Unmuted by Nola

Nola Cartmill
  • 5.0 (8)
  • Personal Journals
  • Updated Weekly

Unmuted by Nola is a space for the quiet truths that deserve to be spoken out loud. Through bold reflection, layered identity, and hard-earned wisdom, Nola explores what it means to show up fully — as a leader, a mom, a storyteller, and a whole-ass person. It’s not just about finding your voice. It’s about using it.

  1. 3d ago

    The Optimization Trap

    What if all that research isn’t actually making you feel more prepared? We have access to more information than ever before. So when life feels uncertain, we do what responsible people do: we research. We read the reviews. Watch the TikToks. Join the Facebook group. Ask the experts. Compare the options. Open 37 tabs. And somewhere along the way, preparation can quietly become an attempt to make ourselves immune to disappointment. In this episode of Unmuted by Nola, Nola explores the optimization trap, the belief that if we can just gather enough information, make the right choice, and plan carefully enough, we can prevent regret, uncertainty, and bad outcomes. From planning Disney like a graduate-level research assignment to motherhood, careers, relationships, self-improvement, faith, and the internet’s endless supply of people telling us what we have to do, this is a conversation about what happens when being thoughtful turns into trying to control the uncontrollable. Because maybe confidence isn’t knowing exactly what will happen. Maybe it’s trusting yourself to respond when you don’t. And maybe, at some point, you have to close the browser and actually live. 🎵 Music Credit Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beatshttps://soundcloud.com/snoozybeatsCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported, CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibesMusic promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng

    The Optimization Trap

  2. Jul 27

    Unmuted Court: The People v. Being Human

    Life has felt a little heavy lately, so court is taking a recess from the usual proceedings. In this special session of Unmuted by Nola, I am using my expensive legal education to examine the truly urgent cases of adulthood: Target receipts, Disney spreadsheets, girl math, toddler testimony, the laundry chair, and the ongoing exploitation of an unpaid employee known as Future Me. It is funny, slightly unhinged, and still unmistakably Unmuted. Because underneath our ridiculous everyday arguments are quieter questions about competence, motherhood, perfection, capacity, joy, and the harsh judge many of us carry around in our own heads. The Court finds that life is already serious enough. We are permitted to tell the truth, laugh at ourselves, and stop treating every imperfect decision like a felony. Court is now in session. Music Credit: Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats Artist: https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported, CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes Music promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng

    Unmuted Court: The People v. Being Human

  3. Jun 29

    From Juneteenth to the Fourth of July: I Choose Blackness

    What does it mean to love something complicated? Recorded in the stretch between Juneteenth and the Fourth of July, this episode begins at 2 a.m. with Harper asleep on my chest, me scrolling through images from the Obama Presidential Center opening, and one question I could not shake: If I could choose, would I choose to be Black? My answer was immediate. Yes. Every single time. Not because the hardship has been small. Because the beauty is that big. This episode is a reflection on Black joy that does not have to be earned, freedom delayed, freedom declared, complicated patriotism, motherhood, hope as labor, and what it means to inherit something unfinished and still love it enough to tell the truth. It is a little churchy, a little lawyerly, a little mother-at-2-a.m., and very much a conversation about joy, identity, history, and the work of every generation. Music Credit:Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy BeatsCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported, CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibesMusic promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng

    From Juneteenth to the Fourth of July: I Choose Blackness

  4. Jun 14

    The Life You Planned vs. The Life You Actually Got | Redefining Regret with Joyce Baker-Leggett

    What happens when life doesn’t unfold the way you thought it would? In this episode of Unmuted by Nola, I sit down with Joyce Baker-Leggett, author of Redefining Regret: Starting Over Without Shame, At Any Age, At Any Stage, for a conversation about the life we planned versus the life we actually got. We talk about regret and shame, dreams that changed shape, finding your voice after difficult seasons, and what it means to begin again without believing you’ve missed your chance. Joyce shares openly about faith, therapy, healing, and the people who helped her see possibility when all she could see was pain. And, in true Unmuted fashion, she answers our signature question: What’s one quiet truth you wish more people said out loud? If you’ve ever looked at your life and thought, this isn’t what I expected, this conversation is for you. Because maybe regret isn’t the end of the story. Maybe it’s the beginning of a new chapter. Music Credit: Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) Stream/Download: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes Artist: https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats Music promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng

  5. Jun 9

    Can We Just Catch Up?

    After weeks of overthinking my return to the podcast, I finally decided perfection was overrated. So yes, the audio gets a little glitchy in spots. Yes, I have one (or two) surprise guest hosts. And yes, we’re rolling with it. In this Season 3 kickoff episode, I’m catching you up on Costa Rica, turning 42, coming home to a child who somehow grew up while I was gone, rediscovering my love for private practice, and my recent hobby of inventing problems in a season where life is actually pretty good. We talk about waterfall rappelling, rainforest adventures, a private chef dinner that felt like something out of a movie, and the birthday that started with a broken phone instead of a profound revelation. We also talk about motherhood, watching Harper become more independent, why I’ve spent entirely too much time cross-examining my own happiness, and what happens when you realize the life you’re living is actually pretty close to the one you once hoped for. No framework. No keynote. No perfectly packaged life lesson. Just a conversation. And honestly, that feels about right. Music Credit: Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) Stream/Download: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes Artist: https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats Music promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng

  6. May 4

    What Motherhood Taught Me About Work That No Leadership Book Did

    People often talk about motherhood as something women have to manage around work. Or as the thing that somehow turns us into magical multitaskers. Honestly? Neither story has ever felt completely true to me. In this season two finale, I unpack eight ways motherhood has quietly made me better at my job… not because it “fixed” me, but because it exposed me. My urgency. My perfectionism. My over-functioning. My tendency to mistake friction for failure. From daycare pickup and time entry… to clingy soccer practices, gray blankets in family pictures, emails I wisely never sent, and a little girl stopping to blow flowers while I was mentally three meetings ahead… This episode is about what motherhood taught me about: • Time • Focus • Emotional regulation • Invisible labor • Worth • Perfectionism • Triage • And what success actually feels like And while motherhood is my lens… The lessons are much bigger than parenting. If you’ve ever chased squirrels professionally, confused busy with effective, or mistaken a hard moment for a verdict on your competence… This one’s for you. ⸻ Music Credits Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng.

  7. Apr 27

    Who’s the Daddy? And Other Questions We’re Still Answering

    Some conversations don’t end when the mic turns off. They keep going in group chats.On sister calls.At the kitchen table. This was one of those. After my last episode sparked bigger conversations, I invited my sisters Tiffany and Kara back to keep it going. We talked about motherhood, faith, judgment, respectability, and the questions women can get tired of answering, even when life doesn’t unfold the way they were taught it should. About the question underneath the question. About grace.About church.About family that may not fit neat boxes, but can be whole all the same. There is laughter in this one.There is honesty in this one.And there may be a few things said that could get us kicked out of somebody’s Bible study. Pull up a chair. This one feels like the kitchen table. 🎧 Listen, share, and send it to a sister or friend if it resonates. Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beatshttps://soundcloud.com/snoozybeatsCreative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibesMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng

  8. Apr 13

    Doing It Out of Order (And Still Getting It Right)

    I thought my life would follow a certain order. Marriage. Then family. Then everything else falling into place. But at some point, life stopped feeling theoretical… and started feeling real. In this episode of Unmuted by Nola, I’m talking about what happens when your life doesn’t follow the blueprint you were given—and the decisions you’re left to make when everything doesn’t line up the way you thought it would. We get into: • the moment timing becomes real • what shifts when you’ve built a full life on your own • the tension between what you were taught and what you’re actually living • and what it looks like to choose differently… on purpose This isn’t a how-to. And it’s not a perfect answer. It’s a real conversation about navigating life when the plan changes— and learning to trust yourself anyway. ⸻ 🎵 Tuesday Vibes by Snoozy Beats https://soundcloud.com/snoozybeats Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snoozybeats/tuesday-vibes Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/Gd5msntuOng.

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5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Unmuted by Nola is a space for the quiet truths that deserve to be spoken out loud. Through bold reflection, layered identity, and hard-earned wisdom, Nola explores what it means to show up fully — as a leader, a mom, a storyteller, and a whole-ass person. It’s not just about finding your voice. It’s about using it.

Information

  • Creator
    Nola Cartmill
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    49
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Nola Cartmill
  • Show Website
    Unmuted by Nola