In this deeply reflective episode of Purpose, Not Pity, Erika explores the quiet, often unspoken emotional space that many people find themselves in during the holidays after loss, heartbreak, or major life change.

Not the kind of grief that demands attention.
Not the kind of healing that looks inspirational.
But the kind that shows up as restraint, reflection, and not knowing how to explain what you feel.

Erika opens up about how the holidays have shifted for her over the years, from childhood magic, to single motherhood, to grief, to this in-between season where nothing feels wrong, but nothing feels the same. She speaks honestly about loneliness, peace, uncertainty, and the pressure to perform joy when your inner world has changed.

This episode is for anyone who:

• Feels disconnected from the holidays but can’t explain why
• Is healing but still grieving parts of the life they didn’t get
• Feels pressure to show up joyful when quiet feels more honest
• Is learning to let the season be what it is, without forcing meaning

You don’t need to fix the holidays.
You don’t need to explain yourself.
And you don’t need to feel alone in this.

A gentle, grounding conversation for anyone navigating the holidays while becoming someone new.

🧡 Stay connected:
TikTok: @by.erikahernandez
Instagram: @byerikahernandez

🎧 New episodes drop the 1st & 3rd Tuesday of every month

📬 Want to share your story or connect?
Email: byerikahernandez@gmail.com

💛 Thanks for listening. Keep choosing purpose, not pity.

In this episode of Purpose, Not Pity, Erika reflects on a recent real-life moment that revealed how much she’s changed, not through what she did, but through what she no longer felt the need to carry. Through honest storytelling and reflection, she explores the difference between accountability and emotional labor, and how healing teaches us to stop absorbing blame, guilt, and anxiety that don’t belong to us.

If you’ve ever felt responsible for keeping the peace, carrying emotional weight that wasn’t yours, or turning difficult moments into proof that something was wrong with you, this conversation is an invitation to pause, and let something fall.

Healing isn’t about becoming cold or detached. It’s about learning when to hold, and when to let go.

🧡 Stay connected:
TikTok: @by.erikahernandez
Instagram: @byerikahernandez

🎧 New episodes drop the 1st & 3rd Tuesday of every month

📬 Want to share your story or connect?
Email: byerikahernandez@gmail.com

💛 Thanks for listening. Keep choosing purpose, not pity.

In this deeply personal and unexpected episode, Erika shares the moment that stopped her in her tracks, a simple family photo on Facebook that opened a door to a truth she never fully acknowledged until now.

What begins as an ordinary dinner with a friend turns into a powerful reflection on marriage, pressure, parenthood, old wounds, and the kind of healing that reveals itself years later. Erika opens up about the choices she made at twenty, the weight of expectation, the realities of a young and unsteady marriage, and the painful honesty of knowing something wasn’t right long before she had the courage to say it out loud.

But this episode isn’t about regret.
It’s about clarity.
It’s about preparation.
It’s about the way God sometimes removes what we’re not ready to let go of, because He knows what’s coming next.

For anyone navigating heartbreak, release, forgiveness, or the quiet ways life prepares us for unimaginable storms, this episode is a reminder that:

Letting go is not failure.
Letting go is preparation.

If you’re healing from a past relationship, struggling with letting go, or learning to trust the timing of your life, this episode will meet you exactly where you are.

🧡 Stay connected:
TikTok: @by.erikahernandez
Instagram: @byerikahernandez

🎧 New episodes drop the 1st & 3rd Tuesday of every month

📬 Want to share your story or connect?
Email: byerikahernandez@gmail.com

💛 Thanks for listening. Keep choosing purpose, not pity.

This episode explores the possibility that not all hardship is punishment, some of it is preparation. Inspired by a conversation on Angie Martinez IRL with Joe Budden reflecting on Kobe Bryant, Erika asks a powerful question:

We talk about becoming emotionally ready for the life we want, understanding divine timing, releasing armor, and stepping into a season where strength looks like softness, truth, and self-acceptance.

This episode will challenge the way you see your past and open your heart to a future where you don’t just survive, you become.

🧡 Stay connected:
TikTok: @by.erikahernandez
Instagram: @byerikahernandez

🎧 New episodes drop the 1st & 3rd Tuesday of every month

📬 Want to share your story or connect?
Email: byerikahernandez@gmail.com

💛 Thanks for listening. Keep choosing purpose, not pity.

A FaceTime call from my bonus son, Malachi, flipped my whole day. What started as a normal check-in turned into him admitting something he never says out loud… that since my son Jovan passed, he hasn’t been able to find that kind of connection again. And he feels lonely.

In this bonus episode, I’m sharing the real, unfiltered moment grief showed up out of nowhere and shifted everything. This is about the loneliness we don’t talk about enough, the connections we can’t replace, and the way grief hits even when life looks “fine.”

If you’ve ever felt joy and heartbreak in the same day… this one is for you.

🧡 Stay connected:
TikTok: @by.erikahernandez
Instagram: @byerikahernandez

🎧 New episodes drop the 1st & 3rd Tuesday of every month

📬 Want to share your story or connect?
Email: byerikahernandez@gmail.com

💛 Thanks for listening. Keep choosing purpose, not pity.

Most people expect anger after loss to look loud and obvious. But what if your anger is quiet? What if it lives in your body, in long silences, in questions you can’t say out loud?

In this “halfway” episode of Purpose, Not Pity (Episode 7), Erika Hernandez dives into the anger that doesn’t look like anger. She talks about the invisible rage after losing a child, being angry at God, herself, the justice system, and even the person accused in his death. She shares how she masked her pain, turned inward, and learned that true healing begins when you stop hiding your anger and let it lead you out of the dark.

If your life looks nothing like you planned, this episode is for you.

🧡 Stay connected:
TikTok: @by.erikahernandez
Instagram: @byerikahernandez

🎧 New episodes drop the 1st & 3rd Tuesday of every month

📬 Want to share your story or connect?
Email: byerikahernandez@gmail.com

💛 Thanks for listening. Keep choosing purpose, not pity.

When life doesn’t go as planned, it’s not just your dreams that disappear, it’s the version of yourself you thought you’d always be.

In this episode of Purpose, Not Pity, Erika Hernandez shares what it feels like to stand in the wreckage of the life you once imagined and realize nothing looks the way you thought it would. From divorce and career setbacks to infertility, addiction, and loss, this episode is about what happens when the picture shatters, and how to find yourself again in what’s left.

Because starting over isn’t about rebuilding what broke. It’s about picking up one piece that still feels like you and carrying it forward.

🧡 Stay connected:
TikTok: @by.erikahernandez
Instagram: @byerikahernandez

🎧 New episodes drop the 1st & 3rd Tuesday of every month

📬 Want to share your story or connect?
Email: byerikahernandez@gmail.com

💛 Thanks for listening. Keep choosing purpose, not pity.

When life breaks you open through loss, heartbreak, or tragedy, it is not just the person you lose. It is the friendships you thought would last forever. Some friends vanish. Some go silent. And sometimes, it is you who has to walk away.

In this raw episode of Purpose, Not Pity, Erika Hernandez shares what nobody talks about: the disappointment of friends who never show up, the shock of realizing who actually stays, and the loneliness of trying to rebuild your circle after everything changes. From being the “mom friend” who always protected others, to questioning whose responsibility it is to reach out after heartbreak, to learning how to live with a much smaller circle, this conversation is for anyone who has ever felt abandoned, angry, or deeply alone.

Because the truth is, friendships are not always forever. But the ones that survive? They are sacred.

🧡 Stay connected:
TikTok: @by.erikahernandez
Instagram: @byerikahernandez

🎧 New episodes drop the 1st & 3rd Tuesday of every month

📬 Want to share your story or connect?
Email: byerikahernandez@gmail.com

💛 Thanks for listening. Keep choosing purpose, not pity.