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The Life You Didn't Plan with Tammy Munson · The Seed Project

0:04
Hey friend, welcome to The Seed Project.
0:06
I'm Charlotte Edwards.
0:08
I believe every thought, word, and action plants something in ourselves and the people around us.
0:14
Through stories, conversations, and a little curiosity, we'll explore how our experiences shape who we become and the influence we have on others.
0:31
Charlotte: Today, I am talking with Tammy Munson, founder of the Wildfire Creative Company.
0:36
Charlotte: Tammy has spent more than 20 years in podcasting, helping women find their voices, tell their stories, and create work that matters.
0:44
Charlotte: Tammy, thank you so much for being here
0:47
Tammy: I am so excited to be here.
0:50
Tammy: Like I was telling you before we hit record, it feels weird to be on this side of the microphone.
0:54
Tammy: So yeah
0:56
Charlotte: one of the things I love about these conversations is finding out what has shaped someone along their journey, and sometimes it's not always something big.
1:07
Charlotte: It could be a book, it could be a conversation that you had with someone, an experience, a prayer.
1:14
Charlotte: Sometimes I like to jump right in was there a specific seed that made an impact in your life?
1:23
Tammy: Yeah.
1:23
Tammy: So I think one of the biggest seeds planted in me was, over these last few years, was the realization that I could trust God even when I didn't see the path forward.
1:38
Tammy: Like, I've always known I, I can trust him, I can put my faith in him, he's good, he's, he's gonna do things for my good.
1:47
Tammy: but, know, when you're, when you're looking down the road and you can't see the path forward, and then you go, i- is he really gonna be there?
1:58
Tammy: At, at least for me.
1:59
Tammy: And so there's been times in my life where I thought the future was going to look like, you know, this is what I had planned, and this is my five-year plan and 47 steps and all the things.
2:10
Tammy: I'm a planner, y'all.
2:12
Tammy: Then, my life changed dramatically, and I'm like,"Where are we headed now?
2:19
Tammy: What, what's happening?" I kinda always say I like to have the itinerary and, the GPS tracking that w- that we're gonna need for this.
2:29
Tammy: But, last year, I began to realize, due to the hard season that I was going through, was that there's this seed planted in me that faith is more than just knowing that everything is gonna work out perfectly, and you know exactly where you're going and all the things, right?
2:51
Tammy: But that faith is being willing to keep walking, keep going, moving forward, even when you don't have any idea of the, uh, destination.
3:04
Charlotte: Right?
3:05
Charlotte: And isn't that the hardest part?
3:07
Tammy: Oh, absolutely.
3:08
Tammy: During that, that time, everything that I knew, every plan that I had made, every vision for my future was turned on its head.
3:21
Tammy: And outside of running my company and being mom to my daughters, I had no idea what was really, where was I gonna land, and is everything gonna be okay and, and what does this look like going forward.
3:38
Tammy: I just had to say,"Oh, okay, Lord, you obviously know what you're doing.
3:43
Tammy: I'm just gonna trust, and I'll just take the next step."
3:48
Charlotte: Was there a moment that you realized you have to relinquish control or was it an ongoing process as you were grieving this life that's no longer?
3:58
Tammy: Yeah.
3:59
Tammy: It was, it was kind of a moment.
4:01
Tammy: I wa- I remember I was sitting in my car crying and yelling at the Lord.
4:07
Tammy: Um, and I don't know where this is going.
4:12
Tammy: I, I, I don't have the answers.
4:14
Tammy: I don't have the next step.
4:15
Tammy: And something in me said You don't need to have the answers.
4:22
Tammy: You don't need to know what the next step is.
4:25
Tammy: Just have the faith in the journey.
4:29
Tammy: And a very dear friend of, of mine helping me through some of this at the time, and I remember she just said,"You need to keep going.
4:42
Tammy: keep going.
4:44
Tammy: Just take that one step, and then the next, and the next." And that was kind of the thing that And I just finally said,"Okay, I can't figure this out.
4:52
Tammy: I don't see a path forward, so I'm just going to have faith, and you're gonna lead me down the road." And it was a fantastic journey.
5:02
Tammy: We're still on that journey.
5:05
Tammy: but I know that I don't need to have that level of control anymore, that it's okay just kind of doing the things that he's asking me to do, and doing the things that I know are the right things to do, and just kind of keep taking that next step
5:27
Charlotte: You know the knowing aspect, knowing that faith can move the needle.
5:33
Charlotte: But then there's also the hard part of actually, living it out, truly relinquishing that control and saying,"Okay, I know that my faith is important to me.
5:45
Charlotte: I know that God is in control." But as human beings and want for control and the uncertainty brings up our anxiety and all of these other emotions.
5:55
Charlotte: So to truly actually live out what you, what you know are honestly kind of sometimes different things
6:04
Tammy: Right, exactly.
6:06
Tammy: I mean, I've always had a relationship with Jesus.
6:09
Tammy: I've always believed in, you know, God is gonna do the things for our good.
6:14
Tammy: He's gonna lead us down the right road.
6:16
Tammy: He's never gonna steer us wrong.
6:18
Tammy: I, I knew that in my heart and in my brain, but when you're in that and you, you don't know, I can go in 99 different directions.
6:29
Tammy: Wh- what, what am I supposed to do here?
6:32
Tammy: And, you know, it, it kinda became one of those things of you have to put everything else to the side and just follow him.
6:44
Tammy: That's it.
6:46
Tammy: And knowing that it's okay to, it's okay to start over.
6:50
Tammy: It's not a failure in that you're starting over.
6:55
Tammy: whether that's a business, writing a book, starting a podcast, like of it, it's okay to start over.
7:04
Tammy: We take the-- we, we don't, we don't lose anything.
7:06
Tammy: We don't need to look at ourselves as like,"Oh, I failed." learned lessons, can take the wisdom of learning those lessons and apply it to the next thing.
7:17
Tammy: There's things I know today that I didn't know 18 months ago, about myself and about what I can do and what I can accomplish through, the Lord.
7:30
Tammy: And even my relationship with Jesus changed 1,000%.
7:37
Tammy: It's much more deeper now than it ever had been before
7:42
Charlotte: When you are in this season of uncertainty and you're relying on your faith Sometimes that seems kind of abstract, as far as, yes, I'm relying on my faith.
7:55
Charlotte: What would you say were some, applications or practical things that you did to help, strengthen your faith or, get out of your head and let your emotions take over?
8:07
Charlotte: Some things that you said,"Okay, if I'm truly gonna take this leap of faith, then I'm gonna surrender control." How did you bridge that gap of, God's in control, I'm gonna follow where He leads me, but, a lot of people are like,"Well, how do I even know where God's leading me?
8:21
Charlotte: How do I even know what the leap of faith is?" And some of that's still, wanting the control of knowing.
8:27
Charlotte: But even still,
8:28
Tammy: Yeah
8:29
Charlotte: how do you follow that path or what are some practical things?
8:34
Charlotte: Was it getting back to making yourself a priority and taking care of yourself?
8:38
Charlotte: Was it getting into the Word?
8:40
Charlotte: What helped you clear up that space where you could rely more on your faith?
8:47
Tammy: There was, there was changes in how much time I spent in the word.
8:53
Tammy: I began doing it daily.
8:55
Tammy: Up until that point, I was like, I'm married, I've got kids, I've got a business to run, I've got clients to answer to, I've got all these things, and I wasn't making it a priority.
9:07
Tammy: Yes, I went to church, and yes, I prayed, and I did Bible studies and things like that.
9:12
Tammy: But, so in this hard season, I made it a priority every day to read paragraph.
9:20
Tammy: And I started off in the Psalms and just kinda stayed there for a while.
9:26
Tammy: Then I started writing a little bit, where I would pick five...
9:31
Tammy: And my therapist gave me this one.
9:32
Tammy: This is not something I came up with on my own.
9:35
Tammy: Write five things that you're grateful for, and it can't be my kids, my business.
9:42
Tammy: It has to be something like, you know, the humidity is only 75% today.
9:48
Tammy: I'm grateful for that.
9:50
Tammy: Uh, I, I live in Southeast Louisiana.
9:52
Tammy: It's hot.
9:55
Tammy: you know, or I heard the birds this morning, or, the sunrise was amazing and beautiful or whatever it was.
10:05
Tammy: It was really being grateful for the small things that, of course, we're always grateful for our children and our family and our loved ones and our friends and, and all, and all the things that God gives us, of course.
10:18
Tammy: We're always grateful for those.
10:20
Tammy: But sometimes we miss, we miss the small things.
10:23
Tammy: And so that's what I started just to focus on.
10:27
Tammy: course, there was therapy.
10:29
Tammy: You know, highly recommend it, if you're going through a hard season, like, to get somebody's else's point of view there and, and all that kind of stuff.
10:38
Tammy: And then the only other thing is that when whatever happened, whether it was good or it was bad, I learned that lesson.
10:47
Tammy: When I ended up moving from where I was to back home and, I was"Okay, I'm surrounded by people that know me and that love me and that care about me." And then I, I joined a mastermind and found some even, uh, more amazing friends, you being one of those people in that group.
11:09
Tammy: that also helped me to go,"Okay, this is okay.
11:13
Tammy: not the only one that's struggling with certain things.
11:16
Tammy: Uh, other people are struggling with, with things as well." And it kept being like the little wins started to stack up.
11:26
Tammy: And then you go,"Okay, this is, this is gonna be okay.
11:30
Tammy: This is gonna be, this is gonna be fine." And, there was a point where, when it all first happened and I'd go into church and I would cry.
11:41
Tammy: The moment I walked in to the moment I walked out, I, I bawled through the whole thing But as I started to feel more confident in myself and the choices that I was making, and I was making smart decisions.
11:55
Tammy: Some, some were really smart, some were not so smart, but a whole different story.
12:01
Tammy: But, you know, it, but it was these little wins that started to stack up, and I started to feel better about myself and better about where I was heading, and that, I could easily trust the Lord, and that he was going to give me way more than I ever imagined.
12:20
Tammy: it's so true, you know?
12:22
Tammy: So if somebody's in that hard season is just start with just being grateful for, for the things that are going right.
12:30
Tammy: It might feel like the entire world is crashing down around you, but just be grateful for those little things
12:38
Charlotte: sometimes it's just that you woke up that day.
12:40
Charlotte: Depending on your situ- your situation, it can be"Okay, it's a new day.
12:45
Charlotte: There's new possibilities, and here I am."
12:48
Tammy: Yeah.
12:49
Charlotte: know?
12:49
Tammy: Uh, mm-hmm.
12:50
Charlotte: And just in those hard seasons, if you look back on that now, being a smidge removed, as you're still, making progress,
12:59
Tammy: Yes
13:00
Charlotte: You're, evolving into this new season for yourself and almost like relearning yourself of what truly matters to you and, getting to know yourself in a different way, When you look back on that time Can you see the, the lesson or are you still so close to it to be like,"No, it just absolutely sucked"?
13:23
Tammy: Um, no, I, I see the lesson easily now, that I was trying to hold onto something so hard because I didn't wanna let it go, and I wasn't willing to do the pruning I didn't want anything to change.
13:43
Tammy: I wanted my life to stay the exact same the way it always had been, and sometimes we have to let go of the thing that we're holding so to because we get uncomfortable with the change that it's gonna bring.
14:01
Tammy: But on the other side of it now, I can say that the pruning that happened Was, uh, exactly what I needed to become the person I am in 2026.
14:20
Tammy: I am a completely different person.
14:22
Tammy: I feel I have a different confidence about me now than I did, 18 months ago.
14:28
Tammy: That this version of me is not afraid to say,"You know what?
14:36
Tammy: Here's my boundary now.
14:39
Tammy: I'm not gonna tolerate certain things.
14:41
Tammy: I'm not gonna tolerate certain behavior.
14:43
Tammy: I'm not gonna...
14:44
Tammy: i'm gonna make the right decisions for myself." But looking back at that version of me, I'm like,"I don't even know who she is,"'cause that is not who I am now.
14:54
Tammy: And it's all, it's all due to God.
14:56
Tammy: I mean, I mean, yeah, my therapist helped and, and,
15:01
Charlotte: Right.
15:02
Tammy: and I did the work, but it was all of Him putting the right people in my life, putting the right team members so my business could stay running, certain people right smack in my world that I could rely on, that I could trust, that I could have them speaking really good things into me.
15:26
Tammy: and that was all because of Him
15:30
Charlotte: No, I mean, by the grace of God, we're saved so many times over.
15:34
Charlotte: And what you're talking even about, the community aspect and how having a strong community around you is so important to get you through those times and just, just be with you, not fix you, not try to solve your problem, just be.
15:52
Charlotte: Because that's important as well.
15:56
Charlotte: I think, and I don't know, I mean, maybe it's because we're both in midlife, but, I think you can look back and, you know, all of us have created some kind of version of this comfortable life.
16:11
Charlotte: It could be a comfort in your job that you're scared to leave, or a relationship, or even in your parenting style and your kids are trying to have their independence.
16:21
Charlotte: But we all are creatures of habit and creatures of routine,
16:24
Tammy: Yeah
16:25
Charlotte: and trying to, mess up the apple cart, is scary in any aspect.
16:31
Charlotte: But sometimes the apple cart just needs to be flipped over, and
16:36
Tammy: Mm-hmm.
16:37
Charlotte: think that that's what's, that's what's hard the more life experience that you have, you don't wanna rock the apple cart.
16:44
Charlotte: And I think that that's, is so terrifying, but also liberating at the same time
16:51
Tammy: It, it really is, you know?
16:53
Tammy: And I think a lot of times for most women, we know that it's not just, uh, our apple cart, it's, it's a lot of other people's cart too It's like,"Well, I wanna do this, but it's not about me, and how's it gonna affect this person and this person and this person and this person?" then we tend to go,"Oh, I'm, I'm, I'm fine.
17:16
Tammy: Everything's fine." And
17:19
Charlotte: Everything's fine
17:20
Tammy: Yeah.
17:21
Tammy: Like, it's a, it's total dumpster fire, but everything's fine.
17:26
Tammy: but I think for me it was the moment that I was like,"I have to do this.
17:37
Tammy: This is the right thing to do.
17:39
Tammy: It's not gonna be easy.
17:42
Tammy: But I'm gonna be a better person in the end." Now, I didn't always think that.
17:47
Tammy: Some days I'm like,"What?" Like,"You have lost your ever-loving mind, Tammy.
17:52
Tammy: Seriously." Like, some Yeah.
17:56
Tammy: The, the thing for me was every time happened, I could start to see the good in it.
18:07
Tammy: And then one day, all of a sudden, instead of focusing on all the negative that was associated with the hard season, I could see all the good things that were happening, and I d- I didn't focus on the negative, hardly at all.
18:21
Tammy: I some days I do.
18:23
Tammy: I'm You know, we're, we're all human in
18:26
Charlotte: Right
18:26
Tammy: that way.
18:26
Tammy: But most of the time I, I focus on can be exactly who God made me to be.
18:36
Tammy: I don't have to shrink myself.
18:37
Tammy: I don't have to be smaller.
18:39
Tammy: I don't have to do any of these things.
18:42
Tammy: And it's for a much happier life,'cause I'm doing what God asked me to do
18:51
Charlotte: I'm sure this has probably been some of the longest 18 months of your life, but in the grand scheme of life, it's a short amount of time.
18:59
Charlotte: You know what I mean?
19:00
Charlotte: In the grand scheme of life, as scary as it was, and yes, a lot of pain and suffering, but in a short amount of time, look at this version of Tammy versus the past version of Tammy and, what a blessing and all the lessons that you've learned in between
19:20
Tammy: absolutely.
19:21
Tammy: Absolutely.
19:22
Tammy: You know, and, and yes, this was the hardest thing I've ever had to go through in my adult life.
19:31
Tammy: Um, but glad it happened
19:37
Charlotte: Gosh, who would have ever thought that you would say that, uh, just a little while ago
19:41
Tammy: a million years, in a million years would I have thought I'd be like,"I'm glad, I'm glad this happened." I remember at the beginning of, of when I started with my therapist and, and she's like,"You know, you know, we're, we're gonna get to a point when you're gonna be grateful for all the things and even grateful for this thing." And I'm like,"Pssh.
20:01
Tammy: Yeah, no, that ain't gonna happen."
20:05
Charlotte: Never in a million years
20:07
Tammy: I was a little more cynical back then,
20:09
Charlotte: Yeah
20:10
Tammy: she was absolutely right.
20:11
Tammy: She's like,"You're gonna go through this journey, you're gonna learn the lessons, and you're gonna be grateful because of the things that are gonna come out of this.
20:19
Tammy: You're gonna be grateful for, not necessarily the pain, but the things that you learn about yourself and the things that you accomplish from this." So yeah, you just gotta keep going
20:34
Charlotte: going.
20:36
Charlotte: Well,, before I ask you one last question, I want to, do a little plug.
20:40
Charlotte: Where can,, people find you or learn more about you and the different work that you're doing?
20:46
Tammy: Sure.
20:46
Tammy: Yeah.
20:47
Tammy: So like you said, my, my company is Wildfire Creative, and we are a, boutique podcast studio that works with Christian women, to get their voice out there and to have really great podcasts.
21:00
Tammy: You can go to wildfirecreativecompany.com, or you can also follow me and all the things that we do for, in podcasting on Instagram at wildfirecreativeco.
21:15
Tammy: That's C-O
21:17
Charlotte: I'll put the links also in the show notes for you.
21:20
Charlotte: Okay, so we've talked a little bit about a seed that was planted in you, so now I wanna flip it.
21:26
Charlotte: If there was a seed that you would pass on to everybody listening, what would it be?
21:35
Tammy: You know, I, I kind of alluded to it, but it's the idea of, be afraid to begin again Whether that's a relationship, starting a different job, a podcast, writing a book, whatever that is.
21:56
Tammy: Yeah, I think so, so many times we, we go,"Oh, I can't do that.
22:00
Tammy: I'm too late." not, we're never too late, unless maybe, like, you're 97, um, or something like that.
22:07
Tammy: But I, I, even then I don't believe that, that you're...
22:10
Tammy: Sorry, wait
22:10
Charlotte: I mean, I think even at 97 you'd still have some words of wisdom to share, right?
22:15
Tammy: Yeah.
22:16
Tammy: Yeah, yeah.
22:16
Tammy: Yeah.
22:17
Tammy: So I think that, you know, don't, don't think it's too late for me to do that thing.
22:24
Tammy: It may be hard, yeah.
22:27
Tammy: but you can take these baby steps, and you can take the, the thing and just, you just gotta start.
22:34
Tammy: You know, God gives us these callings upon our lives.
22:37
Tammy: And He gives us everything that we need in order to accomplish that, but we still have to run the race.
22:43
Tammy: You know, He may give us the shoes and, and the race we're gonna be in, but we still have to do the work, and we still have to get out there.
22:51
Tammy: So do the work.
22:54
Tammy: Take the step, whatever that thing is, and just know that You're never too late to do it.
23:00
Tammy: You can always make changes anything.
23:05
Tammy: And just, just go
23:08
Charlotte: I think that's beautiful advice for someone who has reinvented themselves.
23:12
Charlotte: I think I'm on my third version now, I do think that, it's true.
23:16
Charlotte: It's always very intimidating and to go back to being a novice and be new at something, it's kind terrifying.
23:24
Charlotte: But look at what beauty and what doors it can open, and what experiences that you can, learn from or have, or people that you can meet that, if you didn't take that first step, you never would have
23:37
Tammy: Absolutely.
23:38
Tammy: Absolutely.
23:39
Tammy: Couldn't have said it better myself.
23:41
Tammy: Exactly
23:43
Charlotte: Well, I really do appreciate you being here and sharing your journey.
23:54
Thanks for spending a little time with me today.
23:56
And remember, you're always planting something, so pay attention because it matters.
24:02
Until next time, thanks for being here