Saving You a Seat

This week, I welcome Melissa Clark to join us at the table. As an expert in all-things therapeutic and mental health, Melissa focuses specifically on anxiety, body issues and identity issues. Melissa also hosts the podcast Thrive: The Art of Living Free.

Melissa and I jump right into the mental health issues millions of people are facing, how the pandemic exacerbated mental health struggles, and how we can move towards living a more connected life. Honest and real, we talked about how when we unpack our baggage, we are able to connect in healthy ways and move forward on our journey to true healing.

Melissa and I share our own  experiences and why it is so important to take care of ourselves spiritually and mentally. In a world that feels more disconnected than ever, we hope this episode brings a light on the true impact emotional wellness has on us as individuals and as a society.

Here’s what we connect on:

• Why society is suffering from mental health issues and unraveling from the outside in, especially after the pandemic
• How we are all addicted or co-dependent to something or someone in our distracted numbing culture
• How practicing acceptance, openness and honesty in all relationships, starting with ourselves, can transform our most important connections
• How giving up control, surrendering and letting go of our “stuff” allows us to experience true freedom, healing and hope with God
• The power “seasons of silence” hold in self-connection, self-reflection and becoming more emotionally healthy and secure with ourselves and others

Thank you so much for saving a seat for us this week! Please rate this podcast and subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode!

Joining us at the table this week is Sarah Kroger, Christian recording artist Sarah’s work is some of my favorite and her new album, Light, transforms hearts and invites souls to the love of Christ.  Don’t miss the single, Belovedness, if you need a reminder of how lovable you are.

Sarah and I chat openly about our shared love for all-things-healing. Don’t miss our conversation around the courage it takes to heal and truly own what we push deep inside and avoid at all costs.  It is throughout the healing journey that Sarah and I come to understand that recovering our true self is exactly what God wants us to do.

By accepting who we are, including the things we are healing from, we allow ourselves to exist as the Lord truly made us to be.

Here’s what we connect on:

• Staying present in the moment, both big and small, even when it feels like distractions are ever-increasing
• How Sarah’s new release, What a Wonderful World, celebrates life’s most beautiful and magical moments
• How our Heavenly Father encourages us to own our belovedness, even when we feel most unlovable and lost
• How we must walk a truly vulnerable path to healing and self-love by giving our “stuff” to God and facing our pain head-on
• Keeping hope, feeling fulfilled,  and showing up for ourselves for ourselves even when it’s hardest

Thank you so much for saving a seat for us this week! Please rate this podcast and subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode!

This week, I am excited to welcome Matt Tebbe and Ben Sterke to the table. Matt and Ben are the cofounders of Gravity Leadership, an organization focused on transformational leadership and discipleship.  We chat about how in order to evolve we need more than a change in practice: we need a change in paradigm.

Through eight transformative axioms found in their book Having the Mind of Christ: Eight Axioms to Cultivate a Robust Faith, Matt and Ben lay out a guide to connect with Christ that helps us be open more fully to God, ourselves, and others.  By putting on new glasses so to speak, we can embrace the healing and change God wants for our lives.

Matt, Ben and I dive into the important stuff:  letting go to accept God’s love, practicing self-honesty to invite healing, recovering (in many different ways) while walking a path of faith, and accepting ourselves and others for who they are – fully.

Here’s what we connect on:

• How to achieve connectedness, and not correctness, with God
• The healing power found in rigorous self-honesty
• Waking up to God, who is already here and present
• Learning that God shows up with unconditional love and acceptance in our messy reality, even when we aren’t able to show up for ourselves.
• Looking past shame, fear and doubt to see the truth about ourselves by trusting in God.
• How compassionate awareness, creative alignment and cooperative action are essential tools on our faith journey

Thank you so much for saving a seat for us this week! Please rate this podcast and subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode!

I am elated to host the lovely Megan Felton at our table this week! Megan is a proud Enneagram type 6 and the co-founder of the beauty and skincare platform Lionne. Megan started Lionne out of her own struggles with rosacea and frustration with the oversaturation of products available to her. Megan’s skincare advice has been featured in publications like Elle UK, Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Women’s Health - so she is the real deal y’all!

Recently, Megan spearheaded the voice for change in the beauty industry, after joining forces with other skincare gurus and taking on celebrities like Brad Pitt. We dive deep into the nitty-gritty truth of being an entrepreneur and how the Enneagram can be a huge tool in personal growth.

The Enneagram assessment is a tool that can truly open our eyes to things about ourselves we may have never known. Specifically, the Enneagram brings out the good, the bad, and the ugly that we know exists deep down, making us aware of everything that makes us uniquely ourselves. Harnessing the power of knowing more about ourselves through the Enneagram is a major step towards growth in all aspects of our lives and a key in unlocking true connection with both ourselves and others.

Here’s what we connect on:

• Connecting with reservoirs of resilience, hope and strength by using the Enneagram (6:06)
• Keeping boundaries between personal and professional life as an entrepreneur (12:13)
• Megan shares a beautiful (and true!) story about courage and standing for what you believe in, even if it means standing up to one of Hollywood’s biggest stars (18:25)
• Bringing awareness to how oversaturated the beauty industry is today and how to find real products that actually work (26:32)

Thank you so much for saving a seat for us this week! Please rate this podcast and subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode!

Fear is a universal experience for all of us,  whether it is physical or emotional. Fear forms a stronghold within our hearts and brains, latching itself onto every fiber of our being. Unconsciously, fear can push us to create coping mechanisms that do more harm than good to our brains, souls and hearts.

I have recently returned from a 30 day retreat completely focused on healing all the things that lingered and kept me in fear-based responses.. I had to face things I shoved to the back of my mental closet, yet I realized that I was super fortunate to be able to dive deeper than ever before.

Tune in as I  talk about what I focused on, what I learned as a result, and how I emerged clearer and more courageous. I hope this episode inspires you to do your work, show yourself empathy, and understand that we are all just bozos on the bus. Here’s to  finding the courage to finally unzip the luggage hiding in the bottom of our emotional closets and unpack what lingers there.

No one ever wants to hear that someone they know is diagnosed with a disease like Alzheimer’s - especially not when that someone is your loved one. Walking hand-in-hand with your loved one down the winding road of dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease is one of the toughest emotional rollercoasters imaginable.

Oftentimes, those of us charged with becoming a caregiver can feel completely isolated, alone, and misunderstood by the world around us. Finding healthy, sustainable, and manageable ways to cope and connect with ourselves and the world around us is, at times, the only light amid the darkness.

This week, I am delighted to welcome Marty Schreiber to the table. After serving as the 39th Governor of Wisconsin, Marty retired from public office to become a full-time caregiver for his beloved wife Elaine, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease almost 20 years ago. He is an Alzheimer’s Disease caregiver advocate and author of My Two Elaines. He is passionate about speaking out to help caregivers and their loved ones live their best life possible.

We hope this episode provides caregivers with some relief and lets you know that we see you. And if you are not a caregiver, we hope this episode gives you some insight into the long journey caregivers take with their loved ones.

Here’s what we connect on:

• Marty shares his tips and what he wishes he would have done after spending almost 20 years as a caregiver, including how to join your loved one’s world, while also learning how to cope as a caregiver (6:00)
• How Connection lives at the heart and center of coping as a caregiver (17:34)
• Marty explains the backstory to his book + how he found joy with both Elaine's (23:08)
• The importance of finding ways to keep consistent self-care as a caregiver in order to keep caring for your loved one (26:07)
• Avoiding turning to unhealthy coping mechanisms and how caregivers can avoid that (29:42)

Thank you so much for saving a seat for us this week! Please rate this podcast and subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode!

It’s no secret we are big fans of Connection around here. Connection is the heartbeat of the human experience - without it, we simply cannot survive. However, Connection is most vital in times of great vulnerability, sacred openness and opening your soul to yourself and others.

These deeply vulnerable times are most recognizable today when walking down the long, never-straight-and-narrow path to recovery. Behind the doors of our recovery meeting rooms, Connection is one thing that binds us all together and makes our bonds with those around us indescribable. To put it plainly, Connection is the gold thread that runs between every single person, making us all one thing - fully human.

This week, I am so excited to welcome Sheri Young, author of the book Relapse Roller Coaster: Alcoholic Delusion to Spiritual Clarity, to the table. Sheri struggled with her relationship with alcohol throughout her life, including 40 years of executive experience in the world of politics, public service and business. By harnessing the power of Connection, Sheri has been able to completely change her life and find true healing and recovery.

In today’s episode Sheri and I dive deep on the true power of Connection to self, others and your Higher Power, and how that deep Connection to the universe around you can truly change your life.

Here’s what we connect on:

• Putting our egos aside when hitting rock bottom + surrendering to God (3:27)
• Digging deep into our roots (literally and spiritually) to connect with ourselves, others and our Higher Power to lead with self compassion (6:48)
• How a lifelong journey and God’s divine plan towards recovery has led Sheri to positively impact others (11:42)
• Learning the art of letting go and accepting the gift of desperation to cause change in our recovery journey (15:46)
• How connection and alignment to self and others can lead us to living in the “Zone of Miracles” (18:04)

Thank you so much for saving a seat for us this week! Please rate this podcast and subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode!

Did you know that more than half of Americans love someone who is struggling with an addiction? As some of you may know, September is National Recovery Month. But when thinking of recovery, there are so many other beautiful “r words”: rest, restoration, redemption and renewal to name a few.

I was raised in a family where significant generational patterns surrounded alcoholism. Addiction is a disease of relationships, which affects family members incredibly deeply. The disease shows up and embeds itself on all of the family members - not just the one struggling with an addiction.

Saying “I am in recovery” was no easy thing to accept. There have been moments I abandoned myself, times I chased things that would take me out of myself, and times I was tremendously disconnected from myself. Recovery continues to teach me to let go of all control mechanisms to find that at the intersection of desperation and gratitude is hope and freedom.

As I lean deeply into the power of connection for recovery, these are the pillars I hold to be true:

• I live from a place of joy and gratitude at all times.
• I share my story candidly to help others own theirs.
• I have more questions than answers.
• I feel God’s presence everywhere.
• I know that life is messy.
• I believe leadership is a sacred calling and that we lead in all parts of life.
• I walk a spiritual path, move my feet forward to do hard things and anchor myself in a loving God who rides shotgun with me.
• I believe in the power of “we” - there is a healing bond in hearing the words “me too”.
• I understand that acceptance is a superpower that allows others to walk their own path
• I absolutely love the power of the table celebrating communion which leads to redemption.

I hope this episode has brought light to the darkness of addiction in a real, honest way. As the Buddhists say, “no mud, no lotus.” Finding your way out of the mud can feel impossible at times, but know that recovery is always possible. We are leaving a light on for you and saving you a seat. Thank you for joining us this week.

Sobriety can be a miraculous and challenging  change for someone stuck in the throws of addiction. It turns everything you once thought you knew upside down, inviting  you to see the world in a new light and step into radical wellness.

Sobriety is certainly not a journey for the faint of heart.. It is not a one-time put-down-the-thing type of deal. It is a one-day-at-a-time deep dive into emotional, spiritual, and relational healing and humility.  The heartbeat of sobriety is honesty, openness, willingness and a lot of surrendering of control.

This week, I am delighted to welcome David Hampton to the table. David is an author of two books, host of The Positive Sobriety Podcast, and a certified professional recovery coach. As a result of his own recovery he not only confronted his own alcoholism and the wreckage it caused. He redefined his spiritual understanding, coming away as a renewed man with a story to share: a story found at the intersection of desperation and gratitude.

David and I tackle how difficult it can be, and critical it is,  to look within to achieve transformative wellness and freedom in sobriety. Join us as we talk about life after the miracle and how it is a daily journey into wholeness.

Here’s what we connect on:

• How putting down the numbing substances is only the first step on the long journey to recovery + the disruptive nature of sobriety (2:15)
• The true meaning of “getting well” in the context of sobriety (7:45)
• Choosing wellness + finding the honesty and strength throughout sobriety to fight for your wellness (14:07)
• I share an incredibly symbolic story of the impact and wreckage of addiction (16:06-18:24)
• The addictive and toxic culture that promotes comparative thinking on social media today (22:58)

Thank you so much for saving a seat for us this week! Please rate this podcast and subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode!

Did you know that 21 million Americans today are struggling with addiction? Overdose deaths have more than tripled in the last 20 years. Countless individuals, maybe even someone in your world, is struggling today whether you know it or not.

On this episode of Saving You A Seat, I have the pleasure of sitting down at the table with Sam Davis. Sam is in long-term recovery and is an intervention professional who has been performing interventions for over a decade, assisting thousands of families on their road to recovery. He is here today to share his story and discuss all things recovery with us.

Sam and I get real and raw about our experiences with addiction, bringing you perspectives from both the addict and the family. We talk about how the disease of addiction creates chaos and wrecks relationships. And we are very clear that until someone changes the dance steps, nothing changes. Join us as we talk honestly about how people and families recover from the intergenerational patterns of addiction and trauma. You don’t want to miss Sam’s story because he is truly a walking miracle who shines the lantern of recovery on the path for others.

I hope this episode brings you hope amid the sorrow and light amid the darkness if you or someone you love is struggling with addiction.

Here’s what we connect on:

• Sam openly and honestly shares his story, beginning with his generational childhood trauma, with us (2:03)
• Discussing the difficult position family members can be in when having a loved one who is struggling with addiction (17:33)
• Accepting that there is deep emotional damage that needs to be resolved even after putting the substances down (21:48)
• Finding hope and moving forward realistically after spending countless hours journeying towards recovery (29:34)
• Learning how to mend relationships and show up for those who we love as someone in recovery (32:24)

Thank you so much for saving a seat for us this week! Please rate this podcast and subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode!

Did you know that 25% of young adults meet the definition for substance abuse disorder? In a culture fueled by social media where partying and overdoing just about everything is considered the norm, it’s no shock that addiction is a huge problem for the people who will become our future leaders.

The stigma surrounding substance abuse disorder can be brutally difficult for anyone recovering, and for young people and their parents, it raises very specific challenges.

This week, I am honored to welcome my friend, Susan Packard, back to the table. Susan is a co-founder of HGTV and is in long-term recovery. She speaks about her own recovery, why it was so important to her as an executive, and how the disease of “more” swirls around executives in many ways. Her latest book, The Little Book of College Sobriety, was released this past June. It captures the real-world stories of college students who speak  openly about their addiction and their road to recovery.

Sobriety is best done in a slow cooker, which means it is done intentionally and with great care one day at a time. For those recovering from substance use disorder and attending college and living on campus, it is like being in an environment that can only be described as their own personal Sodom and Gomorrah. Temptations are everywhere and they dig deep, every day.. It is vital for the recovery community to embrace these young people and help them on their path to true freedom, wellness and healing.

Here’s what we connect on:

• The moment Susan truly recognized she had a problem with alcohol  (2:40)
• The importance of empowering and encouraging young sober people (15:43)
• How there is plenty for us to learn from these college students who have truly been brought to their knees (21:05)
• Tools that are actually helping college students stay sober while in school (27:02)
• The effort towards erasing the stigma around recovery in the workplace (31:22)

Thank you so much for saving a seat for us this week! Please rate this podcast and subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode!

There comes a time in many of our lives where we must decide to take a leap of faith. Even though it may look different for each of one us, we know in our souls that it is the right path to follow.

Taking a leap of faith is absolutely terrifying. Imagine going into the darkness, not knowing what is waiting for you on the other side. I am certainly feeling this way as this month I’m participating in a healing program designed to help me connect and come home even more to myself. Among all the emotions I am feeling, I am terrified, grateful and humble. I’m closing all of the escape hatches and truly practicing what I preach to buckle down on self-connection and healing. I am disconnecting with the hustle and bustle of my everyday life to connect in new, deeper, and healing ways to myself.

This program is going to be life changing in ways I don’t even know yet. It is like an emotional and spiritual archeological dig - I am sure there is treasure waiting for me. I hope you'll join me as I share more about how I am truly practicing what I preach on this journey of self-discovery.

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by grief that the world seemed upside down? As if there was no path through to the other side? If so, then this episode is for you. And if not, join us anyway because all of us will know sorrow at some point.

This week, I chat with Amanda Held Opelt, speaker, songwriter and an author of A Hole in the World, sharing how stories, community, and faith soften and heal our sorrow.

Our modern day culture encourages us to “be strong” in the face of heartbreak when we just need to let it out, wail, and honor the pain.  Losing a loved one is an unspeakable experience. As Amanda and I unpack our own stories about loss,  we hold out a lantern to others showing them that there is a path through grief by weaving it into our lives and knitting it into our hearts. We share the importance of grief rituals and how to navigate the fierce landscape of loss. This conversation is one of hope:  the hope that comes from embracing  grief and how doing so deepens love, faith, and healing.

Amanda and I are no strangers to grief, and this conversation is a gift. We hope you join us at the table.

Here’s what we connect on:

• Accepting grief as our lives begin to change and shift after experiencing loss (5:54)
• Learning to let go of the things we love the most + I share one of my favorite stories of learning to let go (8:35)
• How grief rituals from around the world influence grief journeys in modern western society in daily life (16:24)
• How weeping and worshiping go hand in hand and how God encourages us to grieve (24:39)
• The power of getting into nature and finding solace in rituals of sun-land-and-blueberry picking amid the most painful losses like miscarriage (29:10)

Thank you so much for saving a seat for us this week! Please rate this podcast and subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode!

If you have been feeling stuck or energized in your marriage, you are in for a treat because this episode is for you!

This week, I have the joy of sitting down with Julie Bulitt, a marriage therapist, and her husband David, a divorce attorney, who have been married for 36 years. The Bulitts are raw, open and honest about what they have experienced over the years as a couple raising four daughters.

Together, the Bulitts wrote a book, The Five Core Conversations for Couples, which lays out invaluable marriage wisdom. These hard-won kickstarters are learned through the Bulitt’s own journey as they learned the importance of an apology and prioritizing time together.. . They invite us to give our marriage as much focused attention as we give our professional goals. They play off of each other, with gratitude and humor, as they talk about their different styles and weathering storms.

As Julie and David will share with you in this episode, marriage holds the possibility of being a beautiful and powerful connection that brings us together while encouraging us to be our true, individual self.

Here’s what we connect on:

• How to continue to show grace and respect to your partner throughout shifts and changes in the relationship (4:13)
• The importance of showing up for a true, genuine and honest apology (8:32)
• Keeping the attitude of gratitude alive in marriage (13:08)
• The hierarchy of needs in relationships + the importance of self-care and self-connection (17:26)
• Learning to apply corporate skills to your personal relationship to achieve your mutual goals (25:36)

Thank you so much for saving a seat for us this week! Please rate this podcast and subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode!

In today’s world, life feels busy, overwhelming and stressful more often than not. Burnout is a feeling almost everyone has struggled. In a world where we are constantly hustling for approval, it seems impossible to find time to rest. Rest is easily written off as sleeping at night, when in reality, true rest happens by incorporating peacefulness throughout our day.

This week, Stacey Robbins, author of You’re Not Crazy and You’re Not Alone takes a seat at the table to chat about all-things acceptance, vulnerability, and how to achieve restorative rest.

Stacey and I dive deep into things not for the faint-hearted like our struggles, traumas and pain points. Stacey tells us how she found peace and how uses her story to help others.

Stacey’s wisdom is what we need and it is exemplified in the guidelines she taught her children. As an example, one of these guidelines is about living in the “and” which means two things can be true at the same time like we are healing and we are perfectly imperfect. (31:46) It is this wisdom that helps us to know what Stacey knows that “when we try to mitigate pain, we often mitigate the healing process.” (22:11)

Here’s what we connect on:

• Stacey shares an incredible story about her family’s cross-country move in order to escape the hustle and bustle of living in Southern California. (3:52)
• How 15 minutes of mindful rest and stillness daily can change your life (7:05)
• The balance between sharing our stories authentically while being discerning (14:12)
• How life’s most horrible traumas and rage can push us to become mentally, emotionally and physically stronger (25:28)
• How to find your footing and work towards healing when life feels just as messy as we are (30:11)

To further connect:

Not all people see, respond and process the world the same way. The way in which we move through the world and impact others around us is different from the way others do it. We are motivated differently. Our unresolved wounds can drive our behaviors, unconsciously.

This week, we are “re-dropping” an episode with Ian Morgan Cron, bestselling author, psychotherapist, and Enneagram blackbelt about how we can learn to see the world through multiple lenses. Specifically, through each of the nine personality types of the Enneagram.

The Enneagram is a tool that enhances self-awareness. It helps us to recognize and disconnect from our personality patterns that limit us. It invites us to step into our truest and best self.  What you don’t realize about yourself can hurt you and others at work and home. And the more we hold our complex selves lightly, the more our self-compassion grows as does our empathy for others.

In this week’s episode, we explore how the Enneagram can enhance connection. It elevates leadership and deepens intimacy. It is a valuable tool for those of us recovering from addiction as it helps with rigorous, compassionate self-honesty. It helps us to have a sense of humor about ourselves.

Ian is a host of the ever-popular podcast Typology, which has nearly 15 million downloads, and he brings transparency, humor, and depth of insight into the inner workings of the heart, mind and soul for all those he works with and inspires.

Here’s what we connect on:

• Ian tells us of his journey, his life, and how he found the Enneagram (3:33)
• How the Enneagram is a transformative and spiritual tool that can help aid in the connection to ourselves, to a spiritual presence, and to others (9:35)
• How leaders can embrace the Enneagram by learning how to lead themselves, so that they can then lead others in healthy and sustainable ways (12:31)
• How the Enneagram can cultivate compassion, empathy, appreciation, and excitement in marriages (17:12)
• The Enneagram as a tool for addiction and recovery; How self-knowledge can be the missing piece for many addicts (20:25)

To further connect:

Being human is a messy endeavor. Learning about ourselves can be the hardest and most life giving work we do. Many times, we feel we have to do this ourselves. However, there are tools designed to help us understand ourselves better. There are guides. This is not a DIY life.

The Enneagram is one tool that helps us become curious about how we can see and love ourselves in a more meaningful way. This self-discovery allows us to more lovingly accept others.

This week, join us as we talk with Beth McCord, Enneagram expert, speaker, and teacher. She combines spirit and grace with the Enneagram tool to help people live and lead with more empathy. She has witnessed transformative and profound results in her work.

Beth  is the founder and owner of Your Enneagram Coach.

She says, “When you start to see people from their personality lens, you realize you see the world differently and it allows you to have compassion and grace.” (5:55)

Listen and learn about how you can use the Enneagram as a practical and spiritual tool for gaining more clarity and understanding in your life, parenting, marriage, and relationships, both at work and at home.

The Enneagram helps us release the shame we have around not being perfect. It allows us to feel God’s grace so He can work in us and through us and lead us to our purpose.

Here’s what we connect on:

• What is the Enneagram, why it is valuable for relationships, parenting, living, and leading, and how we can use it as a tool to become our best reflection of God (3:05)
• Beth’s personal story of how the Enneagram came into her life and how it can be integrated into any family life  (8:11)
• Exhibiting empathy: treating ourselves with compassion and grace so that we can do the same for others (18:10)
• Learning how to fully surrender to God and step into our gifts with a bigger sense of trust (20:49)
• Using the Enneagram as a tool to be curious about our children and understand how to love them better (24:18)

To further connect:

We are not leaders having a leadership crisis, we are leaders having a human being crisis.

Now more than ever leaders are being asked to be more human. And while many leaders want to be seen and heard, they also feel hesitant about opening up to themselves. Why? Because doing so can leave them feeling raw and vulnerable and concerned about what they will discover. And yet, this is how we, as humans, learn to live and lead courageously. This is how we become transparent and honest with the people around us.

So how do we become more radically ourselves and still hold ourselves and others accountable?  We let go. Sounds a little out-there, doesn’t it?

When we let go of control, we become more emotionally, relationally, and spiritually whole in the workplace and at home. When leaders dare to dig deep and commit to self discovery, they inspire and lead those around them in more meaningful ways.

In this week’s episode, we are chatting with Cynthia Good, who is no stranger to the power of connection, resilience, and embracing the whole truth of our story. We discuss the importance of letting go and the role acceptance plays as we become present to the moments between “here and there.”

Cynthia shares, “When we try to make everything around us work so well, at some point we risk self abandonment.”

Cynthia is an entrepreneur, a woman’s activist, a public speaker, a published author and poet, and the creator of The Little Pink Book (a digital and events resource for women leaders aspiring to live a rich and full life). She speaks to companies like Coca Cola, General Mills, and IBM encouraging leaders to have the courage to do what they love and be themselves..

When leaders stop hustling for approval and dare to go deep, they discover their true worthiness and find real connection professionally and personally.

Here’s what we connect on:

• Cynthia shares what she has learned that helps her enable leaders to become more courageous, dig deeper, and find their true selves (2:50)
• Uncovering the power of chasing slow, connecting to our breath, and reconnecting to all the “amazing-ness” that lives “between here and there” (5:57)
• How leaders can find beauty in their brokenness and freedom in being honest, even in corporate America (9:26)
• How to embrace acceptance, let go of control, and become the CEO of your own life so that you can lead with courage, humility, grace and wisdom (11:27)
• The difference between self-awareness (information) and self-discovery (transformation) and how these self-practices can help leaders show up in times of uncertainty (15:28)

To further connect:

When the tough stuff in life hits (like a breast cancer diagnosis), many of us want to run and hide. But what if we were able to sit with the pain? What if we were able to stay calm amongst the precious, messy, life-shattering moments that is life, instead of trying to escape?

This week on Saving You a Seat, we find out how to do this. Our guest, Katie Gustafson, calls it: radical self care.

Katie and I talk about what it is like to receive a breast cancer diagnosis. We both chat about our journey through a cancer diagnosis and how our healing deepened as a result of committed self-discovery, gratitude, and listening deeply to our hearts, souls, and bodies.

Katie says (22:17), “When it gets real, when it gets tough– that’s the time where we need to rush in and hold ourselves and hold space for ourselves the most. That’s when self care gets real.”

Katie is a therapist, an enneagram guide, writer, and a warrior for self-care. She uses the enneagram to help people identify the story they have been asleep in and break free of the lies they’ve been telling themselves. Katie’s unique program, The Practice, combines both western and eastern tools for a new way to approach personal empathy.

The paralleled paths we discuss on this week’s episode of Saving You a Seat are not simple and not for the faint hearted. When you choose to walk your path differently, with courage based confidence, and stop playing small, you just might find that it’s in the really tough and difficult circumstances that we come into contact with our deepest wisdom, presence and joy.

Here’s what we connect on:

• Katie and Karen discuss their breast cancer journeys (3:05)
• How the Enneagram can be used as a holistic tool to deepen our body, mind, and soul synergies (8:27)
• Learning how to find presence, daily gratitude, and gifts through even the hardest seasons of life (14:44)
• How to embrace radical self-care, cultivate self compassion, and change your outlook and perspective on life (16:55)
• Connecting consciously: How we can wake up to what is in our hearts and be rigorously self-honest (23:50)

To further connect:

Every day, over a thousand children enter the foster care system. These children do not arrive there based on their own choices. They enter the system as a byproduct of other people’s choices and most experience a life of chaos and heartbreak.

This week, Rob Scheer, author, child advocate, and founder of the non-profit, Comfort Cases, joins us to discuss his story, the stories of foster care children (including his own). Amazingly, his message focuses on how forgiveness and unconditional love helps us rise up from the dark and open our hearts to the greatest gifts love has to offer.

We dive deep into Rob’s story of redemption, restoration, and belovedness and learn how we can hold forgiveness alongside our parenting journey.

Grab your tissue box and open up your heart because Rob Scheer gets real about his experience in the foster system, becoming homeless at eighteen, and carrying his entire belongings in a tattered and torn trash bag.

If you are all about a story of human triumph, do not miss this.

Now as an adult, Rob, author of A Forever Family: Fostering Change One Child at a Time, has adopted five children from the same system he was once in and has devoted his life to restoring dignity to those transitioning in and out of foster care systems.

Here’s what we connect on:

• Reclaiming your strength through unconditional love and forgiveness (6:50)
• Rob’s story of pain, purpose, and finding light in the darkness through his faith (9:20)
• The story behind Comfort Cases and the gift of hope and love it gives foster children worldwide (16:59)
• What legacy are we leaving our children and is it something we can stand behind (22:00)
• The hardest part of being a Dad and how the challenge has made parenting a prayerful experience (23:29)

To further connect:

Addiction is a problem that weaves its sticky web throughout many of our lives. We are all recovering from something and for many of us, addiction is a battle we face and fight one day at a time.

On this week’s episode of Saving You a Seat, we save Adam McLean a seat and he takes us on his hero's journey into addiction and deepens our understanding of trauma, triggers, recovery, and the journey through to the other side of it all.

Adam helps us to understand how to pursue joy (instead of pleasure) and thrive as we get ourselves unstuck from all the things that hold us back.

You don’t want to miss this episode as Adam, a clinical psychologist and the Director of Business Development for The Guest House in Ocala, Florida, tells his story about what it’s like to be in a long-term recovery process. His education and experience has allowed him to help hundreds of individuals and families begin and maintain their recovery from substance abuse disorder.

Join us as we talk about addiction. Karen calls it, “an overwhelmingly complex dynamic that people want to simplify” and Adam defines it as a “maladaptive coping mechanism for a deeper wound.”

Adam McLean is real, knows what he is doing, and brings deep healing and hope to those that work with him.

We hope you join us this week on Saving You a Seat.

Here’s what we connect about:

• Defining addiction (6:10)
• How our addictions can disguise themselves as our deepest love (13:15)
• The importance of doing our trauma work so others don’t have to carry it (19:40)
• The emotional, relational, and spiritual journey out of feeling stuck (26:58)

Additional Ways to Connect:

Our men are not okay. Men today are dying at a suicide rate that is seven times greater than that of women. Suicide is the seventh leading cause of death for males, and has been on the rise since 2020. And to add fuel to the fire, twenty percent of all men have a mental health issue or are suffering from substance abuse.

It’s safe to say that our men need help and the empathy towards men in our culture today is mostly absent. In a time where men are struggling to shine their light from their own dark places, how are we, collectively, helping to lift them up?

This week, Quentin Hafner, therapist and coach, gives us insight on how men can discover their best selves. His book, Black Belt Husband, gives men a roadmap to help them gain clarity on how to become a more successful husband… and not just any husband, a badass husband with humility and a humble heart.

If you are a man, love a man, or are raising boys to be good men, you don’t want to miss this episode. We dive deep into all things men and more, holding the question: How can we lean into these issues instead of turning away from them?

In this week’s episode, you will listen to the wisdom of  Quentin Hafner, a man with a therapist's heart and a results-driven mind. He combines his expertise in clinical psychology and relationship dynamics with real world applications to help us discover how we can move from feeling frustrated, confused, and distracted by the challenges of life to reclaiming our own sense of wellbeing and peace of mind.

Join us as we uncover the way of wisdom: discovering sustainable solutions to whatever life throws at us.

Here’s what we talk about:

• Toxic masculinity (6:09)
• Why men need to protect their family from the biggest threat… themselves (14:55)
• How we can become more conscious (16:50)
• Why humility is a cornerstone for a successful life (21:15)
• How small superhero moments can plant seeds for a lifetime (25:44)

More ways to connect:

Many of us have been faced with the difficult transition of having to let go of someone we love. It isn’t easy. And letting go of your child is possibly one of the hardest things a mother ever has to face.

This week, Sarah Sentilles, author of Stranger Care: A Memoir of Loving What Isn’t Ours, brings us to our knees as she tells us her story of love and loss that centers around a tiny baby girl named Coco.

Whether you’re a parent or not, be prepared for Sarah’s story to break your heart wide open and lift you into a deeper sense of connection to yourself and the others around you. It is only in our capacity to accept and let go that we find the love- lessons we are meant to learn and share with the world.

In this week’s episode, Karen speaks with Sarah Sentilles, a writer, teacher, scholar of religion, and author who holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Yale and Masters and Doctoral degrees from Harvard University.

Sarah has appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, Oprah Magazine, and many other prominent publications. And this week we discuss Sarah’s most recent gift to the world: her newest book about her journey through finding the beautiful gifts amongst the searing pain of being a parent to her daughter, Coco, for only two hundred and eighty-six days before Coco had to be returned to her biological mother.

Sarah gives her compassionate and insightful perspective on how love brings us both monumental blessings and deep heartache all at the intersection of powerlessness and grief. If you are looking to connect deeper to yourself, my conversation with Sarah is an invitation and love letter to remind you to keep your heart open and the light on. We’ve saved you a seat and hope you can join us.

Here’s what we talk about:

• The idea that all children belong to us and are entrusted to our care (5:25)
• Sarah’ story with Coco and how she made it through to the other side (7:11)
• How connection can bloom even through our hardships, grief, pain and loss (28:12)

To further connect:

Tune in this week as Karen chats with Paul Snyder, Executive Vice President at Tillamook. Paul shares how he works intentionally, serves people in meaningful ways, and values the power of Connection. Throughout this season of uncertainty, Paul dives into how he has taken care of those in his care at Tillamook (and in life) through his powerful vulnerability.

Both witnesses to the brutal journey of having a family member with Alzheimer’s, Karen and Paul discuss the effects of the disease on their lives. It is by walking such a journey that connection to self, a spiritual presence, and others becomes even more important. It also reminds us about the important role gratitude plays in our lives.

In this episode, you will learn:

• About the Connection Pillars: Navigating Chaos Comfortably and Connecting Consciously
• How granting permission, modeling the right way,  and embracing little changes can positively influence those around you
• How relationship boundaries help us to form healthy, meaningful Connections

This week, Karen is joined by Veronica Valli, author of Soberful, recovery coach, therapist and creator of the Soberful Life community. Veronica has over 20 years of sobriety and is passionate about helping people “return to themselves”. As members of the recovery community, the pair wastes no time diving into the real costs of substance abuse both physically, relationally, emotionally. And, how beautiful and courageous a life of recovery is.

Listen in as Karen and Veronica talk about how many of us feel the need to numb our pain when our need for authenticity is compromised. And how addictions can take root as a result. While substance use disorder is a neurobiological disease, trauma of some kind is the gateway drug. No stranger to this process themselves, they dive into how raw, vulnerable Connection to self is the first step to deep, meaningful healing from the inside out.  You won’t want to miss this conversation since we are all recovering from something, we live in an “alcohol-promoting” culture, and addiction is on the uptick.

In this episode, you will learn:

• About the Connection pillars: Connects Consciously & Demonstrates Accountability
• The importance of authenticity in terms of enhancing our mental, emotional, and relational health
• How discernment rides shotgun with vulnerability and how to be on high alert regarding the “disclosure porn” taking over our social media feeds

This week on Saving You A Seat, Karen sits down with Hillary McCaskey, a certified Enneagram life coach, YouTuber and the creator of Enneagram and Life. As a Type 2 and Type 9 respectively, Karen and Hillary share how their “types” affect their mental and spiritual state and their strategies for overcoming roadblocks on the more challenging days.

As they share real stories of betrayal and recovery, they chat about how to accept and hold emotions lightly and honestly.  The two uncover how finding treasure in hurtful situations has brought them closer to God and enhanced their wisdom.

In this episode, you will learn:

• About the Connection pillars: Listening Deeply & Navigating Chaos Comfortably
• How the Enneagram can transform your relationships at work and at home
• How God invites us to open our hearts and minds

Karen sits down with Sharon Kilmartin, Area Manager for IHG Hotels Group.

Sharon is a world-class executive in the hospitality industry and has a heart for leadership. She discusses how to embody the power of connection through empathy and listening deeply in a way that inspires others. Her stories about leading through the pandemic are illustrative of how to process emotions during challenging times. Our conversation exemplifies how pivoting helps to create life-changing bonds with those we lead so they can soar.

Sharon shares her love of fly fishing, which helps her to connect to God, while also serving as a metaphor for leadership. As she tells stories about standing in the river, she encourages listeners to find their own “fly fishing”: something that brings inner peace to their hearts, balance to their lives, and insight into self.

In this episode, you will learn:

• About the connection-pillars: Listening Deeply, Exhibiting Empathy & Connecting Consciously
• How spending time in nature enhances our emotional wholeness
• Tips on how to create environments that help people to soar

Join Karen this week as she sits down to chat with Scott Allender, co-host of the Evolving Leader podcast and Enneagram blackbelt. Scott is no ordinary leadership consultant; he compellingly and artistically articulates the role radical self-awareness plays for senior leaders who want to balance commercial imperatives more effectively. It is by stepping into the connection between mind-body-heart-and-soul that leaders create the very things that are the antidote to the Great Resignation, disengaged employees, and disconnected workplaces. By integrating our emotional-physical-cognitive gifts, we come to embody our true selves with humility and authenticity.

As a Type 2 and Type 3 respectively, Karen and Scott dive into how their Enneagram types contribute to their whole-self integration. And how, through their work, they guide leaders to create the safe places in which their teams can thrive, innovate, include, and grow.

And don’t miss Scott’s answer to the question, “Who would you save a seat for?” His answer is beautiful and meaningful to all of us prodigals who believe beauty rises from the ashes.

In this episode, you will learn:

• About the connection-pillars: Connecting Consciously, Courage-Based Confidence, and Celebrating Curiosity
• How the Enneagram transforms us from the inside out by calling leaders, at work and home, into deeper healing
• How organizations must pivot to pursue transformation and not just information

Join Karen this week as she chats with Aaron Niequist, a liturgist, pastor, musician, and author of The Eternal Current. Karen and Aaron wade into a conversation centered around the things that enhance self-connection from a spiritual, relational, and emotional perspective. These two talk about how grounding and healing spiritual practices can be in this good-hard, amazing-messy life.

Join them as they chat directly (no sugar-coating!) about how difficult, yet releasing, it is to forgive people and the wisdom-ways that help. Aaron’s focus on practicing and living his faith is inspirational, especially during a season when so many are weighed down by so much. Let this conversation bring you a newfound resilience and hope.

In this episode you will learn:

• About the connection pillars: Listening Deeply, Navigating Chaos, and Connecting Consciously
• Ways to integrate the emotional-and-spiritual
• How God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves

This week, Karen sits down to chat with Eryn McHugh, a preacher’s kid turned journalist-recruiter-musician-and-songwriter.After losing her father in early 2020, Eryn is no stranger to how the ongoing process of grief can help us to understand our true selves and lead us to create even stronger connections.

Amid the Great Resignation, Eryn shares how connection in the workplace is more important now than it has ever been. Karen and Eryn discuss how creating true connection and psychologically safe places at work is the very needed thing as we run toward all things purposeful and positively game-changing.

In this episode you will learn:

• About the connection-pillars: Exhibiting Empathy and Listening Deeply
• How connection to self helps you to step into who you weredesigned to be
• How true meaningful connection at work helps entire organizations thrive and grow

Tune in to today’s episode of Saving You A Seat as Karen is joined by Susan Packard, speaker, author of Fully Human, and former COO of HGTV.

Karen and Susan explore what it takes to be fully human at work and in life. They discuss having a morning mindfulness practice that includes things like meditation, inspirational reading, Centering Prayer, and writing.

Listen in as Susan talks about how her HGTV team’s love helped her to navigate a time of personal tragedy, which now inspires Susan to hold sacred space for others.

In this episode, you will learn:

• About the connection-pillars: Listening Deeply & Connecting Consciously
• How tuning into ourselves with compassion inspires others
• How you do the morning is how you do the day
• How being real enhances connection

This week, Karen gets the joy of speaking with Tami Stevenson, General Counsel for Crawford and Company. Tami embodies what it means to be a leader in tune with her people and deeply connected to her true self.

Tami shares her early life experiences with loss. The same inner-warrior-spirit that helped her navigate her grief spurs her on to protect her loved ones, and go to bat for those with whom she works. No surprise:  Karen and Tami talk about how they are carried by their spirituality, which cradles them even in the toughest of times.

In this episode, you will learn:

• About the connection-pillar: Navigating Chaos Comfortably
• How struggle and grief help us to discover our true strength
• That when life feels like it’s falling apart, it’s moving into place
• We deepen connection when we embrace and heal our brokenness

This week, Karen sits down to chat with Ian Morgan Cron, author, speaker and host of the Typology Podcast. Ian shares personal stories about his journey with the Enneagram, an ancient personality typing system that transforms how people view themselves and their impact on others. Ian leads us in a conversation about how heart, mind, and soul come together to revolutionize corporate cultures, intimate relationships, and recovery from addiction.

In this episode, you will learn:

• The Connection-pillars: Exhibiting Empathy and Celebrating Curiosity
• How self-knowledge is not enough to create change
• How self-awareness must be accompanied by sustainable insight and change
• How the Enneagram deepens connection to self, a spiritual solution, and others

Join Karen this week as she chats with her long-time friend Barri Rafferty, Head of Communications & Brand Management at Wells Fargo. Previously, Barri served Ketchum as the agency’s president and CEO; she was the first female CEO of a top-five public relations agency.

Barri is a fully human leader who also makes tough decisions. Her insight into leadership is needed more than ever as we navigate the Great Resignation. So tune in because this episode is jam-packed with wisdom and you will learn:

• The Connection Pillars: Connecting Consciously and Demonstrating Accountability
• Why it is important for leaders to set the weather for those around them
• How to create psychologically safe places for others by being gracious and tough
• How to navigate the difference between being liked and respected
• The value of embracing the positive seeds planted during our childhoods