Hold My Purse with Rho featuring Aria

Send us Fan Mail
Your friend calls, and instead of being glad to hear from her, you think, "Lord, what now?" Then you feel guilty for thinking it.
If you're the strong friend, the one everybody leans on, that irritation doesn't make you a bad friend. It usually means you've been giving more than you actually have.
In this solo episode, Rho gets honest about strong friend burnout, people pleasing, and why "I'm good" might be the most exhausting sentence you say all week. She shares the season when she lost her job, kept it to herself, and still showed up for a family member in an abusive marriage like nothing had changed. And she asks the uncomfortable question: what part of this pattern did I help create?
You'll walk away with four small shifts:
Pause before the automatic yes
Ask "Do you want me to listen, or help you figure it out?" and decide what's actually yours to carry
Feel the guilt after saying no without taking the no back
Let people help you without turning it into a trade
This episode answers:
Why do I feel resentful when friends lean on me?
How do I set boundaries without feeling guilty?
How do I stop people pleasing without becoming less loving?
Why is it so hard to ask for help or receive it?
Journal question: Where have I confused being needed with being loved?
Your challenge: In the next 24 hours, catch yourself in one moment where you'd normally leave yourself. Just notice. Then choose again.
Take it further
Download the Return to Self checklist
Join the monthly Purse Check newsletter
More episodes at www.hold-my-purse.com
If this one made you think of your strong friend, send it to her. Then check on her. Really check.
Hold My Purse is a self-care and self-love podcast for women who are done pretending. Conversations on relationships, boundaries, identity, purpose and starting over, hosted by Rho.
Stay aligned, stay unbothered, and hold your own damn purse.
Email address: rho@hold-my-purse.com

Website: https://www.hold-my-purse.com/
Rho I YouTube
Rho I Instagram
Rho I TikTok
Rho I Facebook Group

Aria I Instagram

Send us Fan Mail
What if your child’s grades or behavior are trying to tell you something?
In this episode of Hold My Purse, Rho talks with licensed social worker and school social worker Raynard Nelson about his 10 Keys to Helping Your Student Succeed in School.
They unpack what parents need to know about learning styles, parent-teacher relationships, organization, bullying, accountability, IEPs, 504 plans, student evaluations, and knowing when your child may need additional academic, social, or emotional support.
Raynard also shares his personal experience helping his own son navigate ADHD and school — and why parents sometimes have to let go of fear, pride, or the worry about their child being “labeled” in order to get them the support they need.
Key takeaways:
Pay attention to how your child learns
Build relationships with teachers and school staff early
Don’t be afraid to ask for additional support
Support and accountability can exist together
Help kids learn to organize, ask for help, and advocate for themselves
Make home a safe place for them to tell you when something isn’t right
🎒 Download Raynard’s 10 Keys to Helping Your Student Succeed in School:

👜 Sign up for Purse Check:
If this conversation helps you, share it with another parent or caregiver — and subscribe to Hold My Purse so you don’t miss the next episode.
Email address: rho@hold-my-purse.com

Website: https://www.hold-my-purse.com/
Rho I YouTube
Rho I Instagram
Rho I TikTok
Rho I Facebook Group

Aria I Instagram

Send us Fan Mail
Have you ever known something wasn’t right... but talked yourself out of what you knew because you wanted the relationship, opportunity, friendship, or connection to work?
That’s self-abandonment.
And it doesn’t always look dramatic. Sometimes it looks like being “understanding.” Staying quiet. Ignoring your intuition. Accepting inconsistency. Shrinking your needs. Or convincing yourself you’re asking for too much when, deep down, you know something isn’t working.
In this episode of Hold My Purse, Rho gets personal about the moments she almost ignored what her own body, intuition, and experience were telling her... and what finally changed when she stopped asking, “Will they choose me?” and started asking, “Am I choosing myself?”
We’re talking about:
The subtle ways we abandon ourselves to keep a connection
Why being chosen and being aligned are not the same thing
How wanting someone’s approval can make us negotiate our own needs
What your body and intuition may be trying to tell you
Why someone else’s capacity is not a measurement of your worth
The five-question Return to Self Check-In to help you get clear when you’re spiraling, shrinking, chasing, or over-explaining
Take This Conversation With You
I created a free Return to Self Checklist to help you put this episode into practice.
Use it anytime you find yourself overthinking, chasing clarity, minimizing what you need, ignoring what you know, or becoming a version of yourself just to keep someone else comfortable.
Download the free Return to Self Checklist
Because sometimes coming back to yourself starts with asking one honest question at a time.
Journal Prompt:
Where in my life am I shrinking, silencing, performing, or overextending because I want to be chosen, accepted, included, loved, or approved of?
And what would change if I stopped making someone else’s capacity the measurement of my worth?
Because the goal isn’t to become hard, closed off, or “unbothered” by everything.
The goal is to be able to love without leaving yourself.
Listen now, download your Return to Self Checklist, and send this episode to the friend who may need this reminder too.
Subscribe to Hold My Purse, turn on your notifications, and join Purse Check to keep the conversation going beyond the mic.
You do not have to abandon yourself to be loved. You do not have to shrink to be chosen.
Email address: rho@hold-my-purse.com

Website: https://www.hold-my-purse.com/
Rho I YouTube
Rho I Instagram
Rho I TikTok
Rho I Facebook Group

Aria I Instagram

Send us Fan Mail
Have you ever reached the end of a busy day, looked at your unfinished list, and thought, “I didn’t get anything done”—even though you spent the entire day solving problems, helping people, and managing things that were never part of the plan?
That’s where this conversation begins.
After volunteering to help a family member with a time-sensitive project, Rho expected to spend about an hour. Four hours later, her work had been pushed back, the episode hadn’t been recorded, and her own needs had been placed on pause.
She didn’t regret helping. But she did have to acknowledge the cost.
In this personal solo episode of Hold My Purse, Rho talks about why capable women often overlook invisible work, how exhaustion can become normal without looking dramatic, and why functioning is not the same as feeling well.
You’ll also hear:
Why an unexpected change doesn’t automatically mean you’re behind
How invisible work and mental load consume real energy
The difference between what you’re tired from and what you’re tired of
How constantly overriding your needs can weaken self-trust
Three practical ways to adjust when your time or capacity changes
When ongoing fatigue may deserve a conversation with a healthcare professional
This isn’t a conversation about becoming less caring or refusing to help the people you love. It’s about learning how to show up for others without disappearing from your own life.
Because functioning doesn’t always mean you’re well—and helping with love doesn’t mean it cost you nothing.
Journal prompt:
What signal has my body been sending that I keep explaining away?
Grounding affirmation:
My body is worthy of my attention. I listen without judgment, respond with care, and give myself permission to need what I need.
Hold My Purse is a bi-weekly podcast that centers healing, wholeness, and the sacred act of putting yourself first. Don’t forget to follow, share, and leave a review if this episode made you feel a little more seen today.
✨ Sponsor Shout-out:
This episode is brought to you by Self Care Shawty 🌿, your go-to for homemade skin products that keep you moisturized, healed, and at ease. Explore their amazing offerings at selfcareshawty.etsy.com.
💼 Remember:  Until next time, my fabulous friends and self-care warriors… stay aligned, stay unbothered, and hold your own damn purse.
Sign up for Purse Check, a monthly newsletter with information and inspiration on how to put down what you no longer need to carry and remember who you are. 
And I’ll meet you right back here in two weeks — same space, same heart, new ways to choose you. 💖
Email address: rho@hold-my-purse.com

Website: https://www.hold-my-purse.com/
Rho I YouTube
Rho I Instagram
Rho I TikTok
Rho I Facebook Group

Aria I Instagram

Send us Fan Mail
What if the changes happening in your body aren’t a sign that you’re failing, but an invitation to listen more closely?
In this episode of Hold My Purse, Rho is joined by registered dietitian nutritionist Maya Hickman for a grounded and deeply personal conversation about menopause, nutrition, gut health, medical advocacy, stress, and self-trust.
Maya explains why women’s bodies often need different support during midlife and why individualized nutrition matters more than chasing the latest diet trend. Together, she and Rho explore the confusion women face when trying to make sense of conflicting health advice, the importance of advocating for yourself with medical providers, and why wellness cannot be reduced to a single number or diagnosis.
The conversation takes a deeper turn as Maya shares her breast cancer experience and the emotional impact of wondering how illness could happen when she had spent years doing so many things “right.” She opens up about losing trust in herself, reclaiming her intuition, and learning to live from what she calls soft power.
At the heart of the episode is a question many women rarely stop long enough to ask:
What do I need?
Not what does everyone expect from me. Not what would make me more productive. But what does my body, mind, and spirit need from me now?
Connect with Maya FoodcureNutrition.com
Sign-up for the Purse Check newsletter and check out my Rho-isms blog. 
Sponsor Shout-out:
This episode is brought to you by Self Care Shawty 🌿, your go-to for homemade skin products that keep you moisturized, healed, and at ease. Explore their amazing offerings at selfcareshawty.etsy.com.
Remember:  Until next time, my fabulous friends and self-care warriors… stay aligned, stay unbothered, and hold your own damn purse.
And I’ll meet you right back here in two weeks — same space, same heart, new ways to choose you. 💖
Email address: rho@hold-my-purse.com

Website: https://www.hold-my-purse.com/
Rho I YouTube
Rho I Instagram
Rho I TikTok
Rho I Facebook Group

Aria I Instagram