The RISE Experience

Shannon Denniston
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Entrepreneurship

Sometimes you realize you've been disconnected from yourself for longer than you thought. The RISE Experience is a podcast for the woman who can handle a lot. She shows up, gets things done, keeps life moving… and still quietly wonders, Why don't I feel like myself anymore? I'm Shannon Denniston, founder of RISE. Each week, we talk about what real transformation looks like in everyday life. The patterns underneath what we do, the relationships and roles that shape us, the faith that grounds us, and what happens when the ways we've always done things stop working for us. We also talk about what comes next. How you begin trusting yourself again, make room for what matters to you, and navigate a life that keeps changing. A lot of what we call starting over is really about understanding ourselves more deeply and learning to move forward without erasing who we've become. Just honest conversations about finding your way back to yourself and learning how to live from that place.

  1. 4d ago

    Good Hard or Wrong Hard? When You Can’t Tell What Your Discomfort Means

    Send me a text You’re capable and self-aware, and something in front of you feels uncomfortable. Is that a sign to keep going, or a sign that something’s off? In this episode, Shannon tells the story of how The RISE Experience began. God put a podcast on her heart one morning, and then the idea sat for almost three years while she coached, worked, and ran a busy household. A former theater major who was suddenly afraid to speak into a mic, she finally hit record in May 2025 after watching another coach launch a show. Even then, she didn’t know what the podcast was about. It moved through customer experience, network marketing, and a short detour into sounding like coaching for coaches before she recognized the thread that had been there all along: the emotional side of why we do what we do. Looking back, she can see two very different kinds of discomfort living inside the same project: the kind that kept pulling her forward, and the kind that came from working so hard to make something fit that wasn’t quite her. From the inside, she couldn’t tell them apart. This episode explores why, what changed once she could see more of the road, and what it means to trust yourself, and God, when understanding comes slowly. In This Episode, You’ll Hear Why discomfort can tell you how a moment feels, but not where a direction is taking youThe difference between the “good kind of hard” and the “wrong kind of hard,” and why they can feel almost identical while you’re in themHow some of what feels like fear can turn out to be right, and some of what feels like diligence can be forcing a fitWhy seeing where a direction is taking you doesn’t obligate you to keep driving itWhat it looks like to be guided by God when you can’t see the whole path yetWhy changing direction can be part of trusting yourself, not proof that you got it wrongEpisode Chapters 00:00 Welcome 00:51 When You Can’t Tell What Your Discomfort Means 02:30 How This Podcast Got Started 05:10 Finding the Real Thread 07:44 Two Different Kinds of Discomfort 09:57 A Feeling Is About Right Now 13:05 Letting Go of the Wrong Lane 13:47 Guidance When You Can’t See the Whole Path 15:27 What Keeps Drawing You In 17:18 Closing Prayer Memorable Quotes “A feeling is about right now. But a direction where you’re headed, the road where it’s taking you, that is more about distance, and you can’t measure distance based on how one step feels right now.” “You don’t have to stay somewhere that’s hurting you just to prove that you gave it a fair shot.” “Some of what I thought was fear turned out to be the right kind of hard.” “That doesn’t mean you failed to trust yourself the first time. Sometimes that’s exactly what trusting yourself looks like.” Resources Mentioned Isaiah 30:21 — “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” About the Podcast The RISE Experience is a podcast for the woman who can handle a lot. She shows up, gets things done, keeps life moving… and still quietly wonders, Why don’t I feel like myself anymore? Each week, Shannon Denniston, founder of RISE, explores the patterns underneath what we do, the relationships and roles that shape us, the faith that grounds us, and how to find your way back to yourself without erasing who you’ve become. Follow & Connect Follow The RISE Experience wherever you listen to podcasts, and share this episode with one friend who might need it. Read the RISE blog  risewithshannon.blog Follow along  Facebook: Shannon Bell Denniston  Instagram: @risewithshannon

  2. Oct 15

    Stop Waiting for It to Feel Like It Used To

    Send me a text Host Shannon Denniston closes out this month's arc with a story from her own living room: a house where everybody sings, all the time, and a long season where she quietly held back. Before sixteen, she sang competitively and won state competitions — then an accident changed her voice. She unpacks the difference between missing the strength her voice used to have, missing the confidence she used to feel, and believing that because it changed, she wasn't the same person anymore — and why only that third one is worth questioning. Drawing on Isaiah's "do you not perceive it," she lands on what brought her back to singing: she stopped waiting for her voice to sound like it used to before she let it be heard. You'll Learn Why losing some of what you could do isn't the same as losing the part of you that loved doing itThe difference between three kinds of "missing": lost ability, lost confidence, and a conclusion you drew about your identityWhy that third one is worth questioning, even when the first two are genuinely trueHow "different" quietly gets filed under "gone" — and what that actually costs youHow Shannon started singing again once she stopped needing her voice to match an old standardHow Isaiah's "do you not perceive it" applies to noticing what's already here, even in a different shapeEpisode Chapters 00:00 — Welcome + the question underneath00:48 — A house full of song01:38 — When singing went quiet03:50 — Three kinds of missing04:51 — Stop waiting for "before"07:27 — A new thing in Isaiah08:14 — Questions to ask yourself09:07 — Prayer + closingMemorable Quotes "That's where we can get ourselves into trouble. Something changes, and before we even realize it, we've decided what that change means about who we are." "I had just spent so much time listening for the voice I used to have that I wasn't really enjoying the one I still had." "Some of what my voice used to do really was gone — I'm not going to pretend otherwise. But the part of me that loved singing... was never gone." "I think I'd been filing 'different' under 'gone.'" "I know my voice isn't what it was before the accident. I don't think that's really the point anymore. I'm just not waiting for it to be, before I sing." Resources Mentioned Isaiah 43:18-19 — "Do you not perceive it?" About the Podcast The RISE Experience is a weekly podcast for capable women who don't quite feel like themselves anymore. I talk about identity, faith, relationships, and the quiet patterns that shape how we live — so you can find your way back to yourself without erasing who you've become. Follow & Connect Follow The RISE Experience wherever you listen to podcasts, and share this episode with one friend who might need it. Read the RISE blog risewithshannon.blog Follow along Facebook: Shannon Bell Denniston Instagram: @risewithshannon

  3. Oct 8

    Switching Off Autopilot: When They Don't Need You Like They Used To

    Send me a text Sometimes you keep doing something for so long that you stop realizing you're choosing to do it. You make the appointment. Find the cleats. Fix the mistake. Get the waffles. Step in before anyone else has enough time to figure it out for themselves. And somewhere along the way, everyone around you gets used to it too. But what happens when they don't actually need you to do some of those things anymore? In this episode of The RISE Experience, I'm talking about the roles that quietly start running on autopilot — and the surprisingly uncomfortable part of finding out that someone you love may have outgrown needing you in the same way. Because sometimes the question isn't, Why am I doing everything? It's: Do they actually need me to do this, or have I just never waited long enough to find out? I'll talk about what happens when being needed gets tangled up with identity, why stepping back isn't the same as abandoning the people you love, and how letting someone need you less might create room for both of you to grow. In This Episode How something you once chose to do can quietly become a role you never reconsiderWhy the people around you develop expectations around your autopilot tooThe difference between genuinely being needed and simply being the person who always gets there firstWhy stepping back can feel surprisingly uncomfortable when being needed has become part of your identityWhat Gideon's fleece in Judges can teach us about testing what we've assumedWhy letting someone outgrow needing you for something doesn't mean you've lost your place in their lifeHow switching off autopilot can create room to rediscover parts of yourself outside of being neededEpisode Chapters 00:00 — Welcome + the question underneath autopilot00:49 — The pediatrician voicemail01:55 — Cleats, waffles + the things we automatically handle03:57 — When a choice becomes a habit05:28 — Do they actually need me to do this?07:18 — Gideon, the fleece + testing what we've assumed08:13 — When being needed becomes part of who you are09:06 — Letting the people you love grow10:01 — Switching off autopilot long enough to find out10:51 — Prayer + closingA Few Lines to Take With You "You're not choosing to make the waffles anymore. You're just making the waffles." "Does he actually need me to be the one who calls back, or have I just never waited long enough to find out if he'd get to it first?" "The autopilot doesn't just run the tasks. Somewhere along the way, it started running our sense of who we are too." "Their needing you less doesn't mean that their love for you changes. It means that they grew." "You're allowed to switch off the autopilot long enough to wait and find out." Scripture Mentioned Judges 6 — Gideon and the fleece About The RISE Experience The RISE Experience is a weekly podcast for capable women who don't quite feel like themselves anymore. I talk about identity, faith, relationships, and the quiet patterns that shape how we live — so you can find your way back to yourself without erasing who you've become. Follow & Connect Follow The RISE Experience wherever you listen to podcasts, and share this episode with one friend who might need it. Read the RISE blog risewithshannon.blog Follow along Facebook: Shannon Bell Denniston Instagram: @risewithshannon

  4. Oct 1

    The Good Parts Get to Stay Too

    Send me a text Host Shannon Denniston explores why you can miss who you were in a past season while also feeling relieved it's over, naming this mixed experience as ambivalence—holding two opposite feelings at the same time. She explains how we often reduce a complicated era to one flat label ("young and stupid," "so hard"), and how confirmation bias then shapes what we remember, pulling up evidence that supports the label while ignoring the good that was also there. Using 2020 as an example, she shows how a painful season can still contain moments worth reclaiming, without rewriting the hard parts away. Drawing on Ecclesiastes, she notes life doesn't separate cleanly into emotional chapters, and encourages listeners to honor what was hard while intentionally recognizing what was true and good in them then, carrying it forward now, ending in prayer. You'll Learn Why missing a past season and feeling relieved it's over can both be true at onceWhat ambivalence actually means — and why it's not the same as "not caring"How confirmation bias quietly edits your memory once you settle on one label for a seasonWhy the good parts of a hard season don't disappear — they just stop getting pulled upHow Ecclesiastes reframes "a time to weep and a time to laugh" as living side by side, not in separate chaptersWhat it actually means to carry forward what was true and good, without pretending the hard parts weren't realEpisode Chapters 00:00 — Welcome to The Rise00:51 — Missing Her and Relief01:51 — Ambivalence Explained02:38 — Confirmation Bias Memories04:05 — Reclaim the Good Parts05:50 — 2020 Mixed Memories07:10 — Ecclesiastes Both And08:27 — Takeaway and Prayer09:35 — Closing and GoodbyeMemorable Quotes "Ambivalence is holding two very real, very true, but very opposite feelings about the exact same thing literally at the same time.""It's not that the good stuff got erased. You just stopped going back for it, because that story you settled on didn't have room for it anymore.""You're allowed to be genuinely glad that a season is over and still recognize the good that was there too.""That's not you being ungrateful for your life now. That's just refusing to let the hard parts have the final word on your whole story of who you were.""There might still be something worth going back for.""This isn't about rewriting the season into something better than it actually was, but it is, however, about refusing to rewrite it into something smaller than it actually was.""The hard and the good right next to each other, and neither one gets to speak for the whole story alone.""Finding your way back to yourself doesn't mean returning to an earlier version of yourself or a version of your life. It means recognizing what was true and good in you then, and deciding what still belongs with you now.""Both belong to your story... but neither one gets to tell a whole story alone."Resources Mentioned Ecclesiastes 3About the Podcast The RISE Experience is a weekly podcast for capable women whose lives look good on paper but don't feel like theirs anymore. Host Shannon Denniston explores identity, faith, and the quiet patterns that shape how we live and love — helping you find your way back to yourself, without erasing who you've become. Follow & Connect Follow The RISE Experience wherever you listen to podcasts, and share this episode with one friend who might need it. Read the RISE blog risewithshannon.blog Follow along Facebook: Shannon Bell Denniston Instagram: @risewithshannon

  5. Sep 24

    The 10 Minutes After You Speak Up: When Discomfort Doesn't Mean You're Wrong

    Send me a text Host Shannon Denniston explores what happens in the minutes after you finally voice an honest opinion — like suggesting a restaurant in a group text — and then feel the urge to walk it back when responses are neutral or mildly disappointed. She explains that finding your voice isn't just speaking up, but resisting the impulse to abandon what you said to regain the "safety" of being agreeable. The uncomfortable "static" afterward doesn't automatically mean you overstepped or got it wrong; it may simply be the feeling of doing something new after years of equating agreement with belonging. Drawing on 2 Timothy, she notes God doesn't remove discomfort but gives power, love, and a sound mind, and she encourages listeners to sit with the feeling, discern conviction versus unfamiliarity, and keep practicing using their voice. You'll Learn Why the choice itself usually isn't the hard part — it's the ten minutes afterwardHow to spot the difference between a genuine neutral response and the story you're telling yourself about itWhy years of being the "whatever works" friend can make your own body treat agreement and safety as the same thingHow to tell genuinely reconsidering something apart from just riding out the discomfort of doing something newWhat 2 Timothy means by a "sound mind," and why it's still there even while the static is playingEpisode Chapters 00:00 Welcome and Setup 00:47 The Text Aftermath 02:20 Reading Into Responses 02:52 Let Them Be Disappointed 03:40 Why the Static Hits 04:57 Agreeable Equals Safe 06:43 Faith Over Fear 07:20 Reconsidering vs. Riding the Discomfort 07:50 Spiral Is Not Proof 08:53 Prayer and Sendoff Memorable Quotes "Finding your voice isn't only learning to say what you want. It's learning not to abandon what you said the moment someone else's response makes you uncomfortable." "That spiral is not proof that you got it wrong. It's just what it feels like the first several times you do something and it still feels new." "Your body might not be making all that noise because Thai food mattered all that much, but it might be making noise because letting your preference actually take up space now, that is new, and that matters." "The static itself doesn't automatically mean that I got it wrong." "You're not retreating back into being nobody. We're trying to find our way back to you again." Resources Mentioned 2 Timothy — power, love, and a sound mind About the Podcast The RISE Experience is a show for women who are figuring out what real transformation actually looks like — the patterns underneath what we do, the relationships that shape us, our faith, our identity, and all the very human stuff that's been happening along the way. Follow & Connect Follow The RISE Experience wherever you listen to podcasts, and share this episode with one friend who might need it. Read the RISE blog risewithshannon.blog Follow along Facebook: Shannon Bell Denniston Instagram: @risewithshannon

  6. Sep 17

    Whatever Works: The Rudder You Didn't Know You Had

    Send me a text We've all been there: the group text where everyone's picking a restaurant, and instead of saying what you actually want, you type "whatever works." In this episode, Shannon unpacks why those tiny moments of staying quiet matter more than we think — and how they might be the real place where we slowly lose ourselves. It's easy to reserve "using your voice" for the big, dramatic moments — the confrontation, the boundary, the hard conversation. But what if the group text is the real moment? What if "I want Thai food" is the practice that actually shapes who you are? Drawing from James 3 and the image of a rudder — small, unremarkable, yet steering an entire ship — this episode is an invitation to stop waiting for something dramatic enough to matter and start letting the tiny moments count. You'll Learn Why we reserve "using your voice" for big, dramatic moments, when most real moments look more like a restaurant nobody will remember by next weekWhy we build a whole plan or a new communication style around a small preference instead of just saying itHow to tell the difference between genuinely not caring and defaulting to invisible because it's easier than being seen having a preferenceWhy years of "whatever works" can quietly train the people around you — and yourself — to stop expecting an answerWhat James 3's image of the rudder says about how small, unremarkable choices steer the whole direction of a life Episode Chapters 00:00 Welcome and Setup 00:58 The Group Text We've All Been In 02:05 Why the Small Moment Feels Too Tiny to Count 03:12 Building a System Instead of Just Saying It 04:20 What This Is Actually Asking of You 05:15 Indifferent or Defaulting to Invisible? 06:30 When People Stop Asking What You Want 07:20 The Rudder: Small but Steering the Whole Ship 08:15 What to Leave With Today 09:00 Prayer and Closing Memorable Quotes "Nobody's handing you a dramatic showdown on a Tuesday. They're handing you a group text." "Building a whole system around 'I'd like Thai food' is kind of its own way of not doing the actual small thing." "Enough years of 'whatever works,' and people stop asking. Not because they don't care — because you trained them not to expect an answer." "It's just a small, unremarkable piece of wood doing its unremarkable job. But it's the thing actually deciding where the whole ship ends up." "You're still in there, still worth asking, and letting it count is how you start proving that to yourself before you wait for anyone else to." Resources Mentioned James 3 — the tongue as the rudder About the Podcast The RISE Experience is a show for women whose old way of doing life has stopped working, and who are figuring out how to build one that actually holds. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. Follow & Connect Follow The RISE Experience wherever you listen to podcasts, and share this episode with one friend who might need it. Read the RISE blog risewithshannon.blog Follow along Facebook: Shannon Bell Denniston Instagram: @risewithshannon

  7. Sep 10

    The Awkward Middle: Why Understanding Comes Faster Than Change

    Send me a text Shannon Denniston explores why we can understand a habit or pattern immediately but still repeat it within a day, focusing on the gap between insight and actual change. She compares understanding to getting a map of an old road, while our "feet" keep taking the familiar groove unless we deliberately practice a new path, often clumsily and repeatedly. She names this space the "awkward middle," where progress feels like failure because your brain knows better but your body is still defaulting. Using the example of jumping in to fix things when someone is venting, she explains that change often looks like noticing the wrong road sooner — at the end, halfway down, then at the fork — until you can choose differently. She warns against endlessly chasing more insight when what's missing is reps, and closes with Philippians about God carrying the work to completion and a prayer for grace and practice. You'll Learn Why understanding a pattern almost never arrives at the same speed as actually changing itWhat the "awkward middle" actually is — not before you knew, not after you've changed, but right in the middle of doing the thing while watching yourself do itWhy catching yourself a little sooner each time is the real, invisible progress, even while the pattern still shows upWhy chasing more insight can quietly become a way of avoiding the practice that's actually neededWhat Philippians means by God "carrying" the work to completion, and why that's different from finishing it in one sitting Episode Chapters 00:00 Welcome and Setup 01:04 Why Awareness Isn't Change 02:10 The Map and the Road 03:28 The Awkward Middle 04:22 Real-Life Example: Jumping In to Fix It 05:26 Catching the Fork Sooner 06:46 Less Insight, More Reps 07:38 Philippians and Being Carried 08:31 You're Not Failing 09:20 Prayer and Closing Memorable Quotes "That's not you failing to change. That's just what change is actually made of.""Right there, mid-sentence, watching yourself do the thing while you're doing it.""More understanding isn't actually what's missing. What's missing is reps.""Being carried and being finished are two different moments, and you're allowed to be in the first one without treating it like failure.""You are not failing because you still do the thing you understand. That was never the goalpost." Resources Mentioned Philippians 1:6 — being carried to completion About the Podcast The RISE Experience is a show for women whose old way of doing life has stopped working, and who are figuring out how to build one that actually holds. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. Follow & Connect Follow The RISE Experience wherever you listen to podcasts, and share this episode with one friend who might need it. Read the RISE blog risewithshannon.blog Follow along Facebook: Shannon Bell Denniston Instagram: @risewithshannon

  8. Sep 3

    You Don’t Need a Crisis to Take Your Feelings Seriously.

    Send me a text What if that weird, can’t-quite-name-it feeling under “I’m good” is actually the thing you’re meant to pay attention to? I start with a simple moment in a school parking lot, giving the quick, easy answer we all use. I smiled, said, “I’m good, busy, you know, but good,” and headed to my car, but something in me stopped long enough to stare at the gear shift and think, “I am good, right?” That weird feeling under the surface would not quite go away. It kept showing back up in the pickup line, in the scroll I could not remember, in the tiny things that felt bigger than they should.This is a show that gives us a place to talk about what real transformation actually looks like, so I gently push back on the idea that you need a crisis, diagnosis, or burnout before you are allowed to notice yourself. With the story of Elijah and the still, small voice, I talk about how God often meets us in the quiet, ordinary moments and how you are allowed to let that repeated “something feels off” be real, even if your life looks fine on paper. You’ll learn: How “I’m good, busy, but good” can sit on top of a steady, weird feeling you cannot name.Why a hundred small, explainable moments can add up to a real pattern.How “I should be grateful” talk can make you feel guilty for even asking, “Why do I feel like this?”That you do not need a crisis, diagnosis, or disaster before your feelings count.What Elijah’s story shows about God speaking in a quiet whisper, not in the loud, dramatic moments.A simple first step of just noticing, “I don’t feel like myself right now,” and letting that be real with God. Episode Chapters 00:00 The “I’m good, busy, but good” moment in the school parking lot 02:10 The weird feeling you cannot quite put your finger on 04:30 When small irritations and tired days start to look like a pattern 07:15 Feeling ungrateful for asking why you feel off when life looks fine 10:10 Waiting for a big reason before paying attention to yourself 13:20 Elijah, the mountain, and the still, small voice 17:05 Letting quiet moments with God matter more than the earthquake 19:20 A prayer for women who feel off but do not know why yet Memorable Quotes “You don’t need a crisis to justify paying attention to yourself.” “When the same feeling keeps quietly showing back up week after week, maybe it’s not nothing anymore.” “Whatever’s underneath ‘I’m good, I’m busy, but I’m good’ doesn’t have to arrive like an earthquake to be real.” “Somewhere along the way, we decided that noticing ourselves has to be earned.” “You don’t need somebody else’s permission or a big enough reason, you’re allowed to let how you feel count, starting today.” Resources Mentioned Elijah in the wilderness – 1 Kings 19 About the Podcast Welcome to The RISE Experience, a podcast for women who are finding their way back to themselves. This is a space to slow down when everything feels loud, to lead from steadiness instead of urgency, and to finally hear yourself think again. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. A place to pause, reflect, and rise from clarity instead of pressure. Follow & Connect Follow The RISE Experience wherever you listen to podcasts, and share this episode with one friend who might need it. Read the RISE blog risewithshannon.blog Follow along Facebook: Shannon Bell Denniston Instagram: @risewithshannon

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5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Sometimes you realize you've been disconnected from yourself for longer than you thought. The RISE Experience is a podcast for the woman who can handle a lot. She shows up, gets things done, keeps life moving… and still quietly wonders, Why don't I feel like myself anymore? I'm Shannon Denniston, founder of RISE. Each week, we talk about what real transformation looks like in everyday life. The patterns underneath what we do, the relationships and roles that shape us, the faith that grounds us, and what happens when the ways we've always done things stop working for us. We also talk about what comes next. How you begin trusting yourself again, make room for what matters to you, and navigate a life that keeps changing. A lot of what we call starting over is really about understanding ourselves more deeply and learning to move forward without erasing who we've become. Just honest conversations about finding your way back to yourself and learning how to live from that place.

Information

  • Creator
    Shannon Denniston
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    74
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The RISE Experience
  • Show Website
    The RISE Experience