Affirm That Sh!t

On this week’s Affirm That Sh!t, I sit down with Dave Roberts, a man who knows what it means to stand in the rubble of grief and still find a way to build something beautiful. After losing his daughter Janine to cancer, Dave was forced to face the dark night of the soul. He talks about the milestones forever tied to his grief—the day his granddaughter was born, the day Janine left, and how community, spirituality, and resilience helped him rise again.

We dive into the messy, human parts of grief: how it fractures you, how it bonds you to others, how it forces you to grow roots you never knew you had. Dave opens up about connecting with Janine’s spirit, embracing ancestral healing, and the raw, ongoing journey of letting go while keeping the bond alive.

If you’re searching for hope, for real talk, for a reason to keep breathing through the ache—this one’s for you.

Connect with Dave: https://www.facebook.com/david.j.roberts1/

This one hits deep—because it’s not just about mental health. It’s about survival. It’s about truth. It’s about coming back from the edge and finding power in your scars.

On this week’s Affirm That Sh!t, I’m joined by Jamie Hughes—a powerhouse of a social psychologist who has battled grief, depression, abuse, and a suicide attempt. And instead of letting it define him, he used it as fuel to rebuild.

We talk about the loss of his mother, the trauma of growing up with an emotionally abusive father, and how those experiences pushed Jamie to pursue psychology—not just as a field, but as a calling. He opens up about his journey with therapy, his evolving relationship with his pain, and what it really means to support someone through a mental health crisis.

This episode isn’t wrapped in pretty bows. It’s a survival manual with pages ripped from the rawest parts of Jamie’s life. We talk affirmations, self-compassion, and the truth about what healing actually looks like. Spoiler alert: it’s messy, nonlinear, and absolutely worth the fight.

If you’re in it right now—grief, depression, uncertainty—this one is for you. You’re not alone. And your story isn’t over.

What if the pain you’ve been silenced for becomes the power you rise with?

On this episode of Affirm That Sh!t, I’m joined by guest host Portia Booker from Groove with Portia as we welcome Barbara D. Hayward—guide, storyteller, and the soul behind The Old Girl’s Spiritual Stuff, known to many as The Oracle. She’s lived the stories most wouldn’t dare to tell: childhood trauma, spiritual exile, forced motherhood, and the long, brutal climb back to herself. But Barbara’s not here to be pitied—she’s here to pass the torch.

Together, we unpack how grief is a forced redirection, not a curse. We talk about affirmations as armor. About survival as sacred. And about what it means to reclaim your soul when the world has tried to erase it. Barbara lays it bare—from escaping a manipulative marriage to surviving hospitalizations, from secret spiritual training to publicly reclaiming her purpose in her 60s.

This isn’t polished. It’s powerful. And it’s for anyone who’s felt they had to whisper their story just to survive. You’ll leave this one raw, affirmed, and ready to rise.

Connect with Barbara D. Hayward: https://theoldgirlspiritualstuff.com/

Grief can break you—or it can remake you into something unshakable.

On this soul-cutting episode of Affirm That Sh!t, I sat down with Dorian Johnson, a powerhouse father and motivational speaker who took the wreckage of losing his son and turned it into a message that moves mountains.

Dorian walks you through the unimaginable—losing his son Bayland in a hiking accident—and how that moment cracked him open. But instead of crumbling, he rebuilt. Through audacity, virtue, and relentless reflection, Dorian carved out a new kind of fatherhood, one rooted in memory, meaning, and mission.

We talk about the power of virtues like kindness and courage, how grief teaches you about the depth of love, and why your story doesn’t end in the dark. It’s about recognizing the sacred in your sorrow—and rewriting the story with your heart still in it.

This episode isn’t just for grieving parents. It’s for anyone who’s ever felt their life split open—and dared to build something beautiful from the ruins.

Connect with Dorian:  https://www.facebook.com/dorian.johnson.7771

What happens when your heart breaks and the world keeps spinning? You show up anyway—with gratitude and fire.

On this episode of Affirm That Sh!t, Jennifer Rogers brings on the fearless, funny, and brutally honest Portia Booker. Portia walks you through the heartbreak of losing her mother, the silent war of grief, and the wild ride of choosing gratitude over victimhood. You’ll hear how she found humor in pain, saw signs from the other side, and turned her experience into a sacred mission to support others.

You’ll talk grief that doesn’t fit inside a 5-day bereavement policy. You’ll talk about why anger is not your enemy—it’s your signal flare. And most importantly, you’ll learn how to rewrite your story with gratitude at the wheel and grief riding shotgun.

You’ll explore how storytelling isn’t just a coping mechanism—it’s your inheritance. Portia will show you that your tears hold wisdom, your laughter is medicine, and your truth is your power.
Whether you’re feeling stuck in sorrow or ready to channel your pain into purpose, this episode will meet you where you are.

Connect with Portia: https://www.facebook.com/pbookali/

Purchase FGWG: https://bit.ly/4dvEvl8

Let’s be honest—sometimes love looks like pain when all you’ve ever known is survival.

On this episode of Affirm That Sh!t, I sat down with KerryLifeCoach, a woman who grew up in a toxic household with an abusive father and spent years stuck in patterns that mirrored that pain. She opened up about her journey through abusive relationships, the emotional scars left behind, and the moment she finally said, “Enough.”

We talked about red flags we don’t talk about enough—gaslighting, triangulation, and that constant high-low rollercoaster that keeps you second-guessing your sanity. Kerry didn’t just survive it—she built a mission out of it. Now she helps others break the cycle through self-love, soul distancing, and emotional boundaries that hold.

She also shared what it’s like to try and maintain “no contact” when kids are involved, how to reclaim your worth piece by piece, and why it’s time to stop blaming yourself for how others chose to treat you.
This one hits deep. It's for every person who’s walked away from a relationship and still felt like they were the broken one. You’re not.

You’re healing—and Kerry’s here to walk with you.

Connect with Kerry: https://www.kerryrasenberger.com/

Let’s be real—advocating for your child in the school system can feel like going to war without a weapon.

On this episode of Affirm That Sh!t, I sat down with Trina Jones, the no-nonsense founder of Advocates for Educational Excellence, and a mother who turned heartbreak and resistance into fuel. Her daughter was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, and what followed was a crash course in fighting for what her child actually needed.

Trina shared her story—from getting talked down to by school staff, to demanding a proper evaluation, to finally watching her daughter receive the services she deserved under a legally binding IEP.
We talked about how IEPs are often misunderstood, how they’re living documents that parents have power over, and why it’s not just okay—but necessary—to ask questions, call meetings, and push back.

We also went deep on something no one talks about: grief. The grief that comes with watching your child struggle, being told they’re “just behind,” and realizing no one’s coming to save them unless you raise hell. Trina opens up about what it took to hold the line for her daughter, and how she now helps other parents do the same.

This episode is your battle cry if you’ve ever been made to feel like you were too emotional, too demanding, or too much when advocating for your child.

Trina is working on a new app and book to guide more parents through this broken system—and trust me, she’s just getting started.

Subscribe to my YouTube channel and share this with the parent in your life who needs to know they’re not alone.

Connect with Trina:  https://aee-group.org/

Let’s talk about the crap no one warns you about when you step into leadership—the manipulation, the people-pleasing, the emotional landmines we carry from corporate culture straight into entrepreneurship.

In this episode of Affirm That Sh!t, I sat down with Domina Rose, a powerhouse strategist and the creator of The Rose Effect methodology. Domina doesn’t sugarcoat a damn thing—and thank God for that. We got real about the price of ignoring manipulation in leadership, the wounds we carry from toxic corporate spaces, and the masks we wear to survive it all.

Domina opened up about growing up in a narcissistic environment and what it really takes to unlearn toxic patterns. She dropped truth after truth about the difference between leading from control and leading from wholeness. Spoiler alert: it starts with getting tired of your own bullshit and being brave enough to break the pattern.

We talked about fear, accountability, emotional sobriety, and the moment where you say, “I’m done living in survival mode.”

This episode isn’t here to pat you on the back. It’s here to call you forward.

If you’re done playing small, and ready to lead from a place that’s healed, whole, and unapologetically yours—Domina’s got you.

Connect with Domina: https://fearlessxfemme.com

And if this episode lit a fire in you? Don’t let it burn out. Share it. Own it. Affirm it.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever been told they’re too much, too emotional, or just too damn different.

I had the absolute honor of sitting down with Christianna Carr—my soul sister in all things divine and real. She’s not just a spiritual psychotherapist; she’s a WEIRDO in the best way: a Wonderful Individual Exuberantly Reflecting Divine Originality. Christianna’s story is raw, powerful, and full of truth. She opens up about her childhood trauma, growing up with an alcoholic father, emotional incest, and the weight of trying to fix people who never asked to be saved.

She’s walked through hell—and she did it barefoot, with a spark still in her soul.

Christianna shares how she began to heal by reconnecting with her inner child—through play, through poetry, and through saying yes to every wild, messy, beautiful part of herself. She reminds us that you can laugh and cry in the same breath. That therapy doesn’t always happen on a couch—it can happen while spinning in circles in your yard or reading kids’ books out loud.

She’s also manifesting her dream: Begin Within, a space for healing, creativity, and community. What started as a metaphysical shop has evolved into a full-on sanctuary of soul work, where she’s combining workshops, gardening, support for Indigenous communities, and sacred space for people to reconnect with who they really are.

We also talk about her “Daily Crumb” series on YouTube and TikTok, her poetry collection (yes, it’s on Amazon and Barnes & Noble), and the hard-earned wisdom that led her here.

If you’ve been trying to hold it all together, this episode is your permission to let go and just be.

Let your weirdness shine. Your inner child is begging for a playdate. And remember—healing is hard, but hiding who you are is harder.

Connect with Christianna: [email protected]

What do you do when the world you built burns to the ground?


On this episode of Affirm That Sh!t, Jennifer Rogers sits down with Coppe Cantrell — a singer, songwriter, producer, and real force of nature who turned heartbreak into holy fire.

Raised in Los Angeles and part of the music scene that helped define an era (think 2Pac and Death Row Records), Coppe lived it all behind the scenes with her late husband, multi-platinum producer Johnny "J." But after his tragic death, she faced the fight of her life: surviving grief, rediscovering herself, and stepping into a new purpose through faith in Christ.

Coppe opens up about supernatural experiences that pulled her from despair, how she unlocked her true singing gift at 40 through a prophecy, and why financial independence isn't optional—it's survival, especially for women.

From running a business as a solo mom to creating a foundation for widows and recording her faith-driven album The Breastplate of Righteousness, Coppe’s journey is a masterclass in rising from the ashes without losing your soul.

This episode hits every raw nerve—grief, identity, faith, survival—and reminds you: your story isn’t over just because your world fell apart. It's just getting louder.

Tune in if you're ready to armor up, claim your worth, and walk through hell with your head held high.

Connect with Coppe: https://coppecantrell.com/