Emerging with Grace: Navigating Life's Transitions

The Grief Between a Mother and Her Child

About this episode: This conversation explores an often-overlooked consequence of intimate partner violence (IPV): the disruption of the mother-child relationship and the profound grief that can follow. Abuse can begin altering this relationship long before the abusive partnership ends — affecting attachment, emotional availability, parenting, trust, and the child's perception of the mother. Even after the abuse ends, the relationship may remain deeply changed and, in some cases, may never be fully repaired. We examine IPV as a family-system injury and sit with the grief of losing the relationship a mother and child once had — or might have had under different circumstances.

About our guest: Michelle Chaney - Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) - Certified Associate Counselor–Alcohol and Drug (CAC-AD) - Certified Clinical Trauma Professional - Certified Grief-Informed Professional - Licensed psychotherapist and founder of Healthy Connections Counseling, LLC - Clinical expertise in trauma, grief and loss, IPV, attachment, and complex relationship dynamics - Integrative, trauma-responsive approach to emotional well-being across the lifespan

What we discuss: - IPV as a family-system injury — not only harm to an individual - How abuse alters the mother-child bond before the partnership even ends - The impact on attachment, emotional availability, parenting, and trust - How a child's perception of their mother can be shaped by the abuse - Why the relationship may remain changed long after the violence stops - Grieving the relationship that was — and the one that might have been - Estrangement, deferred dreams, and broken relationships as secondary losses - Pathways toward understanding, repair, and self-compassion

The many forms of grief explored: - Anticipatory grief: mourning a loss that is expected or unfolding before it fully arrives - Disenfranchised grief: grief that isn't openly acknowledged or socially validated - Acute grief: the intense, immediate wave of loss in its early aftermath - Profound grief: deep, far-reaching loss that touches identity and daily life - Prolonged grief: grief that persists intensely over an extended period - Secondary grief: the ripple losses — relationships, dreams, connection — that follow the primary one

A note for listeners: This episode includes candid discussion of intimate partner violence, trauma, and grief. Please listen with care for yourself.

Support (U.S.): The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 — call 1-800-799-7233, text START to 88788, or chat at thehotline.org. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

Black People Die By Suicide Too

About this episode: Ms. T-Kea Blackman, MPS, CPRS, RPS, is a nationally recognized, multi-award-winning peer recovery specialist, social entrepreneur, speaker, and author who joins us to discuss the rising rate of suicide in the Black community and the stigma that keeps it hidden. Drawing on her own lived experience of carrying suicidal thoughts since middle school — while excelling academically and personally — she shares how she transformed private pain into public purpose through her nonprofit, Black People Die By Suicide Too.

About our guest Ms. Blackman: - Nationally recognized, multi-award-winning peer recovery specialist - Social entrepreneur, speaker, and author - Graduate of Howard University and Georgetown University - Currently pursuing her doctorate - Avid 10K runner and co-founder of a business - Founder of the nonprofit Black People Die By Suicide Too

What we discuss: - The rising rate of suicide in the Black community — and why it's under-discussed - Her lived experience: carrying sadness and ideation since middle school - Being high-achieving and ambitious while silently struggling - Navigating her mental health without hospitalization or medication - How openness broke stigma among her family and peers - Inside Black People Die By Suicide Too and its support groups - Why community and peer support save lives - Balancing healing with ambition — doctorate, running, entrepreneurship

About the nonprofit: Black People Die By Suicide Too is a nonprofit that holds support groups for people who have attempted suicide, those experiencing suicidal ideation, and anyone carrying these feelings. Its mission is to break stigma and build life-saving community.

A note for listeners: This episode includes candid discussion of suicide, suicidal ideation, and mental health struggles. Please listen with care for yourself.

Crisis support (U.S.): Call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, 24/7. Online chat: 988lifeline.org. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 911.

Please follow her Social Media: IG: @t_keablackman

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/t-kea-blackman/

Organization IG: @blackpeoplediebysuicidetoo

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/black-people-die-by-suicide-too/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Black-People-Die-By-Suicide-Too/61560460779550/

When Kimberli, Owner and CEO of So Salsa, LLC, lost her husband to a heart attack at 34, she had a 2 -year-old, a 7-month-old, and a life that no longer looked like the one they had planned together. He was her first love, a devoted father, and in a single day, he was gone.

That was eleven years ago.

Today, she is a single mother of two thriving kids — smart, athletic, kind — raised on the memory of a father they barely got to know, kept alive through pictures, videos, and the stories she refuses to stop telling. She has forged a life with her mother beside her, juggling work, an attempt at going back to school, and a small salsa business that has blossomed.

This is a story about what it means to be the provider AND the safety. To carry grief while carrying a household. To feel anxious about raising good kids in a world that often feels like chaos — and to do it anyway, with a home that is the opposite of that chaos.

This is a story about what happens when you have one good parent.

So Salsa, LLC [email protected]

Because the answer, it turns out, is quite a lot.

A note for listeners This episode includes candid discussion of the sudden loss of a spouse and the grief that follows. If it resonates with something you're carrying, please be gentle with yourself as you listen and consider reaching out to someone you trust.

Part 2 moves from events to emotions. The same roundtable guests return to speak candidly about the psychological and emotional toll of losing a doctoral program near completion — including grief, anxiety, identity loss, and the long road toward reclaiming a sense of self and purpose. What we cover

• The grief cycle specific to academic loss — and why it often goes unrecognized
• Identity disruption: who are you when the credential disappears?
• The anxiety of professional limbo and credential gaps on a résumé
• How the closure affected relationships, family, and personal life
• The silence and stigma — why survivors often don't talk about it
• Mental health resources guests found helpful (and ones that fell short)
• Reclaiming agency: what recovery and reinvention have looked like
• A message to anyone still in the thick of it

A note on this conversation This episode contains candid discussion of grief, anxiety, depression, and emotional distress. If you are currently navigating an institutional closure and are struggling, please reach out to a licensed counselor or therapist. You are not alone, and what you are experiencing is valid.

In Part 1 of The Scarlett A. roundtable, doctoral candidates and degree-seekers share personal accounts of the moment their institution closed — and the chaotic, disorienting weeks and months that followed. Their stories span different fields, different schools, and different life circumstances, but share one devastating common thread. What we cover

• The moment guests learned their school was closing — how they found out, and what the first hours felt like
• The institutional silence: what administration did (and didn't) communicate
• Navigating credits, transcripts, and academic records mid-program
• The financial reality: tuition, loans, and a degree that stalled
• Explaining the unexplainable to employers, family, and peers
• The patchwork of attempting to transfer programs — what worked and what didn't
• What they wish someone had told them from day one

Who this is for Doctoral students and candidates at any stage. Higher education administrators and policy advocates. Anyone who has navigated institutional failure. Researchers studying student attrition and higher ed accountability. Resources mentioned

• U.S. Department of Education Closed School Discharge program (for federal loan holders)
• State authorization contacts for transcript recovery assistance
• Academic record preservation rights under FERPA

What does it look like to reinvent your life after heartbreak — boldly, honestly, and on your own terms? To publish a memoir in your 70s that makes people laugh and weep? To tell the truth about love, loss, aging, and identity without flinching?

In this episode of Emerging with Grace!, we sit down with the remarkable Virginia DeLuca — award-winning author and psychotherapist— for a conversation that is equal parts wisdom, warmth, and unapologetic fire. Brilliant, Beautiful, and Bad Ass

Virginia's writing has graced the pages of The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Modern Love, and The Huffington Post. Her memoir, If You Must Go, I Wish You Triplets, is a sharp, funny, and deeply human portrait of marriage, divorce, aging, and the unexpected power of starting over — proving that reinvention has no expiration date.

This is a conversation about courage as a creative act. About how grief can become the soil for your most luminous work. About women across every culture and generation who carry the spark of life and refuse to let circumstances extinguish it.

This episode is for every woman navigating a life transition — whether you're 30, 60, or somewhere beautifully in between for anyone who needs proof that your most powerful chapter may still be ahead of you.

Virginia DeLuca embodies what it means to be brilliant in mind, beautiful in spirit, and unapologetically badass in courage. Tune in.

IG @virginia.deluca.author FB- virginia deluca author

IN THIS EPISODE:

→ Reinvention after divorce

→ Writing as healing & self-discovery

→ Publishing boldly later in life

→ Women, identity & aging on your own terms

→ The power of humor in grief

→ Memoir craft & storytelling

→ Emotional resilience & personal growth

→ Living truthfully at any age

The $300 Wake-Up Call: From Financial Striving to Thriving

Guest: Carrie Willis

Some lessons arrive gently. Others arrive in moments that change the direction of your life.

For Carrie Willis, that moment came when her mother passed away at just 39 years old. In the midst of grief, another reality surfaced—her mother had left behind a life insurance policy worth less than $300. It wasn't just a financial gap. It was a wake-up call.

That experience planted a seed that would eventually grow into Carrie's life mission: helping families avoid the financial blind spots that so many don't discover until it's too late.

But the financial lesson wasn't the only one.

Years later, Carrie realized something even more heartbreaking—her family had almost no recordings of her mother's voice. No preserved stories. No captured wisdom. The memories were there, but the living sound of her mother was gone.

From that realization came a second calling: helping people show up and share their voice now, while the people who love them most can still hear it.

Today, Carrie works with school district employees through her Retirement Clarity™ programs, helping them prepare financially for their future so their families won't be left navigating uncertainty. She also coaches entrepreneurs to build authentic visibility, encouraging them to speak, record, and share their message so their voice and wisdom can live beyond the moment.

In just a few weeks, Carrie has appeared on nearly 20 livestreams, building not only a platform—but an archive her son will one day be able to return to.

Because for Carrie, every recording is more than content.

It's legacy.

In This Episode We Discuss

• The financial mistake many families discover too late

• Why striving financially doesn't always mean you're thriving

• Retirement planning and financial clarity for educators

• The emotional side of financial preparedness

• Why capturing your voice and story matters for future generations

• Building visibility with purpose and authenticity

• Turning painful lessons into meaningful impact

Key Takeaway

Financial preparation is an act of love—and so is leaving your voice behind for the people who will one day wish they could hear it again.

Quote from the Episode

"Striving keeps you busy. Thriving requires clarity, preparation, and the courage to think beyond today."

Connect with Carrie Willis

Learn more about Carrie's work in Retirement Clarity™ and her coaching for entrepreneurs by visiting her platforms and livestream appearances.

When the Wilderness Comes for Your Body

They had already survived 1,260 days in the wilderness.

They had already walked through homelessness, uncertainty, and rebuilding from nothing.

They thought they knew what endurance meant.

Then came the day that changed everything.

Despite living an active, disciplined life—despite exercising and eating well—Adrian was diagnosed with a genetic heart condition. A condition that does not ask permission. A condition that does not negotiate with lifestyle.

And in one day, he experienced three cardiac events.

Krys faced the unthinkable. Doctors warned her that if he survived, he would never be the same. Research showed that only 2% live through this type of cardiac crisis—and even then, many are told they may only have a few years left.

She wasn't just grieving the possibility of losing her husband. She was grieving the life they once had. The future they thought was certain. The version of him she feared might never return.

But this is not a story that ends in statistics.

Seven years later, Adrian is still here.

Still fighting. Still loving. Still leading. Still serving through T.R.I.N.I.T.Y.

This episode is about:

• Surviving a life-threatening genetic heart condition • Navigating marriage through medical trauma • Grieving the "old normal" while building a new one • Faith when outcomes are uncertain • Redefining comeback • Celebrating life after the prognosis

Adrian's survival is rare. But their resilience is intentional.

Together, they share what it means to face mortality and still choose hope. To face fear and still choose faith. To face loss and still choose love.

Seven years later, this isn't just survival. It's testimony.

🎧 Listen to Part 2 and hear how the Murrays turned a medical crisis into a comeback story—one sustained by faith, partnership, and purpose.

Some seasons are meant to be endured, not escaped.

For 1,260 days, Adrian and Krys Murray walked through what they call a wilderness season—a time marked by homelessness, uncertainty, and daily dependence on God. The number itself was not something they chose, but one they later recognized as biblically significant, named in the Book of Revelation as a defined period of endurance and divine sustaining.

What they didn't know at the time was that this wilderness would become the soil where purpose took root.

During that season, God placed a vision in their hearts—T.R.I.N.I.T.Y., an acronym for Teaching, Reaching, Inspiring, Nurturing, Igniting Today's Youth. They had no resources, no stability, and no clear plan. What they did have was obedience.

When they eventually found their footing again, they refused to let the vision fade. In 2017, they stepped forward in faith and incorporated T.R.I.N.I.T.Y. as a nonprofit—transforming survival into service.

Today, T.R.I.N.I.T.Y. is a faith-based organization committed to uplifting youth and strengthening communities by nurturing the whole person: spiritually, mentally, and physically. Through mentoring, coaching, and wellness-centered tennis programs, Adrian and Krys walk alongside young people as they discover both who they are and whose they are.

Tennis is one of the tools, but faith, relationship, and presence are the foundation.

This episode is a testimony of perseverance, humility, and trust. It's a reminder that even the most difficult seasons are not wasted—and that God often does His deepest work in the wilderness.

🎧 Tune in to hear how faith sustained them, how purpose was born from hardship, and how they now show up for others with compassion shaped by lived experience.

Some innovations begin in a lab. Others begin with a question no one else is asking.

For Dr. Bobbi Peterson, that question was simple but revolutionary: Why hasn't oral health technology kept up with what we now know about wellness, equity, and prevention?

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Bobbi Peterson—renowned orthodontist, inventor, and founder of Big Mouth Toothbrush—to explore the journey behind designing and patenting her own electronic toothbrush, a feat achieved by only a handful of Black women in the medical and dental innovation space.

From her Brooklyn-based practice to national recognition on Shark Tank, Dr. Bobbi shares how expertise, courage, and vision intersected to create a product that blends holistic wellness, advanced dental technology, and community empowerment. Her story isn't just about entrepreneurship—it's about refusing to accept "that's how it's always been done."

Listeners will hear how Dr. Bobbi navigated barriers in healthcare innovation, what it took to move from clinician to inventor, and why representation in medical devices matters—not just for visibility, but for better health outcomes.

This episode is for anyone interested in:

• Dental innovation and oral health technology

• Black women inventors and founders

• Healthcare entrepreneurship

• Patents, product development, and Shark Tank stories

• Holistic wellness and preventative care

Dr. Bobbi Peterson's journey reminds us that sometimes the boldest ideas come from professionals who know the system well enough to challenge it—and brave enough to build something better.

🎧 Tune in to hear how one orthodontist used her expertise to create healthier smiles and a lasting impact.