Clarity from the Heart™

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗪𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗘 𝗔𝗜 𝗗𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟𝗢𝗣𝗦?

It feels like every conversation about artificial intelligence eventually becomes a conversation about what AI can do. It can write, analyze, generate images and voices, process enormous amounts of information and seemingly learn something new every week. But during my Carrie Connects™ Podcast conversation with Ryan Moeller, I became much more interested in a different question: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗪𝗘 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝘀?

Ryan calls it “developing human capacity in the AI era,” and that phrase is what made me want to have this conversation with him in the first place.

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗗𝗢𝗡’𝗧 𝗪𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗖𝗘?

There are legitimate questions about what AI will mean for jobs, businesses, education, financial systems and how we communicate. I use AI myself, so I’m not interested in pretending the technology isn’t useful or that it isn’t going to continue changing things. But I also don’t think our entire response can be learning how to use the latest tool.

During the show, I asked our audience what human skill becomes more important because of AI. The more I thought about it, the more questions followed. How do we build trust? How do we form real relationships? How do we decide what we believe? How do we recognize when something doesn’t feel right? How do we continue thinking for ourselves?

Maybe the more technology can do, the more important it becomes to understand what we don’t want to outsource.

𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗠𝗔𝗬 𝗕𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗨𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘

One of my favorite phrases Ryan shared was, “trust is the new currency and peace is the new rich.” That hit differently in a conversation about artificial intelligence because we’re entering a time when technology can produce things that look, sound and sometimes even feel human.

I joked during the show about seeing AI-generated images that look completely real to me until my son points out something I missed. It’s funny when it’s a picture of a dog. The larger question isn’t quite as funny. What happens to trust when we can’t immediately tell whether the image, voice, information or even interaction in front of us is authentic?

I don’t think the answer is becoming suspicious of everything. I do think discernment, credibility and genuine relationships become increasingly valuable. Maybe technology becoming more sophisticated doesn’t make human connection less important. Maybe it makes authentic human connection more important to protect.

𝗪𝗘 𝗗𝗢𝗡’𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗦

Our conversation went well beyond AI tools. We talked about fear, community, creativity, ownership, self-awareness, relationships and the internal work people may need to do while the external world changes around them. Our audience became part of the conversation too, challenging ideas and adding perspectives in real time.

I actually liked that we didn’t agree on everything or wrap every question in a neat little bow. Nobody knows exactly where all of this is going, and Ryan didn’t pretend that he did. What we can do is keep asking questions, thinking critically and creating spaces where people can work through those questions together.

That’s also why I’m intentionally not unpacking everything Ryan said here. Some of it may immediately resonate with you. Some of it may challenge you. Some of it may make you want to stop the video and think about whether you agree at all.

That’s what I want you to experience for yourself.

𝗔𝗜 𝗜𝗦 𝗗𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗚. 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗪𝗘?

Technology is going to keep getting smarter, faster and more capable. Maybe our job isn’t to compete with a machine at being a machine. Maybe our responsibility is to become more intentional about the things that make being human valuable in the first place: trust, discernment, creativity, community, self-awareness and our ability to genuinely connect with other people.

Those aren’t outdated skills in an AI world. They may become some of our most valuable ones.

🎙️ Watch my full Carrie Connects™ Podcast conversation with Ryan Moeller, then tell me: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗔𝗜 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲?

Coach Carrie💗

💗 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗦™ 𝗣𝗢𝗗𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧

Carrie Connects™ Podcast is where real conversations create real connections. Each week, Coach Carrie introduces you to people, stories, resources, ideas and opportunities she believes you should know about because sometimes one introduction can change the trajectory of your life.

💰 𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗕𝗬 𝗚𝗥𝟴𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗦

Carrie Connects™ Podcast is sponsored by Gr8Finances, where confusion is expensive and clarity pays for life.

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗

We hear a lot about resilience when life gets hard. Stay positive. Push through. Get back up. Bounce back. But during my Carrie Connects™ Podcast conversation with Peter Abrahams, founder of Dreams Alive, he said something that made me rethink that last one.

What if the goal isn’t actually to bounce back? What if we 𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗 instead?

Peter came to the show wanting to talk about resilience in real life, and I was especially interested in his story because sometimes the person teaching the lesson ends up having to practice it. That’s exactly what happened to him. After years of being extremely active, his body began changing what he was physically able to do. Then, just when he thought he was moving forward again, life handed him another setback.

I’m intentionally not telling you the whole story because I want you to hear Peter tell it. What interested me most wasn’t simply what happened to him. It was how those experiences changed the way he thinks about resilience.

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗗𝗢𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗧 𝗠𝗘𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞?

When we tell someone to bounce back, we’re usually encouraging them to recover from whatever happened and return to where they were before. But Peter made the point that if we’re only focused on getting back, we can miss what the experience taught us.

I liked that because sometimes you can’t go back. You aren’t the same person anymore. Your circumstances may have changed, and you know things now that you didn’t know before. That doesn’t automatically mean something has gone wrong. Maybe the lesson gets to come with you. Maybe the experience gets to come with you. Maybe the progress you made before the setback still counts.

𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿. 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗜𝗦𝗡’𝗧 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚

We also talked about something that tends to show up whenever people discuss resilience: positivity. There is nothing wrong with being positive, but there is a difference between optimism and pretending something doesn’t hurt.

I thought about losing my mother when she was only 39 years old. People would tell me it was going to be okay. I understood what they were trying to do, but in that moment, it wasn’t okay. Sometimes you don’t need somebody to immediately find the bright side for you. You need room to acknowledge what you’re actually experiencing.

Peter talked about allowing emotions to have a voice without giving them control of the wheel. That distinction stayed with me because acknowledging an emotion and surrendering to it are not the same thing. You can acknowledge that you’re afraid without allowing fear to make every decision. You can be disappointed without deciding you’ve failed. You can admit you’re overwhelmed without believing you have to solve everything today.

Sometimes the pause is part of resilience too. One of our viewers described it during the show as a “pause for a cause,” while another pointed out that pausing gives us clarity and room to respond appropriately. Y’all already know how I feel about clarity, but I think that’s especially important when we’re overwhelmed. Our first reaction doesn’t always have to become our next decision.

𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗗𝗢𝗡’𝗧 𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗥𝗘 𝗣𝗔𝗧𝗛

Toward the end of our conversation, Peter said something else that I think a lot of people need to hear: you don’t need to know the entire path. You just need the first step.

We make moving forward harder when we convince ourselves that we need to know exactly how everything is going to work out before we begin. Sometimes the better questions are much smaller. What is happening right now? What do I need? What can I actually do next?

That doesn’t only apply to recovering from a medical setback. It can apply when a career changes, a relationship ends, a plan doesn’t work, your finances aren’t where you expected them to be, or life simply looks different from the picture you had in your head. Moving forward doesn’t require having every answer first.

There was much more to my conversation with Peter that I’m intentionally leaving out. We talked about the “shoulds” we collect throughout life, the expectations we place on ourselves, the relationship we have with our emotions and what Peter means when he talks about “the art of being yourself again.” Most importantly, Peter tells the story that put his own beliefs about resilience to the test, and that story is better heard from him than summarized by me.

So when you watch the full conversation, think about whatever you’ve been trying to bounce back from. Maybe getting back to exactly who you were, where you were or how things used to be isn’t the only measure of recovery.

𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸. 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗.

🎙️ Watch my full conversation with Peter Abrahams, founder of Dreams Alive, on Carrie Connects™ Podcast. If somebody came to mind while you were reading this, share the conversation with them.

Coach Carrie💗

💙 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧

Peter AbrahamsFounder, Dreams Alive

🌐 Website:https://dreams-alive.ca/

💼 LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterabrahams

📘 Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61586537129964

📸 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/dreamsalivecoaching/

Learn more about Peter’s work with Dreams Alive and connect with him after today’s conversation.

💗 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗦™ 𝗣𝗢𝗗𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧

Carrie Connects™ Podcast is where real conversations create real connections. Each week, Coach Carrie introduces you to people, stories, resources, ideas and opportunities she believes you should know about because sometimes one introduction can change the trajectory of your life.

💰 𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗕𝗬 𝗚𝗥𝟴𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗦

Carrie Connects™ Podcast is sponsored by Gr8Finances, where confusion is expensive and clarity pays for life.

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡?

We spend a lot of time talking about finding the right person. We have lists of what we want, what we won’t tolerate, what somebody needs to bring to the table and all the signs that are supposed to tell us when we’ve finally found “our person.”

But during my conversation with Marquise and Taylor Williams on Carrie Connects™ Podcast, another question kept coming to mind: 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲?

Marquise and Taylor are the hosts of the award-winning U Stuck Wit Me Podcast, and their relationship has been tested in ways most couples probably never imagine when they first start dating. About a month into their relationship, Marquise was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia. Before they ever said “I do,” life had already given them some very real opportunities to find out what love, commitment and support looked like when everything wasn’t cute and easy.

That’s what made this conversation interesting to me. Their story isn’t simply about finding somebody who stayed. It opened a much bigger conversation about the different relationships we have throughout our lives and the health of the person WE bring into them.

We talked about romantic relationships, but we also talked about our relationships with family, friends, coworkers, employers and ourselves. Taylor shared why therapy became important to her before marriage and why she wanted to address things within herself instead of carrying unresolved issues into the life they were building together. That part of the conversation really stayed with me because there is a level of responsibility in saying, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵.

And sometimes becoming healthier changes what you’re willing to remain connected to.

Our conversation moved beyond romantic relationships into professional environments, mental health, boundaries and recognizing when stepping away can be part of taking care of yourself. That matters because “relationship” is a much bigger word than we sometimes make it. The people and environments we stay connected to can affect our peace, our health, our confidence and even the way we show up in other parts of our lives.

We also talked about how relationships are developing in 2026, when so many connections begin and sometimes remain behind a screen. Social media can introduce you to somebody, but eventually authenticity has to exist beyond a profile, a DM or a carefully curated version of a person. Whether the relationship is personal or professional, real connection requires communication, vulnerability and enough self-awareness to recognize what is healthy and what isn’t.

And THAT is why I don’t want to reduce Marquise and Taylor’s story to a few highlights in an article.

There is a difference between reading that somebody stood beside another person through an incredibly difficult season and hearing them tell you what that actually looked like. There is a difference between saying relationships require work and listening to two people talk about the work they’ve had to do individually and together. There are parts of this conversation about illness, healing, fear, therapy, mindfulness, work, love and what it means to genuinely have somebody in your corner that you need to hear from THEM.

So yes, keep looking for the right people. Pay attention to who shows up, who supports you, who creates a safe space for you and who can walk beside you when life stops cooperating with the plans you made.

But every once in a while, turn that question around.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗺 𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗜 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲?

🎙️ Watch my full conversation with Marquise and Taylor Williams on Carrie Connects™ Podcast. Their story explains why the name of their show, U Stuck Wit Me, means a whole lot more than it sounds like at first.

Coach Carrie💗

💗 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗦

𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗦𝗘 & 𝗧𝗔𝗬𝗟𝗢𝗥 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗠𝗦Hosts of the award-winning You Stuck With Me Podcast

🎙️ U Stuck Wit Me PodcastAvailable on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and iHeartRadio.

📱 Instagram & TikTok:@ustuckwitme_podcast

💗 The Stuck SquadTheir Facebook community for married people, singles and people interested in healthier relationships.

Follow Marquise and Taylor for conversations about relationships, marriage, mental health, life and everything they’re building together.

💗 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗦™ 𝗣𝗢𝗗𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧

Carrie Connects™ Podcast is where real conversations create real connections. Each week, Coach Carrie introduces you to people, stories, resources, ideas and opportunities she believes you should know about because sometimes one introduction can change the trajectory of your life.

💰 𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗕𝗬 𝗚𝗥𝟴𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗦

Carrie Connects™ Podcast is sponsored by Gr8Finances, where confusion is expensive and clarity pays for life.

Coach Carrie💗

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗕𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗗𝗜𝗗𝗡’𝗧 𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗦 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧

Have you ever looked at your age, your circumstances, your setbacks, or how LONG something has taken and wondered, 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵?

That was the question I brought into this week’s Carrie Connects™ Podcast conversation with Ambassador Dr. Apostle Veryl Howard, and somewhere along the way, I think we answered it.

𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁.

Maybe some of what you thought was taking too long was preparing you for something you weren’t ready to carry yet.

Veryl is an author, actress, casting director, producer, entertainment manager, humanitarian, Global Peace Ambassador, founder of Faith Management and Talent, and a Women’s Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee. Her work has taken her through ministry, music, television, film, publishing, talent development, humanitarian service, and even the runways of Paris and Milan.

That’s a LOT of lanes. 👀

But one of the first things she said to me was that we aren’t one-dimensional human beings. For years, she had viewed herself through individual titles. Then she began recognizing that the different gifts inside of her didn’t necessarily compete with one another.

That got my attention because how many of us have convinced ourselves that we have to pick ONE thing and stay there?

Then we started talking about 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚.

Veryl wanted to act when she was younger. The opportunity didn’t unfold the way she imagined, and eventually she thought that dream had passed her by.

It hadn’t.

Years later, she found herself stepping in front of cameras and onto international runways at an age when plenty of people would have told themselves, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

And THAT is where this conversation gets interesting.

Because there is a difference between being delayed and being denied. There is also a difference between having a gift and being prepared for the opportunity that gift can create.

We talked about what happens when you’re behind the scenes helping somebody else build while knowing there is something inside of YOU too. We talked about opportunities arriving before you’re ready, seasons changing, fear, success, money, faith, grief, purpose, and what it takes to actually move when the door finally opens.

At one point I said, 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘄𝗲’𝘃𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗗. 🌱

And Veryl had stories that made that hit differently.

I’m deliberately not telling you those stories here because some conversations aren’t meant to be reduced to highlights. You need to hear how she tells them, what happened next, and what she believes those experiences taught her.

So if there is something you stopped pursuing because you thought your time had passed, WATCH THIS CONVERSATION.

If you’ve been doing the work behind the scenes and wondering when your turn is coming, watch it.

And if an opportunity is sitting in front of you right now but fear keeps asking whether you’re ready, capable, young enough, connected enough, or qualified enough, you DEFINITELY need to watch it.

Because maybe the better question isn’t, 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵?

Maybe it’s:

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗦 𝗠𝗬 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧? 💗

🎙️ Watch my full conversation with Ambassador Dr. Apostle Veryl Howard on Carrie Connects™ Podcast.

Carrie Connects™ Podcast is sponsored by Gr8Finances, where confusion is expensive and clarity pays for life.

Because sometimes the right conversation really can change the trajectory of your life.

Coach Carrie💗

💗 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧:

𝗔𝗠𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗔𝗗𝗢𝗥 𝗗𝗥. 𝗔𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗟 𝗛𝗢𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗

🌐 Veryl Howard Ministries:

https://verylhowardministries.net/

💼 LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/apostle-veryl-howard-81b18b17

📘 Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/PastorVerylHoward

📸 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/apostle_veryl_howard_/

🎬 I Am She, She Is Her:Available on streaming platforms, including Tubi

Follow Dr. Veryl’s ministry, books, entertainment projects, appearances, and upcoming work through her official website and social media.

💗 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗦™ 𝗣𝗢𝗗𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧

Carrie Connects™ Podcast is where real conversations create real connections. Each week, Coach Carrie introduces you to people, stories, resources, ideas, and opportunities she believes you should know about because sometimes one introduction can change the trajectory of your life.

💰 𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗕𝗬 𝗚𝗥𝟴𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗦

Carrie Connects™ Podcast is sponsored by Gr8Finances, where confusion is expensive and clarity pays for life.

Coach Carrie💗

GO THROUGH IT, BUT GET UP.

What happens when life gives you more than one reason to quit, but you keep getting back up, rebuilding and becoming somebody new?

That was the question I opened with on this episode of Carrie Connects™ Podcast. Almost an hour later, Michelle Elizabeth Williams answered it in five words:

“Go through it, but get up.” ❤️

And family, after everything she had shared with us, THAT was a word.

You may recognize Michelle as Kountry Wayne’s “Lake House Lady.” She’s also an actress, singer, author of Nobody Ever Told Me, founder and CEO of My Kind of Dad, foster mom, adoptive mom, wife and entrepreneur.

But those titles tell you who Michelle is today. They don’t tell you what it took to become her.

Michelle took us back to a childhood marked by experiences that could have shaped the rest of her life. Then she said something that became a thread throughout our entire conversation: at some point, she had to decide what would and would NOT continue with her.

That doesn’t mean she suddenly had everything figured out.

One story about her own parenting made me stop because breaking a cycle isn’t always about identifying what somebody else did wrong. Sometimes you have to recognize what YOU carried forward without realizing it. 👀

And listen, somewhere in there she had me thinking about my twenty years as a teacher and how I could give somebody else’s child all the patience in the world, then come home to my own son yelling, “...two plus two is FOUR.”

But parenting was only one part of this conversation.

We talked about why Michelle became a foster and adoptive mom, the personal connection behind My Kind of Dad, and why supporting children and families affected by incarceration became part of her purpose.

Then we had to talk about entertainment because I needed to understand how the little girl who used to perform by herself eventually became the woman appearing on screens today. 🎬

And I’m NOT telling you how that happened.

There are parts of Michelle’s journey where you need to hear the story from Michelle, including what she did when she decided she was serious about pursuing entertainment and how some of those doors eventually opened.

Our LIVE audience took us somewhere else I wasn’t expecting when we started talking about being overprotective of our children. That conversation became personal very quickly, and Michelle shared something that changed the way I heard everything she had said before it.

I’m not giving you that story either.

See what I’m doing? 😂

Because this article is not supposed to replace the conversation.

What stayed with me is that Michelle’s story isn’t powerful simply because she survived difficult things. It’s what she has chosen to BUILD afterward.

A different life. A family. A marriage she loves so much she introduced herself as “the best wife God has ever created.” 😂 A nonprofit. A book. An entertainment career. Opportunities. Purpose.

And she is still building.

So if you’re in the middle of a hard chapter, trying to break a cycle, rebuilding something you thought would look different by now, or wondering whether where you started gets to determine where you finish, I want you to watch this conversation.

Because when Michelle finally says:

“Go through it, but get up.”

I want you to know the story behind those five words.

💗 CONNECT WITH OUR GUEST: MICHELLE ELIZABETH WILLIAMS

Michelle Elizabeth Williams is an actress, singer, author of Nobody Ever Told Me, founder/CEO of My Kind of Dad, and Kountry Wayne’s “Lake House Lady.”

🔗 All of Michelle’s links: https://linktr.ee/Michelleelizabethwilliams

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-elizabeth-williams-my-kind-of-dad-inc-16311b277/

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MichelleElizabethWilliams

💗 My Kind of Dad on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mykindofdad/

🌐 My Kind of Dad: http://mykindofdad.org

Connect with Michelle, support her work, and let her know you met her on Carrie Connects™ Podcast! 💗

After you watch, tell me: What did Michelle say that YOU needed to hear today?

Carrie Connects™ Podcast is sponsored by Gr8Finances, where we help individuals and families gain Financial Clarity, protect what they’re building, prepare for the future and make informed financial decisions.

Real Conversations. Real Connections.

Coach Carrie💗

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

YOUR BODY IS TALKING. ARE YOU LISTENING?

What does a toothache have to do with menopause? Apparently, more than I knew. 👀

On this episode of Carrie Connects™ Podcast, I sat down with Lisa Feveck RD, a Menopause Dietitian and Coach joining us from Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹, and this conversation had me questioning how much most of us actually know about something every woman will experience if she lives long enough.

Lisa told me that one of the symptoms that eventually sent her searching for answers was a toothache so bad she thought she needed a root canal. 🦷 The problem was, every time she went to the dentist, he couldn’t find anything wrong. Then came heart palpitations, anxiety, hair loss and random pains. She went to different specialists, had tests come back normal and kept being told it might be stress. Eventually, she started asking a different question: What if these things are connected?

That’s where this conversation got REALLY interesting.

Most of what I knew about menopause could probably be summed up in a few words: your period stops, you get hot flashes, your hormones act up and somewhere around 50 you’re officially in menopause. Lisa started explaining the difference between perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause, and I literally stopped her in the middle of her explanation.

“Wait a minute. Don’t go too fast. Pump the brakes.” 🛑

She had just said something about menopause that I had never heard in my life. I’m not going to tell you what it was because I want you to hear her explain it. What I will tell you is that once she did, a whole lot of what I thought I understood about menopause went straight out the window. 🤯

And that wasn’t the only surprise. We talked about symptoms women may never think to connect to hormonal changes, why waiting for the stereotypical hot flash may cause us to miss what our bodies have already been telling us, and why some changes can show up physically, mentally and emotionally. Our LIVE audience got involved too, sharing experiences and asking questions that took the conversation into places I hadn’t planned. 🗣️

Of course, somebody asked whether we should all run to the gym. 🏃🏾‍♀️ Lisa’s answer wasn’t the usual “exercise more” advice we’ve all heard a thousand times. We talked about movement, stress and why what works for one woman may not be where another woman needs to start.

We also talked about food, and I specifically wanted to know how Lisa works with real women living real lives. Women have budgets. We have families to feed. We have cultural foods we enjoy. Some women are managing other health concerns. Most of us don’t need somebody handing us a generic sheet of foods and pretending we all live the same life. Lisa’s approach is much more individualized, and she said something during that conversation that I loved: “Food shouldn’t stress you out. Enough things in this life stress us out.” 🙌🏾

The conversation eventually went beyond symptoms and food. We talked about relationships, mental health, medical appointments, advocating for yourself and the habit so many women have of taking care of everybody else while putting themselves somewhere at the bottom of the list.

At one point I said, “Confusion is expensive, but clarity pays for life.” 💡 I normally say that when I’m talking about finances, but it fit this conversation perfectly. When you don’t understand what’s happening in your own body, you may not even know which questions you should be asking.

That’s why I’m deliberately not giving you everything Lisa taught us in this article. I want you to watch the conversation. 🎥

And don’t just think about yourself. Think about your mother, sister, wife, friend or daughter. Men, you’re not excused either. If you love a woman, understanding what she may experience matters too.

When Lisa gets to the part where she explains what menopause actually is, I want you to come back and tell me whether you already knew.

Because I sure didn’t. 😳

🌎 CONNECT WITH OUR GUEST

Lisa Feveck RD is a Menopause Dietitian and Coach helping women better understand and navigate perimenopause and menopause.

🔗 LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisafeveck/

📖 Your MENO-morphosis Newsletter:https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/your-meno-morphosis-7016224734056980480/

Connect with Lisa, follow her work, and let her know you met her on Carrie Connects™ Podcast! 🎙️

After you watch, I want to know: What was the ONE thing Lisa said that made you stop and say, “Wait... WHAT?” 👀

Carrie Connects™ Podcast is sponsored by Gr8Finances, where we help individuals, families and entrepreneurs gain Financial Clarity, protect what they’re building, prepare for the future and make informed financial decisions.

Real Conversations. Real Connections.

Coach Carrie💗

Clarity from the Heart™ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

WHEN THE UNIFORM COMES OFF, WHAT COMES NEXT?

What happens when you’ve spent years knowing exactly who you are, what your role is, and what is expected of you, and then the structure changes?

On this episode of Carrie Connects™, I sat down with Philip Ayles, President and Founder of Warrior to Love® and creator of Communication Beyond the Uniform™, for a conversation about what happens after the uniform comes off.

We talked about veterans and first responders learning how to stand down after years of operating in high-pressure environments. We talked about identity, family, relationships, reintegration, purpose, and the reality that coming home physically doesn’t always mean you’ve figured out how to be home again.

Philip talked openly about his own journey, including what happened when the structure, income, and identity he had known changed.

And that brought another part of transition to the front for me.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭.

Your income may change. Your benefits may change. Your protection needs may change. Retirement can go from something you’re preparing for to something you’re suddenly living. And a financial strategy built around one chapter of your life may not fit the next one.

That’s part of Financial Clarity.

It isn’t just looking at an account or a number. It’s understanding what is happening in your actual life, what you need your money to do now, and whether the pieces of your financial house are still working together.

But this conversation went far beyond money.

One of the most powerful things Philip talked about was learning to take off the armor. After years of being conditioned to respond, protect, perform, and stay ready, standing down can become its own journey.

His message to veterans, first responders, and the families who love them is one more people need to hear.

🎙️ Watch the full Carrie Connects™ conversation and connect with Philip:

Warrior to Love®: warriortolove.org and LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/philayles

📊 And if this conversation has you thinking about your own financial picture, let’s take a closer look at it.

Book your Financial Clarity Session: https://calendly.com/gr8finances/clarity

Let’s figure out whether what you have today still fits the life you’re living and the future you’re building.

Real Conversations. Real Connections.

Carrie Connects™ is sponsored by Gr8Finances.

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

Aired LIVE Saturday, July 18, 2026 | Replay on demand across all platforms @gr8finances

The first Carrie Connects™ Community Circle opened the conversation many women have been having alone.

The storm outside tried to steal the show. Screens froze, sound dropped, and the Midwest sky did its best. It did not matter. The message got through, because the women in the Circle refused to let it get lost.

On Saturday the Carrie Connects™ Community Circle premiered with the conversation most women have in silence: fibroids. In the expert chair sat Dr. Michelle Jones Singer, a board certified gynecologist, cosmetic gynecologic surgeon, and keynote speaker with more than 20 years helping women navigate the health topics too often misunderstood or ignored. Beside her sat Colisha Amos-Douglas, a licensed professional counselor with over a decade of experience, who came to tell her story to help another woman.

She Asked for a Picture. They Removed 19 Tumors.

Colisha’s journey started with a pregnancy test that said yes. The doctor said no. She was not pregnant. She had fibroids, four of them, and because she had no symptoms, the plan was simply to watch.

Years passed. Doctors watched. She was told to lose the weight first, so she poured herself into that. Still no baby. Still watching. Then her hemoglobin crashed in two weeks, and watching was over.

Before surgery she asked her doctor for one thing: a picture. She wanted to see it for herself. Four hours and a blood transfusion later, her surgeon had removed 19 tumors, and left four behind because she could not keep her under anesthesia any longer.

Then came the part that made the whole Circle cheer. After recovery, Colisha and her husband conceived their miracle baby. A carefully timed C-section brought that baby safely into the world.

Her one wish looking back: that somebody had told her at the start what was true and what was possible.

The Host Had a Story Too

Coach Carrie did not build the Community Circle from a distance. In 2005, in her first year of teaching, she stood in a school building losing blood and was told by a principal to suck it up until the end of the day. She drove to her aunt’s house because she did not believe she would make it home alone. At the hospital, the paperwork asked for pre-authorization while her blood pressure fell to 70 over 50. A nurse in a hallway caught it, and Coach Carrie woke up from an emergency partial hysterectomy she never got to choose. Four blood transfusions. A choice taken away.

Teachers she had never met donated their sick time so she could be paid while she healed. Years later she adopted her son at six months old. He is 16 now.

That is why this show exists.

What the Doctor Wants Every Woman to Know

Dr. Jones Singer spent the hour turning fear into information, and a few of her lines deserve to be printed and kept.

“You never have to apologize for asking questions about your body.”

“We don’t treat the ultrasound pictures. We treat the woman.”

“If we don’t see you, we can’t help you.”

She walked through the signs too many women wave off as nothing: tiredness, weakness, pressure, bloating, frequent urination, heavy cycles, deep pelvic pressure. Symptoms that keep showing up deserve to be evaluated. She explained that fibroids are rarely cancerous, that genetics may play a role, that there are no proven home remedies, and that treatment today is a menu, from medication to uterine artery embolization to MRI guided treatment to the myomectomy that preserved Colisha’s ability to carry her baby. And she reminded everyone that yearly well woman exams still matter, even as guidelines change.

This hour was education, not a diagnosis. Talk with your own doctor about your own body.

The Line Every Employer Should Hear

Near the end, Dr. Jones Singer said something every superintendent, HR director, and CFO should sit with. A high performing woman will push, push, push, and it will affect her performance at work and at home. It behooves an employer to encourage a woman to take care of herself and give her the tools to do it, so she can keep being the high performer she is, at the office, at home, and for herself.

Most school buildings are full of women. That makes this a staffing conversation, a budget conversation, and a leadership conversation, not just a health one. When health interrupts life, money gets interrupted too. An emergency fund bought before the storm and the right coverage chosen before a diagnosis are the two things that turn a crisis into something a family can survive. The best time to prepare for a health surprise is when there is not one. You do not shop for a fire extinguisher while the house is on fire.

The Circle Is Open

This was the first Community Circle, and it meets monthly from here. August brings National Wellness Month, and the conversation continues.

If this touched you, share the replay. Somewhere a woman is carrying this story in silence, and your share might be the way she finds out she is not alone.

Connect with Dr. Michelle Jones Singer

🌐 Website: https://www.indianapolis-cosmetic-surgery.com/

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-jones-singer-md-52b37018/

📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CosmeticSurgeryofIndianapolis/

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cosmeticsurgeryindianapolis/

▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@michellejonessingermd5733

Connect with Colisha Amos-Douglas

🌐 Website: https://www.wellnessfirstcc.com/

📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colisha.m.douglas

Confusion is expensive. Clarity pays for life.

Coach Carrie Willis | @gr8finances | gr8finances.com

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

He Was Told to Fire Them All. He Kept Every Single One.

Carrie Connects™ | Show Recap | July 11, 2026

Today I sat down with Stanley Greene, president and CEO of Power Thinking Corporation, and I’m still thinking about one story he told.

Years ago he was sent into a struggling cable company and told to fire certain people. He kept them all. He didn’t bring in his own team. He just focused on the people he had. That company went from number 11 out of 13 to number 2 in a year and a half.

He didn’t do it by chasing numbers. He did it by believing every single person has an area where they’re absolutely excellent, and helping them find it.

That belief became Power Thinking.

Optimism Is a Skill You Can Build

Stanley is a positive psychology expert and co-founder of the Resiliency School of Japan, where he trains business leaders in Tokyo. His work is built on research from the University of Pennsylvania, and he’s brought it to leaders at Aflac, Merck, and Comcast.

Here’s the part that got me. Most of us get locked in on who we are by age eight. We decide what we can and can’t do, and we carry that story for the rest of our lives. Stanley says we could be totally wrong about who we can be.

He would know. He was once too shy to speak in front of more than four people. Today he trains executives on stages around the world. He built that courage one Toastmasters meeting at a time.

The Thinking Trap Most of Us Fall Into

One bad moment happens and suddenly the whole day was a loss. Sound familiar? Stanley calls that minimizing the positive and magnifying the negative, and it’s one of eight thinking traps his app helps people catch.

His fix is simple. Before bed, write down three good things that happened today. That one exercise, developed by Dr. Martin Seligman, challenges the story that your day was ruined because somebody cut you off on the road this morning.

Simple. Powerful. And backed by decades of research.

From Philly to Tokyo

My favorite part of the whole conversation was how Stanley ended up training leaders in Japan. It started with what looked like a setback. A CEO role that ended after just a few months. But that setback freed him up to focus on Power Thinking full time.

He sent one email to a mailing list. The director of the Japan Positive Psychology Association wrote back. His very first Power Thinking presentation was to Japan’s defense forces, with a translator by his side and one Japanese phrase in his pocket: good morning.

Sometimes our setbacks really are setting us up for a comeback.

What Companies Keep Getting Wrong

Stanley didn’t hold back on this one. Companies love to say people are their most important asset. Then they cut the people programs the moment the quarterly numbers get tight, calling them soft skills.

He proved decades ago that when you focus on the people, the numbers follow. Not the other way around.

Watch the Replay

The full conversation is above and there’s so much more in it, including the Power Thinking app, his daily 8 AM and 8 PM live sessions, and why he calls this work a movement.

Connect with Stanley Greene and check out the Power Thinking app. His links are

Connect with Stanley Greene:🌐 Website: https://powerthinkingcorp.com/ 💼 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/stanleyhgreene📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1GYwZoaiDx/

Carrie Connects™ airs every Saturday at 2:00 PM CST | 3:00 PM EST Hosted by Coach Carrie Willis | A Clarity From The Heart™ Production Real Conversations. Real Connections. 💗

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

She Told Us to Stop Dimming Our Light. The Whole World Was Watching.

Carrie Connects™ | Global Edition Recap | July 5, 2026

Today’s special global edition of Carrie Connects™ with Gina Balarin reached across time zones, from the US to Australia to Canada, and delivered a conversation I will be thinking about for a long time.

Gina is an executive speaking coach, TEDx speaker, author, and founder of Verballistics. She has coached leaders at companies like AWS and Adobe. And today she showed us exactly why her clients walk away feeling better than when they arrived.

The Sparkle You Cannot See in Yourself

Gina’s gift is spotting the thing that makes you special, the thing you take for granted or feel embarrassed about, and reflecting it back until you finally see it too.

Her method is simple and powerful. She observes something extraordinary in you. She names it. Then she asks: did you know you were doing that? Most people have no idea. That unseen gift is what she calls your sparkle. And when you stop hiding it, it stops being window dressing and becomes the thing you share with the world simply because of who you are.

The Speaking Myth She Wants Gone

You can be over prepared. That was the myth Gina busted today.

Preparation matters, but clients obsessed with getting every detail perfect often prepare all the delight right out of their talk. Her advice: prepare to the point where there is still room for the possibility of innovation. That is where the extraordinary moments live.

And no, do not imagine the audience in their underwear. She was clear about that too.

Courage Is a Muscle

For everyone who has ever been told to tone it down, Gina spoke directly to you. She has been there. She dimmed her own light to fit in, and it felt like survival at the time.

Her challenge: do one tiny thing this week that makes you uncomfortable. Courage, like a muscle, is strengthened by use. Speak up in the meeting. Ask the question. Start small and the strength builds until the big brave moments feel possible.

Her closing advice was one sentence worth writing down: give yourself permission to do the uncomfortable thing.

Why the Human Voice Matters More in an AI World

Gina made the case that as AI floods the world with generated content, being deeply and unmistakably human is what cuts through. AI repeats what it has been given. Humans bring a lifetime of experience, quirks, mistakes, and growth into one unrepeatable melting pot. That is the advantage no tool can touch.

Watch the Replay

The full conversation is above and it is worth every minute. Gina also shared how she helps clients earn standing ovations, what a year of studying mime taught her about communication, and the story of a three year old girl who walked onto a stage with her arms wide open and never really left.

Connect with Gina Balarin:

🌐 verballistics.com.au 💼 linkedin.com/in/ginabalarin 📘 facebook.com/gina.balarin 📸 instagram.com/ginabalarin ▶️ youtube.com/@ginabalarin 🔗 linktr.ee/Gina.Balarin

Carrie Connects™ airs every Saturday at 2:00 PM CST | 3:00 PM EST Hosted by Coach Carrie Willis | A Clarity From The Heart™ Production Real Conversations. Real Connections. 💗

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.