Young Life Interrupted - A Podcast For Young Caregivers

When you fall into caregiving at a young age, you may be navigating what career path you want to take, have finally landed your dream job after years of hard-work and sacrifice, or perhaps are rocking it out & climbing the ranks in your organization. You've got the time, energy and drive to move this area of your life ahead and really set yourself up for a solid future.
Then, you fall into caregiving and balancing the demands of career, caregiving and personal life seem nearly impossible. You can't focus while you're at work because you're so immersed in your caregiving role, your quality of work is starting to slip because you aren't as present and have to take more PTO time for appointments and caregiving emergencies & you may be afraid to let your supervisor/coworkers know about your situation for fear of possibly not getting that next promotion or opportunity that may arise. How can you possibly continue working full time and balancing it all - somethings gotta give.
Well, I'm here to tell you, it's possible. Which is why I asked my special guest to come on the podcast to share how she has navigated her career and caregiving journey.
Meet Jessica Guthrie, or as many of you may know her from Instagram, When Career & Caregiving Collide - a full-time, millennial caregiver, advocate, educator and
non-profit senior executive.

Jessica is the full time caregiver for her mother who was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease seven years ago. For the first half of her journey, Jessica was caregiving from a distance while she worked in Texas and her mother lived in Virginia. After years of consistent travel she recently moved back home to live with her mother to ensure she received the most attentive care.
Jessica deeply cares about amplifying the voices and experiences of millennial caregivers and shares how she navigates the complexities and rigors of the healthcare system while continuing to thrive in her career growth and intentionally balance her own self-care and wellbeing.
Where to connect with Jessica:
On Instagram - @careercaregivingcollide
Where we can connect:
Join the Young Life Interrupted Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/younglifeinterrupted
Subscribe to the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/young-life-interrupted-a-podcast-for-young-caregivers/id1578015965
Connect with Adrienne on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/younglifeinterrupted/
Follow Adrienne on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/younglifeinterrupted
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE YOUNG CAREGIVER SURVIVAL GUIDE:
Your Cliffs Notes guide to surviving (& thriving) while caregiving. Whether you're preparing to care, new to your caregiving role or a seasoned caregiver, these tips will help save you time, energy and regret throughout your care journey. This guide includes simple yet effective strategies to prepare & support you through the challenging times.

In this episode of the Young Life Interrupted Podcast, we delve into a topic that often remains covered in stigma: senior living communities. As society grapples with the idea of placing loved ones in care facilities, feelings of guilt and shame can be a REAL. Adrienne provides valuable insights and practical tips on how to overcome these emotional barriers, offering a compassionate perspective on a challenging decision many families face, including one she had to make, for her Mom.

Opposite to outdated perceptions, placing a loved one in a senior living community does not equal abandonment. Adrienne addresses this common misconception head-on, highlighting the commendable intentions behind such decisions and the necessity for providing optimal care. Drawing from her own personal experiences the episode explores the intersection of family responsibility and practical caregiving realities.

Moreover, Adrienne offers guidance for those struggling with the decision to transition a loved one into senior living or those already navigating this journey. Recognizing the challenges of balancing care at home versus in a dedicated facility, the episode provides actionable strategies for overcoming guilt and embracing the transition with empathy and understanding.

Whether you're a caregiver facing burnout or a family member navigating complex emotions, this episode offers support, reassurance, and a path forward towards compassionate care.
Where we can connect:
Join the Young Life Interrupted Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/younglifeinterrupted
Subscribe to the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/young-life-interrupted-a-podcast-for-young-caregivers/id1578015965
Connect with Adrienne on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/younglifeinterrupted/
Follow Adrienne on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/younglifeinterrupted

Rate, Review & Follow on Apple Podcasts:
"I'm loving Adrienne's content & the Young Life Interrupted Podcast"
<-- if that sounds like you, please consider rating & reviewing my show! This helps me support more people -- just like you -- move toward finding community, connection & resources to support them every step of their care journey. Just follow these simple steps:

• Click here
• Scroll to the bottom
• Tap to rate with 5 stars
• Select "Write a Review" & then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast so you don't miss an episode.

A free gift from me to you! CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE YOUNG CAREGIVER SURVIVAL GUIDE: Your Cliffs Notes guide to surviving (& thriving) while caregiving. Whether you're preparing to care, new to your caregiving role or a seasoned caregiver, these tips will help save you time, energy and regret throughout your care journey. This guide includes simple yet effective strategies to prepare & support you through the challenging times.
You may hear people talk about holding onto hope and that can mean different things for each and every one of us.
As a caregiver, especially at a young age, our sense of hope for what our future holds starts to get clouded as we feel we have been silo’d into this holding tank causing our thoughts, purpose and dreams for the future to take a downward spiral.
Having hope seems pointless as your life is in limbo and there is no set date for when this journey will come to an end - it could be 1 month it could be 10 years - how do you plan and hold onto hope when everything is in flux?
A feeling that we are no longer in control of our life and our future, as it seemed we once were become dominant and in turn we start to question everything and slowly lose our sense of identity as caregiving seems to overtake all aspects of our lives.
We aren’t afforded the time to do the things we used to do that lit us up, brought us joy and really helped define who we are.
In this episode I talk through what hope actually is, positive and negative aspects of hope to gain an understanding of how it impacts your thinking, feelings and behavior & tips to improve your mood and help pull you out of those periods of hopelessness that are inevitable but don't have to be a constant in your life.
Where we can connect:
Join the Young Life Interrupted Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/younglifeinterrupted
Subscribe to the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/young-life-interrupted-a-podcast-for-young-caregivers/id1578015965
Connect with Adrienne on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/younglifeinterrupted/
Follow Adrienne on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/younglifeinterrupted

Rate, Review & Follow on Apple Podcasts:
"I'm loving Adrienne's content & the Young Life Interrupted Podcast"
<-- if that sounds like you, please consider rating & reviewing my show! This helps me support more people -- just like you -- move toward finding community, connection & resources to support them every step of their care journey. Just follow these simple steps:

• Click here
• Scroll to the bottom
• Tap to rate with 5 stars
• Select "Write a Review" & then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast so you don't miss an episode!

In this episode of the Young Life Interrupted Podcast, we explore the concept of "eras" in our lives and how caregiving is just one chapter in a larger story.
Inspired by Compassion in Caregiving's Instagram reel on the Caregiver Era, we dive into how different life phases can shape our journey—and how even our caregiving era will eventually pass.

Taking cues from Taylor Swift's career, where she defines her life through the various "eras" marked by her albums, we reflect on the emotional ups and downs of caregiving. Just as Taylor’s songs resonate with love, heartbreak, self-doubt, anger, and sadness, caregiving, too, comes with a soundtrack of emotions.

We also connect Taylor Swift’s music to caregiving. From Shake It Off as a reminder to keep going to All Too Well for those tender caregiving moments, this episode is a celebration of the many emotions we experience as caregivers. What’s your caregiving era? Are you in the Lover era of compassion or the Red era of frustration? We’ll talk through the highs and lows of caregiving with a playlist that mirrors these experiences.

I’ll also share a bit about my own caregiving journey and how we’ve all had our own "eras"—remember our COVID era? Many of us lived through that while caring for others.

This episode is for anyone navigating their caregiving era—remember, it’s just one phase, and you’re not alone.

Referenced Resources:

• Compassion in Caregiving's Instagram handle to check out the post @compassionincaregiving

Where we can connect:
Join the Young Life Interrupted Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/younglifeinterrupted
Subscribe to the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/young-life-interrupted-a-podcast-for-young-caregivers/id1578015965
Connect on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/younglifeinterrupted/
Follow on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/younglifeinterrupted
Rate, Review & Follow on Apple Podcasts:
"I'm loving the Young Life Interrupted Podcast"
<-- if that sounds like you, please consider rating & reviewing my show! This helps me support more people -- just like you -- move toward finding community, connection & resources to support them every step of their care journey. Just follow these simple steps:
Click here
Scroll to the bottom
Tap to rate with 5 stars
Select "Write a Review" & then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast so you don't miss an episode.

A free gift from me to you! CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE YOUNG CAREGIVER SURVIVAL GUIDE: Your Cliffs Notes guide to surviving (& thriving) while caregiving. Whether you're preparing to care, new to your caregiving role or a seasoned caregiver, these tips will help save you time, energy and regret throughout your care journey. This guide includes simple yet effective strategies to prepare & support you through the challenging times.
It's November and National Family Caregivers Awareness Month. On today's episode I discuss the importance of the month, what it means, how the theme of this year's month is one of the most important things you can do for yourself as a caregiver and express my gratitude to you, young caregiver, for all you do, all the while infusing my own personal stories and experiences into the mix. Enjoy the episode!
Links mentioned in the episode:

• President Biden Proclaims November 2023 as National Family Caregivers Month
  

Where we can connect:
Join the Young Life Interrupted Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/younglifeinterrupted
Subscribe to the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/young-life-interrupted-a-podcast-for-young-caregivers/id1578015965
Connect with Adrienne on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/younglifeinterrupted/
Follow Adrienne on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/younglifeinterrupted

Rate, Review & Follow on Apple Podcasts:
"I'm loving Adrienne's content & the Young Life Interrupted Podcast"
<-- if that sounds like you, please consider rating & reviewing my show! This helps me support more people -- just like you -- move toward finding community, connection & resources to support them every step of their care journey. Just follow these simple steps:

• Click here
• Scroll to the bottom
• Tap to rate with 5 stars
• Select "Write a Review" & then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast so you don't miss an episode!