Show notes
Four years, 210 episodes, two more babies, one podcast rebrand, and countless conversations that have changed the way I understand myself, my work, and the world around me. In this four-year anniversary episode of Wild & Waking, I’m looking back at the podcast journey that began with Gather in Growth (back when recording my first episodes felt like standing naked on a street corner) and reflecting on what became possible because I was willing to do it scared.
As I scroll through four years of episodes, I can see my personal growth and identity evolution unfolding in real time: confronting my addiction to achievement and approval, returning to therapy, navigating entrepreneurship and motherhood, moving through two unexpected pregnancies, deconstructing inherited beliefs, reclaiming my spirituality, rebuilding self-trust, and becoming increasingly willing to ask bigger, braver questions. Some things have changed completely. Yet, the desire to gather women around honest conversations about growth, identity, purpose, and possibility has remained at the heart of this work from the very beginning.
I also reflect on the power of curiosity, consistency, community, and shared women’s wisdom. This podcast has never been about pretending I have everything figured out; it has been a place for us to explore personal development, healing, spirituality, social conditioning, and what it means to create an authentic life together. Through conversations with women around the world, we’ve found language for experiences we thought we were alone in, encountered ideas our families and communities may never have introduced us to, and given ourselves permission to decide what resonates, what doesn’t, and what we want to explore next.
More than anything, this episode is an invitation to measure backward and recognize just how much can change in four years. Whatever is calling you… a creative dream, a business, healing, motherhood, deeper relationships, or an entirely new way of seeing yourself… let this be evidence of what can grow when you start before you feel ready, show up imperfectly, and give yourself permission to evolve along the way.
In this episode, I explore:
- Four years, 210 episodes, two more babies, and the evolution from Gather in Growth to Wild & Waking
- What becomes possible when you start before you feel ready, do it scared, and continue showing up imperfectly
- Looking back at personal growth, identity evolution, motherhood, entrepreneurship, therapy, spiritual deconstruction, and rebuilding self-trust
- The surprising difference between what has completely transformed and what has remained true from the very beginning
- Why curiosity has been one of the most powerful catalysts for healing, awakening, and change
- Creating a podcast rooted in exploration and honest conversation rather than pretending to have all the answers
- The transformative power of women sharing lived wisdom, language, ideas, and experiences with one another
- How community and meaningful conversations remind us that we aren’t as alone as we believe
- Consistency, courage, and the willingness to let your message evolve alongside you
- Measuring backward, recognizing how far you’ve come, and remembering just how much can change in four years
- Giving yourself permission to begin, build slowly, and become someone you cannot yet fully imagine
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Join Emily and Kelsey Anderson for VeilFall, an intimate Samhain and Full Hunter’s Moon women’s retreat happening October 23–26, 2026, at Blue Star Retreat Center in Columbia Falls, Montana, near Glacier National Park.
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