Starting the year tired, in appointments, and waiting on answers — this episode is about choosing quiet hope in a body that needs care.

• Why hope doesn’t have to feel confident to be real
• How to hold grief and gratitude at the same time
• What it looks like to start a new year already exhausted
• Permission to define success by listening to your body
• Why “manageable” can be a meaningful goal

• “Hope doesn’t require certainty. It requires permission to keep going anyway.”
• “I didn’t need the day to look different. I needed my body to feel safer in it.”
• “Getting through the day counts.”
• “Sometimes the bravest thing we do is keep showing up gently.”

• Rest & Refocus Workbook – a gentle reset for tired bodies and overwhelmed mind

• How to reflect on your year with honesty and grace
• Ways to recognize growth that doesn’t look like achievement
• Reflection prompts around energy, joy, and compassion
• How to release guilt and carry peace into the new year

• “You don’t have to pretend this year was easy — you just have to acknowledge that you kept showing up.”
• “Growth isn’t always visible. Sometimes it looks like resting when you need to.”
• “You don’t need a new you — you just need rest and refocus.”
• “What you carry forward should serve you, not drain you.”

• The Reset & Refocus Workbook — A gentle year-end reset to help you reflect, release, and realign before the new year.
• The Self-Care Toolkit — Daily tools and reflections to help you protect your peace and restore your energy through every season.

Holiday gatherings don’t have to drain you. Here’s how to protect your energy, say no with grace, and still feel connected.

• Why guilt creeps in when you set limits
• How to communicate your boundaries clearly and kindly
• Simple scripts for saying no or leaving early
• How to let go of pressure and find joy in quieter moments

• “You don’t owe anyone a detailed medical update over mashed potatoes.”
• “Guilt is often just grief in disguise.”
• “You can love your people deeply and honor your limits at the same time.”
• “You don’t have to earn your right to rest.”

• Free Download: The Boundary-Setting Script Pack - Your one-page guide to saying no, asking for help, and protecting your peace this season.
• Free Download: The Rest Without Guilt Checklist -

  A simple, honest look at how to rest before you crash using a one-page checklist that helps you check in with your body, your mind, and your real capacity.

• Why “toxic gratitude” makes hard days harder
• The difference between pretending and practicing gratitude
• Gentle journal prompts for finding small joys
• How faith helps you hold gratitude and pain at the same time

• “Gratitude doesn’t erase pain — it makes room for hope.”
• “It’s not about being thankful for the pain. It’s about noticing what still holds.”
• “You can be angry, tired, and grateful all at once.”
• “Gratitude doesn’t have to be loud — sometimes it’s a whisper: ‘I’m still here.’”

• The Rest Without Guilt Checklist -

  A simple, honest look at how to rest before you crash using a one-page checklist that helps you check in with your body, your mind, and your real capacity.

• Gratitude Prompt for the Hard Days— A super simple daily reflection to help you notice what’s still good, even on low-energy days.
• The Joy Journal — A gentle guided journal with short prompts to help you rediscover joy one small moment at a time

After the holidays, your body crashes and your guilt kicks in. Here’s how to rest without apology — because recovery is sacred work.

• Why your post-holiday crash isn’t weakness
• How to identify guilt-driven thoughts about rest
• Real-life examples of what true rest looks like
• Mindset shifts to help you rest without apology

• “Recovery isn’t laziness. It’s the part your body’s been waiting for.”
• “Your body doesn’t keep score — it keeps memory.”
• “Rest was never meant to be earned. It’s meant to be part of the rhythm.”
• “You don’t have to bounce back. You just have to breathe.”

• The Rest Without Guilt Checklist -

  A simple, honest look at how to rest before you crash using a one-page checklist that helps you check in with your body, your mind, and your real capacity.

• The Boundary-Setting Script Pack — Your cheat sheet for saying no, asking for help, and protecting your peace this season.

• The Self-Care Toolkit — A cozy collection of checklists, prompts, and practical tools to help you rest, reset, and care for your body with kindness.

Hey friend. This one’s simple — no lessons or bullet points today. I just wanted to take a breath with you and say thank you. For real. For showing up, for listening, for being part of this messy, beautiful space we’ve built together. When I started The Invisible Illness Club, I hoped it would help women feel seen. What’s happened has been so much more. Every message you’ve sent, every episode you’ve shared, every quiet moment you’ve listened while folding laundry or driving home — it all matters. You’ve turned this podcast into more than a project. It feels like sitting across from a friend who gets it, even when words fall short. So today’s episode is my way of saying I see you, I’m grateful for you, and I’m so glad we get to walk this road together.

• “Community doesn’t have to be big to be real.”
• “If you’ve ever wondered whether your story matters — it does.”
• “Your worth isn’t measured by what you get done. It’s who you are.”

• Revisit your favorite episodes from The Invisible Illness Club Podcast
• Share this episode with a friend who needs a little reminder she’s not alone
• Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts — it really helps more women find us

Asking for help shouldn’t feel like failure — but for so many of us living with chronic illness, it does. In this episode, April gets real about the guilt, pride, and fear that make it so hard to ask for help, even when we desperately need it. From a moment of vulnerability in the shower to redefining what strength really means, this honest conversation invites you to see help not as weakness, but as connection.

• Why asking for help feels so heavy (and what’s really underneath it)
• The difference between weakness and honesty
• How guilt and pride keep us silent — and isolated
• Learning to see help as safety, not failure
• One small step you can take to practice asking for help this week

• The Boundary-Setting Script Pack — your free cheat sheet for saying no, asking for help, and protecting your peace
• Join the Unseen Sisterhood — Weekly newsletter from people who get it!

Virtual assistant agency owner Stephanie Boyle shares how living with multiple sclerosis reshaped her work, motherhood, and mindset. We dig into boundaries without guilt, pacing work with alarms and self-check questions, co-parenting through flares, and starting a business small (on your body’s timeline). This one’s a masterclass in honoring limits without losing your ambition.

• The schedule that listens: using alarms and self-check prompts to pace work with MS
• Boundaries that stick (and why “no” often becomes a better “yes” later)
• Recovering people-pleasing: serving well without self-abandonment
• Parenting in a flare: resilience, honest language with kids, and asking for help
• Building a values-first business: starting with one client and growing sustainably
• Finding your people: support systems that celebrate your “no”
• Faith as a trust fall—releasing what you can’t control

• “If I don’t take care of myself, I can’t please others.”
• Set expectations early: deadlines met, but on a spoon-friendly schedule.
• When guilt creeps in, remember a past boundary you kept—and how light you felt afterward.
• Compare less. Chronic illnesses—and capacities—are different in every body.
• Start small in business. Five hours a week can become forty.
• Choose community that congratulates your boundaries.

• “My faith is a trust fall. I’m trusting God will catch me.” — Stephanie Boyle
• “Hustle culture won’t get you there faster when your body needs slow.” — April Aramanda

• Work with By Friday
• Say hi on social:
  • Instagram: finished_byfriday
  • Facebook: assistancebyfriday

• Newsletter: The Unseen Sisterhood
• Social Media:
  • Instagram: the_invisibleillnessclub
  • TikTok: theinvisibleillnessclub
• Need ops help? Tell Stephanie April sent you 💌