Let’s Get Real with Jena Burris
Welcome to Let’s Get Real, the podcast for women who feel like they’re holding it all together on the outside… but falling apart on the inside.
If you’re exhausted from pretending, overwhelmed by the pressure to be everything for everyone, or unsure who you even are anymore—you’re not alone. And you’re not crazy.
Let’s Get Real is where we have honest conversations about the struggles most people avoid—healing emotional wounds, losing yourself in motherhood, rebuilding your identity, and learning how to live whole again.
I’m Jena Burris—wife, mom, and your host. With a background in marriage and family therapy, life coaching, and years spent navigating life behind the scenes of the NFL and Hollywood, I’m passionate about creating a space where real conversations lead to real healing.
Each week, you’ll hear real stories, practical tools, and the reminder that freedom is closer than you think. Because I believe that in order to heal, we have to get real.
New episodes every Tuesday. Real talk. Real tools. Real healing.
For speaking inquiries, brand partnerships, or workshop opportunities, visit www.jenaburris.com or email jena@jenaburris.com.
Let’s Get Real with Jena Burris
Understanding Your Story Changes Everything with Kristan Swan
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Free Resource for Moms
Feeling overwhelmed and like you’ve lost yourself in the chaos of motherhood?
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🎁 The Overwhelmed Mom’s Guide: 10 Small Changes to Start Feeling Like You Again
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Episode 54: Understanding Your Story Changes Everything
With Kristan Swan
Many of us are living inside a story we’ve never taken the time to truly understand.
We move from season to season. reacting, coping, achieving, surviving, without slowing down long enough to ask deeper questions:
Why do I respond the way I do?
What patterns keep showing up in my relationships?
What themes have quietly shaped my life?
In this episode of Let’s Get Real, I sit down with Kristan Swan, creator of the guided journal Spaghetti on the Wall, to talk about how storytelling and journaling can help us step back and see our lives with clarity.
Because often, breakthrough doesn’t come from pushing harder.
It comes from paying attention.
The Power of Naming Your Story
Kristan shares how her work began by helping people slow down and reflect, first in business coaching, and then more personally through guided journaling. She explains how writing our stories allows us to identify patterns we couldn’t see before.
When we put our experiences on paper, we create space between ourselves and the noise in our heads. We can observe instead of judge. We can question instead of assume.
So many of us carry internal narratives that go unchallenged. We replay old stories. We ignore intuition. We repeat familiar cycles, not because we want to, but because we haven’t stopped long enough to understand them.
Journaling becomes a way to interrupt that.
It helps us recognize themes like self-doubt, over-functioning, people-pleasing, or ignoring red flags. And once we can name a pattern, we can begin to change it.
Awareness Creates Real Change
One of the most powerful parts of this conversation is how awareness alone can create momentum. When we reflect honestly, without forcing a silver lining, we build self-trust.
Kristan shares prompts that help people explore:
- When did this pattern first show up?
- What keeps repeating?
- What would I say to a friend in this situation?
- What part of my story am I ready to tell honestly?
As we look back at hard seasons, we also see resilience we forgot we had. We remember who we are.
Understanding your story doesn’t just bring clarity.
It restores agency.
If you’ve felt stuck in familiar cycles or disconnected from yourself, this episode will gently invite you to slow down and listen to your own life.
Because when you understand your story, everything begins to shift.
Connect with Kristan
https://substack.com/@kristanswan
https://www.instagram.com/kristan.swan/
P.S. If this episode resonates with you, please reach out. I truly want to hear your story. You can DM me on Instagram @jenaburris or email me at jena@jenaburris.com. Your voice matters — and I’m here for you.