In this episode, Joseph Nicholas Masi and Dr. Liz Ostler explore the profound themes of charity, grief, and the impact of loss. Liz shares her personal journey of navigating the complexities of grief after losing her sister and brother, emphasizing the importance of faith, remembrance, and the societal changes surrounding grief. The discussion delves into the challenges of addiction, medical neglect, and the healing power of shared experiences, ultimately highlighting the enduring connections we maintain with our loved ones even after they are gone. In this conversation, Liz and Joseph explore the complexities of grief, love, and personal growth through the lens of loss. They discuss how grief can be a companion rather than a burden, the importance of choice in navigating emotional pain, and the transformative power of storytelling. Liz shares her experiences with loss, trauma, and the commitment to advocate for those who have suffered, emphasizing the significance of not being silent about one's story. The dialogue highlights the interconnectedness of human experiences and the healing that comes from sharing and bearing witness to each other's journeys.

Dr. Elizabeth Ostler is the Assistant Dean of Student Engagement at the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University. She is a theatermaker, director, and puppetry artist, and the Founder and Artistic Director of Communal Theater Company. Liz has collaborated with theaters and festivals across New York and Utah, including St. Ann’s Warehouse, Theatre Barn, Life Jacket Theatre, Adjusted Realists, Drama of Works, Riverton Arts, the EstroGenius Festival, Prospect Theater Company, and Pioneer Theatre Company.
Liz is the creator of the Communal Theater Practice, an artistic approach that transforms performance into a shared experience, positioning audiences as collaborators rather than observers. She is committed to creating theater that fosters healing, connection, and communion.

She is the Editor-in-Chief and a contributing writer for The LDS Women’s Project, an organization that collects and preserves oral histories of LDS women, centering women’s voices and experiences while advocating for more egalitarian practices and policies within LDS communities.

Liz holds an MFA in Theater Directing from Brooklyn College and a BA in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College. She earned her Ph.D. in Contemporary Learning and Interdisciplinary Research from Fordham University, where her scholarship examined cultural master narratives and the role of community belonging.

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TikTok: @communaltheater, @lizostler700

Instagram: @communaltheater, @lizostler

Donation link to support SisterPlay - 

https://app.thefield.org/home/donation/crowd/preview/519/SisterPlay-Production

In this conversation, Bob Makela opens up about what it really means to live like an artist when life is anything but tidy. From a childhood shaped by fear, a volatile stepfather, and a young mom carrying her own trauma, to hitchhiking and biking across America on almost no money, Bob learned to trust the kindness of strangers and the quiet goodness in people. He shares the devastating story of his sister’s accident and suicide, how that loss changed the way he moves through life, and why he still believes the world is more generous than cruel. Bob and Joseph trace the origins of Bob’s film Green Thumbs, the subway scene that brought them together, and the simple encounters that can literally save a life. The episode lands with a powerful message to the younger self in all of us: you can do this, and your doubt is not the truth about you.

Bob Makela is a writer/director/producer who’s been creating compelling content for decades. In addition to having written hundreds of magazine/newspaper/online articles and countless screenplays and TV scripts, he’s also been hired to write onstage stories for rock stars and once got a major book publishing deal to go barhopping around America for 100 consecutive days in his VW van. He’s the editor/publisher of the indie press, Bobtimystic Books, which has published over a dozen titles. Makela also has a pair of film projects that he's hoping get distributed in 2026 — including The Groove Under the Groove, a music documentary about legendary Brazilian percussionist Paulinho da Costa, which he co-wrote; and Green Thumbs, an indie feature about an Australian backpacker who comes up with an idea to change the world by getting strangers to talk on the NYC subway. The film marks Makela's directorial debut. He also recently ended a five-month tour of duty as an elementary school music teacher. 

Some conversations don’t just inform you.
They quietly reframe what strength really looks like.

This was one of those.

Nolan Michael Carll carries a calm presence that suggests he has seen more of life than most people his age. Early in childhood, a single event set off a chain reaction that would reshape his family’s sense of safety, stability, and home. What began as a routine moment became something far more serious, introducing uncertainty, illness, displacement, and a long season of disruption that stretched across his formative years.

Details emerged slowly.
Losses compounded.
Nothing was simple.

There were periods of not knowing where home would be next. Moments when systems meant to protect failed. Seasons where resilience was not a concept, but a daily requirement. Nolan learned early that comfort can vanish quickly and that endurance is rarely dramatic. It is built quietly, one day at a time.

As life continued to test his family in unexpected ways, priorities sharpened. What mattered most became clear. Presence over possessions. People over outcomes. Nolan began to understand that hardship, while never chosen, can shape depth, empathy, and perspective when met with steadiness.

School, sports, and structure became places of grounding. Later, working alongside his family on rebuilding efforts introduced him to how things are designed, constructed, and repaired, not just physically, but relationally. That curiosity and respect for systems would eventually lead him into engineering.

Nolan earned his degree in Interdisciplinary Business with Engineering Studies from Penn State Erie, combining technical thinking with a deep appreciation for real-world impact. Those who know him describe him as thoughtful, disciplined, and quietly dependable.

In this conversation, we explore resilience without spectacle, faith without performance, and leadership formed long before a title ever existed.

If you have ever sensed that what you lived through shaped you more than what you achieved
 If you carry lessons that are hard to summarize but impossible to forget
 If you know there is more beneath the surface of a person’s calm

This conversation is for you.

Some conversations don’t just inform you they reorient you.

This was one of those.

Angelo Sisco is a rare man, and I don’t say that lightly.

He grew up in an environment where masculinity was equated with aggression, intimidation, and violence where power was something you took, defended, or enforced. Through years of self inquiry, discipline, and courage, Angelo chose a different path and became something far more powerful than that early definition ever allowed.

He is kind.

He is deeply present.

He is emotionally fluent.

And he is fully capable of standing his ground with clarity and strength when necessary.

That combination tenderness without weakness and strength without domination is incredibly rare, and it’s something Angelo has earned through lived experience, not theory.

In this conversation, we go far beyond surface level leadership or business talk. We explore identity itself how it’s formed, how it protects us, how it limits us, and how it must eventually be rewritten if we want to live, lead, and love at a higher level.

Angelo shares with striking honesty how his commitment to self care and fitness became a turning point in his life. His weight loss journey was not about appearance or discipline for discipline’s sake. It was about learning to respect himself, regulate his nervous system, and take responsibility for his energy. That physical transformation became a gateway to emotional clarity, presence, and confidence.

Fitness is not something Angelo does on the side. It is foundational to how he shows up as a husband, a father, a friend, and a leader. Taking care of his body became a way of taking care of his relationships, his decisions, and his integrity.

We talk openly about masculinity not as bravado or suppression but as presence, responsibility, and emotional regulation. About why being dangerous is not about hurting others but about knowing you could protect what matters and choosing restraint from strength, not fear.

We also explore why identity is often the real bottleneck for leaders, how business reflects unresolved inner stories, why slowing down increases power and clarity, and how language and self talk quietly shape the way we experience life.

Throughout the episode, Angelo speaks with a grounded honesty that does not perform or posture. There is a spiritual and energetic quality to how he sees people not as problems to fix but as humans remembering who they already are.

I’m deeply grateful for Angelo’s openness and trust in this conversation. This episode is for leaders, fathers, partners, builders, and anyone who senses that the next chapter of their life requires less performance and more truth.

If your success has ever outpaced your inner peace

If you’ve known something needed to change but couldn’t quite name it

If you’re ready to stop living from old stories and start choosing who you become next

This episode is for you.

Some conversations don’t just inform you they reorient you.

This was one of those.

Angelo Sisco is a rare man, and I don’t say that lightly.

He grew up in an environment where masculinity was equated with aggression, intimidation, and violence where power was something you took, defended, or enforced. Through years of self inquiry, discipline, and courage, Angelo chose a different path and became something far more powerful than that early definition ever allowed.

He is kind.

He is deeply present.

He is emotionally fluent.

And he is fully capable of standing his ground with clarity and strength when necessary.

That combination tenderness without weakness and strength without domination is incredibly rare, and it’s something Angelo has earned through lived experience, not theory.

In this conversation, we go far beyond surface level leadership or business talk. We explore identity itself how it’s formed, how it protects us, how it limits us, and how it must eventually be rewritten if we want to live, lead, and love at a higher level.

Angelo shares with striking honesty how his commitment to self care and fitness became a turning point in his life. His weight loss journey was not about appearance or discipline for discipline’s sake. It was about learning to respect himself, regulate his nervous system, and take responsibility for his energy. That physical transformation became a gateway to emotional clarity, presence, and confidence.

Fitness is not something Angelo does on the side. It is foundational to how he shows up as a husband, a father, a friend, and a leader. Taking care of his body became a way of taking care of his relationships, his decisions, and his integrity.

We talk openly about masculinity not as bravado or suppression but as presence, responsibility, and emotional regulation. About why being dangerous is not about hurting others but about knowing you could protect what matters and choosing restraint from strength, not fear.

We also explore why identity is often the real bottleneck for leaders, how business reflects unresolved inner stories, why slowing down increases power and clarity, and how language and self talk quietly shape the way we experience life.

Throughout the episode, Angelo speaks with a grounded honesty that does not perform or posture. There is a spiritual and energetic quality to how he sees people not as problems to fix but as humans remembering who they already are.

I’m deeply grateful for Angelo’s openness and trust in this conversation. This episode is for leaders, fathers, partners, builders, and anyone who senses that the next chapter of their life requires less performance and more truth.

If your success has ever outpaced your inner peace

If you’ve known something needed to change but couldn’t quite name it

If you’re ready to stop living from old stories and start choosing who you become next

This episode is for you.

Samantha Maurice shares her extraordinary journey of loss, addiction, faith, and redemption — a story that proves that no matter how dark it gets, God can still rewrite the ending.

Samantha takes us from the early years of her life marked by instability, trauma, and addiction, through losing custody of her children, cycling through jail, facing homelessness, and fighting to rebuild her life with no support system. What began as survival mode became a rock-bottom moment that shifted everything — including the day a stranger at Burger King asked if she knew where an AA meeting was.

From entering recovery in June 2022 to discovering a community of women who embraced her, Samantha’s transformation is nothing short of miraculous. Today, she is a mother of three, a wife to her husband Raul, a Success Coach and group facilitator at United Against Poverty, a certified crisis interventionist, and a powerful force within the Breaking Chains Women’s Ministry.

Samantha has become a warrior of faith, resilience, and purpose — a living example that your past does not disqualify you and that God can open doors you never imagined possible.

“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
~ Matthew 21:22

Collective Conversations is a podcast dedicated to real stories of courage, calling, and transformation. Hosted by Joseph Masi, each episode features powerful conversations with people who refused to let fear or their past define them. Our mission is simple: to inspire and equip you to step boldly into who God created you to be.

If you’d like to help create more stories like Samantha’s, consider donating to United Against Poverty—the organization that provided the community, resources, and support that helped rebuild her life.

Donate here: https://unitedagainstpoverty.org/donate/

Every contribution empowers someone taking their first steps toward recovery, stability, and hope.

🔔 Subscribe for more stories of courage and transformation

Michael Bugary, former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, talks about his story of winning what he calls the Triple Crown: Playing professional baseball, Becoming an opioid addict, and Receiving a brain cancer diagnosis. Michael takes this from his early years as a Division 1 baseball player at the University of California Berkeley, getting drafted by the Boston Red Sox, his journey through addiction, and a brain cancer diagnosis. Michael Bugary has become a warrior in mind, body, and soul; he is an example of the idiom that what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.

Micki Mihich, filmmaker, father, and traumatic brain injury survivor, shares with us his journey from a man who had a successful career at Lucus Films and Universal Studios, a wife, a nice home, and two children to a man who lost it all due to a traumatic brain injury and then found his way back.  Micki's love for his children, unrelenting spirit, and stubbornness forged a way for him out of the hospital bed and back on his feet. This is Micki's story. 

At seven years old, Sean Murray was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia, which at that time had a survival rate of only 15-20%. Sean shares with us his journey from diagnosis to present day and the many harrowing, heartwarming, and humorous (in hindsight) moments along his way towards beating the odds.

Devoted father, coach, New York City Firefighter, and 911 responder Keith Long has survived and lived many lives. Please join Keith and me as he shares his journey of faith, fatherhood, recovery, and unrelenting service. I have met many extraordinary people throughout my life, and I assure you Keith Long is one of them.