Grief Is My Side Hustle

After Kelli Holloway's mom died, she heard a very clear message from God: Build, Go, Rest.  Her trust in this guidance not only shaped the way she grieved but also changed the entire trajectory of her life. Kelli Holloway is a Raleigh, North Carolina native with a passion for community, connection, and purpose-driven work. She is the creator and host of the Grief in the Raw Podcast, where she thoughtfully explores the role of grief in the Black community, and the CEO of Kelli & Co., a consulting firm that helps companies create meaningful community outreach initiatives.  Kelli's story is a testament to the power of transformation, resilience, and the choice to build a life that honors both personal healing and professional impact. To learn more about Kelli and her work, visit https://www.kelliandco.com/ To listen to her Grief in the Raw podcast, click one of the links below, and follow along on instagram at @griefintherawpodcast. Apple podcasts: LINK Spotify: LINK YouTube: LINK

Shelby Forsythia (she/her) is a grief coach, author, and podcast host. In 2020, she founded Life After Loss Academy, an online course and community that has helped dozens of grievers grow and find their way after death, divorce, diagnosis, and other major life transitions. Following her mother's death in 2013, Shelby began calling herself a “student of grief” and now devotes her days to reading, writing, and speaking about loss. Through a combination of mindfulness tools and intuitive, open-ended questions, she guides her clients to welcome grief as a teacher and create meaningful lives that honor and include the heartbreaks they've faced. Her work has been featured in Huffington Post, Bustle, and The Oprah Magazine.

Trauma specialist and psychotherapist Edith Shiro sits down with Meghan to discuss loss, traumatic growth and the role of hope in healing.   Focused on healing trauma and facilitating Posttraumatic Growth,  Dr. Edith Shiro holds space for patients, communities, and individuals to achieve greater potential and higher consciousness.
Dr. Shiro's influence extends well beyond her private practice. She frequently engages as a guest expert on national media broadcasts and publications, including TIME magazine, Oprah Daily, and Billboard. Her groundbreaking book has garnered significant recognition, earning her the Innovation Award in Science in 2022, the International Latino Book Awards in 2023, and both the International Impact Book Awards and Book Excellence Awards in 2024. Through her writing, speaking engagements, and media appearances, Dr. Shiro continues to contribute meaningfully to the discourse on mental health, individual and collective trauma. As a board member of the World Happiness Foundation, she is dedicated to promoting happiness, enhancing consciousness and well-being around the world.   https://www.dredithshiro.com

Uk based therapist Helen Marie is the author of Choose You: Gentle Words to Help You Heal and Grow.  She sits down with Meghan to talk, grief, loss, healing and hope in this special episode.  Learn more about Helen on her website:   https://www.helenmariepsychotherapy.com/book

Jason Nark is a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and a freelance writer. He lives in New Jersey with his kids and a dog named Wanda and has written about grief and loss including about his own best friend's death by suicide.   More here: https://jasonnark.com/about-me/  

Novelette is 38 year old woman, living with a life limiting illness, called Epidermolysis Bullosa. I have the Recessive Dystrophic form of Epidermolysis Bullosa, RDEB. I live in Canada. I have a specialist in philosophy from the University of Toronto. Since 2018, I have been a trained hospice and peer bereavement Volunteer. I co-facilitate a lot of peer bereavement groups. I do a lot of mindfulness for grieving loss groups. I also help with training new hospice and peer bereavement volunteers. I've also volunteered as a hospice care companion to others, living with a life limiting illness.  I enjoy writing poetry and painting. Talking walks in nature. And I enjoy spending time with my nieces and nephew and caring for my cat.

At the age of five Jessica Fein's daughter Dalia was diagnosed with a rare degenerative disease that would claim her life at 17. Before that moment came, and inspired by Dalia's own irrepressible spirit, Fein and her family would discover how to live in the present when the future can't be fixed. In this heartfelt yet clear-eyed memoir, Fein maps both her journey to becoming an adoptive mom and the roller coaster ride of loving and caring for a terminally ill child, persevering when the simple act of taking a breath can become an act of courage. Through it all, she discovers the need to be both relentless advocate and calm presence, to show vulnerability as well as strength, and to allow joy to be louder than sorrow.   https://www.jessicafeinstories.com

Lisa Keefauver--Tedx speaker, consulatant, grief educator and host of the Grief is a Sneaky Bitch podcast has written a book of the same name.  Written in the tone of your "wise best friend" this book will keep you company, teach you, and support you as you navigate loss.  Be sure to follow her      https://lisakeefauver.com

Jonathan Fleece is the president and CEO of Empath Health   Empath Health is one of the country's largest not-for-profit health systems delivering non-acute care and services through its skilled, medical and holistic programs to individuals with chronic, advanced and terminal illnesses and those experiencing grief. The Empath Health integrated network of care provides expert medical, counseling and support services including hospice; home health; palliative care; grief services; all-inclusive elder care; HIV/STI prevention services and support; primary care; physician services; and full-service pharmacy and durable medical equipment (DME). Empath Health is honored to have approximately 26,000 people enrolled in our Full Life Care services in north central, west central and southwest Florida. We have nearly 130 combined years of experience serving individuals during some of their most vulnerable times. Our wide variety of community-based programs reflects our commitment to the preservation of our charitable mission.

Brutally Honest. Achingly Authentic. In her author debut, Lindsey Kane Leaverton, has written the book she wished she had as she navigated countless trips through despair. She shares her heart and healing journey to help you raise your awareness, add tools to your toolkit, and find a way to laugh while you cry your way through a messy life. https://www.notanotherselfhelpbook.com/shes-a-lot-interview-series

Host of one of the most popular podcasts on death, grief and loss, David Ferrugio comes into the work with a deep personal understanding of loss. His father (also David) died in the world Trade Center on 9/11 when David was only twelve years old.  In this episode David shares some of his life philosophies, his appreciation for gallows humor and how critical supports helped him to process his loss.  The subject matter may be heavy, but this conversation isn't. David's joy and love of life is infectious.  

  What a Day in the Life of a Hospital Chaplain who Sits with the Dying Teaches Us About GRIEF J.S. Park is a hospital chaplain, author, and online educator. For eight years he has been an interfaith chaplain at a thousand-plus-bed hospital that is designated a Level 1 Trauma Center. His role includes grief counseling, attending every death, every trauma and Code Blue, staff care, and supporting end-of-life care. He also served for three years as a chaplain at one of the largest nonprofit charities for the homeless on the east coast. J.S. has a MDiv completed in 2010 and a BA in Psychology. He also has a sixth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. J.S. currently lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife, a nurse practitioner, and his three-year-old daughter, newborn son, and their adopted dog.   https://www.instagram.com/jspark3000/?hl=en X: https://twitter.com/jsparkblog?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNc6TwqBwxM

NPR's Rhaina Cohen is the  The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center,   The Other Significant Others invites us into the lives of people who have defied convention by choosing a friend as a life partner—from friends raising a child together to best friends of 50 years who live together in their retiree years. Based on years of original reporting and striking social science research, Cohen argues that we undermine romantic relationships by expecting too much of them while we diminish friendships by expecting too little of them. At a time when many Americans are spending large stretches of their lives single, widowed or divorced, or feeling the effects of the "loneliness epidemic," Cohen insists that we recognize the many forms of profound connection that can anchor our lives. A groundbreaking book, The Other Significant Others challenges us to ask what we want from our relationships—not just what we're supposed to want—and transforms how we define a fulfilling life The book looks at how friendship is woefully undervalued, and we do ourselves a societal disservice by believing that a lifelong romantic relationship is essential for having a full, meaningful adulthood. Cohen makes this case through the stories of people who've built a life with a friend—raising children together, buying homes together, and taking care of each other in old age. Amid a loneliness epidemic, declining marriage rates and changing family forms, she argues that we'd benefit from recognizing the variety of relationships that ground people's lives “Rhaina Cohen's moving, intimate portraits of people in unusually devoted friendships upend our cultural narratives about which relationships matter. A perceptive and vivid reporter, she reveals that there are far more pathways to deep connection and fulfillment than we've been made to believe. The Other Significant Others is an arresting work of compassion and insight.”  —Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone and co-host of Dear Therapists podcast   “In her lovingly written The Other Significant Others, Rhaina Cohen does crucial work by questioning easy social categorization and the hierarchies of recognition and privilege that too often put romantically coupled pairs at the top. The Other Significant Others is energetic, open, considered, and beautifully reported. It thrums with a passion for the subject, and is powered by a historically rich, intellectually serious curiosity about the relationships that provide backbone and ballast to so many of our lives, but which have only recently begun to receive the consideration they are due.” —Rebecca Traister, New York Times bestselling author of All the Single Ladies and Good and Mad https://www.rhainacohen.com    

Anne Gudger is an autobiographical essayist who writes hard and loves harder. She's been published in Real Simple, Cutbank, Cutthroat, The Los Angeles Review, The Normal School, The Rumpus, and the Columbia Journal, among others, and has been a Best of the Net nominee twice. She is also the co-founder of Coffee and Grief, a reading series that's been thriving since March 2020 and hosts five curated readers every month reading on grief. Anne lives in Banks, Oregon with her beloved husband. The Fifth Chamber is her first book.

Recognized as one of today's foremost experts on grief, Claire Bidwell Smith is a licensed therapist, international speaker, and the author of five books published in 22 countries. Led by her own experience in grief and fueled by her work in hospice and private practice, Claire strives to provide support for all kinds of people experiencing all kinds of loss. Claire has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, MSNBC, CNN, Scientific American, Goop, Oprah and many more outlets. Her most recent books Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief and Conscious Grieving have provided groundbreaking and transformative approaches to the process of grief. Learn more at clairebidwellsmith.com or by following @clairebidwellsmith on social media

In 2018, Nikki Mark's healthy twelve-year-old-son Tommy went to sleep one night and never woke up. Nikki went into a state of shock and her body quickly started to deteriorate, but she had to be there for her remaining family. Without a religious or spiritual background, she relied on the one skill she could still access — the ability to figure it out. Along her unconventional journey, Nikki discovered something surprising: that if we're open to the possibilities, grieving offers a unique opportunity to access life's magic. From raising over $1,000,000 to build an athletic field in her son's name, to working with diverse (and sometimes divisive) players in Los Angeles to get it approved, to exploring every kind of healing modality from mediation to mushrooms, Nikki now shares the intimate details of navigating grief with purpose and action – and a little coaching from beyond. Download Nikki Mark's personally-tested resources and invaluable advice for triumphing over grief (for you or someone you would like to support) — available for free at NikkiMark.com.  Treat yourself to her memoir, "Tommy's Field: Love, Loss, and the Goal of a Lifetime," the inside story about Nikki's transformation from deep despair to accessing the magic that life wants for us all.

Don't miss the wonderful episide with the the incredible ane L. Rosen author of On Fire Island as she explains how her personal exprience with grief informed her charachters in the book.   Jane L. Rosen is an author, screenwriter and former Huffington Post contributor. Jane often takes inspiration from real-life stories and interviews to craft her novels. Her first novel Nine Women, One Dress was translated into ten languages. Her second novel Eliza Starts a Rumor has been optioned by NBC. A Shoe Story and On Fire Island are out now! She lives in New York City and Fire Island with her husband and three daughters.

Amy's work went viral.  Learn the story of how and why in this episode where Amy discusses her how her viral list, was really a reaction to compound grief and loss. In her own words: I'm a psychotherapist turned “accidental” author I started my career as a psychotherapist intending to help others build mental strength. I never imagined how much I was going to need mental muscle in my own life. My mom passed away when I was 23. Then, my husband died when I was 26. Losing the two most important people in my life sent me on a quest to learn as much as I could about how to be mentally strong. As I studied mental strength, I realized that mentally strong people don't just have good habits. They also avoid any unhealthy habits that could hold them back. In 2013, during one of my lowest points in my life, I wrote a letter to myself about all the things mentally strong people don't do. When I was done, I had a list of 13 things that could rob me of mental strength if I let them. That letter helped me so I thought maybe it could help someone else. I published it online expecting a few people would read it. But that list went viral and more than 50 million people read! Within a matter of days, a literary agent reached out to suggest I write a book. Nine years later, I've written six books that have sold more than 1 million copies around the globe. And my life has never been the same.

What happens when someone whose job is supporting other people's mental health is rocked by their own traumatic loss? In this episode, Juliet Haas LPC, LMHC, shares her story, including the personal and professional impacts of her loss. Juliet is an embodied trauma-informed counselor, registered dance-movement therapist, and owner of Mindful Counseling and Wellness LLC. Licensed in both Wisconsin and Massachusetts, Juliet supports adults through grief, both death and non-death loss, trauma, and anxiety. Her therapeutic approach is person-centered, mindfulness based, and integrative. Her approach includes a blend of traditional talk therapy, mindfulness tools, expressive movement and art, and humor. She has specialty training in Accelerated Resolution Therapy for Trauma and Mind-Body approaches to assist in nervous system regulation. Juliet is also certified in Laughter Yoga: bringing more laughter and joy to the Milwaukee area! To learn more, visit: https://www.mindfulcounselingandwellnessllc.com/ Instagram: @mindfulcounselingandwellness And to connect with Julianne, please visit www.juliannemanskerollefson.com

Is there room for humor in the world of grief and loss? According to Kathleen Wallace, creator of Grief: A Comedy, laughter can serve as a tool for connection as we navigate the losses in our lives.   Kathleen is an actress, writer, producer, and facilitator whose work spans both the entertainment and corporate worlds. Her short film GRIEF: A COMEDY was recently selected for the Stowe Story Labs - Sidewalk Narrative Lab and the Stowe Story Labs TV Writers Room with Derek Simonds (showrunner, THE SINNER) and David Pope (co-founder, Stowe Story Labs). Notable work includes her series SETTLING UP, which is available on Amazon, and her feminist comedy series THE EVAGELISTS, about evangelists for feminism, which was a finalist in the Raindance Pilot Competition and won a Made In NY Women's Fund grant. She has facilitated classes and conversations for organizations including the Yale Alumni Association, World50, and Google.   To learn more about Kathleen and Grief: A Comedy, visit KathleenWallace.com and linktr.ee/griefacomedy    And you can follow the project on Instagram @griefacomedy   To connect with Julianne, please visit www.juliannemanskerollefson.com

What is the cost of framing motherhood only in terms of its potential gains, without acknowledging its inevitable losses?   That's one of the questions that Molly Milllwood addresses in her brilliant book, To Have and To Hold: Motherhood, Marriage, and the Modern Dilemma. A mix of research, client stories, and Molly's personal experience, the book tells the truth about the realities of motherhood in an effort to normalize and validate the experience for women everywhere.   In this conversation, Molly discusses the current state of parenthood, its impact on mothers and their marriages, the role that social media and shame play in its difficulties, and its capacity to expand our emotional experience.   Molly Millwood is a licensed psychologist, author, speaker, singer-songwriter, mother, wife, and devoted advocate for women's mental health and wellbeing.  She holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Montana and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center.  After juggling an academic career with a part-time psychotherapy practice for over 15 years, Molly now practices therapy full time.  She works with adult individuals and couples, helping women rediscover themselves within the metamorphosis of motherhood and helping couples of all sorts improve their relational health.  Her 2019 book, To Have and To Hold:  Motherhood, Marriage, and the Modern Dilemma explores the emotional landscape of early motherhood and the inextricable link during this phase of life between women's wellbeing and the wellbeing of their marriage or intimate partnership.  Her work has been highlighted by The Washington Post, Mother Untitled, WNYC Radio, and numerous other media outlets, along with dozens of podcasts.  She lives with her husband and two sons in the mountains of Vermont, where in her free time she can be found with a guitar in her hands, her nose in a book, or her feet on a steep dirt road.    To learn more about Molly, visit www.mollymillwood.com   To purchase her book, visit https://bit.ly/mollymillwood Follow Julianne on Instagram at @juliannerollefson   And to learn more about Julianne or to get in touch, visit www.juliannemanskerollefson.com

Laurel Braitman PhD, is a writer, teacher and secular, clinical chaplain-in-training. She is the author of the memoir What Looks Like Bravery: An epic journey through loss to love (March 13th, Simon & Schuster) and the NYT bestselling book Animal Madness: Inside Their Minds.   She received her doctorate in History and Anthropology of Science from MIT and is the director of Writing and Storytelling at the Stanford School of Medicine's Medical Humanities and the Arts Program. Laurel is also the founder of Writing Medicine, the global community of writing healthcare professionals. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian, Wired, California Sunday, National Geographic, Radiolab, National Public Radio and many other places. She splits her time between rural Alaska and her family's ranch in Southern California. In addition to Writing Medicine, she leads a variety of public writing workshops. To learn more and sign up, visit  www.laurelbraitman.com  IG: @laurel_braitman Substack: https://laurelbraitman.substack.com/

Julianne Manske Rollefson is a therapist, grief educator, and host of the new podcast, The Art of Losing.    After the deaths of her parents, she left her career in corporate coaching and leadership development to pursue a master's degree in Counseling Psychology, with the goal of becoming a therapist specializing in grief and loss. She quickly realized that counseling graduate programs don't include grief-specific training and set out to learn as much as she could on her own, which is how she discovered my work and the Grief is My Side Hustle podcast.   For the past year and a half, Julianne and I have partnered to form MRJ Consulting, designed to help individuals, companies, and mental health professionals establish a grief-informed approach to addressing all manner of loss.   She provides individual and group therapy virtually and in-person in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. To work with Julianne or learn more about her services, please visit www.juliannemanskerollefson.com   IG: @juliannerollefson

In 2018, along with his friend Jack, Ben founded The New Normal Charity, after the death of their dads. A simple, free to access, group space where adults could speak openly about their grief, and about the people they'd lost.    Having spent over two decades working in the hair industry, Ben finds connection where he is most comfortable, and as TNN developed, so has their work. Ben is spending more and more time focused on creating community through empathetic understanding, working with some of the hardest to reach communities in London, coproducing spaces for their community.    Since launching in 2018, TNN has gone on to host over 1000 meetings to attendees from around the world, including in person and virtual meetings across Europe, Hong Kong and North America.    To join The New Normal Charity peer support meetings, head to our website www.thenewnormalcharity.com and register to any meeting that is relevant to you. The meetings are free to access and available to anyone who needs space to speak.    Instagram -    @tnncharity  @tnnamericas  @tnn_ben    LinkedIn -    TNN - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-new-normal-charity/   Ben - https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-may-578381131?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

In 2018, along with his friend Jack, Ben founded The New Normal Charity, after the death of their dads. A simple, free to access, group space where adults could speak openly about their grief, and about the people they'd lost.    Having spent over two decades working in the hair industry, Ben finds connection where he is most comfortable, and as TNN developed, so has their work. Ben is spending more and more time focused on creating community through empathetic understanding, working with some of the hardest to reach communities in London, coproducing spaces for their community.    Since launching in 2018, TNN has gone on to host over 1000 meetings to attendees from around the world, including in person and virtual meetings across Europe, Hong Kong and North America.    To join The New Normal Charity peer support meetings, head to our website www.thenewnormalcharity.com and register to any meeting that is relevant to you. The meetings are free to access and available to anyone who needs space to speak.    Instagram -    @tnncharity  @tnnamericas  @tnn_ben    LinkedIn -    TNN - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-new-normal-charity/   Ben - https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-may-578381131?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app  

Rightsizing expert Jeannine Bryant is the owner and CEO of Changing Spaces SRS, a senior move management company in Lincoln, NE.  She has helped provide rightsizing and relocation services to seniors since 2010.  During that time, she has been actively involved in the downsizing and moving processes of thousands of older adults.  Learn more about their services (and shop their online auctions!) at www.ChangingSpacesSRS.com.   In 2019, Jeannine created a sister brand to Changing Spaces SRS called Easy Rightsizing.  This platform allows Jeannine to educate anyone and everyone about the rightsizing process, no matter their location.  At her website www.EasyRightsizing.comshe provides blog articles, video tutorials, links to podcasts she has been featured on, downloadable resources, and links to purchase the books she has written on the downsizing process.  Ready to Rightsize? A step-by-step guide to your rightsizing journey:  For older adults and their loved ones was Jeannine's first book, published in 2019.  It is the essential guidebook to anyone undergoing a transition and moving to a smaller space.  Jeannine prides herself on offering the kinds of practical tips and inspiration to get people motivated to start sorting through their belongings and undergoing their own rightsizing journey.  In 2021, she published her second took titled Keep the Memories, Not the Stuff to serve as a helpful guide for anyone who has trouble letting go of keepsakes (that's most of us!).  This practical how-to book will help readers gain a new perspective on life, love, memories, and our stuff.  The book offers thoughtful insights into the grieving process, as well as practical tips and hands-on advice for letting go without the guilt.  In 2022, Jeannine released her first online downsizing course, which people can take on-demand from the comfort of their own home.  The course features a downloadable workbook and over three hours of video content featuring Jeannine as she coaches participants through the process of downsizing and moving.  In 2023, Jeannine published A Year of Letting Go, a rightsizing planner to help readers declutter throughout 2024.  Learn more about these books and her online course at www.EasyRightsizing.com  

Pamela D. Blair, Ph.D., (pamblairbooks.com) was a psychotherapist for thirty years. She is the co-author of I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye now considered a classic in bereavement literature. She is also the author of The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Midlife and Beyond and Getting Older, Better. She has appeared on national television, been a guest on dozens of radio shows, and has spoken at the Virginia Festival of the Book, the Vermont Women's Expo, Women's Images Conferences, and was filmed for a television special entitled “Widowsville." She lives in Shelburne, Vermont with her husband and two mischievous cats. Bradie McCabe Hansen, M.A. is a clinical psychologist-master in private practice who has been working in the field for over twenty years. Bradie is also a fiber artist and crafter and teaches children and adults about the wonderful world of handcrafting, both for its creative and healing possibilities. Fiber art has become an integral way that she works with people who are interested in visually expressing their lived experience. She lives in Shelburne, Vermont with her husband, two children, one dog and two cats. ABOUT THE BOOK An essential grief guide and recovery workbook for those who have said, “I thought I'd feel better by now.”   Grief does not follow a timeline or a set path. It is nonlinear and messy, doubling back on itself just when you thought you were out of the woods. Those who have experienced the loss of a loved one know this unequivocally, but Western society still seems to think that grief should only last six months to a year—tops—when in fact, grief can last throughout a person's entire life and manifest as serious mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, anger, and despair.   The Long Grief Journey, co-written by a psychotherapist and a clinical psychologist who have both worked with grieving individuals for decades, is for the people who are past the acute pain and effects of a sudden loss and are now learning to live beyond that. It is for those who by all appearances seem to have “moved on.” They're working, carrying out their responsibilities, showing up for important life events, yet they quietly bear the weight of their sadness and longing for their loved one. There's a name for this type of long-term, unresolved grief. In fact, there are several: complicated grief, traumatic grief, complex bereavement, prolonged grief, extended grief, abnormal grief, exaggerated grief, and pervasive grief disorder. If you feel "stuck" after experiencing the death of a loved one, even if much time has passed, this book is for you.   With exercises, journal prompts, and rituals that will further help readers along their grief path, The Long Grief Journey, co-written by one of the authors of the classic grief book, I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye, is designed to educate, support, and coach you to rekindle a desire to live life fully, all while still cherishing and embracing the memories of your loved one.  

Kelly Cervantes is an award-winning writer, speaker, and advocate best known for her blog Inchstones, where she shared the stress, love, and joy that came with parenting her medically complex daughter, Adelaide. Since Adelaide's passing, Kelly has continued to write candidly about her arduous and, at times, contradictory grief journey.   She has been published in the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Cosmopolitan, as well as quoted in the New York Times, CNN, and People. She is the current board chair for the nonprofit CURE Epilepsy and also hosts their biweekly podcast, Seizing Life, where she interviews scientists, doctors, and individuals affected by epilepsy. Kelly currently resides in Maplewood, NJ, with her husband, four children (two physically, two spiritually), and their two dogs, Tabasco and Sriracha.

Alexandra Wyman is an advocate and public speaker for resources in the aftermath of suicide. After she lost her husband to suicide in August of 2020, Alexandra found a need to change the language around suicide, and decided to write about it. Her memoir, The Suicide Club: What To Do When Someone You Love Chooses Death is an Amazon best seller. She has spoken at a variety of conferences including Bridging the Divide Suicide Prevention and Awareness Summit 2022, 2023 Northwest Conference on Childhood Grief, and has been accepted to present at the 2023 Military Social Work & Behavioral Health Conference and the International Association of Suicide Prevention Conference 2023 in Piran, Slovenia. Alexandra has also been a guest on a variety of podcasts including The Unlock Moment, Author Hour, Resilience Unravelled, She Persisted, and My Wake Up Call with Dr. Mark Goulston. Alexandra has her own podcast called The Widow's Club, as well. She practices pediatric occupational therapy and lives in Colorado with her son.   To learn more about Alexandra and her work, visit her website at www.forwardtojoy.com.

Dina Gachman is an award-winning journalist, a Pulitzer Center grantee, and a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Texas Monthly, Vox, Teen Vogue and more. Her second book, So Sorry For Your Loss: How I Learned To Live With Grief, and Other Grave Concerns was published in the US and the UK this year. She's a bestselling ghostwriter, and she writes a monthly movie column for the New York Times. She lives near Austin, Texas, with her husband and son.   Don't miss  this Texas Monthly piece Dina wrote about grief and talks about in the episode.   website Twitter   instagram

Ashley Jones is the founder and executive director of Love Not Lost, a nonprofit on a mission to revolutionize the way we heal in grief. From losing her daughter to a terminal illness to growing Love Not Lost to a national level (soon to be Momento Foundation), Ashley has a lot of experience in death and grief; something she never thought would be in her bio. Yet, she's learned how to process, heal, and grow through the pain and wants to help others do the same. She's a TEDx and keynote speaker on 'how to heal in grief', and has been featured by various media outlets, including the BBC.   And here are some helpful links -- feel free to include any or all of them:     Join our community: http://lovenotlost.org/lovewell  Support our cause: http://lovenotlost.org/donate  Find helpful grief resources: http://lovenotlost.org/library  Use our support tool to help others: http://HowCanILoveYouBetter.com    Apply for a portrait session: http://lovenotlost.org/apply Apply to be a photographer with us: http://lovenotlost.org/photographers --

*episode discusses suicide    ASA MERRITT : A former international reporter for NPR, VICE Sports, The Guardian, and ESPN's “30 for 30” podcast, Asa brings a compassionate documentary eye to ambitious fictional projects. His one-woman play about mass movements, True Believer, had a sold-out run in New York City. To research that piece, Asa traveled to Cairo to meet with underground performers who helped ignite the Arab Spring. With longtime collaborator Matt Kagen, Asa started First Rodeo (@firstrodeoaudio), an audio fiction studio dedicated to pushing the boundaries of genre, combining techniques of journalism and theater. His new Audible original podcast Six Sermons stars Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At Once) and is dedicated to the actor and musician Caz Liske, who died by suicide in Moscow in 2017. Asa lives with his family in Mexico City.   In the Audible Original Six Sermons, Pastor Alexis (Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All At Once) has huge shoes to fill: those of beloved Pastor William Hoyt (Tony winner Bill Irwin), whose suicide rocked their small-town Ohio congregation. With impassioned sermons and awkward community work (hello, donuts and bowling), Alexis tries to shore up the congregation's faith... even as her own is crumbling. The question haunts her: why'd you do it, Will? I have a feeling you'll be thinking about it, too, long after the audio fades. Stephanie's performance is flat-out mesmerizing, and the story deals with so many pressing issues: mental health challenges, women rising to leadership roles in church, and generational divides. To learn the rhythms of church-running, Asa embedded himself in a Lutheran community for a month, and he enlisted psychologists and pastors to help him write with care about self-harm, the Good Samaritan, and more. (One of many things he learned is that people of different faiths have lots in common with literature students: through rigorous close readings of texts, they find meaning.) Between this knowledge-gathering and Asa's own mental health challenges, Six Sermons is steeped in both painstaking research and lived experience. The resulting story resonates whether you're a believer or not.    https://www.audible.com/pd/Six-Sermons-Audiobook/B0CCK3MGTC

Amber Jeffrey was just 19 when her mother died suddenly of a heart attack.  Confused and heartsick Amber found herself consumed with anger which further separated her from her old friendships. In this episode Amber talks about becoming the trusted voice she needed at her most painful time, why talk therapy didn't work for her, and how she created her own community amongst the world of grievers. Amber also lovingly let's us in to her worry about her treasured friend Poppy, creator of the Grief Case, who is fighting a serious illness. As a griever first, Amber reflects on what its like to support a loved one through a serious illness. @thegriefgang   

Laura Cathcart Robbins is the best-selling author of the Atria/Simon & Schuster memoir, Stash, My Life In Hiding, and host of the popular podcast, The Only One In The Room. She has been active for many years as a speaker and school trustee and is credited for creating The Buckley School's nationally recognized committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice. Her recent articles on the subjects of race, recovery, and divorce have garnered her worldwide acclaim. She is a 2022 TEDx Speaker, and LA Moth StorySlam winner. Currently, she sits on the advisory boards of the San Diego Writer's Festival and the Outliers HQ podcast Festival. Find out more about her on her website, or you can look for her on Facebook, on Instagram, on Tiktok, and follow her on Twitter.    

In January, 1958, a renowned sailing family was lost in a storm in the Bermuda Triangle. The youngest of two daughters, Sarah, suddenly an orphan, grew up never knowing her parents and grandparents. As an adult, she began to pursue the mystery of her family and their disappearance, and discovered that their stories were far different from the versions she was told. Sarah Conover's memoir follows the national media's investigation of the Revonoc's vanishing, and exposes the truths that led her to “unstory” the family history, creating a new understanding of their lives, and hers. About Sarah Conover: Sarah Conover holds a BA in comparative religions from the University of Colorado, and an MFA in creative writing from Eastern Washington University. She has worked as a television producer for PBS and Internews (an international media NGO), a social worker for Catholic Charities, a public school teacher, and taught creative writing through the community colleges of Spokane, Washington. She is the author of six books on world wisdom traditions and spirituality published by Skinner House Books, the educational publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Her poetry, essays and interviews have been published in a variety of literary magazines and anthologies.  sarahconover.com https://55fathoms.com/set-adrift/  

Katie Joy Duke is an author, attorney turned life coach, mom, and stage IV breast cancer survivor. Her memoir Still Breathing: My Journey with Love, Loss, and Reinvention was a #1 Amazon best seller in Family Health and Pregnancy and Childbirth. Read her blogs, sign up for her not-so-regular newsletter, and order a personalized signed paperback of her book at www.katiejoyduke.com. Her audiobook, which she narrated, will be released on Audible later this month—stay tuned!    https://www.amazon.com/Still-Breathing-Journey-Love-Reinvention/dp/B0B2T4XWHH/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=still+breathing+katie+joy+duke&qid=1689777744&sprefix=katie+joy+duke%2Caps%2C159&sr=8-1    

Amy Green Smith is a certified and credentialed life coach and hypnotherapist, masterful speaker, and personal empowerment expert. Amy uses her roles as coach, writer, podcaster, and speaker to move individuals beyond limiting beliefs and sabotaging mindsets to a place of radical personal empowerment and self-worth.  With acute focus on helping people “find their voice”, Amy uses her popular weekly podcast, The Bold-Faced Truth, to address issues of worthiness, self-confidence, and letting go of people-pleasing to assist listeners in creating and living radically joyful lives. Amy has been instrumental in aiding thousands of women in stepping into their authentic power and crafting lives they desire. She is highly sought after for her uncommon style of irreverence, wisdom, and humor and has been a featured expert in Inspired Coach Magazine and on Fox 5 San Diego.   Start stalking Amy at www.AmyGreenSmith.com and grab a free copy of her eWorkbook/Audiobook, Stand Up for Yourself Without Being a Dick: 9 Proven Challenges to Radically Improve Your Self-Confidence and Self-Worth   Links to reach Amy:   Grab Amy's FREE-SOURCES at: http://amygreensmith.com/free   Connect with Amy on Social Media: http://instagram.com/heyamygreensmith http://facebook.com/heyamygreensmith https://www.linkedin.com/in/heyamygreensmith http://twitter.com/heyamygreen  

Kelly S. Thompson writer, educator, and retired veteran from the Canadian Armed Forces. She has an MFA and PhD in Creative Writing and works as a mentor at the King's MFA Nonfiction program. She has won several awards for her writing, and was longlisted for the 2021 CBC Nonfiction prize and a 2021 National Magazine Award. Her essays, fiction and poetry have appeared in Chatelaine, the Globe and Mail, and Macleans, as well as literary magazines and anthologies. Her memoir, Girls Need Not Apply, was an instant bestseller and named a top 100 Books of 2019 by the Globe and Mail. Her next book, Still, I Cannot Save You, was also an instant bestseller.  

Julia Samuel is a leading UK psychotherapist. At St Mary's Hospital Paddington, she established the post of psychotherapist for Paediatrics, where her role for 25 years involved seeing families who have children or babies who die, and where she trained and supported the staff. In 1994 she worked to help launch and establish Child Bereavement UK and as the Founder Patron was involved and in many aspects of the charities work, having a key role in fundraising, strategy and training. She has stepped back from active involvement now. In 2016 Julia was awarded an MBE in recognition of her services to bereaved children and in 2017 Middlesex University awarded her an Honorary Doctorate. In 2017 Julia published Grief Works which was a Sunday Times bestseller in the UK and has been published in 17 countries. In March 2020 she published This Too Shall Pass: stories of Change Crisis and Hopeful Beginnings and is also a Sunday Times bestseller. In 2022 Julia published Every Family has a Story to wide acclaim. In 2021 Julia produced a 5* rated app for those who grieve, Grief Works – a 28 day course to soothe your pain, build your strength and heal. She also has a private practice where she sees families and individuals for many different issues.           https://juliasamuel.co.uk

  Julie McFadden, BSN, RN is a passionate educator, who uses her social media following, which reaches 1.3M on tiktok alone, to normalizing death and dying.    Found under the name Hospice Nurse Julie, she spent years working in the  experienced ICU, and serves as a well respected, sought after now Hospice/Palliative expert who has been featured in Newsweek, USA today, The Atlantic, The Business Insider, Medscape, People, Buzz feed, and media outlets  worldwide.   You can find Julie on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, or at her website:  www.hospicenursejulie.com    If you would like to do some in-person learning, don't miss the opportunity at the Art of Living Retreat: https://artoflivingretreatcenter.org/event/faculty/penny-smith-julie-mcfadden/changing-our-views-on-the-end-of-life/?fbclid=PAAaaPYqhOyCTobGEvGdw9fDh7u076hn9_V8w9H5Njv1B7gP1qM1O8acKN9ns&utm_campaign=Penny%20Julie%20Referral&utm_medium=Referral&utm_source=Faculty

“Look for me there,” news legend Tim Russert would tell his son, Luke, when confirming a pickup spot at an airport, sporting event, or rock concert. After Tim died unexpectedly, Luke kept looking for his father, following in his footsteps and carving out a successful career at NBC News. After eight years covering politics and winning an Emmy Award, Luke realized he had no good answer as to why he was chasing his father's legacy. At a crossroads in his early thirties, feeling the pressure of high expectations as the son of two accomplished parents, Luke decided to leave the familiar path behind and set out on his own to find answers. What began as several months of travel to decompress and reassess morphed into a three-plus-year odyssey across six continents to find himself and his place in the world in the face of crushing expectations and grief. Look for Me There offers a vivid narrative of that journey, chronicling lessons learned from travel and how Luke finally grieved his larger-than-life father, who died too young.   See Luke in DC: https://www.sixthandi.org/event/luke-russert/  

In this episode Meghan Sits down with Humaninty Huve creator Candin Phillips. Candin is a licensed therapist and supervisor in South Carolina who also has ADHD. She has studied and worked in the mental health field for nearly 15 years with focuses in trauma work and ADHD.   She shifted to primarily ADHD education and coaching through her business, Humanity Hive, in the last few years. As her understanding of the diagnosis increased she became more passionate about helping others learn how to understand and manage their ADHD better.    Candin lost her mother to suicide in March of 2022 and speaks about her experience with grief on her Humanity Hive page. Her page is a place where she can better process and express her grief through images words and music when needed.     

TW: This episode includes in depth conversation about suicide. Meghan sat down with Addison Brasil to discuss his compound loss of losing his brother to a brain tumor, his father to suicide and a friend in a tragic car accident that left him deeply physically and emotionally injured. Addison talks about the communities of friends, family and health care practioners that helped him survive and the role of wrting and sharing his story and wisdom in his own ability to move forward after loss. Addison Brasil shows up in the world as a writer, award winning producer, and speaker after finding himself Just to the Left of Death three times during his formative years.  In response to the loss of his brother, father, and friend, he has worked to share his bestselling book First Year of Grief Club: A Gift From A Friend Who Gets It and is also the host of Grief Club: The Podcast with Addison Brasil. www.addisonbrasil.com @addisonbrasil and @sharemygriefclub on IG.

After many experiences with loss, including the death of her parents, Rachel founded After Light (formerly Black Dress) Consultants, a consulting firm that offloads the administrative tasks that come with legacy planning and after loss, so clients can focus less on the logistics and more on creating space to live worry- free and grieve peacefully. Rachel is the co-founder of Professionals of After Loss Services (PALS), which is a training and support network for industry professionals who provide services to individuals and families after the loss of a loved one. Prior to starting Black Dress Consultants, Rachel had a career in higher education fundraising, working for institutions such as Agnes Scott College, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology. Rachel is a graduate of Agnes Scott College and serves on the Board of Directors on Love Not Lost, an Atlanta non-profit that provides grief tools and free photography sessions for families facing terminal diagnoses. She now lives in Atlanta with her husband Zack and their two amazing children.   https://www.myafterlight.com

Dr. Peggy DeLong is a psychologist, known as The Gratitude Psychologist. She teaches people how to harness the power of gratitude and joy to live their best lives, especially through difficult times. She does this through psychotherapy, her on-line monthly membership Feeling Good with Dr. Peggy, on-line courses, speaking engagements and programs for colleges, books, and bracelets.  Peggy is the author of: 1) I Can See Clearly Now: A Memoir about Love, Grief, and Gratitude, 2) The Gratitude Journal: A 365 Day Gratitude Journey, and 3) Feeling Good: 35 Proven Ways to Happiness, Even During Tough Times. She is also the owner of LOVE in a Bracelet, where she designs bracelets for coping with grief and loss, mental health, and inspiration.   She hosts women's hiking events for spiritual growth and personal development. When she's not focused on her businesses, you'll find Peggy in the mountains, downhill or telemark skiing, kayaking, hiking, or mountain biking. Margaret ("Peggy") DeLong, Psy.D. The Gratitude Psychologist drpeggydelongpsych@gmail.com Keynote Speaker | Monthly Membership | Courses | Books | Gratitude Journal | Gratitude Heals Bracelets | Counseling Feeling Good: 35 Proven Ways to Happiness, Even During Tough Times

Meghan sits down with the extraordinary stylist Karen Harrow to talk about how to dress for a funeral, why clothes matter and what emotional needs we should to take into account when we get dressed.  All social media links can be found in link below https://harrowstyle.com/about/

In this episode Meghan sits down with then dynamic duo Sal and Im from Good Mourning Podcast.  These two amazing women met at a support group shortly after Im's mother died by suicide and Sal's from an undiagnosed seizure disorder.  With their charm, and curiosity they have built a huge supportive community of grievers who are learning from the experts they bring on their podcast, as well as each other, the truth of what it takes to carry profound loss. Sal and Im wrote an extraordinary book that publishes in the US on May 2nd.  DO NOT MISS IT.  It conveys all the warmth and curiosity you have come to expect from their podcast, with the hard fought wisdom of two incredibly intelligent women determinded to change the conversation on how we grieve. https://www.amazon.com/Good-Mourning-Honest-conversations-about/dp/1922616311/ref=asc_df_1922616311/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=642162216434&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9870191713307570455&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007768&hvtargid=pla-1934235927738&psc=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwxr2iBhBJEiwAdXECwx6Zhp35des-VEU6fT2FB8B1w8cHvN7FPcKkahiI1E1R4QsS4328NBoCiDAQAvD_BwE https://www.goodmourning.com.au https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-mourning-grief-podcast/id1529978129?i=1000601303937  

Today Meghan sits down wththe extraordinary author Angela Morris. She talks about how her ADHD diagnosis impacts her understanding of her own grief, and the profound secondary loss of friendship particularly in non-death loss.   More about Angela:   After the death of her father, friend and grandmother in quick succession, Angela needed a channel to grieve these profound losses. Writing has always been her lifeline through hard times, and grief from the loss of her loved ones was no different. Seeing how this helped her, Angela began to help others with their grief through her reflective writing on her social media channels. Angela offers people a soft space to land as they navigate their grief without judgement. She provides reflective writing for grievers who have lost something or someone dear to them. They walk together differently through their healing journey of learning to grow with their grief, not move on from it.   Love Notes to Grievers is available for pre-order and comes out on June 13th, 2023   WWW.ANGELAEMORRIS.COM INSTAGRAM: @ANGELAEMMAMORRIS  

The extraordinary poet and writer sits down with Meghan to discuss her new memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful (The title a nod to her viral poem Good Bones).  Maggie explores the concepts of partnership, marital roles, and how writing helps us find out truth.   https://maggiesmithpoet.com

Meghan sits down with one of her favorite authors–Laura Zigman to discuss ther widely celebrated most recent novel Small World. Laura decribes how she fused the emotional experiences of the death of her sister into the story of two divorced sisters who come to live in the same house for the first time in decades.  Laura Zigman is the author of five novels, including Separation Anxiety (which was optioned by Julianne Nicholson and the production company Wiip (Mare of Easttown) for a limited television series); Animal Husbandry (which was made into the movie Someone Like You, starring Hugh Jackman and Ashley Judd), Dating Big Bird, Her, and Piece of Work. She has ghostwritten/collaborated on several works of non-fiction, including Eddie Izzard's New York Times bestseller, Believe Me; been a contributor to the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Huffington Post; produced a popular online series of animated videos called Annoying Conversations; and was the recipient of a Yaddo residency. Her sixth novel, Small World, was published in January 2023. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. https://www.laurazigman.com

This week Meghan Sits Down with the delightful Cyndie Speigel to talk about Microjoys and how she coped with the murder of her nephew, death of mother, and own diagnosis with breast cancer.  Despite the heaviness of the topic Cyndie offers us laughter, hope and deep wisdom that comes from facing the hardest of times.   About Cyndie: Cyndie Spiegel is a born storyteller–turned–writer; she's an aspirational voice and an igniter of powerful conversation around self-acceptance, integrity, and joy. She is a former fashion executive, adjunct professor at Parsons School of Design and Fashion Institute of Technology, and holds a masters of professional studies. She is also a TEDx speaker and a certified yoga and meditation teacher. Her honest storytelling, vulnerable self-inquiry, and penchant for swear words have made her a sought-after speaker for conferences, brands, and organizations, and she has been featured in publications such as Forbes, Glamour, Teen Vogue, and HuffPost. She currently lives in New Jersey with her (very handsome) photographer husband, two cats, way too many patterns, and an excessive number of houseplants. She is the founder of Dear Grown Ass Women, an inclusive and highly relatable social community for women 35+, and she is also the author of A Year of Positive Thinking. https://www.cyndiespiegel.com