Here We Are

I had the absolute joy of sitting down with one of my dearest friends, Anndrea, founder of Alchemy in Superior, Wisconsin. Anndrea and I found each other about six or seven years ago, and we've been thick as thieves ever since. We're opposite astrological signs, we think in similar ways, and we always arrive at the same conclusion through completely different paths. That's just us.

She's a fearless entrepreneur, a liver of her truth, and honestly, one of the people I trust most in this world. We've sat in coffee shops together. We've been to Bali together. We've shown up for each other through every wild bet we've taken on ourselves. And this conversation? It felt like all of that, distilled into one really good hour.

KEY THEMES + TAKEAWAYS

Intuition isn't a special gift given to a select few. It lives in every human being. The work is in slowing down enough to hear it and trusting yourself enough to act on it.

Living intuitively all the time can be exhausting. Anndrea shares how practical tools like numerology, crystals, and intentional color dressing help her channel energy without burning out.

Little Anndrea saw spirits, shadow people, and auras growing up. What once scared her became her superpower through mentors, books, and a pivotal trip to a metaphysical shop at 16 that she still returns to today.

The story of how Alchemy came to be is a masterclass in betting on yourself. No resources. No plan. Just walking up to a fence and asking. She was told yes.

Alchemy as a concept runs through everything Anndrea does: raw materials into wearable art, tiny seeds into blooming plants, internal mess into transformation. The shop is the philosophy made physical.

Crystals hold a constant vibration when everything around us is noise. Having them in your space is less mystical and more practical than people think.

How we support the next generation matters. Anndrea is raising a son who sees what she saw at five years old. Instead of fear, she gives him language, a "Glinda bubble," and the words: I believe you.

OUR FAVORITE QUOTES

"I'm sorry to my guides. I'm not a really good friend. I haven't taken the time. But I know they're always there."

"It's taking something mundane and turning it into precious and beautiful. That's alchemy."

"You put your feet on the ground and you're like, yes, I'm thankful for today. And then it's like, well, what is the energy going to be today?"

"Just be like a rock. It just vibrates one thing. And we can do that too."

"I believe you. I don't see what you see right now, but I believe you."

CHAPTER MARKERS

0:00 Welcome to the world of Alchemy 

4:02 How Anndrea uses intuition every day 

7:16 Little Anndrea: spirits, shadow people, and auras 

10:19 The mentors who changed everything 

23:08 How the shop came to be 

38:04 Guides, gray men, and the big team 

39:31 What alchemy actually means

ABOUT ANNDREA

Anndrea Johnson is the founder of Alchemy, a one-of-a-kind space in Superior, Wisconsin that brings together a greenhouse, metaphysical shop, custom jewelry, aura photography, and community events under one roof. 

From permanent jewelry to tarot readings to perennials and hanging baskets, Alchemy is the philosophy made physical: take the raw stuff, and turn it into something beautiful.

Connect with Anndrea and explore the shop at alchemysuperior.com 

YOUR TURN

This week's reflection: Where in your life are you dismissing a quiet knowing because it doesn't fit neatly into logic? What would happen if you trusted it anyway?

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How to connect with Katie

Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.attunewellness.love/⁠⁠⁠

Say hi to Katie on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/_.kjo._/⁠⁠⁠

Leave a review on the Apple Podcast app or the Spotify app: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What does it actually look like to take full responsibility for yourself, every single day, even when it is uncomfortable. That is the question running underneath this whole conversation with Zach Campbell.

I sat down with Zach at Duluth Creative Company for this one, and honestly, he is one of those people who just makes you want to show up more fully in your own life. Zach owns Owl Moon Mental Health here in downtown Duluth, where he and his team work with adults navigating trauma, addiction, and relationships of every shape. He trained in transpersonal psychology and works through a Jungian lens, looking at the archetypes and layers underneath a person rather than just the surface of what brought them in.

Before he was a therapist, Zach was a massage therapist, a case manager, and a long time student of Carl Jung. He is also in recovery, and he talks about that with a kind of honesty that stopped me in my tracks. We covered his daily rituals, what real self responsibility looks like, and how his relationship with grief has shifted over the years.

Zach works primarily with trauma, addiction, and complex relationship dynamics, and he has learned to see every client as a full human being rather than a diagnosis

His daily practice includes dream journaling, a habit he has kept for over twenty five years, along with weekly movement and monthly ceremony and community practices

Getting sober about three and a half years ago meant finally being honest with himself after years of believing he could manage it alone

Self responsibility is not about being perfect. It is about being willing to notice and admit when you have failed

Grief is not limited to death. It can show up around loss of routine, loss of connection, even collective moments like the pandemic

Presence means letting a feeling exist without rushing to fix it, explain it, or make it go away

Joy is something Zach is intentionally practicing this year, and sometimes that looks as simple as cooking a good meal for himself

"I need to admit it, right. And if I don't admit it, it could lead to some other negative behavior."

"If we're simplifying and we're truly paying attention, it automatically shifts."

"Heaviness is a gift because it pulls us down to slow down."

"Don't let the thoughts that you can't do it in your head hold you back from just making sure you do it for yourself, whatever that is."

00:56 Building Owl Moon Mental Health

02:15 The clients he is drawn to work with

13:24 The daily rituals that keep him grounded

19:34 Getting honest about sobriety

24:06 Sitting with an uncomfortable compliment

30:34 Grief is not only about death

37:45 Choosing joy on purpose

This week's reflection: where in your life are you performing okay instead of admitting what is actually true. What would it feel like to just say it out loud?

Zach Campbell is the owner and therapist behind Owl Moon Mental Health in downtown Duluth, offering trauma informed, person centered counseling including Jungian sand tray, EMDR, somatic experiencing, and dream analysis. Virtual and in person sessions available.

Website: owlmoonmentalhealth.com

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 218-300-2547

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How to connect with Katie

Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.attunewellness.love/⁠⁠⁠

Say hi to Katie on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/_.kjo._/⁠⁠⁠

Leave a review on the Apple Podcast app or the Spotify app: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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What happens when you actually ask your body to slow down. Not push through, not power past it, just slow down.

This week it's just me. No guest, just a conversation with you about something I think about constantly in my work and in my own life: our relationship with busyness. 

I grew up like most of us did, taught to rush before I even understood what rushing was. An alarm clock at four years old. Hustle before I could tie my shoes. It took a head injury in my late twenties and months spent sitting in Buddhist spaces to teach my body there was another way to live.

I wanted to share what I've learned since then, because I don't think I'm the only one whose nervous system is tired of the grind.

KEY THEMES AND TAKEAWAYS

Busyness is often a culturally taught pattern, not a personal failing, and it starts younger than we realize

Slowing down is a practice, not a personality trait, and it can be built through naps, walks, tea, yoga, or simply noticing your breath

Your energy is your greatest resource, more valuable than money, and worth spending intentionally

Presence isn't always comfortable. It means feeling the grief, the beauty, and everything in between, fully awake

Doing three things thoroughly beats doing twenty things halfway

Slowing your body down is often what teaches your mind to slow down too, not the other way around

Self worth isn't tied to output. You are enough in your natural existence before you do anything at all

OUR FAVORITE QUOTES

"A busy person does twenty things a day, a focused person does three thoroughly."

"Our energy is like our golden coin."

"You're enough in your natural essence."

"Meditate for thirty minutes. If you're busy, meditate for an hour."

"The only thing to keep up with is yourself and being better than the person you were yesterday."

CHAPTER MARKERS

00:00 Asking the being how it responds to slowing down

01:21 America and its busiest mind

02:02 A head injury, Buddhism, and learning presence the hard way

06:24 Busyness as an escape from what's real

08:01 Pick three things and give them everything

16:02 Meditate for thirty, or an hour if you're busy

19:50 Why people open up to you when you slow down

22:03 The grief hiding underneath letting go of hustle

YOUR TURN

This week's reflection: where in your life are you moving fast because it's familiar, not because it's necessary. What would it feel like to give yourself permission to slow down there, even for a day.

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How to connect with Katie

Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.attunewellness.love/⁠⁠⁠

Say hi to Katie on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/_.kjo._/⁠⁠⁠

Leave a review on the Apple Podcast app or the Spotify app: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Fourteen years ago I prayed for a friend who could hold my whole life across the world. India answered that prayer with Sal.

Sal and I met on a terrace in Bangalore when I was studying abroad, and we played Jenga for six hours straight. She checked on me that first week when I was still catching my breath in a brand new country, and she never stopped showing up after that. Every time I land in India, she's the first call I make. Every time life gets hard there, she's the one who comes.

This episode is us sitting down together after all these years, tracing back through the friendship that changed how I move through the world.

KEY THEMES AND TAKEAWAYS

Trust doesn't always take time. From the very first ride on the back of her scooter, I knew I could hand Sal my whole life and she'd take care of it.

Adaptability is a muscle. Sal grew up flowing with whatever the day brought. I grew up with a date book scheduled six months out. Watching her live without that grip taught me how to breathe.

Presence over planning. When the electricity would go out at her place, we'd just sit in candlelight and talk. Nothing was ruined. It just became a different kind of evening.

Judgment free spaces change people. In fourteen years I've never once felt judged by Sal, and that openness is part of why I've been able to become more myself around her.

Comfort in your own skin travels. The way she'd throw on a flash of color or her favorite glasses just to greet an ordinary Tuesday taught me something about joy that has stuck with me since.

Small logistics can hold big love. We still ship sandalwood back and forth between continents because neither of us can get it directly, and somehow that workaround has become its own love language.

Distance doesn't undo closeness. Some days India feels easy and some days it's the hardest thing I've ever done, but Sal has stayed steady through every version of it.

FAVORITE QUOTES

"She is an angel on earth to me. She was an answer to my prayers."

"It's okay, Kate."

"What would Sal do? It's like, okay, go be free."

"These two aisles do the exact same thing. It doesn't matter what it smells like."

"It's like having an earth angel."

CHAPTER MARKERS

00:20 An answer to a fourteen year old prayer

01:42 Six hours of Jenga and a friendship begins

06:08 Trust from the very first scooter ride

07:30 What adaptability actually looks like

09:24 Letting go of the date book

17:20 Comfortable in her own skin

28:43 The Target aisle that explained everything

33:25 Having an earth angel, no matter the distance

YOUR TURN

Who is the person that's taught you how to loosen your grip on control? This week, sit with that. Maybe even tell them.

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How to connect with Katie

Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.attunewellness.love/⁠⁠⁠

Say hi to Katie on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/_.kjo._/⁠⁠⁠

Leave a review on the Apple Podcast app or the Spotify app: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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I've been asked so many times how I came to be the way I am. My honest answer has always been the same: have you ever met my mom?

This episode is one I've wanted to make for a long time. My guest today is my mom, Deb, known to basically everyone in my world as Mama Deb. She spent 42 years in the operating room holding human life in her hands, raised two very different daughters with grace and specificity, and has quietly been the steadiest force I've ever known. She doesn't seek the spotlight, she doesn't ask for much, and yet the ripple of everything she puts forward is visible everywhere you look. I invited her in today because I think the silent supporters deserve to be seen.

KEY THEMES + TAKEAWAYS

Steadiness can be inherited. Mama Deb traces her calmness back to her grandfather, Papa Lenny, who came over from Norway and modeled quiet strength in how he lived and worked.

The supporter needs supporting too. Being the steady one is real labor, and Deb is honest about those moments when her plate is full and she has to stop and take stock.

Knowing when to step in vs. step back is a skill that evolves over time. What looks like support in one season of life looks completely different in the next.

Being raised in a village changes you. I grew up with my great grandparents down the alley, grandma two blocks away, 18 cousins nearby.

Unwavering support doesn't mean saying yes to everything. My parents got real with me. They'd ask if I'd thought things through. That was part of the support.

Who you become has a lot to do with who believed in you first. My mom didn't try to change me when I was a two-and-a-half year old negotiating my way into a parade. She just walked behind me.

OUR FAVORITE QUOTES

"The supporter needs supporting."

"I'm not sure I developed it. I think I was just born with it."

"Being supportive can really bring you so much goodness and love in my life. I've just been very lucky."

"Let me know when you land and let me know where you're staying."

"You're not the boss of me." (Me, before I was three years old, apparently.)

CHAPTER MARKERS

0:21 Welcome, Mama Deb

3:46 Where the steadiness came from

7:37 Support inside a marriage

10:26 How I grew up knowing what support felt like

15:15 How Deb likes to be supported

20:05 Staying steady through decades of change

25:16 Little Katie, painted rocks, and the parade

33:30 Full circle: traveling the world with mom

YOUR TURN

This week's reflection: Who in your life is doing the quiet, steady work of showing up for others? When did you last tell them you see it?

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How to connect with Katie

Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.attunewellness.love/⁠⁠⁠

Say hi to Katie on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/_.kjo._/⁠⁠⁠

Leave a review on the Apple Podcast app or the Spotify app: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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WHAT IF STRENGTH WAS NEVER ABOUT HOW YOU LOOK?

I had been noticing Anna McGee in the lives of the women I work with for years. Through my work with bodies as a massage and yoga therapist, I keep seeing certain women who carry this steadiness, this quiet strength, and they all kept saying her name. So when I finally got to sit down with her here at Duluth Creative Company, just a block from her studio, it felt like a long time coming.

Anna has been in the fitness world for over 40 years. Born and raised in Duluth, she now runs a private studio with her daughter where she works almost exclusively with women over 45. And the way she talks about bodies and strength and what it actually means to take care of yourself? It stopped me in my tracks more than once.

KEY THEMES + TAKEAWAYS

Strength is about function, not appearance. Can you get up off the floor by yourself? Can you carry groceries, climb stairs, pick up your grandkids? That's what Anna trains for.

The basics work. A squat, a push-up, balance on one foot. She's been teaching the same fundamentals for decades and says the boring stuff is exactly what gets results.

Slow is the point. She lost 30 pounds over a year by doing almost nothing dramatic. That same philosophy guides everything she does with her clients.

Women talk to themselves in ways men just don't. She called it out plainly: women will say "I'm such an idiot" for eating a piece of cake. That self-talk is the thing she wants to shift more than any workout.

The four big rocks: hydration, sleep, movement, nutrition. Not easy, she says, but basic. And getting those right changes everything.

Discipline isn't motivation. It becomes identity. You won't want to go to your 8:15 Saturday class. You go anyway. And then one day, you're someone who lifts weights.

Plan your movement on your busiest day. Look at the week ahead every Sunday and put it in. If you wait for a free day, it won't happen.

OUR FAVORITE QUOTES

"Stay ready so you don't have to get ready."

"It just becomes your identity and what you do."

"I don't know what happened to my body. And they don't realize it's what's been going on for the last 20 years."

"The longest conversation of our life is with ourselves."

"Is that it? That's it. And it builds from there."

CHAPTER MARKERS

01:34 Anna's story: Duluth roots and a bro gym in the 80s

05:32 Teaching for 40 years and landing at the YMCA

07:40 Why the basics matter more than you think

18:26 On discipline, identity, and showing up when you don't want to

24:02 The four big rocks: hydration, sleep, nutrition, movement

33:28 Two hip replacements and still walking Chester Trail

41:42 How to find Anna and her free Sunday lives

YOUR TURN

This week's reflection: Where in your body do you feel the most steady? And where are you avoiding showing up because you're waiting to feel ready first?

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How to connect with Katie

Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.attunewellness.love/⁠⁠⁠

Say hi to Katie on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/_.kjo._/⁠⁠⁠

Leave a review on the Apple Podcast app or the Spotify app: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What If The Most Radical Thing You Could Do Is Trust Yourself?

I sat down with my dear friend Sam Nelson, hairstylist of almost twenty years and brand new author of Ten Things You May Need to Hear Today. We talked about the long road back to trusting your own body, your own knowing, and your own voice after a lifetime of being told you're wrong about your own experience.

Sam has been doing hair for nearly two decades, but what she really loves is the people. Over the past few years she has been on her own journey discovering she is ADHD, watching her husband and kids navigate their own neurodivergence, and learning what it means to come home to herself. That journey turned into a podcast, then a Substack, and now a book.

We talked about the moment everything clicked for her, what it took to get there, and how that kind of self trust ripples out into everyone around you. This conversation moves through imposter syndrome, epistemic injustice, peer support versus hierarchy, and what it actually looks like to sit with someone in their hardest moments without trying to fix it.

KEY THEMES AND TAKEAWAYS

From a young age we are taught to override our own signals by caregivers, teachers, and authority figures who can't tolerate our discomfort

Trusting yourself often starts with small unexplainable choices that, looking back, turn out to be exactly right

You don't need letters after your name to know what you've learned through living your life

Holding space for someone else's hard moment, without trying to stop it, gives them permission to actually feel it

Toxic positivity rarely helps anyone feel seen. Sometimes the most healing thing is simply saying "yeah, this sucks"

Epistemic injustice describes how some people's experiences get believed and others don't, and naming it can be powerful

Peer relationships, without a power dynamic, can sometimes reach people in ways professional relationships can't

Co-trusting means lending someone your belief in their own knowing until they can hold it themselves

Systems like capitalism and patriarchy benefit when we don't trust ourselves. Choosing self trust is its own quiet rebellion

OUR FAVORITE QUOTES

"The hardest thing I've ever learned to do is trust myself."

"I cannot be an expert in your internal experience, just like you can't be an expert in mine."

"Every time I do the thing that feels most aligned with myself, even if I have no logical explanation, it always is the right thing for me at that time."

"Let's stop lying about how we really are."

"Every time I trust myself more, that system loses a little bit of power and I get a little bit of my own power back."

CHAPTER MARKERS

00:00 Meet Sam Nelson, hairstylist and new author 

02:30 The ADHD discovery that changed everything 

06:00 The hardest lesson: learning to trust yourself 

07:30 How we're taught to override our own signals 

14:00 Sitting with someone else's hard moment without fixing it 

24:00 Epistemic injustice and not being believed 

33:00 Co-trusting and the ripple effect 

43:00 Trusting yourself as an act of rebellion

YOUR TURN

This week's reflection: where in your life are you still waiting for someone else to tell you what you already know to be true? What would it look like to trust that knowing, even just a little?

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How to connect with Katie

Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.attunewellness.love/⁠⁠⁠

Say hi to Katie on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/_.kjo._/⁠⁠⁠

Leave a review on the Apple Podcast app or the Spotify app: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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What if the medicine you needed was already growing in your front yard, and you just forgot it was there?

I first noticed Angela Krick across a busy restaurant floor at Famous Dave's when I was a teenager. She had this magnificent life energy.

Years later, we found each other in a yoga teacher training, sat next to each other in every meeting, laughed the loudest, and went deep fast. That's Angie. She's one of those rare people where the conversation skips the surface entirely and goes straight to the things that matter. 

Today she came to the studio with a jar of fresh-picked tea and a few flower essences, and we talked about plants, history, food as medicine, and what it means to actually live connected to the earth.

KEY THEMES + TAKEAWAYS

The body remembers plant medicine. A single sip of rosemary tea in a circle of strangers can be more instructive than ten books, because the learning lands in the body, not just the mind.

Herbs work with the body, not against it. The goal isn't to suppress symptoms but to support what the body is already trying to do, whether that's moving phlegm, clearing a fever, or drawing something out through the skin.

Yarrow, plantain, mullein, and boneset are four herbs worth knowing by name. Angela has used all of them in real, unglamorous moments, including a deep thumb cut, scabies, and a displaced rib, with results that stopped her in her tracks.

We didn't lose plant medicine by accident. The Flexner Report of the early 1900s systematically closed eclectic and herbal medical schools, and a domination-based culture that values extraction over relationship has been chipping away at this knowledge for centuries.

Dandelions aren't weeds. They're first-responders. Their deep taproots break up compacted soil, accumulate nutrients, and offer medicine for the liver and kidneys, especially in spring when the body is moving out of winter stagnation.

Food is the first medicine. Eating seasonally, sourcing locally, and actually preparing your own meals isn't a lifestyle trend. It's one of the most direct ways to feed your body what it needs before it ever gets to crisis.

We are children of this earth, and so are the herbs. Angela keeps coming back to this: the plants and the body are both nature. They know how to find each other.

FAVORITE QUOTES

"We want to assist the body in doing what it actually is trying to do, not suppress the symptom or make the pain go away so you're just not feeling it."

"People aren't herb deficient, but really we kind of are. We just need to actually nourish our body so that the systems and organs and pathways work well, and then we feel well."

"Folk medicine never dies. It's not dead. It's not gone. But we were severed from this connection."

"The herbs will work for you and they want to. You just need to treat them with respect."

"It's not just about what is that herb good for. That's not the holistic picture. Now everything matters."

CHAPTER MARKERS

00:00 Heart speak and how Angie and I found each other 

04:28 Growing up outside and arriving in Duluth 

09:29 Herb circles and learning through the body 

12:14 Fear, humility, and the early years of herbalism 

15:05 Real moments: yarrow, plantain, mullein, and boneset 

23:29 How and why we lost our connection to plant medicine 

31:16 Food as medicine and living cyclically 

38:34 Magic Mullen, flower essences, and how to find Angie

YOUR TURN

This week's reflection: Where in your life have you been reaching for a quick fix when what you actually need is to slow down and work with what's already there?

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How to connect with Katie

Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.attunewellness.love/⁠⁠⁠

Say hi to Katie on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/_.kjo._/⁠⁠⁠

Leave a review on the Apple Podcast app or the Spotify app: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What does it actually mean to be fully, unapologetically yourself? Not just in the safe moments, but in the chaotic ones, the heartbreaking ones, the ones where nobody's watching.

This week I'm sitting down with one of my oldest, most sacred friendships. Someone I met on a dance floor at a wedding over 20 years ago and never let go of. This conversation on self-expression is one I've been carrying around for a long time, waiting for the right moment to set it free.

Marko Hurst drove up from Saint Paul to sit with me in person at Duluth Creative Company, and I knew before we even hit record that this one was going somewhere real. Twenty-one years of showing up for each other, through loss, through adventures, through India and back. I've watched this man become more himself with every trip around the sun, and I wanted to know how he does it.

Marko is wildly creative, deeply intuitive, and one of those rare humans who has always known who he is, even when the world around him didn't quite have a container for it. Growing up queer in northern Minnesota, leaning into beauty, food, design, and words, he built a life that looks and feels like him from the inside out. This conversation is a love letter to that. And honestly, a bit of a love letter to us.

Key Themes + Takeaways

Your truest self is a practice, not a destination. Self-expression isn't something you arrive at once. It's something you flex and tend every day, like a muscle.

One promise a day. Keep one promise to yourself every day in service of who you are. Whether that's writing, moving your body, cooking a beautiful meal, or arranging the flowers just so, it all counts.

The morning ritual as an energetic anchor. Even after getting laid off, Marko kept his routine. Getting ready, showing up for himself. Not vanity. Energetic cleanliness.

Owning your full identity is the gateway to power. Once Marko fully stepped into his sexuality, everything opened up: his voice, his leadership, his creative output. The most vulnerable, expansive version of yourself is where your power lives.

Beauty hunting as a survival skill. Marko grew up alongside real grief and chaos. His response wasn't to harden. It was to seek beauty, actively, intentionally.

Reading the room without losing yourself. There's a difference between code-switching and self-betrayal. Knowing when to hold back isn't shame. It's wisdom.

Intuition is built, not just born. The more you trust that inner voice, the louder it gets.

Our Favorite Quotes

"In order to expand into what I want in this world, I have to live my truest, most authentic part of me." Marko Hurst

"I just remember at ten years old looking around and being like, I know what I can control. I can control my environment, how I show up, and how I look for the beauty." Marko Hurst

"You've always been you since the moment I met you when you were nine. You've never been anybody else than Marko." Katie

"When you can express your true self, you come home to a deeper level of yourself. That's where your power lives." Katie

"If that's the only thing I did that day, just get ready, I feel like I've accomplished something." Marko Hurst

Chapter Markers

00:20 The Welcome

01:34 The Wedding, the Loss, and the Soul Agreement

06:22 How Marko Became Marko

13:00 The Morning Ritual

18:28 When He Got Out of His Own Way

26:22 Beauty Hunting 29:00 Self-Expression in a Foreign Country

37:08 One Promise a Day

Your Turn

What is one small promise you've been putting off making to yourself? What would it look like to honor that today, not perfectly, just genuinely?

And a softer one to sit with: where are you turning the dial down on who you really are? Is it out of wisdom, or out of fear?

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How to connect with Katie

Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.attunewellness.love/⁠⁠⁠

Say hi to Katie on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/_.kjo._/⁠⁠⁠

Leave a review on the Apple Podcast app or the Spotify app: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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What if the most radical thing you could do right now is go back to the very basics?

We are living through a time unlike any other and I believe the way through it isn't to do more, push harder, or figure it all out. It's to breathe. To drink water. To show up. One day at a time.

Welcome back to Here We Are — and welcome to Season 3. I am so thrilled to be back, and I've been thinking a lot about what this season needed to be. After everything we've been moving through, individually, collectively, as a human family, the answer kept coming back to the same thing: basics.

As a massage therapist and yoga teacher, I see it every single day. People walk through my door feeling it in their bodies, in their bones — the weight of this unprecedented time. And the question I get asked more than any other is: how do I keep going? 

So this season, that's exactly what we're going to explore together. Back to basics. Staying the course. Through it all.

Key Themes + Takeaways

We are in a historically significant and deeply uncomfortable time and that calls for radical simplicity, not complexity.

Taking care of yourself first isn't selfish. It's how you show up for your community, your family, and the world.

Presence is a practice. Our minds want to run to the future or the past but coming back to right now, even when it's hard to look at, is where healing lives.

How we live one day is how we live our lives. The smallest choices, a glass of water, a breath, a walk outside — add up to everything.

The opposite of depression is expression. Knowing what makes you feel alive and putting that into the world matters more now than ever.

Grief is real and it's everywhere right now. Naming it, the loss of jobs, of ways of life, of an older world, is part of moving through it.

There is a lot of light. In people, in the youth, in communities. We just have to look for it.

Our Favorite Quotes

"Simple things can make the most profound impact."

"How we live one day is how we live our lives."

"The opposite of depression is expression."

"As soon as we can fill ourselves with health, wellness, delicious food, hydration — the common basics — once those are met, it is much easier to be a human."

"If you're alive at this time, you have it in you to carry forth."

Chapter Markers

0:22 — Welcome Back

0:45 — Why This Season Is About Going Back to Basics 

2:22 — What I Hear Every Day as a Massage Therapist 

4:04 — The Fast-Paced Mind and the Practice of Presence 

5:20 — The Capacity to Pivot as a Human Family 

7:16 — A Preview of Season 3 Guests and Topics 

21:14 — Boredom, Foundations, and the Art of Noticing

Your Turn

This week's reflection:

"What is one basic thing — a breath, a glass of water, a moment outside — that you can come back to today? And what does your body need you to notice right now?"

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How to connect with Katie

Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.attunewellness.love/⁠⁠⁠

Say hi to Katie on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/_.kjo._/⁠⁠⁠

Leave a review on the Apple Podcast app or the Spotify app: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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