Female by Design

Francie Winslow
  • 4.9 (678)
  • CHRISTIANITY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

An honest space for female flourishing. Together we'll explore sexuality and spirituality by God's design, healing our relationship with pleasure, our bodies, and our identity as image-bearers. Let's take a deep breath and step into God's invitation to live fully alive—mind, body, and spirit.

  1. 1D AGO

    261. Great Sex Grows

    Hey friend — welcome back to the Female By Design Podcast! Today marks the relaunch of one of my favorite teaching series: Great Sex Grows. It originally aired back in 2022, and honestly? I still stand by every word of it. It's practical, it's real, and I think it can meet you right where you are. I'm jumping in with a fresh intro episode — sharing where life has taken me over the last four years, what I've learned, and why this message feels even more true to me today than when I first recorded it.  Life has been full. Our family has walked through some significant health challenges, and through it all, I've watched this message get tested and proven. Sexual intimacy as a place of connection, comfort, and covenant isn't just theory — it's been an anchor for us.  Over the next five episodes, we're getting into the mindset shifts, body awareness, communication habits, and God-given superpowers that actually move the needle in your marriage. It's practical, it's a little bit of a fire hose, and there is so much good stuff coming.  One thing I want you to hear before we dive in: pick one or two ideas that feel like a get-to and let yourself be curious. No heaviness, no should — just an invitation to grow. Great sex doesn't grow by accident. Let's grow together. Ready to go deeper right now? Back to the Garden is the guide I wrote for exactly where you are — a married woman's guide to pleasure by design. It's the most honest thing I've put together, and at $18 it's the easiest yes you'll make this week. → here Questions? Find me on Instagram or at franciewinslow.com

    20 min

  2. APR 13

    260. Is This Marriage Healthy? Recognizing Destructive Patterns with Leslie Vernick

    What's the difference between a difficult marriage and a destructive one—and how do you know when it's time to speak up?   In this powerful conversation, Francie sits down with counselor and author Leslie Vernick to unpack destructive patterns in marriage, reclaiming your voice, and what it truly means to be a strong, biblical woman.   Together, they address harmful teachings around submission, the loss of a woman's voice, and how to discern between normal marital struggles and unhealthy or abusive dynamics.  This episode offers both clarity and practical wisdom for women who feel confused, shut down, or unsure of what is healthy in their marriage.   What You'll Learn The difference between a disappointing marriage and a destructive one Why "submission" has often been misunderstood and misapplied What it means to be an ezer—a strong, helping partner, not a silent one How to begin using your voice in a healthy, grounded way Signs of emotional, spiritual, or relational harm How to discern your next steps with wisdom and support   A healthy marriage allows for honesty, growth, and mutual care. If your voice is consistently dismissed, ignored, or punished, something deeper may be wrong.   About Leslie Vernick Leslie Vernick is a licensed counselor, author, and speaker dedicated to helping individuals and couples navigate difficult and destructive relationships. With over 40 years of counseling experience, she specializes in emotional abuse, relationship health, and biblical wisdom for real-life challenges. She is the author of The Emotionally Destructive Marriage and founder of Leslie Vernick Ministries, where she equips women to move from confusion and fear into clarity, strength, and truth.   Resources + Next Steps   Book: The Emotionally Destructive Marriage by Leslie Vernick Website: leslievernick.com (find the Free Quiz: Is your marriage difficult, disappointing, or destructive? And, Free Training: If He Doesn't Hit You, Is It Still Abuse?)   If you are in a situation that feels unsafe or confusing, seeking wise, informed support is an important next step.   Note from Francie This conversation may feel tender or activating if you've experienced harm in your marriage. You are not alone, and there is help available.   Connect with Francie 🎓 Back to the Garden: A Married Woman's Guide to Pleasure by Design — get a see a fresh vision of what a fully alive, God-honoring intimacy (and pleasure) could actually look like for your marriage. → here 🌿 The Circle — group mentorship community where women have conversations with likeminded women on a journey together towards more→ here 📩 Submit your listener question → Instagram DMs or franciewinslow.com

    52 min

  3. APR 6

    259. Overcoming Body Insecurity: Healing Shame & Reclaiming Confidence in Your God-Given Body

    How do you overcome body insecurity and actually feel at home in your body? In this episode, Francie addresses the shame, disconnection, and cultural lies that shape how women view their bodies—and invites you back to God's truth: your body is not a problem to fix, but a gift to receive. You'll learn how body image struggles are often rooted in disconnection, why separating from your body isn't spiritual, and how to begin rebuilding a relationship with your body through truth, gratitude, and awareness.  This is an invitation to move from criticism to compassion—and from insecurity to confidence in your God-given design. What You'll Learn: Why body insecurity runs deeper than appearance How shame and culture shape body image God's design for your body as good Why disconnection from your body leads to insecurity Simple ways to reconnect with your body and build confidence Your body is not your enemy. Confidence begins when you reconnect with your body through truth, not striving. Connect with Francie 🎓 Back to the Garden: A Married Woman's Guide to Pleasure by Design — get a see a fresh vision of what a fully alive, God-honoring intimacy (and pleasure) could actually look like for your marriage. → here 🌿 The Circle — group mentorship community where women have conversations with likeminded women on a journey together towards more→ here 📩 Submit your listener question → Instagram DMs or franciewinslow.com

    27 min

  4. MAR 30

    258. To Shave, Wax...or Nothing?

    It's one of those questions more women have than are willing to ask out loud. In this episode of Female by Design, Francie tackles the topic of pubic hair grooming — not from a medical or therapeutic chair, but from the spirit of let's just have the conversation. Because when we can talk about our bodies without shame, that's exactly where freedom grows. This is not a moral issue. There is no law, no biblical mandate, no "Christian way" to groom. Francie opens by inviting listeners to release the tension that so often surrounds conversations about our bodies and sexuality, and to approach this one with curiosity instead of shame. This one's practical, a little lighthearted, and totally judgment-free.    Resource Mentioned The Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina — Separating the Myth from the Medicine by Dr. Jen Gunter — a physician-written, research-based guide to women's health covering everything from anatomy to menopause to grooming. A great resource to have on your shelf (and to share with your daughters as they grow).   Connect with Francie 🎓 Pleasure & Orgasm Course — one of Francie's most popular offerings, going deep on female pleasure and anatomy → franciewinslow.com 🌿 The Circle — group mentorship community where women have these conversations together → franciewinslow.com 📩 Submit your listener question → Instagram DMs or franciewinslow.com

    16 min

  5. MAR 23

    257. The Healing Power of Oxytocin with Carly Bayless

    What if one of the most powerful tools for healing your nervous system isn't a supplement or a protocol — it's a hug? In this episode, Francie sits down with functional medicine nurse practitioner Carly Bayless to take a deep dive into oxytocin: what it actually is, why it matters far beyond labor and breastfeeding, and how finding "oxytocin opportunities" throughout your day could be the missing piece in your healing journey. Whether you're navigating chronic illness, new motherhood, a demanding season of life, or simply a cortisol-soaked Tuesday — this conversation will change the way you see connection. Key Takeaways Oxytocin is your body's primary buffer against chronic cortisol — it's not a nice-to-have, it's a need-to-have. You don't need a long list of oxytocin activities. Look for the one opportunity right in front of you and be fully present in it. Screens replace eye contact (and oxytocin) with cortisol. That trade is more costly than we realize. Vulnerability in community builds oxytocin. Reaching out when you most want to isolate is often exactly what your nervous system needs. God wired us for connection — with each other and with Him. The desire to feel safe, near, and known is not weakness. It's design.   Meet Carly Bayless Carly is a functional medicine family nurse practitioner, founder of Nurture Functional Medicine, and host of The Carly Bayless Podcast. Her path into functional medicine began at age 16 when she experienced a major crash of chronic fatigue and was eventually diagnosed with POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). After being told by conventional medicine that there was little to be done, she found real healing through a functional approach — and never looked back. Today she serves women across multiple states and is especially passionate about hormonal health, nervous system regulation, and helping women understand God's design for their bodies. She's also a relatively newlywed (married January 2024) and a new mom to 11-month-old twins — so she's living this content in real time. Connect with Carly Bayless Podcast: The Carly Bayless Podcast Instagram: @carlybaylesswellness | @nurturefunctionalmedicine   Resources Mentioned 📖 Anchored by Deb Dana — a therapist's accessible guide to polyvagal theory 🎙️ The Carly Bayless Podcast — follow up on all things functional medicine and nervous system health 📱 Instagram: @carlybaylesswellness | @nurturefunctionalmedicine 🏥 Nurture Functional Medicine — Carly's practice, serving women in multiple states   Connect with Francie 🎓 Pleasure & Orgasm Course — one of Francie's most popular offerings, going deep on female pleasure and anatomy → franciewinslow.com 🌿 The Circle — group mentorship community where women have these conversations together → franciewinslow.com 📩 Submit your listener question → Instagram DMs or franciewinslow.com

    46 min

  6. MAR 9

    256. Help Your Husband Learn What Brings You Pleasure

    Francie tackles another listener question — one of the most personal and practical she receives: How can I help my husband better learn what brings me pleasure? What she loves about this question is the word the listener used: learn. Because that's exactly the right frame. Becoming a great lover isn't about natural talent or chemistry — it's about paying attention, practicing, and becoming a student of each other. And for most women, before they can teach their husband anything, there's a more foundational step: learning what brings them pleasure themselves. Francie gets honest about how many women — herself included — have been so trained to dissociate from their bodies and silence their desires that they've lost touch with what they actually want. The "duty wife" script, the shame around pleasure, the pressure to just meet his needs — all of it has quietly robbed women of the ability to even answer the question their husband is asking: What do you like? This episode is the answer. Francie walks through how to re-attune to sensation, how to start naming what feels good, how to wake up your five senses as a pathway to communicating desire — and she closes with a beautifully practical framework that every couple can use starting tonight: the 3 P's — Place, Pace, and Pressure. Warm, practical, and full of Francie's signature mix of honesty and joy. The 3 P Framework A simple, practical tool for teaching your husband what brings you pleasure: Place — Where on your body do you want to feel sensation? Name specific places and help him understand what type of touch feels good where. Pace — How long do you want him there? A brief kiss on the neck when he walks in the door is different from lingering during intimacy. When a wife is becoming aroused, staying with what's working rather than moving on too quickly makes all the difference. Pressure — Firm or feather-light? Intense or gentle? These descriptors help him understand exactly how you want to be touched, not just where.   Connect with Francie 🎓 Pleasure & Orgasm Course — one of Francie's most popular offerings, going deep on female pleasure and anatomy → [franciewinslow.com] 🌿 The Circle — group mentorship community where women have these conversations together → [franciewinslow.com] 📩 Submit your listener question → Instagram DMs or franciewinslow.com

    20 min

  7. MAR 2

    255. Making Sexual Communication More Comfortable

    Francie answers one of the most-requested questions she receives from women in her live events: How do you make talking about sex with your husband less awkward? This episode grew out of a recent in-person Q&A at a local moms group — where the questions came so fast and so honestly that Francie knew she had to bring the conversation to the podcast. She's doing something different this season: sprinkling real listener and event questions throughout upcoming episodes, and this one kicks off that series beautifully. But this episode goes deeper than tips. Before Francie gets practical, she does what she always does — she roots the conversation in something bigger. She reframes communication itself as communion, tracing the word back to its origin and back to the garden, where there was no shame and words came freely. She explores how shame — not awkwardness, not personality, not the wrong approach — is the true barrier to sexual communication for most women. And she offers a surprisingly tender place to start: Do you actually believe your body is good? Then she gets practical. Six honest, accessible, real-life tools for opening up the conversation — from books to date nights to secret code words to knowing your anatomy. Francie closes with a call for husbands to become true students of their wives and an invitation to keep growing together. This episode is for every couple who knows they should talk about it but has never quite known how. Resources & Books Mentioned Cliff & Joyce Penner — Christian sex therapists with decades of experience. Francie recommends any of their books, particularly: Enjoy — on sexual pleasure for women 52 Ways to Have Fun, Fantastic Sex — a guidebook for married couples Go Deeper in The Circle The Circle is a place to keep growing in freedom, understanding, and embodied joy. The Circle is Francie's group mentorship community where women gather monthly for live teaching, honest conversation, and support as they learn God's good design for intimacy, desire, and pleasure… not as performance, but as part of faithful discipleship. Inside the Circle you'll find safe connection with other women, access to Francie through discussion and messaging, and a gentle space to rethink what you've been taught about sex, your body, and your feminine design. Join The Circle   More Growth Resources Connect with Francie: Receive Francie's weekly newsletter

    22 min

  8. FEB 23

    254. Finding Safety, Presence & Pleasure: Unlocking the Female Heart, Mind, and Body

    Our calendars are full, demands are never-ending, and overwhelm is knocking with every new notification. In this final part of the "Unlocking the Female Heart, Mind, and Body" series, Francie leans into the impact of our busy lives on our bodies. This episode unpacks how the nervous system—designed by God—is central to our ability to feel safe, be present, and receive pleasure. It's not just about emotions or mindset. It's about how your body was wired by God to experience intimacy, connection, and peace. When safety is absent, disconnection becomes the norm. But there is another way: a way of awareness, rest, and gentle re-inhabiting of the good body God gave you. "You were never meant to be disembodied. God gave you a body to dwell in—where His Spirit meets you, where connection becomes possible." – Francie Winslow In This Episode: How chronic stress, performance culture, and disconnection impact female sexuality What your nervous system is doing all day long—and why it matters for intimacy Why safety is foundational for feminine arousal, connection, and presence How to notice what your body is saying (and how to respond with care) The invitation to trade numbness and overthinking for embodiment and pleasure Go Deeper in The Circle The Circle is a place to keep growing in freedom, understanding, and embodied joy. The Circle is Francie's group mentorship community where women gather monthly for live teaching, honest conversation, and support as they learn God's good design for intimacy, desire, and pleasure… not as performance, but as part of faithful discipleship. Inside the Circle you'll find safe connection with other women, access to Francie through discussion and messaging, and a gentle space to rethink what you've been taught about sex, your body, and your feminine design. Join The Circle   More Growth Resources Connect with Francie: Receive Francie's weekly newsletter

    23 min
See All (256)

Trailer

Hosts & Guests

4.9
out of 5
678 Ratings

About

An honest space for female flourishing. Together we'll explore sexuality and spirituality by God's design, healing our relationship with pleasure, our bodies, and our identity as image-bearers. Let's take a deep breath and step into God's invitation to live fully alive—mind, body, and spirit.

Information

  • Creator
    Francie Winslow
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    256
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Francie Winslow
  • Show Website
    Female by Design

You Might Also Like