Melanie Penn is a Nashville based songwriter at the crossroads of faith and culture. Melanie was a mainstay in the theatre scene in New York City for several years, most notably playing Sandy on the Broadway national tour of Grease!

In my time with Melanie, we discuss her transition from Broadway to songwriting, and the helpfulness of attending to our emotions in decision making and discernment. She also shares about the experience of losing her dad. In that discussion, Melanie reminds us of humanity’s need for rescue and the hope we celebrate this Christmas season. Also, amidst society’s fear-based messages around getting older, Melanie reframes aging as an opportunity to become more alive.

JohnsonDecember 23, 2024melaniepenn, morealive, aging, reframingaging, beauty, grief, death, christmas, hope, impossiblebeauty, impossiblebeautypodcast

"Lent, Fasting, & Diet Culture" with Diane Summers, MS, RDN, CD

Diane Summers, MS, RDN, CD is the founder of Hope Nutrition Therapy and a nationally registered and state certified dietitian. Diane has treated the full spectrum of eating disorders and concerns since 2004 and has been supervising eating disorder dietitians since 2009. She is also a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor and a Narrative Focused Trauma Care practitioner.

In my time with Diane, we talk about what diet culture is and how it impacts our relationship with our bodies, how diet culture impacts societal beauty ideals, and the prevalence of disordered eating. Diane also helps us unpack the topic of religious fasting during this season of Lent, including disentangling some unhelpful ideas often surrounding this practice.

JohnsonFebruary 26, 2024dianesummers, fasting, lent, nondiet, nondietdietitian, nondietdietician, Impossiblebeauty, impossiblebeautypodcast, aging

"Rethinking Aging" with Deb Benfield, MEd, RDN/LDN

Deb Benfield has helped hundreds of women heal their relationship with food, eating, and their bodies in her 35-year career as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. Deb works with middle-aged women and beyond to help them feel vital and free of culture’s stifling diet and movement rules.

In my time with Deb, she names and disproves unhelpful myths about the aging process, discusses the prevalence of disordered eating in middle-aged women and beyond, the energy that is available to us if we aren’t trying to white knuckle our bodies, and why elderhood is the time to emerge as our truest self.