for me? I got to just do it."
I sent the DM and we'll see. That was one thing that I was just thinking that was one of the lessons that I've been trying to really remind myself every day. Just don't be the one saying no. Do the thing. I also was reflecting back on Carrie Byalick's episode because this is a good reason why you shouldn't be the one saying no to yourself, is that she talked so much about imposter syndrome and that no one actually knows what they're doing. I really love that. I love that so much. That is a theme that has come up so much in the conversations I've had over the last year with these extraordinary women is they all were figuring it out as they went along. Again, we haven't had a brain surgeon on yet, so maybe the brain surgeon doesn't figure it out on the fly, but so many of these women who have incredibly successful practices and careers really just did the thing and then figured it out as they went along. Nobody knows what they're doing, including me.
I'm still trying to figure this out. I'm still trying to build this little media empire. I'm still trying to make this podcast matter, tell stories that matter every week. We're all figuring it out as we go along, so nobody knows what they're doing. The other thing that I thought about, one of the biggest themes that has come up this year really has been this idea of balance or lack thereof. I think we as women, whether we are mothers or not, whether we are partners or not, whether we are caregivers in one way or another, we have a hard time with balance. I have a hard time with balance. One of the beautiful things that came up in the episode with Alyssa Rapp was this idea of episodic balance. You're not really getting day-to-day balance. You're getting a chunk. If a chunk of time, if an episode of time, that you can find a little balance there. If one day is really hairy and you're doing things for everyone else, that maybe the next day you find a little more time for yourself.
Or if one day is all about work, maybe a little chunk of the next day or the day after that can be a little bit about play or about creation or about art or about a bath and a massage. This idea of us trying to strike balance all the time... I hate the term balance. I talk about that a lot on this podcast because I don't really think it exists. It never feels balanced in those days. I'm having one today actually where I was supposed to record this episode earlier today. Construction workers were coming to my house making lots of noise. My studio is not up and running in the other building, so I had to push it. Then what I had to do was push it to dinnertime with my kids. There was a lot of negotiating and a lot of figuring out how to find the time to do this. I just want to remind everyone it doesn't have to be balanced every day, right? It has to be something that we strive for in these seasons of our life or episodes of our lives that we find an overall eventual balance.
That I think is something that really came up so much with so many of our guests and really certainly resonates with me on a daily basis. I just wanted to flag that and remind ourselves of that if you're listening tonight that it doesn't have to be balanced. Sometimes it's like Cheetos and a gummy bear for dinner. Sometimes it's a beautiful piece of salmon and some green beans. But let's remind ourselves that we deserve the balance, whatever we can get, and that we don't have to beat ourselves up when we don't quite get it on the first try. The other thing that came up a lot, and these are all in the same theme, but I really love this idea of it's never too late, right? It's never too late to become the next version of you. It's never too late to start the next chapter of your life, even if you don't know you're starting it.
I feel like I have met so many women who are in their 40s or 50s and even some in their late 30s who feel like they are ready for a change, but they don't know what to do. They've either been working their asses off for so long, and they want more ease. Or they've been caregiving for so long and they want more freedom. Or they've been brewing this novel that they want to write, but they're afraid to start. I think one thing that really... We started this... Oh, I just thought of this. The first episode we ever did was about reinvention, right? It was about this idea of starting over and starting the next chapter. I can now say as a year in of a podcast host, it's really fun. I'm so glad I did it and I did it the year I turned 50. I think it's just something to remember if you are on the other side of that yet and you haven't tried the big thing or you haven't taken the next step, that it really isn't ever too late.
We talked with Pamela Bell about her becoming a true fine artist later in life. She had this crazy, huge brand building, corporate building, business building chapters. Many, many chapters of her life. Then when that was over, she actually came to art as a practice of healing and of finding herself again and connecting to her true self. Now she's got pieces in galleries and in beautiful places and being hung in people's homes. That I think is so exciting because she didn't start that until way into the middle of her life. I love this idea that it's never too late. It's never too late to try the thing, to do it. Then I guess that takes me to the next thing that I've learned so much from so many of our guests is just the consistent practice. Re Jin Lee talks about just getting into her studio and getting some materials, finding the clay that she has on hand, plopping it down on the table and just starting. Then going back the next day and then going back to the next day.
I can say from experience with this podcast, I made a commitment when I decided to launch this business that it was going to be a real business and that it was going to be something that people could rely on, which meant for us a weekly episode. I was having a hard day the other day and feeling overwhelmed about a lot of the things that needed to get done. One of them was getting a recording done for this podcast. My husband said to me, "You don't have to release a new episode every week." He's like, "It's your podcast. You can do what you want." I was like, "But I do. But I do have to release an episode every week because I want to, and because that's part of the practice is that you just have to do the thing even when it's hard and even when it's inconvenient and even when it's taking time away from something else you want to be doing. Part of it is just consistent practice."
Our wonderful guest, Shauna Sweeney, talked about that last week of just talking about the consistent practice of calling her dad every night, even though it's sometimes inconvenient, sometimes she's tired, sometimes it's emotionally hard. That's the thing she's most proud of. She also talked about the consistent practice of after work should be done and the day should be done. She's building this business. She's put her kids to bed. She still has to sometimes send that email. I think that that is just a good reminder when you're feeling overwhelmed or you're feeling scared of trying something is just do the thing. Just try to do the thing in that moment. Just send the email, paint the picture, write the words, sing the song. Whatever it is that feels like one step in the direction where you want to be, that is progress and that is doing it, right? I was reading this book, and I think I talked about it a little bit on the episode with Blythe and Mallory about living a creative life.
I can't remember who talked about it, but I read something about if you read about being an artist every day, then you're a reader. If you study about being artist every day, you are a student. But if you just make art every day, then you're an artist. If you cook food every day, then you're a cook. If you sing a song every day, you're a singer. Do the thing. If I put a podcast out every week, I'm a podcast host. It's pretty remarkable and pretty magical when you set your intention to do something and then you just do it. You do it regularly, and you'll start to see the universe giving you more opportunities to do it and supporting you in that way. That has been a huge, huge lesson and practice for me. I can say it's working, at least for me on this end. I think the other thing, the theme that makes me a little bit sad, but is very true for me is one of the big overall themes that came up with the women we interviewed this past year has been prioritizing our health and prioritizing ourselves.
Our bodies, our emotional health, our spiritual health, our physical health, our dental health in the case of Shauna Sweeney. I actually said this to my husband the other day.. I think you guys know if you're regular listeners, we've had a gnarly year of moving twice and construction and grinding and all while I decided to start a new business. It's been real hard. It's been a grind. Now things have calmed down and we have this business up and running. We are back in our home, and it doesn't need to be as grindy as it is. I'm finding it hard for myself to downshift or to calm my nervous system into being less anxious and fired up all the time. I said to him, I said to my husband the other day, I said, "You know what I'm so grateful for is this community of women who I sit and get to talk to every week who remind me... Some of them are really good at this and some of them are not. But either way, they're reminding me I have to take care of myself. I have to do better."
That is just another thing that I think is probably universal to most listeners. I don't know if you... I know one person. I think I can say. I know one person who doesn't have kids, not married, lives a little bit of a boho life. I can say like, she takes really good care of herself, but that's one person I know. I can't say that about very many other people. I think it's just I want to take this time to remind us all while you're also doing the thing, stop for a second and take care of yourself. Whatever that means. Take a bath. Get a massage. Go for a walk. Eat a beautiful nourishing meal. Try your best to find the things that make you healthy and good because the world does not give us those things. The world is not really set up for us to do those things. We have to seek them out.
Yeah. I think those are the big ones. This idea for me of nourishment. That has been always what the bottom line is for this podcast has been, I do think if we share our stories and we nourish each other with inspiration and with understanding and with sharing that that may be our way through this crazy world we're living through right now. Then obviously I care deeply about food and physically nourishing yourself with music and food and beautiful wine, if you choose to drink wine, or beautiful juice cocktails if you choose to drink those. But with people, with community. It always comes back to that for me is this idea of find your people, feed yourselves, feed each other, inspire each other and challenge each other and support each other. That's it, guys. I know no one wants to listen to me ramble on for a long time.
I'm going to sit here, and I'm going to eat my cake. I'm going to celebrate, and I'm going to reflect some more on what next year is going to be. Oh, I should share what I'm dreaming of because that's the question I ask all the time to our guests. In this next year for Eat My Words, I am dreaming of expansion and dreaming of growing our audience so that women all over the world and men can hear us. I did say to someone the other day. Somebody asked me if men listened. I said, "We do actually... We see our demographics. There are men who listen. They're not our target audience, but they would learn a whole lot about women if they did tune in." To those of you who are tuning in, bravo. I hope you feel smart because we tell you all the things. We tell you all the secrets here if you just listen up, but I am dreaming, dreaming of this being a worldwide podcast that people are listening to wherever they are and providing nourishment and inspiration for them wherever they are.
I am dreaming of a book. Putting it out there, everybody. I'm dreaming of a beautiful book, sharing the stories that we've shared on this podcast, sharing recipes, sharing all the beautiful things. We're working on that. I'm dreaming of lots and lots of in real life events with all of you, our listeners, and with our beautiful guests. I'm dreaming of the Eat My Words world getting bigger and bigger. That is happening already because of all of you, so thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope that you keep dreaming for yourselves. Don't forget to dream. It's really important. I'm actually living part of my dream already by getting to do this with all of you, and so that feels pretty incredible. Happy birthday to us. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for all of your support, all of your feedback, good and bad. We take it all, all of your encouragement. The other thing, we are now... You can listen to us on YouTube, Eat My Words, the channel.
There are not full-length videos there yet, but you can listen on YouTube if you'd like. A couple of the most recent episodes are up. Then we will be back logging the older episodes if you want to go back and listen. Oh, that's the other thing we're dreaming of, is dreaming of actual full long-form video versions of this podcast, which will be amazing. That is what else is coming up for us. As always, thank you, thank you for tuning in. Thank you for supporting us. Thank you for sharing this in your social media platforms. Thank you for texting it to your friends. Thank you for emailing it to your mom. All the things. We really, really appreciate it. We wouldn't be here a year later if it weren't for all of you. Thank you and more to come as the Eat My Words world expands. Thanks to you guys. I will catch you on the next one. Bye. This Eat My Words podcast was created, produced, and directed by me, Johanna Almstead. Our sound editor is Isabel Robertson, and our social media manager is Isabella Boutros.