The Confident Woman Podcast

What if the season that feels like it’s breaking you is actually the one God is using to rebuild you?In this episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks sits down with Christine Marie, known as the Cortisol Coach. Christine is a Christian entrepreneur, certified biblical mindset coach, bestselling author, podcast host, and leader of a community of more than 420,000 women.After years of fostering 77 children, adopting two, and caring for family members through serious illness, Christine’s body began showing the effects of chronic stress through fibromyalgia, fatigue, hormonal imbalance, and burnout.Together, Rachel and Christine explore the connection between stress, grief, caregiving, faith, and healing. They discuss what happens when you spend years caring for everyone else without stopping to consider what you’re carrying, what it’s costing you, and what God may be asking you to release.Rachel also shares her own experiences with loss, identity shifts, and forgiveness during difficult seasons. This conversation is for the woman who feels overwhelmed, exhausted, and ready to discover a healthier way forward.What You’ll Hear:How caregiving impacted Christine’s health and healing journeyWhy a performance mindset can keep you stuck in burnoutThe connection between cortisol, stress, and emotional burdensWhy grief includes more than death and can involve seasons, roles, and identitiesThe challenge of being a caregiver who never pauses to grieveHow to simplify life and listen for God’s directionScripture for the Soul:“Jesus wept.” — John 11:35Key Quotes:“Grief isn’t just something traumatic like losing a loved one. Grief is the constant evolution and letting go of what once was so that you can make room to embrace what is still to come.” — Rachel Brooks“For us to grow, we gotta let go.” — Christine Marie“The more is never found externally. The more is gained through our perseverance, our suffering, our losses.” — Christine Marie“Everything we do, there’s a cost. Is it worth it?” — Christine Marie“Who we are and whose we are is not found in what we do, but in who we be.” — Rachel BrooksYour Next Step:Ready to do the deeper work? → I Am… Becoming — rebuild your identity from the inside out: iamrachelbrooks.com/iam-becomingSupport your body's stress response, energy, and focus as you do it: → Beneve: iamrachelbrooks.com/beneveConnect with Christine Marie:Instagram: @cortisol_coachPodcast: Cortisol Coach — available on all podcast platformsPodcast: What to Expect While Fostering and AdoptingConnect with Rachel Brooks:Website: iamrachelbrooks.comInstagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooksLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooksPodcast: iamrachelbrooks.com/podcastSubscribe: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe

Most women are not hiding because they don't want to be known. They're hiding because they've decided the real version of them, the full, unedited, messy, complicated version, would cost them their seat at the table.Tommi Vincent spent decades believing that too. Then she realized the ingredients she was most ashamed of were the ones God intended to use all along.In this episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, host Rachel Brooks is joined by Tommi Vincent, author of The Table of Life: Nourishing the Soul with Food, Love, and Faith. Part memoir, part cookbook, entirely soul-stirring. Tommi is a classically trained chef, a domestic violence survivor, and a sought-after speaker who has stood on stages for the NFL, JP Morgan Chase, and TED Sports. Her work has been featured in the New York Times and Savoy Magazine. But what makes this conversation powerful is not her resume. It is what she has had to confront privately to get there, and what she has built on the other side of it.This episode is for the woman who has been showing up as a curated version of herself so no one sees what is really going on inside. The woman who has been carrying something she has never said out loud. The woman who is tired of performing and ready to find out what God can actually do with her whole, unfiltered story.Talking Points and TakeawaysWhy the things you think disqualify you are actually your greatest qualifiersHow healing anchors, whether cooking, fitness, or faith, reveal your true state of wellbeingWhat it means to build your own table one dish at a time using all the ingredients of your lifeWhy naming your pain is how you turn the light on itHow to feel the hard things without letting them consume who you are becomingWhy belonging begins when you stop hiding the parts of yourself you are most ashamed ofQuotes "The things I thought were my disqualifiers were actually my greatest qualifiers. I brought those ingredients to the table." "God was not turning the light out. He was turning the light on so I could finally see me." "Feel it, but don't allow those feelings to prosper." "When you name it, that's turning the light on it. And the moment you turn the light on, the darkness can't exist."Next Steps Subscribe to The Confident Woman Weekly — where Rachel goes deeper every Thursday on identity, faith, and building a life and business rooted in freedom. Subscribe: www.iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribeConnect with Tommi VincentBook: The Table of Life (Amazon) Website: tommiv.com Social: @ChefTommiV Connect with Rachel BrooksThe Confident Woman Weekly: https://iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe The Freedom Framework: https://freedom.iamrachelbrooks.com Website: https://iamrachelbrooks.com LinkedIn: Rachel Brooks

What happens when you've rebuilt your identity—but your business no longer fits who you've become?In this episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, host Rachel Brooks tackles the question no one talks about after reinvention: "Now what do I build?"After a year of deep identity work through grief and loss, we're turning a corner—from processing to building. And we'll be discovering that rebuilding your identity doesn't automatically tell you how to rebuild your business.In this episode, Rachel shares:Why you can't rebuild the old business with a new identity—and what to do insteadHow simplification became a necessity (not just a strategy) when life stripped everything down to essentialsThe uncomfortable truth about letting go of who you were building for—and why your audience might change when you doThe 3 questions every woman in reinvention needs to ask about her businessWhat to build now: one core message, one core offer, and a business rooted in faith instead of hustleThis episode is for you if:You've done the inner work but don't know how to translate that into your businessYou're carrying offers, content, or structures that no longer align with who you're becomingYou're burned out from trying to be everything to everyoneYou're ready to simplify and build something sustainableKey Quotes:"Reinvention isn't about becoming someone new. It's about building from who you've become.""You can't serve everyone. And trying to will kill you.""God doesn't waste your wilderness. He uses it to prepare you for what's coming."Resources Mentioned:I Am... Becoming - Rachel's identity-level program for women ready to stop rebuilding the same life with a different label and start building from wisdom instead of wounds. → Start here: www.iamrachelbrooks.com/i-am-becomingSubscribe to The Confident Woman Newsletter - Weekly strategies for building a simple, sustainable business delivered every Thursday at 8 AM. → Subscribe: www.iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribeConnect with Rachel Brooks: Instagram: @iamrachelbrooks LinkedIn: Rachel Brooks Website: www.iamrachelbrooks.comQuestions for Reflection:What am I carrying from the old version of my business that no longer fits who I'm becoming?Who am I actually called to serve—and am I trying to serve too many people?What would simplification look like if I applied it ruthlessly to my business?

You can chase “success” for years and still feel empty, exhausted, and off on the inside. In this solo episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks breaks down why real success isn’t the boxes you check, the titles you collect, or the numbers you hit—it’s personal, values-based, and rooted in what actually matters to you.Rachel talks about the cost of living by everyone else’s standards, why boundaries are self-respect (not selfishness), and how perfectionism keeps you stuck—hesitating, overthinking, and refusing to start unless the outcome feels guaranteed.She also names what a lot of women won’t say out loud: you can be surrounded by people and still feel lonely—and if the community you need doesn’t exist, sometimes you have to create it.In this episode, you’ll hear:Why “success” is personal—and what changes when you stop living by someone else’s definitionHow boundaries protect your peace, time, and identity (and why they’re self-respect)What perfectionism actually does to your progress—and how “good enough” unlocks movementWhy loneliness shows up even when you’re “doing everything right,” and how to find or build real communityA simple end-of-episode check-in: are you investing your energy in what matters most?If this episode hit you, share it with a woman who’s tired of striving and needs language for what she’s been carrying.Next steps:Subscribe to The Confident Woman Weekly: https://iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribeStart with I Am Enough (10-Minute Reset): https://iamrachelbrooks.com/resettrategic Clarity & Stewardship Session: https://iamrachelbrooks.com/strategy-sessionConnect with Rachel Brooks:Website: https://iamrachelbrooks.comInstagram: @iamrachelbrooksLinkedIn: iamrachelbrooks.com/linkedin

Starting over sounds simple in theory—a fresh page, a clean slate, a new beginning. But in real life, starting over is rarely neat or easy. It’s often messy, emotional, and uncertain, especially when you’re letting go of a version of yourself that once worked.In this solo episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks speaks to the woman who feels caught between who she has been and who she knows God is calling her to become. She explores why real starting over isn’t just about changing circumstances, routines, or goals—it’s identity-level work. Without an internal shift, old patterns quietly follow us into new seasons.Anchored in faith, this episode unpacks why starting over requires surrender rather than control, release rather than hustle, and trust rather than certainty. Rachel shares why uncertainty isn’t the same as danger, how God often reveals the next step instead of the full plan, and why beginning again doesn’t mean failure—it means awareness.This episode is an invitation to stop forcing what no longer fits and allow God to redefine you from the inside out.Talking Points & TakeawaysWhy starting over is emotional, spiritual, and identity-levelHow old patterns follow you into new seasons when identity doesn’t changeThe difference between uncertainty and dangerWhy surrender is the doorway to peaceHow letting go of survival-based identities creates space for growthScripture for the Soul“If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has passed away, and the new has come.” — 2 Corinthians 5:17Memorable Quotes“Starting over isn’t just external. It’s internal.”“Uncertainty isn’t always unsafe—it’s where faith can breathe.”“Starting over doesn’t mean you failed. It means you’re awake.”Next StepsThe Identity Reset — For the woman who has been carrying so much for so long she's lost touch with who she actually is underneath all of it. Ten minutes to stop, tell the truth, and come back to what God says about you.​I Am Becoming — For the woman who knows this is deeper than one hard season. A faith-led, soul-paced journey back to yourself. Weekly devotionals, audio reflections, and journal prompts delivered to your inbox.​The Becoming — For the woman who is ready to go all the way in. The deeper work. The full rebuild of identity, confidence, and freedom. When you're ready, this is where it goes next.Connect with Rachel BrooksListen to more episodes: https://iamrachelbrooks.com/playSubscribe to The Confident Woman Weekly: https://iamrachelbrooks.com/newsletterWebsite: https://iamrachelbrooks.comInstagram: @iamrachelbrooks