Cake For Dinner

OCD is one of the most misunderstood mental health conditions in the world—and it's far more than being organized or liking things a certain way.

In this episode, OCD specialist Kristina Orlova shares her own journey of living with undiagnosed OCD for years, believing she was simply "losing her mind" before finally receiving answers. Together, we unpack what OCD actually looks like, why intrusive thoughts become so terrifying, the hidden subtypes most people have never heard of, and why reassurance often makes OCD worse instead of better.

Whether you're living with OCD yourself, supporting a loved one, or trying to understand what someone is experiencing, this conversation offers practical education, hope, and a roadmap toward recovery.

We also dive deep into Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), the gold-standard treatment for OCD, and explain how it helps people reclaim their lives one step at a time.

00:00 Introduction

02:05 Meet OCD Specialist Kristina Orlova

02:50 Kristina's Personal OCD Journey

05:20 What Intrusive Thoughts Actually Feel Like

08:03 Why OCD Is So Different From Everyday Thoughts

10:48 Why OCD Is So Misunderstood

11:39 What OCD Really Looks Like

16:03 How Parents Should Respond to OCD

20:40 Why People Get OCD Wrong

23:13 Lesser-Known Types of OCD

25:12 Signs Parents Should Watch For

30:24 Why Traditional Talk Therapy Can Make OCD Worse

32:17 How Exposure Therapy (ERP) Works

38:48 A Real Success Story With ERP

42:00 When Should You See an OCD Specialist?

44:30 Final Thoughts & Resources

Learn more about Keesha: https://keeshascott.com/

Book Pre Order CAKE FOR DINNER: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0H5CW77FP?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B0H5CW77FP&linkCode=xm2&tag=simonsayscom&dplnkId=ca66e48c-1d99-4095-a35e-8d40794ffd1d&nodl=1 

Follow Kristina: https://www.instagram.com/ocdwhisperer/

For 20 years, Erin struggled with eating disorders and tied her worth to soccer, her body, relationships, and being chosen. In this episode, she opens up about the shame she carried, the story she almost never shared, and how telling the truth became the beginning of her freedom.

 

Erin also shares how healing changed the way she parents, how she thinks about alcohol and restriction, what divorce taught her about choosing herself, and why women need safe spaces to talk about the things they usually hide.

 

This is a conversation about self-worth, motherhood, starting over, and the power of saying the thing out loud.

 

00:00 — Intro

00:47 — Eating Disorders, Identity, and Self-Worth

03:29 — Choosing Herself Through Divorce and Motherhood

07:00 — Alcohol, Restriction, and Redefining Sobriety

13:35 — From Fitness Content to Mental Health and Therapy

17:16 — Feeling Pain Instead of Escaping It

19:39 — Parenting, Body Image, and What Kids Really See

25:26 — Sharing the Story She Almost Hid

27:40 — Turning Pain Into the Blue Butterfly Foundation

33:20 — Moving From Comfortable to Purpose-Driven

42:16 — Dating, Divorce, and Becoming Her Authentic Self

46:13 — How Vulnerability Became Her Purpose

50:06 — Erin’s Podcast, Books, Foundation, and Where to Find Her

 

Learn more about Keesha: https://keeshascott.com/

Book Pre Order CAKE FOR DINNER: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0H5CW77FP?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B0H5CW77FP&linkCode=xm2&tag=simonsayscom&dplnkId=ca66e48c-1d99-4095-a35e-8d40794ffd1d&nodl=1

Follow Erin: https://www.instagram.com/iamerinwashington/

Gina Zapanta joins Cake for Dinner to talk about empowerment, motherhood, survival, and the moment women stop waiting for permission to become who they were always meant to be.

Gina is an attorney, entrepreneur, founder of Empowered With Gina, and a woman who has built a community around helping women reclaim their agency, trust their intuition, and break free from cultural and societal programming. What began as small virtual meetups during COVID eventually grew into a platform where women could find community, resources, and the reminder that permission was never something they had to earn — it was already within them.

Gina also opens up about one of the most terrifying chapters of her life: being diagnosed with stage one cervical cancer while seven months pregnant. She shares the fear, the survival instinct, the fight to protect her daughter, and how that experience shaped the way she now views resilience, motherhood, and purpose.

This episode is about breaking the mold, rewriting the language we use about ourselves, choosing a powerful mindset, and realizing that life does not end at 40 or 50 — for many women, that’s when launch day begins.

00:00 Introduction
00:04 What Empowered With Gina Really Means
04:08 Growing Up Feeling “Othered”
06:10 Diagnosed With Cancer While Pregnant
07:27 “Who’s Gonna Raise My Daughters?”
08:21 PTSD, Anxiety & Finding Opportunity in Pain
10:13 Why Gina Helps Women Rise
12:13 The Power of Language
14:37 Powerful Mindset vs. Powerless Mindset
16:20 Intuition, Jealousy & Breaking Free
21:21 Letting Go of Ego & People-Pleasing
22:00 Motherhood Without Martyrdom
27:50 Where to Find Gina

Learn more about Keesha: https://keeshascott.com/
Book Pre Order CAKE FOR DINNER: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0H5CW77FP?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B0H5CW77FP&linkCode=xm2&tag=simonsayscom&dplnkId=ca66e48c-1d99-4095-a35e-8d40794ffd1d&nodl=1 
Follow Gina: https://www.instagram.com/ginazapanta_/

Jennie Garth joins Cake For Dinner for an honest and deeply vulnerable conversation about fame, motherhood, midlife, self-love, and what it really means to choose yourself.

Best known for her iconic role on Beverly Hills, 90210, Jennie opens up about what it was like becoming famous at a young age, how the show changed her life, and what it cost her along the way. But this conversation goes far beyond Hollywood.

Jennie shares the heart behind her book I Choose Me, reflecting on the seasons where she lost sight of herself, struggled through depression, navigated divorce, raised her daughters, examined her relationship with alcohol, and learned how to rebuild from the inside out.

This episode is about the woman behind the fame — the mother, the survivor, the seeker, and the woman who finally learned to say: I choose me.

Learn more about Keesha: https://keeshascott.com/
Book Pre Order CAKE FOR DINNER: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0H5CW77FP?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B0H5CW77FP&linkCode=xm2&tag=simonsayscom&dplnkId=ca66e48c-1d99-4095-a35e-8d40794ffd1d&nodl=1 
Follow Jennie: https://www.instagram.com/jenniegarth/ 

00:00 Introduction
01:00 Welcome Jennie Garth
01:30 Landing Beverly Hills, 90210
02:43 How 90210 Became a Cultural Phenomenon
04:31 The Legacy of 90210
06:33 The 90210 Cast Bond Today
08:03 What Fame Gave Her and Cost Her
09:00 The Wake-Up Call Behind I Choose Me
12:00 Why Women Struggle to Choose Themselves
14:00 Menopause, Midlife & Women’s Health
16:30 Breaking Perfection Culture
18:30 Why She Had to Tell the Truth
21:18 Losing Sight of Herself
22:32 Rediscovering Joy and Self-Care
24:39 Wellness Trends, Parenting & Grace
27:18 “I Was So Depressed”
27:59 Her Daughters Saw Her Rise
31:54 Divorce, Love & Starting Over
34:16 Learning to Love Herself
36:15 Sobriety and Showing Up Fully
41:17 Radical Acceptance and Forgiveness
44:55 What Her Daughters Taught Her
49:18 Finding Yourself Again
51:53 Writing I Choose Me
53:19 Healing, Strength & Letting Go

In this episode of Cake for Dinner, Keesha sits down with Erin Morrison, the voice behind The Conscious Mom and author of Three Minutes for Mom, for a raw and honest conversation about motherhood, conscious parenting, emotional regulation, and the pressure moms feel to get everything right.

Erin shares why parenting is less about controlling your child and more about understanding what is happening inside of you. Together, they talk about mom guilt, gentle parenting, the labels we put on our kids, why parents take behavior personally, and how apologizing to your children can actually build deeper trust and connection.

This conversation is for every mom who has ever yelled, overreacted, questioned herself, or felt like she was failing — only to realize that motherhood is not about perfection. It is about awareness, repair, self-trust, and learning how to show up again.

If you are navigating conscious parenting, gentle parenting, motherhood, tweens, teens, big emotions, or your own healing journey as a mom, this episode will hit home.

 

00:00 — Introduction

01:04 — Welcome Erin Morrison

01:44 — Why Erin Wrote Three Minutes for Mom

03:05 — The Missing Link in Parenting

04:18 — The Baggage We Bring Into Motherhood

06:19 — How Labels Shape Our Kids

10:40 — Letting Kids Find Their Own Path

13:22 — Are Parents Living Through Their Children?

15:12 — Learning to Pause Before Reacting

18:21 — Why Apologizing to Your Kids Matters

21:55 — Conscious Parenting vs. Gentle Parenting

24:07 — Phones, Sleepovers & Modern Parenting Boundaries

28:21 — It’s Never Too Late to Start Over

31:05 — Trusting Your Gut as a Mom

34:03 — How to Become a More Conscious Parent

37:29 — What Erin Had to Unlearn

43:19 — Breaking Generational Parenting Patterns

45:10 — The Truth About Early Motherhood

52:51 — Where to Find Erin Morrison

53:21 — Closing Thoughts

 

Learn more about Keesha: https://keeshascott.com/

Get Erins book: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=3+minutes+for+mom&adgrpid=189369634271&hvadid=779579003977&hvdev=c&hvexpln=0&hvlocphy=9012036&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=11163684166959021073--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=11163684166959021073&hvtargid=kwd-2393975566028&hydadcr=22536_13730665_8233&mcid=2933b18f25b336578aff6b5ca96e801b&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_3ik3m4oy7r_e