The Friend You Almost Lost: How Vulnerability Saved Our Friendship | Episode 2 🎙️
With Holly Curtis
What happens when a friendship hits a breaking point, and you choose to repair it instead of run?
In this first guest episode, I sit down for an honest conversation with Holly Curtis, brilliant creative director, sauna companion, and the friend who answered the phone when I had my first panic attack in an orthodontist parking lot.
Holly and I have been friends for a decade, since our kids were 18 months old. I’m one of the only people Holly is truly vulnerable with besides her partner. But we almost lost each other. We get into the Newport Folk Festival moment where our friendship nearly fractured, the pitch-black house at midnight where Holly delivered a tear-stained apology letter, and why we both decided this friendship was worth the hard work of repair.
We talk about what it actually costs to show up for your people—yes, the panic-attack phone calls from parking lots and job-loss spirals while gripping the steering wheel, but also the matching metallic snowsuits that got us through Covid outdoor fires, being on each other’s emergency contact lists for literally everything, and constantly lowering our expectations while being really excited when plans actually happen. Holly shares why deep friendship means letting someone see past all the baggage you’re not quiet about, and what makes this kind of relationship worth fighting for.
This isn’t about perfect friendship. It’s about the messy, vulnerable, life-saving kind that catches you when you’re falling apart and says, “I can feel that you’re not okay.”
“I have a lot of baggage and I am not quiet about it. So a lot of people know a lot about me but maybe don’t really know me.”
Perfect for anyone who’s ever almost lost a friend, wonders if deep friendship is still possible in midlife, or needs permission to call someone crying from the parking lot.
In this episode, we talk about:
The orthodontist parking lot panic attack that changed everything
Why Holly is on all of Amy’s emergency contact lists (and vice versa)
The friendship rupture at Newport Folk Festival - and how we repaired it
Why not every friendship needs the same level of depth (and how to know when you’ve found your person)
Lowering expectations and being really excited when things actually happen
What it means to architect joyful, uncomplicated friendships for our kids
Plus, which friendship show is better: Gilmore Girls or Parenthood (discuss in the comments!)
Holly’s Friend Pick: Holly’s heavily gifted item for all her friends? Wooden Spoon Magic Magnesium. Her nightly ritual for better sleep in the post-pandemic, pre-menopause spiral we’re all living through. “I think all of us were having trouble sleeping...and that was the one thing that I changed.” Way better than another glass of rosé before bed.
Grab yours with code YEAHNOFORSURE for 10% off.
(This is an affiliate link however any purchases help keep this campfire going, and we only share what we friends actually love.)
Join the campfire conversation:
Talk to us: Who’s the friend you call from parking lots? Have you ever had a friendship rupture that you chose to repair? Tell us your stories and tag your friends.
If you have that one friend who’s shown up for you in your darkest parking‑lot moment - send them this episode. Tell them you’re thinking of them.
Follow the show on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode, and come hang out with us on Instagram @theyeahnoforsureshow for behind-the-scenes moments and campfire energy.
**Fun fact! Holly is the creative brain behind our Yeah, No, For Sure brand. She’s the one who came up with the idea of the asterisk, because every friendship has them: those tiny, specific moments that no one else would understand. The footnotes are what make every friendship better, so keep an eye out for our annotations…it’s where the good stuff happens.