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Ezra Vancil joins us for a powerful conversation about rebuilding your life after addiction, divorce, and years of chasing the wrong version of success.

We talk about addiction and sobriety, faith, family, music, marriage, vulnerability, and what it really means to start over. From discovering songwriting through gospel music to creating Morning and Midnight, Ezra shares how prayer, storytelling, and music became part of his restoration journey.

✨ It’s never too late to begin again.

✨ Success can look different than we once imagined.

✨ The path matters just as much as the destination.

Make sure you tune in next season for another exciting episode of Koffee Chit Chat! ☕🎙️

#KoffeeChitChat #EzraVancil #StartingOver #NewBeginnings #Restoration #FaithJourney #AddictionRecovery #SobrietyJourney #HealingJourney #PersonalGrowth #PurposeDriven #ChristianPodcast #FaithAndFamily #MusicAndHealing #RealConversations #LifeAfterAddiction #NeverTooLate #RedefiningSuccess #PodcastLife #NextSeason

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Burnout has a way of hiding behind achievement. You can be the dependable one, the high performer, the person everyone counts on and still find yourself crying before meetings, second-guessing every choice, and running on pure adrenaline. We sit down with , Jasmyn Quianna, former oncology clinical research leader and founder of the Absolute Self-Love Movement, to name what’s really happening when “being strong” starts to feel like a trap.

We dig into Jasmyn's core idea: many high-achieving women don’t actually have a burnout problem as much as a self-trust problem. When you don’t trust yourself to choose yourself, you overwork, overthink, and overcarry. We talk perfectionism, people pleasing, and the pressure of always having it together, plus why delegating can feel scary when your identity is tied to being reliable.  Jasmyn also breaks down what self-love looks like beyond the trendy version. Think honesty, boundaries, self-respect, and celebrating yourself without guilt.

You’ll also hear a practical way to tell fear vs intuition by noticing what feels expansive and rooted in love versus what feels constricting and survival-based. If you’ve been stuck in analysis paralysis, Jasmyn shares a simple, doable reset: name what you want most right now, then take the tiniest next step you can do immediately, even if it’s just five minutes of quiet to breathe.

If this conversation hits home, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s always “the strong one,” and leave us a review with your biggest takeaway. What’s one boundary you’re ready to set this week?

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A black trash bag should never be the first “welcome” a child gets from the foster care system, but for hundreds of thousands of foster youth, it’s exactly how life shows up at the curb. We sit down with Rob Scheer, author of A Forever Family and founder of Comfort Cases, to talk about the moment he realized a simple backpack could interrupt shame and replace it with dignity.

Rob shares his journey from foster care and homelessness to becoming a husband and dad of five adopted kids, and how parenting helped him heal in real time. We get honest about the things people miss when they talk about adoption and child welfare: the trauma kids carry, the basic needs that go unmet, and the power of showing up with something clean, new, and truly theirs. One story in particular, two sisters sharing a toothbrush, makes the mission behind Comfort Cases impossible to ignore.

We also talk about transracial adoption, representation, and why “I don’t see color” can do real harm when your kids are treated differently in public. Rob breaks down what it looks like to raise children with pride and protection, while pushing for foster care reform that goes beyond donations, including policy change to ban trash bags and properly fund essentials.

If you care about foster care, adoption, trauma-informed support, or nonprofit advocacy, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people hear what dignity looks like in action.

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🎙️ 40 medications a day. Weeks in the hospital. And still, a mindset built around passion, purpose, and forward motion.

That's what makes our conversation with Nicholas Kelly stick.

He's a registered dietitian living with cystic fibrosis, bringing both professional expertise and lived experience to what it really takes to move from surviving to thriving with a chronic illness.

In this episode:

🔹 What CF actually is: the thick mucus, lung damage over time, and ripple effects on the GI system, mental health, sexual health & more
🔹 How a major surgery forced Nicholas into a long recovery, and why "not looking sick" is its own battle with invisible illness
🔹 The misconceptions around "noncompliance," and why struggling often means under-supported, not uncommitted
🔹 His daily medication routine for staying consistent with a heavy treatment load
🔹 The nutrition line worth replaying: "nutrition is a science, food is an opinion"
🔹 Why there's no such thing as a cheat day, and how to build balance without shame

If you're navigating cystic fibrosis, supporting someone with chronic illness, or just building better habits with a clearer mindset, this one will leave you with a stronger framework and a lot more hope. 💛

🎧 Listen now, link in bio
💬 Share this with someone who needs it, and tell us in the comments: what does "thriving" mean to you?

📍 Follow Nicholas: NicholasKellyRD.com
📱 IG/socials: @NicholasKellyRD
✉️ Email: [email protected]

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•  “That’s it for today’s brew of inspiration on Koffee Chitchat. Take what filled your cup today and pour it into someone else’s life.”

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We sit down with tequila educator, Katie O’Donnell to unpack what “good tequila” really means, from agave fields in Jalisco to the cocktails we order without thinking twice. We talk craft versus mass production, why additive-free tequila is a transparency issue, and how to start tasting tequila without repeating your worst “gold tequila” memory.
• Katie’s path from theater and improv to bartending and tequila education 
• What makes craft tequila different, including more hand touches and fewer shortcuts 
• The real meaning of tequila vs 100% agave tequila 
• Why additive-free tequila is trending, including how the 1% allowance can change flavor 
• How agave maturity, harvest decisions, and Highlands vs Lowlands soils affect taste 
• Tromba’s sustainability work, including agave fiber products and the agave rewilding project 
• The biggest misconception about tequila and why “dangerous” is often misinformation 
• Beginner-friendly ways to explore, including margaritas, aged tequila, and tastings with food pairings 

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•  “That’s it for today’s brew of inspiration on Koffee Chitchat. Take what filled your cup today and pour it into someone else’s life.”

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Season 14 kicks off with a conversation that gets to the root of why we stay stuck even when we're trying hard not to be.

In this episode, we sit down with Tim Shurr to unpack why stress, self-sabotage, and anxiety usually aren't a discipline problem they're a belief problem. Tim walks us through his One Belief Away method, and why lasting change happens when you find and replace the root belief driving your behavior, not when you just white-knuckle your way through it with more effort.

We get into how "big T" and "little T" traumas both shape the meaning we assign to events as kids and how those childhood interpretations quietly run the show well into adulthood. Tim breaks down common self-sabotage loops and teaches us how to become a "belief hunter," tracking a stuck emotion back to the very first time we felt it.

We also talk about the difference between fear-based beliefs and faith-based beliefs, and what it actually looks like to shift from playing not to lose into playing to win. Tim explains why affirmations often fail not because they don't work, but because they're aimed at the wrong target and introduces the idea of "achiever syndrome," where outward success keeps piling up while inner peace never shows up to match it.

Finally, we cover the practical difference between power questions and lousy questions, and how your focus works like a GPS: point it at the wrong destination, and it'll faithfully take you there every time.

If you've ever felt like you're doing "all the right things" but still can't shake the pressure, this episode is for you.

Enjoyed this one? Share it with someone who needs to hear it, and if you have a minute, we'd love a 5-star rating and review  it genuinely helps more people find the show.

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•  “That’s it for today’s brew of inspiration on Koffee Chitchat. Take what filled your cup today and pour it into someone else’s life.”

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We sit down with Nashville country singer-songwriter Sarah Harrelson to talk about how real life turns into lyrics that feel raw, honest, and true. She shares the childhood roots behind her storytelling, the lessons she learns after moving to Nashville, and why music can help people through the hardest days.
• writing songs at age 10 as an emotional outlet after her parents split 
• the story behind House Divided and growing up between two worlds 
• how her grandfather’s bluegrass influence shapes her country storytelling 
• the “I’m really in Nashville” moments 
• why friends come to her for honest advice and how that honesty shows up in her songs 
• how co-writers work and when she decides to keep a song for herself 
• what her podcast Take A Walk Nashville and her book Turtle Tears add to her creative life 
• performing for hospital patients and choosing songs that lift the room 
• teasing new music including "It Can’t Rain All The Time"' out by April 3 

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•  “That’s it for today’s brew of inspiration on Koffee Chitchat. Take what filled your cup today and pour it into someone else’s life.”

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A lot of people are carrying pain quietly, and it shows up as stress, shutdown, or a harsh story we keep telling ourselves. We’re joined by Sharon Jones, a licensed marriage and family therapist with decades of experience, to talk about what it looks like to choose healing on purpose and to stop feeding the chaos. Sharon shares why she created new children’s books and journals through Alabaster Moments Consultant LLC, and how her work is rooted in resilience, self-awareness, and compassion. 

We start with the heart behind her children’s book, Tunu And The Buckets Of Strength, inspired by the late-in-life story her father finally shared before his passing. That story opens a bigger conversation about helping children talk about feelings early, building healthy coping skills, and reminding both kids and adults that strength can still be present in the middle of loss. Sharon explains how emotions need a safe outlet, how “anything shut down will begin to explode,” and why giving a child a voice can change a home and a classroom. 

Then we shift into practical tools: guided journaling for healing, reflective prompts for teens and adults, and the idea that lived experience can be “medicine.” Sharon also introduces a powerful reframe: remembering life is a ceremony. From small celebrations to intentional rituals, she explains how ceremonies can support the mind, body, and spirit, and help us reset when life feels heavy. We wrap with what she’s creating next, including inspirational card sets, more journals, translation plans, and a new poetry project. 

Subscribe for more Koffee Chit Chat, share this with someone who needs a gentler path to healing, and leave a review if the conversation helps. What’s one prompt or ceremony you want to try this week?

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You can hear the difference between someone who can sing and someone who carries a message, and La'Kendria Ujah makes that difference plain. We talk with the Louisiana-born, Houston-based gospel artist about how Southern culture shapes the passion in her sound, and how she learned early that worship is never a one-person show. From joining the praise team at age 8 to seeing what worship can unlock in a room, she shares why leading praise comes with responsibility, not a spotlight.

La'Kendria also opens up about the craft behind the calling. Directing a children’s choir trained her ear for soprano, alto, and tenor, and that skill set spilled straight into songwriting. Her process is deeply spiritual and surprisingly routine: melodies appear while cooking, praying, or getting ready for bed. If you’ve ever wondered how gospel songwriting works when it’s truly Holy Spirit-inspired, her answers are both practical and encouraging.

Then we shift to her newest release, “Revival,” and what that word means beyond a trend. La'Kendria describes revival as God reclaiming lost territory, people reconciling to Christ, and believers being reignited to reach the lost. She gets personal about “getting roots” with God, the role of prayer, fasting, and consecration, and why worship transmits more than sound. If you’re feeling spiritually dry, her advice brings you back to Scripture, grace, and the power of the right community.

Listen now, stream “Revival” on your favorite platform, then subscribe, share the episode, and leave us a review with your biggest takeaway.

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•  “That’s it for today’s brew of inspiration on Koffee Chitchat. Take what filled your cup today and pour it into someone else’s life.”

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A love story sparked a rethink of an entire category. When Ken MacKenzie  followed a friend to Guadalajara, he discovered tequila as a culinary spirit, nuanced, complex, and nothing like the neon shots many of us remember. That revelation set him on a path through brand building and, ultimately, to Fresh Victor, a cold-pressed mixer company designed to make great drinks fast without sacrificing craft.

We dig into why the mix, two-thirds of the glass-deserves the same respect as the spirit. Ken explains how cold-pressing preserves brightness, aromatics, and texture, and why refrigeration is worth the logistics to deliver consistent, bar-quality results at home or in busy service. From jalapeño lime to cactus pear with pomegranate, and pineapple ginger to the foundational Mexican lime with agave, he shares how each flavor becomes a platform: add tequila, rum, mezcal, gin, bubbles, or simply top with sparkling water for an elevated zero-proof serve. We even talk kitchen crossovers, using these blends as marinades and dressings that bring citrus and spice to weekday cooking.

Along the way, we explore the lasting shift toward low-ABV and spirit-free options, not as a fad but as an expansion of choice that lets everyone feel included. Ken opens up about entrepreneurship in CPG: why perseverance beats glamour, how to define two or three real points of difference, and what it takes to stay “all in” when the highs and lows hit hard. If you care about better flavor, smarter hosting, and drinks that match the quality of your food, this conversation will change how you stock your fridge and plan your next gathering.

Enjoy the episode? Follow, share with a friend, and leave a quick review to help more curious drinkers find us.

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•  “That’s it for today’s brew of inspiration on Koffee Chitchat. Take what filled your cup today and pour it into someone else’s life.”