Nicole Havelka Consulting

Rest Rebels, I have been sitting with this conversation for days. 🙏

This week on Just Rest, I sat down with Anna DeShawn — founder of E3 Radio and The Qube, host of the Ambie Award-winning Q***r News — and y'all, we went THERE.

We talked about sacred spaces. Joy as a choice, not a feeling. And faith — the kind that doesn't always look like sitting in a pew. Sometimes it looks like a prayer corner, a candle, and a commitment to show up anyway.

Anna grew up Black Lutheran AND Baptist — yes, both — and her faith is woven into everything she does. If you are burned out, uncertain, or just trying to stay grounded right now, this conversation is for you.

And Anna's closing message to the Rest Rebels? Three words. I am not going to spoil it. Just listen. 🎧

⭐ Rate and review if you're willing — it helps more people find us.

🌱 Need help finding your joy or ready to make a change? DM me and let's talk coaching.

***rFaith ***rNews

It all started with a question: What is your biggest challenge to doing self-care?

The answer, overwhelmingly, was ... time ⏱️.
I really wanted to help people learn to rest, but I realized I had to deal with the time problem first.
Let me be clear: Time isn't really a problem. Time just IS. But, our relationship to it IS a big problem.

All those (mostly white male) productivity gurus know it. That's why they rake in big bucks. But, when their system fails they blame you, not change their system.

So over the past five-six years, I've been listening, observing, watching how frazzled, neurodivergent women sandwiched between too many people's needs operate day-to-day. You need space. You need flexibility. You need grace rather than shame.

And that's how the Calm Calendar Club evolved. And now I'm opening up some free sessions this week so you can get a taste of 2 live sessions designed for real, complicated lives:

👥 Virtual Coworking — Wed. May 20, noon CT
📋 "Good Enough" Planning Session + Q&A — Thu. May 22, 10 a.m. CT

No membership required. No pitch. Just come try it during this Open House.

RSVP link in the comments.👇

P.S. If you show up in person, you'll get a special treat. 🍦

What do you do when you've built something around your values — and then the whole thing falls apart anyway?

My guest on Episode 9 of Just Rest, Catherine Montgomery, has started over twice in three years. Each time, she kept the mission. Each time, the circumstances around her shifted in ways she couldn't control. And each time, she found her way back to what actually mattered.

We also ended up having a conversation I didn't quite plan, but had hoped for when I started the podcast. We talked about faith, about whether God has a plan, and about what you do when "it's all part of a purpose" stops being enough to hold onto.

It was honest. It was wide-ranging. It was exactly the kind of conversation I started this podcast to have.

If you're in a season of starting over — in your work, your faith, or both — I think this one will meet you where you are.

🎙️ Listen to Episode 9: https://bit.ly/49cbOI4

✨ Something exciting just happened. ✨

My little baby podcast, Just Rest, crossed over the 500 download mark. I'm over the moon.

And the first season isn't over yet. Stay tuned.

🎧 https://bit.ly/46jFfaq

Friends — especially those of you in ministry, nonprofit work, and service-based vocations — this episode is for you even if you don't think of yourself as a "business person."

Because here's what Becky Mollenkamp helped me see: the same extractive systems that burn out corporate workers burn out pastors, nonprofit directors, ministry leaders, and social workers too. The pressure to do more, grow more, prove your worth — that doesn't stay at the office door. It follows us into our vocations. Into our calling.

And the antidote isn't a better productivity system. It's asking a harder question: what is enough, actually?

Becky's new book is called Liberate Your Business — but honestly? It's about liberating yourself from the systems that were never built for your full humanity. That's a spiritual conversation as much as a business one.

Episode 08 of Just Rest is live now. Come listen.

Can I share something that happened in a conversation with a client this week?

A client came in after a legitimately busy stretch — and mentioned, almost confused, that she still felt pretty good. Not wiped out. Not running on empty.

She'd done the things: planned ahead, paced herself, took her breaks.

But there was this little voice — "did I even work hard enough? Shouldn't I feel more exhausted?"

Y'all. That voice is not wisdom. That's grind culture talking.

The idea that you have to feel totally drained to prove you've done enough? We are calling that out. That's not a standard worth keeping.

What we practice instead: pacing yourself, planning to do what actually matters, letting good enough be good enough — and trusting that you don't have to earn your rest by running yourself into the ground first.

If that sounds like something you need right now, I'd love to support you. I offer individual and group coaching through Defy the Trend. Drop me a DM and let's chat. 💛

✨ I'm having a blast! ✨

I am putting the finishing touches on a 30-hour Renewal Retreat for clergy in the Florida Conference, United Church of Christ that I'm leading next week.

We decided to call the retreat Good Enough: An Invitation to Rest because it's SO hard let go of the pressure to do more thing, one more kind act, one more favor for someone in order to prove our worth.

So for even just 30 hours, I'm hoping to help these weary souls unplug by making space for reflection, rest, energy work, yoga and meditation and even silence.

I'm beyond excited to get to do this thing that I feel so strongly called to do.

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Do you want a retreat like this for your hardworking team of staff or volunteers? Or for any group you're part of?

Let's talk! Just DM me and we'll schedule a low-pressure time to chat.

Hey friends — Episode 7 of Just Rest is live and I am so proud of this one. 🎙️

I got to sit down with Elaina Ramsey, Executive Director of Faith Choice Ohio , for one of the most honest and wide-ranging conversations I've had on this podcast. We talked about her journey from fundamentalist evangelical Christianity to becoming a leading voice for Christian reproductive justice. We talked about the difference between reproductive health care, reproductive rights, and the broader reproductive justice framework.

And this one feels especially resonant now: We talked about grief, mutual aid, and what it actually looks like to build an organization that honors the full humanity of everyone in it.

And we talked about rest. Because it turns out bodily autonomy and rest have everything to do with each other.
Elaina's Dear Rest Rebels message at the end is something I've been thinking about ever since we recorded. I don't want to give it away — just go listen.

🎧 Episode 7: Grounding Reproductive Justice in Faith — link in comments!

If this resonates with you, please share it with someone who needs to hear it. 💙

Five years ago I was a year into my business, lonely, and ready to quit.

Then I found Becky Mollenkamp — first on a webinar, then on her email list, then in a little group coaching session she invited me to on one of my lowest days.

She made me feel safe and seen. And then she did something even harder: she helped me let go of every "should" I'd been dragging around about how my business was supposed to look.

She introduced me to a world of intersectional feminist entrepreneurs who believe the way we do business matters. That our work can either reinforce toxic systems — or help dismantle them.

I have never looked back.

Now Becky has written the book I wish I'd had from day one. Liberate Your Business is a deprogramming manual for anyone who has done everything "right" and still felt wrong.

If you've ever hit a goal and felt strangely empty, this book is for you.

Release is April 30. I've already preordered — and I hope you will too. 💛 Link is in the comments.