A Fresh Story

Rob is a marketing executive with over 15 years of experience helping small businesses, startups and large household brands market their products and services to the masses. Most recently as the head of marketing and partnerships for a tech startup called ShearShare where he helped triple their active user as well as their annual revenue. In addition to navigating a successful marketing career, Rob has spent the same number of years building award-winning teams across a number of industries from banking and financial services to franchised restaurants. Rob enjoys coaching talent and helping individuals develop goals to achieve their own personal success in business and in life.

We chatted with Rob about growing up between two worlds, what it was like being a Black student at a predominately white high school, how he found his way into marketing, parenting daughters, marriage, and how he ultimately found himself through all of the fresh starts in his life. It’s a powerful episode about race, masculinity, parenthood, and writing your own story in life.

You can find Rob on LinkedIn, and check out his delicious food account No One Asked Eats!

Galentine's Day is all about supporting your girlfriends through life, so we reached out to our real life gals and asked them to come on the show! We chatted with eleven (11!) of the amazing women in our life about brave life decisions that they went through and how their community supported them through their journey. We discussed how friendship can transcend space, and how we personally use Marco Polo to connect with our friends, all day, every day.

We talked about everything from devastating heartbreak, to major career changes, transitioning into parenthood, handling a sick child in the hospital, becoming a working mother, finding yourself after divorce, child loss and changing the narrative around loss, supporting your friends through marriage growth - and of course, all of the beautiful, happy moments in friendship. Join us, and eleven of our people, for this very, very special episode of a Fresh Story.

Want to try Marco Polo? Head to FreshStartsRegistry.com/marco for TWO months of Marco Polo Plus FREE!

Laura Danger is a Certified Life Coach, Licensed Educator, Content creator and Certified Fair Play Facilitator who has been facilitating, coaching and community organizing in Chicago for over 12 years. She has advanced endorsements in the areas of English as a Second Language and Learning Disabilities. Laura facilitates workshops, retreats, coaches individuals and couples and creates educational content in an effort to create a more equitable world. She is passionate about domestic equity, the value of domestic labor and how empowerment out in the world starts with empowerment at home.

We chatted with Laura, also known on TikTok and Instagram as That Darn Chat, about her journey from education to coaching and facilitating Fair Play, as well as how she entered into the world of Eve Rodsky’s Fair Play. We also talked about what intentional or weaponized incompetence is, how it impacts families, women, and marriages, and her journey on TikTok to help people live their best lives.

Laura is an empowering, educational, and non-judgemental coach and facilitator, and we were honored to have this much-needed conversation with her. You can learn more about Laura on her website, Instagram, TikTok, and read Fair Play by Eve Rodsky.

It's February, and some major things have happened this week thus far. Fresh Starts Registry was in New York Magazine and The Cut, "Starting Over With a Divorce Registry," by Kathryn Jezer-Morton (illustration by Kelsey Dake). What an exciting moment for us! Listen as we chat about how it all happened and how we're processing. PLUS, we're finishing up season one of A Fresh Story and are heading into season two with some amazing guests!

Anna Burgess Yang is a  freelance writer with expert-level experience in banking and technology, and a workflow consultant, and a self-proclaimed  productivity geek. We chatted with Anna about her major career pivots, leaning into what brings her joy with her work and personal life, the importance of knowing the story of where we came from, parenting during the pandemic, and how we can make brave career decisions to bring us more joy in life.

After college, Anna joined a small software company, where she thought that the path to success was to climb the ladder. She was promoted repeatedly, eventually earning a role on the executive team in 2016. But the company was utterly toxic. She kept thinking that maybe she could change the culture from within (spoiler alert: she couldn't). Then the pandemic hit and her kids were home for remote learning. That became her breaking point. She couldn't handle the level of toxicity while also managing her three kids at home. So after 15 years at the company, she quit. Not only did she quit, but she also pivoted in her career. She "started over" in content marketing and journalism.

You can find Anna on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Laurel is a Cleveland based art therapist, scooter enthusiast, wife, mom of three boys, and style genius - but, you may know her better as the middle aged, mid sized mom from the midwest, as she is also a TikTok icon inspiring mid-sized fashion lovers every day on her account with her let’s get dressed videos. 

We chatted with Laurel about how her breast reduction changed her entire life, her personal style journey, body image as we age, her commitment and enthusiasm for supporting small businesses, and how her background in art therapy and a support profession helped her grow a loyal and kind community of supporters on TikTok. 

You can follow Laurel on TikTok! (@laurelladeville, and don't forget to pre-snap! #IYKYK)

Shop the small businesses mentioned in the show:

 ABLE clothing - use code LAUREL15 for an excellent discount 

Eleven10 Leather - use code LAUREL15 for discount

Hannah Wingate Designs

Tiny Baker Creations

Lace and Pine

Tiny Galaxies

Meesh Made

Daniel is a 15 year veteran of the music industry where he toured the country as a singer songwriter of the band Bedlight for Blue Eyes. Currently Daniel is a mental health counselor in Massachusetts working to decrease stigma surrounding mental health. 

We chatted with Daniel about his time on the road as a touring musician, his mental health journey after leaving the music world, how a childhood tragedy changed the course of his life, the winding journey of long-grief, and how he found himself in the mental health industry. It was a beautiful, heartbreaking, and inspiring episode about having hope, living with grief, and the soundtrack of our lives.

You can learn more about Daniel on his website, Twitter, and Instagram.

The song about Daniel's brother referenced in the episode is Michael by Bedlight for Blue Eyes.

Is there an art to female friendships? As sisters, we've always been searching for answers when it comes to female friendships, so we were thrilled to talk to Danielle Bayard Jackson, a female friendship coach and educator who speaks nationally on the subject of friendship as a wellness imperative. Her coaching business, Friend Forward, is dedicated to teaching women how to create and maintain better female friendships. 

We chatted with Danielle about her fresh start leaving education and becoming a friendship coach, how her business took off because of a viral TikTok video, why there is an art to female friendships (and breakups hurt so much), mom friends, making new friends as an adult, and why it's necessary to have female friendships in your life.

Danielle’s expertise has been featured in NBC News, Psychology Today, Wall Street Journal,  FORTUNE Magazine, and Oprah Magazine and a host of other media outlets. She also speaks across the country about the power of female friendship and was recently hired by Bumble to be the official spokesperson for Bumble BFF.

A former high school teacher, Danielle now uses her teaching skills as an educator to coach women through ways to navigate common friendship conflicts. As a member of the American Sociological Association, she uses the latest research to create practical, tangible strategies to help women create more depth in their platonic relationships.

She shares her insight weekly on The Friend Forward Podcast, has several viral videos on TikTok, and recently signed a book deal to bring her practical, research-based strategies to the masses.

You can learn more about Danielle and her work by visiting www.betterfemalefriendships.com.

What if you lived in alignment with the vibration of your life? How do you even start down that fresh start journey? We had the immense pleasure of chatting with our very own therapist, Dr. Christine Borst, about living in alignment with your higher self, divorce at a young age, finding and meeting her soul-mate, major career pivots and identity crises, and the role of spirituality and manifestation in our lives.

She offers fantastic advice on how to begin again, finding your authentic self, and how to stay grounded on your fresh start journey. Plus, the amazing story of how she met her husband, also known as: the most romantic meet-cute we've ever heard.

Christine Borst is a professor, licensed therapist, habit coach, artist, wife, and mom of three. She’s the podcast host of Alchemy of the Heart, and children's book author of many books, including For the Love of Organs: A Quasi-Educational Collection of Poems, Us: An Introduction to Pronouns, and Colorado Springs From A to Z. Her newest release is Atrocious Love: A Book of Poetry for Gently Disturbed Romantics.

You can learn more about Christine and shop her creative empire on her website: https://www.christineborst.com/

Did you know January is known as "divorce month" as most divorces as filed during January? What a perfect time to chat with Rob Roseman, the founder of the WTF Divorce podcast, and WTF Divorce, a resource website for people going through, and post-divorce. Rob is also a former professional poker player, dad of three, entrepreneur, host of the podcast Dad the Best I Can, and author of the best-selling book Dad the Best I Can. We chatted with Rob about his days as a poker professional at the Bellagio, the relationship between playing poker and parenting, divorce as a dad, dating after divorce, and his helpful tips for parenting during a divorce, as well as how you can take a positive outlook on playing the hand you're dealt.

You can learn more about WTF Divorce on the website and Instagram, listen to the WTF Divorce podcast, check out the Dad the Best I Can podcast, and read Dad the Best I Can: Nuggets of Wisdom From Entrepreneurs, CEOs, and 52 Other Dads That Will Help You Thrive At Dad Life.