Healthy AF

In the final October episode, Amy and TIDES recovery care manager Gabrielle Young go deep — into the unglamorous reality of getting a driver's license when you have a criminal record and a newborn, into the kind of patience that nobody wants to practice but everyone needs, and into the role of trust and spirituality in making it through the transitions that feel impossible. Amy gets personal about her mom's Alzheimer's diagnosis, her own lifelong struggle with impatience, and what it finally felt like to stop relying only on herself. Gabrielle talks about what it means to model imperfect, transparent, still-figuring-it-out humanity for the women she serves every day. And both of them agree: the quieter the voice, the more worth listening to. A beautiful, honest close to a month well spent.

If you want to understand what the TIDES program really does for women, hear it from someone who lived it. Gabrielle Young is now the recovery care manager at TIDES — and she's also a graduate of the program. In this conversation with Amy, Gabrielle shares her story with honesty and grace: what it looked like to arrive at TIDES, what shifted while she was there, and how she ended up on the other side of the desk, helping other women do the same. Amy and Gabrielle also dig into something that doesn't get talked about enough — how much support you need when you're in the tender, wobbly stage of new healthy behaviors, those baby deer legs moments when the old patterns are loud and the new ones are still finding their footing. Vulnerable, real, and quietly powerful.

What does it actually look like to rebuild your entire life — housing, sobriety, relationships, finances, identity — all at the same time, with a baby in your arms? In part two of her conversation with TIDES CEO Debbie Leggett, Amy gets specific. They talk about what it means to have your life raft ripped away, why sobriety is just the foundation and not the finish line, and the staggering reality of adverse childhood experiences in this population. There's also an honest and unexpectedly relatable conversation about alcohol, boundaries, and the ways all of us — not just the women in the TIDES program — use something to get through the hard stuff. This episode will meet you wherever you are.

This month on Healthy AF, Amy is shining a spotlight on a local nonprofit that stopped her in her tracks — and it's easy to see why. TIDES (Transforming Individuals through Dedicated Empowerment and Support) serves one of the most vulnerable and most overlooked populations in Wilmington: pregnant women and new moms navigating substance use disorder. Amy sits down with TIDES CEO Debbie Leggett to hear how a single OB-GYN's moment of conviction — the moment he looked at a patient and thought, "this could be my daughter" — sparked a program that is quietly changing lives across North Carolina. Real, eye-opening, and a masterclass in what happens when judgment gives way to compassion. Come for the story, stay for the reminder that transitions — all transitions — are more universal than we think.

Amy closes out Transitions September with a personal story that is equal parts hilarious and deeply relatable. It starts with a Tuesday pickleball meltdown and ends with a pretty profound realization about patterns she didn't know she was still carrying. If you've ever white-knuckled your way through something, gotten increasingly frustrated, and somehow not connected the dots that maybe — just maybe — you need to do something differently, you're in good company. Amy unpacks what it actually looks and feels like when you're in the middle of a transition you didn't sign up for, what becomes available once you recognize it for what it is, and why slow growth might just be the most radical choice you can make. A warm, funny, self-aware closer to a month well spent.

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What happens when your only two options both feel terrible? In this episode, Amy takes us inside a real coaching session with a client who was bouncing between two attitudes — one that felt like giving up and one that felt like suffocating obligation — and couldn't find her way out of either. If you've ever been stuck vacillating between I'm done and I have to, this one will feel uncomfortably familiar. Amy walks through how the session unfolded, what shifted, and the four words her client said that stopped the conversation cold — in the best possible way. Plus, practical tools for anchoring a new attitude when the old ones are loud, comfortable, and have been around for decades.

Want to know more? Contact Amy here.

September on Healthy AF is all about transitions — because Amy has come to realize that transitions are basically her entire job. In this episode, she makes the case that all of life is one long move from here to there, whether here is a sedentary lifestyle, an empty nest, a worn-out dining room table from the 1800s, or just a version of yourself you've quietly outgrown. Amy gets into what separates the people who come out of transitions richer for it versus the ones who just white-knuckle their way through — and what gets lost when we default to grinding and forcing our way forward. Warm, relatable, and full of the kind of quiet wisdom that tends to stick with you long after the episode ends.

A friend asked Amy a loaded question the other day — one that came with a tone that said I am barely holding it together over here: how do working people actually create balance? Amy's honest answer? You're probably not going to love it. This episode digs into the mindset that keeps so many high-achieving, hard-working people perpetually behind the eight ball — the reflexive, reactive, drop-everything-right-now way of operating that quietly steals your power and your peace. Amy shares a personal experiment with time that shifted everything for her, and offers a surprisingly simple reframe for anyone who's ever felt like their schedule belongs to everyone but them. Practical, honest, and a little bit uncomfortable in the best possible way.