This week I’m unpacking the tension between craving connection and avoiding the work it actually takes to build it. I’ve been thinking about how often we say we want community, but still cancel plans, skip the hard conversations, and choose comfort over effort. I’ve caught myself doing it too. It’s not about blame, but it is worth asking: if we want community, are we really doing what it takes to create it for ourselves?

This week, we get to sit down with Jake Brown (for the second time… oops): my boss, mentor, and now podcast guest. In this episode, we get into his story—addiction, recovery, coaching wins and losses, parenting, and what it takes to rebuild your life when it’s gone off the rails. He also shares a preview of his upcoming book Rise Higher, which dives deeper into all of it. It’s real, it’s unfiltered, and no, I didn’t get fired for asking some of these questions. Stay tuned to hear more from Jake— the finance bro that won’t mansplain crypto to you.

This week I got to sit down with one of the most impactful people from my college years: my former professor (and forever bonus dad), THE Jerry Rackley. Jerry defines his “why” in what he does, and expands on how preparing students for the real world goes way beyond lectures and grades. We talk about his love for building personal connections, work-life balance, how AI is changing the game in marketing (and teaching), WWJD (J as in Jerry) if he were combatting the Coldplay CEO scandal as head of PR and marketing for Astronomer. A legend. A professor. A man with jumper cables— IYKYK.

Our first guest episode was recorded… and then promptly wrecked by tech issues. Audio went bye bye. Not to fear, we will be running it back and will get it out to you all ASAP. So this week I’m solo, talking through the art of unlearning—pressure, rejection, timelines, perfectionism, and the weird ways success can still feel like failure (and then some).

We’re throwing Thursdays in the mix. This week, we’re catching up on all the things ranging from Love Island to North Korea’s grand debut in the tourism market (WTF?).

On a serious note, I am devastated for my home state and all of those affected by the floods. I encourage you to help out however you can. Here are ways you can help:

• Kerr County Relief Fund
• TEXSAR
• Austin Disaster Relief Network

It started with a wakeboarding rope to the face. Then my phone took a swan dive into Grand Lake. Then my car said, “I’m done.” Within 48 hours, the universe hit me with a modern remix of the biblical plagues (minus the frogs, but give it time).

In this episode, we’re talking about what to do when life feels like a cosmic joke with you as the punchline. Is it punishment? A test? Or just random chaos we’re supposed to survive with a little bit of grace and a lot of swearing?

This one’s for anyone who’s ever cried in their parked car and thought: “Is this... personal?”

Welcome to your one-year performance review—except it’s just me, a mic, and everything I wish someone told me after college. We’re talking post-grad whiplash: the job stuff, the money confusion, the weird loneliness, and the myth that routines fix your life.

Let’s chat.

In the first episode of Y’all Heard, Ella Birk sets the tone for what this show is all about—saying the quiet part out loud, and the loud part even louder. It’s raw, it’s real, and it’s here to give people a mic and a platform. From coming-of-age chaos to conversations that actually matter, Ella is building a space where voices get heard, stories get told, and nothing is off-limits. This is where it starts.