Turn the Paige Podcast

Family roles get assigned early, but they don’t have to be life sentences. We’re joined by three of our cousins for a full Fab Five catch-up, and what starts as pure nostalgia quickly turns into an honest talk about identity, adulthood, and the invisible “rules” we learned growing up together.

We get into the fun stuff first: Blockbuster style Friday nights, Scholastic Book Fair versus field day, fading physical media, and why a library run used to feel like an event. Then we pivot to books, reading slumps, audiobooks, and how our Turn The Paige book clu...

A sharp pain in your hip can mess with your workouts, your sleep, and your mood but what messes with you even more is being told it’s “nothing” when you know it isn’t. Tajuana records a candid solo check-in right before a virtual appointment, reflecting on turning 40 and how that milestone is pushing her into a new era of non-avoidance, self-trust, and speaking up sooner.

She walks through her history as a gymnast, years of back flare-ups, and the way this right hip pain keeps showing up no matter how much she stretches. After a dismissi...

Your closet can be full and still feel like you have nothing to wear, especially when your body and your life have changed and your wardrobe never caught up. We sit down with personal stylist Salifya Akers to talk about plus size fashion with zero shame and a lot of clarity: dress for the woman you are today, not the version of you you’re trying to “get back” to.

Salifya breaks down why the size tag is basically unreliable across stores, why squeezing into a smaller size can actually make you look bigger, and how a great...

Episode crossover - Blair had Tajuana on her podcast, Compassion Season and Tajuana is sharing it on Turn the Paige Podcast

We catch up like cousins do, starting with milestone birthdays and ending in the kind of honesty that makes you feel seen. We talk grief, family legacy, spirituality, creativity, and an adult ADHD diagnosis as a real pathway to self-trust and better care. 

• Turning 40 as a milestone and a mirror 
• Planning pressure, reflection, and letting birthdays be calmer 
• Trying new things like halo therapy, Reiki, acupuncture, and readings 
• A medium session that brings...

One wrong click deleted a full recording, so I’m coming to you from my phone with a very real reminder: creators don’t need more pressure, we need better systems. That’s where AI has earned a spot in our workflow at Turn the Paige. I’m walking through exactly how we use ChatGPT and other AI features as a practical assistant across our podcast, Instagram content, Pinterest marketing, monthly newsletter, book club, Etsy shop, and our Squarespace website.

I break it down into the specific areas where AI saves us time without stealing our personality: brainsto...

Summer doesn’t just end, it disappears, and if you’re a parent you can feel it in your bones. Tajuana hops on for a raw solo check-in from home (with a sick kid nearby) and talks about why the last weeks of summer can bring real sadness, not just mild nostalgia. Warm weather, long evenings, pool days, and that no-routine freedom can make us feel like our best selves, and saying goodbye to it can feel like a yearly grieving process.

We also get honest about big life transitions: this being Tajuana's last summer in her 30s, t...

Forty is close enough to feel it in your bones and sometimes in your lower back too. Tajuana goes solo and tells the truth about what it feels like to stand at the edge of a new decade as an elder millennial: grateful for the life you built, surprised by how fast time moved, and a little shaken by the question, “What’s next?” If you have ever felt nervous about turning 40, or you never fully pictured your life past 30, you will feel seen here. 

We talk about the unglamorous parts that still shape everything, like chronic back pa...

Wine can get weirdly intimidating fast. One person is talking about tannins and decanters, another is judging your grocery store bottle, and meanwhile you just want something that tastes good after a long day. We’re changing that energy with Jamicia Stamps, the wine-loving creator behind SelecTaste LLC (@_selectaste), who joins us for a fun, honest chat that makes wine feel approachable, personal, and way less serious.

We talk about how she got deeper into wine through her part-time job at Total Wine and More, what those wine classes are really like, and why tasting flights are st...

THROW BACK to our very first episode!
*Originally aired August 23, 2023*
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/turn-the-paige-podcast/id1677891195?i=1000625345337

“Bounce back” to what, exactly? We’re Tajuana and Sheree sisters, best friends, and full-time working moms, and we’re starting Turn The Page Podcast the same way we live our lives: honest, a little chaotic, and hungry. We open with our weekly rose and thorn, from bridal expo fun and sneaking away for tacos to the grind of going back to work when you miss being home with your baby during the day. 

From ther...

Motherhood can be loud enough to drown out the quiet parts of you, including the parts that used to make things just because it felt good. We’re holding onto one line that hit us hard: “heal so deeply that you can do your hobbies again.” Not as a cute quote, but as a real target for women who’ve been in survival mode, especially in postpartum life when time, sleep, and bandwidth feel like myths.

We talk through what creativity used to look like for us and how it changed across college, adulthood, and parenting. Then we refra...

Sleep-deprived parenting has a special way of making everything feel urgent, from a baby rolling over at 2 a.m., to a toddler quietly wandering the hallway. We’re Tajuana and Sheree, and we’re back together talking through the real stuff: postpartum survival, the mental load, and the tiny systems that keep our days from spinning out.

We get honest about mental health after baby, including ADHD medication logistics, PMDD weeks, and what it’s like to tweak Zoloft while you’re still trying to function at work and at home. We also zoom in on the “small but...

Raising a daughter can feel like the sweetest kind of time travel and the most intense kind of pressure. One minute we’re laughing at mismatched outfits and high fives for tiny wins, and the next we’re staring down the reality of sending our little girl into a world that can be harsh to girls and especially harsh to Black girls. That tension sits at the center of this solo conversation: how do we protect our kids without shrinking them, and how do we build confidence without pretending we’re never insecure?

We get personal about the un...

3 A.M., can make you feel like you’re the only person awake on the planet, holding a baby in the dark and wondering how you’ll do tomorrow on this little sleep. Sheree jumps on for a solo, real-life check-in from the postpartum newborn trenches and shares what’s genuinely helping her navigate sleepless nights with a newborn plus an older kid in the mix.

We talk about the mindset shifts that change everything when you’re spiralling at night: remembering that this season will pass, reframing wakeups as normal newborn biology, and giving yourself permission to admit...

A house packed to the ceiling with stuff is one kind of mess. The secrets a family keeps can be even harder to clear out.

We’re Tajuana Paige and Sheree Paige Barber, and we’re back to our roots with a Turn the Page Book Club crossover that’s equal parts real life and real reads. Before we even get to the novel, we talk through the unfiltered motherhood moments that got us here: summer days with kids, the pool chaos, the snack drama, the exhaustion, and the tiny window of quiet that makes a virtual book c...

Growth is supposed to feel empowering, so why does it sometimes feel like you are sinking? Tajuana jumps on the mic solo to name a feeling many of us have but rarely say out loud: you can be doing everything “right” and still feel stuck. When a hard conversation blows up or a familiar pattern shows up again, it is easy to decide none of the therapy, boundaries, or healing work is working. We slow that moment down and look at what progress actually looks like when there are no fireworks. 

We get real about how self-awareness often...

Your partner going back to work can hit harder than you expect, especially when you’re still postpartum and the baby is changing by the day. I’m Sheree, back with a solo check-in as we get ready for the end of paternity leave (for hubby) and I’m telling the truth about the emotions that come with it: I’m genuinely sad to lose the built-in support, and I’m also trying to feel strong enough to handle the next phase of maternity leave with two kids on my own...most of the week.

From there, I get into...

Labor is unpredictable, but we didn’t expect the aftermath to be the part that stuck with us most. Tajuana and Sheree sit down with Brandon, Sheree's hubby (and a very vocal newborn cameo) to unpack Bronson’s 28-hour birth story, from being stalled at three centimetres to a sudden shift where “hold on” is no longer an option. We talk coping tactics, what contractions feel like when time starts blurring, and why the “your second baby comes faster” promise can set you up for frustration.

We also get real about hospital dynamics: epidural placement stress, too many people...

“39 years later, my brain finally makes sense.” That’s the sentence I couldn’t stop saying after getting officially diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, and I’m sharing the whole messy, validating, honest experience from my point of view. If you’ve ever wondered why you try so hard yet still feel behind, or why small tasks can feel strangely heavy, you’re going to recognise yourself in this one.

I talk about how ADHD can be missed when you’re the organised, responsible, rule-following kid who does well in school, the perfectionist who never causes trouble, the per...

What makes you drop a book instantly, and what makes you stay up way too late saying “just one more chapter”? I’m squeezing in a solo chat during a rare quiet newborn moment, and it turns into a full-on, strongly opinionated guide to my reading yucks and yums, plus a few real-life wins that actually work in the chaos of motherhood.

First up, a simple, budget-friendly at-home paint and sip that saves the day when plans fall through. Then we get into the book talk: the miscommunication trope that drags an entire plot, “too much spice and no p...

Another Sheree solo episode.

Turning 32 made me pause and realise something I did not expect: my 30s are starting to feel like the decade I’ve been working toward, even though I definitely don’t have everything figured out. On a gloomy weather day with real-life mom chaos right around the corner, I wanted to capture that rare, calm, grateful headspace and talk it out like we’re voice-noting each other. If you’ve ever looked at your thirties like they were “so old,” this is your reminder that the view from here is a lot more human and a...

Postpartum can make you feel like you’re living on shifting ground, and saying “I’m fine” doesn’t magically make it true. Sheree records her first solo episode at nearly four weeks postpartum to mark the moment, tell the truth about what’s helping, and name the fear many moms carry after a hard first experience with postpartum anxiety and postpartum depression.

We get into the biggest change right away: sleep. Not the dreamy, uninterrupted kind, but the kind you protect like it’s medicine. Sheree shares how pumping and constant wake-ups wrecked her rest the first time, an...

You can love your kids completely and still miss yourself. I’m recording this one from the car on purpose, because sometimes the most honest conversations happen in the in-between moments, on the way to work, before the day takes over. I get real about the question so many moms carry quietly: who am I outside of motherhood?

I share what I was like before kids, when my life was full of hobbies and I could move from interest to interest without checking a calendar. Now everything takes planning, childcare, and a level of logistics that can dr...

Motherhood can feel like living in 20-minute blocks while everything around you keeps moving. I’m recording solo today while Sheree is deep in the newborn phase, and I’m honestly naming the thing so many moms feel but rarely say out loud: parenting is chaotic, ridiculous, and somehow we still adapt.

We get into the real mechanics behind that chaos, from kids eating in the car and handing you trash mid-drive to the constant shuffle of laundry, house tasks, and the never-ending question of what to do with them next. I share a mindset shift that came...

You ever catch your reflection and feel a split second of grief, like you’re looking at someone you don’t fully know? I’m coming to you solo and unfiltered, talking from the messy middle of it: turning 40 this year, carrying extra “fluff” after two kids, and wrestling with the gap between gratitude for my body and frustration with how unfamiliar it feels.

I open up about postpartum body changes, C-sections, weight gain, bloating, gut inflammation, and the exhausting cycle of trying to “fix” myself with diet culture shortcuts. Supplements, electrolytes, creatine, magnesium, bloat products, all the things tha...

Our group chat energy goes live when we bring in our bestie Sara, aka our Zodiac Queen, and let the conversation take the scenic route through astrology, personality, and the weird little clues that make people make sense. We start with friendship history and a quick Enneagram detour, then jump into zodiac “this or that” questions that sound playful until they turn into real talk about vulnerability, privacy, and going hard for the people you love.

From there, we get honest about the body and the brain. Pregnancy symptoms, baby kicks, brain fog, and the way ADHD-style spir...

A vanished recording, a pregnancy reveal, and a promise to do postpartum differently. That’s where we pick up—right in the messy middle—sharing what’s working, what still scares us, and how tiny rituals help us feel human again. We trade banter about early-bird survival, Super Bowl snack culture, and Curling’s quiet charm, then move straight into the real talk: second-time-mom prep, sundown anxiety, and the thick, lonely hours when the house goes dark and the mind gets loud.

We unpack the difference between zero-to-one and one-to-two, from the shock of a first C-section to the con...

Motherhood can feel loud and lonely at the same time. We sat down with Rebekah Cadet, a military spouse who landed in Columbia, South Carolina without a built-in village, and watched her turn one brave TikTok into The Black Mom Village—now 100 moms strong. From a community baby shower for women with no local support to everyday playdates at the library, Rebekah shows how small, clear invites can transform isolation into belonging.

We trade honest stories about postpartum depression and anxiety, the strange grief of losing childhood homes to divorce, and the shock of seeing your toddler sh...

A cozy cousin hang turns into a full-hearted exploration of identity, books, and the rituals that keep family close. We kick off with a quick-fire round—text or call, hardwood or carpet, audiobook or podcast—then dive into star signs with a Pisces who owns her empathy and intuition, a Leo wrestling with leadership and creativity, a Libra chasing balance, and a Gemini reframing duality as clarity. It’s fun, honest, and unexpectedly revealing.

From there, we open the scrapbook. Grandparents’ colorful rooms. Pool days and Pop-Tarts in the toaster. Holiday hosting that taught us how community actually...

What if the most liberating thing you do this week is unlearn a habit that’s been running your life on autopilot? We dive into the messy, honest work of letting go: letting go of fixer energy, of forcing timelines, of giving weight to words that don’t line up with actions. I share how I’m learning to accept my place in people’s lives without taking it personally, and why meeting people where they’ve met themselves can save you from disappointment and emotional whiplash.

From there, we get practical about boundaries that don’t require dram...

What if softness wasn’t an escape, but a strategy for days that won’t slow down? Tajuana opens up about rebuilding calm inside a loud life—motherhood with two energetic boys, a body moving through hormonal phases, and a schedule that never quite empties. Instead of chasing an idealized version of ease, she walks through a practical soft-life toolkit: habit stacking that keeps essentials on autopilot, cycle-aware planning that honors shifting energy, and tiny joy rituals that reset the nervous system in minutes.

We unpack how stress tricks us into dropping the routines that work, and how to...

Hair carries memory, culture, and the everyday work of showing up. I open up about life with thick, curly hair—from toddler photos where my curls were bigger than me to a present-day silk press that finally feels like balance. You’ll hear the real differences between a “perm” for straight hair versus Black hair, why heat is both a tool and a threat, and how I weigh the trade-offs that come with shine, swing, and scalp health. This is a practical guide and a personal story in one, built from years of braids, weaves, trims, and do-overs.

We g...

The reading life doesn’t wait for perfect conditions, so I hit record from bed and opened the door to a TBR that just did a plot twist. I used to swear I wasn’t a fantasy person. Now I’m racing through A Court of Thorns and Roses, loving the romance inside the magic, and comparing notes with my work book club on a modern witch story that feels like found family. That pivot didn’t erase my old favorites—memoir, self-help, and historical fiction—it gave me new ways to find the same heart: complicated love, moral choices, and...

Ever feel like the only adult voice in a room that’s become a stadium? Tajuana pulls back the curtain on life as the only woman in a house of boys and explains how she navigates nonstop motion, surprise sass, and the tender moments that make it all worth it. This candid solo story blends humor and hard-won tactics, showing how overstimulation, mood swings, and the three-versus-one energy shape daily life—and how small, steady habits can calm the storm.

We talk about the reality of boy energy colliding with a mom’s nervous system, the way premen...

What if the birthday you plan is really a love letter to yourself? We dive into the messy, funny, and honest side of celebrating as adults—especially after motherhood—where a perfect day might look like a winery flight, three excellent pizzas, and the relief of not hosting. With our cousin Blair in the mix, we trace how birthdays evolve from glow‑stick college parties and $5 covers to intentional, low‑key gatherings that honor who we are now.

We unpack the tension between planning and surprises—why control can feel like protection against being forgotten, and how a good sur...

The conversation starts mid-flow—because that’s real life—and unspools into a warm, bookish hangout about reading through seasons of identity, motherhood, and friendship. We compare formats without judgment (physical lovers, audiobook skeptics, Kindle night-owls), and we admit the messy bits: zoning out, rewinding chapters, and trying to sneak a page at a winery. What emerges is a portrait of how stories carry us when we’re stretched thin and still hungry for connection.

We follow a breadcrumb trail of genres that mirror our moods. Fantasy reenters the chat with A Court of Thorns and Roses and a wi...

You know that quiet nudge that says text her now, take the other turn, or say yes even though it makes no sense? We follow that thread with our cousin Jae into a candid, funny, and deeply human conversation about intuition, grief, boundaries, and the tiny choices that shape a life. What starts as a rose–bud–thorn check-in becomes a roadmap for trusting your gut through career setbacks, family illness, and the everyday improvisation of motherhood and friendship.

Jae shares the origin of her intuitive practice—premonitory dreams, strangely specific “downloads,” and the moment a sudden urge to ch...

The library is quiet, our coffees are cooling, and we’re laughing about whether “elder” or “mature” millennial is the better title—because we sit on opposite ends of the 1981–1996 line and see the world from both sides. From a quick rose‑bud‑thorn check‑in to the sound of dial‑up ringing in our heads, this conversation maps the millennial story with heart: nostalgia that makes you grin, work realities that make you nod, and small joys that keep us going.

We unpack what it meant to come of age with answering machines, flip phones, T9 texting, and AIM away...

Join us as we dive into societal norms and share our unpopular opinions on everything from celebrity culture to food preferences and social media etiquette.

• Indifference towards celebrity news and engagements, particularly the recent Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announcement
• Group chat etiquette and the pressure to respond immediately to text messages
• Controversial food preferences including cereal choices, oat milk opinions, and the over-hyped pumpkin spice season
• Fashion debates including Crocs on adults, shoes without socks, and the practicality of "no-show" socks
• TV shows we never got into despite their cultural significance (Friends, Dawson's C...

Friendship breakups hit different than romantic ones. While we expect romantic relationships to sometimes end, friendships carry this unspoken promise of forever. When they don't last, we're left questioning everything: Was I wrong about this person? Did I misread our connection entirely? Am I the problem?

Sheree and Tajuana dive deep into the complicated terrain of adult friendships – those intentional relationships we carefully cultivate in our 30s when time and emotional energy become precious resources. They explore why these breakups can feel so devastating and how our adult perspective makes these losses particularly painful. Both sisters share pe...

Join Tajuana as she sit down with Angela Taylor. 

What happens when a kindergarten teacher becomes a mother herself? The lines between professional expertise and personal reality blur in fascinating ways. In this candid conversation with Angie Taylor, a 13-year veteran kindergarten teacher and mother to a kindergartener, we explore the striking disconnect between social media's portrayal of parenthood and what actually happens in homes and classrooms across America.

Angie doesn't hold back as she discusses how behaviors in classrooms have changed dramatically over recent years, particularly following the pandemic. With her unique dual perspective, s...