What happens when the woman who once changed the trajectory of your life sits across from you years later on your podcast?

In this deeply personal full-circle conversation, I sit down with Kim Jenkins  executive leader, author of Undaunted Aspiration, and one of the first people who truly saw potential in me before I could fully see it myself.

Together, we talk about courage, visibility, relationships, leadership, reinvention, and what it really means to choose yourself.

This episode is honest, heartfelt, expansive  and one I’ll never forget.

📚 Undaunted Aspiration: Lessons of Curiosity, Courage, Authenticity, and Purposeful Intention
By Kim Jenkins

🔗 https://www.thekimjenkinsexperience.com/

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Parenting can feel overwhelming, isolating, and sometimes… terrifying.

But what if it didn’t have to be?

In this episode of Make It Less Scary, I sit down with my dear friend Jillian Maeve artist, parent coach, former Montessori educator of over 20 years, and creator of The Playbook, a coaching container that helps parents connect with their children through play rather than control.

Jillian has spent decades working with young children and families, and what she discovered is something both simple and revolutionary:

Play is the most powerful parenting tool we have.

In this conversation, we explore how shifting your energy, your environment, and your approach can completely transform the dynamics inside your home.

You’ll hear:

• Why traditional discipline often leads to power struggles

• How play activates the brain and helps children regulate themselves

• Why connection works better than correction

• How parents can shift from control to collaboration

• The surprising power of sensory play (yes… including the famous “spaghetti method”)

But this episode is also personal.

Jillian is a former client I coached as she stepped away from a 20-year career in education to build something entirely new around her gifts.

Watching her step into her own path has been one of the most beautiful full-circle moments in my work.

Today, she helps parents create homes where children feel respected, empowered, and safe to grow.

And if you’re listening to this and thinking:

“I want parenting to feel more joyful… less stressful… and more connected.”

Jillian has created a beautiful container for parents called The Playbook, where she teaches these tools in depth.

You can learn more about it here: https://www.jillianmaeve.com/

And if something inside this conversation stirred a deeper question in you  about fear, courage, growth, and the moments in life where we know we are ready for something more  I created a workshop for exactly that moment.

It’s called:

Why Not You. Why Not Now.

A space where we explore the stories that keep us small and begin practicing the courage to show up differently.

You can join the workshop here:

https://stan.store/Makeitlessscary/p/expansion-lab-laugh-play--rewire-your-brain

Because sometimes all it takes is the right room…

and the right moment…

to realize:

why not you. why not now.

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

What happens when a woman stops negotiating with her desire… and starts moving like it’s inevitable?

In this episode, I’m sharing the story of a client who stepped into part of my four-week accelerator and completely shifted her results. Not because she “tried harder.” Not because she forced discipline.

But because she got honest about what she actually wanted.

We identified her real desire.

We uncovered the resistance.

We dismantled the patterns keeping her in contraction.

And then? She moved. Cleanly. Powerfully. Decisively.

This episode isn’t just about her win.

It’s about how I coach.

It’s about knowing when a client needs structure — and when she needs deeper desire awareness. It’s about why my methods work. It’s about the difference between chasing results and becoming the woman who simply gets what she wants.

If you’ve been circling your next level…

If you can feel there’s more available to you…

If you want results without self-abandonment —

This is your episode.

And if you’re ready to stop dabbling and start accelerating?

My four-week accelerator is where we do this work for real.

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Cambiar suena simple.

Pero para tu cerebro… cambiar puede sentirse como peligro.

En este episodio te llevo al corazón de por qué es tan difícil transformarte incluso cuando quieres hacerlo: tus patrones aprendidos, tu sistema nervioso y la forma en que el cuerpo protege lo conocido aunque lo conocido te esté limitando.

Vas a escuchar:

•qué dice la ciencia sobre el cambio (neuroplasticidad, hábito, seguridad y amenaza)

•por qué tu mente vuelve al patrón automático aunque tengas intención

•anécdotas reales de clientes (cuando el deseo existe pero el cuerpo no coopera)

•y una intervención práctica para empezar a reentrenar tu sistema desde hoy

🎧 Dale play! Y únete al Courage Circle o agenda un discovery call https://stan.store/Makeitlessscary

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Season 2 of Make It Less Scary is about deepening the practice of courage through real life, especially the relationships that shape who we become.

Because relationships set the benchmark: once you experience love and friendship that are safe, honest, hilarious, and expansive, you start measuring everything else against that standard.

Season 2 opens with a special episode featuring Maria’s best friends Jillian Maeve and Samantha Jo. These episodes feel like stepping into their group chat and Marco Polo video threads: unfiltered, funny, intimate, and unexpectedly profound.

Featuring: @jillian_maeve + @the.samanthajo

Host: @lessscarywithmaria

Content Advisory: Explicit language and candid conversations about relationships and sex.

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

En este episodio especial de cierre de año, exploramos un tema universal y sorprendentemente científico: la fe como parte natural del arco humano de la transformación.

Junto a una angelóloga, abrimos una conversación profunda sobre por qué, en los momentos difíciles, nuestra mente, nuestro cuerpo y nuestro espíritu buscan algo más que respuestas: buscan significado.

A través del Arco de la Transición Humana, hablamos de cómo nos movemos de:

1. Shock: el cerebro se protege.
2. Emoción: el cuerpo libera lo que no puede sostener.
3. Búsqueda de apoyo: instintivamente buscamos conexión.
4. Búsqueda de significado: aquí entran la fe, el ritual, la intuición y lo sagrado.
5. Dirección: cuando finalmente estamos listos para avanzar.

En esta conversación descubrirás:

✨ por qué la fe regula el sistema nervioso y crea coherencia interna

✨ cómo los rituales y prácticas espirituales ayudan en momentos de incertidumbre

✨ qué significa trabajar con ángeles desde una perspectiva moderna

✨ cómo integrar ciencia, coaching y espiritualidad sin perder solidez

✨ cómo construir tu propio equipo de apoyo para cualquier transición

Este episodio es para ti si estás atravesando un cambio, si necesitas orientación, o si simplemente quieres entender mejor por qué la búsqueda de sentido es tan humana y tan necesaria.

La fe no reemplaza la ciencia.

La completa.

Y juntas hacen que la vida sea menos aterradora.

🤍 Para conectar con Gloria

Si quieres ponerte en contacto con Gloria (nuestra invitada y angelóloga), puedes enviarme un mensaje directo por Instagram o escribirme a:

📩 IG: @lessscarywithmaria

📧 Email: Maria.j.oliver@lessscarywithmaria.com

Yo me encargo de hacer llegar tu mensaje y conectarlos directamente.

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

There are moments that divide life into before and after.

The first times those trembling intersections of fear and desire hold the power to transform us forever.

In this episode, Maria Oliver, founder of Make It Less Scary, shares the story of her first trip alone with her son after divorce a journey woven with love, courage, and conscious design.

A reminder that life isn’t about erasing fear, but about learning to walk with it… and make it sacred.

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Las primeras veces tienen su propio pulso.

Es esa vibración entre el miedo y la emoción, entre lo que se termina y lo que está a punto de comenzar.

En este episodio, te llevo conmigo a un viaje muy especial: el primero que hice sola con mi hijo después del divorcio.

No era solo un destino nuevo; era una declaración.

Una promesa a mí misma de que nuestra nueva vida podía ser expansiva, amorosa y valiente.

Durante ese viaje entendí que el miedo también puede ser medicina.

Que cuando lo miras de frente y lo invitas a caminar contigo, algo dentro de ti se reorganiza.

Te vuelves más tú.

El Portal de las Primeras Veces es una conversación sobre renacer desde el amor, sobre crear belleza en medio del cambio y sobre confiar en que incluso los comienzos más inciertos pueden sentirse como hogar.

Si estás en tu propia primera vez — un nuevo amor, un cambio, un cierre o un inicio — este episodio es una invitación suave a cruzar ese portal con valentía y ternura.

Porque cada primera vez puede ser inolvidable,

y sí… puede ser menos aterradora.

#MakeItLessScary

#ElPortalDeLasPrimerasVeces

#HistoriasDeValentía

#ElArteDeAtreverte

#TransformarElMiedo

#CorajeEnAcción

#DeMiedoAEvidencia

#PrimeraVezSagrada

#ViajeDeTransformación

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

A veces, comer no es solo comer. Es sostener emociones, recuerdos, y expectativas que nos habitan.

En esta conversación con Karen, exploramos cómo auto liderar esos momentos con más presencia y menos miedo, transformando el estrés, la culpa o el control en oportunidades de escucha y compasión.

Un episodio para quienes están aprendiendo a reconciliarse con su cuerpo, sus hábitos y su historia, recordando que el amor propio también se practica en la mesa.    https://www.instagram.com/karenhaupt.psicologa?igsh=MWRnZ2IydHVyMDFjdw==

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

We’re closing this season con broche de oro with our first episodes in Spanish.

Not as an ending, but as an evolution.

A return to language, to roots, and to the most natural way some stories want to be told.

In this transition reflection, María shares what this shift means for Make It Less Scary and how this new chapter opens space for deeper connection, nuance, and truth.

If you’ve been here from the beginning,  thank you for walking this season with us.

And if Spanish is your mother tongue, welcome home.

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

What if courage wasn’t about forcing outcomes, but relaxing into possibility?

In this episode, we explore The Art of the Possible, the energetic logic behind the Make It Less Scary ecosystem. You’ll hear how every offer (from the Index to The Work) maps a journey from clarity to creation, transforming uncertainty into coherence, chaos into architecture, and fear into flow.

This conversation is a transmission for visionary founders, creators, and leaders learning to build with energy as their strategy and courage as their infrastructure.

💡 Explore the tools mentioned in this episode:

Find The Courage Index, The Make it Less Scary Method, The Art of the Possible and other frameworks inside my https://stan.store/Makeitlessscary — your portal into the Make It Less Scary world.

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

In this milestone episode, Maria José Oliver reveals the heartbeat of the Make It Less Scary movement: The Make It Less Scary Method.

You’ll discover the simple, science-backed and soul-anchored framework that helps you move through uncertainty with courage, self-leadership, and grace. Maria breaks down the 5 pillars that make the Make it Less Scary Method and shares how you can start applying them right now to navigate transitions, creative leaps, and everyday challenges.

If you’ve ever wondered how to relax when nothing feels under control — this is the episode that shows you how. Download the Make it Less Scary Method and take the  5-Minute Courage Quiz to see where you are on your courage journey. stan.store/lessscarywithmaria

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

This is where it all began.

Recorded for my dear friend Samantha Jo’s podcast With Pleasure, this conversation marks the official launch of Make It Less Scary — the story of how fear turned into fuel, and how this movement came to life.

I share how life transitions — divorce, motherhood, and reinvention — became the training ground for courage and creation. You’ll also hear how Make It Less Scary was built in co-creation with ChatGPT, not as a shortcut, but as a mirror for truth and clarity.

If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to start, speak, or build something that feels true to your soul — this is your invitation.

✨ Listen now to discover how courage, creativity, and consciousness came together to create Make It Less Scary.

Follow Samantha Jo: https://www.instagram.com/the.samanthajo?igsh=bW5ybnlyNG10N29k

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

In this first part of a two-episode series, Maria Oliver explores a radical truth — that pleasure isn’t indulgent, it’s medicine.

Inspired by Samantha Jo and her transformative framework The Pleasure Codes, Maria shares how she used embodied pleasure as a tool for healing through grief.

Through the lens of neuroscience and lived experience, she breaks down how pleasure expands the nervous system, softens fear, and restores emotional safety.

This episode is a deeply personal testimonial — part science, part soul — about what happens when we stop seeing pleasure as luxury and start recognizing it as a pathway to resilience, regulation, and rebirth.

🎧 Listen to learn how grief and joy can coexist, how oxytocin and dopamine literally rewire your capacity to hold life, and why feeling good might just be the most radical act of healing.

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Sometimes, the bravest thing we can do isn’t to fight or fix — it’s to surrender.

In this episode of Make It Less Scary, I share a personal story about what it means to let go of control and open ourselves to love, even when fear whispers that it’s safer to run.

After my divorce, I thought I was done with love — focused instead on healing and rebuilding. But when love found me again, it brought with it an unexpected invitation: to surrender. To stop trying to manage outcomes, to stay open even when it’s uncomfortable, and to trust that freedom lives on the other side of vulnerability.

This is a story about courage, softness, and the quiet strength that comes from letting go. Because sometimes, when we stop fighting life — life finally begins to flow through us.

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Divorce is one of life’s most difficult transitions — a moment that can feel heavy, overwhelming, and full of fear. After 20 years of marriage, I found myself standing at this crossroads, faced with the decision to end a relationship and begin again.

In this episode, I share my personal journey of navigating divorce with as much grace and compassion as possible. From hiring a divorce mediator, to engaging in individual and co-parenting therapy, to exploring somatic coaching and rebuilding community — I leaned on every tool available to make the experience less scary.

This is not just a story of endings, but of reclaiming identity, rediscovering flow, and choosing courage in the face of fear. Whether you’re moving through divorce, or any major life transition, this episode offers both vulnerability and practical guidance to help you walk your own path with more strength, patience, and compassion.

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Fear doesn’t have to hold you back—it can guide you forward. In this first episode of Make It Less Scary, Maria Oliver shares how to reframe fear as a teacher, not a barrier. With real-life insights and practical strategies, you’ll learn how to use fear as a compass for growth, courage, and resilience.

https://www.instagram.com/lessscarywithmaria?igsh=MWNsYnNnaWh6dDFoNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr