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My guest is Kathy Eldon, and her opening line to me set the tone for everything that followed. Don’t despair, don’t give up. There’s no way out, but through.

Kathy’s life has been one long act of reinvention, from a conservative upbringing in Iowa, to a journalist in Nairobi, to a mother who lost her 22-year-old son Dan, a Reuters photojournalist killed while covering the crisis in Somalia. She has since built Creative Visions Foundation, which has incubated more than 400 projects across five continents and touched over 100 million people. She’s the author of 17 books, including her memoir In the Heart of Life, which cracked me wide open before we even hit record.

This fall, my youngest, my last one, leaves for college. Twenty-one years of being a mom, and I’m standing at the edge of a chapter I don’t know how to close. When my son left two years ago, I was a wreck. Shame that I was “too attached,” fear of who I am when mothering isn’t my daily identity, questions about my marriage, my life, my self.

So when Jodie Patterson agreed to come back on the podcast, the timing felt like more than coincidence.

This is Jodie’s third time on Cracking Open: she was episode 2, back before I knew what I was doing, and episode 65. She’s a friend, and a voice this podcast keeps coming back to. And this time, I felt how much we’ve both shifted since we last talked.

I don't know about you, but even though I use AI almost every single day, there is still a part of me that gets nervous about it.

I love nothing more than sitting across from a friend with a cup of coffee, driving in the car with my kids and husband to Seattle to see a World Cup Game (yep, I went), or being out in nature with nothing but my own thoughts, no machine, no screen, just me. I am deeply passionate about human connection. So passionate that I did a TED talk on The Power of Human Connection.

I recorded this episode in the middle of one of the most emotional weeks of my life. My daughter Cora was three days from graduating high school, and I found myself at backyard parties where the conversation kept drifting to the same familiar places: the weather, work, the kids.

And I felt that quiet ache I believe so many of us are carrying right now. The longing for something deeper. More real. More connected.

So that’s what today’s episode is about: how we find the courage to have more connection.

What does it mean to truly lead not just in a boardroom, but in your relationships, your family, and your own inner life? In this deeply moving episode, therapist and host Molly Carroll sits down with Thomas Droge, executive coach, Chief Mindfulness Officer, mindfulness speaker, and author of The Leader Within, to explore the practices that create real, lasting transformation.

Whenever someone asks me for a word that describes how I want to live, my answer is always the same.

Freedom.

Not just personal freedom, but freedom in my mind, my body, and my spirit. Maybe that comes from being raised Catholic. Or maybe it’s simply my wild spirit that has never wanted to be contained.

So when I read Shaka Senghor’s How to Be Free: A Proven Guide to Escaping Life’s Hidden Prisons, I knew I needed to have him back on the podcast.

Because Shaka’s message isn’t just for people who have been behind bars. You don’t need a prison cell to feel imprisoned.

Welcome to Molly's Magic.

I’m Molly.
A mom, a therapist, an author, a podcast host, and a TED speaker.
The alchemy of these roles has brought me here.

Molly's Magic is simple.
Short, meaningful, and doable steps to help you move closer to your goals.

Welcome back to Part Two of our 100th episode.

And if you haven’t listened to Part One yet—pause here and go back. Truly.

Today, I’m re-releasing my conversation with Serena Dugan for a different—but equally powerful—reason.Over the years, people have stopped me on the streets of my hometown of Bend to tell me that Serena’s words gave them the courage to finally write the book that had been living inside them… or to leave a corporate job and start a small design company to help people feel more alive in their homes.