I remember first encountering Carrie Schuessler on Instagram. I was so excited to find another Catholic woman podcaster, and I was quickly drawn in by the way she opens up her shows. In a burst of excitement, I reached out to Carrie and was so encouraged by her openness and vulnerability, which led to the recording of this episode!
Hailing from the state of Wisconsin, Carrie is a woman of great service. She encourages and inspires folks in her community, works at a food pantry, and is a social worker. And if that weren't enough, she also hosts the podcast "I Choose Grit" and has a blog under the same name that is dedicated to sharing the stories that sometimes go unnoticed. All throughout, Carrie has encountered God through her suffering and found affirmation in the fact that sometimes it's okay not to be okay.
Listen to our conversation here:
"Because of my circumstances, I've been finding the Lord through suffering and learning to believe that there is a purpose. I believe that I can still come to know Him through the mess when my life looks very different from what I want it to be." — Carrie Schuessler
Meet Carrie Schuessler
Carrie Schuessler grew up in a small Wisconsin town and has since found herself becoming a resident of downtown Milwaukee. Carrie has 5 siblings and comes from a fairly stereotypical Irish-Catholic family. After experimenting with a number of different majors, she felt social work suited her variety of interests. Since then, she has grown to love the profession and completed her Master’s degree in Social Work in August 2018, with a concentration in Behavioral Health. After not growing up with a strong sense of community, she lived in a house of women committed to growth, prayer and simply doing life together for the majority of the past 4 years and is completely sold on the importance of doing life with others. She loves to be outside and explore pretty places, campfires, dancing, and watching sports if other people who care about them. Most of all, she loves cooking and sitting down to share a meal around a table to have real-life conversations with people she loves.
Carrie’s number one struggle these days is learning how to balance all of the above while living with an often disabling chronic illness. In efforts to share her experiences with suffering and connect with others willing to do the same, Carrie created a blog and recently started a podcast to highlight stories of what it actually looks like to keep showing up & fight for hope in the midst of life’s challenges. You can find her blog, podcast, and all her social media accounts under “I Choose Grit”. She would love to hear from you!
Be sure to tune in to Carrie's podcast "I Choose Grit" wherever you listen to your podcasts! You can also read more of her work and writing on her blog and follow her on Instagram and Facebook.