Ministry Chick Network Podcast

Melissa Mashburn
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Self-Improvement

The Ministry Chick Network Podcast is for women of faith who are leading, serving, and sensing there’s more—but want clarity before they make their next move. Hosted by Melissa Mashburn, pastor, coach, and founder of the Ministry Chick Network, this weekly podcast offers honest, practical conversations around calling, confidence, leadership, and sustainable ministry. Episodes feature everyday women in ministry, trusted leaders, and experienced practitioners who share real stories, lived wisdom, and the behind-the-scenes realities of leadership. You’ll hear conversations about: Finding clarity in your callingLeading with confidence without burning outNavigating ministry, leadership tension, and self-doubtBuilding community and support instead of doing it aloneAligning your faith, leadership, and next step with purpose This podcast exists to remind you of something essential: You are called. You are gifted. And you don’t have to figure this out alone. Whether you lead in a church, nonprofit, marketplace, or your local community, the Ministry Chick Network Podcast is a place to reset your leadership, strengthen your voice, and take your next step with clarity and support.

  1. 5d ago

    How to Balance Ministry, Family & Leadership Without Burning Out | Mindy Ross

    How do you lead faithfully when your life is genuinely full without becoming a depleted leader? For women in ministry, there is almost always something that needs your attention. People depend on you. Ministry matters. Family matters. The work matters. And because you're capable of carrying a lot, it can be difficult to recognize when a full life has quietly become an unsustainable one. In this episode, Melissa Mashburn sits down with pastor, author, podcast host, wife, and mom of seven, Mindy Ross, to talk about what she's learned from navigating ministry, family, leadership, trials, changing priorities, and a very full life. Using Mindy's experience as the starting point, they explore how women in ministry can recognize depletion earlier, let priorities shift without feeling like they're failing, allow hard seasons to actually change the way they lead, protect joy, and invite others into what they're carrying. Finishing well isn't simply about getting everything done. It's learning how to lead faithfully without losing yourself in the process. ──────────────────────────────── KEY TAKEAWAYS ──────────────────────────────── How to recognize when a genuinely full life is becoming a depleted oneWhy balance doesn't necessarily mean giving everything equal attentionHow to let priorities shift without interpreting it as failureHow hard seasons can change the way you lead instead of simply becoming something you surviveWhy joy and fun matter in a sustainable lifeWhat to do when something you once loved begins to feel like nothing but responsibilityWhy capable women still need people who know what they're carryingOne practical way to change something before tired becomes depleted

  2. Oct 27

    She Stopped Talking Herself Out of Leadership | Sonia Miller + Richard Jackson

    What if the person talking you out of your leadership isn't your pastor, your church, or the people around you? What if it's you? Three years ago, Sonia Miller bought a book, read something about her own leadership that she wasn't ready to hear, and threw the book across the room. Then she picked it back up. She called the author and began doing the work of recognizing, developing, and owning the leadership she had spent years talking herself out of. Today, Sonia serves as Director of Connections Ministries at First Baptist Moncton in New Brunswick, Canada. And sitting beside her for this Allyship Table conversation is her Lead Pastor, Richard Jackson, who had a front-row seat to what changed. In this episode, Melissa, Sonia, and Richard talk about what it looks like when a woman stops waiting for someone else to convince her she's a leader and begins taking responsibility for her own growth. Sonia shares what had to change in her. Richard shares what he saw from the other side of the leadership table and what he learned about intentionally developing the women already serving alongside him. They also talk about the relationship between owning your leadership and having healthy leaders who recognize it, encourage it, and make room for it to grow. Because someone else can believe in your leadership. But they can't own it for you. ────────────────────────────────── KEY TAKEAWAYS────────────────────────────────── How women can unknowingly talk themselves out of leadershipWhat changed when Sonia began intentionally developing her own leadershipWhy someone else's belief in you can't replace owning your leadership for yourselfWhat a lead pastor noticed as a woman on his team began changingWhat healthy male leaders can do to recognize and develop women already leading around themWhat women may need from the leaders championing themWhat women still have to take responsibility for themselvesWhy leadership development isn't about waiting for a title or permissionWhat Sonia wishes she'd understood earlier about her own voiceWhat Richard wants women to know from the perspective of a male leader who wants them to growLinks & Resources Individual Membership → member.ministrychick.com/courses/membershipChurch Membership → ministrychick.com/the-churchFree Clarity Journal → member.ministrychick.com/courses/clarity-journalMinistry Chick Book → [book link]Connect with Sonia Miller → sonia.miller@firstmoncton.comConnect with Richard Jackson → richard.jackson@firstmoncton.com

  3. Oct 20

    How to Use Your Voice With Courage and Wisdom in Leadership | Cheryl Nembhard

    What does it actually look like to use your voice as a leader when you can't control how people will respond? You see something the room may be missing. You have an idea, a concern, a perspective, or a question that needs to be part of the conversation. And then you start thinking about what might happen if you actually say it. What if they disagree? What if you're misunderstood? What if they think you're difficult? What if nothing changes? In this episode, Melissa Mashburn sits down with Cheryl Nembhard, international speaker, author, media host, ministry leader, and social justice advocate, to talk about what it means to use your voice with both courage and wisdom. Drawing from Cheryl's years of ministry, leadership, advocacy, media, and work around difficult cultural conversations, they explore what Cheryl's experience can teach women in ministry about confidence, courage, discernment, difficult responses, and the responsibility leaders have to bring their perspective into the room. Because using your voice isn't about becoming louder or saying everything you think. It's about becoming a leader who knows what she brings, discerns what is hers to say, and has the courage to say it even when she can't control the outcome. Key Takeaways ─────────────Why using your voice is part of your responsibility as a leaderWhat Cheryl's experience can teach us about leading courageously when something is at stakeWhy courage does not require complete confidence or certainty before you speakHow to separate using your voice responsibly from trying to control how other people respondHow to discern the difference between something you could say and something you are actually responsible to sayWhat to do when you speak clearly and courageously and the response isn't what you hoped forWhy the perspective you bring may serve the room precisely because you see something others don't─────────────RESOURCES & LINKS Stop Playing Small — Free 5-Day Resource → [INSERT LINK]Cheryl Nembhard → cherylnembhard.comOn The Path with Cheryl Nembhard → cherylnembhard.com/podcastWomen's Speaker CollectiveSee, Hear, Love

  4. Oct 13

    Why Women in Ministry Hold Back Their Voice (And How to Stop)

    Have you ever rewritten an email five times before sending it? Replayed a meeting in your head wondering if you said too much...or not enough? Stayed quiet even though you knew exactly what needed to be said? You're not alone. In this episode, Melissa Mashburn and Dr. Brandy Baxter explore one of the most common leadership habits women develop: editing themselves before anyone else ever does. Together, they unpack where this habit comes from, why it quietly erodes confidence over time, and how women can begin leading from conviction instead of fear. Your voice isn't just important. It's part of your leadership. Key TakeawaysWhy women often edit themselves before anyone else does.The difference between humility and self-erasure.How fear quietly shapes leadership decisions.Practical ways to begin leading with greater confidence.Why someone else may need the perspective you're holding back.If today's conversation reminded you how important your voice is, don't develop it alone. The Ministry Chick Network Individual Membership is a place where women practice leadership together, receive coaching, and grow in confidence alongside women who understand the unique challenges of ministry leadership. RESOURCES & LINKS Individual Membership → member.ministrychick.com/courses/membershipFree Clarity Journal → member.ministrychick.com/courses/clarity-journalClarity Kickstart Kit ($27) → member.ministrychick.com/courses/clarity-kickstartChurch Membership → ministrychick.com/the-church

  5. Oct 6

    Why Women in Ministry Keep Silencing Themselves — Cheryl Luke | MCN Conversations

    She keeps editing herself out. Not because she doesn't have something to say. Not because she isn't qualified. Because something inside her hasn't fully healed yet — and an unhealed woman is a silenced woman, even when she's in the room. In this episode Melissa sits down with Cheryl Luke — transformational coach, speaker, 40-year ministry veteran, National Director for Cultural Communities at Celebrate Recovery, and founder of The Mosaic Life — to talk about what healing has to do with voice, why women in ministry keep silencing themselves even when they belong in the room, and what it actually looks like to move from stuck and uncertain to intentional, purposeful, and fully alive in your calling. Keywords: women in ministry, ministry leadership, faith-based leadership, healing and leadership, identity and calling, women of faith, voice and confidence, celebrate recovery, spiritual direction, purpose. KEY TAKEAWAYS Why women in ministry keep editing themselves out of rooms they belong in — and what healing has to do with it that no leadership framework can replaceWhat 40 years of vocational ministry and working with people who feel stuck has taught Cheryl about what actually sets a woman free to use her voice fullyWhat the woman listening can do this week to start moving from uncertain and silenced to intentional, purposeful, and present in the rooms she was made for RESOURCES & LINKSIndividual Membership ($67/mo) → member.ministrychick.com/courses/membershipFree Clarity Journal → member.ministrychick.com/courses/clarity-journalConnect with Cheryl → themosaiclife.com | @cheryllukeThe Mosaic Life → themosaiclife.comCelebrate Recovery → celebraterecovery.comChurch Membership → ministrychick.com/the-church

  6. Sep 29

    Lead From Who You’ve Become | Melissa + Matt Mashburn

    You walked back into the same building. Same calendar. Same team. Same role. But something is different — and if you're honest, you know it. You have grown. You have been through something. You have learned things you didn't know a year ago. The question is whether you're going to lead like it. In this episode, Melissa sits down with her husband Matt Mashburn — Operations Pastor and the man who has watched her lead for 33 years — for a conversation about what it actually looks like to show up differently in a season that looks exactly the same as the last one. What growth looks like from the outside. What changes when a leader finally stops leading from who she was and starts leading from who she has become. Keywords: women in ministry, ministry leadership, faith-based leadership, leadership growth, showing up differently, ministry season, Christian women in leadership, women of faith. ─────────────────────────────── KEY TAKEAWAYS ─────────────────────────────── What it actually looks like to show up differently in a season that looks exactly the same as the last one — and why that difference matters more than any strategy or planWhat growth looks like from the outside — what an executive leader who has watched you lead sees changing in you that you may not be able to see yourselfWhat the woman in ministry needs to claim about who she has become before she walks into this next season ─────────────────────────────── RESOURCES & LINKS ─────────────────────────────── Individual Membership → member.ministrychick.com/courses/membershipChurch Membership → ministrychick.com/the-churchFree Clarity Journal → member.ministrychick.com/courses/clarity-journal

  7. Sep 22

    What the Church Never Taught Women About Leadership — Suzanne Nadell | MCN Conversations

    She spent 30 years as an executive producer in TV news — one of the most high-pressure, high-stakes leadership environments that exists. And somewhere in the middle of all of it she started asking a question that wouldn't leave her alone: what if the church had taught women these leadership lessons instead? In this episode Melissa sits down with Suzanne Nadell — author of Wired to Lead and CEO of She Leads Church — to talk about the leadership lessons she learned in a secular room that she wishes the church had given her, what it looks like to carry those lessons into faith-based leadership, and what she is building so the next generation of women in ministry doesn't have to learn them the hard way. Keywords: women in ministry, ministry leadership, faith-based leadership, women in church leadership, leadership development, Christian women leaders, wired to lead, she leads church, calling, women of faith. ─────────────────────────────── KEY TAKEAWAYS ─────────────────────────────── The specific leadership lessons Suzanne learned in 30 years of TV news that the church wasn't teaching women — and what changes for the woman in ministry when she finally has themWhat the "what if" question actually unlocks — what if the church had equipped women with these tools from the beginning — and how the woman listening can stop waiting for the church to catch upWhat Suzanne is building at She Leads Church and why the woman in ministry who has been leading without the right training needs to know about it ─────────────────────────────── RESOURCES & LINKS ─────────────────────────────── Individual Membership ($67/mo) → member.ministrychick.com/courses/membershipFree Clarity Journal → member.ministrychick.com/courses/clarity-journalWired to Lead → [book link]Connect with Suzanne → suzannenadell.com | @suznadell on InstagramShe Leads Church → [SLC website + fall conference info]Church Membership → ministrychick.com/the-church

  8. Sep 15

    How to Become a Better Ministry Leader This Month | Same Calendar. Different Leader.

    Each year, there's a season that feels like a fresh start in ministry. You know what that season is for your church. New Bible studies. New volunteers. New calendars. New opportunities. But here's the question most of us never stop to ask: Are you actually a different leader than you were last year? In this episode, Melissa Mashburn and Dr. Brandy Baxter explore why experience alone doesn't create growth, why so many leaders unknowingly repeat the same patterns year after year, and what actually changes a leader over time. If you're stepping into another ministry season, don't just prepare your calendar. Prepare yourself. Key TakeawaysWhy another year of ministry doesn't automatically equal another year of growth.The difference between experience and intentional leadership development.Three reflection questions every ministry leader should ask before fall begins.Why coaching, community, and honest reflection accelerate leadership growth.

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About

The Ministry Chick Network Podcast is for women of faith who are leading, serving, and sensing there’s more—but want clarity before they make their next move. Hosted by Melissa Mashburn, pastor, coach, and founder of the Ministry Chick Network, this weekly podcast offers honest, practical conversations around calling, confidence, leadership, and sustainable ministry. Episodes feature everyday women in ministry, trusted leaders, and experienced practitioners who share real stories, lived wisdom, and the behind-the-scenes realities of leadership. You’ll hear conversations about: Finding clarity in your callingLeading with confidence without burning outNavigating ministry, leadership tension, and self-doubtBuilding community and support instead of doing it aloneAligning your faith, leadership, and next step with purpose This podcast exists to remind you of something essential: You are called. You are gifted. And you don’t have to figure this out alone. Whether you lead in a church, nonprofit, marketplace, or your local community, the Ministry Chick Network Podcast is a place to reset your leadership, strengthen your voice, and take your next step with clarity and support.

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