The Story Behind Women Like Me
Why helping women be heard became so personal.
Women Like Me began with a loss I couldn’t undo, and a silence I wanted to break.
Many people know me as a publisher, writing coach, and podcast host. They see the books, the interviews, and the women sharing their stories.
Behind that work is my own story. A childhood shaped by things nobody explained. Years of believing I had to handle everything myself. And a family loss that left me asking, What can I do to help change this for someone else?
In this episode of Bernice McDonald’s Tiny Brave Steps podcast, I share the experiences that brought me here.
What You’ll Hear
In this honest, personal conversation, you’ll hear:
How an event when I was ten changed our family, and how the silence that followed shaped what I believed about myself.
Why I found it easier to give than to receive, and how I began allowing people to care for me.
How losing my 24-year-old niece in 2019 became the turning point behind Women Like Me.
What happened when I called 13 women and asked them to write their true-life stories in a book with me.
Why I Created Women Like Me
When my niece died from a fentanyl overdose, I came home from her funeral feeling lost. I couldn’t bring her back. But I could see how pain and silence had traveled through our family.
I thought about my mother, what she had lived through, and the things we never talked about. As children, we were left to make sense of that silence ourselves. Too often, we believed the hurt was about us.
I wanted women to have somewhere to put the stories they had carried alone. Somewhere their experiences could be acknowledged, their wisdom recognized and their voices heard.
The first Women Like Me book was published in December 2019.
Since then, that first invitation has grown into 40 collaborative books and more than 350 true-life stories. Women have never paid a participation fee to contribute to these community books. I never wanted money to be the reason a woman couldn’t be heard.
Perhaps You’ll Recognize Something of Yourself
You don’t need to have lived my life to recognize a piece of it.
Perhaps you’ve kept quiet to keep the peace. Perhaps you’re the woman everyone relies on, but accepting help feels uncomfortable. Perhaps there are parts of your story you’re still trying to understand.
I’m sharing this conversation because there is a woman behind the work, and because hearing someone else’s truth can help us find words for our own.
You may know the books. This is the heart behind them.
Listen to “Julie’s Story: The Wall Silence Built”
Podcast: Tiny Brave Steps: Real Women. Real Fear. Real Courage Stories.
Hosted by: Bernice McDonald
Featuring: Julie Fairhurst
Length: Approximately 31 minutes
Make yourself a cup of coffee, take it along on a walk, or find a quiet moment to listen.
Your Story Has a Place Here, Too
If you’ve been wondering whether your story matters, I would love to welcome you into our writing community.
You don’t need to arrive with a polished manuscript. Come with curiosity, your lived experience, and a willingness to explore what you want to say.
Join the Women Like Me Writing Community
There is no participation fee to contribute to Women Like Me community books. Writers must be members of our community.