F*ck Confidence: The Empowerment Studio Podcast

063: Queer Home Logistics -- The Emoji System That Holds My Relationship Together

Most relationship advice assumes your brain works a certain way. This episode is for when it doesn't. Kinzie's partner Donnie (he/they) joins to talk about what 16+ years of sharing space as a neurodivergent household has taught them: how to divide labor based on strengths, why explicit communication beats subtle signals every time, and the emoji codes they use to navigate the stuff that's hard or inconvenient to say out loud. This episode reminds us that we don't need to stretch ourselves to do things the "right" way. What if we could build systems that actually work for the humans in them, instead? -- We're re-releasing this episode from 2025 because it keeps coming up as a listener favorite -- so make sure to tune in if you missed it last time. And no need to spread the word about our roommate search -- we found someone who is a great fit for the studio since this episode aired! 🤳🏼 Get our FREE selfie guide: https://empowermentphotographer.com/selfie [https://empowermentphotographer.com/selfie] 🔗 Sign up for the #SelfietoSelfLove Challenge: selfietoselflove.com [http://selfietoselflove.com/] 📸 Follow us on Instagram: @empowermentstudio__ [https://instagram.com/empowermentstudio__] 🌐 Learn more about our boudoir sessions and Empowerment Experience: empowermentphotographer.com [http://empowermentphotographer.com/] 👥 Join our Facebook Group: The Empowerment Studio [https://www.facebook.com/groups/empowermentstudiokcmo]

062: What No One Told You About Gender Exploration (It's Not Too Late!)

What does it actually mean to explore your gender identity when you weren't raised with the language to do it? In this episode, I'm joined by co-host Rachael (she/her) and guest Audy Avery (they/all) to talk about non-binary identity, gender fluidity, and what it looks like to stop performing who you're supposed to be and start figuring out who you actually are. We get into pronouns, coming out later in life, raising gender-expansive kids, and why "I'm still figuring it out" is a completely valid place to be. This episode originally aired in 2024 under our very first podcast name, Taking Up Space. It's one of our most popular for a reason, and we wanted it in the F*ck Confidence feed where it belongs. 🤳🏼 Get our FREE selfie guide: https://empowermentphotographer.com/selfie [https://empowermentphotographer.com/selfie] 🔗 Sign up for the #SelfietoSelfLove Challenge: selfietoselflove.com [http://selfietoselflove.com/] 📸 Follow us on Instagram: @empowermentstudio__ [https://instagram.com/empowermentstudio__] 🌐 Learn more about our boudoir sessions and Empowerment Experience: empowermentphotographer.com [http://empowermentphotographer.com/] 👥 Join our Facebook Group: The Empowerment Studio [https://www.facebook.com/groups/empowermentstudiokcmo]

061: Do it bad. Do it crying. Do it scared. Do it messy.

Most of us are stuck in a cycle we don't even realize we're in. There's a little whisper -- that "what if things could be different" feeling. Then we explore it. We get excited. We maybe even figure out the next step. And then... we talk ourselves out of it. And we settle back into "this is fine." And then the whisper comes back. And we do it again. In this episode, we talk about why doubt isn't a stop sign, why being "really busy" can actually be one of the sneakiest ways to stay stuck, and what it looks like to build real proof (PROOF!) that you're capable of change. The thing is, it's not always gonna be cute. Sometimes we have to do it messy, do it scared, or do it imperfectly. The important thing is that we do it at all. I first talked about this concept in our F*ck Confidence workshop [https://youtu.be/uj94P8Iry_Y?si=HobH5WtnFd8k0x3r]. The day after the workshop, I started getting texts: I'm stuck in the whisper stage and I already know I'm probably going to do the same thing I always do. This episode is for those people. Which is probably most of us. 🤳🏼 Get our FREE selfie guide: https://empowermentphotographer.com/selfie [https://empowermentphotographer.com/selfie] 🔗 Sign up for the #SelfietoSelfLove Challenge: selfietoselflove.com [http://selfietoselflove.com/] 📸 Follow us on Instagram: @empowermentstudio__ [https://instagram.com/empowermentstudio__] 🌐 Learn more about our boudoir sessions and Empowerment Experience: empowermentphotographer.com [http://empowermentphotographer.com/] 👥 Join our Facebook Group: The Empowerment Studio [https://www.facebook.com/groups/empowermentstudiokcmo]

060: The Honest Breakup Text Nobody Taught You How to Send

You keep ghosting people because you don't know what else to do. What if we stopped that?? In this episode, we're getting into the stuff nobody teaches you about honest communication in dating -- including how to decline a second date without making someone feel like they failed an audition, and why "let's just be friends" is sometimes... not actually what either person wants. We also got into what it's like to date as a trans woman: the fetishization, the safety calculations, the exhausting math of when to disclose. And I introduced one of my favorite communication principles: Prepared For No. PFN, babyyyyy (introduced is maybe a strong word, I'm sure you've heard me say it a lot before). If you're not already using this in your relationships, your asks, your whole life: this episode might change that! BONUS: we're dabbling in the concept of a brand new call-in segment for your dating, polyam, and relationship questions. If you're into it: DM us on Instagram at @empowermentstudio__ [https://www.instagram.com/empowermentstudio__] (or our BRAND NEW podcast IG @fckconfidence [https://www.instagram.com/fckconfidence]) with a voice note. We're going to answer your Qs on air (and Rachael and I will almost certainly disagree, so you'll get two perspectives!) and let that guide us into some new fun conversations around connecting and relationship. Thanks for tuning in, y'all! 🤳🏼 Get our FREE selfie guide: https://empowermentphotographer.com/selfie [https://empowermentphotographer.com/selfie] 🔗 Sign up for the #SelfietoSelfLove Challenge: selfietoselflove.com [http://selfietoselflove.com/] 📸 Follow us on Instagram: @empowermentstudio__ [https://instagram.com/empowermentstudio__] 🌐 Learn more about our boudoir sessions and Empowerment Experience: empowermentphotographer.com [http://empowermentphotographer.com/] 👥 Join our Facebook Group: The Empowerment Studio [https://www.facebook.com/groups/empowermentstudiokcmo]

059: Why Being “Strong on Your Own” Is Keeping You Stuck -- with theatre artist Angela Marcum (my mom!)

If empowerment feels harder than it should, the problem might not be you; it might be isolation. We've got an incredibly special guest for this episode -- someone who deeply shaped the way I move through the world. I would like to heartily welcome theatre artist and community builder, Angela Marcum (she/her) -- who also happens to be my mom! In this episode, we talk about where my belief in beauty and community actually comes from, and how those values got built long before the Empowerment Studio ever existed. This is a conversation about being seen. About building spaces where people feel like they belong. About why doing it alone isn’t actually the goal. The way you build community changes everything -- and we were never meant to do this alone! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree on this one, folks. This is a fun episode to tune into if you want to see where it all began. To contact our guest (in case you want to collaborate with her!) -- https://angelamarcum.com/ 🤳🏼 Get our FREE selfie guide: https://empowermentphotographer.com/selfie [https://empowermentphotographer.com/selfie] 🔗 Sign up for the #SelfietoSelfLove Challenge: selfietoselflove.com [http://selfietoselflove.com/] 📸 Follow us on Instagram: @empowermentstudio__ [https://instagram.com/empowermentstudio__] 🌐 Learn more about our boudoir sessions and Empowerment Experience: empowermentphotographer.com [http://empowermentphotographer.com/] 👥 Join our Facebook Group: The Empowerment Studio [https://www.facebook.com/groups/empowermentstudiokcmo]