Hanna Bankier: BirdyLauncher
What If... It's Your Turn to Fly?
Hanna Bankier on the Courage to Launch Kids & Find Your Wings
At some point in parenting, the job changes.
The children we've spent years raising begin building lives of their own. They still need us—but differently. And the role that consumed so much of our time, energy, attention, and identity begins to shift right along with them.
For Hanna Bankier, founder of Birdy Launcher, that transition deserves a better story than the one we've traditionally called the “empty nest.” Hanna's own story has been shaped by change: immigrating from Sweden to the United States, building a successful career in television, raising two sons, navigating divorce, reinventing herself professionally, and eventually confronting another enormous transition—launching her children into adulthood.
What she discovered wasn't emptiness. It was a complicated, sometimes messy combination of grief and relief, worry and pride, uncertainty and possibility. And eventually, curiosity.
What if this isn't simply about who our children are becoming?
What if it's also about who we're becoming next?
🎙️Throughout this conversation we explore:
Why Hanna challenges the traditional idea of the “empty nest”
The emotional complexity of launching children into adulthood
Learning when to step in—and when to step back
Why managing our own anxiety may be one of the hardest parts of parenting older children
Allowing our kids the agency to make choices, mistakes, and discoveries of their own
How the parent-child relationship can evolve toward greater mutuality
Navigating departures, returns home, changing expectations, and new boundaries
The impact this transition can have on identity, careers, marriages, partnerships, and friendships
Hanna's practical approach to rewriting the parental “job description”—and what happened when her son actually fired her from part of hers
The importance of values, community, curiosity, and asking “What if?”
Why launching our kids might also give us permission to find our own wings
There is no single emotion that defines this transition. We can miss what was and celebrate what is becoming. We can worry about our children and trust them. We can grieve one version of parenthood while discovering an entirely new relationship with the adults we've raised.
And perhaps one of the most loving things we can do is allow that relationship to change. To stop assuming our children need the same version of us they've always needed. To become curious about who they are now. And to offer ourselves that same curiosity.
Because our children aren't the only ones entering a new chapter.
What if launching them isn't the end of something?
What if... it's our turn to fly, too?
🐦 Learn More About Hanna Bankier & Explore BirdyLauncher Resources
💗 From Our Hearts to Yours…
The P-I-G is a heartfelt, purpose-driven podcast exploring life, love, loss, and legacy through real conversations and meaningful stories. Together, we unpack the moments that shape us—the stories we carry, the messiness of being human, and what it means to leave something meaningful behind.
Each episode invites us to honor what matters most, remember that grief isn’t linear, navigate life’s hardest moments with PURPOSE, INTENTION, and GRATITUDE, and to be reminded that legacy isn’t just what we leave… it’s how we live—right now.
“Hearing the stories of others helps us create a more meaningful connection to our own.”
Because legacy is built in how we live, every single day.
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