The Life You Planned vs. The Life You Actually Got | Redefining Regret with Joyce Baker-Leggett

The Life You Planned vs. The Life You Actually Got | Redefining Regret with Joyce Baker-Leggett

What happens when life doesn’t unfold the way you thought it would? In this episode of Unmuted by Nola, I sit down with Joyce Baker-Leggett, author of Redefining Regret: Starting Over Without Shame, At Any Age, At Any Stage, for a conversation about the life we planned versus the life we actually got. We talk about regret and shame, dreams that changed shape, finding your voice after difficult seasons, and what it means to begin again without believing you’ve missed your chance. Joyce shares openly about faith, therapy, healing, and the people who helped her see possibility when all she could see was pain. And, in true Unmuted fashion, she answers our signature question: What’s one quiet truth you wish more people said out loud? If you’ve ever looked at your life and thought, this isn’t what I expected, this conversation is for you. Because maybe regret isn’t the end of the story. Maybe it’s the beginning of a new chapter. Music Credit: Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) Stream/Download: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes Artist: https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats Music promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng

Can We Just Catch Up?

After weeks of overthinking my return to the podcast, I finally decided perfection was overrated. So yes, the audio gets a little glitchy in spots. Yes, I have one (or two) surprise guest hosts. And yes, we’re rolling with it. In this Season 3 kickoff episode, I’m catching you up on Costa Rica, turning 42, coming home to a child who somehow grew up while I was gone, rediscovering my love for private practice, and my recent hobby of inventing problems in a season where life is actually pretty good. We talk about waterfall rappelling, rainforest adventures, a private chef dinner that felt like something out of a movie, and the birthday that started with a broken phone instead of a profound revelation. We also talk about motherhood, watching Harper become more independent, why I’ve spent entirely too much time cross-examining my own happiness, and what happens when you realize the life you’re living is actually pretty close to the one you once hoped for. No framework. No keynote. No perfectly packaged life lesson. Just a conversation. And honestly, that feels about right. Music Credit: Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) Stream/Download: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes Artist: https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats Music promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng

What Motherhood Taught Me About Work That No Leadership Book Did

People often talk about motherhood as something women have to manage around work. Or as the thing that somehow turns us into magical multitaskers. Honestly? Neither story has ever felt completely true to me. In this season two finale, I unpack eight ways motherhood has quietly made me better at my job… not because it “fixed” me, but because it exposed me. My urgency. My perfectionism. My over-functioning. My tendency to mistake friction for failure. From daycare pickup and time entry… to clingy soccer practices, gray blankets in family pictures, emails I wisely never sent, and a little girl stopping to blow flowers while I was mentally three meetings ahead… This episode is about what motherhood taught me about: • Time • Focus • Emotional regulation • Invisible labor • Worth • Perfectionism • Triage • And what success actually feels like And while motherhood is my lens… The lessons are much bigger than parenting. If you’ve ever chased squirrels professionally, confused busy with effective, or mistaken a hard moment for a verdict on your competence… This one’s for you. ⸻ Music Credits Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng.

Who’s the Daddy? And Other Questions We’re Still Answering

Some conversations don’t end when the mic turns off. They keep going in group chats. On sister calls. At the kitchen table. This was one of those. After my last episode sparked bigger conversations, I invited my sisters Tiffany and Kara back to keep it going. We talked about motherhood, faith, judgment, respectability, and the questions women can get tired of answering, even when life doesn’t unfold the way they were taught it should. About the question underneath the question. About grace. About church. About family that may not fit neat boxes, but can be whole all the same. There is laughter in this one. There is honesty in this one. And there may be a few things said that could get us kicked out of somebody’s Bible study. Pull up a chair. This one feels like the kitchen table. 🎧 Listen, share, and send it to a sister or friend if it resonates. Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats [https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats] Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes [https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes] Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng

Doing It Out of Order (And Still Getting It Right)

I thought my life would follow a certain order. Marriage. Then family. Then everything else falling into place. But at some point, life stopped feeling theoretical… and started feeling real. In this episode of Unmuted by Nola, I’m talking about what happens when your life doesn’t follow the blueprint you were given—and the decisions you’re left to make when everything doesn’t line up the way you thought it would. We get into: • the moment timing becomes real • what shifts when you’ve built a full life on your own • the tension between what you were taught and what you’re actually living • and what it looks like to choose differently… on purpose This isn’t a how-to. And it’s not a perfect answer. It’s a real conversation about navigating life when the plan changes— and learning to trust yourself anyway. ⸻ 🎵 Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng.