Purpose, Not Pity
Grief changes everything. But it doesn’t get the final say.
Welcome to Purpose, Not Pity—a podcast born from loss and rooted in love, healing, and the hard conversations we don’t always know how to have.
I’m Erika Hernandez: storyteller, bonus mom, grieving mother, and healing human. After losing my son Jovan in 2023, I found myself searching for meaning in the middle of heartbreak. Not answers. Not pity. Just something real to hold onto. This podcast is that something.
Here, we talk about what happens after the world stops spinning. About life beyond the “How are you?” texts. About rebuilding identity, navigating motherhood, holding space for joy, and finding purpose through pain.
You’ll hear solo episodes, raw stories, letters from my heart, and honest conversations with people who’ve also walked through fire.
This isn’t a podcast about having it all figured out. It’s about showing up, cracked open but still standing—with purpose, not pity.
💛 You belong here. Even in the middle of the mess.
Purpose, Not Pity
When Grief and Your Menstrual Cycle Collide
What happens when grief collides with your menstrual cycle? In this episode of Purpose, Not Pity, Erika opens up about a deeply personal experience: a week of nonstop tears that felt like a setback in her healing journey, until she realized her period had arrived.
Grief already weighs heavy, but hormonal shifts during PMS and perimenopause can amplify sadness, irritability, fatigue, and brain fog. Erika shares how living with rheumatoid arthritis made the symptoms even harder to untangle, why so little is written about the connection between hormones and grief, and why it’s time to start talking about it openly.
This conversation isn’t just for women who menstruate. Grief collides with all of our bodies; through stress, sleep, illness, or aging. Whether you’ve lost a child, a relationship, or a version of yourself, this episode sheds light on the often-hidden ways heartbreak shows up physically and reminds you that you’re not alone in it.
Join Erika as she breaks the silence on a taboo topic and invites us to track, prepare, and give ourselves grace when grief and our bodies intersect.
🧡 Stay connected:
TikTok: @by.erikahernandez
Instagram: @byerikahernandez
🎧 New episodes drop the 1st & 3rd Tuesday of every month
📬 Want to share your story or connect?
Email: byerikahernandez@gmail.com
💛 Thanks for listening. Keep choosing purpose, not pity.