Host Kelsey Reidl shares the home birth story of her daughter, Blair Elizabeth, born at 5:13 AM on September 3rd, nine days past her due date. Labour started at midnight after a tornado-warning storm knocked out the midwives' pagers. Five hours later, Blair arrived in the family's basement while big brother Freddy slept upstairs.

• Why Kelsey shares personal stories on a business podcast
• Scripting a "dream birth" and the books she read to prepare
• Being "overdue" and trusting your baby's timeline
• A stretch and sweep at zero centimetres, then a tornado warning that same night
• Waking at 12:01 AM with contractions already two to three minutes apart
• Setting up a rented birth pool, and why you should practise first
• How the storm took out the midwives' pagers, and how Dave reached them
• Going from zero to seven or eight centimetres in one day
• The unexpected grief of closing the family-of-three chapter
• Learning to trust her midwife, and following her intuition throughout labour
• "It's a girl": four pushes, side-lying, and naming Blair
• A 5:13 AM birth time that felt like a sign from her late mom
• Freddy waking up a big brother, and life as a family of four

1. Trust your body's timeline. Going past a due date is common. Kelsey used the extra days as bonus time with her family of three.
2. Hope for a birth, but don't grip it. Script your dream birth, then stay open, because you can plan but you have to be ready to pivot.
3. Prepare your gear early. Inflate and test a birth pool before labour starts. Filling and heating it takes a long time.
4. Build a team you trust. Confidence in her midwife grew late in pregnancy, and it made all the difference when it mattered.
5. Follow your intuition. Pool or bed, home or hospital: Kelsey's advice is to tune into your gut rather than what you think you're supposed to do.

• "The strongest faith in my body that I've ever held was exactly what I had in that moment."
• "Every story is unique, and every story deserves to be celebrated."
• "Detaching from the outcome while enjoying the journey is truly the most important thing."

• Kelsey’s Instagram: @kelseyreidl
• Kelsey’s Website: www.KelseyReidl.com
• Freddy's birth story episode: https://podcast.show/visionarylife/319-from-diapers-to-podcasting-my-life-as-a-new-mama-in-season-13/
• Episode 422: We Are Moving
• Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
• Birthing Better
• Hypnobirthing course (taken during her first pregnancy)
• The Doula Tree, Norfolk County, which rented Kelsey her birth pool
• A "dream birth" scripting PDF guide

Kelsey Reidl is an entrepreneur, fractional CMO, and host of Rain or Shine (formerly Visionary Life). She's been podcasting for 8 years, helping entrepreneurs show up consistently and build sustainable businesses. She runs the Wave Mastermind and specializes in marketing strategy, website design, and business growth. Kelsey is a mom to a 2-year-old, an avid mountain biker, and a firm believer in the "rain or shine" mentality.

Host Kelsey Reidl is back from a short break with three-week-old Blair in her lap and a big life update: the family is moving. She tells the full story, from finding their dream home on the five-year anniversary of her mom's death to almost walking away after the inspection, an offer that collapsed a week after signing, and a final sale that closed with her two days overdue.

• Welcoming baby Blair Elizabeth, and why the show took a break
• How dueling emotions, deep joy and grief, can exist at the same time
• July 19th: the anniversary of her mom's passing and the day the dream home was listed
• The "signs" that made the house feel meant to be, including her favourite number, 43
• Going from 50/50 to 80/20 in four days, and the 80/10/10 rule for buying a home
• Choosing community over waterfront: why the family drew a box around their small town
• Winning a bidding war, then nearly pulling out after the inspection
• Getting a house ready to sell in four days, and why you should do everything your stager says
• Living out of the house for all of August during showings
• The 9 PM knock, the "dream offer" and the financing collapse
• Relisting with the agent in Greece and selling two days past the due date
• Lessons learned about big decisions, asking for help and letting go of outcomes

1. Don't rush big decisions. Feelings can swing from yes to no to yes in three days. Give yourself time and space before you commit.
2. Use the 80/10/10 rule when buying. Love 80% of the home, plan to change 10%, and accept that you'll live with the last 10%.
3. Do everything the stager says. Four days of repairs, paint and decluttering finished six years of projects and helped the house sell.
4. Ask for help, specifically. A place to work, someone to watch the dog, a mother-in-law with a supply list: people want to show up.
5. Control the outputs, not the outcome. You can't control the market or the buyer's financing. You can make every showing your best one.

"Sometimes you can love what you have and know that the best decision for you and your family is on the other side of change."

"We controlled the outputs. We couldn't control the outcome."

"With big decisions come big emotions, and it's okay to give yourself time and space."

• Kelsey’s Instagram: @kelseyreidl
• Kelsey’s Website: www.KelseyReidl.com
• Episode 131: Secrets Out! We're Moving..., the 2020 announcement that we were leaving Toronto
• Episode 161: Moving to a Small Town & Impacts on My Business, six months in (listen on Spotify)
• The 80/10/10 rule for buying a home
• realtor.ca, where the listing was presented
• Port Dover, Ontario, one of the family's day trips during showings
• Coming soon on the show: Blair's birth story, plus episodes on pregnancy and preparing for maternity leave

Kelsey Reidl is an entrepreneur, fractional CMO, and host of Rain or Shine (formerly Visionary Life). She's been podcasting for 8 years, helping entrepreneurs show up consistently and build sustainable businesses. She runs the Wave Mastermind and specializes in marketing strategy, website design, and business growth. Kelsey is a mom to a 2-year-old, an avid mountain biker, and a firm believer in the "rain or shine" mentality.

After eight or nine live events and nearly four years of hosting, Wave for Women co-founders Kelsey and Emily sit down for an unfiltered conversation about the fears that keep them up at night before an event — from pregnancy scares and ice storms to missing name tags and worn-out swag bags — alongside the parts of event-hosting they've learned to fully trust.

• Emily's biggest event fear: a sick kid (or herself) making an event impossible to attend
• Navigating a first-trimester pregnancy and morning sickness during a live 75-person event
• Two intense weather scares — an ice storm and an air quality warning — and the "Acts of God" risk that comes with event hosting
• Why every attendee has a different risk tolerance, and how that shapes hard calls
• The "little things become big things" logistics spiral: name tags, tape, table assignments
• Real mishaps: a mismatched speaker time, a water shortage on a hot day, worn swag bags
• Why building an event team (and having a "runner" on standby) changed everything
• Wardrobe mishaps on the road — bra straps, blisters, and the case for trying on your full outfit beforehand
• What Kelsey and Emily never worry about: guest connection, public speaking, and trusting their unconventional approach
• Why choosing small-town venues and unique guest speakers became a competitive advantage

1. Plan for the things you can't control. Weather, illness, and "Acts of God" risks aren't preventable — build contingency plans and a trusted team rather than assuming you'll be lucky forever.
2. Respect that risk tolerance varies. Not every attendee will weigh a health or weather risk the same way you do — communicate clearly and let people opt in or out.
3. Build an event team, not a two-person show. Having a trusted "runner" on standby for last-minute needs (water, supplies) keeps hosts from being stressed out at their own event.
4. Give yourself grace for the 2% hiccups. Wrong speaker times, mismatched dates, worn swag bags — these happen at almost every event, and naming them openly builds trust with your audience rather than eroding it.
5. Trust your unconventional instincts. Choosing smaller-town venues and guest speakers you personally love — rather than copying what everyone else does — can become your strongest differentiator.

• "Don't make a mountain out of a molehill when little things go funny."
• "When you make decisions that just feel good in your soul, you will attract the right attendees who see in that vision, and they want to build it out with you."

• Kelsey's Instagram: @KelseyReidl
• Emily's Instagram: @itsemilyelliot
• Website: waveforwomen.ca
• Instagram: @waveforwomen
• Wave Mastermind — live coaching and blueprints for hosting events, podcasting, and public speaking
• Upcoming Wave for Women events: October in Elora; early 2027 in Paris

Kelsey and Emily are the co-founders of Wave for Women, having hosted eight or nine live events over nearly four years — ranging from intimate 10-woman gatherings to events with almost 100 attendees, top guest speakers, and vendors. They also run the Wave Mastermind, a coaching community for women building podcasts, events, and businesses.