PerfectWhelm with Eric Slivoskey: The Podcast That Helps Enhance Your Life

First, A Little Bit More About Ben & Jonna:

Benjamin Jones - 

Retired 6 year professional football player. RB / QB

Founder and creator of the LionFactory, personal development company

World Traveling Adventurer.

Travelled all over the world with his family, 40 + countries, lived in 6 different countries

Early crypto adaptor, bought his first bitcoin at $200 

Husband, father, leader of men, follower of Christ

Jonna Jones- 

Originally from Finland

Mother of 3

Ex-model, co-ran a modeling agency in Europe

Director of operations for the Jones family aka Chaos Coordinator 

Travel fanatic

Follower of Christ  

"It's not one more day it's one less. Go be someone"

 What You Can Find Inside This Episode:

- How 2 people from opposite ends of the globe and very different upbringings crossed paths in Finland and joined together to begin building a beautiful life

- A Discussion on Personal Values like Curiosity, Courage, Variety, Adventure, and Appreciation for our partners and the ways those behaviors produce goodness and abundance in our lives

- We talk about the impact of travel and how seeing and experiencing the world both impacts our lives and influences our behaviors and world view 

- We chat about how Ben and Jonna view “growth and giving” as northstars and the transformation that occurs when we seek to create and contribute 

- Towards the end of the conversation, we begin to get into the 1 year trip that Ben & Jonna took a few years ago with their 3 young children. This around the globe adventure was primarily focused on visiting Asia and exploring different places that involved both elements of risk and reward

- A general theme of this first episode can best be summed up with a quote that Jonna shared during this interview.   “Travel is the only thing that you can buy that can make you richer.”

PerfectWhelm Podcast Links & Resources:

 Schedule a free discovery call with me to learn more about my coaching programs and services.

 Email: [email protected]

 -I hope you will follow, subscribe, rate, and/or share the podcast with someone you think might benefit from it.

A Little Bit More About Today’s Guest:

Dr. Julie Merriman is a PhD, licensed counselor, professor, author, and nationally recognized nervous system expert- In fact her work is grounded in a nervous system first framework

• Julie has 30+ years of experience helping high-achieving women move out of burnout, emotional exhaustion, and disconnection
• Creator of The Radiance MethodM, a neuro-somatic framework for reclaiming energy, desire, and aliveness
• Specializes in women over 50 who feel depleted, numb, or disconnected from their bodies and relationships
•  Author of In Pursuit of Soul Joy and Are We Gonna Have Sex or What? Which was released recently in the spring of 2026
• Julie serves as the host of 2 podcasts where she goes deeper into conversations about the clinical frameworks and issues related to her mission
• Host of Compassion Fatigue Cure: From Burnout to Radiance for Women Healers 50+
•  Host of Sexy After 50: Improve Sex and Intimacy by Healing Your Nervous System
• Known for her core message: You are not broken, you are operating past capacity. And, Welcome to your Homecoming!

Julie offers a variety of programs including: 

• 7-Day Radiance IntensiveTM - 
• Which is A 7-Day Somatic
   Intervention for the Woman Who is the "Strong One" for Everyone Else and is Secretly Drowning in the Silence.
•   Somatic Signature Quiz - Freebie
•   Reignite Your Fire & Desire - Freebie
•   And as I previously mentioned her Books:
•   In Pursuit of Soul Joy
•   Are We Gonna Have Sex or What? (available now)

What’s Inside This Episode:

• I chat with author, professor, podcaster, counselor, speaker, and coach about an array of topics centered on women’s emotional and mental health including burnout, compassion fatigue, and how to begin to understand the signs and devastating impacts of a depleted nervous system. There is hope, and we also talk about somatic and cognitive approaches where healing and restoration can begin to take place. 
• Specifically, we chat about how so many women are deeply committed to caring for others and how that devotion can often start to turn into nervous system depletion or burnout.
• We discuss how women can begin to lose access to themselves, what that actually look like in day-to-day life, and how can someone recognize it early.
• Julie shares about the concept of compassion fatigue as well as how  chronic burnout or nervous system dysregulation can impact intimacy and relationships, especially for women in long-term partnerships.
• She shares about how women take on the role of “the helper” or “the one who holds everything together.” and touches on how women can begin to untangle who they are beyond that role.
• We get into some of the common misconceptions about self-care that might actually be keeping women stuck in cycles of depletion.
• Julie talks about body-based tools and how they are such an important component for fostering restoration and why working with the body is so essential compared to just talking through stress or burnout.
• We chat about what it can start to look like when women begin reconnecting with their bodies and reclaiming their energy, and the changes that can occur like more clarity in their sense of purpose and enhanced vitality.
• My guest also offers some great insights for someone who feels completely exhausted and disconnected, including a small practical step they can take today to begin restoring their energy. 

How You Can Connect With Julie and Her Work:

You can learn more about her work and projects and connect with her through her website and various social media links listed below. 

juliemerrimanphd.com

• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/dr.juliemerriman/
•   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@drjuliemerriman
•   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?
  id=61564870628821
•   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-julie-merriman/
•   Blog: https://www.juliemerrimanphd.com/blog
•   Podcasts:
•   Compassion Fatigue Cure -
   https://www.juliemerrimanphd.com/compassion-
  fatigue-cure-1
•   Sexy After 50 -
   https://www.juliemerrimanphd.com/sexy-after-50

PerfectWhelm Podcast Links & Resources:

Schedule a free discovery call with me to learn more about my coaching programs and services.

Email: [email protected]

-I hope you will follow, subscribe, rate, and/or share the podcast with someone you think might benefit from it.

In this episode recorded from the town of Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, I start off with a story about our rough 8 hour journey here to the remote Scottish Isles by ferry. To get here, we had to navigate violent seas and strong gales overnight into the heart of the waters of the North Sea.

I share about how travel can transport us straight out of our comfort zones in so many ways and it is in those moments and experiences where the challenges occur that real changes in perspective and transformation can happen.

Some of the biggest takeaways I illustrate and dive into are:

Delayed trains and rough seas can be strangely good teachers.

Travel can humble you because suddenly you become the outsider… who is more aware of the need to depend on others. 

The world becomes less frightening once it becomes personal.

Empathy often grows the fastest in unfamiliar places.”

Your trip can provide a means for you to replace assumptions with experiences 

One of the greatest souvenirs that traveling can ever provide you with is the gift of perspective.

Closing Thoughts: Once you eat with people, struggle alongside people, rely on people, and laugh with people— connections are built and new pathways in our hearts connect with our minds… and we can be reminded that our shared humanity is far bigger than any ideology we might cling to.

I think we can all agree that travel won’t magically solve hatred or prejudice. But as I’ve mentioned… it becomes much harder to fear people once you’ve shared weather, exhaustion, meals, confusion, and kindness with them. The world stops feeling foreign — and starts feeling human.

PerfectWhelm Podcast Links & Resources:

Schedule a free discovery call with me to learn more about my coaching programs and services.

Email: [email protected]

-I hope you will follow, subscribe, rate, and/or share the podcast with someone you think might benefit from it.

In the beginning of Part 2 of my chat with Tom Attig, an author, teacher, speaker, philosopher, and renowned scholar, we continue our discussion on the process of relearning how to live in this life after we've lost someone close to us.

We then discuss how the act of loving someone continues on even after the loss of that person. 

Tom shares about how spiritual expression and  religious belief systems may sometimes influence the response of mourners and also those who are church leaders. 

Tom also talks about how grievers are often surprisingly well prepared to do the learning that grieving involves and the role that philosophy can play in supporting grievers and caregivers. 

We also chat about how our emotions teach us about our deepest needs & how we can begin to process or understand grieving as part of a healing process. 

Connecting with Tom's Work:

THOMAS ATTIG holds BA and PhD degrees from Northwestern University and Washington University in St.Louis. At Bowling Green State University, while Chair, he and his colleagues established the world's first PhD Program in Applied Philosophy. A Fellow of the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement, he has received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Death Education from the International Network on Personal Meaning, Death Educator and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Association for Death Education and Counseling, and the Robert Fulton Founder's Award from the Center for Death Education and Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse.

Tom recently released his new collection, SEEKING WISDOM IN DEATH'S SHADOWS: Collected Writings on How We Grieve [Oxford University Press | December 19, 2025]. It distills a lifetime of listening, reflection, and teaching into understanding and guidance for mourners, caregivers, and counselors.

This is an excellent resource if you want to get a very thoughtful approach to death education and lots of helpful reflections centered on loss and the grieving process. I highly recommend it. If you'd like to get a copy of the book at a 30% discount, then I encourage you to click on the Oxford University Press link, which are listed in my written show notes for this episode.

Oxford University Press currently offers 30% off the book:

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/seeking-wisdom-in-deaths-shadows-9780197776094?promocode=aufly30

More information about Tom and his writings and work can be found here.

https://griefsheart.com/

PerfectWhelm Podcast Links & Resources:

Schedule a free discovery call with me to learn more about my coaching programs and services.
Email: [email protected]

-I hope you will follow, subscribe, rate, and/or share the podcast with someone you think might benefit from it.

In the beginning of my chat with Tom Attig, an author, teacher, speaker, philosopher, and renowned scholar… we discuss what influenced Tom to get into studying and researching death, dying, and grief. Tom describes what shaped him as a teacher and philosopher. 

We talk about how grieving the loss of a loved one can take our breath away. 

We share about the unfortunate reality that grieving is often met with an underestimation of sorrow. While loss can be extremely devastating in someone’s life, our culture often minimizes how life altering, powerful, and painful losing someone can be. Sometimes there may be an impatience with those who are grieving and the rest of the world may seem to not want to be bothered too much about what is bothering us a lot. 

The use of common cliches in response to a death and/or the resultant grief is something that is generally unhelpful to the one suffering the loss. 

Tom and I talk about how philosophy has been influential and impactful in supporting grievers. Tom elaborates as well on the idea of loving someone who was alive and then how we continue to love on the person after that individual has died. 

We finish up part 1 of this 2 part interview by reflecting on the process of relearning how to live in this life after we’ve lost someone close to us. 

Connecting with Tom’s Work:

THOMAS ATTIG holds BA and PhD degrees from Northwestern University and Washington University in St. Louis. At Bowling Green State University, while Chair, he and his colleagues established the world’s first PhD Program in Applied Philosophy.  A Fellow of the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement, he has received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Death Education from the International Network on Personal Meaning, Death Educator and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Association for Death Education and Counseling, and the Robert Fulton Founder’s Award from the Center for Death Education and Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse.

Tom recently released his new collection, SEEKING WISDOM IN DEATH’S SHADOWS: Collected Writings on How We Grieve [Oxford University Press | December 19, 2025]. It distills a lifetime of listening, reflection, and teaching into understanding and guidance for mourners, caregivers, and counselors.

This is an excellent resource if you want to get a very thoughtful approach to death education and lots of helpful reflections centered on loss and the grieving process. I highly recommend it. If you’d like to get a copy of the book at a 30% discount, then I encourage you to click on the Oxford University Press link, which are listed in my written show notes for this episode. 

Oxford University Press currently offers 30% off the book:

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/seeking-wisdom-in-deaths-shadows-9780197776094?promocode=aufly30

More information about Tom and his writings and work can be found here.

https://griefsheart.com/

PerfectWhelm Podcast Links & Resources:

Schedule a free discovery call with me to learn more about my coaching programs and services.

Email: [email protected]

-I hope you will follow, subscribe, rate, and/or share the podcast with someone you think might benefit from it.

To begin the conversation, I chat with Maryia about her passion for adventure and traveling. Maryia has traveled extensively internationally, and she enjoys exploring new places. 

We discuss the importance of putting oneself out there and learning new things. The benefits of facing our fears and overcoming our feelings of being self-conscious can really be realized with activities like dance and travel. 

We talk about her travel design business, and her experiences with the healing components of aromatherapy. Working with essential oils has had a significant positive impact on Maryia and she credits them with helping her improve both her physical and mental wellbeing. 

Maryia’s Programs and Projects of Interest:

In regards to her language teaching, Maryia is interested in collaboration with native speakers for her online speakers. 

As a travel designer, Maryia is experienced and well-equipped to organize a trip for you and take care of all the planning, activities , and logistics. She has routes in Asia in places like Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia that she can handle along with destinations in Europe like Porto, Madeira, Lisbon, and many more. 

Maryia is also happy to share her knowledge of aromatherapy and how to select oils and offer insight about which products can have a positive effect on both mental and physical wellbeing. 

Connecting With Maryia:

Instagram - bandarchyk.maria, https://www.instagram.com/bandarchyk.maria?igsh=MTRvNWZlMHNyZ2RyZw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/share/1CUzkv6nAJ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Telegram - @maria_elteng

PerfectWhelm Podcast Links & Resources:

Schedule a free discovery call with me to learn more about my coaching programs and services.

Email: [email protected]

-I hope you will follow, subscribe, rate, and/or share the podcast with someone you think might benefit from it.

To begin the conversation, I chat with Maryia about her early life growing up in Belarus and creative influences that impacted her along the way.

We then discussed Maryia’s love of dance and how the artistry, movements, and music itself has been the source of joy, mental and physical wellness, personal growth, and many social connections in her life. Specifically, Maryia shares about her experiences with Kizomba, a popular partner dance and music genre that originated in Angola in the early 1980’s.

Make sure you also tune in to Part 2 of our conversation that will be released next week where Maryia will talk more about her foreign travel experiences and how exploring abroad has contributed to her personal growth and development. She also will chat about her travel design business, and her experiences with the healing components of aromatherapy. 

Maryia’s Programs and Projects of Interest:

In regards to her language teaching, Maryia is interested in collaboration with native speakers for her online speakers. 

As a travel designer, Maryia is experienced and well-equipped to organize a trip for you and take care of all the planning, activities , and logistics. She has routes in Asia in places like Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia that she can handle along with destinations in Europe like Porto, Madeira, Lisbon, and many more. 

Maryia is also happy to share her knowledge of aromatherapy and how to select oils and offer insight about which products can have a positive effect on both mental and physical wellbeing. 

Connecting With Maryia:

Instagram - bandarchyk.maria, https://www.instagram.com/bandarchyk.maria?igsh=MTRvNWZlMHNyZ2RyZw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/share/1CUzkv6nAJ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Telegram - @maria_elteng

PerfectWhelm Podcast Links & Resources:

Schedule a free discovery call with me to learn more about my coaching programs and services.

Email: [email protected]

-I hope you will follow, subscribe, rate, and/or share the podcast with someone you think might benefit from it.

In this episode of PerfectWhelm Podcast, I discuss five insights that are more real to me now at 55 than they were in my earlier years of life.

First, I talk about the significance of seasons in our lives before pivoting into a reflection about the importance of health and wellbeing.

The third idea I share is about how our lives can sometimes feel like they are shrinking as we age and then I discuss the importance of giving ourselves the permission to try new things and fail on the regular.

Lastly, I chat about the concept of aiming to live life with intention and clarity rather than prioritizing the more talked about patterns of chasing motivation and happiness.

In all of the principles I discuss, I offer some reflective elements like personal experiences, ways to pivot, and potential impacts that these changes and shifts in mindset and perspective can bring.

PerfectWhelm Podcast Links & Resources:

Schedule a free discovery call with me to learn more about my coaching services and programs.

Email: [email protected]

I hope you will follow, subscribe, rate, and/or share the podcast with someone you think might benefit from it.

In this episode of PerfectWhelm Podcast I talk about how we as a family arrived at a decision to incorporate some solo international trips with each of our children.

I discuss the decision our family made to make certain sacrifices while viewing the investments through the lens of family retirement and the lifelong impacts of these adventures. 

I share about the core values of empathy, compassion, open mindedness, curiosity, and courage that we aimed to develop through these individual journeys. 

There is an opportunity to allow each of the kids to experience the world as a classroom and learn about each nations culture, politics, art, history, religions, etc… 

I do share about each of the kids’ trips and the impacts… including the excursion that is being planned for down the road with our youngest daughter.  The specific itinerary and destinations for that particular journey haven’t yet been fully decided on. Stay tuned to find out where we are heading as it will be mentioned on a future episode of the podcast. 

No passport required for tuning in to the show! 

PerfectWhelm Podcast Links & Resources:

Schedule a free discovery call with me to learn more about my coaching programs and services.

Email: [email protected]

-I hope you will follow, subscribe, rate, and/or share the podcast with someone you think might benefit from it.

In this episode, I discuss various roles and creative challenges I’ve encountered as a sports coach, writer, stand-up comedian, and personal development coach and the general chronology of my creative process. 

I discuss how creative pursuits require persistence and the idea that this kind of work is a numbers game.

I talk about important principles for the creator like aiming to be prolific, producing volume, moving with speed, not overthinking, and often being willing to take chances and put prudence in the ground.

I also share regarding some of the self-sabotage hurdles of creative work that so often present themselves during the building process. These include things like focusing too much on the how, rather than the why and the what. I discuss other dream killers too like procrastination, rationalization, self-loathing, perfectionism, fear of both failure and success, and self-comparison. 

The land of richness for the creator is living in wander and tapping into the subconscious mind where rivers of imagination, intuition, and possibility flow without the limits of resistance that so typically show up in conscious thought. 

I close by touching on the importance for creators to stay away from judging results, especially in the early going… and instead pay more attention to your follow through and the consistency of showing up for yourself and others even when you don’t feel like it. 

PerfectWhelm Podcast Links & Resources:

Schedule a free discovery call with me to learn more about my coaching programs and services.

Email: [email protected]

-I hope you will follow, subscribe, rate, and/or share the podcast with someone you think might benefit from it.