The same year she sold the family business, Carla revisits the day she and her brother Vince jumped off a ferry into the San Francisco Bay for the Alcatraz Shark Fest swim, and what it taught her about fear, purpose, and asking for help.

Episode Navigation:

00:00 — Carla welcomes her brother Vince back to talk about the Alcatraz swim they did together, and the terrifying yes he talked her into

01:36 — Carla on losing her sense of purpose the year they sold the business, and why the swim was never her idea

03:01 — Vince on missing the challenge of running a business, and searching out marathons, backpacking trips, and open water swims instead

04:31 — How Vince talked Carla into the Alcatraz Shark Fest swim, and their shared swimming background from high school

06:21 — Training solo in the pool for an open water swim, and the mental toll of being alone with your thoughts

07:32 — Race day in San Francisco: walking barefoot to the ferry with family and friends there to cheer them on

09:27 — Jumping off the ferry into the cold, dark Bay, with sea lions, sharks, and a shifting current to contend with

11:28 — Carla's panic attack mid-swim, and the volunteer who told her, “you're already doing it”

15:04 — Finishing the swim, reuniting on shore, and finding Vince already chill and eating a banana

19:58 — Vince's advice for finding your own version of the swim: set a goal, build in structure, and use every tool available

About Our Guest:

Vince is Carla's older brother. A Navy veteran and Eagle Scout, he's spent the years since the family sold their vending business chasing physical challenges, from the Tampa Bay Frogman Swim to the Cleveland Marathon to backcountry backpacking trips, using the training and structure to stay grounded. In this episode, he and Carla revisit the day they swam from Alcatraz together, and the panic, and the payoff, that came with it.

Tool to Use:

Pick a physical challenge that scares you a little, a swim, a race, a multi day hike, and set a concrete goal, then let the training structure do the rest: it will keep your mind calm and prove to you that you can handle hard things.

Connect and Resources:

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RewiringwithCarlaV

Website: https://5683justbe.com/

Follow Carla V. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carla_variglotti_/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-variglotti-201b1736b/

Carla sits down with her dad, Jim, and her brother, Vince, to trace the story of Cuyahoga Vending Group, the Cleveland food service company Jim started in 1988 after losing his job in a recession and the family built together for 33 years, and to talk honestly about what it took to rewire their identities once the business, and the community that came with it, was gone.

Episode Navigation:

00:00 — Introducing Carla's dad, Jim, and brother, Vince, and the story of building Cuyahoga Vending Group together

01:44 — Jim on losing his job in a recession and starting the business with a partner and nothing to lose

03:53 — Growing to nearly 8,000 vending machines, over 150 micro markets, and a dozen dining accounts

09:18 — Vince on their mom's role, growing up in Maple Heights, and learning the business on the routes as a teenager

12:09 — Vince's path through ROTC, the Navy, and Iraq before coming home to run the Columbus branch

15:09 — Jim's philosophy of handshake deals, reactive service, and constantly adding new lines of business

18:23 — Life changes collide: a divorce, a move back to Cleveland, and the call to sell

20:32 — Surviving a 50% Covid sales drop and selling the company in December 2021

21:25 — What nobody tells you about the morning after: Vince's new role, Jim missing the action, and Carla's loss of identity

25:03 — The “Jim-isms” that still guide the family today, and advice for anyone starting over

About Our Guests:

Jim is the founder of Cuyahoga Vending Group, the Cleveland-based vending, micro market, office coffee, and dining services company he started in 1988 with a partner after being let go from his job during a recession. Jim grew the business from two people to more than 300 employees at its peak, built on handshake deals and a reputation for taking care of clients, before selling the company to a private equity firm in December 2021 after 33 years.

Vince is Carla's older brother. He started working the family's vending routes as a teenager, then earned an ROTC scholarship to Miami University and served nearly seven years as a Navy officer, including a deployment to Iraq. After his son was born, he came home to run the company's Columbus, Ohio branch, eventually becoming its president, and continues to work in the industry today for the company's new ownership.

Tool to Use:

Borrow a Jim-ism for your own hard season: take the good with the bad, remember that all education is expensive, and keep showing up, because nobody gets through life without a few bumps.

Connect and Resources:

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RewiringwithCarlaV

Website: https://5683justbe.com/

Follow Carla V. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carla_variglotti_/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-variglotti-201b1736b/

Carla hosts a roundtable with four Charlotte women, Jennifer Otis, Amanda Griffin, Kyla Harvey, and Tiffany VanDemark. They focus on one of the core truths of the rewiring journey: we're not meant to navigate life's hardest seasons alone. Together they unpack how a giving circle, a faith-based recovery mission, and a trauma-informed nonprofit each build community around the people they serve, and Tiffany shares what it felt like to need and find that same community as a domestic violence survivor.

Episode Navigation:

00:00 — Introducing today's roundtable on building community through life's hardest seasons

01:26 — Meet the guests: Jennifer Otis, Amanda Griffin, Tiffany VanDemark, and Kyla Harvey

08:12 — Brave Works' journey: from Fashion and Compassion to a year-long healing and workforce pathway called The Brave Way

13:29 — Charlotte Rescue Mission's history since 1938 and its addiction recovery programs

16:33 — Life after treatment: Recovery Living, Community Matters Cafe, and life-skills tracks

20:03 — Jennifer explains how the 100 Women Who Care giving-circle model works

24:12 — Starting the Charlotte chapter from a dozen women in 2022, and the ripple effect since

27:41 — Tiffany on surviving domestic violence and writing Inside the Ring

32:40 — Upcoming events: Charlotte Rescue Mission's 5K, 100 Women Who Care's October 20 meeting, and the Brave Walk with Sunshine

39:09 — Closing thoughts on showing up for your people

About Our Guests:

Jennifer Otis is the founder and executive director of 100 Women Who Care Charlotte, a local giving circle where members each donate $100, four times a year, to a nonprofit chosen by member vote — with the full $10,000+ pot going straight to the winning organization. She's also an attorney practicing corporate employment law in Charlotte. She started the Charlotte chapter in 2022 after discovering the model on a trip to Charleston.

Amanda Griffin is a philanthropy officer at Charlotte Rescue Mission, a Charlotte institution since 1938 offering free, faith-based, professional addiction recovery programs for men (Rebound) and women (Dove's Nest), along with an aftercare pathway called Recovery Living that includes Community Matters Cafe and several life-skills tracks.

Kyla Harvey is the executive director of Brave Works and the founder of Concrete Rose Counseling. A therapist and social worker, she leads Brave Works' trauma-informed healing and workforce-development programs, including its year-long Brave Way pathway and its artisan jewelry-making program.

Tiffany VanDemark is a speaker, author, and personal brand coach who serves on the board of Brave Works. A survivor of domestic violence during her marriage to a professional wrestler, she wrote about the experience and life on the other side of it in her book, Inside the Ring.

Tool to Use:

Community isn't just who shows up in a crisis, it's something you build intentionally, over time, by asking for help, making room for others, and staying connected. You don't need a title or a program to start: show up, share your story, and let people know they're not alone in theirs.

Connect and Resources:

Brave Works: visit their site to learn about the Brave Way pathway, shop the artisan jewelry collection, or sign up for the Brave Walk with Sunshine on September 12 at the Whitewater Center: https://www.braveworks.org/

Follow Brave Works on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braveworksorg/

Charlotte Rescue Mission: learn about Rebound, Dove's Nest, and upcoming events like the community 5K and golf tournament: https://charlotterescuemission.org/

Community Matters Cafe: https://communitymatterscafe.com/

100 Women Who Care Charlotte: join or nominate a nonprofit, and RSVP for the next meeting on October 20th (5:30–7:30pm at Quail Hollow Club): https://100womenwhocareclt.com/

Follow 100 Women Who Care Charlotte on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/100wwcc/ 100 Women

Who Care Charlotte on Grapevine: https://www.grapevine.org/giving-circle/ZZWhDmb/100-Women-Who-Care-Charlotte

Tiffany VanDemark's book, Inside the Ring: From Tap Out to Champion: https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Ring-tap-out-Champion/dp/1546769625

Ashley Manning, founder of Watch Love Grow in Charlotte, joins Carla to talk about noticing one grieving preschool teacher's pain and doing one small thing about it, the eye injury and thirteen surgeries that cost her her vision, and how that loss deepened a five-year-old ministry that now delivers flowers and connection to thousands of widows and bereaved mothers across the country.

Episode Navigation:

00:00 — Introducing guest Ashley Manning, founder of Watch Love Grow

02:06 — How honoring loss with love became the heart of the ministry

02:48 — Meeting a grieving preschool teacher and the flowers that started it all

06:02 — Faith, mission trips, and learning to listen to the Holy Spirit

08:48 — Accidentally becoming a florist during Covid

11:53 — The first Valentine's Day outreach: 125 widows named and funded in ten days

16:12 — An eye injury leads to 13 surgeries and the loss of her vision

20:51 — Losing her sight and leaning on community to survive

24:05 — Growing from Charlotte to eight cities and 5,000+ people served a year

27:56 — How Carla and Ashley's Galentine's partnership began

About Our Guest: Ashley Manning is the founder of Watch Love Grow, a floral outreach ministry based in Charlotte, North Carolina, that delivers flowers and encouragement to widows, bereaved mothers, and others walking through loss. What began in 2021 as a small Valentine's Day outreach to a handful of local widows has grown into a nationwide ministry now serving more than 5,000 people a year in cities including Charlotte, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Nashville, Raleigh, Wake Forest, Columbia SC, Lancaster SC, and Minnesota. Ashley is a floral designer, wife, and mother of four. Tool to Use: Listen for the nudge and act on it. You don't need a plan, a platform, or even much time, just the willingness to notice someone's pain and do one small, specific thing about it. The rest can grow from there.

Connect and Resources:

Watch Love Grow: visit https://www.watchlovegrow.org/ to nominate a widow or bereaved mom, or donate.

Volunteer: https://www.watchlovegrow.org/

Follow Watch Love Grow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/watchlovegrowcharlotte/

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RewiringwithCarlaV

Website: https://5683justbe.com/

Follow Carla V. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carla_variglotti_/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-variglotti-201b1736b/

Maria Lumb, founder of Eternal in Charlotte, joins Carla to talk about leaving Slovakia for Miami, rebuilding her life across three cities with no plan and no safety net, and turning that journey into a thriving styling business built on connection.

Episode Navigation:

00:00 — Introducing guest Maria Lumb, founder of Eternal

01:22 — Leaving small-town Slovakia for boarding school and independence

03:00 — College, sociology and psychology, and the feeling something wasn't right

04:17 — A first trip to Miami and falling for a new culture

05:50 — Moving to Miami on a three-month tourist visa at 23

07:08 — Learning English, becoming an au pair, and starting over

09:10 — Climbing the ranks in luxury fashion retail

11:13 — The leap to New York and losing her sense of home

14:12 — Moving to Charlotte with no job, no plan, and no connections

19:07 — Founding Eternal and building community through styling

About Our Guest:

Maria Lumb is the founder of Eternal, a luxury consignment boutique and personal styling destination in Charlotte, North Carolina. Originally from Slovakia, she built her career in luxury fashion across Miami and New York before relocating to Charlotte, where she opened Eternal to bring curated, accessible luxury and genuine connection to her community.

Tool to Use:

Stay grounded in self-awareness and faith. Know who you are and what you like, and trust that faith will carry you through the uncertainty.

Connect and Resources:

Eternal: visit the boutique in Charlotte, North Carolina, to shop curated, styled looks in person.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RewiringwithCarlaV

Website: https://5683justbe.com/

Follow Carla V. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carla_variglotti_/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-variglotti-201b1736b/

Carla sits down with Petey Farina, her best friend of more than twenty years, to talk about how their friendship has survived cross-country moves, a marriage, Covid, and Petey coming out, and the small habits that have kept it strong the whole way through.

Episode Navigation:

01:33 — How they met at Ohio University in 2002

06:33 — The skydiving trip that sealed their friendship

09:06 — Reconnecting as adults after both landing in Chicago

12:03 — Welcoming Porter, Carla's now husband, into the friendship

15:22 — Riding out the start of Covid apart, three months stuck in Cleveland

17:24 — The phone call where Petey came out, and what it meant for them

21:44 — Calling each other chosen family

22:55 — The small tools, calls, texts, and postcards, that keep a friendship alive across the country

33:04 — Petey's advice for anyone afraid distance will end a friendship

About Our Guest:

Petey Farina has been Carla's best friend since they met at Ohio University in 2002. Their friendship has stretched across Chicago, San Francisco, and now opposite coasts, through his coming out, her remarriage, a shared love of national parks, and a standing spot in the Beyhive. He is a longtime world traveler who has visited every continent, including Antarctica.

Tool to Use:

Always stay connected to the people you care about - you can call them while your walking, book the ticket, send a postcard, etc.

Connect & Resources:

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RewiringwithCarlaV

Website: https://5683justbe.com/

Follow Carla V. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carla_variglotti_/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-variglotti-201b1736b/

Carla sits down with longtime friend Natasha Pearl Hansen for a wide-ranging, deeply personal conversation about grief, resilience, and the "bonus sphere" of chosen family. Natasha shares how a canceled wedding led her to build My Breakup Registry, how she found comedy almost by accident at Second City Chicago, and how the sudden loss of her best friend of 17 years, Matthew Botas, reshaped her life, eventually inspiring a TEDx talk that released exactly one year to the day of his death. The two also open up about Natasha's more recent loss of her father, and how grief shows up differently every time.

Episode Navigation:

00:03 – How Natasha got into comedy: From a theater minor to Second City Chicago, almost by accident

02:19 – My Breakup Registry origin story: Born out of a canceled wedding and launched during the pandemic

04:09 – On grief hierarchies: Why breakups are treated as "less than" other losses, and why that's unfair

06:50 – Meeting Matthew Botas: The bartending job, the whiskey tips, and a 17-year friendship

12:41 – The day Matt died: Natasha recounts December 23, 2024, in detail

22:00–25:29 – The networking event: How wearing "disco pants" and refusing to ask what people do led to her TEDx invitation

27:25 – Writing the TEDx talk: Choosing not to say the word "grief," building the talk from stories instead of lessons

31:12 – The response to going public: Screenshotted messages from people helped by her openness

33:19 – On grief being different for everyone: Anticipatory grief with her father vs. sudden loss with Matt

36:08 – Practical advice: Making a list of people to see every day during the hardest weeks

40:44 – The "bonus sphere": How losing Matt brought his circle of friends together as chosen family

About Natasha Pearl Hansen:

Comedian, actor, founder, and speaker. Founder and CEO of My Breakup Registry and creator of the Hustle & Chill newsletter. Delivered a TEDx talk on using laughter to move through grief, released one year to the day after the death of her best friend, Matthew Botas.

Connect & Resources:

Newsletter: https://hustleandchillwithnph.beehiiv.com/

My Breakup Registry: https://www.nphcomedy.com/mybreakupregistry

TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWMnZPGpaQw

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Website: https://5683justbe.com/

Follow Carla V. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carla_variglotti_/

Page Fehling spent almost 20 years as a TV news anchor and morning host before walking away in 2021 to build her own business as a keynote speaker and corporate trainer. In this episode, Page and Carla dig into the messy middle Page didn't see coming. A surprise layoff eight weeks into new motherhood, quitting college softball she'd played her whole life, and rebuilding a career from scratch with no marketable skills, in her words, outside of TV.They talk candidly about dividing labor with a spouse, the guilt and grief tangled up in career change, and the practical systems (starting with a shared family calendar) that have carried Page and her husband Jake through job loss, three kids, three dogs, and now a business they run together.

Episode Navigation:

00:00 — Welcome to Rewiring with Carla V. and introducing Page Fehling

01:26 — Page's least dramatic rewire: leaving TV for her own business

02:40 — The harder rewires: becoming a mom and quitting college softball

03:44 — Missing her "teammates" after leaving a newsroom

04:49 — Getting laid off by phone call eight weeks into maternity leave

06:34 — Untangling new-mom hormones from grief over the job loss11:03 — Building a true partnership at home with her husband Jake

14:44 — The one tool that saves the most arguments: a shared family calendar

18:14 — Starting a business with Jake, and the tough love that got her first proposal out the door

20:38 — Why nothing is ever really "concluded" in a rewire

About Our Guest: Page Fehling spent two years in Honduras as a Peace Corps volunteer before building an almost 20-year career in TV news, including years as a morning news anchor in Raleigh and Charlotte. In fall 2021, she left television to launch her own business delivering keynote speeches and corporate trainings focused on leadership, communication, and connection. Page and her husband Jake co-host the podcast Date Night with Jake and Page and co-wrote the bestselling book Holy Crap We're Pregnant. She has three kids, three dogs, and most of her sanity.

Connect & Resources:

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Date Night with Jake and Page: available wherever you listen to podcasts

Book: Holy Crap, We're Pregnant: Two Parents. Two Sides of the Story

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RewiringwithCarlaV

Website: https://5683justbe.com/

Follow Carla V. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carla_variglotti_/

Dr. Sharon Jones is the founder and CEO of The Dot Consulting and the founder of the Dottie Rose Foundation, an organization closing the gender gap in technology for young women. In this episode, she and Carla trace how a side hustle born out of a 2008 layoff, a pay cut back to a third-year teacher's salary, and the loss of her grandmother eventually grew into two organizations. Sharon shares the tree analogy that grounds her through every rewire: roots to come home to, and wings to go find out who you are. They also talk about the guilt of building a business while raising three kids, why she believes technology should never lose its human, hands-on core, and the one small daily habit that gets her through the hardest days.

Episode Navigation:

00:00 — Welcome to Rewiring with Carla and introducing Dr. Sharon Jones

01:40 — How the side hustle started: losing a corporate job in the 2008 crisis

04:48 — Losing her grandmother, Dottie Rose, and the foundation named in her honor

09:16 — Realizing the rewiring had already started inside the messy middle

12:40 — Turning in her notice: the moment she finally launched full time

19:43 — The tree analogy: roots to come home to, wings to go find out who you are

27:21 — Why she started Dottie Rose Foundation: the missing female representation in tech

34:51 — Dottie Rose Foundation by the numbers: 4,500 girls served and a 95% return rate

43:26 — Her go-to tool for getting through hard days: one small thing to look forward to

46:32 — Closing thoughts and where to get involved with Dottie Rose Foundation

About Our Guest:

Dr. Sharon Jones is a leader in computer science, an educator, a business owner, and a mom who has spent years making technology feel more accessible and more human. She is the founder and CEO of The Dot Consulting, where she helps organizations think differently about technology, education, innovation, and impact. She is also the founder of the Dottie Rose Foundation, an organization created to bridge the gender gap in technology and create access to education, mentorship, and opportunity for young women, named in honor of her grandmother, Dorothy Rose.

Tool to Use:

A family time non-negotiable, for Dr. Sharon it was family dinners; this is the space that gets priority and helps everyone recenter and reconnect amid the messy middle.

Connect & Resources:

Learn more or volunteer with the Dottie Rose Foundation: https://dottierosefoundation.org/

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RewiringwithCarlaV

Website: https://5683justbe.com/

Follow Carla V. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carla_variglotti_/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-variglotti-201b1736b/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095359890928

In this introductory episode, Carla explains what Rewiring with Carla is and why she's the one hosting it. She shares her own origin story: a marriage, a move to D.C., and a divorce in her mid-20s that left her without a life plan, a marriage, or many of her closest relationships. Carla introduces the concept of "the messy middle": the uncomfortable, disorienting space between the life that's gone and the life that hasn't arrived yet, and walks through the tools that carried her through it, including the exercise she calls "The Year of Carla." She previews what's ahead this season: conversations about friendship, family business, becoming a stepmom, and rebuilding identity after loss.

Episode Navigation:

00:00 — Welcome to Rewiring with Carla and what the show is about

01:05 — Defining "the messy middle"

02:41 — Carla's story: growing up in Cleveland and the plan she thought she'd follow

04:53 — Divorce in her mid-20s and losing more than just a marriage

07:14 — Throwing herself into work and facing health struggles in her late 20s

09:30 — Creating "The Year of Carla": a handwritten bucket list with a deadline

11:14 — The skydiving story and finding her best friend by his shoes

13:54 — What's ahead this season

15:52 — The hope tattoo and the daily reminder behind it

17:33 — Closing invitation: courage, love, and hope, and how to share your own list

About Your Host:

Carla V. is the founder of 5683 Just Be and the host of Rewiring with Carla V.

Her work centers on the moments that change us - the disruptions that shift our direction, the messy middle that follows, and the quiet work of rebuilding. She believes these moments aren't failures or setbacks; they're often the beginning of becoming who we're meant to be.

Through honest conversations with people who've lived it, each episode pairs real stories with practical tools, thoughtful insights, and tangible takeaways that help listeners navigate change with greater clarity, confidence, and connection.

Tool to Use:

A bucket list of things that are your chosen challenges, as opposed to the challenges that we cannot control.

Connect & Resources:

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RewiringwithCarlaV

Website: https://5683justbe.com/

Follow Carla V. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carla_variglotti_/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-variglotti-201b1736b/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095359890928