Creating Friendships That Matter with Jennifer Wallace

Laugh Lines with Kim & Penn Holderness

Kim Holderness

Holderness Podcast, Self-improvement, Parenting, 40s, Laugh Line, Gen X, Penn Holderness, Laugh Lines, The Laugh Line, 50s, Kim Holderness, Aging, Getting Older, Humor, The Holderness Family, Marriage, Education

4.9 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2026

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week on Laugh Lines, Penn and I talk about something that sneaks up on a lot of us in midlife: friendship, purpose, and the quiet fear of wondering if we still matter the way we used to. We’re joined by New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Wallace (straight from Oprah to Laugh Lines!) who explores why feeling seen, needed, and valued isn’t just nice... it’s essential to our well-being. The three of us dig into what “mattering” really means, why so many adults feel lonelier than they expected, and how friendships change when kids leave home, careers shift, and life gets a little more complicated.

We've all been guilty of flaking on plans or feeling like if a kind gesture wasn't "perfect" we shouldn't do it. But the truth is, showing up messy and not canceling plans might be the most powerful relationship tools we have. Jennifer shares practical, doable ways to deepen friendships and how small moments of connection often mean more than big gestures.

If you’ve ever missed someone you haven’t called, felt unsure of your place in this season of life, or wanted to be a better friend but didn’t know where to start, this conversation is for you. It’s a good reminder that connection doesn’t have to be perfect to be meaningful. (And if you’re listening and wondering if you matter, you do.) We love to hear from you! Leave us a message at 323-364-3929 or write the show at podcast@theholdernessfamily.com. You can also watch our podcast on YouTube.

Learn more about Jennifer's book, Mattering

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Laugh Lines with Kim & Penn Holderness is an evolution of The Holderness Family Podcast, which began in 2018. Kim and Penn Holderness are award-winning online content creators known for their original music, song parodies, comedy sketches, and weekly podcasts. Their videos have resulted in over three billion views and over nine million followers since 2013. Penn and Kim are also authors of the New York Times Bestselling Books, ADHD Is Awesome: A Guide To (Mostly) Thriving With ADHD and All You Can Be With ADHD. They were also winners on The Amazing Race (Season 33) on CBS.

Laugh Lines is hosted and executive produced by Kim Holderness and Penn Holderness, with original music by Penn Holderness. Laugh Lines is also written and produced by Ann Marie Taepke, and edited and produced by Sam Allen. It is hosted by Acast. Thanks for listening!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you know what Tiddlywicks are, you're in the right show.
0:04.3	Me being Ingram 1 and a perfectionist, I'm like, I need to make a list about how I'm going to be mad.
0:08.5	I need to be the best matterer of all time.
0:11.2	I want people to know that they're in my life, that they matter.
0:14.6	I'm going to matter the crap out of this.
0:16.9	This is how we build trusting relationships in adulthood by creating the conditions for trust to develop.
0:23.8	Yeah, we get older every day.
0:26.5	Got more wrinkles.
0:27.6	That's okay.
0:28.5	Yeah, we're laughing when we age.
0:30.6	Life is like a comedy stage.
0:34.2	And that's what we got laughugh L'Liflines.
0:40.4	Hey everybody, I'm Kim Holderness.
0:42.3	And I'm Penn Holderness.
0:43.4	Welcome back or welcome for the first time to Laugh Lif Lines.
0:46.6	We're glad you're here.
0:47.6	Yes.
0:48.0	If you can remember the jingle, if you feel like chicken tonight, you're home.
0:53.8	You want to do it? You have to sing it.
0:56.3	You want to sing it together? Because I don't want people to turn off this podcast. It's just,
1:00.0	I feel like chicken tonight. Chick, you know what? Honestly, I don't remember the exact notes.
1:04.6	Okay, can we play it? Yeah. I feel like chicken tonight. Like chicken tonight.
	...

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