The Price of Integrity (And Why It’s Worth Paying) with Jen Hatmaker

Dr. J.J. Peterson sits down with author and speaker Jen Hatmaker for a candid conversation about courage, integrity, and what happens when the life you’ve built no longer fits who you’re becoming.

Jen Hatmaker has navigated public success, private heartbreak, theological transformation, and the painful cost of choosing integrity over approval. Through every rise and collapse, she has remained tender, honest, grounded, and fiercely aligned with her values—modeling a different kind of leadership rooted in both strength and humanity.

Together, Dr. J.J. Peterson and Jen Hatmaker explore what unfolds when long-held roles begin to crack, when praised identities no longer fit, and when inherited values prove too small for the person emerging on the other side of growth.

This conversation explores:

• the moment Jen Hatmaker’s 26-year marriage shattered
• how she examined the “faulty bricks” her life was built on
• which values endure—and which must be released
• the cost of living out of alignment
• the cost of choosing integrity instead
• what it takes to rebuild a life that finally fits
• how pain can soften rather than harden

There is humor woven throughout—AC/DC youth group myths, country music fangirling, and a Grand Ole Opry moment that lingers—but at its core, this is a conversation about truth, courage, and the lives leaders claim when they stop pretending.

The central reminder is clear: There is always a cost to staying in a life that no longer aligns with who you are becoming—and the longer you stay, the higher the cost becomes.

In the end, this is the work of a badass softie—allowing courage and compassion to guide the way toward a more honest, expansive life.