Brenda Yoder

Brenda is a national speaker, author, life coach, and Licensed Mental Health Counselor whose passion is encouraging others when life doesn’t fit the storybook image. Jim Daly says her newest book, Fledge: Launching Your Kids Without Losing Your Mind has “sensitive, biblical wisdom for moms who want to launch their kids well.” She’s been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul books: Reboot Your Life and Confident and Curvy; the Washington Post, and has a mental health column in her local paper. Her first book, Balance, Busyness, and Not Doing It All released in 2015.

Brenda is also former teacher and school counselor and was twice awarded the Touchstone Award for teachers. Her ministry, Life Beyond the Picket Fence, can be found at brendayoder.com  where she authentically writes about faith, life, and family beyond the storybook image. In addition to a private counseling and coaching practice, Brenda speaks at women’s retreats, business events, MOPS groups, keynotes, and teaches and trains on a variety of mental and behavioral health topics. She is a certified trainer by the Faith Trust Institute and trains and advocates for child abuse and sexual assault prevention. Brenda has been a service provider for families in foster care, domestic violence situations, and has worked face with children and teens for over twenty-five years.  

A mentor to women and young adults, Brenda is also a wife and mom of four children, ranging from teens to adults, and lives on a farm in Shipshewana, Indiana. You can connect with Brenda on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.