The Life Shift shares real and honest conversations about the moments that change us. Host Matt Gilhooly sits with guests as they tell true stories of life-changing events, unexpected challenges, and quiet awakenings that shaped who they are today. Each episode offers meaningful and candid storytelling about grief, healing, resilience, identity, and growth. These are the personal stories that remind us what it feels like to be human. These are the turning points that stay with us. If you are drawn to personal growth, emotional well-being, or stories of how people rebuild after loss, this show offers a gentle place to land. Listeners come for the life changes. They stay for the connection. New episodes every Wednesday and Sunday. For more information, please visit https://www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com
Reclamation: Coming Back To The Girl Who Got Shut Down
Have you ever lived a life that worked, on paper, and still felt like you were only halfway in the room? That is where Lena Fein spent most of her life. Not broken. Not miserable. Just partially there, ever since a moment at seven years old when the safest place she had, her own diary, got read out loud and used against her. Lena did everything right after that. School, a career in engineering, a family, a persona that held. And underneath it, a part of her stayed folded up and quiet for over forty years, until her mother was dying of cancer and Lena looked into her eyes one last time and saw something she had been waiting her whole life to see. That moment did not fix anything overnight. But it cracked something open, and Lena spent the years after slowly, gently claiming back the pieces of herself she had given up on. Her voice. Her rhythm. Her breath. Her story, eventually written down and shared with the world in her memoir, Shattering the Mirror. This episode is for anyone who has ever wondered if the parts of themselves they buried a long time ago are still in there somewhere, waiting. They usually are. What You'll Hear The diary moment that taught a seven-year-old to hide her heart A childhood accident that left Lena unable to fully breathe for decades What she saw in her mother's eyes in the final days of her life How she slowly reclaimed dancing, singing, and writing as an adult Why she finally found the courage to publish her memoir What it means to find compassion for a parent who never had the tools Guest Bio Lena Fein lives in San Francisco, the city of her birth. After receiving a master’s degree in engineering from UC Berkeley, she enjoyed a successful career in high tech and founded a non-profit that funded health and education projects in at-risk communities around the globe. Now retired, Lena enjoys the arts in all their forms, including painting, singing, dancing, and writing. Currently, Lena is often seen taking long walks by the bay and hugging her grandchildren. Her memoir, "Shattering the Mirror," is about her quest to confront her life and see through the distortions of her traumatic childhood. Now in her late sixties, Lena lives with more freedom, clarity, and love than she ever imagined. The book is really about the truth that healing is possible at any age — and that wholeness is priceless. Lena's book and links: shatteringthemirror.com Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/s5e270 Follow the show: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ --- mother wound, childhood shame, deathbed forgiveness, reclaiming your voice, emotional numbness, generational trauma, finding wholeness, late life awakening, memoir writing, healing after loss Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Choosing the Harder Door: From Childhood Shame to Federal Prison
Some secrets get handed to us before we are old enough to know what to do with them. Ranae was a preteen in a small Minnesota town when she was sexually abused by boys she had known her whole life. The instruction that followed- stay quiet, or people will think you are bad- became the quiet architecture of everything she built afterward. For decades that belief ran the show. It showed up as people pleasing, as quitting good jobs before anyone could find out she was not good enough, as a kind of disappearing she did inside her own mind without ever naming it. Eventually it led her into a scheme that spiraled into wire and mail fraud, and one morning, into a bathroom mirror where she gave herself exactly two ways out. She chose to turn herself in. She served fifty-one months in federal prison, and she will tell you plainly that walking through those doors is the day her healing actually began. This conversation is about shame, about the stories we are told to keep, and about what becomes possible once we finally put one down. What You'll Hear: How a childhood secret in a town of 572 people shaped three decades of choices The moment Ranae faced two options in front of a mirror, and chose the harder one Why she says her healing began the day she walked into federal prison The prison psychologist who refused to let her settle for halfway What it felt like to walk out the doors and feel free for the first time How Connecting to Cope, named after her dog, became her life's second purpose Guest Bio: Ranae Van Roekel is a mother, grandmother, wife, dog lover—and someone whose life was forever changed by the consequences of her choices. After committing a crime that harmed people both close to her and unknown to her, Ranae served 36 months in federal prison. What she once thought could never be part of her story—being labeled a felon—became a defining chapter in her journey. Through incarceration, Ranae came to understand how deeply unresolved trauma had shaped her actions and decisions. This realization became the catalyst for years of healing and recovery. She has since dedicated herself to self-care, education, and advocacy, using her lived experience to help others—regardless of their histories or hardships—discover coping skills and pathways toward healing. Today, Ranae is a passionate advocate for justice reform, working to create a system that acknowledges the humanity of every individual and addresses the root causes of crime, including trauma, stress, and mental health struggles. Through her platform, Connecting to Cope, she shares her story, insights, and strategies with others navigating personal or professional challenges. Her mission is clear: to empower people to face their pain, embrace healing, and move toward thriving lives. Social Channels https://www.facebook.com/connectingtocope/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/connecting-to-cope/ https://www.instagram.com/connectingtocope/ https://connectingtocope.com/ --- Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ --- childhood sexual abuse, shame and secrecy, people pleasing, federal prison, healing in prison, trauma and choices, white collar crime, family forgiveness, finding worth, prison reform advocacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Comfort: When Cozy Becomes a Cage
Have you ever noticed your life getting smaller without ever deciding to shrink it? Not all at once. Just one canceled plan, one closed door, one quiet no to something that used to feel possible, until one day you look up and wonder where all the room went. That's where Scott Stirrett found himself partway through COVID. He'd already done the hard things once. Left a steady job at twenty-two to start a charity from nothing. Came out, eventually, after years of being afraid of what people might think. But comfort, real comfort, has a way of quietly wearing off if you let it. A decade of stability dulled the muscle he used to take risks with, and it took a pandemic and a therapist's gentle observation to show him how far it had drifted. This is a conversation about what it actually takes to rebuild a relationship with the unknown. Not white knuckling through it. Practicing it, on purpose, the same way you'd train a muscle you forgot you had. And about what becomes possible once you stop needing to know how things will turn out before you're willing to try. What You'll Hear: How a decade of stability quietly wore down Scott's comfort with risk The moment in COVID that made him name his own perfectionism out loud Why he believes self compassion, not ambition, is the real engine behind growth What it took to leave the charity he built and led for twelve years How coming out later in life changed his relationship with fear itself The difference between a good decision and a good outcome, and why that distinction matters Guest Bio: Scott Stirrett is a Canadian entrepreneur, author, and social impact leader whose mission is to help people reach their full potential. He is the Founder of Venture for Canada (VFC), a national charity that has supported over 10,000 young professionals since its launch in 2013. Under Scott’s leadership, VFC has raised over $80 million and built partnerships with organizations including Employment and Social Development Canada, RBC Foundation, TD Bank, Scotiabank, and leading Canadian foundations. The organization focuses on equipping early-career Canadians with the entrepreneurial skills and mindset needed to thrive in an uncertain economy. Scott is the author of The Uncertainty Advantage, a practical guide for young professionals navigating today’s unpredictable world of work. Endorsed by Andrew Yang, Stephen Poloz, Amanda Lang, Eric Ries, Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, and Michele Romanow, the book draws on lessons from scaling VFC, emphasizing adaptability, entrepreneurial thinking, and lifelong learning. Before founding VFC, Scott worked at Goldman Sachs in New York City. He is a graduate of Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. He has been recognized as a Telus LGBTQ Innovator of the Year, an Action Canada Fellow, a Globe and Mail Changemaker, and an Ashoka Fellow, among other honours. His commentary has been featured in The Washington Post, Forbes, Fast Company, The Globe and Mail, CBC News Network, and BNN Bloomberg. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Board at the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights and sits on the Board of the Speech and Debate Canada Foundation. Links: Personal website: https://www.scottstirrett.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottstirrett/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottstirrett/ Substack: https://substack.com/@scottstirrett Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Uncertainty-Advantage-Launching-Career-Change-ebook/dp/B0DGCD6ZCV/ —- Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ --- comfort with uncertainty, fear of the unknown, perfectionism recovery, coming out later in life, leaving what you built, self compassion practice, risk taking and growth, shrinking under pressure, rebuilding confidence, chosen family and friendship Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Fatherhood: The Fifteen Minutes That Changed Everything
Have you ever looked fine on paper and still felt like something was missing. Good job, good marriage, kids who love you, and underneath all of it, a quiet hum of not quite. Drew Norton knew that hum well. He was drifting through his late twenties, chasing money because he thought money was the thing that would finally make him feel like enough. Then one afternoon he came home to find his six month old son not breathing. What followed was an hour and a half that felt like a lifetime, a misdiagnosis that haunted his family for weeks, and a slow, unglamorous rebuilding of a man who realized the work he thought he was doing for a paycheck was actually the work that taught him how to show up for the people he loved. Drew talks about what it cost him to keep performing wellness instead of practicing it, what his wife's healing taught him about his own, and why he now spends his days helping other men find the brotherhood he didn't have when he needed it most. What You'll Hear: The fifteen minutes between a phone call and a front door that changed everything Why looking fine from the outside almost cost Drew his presence on the inside How a misdiagnosis turned weeks of fear into a strange kind of mercy The realization that sales training and listening to his wife were the same skill Why men are lonelier than ever, and what brotherhood actually requires The four pillars Drew now builds his life and his work around Guest Bio: Drew Norton is "The Everyday Sales Leader," a podcast host, and Co-founder of The Abundant Man. After a family emergency reshaped his perspective, Drew lost 100 lbs and led a sales team to over $20 million in revenue. Today, he helps leaders and teams unlock their potential through his core teachings: Leadership is a Choice and Sales is Life. He believes that to Belong is the first step to Believe and Become , and he challenges high-performers to realize that Wanting More is the only path that enables you to Serve More. Drew is a private pilot, a husband of 13 years, and a father of four. https://my.theabundantmanproject.com/ ---- Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ --- drifting, complacency, fatherhood fear, marriage after trauma, faith and doubt, men and vulnerability, brotherhood, finding purpose, presence over perfection, rebuilding after fear Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Illness: When the Hard Thing Sets You Free
Have you ever had a feeling in your gut that just knew, that told you to keep going even when nothing around you confirmed it? Carly had one of those since she was a kid. And then, somewhere around thirty, it went quiet. If you have ever lost the thing that used to steer you, you already know how unmooring that silence can be. Carly's path winds through a childhood spent on stages, a move to New York at twenty-two, a pandemic that emptied out her industry overnight, and a second cancer diagnosis that arrived right when she had already started to lose her footing. She talks about sitting on a couch and telling the people who loved her most that she needed to go dark for a while, and how that one honest moment became part of how she found her way back. The shift here is not loud. It is the slow trade of proving herself to other people for simply loving the work because she loves it. By the end, Carly is lighter. Not because everything got easier, but because she stopped carrying things that were never hers to carry in the first place. What You'll Hear: How a lifelong gut feeling disappeared around Carly's thirtieth birthday, and what that silence revealed The pandemic years that emptied out her life in New York and quietly reshaped her identity A second cancer diagnosis at thirty one, and the couch conversation where she asked for permission to fall apart Why she chose to go dark instead of staying positive, and what that taught her about real support Starting a TikTok account from a hospital room and finding a community no support group could give her How a feature film role and a move to Philadelphia became proof that the hardest chapter also cleared a path forward Guest Bio: Carly Otte is a New York City & Philadelphia-based actor, improviser, and storyteller originally from Pittsburgh. Her on-screen credits include The Fault in Our Stars, recurring appearances on Impractical Jokers, and most recently the feature mockumentary The Conspiracists (now streaming on Amazon Prime). In addition to her performance work, she teaches improv at the Philly Improv Theater and works in communications and storytelling. Carly is also a two-time cancer survivor who shares patient advocacy content on TikTok, using her platform to document her journey and support others. Follow Carly on Instagram: instagram.com/CarlyOtte Follow Carly's cancer journey on TikTok: tiktok.com/@CarlyOtte Watch The Conspiracists on Amazon Prime --- Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ --- cancer survivor, redefining success, identity shift, acting career, second diagnosis, grief and healing, creative joy, finding community, starting over, self worth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Identity: More Than the Thing You're Known For
Have you ever performed feeling completely fine while everyone around you assumed you were falling apart. Kate Kayaian knows that feeling from the inside. She spent four decades as a professional cellist, the kind of career most people only dream about, and on the night that career quietly ended, a room full of people watched her voice shake and assumed grief. What she was actually feeling was relief. We talk about how she chose the cello at four and a half because of a boy she had a crush on, and how that one small decision became her entire identity for the next forty years. We talk about what it felt like to be cheered for and still feel like, in her words, a trained monkey. We talk about giving herself permission to stop with no crisis forcing her hand, just a quiet knowing. And we talk about sitting at her mother's deathbed and asking forgiveness for a decision her mother never needed her to ask forgiveness for. The shift here isn't really about quitting an instrument. It's about the moment you realize the thing everyone has always known you as isn't the whole truth of who you are, and what it costs, and frees, to go find out who's underneath. What You'll Hear Why a four year old's crush on a boy shaped four decades of Kate's life The night an audience mistook her relief for heartbreak What it felt like to be called a trained monkey, and still love the music Giving herself permission to stop, with no crisis forcing her hand Rebuilding an identity from scratch in her late forties The conversation with her dying mother that gave her real permission Guest Bio Kate Kayaian is an author, speaker, and career strategist for high achievers who want to build lives of impact, purpose, and sustainable success. A former professional cellist, Kate performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and recitalist in venues ranging from Boston’s Jordan Hall to leading European concert halls. She trained at the New England Conservatory of Music and held a fellowship with the New World Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas. Today, Kate’s work centers on helping accomplished professionals—creatives, executives, educators, and entrepreneurs—define success on their own terms and create careers that feel as good as they look. Through her 1:1 coaching and her signature group program, the Creatives Leadership Academy, she guides clients to develop clarity, confidence, and the practical strategies needed to lead at the highest level without sacrificing their well-being. She is the author of Beyond Potential, a practical guide for high performers navigating the next chapter of their professional lives, and the host of Tales from The Lane, a podcast exploring the hidden challenges and unexpected joys of success. As a sought-after speaker, Kate delivers keynotes and workshops on leadership presence, mindset transformation, and redefining what’s possible for high achievers across industries. Alongside her private practice, Kate serves as President and Artistic Director of the Bermuda Philharmonic Orchestra, where she continues to champion creativity, collaboration, and innovation in the arts. She lives on the island of Bermuda, where she spends her days coaching clients around the world, writing, speaking, and tending to her garden. Instagram: @kkayaian LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-kayaian-852147181/ Website: www.katekayaian.com ---- Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ --- identity after a career, professional musician burnout, who am I without my job, redefining potential, second career after forty, grief and relief, permission to stop, starting over later in life, letting go of an identity, midlife reinvention Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Self-Worth: The Life She Fought For
Some decisions cannot be made with a chart. Joy Kong knows this because she tried. Three days and three nights of careful, logical reasoning, and still she could not talk herself out of what her gut already knew: she needed to leave China and find her own life, even if she could not explain why. What followed was years of fighting. A visa rejection that most people would have taken as a sign to stop. An isolating marriage in a country where she knew almost no one and had no safety net. And a quiet moment on the floor of her apartment, squatting and sobbing, where something in her finally admitted how much pain she had been carrying. Joy did not just survive those years. She built something from them. A medical career. A stem cell academy. A company. A memoir. And a way of seeing the world that holds both the difficulty and the beauty at the same time. What You'll Hear: The three-day decision that changed the entire direction of Joy's life What it felt like to be rejected by the American embassy after 18 months of preparation How she cold-called hotel rooms in Beijing to find her way out The slow, quiet erosion of an isolating marriage, and the moment she knew she had to leave The unexpected mentor who went to bat for her when no one else would How escaping circumstances is only the first kind of freedom, and why the deeper kind takes much longer Guest Bio: Dr. Joy Kong is a UCLA trained, Stem Cell Doctor of the Decade 2021 and triple board certified anti aging physician. She is the President of the American Academy of Integrative Cell Therapy and a leading voice in regenerative medicine and longevity science. Beyond her medical work, Dr. Kong’s personal journey includes immigrating from China, escaping an abusive marriage, and rebuilding her life from scratch after arriving in the US with almost nothing. She brings a grounded perspective on resilience, integrity, and the body mind connection, while helping audiences understand stem cell therapy with clarity and realism. Website: https://joykongmd.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_joy_kong/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-kong-md-4b8627123/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@joykongmd ---- Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ --- starting over, leaving home, abusive marriage, finding identity, immigrant resilience, escaping control, rebuilding a life, inner strength, freedom, soul survival Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Cost of Quiet: Learning to Speak Up After Years of Silence
Have you ever built a life that looked exactly right from the outside, and felt completely hollow from the inside? This episode is for you. Colette Jane Fehr grew up watching her parents argue in a house where conflict felt dangerous. So when she fell in love with a man whose family never raised their voices, she thought she'd finally found safety. They married, built a beautiful life, had a daughter. And somewhere in the space between the perfect house and the quiet dinner table, Colette started disappearing, one unspoken need at a time. The shift came three weeks after her daughter was born. Colette was sitting on the couch, postpartum and unraveling, while her husband watched golf and sipped wine beside her. She didn't yell. She didn't storm out. She just looked over and understood, quietly and completely, that she was utterly alone. That moment didn't end her marriage. But it started the long, honest work of figuring out who she actually was, and what she actually needed. Colette eventually went back to school, earned her degree in counseling from Rollins College, trained for years in emotionally focused couples therapy, and built a career helping others find the language for the things they'd been too afraid to say. Her book, The Cost of Quiet, is drawn directly from that work and from her own story. What You'll Hear: How growing up in a conflict-averse household set Colette up to choose the wrong kind of quiet in her marriage The moment on the couch that cracked everything open, and what she understood in that silence Why she calls it "good girl itis," and how people pleasing hides even in outgoing, seemingly confident people How a chance conversation with a short-term boyfriend planted the seed for her career in therapy What 15 years of sitting with other people's pain taught her about her own The difference between self-silencing out of fear and choosing peace from a place of wholeness Colette Jane Fehr is a licensed psychotherapist, author, and speaker based in Orlando, Florida. She specializes in emotionally focused couples therapy and has spent nearly 15 years helping individuals and partners learn to communicate from a place of vulnerability rather than avoidance. Her book, The Cost of Quiet, is available wherever books are sold. She also writes a weekly Substack newsletter, Secrets from a Therapist, and can be found on Instagram at @colettejannfehr or at colettejannfehr.com. Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ --- people pleasing in marriage, emotional disconnection in relationships, finding your voice, postpartum anxiety, couples therapy, self-silencing, divorce and reinvention, emotional attunement, the cost of quiet, self-connected communication Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Bonus: Introducing Trivia, Sort Of
This is a bonus drop, a little different from our usual Life Shift episode. I just launched a new show called Trivia, Sort Of. It's lighter, it's playful, and it's less "guess the answer" and more "here's a strange, fascinating fact, wait really?" I wanted to bring it to you here first, since you're already part of this community. In this bonus episode, I share a quick intro to the new show and then play episode one for you right in this feed. Two episodes of Trivia, Sort Of are live now, with a new one dropping every Tuesday. If you enjoy what you hear, subscribe wherever you listen: https://pod.link/6787199863 Thanks for letting me share something new with you. I'll see you back here soon for the next Life Shift episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Writing Your Own Story: When the Fire Reveals What Matters
There are moments in life when everything falls apart at once. The job, the relationship, the car, the sense of direction. And then, in Laurie Collister's case, the house itself. A neighbor's forgotten french fries started a fire that took nearly everything she owned. But somehow, a floor-to-ceiling shelf of three hundred handwritten diaries made it through the smoke without a page touched. Laurie had been journaling since she was eighteen. Not for posterity, not with any plan. Just to survive, to process, to let the pressure out. She never imagined those entries would one day be the map that led her home to herself. But reading through them, volume by volume, she began to see her own life the way a novelist sees a character: clearly, curiously, with a kind of tenderness that had been hard to access from the inside. This is a conversation about what it means to excavate your own story, to find the thread that was always there, and to finally stop measuring your life against a template that was never built for you. What You'll Hear: How a house fire became the strange beginning of Laurie's deepest self-understanding What it felt like to read her own diaries as if they belonged to someone else, cringing, laughing, and eventually arriving at compassion The way loneliness had become her status quo so quietly she didn't know it was there until it wasn't How writing her memoir forced her to name the arc of her own change and ask whether she had actually changed at all What it means to stop being the sidekick in your own life The idea of a "secret contract," the calling that was being named by others long before she could hear it herself Laurie A. Collister is a memoirist, former counselor of seventeen years, and caregiver to her 97-year-old mother. Her debut memoir, A Different Kind of Vow, traces her winding journey through career, connection, and identity, drawing from decades of personal journals to uncover what she calls her sacred contract. Her second memoir is due in July 2027. She lives in the Pacific time zone with her mother's very large dog nearby. You can find her and her books at lauriecollister.com and on Amazon. Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ --- finding yourself through journaling, house fire life change, memoir writing healing, loneliness and self-discovery, starting over in your 30s, reading your own story, identity outside society's template, self-compassion through writing, caregiving and personal boundaries, life purpose and calling Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Identity: The Job That Wasn't the Whole Story
There's a version of your life where you take the safe path. The familiar one. The one that makes sense on paper. And then there's the version where you say yes to something that sounds completely ridiculous, and that version turns out to be the one that teaches you the most. David S. Bernknopf spent over 20 years at CNN, covering the world, building a career that became his whole identity. When new ownership came in and the culture shifted, he made a decision, quietly and quickly, the way journalists learn to do. He walked away. Then he moved to Alaska on a cold call from a stranger. He didn't know anyone there. He'd been once, for five days. But something about the absurdity of it felt right. This is a conversation about what happens after the identity you've built for decades gets set aside. About the kind of loneliness that settles in slowly, that you normalize before you realize it isn't healthy. And about the two words from his adult kids, that would be a pretty cool thing, that quietly set him free. What You'll Hear: How a 21-year-old chose CNN over a safe small-market job, and why his dad thought he was crazy What it felt like to walk away from a 20-year career that had become his whole identity The unexpected cold call that sent him to Alaska in his mid-60s The isolation and loneliness that surprised him, even though he thought he'd prepared How two years in Alaska made him more patient, and gave him his first fiction book Why his kids' permission slip mattered more than he expected it to Guest Bio: David S. Bernknopf is a veteran journalist and television news producer who spent more than two decades at CNN, where he rose to executive director of news planning. After leaving CNN, he continued his investigative journalism career in Washington, D.C., before accepting an unexpected job running the only investigative news unit in the state of Alaska. That two-year experience became the basis for his debut novel, Two Years on Another Planet, a fictionalized account of life, loneliness, and reinvention in the last frontier. He now lives in Colorado, consulting on documentaries and, as he puts it, living a project-oriented life. Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ --- career identity loss, reinvention after 60, loneliness and isolation, saying yes to the unknown, life after CNN, moving to Alaska, writing your first book, permission to change, journalism and purpose, children as anchors Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Adoption: The Brothers He Never Knew He Needed
Some questions live quietly inside us for so long that we forget they're there. Not because they don't matter, but because we've learned to keep moving without an answer. That's where this episode begins. T. Alex Blum was adopted as an infant into a privileged East Coast family. He always knew he was adopted. It just wasn't something anyone talked about. And so he carried that sealed envelope through decades of building a career, raising kids, and making a full life, never quite realizing the weight of what he was holding. Then, in 2019, a message arrived on 23andMe. His niece. And behind her, three full biological brothers he'd never known existed. What followed wasn't a dramatic unraveling. It was something quieter, and somehow more profound. It felt like relief. Like a question finally exhaling. What You'll Hear: Why Alex grew up knowing he was adopted but never feeling permission to ask about it The moment holding his newborn son became the first time he understood what it meant to be biologically connected to someone How a single 23andMe message unlocked three brothers and a whole new sense of belonging What it felt like to gain three best friends overnight, later in life when that kind of connection is hardest to find The parallel lives he and his brothers lived, growing up in the same part of the country without ever knowing the other existed What writing his memoir taught him about saying less and being honest Guest Bio: T. Alex Blum grew up in New York City, attended boarding school, and built a long career in commercial TV production and marketing consulting. He and his wife Andrea run a consulting firm in San Diego and have a blended family of five kids. His memoir, An Accident of Birth, explores his experience as an adoptee and the unexpected discovery of three biological brothers. It was released in May 2025. Find him at talexblum.com. Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ --- adoptee identity, biological siblings, 23andMe discovery, adoption and belonging, finding family later in life, sealed adoption records, late-life connection, DNA relatives, untethered feeling, origin story Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Adoption: The Chapter You Thought Was Finished
Maybe you've always known something was a little off, like there was a frequency everyone else could tune into that you just couldn't quite find. Rob Lynch felt that from the time he was a kid, a quiet, persistent sense of difference that he couldn't name. When he was eleven, a Brady Bunch episode and a careless comment to his mother unlocked a secret his family had kept since the beginning. He was adopted. For decades, Rob absorbed that truth and moved on. He built a life, raised kids, wrote a novel, loved people, lost people. The adoption became background noise, something other people found more interesting than he did. But then lockdown arrived, his daughter did a DNA test, and a stranger reached out through a genealogy website. The message was simple: I think I'm your first cousin. And the thread, once pulled, didn't stop. What followed was three Sundays of pacing, a phone call he almost didn't make, and a voice on the other end that said: I looked for you for so long. Can you ever forgive me? Have you had a good life? This episode sits with what it means to find a missing piece, and whether the shape of your life changes once you finally hold it. What You'll Hear: The night Rob found out he was adopted at eleven years old, and why his mother finally told him How being a late discovery adoptee shaped (and didn't shape) his sense of self The DNA test, the stranger's message, and the daughter who changed everything Three Sundays of almost making a phone call, and what it felt like when he finally did His biological mother's first words to him, and how he responded What a warm, careful relationship with a new family looks like years later Guest Bio: Rob Lynch is an author, mental health advocate, and animal rights supporter based near Toronto, Canada. His debut novel, Vudon Caliber, is available on Amazon. He is a passionate music fan, film lover, and someone who believes, along with Ted Lasso, that we are never finished versions of ourselves. You can reach him on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/official_voudoncaliber/. Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ --- adoption identity, biological mother reunion, late discovery adoptee, DNA ancestry test, finding birth parents, adoptee mental health, lockdown genealogy, belonging and identity, family secrets, recovery and healing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Survival as a Calling: The Boy Who Decided to Get Up
Some people spend their whole lives searching for the thing that animates them. Rich Harwood found it the hard way. He was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in 1960 and told he had three to five years to live. His family went on a death watch. Doctors called him a lemon. He grew up in hospital beds, learning early what it felt like to be invisible, manhandled, spoken about but never spoken to. What Rich did with all of that is not a story about triumph over adversity in the bumper-sticker sense. It's quieter and more honest than that. He decided, at eight years old, to stop calling for his parents in the night. Not out of bitterness. Because watching them fall apart hurt him more than the fever did. That decision became the seed of everything that followed, a life built around seeing people, hearing them, and refusing to let dignity be a thing you have to earn. Nearly forty years ago, Rich started the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation. Today it operates in fifty states and forty countries. His work is about bridging divides, restoring belief in one another, and helping communities come together and actually get things done. The line from that sick little boy watching a clock tick through the night to the work he does today is not a straight one. But it is a direct one. What You'll Hear: The moment at age eight when Rich stopped calling for his parents in the night, and what that act of compassion cost him How repeated chronic illness shaped his understanding of dignity, invisibility, and what it means to truly be seen The story of Mr. Rivers, a coach who changed the game schedule for one Jewish kid and saved a life in the process What Rich believes is the direct line between his childhood in hospital beds and the community work he does today The burning bush, and why Rich returns to that image every single day when the work feels impossible How getting in motion became his survival strategy at 4:28 in the morning, and why it still is at sixty-five Guest Bio: Rich Harwood is the founder and president of the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping communities bridge divides, build shared responsibility, and restore belief in one another. He started the organization at twenty-seven, when everyone told him not to. It now operates in fifty states and forty countries. He has written nine books, most of them with the word hope somewhere in the title. He lives his faith, loves his family, and still wakes up before 4:30 every morning ready to make something of the day. Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ --- chronic illness and identity, finding purpose through suffering, hope and community building, childhood trauma and resilience, cystic fibrosis survival story, being seen and heard, civic renewal, mentorship and belonging, transforming pain into work, the burning bush and calling Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Survival Into Service: The Night a Dog Changed Everything
Some stories ask a lot of you. This is one of them. But it gives something back too. Karen Diskin-Dickson grew up in a house where silence was survival. From her earliest memories, she carried fear the way other kids carried backpacks, always aware of what the next moment might bring. She was a twin, a straight-A student, a girl who rescued stray dogs, and a child who believed it was her job to protect her sisters from what was happening inside their home. She never got a carefree childhood. She got a crash course in endurance. When she was 12 and a half, the weight of it all became unbearable. What followed was a moment by a river, a dog who changed everything, and a voice she had never heard before that told her she was loved. She chose to believe it. And somehow, improbably, that choice held. This episode traces what happened next. The escape. The years of silence. The therapy that helped her learn to play. The confrontation with her father at 24 finally freed her from fear. The decision, later in life, to move her elderly parents into her care, not out of obligation but out of grief for the mother she had never had, and a hunger to finally learn how to be someone's child. And the foundation she now runs with her sisters, helping trauma survivors understand that it's not what's wrong with them. It's what happened to them. What You'll Hear: The moment at 12 and a half that became Karen's life shift, and the dog who stopped it from going another way What it felt like to grow up not knowing what carefree meant, and how animals became her refuge How she learned to parent without a map, and why asking for help was one of the bravest things she ever did The long road to confronting her father and finally releasing a fear that had followed her across state lines Why she chose to care for the parents who hurt her, and what she was really looking for in that choice How the Remarkably Resilient Foundation grew from a shared question among sisters: who was going to teach this? Guest Bio: Karen Diskin-Dickson is a retired nurse, EMT, Reiki master, grandmother, and co-founder of the Remarkably Resilient Foundation, which she runs alongside her sisters. She is the co-author of Remarkably Resilient: Community Matters, published in 2019. Karen speaks publicly and volunteers with incarcerated individuals, helping trauma survivors understand their own responses and find a path toward healing. She lives with her life partner and four grown children nearby. You can reach her and explore her work at www.remarkably-resilient.com. Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ ---- healing from childhood trauma, generational abuse, breaking the cycle of trauma, surviving childhood neglect, trauma recovery journey, choosing love after abuse, ACEs and resilience, trauma informed healing, finding joy after hard things, incest survivor story Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Hero's Journey: Finding Yourself in the Story You Already Lived
Maybe you've spent years showing up as a slightly different version of yourself depending on who was in the room. Maybe you learned early that being liked was safer than being known. If any of that lands, this conversation is for you. Peter Bailey grew up carrying something heavy: the feeling that something in his family was broken, and that it was somehow his job to fix it. That inherited sorrow shaped him into a kid who crossed the outside of a bridge over a six-lane highway just to feel like he mattered. It shaped him into someone who drank and people-pleased and performed his way through his twenties, until one night, sitting at a typewriter with a beer beside him, something in him finally said, this is going nowhere. What happened after that, including sobriety, Joseph Campbell's hero's journey, 45 years of leadership work across 50 countries, and a new book called The Epic of You, is a story about what becomes possible when you stop running from your own chapters and start reading them differently. What You'll Hear: How Peter inherited his family's sorrow as a young child, and how that shaped his relationship with approval and identity The moment at a typewriter that became his rock bottom and his turning point How discovering Joseph Campbell's hero's journey gave him a map for every season of his life, past and future The difference between surviving and thriving, and how we often spend years in the closet looking for the light Why he teaches "don't fix, don't judge, don't steal" as a way of showing up for others without taking the light off them What it looks like to treat your own life as a heroic journey, even the ordinary parts Guest Bio: Peter Bailey is the President of The Prouty Project, a strategic planning and leadership development firm based in Minneapolis. He is also the author of the newly published book The Epic of You- Reframe Your Past to Navigate Your Future. Bailey’s personal story — from challenges to triumphs, travel to transformation — becomes a living example of how obstacles can shape our identity and fuel our growth. Whether you’re standing at a crossroads or simply wondering “What now?”, The Epic of You helps you see your past with fresh eyes and your future with fresh purpose. Book and Ted-x website: www.peter-bailey.com Prouty Project website: www.proutyproject.com — Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ — sobriety journey, hero's journey, people pleasing recovery, self-esteem and identity, Joseph Campbell transformation, leadership and vulnerability, emotional intelligence, disease of comparison, reclaiming your story, life shift moment Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Start Here: What Is The Life Shift?
Hi, I'm Matt Gilhooly and I host The Life Shift – a podcast about the moments that change everything. When I was eight years old, my life flipped upside down. For a long time, I didn't know how I would ever process it. That's a big part of why I created this show. Each week, I sit with someone and talk about one specific moment – the kind that splits a life into before and after. Loss. Trauma. Identity shifts. The quiet unraveling that nobody sees coming. We talk about how they moved through it without pretending there's a clean finish line. If you've ever felt like your story doesn't fit the script, I hope you'll listen. Search The Life Shift wherever you get your podcasts – or find me at the links below. 🌐 thelifeshiftpodcast.com 📬 thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com 📱 @thelifeshiftpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Resilience After Amputation: Rebuilding Life From the Ground Up
Some stories don’t begin at the hardest moment. They begin with what comes after it. Scott Martin was 35 years old, coaching at the collegiate level, rubbing elbows with national team players at a Nike camp outside Chicago, when his body quietly started failing him. A fever. A bad night. A doctor who said drink Gatorade and sent him home. By the next morning, he was in a coma. A month later, he woke up as a quad amputee. If you’re listening to figure out how someone survives that, you will. But what this conversation is really about is everything Scott carried in the years that followed. The way he worked instead of grieving. The discrimination he faced trying to return to coaching. The night he lost a $10 million malpractice trial, pulled into his garage, and sat alone in the silence with thoughts he doesn’t sugarcoat. And then, instead, made a list. That list became a road. The road eventually led to a coaching job he worked for free, five adopted children from Romania and Ethiopia, two state championships with kids no one believed in, a soulmate he’d let go at 19 and found again 40 years later, and a book called Play From Your Heart published by Simon and Schuster. Scott didn’t heal in a straight line. None of us do. But he kept choosing the next thing, and this is what that looked like. What You’ll Hear: The moment Scott realized in his hospital bed that his life as he knew it was over, and how his mind responded Why he buried himself in work for years after his amputation, and what that avoidance was protecting him from The night he lost everything at once, and the choice he made in his garage that changed the direction of his life How a news segment about adoption pulled him toward five children he never planned for The parallel story of coaching a team of overlooked 12-year-olds to a state championship, and what they gave back to him Why Scott believes the pieces of his life fit now, even with all the gaps and loss and detours in between Guest Bio: Scott Martin is a soccer coach, teacher, author, and father of five adopted children. After becoming a quad amputee at 35 following a near-fatal illness, he rebuilt his life through coaching, fatherhood, and eventually writing Play From Your Heart, a memoir published by Simon and Schuster. Scott lives in Wisconsin, coaches at the club level, and is passionate about using his story to support the disability community and anyone who has had to start over. His book is available for pre-order now wherever books are sold. Reach Scott at reader.playfromyourheart@gmail.com. — Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ – life after amputation, rebuilding identity after trauma, disability and resilience, overcoming depression, quad amputee recovery, coping with grief and loss, starting over in your thirties, adoption as transformation, identity after illness, shame and disability Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Lemon-Sized Brain Tumor: The Life That Grew After Surgery
Some moments don't announce themselves. They arrive as headaches you explain away, as an MRI you schedule between school pickups and client calls. And then your phone rings ten minutes after you get home, and everything you thought you knew about your life gets quietly rearranged. Jen Dary was 35, a business owner and new mom to two babies, when a neurologist told her she had a lemon-sized brain tumor sitting behind her left eye. What followed wasn't just a medical crisis. It was a complete unraveling of who she thought she was supposed to be, and a slow, surprising reconstruction of who she actually wanted to become. In this conversation, Jen talks about the strange calm that preceded brain surgery, the spiritual visions that carried her through, and the grief that arrived weeks later in a coffee shop. She shares what it looks like to release the identity that doesn't fit anymore, and how she came to understand her life less as something that happened to her, and more as something she might have chosen. What You'll Hear: The phone call that changed everything, and the strange quiet before she told anyone How Jen organized, planned, and kept moving as a way to survive the shock The visions and spiritual experiences that shaped her recovery and her new book What survivor's guilt looks like when you meet someone whose tumor wasn't benign The shift from type-A responsibility to living like you don't need permission How writing her memoir helped her leave something of herself for her sons Guest Bio: Author Jen Dary is a highly sought-after leadership coach, entrepreneur, brain tumor survivor, podcast host, and mom. As founder of the coaching firm Plucky, she has coached professionals from over 200 companies, including Google, Facebook, Slack, Code for America, The New York Times, and many more. She has shared her expertise with the Wall Street Journal, and as guest on multiple podcasts including Harvard Business Review's Women at Work. She has written for Harvard Business Review online and was published in Harvard Business Review's Work Smart Series. Jen was a Virginia Center for the Creative Arts resident and is active in the DC writing scene. Jen's first book "I Believe in Everything: A Memoir of Illness, Motherhood and Magic" will be released January 2026 (Daring House, LLC). Jen lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and two young sons. More at: jendarywriter.com/ and https://linktr.ee/jendarywriter "I Believe in Everything" Official Website: daring.house/i-believe-in-everything Jen Dary on IG: @jendarywriter --- Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ --- brain tumor survivor, life shift moment, identity after illness, brain surgery recovery, spiritual awakening, finding purpose after trauma, survivor's guilt, meningioma, radical acceptance, living with intention Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How Misha Brown Got Sober and Learned to Be His Own Best Friend
Somewhere along the way, most of us learned to take better care of other people than we do of ourselves. We know the right things to say. We show up. We hold space. And then we go home to the version of our life we haven't quite told anyone about. Misha Brown spent years doing exactly that. A performer from a tiny one-stoplight town, he built a life that looked full from the outside, travel to over a hundred countries, a career on cruise ships and stages, a laugh that could fill any room. But behind the shine was a quiet, persistent loneliness, and a drinking habit that had become the costume he wore instead of a self. The shift came on Christmas Eve in a New Jersey hotel room. Empty cans, a makeshift ashtray, and a phone call with his best friend who was struggling. After hanging up, Misha looked in the mirror and asked himself a question that changed everything: why can't you be your own friend? It wasn't a dramatic moment. It was a quiet one. And sometimes that's exactly what breaks something open. What You'll Hear: How a missed college audition planted the first seeds of a fractured identity Why performing became both a superpower and a way to disappear The Christmas Eve hotel room moment that became an eight-year turning point What it actually felt like to get sober, without a support group or a clear plan The structured self-love framework Misha created for himself that became a book How social media helped him find his people, and his purpose Misha Brown is an undeniable entertainment powerhouse who excels as an influencer, podcast host, and performer. With a knack for captivating audiences, he shot to notoriety on TikTok in 2021 with the viral Lessons in Not Crossing a Gay Man series, amassing over 6 million followers. Named Motivational Creator of the Year and honored by the Webby Awards for social impact, he also earned a Best Comedy Podcast nomination from the Podcast Academy. Misha’s work has been spotlighted by People, USA Today, and Good Morning America, cementing his status as one of the most compelling voices online. His debut book, Be Your Own Bestie: A No-Nonsense Guide to Changing the Way You Treat Yourself, is available wherever books are sold. He lives in Texas with his husband and a collection of pets he is deeply devoted to. You can find him everywhere at @yourbestie_misha. --- Listen and follow: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thelifeshiftpodcast.beehiiv.com/ --- self-love, sobriety, identity, recovery, performing arts, belonging, inner child, self-worth, authenticity, friendship Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
