Born without a choice

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, I’m joined by Cathy Colver Garland, writer, speaker, mentor, and co-author of Revelationship: Transformative Intimacy With Christ.

Cathy shares how divorce, loss, disappointment, injury, and years of waiting shaped her understanding of faith—and how those difficult seasons ultimately led her toward a deeper, more personal relationship with God.

We also talk about her experience deconstructing her faith as a teenager, studying different religious traditions, and eventually rebuilding her faith around what she describes as a personal relationship with Christ.

Our conversation explores absolute surrender, hearing God’s voice, identity, resilience, suffering, and what it means to recognize God in everyday life. Cathy’s story is a reminder that sometimes the circumstances we never would have chosen can become the places where we discover something new about ourselves and our faith.

Cathy’s Contact Details

• Website: Revelationship⁠
• Book: Revelationship: Transformative Intimacy With Christ — available through the Revelationship website.
• Booking / speaking: Cathy's guest and speaking page⁠
• Email: [email protected]
• Call to action: Get the book and free Devotional & Study Guide⁠

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, I’m joined by Rosemary Fisher, author, Freedom Coach, speaker, and founder of Recycled Women Ministries.

Rosemary shares a powerful story of growing up surrounded by abuse, addiction, fear, and generational cycles—and how, at 30, a moment of complete surrender transformed the direction of her life.

We talk about breaking destructive patterns, discovering identity, overcoming addiction, forgiveness, faith, and what it means to move from simply surviving to living with freedom and purpose.

Rosemary also shares how her experiences inspired her books and her work helping women turn painful chapters of their lives into stories of hope and transformation.

Rosemary’s Contact Details

• Website: rosemaryfisher.com⁠ — her main site for her books, ministry, resources, and speaking information.
• Instagram: @rosemfisher
• Books: Recycled Women, Called to Reign Bible Study, and The Smokin’ “Hot” Bride of Christ series.

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, I’m joined by Sherry Shaban, creator of the Make Peace with Food™ Method and a health and life coach with more than 25 years of experience.

We talk about her journey from serious physical challenges and chronic pain to discovering a more holistic approach to health—one that looks beyond diets, exercise, and willpower.

Sherry explains how the nervous system can influence our habits and self-sabotaging patterns, why traditional dieting approaches can sometimes miss the bigger picture, and what it can mean to build a healthier relationship with food, movement, and ourselves.

She also shares insights from her work as an osteopath, hypnotherapist, yoga practitioner, and transformation coach.

Sherry’s Contact Details

• Website: Sherry Shaban's website⁠
• Resources: Sherry's free resources⁠
• Podcast: Make Peace with Food — Sherry’s podcast focuses on food freedom, self-sabotage, nervous-system regulation, and sustainable health.
• Instagram: @makepeacewithfoodofficial
• Email: [email protected]

Why has American politics become so focused on “us versus them”?

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, Ross “Yergz” Yerger joins us to explore political division, fact-checking, media bias, government, and what it really means to be an informed citizen.

Ross brings a unique background to the conversation, including 21 years with the U.S. Secret Service, experience in intelligence, history, political science, and years spent in roles requiring impartiality. He hosts Up The Middle: Politics for the Rest of Us and the Mastiff.Media Morning Show.

We discuss why Ross believes people should care less about defending a political team and more about finding the best-supported answer—even when that means admitting we were wrong.

📞 Ross’s Contact Details

Name: Ross “Yergz” Yerger
Website: https://Mastiff.Media
Shows: Up The Middle: Politics for the Rest of Us and Mastiff.Media Morning Show
Background: Former U.S. Secret Service Special Agent, historian, political scientist, and intelligence professional.

How much of sports prediction comes down to data, experience, psychology, and disciplined analysis?

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, Ed Franklin joins us to discuss more than three decades in the sports-information industry. With an MBA in Finance and extensive experience analyzing sporting outcomes, Ed shares his perspective on statistics, research, AI, decision-making, and the challenges of separating genuine analysis from emotion and assumptions.

We explore how sports analysis has evolved over the years, how technology is changing the field, and why understanding uncertainty is essential when trying to predict what happens next.

📞 Ed’s Contact Details

Name: Ed Franklin
Organization: Pro Bets Today
Website: https://www.winible.com/probetstoday
Experience: 33+ years in the sports-information industry
Background: MBA in Finance, sports analysis and data-driven research

What if the animals we think we rescue are actually rescuing us?

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, Holly B. Gutwillinger joins us for a heartfelt conversation about storytelling, rescue animals, grief, healing, creativity, family, and the unexpected ways our pets shape who we become.

Holly is an author, podcaster, and fiction writer from northern Ontario. Her debut novel, North of Broken & Furever Home, explores a woman’s evolving relationship with her rescue dogs through both human and canine perspectives, asking a powerful question: Who truly rescues whom?

We also talk about Holly’s creative journey, motherhood, writing, podcasting, and why meaningful stories can connect us in ways we never expected.

📞 Holly’s Contact Details

Website: https://www.ramblingfromthelittleshed.com
Name: Holly B. Gutwillinger
Work: Author, podcaster, fiction writer
Book: North of Broken & Furever Home

What started as a podcast about the circumstances we never chose has become a journey through stories of courage, loss, faith, resilience, purpose, and transformation.

In this special episode of Born Without a Choice, I take a moment to reflect on the incredible guests and conversations that have shaped the show so far.

From personal struggles and unexpected challenges to stories of rebuilding, finding purpose, and choosing what comes next, every conversation has reinforced one simple truth:

We may not choose where our story begins, but we can choose what we do with it.

To every guest who trusted me with their story, and to every listener who has supported the show—thank you.

This is a look back at the journey so far, while looking forward to everything still to come.

More stories. More conversations. More questions. More episodes.

The journey continues with Born Without a Choice.

What does it really mean to carry responsibility?

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, I’m joined by Rev. Kevin T. Taylor, a pastor, leadership advisor, and author of A Charge to Keep.

Kevin and I explore the unseen pressures of leadership, the difficult decisions leaders often carry alone, and the courage required to move from hesitation to action.

We talk about faith, executive leadership, responsibility, integrity, and what it means to steward influence when the right decision isn’t always the easiest one.

This is a conversation for pastors, founders, executives, and anyone who has ever had to make a difficult decision while carrying the weight of other people’s expectations.

📞 Kevin T. Taylor’s Contact Details

Website / Booking: Schedule a conversation with Kevin⁠

Book: A Charge to Keep

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, I’m joined by Alex Duenas, a mindset coach and entrepreneur who has spent 18 years helping people overcome destructive patterns and develop greater discipline, confidence, and wisdom.

Alex shares how bullying, family struggles, and feeling like he was the problem shaped his early life—and how fitness, friendship, discipline, and a life-changing experience in Colombia helped him see himself differently.

We talk about using pain as fuel for growth, breaking destructive habits, building confidence, and choosing to take control of your life even when you didn’t choose the circumstances you started with.

📞 Alex Duenas’ Contact Details

TikTok: @thealexduenas⁠

Alex goes live regularly, sharing mindset coaching, wisdom, and practical perspectives on dealing with life’s struggles.

Nobody asked to be here…”

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, I’m joined by Clifford Brown, a former Beverly Hills commercial lawyer who left a successful legal career to spend 27 years working in international foreign aid with USAID.

Clifford takes us behind the scenes of international development, sharing stories from Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Kyrgyzstan, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Colombia, and other parts of the world. We discuss political instability, corruption, humanitarian work, bureaucracy, foreign aid, faith, and the difficult question of how we actually help people across borders and cultures.

His memoir, Inside USAID: An Odyssey of Foreign Assistance, offers a firsthand look at the people, challenges, and unexpected realities behind decades of international development.

This is a conversation about humanity, responsibility, and whether foreign aid can still represent what Clifford calls our “better angels.”

📞 Clifford Brown’s Contact Details

Website: Clifford H. Brown⁠

Substack: Clifford Brown’s Substack⁠

Book: Inside USAID: An Odyssey of Foreign Assistance