The Women's Current

A Life Après® Podcast

Season Two
Exploring the systems shaping women’s lives—from healthcare and reproductive law to media visibility and climate activism.

Grit Cheerleading Style

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
Grit Cheerleading Style
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Mix grit, resilience, cheerleading, persistence, passion, compassion and style and you get Risa Kostis. From a very young age a stage and cheerleading was in her future. That is until a car accident at 17 had her navigating a different course. One that would take all of her ingredients and push her to a place she could never have imagined.  The accident had left her with a traumatic brain injury and reconstructive facial surgeries. Self-taught, and determined, Risa is no longer the underdog. She is a celebrity stylist, stylist, and personal shopper. Risa helps women tell their story through what they wear, giving them confidence and letting them shine. She is also the CEO and Co-Founder of The Rescue Kit Company, a fashion emergency kit company.

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Craving Spring and A Mother’s Quest

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
Craving Spring and A Mother's Quest
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Ann Batchelder is the author of Craving Spring: A Mother’s Quest, a Daughter’s Depression, and the Greek Myth That Brought Them Together. Ann shares her story of her daughter’s journey with mental health and addiction. As mothers we are always looking for ways to be a ‘good’ mother. What if who we need to be is a ‘skilled’ mother? And learn how to ask for help.

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Small Legacies and a Trophy

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
Small Legacies and a Trophy
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It started with a piggy bank, well sort of. Among Amanda’s late husband’s passions was financial wellness. Not finding anything but plastic children’s piggy banks, Amanda made her own, a solid wood piggy bank. A piggy bank with three compartments: giving, saving and spending. Her son’s financial education was not going to start in a plastic piggy bank. It was part of his father’s legacy, the Enduring Legacy Bank. And it turned out to be the start of Small Legacies. 

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The Women and Vietnam

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
The Women and Vietnam
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March is Women’s History Month. Let’s take a moment to acknowledge the forgotten heroes of the Vietnam War- the women veterans. Approximately 10,000 women served in Vietnam as nurses, medical personnel, and military intelligence in the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Award-winning author Kristin Hannah’s newest historical fiction, The Women, sheds light on the untold stories of these brave women.

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Recipe for a Good Life

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
Recipe for a Good Life
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What ingredients do you need? It really doesn’t take a lot for this particular recipe, the Recipe for a Good Life. Bestselling Canadian author Lesley Crewe is making her American debut and we could all use this recipe. This may be her 15th novel for her Canadian readers, but I can definately say, her new American readers will catch up.

For Lesley her writing started as an exercise for understanding her world and in doing so, we get an invitation to look into ours. How many of us think that only writers get writer’s block like the protagonist in her latest novel? And how many of us get into the weeds while trying to find that ‘grand, elusive goal? Lesley’s recipe is a simple one that comes with huge victories from within ourselves. In our conversation she lets us in to one of the most unthinkable time of her life. And shows us how even from our darkest moments, we can shine a light.

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Lisa Bradshaw, Author & Storyteller, Don’t Wait

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
Lisa Bradshaw, Author & Storyteller, Don't Wait
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Lisa Bradshaw – author, storyteller, cancer survivor, TEDx speaker, mom and TV host. Lisa is the founder of The DON’T WAIT Project®, a nonprofit organization. Its purpose – raising community awareness about the impact of positive life choices. Lisa is all about empowering youth through positive media. She has built a career as a storyteller by searching for the balance between loss and trauma and what can be gained from the lessons learned before, during and after these experiences. She is the author of Big Shoes: A Young Widowed Mother’s Memoir. 

Lisa hosts a television talk show and travels throughout the country meeting people who have their own Don’t Wait story. She’s been a guest on national television and radio. Lisa’s story has been featured in multiple print media outlets and online, including Oprah.com, The Rachael Ray Show, Oprah Radio, The Good Life, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms and more.

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Mother’s Day and Kate Swenson

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
Mother's Day and Kate Swenson
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A Mother’s Day Special with Kate Swenson, a very special mom.

Kate dreamed of being a mother from a very young age. While other young girls dreamed of being a ballerina or president, being a mother was hers. And that dream came true 11 years ago with the birth of her son, Cooper. Kate and her husband now have two more sons and a daughter. Her dream though came with an unexpected path. At the age of three, Cooper was diagnosed with nonverbal autism.

Kate is the creator of the blog and Facebook page Finding Cooper’s Voice and the author of the newly released Forever Boy: A Mother’s Memoir of Autism and Finding Joy. Yes, the word is JOY. Listen to a woman who exceeds our expectations of what motherhood is. Cooper now has a vocabulary of 20 words.

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The Red Cross & Mary Barneby

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
The Red Cross & Mary Barneby
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Mary Barneby finds herself among very notable women, Juliette, and Clara. The Girl Scouts and the American Red Cross share some history.  Both are over 100 years old, and both were started by women. Clara Barton was 60 when she founded the American Red Cross in 1881. Juliette Gordon Low was 52 when she founded the Girl Scouts of the United States of America in 1912. And back then, that was considered quite old. Did I mention…Mary is the Regional CEO of the American Red Cross, a journey she started in the mist of the pandemic, September 2020. For eight years prior to joining the Red Cross, Mary had been CEO for the Girl Scouts of Connecticut.

Our conversation covers so many areas  – from disasters to mental health and healing, to helping find those who are missing. During the pandemic, it helped many stay up-to-date in their career by volunteering in a variety of different areas.

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Positivity, Alzheimer’s and Eugenia Zukerman

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
Positivity, Alzheimer's and Eugenia Zukerman
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Nearly four years ago, Eugenia was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Eugenia made the choice to be positive. A choice few can make.

Upon hearing the diagnosis, Eugenia returned home, stared at the wall, and started writing. The result, a book of poetry Like Falling Through a Cloud.  It follows her journey through her gradual cognitive impairment and memory loss.  Writing has helped Eugenia process the emotions that she has been dealing with since the beginning of her diagnosis.

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Articles, Empowering Women

Women Find Comfort in Her Podcast

Posted on by Life Apres

Her Podcast Helps Women Find Comfort in “Life After…” Moments When hardship occurs — be it a divorce, a loss of a loved one, an unexpected layoff at work, or something else — it can be difficult to find joy again. But Girl Scout alum Sylvia Beckerman, 70, is one woman helping others access the […]

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