Episode 3: The Hard Truth About Parenting Kids Through Struggle, Not Trauma

Jessica Lindbergh on curiosity, courage, and raising heartstrong kids Nicole Runyon speaks with Jessica Lindbergh, founder, speaker, and writer, about building a meaningful life through hardship, parenting through profound medical complexity, and why she is closing the Ethan Lindbergh Foundation to make space for what comes next. Jessica shares how curiosity, faith, and courage shape both her personal life and her advocacy work. They also discuss the difference between struggle and trauma, what caregiving mothers need from culture and healthcare systems, and how parents can raise resilient children without overprotecting them from every hard thing. Key topics Jessica explains the question that has organized her whole adult life: how people find a path forward through hardship and build something from it. She shares why she prefers the word curious over resilient, and why curiosity helps her keep moving when life feels overwhelming. Jessica opens up about losing her firstborn son, Ethan, at age seven after years of congenital heart disease and hospital care. She talks about faith as the foundation that helped her make sense of suffering and keep saying yes to her family. Nicole and Jessica unpack the difference between struggle and trauma, especially in the context of parenting children through difficult experiences. Jessica describes how motherhood became an “integration project” after Ethan’s death and while caring for her son Bodhi, who lives with a rare disease. She reflects on redefining what it means to be a good mother when caregiving requires limits, flexibility, and asking children for help. Jessica shares why she is closing the Ethan Lindbergh Foundation after more than a decade and what she hopes to build through Heart Strong. She introduces the Heart Strong questions: Who do I want to become? What do I want to create? Where do I want to help? How do I want to inspire? The conversation returns to a central theme: parents matter, caregivers matter, and whole families need support, not just the child in front of the doctor. Timestamps 00:00 - Nicole introduces Jessica Lindbergh and her work through grief 02:00 - The question Jessica has spent her adult life answering 04:57 - Why Jessica chooses curiosity over resilience 07:03 - Ethan’s life, illness, and death 09:43 - Parenting after loss and living with Bodhi’s rare disease 12:00 - Why kids benefit from appropriate struggle 25:40 - Defining trauma versus struggle 31:12 - How trauma depends on the container around an experience 33:36 - Why Jessica is closing the Ethan Lindbergh Foundation 37:15 - The origin of Heart Strong on a coffee shop napkin 38:12 - The four Heart Strong questions 40:32 - What it means to be imperfect in front of your kids 43:17 - Why caregiving mothers are overlooked by research and systems 48:18 - The real-life burden of even basic support gaps 50:56 - Why Heart Strong is an inside job 53:26 - The one thing Jessica wants parents to remember 54:26 - What’s next for Jessica and Heart Strong Notable quotes “I’m ultimately just a very curious person.” “Motherhood is a big integration project of the life we have.” “Heart strong is not about what happens to you, it’s about what happens inside of you.” Jessica's Links 💪  / jessmlindberg   ❤️   / theheartstrong   🎉 https://www.jessicalindberg.com/ Join us here www.nicolerunyon.com 🎙 Connect with Nicole 📲 Instagram: @igenerationmentalhealth 💼 LinkedIn: @Nicole Runyon 🌐 Website: www.nicolerunyon.com 📕 My Book: https://nicolerunyon.com/free-to-fly/ Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: NLYU9UABEDBFTIZV