For The Love Of: Trade-offs we make in pursuit of our passions

We’re entering a new season (literally and creatively) and in true For The Love Of fashion, we’re embracing the pivot.

In this "behind the scenes" chat, we share why we’re shifting away from a regular episode cadence for now, what it actually takes to produce a podcast, and how we’re making space for new ideas in 2025.

Here's your reminder that passion projects get to evolve.

We talk about:

• What podcasting actually takes—time, energy, and a lot of editing

• How we’re honoring our own bandwidth (and friendship!) by changing course

• Why we’re treating this next season of the podcast as a pop-up experiment

• The concept of creative composting and making space for what’s next

• Favorite takeaways from past episodes that are guiding us through this season of change

Episodes we mention and love:

Do you find that when spring arrives, you jump into that buzzy energy too quickly and overcommit?

Same. 🙋‍♀️ In honor of slowing down our seasonal tradition AND to reflect on the past 1.5 years of this show, we want to revisit our very first episode.

Katie’s story is the ultimate pivot: from a six-figure job to bartending on an expedition ship in Antarctica, and eventually kite skiing across Greenland. But beyond the adventures, we dig into what it means to live a values-aligned life, navigate fear while chasing goals, and embrace the changing chapters of our decades.

Hear about:

• The trade-offs of living a "raw, wild and free" life
• Being a very fearful person who also faces risk
• Planning intentionally for a new decade of life
• Seasonal work vs. a 9-to-5
• Begging to chicken sit

Our first episode still so deeply shares the whole point of this show: What are we willing to trade off in order to live our passions?

A couple other episodes you might love:

This athlete is dedicating 2025 to embracing the tradeoffs that come with a passion.

Sydney Schroder is a professional snowboarder based in South Lake Tahoe. Originally from Texas, Sydney committed to a life and career in the snowboard industry 10 years ago and hasn't looked back.

She now competes in free ride snowboarding at a high level, including the Freeride World Qualifiers while also teaching full time at Kirkwood Mountain Resort.  

We talk about:

• How tradeoffs are Sydney’s “secret weapon” while building her dream career
• Going all-in on focusing work and play on snowboarding
• Sydney’s changing relationship with competition and how it includes collaboration
• The realities of competing while working a full-time job
• Imposter syndrome as a pro athlete and instructor
• What it’s like working with a sports psychologist
• Tips for anyone thinking about following their dreams in snowboarding

Episodes mentioned in conversation: 

When an injury limits how you can perform work, art, and creativity, how do you find joy?

April Donovan, also known as the performer MC AP Real, is a rapper involved in three different musical projects as well as a formally trained artist, graphic designer, advertiser, and illustrator. 

April suffered a serious traumatic brain injury in 2018 that landed her in a coma for 10 days and is still affecting how she’s able to live and express herself today.

We talk about:

• April’s motorcycle crash and initial injuries
• Constructing and reconstructing memories after a brain injury and coma
• What it was like moving back home after the hospital
• The impact a severe injury had on relationships and finances
• Adaptations April makes in order to pursue work and art with tough symptoms
• The realities of being a creative human with an invisible disability
• How April is sharing her life through music, writing a book, and art

Access to nature is a fundamental right, and Vivianette is advocating for it in a creative way.

Vivianette Ortiz Caraballo is a proud Puerto Rican, Latina, and madre living in Western North Carolina.

With a passion for community resilience and adventure, she founded Latinos Aventureros to help others enjoy the fundamental right of access to nature. Her outdoor events and programs are a form of advocacy and community to create spaces of belonging and growth for others.   

We talk about:

• The branding of the word “adventure” and how for many, outdoors is just part of life
• Why Vivi moved from Puerto Rico to North Carolina as a teen mom
• The shift in her relationship to nature with the move
• Why hiking seemed like an unlikely hobby for Vivi and how she got started
• Quitting a job to have more time to build an outdoor community
• Founding and leading Latinos Aventureros, a hiking community for Latinos and BIPOC
• How outdoor community is a form of advocacy
• What folks in the continental US should know about Puerto Rico
• How we can all become advocates for our most important causes