Personal Growth & Reinvention for Women | say YES to yourself!

Fan Mail: Tell Wendy how you're saying yes to yourself!
This conversation opens on calling, guidance, and what it looks like to trust a path before you can see where it leads, and that path is exactly how Giselle Sandy-Phillips ended up writing a career guide for Gen Z. (Book talk starts around 24:00, if you want to jump ahead.) She built it as a family project: her own kids gave feedback on every chapter, and her daughter's photo is on the cover. 
In this conversation, Wendy and Giselle explore:
The gap she kept seeing between how young employees actually think and communicate, vs. the myth that they are lazy, entitled, and unprepared
How financial literacy, mental health, and career planning all ended up in the same book
How the project shifted the moment she stopped keeping it private and let her own kids shape what made it into the final book
Giselle's book started as one woman noticing a hole on the shelf and deciding to fill it. What's followed — award recognition, international book fairs, a growing list of press — has as much to do with the people she brought along for the process as it does with her own drive to see it through.
Connect with Giselle:
Get her book, Thriving in the Modern Workplace: A Gen Z Guide to Success: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1969319089?tag=syty-20
Instagram: instagram.com/hrmeetsgenz
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gisellesandyphillips/
Facebook: facebook.com/p/Giselle-Sandy-Phillips-61578241349749
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Connect with Wendy:
Linkedin
Instagram: @wendy.harrop
Facebook: Phineas Wright House
Website: Phineas Wright House
PWH Farm Stays
PWH Curated Experience and Travel
Interested in being a guest on the show?
Send your pitch to podcast@phineaswrighthouse.com
Podcast Production By Shannon Warner of Resonant Collective
Want to start your own podcast? Let's chat!
If this episode resonated, follow Say YES to Yourself! and leave a  5-star review. It helps more women in midlife discover the tools, stories, and community that make saying YES not only possible, but powerful.

Fan Mail: Tell Wendy how you're saying yes to yourself!
Adrienne Ryser moved to Paris for love with two suitcases, a cat, no visa, and no French, and ended up buying the oldest flower shop in the city. Now she's opened a second location in Oslo and just published her first book, Fleurs. 
In this conversation, Wendy and Adrienne explore:
What it took to earn a spot at a shop the original owners hadn't let an employee touch in a decade, and why they still drive by to check on her years later
Adjusting to a culture that discourages standing out, after building an entire business on doing exactly that
The moment she realized chasing "calm and settled" wasn't actually the goal — building a life with room for both chaos and quiet was
What stands out about Adrienne's story isn't the shop, or the book, or even Paris itself. It's how many times she's said yes to a life she never planned for, then built something remarkable inside it anyway.
Connect with Adrienne:
Get her book, Fleurs: Bouquets, Arrangements, and French Floral Inspirations: amazon.com/dp/1454958022?tag=syty-20
Instagram:
@AdrienneRyser instagram.com/adrienneryser
L’Arrosoir Oslo: instagram.com/larrosoiroslo
L’Arrosoir Paris: instagram.com/larrosoirparis
Referenced in this Episode:
Meghan Trainor - Me Too: youtu.be/qDRORgoZxZU?si=Aa9673EyzQVsmpNB
The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level by Gay Hendricks: amazon.com/Big-Leap-Conquer-Hidden-Level/dp/0061735361?tag=syty-20
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Connect with Wendy:
Linkedin
Instagram: @wendy.harrop
Facebook: Phineas Wright House
Website: Phineas Wright House
PWH Farm Stays
PWH Curated Experience and Travel
Interested in being a guest on the show?
Send your pitch to podcast@phineaswrighthouse.com
Podcast Production By Shannon Warner of Resonant Collective
Want to start your own podcast? Let's chat!
If this episode resonated, follow Say YES to Yourself! and leave a  5-star review. It helps more women in midlife discover the tools, stories, and community that make saying YES not only possible, but powerful.

Fan Mail: Tell Wendy how you're saying yes to yourself!
Joni Woods spent nearly 20 years as a youth and young adult pastor before leaving both her marriage and the church that shaped her. Now an author and corporate consultant, she joins Wendy to talk about what it actually takes to trust yourself when the people around you don't agree with your choices. 
They explore:
Why "anchoring down" on your own reasons matters more than winning an argument, especially when family, faith leaders, or an ex-spouse are working hard to change your mind
The difference between grace that heals a relationship and grace that's used to justify staying in something harmful
How writing through a contentious divorce turned into a book meant to give other people language for what they're not ready to say out loud yet
Joni's story isn't about rejecting faith. It's about redefining what alignment with it looks like on her own terms. Her decision to leave didn't come with anyone doing it for her or with her, and that's exactly the point: the anchoring has to come from inside.
Connect with Joni:
Get her book, Burned, Blocked, and Better than Ever: A Raw Journey of Healing: amazon.com/Burned-Blocked-Better-Than-Ever/dp/B0FGCXZBHX?tag=syty-20
Instagram: instagram.com/authorjoniwoods
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joniwoods
Website: JoniWoods.com 
Referenced in this Episode:
Coffee Chat with Joni: https://youtu.be/AC4ZlMAzeGM
The Vow Series: imdb.com/title/tt10222764/
________________________________________________________________________________________
Connect with Wendy:
Linkedin
Instagram: @wendy.harrop
Facebook: Phineas Wright House
Website: Phineas Wright House
PWH Farm Stays
PWH Curated Experience and Travel
Interested in being a guest on the show?
Send your pitch to podcast@phineaswrighthouse.com
Podcast Production By Shannon Warner of Resonant Collective
Want to start your own podcast? Let's chat!
If this episode resonated, follow Say YES to Yourself! and leave a  5-star review. It helps more women in midlife discover the tools, stories, and community that make saying YES not only possible, but powerful.

Fan Mail: Tell Wendy how you're saying yes to yourself!
In this episode, Wendy sits down with Kristine Jensen, a psychotherapist who spent 35+ years helping clients heal shame, while carrying a deep sense of unworthiness herself. After closing her practice and moving to the California coast, she finally became her own client. What she discovered: shame is foundational, not superficial. It's not embarrassment or guilt. It's a survival mechanism rooted in childhood, where you learned to collapse, comply, and hide in order to feel safe. And it shapes everything.
They explore:
Shame vs. other emotions: the misunderstood feeling that keeps women small, quiet, and disempowered
Self-soothing internal dialogue: the practice children with healthy self-esteem learn early, and what happens when you have to teach it to yourself as an adult
Stop telling your old story: why repeatedly reliving trauma reinforces neural pathways, and how moving toward who you're becoming shifts everything
The work isn't about understanding what happened to you. It's about learning to talk to yourself the way you'd talk to someone you love. Building an internal vocabulary of self-encouragement. Getting tired of your old story so you can create a new one. This is how unworthiness heals.
Connect with Kristine:
kristine-jensen.com
Facebook: facebook.com/kristinebjensenauthor
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kristine-jensen-203a09129/
Get her book, Bruised Not Broken: amazon.com/Bruised-Not-Broken-Troubled-Childhood/dp/B0DZ2PZN37?tag=syty-20
________________________________________________________________________________________
Connect with Wendy:
Linkedin
Instagram: @wendy.harrop
Facebook: Phineas Wright House
Website: Phineas Wright House
PWH Farm Stays
PWH Curated Experience and Travel
Interested in being a guest on the show?
Send your pitch to podcast@phineaswrighthouse.com
Podcast Production By Shannon Warner of Resonant Collective
Want to start your own podcast? Let's chat!
If this episode resonated, follow Say YES to Yourself! and leave a  5-star review. It helps more women in midlife discover the tools, stories, and community that make saying YES not only possible, but powerful.

Fan Mail: Tell Wendy how you're saying yes to yourself!
In this episode, Wendy sits down with Kate Assaraf, founder of Dipped—a plastic-free shampoo and conditioner bar company born from 20 years in the beauty industry and a decade of frustration. In 2014, Kate discovered something most people don't know: plastic is way more problematic than the average consumers know. Recycling is a farce. Plastic leaches chemicals into our bloodstream and messes with our endocrine systems. But instead of guilt-tripping people into sustainability, she built something radical: a product so good, people switch for quality and savings first, then realize it's plastic-free as a bonus.
They explore:
Why most sustainable beauty products fail: they're made for a specific avatar (linen-wearing boho) and disappoint people switching from expensive hair care
Building a brand on integrity, not influencers: no UGC actors, no AI, only actual paying customers. Result: 0.006% return rate.
Reinvesting in local economy: money spent at zero-waste stores stays in your community, supports your fire department and schools, brings back face-to-face commerce
Kate's philosophy is simple: don't guilt people into doing the right thing. Give them really good stuff. Treat smart women like smart women. Let quality and integrity be your marketing. The scaffolding is strong, the messaging is real, and people buy it over and over again.
Connect with Kate:
DipAlready.com
Instagram: instagram.com/dipalready
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kate-assaraf-b25a741a7
Referenced in this Episode:
HiBar: hellohibar.com
Bite: bitetoothpastebits.com
________________________________________________________________________________________
Connect with Wendy:
Linkedin
Instagram: @wendy.harrop
Facebook: Phineas Wright House
Website: Phineas Wright House
PWH Farm Stays
PWH Curated Experience and Travel
Interested in being a guest on the show?
Send your pitch to podcast@phineaswrighthouse.com
Podcast Production By Shannon Warner of Resonant Collective
Want to start your own podcast? Let's chat!
If this episode resonated, follow Say YES to Yourself! and leave a  5-star review. It helps more women in midlife discover the tools, stories, and community that make saying YES not only possible, but powerful.