This week on The Journey, Kevin is joined by Heather Hackman for an honest and heartfelt conversation about family, community, grief, and carrying love forward after loss. Heather shares about her life in the Rockford area, her upcoming wedding and event venue, and the importance of staying connected to the community. She also opens up about the significant losses her family has faced, including the pain of traumatic loss and suicide, and how those experiences have shaped the way she supports others.

Together, Kevin and Heather discuss the complicated questions that come with grief, the importance of remembering people for how they lived rather than how they died, and how memories, nature, faith, family, and community can help people keep moving through difficult seasons.

Diego shares his story of losing two of his friends to suicide. He is using his music to remember them and make a difference so that others will not have to go to a funeral. Being a Light in the

darkness.

This week on The Journey with Kevin Polky, Kevin sits down with Diego Rosas to talk about the parts of life that shaped him: wrestling, music, friendship, grief, and purpose.

Diego shares his background as a wrestler, his journey into music, and the story behind his current band. The conversation also moves into deeper territory as Diego reflects on the loss of friends Peyton and Ryan, the impact of suicide, and how music has become an outlet for grief, remembrance, and suicide prevention awareness.

Diego also shares details about an upcoming July 11th music event at The Vault, featuring local bands, a silent auction, and proceeds supporting Shatter Our Silence and suicide prevention efforts.

Movement in Nature | Nick returns to The Journey to share about the expanded services of Rockford Barbell. We had engaging conversation about what Barbell is doing to help combat the youth exposure to digital platforms. Enjoy!

Noelle shares about her 20 years of experience working as a school counselor and her transition into clinical counseling. She has a passion for helping young people, as well as supporting other counselors. She also shares exciting news about her first book coming out in July, an online resource for counselors, and an in-person conference taking place in October.

During this reflection, I reflect on the different teaching points from the month and include a new one regarding confidence. Most people think, I need confidence to do something new and scary before taking an action step. In reality, you need a desire to do the given act and need to action toward that act and then confidence will follow. Enjoy!

Madalyn shares her story of 10 years in the child services industry and how that led to her new business Reorganize and Renew. She has taken her passion for helping people into their homes to help them renew and organize their living space. Amazing energy and a great story!

It’s May and May is mental Health awareness month. During the reflection, I talk about difference between mental illness and mental health. Shared about how we can use this month as a reminder of what we can do for developing our own growth as well increase awareness for others.

During this reflection, I share about utilizing the techniques that I teach to clients on grounding, journaling, movement, reframing to move from fear mode to growth mode and external locus of control to internal. Enjoy!

In this episode of The Journey, I share a simple moment from Fort Myers Beach that turned into a powerful reminder about growth, change, and the opportunities we miss when we keep our hands full of the past. As I watched a young boy struggle to grab a starfish because he was already holding shells, I could not help but reflect on how often we do the same thing in life. We hold onto what is familiar, even when something greater is right in front of us.

This conversation is about learning to let go so we can truly move forward. I talk about the awareness, intention, and courage it takes to release what no longer serves us, make space for new possibilities, and stop standing on the sidelines admiring what could be. The journey requires risk, but that climb is what shapes us into who we are meant to become.

During this reflection, I continue the conversation about the importance of developing a morning and evening routine. I suggest about being intentional of utilizing activities to develop physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Enjoy!