Hey! You’re here! And are we ever glad to see you.

Welcome to Unboxing It, a podcast where co-hosts Lara and Rowan unpack the societal ideas and expectations that stop many of us from living our most authentic lives—and share ideas about how to rid ourselves of them for good.

Lara (she/her) is an author, speaker, coach, mom to three, and stockpiles craft supplies like a dragon hoards treasure. Should there be a zombie apocalypse, she will be well equipped to glitter them to death.

Rowan (he/him) is an author, speaker, human rights advocate, coach, trans man, and dad to five grown and (mostly) flown kids. He enjoys coffee, painting, and screaming into the void. Despite any credible evidence, he also believes Bigfoot is real and will not be entertaining ideas to the contrary.

Each week, the two of us candidly discuss what’s left us confused, overwhelmed, or stuck in shame in our own lives and any lessons that have helped us break free from it all.

I mean, if we have. Sometimes we haven’t.

Wait. Did you think we had all the answers? We get it. A lot of podcasts promise to cure what ails you with a few simple tips. That’s what we’re all hoping for, right? That the answer has been under our noses the entire time and we just needed someone to point it out?

That’s not usually how life works, however, and we’re old enough to have learned this the hard way. No single tip, trick, mindset shift, or magic pill is going to fix everything. If it were that easy, we’d all have it figured out by now.

But what can help is knowing we’re not alone on the journey of growth and self-discovery. We’re a big group of weary travelers. Hikers, if you will, on this trail of life. Some are walking the trail a little behind us and some are a little ahead of us. The ones ahead shout, “watch out for that rock!’ from time to time, because showing up for each other is what it’s all about.

And maybe that’s who we are in this instance. We’re two people who’ve gone hiking enough to know where a lot of the rocks are. And maybe a few snakes. Rowan also probably knows where Bigfoot is but isn’t telling you.

The most powerful tool at our disposal is human connection. No matter who we are, we have more in common with others than we have differences. That’s why sharing stories is so powerful. There will inevitably be something in those stories that speaks to us and might even push us to grow.

And so, week after week, we’ll be unboxing new topics—sometimes together, sometimes with a special guest or two. Just folks helping other folks, that’s all. Our first episode drops May 13!

If you love this idea—and we hope you do—please consider subscribing to our Substack (we have both free and paid tiers) and following us on social media. This will help us keep in touch!

We should probably wrap this up before Lara tries to crochet something onto the page or whatever.

Looking forward to unboxing it all with you,

Rowan and Lara