No Notes Podcast

Grace and Katy
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Society & Culture

No notes, just us. A podcast with Grace Snively and Katy Goldstein.

Episodes

  1. 5d ago

    Episode 11: Aging

    Katy and Grace tackle a topic they approach from opposite ends: aging. Katy is upfront that she rejects it outright — concerned with how her face, body, and style read as she gets older, and tracing some of that back to an unexpected identity shift after a health scare left her off birth control and facing a quieter, less pregnancy-centered relationship with her own body. Grace, by contrast, says she's more at peace with getting older than ever, even as she admits to a strange double standard: fully fine with visible wrinkles in person, but far more self-conscious seeing them on camera for work. The two dig into where they land on injections (both skeptical, though Grace trusts one friend who does it responsibly), hair dye (Katy's in forever, Grace's probably never), and how much less makeup they both wear now compared to their heavily-contoured twenties. They also get honest about body image from two very different starting points — Katy's frustration with weight that's harder to lose in her mid-30s, and Grace's quietly complicated relief at finally gaining weight after years of being unable to. The conversation closes with some real talk on strength training and aging well, backed by the book Younger Next Year. In this episode: ​Why Katy "rejects" aging while Grace feels more settled in her late 30s​A health scare that left Katy quietly grieving an unexpected identity shift​Injections, hair dye, and where they each land on preventative beauty treatments​How makeup trends — and how much they wear — have changed since their contouring days​Body image from two different vantage points: losing weight getting harder vs. finally gaining it​Why strength training matters more as you age, and the book Younger Next YearWhat we're excited about: ​Katy: The Weird Women series now live on the Theology Girls feed, plus limited-edition Weird Woman shirts​Grace: A major life shift — her husband's resignation after 21 years of teaching — opening up more time and flexibility for her businesses (and life) going forward

  2. Oct 15

    Episode 10: Getting Married Young

    Katy and Grace compare notes on getting married in their early twenties — Katy at 21 after meeting Jon just a week into her twenties, and Grace at 22, just two months after graduating college. Both reflect candidly on how age gaps with older husbands, evangelical purity culture, and the wedding industry of the early 2010s shaped their very different wedding days: Katy's large, 300-guest affair versus Grace's intimate, 120-person ceremony held in her parents' yard. The two dig into the real pros and cons of marrying young: the grounding feeling of having nearly two decades behind them with their spouses, versus not fully knowing who you are at 21 or 22 — and the importance of being willing to grow and change alongside your partner rather than apart from them. Katy opens up about the quieter emotional comedown after her wedding, tied to purity-culture expectations and birth control adjustments, while Grace shares why having a decade of marriage before having kids made all the difference once she and Adam began navigating life with a child with disabilities. In this episode: ​Katy and Grace's wedding timelines, ages, and how big (or small) their weddings were​How the early-2010s wedding industry and early Pinterest shaped their choices​The "post-wedding blues" and unmet expectations tied to purity culture​Pros and cons of marrying young: growing together vs. not knowing who you are yet​Why both couples waited years before having kids — and why they're grateful they did​How having a decade of marriage first helped them weather parenting a child with a disabilityWhat we're excited about: ​Grace: Serving as keynote speaker at Millikin University's Aspire conference, leading a workshop on creativity and avoiding burnout as a business owner​Katy: Reflecting on the success of Theology Girls Live — nearly 100 attendees, a dinner with Tara Beth Leach, and a standout night overall

  3. Oct 8

    Episode 9: Alcohol — Where We Land

    Episode 9: Alcohol — Where We Land Katy and Grace get candid about their very different relationships with alcohol, and the life experiences that shaped each of them. Grace shares that she's cut back significantly over the past two years, partly for health reasons, but also opens up about growing up with an alcoholic father and how that shaped her choices through high school and college. Katy, raised in a no-drinking Southern Baptist household, describes a wilder freshman year of college before settling into what she now considers a healthy, moderate relationship with alcohol — one she hopes models something different for her own kids. The conversation widens into bigger questions: why alcohol consumption among teens and young adults has dropped so sharply (hint: both think it's less about morality and more about isolation and phones), and whether opting out of drinking altogether — without a moral or health reason — can become a barrier to real community. Grace also shares a genuinely unsettling story about being drugged at a bar, which leads into a broader, honest conversation about the safety calculations women constantly have to make that men largely don't. They close by reflecting on alcohol's place in scripture and its role in building connection and celebration. In this episode: ​Grace's choice to drink less and how it's tied to her father's alcoholism​Katy's wild freshman year of college vs. her approach to alcohol now​Why teen and young-adult drinking rates are dropping — and what that might really mean​The tension between abstaining from alcohol and engaging with your community​Grace's story of being drugged at a bar, and the safety calculus women live with​Alcohol's role in scripture and in building real communityWhat we're excited about: ​Katy: Weird Women, the six-week Theology Girls podcast series launching October 13th​Grace: A shift in family circumstances giving her more breathing room and flexibility for work (more details to come)

  4. Oct 1

    Episode 8: Small Town Life

    Katy and Grace dig into something they both know intimately: leaving small towns and coming back to them. Grace grew up in a town of 1,200 people with no stoplight and a 30-minute drive for groceries, while Katy grew up on a farm outside a slightly bigger town — close enough to experience small-town culture, but far enough out that delivery pizza and walkable friendships were never an option. The two compare notes on the different flavors of "small town": rural farm-kid isolation versus in-town kid freedom, and how those early differences still show up in how well they know their way around their hometowns today. The conversation moves into why they each left for the city and ultimately came back — the deep community connections, the way everyone knows your kids (and looks out for them), and the tradeoffs that come with small-town living: grocery runs that require real planning, "food desert" pockets even in areas that aren't truly rural, and the extra commitment it takes to get anywhere. Both share how church and youth group shaped some of their best small-town memories, and where they each see themselves landing long-term — including the pull of family farmland and generational land decisions still unfolding for both of them. In this episode: ​Comparing childhoods: rural farm life vs. small in-town life​Why neither of them really knows their way around their hometown streets​The tradeoffs of small-town grocery shopping and "food deserts"​Youth group, church culture, and Dairy Queen as the social hub​Feeling safer and more supported raising a child with disabilities in a small town​Family farmland, inheritance conversations, and where "home" might be long-term​Would they ever move back to the city? (Spoiler: probably not)What we're excited about: ​Grace: A handwritten, mailed newsletter for DOMAS Studio — stories, class schedules, and at-home creativity tips sent the old-fashioned way​Katy: Theology Girls Live this Friday in St. Louis — featuring Tara Beth Leach, a Theology Girls Family Feud game, and local vendors

  5. Sep 24

    Episode 7: Business Origin Stories & Behind the Scenes

    Katy and Grace pull back the curtain on the businesses they run outside of No Notes — the wins, the burnout, and everything in between. Grace traces the nine-year journey of Grey House Goods, launched 20 weeks pregnant with zero retail experience and six pieces of clothing, all the way to opening DOMAS Studio out of a converted corner of her shop. Katy shares how Theology Girls grew from a group text and a joking Instagram handle into a weekly podcast, quarterly live events, and — as of this fall — a fully booked guest calendar that's forcing her to learn how to say no. The two get honest about the less glamorous side of entrepreneurship: the exhausting unpredictability of the social media algorithm, Facebook's new pay-to-post-links policy, and the strange sting of watching people you know see your content without ever engaging with it. They also swap real business tips — Grace's philosophy of showing up and serving people well even when the numbers are discouraging, and Katy's task-vs-project method for tackling a to-do list without getting stuck staring at it. In this episode: ​Grace's path from zero retail experience to nine years running Grey House Goods​How DOMAS Studio grew out of a therapeutic art class taught in the back of a clothing store​Katy's origin story for Theology Girls, from group text to podcast to sold-out events​The double-edged sword of being fully booked with guest requests​Social media burnout, algorithm changes, and Facebook's new link-posting fees​Wondering whether your content is "too much" for some of your own audience​Business tips: showing up with integrity vs. chasing numbers, and organizing a to-do list into tasks vs. projectsWhat we're excited about: ​Grace: DOMAS Studio's annual art show in its new building, featuring a community story-walk art project with an 8-foot hand-painted tree​Katy: New Theology Girls merch — Church Mothers shirts and Weird Women tees — ahead of the October 2nd live event

  6. Sep 17

    Episode 6: Sleep Training (Or Not)

    Katy and Grace tackle a topic they know will spark some strong opinions: sleep training. The two land on opposite ends of the spectrum, and they're upfront about it from the start. Katy shares her unfiltered first-week-home experience — no plan, no prep, postpartum anxiety that peaked every evening as the sun went down — before eventually discovering Taking Cara Babies and following its program to the letter starting at four and a half months old. She walks through what the process actually looked like night by night, and how much smoother things went with her second daughter once she'd learned the ropes. Grace tells the other side: fully researched, fully prepared, and none of it worked. She and her husband leaned into co-sleeping and extended nursing as the only things that actually settled her son, later discovering that his sleep struggles were tied to nighttime seizures that went undiagnosed for years. The conversation turns into an honest, unresolved reflection on how differently kids' needs can look, how each of them found their footing as working moms in very different ways (rigid nap schedules vs. surrendering an afternoon to reality TV), and the judgment moms on both "sides" of this debate often carry for each other — even when everyone's just doing their best. In this episode: ​Katy's chaotic first week home and the anxiety that came with it​Discovering Taking Cara Babies and following a structured sleep-training plan​Why her second daughter needed little to no sleep training at all​Grace's fully-researched approach to co-sleeping and extended nursing​The medical ball naps, co-sleeping safety rules, and years of undiagnosed nighttime seizures​How each of them made room for work during naptime — completely differently​Letting go of judgment around other parents' choices What we're excited about: ​Grace: Fall buying season at Grey House Goods — new inventory arriving and hitting the floor​Katy: Weird Women, a six-week storytelling podcast series launching October 13th on the Theology Girls feed, featuring scholar Dr. Craig Keener and stories of women in ministry throughout church history

  7. Sep 10

    Episode 5: Death of the Pastor’s Wife

    Katy and Grace dive into the Netflix documentary everyone's been talking about — the story of a pastor's wife whose death has sparked widespread speculation and investigation online. Grace, who'd never heard of the case before Katy sent it to her, reflects on how algorithm-driven media surfaces stories like this one (and not others) — noting that the case likely broke through in part because the woman was young, white, and conventionally attractive, while countless similar stories involving women of color never make it to a streaming platform at all. From there, the conversation goes deep into complementarian church culture: the pastor's repeated pulpit talk about wives meeting their husbands' sexual needs, the documented abuse, and the grooming dynamics that started when the victim was a teenager under his pastoral authority. Katy connects the story to Beth Allison Barr's book Becoming the Pastor's Wife and the podcast series All the Buried Women, both of which trace a long, uncomfortable history of women giving up power and ministry ambitions to become "the pastor's wife" — unpaid, unrecognized, and often unprotected. The two also unpack the unsettling role mental illness diagnoses played in the story, and close by weighing in — carefully — on whether they believe the documentary's central question was ever really answered. In this episode: ​Why this case broke through the algorithm when so many similar stories don't​The pastor's public teaching on marriage, sex, and "his needs"​Grooming dynamics and shifting positions of authority over years​Beth Allison Barr's Becoming the Pastor's Wife and the history of women's ministry roles​The podcast series All the Buried Women and patterns of covered-up abuse in Southern Baptist churches​Mental illness as a tool of control and manipulation​The dangers of complementarian theology taken to its logical extreme​What justice (or the lack of it) might look like for someone who's lost all credibility, guilty or not What we're excited about: ​Katy: Theology Girls Live on October 2nd — a live podcast recording with Tara Beth Leach, featuring a live sponsor segment with Seminary Now and a free digital course for every attendee https://www.eventbrite.com/e/theology-girls-live-tickets-1993639416161%20​Grace: Ramping up both businesses (Grey House Goods and Domas Studio) after a season of maintenance mode — and being more open on social media about what that balancing act actually looks like

  8. Sep 3

    Episode 4: Disabilities and the Church

    Building on a topic they teased in a past Theology Girls crossover, Katy and Grace dig into something rarely talked about honestly: how faith spaces do — and mostly don’t — welcome people with disabilities. Grace shares the raw, specific reality of trying to bring her son Pierce, who has profound sensory sensitivities, into a church setting: the smells, the lighting, the noise of a congregation talking or singing, microphones, even the expectation of being dressed and out the door on time. She walks through why those triggers cost her family days of recovery, not just an uncomfortable hour — and why she and her husband eventually stopped trying. Katy brings in some sobering numbers: 80% of people with disabilities are unchurched, and 90% of churches have zero accessibility. The two connect it to a bigger pattern — churches wanting diversity or inclusion without building the infrastructure first, whether that’s for disability, race, or anything else. Grace also shares what it feels like to be in spaces (like a sensory-friendly night at the zoo) built with families like hers in mind, and what it would mean for church to feel that way too. Not a tidy conversation — but an important one. In this episode: ​Why Grace and her family stepped away from regular church attendance​Sensory overload and what it actually costs a family for days afterward​The gap between “we have a special needs ministry” and real accessibility​Churches doing it well: sign language interpreters, sensory kits at check-in​The 80%/90% statistics on disability and church accessibility​Building infrastructure before people show up — for disability and diversity alike​What sensory-friendly community events (like “Boo at the Zoo”) get right What we’re excited about: ​Grace: The third annual art show at Domas Art Studio, Friday, September 11th — live music, food, and community artwork on display​Katy: Behold Coffee’s new fall menu launching in Kimmswick, MO — new drinks, a shift from lemon blackberry coffee cake to pumpkin bread, and expanded lunch options

  9. Aug 27

    Episode 3: Back to School

    Katy and Grace kick off week three of No Notes with a topic they’re experiencing from opposite ends of the spectrum: back to school. Katy’s daughters are gearing up for public school (with some very real anxiety about school safety and bus culture along the way), while Grace — married to a 21-year teacher — homeschools her son Pierce with no start date, no stop date, and a learning rhythm built entirely around how his neurodivergent brain works best. The two dig into everything from back-to-school shopping (name-brand sneakers vs. clothes that survive approximately one wear) to the quiet grief that can show up around milestones that look different than expected — school buses, baseball games, first-day photos. Grace opens up about the moment she and her husband decided to pull Pierce from public preschool, and how that decision has continued to prove itself right, even while it reshaped her career and daily life. It’s an honest, unhurried conversation about two very different versions of the same season. In this episode: ​Katy’s back-to-school routines: shoes, shopping, and school supply relief​Gun violence anxiety and choosing a school district​School buses, walkability, and screen exposure on the ride home​Why Grace and Adam pulled Pierce from public preschool​Grieving the “expected” milestones that look different with a disability​Building a homeschool rhythm with no start or stop date What we’re excited about: ​Grace: A new thank-you campaign at Grey House Goods — $100 gift card giveaways every two weeks for customers, in celebration of nearly nine years in business​Katy: Interviewing Kristen Kobes Du Mez (author of Jesus and John Wayne) for Theology Girls ahead of her new book, Live, Laugh, Love

  10. Aug 20

    Episode 2: Mission Trips

    Katy and Grace tackle a topic Grace admitted she was nervous to open up about: mission trips. Katy kicks things off with a vivid memory from age 14 — riding bikes across the border into Matamoros, Mexico, on a trip through a St. Louis Christian radio station. From there, the conversation turns into an honest, unresolved wrestling match: the white savior complex, the "photo op" instinct to serve strangers overseas while neighbors down the street go unknown, and whether short-term mission trips do more for the attendees than for the communities they visit. Grace brings the leader's perspective, having taken middle schoolers on trips for years, and names the tension of "who is the mission trip actually for?" when communities cycle through a new group of well-meaning strangers every single week. Katy references an advance copy of Kristin Kobes Du Mez's upcoming book Live, Laugh, Love, and its account of Elizabeth Elliot's disillusionment with missionary culture after the death of her husband Jim. The two land on a shared, if uneasy, conclusion: local, sustained service — even through secular organizations — might do more good than a week away. No neat bow on this one. Just two friends thinking out loud. In this episode: ​Katy's teenage mission trip to Matamoros, Mexico​The white savior complex and the "photo op" critique of overseas missions​Grace's experience leading middle-school mission trips​The problem with weekly rotating volunteer groups​Elizabeth Elliot's story and Kristin Kobes Du Mez's Live, Laugh, Love​Christian hypocrisy, politics, and "who mission trips are really for"​Why local, sustained service might matter more than a week away What we're excited about: ​Grace: Her adult students' art show, Friday, September 11th — live music, food, and free admission​Katy: The launch of Second Service, a paid Substack community featuring a quarterly book club with live author Q&As Links: ​Details on Grace's student art show, September 11th​Join Second Service on Substack — bonus episodes, essays, and quarterly author Q&As

  11. Aug 13

    Episode 1: Grandparents

    Episode 1: Grandparents Katy and Grace kick off No Notes with something close to home: grandparents. Katy's grandmother recently passed away, and just days before speaking at her funeral, she shares memories of growing up around the family restaurant her grandma ran on Highway 67 — jukebox, deep-fried everything, and a bowl of shredded cheddar cheese to keep a curious kid occupied. Katy also opens up about how This Is Us became an unexpected companion for processing her grandmother's dementia, and the train-ride metaphor she's carrying into her eulogy. Grace shares her own Thursday-afternoon tradition — riding the bus to her grandparents' farm every week — and the life lesson baked into her grandpa's habit of never driving the same road home twice. She also reflects on the different textures of grief and connection across her two sets of grandparents, and how becoming a parent herself has reshaped the way she looks back on those relationships. It's a conversation about memory, small-town roots, dementia, and the particular kind of love only grandparents seem to hand down. In this episode: ​Katy's grandmother, Becky "Mama" Leftridge, and the family restaurant, Traveler's Cafe​Processing grief and dementia through This Is Us​Grace's Thursday bus rides to the farm​The "different route home" lesson​Close bonds vs. distant ones — how every grandparent relationship looks different​What shifts in how we see grandparents once we become parents ourselves What we're excited about: ​Katy: The Theology Girls' quarterly live event, October 2nd at Journey West County, featuring author Tara Beth Leach​Grace: Prepping 40 new paintings for her first solo exhibition, opening the first weekend of November at Strawn Art Gallery in Jacksonville, IL Episode Links: ◦Get tickets to the next Theology Girls live event, October 2nd in St. Louis with Tara Beth Leach ◦Grace's first solo exhibition opens the first weekend of November at Strawn Art Gallery — event details here

  12. Aug 7

    Trailer: No Notes

    Welcome to No Notes. No script, no filter, just us. Coming soon.

  • 1 Trailer
    11 Episodes

Trailer

About

No notes, just us. A podcast with Grace Snively and Katy Goldstein.

Information

  • Creator
    Grace and Katy
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    12
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Grace and Katy
  • Show Website
    No Notes Podcast

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