We recently had the chance to connect with Heather Justice and have shared our conversation below.
Heather, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
Haha! This question makes me laugh! I lose track of time all the time. Just ask my friends. As someone diagnosed with ADHD, I get so hyper focused on something and have a hard time pulling myself away. Sometimes it’s a work task and other times it’s a creative venture that I’m excited about and want to finish creating it so I can share it with the world!
Anything creative is what really makes me lose track of time and find myself again. The creative task could be editing a podcast episode, creating content, editing content, creating images in Canva for social media, taking B-roll video, truly anything creative just makes me lose track of time and feel most like myself. I love seeing what comes to my mind and how I can make it come alive. It reminds me of when I was a kid and using my imagination. I guess it’s just something that feels so nostalgic and pure. I always enjoy challenging people to be creative and tap into that part of themselves because I do think everyone has creativity inside of them, they just have to be willing to try something and not be tied to the outcome if it doesn’t turn out exactly the way you envisioned it in their mind. You know, be willing to pivot if needed and take a different direction on something…make the shift.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Heather Justice and I am an author podcast host, and content creator. Do you want the long story or short story of how I got here?
I always loved writing as a kid and I have some little books that I wrote when I was in elementary school that my mom kept in my keepsake box. They weren’t groundbreaking or anything, but they show that I have always been interested in writing. Now, my drawing was not nearly as impressive as my writing and spoiler alert, it’s still not! I wrote and journaled a lot growing up. I wrote music lyrics, poetry, and always loved the freewriting in my senior literature class. In high school, I was part of the newspaper team. I really enjoyed interviewing people, hearing their stories and bringing it to life for others to read. I went to college initially for journalism but ended up dropping that as my major halfway through the first semester because I didn’t want to write the 50-page paper to graduate. I find that so ironic since I have written a book that is over 200 pages and I’m working on my second book! It’s funny how God works isn’t it?
Just this year, in June 2025, I launched my podcast called “Between the Now and the Next”. Go check it out! I think you will love it. You can listen anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts, and you can even watch it on YouTube. The way this came about is really a pretty cool story and just shows how full circle things can be.
I was on extended leave from work in 2023 and while I was taking my morning walk around my neighborhood, I would see people sitting on their porches and think, “I would love to talk to them about their life and hear their stories. And then I moved on. It was a fleeting thought. I was working on writing my first book at that time called “Healing on the Horizon: A 90-Day Devotional Journey to Understand and Heal Your Heart, Mind, and Soul from Emotional Abuse”. I self-published that book in November 2024. I kept trying to get invites onto people’s podcasts to talk about my book and help market it, but no one would have me on because I was not well-know. I can’t even tell you the number of “no’s” I received.
Then one day, December 27, 2024, to be exact, I was listening to the audiobook, “Dream Big” by Bob Goff and since he leaves his phone number in the back of every book he writes, I decided to give him a call. I wanted to ask him how I could better market my book. To my surprise, he answered! I asked him how I could better market my book because I keep getting rejected to appear on people’s podcasts. He suggested I start my own podcast to begin building my brand. I wasn’t sure, but he made me feel like I could do this and that it would help to get the word out! I had been looking at going out to California to his writer’s workshop in February 2025, but I hadn’t made the commitment yet. I told him that on the phone and he said he would love to have me there, but even if I didn’t attend “his” workshop, I should attend “a” writer’s workshop as a way to invest in myself. And that sold me. He didn’t care about the money, but he cared about me as a person which is so reflective in his writing in all of his books! So, in February 2025 I attended the writer’s workshop at The Oaks in Ramona, California and got to talk with Bob in-person and get advice from him and learn from him and have coffee with him! It was literally WILD! Something I never imagined that I would have the opportunity to do! I took in everything I could possibly learn during that workshop and when I got home, I started preparing to launch my podcast! Now, it is out in the world, I’ve released 16 episodes and season 1 will wrap up in February! Then, I will begin season 2! It has been quite an undertaking getting guests, reading their books, preparing for the interviews and editing all of the episodes myself, but it has been so fun and so rewarding. I’ve made so many great friends so far and I am looking forward to what’s coming next! Bob and I remain in contact and we are friends. I’m so grateful for his genuineness and friendship along the way!
I’m currently working on my second book and growing my social media. My next book is a 6-week Bible study on healing from shame. I’m very excited about it and believe that it is going to help many women heal from deep rooted shame. I’d love to have you follow me on Instagram/TikTok (heathernjustice), and Facebook/YouTube (hnjustice)
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
Ooof. This is a good question. The way I see myself hasn’t always been positive. I would say that may be true for most people and I do think it’s part of the pruning and growth process. The answer to this is multifaceted. I believe that my relationship with God shapes how I see myself. I believe that I must always look to my identity in Him to show me who I really am and who He says I am, as that is truly the only thing that matters. However, when I’m going through a season of depression or experiencing the true human emotion of deep sadness, the way I view myself is very different.
When I see myself through God’s view of me and the relationship that I have with Him, I understand that I am human and have flaws, but that the Lord is sovereign and fully knows me, even the deepest, most shattered parts of me and loves me wholeheartedly…way more than I could ever imagine. And when I realize that and know that despite my humanness, my flaws, my pain, my sinfulness and wickedness, the Lord still loves me and calls me “Daughter”, that helps me to see myself in a positive light and believe that there are good things coming for me and my life in God’s time.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I’ve experienced a lot of pain, as I’m sure many of us have, right? I will say that I have never been someone to jump on a bandwagon or someone to get embarrassed easily. I have always moved at my own pace and that pace is normally a little slower and behind others. And I’m not convinced that’s a bad thing. I believe it has given me time to observe things play out and then make a more informed decision on what move I want to make next.
So, I’d say, I’ve always been someone that is very transparent, vulnerable, and courageous, it might have just been a little delayed as I sat back and watched a few things playout to decide how I was going to show up. But writing my book and publishing it in November 2024 about how I healed from emotional abuse is the first large-scale public thing I did to stop hiding my pain and use it as power. This book meant so much to me because I know how painful toxic relationships are and that that type of abuse isn’t discussed in faith communities enough. When I got out of my relationship in the summer of 2021, I wanted something that helped me heal from a faith-based perspective and I couldn’t find it. I wanted something that would explain what I had been through and would refute the lies of the enemy with truth from God’s Word. When I searched and couldn’t find it, I knew that I needed to write it.
That book came from the most healed part of me that I have ever met. I will never tire of hearing from people, reading reviews, text messages, DM’s, and e-mails where people are sharing with me how it has changed their life and that healing is now part of their life journey. I’m so thankful that God used me as a vessel to write the book and that others are able to see that there is such beauty on the other side of abuse!
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
Have you SEEN my social media? Haha! My social media might be the furthest thing from a highlight reel. I show up raw, vulnerable, tears, smiles, happy, sad, depressed, lonely, hopeful…seriously! I try to show the real human experience. I don’t want people to look at my page and see something that is so curated and then not know who I am if I meet them in person. It’s so important to me that people see real life because 99% (I’m totally making up that statistic, by the way), of us are living normal, boring, emotionally charged, repetitious days that lack big fancy trips, huge party budgets, unlimited finances, or the American dream perfect family.
Here’s some real real about me, okay? I’m 38, single, have 2 dogs known as “The Girls” (Zoey and Gia) who sleep with me every night. I rent my home, my car is (finally) almost paid off after 7 years and I will drive it until the wheels fall off, I live comfortably but pretty much paycheck to paycheck, I thrift shop because I can’t fathom spending $25 on a t-shirt (I also like the treasure hunt), I’ve always struggled with my weight, I can be pretty scatterbrained (thanks ADHD), I hate cooking, I work a normal 9-5 job, somedays it can be hard for me to get out of bed, and I haven’t even made a full $1 from social media yet, but I’m trying. I’m trying just like everyone else every day. The difference is, I make it public and I show people that it’s NORMAL! Because IT IS!
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
I used to live for this external validation, but I finally gave it up years ago! If I find myself starting to sink back into looking for external praise and validation, I try to turn to God’s Word; specifically, Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” That scripture changed everything for me regarding external validation. I don’t need to hear someone tell me “good job” because my paycheck is my earthly reward, but when I get to heaven, hearing from the Lord, “Well done good and faithful servant” will be all I need.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.heathernjustice.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathernjustice/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hnjustice
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hnjustice
- Other: TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@heathernjustice
Image Credits
Lauren Clarke
Leah Mancuso
Meg Forcey
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
