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Welcome to Do You Want The Truth? where we dive deep into the real raw stories from parents in the trenches of parenthood.
Season 2 is brought to you by Sam Strom and Freelance Journalist Zara Hanawalt, along with guest co-hosts such as Jaime Fisher.
Season 1 is brought to you by Paige Connell & Sam Strom. They bring you candid conversations with parents who share their experiences of parenthood and what they wish they knew before having kids. You'll hear the real stories. The stories that are typically reserved for best friends. The stories with TMI. We believe in the power of truth telling because when someone asks, do you want the truth? We always say yes. Join us as we explore the highs and lows and everything in between so you can feel less alone on your journey.
Connect with Sam: https://www.linkedin.com/samanthastrom https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthastorms
79 Episodes
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Send a text Sam, Rachel, and Zara are back for an unfiltered Mom-Talk! This week: Sam drops a jaw-dropping story about a friend who discovered herself in the Epstein files. Rachel opens up about going no contact with her mom, her bipolar and autism diagnosis, and her alcohol-free journey. Zara sparks a conversation about maternal ambivalence after a Love Is Blind contestant goes viral. Plus: the BYU wage gap, Ballerina Farm's 9th pregnancy, the cartel crisis in Puerto Vallarta, influencer bra...
Send a text In this raw, wide-ranging Pop Culture Mom Talk episode, Sam and Zara are joined by new co-host Rachel Gibbs (@rachonlife) for an unfiltered conversation about what’s flooding women’s algorithms — and why it feels so overwhelming right now. They unpack everything from toxic TV relationships like Tell Me Lies to the unsettling ripple effects of the Epstein files, the Blake Lively / Justin Baldoni discourse, and why so many women feel like pop culture has crossed from escapism into e...
Send a text From Blake Lively to Bank Accounts: Casting Kids, Quitting Hollywood & Making Money Online What happens when a former Hollywood casting director walks away from Disney, kid actors, and a very dark industry… and accidentally builds a wildly profitable pop-culture media empire? In this episode, @thisisdanabowling (TT/YT) pulls back the curtain on everything — from casting Zendaya and Jenna Ortega to why she would never let her own kids enter the entertainment industry. We talk B...
Send a text A positive pregnancy test felt like the start of a familiar story—until Alison Beder Soloway couldn’t breathe at 32 weeks and doctors discovered heart failure linked to HHT. That moment rewrote everything. She was told carrying again would be too dangerous, and the road to the family she imagined would have to bend. What followed was a years-long relay of nine IVF attempts, cross‑border laws, agency vetting, and the kind of paperwork that decides names on birth certificates. Along...
Send a text Well, the time has come. You’ve heard her voice, you’ve heard her hot takes, and now you’re getting the whole story. In this episode, I turn the mic toward Paige Connell aka @sheisapaigeturner. We get real real. Paige walks us through the beautiful, messy, emotional tornado that has been her path to motherhood—starting with a teenage AIM love triangle, through pregnancy losses, fostering two toddlers, navigating IVF and surviving a traumatic birth If you’ve ever wondered how...
Send a text 🔗 Follow the Guests: Chanel Wolf TikTok: @ChanelWolf New wellness & healing products dropping soon in the TikTok Shop! Jaime Fisher TikTok: @HeyJamieFish YouTube: JFisher Channel Long-form content + exciting TikTok Shop updates on the way! Support the show Website: https://www.doyouwantthetruthpod.com Connect with Sam: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/samanthastrom TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthastorms Connect with Zara: Zara Hanawalt https://www.linkedin.com/...
Send a text “I moved in with another single mom… and people had so many questions. But the truth is: I needed community more than I needed space.” What if healing from betrayal meant rewriting everything — including how we mother, how we live, and who we let in? In this heartfelt and deeply honest episode, host Sam Strom and Jaime Fisher (@heyjaimefish) sit down with Chanel Wolf (@mamachanelwolf) — a single mom, yoga teacher, and plant medicine advocate — to talk about navigating sing...
Send a text Meghan Markle, postpartum preeclampsia, maternal health, cultural perceptions, parenting, surrogacy, fertility, celebrity news, public scrutiny, women's health Summary In this episode, Sam Strom and Zara Hanawalt discuss various topics surrounding motherhood, health, and societal perceptions. They delve into Meghan Markle's recent revelations about postpartum preeclampsia, the cultural stigma surrounding women's health issues, and the alarming maternal mortality rates in the US co...
Send a text In this episode of Do You Want the Truth? Pop Culture Hour, Zara and Sam dive into Kylie Kelce’s refreshingly honest postpartum podcast episode—and why it should be required listening for anyone interacting with a new parent. We break down some of the most frustrating pieces of advice new moms get (looking at you, “sleep when the baby sleeps”), and reflect on how celebrity culture, hustle culture, and social media have shaped the unrealistic expectations around postpartum recovery...
Send a text What does it really take to raise three kids under six while holding down an executive role and managing over 100 employees? In this episode, I’m joined by Annette Kerlew - a 39-year-old mom of three (a 5.5-year-old son and 3.5-year-old boy/girl twins), wife, and Executive Vice President of Finance & Operations at a marketing communications agency living in New Jersey. Annette opens up about the very real financial and emotional demands of parenting young kids while climbing t...
Send a text Christine Landis is the founder of Peacock Parent and a former fintech CEO who sold her company for eight figures. After stepping out of the boardroom and into motherhood, Christine quickly realized that parenting came with a whole new kind of pressure—especially when it came to managing time, expectations, and the never-ending mental load. Using the same skills she once used to scale a company, Christine created Peacock Parent to help modern families outsource low-joy tasks, dele...
Send a text “Is Parenthood Hellish? Unpacking Chappell Roan’s Viral Comment” | Do You Want the Truth? with Sam Strom & New Cohost Zara Hanawalt Welcome to the very first episode of Do You Want the Truth? – Pop Culture Hour! I’m Sam Strom, and I’m thrilled to kick off this new weekly series with Zara Hanawalt. You might remember her from a previous episode; Zara is a seasoned journalist, a twin mom, and a total powerhouse. Each week, we’ll be breaking down what’s happening in pop culture t...
Send a text What happens when the life you were raised to believe in no longer fits? In this episode, Sarah Kennedy, a single mom and Functional Medicine Consultant, shares her incredible story of breaking free from a hyper-conservative religious/cult-like upbringing, navigating young motherhood, and rebuilding her life from the ground up. Sarah became a mom at just 20 years old, raised under the belief that her only role in life was to be a perfect wife and mother. But when her marriage cru...
Send a text In this compelling episode of Do You Want The Truth, Cory Hargraves opens up about his journey from the frontlines as an Army sniper to the frontlines of fatherhood. A 39-year-old husband, father to a 16-month-old daughter, and property investor living in Washington State, Cory reflects on how parenting has transformed his life in ways he never expected. From his days of sniper school—where precision was key—to sleepless nights and patience-testing parenting moments, Cory shares ...
Send a text A high-pressure desk at JP Morgan. A meal-prep side account called Freckled Foodie. A car accident that made everything loud and urgent. Cameron Rogers takes us through the leap from finance to full-time creator and the even bigger transition that came with becoming a mother during a global pandemic. We get candid about how identity can fracture and reform in those first months, why postpartum depression doesn’t always look like you expect, and how honest help—childcare, a cleanin...
Send a text Parenthood didn’t just change our guest’s calendar; it rewired her relationship with work. Kaleana Quibell spent years inside Bay Area benefits, rolling out wellness, mental health, and family programs for marquee tech companies. Then two kids, an eight-minute delivery room sprint, and a parade of sick days revealed what the slide decks missed: policies don’t parent; people do. She chose a different path—part-time caregiving, part-time consulting, and a new platform, Both And, tha...
Send a text The cracks in the system aren’t hairline—they’re chasms you feel every school morning and late-night Slack. We sit down with filmmaker and producer Melissa Panzer (WABE’s The Work Behind the Work) to unpack why so many women who could be leading are instead leaving, and what it would take to make work and family actually coexist without breaking us. Melissa traces her path from ESPN’s storytelling culture to a decade documenting the labor market, then into the frontline of pandem...
Send a text What if your child isn’t “difficult” — just wired differently? In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Jessie Stern, assistant professor of psychology at Pomona College and co-author of Beyond Difficult, to break down what attachment theory really means, how child temperament works, and why so much parenting advice oversimplifies complex human behavior. We talk about secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganized attachment styles — what they are, what they aren’t, and why they’re not p...
Send a text In this episode, we sit down with Olivia Howell, CEO and co-founder of Fresh Starts, the world’s first divorce registry and divorce education platform, to talk honestly about divorce, emotional abuse, financial control, and what women actually need before, during, and after separation. Olivia shares her personal story of leaving an emotionally abusive marriage, becoming a single mother of two, and rebuilding her life — not through shame or secrecy, but through support, education, ...
Send a text From NICU trauma to a homestead with donkeys—and a construction empire bringing in $6 million in a single month. Angela Artymovich’s story is the kind of entrepreneurial rollercoaster moms rarely get to hear told honestly. In this raw and deeply human conversation, Angela shares how becoming a NICU mom, battling HELLP syndrome, and navigating four miscarriages changed her life, her marriage, and her career path. She opens up about launching a reselling business with a newborn at h...
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