By Her Hands
A global podcast that elevates the voices, leadership, and lived wisdom of young women ages 13 to 25 and creates space for shared experiences and learning — brought to you by WaterStep. Here, young women talk honestly about the things that shape their lives: purpose, identity, belonging, confidence, leadership, faith, fear, friendship, the future - and the small, everyday moments that teach them who they are and who they’re becoming. What It Is and What It’s Not: Inspiring and impact-driven stories form the heart of each episode. Real anecdotal stories, not interviews. Laughter, vulnerability, and reflection are expected and welcome. No adult lectures. For more information visit www.WaterStep.org
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The Path to Belonging
04/02/2026
The Path to Belonging
Episode 2: Belonging - In Episode 2 of the By Her Hands podcast, hosts Lexi, Lydia, and Justine are joined by guest Zach to explore the complex theme of belonging and the search for where one fits in. Zach shares his unique perspective on being an outsider after moving between the U.S., Senegal, and Congo, ultimately concluding that belonging is not a fixed place but a sense of comfort one carries within themselves. The hosts contribute their own stories about the pressure to "perform" or change their personalities when entering new school environments, only to realize that authenticity is the key to finding true connection. The group also discusses how gender roles can influence social dynamics, highlighting the importance of being intentionally inclusive to ensure everyone feels seen and heard. A major takeaway from the conversation is that belonging is an ever-changing process that requires being present in the moment and trusting one's own values. Finally, the episode ties these personal reflections back to the WaterStep mission, empowering young women to recognize the inherent power they already possess to lead and shape their futures. Episode Transcript: Lydia: Where do I fit in and why is this so confusing? One moment you feel included and the next you walk into a room and forget what to do with your face. You start wondering if people want you there or if you're just hoping they do. You're standing there trying to decide if you should join the conversation or just disappear into the wall. This episode is about how we're all trying to figure out where we fit and what it feels like when we actually find a place where we belong. Justine: You're listening to the By Her Hands podcast, a space where young women figure things out together, who we are, what we want, and the power we already carry. It's brought to you by WaterStep, a global leader in safe water innovation. Learn more about how women and girls are shaping healthier futures, each by her own hands at WaterStep.org. Lexi: Hi, this is Lexi. Welcome back to Episode 2. We're back with Lydia and Justine, and we have a new guest, Zach. Zach: Hi, thank you for having me. It's great to be here. I'm Zach, obviously, and I go to school here in Louisville too. I'm a senior. And I recently heard the first episode you guys had. It was really amazing. A bunch of things that you guys touched on that I could even relate to. And background-wise, it's fair to say I've been around a lot. I was born in Arizona, then I moved to Senegal, and then I moved back to Louisville, then to Congo, and then back to Louisville. So I've had my fair share of experiences, perspectives. I've learned a lot too. Lydia: Can you tell us some about that and how your time was in Senegal and Congo and how has that affected you? Zach: Yeah, for sure. I'd say that it makes it very obvious that you're different from everybody else who's there, especially since they've had this consistent exposure to that place that you're just learning about. So, it really highlighted what it meant to belong and to be from somewhere for me. And I spent a lot of time thinking about that to the point where it became my main topic for my college essay that I recently wrote. But yeah, it's definitely something that I could tell was different. And for me, it felt unique just in general. Lydia: I kind of get what you mean in being different. It's not as severe as going from Arizona to Senegal to Louisville to Congo, yes, and then back to Louisville, I believe. But I was in a private school from pre-K all the way to eighth grade, and I knew all of those kids, all 24 of them, since kindergarten pretty much. And then I went to a public school, and my grade went from 24 to 400, and I knew all of two kids out of the 2,000 that attend my school. So that was a lot of fun. So I really, I do understand how ... And I did feel different. I felt like I had to change myself so they wouldn't perceive me as a snob or anything, and that I needed to blend into the people around me. And I was like, "Okay, I'm going to dress fine. I'm going to keep my mouth shut.” I'm a chatty person. I don't know if you can pick up on it or not. And I'm kind of loud. So I was like, "I need to play myself down to make friends and to blend into this new school." And it worked fine until my fourth period, first day of school, my friend said ... Well, my now friend at the time, I didn't know who she was. First thing anyone had said to me at this school was, "Are you gay? My friend thinks you're cute." And that is how I made all of my friends at my school. She was like, "Come sit with us at lunch." And I made friends with all of these girls, one of them who just did my nails and I love her so much. Justine: I love your nails. Lydia: Aren’t they cute? Justine: Yes. Very. Lydia: So we're still ... I mean, it worked out real well. I made some really good friends from there and it all worked out fine. And turns out I didn't have to pretend to be something I wasn't. And I just, I don't know. Opportunity just happens. I didn't have to worry about it. So how was it for you trying to make friends in Louisville after going through so much? Zach: Well, I think it's really funny that you say that because in my case, I think my sophomore year I was at a public school and then junior year, and even now I'm in a private school. So I kind of had the opposite of what you did coming from somewhere where not a lot of people really knew you to somewhere where you were in a tight and closed community and really just like a family and you were like just that, what's it called? The stepbrother that was just walking on in. The experiences at first are really something. It's a lot like what you said, you really don't expect it and you feel like there's a lot that you have to do to fit in. In my case, it was way too obvious that I was not like everybody else. In my school specifically, they take a lot of time to make sure that you can spend time outside of class to do what you want. We have clubs and activities in the middle of the day every single day. Although it's not a lot of time, it's still very important for the students to relate to one another and grow closer. So coming in, I thought I'd have to buy into that and do that as well. But it took me a long time to realize that it really wasn't the case. You could really just spend your time the way you saw a fit. Lexi: Actually, I wanted to touch on an idea that you said earlier. And Lydia, you touched on it too about going from either switching schools from public to private or from you is more switching from middle school to high school. I had been at my middle school and preschool with the same group of 40 kids since I was about five years old. So I knew them really, really well. And then going into high school, I sort of really wanted to break out of my shell and try to meet new people. And some of those girls still transitioned in high school with me, but it was a lot of new people. And so I walked in feeling out of place. I really felt like I didn't belong. But freshman year, these girls invited me to sit with them at lunch similar to you, Lydia. And it really helped me. It made me feel seen. It made me feel like, okay, this is where I'm supposed to be and people are paying attention and really making sure I feel included. Is there a time that either of you guys have felt similar and felt that sense of inclusion from somebody? Lydia: Absolutely. Yeah. It was that moment where she was like, "Here, just come sit with us at lunch. My friend wants to talk to you. " Yeah, you know what? I don't know anyone at this school. Sure, sure. That's fine. And I learned from that that everyone is scared too. It's not just me. I went into here thinking, okay, everyone's already going to have their friends and their groups and I'm going to have to try to squeeze my way in somewhere because everyone has told me, "You have to make friends in high school or everything will go bad. And if you don't make friends, you'll just have a terrible high school time and it's hard to make friends. Everyone's got their own things." There's so much fear going into it. And I'm sitting at this lunch table and it took me months to figure this out, but the kids I'm sitting with barely know each other. The three of them had been friends going into it and the rest of them had just been like, "Yeah, we kind of had the same classes and they all just became really chatty because we all wanted friends and we all wanted to have a good time." And it was a very diverse group of people at that table. Let me tell you a lot of interesting conversations, but I made some of my favorite memories from freshman year and from being in a public high school instead of a private one. And I found that I feel more comfortable there. I didn't have to put on a performance or anything and that I could just be who I was. Zach: No, it's cool that you say that because I can really relate to that. Maybe not the part where someone took the initiative to come and invite you in. But in my case, I think, again, opposite to you, I didn't really have that. But looking back, I think it's super and insanely important to be that person, to take that first step for people who don't have that courage to do so, because that's really all it takes to realize that there's no reason to feel that isolated or discomforted. But yeah, that's what I got. Even though I came from a public school and went to a private school, I got the same idea and the same message as you're talking about right now, Lydia. Justine: Listening to you, this is interesting. I have a question for you all and anybody can jump in at this point. Lexi, you mentioned how a girlfriend came to you and approached you to make you feel like you belong, right? Same for you, Lydia and Zach. There was nothing specific for that. It was more of a community. And I'm wondering if you feel like it's different, making someone belong or you feeling like you belong is different whether you're a boy or a girl. Yeah. Do you feel like it's different? Lydia: It definitely is, because if I was a guy, I do not think a guy would've came up to me and said, "Are you gay because my friend thinks you're cute." I think that's a very girl thing to do. Justine: Oh, wow. Zach, do you agree? Zach: I 100% agree. If a guy came up and said that to me, I don't think we'd be best friends. Justine: Wow. Alright. Zach: But I mean, it makes sense to think that it's different for genders because if you really think about it, a lot of it is how others have influenced you and that makes it easier to think about how your gender could tie into that. But I definitely do think that the gender does play a huge role in just in general, who you feel comfortable with and you can see that a lot in life just in general. Justine: Yeah. And Lexi then, do you think that ... We're talking about belonging, we talk about girls' empowerment by her own hands, right? How would it make it easier for one gender or another? Because I'm just thinking about it from a gender perspective. I'm just thinking about how, whether you felt like you belonged or somebody made you feel like you belong, is so important for you to carry on and to be who you're supposed to be. So how do you see that? Lexi: I think it's all about being inclusive. I mean, anybody can be inclusive, whether you feel like you belong or whether you don't, it's inviting that person to come sit or inviting them to be a part of the conversation, making sure you're always cognizant of what's going on around you. And if you're in a circle, try to keep that circle open so you're welcoming to inviting other people to the conversation. And I think that goes for both genders when you're in conversation, just really making sure that everyone feels seen and heard. And I also just think building a community where people feel supported, and that includes every single person, whether you feel out of place or you feel in place. And so it's building that community that supports one another and encourages one another. Lydia: For me, well, again, I went from a Catholic school to a public school, and at my old school, I feel like the gender roles were a little more enforced, not enforced, but it was just expected than it was at my current school. I remember, and it's as simple as PE classes. I didn't go to an all-girls school or anything. It was still mixed gender, but at PE class, the girls, we were dainty and kind of sat around and talked and maybe did some walks around the lap. And the guys played basketball and did all the athletic things and you had to make sure that you didn't make a fool out of yourself if you were a girl. And I went into my new school thinking that. So I came in and I was like, okay, every day. And you can tell from how I talk, I'm not a very feminine person. I've always been kind of loud and kind of obnoxious in a way and kind of like I'm a little out there and it's hard for me to bottle that in. It's unnatural. And I was like, okay, I have to bottle this in or everyone will hate me at this new school. And I came in and it was summer PE. It was summer PE because you can do PE at my school instead of doing it during class. And I was like, "Well, yeah, I'm going to do it over the summer for eight days instead of in school." Because I've heard all these, oh my gosh, I'm sure that you guys have heard all those gym locker room stories in school how like my parents were like, "Don't take PE in high school. You have to shower. Don't do it. It's so gross." So I'm sure you get that. But summer PE, everybody was just having a good time. It wasn't like, "Okay, well, the girls are going to go sit down on the bleachers and the guys are going to do all these things." So I spent my entire summer PE sweating and playing volleyball and having a good time. And I made so many friends that way. And I felt in that moment like my being a girl didn't matter and it was actually an advantage because Catholics love volleyball. So I had some volleyball experience at my school and because the girls played volleyball and the guys played basketball is how we were. And it didn't matter as much there. It was just everybody just wanted to make friends. And I feel that for girls when making friends, it's a fear of ... The first fear is, do I have friends? And the second fear is, do I want to be associated with these friends? And Zach, maybe I'm just assuming here, but I feel like with guys, it's a little more loosey goosey and just not as ... You don't have to worry too as much and you aren't affiliated as much with who you're friends with. Zach: No, that's definitely fair to say. But I think the general principles of what you were talking about and the fundamental idea is it's still there and that goes beyond just gender roles, in general. But you mentioned this, Lydia, as you were talking, but it's really important to be present in the moment because otherwise it becomes easy to get influenced by others and the norms and the things that people expect of you, or maybe things you expect of yourself as well. And to tie that back to my essay, that's really what I talked about for the most part, right? The idea of feeling like a spectator to things that are happening around you just because you weren't there for it. And the best way to make up for that is to try and be there while you can, rather than worry about whether you will or whether you can or because you weren't, it's important to make sure that you are right now. And again, that's really what my essay talked a lot about. For me personally, I came to this conclusion that being from somewhere doesn't just mean having a place to go back to, but really like somewhere to stand on, somewhere you can sit and feel comfortable around. And when you look at it that way, it can really be anything at all, whether it's people you know, places you've been to or just yourself in general. Justine: So basically, what I'm hearing is like belonging, it's not about the place, it's not about the people, it's about how you stand and how you behave, how you show up wherever at the moment, right? Zach: Right. Justine: Yeah. Not like that. Zach: For sure. Justine: And I can really relate to that statement. Like Lexi, I've also grew up in the same environment. I went to the same school all the way to senior, graduated, but then I was fortunate enough to have experience outside of my home country, right? So started having international experience and then I was excited to have my first shot at working back home. But when I showed up, I realized that I didn't belong. I didn't feel like I belonged as much as I hoped. And that's why, Zach, what you're saying is really resonating with me because I realized that belonging doesn't happen just one time and that's a done deal, right? It's like you always have to work toward that. And every single step, every single milestone that you take on or you achieve, it's going to affect the way you're going to be belonging even to your former group, your former community and people you knew before because you show up differently, you stand up differently and the moment is different. So yeah. Lexi: Thank you. Justine: Before we continue with our episode, let me take a minute to remind you that By Her Hands is a global program empowering women and girls through safe-water access, menstrual health management, and economic opportunity. The program and this podcast are brought to you by WaterStep. Together we believe that when a young woman can protect her own health, she leads. When she leads, her family thrives and when her family thrives, her whole community grows stronger. Learn more about how women and girls are shaping healthier futures, each by her own hands at WaterStep.org. Lexi: So what I'm hearing from this, I feel like we're all saying that belonging isn't a place or a group of people, but rather it's ever changing and it's multiple groups. And I feel like I can resonate with that so much. You belong to this group and that group and they can be vastly different, but it's being present in that moment, being present with those people. And really for me, what strikes me the most about belonging is surrounding yourself with people that have similar values as you, which is what's so important about my WaterStep family and really, really feeling like I belong here is because we have that same sense of similar values, wanting to help, having empathy and really wanting to create change and wanting to put in the work to get there. Lydia: Yeah. What you said with feeling like you need to be someone to belong, and then realizing that it's not really who you are, if you can belong or not, it's just that how you are in the moment. I really do feel that and resonate with that. And it's kind of the first time I've really thought about it in that way. I always just thought that I started belonging when I stopped caring what other people perceive me as much, but I like that way of just viewing it as being in the moment and being there. Zach: No, that's 100% true. I feel like something that's really ironic about this idea of belonging, it's that it's more about you than about the people or the environment that you try to belong to, right? This idea and this feeling of being okay with where you are is probably the biggest part about belonging. I know that I say my background is unique and stuff, but I think in my case, it's just more grand, having been all around the world, but it can be as small and as big as you'd want it to be, but fundamentally, and at the end of the day, what really matters is how you feel about the people around you and that's the idea behind belonging. Justine: What I'm hearing is it's about listening to yourself...
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Figuring Out Your Purpose
03/19/2026
Figuring Out Your Purpose
Summary: Episode 1: Purpose — “What am I even doing with my life?” Everyone acts like you’re supposed to already know your “thing,” but most of us are just trying stuff and hoping something feels right. This episode is about figuring out what actually matters to you, not what people expect, not some perfect plan, just those random interests or moments where you think, “okay… maybe this is me.” In this episode, we talk about what purpose feels like when you’re still figuring it out. Episode Transcript: Lydia: What am I even doing with my life? Everyone acts like you’re supposed to already know your thing, but most of us are just trying stuff and hoping something feels right. This episode is about figuring out what actually matters to you. Not what people expect. Not some perfect plan. Just those random interests or moments where you think, “Okay, maybe this is me.” Today, we’ll talk about what purpose feels like, when you’re still figuring it out or moments when you’re certain this is exactly where you’re supposed to be. Justine: You're listening to the By Her Hands Podcast, A space where young women figure things out together, who we are, what we want, and the power we already carry. It's brought to you by WaterStep a global leader in safe water innovation. Learn more about how women and girls are shaping healthier futures, each by her own hands, at waterstep.org. Lydia: My name is Lydia. I'm a senior in Indiana and I just got accepted into the college of my dreams, Purdue. Since first grade I've been dying to go there and be an engineer and I'm still sitting here and wondering, is this really what I'm supposed to do with my life? I'm at that crossroads point between high school and college and being independent and I still feel like I know nothing. Lexi: Hi, I'm Lexi. I'm a junior in Louisville, and I'm sort of still on that college search wondering have I done enough to get into the colleges that I want to go to and what's life going to look like after that, future career? So I'm just sort of trying to figure it all out with still keeping my values close to heart. Justine: Hi, I am Justine. I have 20 plus years of experience in international development around the world, and I'm here today participating in the podcast for the first time, and this is a new experience for me. Lydia: So Lexi, I have to ask you, have you gotten all those thousands of emails from colleges begging you to go there? Lexi: Yes, a hundred percent. Lydia: They're like, oh, we're going to give you a million dollars to go. And then you look at their website and they're like, tuition's only $4 million. So you're really looking out here. Lexi: Yes. Lydia: For me, it's actually really funny. I keep getting emails from Skidmore College and I really, it just threw me off because I thought it was just a funny name and I keep getting these emails from them and I searched it up and it's actually a really cool school. And then I'm sitting here thinking maybe I should go and be a skid at Skidmore College. Maybe that's what I should do with my life. Maybe I don't need to be an engineer and I don't need, I can go have fun and it's in New York, like going college in New York. That's awesome. So I don't know, every time I get one of those emails, I'm still sitting here thinking maybe I should open it. Maybe I should see if maybe Murray State or Skidmore is my home. Lexi: Yeah, I've been thinking the exact same thing. Not only where do I want to go and what's going to be the best fit for me, but also what's my career going to look like after that? What's future going to look like? And really what worries me the most is have I done enough to get to that point? Have I worked hard enough? Lydia: Oh my gosh. Yeah. No, I totally, seriously, that is the story of my life because growing up my parents were very heavy set on everything you do is for college, everything you do, your academics and your extracurriculars, everything is for college. So since fifth grade, I remember begging my parents, I was like, please, I need you guys to save money for college. And I'm like, how old are you in fifth grade? Like 10? I was little and I was like, there's no way. There's no way. And I think that nowadays the pressure on kids to know what they're supposed to do, it just keeps getting younger. For me, I've had it easier because in first grade I always say my papa indoctrinated me since first grade he's been like, you need to go to Purdue and you need to be a boilermaker just like I was. You need to do engineering. And he told us to all the grandkids, and I'm the one out of nine to have done it or to be doing it anyways. So for me, I feel like at least in that kind of standpoint, I've had it figured out, but am I even supposed to yet? I'm barely an adult and I mean I have a job technically, but I haven't really experienced life yet. Am I supposed to know what my purpose is and what I need to do? Do you understand the pressure to know who you are from the day you were born? Lexi: Yeah, a hundred percent even. I mean, my college shirts process has been a little bit different from yours. My parents are the type of parents that are, go get your dreams, you're going to do great. We believe in you. But they're not pressuring me since day one. But definitely in the past year or so, I've felt that pressure trying to figure out what's my future going to look like? What's that career that I want to get? How am I going to get there? The money, the classes, everything that becomes a part of it. And I feel like it just college and everything beyond that has become so competitive now that I feel like as a junior/senior in high school, we all relate to that feeling of am I going to have done enough and will I get to where I want to be? But I also know that when I talk to adults, I was just talking to my dad last night, he's like, it doesn't matter what college you go to or where you're going to grad school, whatever it is, you're going to end up where you want to be. So I always like to keep that in mind. Lydia: Justine, have you found your purpose yet? Justine: I want to say yes given the experience that I have, but it hasn't been easy listening to you guys about how everything around you has shaped you towards something specific, but then when you get there, you don't even have time to embrace it and celebrate it. You're already thinking about the next step. But what I really like about what you were saying is that you are already in that space where you're figuring out whether it's your purpose or not, whether you were prepared for that without even you acknowledging who you are or what you want. And I think that's a real question. So when you said Lydia, what's your purpose? Where are you right now? You are accepted into your dream school, but would you say that this is your purpose or would you define it differently? Lydia: I just don't know. I don't know. And I'm in calc and every single time I have to stay after school for calc help, I'm like, man, I just need to be an electrician. I can't do this anymore. It's exhausting. And it's that fear of if I get this poor grade on my test, I feel like I can't do it. I can't do it because I know everyone's telling me every single year you have to do this, you have to do more. You have to give more of who you are to find out or at least pretend to be who you're supposed to be. Lexi, when you were saying the college pressure and competition, it's so real. It's so real. Oh my gosh. And I'm sure that a lot of people can relate to it. Just that pressure of will I get in and competing for scholarships and it's a business and it's a battleground and it's cruel. But every single time that I sit there and I am in my ceramics class and I'm making this pot and I sit there and I think, and it's been since first grade, I've been like, I need to be an engineer. I want to be an engineer. And I enjoy math and science, but every time that I start making pots, I'm like, maybe I should just be a ceramicist. Maybe this is better. I don’t know how much money I can make doing that. I don’t know if I can afford rent, but maybe that's what I want to do. Justine: I like what you just mentioned because coming back to if I found my purpose or not, I'm saying yes because growing up and starting college, I went into business because that's what I felt like was going to give me money as soon as possible. And then I had the opportunity to get into college, in Tucson, Arizona to do my Master’s, and I went for my MBA, right? Because as you might have noticed, English is not my first language. I'm actually a French speaker, so hence the accent, and I'm from Senegal. So it was a big achievement for me, for my family and everything. And guess what? I didn't get into business college because I realized that it wasn't what I wanted to do. It wasn't me. And if I took that big leap into going abroad already being a mother, married, and I left everything behind to achieve a dream, that dream should have been worth it. And so I took eight months learning English and just being familiarizing myself around the campus. And I ended up wandering into the public health college. There was an event where the dean was speaking to prospective students and she said, one thing that really changed my life. She said, if you want to be part of improving people's lives, then you are where you should be. And that spoke to me and I realized that I wanted to make money, but most of it, I wanted to improve people's life. I wanted to be part of better for anybody around me. And I felt like that was my purpose and I just went for my Master’s of Public Health and I don't regret it. So I'm sharing that to say that it's not about the path that you take, it's about finding your purpose. For me, it's really going to be about what you make of the experience that you have. And you are always in the state that you are describing, always asking yourself questions. Is it really what I want? And so that gives you that surge and energy to keep going until you find it. So yeah, so Lexi asking all those questions, I think it's probably the right start, the first step into finding the purpose, but it doesn't mean that it's going to happen today or tomorrow for me. It happened way after, I would say. Lexi: Yeah, absolutely. I think what I've learned is it's all about showing up fully whatever season you're at in life and just really giving it your all. Because I think the biggest thing I've learned is that you're going to regret it if you don't. So for me, I kind of went into high school thinking I played sports, so I was like, okay, this is probably going to be the focus of my time in high school and I'm going to be on the high school field hockey team. Quickly, that was sort of a different path that I went. I got injured and I've been injured sort of the past three years and it just seems like these roadblocks keep popping up in my life to wanting to be an athlete and that being the primary focus of my life. And so I was like, okay, we're just going to have to switch tracks here. So I was like, I'm going to use that same work ethic that I would in sports to now channel that to school. So I put myself in all the hardest classes junior year, I'm focusing on, okay, where do I want to be for college? What do I want my future to look like? I'm thinking right now something in medicine, but really it's just I unfortunately was not able to play sports and I still am sort of not really able to, but I decided to instead channel that same energy and work ethic into what I could do. So it's just sort of meeting myself where I was at, at that season in my life. Lydia, do you have a similar experience of giving it your all at whatever season you're in? Lydia: Oh do I. No. I started high school and I was like, okay, my job is to be an absolute academic weapon and get a million dollar scholarship, and that's what I have to do. And that's what my parents said I had to do. That's what everyone in my family does. That's what I have to do. And now I'm on a full-ride and I'm going to be a quarterback in the NFL. No, I actually have a unique path. I feel like everyone's always like, I'm either going to do athletics or I'm going to do academics. And I found kind of my own outside of the two of them. So everyone has their first relationship, everyone has the first love or whatever nonsense that you want to call it. And mine was freshman and sophomore year and it was good and that it wasn't. And then we broke up and I was so sad and it's funny looking back on it, but I was heartbroken. I was devastated. I just cried and cried for weeks and I just didn't know what to do with myself. And I was like, I don't even know what's my purpose. What do I do with the rest of my life? I thought I was going to marry this boy and now I haven't. He's gone. It was like losing my best friend is how it is. And as funny as it is to be picturing myself with what was I 15, being like my life is over because as a boy in high school broke up with me, but it really did feel like that. And I know my parents noticed because my grades tanked. So it was no, I do love my parents. Let me be clear. So it was a difficult time and my dad, since I was in I think eighth grade, he had pushed me to be a part of this teen board at WaterStep. And this isn't a paid advertisement, they didn't tell me to say this, but honestly, this is my inciting moment. This is what I wrote all of my college essays about. This is what I tell people when they ask me, what do you do? How did you get involved and who are you? This is my story. He told me to and I went to a meeting and Lexi, you were there and you guys are like, I think we need to collect shoes or something. We need to do something you guys. We need to anything. And I was like, yeah, okay, I guess I'll do that. And I went to my school counselor who has his own nonprofit and does everything under the sun. And he became an inspiration. He was like, absolutely we can do this shoe drive. And we collected, I believe somewhere between two and 4,000 pairs of shoes. I think it was 2,000 pairs of shoes throughout my school. I was front page in the paper and a whole bunch of people in the community brought in shoes. And that was when the shoe initiative was still the core purpose and everything. And it was awesome. It was just awesome. And I felt like in that moment I figured out maybe this is kind of what I want to do. I would get out of class and run around and drag bags of shoes across the school and I was making posters and talking to people and doing interviews and I had just random people come in and help and help me haul stuff. Didn't say a word, just grabbed a bag and followed me wherever I was going. It was beautiful. And to see the community come together on such a thing, and I'm trying to think what I said in my essay, I worded it so well. That's how it is when you have a month to prepare, just everyone came around and helped so beautifully. And that idea of I'm spending my time on something that's benefiting the world and my community and I'm making connections through this, it just sparked something in me and I'm now kind of the service person, I guess. This isn't a teenage stereotype, you're not going to find the community service kid in the Breakfast Club. This isn't a typical teen thing I feel, but I had my cousin call me the other night, I'm trying to raise $2,500 for some Girl Scout uniforms. How do I do it? And my other cousin texted me a month ago and was like, I need service hours. Hook me up. And I get frequently people just, how do I raise money and how do I do these things and volunteer? And it's fun. It's fun to become this. And I feel like I found kind of what I need to do with my life and it's changed not only how I see the world and that I can see the beauty in the people around me and how people truly want to help and just to come together to support people across the globe, but also it's changed me. I used to think that maybe I wanted to live up in Minnesota or Michigan or something to get a lot of snow. I love the snow and now I'm like, maybe I want to live in Louisville and stay around here and stay around. Not only do I work with WaterStep, but I work with Blessings in a Backpack of Floyd County, and I work with Camp Golden Wing and the Youth Philanthropy Council and there's just so many wonderful people in my community and it has helped me find them and to find my purpose among them and to how I can help. And it's changed me from wanting to get out to loving my town and to wanting to come back here and being sad a bit to move away and go to Purdue. As much as I want to get out, I don't want to get out that bad. I feel like in a way, and maybe that'll change. I'm only 18 and there's so much life I have ahead of me, so I don't know how much this will change. Maybe I'll become, I don't know, what's the guy from a Christmas Carol? I'll become him. You guys know what I'm talking about and I'll just lock myself in my room and be greedy. But for now, I feel like my purpose has become to help out the people around me and do what I can to be a good person. Justine: I just love what you shared. It was a journey. It was a journey from what you were set out, what you raised and you set out to do to how you learn and you rise, you rose from your challenges and discover something new to a point where you are defining your purpose. What about you, Lexi? How do you see comparing where you are right now to where you are heading, how do you find your purpose or did you find it or how do you define it? Lexi: I think step one for me is going to be going to a place that I really feel supported and share common values. And so that's been the number one thing of where do I want to go to college? It's that place that the people around me have those similar values and we are going to maybe spend some nights working on a paper or some nights going out. Finding that balance between having fun and really working hard and getting towards our goals. But ultimately, I think my purpose is within service and within really just goal-driven. I would say I want to become a doctor someday. I want to have a future in medicine and healthcare. And so taking that path to get there, but then also staying unique to who I am, which I think a big part of that is service. Just like Lydia was saying, it just feels empowering when you help other people. There's no other way to put it. Seeing the community support one another and seeing the impact that a really, really small act can make on other people is inspiring, truly. Lydia: I totally agree. Justine: Before we continue with our episode, let me take a minute to remind you that By Her Hands is a global program empowering women and girls through safe-water access, menstrual health management and economic opportunity. The program and this podcast are brought to you by WaterStep. Together, we believe that when a young woman can protect her own health, she leads, when she leads her family thrives and when her family thrives, her whole community grows stronger. Learn more about how women and girls are shaping healthier futures, each by her own hands, at WaterStep.org. Justine: Wow. This is really enlightening and very exciting for me because listening to all of you and comparing it or relating to my own experience, it seems that service is a purpose for us. Being at the service of others each by her own hands. It's really something that seems to pop up as far as purpose, as far as moving forward and making a change around us. Lexi: Yeah, absolutely. I also think a common theme for us was it's okay to not have it all figured out. Purpose isn't something that people have it an...
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Join Us for the Launch of the By Her Hands Podcast
03/04/2026
Join Us for the Launch of the By Her Hands Podcast
Hey, I'm Lydia. And I'm Lexi. We're excited about the upcoming launch of our new podcast “By Her Hands”, sponsored by WaterStep. It’s launching on Thursday, March 19th. We're going to explore our experiences and challenges as girls and young women inspire you to find your voice and remind you that you already carry more power than you think. So join us on March 19th for Episode 1 of the By Her Hands podcast. You can listen to us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcast. Interested in Contacting WaterStep to Learn More? Website: That’s where we’ll leave the conversation for today. Before we close the file, we invite you to reach out to us with questions, suggestions or other comments. We’d love to hear from you. We hope you found this file insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!
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Announcing the Upcoming Launch of the By Her Hands Podcast
03/03/2026
Announcing the Upcoming Launch of the By Her Hands Podcast
I’m excited to announce the upcoming launch of the “BY HER HANDS PODCAST” on March 19th. It’s a global podcast that centers the voices, leadership, and lived wisdom of young women ages 13 to 25. Each episode is built around real stories shared by young women themselves. Laughter, vulnerability, curiosity, connection and reflection are welcome here. With voices from around the world, this podcast helps listeners recognize their own power and use it, starting right where they are. Produced by WaterStep, a global leader in safe water innovation, each episode creates space for honest conversation about the things that shape young women’s lives — purpose, identity, belonging, confidence, and the small, everyday moments that quietly define who we’re becoming. That’s the BY HER HANDS PODCAST, launching on March 19th. Come Join Us on Spotify, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts and more. Interested in Contacting WaterStep to Learn More? Website: Disclaimer: Listeners are reminded that the ideas, opinions, and information expressed on the By Her Hands podcast belong solely to the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or positions of WaterStep, its staff, partners, donors, or affiliates. This podcast is provided for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as professional advice of any kind. WaterStep assumes no responsibility for actions taken based on the information provided.
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The Origin Story of the By Her Hands Podcast
02/24/2026
The Origin Story of the By Her Hands Podcast
WaterStep, an organization with 31 years of experience in safe water and sanitation, is launching a new initiative called "By Her Hands." Inspired by CEO Mark Hogg’s vision, this program focuses on the pivotal role women and girls play in global water solutions and community health. The "By Her Hands" podcast serves as a core component of this initiative, providing a platform for young women to share their own stories. Featuring local hosts and remote guests from Africa and Latin America, the show operates on the principle of not telling anyone's story without them. While the discussions will cover a broad range of topics including family and society, they will ultimately tie back to the essential role of water. The goal is to transform water from a daily burden into a source of empowerment and power for girls everywhere. This journey of discovery and change officially launches on March 19th across major platforms like Spotify, Amazon, and iHeart Radio. Through this podcast, listeners are encouraged to find the power they carry inside and spread it to those around them. Transcript of Discussion Jim Ray: And we are in the studios here in Louisville, Kentucky with a couple of good friends of mine from an organization called WaterStep, Kristina Gates and Justine Tou. Glad to see you all. Thanks very much for coming in. Let's talk about something that's going on at WaterStep. First of all, Kristina, if you would tell me a little bit about WaterStep. Kristina Goetz: Well, WaterStep has been around for 30 years, this is our 31st year. And we are all about safe water sanitation and hygiene. That's what we do in the world. We have one goal, Jim, and that is to bring safe water to anybody who needs it on the planet. Jim Ray: And you all are actively providing water solutions all over the African content, as well as, all over the United States. I mean, you guys are doing some really amazing stuff. I had the chance to go downtown and tour you all's facility a while back, and that's when you all let me know, Hey, there's a new initiative coming on. So Justine, tell me about this new initiative. How did it get started and what do you hope it will accomplish for us? Justine Tossou: Absolutely. So this initiative is called By Her Hands and By Her Hands is coming to life from a vision that our CO and founder Mark Hogg had. The inspiration is really around the place that women and girls have in the work that we do and the impact overall globally. And we realized that we wanted to focus on them, the place that they have, their inspiration, the hard work, the opportunities that they always bring in the work that we do around water. Jim Ray: It's amazing. As we've developed this, what you all have taught me is that a lot of times the girls are really responsible in these households for gathering the water and doing things. So that affects hygiene, that affects water, transportation back from the source back to the home. And they actually have a lot to do with that. You've also got hygiene and things like that where they're taking care of their families. And I think this “empowerment podcast” is going to be pretty exciting. With that being said, I may have let the cat out of the bag. You're launching a podcast. Tell me all about that. Justine Tossou: We are. So from the inspiration launching By Her Hands program, we realized that we also needed to hear more voices, more women voices, girls' voices that will be inspiring to others around the world, especially here in Louisville, Kentucky. Because what we do, we want it to be impacting. We want it to bring perspectives and opportunities to make change around their lives. And especially when it comes to women and girls. Jim Ray: I love this because we're going to have a couple of local hosts, some younger girls who are going to actually drive the podcast for us, but we're going to remote in some other younger girls from different countries, really anywhere from across Africa to South America, Latin America. This is going to be a pretty big vision. Wow. Justine Tossou: Absolutely. Absolutely, Jim, and I'm glad you're mentioning all the friends and the key actors that we have around the world, right? And when the team at WaterStep has been thinking and putting together this podcast we always wanted to go by, one thing is that we are not telling anybody's stories without them. And this is part of what we believe in. We live, we work, and we talk about things that matters to us with everybody around us, right, Kristina? Kristina Goetz: Yeah, absolutely. And what's exciting about this is that it's not just hearing the girls' voices, but it's giving them an opportunity to change the world. It's giving them an opportunity to help other women and girls just like them all around the world to have safe water. And you can log on to WaterStep.org to figure out how to do that. But this is one way to reach more and more people about the problems that women and girls have in the world, but also give them an opportunity to make change and solve those problems. Jim Ray: Well, what I love about this is it's going to deviate. It's going to focus not just on water issues, it's going to talk about society, it's going to talk about families, it's going to talk about a whole bunch of other things that these young women are dealing with, coping with, navigating in their day-to-day lives. But again, we're going to tie it back in various ways to, it comes back to water and how can water play a role in some of this? And then how can, on top of that, how can WaterStep provide essential element water? Justine Tossou: And when you think about it, Jim, water is so central to everybody's lives, right? But what is important here is to understand that in different places it means different things. It can be a burden, it can be a power. At the end of the day, what we want with the podcast with By Her Hands podcast is that we want water to empower girls and women so that they can be the change in their community, in their lives. And rather than carrying water as a burden, while water becomes their power. Jim Ray: That's outstanding. So Kristina, as we look at launching this, and just so everybody's aware, we're going to launch this on March 19th. Where are people going to be able to find this podcast? Kristina Goetz: So on Spotify, on Amazon, iHeartRadio, basically anywhere you listen to your podcast, you can find us there. We hope you'll check us out. Jim Ray: And you all have a pretty big social media presence already. We're going to post these up to Facebook and LinkedIn and also to the WaterStep YouTube channel. So we've got a lot of different ways you're going to be able to find this. I guess the first thing we would do is, hey, get ready, share the news here about what's coming by all means, Like and Follow this podcast. I think it's going to be an interesting journey. I think it's going to be a great experience and it's going to come back to, again, empowerment and just, wow, this is going to be a lot. You guys have so much passion that you've brought into the creation of this initiative, and I really want to give some kudos to Mark for having said, Hey, you know what? There's another way we can do this. It's not just about providing machines, it's not just about providing technology, it's also about helping society. And we're going to tie it all back to water. So once again, the Buy Her Hands initiative, which is kind of the macro, and this is one of the things that is an outgrowth and a support tool for that is the podcast. And they aptly named it By Her Hands podcast. So Justine, any closing thoughts? You're kind of heading up this initiative, so if you had one thing to say to everybody, how would you leave it? Justine Tossou: I would say that we all have, especially womens and girls, we all have a power inside us, and we hope that by following this podcast, you will find it, you would carry it, and you would just spread it around you. Jim Ray: Outstanding. Well, my friends, congratulations on getting this initiative together on getting ready to launch. We've been in the studio for days now, recording different elements and aspects of it and just planning this out. So looking forward to this going live once again on March 19th, and we'll be talking to you soon. All the best. Justine Tossou: Thanks you, Jim. Interested in Contacting WaterStep to Learn More? Website: That’s where we’ll leave the conversation for today. Before we close the file, we invite you to reach out to us with questions, suggestions or other comments. We’d love to hear from you. We hope you found this file insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!
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