Solo Parent

Being a single parent brings real pressure. You should not face it alone.
The Solo Parent Podcast offers honest conversation, expert insight, and practical help for raising healthy kids while carrying the weight alone. Created by single parents for single parents, each episode speaks to the emotional, relational, and everyday realities of solo parenting. Hosted by author and Solo Parent founder Robert Beeson, alongside Elizabeth Cole, Vice President of Solo Parent and a single mom herself, this podcast has supported thousands of single parents worldwide. It is for single moms and dads navigating divorce, loss, or abandonment who want steadiness, hope, and connection.

Solo Parent exists to make sure no single parent walks alone. Through daily support groups, articles, guided meditations, and a free dedicated app, Solo Parent provides steady, practical support for every stage of the journey. Listeners can engage beyond the podcast and find real community, daily encouragement, and tools built specifically for single parent life. Go to www.SoloParent.org or download our app, on any app platform, to learn more!

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22 episodes
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Avg 37 min
English

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Monday · 29 min
Courage to Let Your Kids See You Struggle
This week we're discussing Courage to Let Your Kids See You Struggle. Somewhere along the way, most solo parents develop a kind of silent rule: handle the hard things before you walk into the room. Clean up before they see you. Keep your voice steady even when your heart isn't. It comes from love. But it also comes from fear, and it's worth asking whether the wall you've built to protect them might also be keeping them from something they really need. Robert Beeson, Founder & CEO of Solo Parent, Elizabeth Cole, single parent, and Amber Fuller, a counselor with a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy (MMFT) and single parent, take a close and honest look at something every solo parent wrestles with: how much of your struggle do you actually let your kids see? They get practical, they get real, and they name the difference between protecting your kids and isolating them from a version of you that could actually draw you closer. Key Insights from this episode: Struggle is something you can model, not just survive - Kids learn resilience by watching adults navigate hard things, not by watching them perform composure. The space between hiding and dumping is where real connection lives - Honest, age-appropriate moments, done without making your kids responsible for what you're carrying, teach them how to handle hard things too. Vulnerability, done with intention, builds the trust that nothing else can - When you let them in a little, they let you in too, and that mutual trust becomes the foundation of a relationship that holds. Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
August 24 · 22 min
Courage to Ask for Help
This week we're discussing Courage to Ask for Help. Asking for help is something most solo parents will tell you they're working on, and almost none of them will tell you they've figured out. It's not just pride, though that's part of it. It's the fear of being a burden, the mental math of what you might owe someone, the exhaustion of having to explain your situation one more time, and the quiet identity that gets built around being the one who handles everything. This episode goes right at that tension and hopefully stays there long enough for something to shift. Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, Elizabeth Cole, a single parent, and Amber Fuller, a counselor with a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy and single parent, bring their own stories to this conversation. None of them have this perfectly figured out either, which is exactly what makes it worth listening to. Key Insights from this episode: Refusing help has a hidden cost that shows up in your kids. The stress of carrying everything alone doesn't stay contained to you. It moves through you and lands on the moments and the people closest to you. Accepting help is an act of honor, not weakness. When you say yes to someone who wants to help, you're telling them their generosity matters and their presence in your life counts. Building the muscle starts with a list and a yes. Identify what you can offload, write down five people you trust, and practice saying yes, thank you without the explanation attached. Resources Mentioned in this episode: Brené Brown reference on shame and vulnerability Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
August 17 · 31 min
Courage to Set a Boundary
This week we're discussing Courage to Set a Boundary: Most solo parents aren't avoiding boundaries because they don't care. They're avoiding them because the relationships that need the boundaries are also the ones they depend on most. The co-parent they need to cooperate with. The family member their kid loves. The boss they can't afford to lose. And so the line goes undrawn, the cost gets absorbed, and somewhere along the way you stop noticing how much it's taking from you. Robert Beeson, Founder & CEO of Solo Parent, sits down with Elizabeth Cole, single parent, and Marissa Lee, author and single parent, and each of them brings a real situation to the table. Not a theoretical one. Elizabeth's summer this year was derailed by a boundary she didn't set early enough. Marissa learned the hard way what years of staying silent actually costs. Robert found out that shutting everyone out isn't the same thing as having boundaries. What comes out of it is practical, honest, and closer to home than most of us would like to admit. Key Insights from This Episode: Setting boundaries starts with two honest questions: What do I feel, and what do I need? These two questions cut through the noise and give you the language for what a boundary actually needs to look like — not in theory, but in the specific situation in front of you. Fear and wisdom can lead to the same action, but only one of them will hold. A boundary set from panic or exhaustion tends to swing to extremes. One set from an honest assessment of what you're protecting tends to stick. Knowing which one you're operating from changes everything. Courage in boundary-setting doesn't always look like a hard conversation — sometimes it's a quiet internal decision. Especially in volatile co-parenting situations, the most powerful move is often the one nobody else sees. Deciding what you won't engage with, what you won't say, what you won't let go further. That's a boundary too. Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Chip Dodd, therapist and author Sissy Goff, counselor Marissa Lee, Becoming Mom and Dad: How God Fathers Through Single Mothers Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
August 10 · 35 min
Helping Our Kids Have Courage
This week we're discussing Helping Our Kids Have Courage. Every solo parent has felt it — that pull to step in when your kid is struggling. Maybe they're nervous about something new, or stuck in a situation they don't know how to handle, and everything in you wants to smooth it over. It makes sense. Your kids have already been through more than you ever wanted for them, and the last thing you want is to pile on more difficulty. But there's a gap between protecting your kids and equipping them, and most of us don't realize how wide that gap has gotten until we look up one day and wonder why our kids struggle to handle the smallest uncomfortable moments on their own. Robert Beeson, Founder & CEO of Solo Parent, Elizabeth Cole, single parent, and Amber Fuller, a counselor with a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy (MMFT) and single parent, get practical about what it actually takes to raise kids who can face hard things. The conversation is honest, relatable, and full of the kind of insight that makes you rethink some of your default parenting moves — not out of guilt, but out of genuine hope for what your kids are capable of. Key Insights from this episode: Struggle builds the muscles your kids need to handle real life — Repeatedly rescuing your kids from discomfort doesn't make them feel safer. Research shows it actually increases anxiety, quietly sending the message that hard things are too much for them. Being with your child in hard moments is different from doing it for them — Presence and rescue are not the same thing. Staying close while your child does something hard communicates trust in a way that stepping in never can. Courage is a practice, and you can build it into everyday family rhythms — From the question you ask at the end of the day to the small social risks you encourage at school, courage gets built in ordinary moments long before the big ones arrive. Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
August 3 · 34 min
Courage to Step Into the Unknown
This week we're discussing Courage to Step Into the Unknown. Every solo parent knows what it's like to feel the weight of not knowing what comes next. Whether it's a financial decision you're unsure about, a parenting situation without a clear answer, or a future that looks nothing like you planned - uncertainty is one of the most constant companions in this season. And most of us, without realizing it, have developed ways of coping that feel responsible but quietly make things harder. Robert Beeson, Founder & CEO of Solo Parent, and Amber Fuller, a counselor with a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy (MMFT) and single parent, get honest about the psychology behind why uncertainty feels so threatening - and what it actually looks like to face the unknown with steadiness instead of fear. The conversation is personal, grounded, and gives you something real to take into the week. Key Insights from This Episode: When Fear Is Driving, Even Good Instincts Can Work Against You - the two most common responses to uncertainty make complete sense, but they don't deliver the security we're looking for. Curiosity and Wonder Are the Path to Peace in the Unknown - loosening your grip isn't giving up; it's where peace actually lives. The Goal Is the Step, Not the Outcome - you don't need to see the whole path, just the next move forward. Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
July 27 · 36 min
What to Do When Your Child Pushes Your Buttons
This week we're talking about, What to Do When Your Child Pushes Your Buttons. Your child says something that lands hard, or they shut down completely and the silence fills every corner of the house. You hold it together in the moment, but later, when everything is quiet, you replay it. You wonder if you handled it right. You wonder if the relationship is okay. And you do all of that alone, without anyone to help you sort through it. The hard truth is that solo parenting doesn't give you a timeout from the hardest parenting moments. There's no one to tap in, no one to debrief with, and no one to remind you that you're not failing just because your kid is furious with you right now. Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, and Elizabeth Cole, a single parent navigating this in real time, sit down with Amber Fuller, a counselor with a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy and single parent, to talk through what's really happening when your child pushes back, and what it actually looks like to stay grounded, hold your position, and keep the relationship intact at the same time. Key Insights from This Episode: Your child's anger is often a signal, not an attack. When kids rage or shut down, they're usually communicating fear, loss, or a need for control they don't yet have words for. Staying emotionally regulated isn't about suppressing your feelings. It's about being the stable presence your child needs when their own emotions are running the show. Framing your child's pushback as a form of trust changes how you receive it. They push hardest at the people they believe won't leave. Resources Mentioned in This Episode: The Emotional Lives of Teenagers by Lisa Damour The Whole Brain Child by Dr. Dan Siegel Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
July 20 · 31 min
Why Do I Feel Like Damaged Goods?
This week we're discussing Why Do I Feel Like Damaged Goods? Most of us don't walk around calling ourselves damaged. But the belief shows up anyway. In the way you brace before getting close to someone. In the quiet assumption that what happened to you says something permanent about who you are. Whether it came from loss, from words spoken over you in a hard season, from a relationship that ended badly or one that never got to begin, the feeling has a way of becoming identity before you even realize it happened. Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, sits down with Elizabeth Cole, single parent and co-host, and Amber Fuller, a counselor with a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy and single parent herself, for an honest conversation about why so many solo parents carry a private belief that they are somehow less than. Less worthy of connection. Less capable of being loved well. And what it actually looks like to start believing something different - not through willpower, but through the right people and the right environments. Key Insights from This Episode: The "damaged goods" feeling has company. Virtually every solo parent carries some version of this, and naming that out loud is the first thing that starts to shift it. The broken mirror wasn't you. The voices that told you something was wrong with you came from somewhere - and that source matters more than you think. Shame doesn't heal in isolation. Getting into environments where someone else says "me too" does something that self-help and positive thinking simply can't. Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
July 13 · 35 min
How to Build a Core Community
This week we're discussing How to Build a Core Community. You know you need people. You've felt it, probably more in the last season of your life than ever before. But needing community and knowing how to build it are two very different things. It's easy to look around and feel like everyone else has their people figured out, while you're still trying to work out where you even fit. Whether you're starting over after loss or divorce, navigating an unplanned pregnancy, or simply realizing the friendships you had don't quite hold the shape of your life anymore, that ache of not having a solid crew around you is real. And it matters. Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, sits down with Elizabeth Cole, single parent, and Amber Fuller, a counselor with a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy (MMFT) and single parent, to talk honestly about what it takes to build community that actually holds. No guest this week, just three people who've lived it, comparing notes on what worked, what didn't, and what they'd tell their earlier selves about finding the right people. Key Insights from This Episode: Build a patchwork of people, not a single lifeline. Spreading your needs across multiple relationships is what keeps community sustainable for everyone. When people pull away, it's usually discomfort, not cruelty. Most people don't know how to stay present in someone else's pain, and that's different from not caring. Giving is what turns a group of people into actual community. Showing up for others, even in small ways, is what creates the kind of belonging you're looking for. And if you want to keep the conversation going, Robert, Elizabeth, and Amber are going live on July 19th at 7:00 PM Central to tackle another big community question: can men and women really just be friends? Head to soloparent.org/safepeople to save your spot. Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
July 6 · 42 min
Who Are Safe People?
This week we're discussing Who Are Safe People?. When you're parenting on your own, the question of who to trust carries a lot of weight. You want connection. You need it. But after being hurt or let down, it's hard to know how much to share, how fast to move, or whether your read on someone is accurate or just wishful thinking. Most of us have let someone in before they'd really earned it. And most of us have paid for that in some way. In this episode, Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, sits down with Elizabeth Cole, single parent, and Amber Fuller, a counselor with a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy and single parent, to talk through what it actually looks like to identify safe people, build trust slowly, and become the kind of person others can feel safe with too. Key Insights from This Episode: Trust is built by reliability over time, not first impressions. Watching someone show up consistently across different situations is the only real way to know if they're safe. Loneliness and exhaustion lower your guard, and that's not a flaw, it's human. Understanding what's driving your need for connection helps you move toward people thoughtfully rather than reactively. To find safe people, you have to become one. Developing your own capacity for safety, presence without judgment, reliability, and the ability to make repair, is what makes you able to recognize it in others. Whether you're navigating new friendships, dating, or even professional relationships, the challenges single parents face around trust are real and specific. This conversation addresses some of the most common ones. Join Us Live: We're continuing this conversation in a free live webinar on Sunday, July 19th at 7:00 PM Central. The topic: Can men and women really just be friends? Register here: soloparent.org/safepeople. Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
June 29 · 44 min
A Solo Parent Story: From Numbing Out to Living Fully
This week we're discussing From Numbing Out to Living Fully. The end of the day hits differently when you are parenting alone. The kids are down, the house is finally quiet, and instead of feeling relief, there is this hollow weight that settles in. So you reach for something, anything, to take the edge off. A drink, a show, a scroll, something sweet. It does not feel like a problem. It feels like survival. But over time, the things you are leaning on to get through the day start quietly working against you, leaving you more exhausted, more disconnected, and further from the version of yourself you actually want to be. Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, and Elizabeth Cole, single parent and co-host, sit down with Katrina Morriss, a licensed mental health nurse practitioner and single mom who has been part of the Solo Parent community since 2020. Katrina's story is not a tidy before-and-after. It is raw, honest, and the kind of account that makes you feel less alone in your own struggle. Together they walk through what it looks like to recognize the cycle, face the fear of what is on the other side of it, and find your way back to the moments that matter most. Key Insights from This Episode: Numbing and restoring are not the same thing. What feels like relief at the end of a hard day may actually be the thing keeping you stuck in exhaustion. The known hell feels safer than the unknown heaven. Fear of what healing requires keeps more solo parents in the cycle than the pain of staying in it. Presence for your kids is the fuel, not just the goal. The unregrettable moments with your children are what make the hard work of recovery worth sustaining. Resources Mentioned in This Episode: The Voice of the Heart by Chip Dodd Tony Evans Podcast Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
June 22 · 39 min
How to Keep Control from Destroying Your Peace
This week we're discussing How to Keep Control from Destroying Your Peace. Solo parenting puts you in a position where so much is genuinely outside your control. The other household. The court dates. How your kids are processing things you cannot fully see. And when that much is out of your hands, it is completely natural to tighten your grip on everything else. The schedule. The way the kitchen looks. The outcome of a conversation you have already rehearsed a dozen times. It feels like stability. It feels like you are doing something. But over time, that kind of control does not actually bring peace. It borrows against it. That tension is exactly what this conversation digs into. Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, Elizabeth Cole, single parent, and Amber Fuller, a counselor with a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy (MMFT) and single parent, sit down to work through what is really driving the urge to control, why letting go is not the same thing as giving up, and what it looks like in real life to hold things a little more loosely without losing yourself in the process. It is one of those conversations that has a way of naming things you have been feeling but have not quite had the words for. Key Insights from This Episode: Control is often a counterfeit for peace. It mimics stability but quietly works against the peace you are actually looking for. Letting go is not the same as giving up. The shift is from gripping tightly to holding loosely enough to stay present and adapt. "What if" lives in the future; "if only" lives in the past. Real agency only exists in the present, in the one next right step. Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
June 15 · 56 min
Making Peace with Our Past
This week we're discussing Making Peace with Our Past with Dr. Dan Allender. Most of us know our story. We could tell it in five minutes if someone asked. But knowing what happened and actually being free from it are two very different things. For a lot of solo parents, the past shows up uninvited, in a sharp reaction that didn't fit the moment, a fear that surfaces when things finally feel calm, a pattern with your kids you swore you'd never repeat. It doesn't mean you haven't tried. It means the trying might need to go a little deeper. And the longer we avoid that, the more the past quietly runs the present. In this conversation, Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, and Elizabeth Cole, single parent and co-host, sit down with Dr. Dan Allender, a clinical psychologist and author who has spent decades helping people face their stories honestly and find real freedom on the other side. His books The Wounded Heart, The Healing Path, and To Be Told have walked thousands through the hard work of understanding how the past is still shaping the present and what it actually takes to change that. Together they explore why avoidance keeps us stuck, how shame operates and what disarms it, and why grief and anger aren't problems to manage but forces that, held together, can finally move you forward. The conversation is honest, practical, and grounded in real experience from all three voices at the table. Key Insights from This Episode: Ignoring the past doesn't free you. It makes you reactive. The unaddressed past doesn't disappear, it shows up in your parenting, your relationships, and the moments you least expect it. Shame has to be faced, defied, and disarmed with kindness. Running from shame guarantees it follows you, but meeting it with defiance and then gentleness is what actually loosens its grip. Grief and anger belong together. Each one needs the other. Anger without grief hardens you, grief without anger drowns you, but held together they're what actually moves you forward. Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Dr Dan Allender The Wounded Heart The Healing Path To Be Told Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Online Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
June 8 · 29 min
Tips for Creating a Peaceful Home Base
This week we're discussing: Tips for Creating a Peaceful Home Base Most solo parents are not struggling to love their kids well. They are struggling to create the kind of home where that love actually lands. Where kids feel safe, settled, and like they can exhale when they walk through the door. That gap between intention and reality is something almost every solo parent feels but rarely talks about out loud. A peaceful home is not something you either have or you don't. It is something you build, through the way you communicate, the way you listen, and the way you show up on the days when everything feels like too much. And it matters more than most of us realize, because when home feels unpredictable, kids do not just feel unsettled. They start filling the silence with their own story, and that story almost always ends with the same conclusion: something is wrong with me. Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, sits down with Elizabeth Cole, a single parent, and Amber Fuller, a counselor with a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy and a single parent herself, to talk practically about what it takes to build a peaceful home base. Not a perfect one. A consistent one. Key Insights from This Episode: What you say, and how you say it, changes everything. Kids fill silence with their own story, and that story almost always puts the blame on themselves. Listening well is more powerful than having the right answer. Empathy before action helps you understand what your child actually needs, not just what the situation appears to need. A peaceful home is a slow build, not a single decision. Consistency over time is what creates safety, and safety is what peace is made of. Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
June 1 · 36 min
Surviving Summer Chaos
This week we're discussing Surviving Summer Chaos The school year gives solo parents a framework that helps them survive. The routines, the schedules, the predictable rhythm that makes life feel manageable. Then summer arrives and all of it shifts, fast. The magic of the season is real, but so is the pressure. Work does not slow down. The bills do not pause. And suddenly you are expected to hold everything together with more people in the house, less structure, and the quiet weight of doing it all on your own. In this episode, Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, and Elizabeth Cole, single parent, are joined by Marissa Lee, author and single parent, for a practical and honest conversation about navigating summer as a solo parent. Together they dig into the real challenges of the season and share what has actually worked in their own homes. Key Insights from This Episode: Structure is not a punishment for summer, it is a gift you give your kid. Simple daily rhythms, built with your child's input, can make the whole season more manageable for everyone. Letting go of control is a parenting skill that has to be practiced gradually. Summer is a natural proving ground for giving older kids more independence before you are forced to do it all at once. The best summer memories do not require money. They require presence, a little creativity, and the willingness to show up even when you are tired. Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Online Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
May 25 · 46 min
Overcoming Toxic Thoughts
This week we're discussing Overcoming Toxic Thoughts. Most solo parents are not struggling because they are doing too little. They are struggling because the voice in their head will not let them believe what they are doing is enough. It is there before the day even starts, in the moment you realize you are the only one holding all of it together. It shows up when a hard conversation with your teenager goes sideways and you have no one to debrief with after. It is there when you are grieving a partner you lost and trying to keep things steady for kids who are grieving too. It surfaces when a grown child calls struggling and you wonder, quietly, if something you did years ago is the reason why. It is there at the end of a long day when the plan fell apart, the patience ran out, and the mental replay begins. Every misstep. Every thing left undone. Every version of yourself you think you are supposed to be but cannot quite reach. That voice sounds like fact. It has been running so long it feels like your own. But it is not. Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, and Elizabeth Cole, single parent and co-host, bring in Jon Acuff, New York Times bestselling author of Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking and host of the podcast All It Takes Is a Goal, for a conversation that is equal parts practical and freeing. Jon has spent over a decade studying the repetitive thoughts that quietly run our lives, where they come from, how to spot the ones that are lying to us, and what it actually takes to replace them. Whether you are parenting through loss, navigating life after divorce, or building your family on your own terms, and whether your kids are still small or grown and finding their footing, the internal noise of doing this without a partner is real. This conversation goes there. Key Insights from This Episode: Your Broken Soundtracks Have a Source. The repetitive thoughts holding you back did not appear out of nowhere, and knowing where they came from is the first move toward changing them. There Is a Three-Question Test to Tell Real Concerns from Toxic Overthinking. Not every hard thought is a lie, but there is a simple way to tell the difference between what is true and what is just loud. New Seasons Deserve New Scorecards. Measuring this chapter of your life against a different one is one of the quietest ways solo parents keep themselves stuck. Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Jon Acuff Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking Procrastination Proof (released April 2025) All It Takes Is a Goal podcast by Jon Acuff That Sounds Fun with Annie F. Downs Chip Dodd / 8 CORE Feelings framework Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Online Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
May 18 · 1 hr 2 min
Helping Our Kids Grow Through Challenges
This week we're discussing Helping Our Kids Grow Through Challenges. Most solo parents spend a lot of energy learning how to survive their own hard seasons. But at some point, almost every solo parent faces a different kind of challenge: watching their kids go through something painful and not knowing how to actually help. Not just show up, but show up well. The instinct most of us bring to that moment is to do something. Fix it, explain it, or find the resource that finally makes it better. And more often than not, that instinct gets in the way. What kids need from their parents in hard seasons is rarely what we expect. It's usually quieter, slower, and less about having the right answer than we'd like. And for solo parents who are already carrying their own grief or transition while trying to hold things together for their kids, learning to offer that kind of presence is a real and ongoing challenge. Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, and Elizabeth Cole, single parent, sit down with pastor, author, and co-founder of For Girls Like You Ministries Jonathan Pitts, and his oldest daughter Alena Pitts Franklin. Jonathan became a solo parent to four daughters in 2018 after his wife Wynter passed away suddenly. Alena, his oldest, shares her perspective on those same years now as an adult and author of the devotional God Is: 60 Days of Learning Who God Is to Understand Who We Are. Together they offer an honest look at what kids actually need from their parents in hard seasons, what it means to grow alongside your children emotionally, and how to trust that God is working in your child's story even when you can't see it. Key Insights from This Episode: Presence, not answers, is what children in hard seasons actually need from their parents. Sitting with your child in their pain, without rushing to fix it, communicates something words rarely can. You don't have to be emotionally healed to parent your kids through their healing. Shared humanity isn't a parenting weakness. It builds the kind of trust that holds through the hardest seasons. God is not absent from your children's story just because you can't control their outcome. He works through people and circumstances you didn't plan, and your kids are not solely dependent on you to find their way through. Resources Mentioned in This Episode: My Wynter Season: Seeing God's Faithfulness in the Shadow of Grief by Jonathan Pitts She Is Yours: Trusting God As You Raise the Girl He Gave You by Jonathan Pitts God Is: 60 Days of Learning Who God Is to Understand Who We Are by Alena Pitts Franklin For Girls Like You Ministries The Emotion Wheel / Eight Core Emotions Framework The U Diagram / Friday-Saturday-Sunday resurrection framework (therapist Adam Young) Dr. Chip Dodd - Emotional Stability Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Online Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
May 11 · 29 min
Getting Out of Our Comfort Zone
This week we're discussing Getting Out of Our Comfort Zone. Most of us have a version of life we have quietly decided is good enough. Not thriving, maybe, but manageable. And when you are doing this alone, manageable starts to feel like a win. The problem is that manageable has a way of becoming permanent if nobody asks the harder question: is this actually where you want to stay? Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, and Elizabeth Cole, single parent and co-host, sit down with Amber Fuller, a counselor with a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy and single parent herself, to get honest about what the comfort zone actually costs and what it looks like to take one step out of it without blowing up the life you have worked hard to build. Key Insights from This Episode Familiar is not the same as free. What feels like stability may actually be avoidance wearing the clothes of comfort. There is a real difference between the growth zone and the panic zone. One stretches you with purpose; the other pushes you past your limits and burns you out. One small step is not a consolation prize. Starting smaller than you think you need to is exactly how lasting growth happens. Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Judith Bardwick - Danger in the Comfort Zone Brene Brown Jon Acuff — Soundtracks Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Online Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
May 4 · 38 min
What's Holding You Back and How It's Affecting Your Kids
This week we're discussing What's Holding You Back and How It's Affecting Your Kids. Growth doesn't always announce itself as something you're missing. Sometimes you're functioning, even thriving in some areas, and still carrying patterns that are quietly working against you. Denial, shame spiraling, overcompensating, running to busyness or numbing out. You don't have to be falling apart to need this. You just have to be human. And the way you're handling the hard things right now is already shaping the way your kids will learn to handle theirs. Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, and Elizabeth Cole, single parent and co-host, sit down with Amber Fuller, a counselor with a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy and a single parent herself, to name the patterns that quietly keep solo parents from growing. Amber brings both clinical insight and lived experience, speaking not just as a therapist but as someone who has navigated the same hard terrain. Together they get honest about the traps, and the part nobody talks about enough: how those patterns find their way into our kids. Key Insights from This Episode Naming the trap is the most courageous first step. Whether it shows up as denial, shame spiraling, or overcompensating, you cannot grow through something you are not willing to honestly look at. Staying in the river is a learnable skill. Sitting with hard emotions rather than escaping to busyness or apathy is not something you either have or don't; it is something you practice, and it gets easier. Your growth is already teaching your kids something. More is caught than taught, and when you do the work of facing your own struggles honestly, that becomes one of the most powerful things you can model. Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Chip Dodd - Living Fully in the River - Podcast Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Online Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
April 27 · 45 min
From Panic to Plan: Thriving as a Solo Parent on a Budget
This week we're discussing From Panic to Plan: Thriving as a Solo Parent on a Budget. For a lot of solo parents, the finances were never really theirs to begin with. Someone else handled it, and then one day that changed completely. No transition, no training, no runway. Just a pile of bills, a household to run, and children depending on every decision you make. Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, and Elizabeth Cole, single parent, sit down with Shirley Baldiris, a single mom, Solo Parent community member, and emerging financial coach trained through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. Shirley woke up one morning facing four months of back rent, a home in foreclosure, and debt she didn't know existed. What she built from that starting point, and how she built it, is what this conversation is about. Most financial advice was not designed for the single income, single parent reality. Shirley's approach was. And the practical steps she shares are ones solo parents can actually use. Key Insights from This Episode: Start with your four walls, not your full financial picture. When everything feels urgent, protecting your roof, food, transportation, and utilities first gives you a foundation to build from. Budgeting in small, honest increments builds more than a plan. Starting week by week instead of month by month creates the consistency and self-trust that makes financial stability possible over time. Negotiating with lenders is a skill, and it works more often than you think. Being honest about your situation with landlords, credit card companies, and mortgage lenders can open doors that most solo parents never think to knock on. Shirley closed by saying what every solo parent in a financial crisis needs to hear: you have the intelligence, you have the stamina, and you are absolutely qualified to take hold of this. The panic is not the whole story. Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Financial Peace University (Dave Ramsey) The Four Walls Framework (Dave Ramsey) Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Online Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram
April 20 · 42 min
Emotional Stability
This week we're discussing Emotional Stability with Dr. Chip Dodd When you are the only adult in the house, pushing through stops being a choice and starts being a reflex. Feelings get quieted because there is no margin for them. But survival mode and actually living are two very different things. One keeps you functional. The other is what you were made for. And until you understand the difference, it is easy to mistake getting through the day for being okay. Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, and Elizabeth Cole, single parent and co-host, sit down with Dr. Chip Dodd, a counselor, speaker, and author with over 30 years of experience serving others through emotional health and recovery. His book Voice of the Heart has become foundational for many solo parents trying to understand their own emotional landscape. Together they walk through all eight core feelings, not as burdens to manage, but as gifts that, when understood, move us toward healing, connection, and a fuller life. Key Insights from This Episode Survival mode is not a failure, but staying there keeps you from the life you were made for. Reducing emotion to get through the day is a natural grief response, but remaining in that place over time recreates the very isolation you are trying to escape. Your feelings, even the painful ones, are not signs of weakness. Each of the eight core emotions has a purpose and a direction, designed to move you toward healing, connection, and ultimately a life lived more fully. Needing other people is not a liability. Dependency resilience, the capacity to lean on others and on God, is one of the most powerful qualities a human being can develop, and it grows in community. Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Dr. Chip Dodd Voice of the Heart Living With Heart Podcast The Voice of the Heart Center "How Are You Feeling Today?" Podcast hosted by Alex Courington Solo Parent previous episode Courage to be Angry with Dr. Chip Dodd Stay Connected + Get Support: Download our Solo Parent App Join a Solo Parent Group Learn more about Solo Parent Follow us on Instagram

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