Out Loud With Cindy Schwartz

Cindy Schwartz
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Personal Journals
  • Updated Biweekly

Cindy Schwartz is the host of Out Loud, a storytelling podcast where the mic is passed to the lived experiences of everyday women. It's where we talk about hard subjects, Out Loud. As a professional coach, Cindy has spent years bearing witness to deeply personal and nuanced stories. No matter the circumstance, the common theme that consistently emerges: resilience and liberation. She created Out Loud from the belief that in today's world we need to feel heard, and we also need to hear the stories of others. Listening to lived experiences helps us better understand our own lives and reminds us that we belong to something bigger than ourselves. In each episode, a woman shares a story that is hers to tell. Together, Cindy and her guest uncover the wisdom within these moments and brings those insights forward to be shared, Out Loud.

  1. 12h ago

    An Identity Experiment: From Ambition to Actualization with Jessie Harrold

    An Identity Experiment with Jessie Harrold Jessie Harrold's career has got it going on! She's a bestselling author, a sought-after expert in her field, and a woman who has built her life's work around championing other women. It's the kind of success story that makes you assume she always knew exactly where she was going. Turns out, her path was far from clear-cut, and it took years for her to become the woman she is today. I wanted to go behind the scenes, to the woman behind the women. Not her polished bio, but the version that includes the plans that didn't work, the pivots no one saw coming, and the stretches where she had to figure out who she was without the title she thought would define her. We get into what it means when ambition and self-worth get tangled together. We talk about why so many of us treat every outcome as a verdict on who we are, and what changes when you start treating your life like an experiment instead. And we talk about the question underneath so many career stories: how do you trust yourself when there's no blueprint? Jessie is warm, sharp and refreshingly honest about what it took to get here. She also doesn't pretend it was tidy. If you've ever wondered whether you're behind, off track or building something that doesn't look like what you imagined, this conversation will meet you right there. It might also change what you think "success" is supposed to look like. Sometimes, the career that becomes yours is nothing like the one you planned. And maybe that's not a detour. Maybe that's the experiment. Jessie is the author of Mother Becoming, Mothershift and Project Body Love, with another book scheduled for release in 2027. She's a coach, doula and expert on matrescence, the transition into motherhood. Connect with Jessie: www.jessieharrold.com Instagram: @jessie.es.harrold

    An Identity Experiment: From Ambition to Actualization with Jessie Harrold

  2. Oct 14

    When life changes the plan with Ardra Shephard

    Ardra Shephard has spent decades learning to live with a body that doesn't always play by the rules. But MS is only one part of her story, and it certainly doesn't define all of it. On this author series episode of Out Loud, I sit down with Ardra, one of Canada's leading MS advocates and influencers, to talk about her memoir, Fallosophy. We get into letting go of the life you imagined, where her fierce sense of self comes from, and why we treat exhaustion as a badge of honour. And then there's Ardra's writing. With such clever prose and a wicked sense of humour, she somehow turns a story about an MS diagnosis into a ROM COM.  At its heart, Fallosophy is a coming-of-age story. It's deeply inspiring for people living with disabilities, but its themes of identity, acceptance, and figuring out how to live when life doesn't go to plan have parallels for all of us. Ardra brings candour and grit to the hard stuff, without asking for pity or pretending it's easy. What struck me most was how unbelievably relatable Ardra is, and how easy it felt to go deep with her. We covered a lot of ground, so you don't want to miss this special conversation. ❤️ Ardra's book: https://douglas-mcintyre.com/products/9781771624305?srsltid=AU7gw4XYwmUz_X-kLKBbSnC4hDI8qDKmyM_RMEIv-fKwOthM_AZgkod6 Ardra's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ms_trippingonair/  Ardra's website: https://trippingonair.com/

    When life changes the plan with Ardra Shephard

  3. Sep 30

    The Nudist Awakening with Lyane Morency

    What if the thing that finally helped you love yourself was… taking your clothes off? Lyane spent most of her life believing her body was something to fix. Years of doing anything at any cost to finally feel comfortable in her own skin. Something her mother said in the final days of her life shifted everything. Lyane slowly started questioning the beliefs she had held her whole life and began looking for a different way to see herself and her life. Then an influencer suggested something that sounded completely outside her comfort zone: try doing yoga at home naked. So she did. And it opened up her curiosity about what else might happen if she was willing to try something unconventional. What followed was a journey into naturism with her husband, some hilarious early experiences, and eventually a trip together to a naturist resort that Lyane describes as life changing. But what happened there went far beyond getting comfortable being naked. By giving herself permission to do something unconventional, Lyane discovered a completely different way of seeing herself. And that freedom began to spill into every part of her life. This is a conversation about courage, curiosity and the unexpected ways we can liberate ourselves when we're willing to step outside the rules we've been living by. Come for the nudism. Stay for the liberation.

    The Nudist Awakening with Lyane Morency

  4. Sep 16

    From the Streets to Saving Lives: Dr Kirsten Johnson's Extraordinary Journey

    Humanitarienne with Dr. Kirsten Johnson What happens when the girl who once lived in a punk rock house, survived on odd jobs and soup kitchens, and didn't even finish high school goes on to become a physician, scholar and humanitarian? That is just the beginning of Kirsten Johnson's extraordinary story. In Humanitarienne, Kirsten takes us from a difficult childhood and a teenage search for somewhere to belong, through a life of risk, adventure and service across the globe. From a kibbutz in Israel to refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border, the killing fields of Darfur, earthquake-ravaged Haiti, the Canadian Arctic and the front lines of global health, she keeps following the same instinct: go where the need is greatest and figure out how to help. But this isn't just a book about the places Kirsten has been or the things she's survived. It's about the woman those experiences created. We talk about the young woman who was desperate to escape, the experiences that taught her she could navigate the world, and the many places where she found pieces of belonging along the way. We talk about near-death experiences, absorbing fragments of other people's pain, motherhood and guilt, and the complicated reality of working inside systems designed to help people that don't always get it right. And eventually, Kirsten stops asking how she can keep responding to broken systems and starts asking how she can change them. The impact she made on the world and the lives she touched will forever define her legacy  This is a story about courage, purpose, belonging, worth and what it means to build a life that actually feels like your own. Kirsten thoughtfully asks; What does it mean to live a meaningful life?  Join us for this first episode of the Author Series, to find out. Humanitarienne is published by Douglas & McIntyre. https://douglas-mcintyre.com/products/9781771624862?srsltid=AfmBOoo5rkmCjbLng9oidmq0yyKi5gBc81WHtpzwyfIMVjuT79slwMAD Kirsten's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirstenjohnsonexplorer/  Kirsten's clinic: https://medalma.com/

    From the Streets to Saving Lives: Dr Kirsten Johnson's Extraordinary Journey

  5. Sep 11 ·  Bonus

    In between; A Look Back, A Look Ahead

    Season 1 taught me a lot. And now I'm taking those lessons into Season 2. After 12 conversations with women I thought I knew, I realized Out Loud isn't just about stories of resilience and liberation. It's about becoming, and who we are on the other side of coming Out Loud to share our stories.  In this bridge episode, I share what I learned making Season One, and what I'm taking with me into the next chapter. And then, a preview at what's coming in Season Two: new women, new conversations, a new additional series, and a new community! Season One was the beginning. Here's what's next in a BIGGER, BOLDER SEASON 2!

    In between; A Look Back, A Look Ahead

  6. Sep 9 ·  Bonus

    Special finale! When Cindy met Brian 🥰

    29 years going strong… but it all started with a very questionable courtship.... In this special episode of Out Loud, I'm joined by my husband, Brian, for a very honest, sometimes very funny and sometimes very heartbreaking look back at the first year and a half of our relationship. It was the late '90s. We were young, figuring ourselves out, and navigating a courtship that was… let's just say, not exactly a straight line to happily ever after. There were many missteps, hurt feelings, questionable decisions, and plenty of moments that, at the time, felt like the end of the world. Think Reality Bites, or Ross and Rachel (were they on a break?)  only we actually stayed together. 😉 I wanted to give you, my audience a glimpse into young Cindy: the woman I was becoming, and the ways having this great love by my side helped shape the person I am today. I also a reveal a very traumatic event of our past that I have shared with very few people since it happened. I decided to be courageous and finally come Out Loud.  We go back to where it all began, tell the stories we still laugh about, and reveal some things that may have been better left in the '90s. Come hear how it all unfolded. ❤️

    Special finale! When Cindy met Brian 🥰

  7. Aug 28

    "It was the perfect storm" with Jen Smordin + special guest

    There are moments in life when everything seems to happen at once. When the circumstances are so overwhelming that you can't imagine how you're going to get through them, and yet, somehow, you do. This is Jen Smordin's story. In the same month that the world shut down, Jen was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, standing on the precipice of separating from her husband, raising two young children, and suddenly finding herself in lockdown with her entire family. It was, in every sense, the perfect storm. But this episode isn't really about cancer, divorce, or the pandemic. It's about what happens to us when life strips away the structures we've relied on, and what we discover about ourselves when we're forced to find another way forward. For Jen, this extraordinary convergence of circumstances brought her face-to-face with the conditioning and generational beliefs that had shaped how she thought she was supposed to live, behave, and be in the world. And somewhere in the middle of all that uncertainty, something shifted. She began to challenge those beliefs, trust herself in new ways, and discover a resilience she didn't know she had. And there's another really special layer to this story. Joining us is Jen's best friend, who was actually living with Jen and her family when the world went into lockdown. She witnessed this chapter unfold from the inside, giving us a perspective that only someone who was there could offer. Together, the two of them take us through the chaos, the choices, the lessons, the moments of doubt, and ultimately, the woman Jen emerged as on the other side. And at the heart of it all is Jen's relationship with her children and the extraordinary lengths she went to put them at the forefront of every decision. This is a story about motherhood. About resilience. About challenging the stories we inherit. About discovering that sometimes the life we thought we were supposed to live is not the life we're meant to keep living. And perhaps most of all, it's a beautiful testament to the human spirit, female friendships and to the choices we still get to make when life gives us circumstances we never would have chosen for ourselves. This was her The Perfect Storm.

    "It was the perfect storm" with Jen Smordin + special guest

  8. Aug 14

    "I was told all my friends would go to hell" with Casey Rae Nunn

    What if you grew up believing that most of the people you loved were destined for hell? Casey Rae Nunn was born into what she believed was simply a devoted Christian community in rural Manitoba. From an early age, she was taught there was one right way to live, one right way to believe, and one path to salvation. As she met children outside her community at school, she was told by the adults in her life that anyone who wasn't part of their faith would spend eternity in hell. But even as a child, Casey sensed something wasn't quite right. She remembers wondering, What do you mean all of my friends are going to hell? She was naturally curious and quietly questioned the messages she was being taught, even if she didn't yet have the words, or the freedom, to challenge them. It wasn't until she left home to attend university that her world began to expand. In her twenties, Casey started to wonder whether the community she had grown up in was not simply a strict Christian sect, but a cult. One of the most fascinating parts of Casey's story is the contrast between the world that shaped her and the woman she is today. A vibrant, creative, artistic, and deeply thoughtful person, Casey grew up in an environment that saw life in stark black and white. Her journey has been one of reclaiming curiosity, embracing nuance, and redefining who she is on her own terms. In this episode, we talk about growing up in a high control religious community, questioning everything you thought you knew, untangling identity from indoctrination, and finding the courage to build a life that feels authentically your own, while still loving family members who remain part of that world. This wasn't an easy story for Casey to tell. Following public scandals involving the group she grew up in, she has chosen to share her experience because it is an important part of who she is and because she knows others may recognize pieces of their own story in hers. This conversation is about faith, identity, belonging, courage, and what happens when you finally give yourself permission to ask the questions you've carried your whole life. If you want to learn more about 2 X 2 Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and the Abuse of Power Hosted by Lola Blanc and Meagan Elizabeth (an ex-2x2) - "Kyle & Kari, Part 1 – Deconstructing the 2x2s" (August 16, 2023) – Apple | Spotify - "Kyle & Kari, Part 2 – Uncovering Widespread Sexual Abuse" (August 23, 2023) – Apple | Spotify - "Mike & Abbi Prussack, Part 1: A Church with No Name, Isolated Childhoods, and Doomsday Fear" (November 12, 2023) – Apple | Spotify - "Mike & Abbi Prussack, Part 2: Predators in Power, Institutional Denial, and the Fight to Expose It" (November 19, 2025) – Apple | Spotify Let's Talk About Sects - "Two by Twos / The Truth" (October 13, 2020) – featuring Laura McConnell, an ex-2x2 from Australia – Apple | Spotify - "Interview Episode: Two By Two Update" (February 6, 2025) – featuring Abbi and Mike Prussack – Apple | Spotify The Mass Exodus - "Anguish, Abuse, and Ankle Length Dresses: Growing Up in a Nameless Cult" (March 29, 2022) – featuring Kristin Warnaca – Apple | Spotify

    "I was told all my friends would go to hell" with Casey Rae Nunn
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Ratings & Reviews

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About

Cindy Schwartz is the host of Out Loud, a storytelling podcast where the mic is passed to the lived experiences of everyday women. It's where we talk about hard subjects, Out Loud. As a professional coach, Cindy has spent years bearing witness to deeply personal and nuanced stories. No matter the circumstance, the common theme that consistently emerges: resilience and liberation. She created Out Loud from the belief that in today's world we need to feel heard, and we also need to hear the stories of others. Listening to lived experiences helps us better understand our own lives and reminds us that we belong to something bigger than ourselves. In each episode, a woman shares a story that is hers to tell. Together, Cindy and her guest uncover the wisdom within these moments and brings those insights forward to be shared, Out Loud.

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