Hosts Sophia and Adoley interview Twiggy Damy, a care manager in the Bay Area, about her immigration journey from Acapulco, Mexico to California in 1991. 

Twiggy recounts losing her father at age five, being raised largely by her paternal grandmother, and her mother’s repeated moves to the U.S. that left Twiggy longing for reunification and struggling with suppressed grief. A full year after she had packed a suitcase for America, Twiggy finally reunited with her mother and stepfather in San Francisco’s Mission District, adjusting to small apartments, public transit, limited holiday traditions, and not speaking English.  Twiggy unexpectedly found belonging through community theater for high-risk youth, which shaped her path into family- and community-based support work and deepened pride in her multicultural roots.

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In this episode of “My First Year With My Dog,” Sophia and Samira interview Brian Berger, who shares his story of adopting a rescue dog with his wife, Amy, after years of wanting a dog. They initially sought a small dog but connected with a quiet blonde pit bull (later named Christie “Brinkley”) at a Brooklyn rescue. Brian describes bringing Brinkley home and early adjustments in a Brooklyn apartment, including crate training, consistent positive-reinforcement training, and milestones like learning stairs. He reflects on how Brinkley provided companionship, patience, emotional support during stressful finance work, strengthened relationships and community connections. A year after Brinkley’s death, Brian discusses grief, therapy, and complicated feelings about adopting again.

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In today’s episode, co-hosts Sophia and Rosabelle speak with Dagny, a Los Angeles–based singer-songwriter and NYU Gallatin graduate who created her own college major (“Language Curation and Ethics”). Dagny recounts growing up homeschooled in Connecticut, adjusting to public high school, and graduating in 2020 as COVID ended senior milestones. She chose NYU largely for the excitement of New York during the pandemic and moved into Brittany Hall as an athlete with online classes. Early freshman year she felt isolated, explored her sexuality through a crush on a teammate that ended painfully, and fell into depression, using journaling, songwriting, running, friends, family to cope. A supportive friend group and an influential professor helped her regain confidence, confront imposter syndrome, and reflect on slowing down, self-acceptance, and pursuing music and a grounded life.

Be sure to check out other episodes in the My First Year series, wherever you get your podcasts.

🌐Follow the series wherever you listen to podcasts and join our growing community at sophiamedia.co.

▶️ www.youtube.com/@MyFirstYearSeries

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Email [email protected] and share your own transformative first year with us.

Concert musician, food book author and Asian philosophy, Qi-Gong and Chinese medicine teacher Andrew Sterman recounts how he decided to have children with his wife Anne, a master acupuncturist, marked by a ceremony inviting “universal creative forces.” He describes two successful home births in 2004 and 2007 with midwife and doula, using acupuncture during labor, and the mystical intensity of birth. Sterman emphasizes dads focusing on postpartum recovery, being responsive, avoiding toxic masculinity, and meeting children as distinct personalities from birth, following the child’s lead, limiting overstimulating toys, and finding the first year primarily joyous despite fatigue, co-sleeping challenges, jaundice, and work-life tradeoffs.

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▶️ www.youtube.com/@MyFirstYearSeries

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Sophia introduces “My First Year: The Anthology” and kicks off with an episode from the upcoming podcast “My First Year as a Mother.” The series is co-hosted by Sophia and new mom, Casey Georgi. For this episode, we learn more about Casey’s story. Casey describes pursuing IVF to avoid passing on her husband’s rare genetic brittle bone disease, osteogenesis imperfecta. She shares reluctance about invasive IVF procedures, her unexpectedly calm pregnancy, and a difficult birth after developing cholestasis that led to a three-day induction, and ultimately, a C-section. Casey discusses her physical recovery, breastfeeding journey, and the emotional toll of an exhausting feeding schedule, including the isolation she experienced. She also explores deeper tensions: career-identity struggles, her complicated relationship with her own mother, and shifts in intimacy with her husband, all while becoming more mindful and grateful as Violet grows.

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▶️ www.youtube.com/@MyFirstYearSeries

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From Sophia Media comes a new podcast series exploring the moments that shape us. 

My First Year is a collection of deeply personal conversations with people from all walks of life, reflecting on the experiences that transformed them—moments of courage, uncertainty, loss, love, reinvention, and discovery.

Our guests revisit some of the most meaningful chapters of their lives and explore questions like:

• How did this experience shape you?
• What did it teach you about life, love, and yourself?
• Did it change the path you were on?
• Did it bring you closer to who you truly are?

Because sometimes a single year can change everything.

Listen to the first show in the series, My First Year: The Anthology, beginning July 3rd, wherever you listen to podcasts.

And join our growing community at sophiamedia.co.

My First Year. Real stories. Lasting transformation.

🌐Follow the series wherever you listen to podcasts and join our growing community at sophiamedia.co.

▶️ www.youtube.com/@MyFirstYearSeries

❤️ Subscribe for more conversations about life's biggest transitions.

Email [email protected] and share your own transformative first year with us.