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
I Didn’t Lose Him, I Was Being Prepared
In this deeply personal and unexpected episode, Erika shares the moment that stopped her in her tracks, a simple family photo on Facebook that opened a door to a truth she never fully acknowledged until now.
What begins as an ordinary dinner with a friend turns into a powerful reflection on marriage, pressure, parenthood, old wounds, and the kind of healing that reveals itself years later. Erika opens up about the choices she made at twenty, the weight of expectation, the realities of a young and unsteady marriage, and the painful honesty of knowing something wasn’t right long before she had the courage to say it out loud.
But this episode isn’t about regret.
It’s about clarity.
It’s about preparation.
It’s about the way God sometimes removes what we’re not ready to let go of, because He knows what’s coming next.
For anyone navigating heartbreak, release, forgiveness, or the quiet ways life prepares us for unimaginable storms, this episode is a reminder that:
Letting go is not failure.
Letting go is preparation.
If you’re healing from a past relationship, struggling with letting go, or learning to trust the timing of your life, this episode will meet you exactly where you are.
🧡 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.