Ericka Andersen

Charlotte Pence has an attitude few can match. She's kind, gracious and welcomes the criticism her family has dealt with serving in public life. She's managed to find a beautiful balance between her personal life as a screenwriter and author and playing the role of Second Daughter, the middle child of Vice-President Mike Pence. In her first non-fiction book, "Where You Go: Life Lessons From My Father," Charlotte reveals her life story and a peek behind the scenes into the Pence family. She talks with me about her Dad's encouragement to pursue her dreams and his ability to put his family first despite everything his job comes with. "He will answer the phone if one of us is calling him, no matter what meeting he's in or whoever he is … [Read more...]

Whitney Athayde dreams of eating and living fully off her farm, where she's raising three kids (and about to give birth to her fourth ) -- and her lifestyle is fascinating. In today's conversation, Whitney and I chat about homesteading (which she defines!), natural, home births, why she ultimately chose to live organically and how caring for the earth and her kids is how she lives out her faith. Whitney says: "My husband and I both pray every day to be good stewards of the land, the children and the resources given to us. This is how we personally have chosen to glorify God...to show we are going to take really good care of this little corner of the earth we have been given and these children we have been giving. Stewarding is a … [Read more...]

Anna LeBaron is an incredible woman. She grew up the daughter of polygamous cult leader, Ervil LeBaron. She has dozens of siblings and lived through heartbreaking trauma and abuse as a child. Even after escaping the cult at the age of 13, Anna went through even more horrific circumstances no child should ever have to experience. In today’s podcast episode, Anna recounts some of the stories from her past, drawing on her book, “The Polygamist’s Daughter.” I read the book cover to cover — and it was riveting and well-written. I was honored Anna took the time to speak with me today. She is a warm and friendly soul — and quite the book worm like myself. Anna says: Your parents are going to do the best job they can. My mom did the best job … [Read more...]

He’s 3 and a half, he’ll tell you. He wakes himself up singing the ABCs and peeks through the crack of his door yelling “Daaaad Hello?! Daaaad!” when it’s time to get up and go. I get glimpses of his older boy self at certain angles, in surreal moments when I remember that he won’t always want our too-long hugs and eskimo kisses. I still get him dressed in the morning most days and marvel at that perfect spine, the one I saw on the ultrasound after only knowing him for merely 14 weeks. We’d gone in for a 3D ultrasound, not realizing it was too early to get a real glimpse of his face. I lay on the table, my stomach barely even popped, globs of cold jelly like slime sliding beneath the ultrasound wand as the tech began the process. It was … [Read more...]