This week Meghan Sits Down with the delightful Cyndie Speigel to talk about Microjoys and how she coped with the murder of her nephew, death of mother, and own diagnosis with breast cancer.  Despite the heaviness of the topic Cyndie offers us laughter, hope and deep wisdom that comes from facing the hardest of times.

About Cyndie:

Cyndie Spiegel is a born storyteller–turned–writer; she’s an aspirational voice and an igniter of powerful conversation around self-acceptance, integrity, and joy. She is a former fashion executive, adjunct professor at Parsons School of Design and Fashion Institute of Technology, and holds a masters of professional studies. She is also a TEDx speaker and a certified yoga and meditation teacher. Her honest storytelling, vulnerable self-inquiry, and penchant for swear words have made her a sought-after speaker for conferences, brands, and organizations, and she has been featured in publications such as Forbes, Glamour, Teen Vogue, and HuffPost. She currently lives in New Jersey with her (very handsome) photographer husband, two cats, way too many patterns, and an excessive number of houseplants. She is the founder of Dear Grown Ass Women, an inclusive and highly relatable social community for women 35+, and she is also the author of A Year of Positive Thinking.

https://www.cyndiespiegel.com

Meghan sat down with Alessandra Olanow, NY based artist, mother and grieving daughter. In their hour together Alessandra talks bout her new book, Hello Grief: I'll Be Right With You, and how the writing helped her address her own feelings of loss.

Alessandra is a New York-based illustrator. Her broad roster of clients includes major brands such as Bergdorf Goodman, Clinique, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Uniqlo, Yahoo, and West Elm, and her work has been featured in top publications such as Vogue, Oprah Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Variety, Bon Appétit, and Goop. Additionally, she is the Founder of A.OK Body Oil and the Co-founder of a children’s pajama line, Dodo Banana. Through her unique illustrations, Olanow explores the themes of self-forgiveness, vulnerability, and resilience.

Alessandra's newest venture- A.OK body oil can be found here: https://www.feelingaok.com

Full disclosure--She sent Meghan a bottle and it's heaven.

https://www.alessandraolanow.com

In 2019, Colin Campbell's two teenage children, Ruby and Hart, were killed by a drunk driver. In the thick of this tragedy, Colin turned to the many books on grief that line shelves but ultimately realized they were unhelpful and failed to provide the insight he desperately sought. Channeling his grief, he wrote his new book (out March 14th) FINDING THE WORDS and a solo performance piece titled Grief: A One Man Shit-Show In LA (March 17-19) and NYC (March 29-April 16). You can find that info here. 

In FINDING THE WORDS (3/14/23; Hardcover; TarcherPerigee), Colin offers practical advice on how to survive in the aftermath of loss. By actively reaching out to their community, performing mourning rituals,and finding ways to express their grief, readers will learn how to live more fully while still holding their loved ones close. Campbell shines a light on a path forward through the darkness of grief.

To learn more about Colin:

(https://colincampbellauthor.com/

Sit down with Meghan as she talks with the outstanding duo fo Eleanor Haley and Litsa Williams to talk about the publication of their recent book–What's Your Grief: Lists To Help You Through Any Loss

Eleanor Haley, MS and Litsa Williams, MA, LCSW-C are the co-founders of the online

One of the luckiest things is my life is counting the extraordinary Christie Tate amongst my friends. She is warm, brilliant and an incredible writer.  In this discussion we cover all the aspects of what makes female friendship so beautiful and complicated.  Christie shares the story of the death of her dear friend, which she chronicles in the book, and how that impacts life now.

From the author of Group, a New York Times bestseller and Reese’s Book Club Pick, comes a moving, heartwarming, and powerful memoir about Christie Tate’s lifelong struggle to sustain female friendship, and the friend who helps her find the human connection she seeks.

https://www.amazon.com/B-F-F-Memoir-Friendship-Lost-Found/dp/1668009420/ref=sr_1_1?crid=37RCYO7UH0X95&keywords=b+FF+Tate&qid=1675950529&sprefix=bff+tate%2Caps%2C75&sr=8-1#customerReviews

In this episode, Katie C Reilly sits down to talk double parent loss with Meghan.  The two parentless daughters discuss the hard lessons learned and role grief has played in life changes.

A Former Lawyer found her priorities shifting along with her emotions after her mother's death from ALS and then her father's death from Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma soon after. Katie made a shift to writing, and hasn't looked back.

Katie C Reilly is a freelance writer based in Oakland, CA. Her writing primarily focuses on women's health, mental health and parenting and has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times Magazine, Elle Magazine and The Cut, among other publications. You can find more of her writing here. 

All Signs Point to Paris is the true story of my search for a second chance at love and it all happened because of a wild astrology reading. Natasha had hit rock bottom in almost every way in the fall of 2018: She was a divorced single mom struggling to make ends meet, she'd just broken up with the boyfriend she thought was The One, and, worst of all, her beloved dad was dying. Natasha's life seemed to be going from an all time low to worse. And then her occasionally woo-woo but always there for me best friend stepped in with an answer: a reading with her astrologer, who happened to be one of the most sought-after astrologers in the world. Natasha decided to try it, skeptical though she was. Why the f*ck not?, she thought. Whatever else had been guiding me was NOT working.

We don’t want to spoil too much of the story, but that reading led Natasha to search, very seriously, for hot soulmate: a man born in Paris on November 2, 1968. That date was aligned with her astrological point of destiny. It also happened to be Natasha's ex boyfriend’s exact birthday and birthplace. But she’d decided (for very good reasons) he could not and would not be The One. She became hell-bent on finding every other man who might be. It took almost a year, and a lot of help from friends, family, and even strangers around the world, but finally, in October of 2019, she was ready to pack my bags for Paris. She had found, if you can believe it, fifteen potential soulmates to meet. Natasha's older sister and two of my best friends (including the one who started all this in the first place!) came with her to Paris, riding shotgun on her search for love, each for their own reasons. It was the perfect plan. What could possibly go wrong?

https://natashasizlo.com

First Steps Founder & Creator Shane Phillips

has over 27 years of experience in banking and financial services, and two decades of community service in grief care, Shane Phillips offers a unique perspective on financial issues and death. At the age of 16, Shane experienced the loss of his parents and sister in a plane crash. His parents had no life insurance, no estate plan, a lot of debt, and few assets. Despite the loss of his family and the ensuing financial challenges, Shane graduated from high school and college. He went on to a successful career in financial services for both regional and international financial institutions.

In 2004, Shane co-founded The Children’s Grief Education Association (CGEA). For over six years, the CGEA provided free grief counseling to over 400 Denver area children. The CGEA was merged into The HeartLight Center in 2011. From 2011 – 2014, he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of The HeartLight Center. Shane and his wife Valerie live in Castle Rock, CO. They have five children ranging in age from 12-21.

https://firststepshelp.com

https://heartlightcenter.org/first-steps-seminar/

In this podcast Meghan talks with Ondi Timoner, a documentary film maker and daughter of Eli Timoner about her beautiful, revolutionary film The Last Flight Home.

"Behind a white picket fence, on an unremarkable suburban street, we discover Eli Timoner, who founded Air Florida, the fastest growing airline in the world in the 1970's. During his final days, we discover his extraordinary life filled with incredible success and devastating setbacks, and most importantly, an innate goodness which won him the enduring love and support of his family. Through stunning verité footage recorded by his middle child, LAST FLIGHT HOME takes audiences on a heart-wrenching ride through Timoner’s life, illustrating a modern day success story built on the power of human connection.

Two-time winner of the Sundance Film Festival U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize (DIG!, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC) Ondi Timoner returns to the festival with an intensely intimate verité film about her family’s harrowing journey to find closure.  As they open up their lives to offer an enlightening view of a universal experience, they demonstrate the grace and connection that can emerge from embracing death. Through laughter and joy, they share a lasting legacy which demonstrates how we might live, even as we die."