6 Years & 200 Episodes: A Parenting Story of Grace, Growth, and Getting It Wrong

SPECIAL EPISODE ALERT!!

We are so happy to share this special episode that is a celebration of both 6 years AND 200 episodes for this podcast! It is honest and raw...and the sound may be a little off our usual high quality recording levels.

In this heartfelt milestone episode, Heather Hester is joined in person by two of her children, Connor and Grace, to share the deeply personal and powerful story of how their family moved from silence and fear to connection, growth, and unconditional love. (Steve, Isabelle, and Rowan were there in spirit and idea!) This isn’t just Heather’s story, it’s theirs. And it’s the story that quietly fuels everything More Human, More Kind has become.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How one family navigated the complexity of religious upbringing, generational trauma, and LGBTQ+ identity
• The emotional impact of unlearning what we’re taught, and how to rebuild with empathy and love
• What it really looks like to come out as a family
• The role of softness, boundaries, and intentional parenting in healing and advocacy
• How to lead with love when the world wants you to harden
• What Heather’s kids really think about her work and how it’s shaped their own evolution

Episode Highlights

• A Real Family, A Real Journey: Connor and Grace share raw reflections about how their mom’s upbringing shaped her parenting and how their family broke painful patterns together.
• Generational Healing: Heather opens up about the complexity of parenting while holding a bridge to a family system that couldn’t (or wouldn’t) grow with her.
• Softness is Strength: A look back at what it means to stay open-hearted in the face of discomfort, and how empathy became their family's superpower.
• The Awakening: The moment that changed everything from fear to fierce love and how it led to this podcast, this mission, and this beautiful, brave community.
• Coming Out as a Family: Connor and Grace reflect on what it felt like to step into authenticity together, and why that bond changed them forever.
• Boundaries as Love: How Heather learned to hold the line with her own parents without passing on pain to her kids.
• From Fear to Fierce Allyship: Why showing up again and again, imperfectly but courageously, is the most powerful thing a parent can do.

Key Takeaways

• Softness isn’t something you earn, it’s something you return to.
• Love doesn't erase pain; it makes space for it.
• Boundaries are not disconnection, they are love in action.
• Unlearning can be messy. But it’s where healing begins.
• You are not alone. You are not broken. You are becoming.

Connect + Reflect

• What stories have you inherited and which ones are you ready to rewrite?
• How might softness serve your parenting, your relationships, or your advocacy today?
• What boundaries could you set that honor your humanity and keep you connected to love?

Thank You

To every listener, every brave parent, every LGBTQ+ kid and ally: thank you for being here. For choosing growth, for choosing softness, and for choosing to keep showing up.

Special thanks to Connor and Grace for sharing their voices and their hearts so generously, for Steve, Isabelle, and Rowan for sharing their thoughts and support off mic, and to Samantha Mackey for facilitating this beautiful conversation and making the episode possible behind the scenes.

Thank you for being part of this unfolding story. Here’s to the next 200!

Hi, I’m Heather Hester, and I’m so glad you’re here!

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At the heart of my work is a deep commitment to compassion, authenticity, and transformative allyship, especially for those navigating the complexities of parenting LGBTQ+ kids. Through this podcast, speaking, my writing, and the spaces I create, I help people unlearn bias, embrace their full humanity, and foster courageous, compassionate connection.

If you’re in the thick of parenting, allyship, or pioneering a way to lead with love and kindness, I’m here with true, messy, and heart-warming stories, real tools, and grounding support to help you move from fear to fierce, informed action.

Whether you’re listening in, working with me directly, or quietly taking it all in—I see you. And I’m so glad you’re part of this journey.

More Human. More Kind. formerly Just Breathe: Parenting Your LGBTQ Teen is a safe and supportive podcast and space where a mom and mental health advocate offers guidance on parenting with empathy, inclusion, and open-minded allyship, fostering growth, healing, and empowerment within the LGBTQ community—including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals—while addressing grief, boundaries, education, diversity, human rights, gender identity, sexual orientation, social justice, and the power of human kindness through a lens of ally support and community engagement.