The Courage to Choose Plan A: How Sister Monica Clare Embraced Her Calling

About this episode

Sister Monica Clare shares her journey of embracing her true calling as a nun after years in various careers, encouraging listeners to uncover their own paths.

Are you feeling stuck in a career you find meaningless, wondering if you’ll ever find your true calling? This week on Everyday Better, Leah Smart sits down with Sister Monica Clare — an Episcopal nun, spiritual counselor, and the creator behind the TikTok account @nunsenseforthepeople. Her path to the convent was anything but direct. For decades, she chased one career after another in Hollywood — acting, advertising, comedy, PR — all while ignoring the quiet truth she’d known since childhood: her true calling was to become a nun. In this powerful conversation, Sister Monica shares how she learned to stop listening to the world around her and finally start listening to herself. She opens up about the values exercise that changed everything, the somatic signals that told her she was on the wrong path, and why “plan A” doesn’t have to mean certainty — just courage. Together, she and Leah explore how any of us can uncover our calling, navigate fear, build self-esteem, and make meaningful changes one small step at a time. If you’ve ever wondered whether you're on the right path — or worried that you’re not — this episode will help you reframe failure, tune into what moves your heart…

People in this episode

Host: Leah Smart

Guest: Sister Monica Clare

Topics covered

• career change
• finding purpose
• spirituality
• self-discovery
• mental health

Keywords

• calling
• career
• spiritual counselor
• self-esteem
• fear
• values exercise
• meaningful changes

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: TikTok

Books & works: A Change of Habit: Leaving Behind My Husband, Career, and Everything I Owned to Become a Nun

More episodes of Everyday Better with Leah Smart

• Welcome to Everyday Better! · March 2, 2026 · 3 min
• The Best of Everyday Better: Your Starter Kit for Creating Positive Change · February 3, 2026 · 59 min
• The Year for Irrational Hope: Dan Harris on Training the Mind Through Meditation · January 27, 2026 · 45 min
• The Year for Irrational Hope: Gabby Bernstein on Accessing Unshakable Faith · January 20, 2026 · 39 min
• The Year for Irrational Hope: Debbie Millman on the 10-Year Plan · January 13, 2026 · 36 min
• The Year for Irrational Hope: Bruce Feiler on Navigating a “Lifequake” · January 6, 2026 · 52 min