A Time of Pruning & Unexpected Seasons: a Yap Session | Blake Guichet | Episode 366
Release Date: 07/30/2025
Ending Well: Becoming Her | Episode 395
The Speakeasy
Merry (belated) Christmas and welcome to “dead week”—that weird, quiet stretch between Christmas and New Year when nobody knows what day it is… and honestly, it’s kind of wonderful. This is the final Friday of the year, which means we’re wrapping up the Ending Well series—seven weeks of looking back at 2025, redeeming the hard parts, and hunting down the goodness God planted along the way. Today’s episode is where everything comes together. Not as separate lessons—hearing God, going a different way, pruning, embracing the ordinary, releasing usefulness, becoming the wife and...
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The Cajun Night Before Christmas | Blake's Dad | Episode 394
The Speakeasy
Every year of my life, my dad Earl has read the classic book the Cajun Night Before Christmas. I'm thrilled this year to bring it to the podcast so that it can not only live forever for myself and my family, but so that the culture we love can live on as well. Gather up your kids for a quick reading of my favorite Christmas book! Sponsor: PreBorn A free ultrasound can double a woman’s chance of choosing life. PreBorn provides ultrasounds and ongoing support for moms in crisis. 💛 $28 sponsors one ultrasound. Give at preborn.com/speakeasy and help save a life.
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Ending Well: Finding God in the Ordinary | Episode 393
The Speakeasy
As the year comes to a close and Christmas draws near, this episode is an invitation to slow down and rethink what actually makes a year meaningful. If you’re ending the year feeling like you didn’t do enough, didn’t accomplish enough, or didn’t have any big, flashy “banner moments,” this conversation is for you. What if the ordinary years—the quiet, unseen, seemingly mundane ones—are actually where God does His deepest and most transformative work? In this episode, Blake reflects on a lifetime of big dreams, ambition, and achievement, and how this year gently (and...
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Expectancy in a Culture of Hurry | Hannah Brencher | Episode 392
The Speakeasy
As we hit the halfway point of December, this episode is a deep breath and a reset. In a season that pushes hustle, consumption, and constant motion, this conversation invites us to slow down and reclaim awe, wonder, and expectancy—especially as we approach Christmas. Hannah Brencher joins the Speak Easy Podcast to talk about Advent, rhythms, mental health, and what it looks like to resist hurry in a world that rewards burnout. Together, we explore why slowing down can feel so uncomfortable, how noise steals our awareness of God’s presence, and how intentional practices—stillness,...
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Ending Well: a Pruning Deep Dive | Episode 391
The Speakeasy
Ending Well: A Pruning Deep Dive This is week six of the Ending Well series, and we’re talking about something a lot of us are living through in real time: pruning—the cutting away, the stripping back, and the strange mercy of God doing holy surgery on our lives at the end of a hard year. “Every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” – John 15:2 ⏱ Episode Timestamps 00:00 – Intro + Why open enrollment and health insurance feel like a bad rite of passage 03:00 – CrowdHealth: what it is, how it works, and why it’s different from insurance...
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7 Years of Podcasting | Jeremy Guichet | Episode 390
The Speakeasy
In this episode we look back at how it started (a guest room closet + $20 mic + TV tray) and how God has grown us, our marriage, and this show over seven years—from fear and hustle to rest and trust. We talk about money, messy action, viral moments, criticism, love languages, parenting, and what “success” actually looks like for our family now. “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” – 2 Timothy 1:7 ⏱ Episode Timestamps (Approximate – for your listening convenience) 00:00 – Welcome + 7 years of podcasting & 37th birthday 03:10 –...
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Ending Well: The Wife I Want to Be | Episode 389
The Speakeasy
Welcome back to the Ending Well series. This is week five of looking back over the year, letting God redeem the hard parts, and choosing who we want to become as we step into a new season. Today’s episode is all about marriage — but even more specifically, the kind of wife you want to be. Not the Instagram version. Not the performance version. The real, healed, whole version. This year, God radically reshaped how I see myself as a wife. I didn’t set out to “become a better wife,” but as He broke my addiction to productivity and constant performance, it transformed our marriage into...
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Anxiety Doesn't Take the Holiday's Off: Setting the Tone for the Month | Ruth Chou Simons | Ep. 388
The Speakeasy
December is here, Advent is upon us, and while the world is speeding up, this conversation is an invitation to slow down, breathe deep, and remember that anxiety does not magically clock out for the holidays. In this episode, we talk with Ruth about what it looks like to set the tone for the month of Advent with intention, slowness, and a heart that is more focused on Jesus than on performance, expectations, or a perfectly curated Christmas. Episode Overview So often, December becomes a pressure cooker: Packed calendars Parties and performances Family expectations Untended...
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Ending Well: Getting My Glow Back | Episode 387
The Speakeasy
Week four of the Ending Well series lands right at the halfway mark. This episode is a look back over a three-year road (starting in 2022) of how God helped me fight inflammation, feel like myself again, and regain my “glow.” This is not a weight-loss talk, not a quick-fix list, and not medical advice. It’s a redemption story about healing from the inside out — spiritually, emotionally, and physically. “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” — 3 John 1:2 Key Themes Redemption doesn’t just cover salvation; it keeps...
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A Thanksgiving Anchor Episode | Blake | Episode 386
The Speakeasy
The day before Thanksgiving, we hit pause together for a short “FaceTime-style” heart-to-heart. Whether you’re bracing for tricky family dynamics or you’re the holiday superfan, this mini-episode gives you a simple, grace-filled plan to enter the day grounded, intentional, and at peace—without pretending or performing. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” — Proverbs 3:5–6 What We Talk About Two honest camps we tend to fall into for Thanksgiving (dreaded...
info_outlineIn this vulnerable solo episode, Blake shares an unplanned mid-year reflection after losing a recorded interview—an unexpected gap that turned into sacred space for recalibration. She dives deep into how her 2025 word, “Let there be fruit,” has shown up not in productivity or accolades, but in the painful, refining work of pruning identity idols—like hustle, performance, and external validation. From mourning a drop in Instagram engagement to laying down beloved roles and shifting from constant external processing to deeper intimacy with God, this season has been a crash course in obedience, slowness, and surrender. Blake talks about the beauty of letting go, the discomfort of facing what she’s built her worth on, and the surprising fruit of joy and gentleness that has begun to bloom in its place. If you’ve found yourself exhausted, overextended, or wondering why abiding feels so hard, this episode will meet you in that wilderness and remind you that the pruning always precedes the fruit.
In this episode, you’ll be able to…
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Understand how unexpected pruning can reveal hidden identity idols like hustle, performance, and people-pleasing.
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Learn how slowing down created space for deeper intimacy with God, increased discernment, and healthier habits of processing.
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Be encouraged to embrace the discomfort of refinement as necessary for lasting spiritual growth and fruitfulness.
To connect with Blake…Website: thegirlnamedblake.comInstagram: @thegirlnamedblake
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