The Job Women Couldn't Have 50 Years Ago: Harbor Pilot
Real Women's Work Podcast
Most of us have watched a massive cargo ship glide effortlessly into port without giving it a second thought. But before that ship reaches the dock, someone climbs from a small pilot boat onto a rope ladder hanging from the side of the moving vessel—often in darkness, rough seas, or bad weather—to help guide it safely into harbor. That person is a harbor pilot. In this episode of Good Things Happening for Women, we're exploring one of the fascinating careers that women rarely had access to just a few generations ago. Along the way, you'll discover what harbor pilots actually do, why their...
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What Does a Freelance Editor Actually Do? (And Why It Matters More Than You Think)
Real Women's Work Podcast
Most of us read books, articles, websites, and training materials every day without ever thinking about the people behind the scenes who make them clear, consistent, and easy to understand. This week, I'm joined by freelance editor Joni McNeal, who pulls back the curtain on a profession many of us know almost nothing about. Joni explains what editors actually do (it's much more than fixing grammar), how she helps authors and organizations communicate more clearly, and why seeing a project through the eyes of the reader is the heart of her work. But this conversation becomes about much more...
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The Purpose of Caring: What a Pediatric Burn Nurse Taught Me About Meaningful Work
Real Women's Work Podcast
Show Notes What does it take to walk into a room full of suffering and keep showing up? In this episode of Real Women's Work, I revisit a conversation with Carolyn Flynn, a registered nurse who spent ten years caring for critically ill children in a pediatric burn unit. What I remembered as a conversation about nursing turns out to be something much deeper: a conversation about purpose, resilience, teamwork, and what it means to help people through the hardest moments of their lives. Carolyn shares what it's really like to work in an environment where every day can bring life-and-death...
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Building a Peaceful Business with Lesa Frye
Real Women's Work Podcast
What happens when the life that looks successful on paper no longer feels fulfilling on the inside? In this episode of Real Women’s Work, Jen sits down with business and mindset coach Lesa Frye for an honest conversation about ambition, burnout, identity, purpose, and redefining success as women move through different seasons of life. Before becoming a coach, Lesa spent decades building a highly successful real estate career — selling 41 homes in her first full-time year and becoming a top producer in a competitive industry. But behind the success was exhaustion, pressure, and the...
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Sitting in Traffic for Professional Women's Sports
Real Women's Work Podcast
What happens when something that once felt impossible suddenly feels… normal? In this short solo episode of Real Women’s Work, Jen shares a deeply personal experience attending a sold-out Professional Women's Hockey League game with her daughter — and the unexpected moment that stopped her cold: sitting in traffic outside the arena realizing all those people were there to watch women play hockey. For girls who grew up as athletes in the 90s, hearing “nobody watches women’s sports” was constant background noise. This episode reflects on what it means to witness real cultural...
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The One Shift that Changes Every Conversation
Real Women's Work Podcast
We talk all day long. At work. At home. With friends, colleagues, strangers. But how often are we actually communicating? In this episode, I sit down with communication consultant Dee Dee Fisher to explore a powerful (and slightly uncomfortable) idea: many of our conversations aren’t actually exchanging information at all. We’re reacting. We’re making assumptions. We’re talking—but not connecting. Dee Dee shares the moment she first recognized this pattern as a teenager working in her family’s gas station—and how that early insight turned into the work she does today helping...
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How to Show Up for Someone in Grief (When You Don’t Know What to Say)
Real Women's Work Podcast
What do you say to someone who’s grieving? Most of us don’t know. So we send flowers. We drop off food. And then… we disappear. Today’s guest, Kelly Edmondson, is here to change that. Kelly is a nurse executive, grief counselor, and founder of Timely Presence—a service created after the death of her son, Darius. Through her own experience of profound loss, she’s learned something most of us never have: Grief doesn’t need fixing. It needs presence. In this conversation, Kelly shares what people got right—and wrong—after her son passed, and gives us practical, deeply human ways...
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Rebecca Nurse and The Danger of Being Human: The Salem Witch Trials and What They Reveal About Us
Real Women's Work Podcast
This episode is part of Podcasthon, a global podcasting event spotlighting meaningful causes and stories that matter. What happens when fear becomes belief—and belief becomes certainty? In this episode, I speak with Kathryn Rutkowski, president of the Rebecca Nurse Homestead, about one of the most devastating stories from the Salem witch trials. Rebecca Nurse was a 71-year-old woman, deeply respected in her community, who was accused, tried, and executed for a crime she did not commit. But this conversation doesn’t stay in 1692. As we explore Rebecca’s story—her arrest, her quiet...
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What Happens When We Start Talking About Dying with Laura Cleminson
Real Women's Work Podcast
What if talking about death actually helped us live better? In this episode of Real Women’s Work, Jen Keefe sits down with Laura Cleminson, a death doula and founder of the Pre-Dead Social Club, where people gather to talk openly about mortality, dying, and what matters most in life. Laura’s work began after walking alongside her mother through the dying process. That experience opened her eyes to something many of us never learn: we often face death without the language, awareness, or confidence to navigate it. Instead of avoiding these conversations, Laura helps people...
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Brenda Sullivan, Gravestone Girls Part 2
Real Women's Work Podcast
Some people find their calling in the most unexpected places. And for Brenda Sullivan, that calling happened… in the cemetery. In this two-part conversation, I'm joined by the fascinating, funny, wildly knowledgeable founder of The Gravestone Girls — cemetery artists and historians who are helping people all over the country reconnect with history, symbolism, mortality, and the stories literally carved into stone. I first discovered Brenda's work a couple of years ago when my daughter and I attended one of her talks at a library here in New Hampshire. I honestly didn't know...
info_outlineWe talk all day long.
At work. At home. With friends, colleagues, strangers.
But how often are we actually communicating?
In this episode, I sit down with communication consultant Dee Dee Fisher to explore a powerful (and slightly uncomfortable) idea:
many of our conversations aren’t actually exchanging information at all.
We’re reacting.
We’re making assumptions.
We’re talking—but not connecting.
Dee Dee shares the moment she first recognized this pattern as a teenager working in her family’s gas station—and how that early insight turned into the work she does today helping individuals and organizations communicate more clearly, effectively, and with far less conflict.
We talk about what gets in the way of real communication, how to “function past the reaction” in difficult moments, and why changing just one thing in how you show up can completely shift the outcome of a conversation.
This is a conversation about being more intentional with your words, your reactions, and your assumptions—and what becomes possible when you are.
In this episode, we cover:
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Why many conversations don’t actually go anywhere
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The difference between reacting and communicating
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How to “function past the reaction” in difficult conversations
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A simple framework (who, what, when, where, why, how) to improve clarity
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The role of assumptions—and how they derail communication
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Why you don’t have to change the other person to change the conversation
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A powerful story about stopping bullying by shifting internal response
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How better communication impacts work, relationships, and self-talk
A simple takeaway to try:
The next time you feel yourself reacting in a conversation, pause and ask:
“What is actually trying to be communicated here?”
That one question can change everything.
Find DeeDee on LinkedIn by clicking here and her website here.
If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who would benefit—and as always, thank you for listening to Real Women’s Work.