On the Table with Ashley

In this episode of our series exploring success, Ashley is joined by Dr. Jordan Grumet, hospice medical director, author of Taking Stock and The Purpose Code, and host of the Earn & Invest podcast.

Jordan was seven years old when his father, a physician, died suddenly of a brain aneurysm. Believing he was somehow responsible, Jordan set out to become a doctor himself, hoping it would make things right. Years later, burned out and unfulfilled, he discovered financial independence and began practicing what he calls “the art of subtraction,” slowly letting go of the work that drained him until only hospice care remained. It was there, at the bedsides of his dying patients, that he found the answers his financial heroes couldn’t give him: what money is really for, and what makes a life well lived.

Ashley and Jordan discuss the difference between meaning and purpose, why so many of us try to “purpose our way to enough,” the trap of “once I have” thinking, and why money is just one of many tools for building a life you love. Jordan shares what hospice has taught him about regret, why we tend to die the way we live, and how decades of Harvard research point to one surprising key to happiness: other people. He closes with an unforgettable story about how his great-grandfather’s simple love of math rippled across generations to save a life.

Like many conversations On the Table with Ashley holds around death and dying, this episode ultimately becomes a conversation about life.

Learn more about Dr. Jordan Grumet.

Subscribe to Jordan’s Substack.

Follow Jordan on Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.

Join the Earn & Invest Facebook group.

Listen to the Earn & Invest podcast.

Pre-order The Happiness Code by Dr. Jordan Grumet.

Read The Purpose Code by Dr. Jordan Grumet.

Read Taking Stock: A Hospice Doctor’s Advice on Financial Independence, Building Wealth, and Living a Regret-Free Life by Dr. Jordan Grumet.

Read The White Coat Investor by Dr. Jim Dahle.

Read The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins.

Read From Strength to Strength by Arthur C. Brooks.

Learn more about the Harvard Study of Adult Development.

Read Siddhartha and Demian by Hermann Hesse.

Read Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series.

Watch Citizen Kane.

Follow On the Table with Ashley on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Table with Ashley is presented by Âme Atendre, a luxury home goods and tableware brand with a mission to connect people to all that matters. If you have ideas for new episodes or guests, or just want to share feedback, email us at [email protected].

Creativity, Courage, and a Successful Life are on the table today!

On the first episode of our How to Live a Successful Life series, Ashley sits down with William J. Kranstover. Bill is a Park City-based painter and sculptor whose colorful, expressive work captures Western landscapes and local landmarks. His unexpected public sculptures earned him the nickname “Phantom Sculptor.”

Bill joins us to share his journey through teaching, entrepreneurship, real estate, and art, and how each chapter shaped his understanding of success. He opens up about balancing the practical demands of raising a family with his creative pursuits, finding the courage to paint what he loves, and embracing the vulnerability that comes with putting his work into the world.

Together, Ashley and Bill explore how our definition of success evolves, why curiosity and playfulness matter, and the value of pausing to ask whether we’re living the life we want. From teaching art in a correctional setting to creating alongside his daughters, Bill reflects on the satisfaction and connection that creativity can bring.

Explore Bill’s work.

Visit Bill’s studio and gallery in the historic mercantile building in Peoa, Utah.

Read The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green.

Read Western short stories by Elmore Leonard.

Follow On the Table with Ashley on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Table with Ashley is presented by Âme Atendre, a luxury home goods and tableware brand with a mission to connect people to all that matters.

We’re revisiting our conversation with Susan Turnbull, originally released as part of our Death + Dying series, to explore the stories, values, and life lessons we want to share with those we love.

Susan is the founder and Principal of Personal Legacy Advisors and the author of The Wealth of Your Life: A Step-by-Step Guide for Creating Your Ethical Will. Her work helps people put their experiences, hopes, and personal wisdom into words that can connect generations.

In this conversation, Susan and Ashley explore ethical wills: personal legacy documents that communicate the emotional, spiritual, and ethical values we wish to pass on. They discuss how to begin reflecting on our own legacies, the fears and discomfort that can accompany conversations about death, and how this process can deepen our relationships while we’re here.

Whether you’re hearing this episode for the first time or returning to it, we hope it offers a starting point for meaningful conversations—and encouragement to share the things that too often go unsaid.

Connect with Susan and explore the resources mentioned:

• Personal Legacy Advisors
• Susan on LinkedIn
• The Wealth of Your Life: A Step-by-Step Guide for Creating Your Ethical Will by Susan Turnbull
• A Beginner’s Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death by B.J. Miller and Shoshana Berger
• The Four Things That Matter Most by Ira Byock
• For You When I Am Gone: Twelve Essential Questions to Tell a Life Story by Steve Leder

Follow On the Table with Ashley on Instagram @onthetablewithashley.

On the Table with Ashley is presented by Âme Atendre, a luxury home goods and tableware brand with a mission to connect people to all that matters.

We have journalism, technology and life as a woman in the executive world on the table today.  This is a palette cleanser and re-release of our episode with Anne Kornblut. Anne is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who is currently the Vice President of Global Product Content Operations at Meta, FKA Facebook.  Anne previously served as a Senior Editor at The Washington Post where she oversaw national politics, national security, and health, science  + environmental coverage.  In 2013, she was the lead editor overseeing coverage of Edward Snowden's NSA revelations, which won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. She joins Ashley to talk about her career, from the newsroom to working as an executive at Meta, integrity within the news and media and the varied intersecting areas of her life. 

You can connect with Anne on Linkedin.

Links to topics mentioned by Ashley and Anne in today’s episode: 

• Substack, an online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription newsletters.
• Jessica Yellin on Instagram

Link to the small and large Crystal Bowls, Wooden Serving Spoons and Cocktail Napkins gifted to Anne and offered by Âme Atendre. 

Follow On the Table with Ashley on Instagram @onthetablewithashley

On the Table with Ashley is presented by Âme Atendre, a luxury home goods and tableware brand with a mission to connect people to all that matters.

Rehabilitation through Food is on the table today! 

On the final episode of our Food and Connection series, Ashley sits down with Chef Bruno Abate. Bruno is an Italian chef, restaurateur, and founder of Recipe for Change, a nonprofit organization that uses culinary education to support rehabilitation and create new opportunities for people who are incarcerated.

Bruno joins us to share the story behind Recipe for Change and the personal experience that inspired him to begin working with incarcerated youth. He opens up about the work he does inside the jail, where participants learn professional cooking skills, earn food safety certifications, work together in a kitchen, and prepare meals and pizzas. 

Together, Ashley and Bruno explore what it means to truly rehabilitate rather than simply punish, and how something as simple as treating our incarcerated population with dignity, and equipping them with a chef's toolkit can change lives. 

Learn more about Recipe for Change. 

Follow Recipe for Change on Instagram.

Donate to Recipe for Change.  

Read Dostoyevsky. 

Follow On the Table with Ashley on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Table with Ashley is presented by Âme Atendre, a luxury home goods and tableware brand with a mission to connect people to all that matters.

Diasporic Connection is on the table today

On the 8th episode of our On the Table with Ashley series, we are joined by Thurka Sangaramoorty. Thurka Sangaramoorthy is a cultural and medical anthropologist and public health researcher with 22 years of experience conducting research among vulnerable populations in the United States, Africa, and Latin America. Dr.Sangaramoorthy is a professor and chair of The Department of Anthropology at American University. Thurka is the author of the books, Treating AIDS, Rapid Ethnographic Assessments, and Landscapes of Care. 

Thurka joins us to share the story of her family, who fled the Sri Lankan Civil War in the 1970s and sought asylum in the United States, exploring how food became a way to remain connected to their roots, their homeland, and one another.

Dr.Sangaramoorthy opens up about researching her own family and discovering how food allows traditions to be preserved and transformed, while also shaping gender and familial roles and protecting a sense of connection to home.

Together, Ashley and Thurka explore how the food we make and share can carry stories of migration, identity, belonging, and resilience, and how, sometimes, a recipe can hold an entire family history.

Learn more about the work of Thurka Sangaramoorthy. 

Read Food as Care: Stories of Forced Displacement and Connection

by Thurka Sangaramoorthy. 

Research The Public Ethnogrophy Lab.

Read Crying in HMart by Michelle Zauner.

Follow On the Table with Ashley on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Table with Ashley is presented by Âme Atendre, a luxury home goods and tableware brand with a mission to connect people to all that matters.

Culinary trends and dining connections are on the table today

For the seventh episode of our food and connection series, we are joined by Alphonse Griger. Alphonse Griger is a chef and culinary innovator whose career has spanned restaurant kitchens, culinary research, and food and beverage development. He studied at Johnson & Wales University, graduating in 2019, and has worked in Chicago’s culinary industry as a line cook, research and development chef, and sous chef. He is part of the team behind Chicago’s Class Act and Nightcap, an immersive fine-dining and cocktail experience.

Alphonse joins us to explore what it means to be a Research and Development chef, revealing how the addition of just one simple ingredient can transform a dish, captivate audiences, and even help kickstart new culinary trends. He also takes us inside the world of Class Act and Nightcap, discussing how the experience came to be and what it has taught him about hospitality, food, and human connection. 

What results is a deeper understanding of what it means to break bread with strangers and loved ones alike, revealing how food can unite across families, cities and countries.

Listen to the full episode, out now on your favorite podcast platform. 

Check out Class Act and Nightcap in Chicago.

Follow Alphonse on Instagram.

Read The Pumpkin Plan: A Simple Strategy to Grow a Remarkable Business in Any Field by Mike Michalowicz.

Follow On the Table with Ashley on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Table with Ashley is presented by Âme Atendre, a luxury home goods and tableware brand with a mission to connect people to all that matters.

Growing your own food is on the table today!

On the sixth episode of On the Table with Ashley, we are joined by Anton Van Schaik, a Pitzer College graduate with a degree in Food and Agricultural Studies. For the past three years, Anton has worked with the CalFresh Healthy Living Program as an Urban Gardener and Educator, planting community gardens at schools, teaching students how to grow their own food, and leading free nutrition education classes in low-income communities.

Anton joins Ashley to discuss the gardens he's built alongside students, the often-overlooked labor behind the food we eat, and how growing our own food can deepen our connection to the land, our communities, and each other.

The result is a conversation that reminds us to slow down and savor every bite, because within every bite is a story of people, place, and care.

Listen to the full episode, out now, on your favorite podcast platform.

Learn more about CalFresh Healthy living here.

Read The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden here.

Read Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi.

Read Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi.

Read Martyr by Kaveh Akbar.

Follow On the Table with Ashley on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Table with Ashley is presented by Âme Atendre, a luxury home goods and tableware brand with a mission to connect people to all that matters.

Pay What You Can is on the table today!

On the fifth episode of our Food & Connection series, we're joined by Kirsten Levitt, Executive Director and Executive Chef of Stone Soup Cafe. Stone Soup Cafe is a nonprofit, pay-what-you-can community café in Greenfield, Massachusetts, dedicated to bringing people together through healthy, nourishing meals. Its mission is simple yet transformative: to ensure everyone has access to a meal regardless of their ability to pay, while fostering dignity, belonging, and food security within the community.

Kirsten joins Ashley to share the mission and vision behind Stone Soup Cafe, exploring how its founders grounded the organization in the principles of Socially Engaged Buddhism. She discusses the community they've cultivated, the philosophy behind the café's mutual aid model, the impact of its solidarity workshops, and her vision for expanding this nonprofit. 

The result is a conversation that reminds us of the extraordinary power of a shared meal, and how something as simple as gathering around a table can help change the world. Throughout this series, we've explored how food can strengthen family bonds, connect complete strangers, and now, serve as a powerful tool in addressing food insecurity and building more resilient communities.

Listen to the full episode, out now on your favorite podcast platform.

Learn more about Stone Soup Cafe.

Read about The History of Stone Soup Cafe.

Read Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next) by Dean Spade.

Read Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss.

Read McElligot's Pool by Dr.Seuss.

Read The Clan of the Cave Bear: Earth's Children, Book One by Jean M. Auel.

Follow On the Table with Ashley on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Table with Ashley is presented by Âme Atendre, a luxury home goods and tableware brand with a mission to connect people to all that matters.

Dinner parties are on the table!

On the third episode of our Food & Connection series, we are joined by Katy Syme.

After spending more than 13 years working in fashion, Katy traveled extensively and explored countless cuisines, deepening her love of food, hospitality, and bringing people together. In 2023, she founded Symeski Made Dinner, a supper club created to connect strangers over family-style meals and meaningful conversation. Since then, she has welcomed more than 100 guests and expanded her events to include private dinners, large gatherings, and community experiences. 

In this episode, Katy and Ashley explore the beauty of finding connection among strangers. They discuss the inspiration behind her supper club, why food has long served as a centerpiece for community, and the meaningful relationships that can emerge when we choose to put ourselves out there, whether by sharing a home-cooked meal with strangers or gathering intentionally with friends.

Listen to the full episode, now streaming on your favorite podcast platform.

Read On Earth Were Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Listen to Ghost of a Podcast

Read Mary Oliver’s Poetry

Learn more about Katy’s Supper Clubs

Follow On the Table with Ashley on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Table with Ashley is presented by Âme Atendre, a luxury home goods and tableware brand with a mission to connect people to all that matters.